Why do we need this community?

I formed this community to reach out. I am in search of people who believe, like I do, that our education system needs to reform. I am looking for people who have a nagging feeling that it is not worth spending 18 years of our life and then some more, studying things that might or might not have any bearing on our lives, who believe that we have narrowed down the definition and path of success so much that children start getting slotted as successful or unsuccessful from the age of 5. I want people to take a step back and think if we are doing justice to our children and their children by not teaching them to think on their own and survive in this increasingly complex world.

My intention is not to make you agree or even to ridicule the system that has got me to where I am today. What I am trying to say is that our world is changing, its needs are changing and our systems need to change too. We don’t need factory-produced mass manufactured workers. We need innovators and creators. To survive in the ever-competitive world, our children need to learn to fail, they need to learn to think out of the box, to get along in teams, to create goals and achieve them and to communicate their vision powerfully as leaders of tomorrow.
In general, this community aims to target basic problems in the education system like high teacher absenteeism, high student absenteeism, poor teacher-student ratio, high student drop our rates, poor average scores of students in assessment tests, poor infrastructure in most schools, lack of emphasis on extra curricular activities, lack of customization of syllabus to rural and regional needs, lack of vocation training courses, poor teacher training, lack of student and teacher feedback system, lack of technological use and interactive tools to improve understanding of basic concepts, lack of teaching by experience and experimentation, lack of education about environmental and other societal issues, lack of opportunities for building careers in most fields except for a few selected ones, lack of training in basic life skills such as overcoming failure, creating possibilities, communicating with people and listening to people and lack of parent education.

However, the real question is – what should an ideal education system for the 21st century look like? How exactly would an education system that solves all above problems be defined?
This is the question that bugs me continuously. This is the answer I am seeking. This community was formed in the hope that by gathering bits and pieces of changes in education across the world, we will piece together the ideal education system. The hope is not of an overnight miracle, but that of making those small changes and taking those small steps that will lead to a transformation in education, as we perceive it today.
For this, I need your support. I need you to add people to this community who can support this cause. I also need you to help me collate the amazing work being done on education from across the world. You could post these links in the community. You could also share information about the existing problems in education systems. But, most importantly, I hope that you will share your idea of an ideal education system that we can pass on to our children to ensure their happiness in the world that we are creating for them.

Why Revolutionize?

As a kid, I loved hovering around trees. My mom advised me not to pluck leaves and flowers from tress at night. She told me that trees too need sleep.  At the age of 8, everybody in my class laughed at me, when I repeated my mom’s advice to my science teacher Ms Rita. When I was 3 years old, I colored an apple black. My teacher laughed when she saw my notebook. Later my brother  teased me about my ‘lack of common sense’. Guess what? When I was 14, I saw black apples, especially produced with extra iron content half way across the globe. Growing up, I did not play much with the kids in my locality. I didn’t read any  books except my course books and I didn’t watch enough TV. As a result, I scored very well in my exams including standing third in the city of Mumbai(Bombay). I  thought I knew a thing or two about the real world. But time would teach me better.

When I started interacting with the real world, I quickly realized my  lack of general knowledge and current affairs. What however was not so apparent was my lack of creativity, social skills and life skills. I did not relate well to people. I could not understand how things worked on my own. I needed to read about everything. My observation was poor. I simply didn’t know how to educate myself through experience and observation. I couldn’t deal with failure or the ability to dissect things down to their core.

Slowly it dawned on me what I had missed. If I had played enough, I would be able to get along with people, be healthier, sportier, and good at strategies and would also learn to deal with failure. If I had read enough fiction, I would be able to think of the unknown and the unheard, firing my imagination to the next level. If I had noticed how my mom makes butter or dusts the carpet, I would use science and not just learn it. If I had watched TV and read enough books and magazines, I would know how the real world works. I would know that wars have nothing to do with peace. I would know that foreign aid has nothing to do with aid. I would know that friendly relations between nations have nothing to do with friends.  At the age of 21, I understood what I had missed out on.

