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Culture
While it is hard to describe all of the culture of Chennai from just a two week visit, here are a couple of observations and cultural events I was able to learn about/attend.
On Population: One thing that is most striking about Chennai is experiencing what it is like to live with a population of 4.5 million people in 27 square miles. There are so many people---all the time. There just doesn't seem to be room for anything. When a sidewalk does exist, it is often taken over by people hanging out or selling things, and roads are overloaded with vehicles making it difficult to get anywhere by any means of transportation (moped, walking, car, taxi, 3-wheeler).
On Clothes: Dress for adult women is very traditional. Chennai prides itself on maintaining Indian traditions. Women wear beautiful saris of silk or cotton to work. In the evening, they change into a more informal salwar kameez. At no point did I ever see any adult woman show any leg. Short sleeves, however, were the norm. Men wear more Western influenced clothing, trousers and button-up shirts. Teenagers and college students wear a larger variety of fashions--both Indian and Western.
On marriage: On the first morning of my visit, I got to attend a Hindu wedding. In talking with various individuals, I got mixed perceptions on current trends in marriage, in regards to "love" marriages versus arranged marriages. The general perception is that things are opening up more---individuals
have more choice than before on who they marry. Staying within caste distinctions, however, is still important (I did listen to one interesting explanation that this was mostly based on tastes in food). Couples are getting married much later because of increased participation in higher education (late 20s), but grooms are almost always older than brides by 3-7 years (one individual explained this was because women age faster than men.... not in terms of maturity, but in terms of appearance). Children live with their parents until they are married, and then the couple goes to live with the groom's family. This tradition is changing, however, as more and more college educated Indians are working abroad.On Childbirth: Towards the end of my visit I got to attend a Hindu naming ceremon
y. The naming ceremony is the first important ceremony in a child's life. My host teacher's daughter had her first son the evening I arrived. She returned to her childhood home to have her mother's help with the newborn. Tradition mandates that the birth mother cannot enter the kitchen for 45 days after the birth. I am not sure what was going on during most of the ceremony, lots of blessings, prayers, food, and gifts, but it was a great experience!School Environment/Educational System
The school I visited in Chennai is considered to be one of the top private schools in the city. Being a private school, religion does play a role in the school schedule and culture. Many mornings students collectively participate in Hindu prayer and meditation. In the main meeting area, the school has its own puja and every classroom has artwork of Hindu gods.
The founder of the school was inspired by innovative education methods in the United States, so school policy is always looking to the future. Recently, the Indian government passed new assessment reforms, called the CCE (Continuous and Comprehensive Examination). These reforms are aimed at reducing students stress and diversifying the ways in which students are assessed. The reforms were applied last year to grades 9-10 and this year to grades 11-12. Teachers feel because of their progressive nature, the reforms match initiatives they have already taken. However, when I asked teachers more about the reforms, I was surprised how their reactions were so similar to teachers in the United States and how we often feel about reforms. Many agree with the ideas behind the changes, but feel they will not be given enough training, support, and time to implement and correct the assessments. They also feel reforms never last long enough for teachers to effectively implement change....with each new politician, comes new reforms.
Here are a couple of articles on the assessment reforms, from different perspectives:
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-02-18/delhi/28117069_1_cce-cbse-chairman-vineet-joshi-train-principals
http://factoidz.com/the-new-education-system-of-cce-in-india/
The staff room during lunch time sounds like a big family dinner.....everyone talking, laughing, and sharing stories. It is truly a break time...everyone stops working to eat together, sharing tastes of whatever has been brought. All teachers bring re-usable containers with leftover food from home. No one uses the school cafeteria. One nice bonus is a school janitorial employee cleans the dishes after lunch and teachers take them home clean. Teachers often refer to each other in familial terms....known as twins or sisters. From the conversation, it is clear that teachers frequently help each other outside of school---with meals, childcare, or transportation. It was great to see how close the staff was in all contexts.
Student Life
I've gotten varied answers about what happens after school for students at PSBB. One thing is for sure, the first thing a student does when they get home is to check and post on facebook---since PSBB students cannot use cellphones in school (unlike many American students), and remain with the same classmates all day long (no passing time) they have to wait until they get home to post and read the latest gossip/happenings. Since everyone wears a school uniform, and no one publicly dates, I wonder what the gossip consists of. I never really hear homework being assigned by teachers in the classes I have observed. Because a teacher can have around 200 students a day, collecting daily homework and projects is unmanageable---meaning students do not have homework that they have to turn in everyday. Time at home for homework is spent reviewing and studying material from the textbook to prepare for exams. Exams happen (in a different subject) every Monday morning, so weekends are busier than week days for homework. After-school dance and music lessons seem to be more popular than athletics, mostly due to space (no room for fields) and climate constraints (SO HOT!), not a lack of interest in sports. Cricket and "football" are well followed. Many students attend "tutoring" sessions after school. These are not sessions, however, to review material covered in school. As one student commented to me, this would be pointless---who would need extra help to learn what was already presented in school? These tutoring sessions, instead, are for enrichment--to try to get ahead of other students. I was able to attend one on double entry accounting. The session took place in the home of a teacher from another school. Students worked out of a textbook with the help of the teacher. While the students were mostly focused on the work, they also spent time gossiping, so the session was more informal and not as stressful as school---it did not seem to have the same atmosphere as cram schools I've visited in China and Korea.
Adding a Global Perspective to My Classroom
The most exciting aspect of my travel to Chennai is the global perspective of India I will be able to bring to my classroom. In our study of India, students often ask me three major questions 1) How is Hinduism practiced in India today? 2) What is life like in India with so many people? 3) Is the caste system still present in India today? While I don't know the full answers to these questions, I feel that I now have had a few personal experiences and conversations that I can share with students to help them understand these issues a better.
I also look forward to teaching the cross-cultural lesson plan I have developed as a result of my experiences in India. While in India, I had students read an article entitled, "Meet Your Competition---A Tale of Two Indias," published byUpfront Magazine (Upfront is a magazine published by the New York Times for high school readers). Students then reflected in partners on what they agreed with in the article, what they disagreed with, what they want to add, and additional questions they had. I will have my students read the same article and complete the same reflection. After my students have processed the article, I will share with them the perspective of Indian students on the article. This will allow students to understand a more global perspective on the article. A couple of interesting insights the Indian students shared with me:
-They are upset when India is only portrayed in the media as a place of poverty. They feel many people have the perception that India is dirty and backwards.
-They feel there are already competing. A large number of their friends and relatives are already working in the United States and attending American universities.
-They feel the article did not acknowledge the role of imperialism in stunting India's development.
By adding the perspective of students from India, I think it will allow my students' understanding to go much deeper than if the discussion was not global.
