“Music is enough for lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music”

Music affects the way people function. It has an impact intellectually, morally, spiritually, and socially. As educationists, we need to prepare students mentally and physically so that they grow up to be balanced and productive members of society. While subjects such as maths or science are important, the extracurricular subjects too are important, especially music. Music should be promoted as an essential component of elementary and secondary education.

Are students who listen and sing smarter than others? This question aroused my curiosity to find out the impact of music on students. It is a known fact that music always plays an important role in bringing mind, body, and spirit closer. Through listening and performing, opportunities are created for students to cultivate a deeper understanding and concentration. Music improves one’s imagination and enables us to understand how composers have expressed their musical thoughts through the language of sound.

Research has proved that a knowledge of music has benefited children’s creativity, sensitivity, and also their cognitive abilities. Look back to the olden days when music became the base while working, harvesting, celebrating, teaching rhymes to kindergarten children, or reciting slokas in temples.

In our school, the importance of music is realized by every individual. Every student and teacher understands the value of music and enough exposure is given to the students to listen, perform, and compose. The children are given opportunities to participate in various programmes inside and outside the school.

We decided to make a comparative study of Western music and Indian music and also to test the impact of music on students’ achievements as a part of the International School Award (ISA) by the British Council in 2009-2010.

The main goal of the project was to integrate music education in school and impart Western and Indian music to the children and provide opportunities for enhancing students’ development and supporting their academics. A number of different activities were chalked out such as:

• Integrating classes on music theory and history of music with regular classes
• Holding competitions for students in Western and Indian music
• Introducing competitions called ‘Kitchen chronicles’, where students used available utensils in an Indian kitchen
• Organizing events with fusion music performances and interaction with experts in the field of music

We also included, as part of the programme, assessments among students to understand their perception of Indian and Western music and their interest. We were able to document the attitudes of students toward music and how music helped them. We interviewed a sample of 130 students from 6^th standard to 11^th standard as part of these assessments.

Learning music appealed to a majority of students. We found that singing or playing an instrument was a favourite pastime among students (88%), which was followed by other hobbies such as reading (54%) and dancing (35%). We found that three-fourths of the students who were interviewed were learning music. About 42% of the students were learning only Western music, while others were learning a combination of both Indian and other Western types of music.

We were surprised that Western music was a great favorite among students. Learning Western music appealed to students since they found it attractive and entertaining and were drawn by its popularity. Other reasons cited by the students were the quality of the voices and singing, the melodies, the beats, rhythm, the uniqueness of the sounds and the energy in the music. Some students said that they liked the creativity in Western compositions and the way harmony was used in those musical compositions.

Some of our students took music very seriously and wanted to become musicians, whereas a majority expressed that learning music was their hobby.

Our students rated the importance of music very highly; 81% rated it as important or very important for the development of all young people. But, they felt that lack of time and the pressure of school and studies was often a barrier in spending time on music. It was interesting to note that about 30% of the students felt that their teachers’ support and encouragement helped them develop/nurture their musical interest. Ultimately, they expected their parents and school to encourage and nurture them in learning music.

We were heartened to see that over 90% of the students believed that music could help change a person’s attitude and 60% reported that it had helped them gain many values. The diverse responses on students’ perceptions were very revealing. Some felt that learning music could bring about discipline in personal activities, help them be creative, have respect for others, learn to entertain, develop listening skills, bring inner satisfaction, develop devotion, desire for achievement, etc. Beyond these, our students also realized the benefits of learning music in their academics; 22% said that it helped improve memory, and 55% said that it helped them improve concentration. These statistics have confirmed that learning music indeed should be a part of a young person’s education.

We found that music has considerable impact on our students. They experienced how music had made them calm, helped suppress their anger, enabled them to overcome defeat and disappointment, and helped them feel happy, and most of all brought harmony to their mind, body, and soul. More than anything, it reduced stress, anxiety, fear, and developed confidence and positive approach.

Our students also believed that there were many long-term benefits that came from learning music. It served as a means of refreshing themselves, relaxing the mind from the daily pressures and challenges, building their confidence, to be happy, balanced and cheerful and develop their creative skills and talent. Most of all students felt that learning music was going to be of life long value to them, as it would be the best medicine that will help them in challenging times.

These findings have heightened our intent of integrating music into our school curriculum, as we are now sure that it will have long ranging consequences on our students. Documenting the evidence of this from our students was very helpful to plan and strengthen the program and ensure that we sustain our efforts.

We presented these findings and a short video documentary capturing our students’ voices and performances as part of the ISA and our school won the Best School Award.

We were encouraged by this and we continue to strive and provide our students with the opportunity for an education, one that includes music. Because Music is indeed the universal language of mankind and the voice of angels.

The author is Principal, The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Chennai. She teaches economics and marketing for senior secondary classes and social sciences for secondary classes. She also conducts workshops and seminars for teachers across the country. She can be reached at hinduindiranagar@dataone.in.

