Shikshamitra: Friends of learning

A Little Shikshamitra?

2011-10-14T12:42:00.035+05:30

- by Sudeshna Sinha

Shah Nawaz was initially a school dropout. He had decided to give education a chance after coming across an alternative learning space like Shikshamitra. While Shikshamitra grew, so did Shah Nawaz – drawing inspiration from each other and nurturing one another in the process. Life was not smooth for Shaw Nawaz: caught between school and his father’s shop, he stayed away from school for extended periods of time, sporadically returning with fresh enthusiasm only to disappear again. Developing fast as a thinker, a keen observer with a clear vision and a quiet, confident leader, Shah Nawaz finally managed to take the Madhyamik exam this year (2011).

On 26 March 2011, at a youth conference organized by DRCSC, Shah Nawaz gave a presentation on how Shikshamitra has influenced him. He began by describing Shikshamitra as a “different process of education” and “a relationship,” and he ended by saying that he hoped to see many more small Shikhsamitras crop up – commenting that he aspired to run one someday.

From the time Shikshamitra began in 2005, we had prepared ourselves for the fact that the school would not continue on forever. We envisioned a situation whereby it would ideally be taken over by the community we were working with in the future but this was always a hard-to-realize hope! Ideally, there should be many Shikshamitras working within different localities.

The school unit of Shikshamitra school wound up in January 2011. The decision to close was taken following a number of discussions throughout the previous year (2010). The objectives of Shikhsamitra were visited and revisited. We always took the older children into confidence with regard to the future of Shikhsamitra. In 2010, we gave an open offer to a few of them asking them to start up a Shikshamitra-type center in their community. Although some liked the idea, they did not dare take on the challenge of initiating it.

A library called Boi-Hoi-Choi (Books-Fun-and-More) was started in the community clubroom in May 2010, with 25 regular members. It was handed over to the club secretary in March 2011, once Shikhsamitra withdrew its pro-active presence from the community. At the closing ceremony, both the library members (about 25 odd) and some of the older children of Shikshamitra expressed a desire to keep the library project going. However, nothing happened as things became quite busy as our transition took place. A cupboard of books remained untouched in one corner of the clubroom.

Shikshamitra shifted to a new address – smaller and less visible, but still close to the slum. The students and staff of Shikshamitra struggled to adjust to our new place. Working in the small rooms stuffed with furniture, we reminisced about the freedoms of the huge space we were used to in the former school.

Shah Nawaz re-emerged once again, took his Madhyamik exam while remaining closely connected to Shikshamitra. One morning, as he was chatting with all of us, he expressed that he felt the library should be re-opened; and he clearly stated that he was ready to take it on as his own project. Why? What urged him to take such a decision? He must have known that he would have to shoulder the responsibility of the library alone for the most part, with others helping out off and on!

We handed the following questions to Shah Nawaz to help him focus and to clarify his thoughts:

Why am I thinking of reopening the library/activity center in the local club space?
Why should this happen in my slum at all?
Who will come?
What will happen at the space? What can I offer?
What will happen if it’s not there in the first place?

The answers to these questions flowed easily from Shah Nawaz’s pen:

There was a time when some of us were just like these children in our para (locality). Like them, we struggled to read or write something. And it was so meager that we could not cope and started disliking studies. Even if some of us did manage to read and write with ease, the textbooks, exams, the stifling rules choked us completely. There was no liberty to think or learn our way. There was no time to ourselves. Disgusted, some of us – perhaps many of us – left school. We played the whole day, went for odd jobs, started working or got ourselves into ‘trouble.’

And then some of us did change, because we happened upon Shikhsamitra. It was a school where we started learning in various ways. We read stories, we worked with our hands, watched films, went out to see plays, to exhibitions, on tours. We drew and painted, worked on studying our own history and the history of our neighbourhood, we measured the distance from our school to our homes and we continuously discussed and debated various issues and our own viewpoints. And what happened to us? We started to love learning. Every day, there were new expectations, we have come a long way.

Shikshamitra has ceased to exist at 62B Alipore Road, Kolkata 700027 but the experience was so rich and the methods were so appropriate for all kinds of children, more so for children like us. I feel we have to ensure that it reaches all of the children in our slum – children, who are not learning anything in school or not really going to any school at all. It is us, from Shikshamitra, who know how to do this – how to share what we have experienced. The library could be the right space for sharing the Shikshamitra experience and its methods.

The kids will discover their talents, have a space to express these and will really get a fresh lease on education. If such a center doesn’t happen, many kids will never know how good the Shikhsamitra system can be for them! The children will continue abusing and fighting with one another – failing to understand each other and the joy of appreciating, forgiving and cooperating. They will just continue spending each day in the dungeons of their ‘little slum.’ They will never learn to look into themselves and dare to step out into the larger world. Children between the ages of 8 and 12 would be welcome at this library (or center), as they are the most vulnerable and full of potential. The library will offer books, supported reading for those who cannot read very well, art and crafts, as well as activities that help them settle down and concentrate. For this, meditation will be an essential component.

We were obviously more than convinced that the library could not be in better hands! We made it clear, however, that we would not play a prominent role in the library project and that it would have to be his own venture...and the magic started!

Consulting with the club secretary to take permission, Shah Nawaz started off by creating an attractive poster and leaflets to announce the return of the library. Some of the other Shikshamitra students (the Madhyamik aspirants) also got involved.

Although the kids discussed some new ideas (i.e. Little Shikshamitra, Little Library, Jeebanmitr), the old name, BOI-HOI-CHOI, was retained for the library. It opened on 10 September 2011, with about 30 children between the ages of 4 and 12 years in attendance. It has been taking place every Saturday, from 2:30 to 4:30. There have been four sessions since it started and the time it closed for the holidays. Shah Nawaz and the others have learned to plan the sessions, prepare materials, and manage the children. They have made a decision to focus only on the 8-12 year old group and gently turned the younger children away for the time being, without hurting their feelings. In this process, they are also learning how to control their own tempers, listening to the suggestions coming from both the library children and each other. They are practicing withholding some of their own "brilliant" ideas for the sake of running the library more smoothly!

The children coming to the library have learned to play games with less disruption and to wait their turn. They participate in group discussions about what they want or don't want at the library. Of course, they have access to a large variety of books. They are also reading and helping the non-readers to read, playing with colors, making stories and practicing some free writing on their own – in a space they can call their very own.

The success of the first four sessions has made everyone in the library project feel confident. Shah Nawaz, in particular, is brimming with hope and new ideas – he is daring to dream of this community library shaping up into "a little Shikshamitra!"

* Name has been changed for confidentiality.

It is interesting to compare how closely the original objectives for Shikshamitra match the objectives Shah Nawaz has set for his community library project:

COMPARISON OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES

SHIKSHAMITRA 2005	SHAH NAWAZ 2011
1. Work with 9-14 year olds who are at their creative and analytical best, yet who are vulnerable	1. Work with 8-12 year olds, who are vulnerable and frustrated, yet who want to learn
2. Work within an alternative environment using a curriculum that brings out the best in children	2. Create an environment like Shikshamitra, where children can express themselves freely and realize their own talents
3. Use different methods in order to cater to all types of learners	3. Provide a wide range of activities so that learning is enjoyable, challenging and suitable to each child's needs
4. Develop enthusiastic and independent learners, who are sympathetic, confident and good human beings	4. Convert the unhappy, restless, and uncared for children into composed, happy, sympathetic learners, who can make the best of their lives
5. Support these learners so they, in turn, can be the changemakers of their community

"We Are With You!"

2011-08-19T09:05:00.009+05:30

This week, Shikshamitra had the pleasure of hosting our friends, Etsuko and Michael Yamaguchi from Kolkata Seeds-Japan – a Japanese organization which has provided financial and moral support to us over the past four years years. We would like to show our sincere appreciation for their continued support to us despite the crisis situation in Japan. We really enjoyed your recent visit!

On Wednesday afternoon, we sat in a circle with the Yamaguchis for tea, snacks and chatting in the classroom of our new space. After reporting on our move and what has been happening with everyone at Shikshamitra, the discussion turned to the current situation in Japan. The children had many questions for Etsuko and Michael, who have also been raising money to send to areas that were affected by the tsunami in the northern part of Japan.

When the question of what the biggest obstacles are arose, Michael explained something that really impressed upon us how great the devastation there is. He said that it is difficult for people to find jobs. He added, however, that even if there is a job the person applying has lost all his/her identity so it is difficult to submit the right paperwork. Along with clothes, photographs, possessions, all personal records were also washed away: photo ID cards, computers, birth certificates AND the schools, banks, government offices that might hold records regarding the identity of the citizens. Everything is now gone and people have to start their lives all over from zero. He told us about the trauma that this can cause. Many children lost their parents and people in the Kansai area are trying to lend support by offering their homes and taking part in fundraising activities. The whole country has come together to keep Japan afloat and he said that it is amazing to be a part of this spirit.

