I reflected upon my interpretation at different times as a
teacher.
of
Sri Aurobindo’s: 'The first principle of true teaching is that
nothing can be taught.'1
When I started teaching I wanted to be a good teacher. I planned my
classes, used many resources and TLM (Teaching Learning Material),
had many classes with activities, attempted to open the minds of
children, and took a lot of notes. A workshop called the 'Stewardship
for a New Emergence' helped me notice my growth as a teacher and
capture the fleeting insights - it helped me be more patient and
capable of listening to children. At this time, I interpreted the
first principle of teaching as the learning I was going through to be
a better teacher and a better person through my experience. I took
the principle to refer to spiritual experiences that are our own. For
example, in a typical classroom I would teach different points of
view, or of looking at something to support diversity or handle
misconceptions and children would work with TLM and at times the
computer2.
As I
continued working with children I noticed that my best classes were
not the ones I prepared the most. Some classes had a flow and some,
in spite of planning (and a few because of much planning) were
hard. An almost identical incident or comment from children that
derailed one class would have no impact in another. I noticed that
this had less to do with the environment around me or what children
experienced at home and more to do with the environment I was
carrying with me to the classrooms and who I was being while I was in
the class. I also noticed children were learning more when I was
instructing less. Practically, my classes were getting more activity
based with much peer learning and less lecturing. I often used
computers with children creating projects to learn the material. I
read up on constructivist theory and learned that each child (and
adult) builds their own knowledge and I only needed to create an
environment to let learning happen. I noticed that it was my 'I have
a PhD and can show other ways of doing this' ego that was coming in
the way of learning and was able to consciously make a choice to let
opportunities to teach go, and let opportunities for learning
flourish. My
interpretation of Sri Aurobindo’s first principle at that time was
that this also applies to practical learning through a constructivist
approach3.
Some
time has passed since then and I no longer see spiritual growth and
practical learning as two distinct applications of the first
principle of true teaching. It appears that every true learning is
with the engagement of our entire being and is spiritual and helps us
follow our core. Practically, now the environment I am working to
create at STEM Land is such that a session with children is about
self-discovery. It’s not about a procedure or the underlying
concept, but about their experience. The environment offers choice
and looks to the children to take responsibility for their learning.
I do instruct, children do projects, but it happens when the need
comes up from the children4.
---
1. Sri. Aurobindo, (1910)
The Human Mind, Karmayogin.
2. Ranganathan,
S. (2014) Program to encourage critical thinking in children –
2013-2014.
Grant report by Udavi School to SAIIER.
3. Ranganathan S., Anand B., Kothandaraman S. and Gunasekar V. (Dec
2015) Using programming with rural children For Learning to think
mathematically, epiSTEM
6 HBCSE, IITB.
4. Ranganathan S., STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics)
Land and Resource Center (2015) Grant
proposal to SAIIER.