The power of music

“In today’s world, I see music as a unifying force. This world is full of enmity and we forget to think about love and unity. Hence music begins from nature itself, appealing to all irrespective of caste, color, creed, and nationality. We must learn and listen to it.”
Varsha Rajan, X^th standard

“Music plays an important role in our life and it exists in a number of styles, each representing a particular area. Clearly, music is not easy to define, but we can recognize it. I can also say that music is the best way to manage your psychology.”
R Akshayan, VIII^th standard

“The most important change that music can bring in one’s attitude and behaviour is that it inculcates in us dedication, will power, and most importantly, it gives us a message that you can achieve and excel, only if you pursue it.”
K Sailavnya, IX^th standard

“Music has become very important these days because of the increasing tensions and busy routines in the present world. This has made man miss the beautiful moments given by nature, like the chirping of birds. Now we emphasize on music in our day-to-day life, to restore our lost peace of mind.”
Abhijit M Das, IX^th standard

“I felt that music should be taken up as a subject by everyone. This would help everyone in moulding their personal lives as well as academic lives. I feel that having music as a co-curricular activity would surely ease the tension of exams and pressure by parents and teachers.”
R Kirthana, X^th standard

Exactly a year back, in February 2010 we carried an article on Theater for Children, its importance and relevance. A year later, we revisit the subject and see where Theater in Education as it is popularly known, stands in India…

The National Focus Group Position Papers on all aspects relating to education are a great repository of ideas, theory and guidelines for teachers, to understand and proceed with the teaching of different subject areas. The position paper dedicated to Arts, which deals with theatre and why and how it may be incorporated in the classroom, invokes what is called the ‘Sensitivity Pyramid through Drama’. Establishing Self Realization or seeking truth is the ultimate goal of human beings, and how art, and in particular the art of drama helps one to achieve this.

For those who’ve experienced the thrill of being on stage or performing in any capacity in front of an audience, needn’t be convinced about the magic that is theatre. However, many of us have remained deprived of this pleasure owing to different reasons – may be our teachers didn’t think we would be good enough; or the character needed a certain look; or we were too shy to audition – or perhaps our school or college just did not have the avenues for us to express, explore or even know that there could exist another facet to our personalities…

Fortunately, the scenario is changing – with greater attention being paid to education at the popular level, and increased demands from parents on schools to have better extra-curricular facilities, drama is seeing a revival of sorts. For theatre enthusiasts and professionals, this means an opportunity to venture into the territory of TIE or Theatre in Education.

However, the presence of TIE is not an entirely recent phenomenon. The name of Barry John, better known for his acting school – TAG or Theatre Action Group in Delhi, alumni of which include the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Shiney Ahuja and the recent entrant into Hollywood Frieda Pinto, is a seminal one for the Indian TIE scene. In Barry’s words, “Drama was a great facilitator between the parent, teacher and the child as an interactive exercise to behavioural problems.”¹ Barry John ran the TAG TIE Company from 1991-1995, during which time a number of people passionate not just about theatre but also how it impacted young lives joined hands with him. One such individual is Sukhesh Arora.

Sukhesh joined TAG TIE as backstage crew and imbibed a lot as an apprentice. Having taught drama in Africa and studied in England, primarily an actor, Sukhesh’s exposure to TIE had him hooked to the extent that today he has almost given up on acting and runs the Yellowcat Theatre Company. The website of Yellowcat reads “Since it was set up in 2005, Yellowcat has established a unique position for itself through the pioneering use of drama and theatre in the educational context.”² Typically, Yellowcat works with schools for an entire academic year, providing intensive support in the form of a trained resource person. The aim is to integrate the school curriculum with drama – i.e. transact part of the curriculum through dramatic means.

Sukhesh has however chosen to take his involvement with Theatre in Education further – he also teaches at the Delhi University run Bachelors in Elementary Education program. The 4 year long program is significantly different from the regular B.Ed. program and includes drama as a practical module in years 1 and 3.

He also explains his preference for the term ‘Drama in Education’ as opposed to ‘Theatre in Education’. ‘Theatre’ he says, has this element of performance, which is how the role of the art of drama has traditionally been seen as. That is to say, performances solely in annual concerts or school fests, with a ready script and heavy focus on rehearsals. ‘Drama’ instead, has the element of improvization and spontaneity, hence more creativity, since it doesn’t depend on a pre- prepared script. Sukhesh also indicated that the TIE and DIE difference is a British and American one – with India having appropriated the British TIE.

Yellowcat, Sukhesh tells us uses a much more embedded range of activities for children to participate in. This certainly seems to be the trend. For instance, the National School of Drama, New Delhi also has an active TIE unit. Descriptions of their most recent productions by children suggest that they too follow this explorative and derivative structure of creating a script, rather than use prepared performances.

Drama is increasingly being fit into the time-table and forms a rubric of personality development or self development, Sukhesh says, although he isn’t too fond of the terms. The aims are to get children less inhibited and help them express their selves, aspirations, fears, desires – and this happens best when the method is that of process drama as opposed to rehearsed. Introducing children to local and national cultures is another aim of drama in education, as also spelt out by the position paper on art education. Thus, Sukhesh tells us renditions of the Laghu Mahabharata are particularly popular.

There has been quite a lot of resistance by English medium and in particular elite schools to allow for bilingualism in the workshops conducted. Sukhesh however, is in favour of the use of Indian languages. Research on issues such as identity and language would suggest that this in fact should be encouraged – language being an intrinsic part of culture is an intrinsic part of a human being’s personality and to be disconnected with or assign secondary importance of one’s mother tongue has serious implications for the survival of both the language and culture in the generations that are to follow. Besides, it has also been proved that proficiency in one’s mother tongue is beneficial in the development of second/third language acquisition.

