Where is Child-centered Education?

Where is Child-centered Education?

I came across this word while doing my B.Ed. (Bachelors of Education), and was very impressed with this concept as I have not experience the same when I was in school. Later, when I became teacher, I never experienced the concept called ‘Child-centered Education’. Sadly, concept looks good only in books when it comes to Indian education context. My experiences with regards to this concept are totally opposite of what it meant to be. Some of the experiences I thought of sharing through this article.

I was working in a school as a maths teacher, but students as well as teachers and our school Principal were aware of my talent of music, guitar playing and singing. Our school organized an Inter-House Singing competition. Aware of my knowledge of music, I was invited as one of the three judges for the singing competition. The other two judges were the school’s music teachers.

A week before the competition, students came to me asking about the selection of song, and I guided them at my best. At the time of the competition, students performed at their best. The program was a complete package of Hip-Hop songs, Rock songs, Pop songs and Indian classical songs. But when the results were declared, I was shocked. The girl who sang Indian-classical song got the prize. Every student was surprise.

When the judges (excluding me) were called to talk about the programme, they mentioned that one should always learn Indian classical music before singing a song. They also mentioned that songs belonging to western culture are neither good for singing nor better for listening.

Let me be frank. In my opinion, the students who sang classical song, wasn’t the perfect one. On the other hand, there were some students who sang Hip-Hop songs and Rock songs near to the perfection. One cannot judge students on the basis of their own likes and dislikes. Even the Principal was of that opinion that western songs do not sound nice. I was more shocked than surprised. How could that be one of the criteria for the competition? Such criteria wasn’t mentioned in the score sheet as well.

Here, the school has literally crushed the students’ likes and dislikes towards music. School authorities are no one to influence which music student should listen or perform. On the other hand, as said by Swami Vivekananda, the education is, understanding the hidden talent and helping it to flourish. 

Where does the concept of ‘Child-centered education’ lie?