Quick review: सिकाउने शैली
Of this book in Nepali
सिकाउने शैली, खगराज बराल
सिकाउने शैली or The Art of Teaching. Probably, that’s the translation in English.
Finished reading this book, which is a collection of short articles based on diverse experience of Khagaraj Baral, ranging from working as a government appointed teacher in remote districts of Nepal to being a Secretary for Ministry of Education.
I am still processing the ideas in the book and going through my notes. But wanted to quickly share two things that made me more curious and even question my own assumptions about Nepal's education sytem.
सिकाउने शैली भन्ने topic मै:
There's this amazing science teacher named Chandra Poudel who profusely uses inductive and deductive technique (आगमन/निगम) to teach the students about a complex phenomenon of "stimulus and reaction" in plants and animal. He keeps the students curious, lets them ask questions, and gives tons of examples the students could relate to.
My realization: there are these 'bright spots' in the government schools, passionate enough and patient enough to empower the students. Few and far between. But I’m curious to know more about these bright spots, may be even interact with them.
सबैको आँखा पाठ्यक्रममा:
Almost every professional, non-governmental, activists want their own issues and agendas to be incorporated into the school level curriculum. Going through the list - I almost fainted 🙂
climate change, environment pollution, earth's rising temperature, wildlife conservation, nature conservation, communicable disease like swine flu, hiv aids, behavior towards the elder citizens, violence against women, domestic violence, child rights, disabled rights, world peace, gender rights, banning of land mines and (this was shocking), indigenous people, dalit rights, right to information, legal system, comprehensive sexual education, discrimination... and on and on and on.
There's an interesting part where the lawyers and advocates had suggested him that schools should teach law as a compulsory subject from class 5.
My realization: सबैलाई आफ्नो बिषय अत्ति नै महत्वपूर्ण लाग्छ - अहिलेका विद्यार्थीले यो सिकेनन भनि त बर्बादै हुन्छ, भन्दै आफै बाजा बजाउनेहरु धेरै रहेछन। No wonder, studying from Nepali course books feels like trying to carry an elephant in a backpack - the weight of excessive content makes it cumbersome for students to progress.
An example:
I was going through the “Social Studies and Human Values Education” book of Grade 6. The book has 9 sections, spread over in 62 chapters. My first reaction was: who ever approved this - is that person even sane?
The chapters range from:
society and community
rural municipality
foundation of development
our festivals
our religious and cultural heritage
we citizens
our civic responsibilities
democratic norms and values
societal problems and social evils
conflict and conflict resolution
Nepal’s unification and people’s participation
Nepal British War
our economic activities
our tourism
economic resources
Earth’s introduction
Natural vegetation
natural heritage and human relationship
population
population management
Nepal’s international relations
communication technology
etc and etc and etc
This might be the big reason why our school course books and curriculum are bloated.
I still have to re-read through it to get more insights out of it. There are definitely many chapters directly related with the art of teaching, along with topics related to teacher training, curriculum, and classroom observation.
I recommend this book to all the teachers and anyone interested to know more about Nepal’s education system.