SAIIER 2020:Transition School
Transition School, founded in 1984, is a primary and middle school for the children of Aurovilians. The aim underlying all of our work is to try to realize the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother to promote human unity and to help the children to develop integrally, so that they may become conscious of their full potential. The students and teachers at Transition School come from many different countries and different states of India. This creates a multi-cultural environment that exposes all of us at Transition School to humanity’s rich cultural heritage, and can help everyone acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes that can foster human unity.
The team of adults that work with the children collaborate and try to provide the best conditions that we can to aid the children’s growth. That helps our children feel safe, grow in confidence and to be aware of all aspects of themselves. The children are also encouraged and given opportunities to work together, to support each other and to learn how to resolve differences.
Activities of the year:
This year Transition School had about 150 students, ranging in age from 6-14 (grades 1 through 8). The school program intends to initiate what will hopefully be a life-long process of individual growth towards a balance of body, mind, and spirit. We want to provide a strong educational program including reading, writing, math, sciences, computer, environmental and social studies, French, Tamil, Awareness Through the Body (ATB), arts, crafts and music. The children also participate in a regular sports program. The classes are presented in different ways including interdisciplinary and small group learning activities. This program and the school environment are embedded in a Values for Human Unity program.
The classes and the activities offered are all viewed as tools for self discovery, as well as opportunities for the children to learn to express themselves, and they are based on principles that lead to the development of desirable qualities and values. Practices and methods that heighten observation, concentration, self-awareness and creativity are used, and themes such as truth, fraternity, freedom, and progress are introduced so that our children can develop and really explore a sense of values.
Some examples of our activities are:
- Classroom meetings which encourage an atmosphere of cooperation and can be a forum for many topics such as resolving conflicts and others: respect, friendship, kindness, and compassion.
- Within the classes students share tasks and often work together in small groups.
- Additionally we try to have exchange of learning activities with different age groups. For example the older children and the younger children meet to read together. Students in grades 1 and 2 have ‘reading buddies’.
- Classes often learn through projects. For example, one of the Science projects done by the 5th graders this year was the Body Systems. We mainly looked at 3 systems: the skeletal, digestive and circulatory systems. The students coloured, cut, pasted and created 3D models about 1 metre tall. They researched on the computer and in books from the library and developed a further knowledge and understanding of bones, joints and cartilage, digestive organs and acids, and the heart and blood types. The project culminated in a play where they also learned about 3 more systems: the muscular, respiratory and nervous systems. The play was presented to several other classes in school as well as to the parents.
- Usually the grade 7 students prepare a graduation event for the grade 8 students. Regretfully, this year this has been cancelled due to corona virus. Both the grade 7 and grade 8 students are disappointed.
- Music and Arts are significant elements of the Transition School program. Reports from the music and arts teachers are below.
Music (by Author::Matthew):
Music is taught for eight consecutive years in Transition School. This allows us a special insight into the learning of children over an extended period. It permits us to build a progressive programme, and to follow the entire development of groups and individuals over time.
Though we have been able to solidify certain core areas of study, one of the many creative challenges we face in this area is that the curriculum still needs to remain fluid. No two classes are the same, and no two classes ever react the same way to a given project or area of study. In fact, no matter how long we have worked with, or think we have become familiar with a group of students, there is always something creative to be applied and something new to learn.
Though very rewarding, this type of learning for a teacher can also be extremely challenging. Sometimes one becomes accustomed to a particular age group, both teacher and students enjoying positive success over time, but with little warning, things become different and a complete rethink is needed.
We’ve seen this happen often in the older grades, mostly between the ages of 11 to 14. Classes that have worked in certain ways for many years, and that have shown tendencies to learn best under familiar environments can, in a relatively short space of time change completely.
The reasons for this are numerous and vary from class to class. One of the biggest changes is that as students get older, the diversity in musical proficiency becomes more apparent. In the younger grades difference in level is less significant. We work as a large group almost exclusively, and difference in musical skill has very little influence on the early enjoyment of discovering music.
As students get older however, some start to excel, venturing towards the possibility of studying the subject in higher education, where as some go entirely the opposite way. Some are simply interested in other areas of study or do not have the inclination or skill to pursue music beyond a certain level.
