There is a huge conspiracy against individuals and we are not even aware of it. What are the pillars of individuality and personal freedom ?
- Freedom of action (what we do),
-Freedom of thoughts (what/how we think) and
-Freedom of choosing Identity( Who we are).
What we do, What we think and hence What we are - are all in hands of others ! It is all controlled through a huge conspiracy of which we all are accomplice !
1.) Media - Dictates what we like, what we dislike, what we value , respect, hate or enjoy.
2.) Religion - Decides what we fear, what we love, how we love, how we live and how we think.
3.) Education - (Schools and Universities) - Control what we learn, what kind of questions we ask and what answers we get !
4.) Industry - limits what we do, how we do it and what we get for it !
5.) Society - (Parents, Mass, Politicians etc.) - Decide what is acceptable and what is not. What is right and what is wrong ! Who will be supported and who will be crucified.
Your thoughts are not your thoughts ! Your life is not your life ! It's just a matter of time or reason that you accept this or realize it. Sooner or later we all do.
Think for a moment. Are our thoughts really ours ? Why do we allow this huge conspiracy ? Perhaps because we don't even realize it. We live in a illusion where we consider "media influenced choices" as our personal choice, "corporate controlled life styles" as our own lifestyle.
All the above institutions work in tandem with each other to ensure proper control. No wonder, education interests all - religion, politician, industry. No wonder transforming schools and rotten education system has still only been an unreal project, a distant dream.
We need to raise awareness against this conspiracy, only then we can empower individuals and only when individuals feel empowered can we expect a social revolution.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
What kind of school will I open "TODAY" ?
As I am growing in my learning about education and schooling, quite often I am left overwhelmed by the sheer complexity and enormity of the subject.
The more I am learing more dots I am able to connect, I am able to see the invisible connections and unobvious associations.
While I still strive to get clear and learn more about alternative education and schooling or deschooling if you prefer that term, I posed myself this question - What kind of school will I open today ?
One cannot keep pondering on things for thoughts alone are of little use. One cannot , not act based on the understanding. So, I am slowly growing into the zone of acting soon. While on one hand I do not wish to initiate something that I am not sure of, on the other hand I am wary of turning into a "thought leader" who can speak well, explain the problem, analyze it but is paralyzed when talking about the solution.
So based on my limited understanding as of today (hence the "TODAY" in block), I'd open a school with following qualities :-
1.) Small group of students : Number of students will not grow more than 20-25 for the teachers and students must know each other personally, must know each other as evolving human not a "role" fulfiller.
2.) The study will be done of 2 things -
A) The Essentials : The parents, teachers and the student will sit together to decide for the year/six months - what is the essential knowledge or skills the kid must have. It could be maths, science, computers, english, mountaineering, agriculture, environmental science, bird watching so on, depending on the background of child and wisdom of parents and teachers. Each have equal say, while the child will hold veto power to eliminate or include something based on common dialogue and understanding.
B) The Element : Second part of education will be dedicated to the passion, talent, interest of the child - which Ken Robinson refers as "The Element". This will be mainly student's choice. He can come up with one or more areas s/he want to explore. This could be dance, music, engineering, religion ...whatever under the sky is possible. The passion will be pursued by the student for a period of time with hardwork and perseverance. The school might not have masters for all the skills, so here the school will act as a bridge and help find a good mentor to support the student's learning journey.
3.) Finance - The fee will not be decided by the school but the economic status and willingness of the parents. Ethics and service will ride over profits. If in crunch, the school will do its own fundraising to support the expenses and find creative ways of dealing with money, but in no case link learning opportunity with money.
4.) Admission and Certificates : There will be no certificate or association with any board, however each child and parents are free to pursue it personally using options available (like NIOS, IGCSE etc..) if they find it useful. Admission will simply be based on common dialogue and understanding.
5.) Focus on Exposure : Exposure will be the only policy of the school. To gets kids exposed to various experiences, to give them a oppurtunity to explore and extend their horizons. This would mean a lot of travel, meeting people from all walks of life, learning all skills from the meanest to the most technical , so on.
6.) Day Structure : There shall be sessions on essential but none will be compulsory to attend. The underlying belief will be holding the individual student responsible for their learning, the school or the centre can only assist. Only the student will decide what to do, how to do and when to do. The teachers, computer, books and other resources will be at disposal if he wishes to refer to them.
7.) MOST IMPORTANT : To stay updated and keep renewing the processes, the school will revisit all of its work every single year and will have right to think all over again every year and introduce newer processes and take away existing ones. The school for its entire life will remain an experiment but unlike so-called alternative schools where few teachers / thinkers experiment on kids, here the students will be the key participant to decide what experiments to do with their lives. The world will be their laboratory.
These are some raw , unpolished thoughts I shared on the kind of school that I imagine might redefine education. I do understand this is not comprehensive and might need a lot of tweaking. But this is the beginning of thinking on those lines. Your feedbacks and comments are welcome, I look forward to them.
