caleidoscope
A place steeped in history recently hosted a spirited discussion on the teaching of history. Teachers, academicians and people of letters gathered to take a fresh look at the teaching of India’s Freedom Movement.
The discussion, titled Teaching the history of the Freedom Movement to young children, was organised at Victoria Memorial on August 19, part of a series of critical conversations to be held at the heritage venue in future.
Moderated by Devi Kar, the director of Modern High School for Girls, the participants included history teachers Anirban Mondal of Netaji Nagar Colony High School, Durgapur, Tina Servaia of Calcutta International School, and Amita Prasad of Modern High School and Megha Malhotra of The Seagull Foundation for the Arts.
“At least somebody is thinking of schoolteachers. The onus of making students understand the essence of history lies on us teachers and textbooks. India’s struggle for freedom is usually an emotionally charged topic. Can it be taught?” wondered Kar as she threw open the discussion.
Mondal felt history as a subject is very abstract and often incorrectly interpreted. “History as a discipline may not match with history of everyday life and what is interpreted on screen. We need to blend the two to teach the subject effectively,” he said.
Prasad stressed on making history lessons more approachable and not reducing it to a litany of dates and places. “Teaching history can be difficult, especially when children have little idea about the events. It is the task of a teacher to concretise the knowledge and make it a real-life experience,” she said.
The only non-teacher in the group, Malhotra, spoke about her foundation’s project on teaching conflict to students and how they have a pool of teachers to work with various schools.
The general consensus at the end of the discussion was that teachers need to excite students and teach them in a language they understand. “I like to mix activities. A Class XII student can be involved in an activity meant for junior classes, if it is meaningful. It all depends on the approach,” said Servaia.
The teachers went on to discuss classroom experiences and the advantages of using visuals and staging plays as teaching aids.
Angels on canvas
She returned to India from Israel in 2002, terribly disturbed by what she saw there and that is what inspired her to work on Angels, a collection of paintings in oil and water colour.
The Angels series by Rumi was part of an exhibition of her works at Chitrakoot Art Gallery.
At the opening of the exhibition on August 23, her birthday, the artist recalled how she read the Bible very seriously after she was left shaken by the Israel experience. “I wished for angels to be sent to earth and protect mankind.”
The exhibition was also a fund-raiser event for Rumi’s dialysis and kidney transplant.
“When I met Rumi at a friend’s place I had a feeling that I had come across a natural artist. Being a musician, I know what it is to be natural. The care and love in her paintings is evident. I wish her speedy recovery,” said Monojit Datta, Rumi’s friend and musician.
Ancient art
It was a world of kings, queens and love. Self-taught artist Devirani Dasgupta’s third solo exhibition, held recently at the Academy of Fine Arts, transported one to ancient India. Heavily influenced by Madhubani art and resplendent in earth colours, Dasgupta’s acrylic-on-canvas compositions tell stories of their own. “I am a surrealistic painter trying to connect the known to the unknown through the association of forms,” said Devirani.
Contributed by Chandreyee Ghose & Samabrita Sen
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / Sunday – September 07th, 2014