The Missing Link in Your Child’s Education is the Baffling “Special Educator!”

In an exam for the question “Who developed the system of naming & classifying organisms?”, one of the students wrote Brahma. He was referring to the God who has per Hindu mythology is the creator of the Universe. The correct answer as per the textbooks was Carl Linnaeus.

Was the boy wrong?

From Carl Linnaeus to Brahma to Noah to Merchants of the Sea… Web of Knowledge

He did not score marks because the answer was not as it was mentioned in the textbook. He did not score any marks for thinking differently. Because regurgitating textbook content on to your answer paper will get you full marks. And if it is word to word, then no teacher in the world can contest it.

If the teacher had broached the question by writing a note:

“ Carl Linnaeus, in the 1700s developed a way to name and organize species. That is the correct answer. Brahma is not totally incorrect as well. Let’s discuss it during the class “

Teacher analyzes deeper into the child’s response. A single answer “ Brahma “ can be the beginning of an insightful discussion.

Here is How It Could Have Spanned

Brahma Created first-person Manu. And when the world was being submerged because of floods, it was Manu who built a boat and was instrumental in bringing back life to Earth. The discussion does not end here.

The teacher can draw parallels between Noah, the biblical character who also like Manu was chosen to save the world. Just like the boat was the medium used, Noah built an ark to save humanity. And it is not just Christianity and Hindu mythology which talks about. There is a similar story about how mankind perished and was brought back to life and how Nuh was instrumental in doing so. Buddhism talks about Merchants in the sea and a wise man who saved the world.

A Lesson of Similar Beliefs

So while kids are learning the science part of “Apocalyptic events causing extinction” children learn about different religious beliefs and how similar these beliefs are.

This is a true learning environment where everyone is engaged in multi-perspective discussions. All the while children learn how to make meaningful connections, how to form and express opinions, how to critically analyze and not take everything on face value. These are some experiences and learnings that will be imprinted in the children’s mind.

Kids Remember When They Can Connect

As a matter of fact, because of this detailed discussion ( which incidentally started with the q on who developed a system of classifying organisms ), the student will never forget the correct answer – Carl Linnaeus. That’s how remarkable a child’s brain is. He remembers when he can connect things that interest him.

But sadly, a teacher in a regular school environment will never address the question in the way we described.

Limited Teacher Autonomy

Schools can sometimes feel like a game of Pac-Man where students gobble up points but have lost sight of what those points represent. It is not just the students, the teachers also for reasons beyond their control have a myopic focus on points on giving grades.

Example

There is a story in Reddit about a certain school where teachers had to show a mandatory YouTube video on the first day of school. The video was about sharing, making the right decisions and all the important nice to have virtues.

In a particular class, the teacher shows the video as was the mandate, Well, when the video was done, there was a moment of complete silence. Until a student remarked, “What the hell?” But of course, the teacher had to correct the unparliamentary language used in the classroom, but in the teacher’s words “He seriously just voiced what we were all thinking.”

The story just shows how helpless teachers can be. Their classes are defined by a mandated curriculum they have to finish within a time limit. They are victims of high stakes testing just as students are.

With the ability to understand what students need and the power to act on that knowledge makes a teacher a powerful being. But sadly, that is not the case!

Chalk and Talk Method is Failing

Instead of a teacher talking about velocity and force in a class, what if Children are taken to see a football match where the teacher explains that every aspect of what is happening in the court involves physics concepts. Right from when the player receives a pass ( amount of force and speed passer uses ) to the aerodynamics of the ball.

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