A Different Kind of School Class 6 Short Summary & Explanation in English

Introduction

This chapter gives an account of a visit to an unusual school. Miss Beam uses fascinating teaching methods in her school. This school instils good moral values in the students.ย 

Summary

The narrator pays a visit to Miss Beamโ€™s school. On his arrival, he sees a blindfolded girl being shown the way by a young boy. He then meets Miss Beam.ย 

Miss Beam is authoritative, yet kind. She is known for her unconventional teaching methods. She emphasizes the need to teach thoughtfulness to children. This makes her school different from others which mainly focus on teaching facts and knowledge.

The sight that the narrator sees from the window of Miss Beamโ€™s office makes him pity the children. Each child appears to have some sort of disability. But Miss Beam explains that it is only a part of their lessons. The lessons involve each child to have one day for a specific physical disability, like a blind day, a lame day, a deaf day, an injured day and so on.ย 

On oneโ€™s blind day, a child is supposed to keep his or her eyes bandaged for the entire day. The other children become helpers to this child. This practice gives each child an experience of misfortune and the others learn to help and guide. This is done likewise for deafness or any injury.ย 

The narrator then meets a young girl whose eyes are bandaged. As he offers to become her helper, the girl explains the difficulties of blindness. The narrator leaves the school with a deeper understanding of the troubles of others.ย 

Conclusion

Miss Beamโ€™s school is truly a different kind of school. It teaches kindness and empathy. It makes the children more sympathetic towards others. Her unconventional ways of teaching also teach the children to appreciate their fortunes.ย