I see IEDP @ Penn GSE: "Knowledge is that which liberates."

The last thing I saw before I slept was that the Penn IEDP facebook page had done a blast on my blog. Yikes...so despite my 10:30pm bedtime, I ended up spending AT LEAST half an hour tossing and turning as I contemplated cool post topics. (I don't think people want to hear about the smell of the stacks, although I personally would....)

I've decided to discuss some alternative schools I have been researching casually. Another fellow IEDPer, Ruju (she tweets for IEDP), and I were discussing her school after class one day. She went to the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education in Pondicherry, India. She said that as she got into middle school and high school, she would essentially request certain subjects or topics to her teacher and the teacher would research it, create a framework for the topic, and conduct the class independently to her. Under the school's approach, it says on their website:

"Life has a divine purpose and one of the most important tasks of education is to lead the student to discover for himself the aim of life and the specific role that he himself has to play in it...Knowledge is not something that it seeks to impart to the student; rather opportunities and carefully selected material are presented to him in such a way as to stimulate him to an inner activity by which real knowledge can be evoked from within."

I also came across this other school, Ashram Paryavaran Vidyalaya, that centers their learning on the philosophy:

“Work is that which does not bind; knowledge is that which liberates.”

I've been struggling a little with being back in a competitive school environment and realizing that the formal education system as is seen in the Western world (and has been disseminated to many other areas of the world) doesn't fit my nature very much. It wasn't until I read this quotation on the APV website that I could kind of pin-point "the rub":

"The present education system we find globally – a system rooted in competition, fear, and violence – has failed to bring about any peace, harmony, happiness or sustainable, compassionate living in the world. This pathetic, useless, and helpless style of education most of us have suffered through cultivates not love, intelligence, or wisdom, but only anxiety, clever thinking, selfishness, jealousy, and a whole host of other negative habits and tendencies. It is centered in industrial economy, with the hope of producing obedient conformity, consumerism, and materialism. This is not education, and we here at APV are trying to experiment with ourselves and our students to bring forth an experiential education that is not confined to textbooks, test scores, and professionalization, but is rooted in mindfulness, creativity, and love."

While I wouldn't exactly claim the education system is "pathetic, useless and helpless," I would agree that the education system caters to a certain type of individual, encouraging some traits rather than others, instilling values like 'success' via high income and positions. Being abroad and out of this climate for so long has been refreshing, but my perspectives and values have become clearer and I find it difficult to be in this culture again.

In my own classrooms, I always tried to get creative with the kids and to talk about issues that were coming up, but I felt so confined by the subjects I had to cover in a certain time. Even the kids would complain if we weren't using one of the books, because they didn't want to waste their parents money. But the school picks the books, the parents get the books and so the teacher gets stuck teaching the books that are not ideal.

During the Basic Education in Developing Countries class on Monday, we talked about colonialism, development and Tickly's view of education as the new form of imperialism (Tickly, L. (2004). Education and the New Imperialism. Comparative Education, 40(2), pp. 173-198). On p. 188, he says that "education is the colonization of the mind." Granted, he's a very extreme post-colonial thinker, but it does make you totally reevaluate your views of education and the educational system, considering the history of education during colonialism.

So, after a bit of a reevaluation, it gives me some hope that there are some schools that are providing alternative ways of educating. Plus, I skyped with one of my first graders (well, now second grade, but they will always be first graders for me!) tonight and seriously---the highpoint of my week so far! I really miss Santa Rosa (Honduras) and the craziness of the classroom. So many good memories. During my literacy curriculum readings, I just kept remembering this moment in Guatemala City when my coworker and I were reading to the prepas (kindergarteners) and Daniel started to EAT Yaiza's hair during the story. My coworker and I had to hide behind the book we were laughing so hard!

It is always good to revisit the past sometimes, so perhaps some photos of my past students. They are the very real reason I'm here, even though they are all part of those statistics we read in class.