A Bodh school is called a Bodhshala. It
has a Preschool section and has a primary school program. Scope for
Women's participation has been built in through the creation of a
Mahila Samooh (Women's Group) that assembles daily to discuss
children's education and to acquire literacy and other schools. Some
of the community women have been trained and involved in the program
as Mother Teachers (para teachers for the preschool program). Some
adolescent girls who have dropped out from school have also been
involved through the creation of an Adolescent Girls' Group or Kishori
Samooh. The school is built within the
slum or village, often with community participation. It is not divided
by Classes, but is instead divided into samoohs: Shala Poorv
(preschool), Shala Arambh (lower primary), Shala Madhya (intermediary
level) and Shala Samhooh (upper primary). Each of these is further
divided based on child age, performance and interests. Generally, the
teacher child ratio is 1:30. Some of it distinctive features are:
Parents can visit it any time to share concerns, criticize,
offer suggestions or share personal matters unrelated to education.
Its arrangement is characterized by spontaneous and uninhibited
behavior; children can move in and out of the school as and
when they desire so.
Children are given ample opportunities to reveal their
interests, skills in dancing / singing / drawing / crafts, games
etc.
Learning takes place in real life situations. Non-cognitive
activities are as important as cognitive activities are.
Freedom of pace of learning for each child; it is closely observed
and recorded by the teachers.
Punishment in any form is discouraged.
Competition has no place and examinations have been replaced by the
process of continuous assessment of the child.
A
thing that marks the school as different from others is the teacher
child relationship. The teacher places herself at the level of
children and acts as a facilitator in the teaching-learning processes.
She makes a conscious effort to involve children, sitting with them in
the group (there is no chair for teachers in any classroom). She
encourages each child to express his or her views which are respected
and taken into consideration by the teacher, thereby boosting up their
self-esteem.
A multilevel
approach of teaching is followed giving scope for self – pacing of
learning. In subjects like Language, Mathematics, and Environmental
Studies worksheets, individual/group activities have been evolved in a
graded form and children proceed according to their potential and
pace. There are no textbooks for children up to the early
‘Shala-samooh’ level. Unlike regular schools, children do not have to
wait one full year in the same grade after finishing the course. There
is also a scheme of subject promotion (which means that if the child
is very bright in one subject, she/he can be grouped with the next
level children for that one subject).
The Bodhshala
have no ‘Head-masters’. Every teacher has to perform all the roles
required for the school’s functioning. It is virtually run by the
teacher’s collective spirit. Similarly, each teacher has the freedom
to take decisions about children’s academic and non-academic issues
and solve problems at her own level. Every teacher plans according to
needs of her children. This decentralized planning approach makes
their programme more practicable and effective.