We also asked about the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima and he said that now Japanese people are questioning the safety of these plants and working to shut them down and find alternatives.

We asked what we could do from here and the Yamaguchis suggested that we send our good energy there all the time, in any form. We decided that we would make a banner that they could carry back to Japan, a banner with the message that we are thinking of them and that they are not alone in this world despite such difficult times.

On Thursday we all met again and set to work designing and crafting the banner with fabric, pencil and paint. Everyone did some work on it and we ended up putting our message, "We Are With You!" in three different languages on the piece: Bengali, English and Japanese. We all enjoyed trying to learn some words in Japanese and Bengali and being creative together! Once we had put down the design and painted it up, we all put our signatures on it and folded it up to send off to Japan with Etsuko and Michael.

We truly appreciated your enlightening visit and look forward to hearing more reports back from Japan!

In Search of True Education

2011-05-05T12:32:00.004+05:30

We are proud to share a letter we recently received from an organization we have been working together with over the last few years, Nibedita Seva Mandir. We are happy to have others along with us on our journey to question and explore what kind of education should be available to children.

An English translation of the letter which was written in Bengali is below:

In Search of True Education

It was the year 2002. A few of us assembled within the folds of Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nibedita’s ideals to create Nibedita Seva Mandir. Primarily, we chose to centre our activities focusing on the education system but the exact nature of our actions in an urban set up were still then not clear to us. It was necessary to conduct a survey on the prevalent system.

We conducted our first survey among the slum dwellers of the Panchanantala railway colony of Dhakuria. Our aim was to assess whether we could accommodate children who had been deprived of a formal education into a formal system. The survey to be conducted was of small stature, but our findings surprised us. We were taken aback to see at least 200 guardians and their children waiting for us along the railway tracks under the blazing sun. Each one of them wanted to study but didn’t want to go to the school!

Among them were the drop-outs, the disabled, victims of discrimination and those who couldn’t attend schools due to poverty. Most of them declared that they abhorred schools, they didn’t like going to schools. That day we felt several queries arising within us. We felt the need to question…

Is the formal education system prevalently practiced really suitable for all classes of people of our society?

Have we been able to create a truly favourable environment in schools for our future generations?

We started visiting several schools just out of personal interest. We observed the emotions and feelings of the school-going children, while they were entering and leaving their school premises. We went into dialogue with the teachers of different schools. We found that no one had bothered to give a thought to how a system of imitative education and a profession/ vocation associated with knowledge (acquisition and dissemination) could transcend to a process that aims to perpetuate happiness. No one we spoke to felt that acquiring knowledge and disseminating it could be the source of happiness.

But we were fortunate enough to know about a school running in the heart of this city, a school that HAD given a thought to the above concept. Shikshamitra, a little school in the city, had started. Though most of its students came from the near-by slum and were drop-outs, it was a sheer pleasure to see that how they were enjoying their studies and doing hands-on activities. We met and talked with Sudeshna-di, the head of the school. We understood from our first day at Shikshamitra that the teaching-learning process going on here did not adopt the imitative approach. Rather the school has adopted a need-based approach that has been prepared absolutely keeping in mind the psychological needs of the children. There is a subtle flow of discipline but it’s not unnecessarily stressed upon. This revealed to us that maybe we were on the look out for this kind of a system for the children of our Education Centre.

In spite of her hectic schedule Sudeshna-di extended her help to us. Not only at the beginning, but later on, whenever we approached her with our plans and programmes she never denied us. With the cooperation of Shikshamitra our children have undergone a lot of trainings in the subjects related to real-life. These trainings have led to a growth in their personality and have also given them an edge over others in the walks of life. I narrate here a few of their experiences:

Maura, a teacher of Shikshamitra, a foreigner, taught our students to create art out of trash, waste materials. The end product was a collage. During our annual exhibition while answering the query of one of the visitors, a Class VII girl student of our centre replied that the tiny waste materials in the collage resemble the marginalized people of our society. If they can be connected correctly, as in the collage … only then can a spectacular society be created. These words came from her own understanding, no one had put the words into her mouth. The characteristic teaching method of Shikshamitra team had taught her to think in this manner. I take this opportunity to inform you that this girl is a resident of a near-by slum who had lost all hope within the education system, but today she is fighting all odds in her family to keep striving to study and presently she is a higher secondary examinee.

There are many other such instances.

Very recently we had conducted a creative writing class with the help of Shikshamitra. Prior to this class our students used to face difficulty in expressing their views through writing. Today, however, they are able to write long answers aptly and with ease. Moreover, they are now quite actively choosing topics, writing and editing them on their own for their wall-magazine.

With the help of Shikshamitra, the children have set up a library in our centre, which they themselves operate.

Based on an intensive review of different educational pedagogies and continual research, the Shikshamitra team has evolved a method which can initiate a learning consciousness within the children in a short span of time. The pedagogy of Shikshamitra takes into account the creation of a friendly, filial environment among the students by nurturing interconnectedness and cooperation. It also considers creating a simple, down-to-earth interdependency among the teachers and the students. Here students learn effortlessly and in addition to the specific kind of examination system, the students apply all that they are learning to their daily lives.

The students of Nibedita Seva Mandir who had once been trailing behind and losing their footholds in the formal education set up, who had been living a devalued life in the eyes of their family and the society at large have awakened. They are establishing themselves in their family and society, basing themselves on their self-confidence and esteem. They are earning respect and dignity.

The search for the education system that started eight years ago, has reached its vision and clarity, thanks to Shikshmitra’s free and active cooperation.

The efforts of Shikshmitra must transform into a greater movement so that in the days to come, along with the formal learning system, students can be encouraged to savor the taste of true education. Only then can the construction of lives be fulfilled.

-Moumita

SCHOOL CLOSURE or A NEW BEGINNING?

2011-04-10T08:55:00.000+05:30

Shikshamitra started with 17 children. We had 17 children who represented different types found in any ordinary school of about 100 students. The difference with us is that we had one, two or three representatives of each type and that made things difficult to manage. There were three school dropouts, two with delayed milestones, three with some kind of learning disability, three who had never been to school and so on… What was common to all of them? They came from the same slum or the slum next door and came to school with loads of infighting and inter-family misgivings. None of them trusted “the teachers.” In fact, they came to school with some ridicule and in the hope of having some fun by creating disruptions. Last of all, the whole concept of Shikshamitra was new to them – attractive, intriguing yet “not to be taken seriously.”

And then the journey continued. Sometimes the children led us by our hands, sometimes it was the community, or it could be a film, an incident, or an interaction with visitors. Shikshamitra evolved as a “home of learning” – open in nature, very organic in character, sensitive to the needs and emotions of the learners and thereby ready to change its content and mode of learning and growing … every day.

Throughout these five and a half years, however, the number of students never crossed the limit of 30 children. On an average it was 25, with many migrating to the village or other parts of the city, or simply wanting to stay away from any kind of “enclosed space” or “scheduled time frame.” We had never wanted a big school. We wanted a small set up but definitely wanted the students to remain constant.

It is interesting how these children kept revisiting Shikshamitra: calling us up or in some way letting us know how they were and asking how we were doing. One would drop in just to “chat” or to write down a “little story,” do a “small sketch,“ or just wander around the school and go away.

Viability of the school was a continuous issue that disturbed us in Shikshamitra. We agreed that a model, alternative school will remain small, but constant dwindling and rising of the number or students bothered us. Even the teachers came and went so frequently that at the end of it, we were tired! It has hard to plan ahead in such a situation but we continued on.

Children were given the best because all children deserve that. The rent for the 2100 square feet was high (not high compared to the market rate) at 20,000 rupees per month. There were not that many other activities going on for the open learning centre which made it difficult to justify the rent.

In the typical Shikshamitra fashion, we continued to discuss this issue with our parents and our children, especially the older and grown up ones. Many felt the school loses out on the ground of viability. Some of the students even hinted that they thought those children who spent more of their time “wandering outside in the open” might later on regret not having come into school more often. Parents obviously did not want the school to be shut off. Time and again they tried to persuade others to put their children in Shikshamitra. At the end of 2009 and most of 2010, we spent a great deal of time sitting in different group configurations (among ourselves, students, managing committee, other well wishers) in order to review our goals and weigh all the pros and cons of running the school unit.

The goals at the outset stated that after a few years it was expected that the older students would be ready as stakeholders to run the school in their neighborhood. At the end of 2010, neither the students, nor the parents, nor the local club authorities felt that way. The political interests were too high in the community and that would mean conforming to the whims of the political party. No one was game to that.

Children were often asking us about the future of the school. We would have been disappointed if they did not yet it was difficult to give them any real answers. Over the past year or two, we were often sitting and mulling over the future of Shikshamitra. Interesting observations and recommendations emerged.

By the end of November 2010, a number of children shifted their base. A few of them continued, mostly preferring to stay outside, visiting the school once or twice a week. They worked hard and well in all that they did when they came to school. The daily count of students was a steady 13-15 while the attendance register had 25 names enrolled.

