Testing or selecting?

A recent article featured in Mumbai Mirror on the difficulty level of the school admission tests for 5-year-old kids left many shocked and appalled. Shocking and disappointing to see how the RTE (right to education act) is being flouted repeatedly by top schools in the city with entrance tests being doled out to children as young as 5 and 6 years as an entrance exam (come on, really?) for admissions to standard one.

So what is it that these schools are proving with this test? That only ‘smart kids who can solve tests’ can get admitted to the school? Or that the school is unable to ‘teach’ kids so it only admits those that have already been taught and prepared by parents!

This so-called testing is actually a selection process and is just a kind of ‘academic racism and bias’. Bias for ‘achievers’ and an attitude of ‘if you can’t pass the test then let your ambitions rest.’

So is this kind of testing harmful for kids? Yes it is on so many counts, here are the top three harmful long-term damage that this can cause children

1.     Early on in life a child’s brain is being programmed to recognize learning as stress so more often than not, the thinking brain is paralyzed and the primitive brain is activated leading to memory loss, lack of retention, palpitations during any future tests, exams etc.

2.     The emotional balance in the family goes for a toss as both parents, family are constantly ‘expecting’ the child to perform. This can cause severe damage to the child’s growing socio-emotional development and can lead children to become withdrawn, depressed and feel a constant guilt of not being able to please their parents.

3.     This stress is what brain experts call toxic stress and this can damage cognitive, physical, and emotional growth and development leading to personality and learning problems.

What can parents do about it? Lots, the first step is to understand that a school is a place of learning, exploring, and growing each child to reach their individual potential and so parents need to reject these schools as they are taking away the right of ‘entry into education’ of a child. A right that is upheld by the RTE act of this country. Are you not the ones paying the fee? Then who should be doing the screening and selecting? You or the school? Think about it.

But then why do schools have these tests?  Many schools like to project themselves as ‘hard to get admission to’ so that more parents would want to enroll their children there. Afterall as ‘tiger parents’ we like to get what we feel is not attainable for our child. So by having these tests they try to create a feeling of ‘status’. Do we really want this kind of candy floss status for our children? Are we that gullible? I am sure not.

The RTE act of this country prohibits exams up to a certain age and this is a complete violation of that act that these schools are indulging in. If school is a place where you want your child to build a positive and ethical personality then how can you want to admit your child to a school that practices these unethical and wrongful practices of testing and selection?

A parenting expert that I was talking to recently said, ‘parents react only when it pinches their pocket’. She said this because she saw news about parents’ community in India write to the Prime Minister to control school fees. Well, then parents must also rally together and raise their voice in the media about such abhorrent practices that are harmful for their child.  And this kind of admission testing is expensive both on your pocket and your child. Because it just does not end with the ‘entrance test’, it gives schools an opportunity to charge a ‘donation’ entry for students who did not pass the test and then once your child is in, they can also subtly suggest that the child needs ‘tuitions’ to survive in the school. So what you have actually enrolled your child for is a not-so-merry-go-round of stress, tension and disappointment that can be expensive not only on your pocket but on the well being of your child as a learner. Its time parents react when it pinches their child, and this kind of testing is not only pinching it will leave horrible life long scars on the personality of your child.

Boycott such schools; don’t seek admission in a school that selects children based on their scores. A school is supposed to select a good curriculum and teachers so that children can score well in life. Instead of that the burden of learning is falling on your child, so parents, change this and make the burden of teaching fall on the schools.

Report such schools to the education department, the media today is so accessible, and no school will want negative publicity in the media. Use the social media and spread your disgust about these schools and their unethical practices.

The question is not whether the test was easy or difficult, the point is that kids cannot be selected in a school based on any kind of testing, period. We need to stand up for our children because if we cannot stand up for children then we don’t stand for much. Don’t choose a school that will test your child instead of testing their own teaching quality and capability. Don’t keep quiet, report and rebel with all your might. Remember parents you can choose to either give your child the gift of learning or the burden of stress. Choose wisely as your child depends on and trusts your choice.

Swati Popat Vats leads the franchising, publishing, and teacher education and child education wing of Podar Education Network as its President. Presently the company has over 280 preschools, daycares in India. She also heads the early childhood teacher-training program for the company and has set up over 97 centers. In her 32-year career in education, Swati has taught classes from K.G TO P.G (kindergarten to post graduate) but chose to focus her research and creativity on elevating the cause of preschool education in India. She wants to help refine the teaching learning experience in preschools to enhance the 98% brain development that occurs in children at this age and has designed a philosophy called ‘Kiducation’ for her centers.

