Child Series - Naach na jaane, aangan teda (A bad worksman blames his tools)
Child Series - Naach na jaane, aangan teda (A bad worksman blames his tools)
I was in this state board school in Grade Four or Five. We had the school's annual day celebration coming up. All students were asked to participate in different activities like dance, drama and monologue. I was asked to be part of a dance performance. I dreaded the practice as I was not good at dancing. Sure enough, I was not able to keep up with the steps taught and was struggling. In order to cover up for my mistakes, I complained to the teachers about how the other students were not dancing properly.
The teachers spoke to each other in Marathi (as they knew it was a language I did not know well) and remarked about how I did not know how to dance and how I was blaming others. Though I did understand the entirety of the conversation, I knew from the tone and their expressions that this was about me finding fault with others. I was ashamed on hearing this and stopped complaining. The practice was in the afternoon and classes were collapsed to enable practice. Soon after, one day, just before practice, another classmate of mine came and told me that I was not in the dance anymore. I told her that I was part of the dance and that the teachers had not told me anything. She said that the teachers asked her to inform me that I was no longer in the dance and she would replace me.
I should have been happy to be out of the dance, but I was very sad. I already had very low self worth and what was left of it plummeted. Mostly I was upset that the teachers sent a student to tell me this and that too, someone who was to replace me and did not have the courtesy to tell me this themselves. I went home and told my mother that I was removed from the dance as I did not dance well. She said "You don't need to be part of the dance practice. Don't worry too much about it". That was the nicest thing I had ever heard.
I think about this very often now. I was mean and behaved badly by complaining about other students, but on reflection, that seems to have been an attempt to cover up my own shortcomings. 'Naach na jaane, aangan teda’' was me! I was reasonably good at speaking and that was my strength. If students were asked what they wanted to be in or were given roles that were their strengths, and I was given speaking, perhaps, I may have been better at it.
I accept that there is some merit to the argument of letting students try out something new and for all you know, they might be good at it. So even if that was the reason the teachers let me try out dance in the first place, when the teachers saw that I was not performing well, they could have pulled me aside and told me that my strengths lay elsewhere and dance was not something I should be in now, considering that the time for training was very less and the annual day was only a few days away. If I had been spoken to in this manner, maybe, I would not have felt so bad. All of us cannot be good at everything. But how we communicate this to students is what makes all the difference. As a teacher, I am very mindful of this and am very careful when I speak with students about areas to improve.
An article in 'neaToday' on strength based learning states, "Based on research from social work, positive psychology and business, a strengths-based approach can help build student confidence, encourage efficacious behaviour, and support life-long learning pursuits." The article goes on to state that research has shown that identifying student assets in the classroom, which is also known as positive education or asset based learning, improves engagement and perseverance and increases achievement and well wellbeing. In short, students need positive experiences to feel good about themselves and grow in confidence and perform well and this could come from their strengths.
A positive experience was when I was in grade three or four and some students were asked to rehearse a speech and recite it, based on which students were to be selected for giving a speech on independence day. I do not remember now if I was chosen or was selected from the many who auditioned. On the eve of independence day, highly excited, I kept aside my uniform and black ribbons, and polished my one and only pair of black school shoes. We had to reach school by 9 am in the morning and the speech was after the flag hoisting. Next morning, I was all ready, waiting for my mother outside the house and to my utter horror, the front part of the shoe separated from the sole. One moment, all was fine and the next, half the sole separated from the shoe!! I ran inside and in near tears, asked my mother “How do I go to school without shoes?" Even the thought of asking my mother for a new pair of shoes did not cross my mind as I knew that we did not have any money to spare and anyway, the shops would open only around 10 or 11 am. My mother was very calm and said "We will leave early and look for a cobbler."
So we left around half an hour early, searching for a cobbler. We knew that there was a cobbler near the school, but we were not sure if he would open his shop that early (I call it a shop but it was actually a ramshackle tent-like structure on the roadside). So many questions crossed my mind..."What if the cobbler is not there? How will I go to school with torn shoes? Who will give the speech if I can't get my shoes repaired?" As we walked closer, I saw the cobbler in his tent. My heart exploded with joy. Even if there were shops at that time giving out free new dresses or toys, I would not have been as happy. I gave my torn shoe and he quickly stitched it.
My mum and I went to the programme. I gave my speech. Students got chocolates and teachers were given tea and biscuits. At the end of the programme, I was standing beside my mother waiting for us to go home, when the head of school walked toward us. He stopped beside me and my mum and told me "You spoke very well, I am proud of you". He then turned to my mother and said, "Please give her a cup of tea and some biscuits. She has done a really good job.” Those words were music to my ears. That was the sweetest tea and the best biscuits I had ever eaten in my life. The anxiety of the torn shoes and looking for a cobbler early in the morning and worrying about what would happen if I didn't find a cobbler...it was as if it was all a bad dream!!! I was on cloud nine for many days and loved school!
Working on student strengths can indeed work wonders, can make students feel truly good about themselves and can create a long lasting positive experience!!
Image Credit: Deep AI Image Generator
Excerpts:
https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/new-focus-strength-based-learning
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