Brainstorming followed. A decision was taken for good after sharing with the students and their parents. Parents were sad, especially of those 7 or 10 very regular students. They shouted and argued and blamed the others for failing to send their children to school regularly. Some parents offered money from their ‘savings’ to pay the rent! Others volunteered to pressurize the landlord to reduce the rent to half!! None of these options were reasonable or appropriate. We were so very grateful for these gestures!

Crisis brought us together. The seemingly indifferent parent was also trying her best to hold on to the last straw. Children were quiet, all of a sudden. The attendance was 98%. They hoped that by magic the show could go on.

We had an interesting role of softening the blow, helping them to adapt to the new future at government schools and to accept the present while moving toward something new. We gave them quick lessons in the “academics” that would be mandatory and expected in the government schools. We visited the government schools to talk about our school philosophy, the present situation and that the students would be enrolling with them. We were there for the children as the transition process took place.

It was in one of the English classes that the children began to discuss “the closure.” They were asked to put down six sentences about it and make some drawings. Pradip Giri came out with an excellent piece of work. It made some of us cry while others remained silent for a long time.

In December, before we closed for Christmas, we decided that along with all the children in the present batch at Shikshamitra, we should bring together all of the past students (whoever was in Kolkata) as well. The money that they had earned in the Learn and Earn Project had remained with us in their accounts and it was to be handed over to them at this time.

They poured in to the school that day, in all shapes and sizes. Many had grown up into “young men” and “ladies,” looking and behaving like “small children.” They were all above fifteen and working. However, once inside the school they chatted, pushed and teased each other. Some took to the caring of the young children the minute they entered the school. Our entire family was back together again – if only for the day. Christmas was in the air. Maura Aunty had planned a biscuit decorating session. We looked on as the children decorated their biscuits, and it felt like old times – every ‘child’ was clamouring for his/her turn and some were trying to decorate a few biscuits more! And naturally a few had to assume the role of “moral police officers,” keeping a tab on things!

Rohit, a great singer, broke into his favourite songs. We joined him. Time stopped at Shikshamitra. Many wanted to know whether the decision to close was true? And where will Shikshamitra move away to? We asked them to look for a place. They left with brave smiles on their faces and wrenched hearts.

With final exams over, results were given on 17 January 2011, the last day of school at Shikshamitra. We had asked the children what would they like as a parting gift. Of course, some of us thought of “great things” in our own adult way…

“A group photograph” – pat came the reply from Neha.

And that’s what they got, along with their report cards and transfer certificates: a group photograph for the children and a group photo for the parents, one that was taken at a parents’ meeting.

“The two envelopes carrying the photos,” we told them “have to be returned – but not as they are. They need to look different when they come back.”

Children and parents got the message. Soon the envelopes started arriving, coloured and decorated by the parents and their children. Naturally, not all the envelopes came back to us – but most did! Some of the envelopes were brought back by the children themselves, along with little gifts they handed over to us. The best gift, however, was a drawing book half filled with drawings and writings by Pradip and Kakoli Giri. The last page said,

“We have done our bit. Now it’s your turn. The book is all yours – fill it up.”

As tears trickled down, we realized how truly they had all imbibed the spirit of originality and creativity at Shikshamitra and how they were ready to take it out of this place and spread it wherever they went from here. What more could we ask for?

The seeds were starting to scatter and sprout…

Akash, a little boy who was orphaned at birth and brought up by his grandmother, came to Shikshamitra in April 2009. He was a ‘terror‘ in the slum due to his abusive language and incessant fighting. Akash craved love and care. Thrown out of many schools, he finally ended up in Shikshamitra to be taught to feel good about himself and appreciated. Following this, he learned to read and write. A month after closure, a neighbour of Akash stopped one of the Shikshamitra teachers to congratulate him for the dramatic change in Akash,

“We can talk to him and he is so decent now. What did you do with this boy?”

Akash is doing fine in a government school now.

Children who need help keep coming back. Some stop to paint, to do a puzzle or some craft. Maura and children (all those who are interested – old ones with their new friends) continue to “get together for art’s sake.”

Sajahan, the oldest student of Shikshamitra has returned (he suddenly left us for some time) apparently to finish taking the secondary exam as he has three subjects remaining. But, perhaps he has actually come back to join us – to be a part of the new journey of Shikshamitra. Taking time off of his studies, he helps Maura to take art class at another school and he is with Mahua helping to keep the library in order. He joins us as an aspiring teacher, spreading the message of Shikshamitra and its practices through trainings, interactions, camps.

There are other children too, who lend us their hands. Some keep calling to remind us that they are there. Parents call to find out how we are doing and if they can be of any help. Presenting Shikshamitra at a youth conference recently, Sajahan described Shikshamitra as a “different school,” “a concept,” “essentially, a relationship.”

In fact, though we were all deeply wondering how we could go on from here, we have found that somehow – organically – people seem to understand that we have more time to work on outreach projects now that we are not running our school unit. We have had many phone calls come in each day with offers of working with other organizations who want to learn from us. We are finding a brand new energy around the whole place and it feels positive and forward-looking. It may now be time to concentrate on training and publishing, and developing small projects that carry on the Shikshamitra spirit.

Let the trust in relationship grow, good education will happen. And to grow well, one needs to stay small. Small, but many; there could be many small endeavors – many small Shikshamitras – different in their forms but similar in spirit.

- Sudeshna

Regarding this new stage, we look forward to hearing from all the friends of Shikshamitra as well. What direction do you see Shikshamitra moving in for the future?

Lastly, please contact us if you know of a space in the Chetla-Alipore area as shifting our location will be part of this transition.

Evolution of a Life Science Class

2011-04-09T10:01:00.001+05:30

We are fortunate to have a microbiology professor as our landlord. He wanted to do something with the children and we came up with a plan to show them various things through the microscope. We started in November 2009 looking at cells from onion skin and squamous epithelium from behind the lips. We then looked at the bacteria found in curd as well as those from our mouth. We examined blood cells too. We decided to do blood group testing and blood pressure checking for all children. We discussed antigens and antibodies, and the ABO system and how it gets determined genetically. Our explorations explained why one teacher had a daughter with negative blood group, even though she and her husband both had positive blood group.

Noticing the interest level among the children, we deviated from the traditional botany --> zoology--> human physiology path and even left the respiratory --> digestive --> circulatory --> … route. We jumped straight into “blood” instead. We discussed what the blood carries from where to where and how it is linked to each system. We talked about what all goes into our body and even what all comes out. We then went system by system – respiratory, excretory, alimentary (and food types), nervous – discussing related diseases and conditions (e.g. asthma in respiratory and coma, paralysis in nervous system). We also discussed the reproductive system as well as genetics till mid 2010. Then the science class took on a geographic bend to include “where we live.”

Meanwhile at the end of 2010, we had to close the school unit. A few of these children are going to take the Open School X Standard – RMV Exam and are continuing to study at Shikshamitra. The rest of the children have shifted to government schools. These RMV children will take their L.Sc. exam in December 2011 and Geography in June 2012.

- by Swati

Discovery near the Dock

2011-04-08T16:23:00.001+05:30

Two children (Dinesh and Noor) found a cow skull near “the dock.” They were curious to know how old it was and how one could determine the age. At the teacher’s request they brought the skull to school. We, a group of 5 children with ages spanning 9-17 years, and the teacher, had some exciting, learning moments with the skull:

We identified the eye sockets and the hole for the optic nerve.
While looking at the teeth we had a discussion on the different types of teeth and why cows do not have all types.
We saw where the cow’s brain had been. Some children had seen a human skull, which has a significantly larger space for the brain than cows. This led us to the topic of evolution.

Someone asked how everything – flesh, skin, etc. – dissolves into the soil. We discussed how bacteria decompose those things and help in recycling food back for the plants. for the plants. Otherwise we would have used up all the food!!

Finally, Moinnuddin took the bull firmly by the horns (so to speak) and “rode a scooter!

- Swati

Art Exhibition in Santiniketan

2011-03-02T05:06:00.006+05:30

--- FROM THE GROWING ARTWORKS OF
RAJA MOHAN DAS & NOOR ISLAM
ALCHA, SANTINIKETAN
11-12 MARCH, 2011

Raja Mohan Das from SHUKTARA and Noor Islam from SHIKSHAMITRA will be exhibiting their work at ALCHA in Santiniketan next weekend. Please come show your support -- and spread the word!

The seeds of this show were planted way back in September when the owner of Alcha, a small cafe and boutique in Santiniketan, came to see our Growing With Art Exhibition. Keya liked the feeling of Raja and Noor's work together and suggested that they organise an art exhibition at her cafe in early 2011. Raja and Noor have been 'growing' their art portfolios since then and have chosen some of their favorite pieces to appear in the show. Another happy outcome of this exhibition is that Noor and Raja have become steadfast friends and have been influencing and inspiring each other in their pursuit to find their own approach, their own art voice.

