You are cute...
The young woman told me ".. and another thing, you are cute.. if you were ugly I would have been distracted by wondering why you so ugly"
Due to some cosmic irony, fate has pushed me in the direction of getting invovled in doing training - mostly around domestic violence and child abuse prevention. Irony because I am inherently anti-social and do not like 'public speaking'; my preference is to avoid socialising with any group which has more than three persons.
My inability to manipulate my karma has resulted in facing the challenge to find ways of animating so that people could learn the content.
Pedagogy has all kinds of styles.. and I think that the massa style.. wild cane, rote, examination , ridicule .. has prevented us from thinking of other ways of teaching and learning. I was fortunate though that in the learning for the work to be done with Help & Shelter, the facilitators and trainers all used participatory methods and encouraged full interaction.
So when my turn came, I had to learn to do the same thing - to not only know the content, but to be able to design any learning session in such a way that the people are interested in the topics.
The feedback from the participants is critical. In addition to looking at how many are sleeping or texting furiously or side talking, I usually ask for an evaluation of the 'facilitation'.
Sometimes the feedback is good. One midwife, quiet throughout an entire session many years ago, at the end said that the day was one in which she was surprised that she did not feel like sleeping. A man who had the appearance of being disengaged the whole afternoon, said that he had wanted to leave early, but decided to stay because the discussions were good.
Some sessions though, with younger people - mixed reviews. There is boredom (if the pace is not changed rapidly) or some persons not being interested in the topics but feeling that they have to be present.
One comment I am trying to figure out years later from one of the classes in the BHSOSA Lower Sixth project: "Mr Kissoon was good, .. he was a bit capricious and his temperament changed often.” Another girl had said that in addition to enjoying the session, she really had to tell me that I looked like Mr Bean.
After a session with members of a Hindu organisation , one person said in effect that " Mr Kissoon's appearance was disgraceful, his untidy hair, his unshaven face, his inability to dress properly all distracted from the content. He is a disgrace to the Hindu community for not knowing how to dress."
Another person in the same workshop said that the 'workshop was very good though Vidya should have taken more care with his appearance' The other 38 persons made no mention of the dress or the hair.
Another time a retired Headmaster told me that I was talking foolishness.
Generally, the feedback has indicated that people are satisfied with the work.
I used to be nervous about the feedback , but now I have started to look forward to hearing what people think of the sessions, whether their expectations have been met and the effectiveness of the animation skills. As to being cute though.... maybe is a good thing I never bothered to keep my hair tidy or shave or put tee shirt in my pants.
Due to some cosmic irony, fate has pushed me in the direction of getting invovled in doing training - mostly around domestic violence and child abuse prevention. Irony because I am inherently anti-social and do not like 'public speaking'; my preference is to avoid socialising with any group which has more than three persons.
My inability to manipulate my karma has resulted in facing the challenge to find ways of animating so that people could learn the content.
Pedagogy has all kinds of styles.. and I think that the massa style.. wild cane, rote, examination , ridicule .. has prevented us from thinking of other ways of teaching and learning. I was fortunate though that in the learning for the work to be done with Help & Shelter, the facilitators and trainers all used participatory methods and encouraged full interaction.
So when my turn came, I had to learn to do the same thing - to not only know the content, but to be able to design any learning session in such a way that the people are interested in the topics.
The feedback from the participants is critical. In addition to looking at how many are sleeping or texting furiously or side talking, I usually ask for an evaluation of the 'facilitation'.
Sometimes the feedback is good. One midwife, quiet throughout an entire session many years ago, at the end said that the day was one in which she was surprised that she did not feel like sleeping. A man who had the appearance of being disengaged the whole afternoon, said that he had wanted to leave early, but decided to stay because the discussions were good.
Some sessions though, with younger people - mixed reviews. There is boredom (if the pace is not changed rapidly) or some persons not being interested in the topics but feeling that they have to be present.
One comment I am trying to figure out years later from one of the classes in the BHSOSA Lower Sixth project: "Mr Kissoon was good, .. he was a bit capricious and his temperament changed often.” Another girl had said that in addition to enjoying the session, she really had to tell me that I looked like Mr Bean.
After a session with members of a Hindu organisation , one person said in effect that " Mr Kissoon's appearance was disgraceful, his untidy hair, his unshaven face, his inability to dress properly all distracted from the content. He is a disgrace to the Hindu community for not knowing how to dress."
Another person in the same workshop said that the 'workshop was very good though Vidya should have taken more care with his appearance' The other 38 persons made no mention of the dress or the hair.
Another time a retired Headmaster told me that I was talking foolishness.
Generally, the feedback has indicated that people are satisfied with the work.
I used to be nervous about the feedback , but now I have started to look forward to hearing what people think of the sessions, whether their expectations have been met and the effectiveness of the animation skills. As to being cute though.... maybe is a good thing I never bothered to keep my hair tidy or shave or put tee shirt in my pants.
Well a'lright then-- safe to venture out to the bookclub-- we dropped down to 3!
ReplyDeleteVidya, if I groom you magazine offers will roll in. The clay is there...it just needs molding. "You cute", don't forget that. People can't tell you're relaxed and that it reflects in your style? I need to sit in on one of your sessions (in the future).
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