INTRODUCTION:
The
book, Divaswapna has been written by a prominent Gujarati educationist and
teacher Gijubhai Badheka (1885-1939). It was first published in Gujarati
language in 1932 and was translated into different languages subsequently.
The
book was broadly divided into four main parts viz, the experiment begins, the
progress of the experiment, at the end of the term and the last gathering. These
four chapters bring into light the concepts, the experiment, the challenges and
the outcomes.
BACKGROUND:
The
author, Mr Gijubhai Badheka, was a strong antagonist of the existing education
system which he incidentally called in his book “the old servile system”. He was strongly against the kind of school whose
sole objective was to teach and guide students to overcome the ultimate test at
the end of the year called the “examination”.
He
has propounded a new and different perspective, concept and method of his own
to counter the existing system. He propagated that school should be a place
where children feel free to learn, enjoy and like. Teacher should be like a
friend and not feared by children. Children should develop the zeal to learn
and experience the joy of learning in the school.
With
his enthusiasm to highlight the fault in the existing system through his own
concept, he took the extra step in convincing the Education Officer to provide
him the opportunity to experiment his concept in the school, which he succeeds
with his perseverance.
He
has experimented these concepts among the 4th Standard children in a
school in Gujarat. This book “Divaswapna” is where he put down into paper his
experiences in the entire process.
THE CHALLENGES:
We
all know changes are not easy to come by. More so is to try and make people
accept and understand those changes. To put into practice the new concepts and
methods of his into a school to challenge that system is an uphill task for Mr.
Gijubhai. He had faced all kinds of challenges from different corners be it from
the children themselves, the teacher as well as the authority, i.e the
education officer.
To
win over 4th standard students, who have been groomed to a certain
type of system and have imbibed strong perspectives on that system is one of
the biggest challenges that Gijubhai has encountered in his experiment. For
instance, “the game of silence” that he tried to put into practice on his very
first day at school does not work out as he expected. Silence and orderly
manner have never been a practice in that school.
Another
tough challenge comes from the teacher of the school itself. For a teacher who
has been teaching in that kind of system, it may not be a very welcomed moved
that in a way is challenging their method and technique of teaching. This
perception has been very evident from the sarcastic comments and often,
outburst from the Head Teacher that Gijubhai have received from time to time.
Gijubhai have always been in the receiving ends of the Teachers and Head
Teachers resentment.
Besides,
the fact that the ultimate evaluation of the children will be done not on his
new concept, but in the existing system, i.e., the term end examination is a
big challenged for Gijubhai. This
possesses one of the biggest risks for him as the performance/success of his
students at the end of the day will determine whether his new concept conveys a
desire message to the authority or will it be nullified.
THE NEW METHOD
OF TEACHING:
Mr.
Gijubhai introduces number of new technique in teaching, which, others teacher
felt very threatening to. However, his new methods of teaching work out very
successfully with the children. Through these methods, children developed the
art of writing, speaking, orderly behavior, hygiene or cleanliness. In short,
children attained the zeal of learning and experience the joy of it.
Storytelling:
Mr.
Gijubhai introduces the concept of “story telling” method, which was
skeptically viewed by fellow teachers in the school. However, he proved his
skeptics wrong in using story as a method of teaching. Through story telling he
taught students orderly manner, the art of listening attentively, discipline
and the sense of silence at other’s speech.
Also,
storytelling is a wonderful tool to build a good rapport between the teacher
and pupils. Gijubhai was accepted by pupils as friend which is absent with
every other teacher in the school.
Games
and Sports:
Playing
games in school never was considered an ideal situation of learning. It was a
popular viewed that children should stay within the four corners of the
classroom, read their textbooks and listen attentively to what was taught by
the teacher. That was the idea/concept of what an ideal school should be like.
Despite
that, Gijubhai introduces games as his teaching module in the school. Through
games he taught children the art of decision making, teamwork etc.. For
instance, there was a big disagreement between children on what kinds of games
they should be playing. Some wanted ‘kabaddi’ while the others wanted ‘khokho’.
In such case, children have to make decision and come to terms on the kind of
game they should be playing.
On
the flipside, Gijubhai also highlighted to others how the concept of division
and instilling a competition among the children create adverse impact on them.
The winner-loser mentality has created unnecessary discord between children.
Activity
Based Learning:
Learning
by doing is a new technique of teaching Mr. Gijubhai has introduce in the
school. The technique as usual, does not go well with other teachers. For example, to teach geography, he took his
students to the river, mountains etc or took measurement of the school itself.
In that way students better understand what was taught to them.
Library:
Gijubhai
was definitely aware about the importance of a having a collection of books
which children can read. He was of the view that the availability of such books
at their disposal would instill in the children the zeal of learning. It can infuse
in the children the habit of reading which is essential in education. Besides,
his idea of seeking contribution from each child a book creates the sense of
ownership in the class. Also, through this pooling together of resources each
children end up reading a couple of books each month.
