Childhood Ecologies: Understanding the Worlds Children Grow Up In - Mila Tuli
Returning to school revitalised after the summer vacations, the team gathered once again in a Large Circle Time where we had the pleasure of hosting Mila Tuli, a developmental psychologist, on the subject of ‘Childhood Ecologies: Understanding the World Children Grow Up In’.
In an interactive session around the value of exploring the many perspectives of children coming from diverse backgrounds, a key skill in the toolbox of our facilitators working with inclusive classroom practices, Mila Didi began her thoughts with how Shikshantar has always been a place where such conversations have existed for years.
Before taking the discussion ahead, she screened a short film ‘The Silent Echo’ by Suman Sen based on four teenagers and their musical aspirations in the remote Mustang district of Nepal. The team shared their impressions of what the film conveyed, with thoughts varying from ‘childhood innocence’ to ‘creativity in the absence of a guide’. The team members also observed how the echoing mountains themselves became participants in their journey, forming a responsive space for collaboration.
Drawing on the observation of the role of children’s environments in how they grow up, Didi pointed out the relative inaccessibility to educational spaces shown in the movie. Different ecologies worldwide present challenges that, when viewed through a lens, can double up as opportunities. Displaying a picture of a child from a tribal community carrying a bale of grass beside a picture of children playing with toys in a kindergarten, she initiated a spirited discussion that contrasted the unique learning opportunities of the tribal child to the affluent urban child that our inherent bias considers the idealised version.
Teaching methods continue to be shaped by a body of educational research that primarily centers first-world countries and flattens heterogeneity. A country like India with diverse and complex ecologies does not lead to uniform childhood experiences and should be approached accordingly. As Mila Didi put it, ‘the child carries an entire world with them when they enter the school.’ The beauty of the facilitator’s work lies in bringing together these different worlds and creating a dynamic space in the classroom where children can grow up together in harmony.