Spending 20-24 hours a week in a school throughout the academic year, dealing with children of various age-groups and backgrounds, Sukhesh has uniformly encountered a lot of affection and fondness. At times children, who have initially shown inhibitions to the point of hostility, have come around to acknowledging the Yellowcat ‘teacher’ as their best friend! Serious issues like sex education and bullying have also been dealt with in role play exercises.

The position paper accords a very important role to the teacher as far as drama is concerned. Sukhesh tells us that on many occasions teachers themselves may be inhibited and that they need to be worked with first. Many times the perception that teachers also have is that theatre is something too performance-oriented which is an expert’s domain. This often puts off a lot of teachers. Sukhesh’s solution for this would be to get the teachers involved in workshops with activities to experience how drama is ‘done’ and to encourage them to experiment.

The possible pedagogical value of TIE is yet to be explored to its fullest potential. However, language, environment, social sciences are parts of the curriculum that can be easily transacted through drama.

Drama in schools also sensitizes children and young adults to the art of drama in general, which has a marginal presence in the country. Plays such as A Disappearing Number, (a play devised by the UK-based Théâtre de Complicité Company, on Mathematics, inspired by the collaboration during the 1910s between two of the most remarkable pure mathematicians of the twentieth century, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor Brahmin from South India, and the Cambridge University don G.H. Hardy³) introduce to young adults specially the spirit of philosophy, mathematics and science through art and thus helps them connect to the world of academics in a much richer and holistic manner. Theatre appreciation is thus an equally important goal.

Sukhesh is currently working on a manual for teachers, commissioned by the NCERT which would be a repository of drama exercises and activities, for ready reference, in case they feel they are short on ideas. This flurry of activity however, is again unfortunately region specific. Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai are currently metropolitans where DIE has taken off. Other cities are still catching up. Sukhesh is positive that this is not a trend or fad – drama is the buzzword now, but hopefully is here to stay!

Hello to Myself

The ‘devised’ play dealt with the issue of knowing oneself better and befriending one’s uniqueness. It gives us the feel of the immense and intense intricacies of growing children – the many complexes that are present within them for valid reasons of their own; the umpteen moments of happiness and failures; the multiple attempts by these children to overcome all these hurdles, and most of all, of the sense of triumph experienced by these children when these hurdles are overcome.

Rajinder Sharma ‘Nanu’ was Assistance Director and the play was devised and directed by Tripiurari Sharma.*

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References

1. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/fromstage-to-screen-barry-john-ready-for-the-switch_100365444.html
2. (http://www.yellowcatt.org)
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Disappearing_Number

**http://nsd.gov.in/nsd_tiefestivals.htm

The author is a student of Education (Elementary) at TISS, Mumbai. She also works as a freelance communication trainer and editor. She can be reached at simranluthra@gmail.com.

India 2010. A pulsating energy of the can-do spirit, a synergy of ancient India walking hand in hand with a young India – ready to take on the world – nay – ready to lead the world!

An India – where competition is the new mantra, and excellence its hand maiden, standing on the cusp of a dazzling new era of growth and abundance in every field of human endeavor.

An era quite propitious for art and artistes – every dawn brings in a fresh new perspective, a rewriting of content, of redrawing of structures and a rewiring of codes! An exhilarating freedom to scale personal levels of creativity and expression. A new and free marketplace that is open to new explorations and ideas. Yet, it is this very market place of liberalization and globalization that has marginalized art in the lives of children.

Do you remember the time when you came home really tired after an afternoon of practicing for a song, play or group dance for the school annual day, and yet had more energy than on days when you had a battery of tests?

Do you remember the fun that you had as a group, trying to get your rhythm, step, coordination and team work together?

Do you remember the animated discussions that you had with your team performers on what to wear and how to put it together?

Do you remember the excitement on the morning of the performance, when you could not sleep the previous night, and were up really early, and couldn’t wait to get into your make up and gear and go on stage?

Do you remember the nervousness and clammy hands before going on stage and how after a command performance, you received loud applause and praise, and all the extra love showered from family and friends?

So what’s happened today? Art has lost its position of pre-eminence in the teaching and learning trajectory of schools. Today, there is little or no place for art in the lives of schools and children, as schools churn out students fit and ready only to take the myriad common entrance tests.

For a moment, let me play devil’s advocate!

Why should we inculcate an appreciation of the arts?
Some of the arguments most often put forth against this are:

• It does not lead to a career, at least not a well paying one
• Time spent on art can be utilized better, in preparing for the competitive exams, and the various JEEs so that children can start life with a great job
• I, as a parent anyway introduce my child to what I think my child is interested in, with professional teachers outside, so why should the school waste precious time on art. Instead they can focus on mainstream curricula
• The school has a very tight budget and hence we can do without an art teacher, and instead use that money for something more ‘useful’ and practical
• We don’t need a specialist art teacher, anyone can teach art, etc., etc.

Is this the subconscious sub-text of parents, schools and teachers today?

Now, let us ask ourselves some hard questions:

Why do we need art at all in the first place?