This was very apparent this year in Transition school’s oldest grade. This was a class, (though very dynamic), that from the beginning of their school life had fallen into accustomed patterns within the curriculum. They were a solid group that had enjoyed many years working as a together as a team. This however started to change as they became older, and quickly developed into a difficult situation for both students and teachers. Learning as a larger unit in particular no longer worked, and was leading to frustration all round.
This was not easy to resolve, and took many attempts on behalf of the teachers to find a solution. We tried talking to the group, tried various activities and projects, varying the group size, offering extra time, but nothing really worked well in the long run.
Finally the answer came when we decided to talk to the students one by one, rather than engage in group discussions. This was an immediate success. Over two weeks we took each student aside and spoke with them. We told them that they could discuss freely their musical aspirations and feelings about the class. We offered them space to be open and frank, without the fear of judgment.
It was interesting to note as teachers, that during the discussions, the students were not overly critical or upset about the content of the classes. What they were disappointed about, was how they were able to approach working. The talented students were very frustrated that they were being slowed down by the less abled ones, and the ones that were less interested in music still wanted to learn, but wanted to be able to take their time and enjoy the subject without fear of reprisals from the others.
Knowing this was extremely valuable. It allowed us to make immediate changes, and the results were noticeable from the outset. Grouping the class in such a way that took care of the different skill levels, as well as the desire for some to be involved in a more relaxed way, lead to a much happier class. Feeling secure and listened to, allowed them to go from showing frustration and dissatisfaction, to an environment in which they were able to explore much more openly and freely.
Though this time we were able to overcome the difficulties of this particular group of students, it was important for us to note that such a strategy might not necessarily work in future. Each challenge would require a unique way of following up. What was noteworthy though, was the need to allow time for reflection during a busy year. Even with students we thought we knew, it was vital to assess ourselves as teachers. Part of the process was also to involve the students directly, and it was critical to take a moment, even late in the year to see how the programme was proceeding. This knowledge was then used to work towards a both positive and creative action.
Arts and crafts:
The Arts and Crafts team's goal for the 2019-20 school year was to work from a curriculum that we have been constantly developing and updating yearly. We have created a base of projects, crafts and activities that introduce the seven basic elements of Art: shape, space, value, form, texture, and color.
Along with these basic elements, we continued to expose the students to Art History from different cultures and different art media. Through the classic and modern artists such as Mirò, Mondrian, Henry Matisse, Gustav Klimt, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Paul Klee and Indian folk art we show our students the diversity of styles, cultures and artistic intentions to facilitate their way to express themselves with creativity, originality and self-consciousness.
On the other side we also created projects to improve their awareness about Auroville and the children’s surrounding environment, often working side-by-side with the class teacher projects and following this year's school value of ‘equality in diversity’.
Two of our projects focused on this year's value and its relationship to Auroville. For our 2nd and 3rd grade classes we created a project of Paper Dolls. This project was designed around ‘equality in diversity’ and how it reflects life in Auroville and the Auroville Charter. We discussed the definition of these words and how they thought it relates to Auroville as a whole. From there the children were asked to create a paper doll that showed everyone who they were physically. This part of the project showed the students how they were diverse, but on the other side of their dolls they were asked to show what their interests were, and this is where they showed their similarities to each other and that they were all equals.
The second project we created was for our 7th grade students. We used Pop Art to reflect their life in Auroville and what popular things influence them from our surrounding cultures. The definition of Pop Art is: “art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, especially as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values.” We used this definition to ask the students how they felt this reflected their life in Auroville. How does Pop Art exist in your life here in Auroville and how are you influenced by Pop Art through media, and being exposed to different cultures here in Auroville? The kids used magazines, computer images and pictures from everyday life to create their own Pop Art Painting based on their personal reflection as a teenager in Auroville.
As always one of our main goals for Arts and Crafts is to have fun with the kids, we like to show them that through humor, amusement and perseverance the learning process becomes more effective, fun, and creativity and social life are improved.
