Research Articles

Physical Abuse - a Bi-Product of Rote Learning  

Recent news of severe physical abuse of students in schools has highlighted two things: the abuse is still a part of Pakistani educational system, but the parents are now more aware of its effects on their children and don’t think that teachers should be given a blank check.

There have been a number of studies that discuss the reasons why teachers abuse students. One of the causes of abuse is an educational system wholly based on rote memorization. This act of memorization contributes towards the building of negative energies among students. Occasionally these negative energies are busted out in the shape of carelessness, rude behavior and aggression, which are responded by teachers with punishment. The perpetual cycle, of students going through rote learning today and using the same method to teach children tomorrow when they opt to become teachers, goes on.

But as the newspapers tell us, parents are now fighting back by taking legal actions against those who commit these crimes. However, the incidences of abuse that get reported are still far and few in Pakistan and most go unnoticed. It is high time that we discuss why rote learning is bad and how Pakistani educational system based on this method promotes physical abuse.

The human brain is a complex machine. Training and development of this machine is an interesting yet professional task. The brain performs many simple functions and many complex functions as well, for instance, memorizing. Only a small part of human brain is activated when we have to memorize dates, facts and figures, and text. While engaged in memorization a large part of brain remains dormant. If we compare the size of the brain to a super market then memorizing would be nothing more than say a bag of rice. Out of essential food groups, rice is a good source of only one type. A continuous use of rice alone will leave a person with malnutrition and weakness.

Similarly, rote memorization is an educational activity for no more than 5% of the human brain. An educational system wholly based on rote memorization leaves a person cognitively fragile and naïve. Unfortunately, the Pakistani educational system is based on the working of this one small portion of human brain and this limited use of brain leads to outbursts of frustration by students, which is then reciprocated by punishment.

Seven years back my colleagues and I decided to analyze the specific effects of this system on Pakistani students in a longitudinal study. Over the years we interacted with staff and students of 1100 schools. The schools selected for this purpose were from three provinces; Punjab, Sindh and NWFP. These schools belonged to different income groups, social strata, and ideologies - ranging from far right to far left.

The three – key stakeholders of the system: the parents, the teachers and the students, were evaluated for the long – term effects of the rote based educational system. The sum of our research can be presented as 4 negative personality traits that are developed in most people due to the prevailing educational system. These negative attitudes start to take a deep root in most students right from primary classes and by the time they reach adulthood, these 4 negative qualities are a permanent part of their personalities. Here are those 4 negative personality attitudes:

Extremism
People coming out of rote educational system may differ in their food preferences, dress codes and life styles, but they will have one thing in common – Extremism. Rote memorizing acts in strange ways on human behavior. It takes us to the ends. The sensors in our mind that keep us in “the middle” are completely damaged by rote.

Both extremism and rote memorization are lower brain activities. The lower region of the brain activated by one activity (rote-memorization) goes on to activate another activity of the same region (Extremism). This lower brain activity invalidates higher brain activities such as analytical skills, ability to observe, and concentration.

From buying habits to religious affiliations, this extremism reflects in every walk of Pakistani life. Most of the religious fanaticism on one hand to compulsive buying habits on the other are associated to this. Individuals with a traditional education from madrassa (who have learnt to reject everything worldly), to those who come out of an English medium school (who have the willingness and ability to buy many vanities of life) often hold opposing views on various issues but the psychosocial state of the two would have the extremist attitude.

Lack of Priorities
A person coming out of this educational system will not know how to set priorities. For example, a graduate of Pakistani education cannot plan the order in which different activities should be performed. The list of things to do, may those be in a day or a year, are not according to the most important to the least important criteria. There is more of a happy go lucky kind of attitude.

The sum of this problem is translated into lack of priorities on national issues. The issue of Kala Bagh dam is just one example of this problem. It is matter of wrong priorities that is stopping us from building another dam; (otherwise no people would like to kill their next generation with thirst).

Pessimism
Since rote uses such a small and minor part of human brain, it makes the better and the large part of the brain ineffective. As a result our self-analytical abilities get damaged thus throwing us at the mercy of emotions. Once under the control of emotions only, we are mostly driven by fear and grief. Pessimism is caused due to over dosing of fear and/or grief and it is the role of higher brain to serve as the whistle blower informing us of the imbalance of emotions. But that red light never goes on. Fear or grief that could be controlled goes on increasing unabated and destroys a healthy personality.

When grief and/or fearstricken for a long time, an individual naturally becomes pessimistic. From there the glass always seems to look half empty. As a nation our lack of taking a fellow citizen at face value or making the best use of resources come under this heading.

Externally Driven
Such individuals mostly rely on others to motivate them. They continuously need rewards, awards and verbal praises to move on in their lives. In school they learn to blackmail their parents (mostly mothers) into promising them a trip, a car or a video game for passing a test.

Once in practical life, they want their friends or spouses to keep injecting praise in them to continue with whatever good they are doing. Small pleasures of life don’t feel sufficient. They cannot sit alone, reflect on their achievements and pat their own backs. This attitude of requiring others appreciation to move ahead in life is considered an addiction by some educational psychologists that destroys the lives of otherwise capable people.

Interdependence
Such people mostly depend on their friends, family members and supervisors to make the decision for them. They can spend days waiting for the right person to show up with an advice for them. Unfortunately the right person never shows up. Too many advices from too many people just confuse them.

This lack of independence of thought and action is the reason we don’t have too many original creative ideas popping up in our society.

So what can be done to fix the problem? One simple solution can be to fight against the 4 above-mentioned negative attitudes in an educational institution. This would be a top down approach towards creating a better educational system. Schools can decide to counter extremism with balance. This would simply mean that the teacher would give all types of information around a topic.

The content around a concept should not be limited only to one author or school of thought. Instead, the knowledge from extreme right to extreme left should be offered and that can help bring the students in the middle. To do this a teacher should plan the lessons looking at information other than the textbook. The teacher should collect opinions and writings coming from many different sources, out of which some should counter the ideas adhered by that educational institution.

On setting priorities students should be taught how to plan for a day, a week, a year and for life. They should learn to discuss the sequence of events in the life of animals, insects and humans. For example, young children should learn to sequence the life of a moth. The older children should discuss how Quaid-e-Azam arranged his tasks. Try asking students “the first thing” question around different living beings, for example what’s the first thing a butterfly does in the morning?

Pessimism can be countered by helping children enjoy success stories of individuals who started at the bottom and reached the top. Students should be offered activities that can bring out their creative energies. They should learn to discuss the times when the world seemed boring and cruel, and how things improved over time.

To counter external motivation, students should be encouraged to enjoy their own small successes. For this there should be a paradigm shift among teachers and parents. The adults around a child must realize that the best appreciation is the one that comes out of child’s self. Knowing that you have made or created something new is the best reward. This requires discussing with a student what he or she has created or achieved.

To develop Independence we have to give students plenty of time to do things on their own. Patience on the part of adults is the key towards developing students Independence. More a teacher or a parent remains patient while a child tries to complete a task more the child becomes independent.

The adults must realize that there’s more than one way to bell the cat and a child may try a number of different methods before achieving success. This opportunity to do things independently would improve thinking, thus helping students gain more independence.

Unfortunately, the 4 negative attributes mentioned above are contagious. They reach from teachers to students, from one generation to another. Uprooting these attitudes is a daunting task that requires lots of willpower.

How long the students in Pakistani classes will go on getting abused, depends on how long the teacher will take to get rid of these 4 vices that are the ruminants of a rotten educational system. Till then we will go on reading the news of children getting abused.

By
Rayed Afzal
Executive Director
New Century Education