Monday 19 September 2016

Promising to evolve generation after generation India's education system

BENGALURU: Promising to evolve generation after generation, India's education system is perhaps moving out of the conventional girdles and into areas that teach the importance of staying fit and culturally sound. However, Anuradha Vikranth, classical dancer and creative director of Drishti Art Foundation, believes that much more needed to be done to make dance a permanent and significant part of the Indian education system.

She was speaking at the Day 2 session of ThinkCiQ conference on emerging trends in education which commenced in the city on Saturday. The event was presented by the Times of India and Times NIE was the educational partner.

"Education is most important to any society but how much of a scope are we giving our students to grow creatively? Today's education system doesn't give the kind of priority to express human emotions which can always be brought out through the medium of classical dance," the A graded Doordarshan artist said. According to her, dance innately exists within every child from the minute they are born; classical dance provides that nurturing variable to the child which will enable him/her to be in sync with the entire body and remain fit.

"Dance is a creative art form which is all about emotions. Not just the mind body and soul, dance is also about expression and stimulating one's mind and inculcating values in them," she said.

She felt that though the education system has been evolving and a lot of importance is given to cultural activities and physical education, it is yet to be structured. "Structure is crucial. When a baby moves rhythmically, it shows signs of dancing. Once we structure it, it becomes dance. Structuring classical dance into the curriculum will make the real difference to students. Given the present education system, how emotionally strong is a child? How well capacitated are they to handle the every day pressures? These are the things that classical dance helps one master," said the dancer.

Dance education, as Anuradha puts it, "is the development of kinesthetic intelligence, expressions, values, physical fitness, stress management and appreciation of your body."

Having taught dance at the foundation for 16 years, Anuradha teaches Bharatanatyam to over 350 students aged between 6 and 50.

Felicitating teachers for their unique approaches to education and recognizing their passion, motivation and commitment to teaching, the third edition of the ThinkCiQ confluence came to a close on Sunday. Geethanjali Kumar, Krishna Ranganathan and Sangeetha Arul were the Awakened and Innovative Minds (AIM) award-winning mentors who were given a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 75,000 and Rs 50,000, respectively.

Speaking to TOI on the effectiveness of the two day seminar,

"Every teacher is wise in his/her own classroom but not all of them want to come out of the shell, share views and learn from others around them. We wanted to provide them a platform where they can take advantage of understanding educational techniques followed in different parts of the world," M Srinivasan, founder, Gear International School, said.


"The biggest difference we have seen in the past three years since we began conducting this seminar is that there have been considerable changes in teaching practices in schools right from nursery to class 12. Teachers have accepted and changed their attitude, recognizing creativity and innovation as an integral part of academics. Today, the conference has come to a level where more teachers and schools want to participate and network," said Mansoor Ali Khan, member, board of management, DPS.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Structuring-dance-into-education-is-a-must/articleshow/54399369.cms

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