1. Disaster of Use of English Literature For Indian Education
Several thousands of temple schools in India worked very well for understanding of scriptures and development of languages till the middle of nineteenth century. Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic were the three major Indian languages that were taught in these schools. However, the colonialists were not satisfied with this and that is how the most disastrous act of 1835 was brought in by Lord Thomas Macaulay. The argument to replace all these schools with similar schools which existed in England were based on Macaulay’s belief that the three languages which were used in India did not have any literature which was worthy to be taught (1) unlike English that had plenty of sublime literature (2) which could enlighten the students. The colonialists led by Macaulay wanted an education that would satisfy the needs of the British (3) administrators. This objective resulted in development of those skills that were necessary for the British kingdom in India. This probably is the greatest disaster that happened to Indian education (4) right in its beginning of organised and systematic conduct.
2. Natural Skills That Can Be Developed
Farha is a movie, indeed a historical drama, produced in the background of the Hebrew invasion of Palestine in 1948 to establish their new kingdom as a home for the persecuted Jews during the war; allowed by the United Nations Organisation and supported by major western countries. It is said that this movie is a real story of a girl named Radiah who ran away from her hideout in a Palestinian village after escaping from the notice of the Israeli soldiers to Syria. In the movie, Farha, is locked up in the pantry of her house in the village when her father goes out to protect the village from the attackers. Made in Palestinian, Arabic and English, Farha, the film, won the Best Youth Festival Feature Film Award and several Academy Awards. Farha, the girl, lived in the pantry cell and when whatever available food in the pantry was over, she tried to get out. Somehow, she located a revolver and shot at the lock of the door and successfully broke it and opened the door. Critics of the film are supposed to have asked the director Darin J. Sallam how such a girl could use a revolver for the first time accurately to break the lock of the door. He is supposed to have answered that her natural skills of managing crisis led her to shoot accurately.
3. Natural Skills To Speak And Unnatural Skills To Write
Natural skills are a part of every animate being (1) and much more in the case of human beings. A little baby has its own natural skill to take in the milk that the mother offers. (2) A little later as it grows up, it is the child’s natural skill which makes it put anything that it comes across into the mouth. (3) It is the natural skill again which makes the child learn several things as it grows up. Also, skill development is natural. (4) In fact, in some cases of educational interventions, some of the natural skills get destroyed. (5) This is more so because there are lots of developed skills as per need that are identified and brought in the organised and systematic education. The unfortunate part of education at all levels is that it helps the learners develop skills that are needed for survival, most of these need not be natural at all. (6) Writing is one of the first unnatural skills (7) that a child starts developing as it joins a school. No one bothers about the natural skill to speak to be developed and its natural elimination is because the stress is on the unnatural skill of writing. (8)
4. Agenda of An Institution
Thirty years ago, when the parent organisation of College for Leadership and HRD was established, its acronym was AIM INSIGHTS – Academy for Intense Motivation for Identifying Natural Skills, Independent Growth, Humane Thoughts and Strategies. So, identification and development of natural skills was the agenda of an institution right from its beginning. Speaking is a natural skill and hence there is a justifiable reason for organising a workshop on Spoken English.
5. Linguistic Skills As The First Among The Multiple Intelligences
Sometime in 1983, Howard Gardner, professor at Harvard University, published his theory on Multiple Intelligences. (1) He propagated his theory that the humans do not have a single cognitive ability. (2) He described eight intelligences, out of which, of course, linguistic intelligence was the first. (3) Gardner while publishing Frames of Mind in 2006 tried to build on his theory of Multiple Intelligences and promised the world that these are developable. (4) It may be important here to state that today those who followed Gardner referred to mind skills, social skills and language skills (5) as responsible for the successful application of multiple intelligences of every human. (6)
6. Skills As Contents of The Mind
There is a need to refer to yet another publication in 1995, Daniel Goldman’s Emotional Intelligence. He took the major skills that were being used by the humans and also the feelings associated with them from the heart to the head, precisely to the mind. As per Gardner’s revision of his book on different kinds of minds and frames of mind led to the common use of the phrase ‘contents of mind’. He said, as he wrote in several of his books subsequently, that skills are a part of the mind, and therefore, skill development is a part of the processes of mental development. Howard Gardner and Daniel Goldman together give an explanation to why and how humans are more vocal and skilled to speak when they are upset or disturbed. Skills are one of the contents of the mind.
