Roman Karki
Mr. Shane Horn
T.O.K. Year 1, Monday
22nd September 2012
Reflection on Knowledge
In
Context of Values

Subjects, Activities and their Significance

The previous schooling system which I was a part of had the basic emphasis on academics along with reasonable presence of basic extracurricular activities (that is to say visual arts, dance, music and sports). Those however where seldom emphasized and we were made to focus more on our academic school life rather than extracurricular. There were students talented in many other fields besides academics, but they were praised only on the field not in the class, the teachers would inform us that extracurricular is important for all round development but rarely any action was taken to support this statement. Moreover they were constantly told to focus on their academics more. I also found that the school failed to present extracurricular in more attractive manner. For example:
During dance class the boys would rarely appear and were found to bunk class as they did not seem to find dance class worth their time and requested the teachers for excuse on gender basis.
Visual arts were usually spent skipping, only the interested students could not bear to bunk class.
Sports were popular obviously, but no one enforced mandatory participation to passive students who preferred to study in class instead of exercise.
In music class, which was once a week most students rarely showed any intrigue towards learning their instrument and practicing them, so much so that when a survey was made by the principal, about 80% of the students in music class did not possess any knowledge of playing the national anthem or school song on their respective instrument. Moreover switching instrument classes were also forbidden, this only fueled the lack of interest creeping around the school.
The classes were compulsory but the students participated optionally and half heartedly. The main aim of these classes was to make every student perceive the world from the different dimensions of the different activities. But what it really did was just entertain the natural skill and interest of each student, totally destroying their original purpose.
The failure of the school system to bring about balanced students is extremely great in magnitude; one should also take into account that extracurricular is not majorly emphasized in the school systems by the government as well, mainly because most don’t see extracurricular as a part of education, when in reality it makes up a major influential part of it.
There were events and competitions in all fields in the school, but only the ones with appropriate skill in the field were chosen to participate. By denying the knowledge in these various fields one is also denying a large variety of life changing vibrant life experiences and opportunities from the children. One must realize that everyone must be able to utilize any window of opportunity and utilize it most efficiently.
The basic subjects that were mandatory for every child at my school studying from grade 8 and above were: Nepali, English, Compulsory Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Health, Population and Environment, Accountancy and Optional Mathematics (the irony). The reason the subjects (excluding Accountancy and Optional Mathematics) were offered was because it was the approved subject list approved by the Nepal Government. Now the question arises, why would the government set such a syllabus? And how does it actually help students after knowing them?
Well, let us start subject wise.
Nepali is the national language. Nepali literature has a very important place in Nepal, from the its prime dawn in the Bhanu Bhakta Era, it has served as a medium of exposing society’s evils and bring awareness among the people about social problems through clever depiction and overwhelming expression of emotions as well as a tool for battling the tyranny of totalitarianism and awakening and mobilizing people. Many a people have used literature in this way as a tool for perfecting society and so as to preserve this variation of Nepali literature, schools have made it compulsory. Moreover the content of the literature syllabus also educated the students about Nepali history and important figures who have helped build the country along with the sense of honor, pride, patriotism, sacrifice and unity. The content also aims at the psychological aspect of the student by presenting a few pieces of literary works which they can relate to or even help them at troubled times. All in all, it is a mandatory component in our country’s education system to preserve the spirit of revolution and patriotism in the minds of students. Meanwhile, Nepali language is present so as to teach structure in language and strangely teach the entertaining logic behind the language (although presented in a fairly rigid manner). For example: Nepali language consists of the students learning how to break words into its components and make sense out of why they were constructed that way, it applies sense to why most things in the language are called the way they are. It is there so that the children can properly reply when questioned about their own language. It is a major component just to preserve the identity of the Nepali through language and literature.
The Compulsory English course is present of course with the intention of making the students seem well mannered and able to converse with most international citizens and formal as well. The English course however is not thought off very well, students consider going to the exam without touching the book at all, most students in fact refrain from touching the book at all similar to the supplementary workbooks. One is at the liberty to doubt how such a course actually manages to fulfill the objectives it is set with.
Compulsory Mathematics is present so as to make a base for higher mathematics and practical application in daily life. Mathematical knowledge is required as it does support the growth of our logic and exercises it to produce a sharp and tactical mind. Students who believe in taking just compulsory mathematics for a scientific or mathematical career are greatly mistaken as compulsory mathematics just deals with a primary base of mathematical knowledge rather than the level and knowledge of mathematics required for such practices.
Social Studies is there to give a basic worldview as well as an internal view in the social, geographic, economic and historical aspects and to give brief knowledge of the workings of society and its structure to make a knowledgeable citizen. This subject also was responsible for giving the student a basic foundation for political, cultural and religious values and current events coinciding with them.
Health, Population and Environment is a subject that requires the student to study all three terms in their separate forms as well as how they are interconnected to each other and affect each other. For a country like Nepal where all three factors: health, population and environment play a large role, one can easily see how this was kept as a mandatory subject. It also shows the built relation between them and the ways how they affect us and how we affect them and how we can improve them and how we can refrain from degrading them. Such knowledge is essential for a developing country like Nepal going through ‘painful’ changes and many environmental problems due to these changes. All in all it is present so as to educate future generations to plan their activities in an environmentally sustainable way so as to survive and persevere.
Now, there is a large variety of optional subjects available in the Nepali school system that has been approved by the Government. It is mandatory that two optional subjects be taken by a student. But in my school Accountancy and Optional Mathematics were the only available subjects.
In the Nepalese system, most students choose subjects either in the science field or business field after the Tenth Grade, one could say that the school in question recognized this stereotype and acted accordingly, keeping accountancy so as to provide commerce students a good base and optional mathematics for those about to venture in the science field (most likely engineering) or for those taking science to keep their options open at bachelors level.
One can say that education by nature is incomplete for the knowledge that flows through it is infinite and multi-dimensional. There is always room for improvement and reform and one can always identify the presence of certain absences.
In my previous school things such as political education, religious instruction, military training, gardening and cooking were excluded along with the practical dimension of the sciences and HPE as well.
Political education and global awareness were emphasized by the teachers but yet again these were empty gestures. One may also be able to say that political education would not be very appropriate so that the students mind deviates more towards politics than education as it is usually common sight during the college years.
Religious instruction was not deemed very important, for primarily the religious and cultural diversity in the school (or mostly any school in Kathmandu) was great. Appointing religious instructors for each of these cultures would be difficult and financially draining as well as impractical.
Gardening and cooking would appear to be useful and handy subjects but there would be no room for them due to the studious nature of the education system. The practical and theoretical work could probably not be handled; moreover most would not choose subjects such as these due to career ambition and failure of flexibility and lack of creative interest spreading from the studious nature of the course.
Due to the same reason; ambition and stereotype jobs in the science and commerce field the qualities that could be attained from military training and martial arts such as discipline, mutual respect and physical fitness are also overlooked.
Thus, one might conclude due to the common stereotyping pressure among the people and students as well as the large ambition creative practices and subjects are often overlooked as people perceive them as useless and not fruitful. When in reality they may be denying themselves of salvation blinded by ambition or pushed away by social pressure.

