Skip to main content

Parent Teacher Meeting: the Aftermath

Jaidip, Parent


Parents and teachers getting together to talk about a common concern: the child. At school, at home and in the wider world. The hope being that, together, one arrives at some measure of insight into the Childs life, which could help everyone.


How then, should we as parents approach these meetings?

 

I would think that objectivity and a certain absence of identification with the child would be very important. An ability to see ‘a’child and not’My’child.


We have just been to the meeting and I’m sad to say the above is much easier said than done.

 

I was frankly astonished at the extent of my perception of Sagar as an extension of myself. To say I preened every time I thought of an observation as ‘positive’ and was pretty downcast (or felt argumentative) when the opposite happened would not be entirely untrue. In short: Sagar was Me. Does it not then follow that I was talking about myself most of the time and not about Sagar at all?

 

If one says that the beginning of all divisiveness in society is our identification with people and things, does not the ‘family’ (nuclear/joint/community/whatever) stand tall as one of the primary mischief makers?

 

If one is not willing to drop this monstrous possessiveness, in what way can meetings such as these help?

 

Latha differs with me in that while agreeing that a parent/child relationship tends to be ill defined as to where the child ends and the parent begins and that although a certain sense of identification/ pride about ones offspring is inevitable, common sense dictates when one should abandon/modify it and intelligent parenting is all about knowing when to do so.

 

Despite standing accused of having neither intelligence nor common senseJ, I am not entirely convinced…



Labels:

Comments

  1. SPMarch 23, 2009 at 8:58 AM

    The aspect of parent-child relationship is one I had wondered about for some time, as mentioned in this entry, that a child is an extension of the parent and the parent should view him/her as such. I have two children 5 and 3, it is easier said than done, but nevertheless, a constant awareness of the same, goes a long way. Association with the idea and people that promote this thinking has sustained us; the challenge is still there.

    -A Parent
    Shiva Prasad

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kabir JaithirthaMarch 24, 2009 at 7:28 AM

    being technologically challenged I am not sure whether my comment got posted. I think Jaideep is entirely right and honest Possessiveness is always more about ourselves than about the one we purport to love. It distorts clear seeing and sensitivity which are a truer source of emotion than memory and sentiment.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kabir JaithirthaMarch 24, 2009 at 7:32 AM

    To continue only awareness of the movement of possessiveness and its distorting qulity ends it. The meetings hopefully are an exercise in awareness however chaotic and are therefore of paramount importance

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kabir JaithirthaMarch 24, 2009 at 7:34 AM

    To continue,
    quality
    meetings,hopefully,
    chaotic,

    ReplyDelete
  5. NarasApril 1, 2009 at 6:07 AM

    Insightful article. Its a rare event to become fully aware of one's own conditioning. Just intellectual recognition of it does not solve the problem. This is what happens usually, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2017 at 9:31 PM

    What an honest and objective way of perceiving thoughts! I liked the clarity in articulating how enmeshed you felt with Sagar.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mask-making at School

The theatre workshop planned for Kiri on Tuesday could not happen because Saraswati, who was going to conduct it was ill. So we planned a half-day mask-making workshop using collected junk and natural material, to be followed by a film screening for the children. Angie and I were going to conduct the activities for the day. The mask making activity was something I had done in college and enjoyed tremendously, so I was very excited to do it with the kids, but of course there was no knowing how it would actually go! I started the day by showing the group photos of several different kinds of masks from different parts of the world and some junk art, just to get some juices flowing in the kids’ minds. They were quite enthralled and fascinated, and in hindsight it did feel like a useful presentation to have made. We then went out for a walk around school armed with plastic bags to collect interesting things from the roadside. Some of the children had chosen to pair up for the activity, ot
16 comments
Read more

Ladki pe ghoda

Mahiti (Age 8) has been facinated with horses. Wanting to draw horses, paint them, stitch them. Last year for our Poetry mela she chose a poem about how to love a horse  to illustrate and share with others. The other day , she was swinging on the tyre swing and walked up to me with a smile on her face. When she was sure I  was listening to her she shared ....  'I have an idea! I want to make a horse I can ride. See , I will explain.... --looks around... finds a cardboard box.... gets into it...-- so, I want the horse around me , so I can ride it. and we can use some boxes for the neck and head.' Our learning space for the young children is consciously stocked with a variety open-ended material. For the children to easily access, use, play and learn with. Cardboard boxes are a open-ended resource material that lends itself to versatile unstructured play/learning beautifully. It takes the children on an adventure and helps them explore the imaginary places in their
Post a Comment
Read more

Chittara Workshop

The Paaruls and Palash were introduced to the Chittara art form through a two day workshop at Shibumi.   Chittara is a folk art form practised by the women of Deewaru community living close to Jog Falls in Shimoga, Karnataka. CFRIA (Centre for Revival of Indigenous Art) is a non-profit organisation that is committed towards preserving and Indigenous Art practices in India. We had Geetha Bhat, from CFRIA, as the facilitator and Lakshmakka, who is from the Deewaru community, introducing the kids to this art form.   We started off with an introduction to ’Hase Gode Chittara’.   The motifs used in Chittara are geometric and mainly lines. Hase Gode Chittara represents a marriage ceremony in the community. The drawing of the Chittara itself is part of the ceremony.   The colours used in Chittara are red, white, black and yellow. For white, ground rice paste is used; roasted rice for black, yellow seeds (Gurige), red earth and the brushes are made up of pundi naaru. The children starte
2 comments
Read more