Was this art class or English class...?

2011-02-13T14:19:00.005+05:30

We tried making a video based on a poem that we learned. The kids noted their mistakes but we haven't done a remake yet. I think it's pretty good this first time around. What do you think?

Doors to the Future

2011-01-24T15:30:00.004+05:30

As the Year 2010 grew to an end, and we were all sensing some of the transition happening around us, our final art project to usher in a new year was called 'My Door to the Future.' The children made a door from paper and glued another sheet behind it and in that door way, they collaged and wrote and drew what they envision for themselves in the year ahead. I think the beautiful display adorning the entrance and hallway at Shikshamitra shows how deeply the children took up this task and how much they enjoyed pouring themselves into it.

Let School Begin with a Different Song

2011-01-13T11:44:00.005+05:30

The theme of the 2011 SHIKSHAMITRA CALENDAR is Let school begin with a different song...

At Shikshamitra, we listen to a set of songs which might seem out of the ordinary as the morning prayer song. Appreciating these songs we create a unique world in Shikshamitra, where we think originally, draw, paint and write down however we are feeling. We have created this year's calendar as a tribute to the artists who inspire us every morning: Pratul Mukhopadhyay, Kabir Suman, Amar Pal and Anup Ghoshal. The children always sing along in their own style and often paint as they think about the songs. The artwork represents how these songs make us feel.

We hope you will enjoy the beautiful artwork and comments from the students.

Thanks for supporting our work to design education alternatives:
Calendars are Rs 85 each.
For those individuals and organizations who would like to help sell the calendar, we are offering a bulk rate of Rs 70 when 10 or more copies are purchased at one time.

Call us on 9830076919 (maura) or just stop in during regular working hours to buy your copy.

ART OUT OF NOTHING AT ALL

2010-09-07T18:46:00.002+05:30

During the Growing with Art Exhibition at Shikshamitra, our student was interviewed by a local English newspaper. He enjoyed this experience to talk about his ideas very much.

Here is the link to the piece:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100907/jsp/calcutta/story_12897237.jsp

And the text:
Art out of nothing at all
CHANDREYEE CHATTERJEE

RECYCLE ARTIST: Noor Islam, 16, at the exhibition in Chetla. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya
For Noor Islam nothing in the world is worth throwing away, especially when it can be turned into something pretty.

The 16-year-old recycle artist was the showcase of an art exhibition organised by Shikshamitra, an open learning centre in Chetla, over the weekend.

Noor was born in Delhi but moved to the Kalabagan slum of Chetla in Calcutta when he was seven years old. The son of Abdul Khalique, a driver, and the youngest of four siblings, Noor was a good student who dabbled in drawing. But it was only when he joined Shikshamitra after Class IV that he found his path.

“I was afraid to use paint till I came here; now I don’t shy away from colour. I have in fact moved on from painting just on paper,” said the Class X boy.

The love of painting could not keep Noor in school for long as he had to head off to a whistle-making factory to supplement his family income.

He was gone from Shikshamitra for a year after which he came back a changed teenager. “He was disruptive and aggressive and his grades were slipping. He even stopped painting for a while. But I have seen this boy turn his life around with his own hands,” said Sudeshna Sinha, the school principal.

Since then this Michael Jackson fan — yes, he can do the Moonwalk — has devoted himself to learning English and making art, often out of nothing at all.

Noor’s neighbours bring him things they are ready to discard and urge him to “make something”. His dedication to recycling has even seen the broken wall clock in his house being transformed into a wall hanging using a collage from magazines.

The display at the Growing with Art included painting on speaker covers, a paperweight made from wood whittle, a decorative item from the frame of a bouquet, a boot from rolled newspapers....

“It is more satisfying when I am able to innovate. In fact, sometimes I wake up with some idea in my head and I have to work it out immediately or at least make an outline so that I remember,” said Noor, who hopes to join an art school once he finishes school.

ttmetro@abpmail.com

You are Invited!

2010-08-24T10:30:00.002+05:30

We hope you can join us for this event at Shikshamitra.

A few of the children have really taken up art in an organic way and made it part of their lives, we'd love to have you come and encourage them to move forward with their talents. We've invited individuals from other organizations too so that everyone can learn from one another's work. Please stop in any time during the two days of our open house and exhibition! If you know of anyone interested in creativity and alternative education, please pass this message on to them.

All of us at Shikshamitra, and the various other NGOs taking part, look forward to seeing you there!

Please Come!

2010-08-16T22:01:00.006+05:30

Children at Shikshamitra are currently rehearsing for a drama called Badhanhara which they will perform at Gyan Manch on 22 Aug in Kolkata. We invite everyone to come join in the fun.

The drama is the story of a young boy, who even when pushed and taunted by his mother to do better in his studies, decides to look outward at nature and the wilderness, and take these elements on as his true teachers.

Two of the children took charge of making these posters to advertise the show in front of the Gyan Manch auditorium.

TIFFIN TIME

2010-07-31T07:39:00.006+05:30

After noticing that many of our children were not having adequate food – some were bringing a tiffin (snack) to school each day while others weren't – we decided to start up a programme to provide a substantial tiffin to all the children so that everyone has a proper snack during the school day. The programme started up in July 2010 with an initial donation from friends of Shikshamitra. Since nutrition is very important for growing children, we hope to be able to continue this programme permanently.

The tiffin we provide is not a full meal, as school finishes by 2:00 pm and children go home for lunch. This is for the snack time at approximately 11:30 every day. So far, introduction of a tiffin by the school has been a real success, everyone sits together and it is a very sociable time to relax and enjoy each other. The children share and talk about what foods they like and dislike. The older children are helping the younger children – plenty to learn by all sharing a bite to eat together!

Some of the items served on our menu:
Bun & banana
Egg & Bread
Moori & Vegetables
Samosa & Sweet

Financing the Tiffin Programme:

Thanks to kind donations from Clare Iberson-John, Neil Haran and Susie McNaughton, Nicole Harding Ozturan, Jacinta Byrne and Kiely, we were able to get the tiffin programme underway and running up to October 2010.

BUDGET:

Rs. 6-7 per student per day
Current student enrollment 25 students
Budget per day = Approx Rs. 150
Budget for one month of Tiffin Programme = Rs. 3000

Resource making

2010-07-13T06:42:00.010+05:30

A COMPASSIONATE EXCHANGE
by Bhavaniprasad Majumdar

One day a beggar said, "Give me a bit of bread or give me a bit of money."

The Babu replied, "I have nothing in my home – it's completely empty."

Upon hearing this, the beggar offered, "Why then do you sit idly? Come with me and let's go!

What's wrong with the two of us begging together?"

In our Bengali class, children were given this poem in Bengali.

SAMOBAETHI

by Bhabaniprasad Majumdar

Bhikhari bolle, din duti ruti

Nay din duto taka;

Babu bollen, nei kichhu ghare

Ghar bilkul phanka!

Bhikari bolle, bose keno tabe?

Cholun, berie pori,

Doshta ki tate, jodi eksathe

Dujone vikhkhe kori.

The students were asked to read the piece, discuss the concepts, and then to make flashcards using their own words and illustrations for the story. Children came up with very original drawings to match the story. The students have actually designed a nice resource material to be used in future Bengali classes and the illustrations, rather than being drawn by a professional hand, are ones that the children themselves can relate to.

-Sipra

Twelve in One Million Giraffes

2010-07-03T08:03:00.011+05:30

One of the nicest rules in the One Million Giraffes online project to collect one million hand-made giraffes before the year's end is that you need to share the link with others so they can join in the fun! So, here's the link to our inspiration for making giraffes and sending them across the world:

http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com

In art class last Thursday, the students were introduced to this guy Jorgen's project, a bet he made with a friend to try and collect one million giraffes from all over the world. It is certainly not a simple task but he is an optimistic person and, after Shikshamitra took up the challenge, he is now twelve artistic giraffes stronger. We started the class talking about the number, one million, and the unique characteristics of the giraffe: it's long neck, beautiful eyelashes, patches, paintbrushly tail, etc. We looked at some photos and a small model of a giraffe and then...the giraffe magic began. All kinds of materials were placed in the center of the room and the kids worked alone or in groups to create their own giraffeworks to add to Jorgen's beautiful collection. We had a zoo of stitched giraffes, paper giraffes, a tall wooden giraffe, painted giraffes and recycled giraffes by the time our class was finished.

Something I really like about this project is that when you look at all the creations that have come in on the website, it is very clear that everyone has their own perception of what a giraffe is and looks like -- but all of these are giraffes just the same! Who knew there were so many kinds of giraffes out there? We had so much fun doing this so our only question now is -- Why not try your hand at creating a giraffe of some sort and send it in too?