Superiority and Value
As for value of the subjects, English was not given much value due to its somewhat ‘easy’ nature for in depth study of literature or language never occurred.
Nepali was deemed to be a difficult subject due to its difficult assessment paper where the time limit was insufficient and it was literally impossible to score 100 out of, an average score would range from 60 to 75 marks.
The two mathematical subjects were deemed as the most important as they were objective subjects where one could actually have a fair chance of scoring full marks.
Social Studies and HPE were treated with equal value due to their mixed subjective and objective approach on subject matter. Most would just be marked proportional to the length of their content if it held acceptable knowledge.
Accountancy was an average valued subject as there were more practical accounting exercises although some very long theoretical objective questions present as well.
Science was valued because it could bring our total grade down if you failed to score an average at least and because it would contain mostly objective questions as well.
At the very least, all the subjects were valued on the basis of their assessment structure. That is to say a subject could be deemed difficult and be ignored if the examination paper was structured in such a way that only a minimal amount of marks could be attained. But in an objective subject like mathematics one would give a high evaluation due to its mark value in the total percentage. Thus, most of the school system was powered by the desire of academic success and the superiority based on the level of exam difficulty rather than content, capacity and expectation.
The ‘best’ students (the studious ones that showed academic potential) were made first to focus on mathematics so due to its ‘full score’ property. Then towards Science and Accountancy due to the hybrid mix of subjective and objective ability and then to Social Studies and HPE where more subjective ability and objective memorization would be required while working on Nepali due to its difficult nature. All in all the ‘best’ students were made to focus on those subjects and subject components that would give them an upper hand in assessments from easy objectives to serious subjective questions as the whole system did rely on the ‘marks’ and ‘percentage’ factor for motivation.
During the School Leaving Certificate revision time, my school decided to make hostel residence a compulsion. We were made to attend 12 to 15 hour classes (with breaks in the middle) from 7 in the mornings simply with the objective of securing good marks in the assessments. We were kept under surveillance by two security cameras in the school library where we studied all day. Our minds went numb and many of us suffered health problems and some became depressed and suicidal. Is the number of marks you secure in a test by practicing the same structured tests the only symbol of academic worth? That was what went through our heads. The whole point of education was ruined because of the emphasis on marks and final assessment examinations. It made most of us think that it doesn’t matter what we study as long as we are able to score good marks
Subject Emphasis
My school strove to specialize in the logical aspect of most subjects through knowledge (remembering) and understanding of the subject matter. It conditioned the students as cognitive learners and required only the first two steps of cognitive learning: remembering and understanding to achieve success. The most emphasized subjects were mathematics, social studies, science and HPE. Therefore, in comparison with the 6 balanced subjects of the IBDP (that has practical as well theoretical aspects of learning incorporated in them) my school emphasized mathematical (Group 5) and human sciences (Group 3 and Group4) more as the creative aspects of language and arts were overshadowed by the ‘usefulness’ of the other subjects in future career and higher study.

