Why I Believe Learning Should Be Free?

I was lucky enough to get into a state-sponsored elite university called CIEFL, now EFLU (English and Foreign Languages University) at Hyderabad, India. My tuition fees were ridiculously cheap. I guess it was about 500 Rs approx i. e $10 per semester. My complete living expenses came to around $ 30 per month. I had access to some of the brilliant professors with two foreign degrees to their credit. Of course, I had to take a national entrance exam and beat hundreds of other students, in order to enjoy this privilege. Hence I became a part of the ‘elite’.

EFLU has 5 schools (I guess they have added some more now) dedicated only to teaching English Language! I never knew an M.A in English was that deep. We had a library of three floors for a batch of 60 students with a student teacher ratio of 1:2, yes, that is two teachers per student. There was a joke that CIEFL was a research institution with more professors than teachers. It’s no longer so, as EFLU is now a full-fledged Central University with hundreds of students although it enjoys the same state-sponsored privileges. For more information on how to enroll, visit www.eflu.ac.in

We were given a lot of freedom to think, to express ourselves. –‘ We don’t care about what the experts say about Shakespeare- what’s your view?’  we were asked. We had open book exams. We thought that was cool at first. But then we realized, it was really hard. It was similar to doing an assignment. Only, there were no readymade answers available on the Internet, or in books and journals and we had to submit it by the end of the day!

But I wanted more. After my first semester at CIEFL, I enrolled for courses in video documentary production. I ended up making 3 documentaries telecasted by India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan’s education channel. I also did field investigation i.e research work requiring feedback, questionnaires, interviews etc for an Internet led School Learning initiative called ‘Schools Online’ and an UN funded IT based agricultural improvement programme. I even got paid, although I was pretty happy just getting to learn a lot about the initiatives, (which I should say were not necessarily running to their full potential).

My favourite haunt was the computer lab. I designed my first website for the CIEFL Film Club in around 2002 using Microsoft Frontpage after I discovered the ‘power of the hyperlink’. I was fascinated by how a hyperlink could magically transport me from one context to another in an instant. It was literally like time travel for me. I was just about getting to know the Internet at that time in 2001.

I was hardly ever present for the classes. Somehow, my professor’s did not seem to mind. They were OK with the fact that I was doing ‘more important work’ - producing documentaries, presentations for national level conferences, building websites, assisting with the film club and the news letter etc. So that was cool.

How did I do it? I spent a lot of time in the library. It was like a paradise. I had access to all these world class journals on English Language Teaching like Oxford University’s ELT Journal etc and even more online.

CIEFL was cool also because the library subscribed to Computer Magazines despite being a primarily English teacher training (ELT) institution. I devoured all of them and tested out all the trial software CDs'. That's when I also stumbled on the Open Source Software Movement.

 I understood that there are organizations around the world striving to make learning free and open. And I found out it was already a reality as long as one had an internet connection. I recall how I resisted using the default Internet Explorer and used Netscape Navigator or Mozilla/Firefox as a browser because the latter was open source.  In those days, open learning initiatives was primarily spear-headed by the MIT’s Open Courseware Initiative www.ocw.mit.edu Today we have many like Wikipedia,  TED,  Khanacademy etc.

I began believing that the privileges’ I enjoyed being a student at an elite university, sponsored by the taxes paid by hard-working Indians, could be enjoyed by everyone, at least as long as they had an internet connection. I was also mindful of the fact that I made it through to the entrance exam because my parents were well-qualified, encouraged me to learn at home on my own and could afford to send me to a good school. I wanted more kids to have that privilege, even if they didn’t have parents who were educated.

That was the key inspiration behind the New Teaching Manifesto and the Creativity and Critical thinking in School Project.

Please feel free to  share your school teaching/learning experiences as a student or teacher. Send them to chetanwpinto+NTM@gmail.com along with a small introduction about yourself.

As a matter of policy, all published posts will be clearly acknowledged by name and designation on the blog as well as on social media. 

Nature’s Way of Preserving Fresh Fish

This is a guest post by Pooja Srivastava

I had gone for picnic with a small group of friends while spending holidays in Ladakh. A small group of children went to explore the picnic spot along with Dad’s friends.  We would carry some food and refreshments and be away for hours till lunch was ready to eat.

On this particular day we were picnicking near a small river. We decided to explore the place by walking further along the bank.

After walking for an hour or so we came across a solitary fisherman sitting by the side of the river. We were all excited seeing a local there, we greeted him loudly saying ''Juley''(the only Ladakhi word we knew) and were curious to know whether we could speak to him using a little of Hindi and English.

All of us took turns to ask him how he caught fish, how much fish he caught everyday and how much time he spent there. He explained that he fished regularly during the summers and even a small catch of fish, for which he spent about two hours, was enough to feed his family of four. The man looked a little poor and it seemed the fish was a welcome addition to the family meal.

One of us asked, how he preserved the fish at home (he didn’t look like he owned a fridge at home).

