Why School? A Learning Circle with Kids

I vividly remember my summer vacation. That early morning wake-up call by friends to catch the center pitch of the only cricket ground, competing with 100+ teams from our area. Once the match started, we rarely stopped even for breakfast. We continued playing cricket until our last piece of energy evaporated under the scorching sun.

Once the sun set, we moved indoors for games like Carrom, Business, Ludo, Snake and Ladder, WWF cards, and the usual card games. Then came the evening sessions of hide-and-seek, “Color Color What Color Do You Choose,” and other traditional games before finally snoozing off.

Life was simple back then. There was no internet. There were no gadgets. There were no endless notifications competing for our attention. There was also a lot of trust. Our parents rarely cared where we were throughout the day, as long as we had our three meals and returned home at night to sleep.

Fast forward to today.

Gen Alpha children are born into a world of high-speed internet, gadgets, high-definition games, AI tools, and unlimited short-form content. With free access to information also comes the danger of misinformation and disinformation, something that has become a nuisance for the current generation and was not a challenge we faced growing up in the 90s.

As parents, it becomes important to have candid discussions with our children. Not to judge. Not to lecture. But to understand their assumptions and perspectives. To understand the world they are growing up in. And where required, help them make sense of it by busting myths and misconceptions through conversation.

With this intention, we organized a Learning Circle for children just before the new academic year. Of late, I have stumbled upon many videos by so-called social media influencers claiming that schools are outdated, promoting homeschooling as the only alternative, spreading hatred towards curriculums, questioning the usefulness of many mathematical concepts, and portraying tests and marks as villains.

At a superficial level, many of these arguments sound convincing. However, blindly accepting these views without understanding the purpose behind schools, curriculums, timetables, and assessments can do more harm than good in the long run. As parents, we need clarity on what we are opting into and what we are opting out of.

So, we thought of understanding where our children stand on topics like school, syllabus, timetable, and marks. Instead of lecturing them, we wanted to hear directly from the children. What do they think? What assumptions do they hold? What are their frustrations? How do they make sense of the systems they interact with every day?

This exercise was never about deciding who is right or wrong. It was about understanding their perspective first and then helping them understand the intent behind school policies and practices. The goal was simple: help children set clear expectations about school and learning, instead of allowing external noise and half-understood narratives to shape their worldview.

We started with the topic of School.

To break the ice, I casually asked them about their summer vacation and how they felt about school reopening after nearly 50 days of complete freedom and enjoyment. The responses were surprisingly detailed rather than generic. While all of them were excited to physically reconnect with their friends, they also shared concerns about homework, strict teachers, new teachers replacing their old favorites, and having very few free periods to simply chat and spend time with friends.

School, according to them, was a mixed bag. It offered many things they loved and many things they disliked.

Slowly, I introduced a magical spell.

Using my imaginary powers, I made homework and teachers disappear from school. The intention was simple: if we removed the bitter parts they had just complained about, would school become a perfect place?

This immediately got them thinking. The discussion around homework became particularly interesting.

Initially, homework was one of the major complaints. However, when asked what would happen if homework disappeared completely, the children themselves started identifying the consequences.

Without homework:

• They may not pass tests.
• They may not learn new things beyond classroom discussions.
• They may miss opportunities to revise what was taught in school.
• They may struggle to catch up if they had not paid attention in class or occasionally drifted off to sleep.

In other words, despite reducing their free time after school, they could also see the role homework played in reinforcing learning.

Next came teachers. Using the same magical spell, I made teachers disappear.

The children quickly concluded that classrooms would become chaotic. Some even predicted fights, violence, and complete disorder, with students refusing to stay in class or follow any structure.

Interestingly, many of them voluntarily withdrew some of the negative comments they had made about teachers earlier.

Then came the final spell.

I made the entire school disappear. This opened up an even deeper discussion.

The children argued that learning could still happen through AI, YouTube, and parents. However, they immediately began identifying what would be lost. They would miss their friends. They would miss practical learning in laboratories.

Some children also started thinking about others who may not have access to the internet, gadgets, or even parents who could teach them at home. The idea of a world without schools suddenly felt unfair to them.

By the end of the discussion, the children arrived at a conclusion on their own. School is more than a place where subjects are taught. It is a common place where everyone gets an opportunity to learn, regardless of their background. It helps children build friendships and community. It teaches discipline, time management, and networking. Most importantly, it provides a shared space for learning without partiality.

While the children were still discussing schools,

I casually introduced the next topic: syllabus.

I started by asking them about their favorite and least favorite subjects. The responses were varied.

Some children said they loved Mathematics, Science, and English. Others found Tamil, Social Science, Hindi, or Mathematics boring and difficult.

