The Missing Link In Education
The Choice Of Education
Let us for a moment imagine your child seeking your help to “Make A Rainbow”.
Let us for a moment imagine your child seeking your help to “Make A Rainbow”.
And let me try to guess the
outcomes.
60% of you'll may guide him to do a
drawing or a craft depicting a rainbow
30% of you'll may guide him to use
light prism with the hero of a water bat mirror etc.
But what I do hope is there will
be some exceptions who may help the child to make a real rainbow, outdoors,
with the help of a water jet sprayed towards the sun over a still water body.
As a parent myself, the above
percentage is a matter of concern about the future of our children. We make
thousands of decisions in the hope that it will result in a future for children
that is full of truth, beauty, justice and goodness. But one such important
choice we have to make is about their education and developing their grey cells
through it.
The choice of schooling for my son made me reflect on the education I
received as a child and observed that not much has changed since. Traditional
system that is based on teaching and testing may work for some, but not for all
in the same way. If you judge a fish based on its ability to fly, it is the
failure of the system and not the individual. The problem is that even though
we learn, understand and know the concepts based on books and gain the right
knowledge, the real life experience and exposure required for learning is still
missing. The wisdom that comes from actually doing and various experiences of
how humans really learn are very similar to animals. From the beginning of
humanity, that is how we have learnt and grown through all our senses and guess
what, it's stuck with us! It has stuck so well that we have evolved, survived
and thrived as specie. Despite knowing this, it is strange that most schools
and colleges are still functioning the way they are. A Group of students are
caged for 1/4th of their life into a box and are made to just see and hear the
lessons taught out of textbooks and expected to get ready to face life without
any hands on experiments. Teaching aids are based on the past and we use them
to prepare children for the future. In short the future of their family, future
of the society and future of the planet is dependent on the outdated teaching
methods used in the present. This undoubtedly brings in vast amounts of
knowledge but what's missing really is
Wisdom.
The Journey of Growth
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| Evolution of Man Evolution of Education |
Soon enough I developed a keen
interest in adventure sports.For the first time I stopped studying and started
learning. There is an element
of choice in learning and that makes it so much more impactful. Around this
time the intense rushed city life began to bog me down and I decided to explore
a different world that is far away, across the Himalayas. Ladakh happened and
my social internship up in the mountains was truly the turning point in my
life. There are 3 key elements which are instrumental in our journey of growth
and learning and these are missing in our education system today, especially in
the cities. During my 2 months stay at
SECMOL in Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk’s alternative school of learning, I was
exposed to a unique model of education which was completely contextual and
hands-on. The students there were in the driving seat and they learnt by
experiencing, by doing. They were partners in innovating, in experimenting and
in problem solving.
I observed keenly that those who
failed the 10th grade in conventional education had skilled hands, a bright
head and a kind heart.
For eg. Stanzin. A young ,sharp and intelligent
man, he can drive everything from a cycle to a bus, can fix everything from a
solar cooker to a bore well, he plays ice hockey, runs 10 kms everyday at
11000ft, goes home in the summers to harvest barley and take care of 100 odd
yaks. He holds no degree, but we need to question if the sum of of our life can
really be boxed into a piece of paper. Stanzin doesn’t exist, he lives, despite
tough geographical conditions and scarce resources. OR maybe i should say
because of tough geographical conditions and scarce resources he truly lives.
N. A. V
Its disappointing that we fail to
come across children in the city who can do half as much as him. And just maybe
we need to target our cushioned lifestyle with the luxuries and comforts of
modern amenities,to understand why cities are conditioned in this way today.
When was the last time we allowed
our children to go to school on a cycle or by foot?
Don’t We usually provide them with
an ac car or a cab to make their journey whether short or long comfortable?
And this is where we need to
question our modern city life and how disconnected we are from the natural
resources provided by Earth.
With my understanding and
experiences I discovered what N.A.V is and it’s not Net Asset Value as
we have studied in our classes.
- It is proven time
and time again over decades and generations that the ultimate teacher in
the entire universe is nature and
this is what the first letter represents. NATURE.
- Research says that
the most fertile ground for learning is outside our comfort zone and we
all have experienced this in our own lives at some point. ADVENTURE
marks our second key letter.
- And Lastly, when a
person is able to find a larger meaning and purpose in life. When he
begins to think not only about himself but sees himself as a part of the
whole, he offers himself completely
& selflessly. V stands for VOLUNTEERING.
My belief that learning cannot be
limited to four walls of a room and 8 hrs of sitting in the class got further strengthened.
Unfortunately the major focus is still on passive studying but what we truly need
is active learning. After completing my MBA, I focused on establishing my
professional career and later plunged into entrepreneurship. A decade went by, my
new born became a toddler and I felt a need to inculcate virtues of NAV in him.
