Tuesday, December 2, 2014

To alter child's behaviour, it is important to follow the child

If you have read the last month's blog on five levels of learning, you will understand that the school mainly helps the child in learning at a cognitive level ( Level 1 to 3). But some alternative schools, like Waldorf and Montessori, also help the child in developing the 'appropriate behaviours' by following the child.  Here is one example that happened in a Montessori.

In Montessori, adults ( or teachers) are taught to follow the child. This example of learning, described below, occurred at the dining table of a Montessori.


Two children, let us call them Neil and Saket, were eating their tiffin on the dining table. Neil had brought Sabudhana Khicdi , which Saket loves very much. Saket therefore asked for a tbsp of Khichdi to Neil. Neil refused. Saket asked the Montessori Adult to intervene. In such situations, Montessori adult takes a back seat and follows the child. So she asked Saket to directly request Neil. Saket again requested Neil for Khichdi. 

After sometime, Neil gave him a tbsp of khichdi. Saket ate it. But he asked for more. Saket was not eating his tiffin. He kept on looking at Neil's tiffin. He even tried once/twice to directly take the Khichdi from Neil's tiffin. Neil blocked Saket's hand. Saket continued to request, very emotionally. After sometime, Neil again gave him a tbsp of Khichdi. Saket ate it quickly and again asked for more. Then he waited for Neil to give him Khichdi. Neil again gave him a tbsp after some time. Again Saket ate and waited. This drama continued for 10-15 minutes. During this 10-15 minutes, Neil gave him 5-7 tbsp of Khichdi. Saket continued to ask for more but also waited. Neil, who normally does not finish his tiffin, ate his full tiffin that day. Saket waited until his Khichdi was over and then he opened his tiffin. 

What did Saket learn? First, he learnt to request for something which he wanted. Generally children do not learn this. When they want something, they grab it, pull it or cry when they do not get it. Saket avoided these three actions and continued to request in a very right tone. Two, Saket learnt to wait patiently for Neil until he gave. This is perhaps the most difficult habit to learn. Patience. Saket learnt to practice 'patience'. More than anything this habit determines the extent to which the 'potential' of a child unfolds.

What did Neil learn? First, he learnt to 'share'. Neil is an independent child when it comes to eating. He neither asks for any 'food item' from others, nor does he 'give' it to others. For the first time in 4 months, time he 'gave', even though it was little. Surprisingly, 3 days after the event, he brought in Khichdi and gave it to Saket without being requested. No amount of 'cajoling' would have helped Neil's behaviour to change to 'sharing'. Second, he also learnt that 'requesting' for some food item is OK. Next day, Neil asked for a 'cheese dosa' from another girl student. Neil had changed his behaviour.

Many parents want their children to change their child's behaviour, for instance, the habit of sharing, waiting for someone, or requesting before shouting. But they resort to wrong methods - instructing, cajoling, black-mailing, or exhorting. Parents do not know that they cannot change their child's behaviour just by 'instructing' the child. Parents can only 'enable' the conditions and hope that the child learns from it.

Unfortunately, parents are too biased to notice learning situations.  For instance, when i told the above example later to parents, many fathers and mothers said that they would have asked their child 'not to ask for any food item' ( like Saket did). They think that it is akin to begging. Some parents also said that they would have asked their child to 'share'.

Some parents have intuitive sense of what should be done in a situation. But most parents do not know how to enable such 'dense situations' that are ripe for learning. Such dense situations - where emotions and real events happen - are required for learning. Once the situation has been 'enabled', it is important to step back and not interfere in the learning process by letting the 'biases' interfere. In the above example, Montessori adult ( or teacher) watched the proceedings without making any comment. She just followed the children. She was careful to see that Saket did not 'put' his hand in the tiffin of Neil, for instance. Neither did she ask Saket to eat his own tiffin and not 'ask' for anything.

