Shiksha : my experiments as an education minister : book review

This book outlines the education policy that the Delhi Government has espoused under the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) during its first tenure. Education is, has been and will continue to be an issue that arouses universal participation, be it in the form of opinion or outrage. Everyone has opinions on what should be taught, how, when and why. Schools advertise their success rates and some schools are more popular than the others for their ability to produce ‘cent per cent results’, without quite knowing or caring what happens to the students in the process

Grace under challenges : a sibling speaks

When I became an elder sister after several years of being the youngest, my first reaction was a mixture of excitement and pride and, it must be admitted, feelings of satisfaction of getting the opportunity, at last, to generally give instructions and have somebody obey them, as I had been doing

Giving kids a fair chance, edited by James J Heckman; Boston review Books; $12.17 (hard cover)

This book which begins with an essay by the Nobel Prize winning economist brings out the point that the accident of birth is the greatest factor in social inequality. His essay is based on the premise that children who are born into socially, culturally or educationally disadvantaged families seem to exacerbate those disadvantages: by the time they begin school at the kindergarten level, the stage is already set for future problems such as dropping out, teenage pregnancy, crime and a lifetime of low wages and dead end jobs. Heckman points out that this is a serious setback for American society

Teacher preparation for teaching language in elementary schools

Language is an entirely unique human activity that has no real comparison in any other species, though there is enough evidence to show that animals, both land and aquatic, birds and insects 'communicate' with each other and with the rest of their community to survive and procreate. Of course the 'finer' sentiments of love and loyalty are expressed by gaze and licking and so on

FROM THE EDITOR

What exactly is reinforcing learning? This was a question we asked ourselves before we went ahead with the theme. The vision that immediately springs to the mind when we talk about reinforcing learning is piles of homework, mostly in maths and language, which as students, we used to do without thinking very much, heads bent and intent only upon finishing, not learning or applying the mind. The textbook was central to this approach - in maths, for example, we looked at the sums that had been ‘worked out’ at the back of the chapter and followed the prescription to a T

From the editor, Learning Curve, December 2022.

One of the most important things COVID-19 has taught us - and it has taught us a lot - about ourselves is that we are undoubtedly dependent on each other for our happiness, growth and thriving. It has also challenged our notions of success by bringing out the fact that it is not merely academic excellence or gaining marks that matter; success is being the best version of ourselves that we can be. The way to do this is by accentuating wellbeing, not just physical health, but mental and emotional prosperity too

Teacher preparation for teaching language in elementary schools

Language is an entirely unique human activity that has no real comparison in any other species, though there is enough evidence to show that animals, both land and aquatic, birds and insects 'communicate' with each other and with the rest of their community to survive and procreate. Of course the 'finer' sentiments of love and loyalty are expressed by gaze and licking and so on

Grace under challenges : a sibling speaks

When I became an elder sister after several years of being the youngest, my first reaction was a mixture of excitement and pride and, it must be admitted, feelings of satisfaction of getting the opportunity, at last, to generally give instructions and have somebody obey them, as I had been doing

Giving kids a fair chance, edited by James J Heckman; Boston review Books; $12.17 (hard cover)

This book which begins with an essay by the Nobel Prize winning economist brings out the point that the accident of birth is the greatest factor in social inequality. His essay is based on the premise that children who are born into socially, culturally or educationally disadvantaged families seem to exacerbate those disadvantages: by the time they begin school at the kindergarten level, the stage is already set for future problems such as dropping out, teenage pregnancy, crime and a lifetime of low wages and dead end jobs. Heckman points out that this is a serious setback for American society