• Well, it has been proven that art enables and enhances creativity, understanding, nurtures inventiveness and inquisitiveness in the child, develops self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self- motivation, and trains the child in creative problem solving, and improves communication skills.
• Exposure to art helps students in understanding mainstream subjects like math and science, by helping the child build mnemonics for memory and understanding in a very personal and creative way.
• Participation in art activities help children in understanding human experience, adapting and respecting others’ ways of working and thinking. Art training helps the student in expansive thought and search for creative solutions, strengthens interpretative skills, promotes a sense of understanding, design and nurtures personality, people skills, observation skills, and kindles the inquisitive spirit.

Okay so we all know that!

Now let us explore how school authorities position arts classes

• Is it the first class that is being dispensed with?
• Are art teachers mostly the lowest paid?
• What is the quality and training of the arts teacher?
• What is the premium put on learning any of the arts by other teachers?
• What is the premium, if any, that the school, teachers and parents place on learning art?
• Are art classes only geared towards presenting the school annual programme, or is it towards learning?
• If any of the arts are taught, how much of it is only popular and film?
• In the race to a 100% score and great results at the Boards, is the school compromising on providing holistic education?

Very often, much of the above is true.

So how can we change it?

• By having a little rethink on what is the take away from teaching and learning any of the arts. How about conveying to parents and students the importance of exposure to art, and the required rounding and grounding that learning any art brings to the child.
• Bringing about an understanding among all stakeholders: teachers, parents and children, that art enriches the trainer and the trained.
• By ensuring that art classes are not interpreted as girlie classes. In a co educational school, this is a real hurdle. Centuries of differential upbringing between boys and girls, have made arts the preserve of girls.
• Make learning of any one art form compulsory for the students. Taking art education beyond the arts classroom and integrating it with other subjects.
• Offering a special prize/grade for students interpreting their mainstream subjects using art, etc.

So, where do you begin?

Art activities inside the classroom
After a new lesson, say on history, has been taught, students can present, the historical event as an impromptu play, with dialogues devised by the group itself. This way, they will have to pay attention too!

One group could get together and make costumes for the play.

One group could make a project presentation of it.

Another group could paint the event.

One group could find another similar story in history, from the same period.

One group could figure out the arts and crafts of the period, and maybe even fashion a few based on that knowledge.

One group could even find similarities of the historical narrative in maybe a recent film.

A debate could be organized on any one newly learnt lesson.

For example: A lesson on Akbar, should open the child’s mind to Fatehpur Sikri, how red sand stone is used there, the movie Jodha Akbar, an understanding of Rajput traditions, the unity between Hindus and Muslims then, Akbar’s Din-I ilahi, etc. Of course, all this will be the learning that the child will bring to the classroom through different art projects.

Again for a subject say like science, where projects are part of the curriculum, how about, going beyond the scientific principles and introducing the child to the inventor, his life story, the time and country he lived in, the dress of the era, the language he spoke, etc., and then have the student do the science project with the look and feel of the relevant period.

For example: Newton’s law of gravity. How about a group exploring Newton’s life and presenting that along with the laws of gravity for this project?

How about teaching arithmetic, by bringing a local drummer or musician, to share how he uses math in his drumming or music?

Art activities outside the classroom
How about asking one group to cull all the news about various programmes in the city and put it up on a notice board, under separate sub headings of music, dance, painting, theatre, etc., maybe once a week?

The next group can then choose to read something about any one sub group, say, dance. If the event notice says a Bharatanatyam recital, then that group can talk or write a very small project on this art form. Another could do this on music, etc.

Another activity could be to delve deeper and do a small write up on the performing artistes.

One group could go to the event, and submit a review, of what they liked or didn’t like or didn’t understand (usually, organizations will be happy to allow children free, and the school could also tie up with a nearby organization, for this).

One group could draw/paint the event.
A group discussion about the event can be arranged. The school could invite the artiste for a small talk, when students can ask questions.

Field trips
Schools can organize short field trips to the homes and studios of the nearest painter, sculptor, musician or dancer, and observe the process of how their art evolves. After which a report or presentation can be made not only about the art and artist, but also, about the extraneous stuff, like the economics of maybe the cost of a canvas, or sculpting clay, cost of brushes, the names and numbers for some of the brushes used by the artist, or maybe details about the warm up exercises that a dancer undertakes before practice, or how an artiste tunes the tanpura, and what is the terminology for the various srutis, etc.

Street plays
Ask the students to do impromptu street plays, within the school premises on any burning issue or an important event. Example, IPL, or Ganesh Chaturthi, Id, Commonwealth games, etc.

Try and encourage the students not to download from the Net, or to use too much of film music. Let them create verse and set it to music, write dialogues, make costumes from stuff available at home. This way their imagination and creative processes will be triggered, and they will stretch themselves.

These are only a few ideas of how class teachers can integrate the arts and daily curricula in the learning process of their wards.

Remember, teaching children about the arts is not just about showing them how to recognize a great painting or artiste, it’s about preparing young minds for a future of precious, priceless and invaluable experiences – art related or otherwise… because art engenders creativity and, students are able to think for themselves and make decisions based on what they want to do.

