Teaching and learning process includes many variables that interact as learners(pupils) work towards their goals and

incorporate new knowledge, behaviours and skills that add up to their learning experiences. The two main pillars in the proper education of a child are his parents and his educators. Previously, due to certain constraints within the family where the father was the sole money earner and the mother the one to take care of the house chores, none of the family members was really concerned with the progress, learning-teaching process of the child. So, teaching and learning was carried out only at school. The parents being busy with daily life tasks didnt have time to supervise the education of their children. The children found themselves completely free after school hours and were cut off of their class work continuity. The students get a follow up only on the next day at school and most of the time they fail to recall successfully the previous lessons. This is where the role of the parents fail as contributors in the childs education. As far as the second pillar is concerned, the educators were using an inflexible approach that was known as the teacher centred method. It means that teaching and learning revolved around the educator. The educator being like a dictator and the students mere followers doing whatever they were asked to. They were free to express themselves in any way or propose any suggestions to teaching strategies. Much of the focus was on the educator, his principles, his strategies, his philosophy and his time constraints. This approach did not cater in any way to mixed abilities students. Both high fliers and low achievers had the same tasks and same attention from the educator. As from the 21 century the teacher-centred method has been found to be less effective in the sense that the needs of the pupils were completed neglected. A new approach was then introduced in our schools. It was now child centred education. Child centred education allows young students to initiate their own learning. Students become active and independent learners. Teachers in a childcentred classroom act as facilitators. They assist students in learning without providing direct instruction. The teachers ultimate role is to help provide structure and order within the class while allowing each student to explore his or her own potential. Furthermore, in this approach lessons are adapted to the level and to mixed ability students. For instance the time dedicated to the low achievers would be more that the time dedicated to the high fliers. The educator may thus focus on the work of the low achievers and even attach some high fliers to a couple of low achievers to foster cooperation among them and enhance collaboration. Students can also learn from one another through co-operative learning, the ideal situation for this type group work is that weaker students should be placed with more able students to act as scaffolding, another advantage of this that it can help to build social skills and self-esteem and also students gain more emotional and cognitive support from their peers. The learners perception too has an important role to play in the his/hers education. In the past, many students used excuses for their laziness and

unwillingness to learn at school. Their situations at home did not permit them to have a good supervision of their studies. Educators were not equipped enough to intervene in the private life of their students to inquire how education was carried out at home after school. But now in the 21 century, the educators have the opportunity to work with the collaboration of the parents from whom they are getting regular feedbacks of the progress of the child. the learning difficulties identified by either the educator or the parent can be made into an issue and discussed to find a solution at both school and class level. Lets not forget that when we talk about the educator as a pillar of the childs education, we are talking about the whole teaching body in the school. It comprises of the head teacher, deputy head teacher and the educator himself/herself. When educators meet parents to discuss an issue concerning the learning teaching of their child, the child himself feels being monitored at home and at school as well. The child will feel himself important to the eyes of his educator and his parents as he will witness the efforts being made for the smooth running of his studies. This will only lead to an additional effort from the childs part so that he does not deceive anyone and thus his self esteem will find a new height. Moreover, if we are talking about the 21 century, we cannot skip the fact that education was not what it was ten years ago. Nowadays more emphasis is being put on education. The government is providing all sorts of facilities to ensure that this rising generation do not lack anything concerning academic opportunities and resource materials especially in our schools. If one compares the materials available now in our schools and the materials available ten years ago, a very big difference will be spotted. For instance, all schools in Mauritius did have computer and internet access and printing facilities. Now schools have fully equipped computer rooms, libraries, laboratories, workshops, sports equipments and fields ready for use. Concerning home premises, internet is available in almost every home now. If the student is motivated he will get all his learning materials and even the curriculum on the internet. Another instance is the distribution of food in ZEP schools. The main idea behind this is to increase attendance in school. Most of pupils coming from poor family backgrounds do not come to school as they do not have enough money to buy lunch and they are asked to stay at home by their own parents. Now that the government and other ONG associations are successfully contributing fruits, bread, cheese and even some places breakfast, the same parents who were preventing their child to go to school are now doing the opposite. The 21 century is also a period where we start to talk about the rights of the children. For instance educators do not have to right to beat and even shout at a child. Thus many pupils tend to use this against their educators and parents. They got empowered by this right which was passed to protect them. The Convention deals with the child-specific needs and rights. It requires that states act in the best interests of the child. This approach is different from the common law approach found in many countries that had previously treated children as possessions or chattels, ownership of which was sometimes argued over in family disputes. But it was later mentioned that children should not have rights unless they were capable of being responsible. So together with the rights came the responsibilities of the

children. For instance children have the right to be taken seriously and the responsibility to listen
to others. Children have the right to quality medical care and the responsibility to take care of themselves. Children have the right to a good education and responsibility to study and respect their teachers. If children have a right to be protected from conflict, cruelty, exploitation and neglect, then they also have a responsibility not to bully or harm others. If children have a right to a clean environment, they also have a responsibility to do what they can to look after the environment. With these ideas in mind, should we be striving to encourage our children to understand that having rights is not a stand alone concept but one intrinsically linked with responsibilities or should we remain just telling them about their rights?

An effective educator-parent partnership can make a significant difference in the education of a child. This will undoubtedly refine the childs individual learning plan to make sure that the roles of the parents, educators and students are clear, specific and designed to bring out the best if the child. Educators dont have one but many children seeking for their attention and their time and he has to focus on what every child needs. Parents should feel concerned about the progress of their child and the child should be aware of it. They should not take the school for granted. On a daily basis, the parents should make their child about their school experiences both inside and outside the classroom. A simple question as asking how was your day? could be a very good open ended conversation starter. However the questions can be asked in a more specific way like what did you do in science today?. By doing so, the child recalls his lessons in the classroom and tries to explain in his own simple words and gestures what he was learnt, understood and whether he liked it or not. He will do so in an informal and rather gossiping manner. Now, after listening to the childs words, the parents may asks other questions on the topic for example, or they may even explain the concerned topic in their own way if they know just to have a 2 way conversation with the child. Moreover, the parents may also relate to their school experiences at the time they were going to school. In this way the child will feel that his parents are concerned with what he is doing at school and that his parents also once were students just like him. Most teachers think about having a good relationship with parents. However, just as images of teaching and learning environments vary, so do images of good parent-teacher relationships. At one end of the spectrum, the image of a good relationship is an effective separation of roles and functions between home and school, an optimal social distance combined with mutual respect. The family meets the schools expectations efficiently, and the school effectively educates the child without undue demands on the home. As teachers think about their work with parents and families, they often have mixed feelings. There are good feelings of shared efforts and mutually valued achievement with some parents; while with others, there is a sense of frustration, helplessness, or even anger over conflicting perceptions and understandings. The degree of success that teachers have in developing a partnership with parents depends heavily on the fit between parental cares and concerns and those of the teacher. Unlike many other kinds of relationships in peoples lives, the parent-teacher pairing occurs by assignment rather than choice. The common interest is the schooling of a child. What all good parent-teacher relationships have in common is the absence of conflict. Optimally this absence

of conflict is due to a presence of mutual trust and respect; less optimally, it is due to the absence of caring. As our main concern remains the good upbringing and proper education of our children, the best way to achieve so is to team up the parents and the educators together with the child, they will make a plan which will cater for the childs needs in the most appropriate way possible. But as we mentioned previously the team is incomplete without the cooperation of the pupil. The pupil must contribute by focusing on his responsibilities rather than using his rights as a shield. There is no doubt teaching/learning process would be more effective if our educators, parents and students work together cooperatively.