NEW PERSPECTIVES:
By
experimenting such numbers of new tools/technique in teaching, Mr. Gijubhai
attempted to infuse different perspective towards education among the
authority, society, teachers and the children themselves. His main purpose of
the experiment was to put forth a new perspective and concepts in education
among the people.
In
this book, “Divaswapna” many important concepts get highlighted. Those new
concepts are essentially forming the basis of child’s education. We will discuss in brief some of those new concepts.
Child
Centered Teaching/Learning:
Education
in the country was built around curriculum. Our education system was structured
in such a way that children should qualify the test so designed according to
their currulum (standard) to be able to get promoted in the next level. This
rate of success of the students directly determines the performance of the
teacher. As such, the primary objective of teacher in a school was to make sure
the syllabus has been covered and learned by-heart by the students.
This
concept of curriculum centered education was what Mr. Gijubhai wanted to do away
in our system of education. He was propagating that the child should be the center
of learning. As such, even in his class the primary focus was to instill in the
children the enthusiasm to learn. He experimented different methods such as
storytelling, games etc. to create that zeal in the children.
In
short, he was propagated that paradigm shift in our education system, from “curriculum
centered” learning to “child centered” learning.
Talent
nurturing/Creativity:
Gijubhai
strongly believe in promoting the creativity of a child. He was against
promoting only the child who fare better than the other children and neglecting
those weaker students. For instance, he flatly denied the participation of his
class in the annual meet of the school as it provides opportunity to only those
children who are better than others. He called it a “mere hypocrisy” as it was
done to impress the commissioner who was to grace the event.
Instead,
he nurtures the talents that is in the children and groomed them to the extent
that the whole class of his performs in the event. The performance of the class
eventually took to surprise all his skeptics, from the teacher till the
commissioner.
Holistic
approach to education:
‘Education
is all around development’. This is a phrase easier said than done. Never was
it reflected in the education system that education means all round
development. The popular perception of the teachers, parents and even students
during those days was education means what is taught from the book. As such,
children in the school were clump together within the four corners of the
classroom, listening the lengthy lectures from the teachers throughout the
school timings.
Gijubhai
was propagating that education does not only mean what is taught inside the
classroom, it encompasses all those activities which includes the physical,
mental and emotional wellbeing of the child. He propounded that education
should not be confined to the curriculum or the teaching inside the classroom
alone. Education means beyond those boundaries.
Peer
Learning:
Children
learn not from teachers and books alone, but from each other as well. It was
this concept that Gujibhai had introduced in the school. He organized different
kinds of activities, games etc., through which children learn from one another.
No
Punishment:
Punishment
in schools has been so widely practiced that it was felt normal even by the
students. Children are of the view that if a child fails to learn the lesson he
deserves punishment. However, on cross questioning them, they themselves
express how they dislike punishment.
Gijubhai
strongly challenged this concept of punishment, where in children are forced to
learn their lesson. Not understanding the lesson is not a crime and children
should not be victimized on the pretext of not learning their lesson. Gijubhai
strongly put up his viewed on the issue to the Education officer and even
requested him to stop the used of punishment in school.
Parent-Teacher
Co-operation:
The
role of parents in children’s education was never thought before. It was a
popular perception that the education of children lies in the hands of the
teachers. The responsibility of the parents restricted to the enrollment of the
child in the school.
This
popular perception was strongly criticized Gijubhai. He knows the importance of
Parent-Teacher co-operation in the education of the child. He understands that
without this desire co-operation success are hard to come by. For instance, to develop
the sense of personal hygiene or cleanliness, he needs the co-operation of the
parents. He had eventually called for a parents-teacher meeting, though not
very successful to his expectation.
THE DILEMMA:
It
is undeniable that the concepts that Gijubhai has propagated, if effectively
implemented, would suit the kind of ideal school that we have dreamt of.
However, even after a century has passed by since the conception of these
ideas, we are yet to see these concepts getting translated into our education
system i.e. our schools. As such, there are certain issues that need to be
addressed in order to see these concepts being put into practice.
ü
- Gijubhai’s concepts of education that he had experimented in a school are ideas that he has conceived, and experimented by himself. Therefore, the big challenged that we faced today is how do these concepts get translated to our teachers in the school? Is our teacher’s efficient enough to practice these concepts in their class? If not, how do we equip them to do so?
- Challenging and changing the existing system is not an easy task. We need a strong structural support. The issue with us today is how do we get this structural (say authority) support?
- Gijubhai’s proposed concept of “child-centered” learning is what we need in our schools today. However, equally (if not bigger) important to it is “teacher-centered” education. Is our teacher’s education designed is such a way that our teacher will be able to imbibe such concepts? Does our teachers’ education system highlight such “sensitivity” so that our teachers will be able to put those into practice?