Our giraffe gallery can be viewed at:

http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com/search?name=Student%20Of%20Shikshamitra%20Open%20Learning%20Centre

Communicating through Craft

2010-01-30T20:15:00.004+05:30

This week we had two new friends come visit the school from Japan: Sakie-san and Hine-san, two artists from the city of Osaka. They brought all the supplies needed for three days of craft workshops that started on Tuesday and ended on Thursday. On the first day, we made pens from paper mache. Sakie and Hine brought a special material called "kaminendo," which we formed around the core of a pen. We also tried making our own pulp and molding this too. On the second day, we took special plastic sheets and drew designs on them with oil-based markers. These were put in the oven and the children yelled out, "magic" as they watched the sheets melt down to form hard, glass-like lockets that they promptly put strings on to wear around their necks. On the last day, which felt quite magical in its own way now that we had all become such good friends, we made small wind chimes out of recycled bottles. The children were asked to bring in their own bottles and almost everyone remembered to bring one in as they were eager to find out what Sakie and Hine were going to demonstrate next.

I put on some music and at one point, when I looked up from helping a student, I suddenly felt a deep sense of happiness – watching each and every person in the room helping each other or concentrating on their work, trying to speak a bit of Japanese, or smiling and laughing along with a friend. It sure is fun to have friends from other parts of the world!

I would like to extend a big thanks to Sakie and Hine for so carefully organizing these three days of craft and creativity! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA!

Enjoy a Year with Shikshamitra: We have just produced our 2010 Calendar

2010-01-25T17:38:00.008+05:30

This year, for the first time, Shikshamitra has produced its own calendar featuring original artwork by our students. We hope you will enjoy the beautiful drawings and paintings by four different children. The artwork was generated in a class where students practiced drawing with their eyes closed after hearing a specific theme. The calendar also includes thoughtful quotations by the children, which came out of various class interactions.

The 2010 calendar is now available from Shikshamitra and other locations around Kolkata. We ask for your help in both buying and selling the calendar! Please contact the school (033-2479-9271 or by email at: shikshamitra.kolkata@gmail.com) if you would like a copy or have ideas about where we can sell it.

Price per calendar is Rs. 80
Wholesale (bulk purchase of 10 or more calendars) price is Rs. 65

WHAT HAVE YOU GAINED?

2010-01-20T09:45:00.002+05:30

The responses below are from an exercise done with the children on 13th Jan, 2010 for the five-year review of our school progress. Sudeshna has translated their Bengali into English here.

"I have learned some good craft work. I can operate a computer. I have reduced using abusive language, it was almost like a necessary tool in my previous school."
- Dinesh

"I have learned Bengali and English (I did not learn anything in my previous school). Previously, I could hardly talk to people but now I am comfortable. I would avoid going to school on exam days, my mother used to beat me when I failed but I have no fear of exams now."
- Hasna

"My use of foul language has decreased. My English has improved a lot. I do not misbehave and create trouble like before. I have stopped putting others down and being so competitive. I kept quiet in my previous school, always scared of punishment but here I can shout as much as I want."
- Pradip

"I have found my life’s purpose in this school."
- Shajahan

"I have learned a lot of English and Bengali. I do not use foul language any more. I have learned a lot of crafts."
- Babai

"I have learned division well. I have gained a lot of courage. I have learned computer, Bengali and English."
- Ajijul

"School has helped me to know myself. I did not know that I had so many hidden talents."
- Rohit

"The school has helped me to discover my talents. I am confident about talking with English-speaking people. I have learned to peep into people’s hearts."
- Noor

"I have learned English language well. I am not scared to talk with people any more."
- Chaitali

"I have learned to work with friends and also to help them. I can speak with people much more confidently now. I can comprehend after reading something."
- Priyanka

"I would never have known what friendship is if I hadn’t come to this school. I have learned to talk well."
- Kakoli

"I now have confidence in myself and can solve my own problems. I can speak freely with outsiders. I have learned many skills – especially drawing, and the proper way to talk. School has taught me how to get along with various people."
-Santanu

"My wish to learn to read and write Bengali has been fulfilled. I have learned to talk decently with my friends."
- Ador

"I have learned to trust people, whereas before I mistrusted everyone, including my parents. My courage has increased enormously. I used to detest Muslims and avoided any contact. I don’t do that any more. I have stopped misbehaving with people."
- Anita

"I can argue with people. I have learned computers and English."
- Neha

"No comments now."
-Rajesh

"No Comments now."
-Bijoy

The students also made a list of the things they feel they have gained/learned at Shikshamitra. The list includes crafts, computers, reduction of abusive language, Bengali, English, speaking ability, an end to exam-phobia, a feeling of freedom in school, courage, confidence, self-knowledge, discovery of their own talents, reading comprehension, trusting others, tolerance, better behaviour ...

Visitors Make a Difference!

2009-12-10T10:17:00.003+05:30

During the early summer, we had a visit from two friends of Shikshamitra who took out some time from their travels to volunteer doing dance workshops at school. The culmination of this ended in a beautiful performance! Here is the blog entry they wrote about their time spent at the school:

Dear Shikshamitra Readers:

Our names are Kajori and Meghna Purkayastha. We had the most remarkable experience in Kolkata this year. Out of the many places we visited in India, Kolkata was definitely the most memorable. We were born and raised in Orange County, California, and despite the assimilation to American culture, our parents have kept us in touch with our Indian heritage and culture. As 14 year olds, we have a lifelong desire to pursue community service, especially through our involvement in Swanirvar. Our time spent at Shikshamitra was a continuation of this goal.

We spoke to Sujit and Sudeshna about what we could do while at Shikshamitra, and proposed that we expose the children to movement and dance. We have both been learning the Indian classical dance known as Kathak for eight years, with our teacher Ms. Punam Kumar. Sudeshna asked us to write a brief narrative on the history of Kathak and also asked us to choreograph a short dance piece. We picked the song “Jhini” by the group Indian Ocean.

We choreographed Kathak footwork and added some Bollywood steps to make the dancing more free and flowing. In our dance group, we had much help from other Shikshamitra staff members, Mausami Auntie and Biswajit Uncle. They helped us teach the Shikhamitra students: Kiran, Rajesh, Indu, Priyanka, Anita, Bikey, Prodeep, Neha, Kakoli, and Chaitali. The ages of the students ranged from 7-15 years. After the school session was over each day, the kids assembled in the classroom. We taught from 1:30 PM to about 3:00 PM. We had a lot of fun teaching and getting to know the kids! They were polite and friendly, and very curious to know where we came from and what we liked to do. When they got more comfortable around us, they were not shy to fight with each other and ask for help. Kids will be kids!

In the beginning, we were apprehensive of our language skills. We worried about how we would communicate with the children, as our Bangla was not perfect. However, as time went on, we learned quite a bit of Bangla from them, and they learned English from us – it was quite amusing hearing them imitate our American English phrases like “Good job!” and “Fantastic!” We looked forward to spending every afternoon with them. The rigorous dance practices in the sweat and heat paid off- the kids gave a wonderful performance for the entire school. The dancers were beautifully dressed and looked so sweet for the final day.

We had the most memorable time at Shikshamitra- it was an experience we will keep in our hearts. For this we thank our relatives, Sujit Uncle and Sudeshna Maasi. We made many friends and hope to stay in touch with them. The parting was very emotional, but it will not be our last. We plan to visit our friends at Shikhamitra in the future!

Lastly, our visit has changed the way we do certain things. We found upon our return, that we have become much more gracious and alert about the struggles of life. We work to shed our attachment to material things and focus on working hard to overcome the obstacles we encounter-not complaining or doubting ourselves. Indeed, we felt that we had learned more from the students at Shikshamitra than they did from us.

"Whistle while you work..."

2009-10-30T08:58:00.003+05:30

Isn't this what work should be all about, afterall?

Recognizing what we are made up of

2009-10-05T16:43:00.015+05:30

For weeks before the Puja holiday break, it was clear that something was UP at Shikshamitra. Kids were huddling in groups, walls were being taken down, decorations were being hung up, there were rehearsals and practice sessions, things were getting cleaned up and there was an overall feeling of determination in the air. Sometimes instructors at schools might feel that having a big event takes away important classroom time but from what we could see, the kids were doing some of their most important learning in the weeks leading up to the Annual Function, held on 14 September, 2009, just before school was to let out for a long holiday.

The children themselves put together their skits and worked with the dance teacher to choreograph new pieces. They made invitations and invited their families and friends from the neighborhood. And while the kids were busy making their own preparations to wow the audience, teachers were also working on their own presentation: the Awards Ceremony that would be held in between the acts created and performed by the children.

At every school, children are awarded for good performance in certain subjects but at Shikshamitra we like to think that academics alone do not make up the student and we try to look at the growth and personal performance of each individual as well. This year, the awards that were presented to our students were based on total performance of the child throughout their stay at Shikshamitra. For some this meant four years, for others it meant six months.

