(for Sheistah Bundhoo, a promising youth)
A friend, full of corny jokes but nevertheless witty at times, used to grumble because a bikini shows what you don’t want to see and hides what you want to see. But the word can be given a different metaphorical twist, albeit still sexist: the bikini reveals what is known but hides what should be known (in the biblical sense as well). A bikini cliché does just that. It is an expression which is used profusely to hide something essential.
In education the word ‘holistic’ is used without restraint or discernment. What is ‘holistic’? It refers to a method or approach which deals “with the whole of something or someone and not just a part” (Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/). Holistic education should aim at the development of body and mind, of social, political, cultural and spiritual life but it cannot not rule out “a sense of priority”. Proceeding step by step is vital.
1. It should ensure mastery in oracy, literacy and numeracy in at least one language, normally the learner’s mother tongue.
2. It should encourage the mastery of at least one second/foreign language. In the case of our Republic, it should be English.
3. A good knowledge of history is indispensable to know who we really are.
4. Some knowledge of science can help us understand the world we live in.
5. Some specific activities can help learners develop a healthy body, sensitivity and imagination.
To ensure a holistic approach, we need a team of specialist teachers to take care of different areas of knowledge and competence. It is a misnomer to call some teachers ‘holistic’ who, in the words of the Mauritius Institute of Education, are responsible for the teaching or monitoring of some specific subjects/activities (the non-core subjects, including Performing Arts, Health and Physical Education, Citizenship Education and Life Skills) (http://portal.mie.ac.mu/). Moreover, it is a serious error to consider a language which is the mother tongue (L1) of 90% of children and the second language (L2) of the remaining 10%, as an ethnic language belonging to the same category as the different ethnic languages of the Republic i.e., Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin Chinese etc.
Such an attitude can never generate a holistic approach.
What is the word holistic hiding?
• Rampant illiteracy;
• Inability to generate a national culture and identity;
• Ignorance of what we really are;
• Absence of a political will to build a genuine RAINBOW NATION.
Dev Virahsawmy
07.06.21