This is a paradox. If you want to change the child's behaviour, it is important to 'follow the child', instead of leading the child. Many parents want to inculcate the right 'culture' ( or what they call 'Sanskar' in marathi or Hindi) in their children, but they do not know how.  Instead of following the child, they constantly try to lead the child.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Learning is painful, individualistic and idiosyncratic

There is a huge difference between learning and teaching. To understand learning, one has to see it. But how can one see learning when learning happens in the head. So here is a chance to see learning 'happen'. See this video tape of live-learning of a young toddler, which will help us peep into the mind of a learner. 


After seeing this video ( of the child we shall call Adi), you will appreciate three characteristics of learning:

1. Learning is painful

We assume that learning is joy and fun. But contrary to this understanding, learning is painful. We watch this everyday in a Montessori. When a child is 'learning' something real, his face is taut and tense. When he cannot solve a problem, like Adi in the above video, the child is frustrated and often throws the 'items'. Sometimes the child yells and even beats someone closer to her.

Sometimes the pain of learning is seen differently. For instance, when the child works on something where he is learning, like Adi, the effort of learning is so high that he wants rest after doing the activity. Or if we praise 'right' outcome in activities, we have observed that the child avoids taking challenging activities later because he is more worried about performing poorly. 'Praising child for right performance' hampers the child learning. Carol Dweck has documented the effects of performance-anxiety and learning extensively.  Montessori therefore avoids praise.

As the child grows, he or she cannot show this pain easily to others. Instead of showing his frustration of learning, he shows it in more acceptable ways of defiance or disengagement. Without helping the child to assimilate the pain of learning, the child does not learn.

2. Learning is individualistic

Even if the classroom is full of students, every student learns at a different pace. If you see Adi's video above, one can imagine many different ways in which Adi could have been helped to finish the cylinder rods successfully and that too in lesser time. But would our help facilitate Adi's 'learning'? Help, at a wrong time in a wrong way, hampers learning.

In my working in a Montessori, I have realised that the 'right' timing of help is very very tricky. After many such attempts, I have discovered that Montessori's policy of 'not helping' is a better policy. As the child grows old, the policy of 'helping only when asked' is perhaps a better policy to facilitate learning. ( But that too requires planning by the teachers!) Helping a child definitely helps learning, but doing it without hurting the child's self-confidence is a bigger challenge. Help from other children is more effective than help from older adults for the child. And that is why, multi-age classrooms like that of Montessori are more helpful.

Homework system has got maligned in the education system. But due to homework, help from other sources is available to the child. In other words, if the parents can help the child do the homework with the right spirit, it actually helps the child get the right help before it is too late.

3. Learning is idiosyncratic

'Idiosyncrasy' means that learning can happen anytime anywhere. What is Adi learning while putting cylinders in the blocks? He is learning about the physical properties of length and diameters through his senses. He can learn the same 'properties' even when he is working with pink tower? Or trying to put screw in the right hole? Or when he is trying to put his legs in the right shoe? His learning of 'properties' can get 'completed' in any of this instances. Once the child 'sees' the problems, he uses other situations to connect with it. That is why even when the child fails in producing the right outcome, it does not matter.

In our normal coercive learning systems of schools, we always insist only on one 'right way' of learning. We do not help the child in connecting one 'learning problem' with other. When we are teaching latitude/longitude in Geography, for instance, we do not help him connect the same problem with 'Geometry'. Or we do not help him understand the concept of 'light' by showing how India has daylight when USA has night? When using arithmetic operations, you will observe some children struggling with subtraction and addition because of the difficulty in carrying forward 'the tens' in the decimal system. But the same child can easily calculate the amount of money he has to take from the vendor when he is buying toys. In short, Interconnections of concepts across subjects is a major source of learning that we miss in normal schools.

Here parents can immensely help their children. Life is interconnected; subjects in the schools are not. Parents can help their children learn if they can help the child interconnect the concepts in different subjects like geography to water management. Or demonstrate the relevance of concept in real life such as by showing how a bell works. Real-life demonstration like taking child to a real factory also helps.