Swati is also the President of the Early Childhood Association of India, leader for India of the World Forum Foundation and leader for Asia of the Nature Action Collaborative for Children and founder Director and Parent Mentor of Born smart a parenting website and Institute. She can be contacted on swatipopat@podar.org

Early Childhood Association advisory to Preschools/Kindergartens for Upholding Rights of Children on Children’s Day.

Early Childhood Association advisory to Preschools/Kindergartens for Upholding Rights of Children on Children’s Day.

India is the proud signatory of the UN Charter of child rights and in India 14^th November is proudly celebrated as Children’s day. On this day we at the Early Childhood Association wish to help you gift every child all his/her rights to help all children be happy, healthy and develop holistically.

Have a unique celebration on Children’s Day and make each child’s ‘rights’ an integral part of this children’s day celebration.

1.     Right to wear comfortable clothes- let us understand the difference between fashionable and comfortable clothes. Let children be children and dress like children not mini adults. Schools can introspect about their uniform, is it child friendly?

2.     Right to healthy food- as schools we impart education for life, so let us also take responsibility about the food our children eat. In our celebrations let us avoid feeding junk food to children. Healthy food can also be tasty. Lets also change the way we celebrate birthdays in school, how about letting kids distribute fruit instead of chocolates and sweets

3.     Right to a healthy planet- let us use this planet as something borrowed from our children’s future. Let us ensure that we reuse, refuse, and recycle as much as possible. Let us as schools do away with nature antagonistic activities like salt, flower, or grain rangolis, leaf printing after all we can think of other activities that do not teach children to consider nature as an activity but as a way of life.

4.     Right to education- for every child-what about the not so rich? Let us implement the RTE act as a responsibility and not as a burden.

5.     Right to play- kudos to schools that promote play way learning. Time for schools to rethink about the importance of play in the life of children. After all play is the work of childhood then let us not make children rote learn, write numbers/letters 60 times. Let us help them learn through play.

6.     Right to a safe environment- safety and security is the prime need of young children. Young brains thrive when they feel secure. Train staff not to shout, threaten, hit, or abuse children in any way. Take charge of keeping kids safe from child sexual abuse.

7.     Right to a happy caring family- involve parents in the school as much as possible. Refrain from having a ‘keep out’ policy for parents. Parent partnership will help the school thrive and the child excel.

8.     Right to have fun- let children giggle, chatter, play, squeal, laugh, run, and yawn. ‘Put your finger on your lips’, ‘I want pin drop silence’; ‘put your heads down on the table’ are so not right. A good teacher leads children, does not boss them around.

9.     Right to have friends- give time in the school timetable for children to chat, meet others and exchange stories. Ensure that it is not the teacher talking all the time but kids talk to each other too. Facebook can wait; let us first help them make friends face to face.

10.  And right to be a child- let children be children, don’t steal their innocence. Gift childhood to children and not stress or ‘mini adulthood’.  “If I cant be child right now then when will I enjoy my childhood?”

This children’s day help your teachers and parents understand child rights and the best gift that any teacher, parent, school or country can give its children is – a happy childhood.

HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY.

A 10 point recommendation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development Madam Maneka Gandhi.

Hon. Union Minister  Madam Maneka Gandhi, 

It is a difficult time for our country, and the many dialogues you lead as Union Minister for Women and Child Development. There are raging incidences of malnutrition in Maharashtra and MP, gender abuse, female infanticide, all needing your attention.

Our dialogue, at the Early Childhood Association Conference held at Habitat Delhi on 3^rd September 2016, may not overtly seem to present such a grave issue.However, we can assure you, that you are poised to re-write history- your time and decision will help us decide whether in the future, the Government spends money on building prisons or building pre-schools.Early childhood education, care, and nurturing determines what tomorrows future citizens will become, with 90% of brain development taking place before the age of 3.

Our conference was attended by over 200 school leaders, teachers, educationists, and thought leaders. The Early Childhood Association is a pan India body with a social outreach of 1 million stakeholders in the parenting space.Tabling our major concerns:-

1.    We appreciate the Early childhood Education policy (and curriculum), drafted by the Ministry of Women and Child development but  we do lament that most of the schools are not following the same. Implementation of the ECE policy is a state subject- and the state leaves the preschool  curriculum to the schools in turn. Hence, it is normal to find that pre-school curriculum is largely governed by the requirements of Std. 1 of the school that the children attend. 

2.    Why does every state reinvent the wheel with different policies when the goal is the same? Why are some children forced to write at the age of two and made to read at age 3 and some denied the nurturing, security and nutrition they require in the early years? 

3.    Children who grow up in a stressed environment, will need emotional and social remedial care or may grow up to be a burden and stress on society as fractured youth.   

