Buddha's enlightenment: My daughter's nightmare
At this very moment my wife is struggling to teach our 8-year-old daughter the subject of social studies. Of course, tomorrow is my daughter's SS exam. I just overheard my wife telling her, "You are not able to remember because you're not taking interest." And what the kid is supposed to remember? About Buddha, his enlightenment on a full moon day, Vesak day celebrations and more of similar stuff.
When I arrived home this evening from work, my daughter greeted me with two innocent questions: What is tradition? And second, what's enlightenment? I could answer the first one, but for the latter, I was speechless. How to explain enlightenment which is one of the rarest phenomenon in the history of our evolution? As far as I know (or suspect) enlightenment is about rising above the mind and operating at the level of just pure consciousness (awareness). How on the earth a student of class 3 suppose to know about enlightenment?
I feel compelled to write about what's happening because this episode, now playing in front of me, has touched some ancient memories. What's happening between my wife and daughter is exactly what happened between me and my mother--decades back--when I was in primary school. Like my daughter I was also taught by my mother, SS being her favourite subject. And indeed, I too used to be at loss to appreciate why one should know about when Babar invaded India, who was Akbar's father and how many wells Ashoka got drilled for the citizens of this kingdom. Like my wife, my mother felt I needed her help otherwise I would not get "good marks." I don't remember getting good marks ever in SS. In fact, once after an SS exam, during the exit interview (interview about how many questions did I do, what I wrote, etc.), my mother got so disappointed that she just threw the examination paper in sheer despair.
Life has come to full circle. Now, it's my daughter's turn to struggle with SS and her mummy's turn to "teach" her.
I feel like intervening and telling my wife that I deeply understand the problem of my daughter's lack of interest in SS and that repeatedly telling her to take interest won't help. "Taking interest" in something in which you're not interested is not simple. Interest in not connected to a switch that can be simply flipped on. I feel like empathising with my daughter and telling her she is okay. Nothing wrong in not having interest in SS. But this is no time for such an intervention when we're just a night away from the exam.
What's there in SS to hook a child? Why should a child feel interested in knowing that Buddha got enlightenment while sitting under a tree on a full-moon day? It's a subject that doesn't throw a challenge of solving problems unlike maths. It doesn't dazzle a child with the mysteries of the outer world unlike science. It doesn't offer opportunities for creative expression unlike languages.
Well, I am not a teacher, but having been a student, I feel a subject can be made interesting or uninteresting by the way a teacher presents it to the students. Sometimes, a teacher should stop and ask herself: Why should my students be interested in what I am teaching beyond the compulsion of having to sit in an exam? If a teacher can find an answer to this question, learning could be fun, not a burden.
As for my daughter and wife, I am going to share my thoughts with them tomorrow. Let the examination be over.
When I arrived home this evening from work, my daughter greeted me with two innocent questions: What is tradition? And second, what's enlightenment? I could answer the first one, but for the latter, I was speechless. How to explain enlightenment which is one of the rarest phenomenon in the history of our evolution? As far as I know (or suspect) enlightenment is about rising above the mind and operating at the level of just pure consciousness (awareness). How on the earth a student of class 3 suppose to know about enlightenment?
I feel compelled to write about what's happening because this episode, now playing in front of me, has touched some ancient memories. What's happening between my wife and daughter is exactly what happened between me and my mother--decades back--when I was in primary school. Like my daughter I was also taught by my mother, SS being her favourite subject. And indeed, I too used to be at loss to appreciate why one should know about when Babar invaded India, who was Akbar's father and how many wells Ashoka got drilled for the citizens of this kingdom. Like my wife, my mother felt I needed her help otherwise I would not get "good marks." I don't remember getting good marks ever in SS. In fact, once after an SS exam, during the exit interview (interview about how many questions did I do, what I wrote, etc.), my mother got so disappointed that she just threw the examination paper in sheer despair.
Life has come to full circle. Now, it's my daughter's turn to struggle with SS and her mummy's turn to "teach" her.
I feel like intervening and telling my wife that I deeply understand the problem of my daughter's lack of interest in SS and that repeatedly telling her to take interest won't help. "Taking interest" in something in which you're not interested is not simple. Interest in not connected to a switch that can be simply flipped on. I feel like empathising with my daughter and telling her she is okay. Nothing wrong in not having interest in SS. But this is no time for such an intervention when we're just a night away from the exam.
What's there in SS to hook a child? Why should a child feel interested in knowing that Buddha got enlightenment while sitting under a tree on a full-moon day? It's a subject that doesn't throw a challenge of solving problems unlike maths. It doesn't dazzle a child with the mysteries of the outer world unlike science. It doesn't offer opportunities for creative expression unlike languages.
Well, I am not a teacher, but having been a student, I feel a subject can be made interesting or uninteresting by the way a teacher presents it to the students. Sometimes, a teacher should stop and ask herself: Why should my students be interested in what I am teaching beyond the compulsion of having to sit in an exam? If a teacher can find an answer to this question, learning could be fun, not a burden.
As for my daughter and wife, I am going to share my thoughts with them tomorrow. Let the examination be over.
posted by Atul Mathur | 8:10 PM
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