<div>Much of schooling is about covering the syllabus. This means that some information is to be explained, some formulae studied and some problems solved. It seems to be tacitly assumed that studying the subject in this manner will automatically connect students to other realms. In this direction, some interdisciplinary stuff is thrown in. Disciplines are the pillars of schools, subjects with fuzzy boundaries. Disciplines involve expertise and experts who take pride in their respective disciplines. But then, the stuff of life does not respect man-made boundaries between subjects.<br /><br />How does one teach students that whatever the subjects they study, they need to lift their heads above the given and scan the horizons of life, like someone reaching a hilltop for an overview? If private schools are embedded in disciplines, it is probably worse in government schools. None are required to stretch beyond.<br /><br />How does one communicate that in looking far and simultaneously at the near details of the context, one understands something far more?<br /><br />Agreed, these things cannot be ‘taught’ like formulae or information. But schooling and life have always been about the play of what is spoken, insisted upon on the one hand and what is communicated on the other. That which is communicated — the real stuff — does not need words, and permeates classrooms and campuses, the interactions with headhunters, successful role models, visits to organisations and factories. Teaching is about templates and targets, much like the real world. The lessons taught contain bland stories, of questions asked by scientists and philosophers. The discoveries overshadow the real narrative of struggles, uncertainties and persistence, often against difficult odds.<br /> <br />Rewards and recognition come with the end result, not the struggles and questions. Results are most valued by society; all else is unimportant. Therefore, the education we ‘impart’ is bland, colourless and ineffective, turning out rewards seekers. Schools have not learnt to communicate that rewards matter little, that living a life that rises up to meet challenges is far more worthy.<br /><br />Our century demands the stamina for multiple drafts, many versions, of any work. In short, at work, everything can be improved, even the iPhone. Individuals need to make efforts to participate in the creation of viable solutions. Participation is co-creation. The shift away from rewards to intelligent participation is a hard one for schools and educational institutions. Having praised students who shone with the expected answers till yesterday, the educator needs to shift to valuing each opinion and thought, not knowing which one when polished will yield a special nugget.<br /><br />To my mind, the Indian educational system, now, is in a state of introspection and will soon have to decide if schooling is about encouraging questioning or thinking or about mere repetition, about demanding persistence or about getting it right the first time, about just textbooks or about news, TED talks and discussions.<br /><br />In short, schools need to decide if schooling is about distributing pre-digested pellets of disconnected information or about inviting students to participate in the eternal debates and those raging around us now.<br />Some examples of these are:<br />• Who has rights over resources, the tribal communities or the government in Delhi or a state capital?<br />• What do we call development? Are there alternative views on the subject?<br />• Are punishments and rewards the only motivating factors in our life? If so, why?<br />• Does fairness matter?<br />• Do ethics matter?<br />• Do advertisements invite our intelligent consideration or merely sell an idea, a product?<br /><br />The present system breeds consumers, not active participants. This design is unfortunately completely engineered by corporations, the very same ones who lament the loss of original thinking in the gene pool of fresh students.<br />Is our society willing to rethink the location of a citizen, who is not just a patriotic consumer, but a vibrant creative participant? Unless we do this, we get what we ask for! <br /><br /><em>The writer, Gautama G, is Director- Secretary, The Chennai Education Centre, KFI, Pathashaala& Outreach since 2006. He was principal of The School KFI for over 18 years</em><br /><br />(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 01-12-2014)</div>