4.    India’s 70 million disabled do not find inclusion- the toddlers who have disabilities face discrimination from the word go.

In cognizance of the above- please find a 10 point recommendation to the Ministry of Women and Child Development for bringing about a much needed focus and change in Early Childhood Education in our country.

 We request a meeting to elaborate and discuss the same.

1.    For early childhood there should be separate body from the parliamentary act. Like we have RCI for special children and National Institutes in each state for early childhood education. 

2.    Or Early Childhood Education should not be a concurrent subject as children in the first 5 years have same developmental pattern, make safety, curriculum, teacher child ratio, class size, salaries, educational qualifications of teachers as some basic non-negotiable throughout the country. 

3.    ICDS funds should be equally divided in mid day meal and preschool education. 

4.    Regulation to curb preschool and daycare centers coming up like mushrooms in private homes and elsewhere; with no quality standards. 

5.    Every preschool, whether government run or private should go through quality certification by an independent body appointed by Government. 

6.    No heavy academics at the preschool stage (upto 5 years). Homework and bags are already banned by CBSE for standard one and two but then what about preschools?

7.    Draft a common curriculum for ECE to be used by all states. Standard one expectations should be set by  NCERT,  in line with the preschool curriculum as per the ECE policy of the Government. 

a.    This common curriculum should be notified to any one starting a ECE school/ Anganwadi / Pre- Primary School. 

8.    Staff- Child ratio to be defined as per age group and also limit class size. This should be across all sections whether anganwadis or private preschools. 

9.    Develop a ECE qualification framework( new Education Policy says DIET to train the ‘teachers’). This should be common, pan India. 

10.  Continuous in-service training on inclusion, which includes subjects like child development, curriculum, special children, safety and first aid and observation and assessment. 

About ECA:

The Early Childhood Association is an initiative that addresses the need to safeguard the educational rights of all children while making resources available to the educators. There is no distinction as to whether a child comes from a balwadi, anganwadi, or a private preschool. Efforts are taken through workshops, videos, publication of books, parent enrichment programmes, teacher training programmes and other mediums to better the quality of early childhood education received by children from all walks of life. ECA has in its member base, 3500 preschools, 35 NGO’s, and 45 corporate members. (www.eca-india.org) 

Happy Teachers Day

What makes a good teacher? 

In the age of technology and super computers, what makes a good teacher? Someone who can make good power points, or Google search brilliant lessons  or create creative ideas for project work? If this is teaching then computers can do it too, why are there teachers? To teach is to touch a life forever, this is the meaning of a good teacher. A teacher must understand that she touches the student for life, whether she teaches him for one period, one week or one year. A teacher is a role model, a teacher is a mentor, a teacher is a guide, a teacher is a friend, a counselor and lots more. And the best part is that a teacher knows when to play which role!

On teacher’s day, it has become a mandatory ‘rule’ that children will buy cards and gifts for their teachers, teachers will have a holiday etc. but is that all?  Teacher’s day is a day when you recollect all that your great teachers taught you and then try to weigh it with what you have taught your children. Think about what your teachers or great teachers of the world achieved and weigh it with your work and you will realize that your work has just started and so it is not the time to just rejoice but is also the time to rejuvenate your teaching values. It is not the time to only celebrate but also the time to select your goals for the coming year.

What makes a good teacher? 

Some one said, teachers are born and not made, well if that was the case then there would be no teacher training colleges!   So what makes a good teacher? Definitely a qualification because the actual theory tells us about teaching philosophies, children’s development, teaching methods etc. so a teacher must be qualified. A good teacher needs to have certain personality traits like patience , commitment, dedication, hardworking, creative, happy, ability to resolve problems etc as this will impact the budding personalities of all the children whose lives she touches. A good teacher is well read and continues to read and be abreast to all latest trends both in the classroom and in child development and research. A good teacher must have an understanding about cause and effect, as this will impact her behavior, choice of words, actions, selection of teaching aids etc. a good teacher must have ‘teacher presence’, she must have the heart to teach.  

A good teacher must never be patient! She should be understanding, because in handling children and their issues and problems one needs to have an understanding of children. Patience will run out, understating will help you find the solution. A good teacher is proud to be a teacher and is in the profession because she wants to be teacher and not because she could not qualify for any other profession. Such teachers are the death of education.  A good teacher is not judgmental, neither about her students nor about the subjects that she teaches.   The same with current events, she should encourage students to think for themselves. And for this a good teacher always engages the students in discussions and allows them to question.

A good teacher is passionate about rights and responsibilities both of her profession and the students that she teaches. 

A good teacher is an important part of the change in society, and if we want society to change for the betterment of our children then we need good teachers, and good teachers are made by society!