The more I am learing more dots I am able to connect, I am able to see the invisible connections and unobvious associations.
While I still strive to get clear and learn more about alternative education and schooling or deschooling if you prefer that term, I posed myself this question - What kind of school will I open today ?
One cannot keep pondering on things for thoughts alone are of little use. One cannot , not act based on the understanding. So, I am slowly growing into the zone of acting soon. While on one hand I do not wish to initiate something that I am not sure of, on the other hand I am wary of turning into a "thought leader" who can speak well, explain the problem, analyze it but is paralyzed when talking about the solution.
So based on my limited understanding as of today (hence the "TODAY" in block), I'd open a school with following qualities :-
1.) Small group of students : Number of students will not grow more than 20-25 for the teachers and students must know each other personally, must know each other as evolving human not a "role" fulfiller.
2.) The study will be done of 2 things -
A) The Essentials : The parents, teachers and the student will sit together to decide for the year/six months - what is the essential knowledge or skills the kid must have. It could be maths, science, computers, english, mountaineering, agriculture, environmental science, bird watching so on, depending on the background of child and wisdom of parents and teachers. Each have equal say, while the child will hold veto power to eliminate or include something based on common dialogue and understanding.
B) The Element : Second part of education will be dedicated to the passion, talent, interest of the child - which Ken Robinson refers as "The Element". This will be mainly student's choice. He can come up with one or more areas s/he want to explore. This could be dance, music, engineering, religion ...whatever under the sky is possible. The passion will be pursued by the student for a period of time with hardwork and perseverance. The school might not have masters for all the skills, so here the school will act as a bridge and help find a good mentor to support the student's learning journey.
3.) Finance - The fee will not be decided by the school but the economic status and willingness of the parents. Ethics and service will ride over profits. If in crunch, the school will do its own fundraising to support the expenses and find creative ways of dealing with money, but in no case link learning opportunity with money.
4.) Admission and Certificates : There will be no certificate or association with any board, however each child and parents are free to pursue it personally using options available (like NIOS, IGCSE etc..) if they find it useful. Admission will simply be based on common dialogue and understanding.
5.) Focus on Exposure : Exposure will be the only policy of the school. To gets kids exposed to various experiences, to give them a oppurtunity to explore and extend their horizons. This would mean a lot of travel, meeting people from all walks of life, learning all skills from the meanest to the most technical , so on.
6.) Day Structure : There shall be sessions on essential but none will be compulsory to attend. The underlying belief will be holding the individual student responsible for their learning, the school or the centre can only assist. Only the student will decide what to do, how to do and when to do. The teachers, computer, books and other resources will be at disposal if he wishes to refer to them.
7.) MOST IMPORTANT : To stay updated and keep renewing the processes, the school will revisit all of its work every single year and will have right to think all over again every year and introduce newer processes and take away existing ones. The school for its entire life will remain an experiment but unlike so-called alternative schools where few teachers / thinkers experiment on kids, here the students will be the key participant to decide what experiments to do with their lives. The world will be their laboratory.
These are some raw , unpolished thoughts I shared on the kind of school that I imagine might redefine education. I do understand this is not comprehensive and might need a lot of tweaking. But this is the beginning of thinking on those lines. Your feedbacks and comments are welcome, I look forward to them.
Sunday, 24 June 2012
On the lighter side : Mr. Beans on Education :-)
Sometimes when we are looking at problems, we tend to become very serious. Being serious, usually is not helpful rather an obstacle in looking at problem objectively and thinking creatively about solving it. Humor sometimes does wonders in conveying complex information and achieving clarity. So, after the amazing Gorge Carlin’s take on education, here is a wonderful representation of our schooling system by Mr. Beans (Rowan Atkinson)
What is shown in this video might at first appear an outright exaggeration; however to me it appears quite real in terms of its spirit. Ours schools and education are not very different from what is being shown in the video.
Second one , related video - Enjoy :-)
What is shown in this video might at first appear an outright exaggeration; however to me it appears quite real in terms of its spirit. Ours schools and education are not very different from what is being shown in the video.
1.) In schools, we focus too much on “things that really don’t or won’t matter.” ( Researches have shown, hardly 4% is retrieved by students within few years of school.)
2.) We dehumanize learning and the process of it, prioritizing institutions above individuals, processes above life.
3.) We live in our own ignorance, oblivious to the fact that we are doing harm by schooling kids. (How Mr. Beans says – “I find your morbid fascination with your child’s death quite disturbing.”)
4.) Schools, teachers and authorities assume they have all rights and that – they are always right.
5.) We've got our priorities wrong at the schools, focus is much more on things like discipline, meetings etc. rather than true development of the child.
6.) Last and the most important one perhaps, is that we blame the kids for failure. "He couldn't.." , "He was not ...." , "He didn't ..." etc.. No responsibility is taken by the school whatsoever, however all accolades are grabbed by them.
Nevertheless, this video is worth laughing at. But do not forget to have similar laugh, when you visit a school next time. ;-)
Second one , related video - Enjoy :-)
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