Thursday 15 February 2018

We are different, and this bestows charm upon us and our world.


A beautiful campaign has started in Romania. A campaign that has education at its center. I was invited to write and proudly accepted the invitation.
I pondered about the perspective; whether to write from a teacher's point of view (given the fact that at a certain time in my life I was proudly called Miss - teachers know the meaning of this) or a pupil's. I chose the second perspective. We were all pupils once and we know better than anyone else the issues in education. Especially because now we get to understand some from a different approach. I am amongst those who believe that experience can make opinion.
And my opinion is stated below:

When you are a child, you do not understand why people stress on the importance of plain writing. If one is ambitious, one tries and tries until managing to obtain something acceptable. If not, one remains with a heavy heart, knowing that one has not fulfilled the expectations. One tries to master the letter a, but something does not add up. It's true, the letter written by one is a little bit edgy, it has irregularities and some erasures. But one can understand it. I have understood it, my mother has understood it, and even my class mate, Mircea, has understood it. 
Mircea is appreciated. He has a plain writing. But the numbers give him headaches. Sure, he can write them, but he finds it hard to calculate them. I have tried explaining my method to him, but I clearly saw on his face that he did not understand me. Hm, maybe the ability to make calculi is just like the plain writing! People having this skill boast about it; and the people that do not, hide as much as they can in order not to be discovered.
My name is Ana. I have both skills. I have a plain writing and I am great at calculi. It's harder for me, though, to rest silent. I like to talk. Actually, I have just found out about it, from a friend. But talking calms me down and helps me focus. When the class is silent, and we have to write and make calculi, I find myself reprimanded. Would you believe me if I told you that I don't even realize when I start to talk?! It happens, somehow, without me. Just as it happens to Miruna when she tries to write plain. She puts her tongue out. I have told her that it is not nice to do that. Ok, theoretically, no rule of good behaviour is breached, but it is not nice to put one's tongue out to someone. The notebook does not mind. How could it mind?! Well, maybe it does mind when she covers it in ink stains.
The ink is blue. Actually, it also comes in red and black, but we, the pupils, are only allowed to use the blue ink. Sometimes, the heaviness of this rule makes us rebel. And during those times, we find red ink and write with it on the last pages of our notebooks. The bravest of us all keep those pages. So what if the teachers or parents find out that we have used another color of ink?! We wanted to see how it is to write with the ink reserved for adults only. We wanted to feel adults. It did not last too long, but we liked it. We, the pupils, we reckon that it is not a great offence to want to write like an adult. If we write like an adult, maybe our suggestions would be taken more seriously. Maybe even encouraged. We, the pupils, are hard-working and we want to learn. And we write now in red ink so that you can take us seriously: we are different, and the differences between us should not be used in order to make us compete with each other. Maybe you could encourage us to obtain results out of pleasure and not because 'Maria has a writing that is plainer than yours'. We do not like this. We have signed in red. We, the pupils.

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