Don’t get me wrong though. I am proud of everything I got and everything that I chose to do with it. I am thankful for the very best in education that my parents provided me. But that is my problem – Is this was what the very best of education provides?. We can’t even comprehend what the very worst provides, where 1 in 3 teachers in governement schools have not gone to school for the past whole academic year. Our education needs reform.

Will be continued… :)

Right to Education

A good resource on Right to Education act - http://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/rteindia

McKinsey Research in Education

How does a school system improve?

New research suggests that common sets of interventions can help systems move from one performance level to the next, without regard to culture, geography, politics, or history.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Public_Sector/Education/How_does_a_school_system_improve_2713

-----------------

Purchasing lessons for schools

Districts that improve their purchasing processes can capture significant savings.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Public_Sector/Education/Purchasing_lessons_for_schools_1350

----------------

The economic cost of the US education gap

Gaps in academic achievement cost the US economy trillions of dollars a year. Yet there is reason to think they could be closed.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Public_Sector/Education/The_economic_cost_of_the_US_education_gap_2388
---------------

Attracting and retaining top talent in US teaching

Only 23 percent of entering teachers come from the top third of their graduating class. What would it take to do better?

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Public_Sector/Education/Attracting_and_retaining_top_talent_in_US_teaching_2673

Foreign management schools will train Indian Uni Admins

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article937992.ece

Promise Center

Visited the promise center yesterday near Banaswadi Bangalore. Absolutely loved the place. It is made of clay bricks. The nursery looked like a house more than a school and surely the children felt at home too. Seeing the Steiner kindergarten in reality was a dream come true. Spoke to the founder Lalitha for a long time and she explained the concept of Steiner education to me. Makes so much sense. The education system must reflect the nature of man and follow the natural process of growth. May all children go to a school that they love to go to. Would love to see the school evolve to include all grades upto 12th. Right now its only till standard 1. However there are Steiner schools in Mumbai and Hyderabad that have classes till grade 10th. Also met a few happy parents and the other teachers - Jyotsana, Usha and Gopa. The Waldorf teacher's community in India, although small seems to be growing fast. There is an IPMT conference in Bangalore from 12th to 18th December which has a separate series on Waldorf Kindergarten. Wish I could attend! If only I had known earlier. The school was a dream come true. Wish I have a similar one some day :)

Right to Education

The Right to Education (RTE) Act threatens the very existence of about 300,000 budget schools. Their fate now rests with the states, says John Samuel Raja D ....

http://www.peerpower.com/et/2927/Notice-Period

Helping young learn media arts

http://www.youtube.com/user/streetsidestoriessf

Community colleges in Tamil Nadu

http://www.thehindu.com/education/article907549.ece

Teaching through computers

The Concord Consortium has  amazing simulations and models that teach basic concepts. Must try!

"The best part about it? Hundreds of our resources are free, research-based, and available for you to use today. As a non-profit organization, we’re committed to quality science and math. And we’re focused on showing the world how technology can lead to better learning."

http://www.concord.org/about/information-for-teachers

How Technology is Improving Education

Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology.

“If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.”

Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.

Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education.

.............
Read more -  http://mashable.com/2010/11/22/technology-in-education

How we learn - Ted Channel !!

http://www.ted.com/themes/how_we_learn.html

Five dangerous things for kids

Tinkering School

Alternative Schooling in India

http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/education/alternative-education/education.asp

My Green School Dream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzllVlzzeuo

Hole in the Wall

101 uses of a quadratic equation

http://plus.maths.org/issue29/features/quadratic/index.html

Teaching Math with Computers

Let the Revolution Begin

Planning to do something to cause transformation in the education sector during the next one and a half years at college. Really excited about it. The details however are not clear as yet. There are so many things to be done in this sector that I am finding it difficult to choose one problem to go after. Also planning to build a community of individuals to take on the change. Visiting the Promise Foundation next Friday to find out how they are implementing the Steiner system of education.

Saw an awesome Ted video by Sir Ken Robinson on the need for revolution in education -

Also joined a facebook community with like minded people - http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-hate-Indian-Education-System/307332222995

Bouncing ideas like opening a small school in Bilekhalli for children of nearby colonies and test alternate education. Seems far fetched right now though. Lets see what the visit to Promise reveals.