Starting a new school #6: The first batch
This week we completed seven years of starting Learner’s Collective (LC) and it feels both crazy and liberating that we reached here. When we started the process of setting up the school nearly eight years ago, we did not in our slightest imagination reach here. We had all the right ideas in place, but we did not know the exact form that it would take. It is very hard to explain to people who have never felt it, but ideas have power. The ideas of freedom, self directed education and democracy is what has helped us create this new space.
The main credit of making this happen goes to Poorva and Rajitha, our two facilitators, who have brought this idea to life by being there for the last seven years. Along with Pinky and Limangi, who have also joined in as facilitators, they have had an impact in shaping the lives of more than 50 children who have been a part of LC at some point or other. Being a parent, and a partner of one of the facilitators, I understand this has been both a rewarding and exhausting journey for them. Once when I asked Rajitha about her day at school, she replied “There is never a bad day at LC”. Mentoring young lives may not be the most financially most rewarding thing, but it is easily the most satisfying, also the most frustrating.
Since there are no strict rules at LC, the day to day life is governed by the energy and flavour each child brings into the space. Children who are energetic bring disruptive energy and challenge, while children who are quiet, bring calm energy. When left free, children tend to explore the full range of their physicality and skills. They play till they are tired, they pick fights, they disrupt, seek attention and create chaos. But over a period of time they realise that this comes at a cost. Even if there is very little policing, there is something like a natural consequence. Children who are disrupting find fewer friends and often find themselves as the target of other children who group to fight their dominance. Over a period of time, they realise that this is a losing fight and find a better path.
One of the other big disrupters is that children are infinitely curious about the world and will use any tool at their hand to explore their curiosity. In the current day and age, it is the mobile phone and video content on screens. Driven by their curiosity and the algorithms that keep rewarding it, many children find themselves unable to control themselves from watching videos. When denied access, they feel deep injustice and become violent against this oppression by adults. Parents on the other hand become very anxious, unable to influence their children to moderate usage, or worried about the influences the videos might bring into the children. They are also worried that the time spent in watching videos is takes away from the time they could be spending building useful skills to be a part of the adult world.
While most of the things that children do at LC is self directed, over the years, the sessions that the facilitators bring order to this disruption. From math and science to art and music, children have been exposed to a variety of concepts and skills. Children have tried their hands at more applied skills like carpentry and entrepreneurship as well. They have become better at organising with managing our annual events like Fun Fair and Dhamaka Day (theatre and music). Some children have gotten good at math, some at music, some at gymnastics and some at poetry. They have occasionally tested themselves against other kids by taking part in various competitions. The Project Days (where kids have to present on one topic of their choice, each month) have also had a great impact in helping them review their own communication and persuasion skills.
Parents have also been strong contributors and silent pillars of the school. They have planned trips, outings, taken their time to teach children their own skill and craft, debated and challenged them. They have formed the outer protective circle of the community. The trips we have done as “LC family” have become the core of the LC experience. From trips to community gatherings like LSUC in Rajasthan and IDEC in Nepal, to alternate spaces like MCVK in central India to educative trips to Kutch, every trip has helped cement our bonds and also expand our universe.
In the midst of all the hustle and drama, the years have flown by and our first set of children are set to graduate to their next goals. To our surprise, none of the kids had to be egged on to take part in standardised exams (NIOS and SSC). We now have the answer to the question that bugged us in the earliest days, will our children pass the exams. The answer seems overwhelming yes. As the kids entered their teens, they are eager to spread their wings and fly, and they realise that the first tool they need to fly is to go to college and graduate. And for that they need to give standardised exams. Nobody has told them this directly, but society has its way of showing its power. I am personally not happy or unhappy with this. As long as they feel that they were empowered to take this decisions, it should be fine.
As someone who has seen LC as an insider-outsider for the past seven years, the biggest thing I can see is that chaos has reduced over the years and now there is a lot more harmony. The energetic children (future leaders in my view) have learnt their boundaries and are directing their energies to better things. In many cases they have become protectors of the younger kids as well. It seems that chaos and order are like the yin and the yang, both challenging and feeding each other as they strike the balance.
As the first set of children are ready to walk out and face the world, I am really happy they understand this idea of balance. The world is both chaotic and based on subtle and unwritten rules. The rules are not given by some institution but based on mutual respect and the idea that everyone should experience their own free will and authentic self. Understanding this is what I hope will help them navigate their lives and the complex society that is going to surround them. Every child comes with their own destiny and vision of what they want to do in life. This is a culmination of their families, society and culture, school, friends.
Just like LC, the world out there lives in the balance of order and chaos, and I hope we have made them more capable to navigate it.
Read parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Learn more about LC at learnerscollective.in
