‘The Road to Life’ by AS Makarenko Anton Makarenko was a Soviet educationist who lived in the earlier part of the last century. He worked with children orphaned by the Russian civil war. Some of these children were even branded as juvenile delinquents and would resist every attempt at reform and education. Devastated by difficult and trying circumstances of life, these children had become emotionally hardened and had fallen into a non-progressive condition. The violence and insensitivity that their environment showed towards them would reflect in the form of an unrelenting rage and distrust towards those who tried to pull them out of that condition. Following a unique method of education, Makarenko showed that such children can blossom wonderfully and contribute positively to the society. The key idea in Makarenko’s approach is self-government of the collective. Children were allowed to live in colonies. The society of children organized their collective life themselves. They chose their leaders and their rules of engagement. Each child voluntarily takes up an activity that is suitable to his/her innate nature. There were no set rules imposed and enforced from outside by any ‘teacher’ or governing body. The environment in which the child grows is itself the sole and the best teacher. Thus went on this “experiment” in education. (I’m not an expert in this topic but this method is reminiscent of AS Neil’s Summerhill school in UK. summerhillschool.co.uk/) These children, who were even feared as “socially dangerous,” shaped as fine, fulfilled individuals. Some joined army, some flowered into poets, some into teachers who came back to help more of their kind. These moving and happy stories were chronicled in a book called “A road to life.” Interestingly (returning to my pet obsession) this book was translated into Telugu under the title “అల్లరి పిల్లలతో అద్భుత మార్పులు” (Marvelous transformation among mischievous children) by TNV Ramanamurthi. It was published by Hyderabad Book Trust. Books of this kind give us some hope regarding the future of Telugu literature. Wish these trends continue and stay permanent. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Makarenko
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 14:41:07 +0000
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