Sudeshna and Kasturi called Samrat's grandmother out of the audience and up to the stage to help award the following unique honours to our students:

For SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY: Biki, Mohan, Sajahan, Hasna, Ador, Boloram, Chaitali

For EAGERNESS TO HELP / COOPERATION: Boloram, Ador, Babai, Samrat, Chaitali, Hasna, Rajesh

For CONTRIBUTION IN DISCUSSIONS: Shantanu, Sajahan, Biki, Indu, Hasna, Rohit, Samrat

For EAGERNESS TO KNOW AND LEARN: Shantanu, Rohit, Neha, Sajahan, Hasna

For BRINGING A SEA OF CHANGE IN ONESELF: Priyanka and Samrat

For ART: Noor, Sajahan, Rohit, Babai, Mohan, Biki, Ador , Bijoy

For CRAFT: Babai, Rajesh, Boloram, Ador,

For DANCE: Chaitali, Rohit, Anita, Priyanka, Indu, Rahul

For ACTING: Rohit, Shantanu, Babai, Ador, Mohan, Biki,

For WRITING: Anita, Indu,. Pradip, Kakoli, Biki, Sajahan,

For HELPING YOURSELF TO GROW: Hasna and Sajahan

For OUTSTANDING PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: Biki

For PARTICIPATION AND EFFORT BY NEWCOMERS: Sahidur and Dinesh

Besides the beautiful dance performances that showed what the children have been learning in the dance class over the past few months, there were other acts that were noteworthy. Bikey and Mohan wrote and performed a small skit about two guys sitting at their local tea shop, talking about Rabindranath Tagore – his works and ideas – on his birthday. One of the two guys was preparing for his Class X exam through the open school system named after Rabindranath (Rabindra Mukta Vidyalaya), so the other was curious to know if the board was named after the poet and educationist known for his alternative and open school experiment at Santiniketan. Another performance, which almost everyone took part in was called "Noise in the Kitchen," and was created by the students based on a story a previous teacher had told to them. All the performances were full of fun and we witnessed some fine hidden talent too!

It was an evening of magic, everyone was smiling and feeling a sense of having really accomplished something. Let's hope everyone comes back after the Puja break ready to unleash this determination once again for the new session!

Changing Roles from Student to Teacher

2009-07-17T15:29:00.007+05:30

The photo above is from two years ago, taken after an art class at our school.

Boloram is an older student who has been with Shikshamitra for several years now. He works hard at his studies and is serious about moving ahead. He is part of the afterschool bookbinding course and is quite an enthusiastic art student! Recently Boloram was asked to be in charge of the art classes for the younger students who now attend in the morning. He took his job seriously and came up with his own plan based on an art lesson he had participated in at our school and at a different school we were helping develop more creative classes at.

On the day of his class, he had small paper cutouts prepared – dove-shapes and wing-shapes – for each of the students. He asked his students to design and decorate their doves and wings using the various materials ( paint, crayons, etc.) he provided them with. He finished off the session by putting the pieces together, stapling on the wings and attaching a hanging loop.

Then, Boloram made a beautiful tree on the back of the door, also out of paper scraps, and he helped the children hang their birds in the tree. And as this photo shows, he fashioned a pretty cool bird's nest out of some string that was stuffed away in a corner as well!

Three cheers for Boloram's innovation and budding leadership skills!

The Math Class that Ended Up in Circles!

2009-07-13T09:47:00.004+05:30

It was a Friday Math class. We were discussing exam results – not a very interesting topic. Toward the end of the session, I decided to change the mood a bit, have some "fun" to balance out the "exam" flavor.

A few days back, the children had been asked to cut some circles from paper, so with this preparation already done, I took one of the circles and folded it into one-eighth segments (fractions). I made some cuts along the two radial edges. I then unfolded the circle to reveal a very nice, fully symmetrical pattern. The children and Biswajit started to try the exercise using their own circles and many different patterns came out. Sometimes the students were encouraged to refold the circles back and make a few more cuts to bring out the designs. Gradually, we saw some very intricate designs develop. Soon they all started to use their second circles, as the first ones had no more space to cut out from. Next, out came their third ones, fourth ones, etc... The circles had now become a very prized possession for those who had diligently cut them out beforehand.

The children were obviously pleased with their designs and wanted to display them so they brought down a large sheet of paper that had been sitting around, and pasted their patterned circles all over it. They wanted to hang it right at the front entrance to our school and I let them!

After seeing this poster of patterned circles, the younger children naturally became interested and the activity was repeated in their own class, with some help from Biswajit. Some of them did even smaller sectors to begin with.

The next day, some children from Praajak came to Shikshamitra to watch a movie. As the domino effect took root, it seemed that they also wanted to try their hand at cutting patterns into the circles. With them, we also did some patterns on the long strips of paper that were left over from cutting out the circles. A few of the teachers also joined in and we found that some of the strip designs could be worn as bracelets. At the end of the day, every one of the Praajak children left the school with one of these bracelets around their wrists.

Soooo, how is this related to math? you ask?
Well, it was a good way to introduce and explain fractions to begin with; and the concepts of rotation (circular design) and translation (strip pattern) also came into play.

- Swati

New Movements

2009-07-05T07:09:00.005+05:30

Following a very hot summer vacation, Shikshamitra reopened on 12th June to move into its fifth year. Over the past four years, many of the older students have been exposed to various forms of art but unfortunately, there has been very little scope for physical activities. We were excited to be able to plan out a two-day workshop on theater activities with Jahar Das, who performed with a renowned theater group called Naandikar for many years.

During the two days (18-19 June), Jahar led students through various activities; the main emphasis being on reducing the childrens' inhibitions about moving their bodies. The session began with self introductions where each child was asked to mention his or her name, pronouncing it clearly. Rahul had to repeat his name a couple of times till he said it clearly: R-A-H-U-L and not R-A-U-L , as he has a habit of saying. The names with consonant clusters like Shantanu, Priyanka, Pradip were also given special attention.

The children were also exposed to some basic rhythms (Taal) and Sargam from Indian Music. Jahar had the children practice them repeatedly. He also showed them how they can invent their own music by using various daily objects, such as a steel plate and a spoon, a glass tumbler, a plastic bowl – and integrate these with the music of any regular rhythm instruments. On the first day, Jahar asked the children to enact a small skit without words: Bikey posed as a person reading a newspaper and Pradip was washing his clothes under a running tap. When Pradip forgot to indicate that he was turning off the tap, Jahar immediately pointed this out. He explained to the children that paying attention to the details is an important component of drama. On the second day, they did a skit with words. After doing some rhythm and Sargam exercises, the children were taught a modern dance with an English song.

The workshop was really fun and challenging for the children – so much so that they have asked Jahar to come to school regularly to do more drama classes. We are all happy that he has agreed to take a session once every week from July so that we can finally offer Shikshamitra students a chance to see how their bodies and minds can work together!

- Malasree

INFORMATION SHARING

2009-04-08T10:56:00.008+05:30

Sharing ideas and talents with like-minded people and organizations is something Shikshamitra considers to be an important goal. In February, Shikshamitra teamed up with the handicraft unit at Calcutta Rescueto share some of our skills and ideas. We organized two workshops between the groups and plan to do more in the future.

On 10 February, 2009 a group of about 6 Shikshamitra students and two teachers visited the Calcutta Rescue handicraft unit near Soba Bazaar metro station. Riding the subway back and forth from Rashbehari was an experience in itself! We warmly greeted by the staff and craftspeople there. Each of the children went through the step-by-step process of making a small doll with wire, recycled cloth and thread. We were surprised to see how much work goes into one small doll, that fits neatly into your pocket in the end!

Then, on 19 February we hosted a workshop at Shikshamitra to share our knowledge of bookbinding with about four Calcutta Rescue craftspeople and four of the administrators. The workshop was led by Bali and two student assistants, Bikey and Boloram. Bali teaches the afterschool bookbinding course twice a week and it is heartwarming to see how students have gained a natural sense of pride and confidence from learning this new, useful skill. They call themselves, "Chetla Bookbinders!" Bali had prepared a slab of paper to be bound and then torn into smaller pads, so that each person could take home their own hand-bound diary with a cloth cover that same day. He gave basic instructions on how to make the various types of glue that are needed and worked with craftspeople from Calcutta Rescue to put a gauze binding on, get the cardboard covers cut to the right size and then neatly covered in cloth. He gave a demonstration on stitching the binding as well. We all shared a nice lunch together before saying goodbye. Everyone seemed very satisfied with the interactions that took place from these two sessions and reports from Calcutta Rescue say the organization has already started producing diaries as part of their popular handicraft range!

Here is Charlotte, an administrator for Calcutta Rescue, proudly showing off her diary!

Taking the ART IN EDUCATION Exhibition into the Community

2009-01-28T06:42:00.004+05:30

SHIKSHAMITRA “ART IN SCHOOL” EXHIBITION IN THE COMMUNITY
23 JANUARY, 2009 • 2-6 P.M.

