Alternative Education - Radicalising Education
by Shivi Verma
Most of the ills of our present
society can be blamed on
our faulty education system.
A system that enforces
knowledge from without,
instead of drawing out a child’s innate
genius and capabilities, has given us a
nation that may be good at earning a livelihood
but has not imbibed the basics of
leading a life. An inability to handle feelings,
or negotiate the pitfalls of relationships,
or understand our own selves, have
left us lost and confused, wondering why it
is that pedigreed education and high IQ
cannot guarantee happiness, peace of mind
or the other great gifts of life. Introducing a
holistic, and spiritual outlook into the education
system is therefore a crying need.The third WE ASC World Education Culture
Congress to be organised at the India Habitat Centre
from January, 17 to 19, 2013, aims to do just that.
Organised by Shruti Rana under the Shruti
Foundation, the WE ASC will hold workshops, seminars
and essay competition to highlight the concept
of Purna Taleem or complete education. Lady Shruti
Rana is an educationist, a musician, a teacher and an
exponent of traditional Indian knowledge systems
and philosophy. She is also a psychologist and health
consultant and works for social empowerment and
wellness of women, youth and ethnic communities.
She founded Shruti Foundation, a non-profit, charitable
trust in 2006 for patronising holistic education
models, traditional wisdom and defending human
rights. She lives in Belfast, UK, and works both from
Delhi (India) and UK. She was awarded the Delhi
Ratna Govt. of India Award in 2002 for her contribution in the realm of healing music.
Presenting below excerpts from an email interview:
What or who has been your inspiration
behind your philanthropic activities?
The inner call to transform approaches to human
development and well-being, and to provide
opportunities and tools for facilitating a sensitive,
innovative, knowledgeable, empowered and above
all, a loving and caring world, have been the main
driving force of my life and work.
This deep aspiration, which stirred my personal
meditations and strivings, ultimately led to the
organic birth and growth of Shruti Foundation.
The foundation strives to discover and nurture the
best of indigenous, modern technologies and paradigms
for empowering the inner and outer lives of
individuals across the globe.
What is the reason for your keen interest in
education?
In my search for truth and joy, I remember luminous
moments of childhood, youth and adulthood
where I came across insightful learnings of ancestors
and wise people. The wonder continued to
grow as I evolved through my engagements with
human psychology, philosophy, science, governance,
ethics and health embedded in our great
indigenous traditions. They included studies in
self-discipline, education, wellness and transformation
in Hatha Yoga and Nada Yoga, Patanjali’s
Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, Kabir and Sri
Aurobindo’s writings, Sri Vidya and Kashmir
Shaivism, Sankhya, Vedas and Upanishads, Shabad,
Dhammapada, spiritual mathematics of Aryabhatt
and Boudhayana, Chanakya niti, Sushrut-samhita,
and above all the local wisdoms of wellness and
societal managements collected from my various
travels and personal involvements across India and
the world. I have successfully cured others and
myself with the science of seed sounds (beejas) of
the Indic Sonic traditions. I am also an advocate of
the harmonious applications of the Indian raga to
alter cellular consciousness and enhance creative
sensibilities. Strangely enough, this enrichment
was never a part of the formal education system I
grew up in. All these gems were either gifted by
loved ones or painstakingly researched by me,
from outside. My interest, therefore, has been to
strive towards erecting a learning ethos which has
a multi-pronged approach to knock on the doors of
human sensitivities.
| Both failure and success must be accepted and celebrated as necessary processes in the journey of self-discovery and personal growth. | ||
What is the purpose of WE ASC?
My aim through WE ASC Education Initiative and the Congresses is to facilitate a collective endeavour for the evolution of an education culture meant for human and societal well-being and empowerment. The WE ASC World Education Culture Congress has been held annually in New Delhi by Shruti Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations, ICCR and the British Council over the past two years. Shruti Foundation is organising the third WE ASC Congress from January 17 to 19, and the teacher Training Workshop on January 15 and 16 in collaboration with CBSE and other educational and cultural institutions. The theme for the WE ASC Congress 2013 is Purna Taaleem (Integral Learning and Training) with mentoring, self and wellness as key factors. The 2013 Congress advocates the need to revisit the role of mentoring in local-global contexts to deal with the prevailing crisis of self-identity among individuals for societal wellbeing. The programme will also have a video streaming to institutions in India and abroad and students, educators, parents and delegates will get an opportunity to interact with some of the best educators, thinkers, practitioners and policy makers.
What, according to you, are the components of a holistic model of education?
Holistic education is that which addresses all the planes and parts of the individual. These include the physical, emotional, psychological, mental, intuitive, psychic and spiritual parts of human consciousness. Powerful mentoring and true learning can only take place when the mind of the learner is allowed and aided to draw from its inner realms. It includes the power of imagination, assimilation, creativity, organisation, effort and final manifestation. The role of the mentor and evaluator becomes paramount in this process. It must evolve to become that of a helper, friend, guide, collaborator and nurturer, constantly guarding oneself and the learner from learning pre-conceived ideas by the force of compulsion, habit and dominating attitudes. Most essentially, both failure and success must be accepted and celebrated as necessary processes in the journey of selfdiscovery and personal growth. The student, parent, teacher, institution and society needs to work in collaboration for making the learning journey fearless, innovative and joyous for all. This can only be achieved by opening up a world of possibilities through local and global dialogue, cross-cultural interaction, and having freedom to experiment and express the various options of learning tools.
What have been your achievements in the first two Congresses?
Delegates from about 40 countries converged in Delhi at the WE ASC World Education Culture Congress in 2011 and 2012. Organised by Shruti Foundation, the event was convened by me. This four-day meet explored the relevance of integral systems in formal education culture, with special focus on soft skills and traditional knowledge systems, and their role in human development and socio-economic empowerment.
Initiated in Delhi, the WE ASC movement promoted mainstream development of holistic teaching methods. The Congress resolutions centred on holistic pedagogies, educational and cultural rights, ethics, course and curriculum development, education policy, evaluation and accreditation, educational exclusion and skills development with the inclusion of traditional knowledge systems in a local-global context. These directives have witnessed a gratifying response, and vigorous follow-up with educational, cultural and research institutions, policy-making and government bodies are under way to implement recommendations and projects.
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