Reviewing a wide field of research, Barbara Rogoff describes a wonderful variety in the ways that mothers habitually interact with young children. In some cultures, for example, eye contact with infants seems to be almost completely absent, while in others it is actively sought.
Many developing school systems show the heavy influence of western European ideas, but some educationalists have recently argued for a re-evaluation of other teaching methods.
In rural communities in Zimbabwe, the sharing of a range of knowledge was carried out in groups, while people were gathered together for entertainment, story-telling, worship, work, or an important event such as a funeral. Education was thus a part of everyday life, rather than a separate, institutionalised activity.
Jayalakshmi suggests that in secondary education in India one can see the continuing influence of the traditional Gurukula and Harikatha styles of instruction and storytelling. In Gurukula the guru (teacher) typically sat on a raised platform and talked to students seated in rows. The guru explained texts to the students, who did most of their learning by rote. This method was intended to provide students with access to knowledge which resided, unequivocally, in the authority of the teacher and of the text.
However, Jayalakshmi also recounted how this well-established, teacher-dominated pattern of interaction broke down with the introduction of a video-led instruction ‘package’ for teaching English, which involved students in active collaboration in small groups in the classroom.
Questions
1. According to Rogoff, in some cultures parents avoid
2. Education systems in large parts of the world have been influenced by
3. In rural Zimbabwe, learning was often integrated with
4. According to Jayalakshmi, a feature of traditional Indian society was
5. In one Indian school, classroom relationships were disrupted by