G. Gautama
Jane Sahi’s resource book for Primary School teachers, to help create a learning draught for language, is replete with examples of many approaches. The author’s experience and focus on the learning child is everywhere. No one approach is recommended as a panacea and it is left to a practicing teacher to use a mix of approaches that suit her/him.
Learning to read and write usually drives the learner towards black or blue letters on a white background. In this book the author refreshingly brings colour into every activity. While not emphasized, this one factor alone will speak to the reader of the value of a wider approach of a wholesome view of the child and the core values of the educational process. Empowering the child in every way is the core concern of the author and visible in the text and the subtext.
For a teacher entering the classroom for the first time, this book could be a valuable resource outlining the many ways in which language skills can be developed. For an experienced teacher, as we all tend to occupy known ground rather easily, this book could be an invitation to revisit a less used approach. Browsing the pages when confronted with a difficult situation in a class
- It could ignite a process of fresh discovery regarding a forgotten approach
- Offer an avenue for reaching a child one is finding difficult to reach and lastly
- To ground oneself in a celebration of effort rather than result, a relaxation of the tension generated by performance evaluation
The book could be called a definitive collection of approaches that any language teacher could use. However, this comprehensiveness brings its own price, a loss of some lightness that one would like to see in a book that teaches teachers to teach young students. It seems this is a conscious choice that Jane has made in writing this very special book that would be useful in every staff room and library.
The author serves as Director – Secretary of Palar Centre for Learning – (PCFL-KFI) responsible for a small school called Pathashaala near Thirukalukundram. He was Principal at The School, KFI from Feb 1991 to May 2012. He can be reached at gautama2004@gmail.com.