experiments with education

India

I first came to India for the 2001 Maha Kumbh Mela, where I was introduced to the concept of guru / shishya (disciple student) relationship as well as their aural tradition of passing down knowledge. I was fascinated by this and developed various “projects” as ways to bring myself closer to the sanyasi members of Juna Akhara, where I could observe how this relationship works.

Over the years I have been trying to negotiate in my mind: their idea that only one guru (however they technically have five) is necessary in their search / discovery of truth, with my own idea that each one of us can teach and learn various things from one another.

At the same time I had been busy reading as many J. Krishnamurti books as I could get my hands on (since I was introduced to him in 2001 on a visit to his foundation at Raj Ghat in Banares) and not only developed a strong curiosity to explore the various ways education is handled in India’s secular society, but also began to question how it is we best learn, how a holistic brain and creative mind is developed, and how mainstream education (both in India and in the West) have done a disservice to society.

I had opportunities to visit a few government schools in Southern Gujarat (including Jivan Jyot, a Jesuit school for Adivasi children) as well as in the surrounding villages of Allahabad, UP; none of which seemed particularly inspiring. All the schools I visited seemed very strict, students stood at attention, regurgitating things they supposedly were “learning”. I also grew discouraged to learn how exams work, that in many cases students (even those pursuing higher education degrees) can get away with not even attending class and merely sitting for an exam (often cramming at the last minute to prepare for it); a discovery that quickly destroyed my respect for the concept of degrees and certificates and made me feel much less disappointed in myself for dropping out of my Masters program at Harvard University back in 2000.

New York City

Of all my classroom experiences, I enjoyed and found the most inspiration working with children, teens and young adults. Most of the time running after-school and alternative school programs, my goal was more about inspiring the students to want to create, than pressuring them to complete a particular assignment. In my mind, they didn’t have to be here (this was not regular school), it was my responsibility to make sure they wanted to be here (so they were not on the street, getting involved in gangs or drugs, etc.). So I made sure the room was lively, fun, exciting… and to several supervisors, my classroom may have seemed chaotic. I never pre-wrote any syllabus, I would however have prepared in my mind all the “how to’s” for what ever a student may have answered, when they entered the room and I asked them “So what do you want to make today?” To my students I hope my classroom felt like a creative playground, a free-space for exploration and expression.

With my experience and expertise I can bring to the table not only my unbound patience, enthusiasm, openness and willingness to learn and collaborate with my colleagues (teachers and students alike), but also a media-literacy and multimedia-arts based curriculum set that focuses on creation over consumption, critical thinking over regurgitation, and bridges the digital divide by providing the skill set to empower oneself with a voice to participate and make an impact among a global community. Furthermore, my curriculum set is one that builds upon steps towards empowering youth with the skills to become critical thinkers about the media that is set before them for consumption, to make use of all forms of multimedia (using industry standard software) as a venue for exploration, documentation and expression through authentic story telling, ultimately transforming them into potential citizen journalists, community leaders, and change makers through the media they create.

I have over 12 years experience teaching various forms of art, multimedia and media literacy within technologically marginalized communities. Her students have ranged from the elderly in attempts to catch up to their computer-savvy grandchildren learning to use the mouse for the first time; to unemployed adults building new Microsoft Office skill-sets, while learning to utilize social media to aid in their career development; to inner-city, under-privileged, under-represented, and often troubled youth and teens within various alternative education partnership programs, learning to dissect and critique the media they are expected to consume and then creating their own photographs, comic books, stop motion & flash animations, electronic music and thought provoking videos. I’ve been employed by non-profits, the Department of Education and other city agencies throughout Boston and New York City; yet honestly, in most cases I have felt stifled by our botched traditional (factory/market) education systems.