This CAS activity includes the students of our school to teach the other underprivileged kids of different schools from the outskirts of our city. I took the charge of teaching the kids Arts for 3 consecutive weekends. We pre-planned a bit as to what can we teach the kids and where to start from.
As I was the person-in-charge of the sessions, I had to coordinate with the juniors and make sure that the content delivered to the kids was appropriate. We decided to teach them according to their age group and made changes as we observed and analysed their level of understanding. We taught them the colour schemes, combinations, different types of lines, different art forms and how to use various media. Our goal for this CAS activity was to ensure that the kids who come to learn have fun during the learning process and appreciate the learning they acquire. My personal goal was to make sure that they felt welcomed and comfortable. I wanted them to explore and learn in a non-conventional way in order to do this, I made sure they have all the resources available which they want to try out or use to make their own pieces of art. We hoped that their curiosity was justified and we helped them to do so.
During our first session, it was really difficult to connect with them especially because everything was new to them and for us too. They were amazed to see all the resources available to them but it was unfortunate that they felt really shy and a little uncomfortable in our presence. So, I decided that we all try to talk in their language and one difficulty we faced was, all of us didn’t know Gujarati. Hence, the ones who knew it quite well, helped others to communicate with the kids. Surprisingly when we talked in their language they felt kind of “at home” and opened up a little more. Soon as we spent more and more time with them, they were getting more comfortable with us and they had fun learning the new things we taught them.
During this whole process, I lacked a bit in making a connection with the kids. I knew my weakness was that I myself need a little time to get close to people and when I had to actually make a connection with these kids in such a short period of time, I struggled. I realised that this was going to cost a lot so I tried to put aside my comfort zone and put my efforts in communicating with the kids and tried to create an approachable atmosphere where they could come to me and talk about their difficulties and also what they really wanted to do in Arts. I made a little flexible schedule so they could do what they feel like doing after they have completed a set of activities we had set for them.
Another factor of this CAS activity was that I had to make a good relationship with my juniors too so that we don’t have disagreements. Talking with the juniors was new because we never actually communicated with them. However, it was easier to build a good relationship with them as we had many things in common and our aim was to help the kids who came to learn from us.
When I was teaching the kids, a bitter realisation struck me. I felt that every kid should get an opportunity to learn from a dedicated and a well-educated teacher. But looking at the situation in government schools I think it’s our responsibility to take an initiative and dedicate some of our time to enlighten these hungry minds who never had an opportunity to learn in a non-conventional style. I took a step and started to teach my maid’s kids after seeing the reality of these kids. They didn’t even know Alphabets and they were studying English. I had a hard time teaching a 13-year-old Alphabets at home. And it was then that I realised just how important it was for the kids to learn from a good teacher from a young age. It’s quite difficult to learn absolutely new things after a certain age.
The service sessions at school made me realize something and I digested that fact and started teaching kids at my home. I know it has a global significance as the difference is clearly seen when a person is educated and when a person is just literate. We need to spread education so we have a number of people who are aware of this world and their responsibilities here. Educating people will also help us with making this world a better place and if they understand the importance of harmonious living, we could for sure live better lives.
I am teaching 2 kids at my home and I will make sure that they don’t face any difficulties at school and turn out to become good humans. I am positive about spreading education to a larger number of students but not only with the bookish knowledge but with many other issues of the world like not littering around, not harming the environment and conserving the limited resources that we have.
From this CAS experience, I realized how much happiness can small acts spread. I also learned the importance of time as I crunched in the teaching slots in my schedule and realized how I could manage to teach the kids without compromising with my work and by cutting down on my procrastination time. I understood the value of the things I have in life when I saw how people with no such privileges and how blessed they felt with the little that we had provided them from our end. The most important thing I learned was the value of my teachers who are so passionate about their work and help me to grow in every aspect of life.
