70. On learning to concentrate

 

Teaching  in NIT Calicut  is  indeed  a  great  learning experience for me. During  the  first five  months  I  was  assigned  to  teach  English for  Communication  for the  fresh batch of  the newly launched  Integrated  Teacher Education Programme  (ITEP). Then my prime  objective was to refine   the ability of  learners   who  were fresh from  Higher  Secondary, to   use English fluently  for  communication. I had  made use of  several  strategies  which I  mastered  during  my  stint  as faculty and  course coordinator of  Spoken English Courses  in the  Regional  Institute  of  English South India, Bangalore renowned  for the  Communicative  Approach  Project.   I  believe  I  was fairly successful    because  both  the Chairman  and   Head of the  Department  during the commencement of the   second semester  while  addressing  the  students  commented  that  they have  tremendously improved  in their  ability to communicate.   While  I  gave  a pat on my back  for my  achievement,  I expected  a  similar   performance   when assigned to teach  Indian Knowledge  Systems  during the  second  semester. 

But to my disappointment,  a  few  students  who  did  remarkably well in the first semester  performed  poorly    in  the  Mid  Semester  examination.  During my  lecture  sessions on Indian Knowledge Systems,  I  had noticed the   attention of  a  few students  faltering.  When  I  cross checked the marks  I found that  those who scored  poor marks were the ones  whose  ability to  concentrate on the lecture  tended to falter.

So I called the poor  performers  to my  cabin  one by one  and inquired   why  they found it difficult to perform well.  Did  they find the topic  particularly  difficult  (the  Module  was on Indian Philosophy) ?  Did  they  find  it  difficult  to  memorize  major  aspects  of   philosophical  perspectives of  different  schools?  Did  my  explanations  and  illustrative  videos  fail to  help them grasp the  content?... A review  of the  responses  revealed  that  many  had not  mastered the   ability  for  sustained   concentration.  A  close  analysis of the  answers  written by the  low performers  also revealed  a  failure  to  think logically  and  also  an inability to recall  points  explained   despite my meticulous supply of  relevant  study materials.

This  led  me to the realization  that  unlike  the  previous  semester   when  I had to  consciously  provide  inputs   to enable the students  make a  smooth  transition as a  serious  learner  in    the new  competitive   academic  environment  of   a  top rated Higher  Education institution,  I had to commence  teaching  the students  certain basic  things  such as  how to  concentrate!

Almost  all the students  as part of the  course on Indian Knowledge Systems  had become  fairly  familiar with  the traditional  Ayurvedic  diet which Kerala State is noted for    or  even  Satvic  food habits.   They were also aware of the body-food-mind  connection.  So I suggested to them  to observe the following  which I found to be useful during my  days  as  a  student  struggling to  concentrate  for  longer  durations  of  time.

*Sit in a quiet  dark room with a lit candle. Focus your eyes  on the flame alone by holding your breath for say  10 to 30 seconds.  Slowly  increase the duration.

*Try bouncing  a  ball continuously for  3 to 5 minutes. The quick bouncing type ball (without air inside) is the best…..Once this  ability is  mastered,  try bouncing two balls  simultaneously.

*While in  college, during the  morning prayer before the class commences,  try to hold your breath during the rendering of the prayer.

The other day,  I had  attended  a lecture  at NIT Calicut  on the Meaning of Yoga by Prof. M.Ram Murty of  Queen’s University, Canada.  During the lecture,   the professor  highlighted  certain aspects related to concentration. The following are  his observations:

*Concentration upon a single object may reach four stages: examination or questioning (vitarka), reflection or discernment (vichara) joyful peace (Ananda) , and unqualified egoism.

*Examination or inquiry  refers to isolating what is to be attended to.  The first step in concentrating the mind is to determine what to concentrate  it on, to prioritize… to isolate the task before us and then, to begin.

Aids to concentration

*Concentration is achieved through faith, energy, recollection, absorption, and illumination.

*Faith is two-fold; we must have faith in our ability and we must have faith that the goal can be attained.

*When we examine our mind, we find  a powerful undercurrent of ‘background thought’.  The early stages of concentration can be viewed as  ‘house-cleaning’ , when we remove gross distractions.

*External distractions are easier to remove than internal distractions.