Behavior, Expectations and Values
In my previous school system, respectful behavior towards teachers and other authorities was mandatory. Proper greeting when meeting with them, using inappropriate language or doing inappropriate actions in front of them was forbidden. One would keep quiet and do their work as soon as an authority entered the room. One cannot say the same for the teachers as while a certain amount of respect was maintained in their presence obedience and discipline where not thought of highly in their solitary presence.
Discipline was taught through repeated action and exercise (daily assembly gatherings and practice towards teachers) but discipline and responsibility could not be incorporated in the minds of the students because they knew what they were doing, but not why they were doing it. Due to this they often felt oppressed with simple respectful as well as disciplinary action. Punishment for insubordination can only take the concept of discipline so far without turning into some form of dictatorship.
The school emphasized highly on manner of dress. Every morning dress checkups in the assembly did take place and defaulters would be either warned or punished according to the degree and number of defaults. The reason behind this was to bring about a sense of discipline and respect towards the school and the school uniform which was one of the most tangible components of the school. When one wore the uniform, one was part of the school and represented it, thus we were made to dress ourselves in the uniform neatly for we were the very reflection of the school as soon as the uniform came up.
As for language, English was the mandatory medium of speech excluding the Nepali periods, most would not follow this rule and were punished severely for defaulting when deemed inappropriate. It was made compulsory to incorporate verbal discipline and for practice of the English language as majority of students identified it as a second language.
For body language, students had to walk straight without hands in the pockets with simple hair and cut nails. Again punishment was a provision to keep one in line. Any sort of physical violence with faculty was not tolerated and resulted in immediate expulsion. Again this was for enforcing discipline and respect towards those elder and above you.
The values of chivalry and civilization lay behind these disciplinary rules and regulations, but rather than being educated as to why it is important in our life and why we must apply them, we were simply made to follow them like blind sheep. Yet, they expected us to understand the importance of discipline and how it makes us more civil.

‘Crime’, Punishment And
Attitude
As stated above the punishment for insubordination of any of the school rules came with physical punishment (Examples: kneeling down on stage holding one’s ears during the assembly, receiving a painful pipe on the hand or back, et cetera), but that was done for a second offence in accord to the severity of the ‘crime’, which ranged from coming dressed with missing uniform parts (unless there was a reasonable excuse) to disrespectful attitude towards the teachers and incomplete homework.
The surprising fact is while the school was trying so hard to maintain discipline even by setting up security cameras all over the compound, it failed to enforce major English speak and cheat free exams. This would only be natural as the value of discipline and respect was superficially enforced rather than being incorporated through understanding. Thus, the school failed miserably in terms of discipline.