• Art teaches the invaluable skill of interpretation.
• Art revolves around discussion.
• The basic premise of art is design, which is an inestimable necessity in all walks of life.
• It is proven that a child introduced to the arts, also does very well in academics.
• Art can only happen with complete focus, and students learn this elusive quality without much ado, and learn to use it in all areas of their lives.
• Good art can only happen with self-discipline and results in great self-esteem.
• Art teaches problem solving skills and cooperation with others.
• Art is its own motivation, and enriches you.
• Art teaches sensitivity and teaches a child to be considerate.
• Art triggers curiosity, which is the cornerstone of good learning.
• Art makes you happy. The very act of creation is its own reward, and a bunch of happy, balanced and integrated students eager to learn and grow, is every teacher’s dream.
• Whatever we know of human history is through art.
• Art brings imagination to life and life to imagination.
• Art becomes that personal wellspring of strength that one can dip into for support and succour, when life challenges you.

The author is a distinguished classical dancer, teacher and choreographer. She is also a senior officer in the Indian Railways and holds a Doctorate in Tourism and Culture. She received the Padmashri in 2007. She can be reached at anandasj@rediffmail.com.

Anyone would think a playground is a harmless place. But it is the most common place for injuries considering that children are energetic and carefree when on a playground. Children need all the physical and mental stimulation they get through play. Therefore, when providing natural play environments for children, safety is of paramount importance.

Every year more than 20,000 cases of playground injuries are reported in the United States. There is no such data available for any of the developing countries, including India. However, according to a study on parental awareness of childhood injuries published in the Indian Journal of Pediatrics, the most common cause for injuries among children in India is – falls. The study further says that the maximum number of children vulnerable to injuries during play is between 5 and 14 years of age.

Many of the injuries that occur during play are easily preventable. The playground can be checked for likely dangers that can cause accidents. Adult supervision is a pre-requisite for younger children who are unable to foresee hazards during play. Older children too are at risk when they try to show off to their friends or test their own limits while negotiating the bars of a jungle gym or other play equipment.

Responsibilities of the PE teacher
Playground management is one of the many responsibilities of a PET (Physical Education Teacher). Playground management includes designing the playground, spacing the equipment, and maintenance and routine inspection.

A typical school playground consists of courts, fields, tracks, and play equipment like slides, swings, jungle gyms, etc. Designing a playground effectively ensures that it engages the children in activities with minimum fuss and offers them maximum pleasure.

Ensuring age appropriate play spaces is an important aspect of playground management. Play areas for pre-school and older children should be separate. Since the equipment is likely to be different it follows that the play areas will be demarcated.

Children should also have opportunities for socialising while playing. Explaining the importance of safety to children and supervising them during play is one of the duties of the PET.

Regular ground maintenance is a must. This includes rolling the ground and marking lines on courts and athletic tracks. Watering and rolling the ground makes the ground firm and prevents dust from rising when children play. Removing debris from the ground is important, hence it may need sweeping occasionally.

Care of play equipment like bats, balls, hockey sticks, nets, etc., also come under the purview of the PET and due care needs to taken while storing these. Children themselves could be involved when a bat, racquet or a net needs to be repaired.

Play surface
The play surface has a crucial role in reducing injuries during play. Concrete and blacktop road surfaces are the hardest and unfit for children to play. Pediatricians say that a fall on to a hard concrete surface even from a height of one foot can cause a fatal head injury in a child. Plain ground is often good enough for children to play football, hockey or cricket on, but as it raises a lot of dust, it needs regular watering and rolling. Grass, on the other hand, is softer and reduces the impact of falls, but involves a cost factor and regular mowing. The play area must also be free of standing water.

Play equipment
Play equipment must be inspected often for wear and tear and other potential hazards like loose ropes and loose links in chains. Check for any hooks that are likely to catch children’s clothing and cause a possible fall. Fall zones should be cushioned with appropriate material.

There should be plenty of room around the equipment to allow for moving parts and getting on and off. Swings must be placed at least two feet apart with clear space of four to five feet around. There should be only one swing per bay. There should be enough room at the base of a slide for a child to land in, with a bank of soft sand or a grassy patch at the bottom. It may be a good idea to display illustrated safety instructions near the equipment, for example:

• No standing on swings.
• Slide feet first.
• No pushing and shoving on the jungle gyms or slides.
• No climbing from the guard rails, etc.

Field management
During the games period there is likely to be a big group of children on the field, anywhere between 20 and 50 at least. To ensure that the games period passes peacefully the teacher has to make sure that the children use the entire play area and don’t huddle in a small part of it.

Colourful carefully spaced marking that includes numbers, letters grids and various geometric shapes can be used to delineate play areas. Not only are they attractive, they also give the playground a cheerful look. This actually ensures that children do not injure themselves during play. Organised play areas can also reduce scope for bullying and other confrontations during play.

Hazards from trees
Keep an eye out for tree roots, stumps and rocks. Heights of trees can be an issue if children play in the ground. Climbing trees is an experience all children cherish. Therefore, trees in the playground must be inspected for potential risks. Dead branches must be cut and removed. If the branches of the tree are far apart, it may be unsafe for children to climb the tree. Such trees should be cordoned off with a notice that says, ‘This tree is unsafe for climbing’. Check for roots, re-sprouting from stumps and the growing pattern of the tree. If the lower braches seem too weak, it may be wiser to prune them.

Conflict resolution
Confrontations, even physical fights, on the playground are common as children are still learning to play by the rules. The PET is more often than not settling disputes among children. It would be a good investment of time if he could work out strategies for conflict resolution and brief the children in one class.

