April's Musings

August 20, 2006
Back to School!

Now is the time of year for back to school.

The leaves change, the nights crispen, and cash registers ring as new clothes and school supplies create hope for the next school year.

I loved school when I was a child. I was astonished on the first day of school when some children were crying and clinging to their parents. I was thrilled to be in the land of learning.

Of course as I grew older, teachers, friends and experiences cooled some of my ardor, but I always remember those first hopeful years as grounding and positive. They were a great set up for education and for self confidence.

In my travels I have had the opportunity to visit some very simple schools. In the slums of New Delhi I sat in on teaching in the gali schools. These schools are often as straightforward as a chalk board and a teacher and they may even be conducted under a tree. If not under a shady tree, a small one room classroom is used. And I mean small. No chairs and no desks, only mats on the floor and little knees touching as children sit with slates on their laps and notebooks in their hands. In these simple settings eager young pupils gaze at their teacher with complete respect. They recite their lessons, they learn songs, they perform dances and once a week they exercise in the open air—learning to learn, they develop their understanding of their own potential. With their dedicated teachers they learn to dig within themselves for their own intelligence. They learn reading and counting and arithmetic and music. They learn to become a part of society, they develop their confidence so that one day they too can reach outside of a slum and perhaps, like their teacher in a sari, or project coordinator in a clean shirt and pants, they will become examples to others too.

I just love teachers of the very young, and their students too. I thought I would write a musing on how I would teach if I was a teacher too!


If I were a teacher, Of little children, I would arrive early every day so when my students came I could greet them with a smile

If I were a teacher I would always have nature in my class—a flower, a branch, a stone an iridescent shell—and talk about it with my students.

If I were a teacher, I would look into the eyes of every child and believe "You are my pupil. I will teach you"

If I were a teacher I would teach all of my pupils how to draw, and I would give all of them a pencil of their own.

If I were a teacher I would show my students a map of the world—and teach them where other children live.

If I were a teacher I would discuss the weather every morning—and how it influences every day.

If I were a teacher I would teach the children that they are always learning, even when playing, and that all learning is important.

If I were a teacher, I would thank my students and tell them that they are teachers too.