She’s a force to reckon with; a visionary who took to the field of education to change the terrain, Anu Monga has left a lasting impact with her avant-garde methods, defining the several unprecedented roles that she has taken on with ease and elegance. Tracing her journey of over 30 years, Mentor Magazine brings the inspirational story of Anuradha Monga; an exceptional educationist, entrepreneur and Chairperson Emeritus of TAISI.
The Seed of Inspiration
Anuradha Monga was 8 years old when her teacher would force her to use her right hand to write while she was a left-hander. The teacher’s unaccommodating demeanour made her vow that she would become an educator and make them study the human brain to realize why every child is different, be it a left-hander or a right-hander. Drawing inspiration from her role model, mentor and a very dear friend, Ellen Stern, Anuradha embarked on her journey in the field of education.
She left no stone unturned to gain an indepth understanding of this field. Her ample research, aided by a plethora of reading materials, sent her towards the direction of studying child psychology and cognitive philosophy so that she could understand the workings of the human brain. Her idea was to have an inclusive school, and inclusion to her extended beyond children with learning needs; especially to those who came from different cultures.
Redefining the System
“Every child listens to a different drama,” is what she said to herself when she walked into classrooms; the thought helped her work on her thesis as well. Anu remarks that she was upset with the rote method that schools were following since time immemorial. She was only 20 when she opined that, as an educator, children shouldn’t be cooped up in a single classroom all day, and needed a different kind of spacing as each child was different from the other.
The design of learning spaces should be structured around children, keeping in mind different needs and functionalities, says Anuradha. For instance, children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or with sharp dyslexia may find strong use of colours in spaces very unsettling for them.
Inclusion
When we talk of inclusion in classrooms, how sure are we that we’re incorporating the same to include children from a wide spectrum, asks Anu. She is of the opinion that teachers need to be trained to understand different abilities of children to handle inclusion in classrooms and schools, and the system should be defined in such a way that children with different abilities come together in a singular space, learn about the other and co-exist. Anuradha Monga started a learning centre (one of the biggest in the country at that time), and advocates that despite some children requiring one-on-one attention, everyone belongs to one classroom.
She observes that when we talk of children with dyslexia and ADHD, we need to realise that these children are very good in art and music. When Anuradha worked as the head of a school, she had brought the whole family together, be it the support staff, parents, teachers and the school leadership so that they worked with their respective houses as a single team.
One interesting thing she shared with Mentor was that they replaced the harsh school bells with music made by students; Indian, western etc. Once the music played, children peacefully moved from one classroom to another, because keeping them in the same place throughout the day is against efficacy. Children walking out of classrooms, socialising with friends in the hallways prepares them for other sessions better than being stationed in the same place.
Anuradha Monga organised conferences, inviting global students, to showcase the inclusion in her school. She would also take in underprivileged kids to study in her school to enable them an access to education that they were deprived of.
Changing Hues of Career Exploration
Over the years, Anuradha has seen the terrain of career exploration change with time and industrial need. Conventional specialisations and subjects have made way to nouvelle ideas to an extent that even STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has now accommodated Arts and has turned into STEAM. India, today, has a plethora of liberal arts colleges because not every child is interested in science and engineering, says Anu.
A career in sports is looked at today with bucolic eyes, but she had encouraged the same decades ago. Anu remembered that two children had made it to the Olympics from her school, and had balanced their academics parallelly with the help of teachers who provided timely guidance and counsels.
She would encourage a culture of internships for Class 10 and 11 children so that they could get a preview of what awaits them and how well they can choose their specialisations based on their experiences.
“We talk about mental health and well-being a lot today but I had addressed it during a time when it was not even spoken about, especially for support staff. We would organise workshops for teachers to understand a range of issues related to children”, recalls Anuradha Monga.
Rejig the Education System
Anuradha’s expansive stint in education has her throwing light on how the system needs to be recalibrated to match current demands of the ever evolving world. “When we talk about respecting other cultures, we also need to talk about taking examples from them; education is one such aspect as well. The Indian education system is content heavy and one sided. We need to embrace new methodologies, syllabi and pedagogy and adapt them as per our terrain. We need to train the teachers, who today have broadened their roles to facilitators and ensure that they form a team with students”, says Anu.
But she observes that the grass root level needs to relook and change their priorities. She opines that the system speaks of grander changes, yet nobody knows when these changes will reach the villages. With technological changes today demanding a laptop for every child, how pertinent would it be if we had such expectations from students in the hinterlands of this country, questions Anu. “So, don’t you think that it would be wonderful if bigger schools adopted smaller schools and worked together? Because a lot of talent that represents our nation comes from the backwoods and they need to be supported by the rest of us”, asks Anuradha.
Curriculum
“Teach them everything; world religion, culture, history” states Anuradha Monga. She firmly believes that these subjects should not be diluted with agenda. She feels that children should develop their own perspectives and not borrow it from somebody else. “Adapt innovative methods of teaching because children today can grasp what we as adults fail to do. But don’t get them addicted to technology. Some things have to be done with paper and pen. For instance, essay writings, poetry etc. Give them tech-free hours in a week. Get them to read. Take them outside classrooms; if you have an expansive campus, make them sit under trees and get them to read a book in the quiet folds of nature. If your space is limited, children can sit outside classrooms on bean bags and read something that’s not included in their pedagogy but is appropriate to their age”, advises Anuradha.
A Safe Space called School
It hurts Anu to see that schools that were once safe spaces for children have now become breeding grounds for biases. Children getting bullied and body-shamed by their peers creates a toxic environment which will deter the whole purpose of why the space was created, according to her. She feels that it is high time that schools introduce kindness, empathy and sympathy right from smaller classes so that both students and teachers understand the impact of words and their after effects on others.
Constant Value
“As I had emphasised earlier on in this conversation, every child listens to a different drama. That’s foundational to shape perspectives and individuality; we are not here to manufacture minds” emphasises Anu.
Anuradha Monga concludes by saying that education can be beautiful; you can learn through nature, learn through technology, inside and outside of classrooms, from every single person you come across in your life. And educators need to evolve themselves every single day to face the challenges of an ever evolving landscape of education. As the years go ahead, children change. They're not what we were. So you have to go with the times.
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