Learning and Farming plays a very critical role in life of individual as well as society says Claude Alvares. He claims that though they seem separate, but, in reality, they are deeply interconnected. He laments the fact that the way multinational corporations, for their vested interest, are destroying native agricultural practices. He also grieves over …
In the last year, we have had numerous queries from parents of children with special needs about homeschooling. Many are fed up and frustrated with the existing set up of a mainstream school, where they have to constantly fight to fit in and be included. Some are also unhappy with special schools as they feel …
Homeschooling Children with Special Needs – A Talking Point Read More »
I heard someone a while back insist that ‘unschooling is a bad idea’, and that those children unfortunate enough to have parents who didn’t ‘educate’ them wouldn’t know subjects like ‘geology, math, and sociology’. Of course, what escaped his critique were his own assumptions about knowledge and its merits. We’ve been tempted into believing that …
Sangeetha Sriram and Hema Jain, two homeschooling parents from Chennai, shared their thoughts and stories on a radio programme on Radio One Chennai. The programme was a mix of English and Tamil and it was superb! Do tune in and share your thoughts with all of us. The audio has also been posted on Swashikshan …
This article was compiled after much deliberation on the Swashikshan online e-group, following individual responses to a questionnaire prepared by the author. It reflects the diverse, unique and vibrant flavours of the Indian Homeschooling Community – a community that celebrates learning and growing without school. Different Flavours of Homeschooling When P. Aravinda, from Mumbai, Maharashtra …
Right now, education, in India, is in the throes of change. The Right to Education Act was established recently. With it, comes a huge opportunity to abridge the stark isolation of some sections of our society. Also, the RTE will hopefully set the stage for some meaningful reforms, by overcoming ‘implementation devils’. The government-regulated change …
Interview with Dola Dasgupta: Perspective on Living and Growing Without School Read More »
My current favourite definition of education is: Engaging with everything living and non-living. It is possible that in India our curriculum makers would, hearing this, jump to list everything living and non-living and then only consider our education complete once a student has engaged with everything. Finding this impossible, we could subscribe to the Indian …
Claude Alvares is one of the most distinguished personality in alternate education community. A renowned environmentalist from Goa, Claude is the editor of the Other India Press, an alternative publication based in India and the director of the Goa Foundation. Claude is a PhD from the Technische Hogeschool, Eindhoven, in the Netherlands. Presented below is …
Urmila Samson stays in Pune and is one of the most distinguished homeshooling mothers in India. She, with her husband John, have radical ideas about learning and have opted to un-school their three children aged 19 years, 15 years and 12 years, who have never been to school. Her current favourite definition of education is …