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New Methods of Learning Flourish In India
by Stan Crow
One never knows where the seeds one sows will spring up.
In 1988, Dee Dickinson, Barbara Clark and Roger Johnson were part of a conference in Oaxtepec, Mexico which was sponsored by the Institute of Cultural Affairs. Participants at that conference were from many countries in Asia, Africa, and South America in addition to Europe and North America. One small group from ICA:India went away inspired to learn more, and since that time have been introduced to the work of such people as Edward de Bono, Stephen Covey, and Peter Senge. They began by using these theories with themselves and groups they already were working with. In 1991, they began a training program for teachers and principals to introduce them to this body of information and techniques.
This is radical material in India, where a traditional education system prevails. Typically, students sit in rows, on benches, with stacks of books and copy books. They take notes from the teacher's lectures and blackboard inscriptions and parrot the information back on tests. To even consider participatory learning is radical. To even think of putting students into some other seating configuration, unheard of.
In October, I had the privilege of again attending the biannual ICA conference This time held in Lonovla, India. Among the attendees at the conference were 20 local teachers and principals whose schools have been participating in this training. They are eager to learn more about how they might expand their experiments.
On the fifth day of the conference, we visited two of the 30+ schools in Mahashtra State in India where the methods have been introduced. The air was literally charged as we arrived at the first school. We were greeted by a long phalanx of students in their best uniforms and caps who lined the walk from our bus to the school. Fireworks were set off and we were greeted with the traditional welcome of receiving colorful marks on our foreheads. We then took a moment to stop by the school's shrine of the goddess Saraswati (the Hindu personification of creativity and learning -- she is not unlike the 7 muses all rolled into one).
Student guides then took us on a tour to classes where students no longer sit in straight rows, but are arranged in various configurations to facilitate group work and good eye contact. This would not have been so dramatic if the average classroom were not populated by 60- 65 students. One student wanted to know how students in America liked the ideas found in "The Fifth Discipline." Another talked about how they enjoyed cooperative learning activities. One student explained to a group of international visitors about Edward de Bono's "Six Hat Exercise".
We then gathered to hear proud speeches by members of the Town Council which sponsors the school, and from the President and Vice President of the Student Council (another new idea of student participation).
The final act of the drama of the day was a Dandya dance demonstration (this is a popular cultural dance which involves tapping 15 inch sticks together with a partner as a part of the choreography). This was followed by a demonstration of mountaineering (rappelling from the building roof and traversing a rope from the roof of one structure to another.)
The second school was a tribal school which has been started through the efforts of ICA and which has been a lab school. In India, there is no guarantee of universal schooling. This school is a boarding school for students whose families live in rural are as which have no schools and no real roads. 200 students apply each year, and only 40 are accepted. The school has 240 students. Students here express gratitude to be one of the lucky ones who can attend school. In the 6 years since the school began, only 6 students have dropped out for any reason.
This school also used methods that are rarely seen in India. Students in one class created a dramatization of their lesson. In another classroom the curriculum was presented with music.
So, as you advocate participatory methods, and sometimes, as you despair that no one seems to be getting it, remember -- you never know where those seeds will sprout.
Stan Crow is a former president of New Horizons for Learning 1991-5. He is currently co-director of Rite of Passage Journeys in Bothell, Washington. Rite of Passage Journeys (aka Journeys) mentors individuals through life transitions, offering a series of nature-based retreats and mentoring experiences. The program described is for youth around the time of puberty. A spectrum of age-appropriate journeys are available for 8 year olds through elders in their 80's. The organization also offers training for adult leaders including "Teacher as Mentor" which is offered for academic credit through Heritage Institute in Seattle. Journeys was begun as program of the Institute of Cultural Affairs in 1968 and continues in an affiliate relation with that organization. You can find much more about their retreats and training at http://www.icajourneys.org. Email Mr. Crow at icarlc@igc.org
© November 1995 New Horizons for Learning
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