Here are some questions to ponder. Do you know why a certain film star received an arsenal of weapons from a gangster terrorist? Do you know why witnesses who turn hostile do not get prosecuted for either perjury or wasting police time, or both? Do you know why it takes a decade or longer to try a criminal case in India? Have you ever thought through any solutions to these problems? If you haven’t it might be because of the type of education you received!
Most of us reluctantly accept the way things are because we have been educated to be accepting. We are not educated to be openly critical. We are not educated to argue, protest or confront. The Brits made no bones about it - in their schools we were educated to accept given values and ways of doing things. We were trained to be loyal servants to the status quo.
Most of us oldies were subjected to the traditional approach to learning that focused on mastery of content, with little emphasis on the development of analytical skills and the nurturing of inquiring attitudes. We were the receivers of information, and the teacher was the dispenser. The passivity encourage by teachers was typified by one of my Principals who implored all the girls to be like ‘limpid water in a crystal vase’.
These days I am kept very busy by schools that are running teacher-training courses to introduce the ‘Inquiry approach’ to learning. Unlike traditional learning, this approach is focused on using and learning content as a means to develop information-processing and problem-solving skills. This system is more student centered, with the teacher as a facilitator of learning. There is more emphasis on "how we come to know" and less on "what we know." Students are more involved in the construction of knowledge through active analysis and investigation. They are encouraged to ask questions, and give opinions, and share what they know. They are encouraged to criticize and argue, and confront the conventional wisdom.
At the moment this new approach is restricted to a few schools. However this year the ability to critically analyse has been introduced as part of the CBSE school syllabus. - It is a small start but it is a move towards introducing thinking skills into all of our schools. It is the start of a big change.
Our government and bureaucracy are full of old well educated people of a traditionalist background, who also see, read, and hear, the news reports about hostile witnesses, gangsters and film stars, and murders by politician’s sons. Like us they find them outrageous, but they don’t know how to change things. Critical analysis, change management, and innovation were not part of their schooling, and in adult life they have not become freely critical, outspoken analysts capable of applying the fruits of their analysis to increasingly complex problems.
This last week we have again seen the shortcomings of our government, judiciary, and media. With very little effort these shortcomings would be a thing of the past. But they will be a long time coming. Not because our ‘leaders’ and societal managers are unfeeling, immoral, self-seekers but because they were educated and excelled in consulting a textbook, and regurgitating someone else’s opinion and knowledge. As the newly educated might say: we can expect the same ol’ same ol’ for a long time to come.
