Teaching- learning and the purpose of participation

Couple of years back when I was in the final year of my graduation, I got a call from the principal of the support school where I used to teach to the economically underprivileged kids, saying that there was a debate competition and he was thinking if the students can participate in it.

I told him instantly that of course students should participate, and also told him names of couple of students who were more articulate and talkative in class.

He paused a bit, and then continued, “The language allowed for debate is English.”

I went blank when I heard this. Since I was their English teacher, I knew that their comfort level with language was nowhere close to that of taking part in debate in English. However, I asked him what the topic was. “Corruption is for the rich, it does not affect the poor much” was the topic. “Students are supposed to participate in a team of two, one for the topic and another against it.

Without worrying of how students would react to it, I thought to take a chance. That evening when I went for my class I put forward this topic to them in Gujarati, asked them to think if they could take any side. Fortunately, they thought, not only did they think but they could also put the arguments in a decent manner. Next, I helped them with some words in English and asked them to speak in English. This was way too much to expect though!!

Since I also had my CAT exam that year, I used to meet them only once a week, so we hardly got a chance to practice twice before the final event, and in both the times they could speak in Gujarati but did poorly in English.

However, it was very clear to me and to them also that our purpose was not to win, we just wanted to see something new, calibrate ourselves, and experience something we never did before.

Some days later, I heard that out of two students who had participated in the event, both could put their point across – in half English half Gujarati- speech in front of a crowd of more than hundred people.

There was a temptation in my mind to prepare a whole speech for the students, and just asking them to mug it up and vomit it out at the competition; however it was only good not to surrender to that. That was the happiest day of my short teaching career as students had learned to think, and express on their own, their opinions were truly their own!!

Today when I look back at this event, I reconfirm the fact upon my mind that the sole purpose of participating in any event or competition is not to win it or see it as an opportunity to add a feather to your successes, but it is an opportunity to do, think, see, feel, something newer which one would have never had if one had not participated.

At times in this race, one tends to put away these important learnings, and focus more on immediate outcomes, however being reminded of the true purpose is always a great thing.