Once everyone had shared their preferences, I asked a simple question:

If some subjects are boring or difficult, why do you think schools still make them mandatory for everyone?

This made them pause and think. The discussion gradually moved beyond likes and dislikes. The children began sharing that all subjects might be needed to build basic knowledge and understanding. They felt that what seems uninteresting today may become useful later.

One child shared an example: “Last year I liked cricket. This year I like only football.”

Their point was simple. Interests change over time, and it is difficult to predict at a young age what knowledge or skills might become useful in the future. By the end of the discussion, we concluded that the purpose of a syllabus is to ensure children build a broad foundation across different subjects, regardless of their current likes and dislikes.

While schools focus on building these fundamentals, higher studies provide opportunities to choose subjects based on individual interests and career aspirations.

From syllabus, we naturally moved to the next topic: timetable.

Now that we understood why schools make certain subjects mandatory, I asked them another question.

Why do you think each subject gets only around 40 minutes? Why not give more time to your favorite subject? Why can’t schools simply dedicate most of the day to subjects that help people get jobs in the future? Why not have Dance for half a day if someone loves it? Or on the other extreme, why not remove Dance altogether and dedicate that time to STEM subjects?

This triggered another interesting discussion. One child pointed out that subjects like Mathematics were given more importance because they were useful for future careers and jobs. Another child immediately argued that activities like Dance were equally important because they helped children discover their interests and passions.

As the discussion continued, I asked them to imagine a school where only their favorite subject was taught throughout the day. Initially, many of them liked the idea. However, when they started listening to each other’s preferences, they realized that every child had a different favorite subject.

Some preferred Mathematics. Some preferred Science. Others preferred Dance, Sports, or other activities.

This made them think about why schools distribute time across multiple subjects instead of focusing entirely on one. Slowly, the children arrived at the idea of balance. They felt that schools were trying to balance academics, arts, sports, and other activities within the limited hours available in a school day. They also observed that learning the same subject continuously for several hours could become boring and exhausting.

Towards the end of the discussion, the children concluded that a timetable is not merely a schedule.

It is an attempt to balance different kinds of learning, interests, and future opportunities within the limited time available. In their own words, schools cannot dedicate all their time to one subject, nor can they completely ignore subjects that may help children discover their interests and abilities. The timetable, therefore, exists to ensure that children are exposed to multiple areas of learning in a structured and balanced manner.

The final topic for the day was tests and marks.

This topic did not require much effort to get started. The moment the question was asked, the children were quick to share their views.

Most of them felt that exams were stressful and not particularly enjoyable.

Unlike the earlier topics, there was very little disagreement here. However, instead of discussing whether exams were good or bad, we explored a different question. If schools stopped conducting tests altogether, how would parents, teachers, and students know whether learning was actually happening?

This made the children think beyond the stress associated with exams. As the discussion progressed, they began recognizing that tests serve a purpose beyond assigning marks.

Parents want to know whether their children are learning.

Teachers want to know whether students have understood the lessons.

Students themselves need some way of understanding where they are doing well and where they need improvement.

The children also pointed out that examinations are not the only way to do this. Assignments, projects, and other forms of assessment can also help understand learning progress.

This shifted the discussion from:

“Are exams good or bad?”

to

“How should learning be measured?”

By the end of the discussion, the children arrived at a balanced conclusion. While exams may be stressful, parents, teachers, and schools still need some way to know whether learning is happening. Tests are one way of doing that. Assignments and projects are other possibilities. The real purpose is not the marks themselves, but the feedback they provide about learning and progress.

To give finishing touch,

I summarized the entire discussion by reflecting on how the children’s thoughts evolved throughout the session. We revisited their initial opinions, the questions they explored, and the conclusions they eventually arrived at. What made the session special was that none of these conclusions were delivered as lectures.

There were no PowerPoint slides.

There were no boring pieces of advice.

There were no attempts to prove anyone right or wrong.

Instead, the session progressed through a democratic discussion where every child had the freedom to express their views without fear of judgment.

Our role was simply to ask questions that encouraged deeper thinking. As children listened to each other’s opinions, they were exposed to perspectives they may not have considered on their own. In many cases, they learned from one another in a passive and natural way.

Once the discussion came to an end, it was time for snacks. Everyone shared the snacks they had brought and spent a few minutes refueling their energy. What followed was perhaps the most beautiful part of the evening.

The children naturally drifted into doodling, playing, networking, chatting, and having fun together.

Meanwhile, the parents found their own discussion circle. Conversations moved towards parenting, changing trends in colleges, childhood experiences, and the challenges of raising children in a rapidly changing world.

In many ways, the Learning Circle achieved exactly what we had hoped for.

It was not just a space for children to learn.

It became a space for both children and parents to connect, reflect, and learn from one another.