It had long been our founding teacher/social worker, Sukhendu’s, dream to take Shikshamitra into the community by holding an interactive exhibition in the local club. Unfortunately, in 2006 we got involved in holding the huge Bal Vividha festival and this community exhibition had to be postponed. Last month (12-14 December 2008), after holding the highly successful exhibition at school, we discussed the idea with Kishore, the secretary of Alipore Junior Sporting Club (AJS Club) and the parents and everyone was very enthusiastic about holding such an event in their locality. As the exhibits were already with us, this was also the right time. So this became a joint venture between Shikshamitra and A.J.S. Club. The venue was the club courtyard. The community was notified through six posters hung at strategic points in and around the locality. Mousumi, our current social worker(Sukhendu’s wife), was in charge and received supprt from Sipra and Biswajit.

On 19 January, parents were invited for a creative session in the school. They drew, they painted, made attractive needle work pieces, and tried their hands at clay work. As they munched at their snacks and sipped tea, the initial nervousness vanished. Soon they giggled and commented on each other’s work. Maura, our art teacher, was approached and mothers requested her to take English classes for them! A bit reluctantly, the only father in the group made a drawing – perhaps the first since he finished schooling himself. All of these were displayed at the community exhibition and the mothers managed their exhibits by themselves.

By 8:30 a.m., everybody had assembled in the school. Ador, a Shikshamitra student, came with his rickshaw van and took all the exhibits to the venue. It was a great feeling to go together as a Shikshamitra team and start the preparations. Unfortunately the previous day, 22 Jan., was a Bandh (strike) and we had a serious discussion on the 20th about canceling the exhibition. Thanks to Kishore, the ever-enterprising Club Secretary (supporting us from the beginning) and the decorator, Sachin, the entire zone was cordoned off neatly on the morning of the 23rd and was available for us to work on the displays.

To our surprise, Bijoy Das (an ex-student who lasted six months) and Biswajit Das (a ragpicker who lasted 2 days) were the main people sweeping the premises. Biswajit even reminded me that he was one of the first students at Shikshamitra.

• It just took us (6 teachers and 8 students) 2.5 hours to finish putting up the displays; an hour more was spent in detailing and giving technical touches. It was an example of wonderfully synchronized team work.

• The feeling of doing the exhibition in the community was very different, as it was we, the Shikshamitra teachers, who were the outsiders. The insiders were our student community, their mothers, Kishore and his associates from the club. We were comfortably assisting them to make the show a success. They knew every nook and corner and were climbing and crouching everywhere to make the place look its very best. We tried hard to sense the pulse of the community – adding exhibits or canceling some.

• Although the program was intended to start at 2 p.m. we found that we had started a couple of hours early! In a happening community such as this, one cannot restrict children and adults. They just walked in when they got the time!

• From morning, adults and children queried about the Sit and Draw Corner, which they were very familiar with from previous events we have put on. We warned them, with our usual mottoe, that there would be “no prizes because everyone is a winner.” Groups of children in all sizes used the colours and drew til their hearts’ content with family members and friends urging them to do well. The show was staffed by our students, Samrat and Boloram, and teachers Biswajit and Mousumi. Simultaneously, children thronged together to shape things out of clay. Doing the artwork was contagious. Adults, men, and women tried their hand at claywork and some of their pieces were rather original. Mohon, Shantanu, and Shiladitya supervised. The pieces were all put on display and people seemed proud.

• The show was stolen by the enthusisasm shown by all the young readers. They were glued to the library book display we had set out. Colourful books, with 2-4 lines per page, were chosen on purpose. There were also some more difficult ones out. The sheer colour and simplicity of these books stole their young hearts. The attraction was that they could read easily, loudly and move on to the next one quickly. A small child (4-5 years) simply hugged a book, feeling it, and then … even smelling the book too!! Older children (13-14) also refused to leave the books. Children rushed in, dragging their parents and grandparents along. They had come with money. They wanted to buy the books. How dismayed they were when we told them that these were our library books and not for sale! We all knew what the next step would be –starting a weekly library at the club premises!

Many enquired about the school, as they gazed into the charts. Volunteers like Shantanu, Sajahan, Ador, Rohit and even little Neha, did a great job managing the people, especially all the rowdy children. Photographs displayed (from our interesting science classes and our vibrant E.V.S. classes at school) drew many visitors. It was a learning experience for us all. A community exhibition needs more hands-on displays, many more photographs and less written materials. Shikshamitra put up a mime show, dance performance and storytelling at the end of the show – compiled by Bickey, from our upper class.

It took us just about a half hour to dismantle the show – once again, teamwork at its best. By 6:30 pm, we were back at school with everything. Enjoying the evening snack, we called it a day just around 7:15 pm – a super success by all means .

Sudeshna Sinha

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

2008-12-15T19:33:00.005+05:30

We had been dreaming about this exhibition for a long time. We wanted it to be held in our school or in the neighborhood – for parents, friends, well-wishers, teachers, anyone interested in seeing...something different. We wanted to show how at Shikshamitra, drawing, painting, sewing, stitching, doing claywork, book binding, various other crafts, watching art, listening to music, singing, theatre, dancing, watching and analyzing films was all just part of our daily classes. Art is everywhere, all the time, with any subject. And it involves the maximum recycling of used and waste materials.

Eventually it was decided that it would be held on 12 and 13 December (Friday & Saturday) in the school. For two weeks, all the teachers and students, and especially Sudeshna and Maura, were extremely busy. They needed to select pieces from the last three and half years of work, write labels, and think about How? What? Where? to display these. Some grungy looking walls had to be painted. An invitation letter and envelope designed by students out of used brochures had to be sent out in both hard and soft copies; numerous phone calls had to be made. Most of these preparations were being done while normal school sessions were going on. The last two days, 10 and 11 December, were really hectic with the teachers and students doing the final selections, and Maura just starting to put into shape what was till then only in her head. There was also some “damage” done, when Biswajit stepped on Sipra’s toe in the ensuing melee and it actually wound up broken! Sipra cried for not being able to attend the exhibition. Students did some last minute “touch up” jobs and the teachers designed a bilingual leaflet. It was touch and go as displays were finally completed at 8:45 pm on the evening of the 11th in all the five rooms; duties were assigned to students and teachers; and everyone went home excitedly tired.

For the inauguration we invited the local Chetla Ward Commissioner, Bobby Hakim. Instead of the usual flowers and singing, with the lighting of an oil lamp and cutting the string, we first asked him to have a look at the whole school. He was taken aback when we then asked him to do a drawing on a piece of paper for us. He drew a man’s figure holding up the Indian flag and wrote, “We are all equal.” Seeing this, our student, Shajahan, cheekily whispered, “this is not right; one has to add “un” before equal!” This set the tone of the exhibition – with most of the visitors over the next three days being pleasantly surprised at the originality of the children’s comments, stories, compositions, drawings, etc. Mr. Hakim also mentioned that he would like to see if Shikshamitra’s talents and expertise could be utilized in the government schools in the ward, which is certainly something for us to follow up on.

Some of the many highlights of the exhibition included:
● The mystical song, Gharer Bhetore Ghar, by the group Mokaam.
● The story of a fight between the moon and the sun.
● Illustrated renderings of the Maori film, Whale Rider
● A chart showing how to do various kinds of book binding.
● A sales display of colourful, hand-bound diaries in various sizes made by the book binding group (more than Rs. 1000 worth of diaries were sold)
● Vibrant paper masks made from papier mache.
● Two posters that we have printed and are selling as a classroom teaching-learning material: one has a quotation by Picasso and another tells a famous Cherokee tale in ENglish that has been interpreted in Bengali by our student, Anita.
● Creative Math activity sheets.
● A colourful time-line of major life happenings made by a girl student.
● A book on the history of the school’s neighbourhood (Chetla) written by the senior students and their teacher, Sandip Bandopadhyay, and now being used as a guiding text by other students.
● Art Switch murals: a colourful square collage made by many children using pencil, paint, and various interesting waste materials, etc.
● The children’s own English storybooks made after listening to Red Riding Hood. These were re-written in their own words, typed and printed out, then pasted into booklets with their own illustrations.
● Bengali storybooks where children have written and stored their own book reviews in pockets fitted into the inside of the cover
● Bengali versions of English stories that were narrated by the teacher in class
● A précis of the film, Children of Heaven, made by the whole class together, with illustrations by each of the children.
● Tagore’s Katakuti (where the cross-outs and corrections made while composing a poem are joined together to form a design). In the same style, children tried their own such Katakuti.
● Children’s drawings and comments on how they perceive Tagore’s activities and predicament.
● Clay ornaments made by the children
● A drawing based on Kabir Suman’s song, Ekii Thalae Charte Ruti, on how war declared by leaders forces neighboring friends to shoot and kill each other.
● Reports written by senior students in English on a visit to a local kiln and on the visit by a doctor to Shikshamitra
● Chart showing the various uses of maps
● Various quotes by children were mounted onto matching pictures drawn and painted by them
● One of the most attractive things, right at the entrance to the school, was the big board with children’s quotes on the relevance of art in school.