Safe and unsafe dares
Children should also be made aware of dares. Children, for instance, wouldn’t think twice before daring one another to jump off the topmost branch of a tree. They should be made aware of the danger involved in such foolish dares. For instance, as children during the 1972 Indo-Pak war, our favourite pastime was to climb trees. Due to the war, our play had a patriotic flavour and we would dare our friends to climb up the highest branch and urge them to jump. “Jump, jump, you can do anything for your country.” Luckily, we were duly chastised by an observant adult before anyone attempted the jump.

Having said that, risk taking is a skill learnt easily on the playground, hence safe dares should be allowed. To prevent injuries to children, the PET could also guide them, perhaps teach them to jump the right way, and if they are old enough to understand, explain how leg muscles work and get injured. A PET could also draw a list of rules for play – no name calling, no pushing and shoving on the jungle gym, etc. It may also be helpful to give them simple advice on how to be a good sport – ‘Do not boast when you win and do not make excuses when you lose’.

Activities on safety
To make the class more aware of the importance of safety, one games period could be used to conduct a quiz, e.g. ‘How safety minded are you?’ Get children to make charts on topics like safety when climbing trees, safety when walking on the road, safety when swimming, safety for scouts and guides, first aid, being a good sport, etc. The PET could also assign a group of students to take turns at being ‘safety reps’ of their class, and train these children in basic first aid as well.

It is important to achieve the right balance in providing safe as well as stimulating and exploratory play areas. Children’s safety is a pre-requisite to play and no measure is too great to ensure their play is free of accidents.

The author is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad. She can be reached at sujata117@yahoo.co.uk.

It is your first day back at school, you enter your class and see a lot of old faces smiling at you and a few new ones looking a little lost. You don’t want to launch into a lecture about expectations in the new academic year, neither do you want to open the text book and risk being called a boring teacher. The first day back in school is always one of those days when nobody really knows what to do. You’d like to have fun but you don’t want an unruly class either. So, what do you do? Why not play some games that will boost energy, bring your class together and break the ice?

Getting to know each other
You may have noticed, especially in a large class, that children tend to form groups. While they may know everybody within their group very well, they know little or nothing at all about the rest of their class. You could use the first day of school to play a game that will reintroduce the entire class to each other.

Divide your class into pairs. Ensure that you don’t pair friends with each other, for then the purpose of the game is lost. Give the pairs 15 minutes to try and find out three interesting facts about their partners. Once the time is up ask each student what he or she found out about his or her partner.

Depending on the kind of time you have you could make the game more interesting by asking each pair to enact a chat show, where one is the host and the other the guest. The host has to get the guest to give three interesting facts about himself or herself. The class could have some fun imitating their favourite TV show hosts!

What else can I use this for?
Bring any 10 things you find around your house to the class. Scarf, bangle, paper bag, an apple anything. Divide your class into 10 groups. Ask each group to sit in a circle (provided your classroom has space). Put one item you brought from home in the middle of each circle and ask the groups to come up with alternative uses for their item. For instance, a scarf could be used as a handkerchief or a hair band or even a belt. The group that comes up with the most number of uses for its item of course wins!

Games for Primary School
If you have a class of younger students you could play simpler games with them and help them relax, loosen up and be together. Bring a ball to class. Ask your students to stand in a circle. Pass the ball to a student and ask him to throw the ball to someone he knows in the circle while calling out that child’s name. This child should then throw the ball to someone else he knows again calling out the name. The game continues until the first child gets the ball back. In this way everybody gets to know everybody else’s name.

Who am I?
This is another game you could play. You will need a few post-it notes. Divide you class into groups of four or five. Again make sure you don’t put friends together. Your intention is to get the whole class to gel with each other. Invite one student from a group and stick a post-it note on his or her forehead and write the name of a famous person on it. Ask the student to face his or her group so that they can see the name written on the forehead. The group now has to help its friend guess the name on his forehead. The student is allowed to ask no more than 20 questions that will give him a yes or no as the answer like ‘Am I alive?’ or ‘Am I over 50?’ The student that guesses the answer with the least number of questions helps his group win.

Make your own labels
This will be a fun game that will need the children to draw and colour. Bring craft paper, pins, colour pencils and blunt end scissors to class. Ask the children to draw a picture of the one thing they most like. It could be a favourite food, colour or pet. Ask them to cut out their drawing with some space for their name and pin it to their dress. Your students will have fun doing their own and looking at what the others are doing for their name labels.

When children bond with each other and enjoy being with each other, learning becomes easy and fun. So get the children to start the academic year as a team, and have them look forward to a whole new year of learning with each other.

What would I be?
Decide on a group of things animals, flowers or fruits. Ask each of your students to stand up and tell you what animal they would be, if you decide on animals, and why. You could start off the game telling them what animal you would be and why. Maybe you would be a Macaw as you are always dressed in coloured clothes rather than in a uniform, or you would be a dog as you like being around humans.

You could take this game a step forward and ask the class to read up a little bit about the animal, fruit or flower they chose to be. The following day they can each share at least two interesting facts about their animal, fruit or flower.

Have a fun-fi lled and fruitful fi rst day at school!

Write and tell us about your own favourite (or worst) first day memory as a teacher or as a student!

How does one begin to set the ball rolling for such an enterprise? Who can the teacher turn to? How does the teacher include students in this activity? Perhaps an alphabetical list would be helpful in starting the planning process and keeping track of what needs to be done.