So what is the formula for a good teacher?

A bowl of qualification

A dollop of good personality traits

A serving of knowledge about the field

A dash of cause and effect

 A mix of teacher presence

A  spoonful of job satisfaction

A sprinkling of thinking skills

A topping of good language skills

Simmer on a fire of rights and responsibilities

Garnish with latest technological advances

And you will have the perfect good teacher that can touch the lives of children and contribute to a better nation.

At Early Childhood Association- India we serve you the above ‘teacher preparation’ on this teacher’s day and wish you many more years in this noble profession.

Swati Popat Vats

President

Early Childhood Association- India

PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IDEAS -Dr. Kamini Rege Assistant Professor College Of Home Science Nirmala Niketan Joint Secretary, ECA – INDIA

Action Cues

Preschoolers respond to routine and regularity. Teachers can establish a certain sound or motion that signifies the action they should perform. This may be a way of telling students to close their mouths and turn their attention to the teacher, or it might signal the end of an activity and the preparation for another. Some teachers like to do a call and response system, when they call out one word and the children respond with another to indicate that they are listening. Other teachers might use a special instrument to make the sound, such as a drum or a kazoo. Others prefer to flick the classroom lights on and off or hold up two fingers in the air. It can be helpful to have a specific cue to let the children know that it is time to re-focus their attention on the teacher and prepare for further instructions.

Behavior Charts

Display each child's name on the wall of the classroom on a behavioral incentive chart. Such charts can be very motivating for preschoolers. They enjoy earning the incentives, and will not want to see symbols of poor behavior displayed next to their names. Some teachers choose to coordinate this type of display with a classroom theme, such as frogs collecting bugs or elephants collecting peanuts. A traditional display with students' names surrounded by gold stars or some other typical reward element is also effective. 

Classroom Helpers

Enlisting the students' help in the classroom gives them a chance to feel like they're part of the group and keeps them busy when they become bored or antsy. A bulletin board displaying the day's classroom helpers next to the names of the students is a helpful visual aid. The teacher should rotate classroom helpers every day or week. Classroom helper roles might include line leader, snack helper, art supplies coordinator or calendar assistant.

Planning Carefully

Downtime in a preschool classroom can lead to a teacher's downfall. When there is a lull in the scheduled activity or routine, busy preschoolers will find a way to fill it. An effective preschool classroom management strategy is to make sure that every minute of the day is filled with purposeful activities. If the students understand that there is always a specific activity they are supposed to be doing, they will be less tempted to find their own amusement. Displaying the daily schedule prominently in the classroom helps further this strategy. 

Timely Transitions

The transitional time between activities can be a time of disorder. If preschool students do not have an established procedure for switching from circle time to a table activity, for instance, they may choose to make the transition by running around the room and screaming at one another. To avoid this, teachers should explain to the children what they must do as they move from one activity to the next. Offering a very limited window of time to make this transition is also helpful. Students will be so busy preparing for the next activity that they will not have time left to get into trouble. 

Make It into a Game

It's much easier for students to follow your directions when you make the directions fun. Rather than simply moving them from the snack table to the other side of the room for free play, put on some music and encourage students to get up from the table to dance with you for several minutes before beginning to play. Have a race to see how many of them can put on their coats in the time it takes you to count to 20. Whenever you find students are struggling with a certain set of instructions or acting up at a specific time of the day, try to inject a bit of fun into the situation. 

Giving Classroom Jobs

Giving out jobs to students is a great way to teach them responsibility, and it can also help you manage the classroom effectively. For example, if you appoint one student as the "line leader" and another as the "caboose," they can assist in encouraging their classmates to line up between them. If you have one or several "snack servers," you'll be free to watch the rest of the class while the snack is being handed out--or at least while plates and cups are being handed out, if your students are too young to hand out the snack. You can also appoint one student as "teacher's helper," and this student can deliver messages to the office or to other teachers as needed.

Set a Routine

Routines offer children not only a sense of stability, but also help give children the feeling of confidence and caring from an adult. To better manage your preschool classroom, set a routine and implement it daily. From naps to play time to restroom breaks to snacks, lead the preschool children in these activities at the same time every day. Follow a routine based on the needs of the children, and try not to rush through activities for the sole purpose of staying on schedule,. 

Set a Schedule

In a preschool classroom, having a set schedule can make all the difference between an unruly group of students and a content class. When students have the security of knowing the general progression of events in the classroom each day, it allows them to relax. A set schedule can also help students who have difficulty with transitions, because they can anticipate when a transition is coming and prepare themselves mentally for it. Although your schedule should stay relatively regular from day to day, there can be some flexibility in the schedule without undermining its helpfulness in classroom management.