My World is a compilation of texts, modules and materials on general education for adolescent children. It shares experience of child centered learning with educators. My World has evolved from a series of workshops into a twelve unit syllabi on humanities facilitated by trained educators for working children at Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), Dhaka.

The objective of this publication is to: -

• Project innovative and contemporary ways of learning for adolescent children in non- formal and formal schools.
• Provide modular structures with illustrated teaching material as a guide for educators.
• Share successful participatory approaches that encourage independent learning as against learning by rote.
• Share ASK’s educational expertise with other organisations, professionals and interested individuals.

Module for My World
Unit 01. My Self
Unit 02. My Body
Unit 03. My Health
Unit 04. My Food
Unit 05. My Environment
Unit 06. My Country
Unit 07. My Neighbours
Unit 08. My History
Unit 09. My Culture
Unit 10. My Beliefs
Unit 11. My Reproduction & Gender
Unit 12. My Rights

Prior to formulating a project for working children, ASK researched and compiled case studies on working children (K.Ahmed. "Where children are Adults" 1990). Although ASK’s main aim was to access children to legal services on request, it seemed apparent from the responses of children at workshops and quoted in our study, that one of their immediate demands included education on flexible terms. These terms implied facilities for Drop in Centres where education for working children could be planned in a way to combine education with work.

From this experience ASK developed a three-phased plan for education of working children viz.

Basic, Continued and General Education

Basic Education consists of skills in literacy and numeracy. The educators receive training in these skills from Gono Shahajjo Shangshta (GSS). GSS method is adapted from the modern theories and techniques of learning. ASK has arranged flexible hours for the convenience and voluntary choice of the working child. The literacy learning centres at each drop in centre are known as Jokhon Tokhon School (Any time school). For the literate or semi-literate child, ASK provides libraries in each centre, a choice of films on special days and periodical workshops on general subjects.

Continued Education is provided both to educators and children. Libraries and locally made learning games are provided for children to access learning. Music, art and drama classes are also included as an outlet for creativity. Eminent educators and subject specialists are invited each week to share their knowledge with ASK educators.
Refresher training in module design and material development is planned for educators on weekly resource sessions.

General Education is an important subject at ASK’s Child Right Unit. Syllabi of 12 topics have been designed in the belief that all children have a right to knowledge as well as to survival skills. We believe workshops on these units can be held in any non-formal setting. Some of the methods elaborated here are flexible enough to be utilized in formal settings as well. Facilitator learner ratio is recommended not to exceed 1:25. In crowded classes, the management could use the assistance of team teachers. The classroom or teaching area should allow for mobility if possible. It would be difficult to conduct group exercises on fixed benches and desks usually found in government primary schools. Fixtures need to be light and mobile. Workshops at ASK are held mostly on carpeted floors or under trees in good weather.
Literacy is not an essential condition for a child’s participation in the workshops. The moduled structures of the workshops are intended to enable the non-literate as well, in grasping the curriculum of the units in the My World module.

My World Workshops

The 12 unit module presented here, is titled My World because the contents relate to the world of the growing child. Each of the 12 units of learning focuses on a topic in humanities. Facilitators are trained to conduct workshops and adapt their techniques to the response of the children. Each session of a workshop is to be completed within a maximum time of one and a half-hour. Intervals are recommended between sessions for warm up games or songs, a list of which is annexed for the facilitators’ choice.
Four to six sessions are required to complete the monthly workshop series after which the topic is carried forward through project task. Sessions can be reduced in contact time or increased depending on the level of understanding of the target. It would take twelve months to complete 12 units with assistance of two facilitators.

Materials, are an essential part of learning process, and should be made by facilitators and educators at the planning phase. One set of materials can be kept for all classes. Lamination will help preserve them.

At each workshop, children were given a My World Diary for creative work and for keeping notes on various topics. Pages in the diary would be titled according to each unit topic separately. The diaries could also be used for “project task” in class as a follow up on each unit topic.

Project work in class would mean a continuation of study, survey or discussion on any one of the units. For example, if children wish to continue the unit ‘My Environment` through project assignment, they might choose to survey the physical and social well being of the community they live in or they might want to study ways of removing pollution from their locality or to recycle waste products. The educators can follow up with a comprehensive project task on immediate needs of improving their environment.

Most learning sessions are a demonstration of a lesson plan structured into pre-learning, while learning and learning reinforcements.

Pre learning is mainly to introduce the topic, to create a warm up atmosphere and to prepare children for the unit. Stories, songs and games are recommended as attractive starters.

While learning forms the main body of learning or topic contents. Creative materials and group exercises are used to facilitate the learning objective.

Learning reinforcement is the informal test on topics learnt through group exercise or games. Illustrated exercises or games are explained in the annex. Each of these three learning phases is divided into sessions that encourage active and independent learning. Strategies used for achieving a stated learning (or recreation) objective consist of different techniques. However, educators must realise the importance of predictability in each method or technique to reach an intended objective.

Teaching materials aids and techniques are used to facilitate strategies. By teaching material we mean texts, curriculum, games or handouts. Techniques include various ways of learning such as games, role play, question answers, problem solving, group exercises, etc. Learning aids refer to equipment like the writing board, the flip chart, the audiocassette, the television, the video, slides etc. In a way the facilitator or the educator is the most important learning aid!

Educators are advised to use locally available low-cost resources as teaching aids.

 Most units in the book are standardized with the three phased steps. However, a few units are not structured into three phased learning steps but contain active sessions that educators can module into steps.
 This is to allow flexibility to the educators who have become familiar with the structures and may like to use an outlet for their own creativity.

My World can be used by a target of educators with adolescent children in non-formal centres in the upper primary level. The educators’ level of education could be in the range of undergraduate or graduate level with an enthusiasm to improve subject competency. Each of the units in the book contains a relevant text for the purpose of orientation to consult further reading given in the annex. Educators are expected to go through the relevant GOB curriculum, consult books for extra reading to gain subject competency in the unit topic.

The need for training in the skill to facilitate or deliver child centered learning is indispensable. As we read more about the background of primary education in Bangladesh we will understand the importance of quality education and training of educators.

If you wish to collect the full text of this publication, please contact ASK library at: 88 02 8315851, 9360336, (ext: 125), Email:documentation@askbd.org