When I look at the flowers in the small garden near my house, I am reminded of the ongoing discussion about the balance between nature and nurture in teaching and gardening. The very nature of the flower is to bloom, and some even give out fragrance, but would they blossom if the gardener did not prune at the right time, did not give them enough nutrition, and did not provide the care they need? The question we discussed this week in Brewing Knowledge, based on Kamal Mukunda's book, was about nature and nurture: how do they influence human behaviour, and how do genetics and environmental factors interact with one another?
I loved learning that we have an inbuilt capacity to understand and process complexity around us from the moment we enter the world. As infants, we know a whole language as part of our innate capability, with the external environment providing cues, socialisation, and stories, I would assume. A small instance of a mother speaking to her newborn, knowing the child may not understand or respond. These are all essential aspects of growing the vocabulary and learning the language.
As a teacher, I find it highly fascinating that we all learned a language from an early age without the aid of chalk, a blackboard, or formal teaching. We have an environment that helps us acquire it – parents and family speaking to us, buying groceries at a shop, so there is utility in the language that we keep experiencing. We also express ourselves in language, so there is an aspect of expression. But do we provide this fertile environment for the child when they are learning English in a classroom that focuses solely on teaching grammar? Can we consider a child's innate qualities and create our classroom environments so rich that the language is present around them in all forms and utilities?
The discussion about nature and nurture is an essential one in teaching and learning. Do such discussions make it to the B.Ed programme for our young teachers who enter the workforce? Are we giving ourselves enough food for thought as teachers before we enter our classrooms? These are all questions that are essential for me, and I am still mulling them over in my head, like a filter coffee, with our small group of teachers.
Neelashi Mangal
Training and Development Lead
Learning Forward India Foundation
