I don’t believe this can be done with students below Grade Ten level. I don’t think so. Children may have views in Grade Seven and Eight. That is quite something altogether […] There was also a widely held assumption that ‘teachers know’ what is best for children without having to ask or consult the children themselves. One parent, who was an ex-teacher, for example, explained that when she was a teacher, We always attempted to plan things in such a way that the topics we select are compatible with children’s interests […]. Even though we do not sit the children down and ask them, teachers know very well what children’s interests are. Teachers know [emphasis in original speech]. In further discussions, the same person clarified that this knowledge comes from having talked to children at various points during school ‘even if we do not say directly that today we are talking to you so that we can get your views in developing the curriculum’. Despite the clarification, the general attitude of several parents/teachers present at the meeting was that children did not have much to contribute in the planning stages either because children were not mature enough, or because teachers/parents had superior knowledge of what was best for children. Several teachers were of the opinion that ‘observation’ of children and their behaviour and discussion among teachers of the results of their observations is sufficient consideration of children’s views in making decisions about what is best for children. In all schools every year we prepare a scheme. When we change the schemes every year, we make the changes on the basis of observations we make of children and their behaviours. Changing the dates according to the new calendar year is not the only changes that we make to it. Every year, we consider the previous year. For example Grade One or Two, we look at what problems we encountered in Grade One…we consider what we saw by observing children in school and we consider the information we got from parents…that’s how we make the changes. So I think that we do seek opinions and views in making the changes; and I do feel that it is an important thing to do. Several teachers, however, do consult children when creating lesson plans and accommodate their wishes and views in conducting classes. Support for this position was found to some extent in the findings from the focus group discussions with children. Extra-curricular activities When asked about whether they consult with children in deciding what sort of extra-curricular activities children would like to be involved in, many teachers appeared to be under the impression that such a discussion always comes down to correcting children’s mistaken beliefs about where their true talents lie. Children, several teachers said, often think they are good at a particular activity when they are not. Consulting with children, therefore, means letting them know that they cannot always participate in every activity they may wish to. 43