The need further intensified when I observed that he was being taught
experiences out of a computer screen. Programs like “how to grow a plant” where
he was guided to add water and sunlight virtually. I started taking him outdoors for camping and trekking. A very
keen interest developed amongst the people around who understood the need of
real living and sent their kids along. Given my own experiences, I didn’t want
to impart any more knowledge to kids as they were already burdened with too
much of it in their heads. Instead, I wanted to focus on developing these 7
skills that studies show are needed for the future:-
Critical
Thinking, Collaboration, Adaptability, Entrepreneurship, Communication,
Analyzing Information, and Curiosity.
These skills can be learnt only by
doing, by being and by working on the self. I went on to start and build a community
initiative called the Me Too Kids Adventure Club.
Here, we don’t charge for
participation but have parents and kids who volunteer in making each event a
success. The idea is to conduct regular activities for kids in the age group of
7-14 yrs, ranging from trekking,
kayaking, camping, and rappelling to clean up drives and even supporting NGO’s. We provide a learning platform
that's breaking stereo typical education. The kids take the lead in exploring
routes on a trek, take risks of slipping from a kayak into the river, struggle
to pitch a tent, overcome their fears while rappelling, earn aerodynamics while
sailing, see a scarab roll dung, ants build hills and much more. Most
importantly they channelize all their energy and get completely involved and
absorbed without bothering about the results.
Lessons learnt can’t be taught in
school even over a span of 30 days. But with such outdoor activities, a matter
of a few hours can leave a valuable impact. And the most important part, the
kids are loving it ! In the entire process, they relate to math and science,
history & geography and so on. For e.g. when you show a child how spiders
make a web for half an hour... it can be equal to a 3 hour of class in
geometry, architecture & biology, all combined.
The sense of accomplishing a
difficult task after all the hardships makes them their own hero. It builds
their confidence and they wait for the next challenge. Operating in the
learning zone has a positive snowball effect on their overall approach to life
and inculcates a variety of skills. Needless to mention that academics also get
strengthened. These are part of character building through process of self
discovery.
As for volunteering ,I live by a simple
formula that can solve 1/3rd of the world’s problem if we all start doing it.
Whatever is your age, just give that much % of yourself to a cause you care
about. Eg: If you are 25 yrs old, give 25%. After
years of volunteering you understand that usually you take back more than what
you give. Experience, love, joy and service are key elements I've taken home
with me.
To Be A Planet Warrior
The recent World Economic Forum's
Global Shapers Survey 2017 has identified climate change as the most serious
issue affecting the world today FOR THE 3RD TIME in a row. Nearly
half the participants chose this as their topmost concern. It is all the more
essential that children are sensitized to nature early on and made to sense its
functioning and significance. They will soon begin to connect the dots between
what looks like simple fun activity and get to the deeper meanings. Only then
will their sensitivity evolve and make them protectors and solution providers.
Sustainability then will not just be a hype or fashion; but will become part of
their DNA while growing up.
In Ladakh, we are currently
working on climate change adaptation projects like the Ice Stupa Artificial
Glaciers which are technological innovations to store wasting winter water in
the form of huge cones of ice so that they gradually melt in spring and give
water for farming when there is acute shortage. And all this is done without
using any machines but just gravity and some basic principles of high school
science.
In order to
continuously do research and development that can address the challenges faced
by people in the mountains in the domains of education, culture, and
environment; we are setting up an alternative university called HIAL -
Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh. HIAL will set the standard for the
next learning revolution in higher education as it aims to break the rigid
boxes of conventional thinking and be relevant to people's lives by encouraging
experiential learning through practical application of knowledge. The education
wing will be complemented by live labs or enterprises. For e.g. the school of
tourism will run high end hotels and simple farmstays. Infact, we already have
dozens of farmstays running that earns while giving sustainable livelihood to
women of the village. This is also a way to take innovative solutions to the
world. Students learn best when they work on things that make case studies and
not just solve them with chalk, talk and paper.
For a sustainable future, we need
new models of education which are customized to the reality of the current
time, place and need. It needs to be able to face challenges and be tuned to the growing needs of our country
whilst harboring the idea of solving problems of our own fellow beings inhabiting
this earth just like us. Once the model works, it will gain
critical mass and mainstream system is then likely to adopt it and adapt it. It
won’t remain an alternative thereafter.
With right education, each one of
us can rise to our true potential. There is a need to build a strong chain that
creates selfless warriors to save the planet and we need to recognize this. NAV
is the only structure that fills that missing link which can secure our children’s
future and our future sustainable in the true sense of the word.
This article is about my journey,
I would love to hear about yours and your thoughts on education in today’s
world.
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