7. Skills For Success and Effectiveness
Followed Jean Carper and she published a book in 2000 titled The Miracle Brain. Her objective of the publication of the book was to make any reader understand the different parts and functions of the brain. (1) She went much higher to proclaim to the world that the most wonderful thing about the miracle brain is its creation of a mind. (2) The neurons and neurotransmitters in the brain, ‘houses’ the mind, (3) to use a common word, and ultimately it is the mind that decides the functional qualities of a human. (4) Among the several contents of the mind, skills are supreme from the point of view of successful and effective functioning of each human.
8. Collective Consciousness of Both Natural And Artificial Intelligences
Naturally, if the contents of the mind of the human are the most important factor as far as development of skills are concerned, one has to go to Ray Kurzweil, commonly called the ‘restless machine’ and the ‘thinking machine’ who published his book in 2012 titled ‘How to Create a Mind’. He went much higher to establish what the true nature of intelligence is and how the mind works. (1) After discussing one human’s mind, he goes on to connect it to those of the other humans to establish the idea of collective consciousness that are created because of agreeing minds. (2) He goes still further to refer to artificial consciousness (3) that could also be created because of the efficacy of the human mind (4) with the emergence of different types of artificial intelligences. (5) All these intelligences function because of the skills that people possess, natural or even artificial. (6)
9. Concerted Cultivation of Skills
Skill is the practical power to perform anything for achieving an end, designed or imagined, but defined end. Humans use natural skills and developed skills for all types of performances. Karl Alexander, a sociologist from John Hopkins University tracked the progress of 650 children from the Baltimore Public School system and discovered the poverty is the reason for lack of development of skills. Annette Lareau, sociologist from the University of Pennsylvania coined a phrase, ‘concerted cultivation’ which could be adopted as a method for developing skills in the children. Annette Laureau says that skills can be developed in young people through an effortfully planned, well executed preparation and practice, indeed ‘concerted cultivation’ of skills.
10. Competence More Important Than Skills
Skill is easier to develop and a skilled person need not be a competent person. Competence is a status of a human where one performs using the necessary knowledge and applies the skills to function with that knowledge. Trainers develop skills and facilitators develops competence. The skills get developed through repeated performances. That is why animals have trainers to develop their skills. Humans develop competencies because they will have clarity about matter, thoughts, ideas, knowledge, concepts and they use them to perform combined with specific skills. Therefore, what the humans need more is competence building rather than mere skills development.
11. Effective Use of Language Skills With Mind Skills And Social Skills
Gary Yukl, in his book Leadership in Organisations, has a chapter for understanding skills. He provides a three skill typology. He refers to technical skills, conceptual skills and human relations skills. (1) Robert Katez in the Harvard Business Review titled ‘Skills of an Effective Administrator’ also mentions similar typology. It may not be difficult for anybody to understand that the third, human relations skills, is more important (2) for the human for successful living with the rest of the family and society. In the development and performance using human relations skills, one easily sees that mind skills, social skills and language skills are essential. (3) Simultaneously, one also understands, that for relating to the rest of the humans, language skills are essential or to put it differently, mind skills and social skills function effectively when language skills are used. (4) Undoubtedly, English as a language has to be spoken more than written, (5) like any other first language.
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Prof. Sunney Tharappan, is Director of College for Leadership and HRD, Mangaluru. He trains and writes and lives in Mangaluru.
Next week – Building Resource Group
The origins of a stream may be unknown like thoughts and ideas which become obvious when they make a collective, ever widening through the interactions and the landscape of discussions.