Summary

Montessori method works because the environment is designed to be 'learning-friendly'. Right from the scientific kits to the method of teaching, everything is designed to help the child tackle the above learning difficulties. Every child is taught individually. That helps the child chose his own pace and convenience. When the child is stuck he learns from others while 'observing' others in the multi-age classroom, because the child can sit and 'do nothing' in Montessori . Because the child is not praised for right outcomes, the child is not afraid of poor performance.

And more importantly, the child is helped to connect his learning with day-to-day life in a continuous manner. For instance, the child connects 2D images of cards with 3D objects all the time. See this example of introducing vegetables with cards.

By laying proper foundation of learning-enabled child, child is helped for his life. It helps him use these practices of learning throughout his life even the external environment is less friendly.

Courtesy and copyright of video: Sapience Montessori House of Children 

Sunday, May 25, 2014

How Montessori method helps a child to increase his attention span

Every teacher of play school and parent assumes that a child will always be active, dancing and moving. Infact some parents also believe that more the child is noisy, more the intelligent she is. But every teacher knows that learning cannot happen until the child sits still and can focus on something for a reasonable period of time. Not just psychologists, every parent also knows this. So it is surprising that only Montessori method has definite methods to increase the attention span of a child.

Montessori does this impossible-looking feat through some innovative 4 design elements of kits, methodology, and use of child psychology. 

1. Montessori Kits are designed to fulfill the innate need of sensitive period. 

This helps the child to do what he most needs. Initially a child takes up EPL activities like pouring water, buttoning, and other activities that makes him independent. Later, the child takes up sensorial activities that uses his senses of sound, taste and touch. No activity is introduced to child until she is ready. For instance, child is introduced to writing only when his readiness is 'measured and identified' by drawing Geometrical insets. Therefore child loves to perform activities because it fulfills his innate need. 

2. In each kit, multiple activities are designed with increasing complexity to prevent onset of boredom . 

If the activities are not challenging, the child leaves the material immediately. That is why children rarely play with toys. In Montessori, multiple activities in  a single kit are designed with increasing challenge. For instance, in a cylinder block, almost 120+ activities can be performed which are increasingly difficult. Because the activities are challenging, the child does not feel bored and remains engaged with the same kit. A child is able to maintain his attention for a longer time. 

3. A child's internal drive is invoked by offering him the full freedom . 

A child has a freedom to perform anything in a Montessori. He can eat at any time, play if he is bored, or just still and do nothing. He also has a choice to repeat an activity n number of times. Her wishes are respected in the Montessori fully. This makes a child feel that he or she can do anything in the Montessori. Because the child realises that he/she need not 'manipulate' anyone to do anything, he is in command. This calms him from inside. This helps him perform the activities without any compulsion for a long time. He is driven by his internal force, rather than by any external pressure of approval from the teacher. 

 4. A child's motivation is kept intact by avoiding the pointing of mistakes as well as praise.

When a child's mistakes are pointed, even though with good intention, he/she is embarrassed and avoids situations and challenges that leads him to make mistakes. In a Montessori, the material kits are self corrective. This enables the child to correct his own errors himself. On the other hand teachers are also trained not to point mistakes. This helps the child to avoid the embarrassment of failing. On the other hand teachers do not even praise. Because there is no praise for doing anything right, the child also does not chose easy activities to get approval. Child therefore performs an activity because of his internal motivation in this scenario.

Consequences of the above four factors: Initially when the child starts with Montessori the child barely sits still. But slowly and surely, helped by the factors  3 and 4 ( freedom and acceptance of mistakes policy), the child manages to use the designed kits and concentrate for 15 minutes to half an hour by the end of first year in Montessori. When the child starts learning English language and arithmetic in the second year, her attention span continues to increase beyond an hour.