It is now widely acknowledged that America’s public school education system is broken and needs fixing. Numerous studies rank US school children well below other countries in science and math tests:
“The average science score of U.S. students lagged behind those in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world’s richest countries. The U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.”
Studies such as these have raised alarm bells among parents, educators, politicians and the media. President Barack Obama has made it a priority and said in a speech last year :
” The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens — …….And yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we’ve let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short, and other nations outpace us…. The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, it’s unsustainable for our democracy, it’s unacceptable for our children — and we can’t afford to let it continue….”
It is indeed a paradox that primary education in the richest nation lags so far behind the rest of the world on so many metrics. As an immigrant to the US , who attended primary schools in India, and as a parent with two children who graduated from public schools in America, I have been intrigued by this apparent paradox as well. While not an expert by any means, I have given this some thought.
I believe I have benefited greatly from the education I received from the schools I attended as a child in India, and I have some ideas on why and wanted to share my insights here. We did not have spacious, well equipped classrooms, or audio-visual equipment, projectors, or air-conditioning in spite of the hot weather. Many classrooms were make-shift and some topped with a tin or aluminum roofs (“tin-sheds” as we called them). We did not have a large playground, flood-lit basketball courts, a stadium or an auditorium. We had no access to any of the facilities taken for granted in most schools today. And in spite of all that, we got a real education and many of us went to great heights of achievement in all fields of life. In fact, this actually makes my analysis easier : You can see clearly what really matters since you have stripped away all of the infrastructure elements considered essential for a school’s success.
So here for what it is worth, are my viewpoints for what I think made a difference :
- We were fortunate to have had great teachers and a wonderful principal. They were passionate, involved and committed. They knew each of us personally and cared about what we learnt. I remember our English teacher in sixth grade – Mr. Krishnan, who urged us to be creative and original and to use our imagination in writing . Our Hindi language teachers, Mr. Kumar and Mr. Jamuna Rai, had a passion for literature and poetry that was infectious and passed on to us. Our principal, Mrs. Visharda Hoon, was an extraordinary woman who set the bar high for both our teachers and students in discipline and excellence.
- We took part in a lot of extra-curricular activities and events – including “elocutions”, debates, recitations, essays at both the intra-school and inter-school levels. This was invaluable in shaping our composition and thinking skills.
- There was a lot of writing and very little objective – True/False, mutliple choice type – tests. I have always felt that this was one key difference between the schooling systems in India and the USA – we wrote a lot more than students here are required to. I believe the writing was very helpful in allowing us to learn to compose our thoughts and express ourselves. I also think writing exercises and develops abstract thinking abilities better than multiple choice questions.
- We had to learn three languages – English, Hindi and a third language (Sanskrit in my case). There is no doubt that this helped greatly and accelerated absorption of a wider range of viewpoints and perspectives – all essential to learning.
- It was actually considered cool to be smart or to be a “geek”. The words “geek” and “nerd” were foreign to us. Academic success and braininess trumped social awkwardness. You could always become socially adept later, school was the time to learn as much as you could. In the US though, popular culture, movies, TV shows and celebrities (many who have dropped out of school), consider it is not so cool and people apologize or feel embarrassed to admit if they were ever geeks or nerds. How can a society, where being too smart or brainy in your teenage years is disparaged and considered a socially undesirable trait, ever hope to motivate its youngsters to study hard, learn as much as possible and become smarter ? Banish this pop-culture attitude in America and you will increase the average SAT scores !
- As a culture – both at school and outside school, learning is revered and teachers are considered only next to God, and your parents in importance. As our “gurus” they are given our ultimate respect and gratitude . This is ingrained by our parents into our young minds from early on and creates the humility to continue to learn and grow. Incidentally, this reverence and respect for teachers is common among all Eastern cultures – including China, Japan and Far East Asia.
- And finally parents were an important part of this equation. Although there were no PTA meetings or parent teacher conferences – as children we knew that nothing was more important to our parents than doing well at school, studying hard and respecting our teachers. And that was somehow sufficient to motivate and spur us on.
Undoubtedly, there are many other factors which I have probably overlooked. However, these are the ones that I believe mattered the most in the end. Money and resources are of course important to improve schools, and no one denies the importance of good teachers and parental involvement. However, just as important may be a subtle but fundamental change in attitudes that needs to permeate all levels of society and subliminally signal the importance of learning, teachers and schools to our children.
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There’s a couplet that comes to my mind – It’s in Hindi; I will try to translate it.
Guru – Govind, dono khade, ka ke laagoon paye|
Balihari Guru Appkee, Gobind diye Milaaye ||
Translation –
Both the God and the teacher are present, who should I pay my respects to first|
O! Teacher, you are Great! You have led me to the God.
Implication – Teacher is ranked above the God in India since it is the teacher that leads / shows the path.
The path to restoration should be clear – Restore respect to the teaching Profession and make it attractive, not only by paying good money but also by ensuring that the respect for teachers permeates through the society. with good teachers, half the battle is won.
Thanks for feedback and comment. Certainly, Kabir’s ‘doha’ / couplet – (which we all learned and recited) – beautifully captures the reverence accorded to teachers in our culture. President Obama said in his State of the Union Speech yesterday : “If you want to make a difference in the life of our nation; if you want to make a difference in the life of a child—become a teacher”. But it is not sufficient to acknowledge how important teachers are to a nation’s future.. As you mention, we need to back it not only with financial incentives but also a transformation in our attitudes towards this noble profession.
I really read Arun shroff’s text with a nostalgic feeling.I am also a product of that education in India, When I did my teacher’s training in Singapore, which is my home now, my NIE lecturer was very impressed by the education we had in India. The school mentioned here is I suppose KV Gillnagar.The teacher’s made the biggest difference in our lives as students. Even teacher’s day was celebrated in a manner beyond imagination.All five us (siblings) studied there. Every year end when it was time to have the year end celebrations, the teacher’s used to joke to my proud parents that they have to bring a sack to collect all our prizes. I remember collecting more than 15 prizes in ayear on that annual day celebration, even including hand writing competition.
Sabira islam.(currently lecturing in Singapore)
Great to hear from someone else who is a product of Indian education and recalls it with fondness and nostalgia! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience.