Gaining Perspective
As I had mentioned in my earlier post, I would be volunteering to run a Language/ Creative Writing Workshop with children from under privileged areas. I'm lucky to be a part of an institution that takes doing social work very seriously. They have had these 'Summer Camp' programmes for the past three years now, and this year, I decided to partake in this charitable cause. Around 250 students from various schools between the ages of 5 to 10 are grouped age-wise and have two classes everyday ranging from Yoga to Music, from Art to Language.
And boy has it been eye-opening.
I mean, you look at these kids and they are so different from the kids I usually teach- and they're the same too. A paradox? Yes. Let me explain.
For one thing, having studied in local government schools, most do not have a grip on basic reading and writing (for their respective ages). Neither do they have any English vocabulary to work with. I went in with guns ablazing, ready to get into paragraph writing, but to my utter shock- nay horror- the ugly truth was indeed a difficult pill to swallow.
However, never one to back down, I gained my bearings and adjusted my course. Knowing that I would have to restrict my Language class to acquisition of basic English words, I carried out activities that aimed at giving students a positive, meaningful and engaging experience. The accompanying teachers who were sent in to observe were rather skeptic at first, but as the kids began to respond with nothing less than joy (what with collaboration, opportunities to present their ideas etc.), they realised that teachers have so much power to do good.
So although they may not have the academic prowess of the kids I teach (through no fault of their own and more so because of the hand that they've been dealt), they are alike in that they too feel what the privileged kids feel, get excited when a teacher praises their effort, get embarrassed when the teacher shows displeasure.
Nevertheless, a question that comes to mind is this: these kids now have a dose of what a positive educational experience feels like. Going back into the abyss would be rather heart-breaking. I know I paint a dreary picture, but ignorance is bliss after all.
So I feel sorry for them; I wish I could take every single one of them under my wing, I wish I could, but I can't. I guess praying for them, as I pray for my kids, will have to suffice. I have formed a Whatsapp group with some of the teachers, the few who have showed a willingness to aspire to become better- to make a difference, and I shall continue to coach them. That is the best that I can do. The rest is up to God.
As for the kids I teach on a regular basis who are endowed with a good education, who have all the resources, the luxuries that these poor kids don't, I feel like they're such brats for not appreciating how easy they have it. If only they would maximum use out of the opportunities presented before them, handed out on silver platter, I wonder what heights they'd reach. If only.
And boy has it been eye-opening.
I mean, you look at these kids and they are so different from the kids I usually teach- and they're the same too. A paradox? Yes. Let me explain.
For one thing, having studied in local government schools, most do not have a grip on basic reading and writing (for their respective ages). Neither do they have any English vocabulary to work with. I went in with guns ablazing, ready to get into paragraph writing, but to my utter shock- nay horror- the ugly truth was indeed a difficult pill to swallow.
However, never one to back down, I gained my bearings and adjusted my course. Knowing that I would have to restrict my Language class to acquisition of basic English words, I carried out activities that aimed at giving students a positive, meaningful and engaging experience. The accompanying teachers who were sent in to observe were rather skeptic at first, but as the kids began to respond with nothing less than joy (what with collaboration, opportunities to present their ideas etc.), they realised that teachers have so much power to do good.
So although they may not have the academic prowess of the kids I teach (through no fault of their own and more so because of the hand that they've been dealt), they are alike in that they too feel what the privileged kids feel, get excited when a teacher praises their effort, get embarrassed when the teacher shows displeasure.
Nevertheless, a question that comes to mind is this: these kids now have a dose of what a positive educational experience feels like. Going back into the abyss would be rather heart-breaking. I know I paint a dreary picture, but ignorance is bliss after all.
So I feel sorry for them; I wish I could take every single one of them under my wing, I wish I could, but I can't. I guess praying for them, as I pray for my kids, will have to suffice. I have formed a Whatsapp group with some of the teachers, the few who have showed a willingness to aspire to become better- to make a difference, and I shall continue to coach them. That is the best that I can do. The rest is up to God.
As for the kids I teach on a regular basis who are endowed with a good education, who have all the resources, the luxuries that these poor kids don't, I feel like they're such brats for not appreciating how easy they have it. If only they would maximum use out of the opportunities presented before them, handed out on silver platter, I wonder what heights they'd reach. If only.
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