That is when I made one of the greatest discoveries of my life. Until then we thought like the most of you, the only way to preserve fresh fish was in a refrigerator.

What he showed us, amazed us.

He asked us that his fridge was right there and took us along to a shallow portion of the river. There he moved away some moist sand and showed us a handful of fish he had saved. He said, the fish could be preserved for two to three days, even without cleaning and it would remain fresh. That he said, was nature’s way of keeping fish fresh.

Pooja Srivastava is a Special Education & School Teaching Expert based in India.

Priceless School Learning Experiences – At the Fire- Station

This is a guest post by Pooja Srivastava

We, the teachers of a primary school section of a famous Hyderabad based residential school were given permission to go on a field trip to the planetarium. However the planetarium was closed. But instead of taking the students back to the school, I decided to try getting permission for a demonstration at a nearby fire-station. This was against the instructions of the school principal who had asked us to bring the school kids back if the planetarium was not open. But I thought it better not to waste the time and resources and decided to worry about the school principal later.

We met the person in charge and he was more than happy to give our students a demonstration of their emergency fire drill.

A senior fireman collected all the students in a group at a little distance from him and showed the kids how he operated the water hose pipe to put out the fire. The children were all very excited, they got splashed with water on a hot summer day and were observing and admiring the force of the waterjet. They asked the fireman for repeating the Hose pipe drill and he happily obliged, urged by their whoops of joy, loud clapping and jumping.

Next, the fireman took all the children for a tour of the premises showing them all the fire extinguishing equipment and the space where a huge, bright red fire engine was parked. There were unanimous requests from the children to see the fire engine in action and hear the loud siren. The fireman complied with their request immediately, moving the fire engine back and forth with the siren wailing loudly.

Some of the kids wanted to sit in the seat beside him. He agreed, not finding the request unusual.  He accommodated the two lucky kids as he could not let everybody have a go.  But the kids were glad enough to see their classmates get a chance.

At the end of the demonstration, the fireman was beaming with pride and satisfaction, he felt really appreciated by the kids and all of them shook hands with him thanking him profusely for the memorable experience.

We left after thanking the Commander of the Fire Station on behalf of all the kids and he said that he felt really glad that he could be of use in enhancing the awareness of the children and that we were welcome to bring other groups of children at any time we wanted.

The most difficult part was getting the children to line up and sit in the bus for the ride back, they were all gazing longingly at the fire engine and some of them were mimicking the siren all the way back!

This was a little field trip. But it had a big impact. The school kids got a free, fun experience, akin to a paid theme park.

They learnt about fire safety and fire hazards.

But the biggest impression was made on the underpaid and under-appreciated firemen, who felt that their services are as useful to education as they are for saving lives.

I guess, the firemen had tears of joy in their eyes. I had!

Certain experiences are truly priceless.

Pooja Srivastava is a Special Education & School Teaching Expert based in India.

How Schooling Destroys Self-belief And Confidence

This is a guest post by Pooja Srivastava

Radhika is a class topper. Once, when we were invited to her home, Radhika was doing her Science homework assignment on soluble and insoluble materials as explained by her teacher. She had collected different types of materials like flour, a piece of wood, small pebbles, some sand, talcum powder, sawdust, salt, sugar and corn starch, some glasses and water. She was asked to distinguish soluble from insoluble. 

She put the different materials into a glass of water and tried to mix the contents with a spoon. Radhika’s mother was sitting nearby observing her as she proceeded with her work. Radhika would glance at her mother after she had tried to mix a particular material in the glass of water asking her mother for feedback, whether the substance was soluble or insoluble.

We noticed this and asked Radhika to wait for sometime after stirring the contents in the glass to check whether the substance had dissolved completely, dissolved partially or was totally insoluble in water.

Radhika continued to look very unsure and was unable to make up her mind about the end result without her mother’s help, despite having the evidence right in front of her.

However, rest assured, Radhika will continue to be a class topper.

Pooja Srivastava is a Special Education & School Teaching Expert based in India.

How Schooling Disables Critical Thinking

This is a guest post by Pooja Srivastava

Neha is a 12 year old studying in the sixth standard at a Public School in Pune. On a visit to her home we began chatting with her about her school and what subjects she studies. A Geography lesson came up and she mentioned that she had read about soil types in the class.

We asked her about the difference between fertile and arid soil, she was able to repeat the definitions exactly as she had read in her textbook. When she was asked about which regions in India have arid soil though, she had no response.

 We tried to lead her to the right answer by mentioning rainfall patterns and climate conditions but she was unable to give any response.

Finally she broke down crying. You see, she was the best student in the class and she realized she was unable to make the most basic connection to the real world. She also said, this question was not taught in the class or explained by her teacher. I consoled her and helped her calm down by asking her to find out the correct response by asking her teacher in the next class.

Pooja Srivastava is a Special Education & School Teaching Expert based in India.