I told the story of the Giving Tree at the assembly. In the story a tree keeps giving away its parts to a boy till only stump is left. Even then the tree is happy to offer the stump to the boy to rest. It's a famous and moving story.
Later in the day, I had a science class where I am doing 'life of plants' with kids age 10yrs. The topic of the morning Story was raised by some children. One boy said that it was a sad story. Many children agreed with him. Seeing that the story had made some impact on the kids, I decided to play on the ambiguity.
I asked, how-come the tree was happy then ? Shouldn't it be a happy story. Now some children agreed with me. So was it a sad story or a happy story ? Why did they think so ? One boy, who is otherwise difficult to deal with surprised me by saying that 'even though he is happy for the tree, the story is sad in many ways'. I could see the sophisticated ways in which kids were able to articulate.
The power of getting children to think lies in the ambiguity of the story. Depending on how deep you see the meaning (how much you empathise), you end up getting different views. It brings out the 'devil's advocate' in them for a good purpose. They are able to distinguish many levels at which the story can be read.
We should use ambiguous stories, such as this, more often in the class. Where, there is no clear answer. There are only interpretations depending on how you much you think about it.
Later in the day, I had a science class where I am doing 'life of plants' with kids age 10yrs. The topic of the morning Story was raised by some children. One boy said that it was a sad story. Many children agreed with him. Seeing that the story had made some impact on the kids, I decided to play on the ambiguity.
I asked, how-come the tree was happy then ? Shouldn't it be a happy story. Now some children agreed with me. So was it a sad story or a happy story ? Why did they think so ? One boy, who is otherwise difficult to deal with surprised me by saying that 'even though he is happy for the tree, the story is sad in many ways'. I could see the sophisticated ways in which kids were able to articulate.
The power of getting children to think lies in the ambiguity of the story. Depending on how deep you see the meaning (how much you empathise), you end up getting different views. It brings out the 'devil's advocate' in them for a good purpose. They are able to distinguish many levels at which the story can be read.
We should use ambiguous stories, such as this, more often in the class. Where, there is no clear answer. There are only interpretations depending on how you much you think about it.
Yes! We should not teach what children have to interpretate.
ReplyDeleteWhy teachers use to correct a child when he/she draw a blue squared sun? Instead of this, teachers should ask the "whys" behind such innovative idea.