“Values for Human Unity”:
Every year the grade 8 students choose a “Value of the Year” – a value that will be emphasized and learned about throughout the year by all of the classes. The chosen values this year was “Equality in Diversity”. This project was seen as a highlight by several class teachers. Here is what they had to say...
- (Grade 6 teacher:) “I was happy to see how the children had assimilated the work we had done on ‘Collaboration’ in grade 5. The students integrated this in their behavior and it became normal for them to help each other.”
- (Another grade 6 teacher:) “I feel it was a value the children could really relate to and it kept coming back again and again in our general group discussions and was kept alive throughout the year.”
In the same light, the Grade 7- 8 students participated enthusiastically, reading literature that demonstrated the value, studying about human rights and looking for examples throughout the course of history.
This Values for Human Unity program is a great favorite with the students. All of the classes participate in this. (See project report)
Field trips:
An important part of the “Auroville, Our Home” project (see project report) was the field trips we went on this year as part of the science program. There are many scientific experiences happening in Auroville and science was taught using a hands-on approach. One trip was to the Auroville Botanical Gardens to choose plants for a class experiment. Then we went to Pondicherry to see the beach restoration project there and to the aquarium which is run by students of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram to observe marine life. This was followed by two trips to Eternity beach to collect data on the beach ecosystem. The students measured the distance from the sand to the shore, and this measurement was repeated some months later. The students also used quadrats to observe a chosen area of the shoreline and record everything they observed. We also learned more about bacteria after visiting a waste water treatment plant from an Aurovilian doctor and scientist.
These field trips gave the students the opportunity to interact with community members and others, like the ashram teachers, and this was enriching and inspiring for the students.
Outcomes:
Our aims are long term and ongoing. We see education as an unending process, education of the integral personality. Each child is unique, and we want to give the freedom and opportunity for each to follow his or her own path of growth and progress as well as to foster human values so that Auroville children can become responsible individuals, dedicated to creating a better world.
Reflections:
Grade 6:
What was quite challenging was definitely dealing with the conflicts between children in the class and parents' involvement in that. We were happy to see how others in the school could help.
What was learned is that everything can be solved by staying calm, talking about all issues that come up and being patient.
Grades 7-8 math teacher:
The students were very enthusiastic for math and they could assimilate very quickly new concepts. The bad side was that they could forget also rather quickly. So to be sure that what was learned will be settled, we were constantly revisiting previous chapters each time we finished with a new one. And it was very necessary. To channel their inclination for competition I would give a problem, for their level, that will need to use more logic and more imagination or intuition. They had 2 weeks time to present their answers. And it worked very well and they could, most of them, proudly give the correct answers.
In general, the attention always was to get a proper work, clear and neat, as the tendency is to reach the answer as fast as possible. So we had to focus on the fact that in math each step must be given clearly and must be correct then only the final answer is to be considered. This to try to develop a good math spirit.
Grade 7:
One meaningful element of working with the White Tigers, the seventh grade, this year has involved integrating one child who has special needs, both physically and academically. This has meant that there is a separate program within the class program for him. This has been both rewarding and challenging. Due to health issues, this student missed many months of school and could only attend class sporadically. Yet he was fully included in all group activities when he was present. For the class, this taught the students to accept others and their differences in a very tangible way. This student often had a classroom assistant to help him stay on track with the work that was tailored for him. Later in the year, as his health improved, he was able to increase his attendance in the school program.
School-wide:
The biggest challenge we will face this school year is the school closure due to the coronavirus. This has presented many challenges to the teachers. We are trying to keep the children occupied and engaged. This is taking place through email and social media groups and work sent home. The main learning is that in this difficult situation, one needs to be available to the students and encourage them to keep working and progressing. It may take them more time than normal to complete assignments, but generally they are completing the work eventually. Through communicating and being present for the students, we can help them and continue to care about their well-being even in this challenging moment.
Conclusion:
According to the Auroville Charter, education and progress are put at the center of its society, the aim and means of its life. We are all learners in an Auroville that is constantly in the process of inventing itself. This implies an ‘unending education and constant progress’, striving for a new way of living and a new consciousness. We hope that our students can grow and feel that all of us are citizens of one world, aspiring to manifest a truer and higher life on earth.
See also