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When words don't reach

 When Words Don’t Reach: Teaching in the Gaps


It was the last day before summer break. Spirits were high, rules a little loose, and classrooms slightly chaotic. In the creative writing room, I tried to maintain a semblance of structure. A few students gathered sincerely, and we began discussing prompts, sharing ideas. The kind of class that fills you with hope.


Then came a girl, brought along by a friend. She was new to the group. I welcomed her and began explaining the activity in the simplest English I could muster. But she looked blank. “Matlab?” she asked, again and again. “Matlab” — a word that instantly transports you to a different linguistic space, a different educational history.


I kept trying to explain, but nothing seemed to register. Finally, I realized—she didn’t understand English at all. Not even the basics. I asked another student to help translate, and she did. The girl settled down. But even then, she seemed unsure of why she was there. She thought she had to be in her own section. She didn’t understand what “work education” meant, or why she was in a creative writing class.


As a teacher, that moment stung. Was it my failure that she didn’t understand? Had I failed to reach her? I kept revisiting the class in my head. I’d tried every trick. Was it a language barrier? A cognitive disorder? Negligence? Or something deeper—a system that isn’t designed to notice, understand, or support such children?


This isn’t an isolated incident. Another child in my class doesn’t write anything in any subject. He roams, silent and disconnected. I’m seeing more of these children—drifting, struggling, ignored.


We often expect children to fit into the structure. But what if the structure has no room for their minds, their language, their reality?


As a teacher, I cannot diagnose or solve all of this. But I can witness. I can adapt. And most of all—I can care. Sometimes, that is where real education begins.


Because the real silence in our classrooms isn’t the lack of answers—it’s the absence of understanding.


Comments

  1. UJIBHAJI16 May 2025 at 21:02

    Wow ma’am
    Love your thoughts! Keep publishing more.

    ReplyDelete

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