Education and Conservation : Some Parallels Some Questions

Attended a talk by Dr. Rajaram Sharma – at a function organized by Teacher Plus recently as a part of its 25^th year celebrations.

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In the lines below what I attempt is to capture select elements that stayed with me, touched some chord somewhere within and not a draft or ‘note’ on his talk. Probability of the text not doing enough justice is high but I risk it none the less.

I have also made attempts to place thoughts (most of them on wildlife conservation) that visited me as I heard and later wrote.

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Lousy job

One of the lines that has since stayed - if at the end of a talk or a lecture one feels that the person has answered all questions and cleared all doubts the speaker has in all probability done a lousy job! A talk by a teacher, or else, should make one think and I thank Prof. Rajaram Sharma for bringing this out when people, all around, seem to have solutions when many a time they have not even heard the person out!

I recall a one to one meeting at Gujarat where - after the meeting - I was told that if I was more confused than I was before the meeting – the meeting had gone off well! Quite agree – if the talk is good it should enable questions, confusions and disagreement along with agreements. After a Conservation Education (CE) workshop in Meghalaya couple of participants conveyed of their feeling that something was left out and there could have been more! I took it as a compliment. 

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What do we have to offer?

We go to a potter for pots, to a cobbler for repairing foot-wear; in other words we go to people as we seek specific skill-sets we are in need of. What then today, is the specific skill that we go to the teacher for?

In localities, many a time, we see children running after a person selling balloons (and other toys) or sweets but never behind a kabadiwala (scrap-dealer). This could be as the kabadiwala has nothing new to offer! What in today’s time does the teacher have to offer?

Information today is easily available and the challenge that teachers face is what they create of the information available!

In CE where I have dabbled a bit, we have face the situation on whether we need more books or deliberations on how to engage with children (and others) using information available! In other words do we need more books in this age of information overkill or engagement over a period of time?

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Power?

He talked of how a child joining a school feeling scared to enter. This fear is akin to that of crossing a highway. At that point if the child is offered a supporting hand, he or she is eager to hold on. We hold. After a time the child wants to loosen and then leave. At this point we don’t want to let it go. We find it difficult to resist – this urge to be GOD is difficult to let go!

Teaching becomes a subversive activity – gives a sense of power.

I recalled a favourite essay of mine by G K Chesterton where he talks of GOD as being usually shown in a relaxed pose and not taking up action.

How subversive is conservation today for the people who share the landscape with wildlife? Are we cutting of people from forests in our craving for more and more Tiger Reserves?

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Teacher’s role

A teacher should not carry the burden of changing the society but should primarily feel happy at her / his role such that they look forward to the coming today in school.

Unless we enjoy what we are doing and look forward to tomorrow we may not be able to bring in the desired impact!

This stands true for so many of us in the roles that we play. How not to take ourselves too seriously but enjoy the actions and delve deeper into them. One comes across people who feel that the conservation of the entire landscape hinges on their actions often forgetting that the landscape has been there since eons!

In today’s changing times a teacher needs to strive to stay relevant. He drew a parallel with that of moving on a travellator! You are standing at the same place but all around you changes. A teacher is somewhat similarly placed! The challenge for her / him is to stay relevant (and interested!).

In the process they need to be, to emerge as role model of good learners!

So many of us go to a place to give, to contribute, to help despite not being aware (beyond a degree) of the local scenario. So few to learn? Do education / science as practiced today prevent holistic learning? Do they enable our words and body language to be far from those of learners?

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Scary

The feel or ambience of the school scares the child at the first sight!

May not be the best of parallels but this reminded me of a session at a conservation conference. A panel discussion titled ‘Why there is no conservation for dummies’ had a local MLA as one of the speakers who had stated – you scientists have made the IISC so scary that even though it falls within my constituency I am scared to enter!

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Many thanks to Dr. Rajaram Sharma and Teacher Plus for the learning time!

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