The
straight from the heart discussion of teaching fraternity on Simplicity and
Trust made me ponder upon the topic from the point of view of a Teacher, a
Parent and a child. Trust and Simplicity are two different words but are
entwined in such a way that one is incomplete without the other. Daily
Newspaper ‘The Hindu’, once asked its readers “What was it that inspired people
to follow Mahatma Gandhi?” to which a Class III student replied, “People
followed him because he led a simple life”.
A student of class V said, “Gandhi Ji practised simplicity, he was
fearless in speaking the truth; he practised what he said before asking others
to follow.” All the responses directed towards the fact that is simple in
thoughts, action and preaching made people trust Mahatma Gandhi.
I
asked the teachers-
It
might be easy to preach ‘’Simple Living,
High Thinking’’ but in today’s era of ‘jo dikhta hai, wo bikta hai’ how would
you make your students understand the value of simplicity?
Chandralekha:-
That’s right, it’s not easy to make students understand why they should be
simple? I often observe the girls, as soon as they come back from their
outing/vacations that they start showing off their new toys, games, clothes and
accessories to others in the dorm. I realized, this is the way kids show their
happiness and excitement, but this showbiz can hurt the feelings of others who are
left behind. As a school, we do many activities like giving a fixed amount to
students which they can spend on school fairs. This helps them balance their priorities
and value for money. Simplicity can be seen in many ways like in your way of
living, in choosing your wardrobe, in expressing yourself, in dealing with an adverse
situation, in your behaviour and words. As a teacher, I always make a point to
appreciate simple efforts and behaviour in my class, so the students understand
that simplicity is trusted and appreciated.
Parents
these days want their children to be smart more than being simple, how do you
balance this?
Mamta:-
We have to make children understand the difference between smart and simple,
both these words can go together. Our Ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam was a
simple and smart man. Simplicity is reflected in one’s thoughts and actions.
Smartness is reflected as one’s intelligence which one uses to handle a crisis,
manage people and situations. We often relate smartness with external
appearance, expensive clothes, accessories and materialistic possessions hence,
when we talk about being simple we get confused that the two words are opposite
and to get one we have to leave other. Being simple does mean eliminating
non-essentials from our lives, but that does not mean we cannot be smart. Bringing
this clarity to children’s minds will help them balance the two virtues in
their life.
As a parent, we often tell our children not to trust anyone, not to
take stuff from strangers or talk to strangers. Now if we want them to trust
others, is it not conflicting?
Rudrani:
- It is very conflicting indeed, but at the same time, children must learn to trust.
The news that we read or listen to show very often that children or even
grown-ups getting into trouble for trusting unknown people. A trustworthy
person always cares about you. However, there are many people who actually
appear to be nice only because they want something for themselves at your
expense. By getting exposed to various aspects of human beings and their nature
through stories and real-life incidents, children can develop the abilities to judge the good and bad intents and motives of people. We always ask our
children to be polite and nice to people, but that does not mean to put aside your
skills of understanding and evaluating others. Children are told not to trust
or take things from strangers because a relationship of trust can happen only
when you feel comfortable with that person. In school and at home, children
should discuss with their teachers and parents how to sense the intent of
people, the ideas of belief, faith and confidence.
How
can we develop an environment of trust in our class?
Anubhuti:-
Doing simple things with children can make them happy and content. In one of my
online class, a student told me that today is Ria's birthday (another student).
I wished Ria and blessed her, then we all sang birthday song and clapped for
her as we would have done in the school’s assembly. This small gesture itself moved
them. I did nothing special, but they all were satisfied and beaming with
happiness. I was glad to see that it didn’t require any decorations, cake, gifts
or chocolates, to make someone feel special. They trusted me with the fact that
if they tell me something, I will listen and appreciate. I believe
communication is the best weapon to inculcate simplicity in children. When we
listen, give them opportunities to express their thoughts, the foundation of
trust is laid.
As
a teacher how easy or difficult is to trust your students?
Kirti:-
If as a teacher, you want your students to have full faith or trust in you
or they must share their thoughts with you then, you too have to trust
them. In most cases, it's the students who prove to be more trustworthy. Once
you let them know that you trust them, they won’t fail you. I've tried
this with my class. Many times during the class test, I would go out of the class
telling them that I trust them and believe that they won't cheat. After
checking their papers, I really feel proud that just for the sake of good marks, they didn't break my trust. I also praise those students who failed yet chose
not to cheat. To encourage them I also tell that, had it been for me, I too would
have been tempted to cheat but resisting the temptation makes us earn trust and
respect through it may lose us few marks.
Sugandha:-
I am an artist. Just like a child, artists don’t understand complex things. We
break everything into simple, comprehensible parts and bring it to our creation.
It’s simplicity that we trust and get attracted to. By being simple and easy to
understand, the teacher can earn the trust of its students. For me, it’s not
difficult to trust children as they are simple and honest.
Simplicity
is removing all the non-essentials from our life, eliminating complexity and
chaos. Simplicity earns trust. It’s difficult to understand the complexity, and the human mind does not trust that it cannot comprehend. Thus, ‘Trust’ is the building
block of any society. We cannot function for a day without trust. Buying
groceries, visiting doctor, leaving the child to school, stepping out of our
home all of it requires trust either on self or others.
Childhood
means simplicity. Look at the world with the child’s eye- it is very beautiful
………………………..Kailash Satyarthi
Team Medley DGS @ The Doon Girls's School, Dehradun - Anubhuti Sharma, Chandralekha Negi, Kirti Bisht, Mamta Kandpal, Neelam Waldia, Rudrani Ray, Sugandha Ahluwalia