Marks – Wise Competitiveness, Publicity
And
Reward
My old school system was extremely competitive in terms of marks. Marks were the only indicator of academics there, and academics were the only major component of school. One can get a good idea on how competitive the school was from my personal experience;
It was during grade 10, the toughest year for Nepali School System students, as the S.L.C examinations which are highly thought of for no apparent and logical reason unnerve the entire student population. All schools are very competitive during these exams and majority of schools strategize different schemes to boost results. In my school, all students were made to stay compulsorily in the hostel and take 12 to 15 hour study classes from 7 in the morning to the late hours of the night in the school library under the watchful eyes of two security cameras. One of my friends developed suicidal tendencies, he/she already had had written a suicide note and had been collecting sharpener blades to rip his/her veins out. Luckily, we were able to console her. I started getting nose bleeds and fevers while another friend of mine developed fainting spells.
The competitiveness in grades clouds the whole point of education and emphasizes memorization rather than understanding in the least.
Results of the S.L.C. were made public and banners of the graduating class along with their percentages were displayed every year in the front office. Teachers tried to pump students’ energy levels by comparison with the previous class. The families were no exception in emphasizing the S.L.C as well as their children were compared to those of their relatives and friends and the S.L.C. had also become a social prestige indicator rather than academic assessment. In the Terai, All of the family accompanies the student to the examination centre, police have to be set off to fend off the ragging family crowds that try to give an unfair advantage to their children.
This doesn’t happen just in terms of S.L.C. I would say it is the peak of academic absurdity, which also implies that academic absurdity does exist in lower levels as well.
In my old school, after each academic year, the top three scorers in class were given prizes and certificates, but no one actually ever thought of acknowledging students from another dimension of talent or creativity in the least.
So, it bound to be obvious, once pressure and expectations arise from all the people one has known, the student becomes competitive and more considered with marks as well.

Extent of Intersecting Knowledge Values
Well, objectively the interests of teachers, students and families were to achieve maximum marks. For most parents, education was just a medium to a job, the more the marks the better the road, the same theory passed down to the children, as the objective of the teachers was also to help students achieve more marks this theory could not be disproved in the eyes of the students.
In terms of subject matter, the opinion of the student rarely mattered. If one was interested in English, the teachers and parents would not support it and rather encourage the student to practice mathematics or science due to their major influence on marks in the assessments. As such a student would be trained to either go into engineering, medicine or commerce; the three Nepali stereotypes of the Nepali Schooling System.
All three parties had common perceptions of appropriate behavior. But, they did differ in degrees of severity, that is to say they all acknowledged the rules of appropriate behavior, but they could not agree to the consequences of insubordination. Parents would not tolerate physical violence, but they were ignorant of this fact as the students were to afraid and ashamed to admit their mistakes in most cases. The teachers did believe in having an iron fist while some others believed in a softer approach. But, all in all, totalitarianism discipline ruled the hall ways of the school.

The ‘Good’ Student
Concept

A ‘good’ student, what is that?
Well, I have been asked to write in terms of my previous school, so; a ‘good’ student probably would have been one that does not make noise in class, one that pays attention to the teacher, one that completes all of their assignments, one that revises the homework and class work at home, one that understands the subject matter easily along with good grades and a respectful neat attire. So basically, one that is closest to the ‘perfect student’ (like the number closest to infinity), based on the academic performance and behavior in class, a student would be awarded with the title of ‘good’.
I, as a student, an observer of education for almost 13 years do support some part of this theory that many dislike. To me(from my years of experience in the education field), a good student is one who actually tries to understand what is being taught, one who is primarily extrinsic and may have some amounts of intrinsic ability for healthy competition. While good grades and good class behavior is also a good component, analysis, evaluation, reflection and application of knowledge is also essential to being a good student. Moreover, in my eyes a good student is not only hardworking but efficient in work as well. More importantly he/she should focus not only on one or two specific fields of academia but on creative skills as well. Moreover, he/she should also be able to stand by everything they have learnt, that is to say; they should be able to give an appropriate answer when asked ‘Why?’ Basically my take on a ‘good’ student is one who is an efficient and average all rounder with the makings of a decent human being critically aware about knowledge and being able to defend it.
So, on the basis of my experience as a student, a good student should have the following characteristics: * Primarily extrinsic in learning * Does work efficiently and diligently * Is average or good inside and outside the classroom * Basically, gives importance to all subjects * Revises his/her work and knowledge * Can defend his/her knowledge * Is reflective * Critical thinker * Has respect towards respective authorities * Enjoys the process of learning * Decent in character * Strives for improvement