The basic
educational principle first evolved and operationalized in the
Bodhshalas sought to make education interesting, activity-oriented and
thus rejected rote learning. Instead of using textbooks, Bodh
introduced worksheets and storybooks. Worksheets were developed
through ‘daily planning’ in the earlier years; teachers were not only
given intensive training in the newly evolved educational concepts and
methods, but also involved in their formulation. The children’s own
lives- processes of playing and learning at home- and their cultural
milieu were used as sources to develop curriculum. Thus, stories that
were told and heard in homes and community settings, traditional
children’s games and the dialect they spoke in, were drawn upon both
for the contextualized content and as media of teaching and learning.
Children were streamed into different groups, based on their
developmental age and learning levels. Assessment of learning levels
was done on a continuous basis without imposing the pressure and fear
of examination/testing on the children.
Starting with this diversity of approaches and systems, there is now a
move towards ensuring a certain amount of structuring of the
experiences by drafting written curricula. Separate curricula have
been drafted for the preschool program, and Primary level Hindi,
Mathematics, Music, Dramatics and Fine Arts. The curriculum is based
on the experience of the organization's work with these groups over
the last 15 years as well as established best practices in the field.
A typical curriculum consists of the rationale and method of dealing
with that age group, the activities to be undertaken and the
curricular goals to be achieved. There is a consistent emphasis on
ensuring that the local context is reflected in the way activities are
organized.
The Preschool Curriculum
Bodh’s approach to pre
school curriculum stems out of the fact that what a preschool child
learns in school is only a part of the broader socialization and
learning process that takes place in homes, neighborhood and the
larger society. Its roots lie in a comprehensive exercise to
understand the cultural practices and beliefs in the slums where
children live. The current curriculum document and preschool teaching
practice has been evolved after nearly 10 years of ongoing evolution
and refinement. The teachers observed the behavior of children, their
play, and their interaction among friends.
It is developmentally appropriate and provides for all areas of
child’s development: physical-motor, language, social, emotional and
cognitive through an integrated approach to facilitate holistic
development of the children. Activities to foster various areas of
development are spelt out in detail. Curriculum and teaching learning
process are activity oriented. Learning activities and materials are
concrete, real, and relevant to the lives of young children. The
written curriculum has a compilation of activities that are arranged
in order of complexity; the activities specifically for the preschool
age are organized and sequentially graded in order of complexity from
level 1 (age group 3+) to level 3 (age group 5+). The child-centered
curriculum provides ample opportunity for the children to learn
through active exploration. Art education in the form of drawing of
pictures clay models, collection of objects, tracing of shapes and
coloring activities also form an integral part of the curriculum. In
the same way music, drama and play are given due importance.
