The joy of exploring children’s thought is always like discovering a wonderland for me.
For several years I was engaged with different age group (3yrs.-16yrs.) children of a private schoolas part of alternative learning programme. I spent a lot of time there with children.
During one such session, we began exploring the question “What is our source of learning? Who teaches us?”
Before reaching this question we went for morning walk for several days around the village. Children and teacher of this private school went with me to see the sky, paddy field, pond, river, jungle, rain, bird, flower and much more. And this journey continued for one month; three four hour each day.
Through the process I wanted them to explore the world outside class textbook, outside the boaring lecture of teacher, outside the confined classroom. To know there are so many things outside to learn, to love and to live with. And it happened.
Children feel relaxed and got opportunity to learn so many things which expressed in their hundreds of writings, drawings and craft. I will talk about their writings some other day. Today I want to saytheir response to both of my question.
Their first loudly spoken answer “nature is the source of all our learning” and “ nature itself is our teacher” made me happy as well as surprised me a little and compelled me to ask some more question to understand what they really want to say. So I asked, “will you please elaborate me what do you really mean by saying ‘we learn from …?”
Without letting me complete the question Raja replied in a louder voice (as he always speaks loudly that you can listen his normal conversation from two hundred meter distance);
-“Don’t you (tu) understand this simple answer?”
Jaan followed her and continue to speak a series of name without any pause, “stream,sky, tree, mountain, rain,sea, river, star, moon, bird,sand,earth,sun, flower…..”
Priya interrupted her and said; “she doesn’t ask us the element from which we learn, she asked us to know what we learn”. Let me tell you sister “we learn anything and everything from nature.
Let me explain you. You can get all the answer from nature, like anything that comes into your mind. For example, we learn all our qualities like,patience, perseverance, gratitude, courage etc. as well as all the subject matter we come across in all our class text book such as calculation, shape, air,colour, texture,evolution, latitude, longitude everything.”
After these answers I feel they are getting clearer about their concept as I expected but still I was little more curious to know how will they explain it.
So I suggest them “can you write about what and how of the qualities you learn from nature.” The whole group answered me “yes”. They asked for paper to my mother who is helping me in interaction and started writing. Even the older one (whom we call teacher) who is present there started writing.
My mother initiated this process of working with children. Whenever she spent time with children and do some activity she became a part of it: write poem,essay, story, experience, letter with them; make craft and drawing with them, play with them, sing with them. After distributing paper to all she gave me a paper too and we all started writing. A calm silence spread over the place.
I would like to quote some of their writing. They wrote pages and pages in Odia but I have translated some portion of it into English for all.
A nine year girl wrote, “I learn not to gossip so much with everyone and be silent like sky. I learn to be calm and manifest my own beauty from flower and to help other like the flower giveshoney to the bee.”
One of the teacher wrote, “As I look more and moreinto the tree, I feel one with it. When I thought more and more about the trees, I learn how to enjoy every moment of life, swing with the air, growing swiftly with nature, feeling the raindrop with joy.”
A ten year old boy who always play table whenever he got time and whatever he get in his hand like food plate, tin etc. wrote, “ When rain comes, thunder creates so many musical sounds. This voice seems like the dhuns of tabla to me, so I learn to play instruments from it.”
A seven year old girl who loves to learn everything wrote, “I learn to lighten my qualities as Sun lightened itself. I learn to be widened myself like Sun spread its light without descreminating people.
The ten year boy, always singing song wrote, “I learn to sing a song with a sweet voice like a fountain sing its sweet song with its motion. How much difficulties comes on the way I can do my work like it.”
A twelve year school dropout new comer wrote, “During stroms animals, birds, human being, all get frightened and fall in difficulties. But the tree never accept defeat. From this I learn not to accept defeat in life.
A fourteen year problematic boy for teacher , who don’t know to read and write, wrote, “I learn to modify myself like rice grains converted itself into rice when it put on fire.”
A girl who lossed both of her parents before someday wrote, “I learn from sun to gives light to everyone. Blind people are living in the prison of darkness every moment. They have high expectations to see the light. We can give them light by giving our eyes to them.
A boy who always give excuses not to write, wrote;
“O Nature, Nature,
I found piece by living
In your house,
The verge of your green forest
Brings newness in my thoughts.
They wrote so many new things which I learn from. The positivity in writtings makes me feel fulfilled. Through their writing I came to know so many things about them which was my main objective. Just by giving some time they open uo like flowers. What more are we expecting…??