Too often, the educated underestimate the effort that goes into the
process that we call education. This was driven home to the group of
AID-Columbus volunteers, when we started our foray into writing Eureka
booklets, the education kits for children covering a wide range of
topics.
Authors make a bewildering number of decisions even before the first
word is put on paper. What topic? What size? How detailed?
Supplementary text, or standalone? Prose, or comic book format? Given
all these choices, it is indeed quite a feat that we have successfully
come out with fifteen such booklets.
Concepts, rather than knowledge, should be the focus of the booklets.
The team needs to have sufficient familiarity, and at least one source
of expertise, on the chosen topic. The content also depends on the age
of the target audience.
If a booklet is intended as supplementary material, the extent to which
it is based on the existing textbooks is crucial. A booklet that does
not segue with the text, either because it goes way beyond the text, or
flat out contradicts it on some nuance, creates more anxiety than
clarity in the target
audience. However, if it is too reliant on the text, it could end up being redundant.
Sometimes, the quality of illustrations makes all the difference
between the textbooks and our booklet. Books in comic book format are
highly preferred, especially if we are targeting very young children.
However, some topics, especially in science and math, may not be easy
to make into comics. So, authors could consider including games,
inexpensive practical experiments, and, in the near future,
audio/visual material.
It is important to be imaginative and be able to relate to the culture
of the target audience. For instance, a booklet on velocity should talk
about boats on the river, and running in the rain, not freeways.
The image, story and the conversation have to be authentic. For
example, in Monsoons, for the image to be authentic, it is important
that the season we talk about (late November, in our case), corresponds
to the weather it is set in (rainy, in Tamil Nadu).
Writing these booklets is a lesson for the authors, as much as it is for our audience.
---
Ramakrishnan Kazhiyur-Mannar, AID-Columbus |
