Mrs. Rosario Patino-Yap
Cagayan National High School
Tuguegarao City

As one of the culminating activities in Reading in the Content Areas, we watched the Hindu movie “Taare Zameen Par” (Every Child is Special).  More than watching this movie and being misty-eyed, there is the task to look into the said movie in the light of our roles as teachers.  Trying to do a Ricky Lo here, I will say that the film is a story of a kid suffering from dyslexia and how with the help of an understanding teacher, he overcomes it against all odds. But more importantly, the film is an open and critical analysis of our education system and parents.  The film also zeroes-in on society’s frenzy to produce winners and global citizen.    It has tackled the issue of an individual’s own inclinations conflicting with the world’s perception of what is best for him. “Taare” is probably  timely and significant because it deals with a phase of life where one is hardly aware of a thing called “choice”/”interest”/”inclination” and so is very likely to shrivel and retreat into a shell.  Probably, one is too young to understand that he/she is just different but not wrong. 

As to the question “what is the reading problem of the character”, the answer is very explicit.  Ishaan, the boy, is suffering from a reading and learning difficulty called dyslexia.  He is hindered from learning because he sees “dancing letters and numbers” as he put it in the movie.   Ishaan being dyslexic was undetected at first.  He showed signs of depression, of wanderings or imaginations and low self-esteem aggravated by his teachers writing him off as dumb or duffer. This conclusion or generalization about him, coupled by his overbearing and insensitive father caused the main character to withdraw all the more into his shelf.

Then comes the substitute – arts teacher Ram Nikumbh.  His knowledge or maybe his “gut feel” towards Ishan and his undetected learning disability proved to be the balm to this poor child’s silent cry for reprieve and understanding.   As they say, it takes one to know one- the teacher was once like Ishan.   After categorically detecting dyslexia as the culprit for the boy’s learning disability, he went out of his way to meet the boy’s parents. He did the extra mile here- a humane act that we teachers do to redeem or to save a student from failing or dropping out of  school.  Then he found out that just like any kid with special conditions, the boy is gifted with a skill. He is inclined towards the arts- not just an inclination but probably a child prodigy even.  And the teacher used this as a vehicle to draw the student out of his shell.  Moreover, he did one-on-one instruction and remediation.

Now, what is the movie driving at here for us teachers?  I would like to think that the movie reiterates the reality that every learner that comes to us is different- individual differences is a tangible reality that we face daily in our classrooms. Moreover, there are reasons why a few of our students lag behind the rest.  And it is wrong to just write off these slow learners as imbecile or retards. The humane thing that a teacher under this situation should do is to get down to the root of the problem.  Beneath the signs and behavior guises that these students manifest,  what really ails them? 

This should be a nagging question that a teacher should have.  In addition, I realized that the stereotype of overbearing and insensitive parents and cool and out-of –the-box teachers exist.  The former hinders the medical and psychological diagnosis of a learning problem.  Add to this the biases and prejudices of teachers who punish or fail students with learning problem.  The incidents involving the teacher-student interactions depicted in this movie are so relevant in today’s times when you get to see and hear on television at regular intervals innovative punishments like electric shocks being doled out to students. Or the very early training of toddlers to read and mimic the rigors of formal education which could cloak later a learning disability.  Furthermore, I realized that a loving, accepting and nurturing environment can make a dyslexic slowly go mainstream, that special schools may not be the answer after ball.

Now, if I were the teacher, what solutions or intervention would I adapt?  Why?  I would also have done what the teacher in the movie has done.  Being a teacher in English among students inclined in the arts, I am aware that a handful is learning-impaired, that these are very likely to be accomplished artists later but could hardly go through the feats of the academe.  Maybe, I could devise or adapt a diagnostic procedure (Phil IRRI or the informal self-inventory) to enable me to determine the root of a learning disability.  Maybe a psychologist or a reading specialist can come into the picture to help me and more importantly, the parents, understand what is not right with their child. 

On my part, I will not make him feel that there is amiss with him, rather, make him redirect his energy towards the enhancement and actualization of his talents/inclinations.  Lastly, constant dialog with the parents and providing a loving and nurturing environment is a way to slowly remove the handcuff of learning disability.