How does collecting information about students’ background help you as a teacher?

With time any teacher will get to know his / her students. However, it helps to know students’ backgrounds, their socio-economic status and other aspects.

• Socio-economic Status: If children are from a low income family, it is likely that they may find regular attendance difficult. If so, you will need to include times in the day / week where you can work with them separately to address gaps (while others work on self-learning tasks). They may not have others to support them in their studies at home. Younger children may not get enough oral interaction, which will affect their development. If there is an opportunity, speaking with parents and encouraging them to talk with the child, narrate family stories or describe processes (such as what is being cooked, etc.) - are simple ways in which they can boost the child’s potential. Finally, children will have experienced other activities (such as housework, caring for other children or even contributing to economic activities) - how can you use this ‘fund of knowledge’ to help them learn other things in your class?
• Children with Disabilities: Information on children with disabilities can help prepare better for teaching. Apart from being able to support the child in getting the required aids, appliances and materials, this also answers questions such as - what would be the best methods to use? What role can other children play in supporting their classmates? How can we create a more inclusive environment, which helps all learn a great deal more than just the academic subjects?
• Language Background: Knowing the language backgrounds can clearly help in preparing to use the multiple mother tongues in the classroom and apply methods related to multilingual education. You can identify ‘language partners’ from among different children to help you and each other in the use of different mother tongues.
• Family Background and Current Situation: Children’s family background and current situation is important for you to know as it helps in facilitating their healthy socio-emotional development. For instance, if a family is a migrant one, children may be facing adjustment issues (apart from poverty-related ones discussed earlier). Similarly, children from single parent homes, or displaced families, or those that have recently experienced a loss or family disruption of any kind, will need emotional support and a caring atmosphere.
• Gender-Specific Challenges: Issues faced by boys and girls differ across age groups. Girls face a disproportionate burden of child care and housework, affecting the time they get to participate in learning. In certain communities, their continued education may be at risk. Menstrual health and sexual harassment are issues that older girls face. Counselling parents, supporting girls, ensuring that their experiences are connected with learning (e.g. the maths involved in cooking) and that they are provided opportunities on par with boys, will help their development.
• Preventing Dropout: Current data indicates that boys are dropping out of secondary and higher secondary education in greater proportions than girls. Poverty, as well as the feeling that they are not learning, contributes to this, especially in the post-pandemic situation where learning losses are too great for children to overcome without sufficient help. Here too, ensuring that key prerequisites for what you are teaching (i.e., the required pre-knowledge) is well covered will make a difference.

In conclusion, collecting information about students’ backgrounds is a fundamental aspect of effective teaching, as it empowers educators to address the specific needs and challenges of their students, fostering a more inclusive and supportive learning environment.