The first thing that should be kept in mind is the Age group of the students for whom the magazine is planned. A class magazine is a reflection of the class, and students need to be old enough to take an active part in its preparation. Starting in class 5 or 6 is probably advisable as the students are young enough to take direction and old enough to be productive and more importantly, the right age to be enthusiastic and full of ideas!

Next, the general plan of the magazine, the number and the type of Articles and the Art work to be included needs to be thought about. For this the teacher can turn to the students, who will provide the raw material – stories, poems and drawings on topics initiated by the teacher or collectively, by the students.

Along with the articles, there can be a list of Achievers for the quarter. Here, high marks and discipline need not be the criteria. For example, “The class is proud of Rohit. When his parents had to rush out of town to visit his ailing grandfather, he took up the challenge of getting his younger sister and himself to school on time.” Or, “Congratulations, Sunita. Your stint at the blind school was appreciated by all to whom you read from your favourite book.”

Bonding between students may be fostered with the formation of a core group to be the editorial Board. Students would love to have the formal designation of Layout Artist or Copy Editor and the teacher can outline the duties of each one on the board in order that there is no bickering amongst them-selves. Such roles can rotate among the students so that every one gets a turn shouldering different responsibilities.

A Book Review section may be put into each issue of the magazine, not only to encourage the reading habit, but also to get students to mull over what they have read and learn to appreciate literature.

A thought may be given to the Binding of the magazine. Since there is no need for the magazine to be printed in a formal manner, a ribbon or a spiral binding may be effective for the couple of copies that need to be made (one original, and a few copies to be circulated amongst the students and kept in the school library).

Classroom activity should be the source of articles for the magazine. For this, one period in a month may be reserved for story writing, poetry writing, drawing, according to the children’s preferences. By encouraging them to indulge in the activity that interests them, there is no compulsion for students to push themselves into activities that do not interest them greatly.

Discourage Downloads from the Internet. Students are adept at this, but the magazine could lose its personal and original flavour with the addition of widely circulated jokes, facts and tidbits available on the Web.

Encourage the artistic students in class to illustrate some of the stories and poems that are to appear in the magazine. Also get the students think about an Editorial that expresses their view on a particular issue.

Foster a sense of responsibility among the students. Have Faith in the editorial board (of which the teacher is also a part) to meet the deadlines for the magazine. Give them the Freedom to decide what should go into their magazine within the guidelines set by you.

Guidelines may be left entirely to the teacher. Put in a few Guessing Games for student readers to sharpen their wits. Remember that the magazine is not only a reflection of student work, but also a source of enjoyment for readers.

Perhaps there could be a How-to-make or How-to-do page in which students could learn to make a puppet or a kaleidoscope or even an easy recipe for a sweet or savory dish that does not involve using the stove.

Illustrations are always a source of interest and some students are more than capable of expressing themselves through this medium. (Covered under artwork and drawing.) Remember to put in an Index to make reading easy.

A couple of Jokes would be the usual recourse to fill pages and to get students to contribute, but there is the temptation to copy jokes from sources already available to everyone, thereby making the magazine lose its originality. Perhaps a funny incident that occurred in class during the quarter could be written about instead. This would serve not only to entertain but also to chronicle the event.

Kudos column could be included. Again, this need not and should not be limited to academic excellence or sports achievements. Rather, it could go something like this: “Kudos to Rohit and Gagan who joined hands for the special assembly although they had a fight a few days earlier, witnessed by their classmates, and swore never to be friends again!”

Limit the contents of the magazine to subjects of interest to the students. Make Lists and encourage the core group to do the same so that they learn to be well-organised.

Remember to have regular short Meetings to keep track of progress and collect contributions (apart from those done in the classroom).

Keep track of the Numbers – the number of pages proposed for the magazine (10 to 16 should do fine for a start) and the number of students who make a contribution of some sort in the year.

Cover the annual Outing. Ask a couple of students to pen their accounts of the class picnic.

Decide on the number of Pages the magazine should have. Encourage a Poetry page. Perhaps put in a Personal column about the activities of the children. Photographs of the students (maybe those who have their birthday in the quarter) may be put in. With the ease of scanning and printing, a couple of copies should not be difficult to generate. Add a couple of Puzzles developed by the teacher or the children (e.g., word search, simple crossword, etc.).

A Quarterly magazine may work well as it gives adequate time for activities to take place that may be covered and also gives adequate reading material for those who look forward to it as a source of entertainment.

The magazine is a Record of what takes place in the classroom. In later years, it will be a Reminder to you of past classes, a time to Reminiscence for past students, and a Rating scale for new students.

Stories will form the bulk of the magazine. The teacher could plant the Seeds of stories and let the children do the rest.

Establish a Theme for the magazine. For example, if the theme is Kindness to Animals, or Concern for the Elderly, or Superheroes, the contents of the issue should deal largely with this. Encourage cross communication between students and the teacher to get Tips from them as to what they would like to see in their magazine. This could help the teacher and the editorial board decide on the theme for each quarter.

Keep the magazine User-friendly – simple to produce and simple to read. Take the help of enthusiastic Volunteers whom you will find in every class.

Put in Word games and Writing tips. This can help improve vocabulary and language. Here, even the roots of words or the history of the changes in a word may be brought in to generate interest in the use of language.

Xerox a couple of copies for circulation in class and to keep in the school library.

