“Sarang Trails” is the name of the new newsletter from the Sarang people in Kerala. Sample the first issue. You’ll get easily addicted to the activities of a small creative group of people who continue to show us how enchanting the world of learning can get.
The first issue of “Sarang Trails“. Get further issues from Sarang directly. Write to: saranghills@gmail.com
Shammi Nanda shares a link to a small zine/booklet about his journey of volunteering at the film institute hostel’s dining hall. He was trying to serve organic food to about 100 students everyday. He would welcome people’s feedback on it. Here is one truly creative person who tried something different and ended wiser.
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B2I1VXD2TzKaYzZlZDhiZmQtNjhlZS00OWEyLWE1NjUtMTg0OTc4NzVjMmZl&hl=en
Age is no bar for learning new languages, proves Aravind Vishnu Karande who pursued his long cherished dream of not only mastering Sanskrit but becoming an ardent Sanskrit teacher who has 100 plus disciples to his credit till date, and all this at a ripe age when people retire from active life! “I had this undying urge to learn Sanskrit – one of the 22 scheduled languages of India – which could not materialize during my school or college days. Later in my professional career as an Executive Engineer, I was too busy to catch up my childhood dream. But after I retired in 2001 from Marmagoa Port Trust, I warned myself if I don’t do it now, I will never accomplish it. It took me seven years before I could master the language thoroughly. And I am happy today that I could live my dream before breathing my last,” says engineer Karande Sir at 69. He conducts Geeta classes and teaches Sanskrit free-of charge in Marcel. “All those who approach me with a wish to learn Sanskrit are welcome,” says he. Read the rest of this entry »
Reclaiming the wider meaning of education
11 August 2010 2 , Teacher Plus
Manish Jain
At a time when the world is calling for urgent systemic transformation, the Right to Education (RtE) Act stands as a regressive and reductionist document that is based on 19th century colonial assumptions of education and learning. It institutionalizes Macaulay’s racist vision of education while devaluing the wide range of learning assets, learning spaces, learning traditions and learning experiments that exist in India. There is a certain irony in that the framers of the RtE seem to have failed to learn from history, science, and many of the other subjects which they wish to propound. One wonders whether there can be space in the RtE for an evolutionary and pluralistic post-post colonial vision of the 21st century which highlights the policy design principles of flexibility, diversity and co-creation. Read the rest of this entry »
