TED.com have just put up another great new article about what we can all learn from classrooms in the developing world.
It features Adam Braun – whose fantastic Pencils of Promise book is a definite book for your reading list – and also Sugata Mitra – who did the computer rooms in the schools we worked with in Hyderabad(!) – and also Professor James Tooley‘s Omega schools also make an appearance (I’d love to get out and see those schools one day!)
People always ask from where do I get my energy? and on the Genki English side of things it is always from working in schools and projects like this. The kids over there are *amazing* and are always so, so positive with huge smiles the whole day long.
So have a read and let me know what you learned in the comments! 🙂
Be genki,
Richard
P.S. Yes, we’re still waiting for my TEDx talk to get uploaded. They have assured me that it will be soon, but … with all the articles like this that are very anti-teacher (which I can understand 🙂 ) I wonder if my pro-teacher stance in my talk has anything to do with it??
Trying to compete with an X-Box for kids’ attention, now there’s a challenge! Although there’s always one or two serious students who will say ‘Come on, there’s work to be done!’ In families where the mother is illiterate, the sisters often help the younger children with homework. I think the families’ attitudes have a lot to do with motivation. They tell the children how hard it has been for them without an education and emphasise how important it is. The children also have a sense of responsibility to their families because there is a real need. The whole motivation topic is very interesting.