At the end of the Year, a copy of the class photo may be included in the magazine.

Zoogenics – encourage students to write about their pets or put in their photographs.

All this seems daunting but approached in the right spirit and with active participation from the students, a class magazine can be a joy to prepare!

The author, a prolific writer of children’s fiction, is based in Hyderabad, a nd can be reached at cherbrag@yahoo.com.

A field trip is a big event in the school life of every primary class child. It is a school day with a difference, like an extended recess period, and hence popular with all children. When there are no classes, the impatience to come to school is evident from the happy chatter and the eager patter of feet! And you can be sure that even the most reluctant student will be there. While any field trip should be fun, it’s also important to remember that there are always lessons to be learnt, and it helps to plan ahead of time what we would like the children to learn from their trip. So let’s look at the field trip with new eyes, work out a theme and throw in some fun awards while we’re at it!

Before the day out
Some groundwork could be done before the day out. So where is the class going? And what is the purpose of the trip? Is it just the annual class picnic, aimed at fostering a sense of community and fun, or is there a more serious learning agenda at work? Both purposes are legitimate, but it’s just important to know ahead of time which is primary. As we know, scientific, cultural and historic places of a city provide great learning opportunities. The teacher could do a ‘recce’ of the site to get a sense of the place and assess it for the learning objectives to be achieved. Send out letters to the parents informing them and seeking their permission. Some schools do not mind inviting parents as volunteers to help on the Day Out.

Make a list of things children will need to carry and get them involved in making name tags for the big day. A demo or even a role-play is effective in showing children how to take care of themselves and their personal belongings while on the trip. This will save you precious time on the big day.

The teacher could make a checklist of activities for proper time management of the event. Factor in time for toilet breaks. Does any child need medication? What about lakeside/riverside precautions if you’re going to be near one, and lunch/snack responsibility and supervision? How about safety from stray animals? Do they need walking shoes and a notebook or drawing pad perhaps? Is there need for a camcorder or a camera? What about time for spot drawing or even a writing class? What about keeping some surprise prizes for distribution at the end of the day?

Making a list of the expected learning outcomes helps bring possible creative inflections to spontaneous activities. For example an obvious song for a boat trip – ‘Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream’ – could get transformed into a farm trip song – ‘Hoe, hoe, hoe your wheat, gently down the field!’

Keeping the group together is often a challenge on field trips. Some children will walk ahead of the designated leader. They may not know exactly where they are going, but they have to get there first – that is the main idea! Others will trail behind picking up this and that. Appoint leaders to help out. And while doing this, it is important to involve the whole class, not just those who always end up standing the tallest or shouting the loudest!

Social skills and civic sense
Field trips are good time to hone the social skills of the class as well as instill a civic sense in children – crossing the road, using dustbins, speaking politely to bus drivers, attendants or guides – good citizenship skills in other words. Watch out closely for the shy children in your class. They are often at ease on a field trip and may spring a surprise with some hidden talent.

Themes and fun award titles
To make field trips memorable they can be organised around a theme. The teacher could think out loud with the class while working out the theme for the trip. For example, on a trip to a fort a theme like ‘Blast into the PastPast’ can work. How about ‘Jungle Jamboree’ for a trip to a sanctuary? Make a list of accessories you might need to express the theme. Simple badges or hand bands with the theme on it can be made for the children to wear. Posters or a banner to put up on the bus, streamers and bunting add to the ambience. Fun awards can be given at the end of the day – Polite Child of the Day, Good Citizen of the Day, Helpful Child of the Day, Volunteer of the Day, Treasure Hunter of the Day or other theme related awards. Sashes can be made with the award title written on them. Teachers may hand these out in the bus on the way back. All the collateral and giveaways become precious keepsakes for the child and aid recall.

Self-learning is the flavour of the day
The day out is one day when the teacher is next to the children and not standing in front of them armed with a book. The teacher becomes a planner and coordinator and stays behind the scenes because self-learning is the flavour of the day. Traditional teaching takes a back seat and learning catches the children unawares.

A field trip may be structured or unstructured. A visit to a zoo or a biscuit factory would be a structured field trip where the agenda is clear, the learning outcomes predetermined. The teacher has to simply ensure that orderliness is maintained while the host guide puts the children through the paces. The teacher may step in when needed to help children grasp the given information.

There is always scope for impromptu activities during field trips, such as singing, dancing, writing, drawing, even photography! For older children, it might help to create an observation or record sheet that the children have to fill in after the trip. Give these sheets to them ahead of time so that they can think about the things they are to observe or make notes on during the visit.

Structured or unstructured, field trips make textbook subjects palpably real. Children and the teacher explore and discover together. The five senses are put into action. Such learning, in a natural and pleasant manner as we all know, is quick and stays in the mind.

To evaluate the success of the field trip the teacher has to look at her notes, the verbal or written feedback and the art work of the children. Are the children able to recall field experience at a later stage? To ensure that self-motivated learning takes place during the event the children should be curious enough to know more and ask questions. Did we get the children curious enough before we started? Were the children active learners or passive observers? Were they able to make the connections? Did any self-generated understanding take place? The field trip offers the child a chance to gather first hand experience of a place and lets him form his own impressions. The teacher has to merely facilitate this process and enable learning that lasts.

Sujata C is a freelance writer based in Hyderabad. She can be reached at sujata117@yahoo.co.uk.