Adharshila Learning Centre

Adharshila Learning Centre is situated in western Madhya Pradesh. There are 150 children of which about 70 stay on the campus. They do craft, organic farming, theatre, singing, participate in agitations, go to villages around the centre, write books, document local history and folk literature. it is a very lively school. a unique feature is that the children help younger children to learn.

It runs on the fees and grain that the parents give and personal donations.

We also want to post a request for persons who have been associated with creative pursuits in life to come and work full time or part time. Honorarium negotiable.

Dear friends

Zindabad and a very Happy Diwali.

Once again, New Year and Christmas are approaching. The children are gearing up to make new greeting cards as part of their craft activities. Many of you who have been buying cards will say, "Not again" but we persist :-)

Craft is vital to the Adharshila learning curriculum as we strongly believe that working with our hands and prdoucing something is a very satisfying and creative learning experience. This satisfaction and creativity is the central idea which we would like to promote in our learning programme. Besides this is also a very important educational activity and important for the development of the brain. (remember the hand played a very big role in the evolutionary development of the brain).

It is this belief in working with the hand that keeps us at these little activities like making cards, weaving, craft, farming etc.

We know and have been told by many that in the age of email and sms greeting cards have become redundant.

The funds raised through the sale of cards are used for educational tours. The children just love travelling. In 2006, we visited an organic farm and an NGO working in the health field in Gujarat. Both these places were very inspiring. The children also had fun in the sea in Dandi.They went to Pavagarh and Toran maal - two hill very old hill top shrines in the Satpuras. We saw how hand made paper is made and also a leprosy patients hospital. We also visited our sister school in Kakrana on the banks of the Narmada. This village was submerged partially in the Narmada Dam.

So once again we appeal to you, not just to help raise resources for the children's educational tour but to promote this thought and save the hand from becoming redundant. If you or anyone you know would like to wish to buy the greeting cards that our children have made, then please let us know at the earliest.

We hope to receive your support irrespective of mainstream trends.

From,
Amit, Jayshree and Arjun
on behalf of the
Adharshila Learning Centre

http://adharshilask.tripod.com/adharshila.html .
http://adharshilalearningcentre.blogspot.com/

 

Centre for Learning

The Centre for Learning requires teachers for the coming academic year 07. In fact the school is always happy to hear from people who are interested in enquiry based education; an education concerned with the totality of life. Various arrangements are possible for staff. Due to personal circumstances, some of the existing teachers have to leave, at least temporarily at the end of this school year.

 

CFL was started in 1990 by a small group of teachers who worked at the Valley school, Bangalore – one of the Krishnamurti Foundation of India schools. Many teachers in CFL are still inspired by J. Krishnamurti's educational work. The school has grown, but it is intended to keep it as a small, family-like place. It has a wonderful campus 40 km west of Bangalore.

 

More details can be found on its website: http://cfl.in

Different Strokes Learning Academy

Different Strokes Learning Academy was started in 2007, as it was felt that every child has the potential to learn , set own goals and pursue learning at own pace for the sake of knowledge and building character, not just to write exams.  

At Different Strokes we:

At Different Strokes, we begin where the children are, not where the textbooks think the children should be. Children are grouped by developmental stage for some activities and cognitive ability for some activities. The pace of learning rests with the child. When the child feels confident of the knowledge gained, he can make the decision to move ahead. There will be no peer comparison or pressure to perform. The child will learn for the joy of learning and gaining new knowledge, not because it is expected of him / her to do so.

To facilitate this we intend to maintain the ratio of student to facilitator at 1:12.

We have our own curriculum which has been formulated keeping in mind the Cambridge Exams – IGCSE to be attempted by the child between the ages 14-17. 

We focus on :  

We are open to new students between the ages 5-11 who desire an open and child friendly learning environment.

For further details, contact :Mrs Gayathri, 77 CQAL Layout, Sahakarnagar, Bangalore – 560 092.

Ph: 98451 14657 Email: gayathrirmk@gmail.com / gayathrirmk@yahoo.com.

Mirambika

The organisation is based on Sri Aurobindo and Mother's Principals. It was started around twenty five years ago. Mirambika is run by Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi. It is an experimental school up to eighth.

Shikshantar

This is not a school. They are working with people who want to quit the popular stream of action and pursue their own dreams. This is kind of learning cooperative where various people of all ages from different walks of life come together and share their learnings.

Shibumi

Shibumi is a school that will start in Bangalore, in June 2008. The deepest concern of the school is to bring up children who are free, responsible and concerned with the whole of life.

 

The teachers are a group committed to self-inquiry in the light of the teachings of J. Krishnamurti. Some have worked for many years in Krishnamurti schools and the  younger staff have studied in these schools.

The maximum number of children will be about a hundred. Children of all ages will be admitted, starting around 6 years.

The website for Shibumi can be found at: http://shibumi.org.in

The Blue Mountains School.

Founded in 1962 by the renowned educationist and pioneer of the Indian Public School movement,

the late F.G. Pearce who was deeply inspired by the Teachings on Education of the renowned

Thinker and Philosopher J. Krishnamurti.

Frederick Gordon Pearce was the Principal of the Rishi Valley School, Madanapalle during 1949-59.

In the early nineteen-sixties, he began his missionary venture in 'New Education' and started The Blue Mountains School.

Also associated with him was a group of renowned educationists that included David Horsburgh, J. P. Gunawardane and Sardar Mohammed Malik.

Schools influenced by David Horsburgh

David Horsburgh left a legacy in the form of committed teachers who started small schools, in remote areas, for village children. The main thrust of these learning centres is free progress (a method where the child directs its own progress) and self directed learning (the motivation to learn comes from the child). The emphasis is on handicrafts and other artisan skills apart from academics.

Horsburgh believed that teacher training programmes must be conducted within the precincts of schools. He taught his teacher trainees at the Neel Bagh School. In turn they are now replicating the process in the schools they have set up. So, as more schools are being set up, more teachers are also being trained. Horsburgh’s persistence is certainly paying.

Taleemnet reports on a few of such “David Horsburgh” schools.

 

Vikasana School

An innovative school for about 35 children with vertical grouping of children of both sexes from the ages of 4 yrs to 18 yrs. Child-to-Child approaches are used and the material is usually self-produced and need based. Parents are also involved.

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