A 10-year-old girl we shall call Judith, was cared for by her grandmother. Judith’s mother works long hours and only returns home late at night and that was the reason, the family agreed that granny was better placed to care for Judith. Recently, she had to return to her mother who lives 15 kilometres away when granny took ill.
Judith attends a learning programme we run in her granny’s neighbourhood. When she moved, we suggested linking her to learning programmes in her mother’s neighbourhood. She was adamant that we should not do so and reasoned that she would still be attending school near where granny lived.
We told her that our learning programmes were in the evening, and it would be quite late by the time she got home to her mom’s, but she stood her ground. Sensing that we may stop her from coming to us, she elaborated that she would miss her friends and while she probably could make new friends elsewhere, she was quite sure other “tuition centres” were not so kind.
We are not a tuition centre, but our volunteers provide homework support. At times, they are a little concerned if the children coming to them are making progress in their schoolwork. Judith is coping reasonably in school, but she has reminded us that a place where children are learning must be one that cares about kindness, respect, and joy and not just grades.
James, a 16-year-old told a colleague that he had signed up for chemistry tuition because he wanted to ensure that he knew his work but after a few sessions, he realised that it was not so necessary, and he wanted to revise other subjects in preparation for his ‘O’ Levels. Our colleague suggested that joining a study group we call a peer learning circle may be helpful because he could revise his chemistry by teaching others, and he could let others help him with his other subjects.
This was 2 months ago and while James is the learning circle’s chemistry expert, there are no experts for other subjects. Nonetheless, James tells us that discussing schoolwork in a group makes studying a lot more pleasant and he is confident of doing well for his chemistry examination.
Students sit for an examination as an individual but as they prepare for it, they can rely on one another to accomplish learning that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to grasp individually.
Community is where one gives and receives support and although not in the same way, both Judith and James seem to have found theirs.
*Learning communities encourage students to take an active role in their learning through open communication, creative thinking, negotiation, and mutual respect of each member of the community.*