There were so many more such items that it is difficult to describe them all...

There were also two activity corners. In one room visitors who felt inspired by the exhibition were free to do their own drawings/paintings. Many parents participated in this. In another corner, people could throw a colour-dipped ball at a large sheet of paper that had a dark black outline on it. By hurling the ball, they “painted” the various large pictures! New designs were put up as soon as one outline was full of colour. Not just children (many friends of our students came to the event), but many adult visitors also thoroughly enjoyed this activity.

The children put up short performances of two dances and a small skit several times on 12th and 13th when a good number of visitors had gathered. In our library. Malasree, Nandita and Poonam were in charge of selling Shikshamitra products. In the staff room, Sujata and one student, Dolly were in charge of serving tea and cakes/biscuits supplied by Maura. Biswajit, Sudeshna and Maura were all over the place. Payel was welcoming the visitors and getting their comments; Maushumi looked after the kitchen and did all of the local invitations.

The exhibitions were open from 3:00 -7:00 pm on the 12th and 13th. An announcement ran in The Telegraph on three consecutive days (11-12-13), and several people came after seeing the paper. On the 13th, many visitors started calling up their friends to tell them about the show, and they then started requesting Sudeshna to keep it open on Sunday (the 14th) as well. The teachers were exhausted but as usual, the students were quite willing so on the 14th, (Sunday) the exhibition was held from 2:00 – 6:00 pm. Even now, some more people are asking to see it before it is dismantled so we have made a decision to have the exhibits remain up through this week, till 19 December (Friday).

In most cases, it was the students who were on duty in the various rooms who were explaining the exhibits to all the visitors. Apart from the usual “good” performers, the normally more reticent girls also did a marvelous job explaining the work. It was the teachers from other schools and organizations who were the most excited. Kirsty and her teachers from Suchana, a village school in Birbhum (near Santiniketan) took detailed notes. Alokenanda from Shamil detained us till the end and had to be pushed out at 7 pm on Sunday! Education researcher, Manabi Majumdar, from CSSSC spent a lot of time at the exhibition, and said she would write notes after going home. Swati, from Learning Network, came on the first day and sent her mother and others on Saturday. Professor Subhendu Dasgupta not only read and spoke to the children in great detail, but also pointed out to other visitors what to look for and what to read. Senior teacher, Madhuchanda, from Future Foundation (one of Kolkata’s leading innovative schools) was amazed at the quality and diversity of work, and also the creativity of the teachers. She commented that even in her school this kind of commitment and output was not possible. Our friend, Soumya Chakraborty, was shown around by the petite-sized Pradeep Giri. When they came to the “Drawing Room,” and Soumya playfully asked what he would gain by drawing something here. After a few seconds, Pradip replied that, “you will go back to your childhood.” Shravan, of AID –Austin, landed up and after seeing everything in detail said that he might come again to buy the greeting cards made by the children. Laltu, visiting from Hyderabad, dropped in on the first day and gave many pointers ( he has been associated for many years with Eklavya and other such creative children’s ventures). Many people wanted a copy of the book, A History of Chetla. Zul Kalam of Swanirvar Rural came and wanted this exhibition to be taken to the village for people there to see. To this our student Shajahan commented that this will not be effective as it will needlessly produce jealousy. Instead, he suggested that Shikshamitra teachers and students should hold a two-day workshop for rural teachers and students so that they can come up with somewhat similar outputs. And at the end, there should be an exhibition of those outputs! Our first art teacher, Atreyee, who now lives in Pune, also dropped in briefly; as did ex-teacher, Ankur, with some of his friends. He sent some others the next day. Police Divisional Commissioner of South Kolkata, Mr. Subbarao, spent quite some time looking at the show. The local Police Station Officer in charge also came in at the same time (coincidentally); and so did our house owner, Arup Mitra (a professor at St. Xaviers College), and his wife, who offered to teach activity-oriented Botany and Zoology to the children. Maura’s husband, Gautam, came and entertained the children with small magic tricks. Anshuman and Malini were so happy that they called and asked DRCSC staff to come over immediately. There were many other visitors and some of the exchanges were quite interesting.

Our film teacher, Moupia and her filmmaker husband, Shankho, have taken many still and video pictures. We will soon make suitable docu-materials from these. Many have asked us to quickly come up with booklets that assemble all this work to show the detailed process and outputs for the benefit of teachers regarding how to do integrated teaching in "Art in Education."

- Sujit

You are all invited!

2008-12-08T20:52:00.002+05:30

Shikshamitra will be holding an exhibition of the children's schoolwork this coming Friday and Saturday. We look forward to seeing you there!

Materials FOR kids can also be BY kids

2008-10-17T10:21:00.005+05:30

To be sure that the teaching materials you are using are appealing to the children you are teaching, why not ask your students to help you make them? The other day. we made verb flashcards for English but these can also be used for Bengali classes, etc. Activities such as this are a nice way to move away from teacher-centered classrooms where the teacher is only passing on information in a one-way stream. We noticed that the children had a good understanding of all the words after the session.

Art exam

2008-10-04T18:47:00.003+05:30

The art exam at Shikshamitra had two parts. The first part was written. The children first listened to a short story about the life of Picasso and then were asked to think about and then write down in Bengali what they felt was the meaning of the quote,
"Every child is born and artist. The problem is how to remain an artist as an adult."

After that they had to work in small groups and develop a theme using cloth as their medium this time. We reminded them that use of the materials and theme development were equally important as how well they worked in a group, managed time, and put away things at the end. When all the groups were finished we sat in a circle and talked about the experience. This discussion revealed a lot about each of the final pieces. Many of the kids still feel they want to add to their pieces so we will pull these works in progress out again.

WALL NEWSPAPER

2008-09-29T06:06:00.005+05:30

Every once in a while after there has been a flurry of activity at our school, it becomes time to create a wall newspaper. Children write reports on different "happenings" going on in their daily lives and these are decorated and glued onto one large chart paper which is put up on the wall for everyone to read and comment on.

To give you an example of the kinds of things that our students write about we have translated some of the wall newspaper articles into English:

Long Hair or School?
by Shantanu Naskar

One day I decided to leave school. The first thing I did was to grow my hair out. A few days later, I was passing by school. I saw Auntie standing outside. I thought Auntie would say something to me. She did not. I felt so down. I went off to have my hair cut. The next day, I went back to school.

Ranna Pujo
By Anita Sardar

I entered the room and found everyone cleaning utensils, with color all over the room. I asked an aunt, “What’s going on? Why is there color all over the room?” She replied, “We are going to celebrate Ranna Pujo, that is why there is color all over.”
I went to my room and fell back to sleep. It was already 7:00 when I woke up. Outside my room, I found everybody had started to cook. I wanted to stay awake all night. I asked my mother’s permission and she said, “No.” I asked my father, and he said, “Yes.”

Children Get Rowdy at Shikshamitra
By Rohit Naskar

For the past two weeks children have been out of hand at Shikshamitra. Who are the troublemakers? It has been the Juniors VS. the Seniors all along. It's like India VS. Pakistan. Boro Auntie is the umpire. When Juniors say something, the Seniors have some comment. When Seniors say something, the Juniors are ready with a snide reply...at least they try to. Sometimes they are unable to. It was like a game of cricket going on until Boro Auntie, the Head Umpire, called, "OUT!" on Saturday. The umpire called a meeting with the Seniors to say, "You are cooking up so much trouble. Don't you know that the Junior students are looking and learning from you?" The Seniors admitted their mistakes and promised to stop the fighting. The Head Umpire said I am going to watch you closely this coming week, now..."Go play ball!"

Shikshamitra Gift Shop

2008-08-30T19:24:00.003+05:30

Did you know that Shikshamitra now has a small gift shop that is stocked with items made in the Learn and Earn Project? Some of our most popular items are the hand-stitched coasters, the eco-tote bags with brightly painted and stitched patches on front, unique terracotta ornaments, and our latest hand-bound diaries! If you visit, be sure to have a look. Many of the products make nice gift items. We hope to expand the space a bit so that we can help to sell some products for other like-minded organizations as well.

SUNSHINE ON THEIR PAINTBRUSHES!

2008-08-20T09:40:00.006+05:30

We are deep in the midst of the monsoon season here in Kolkata.

Upon seeing the wall paintings that Shikshamitra art students did on our principal's walls at her home, a well wisher made a request for posters to be painted for framing. The posters would be for a new baby's room – the theme was Sun, after the baby's name.

I liked the idea of bringing the sunshine into our class on this particularly dark day.

I chose square paper since we have never really used this shape before and it had a certain appeal and would be nice for framing. With the help of Sudeshna, I introduced the task and the theme, briefly, so as not to cap up any possible inspirations. Once the materials were set out and paper was in hand, I put on Beethoven's Greatest Hits and let the kids take it away:

- Maura

Kalighat Bridge Clay Workers Studio

2008-08-04T06:13:00.004+05:30

Last week during our clay class period we walked to the Kalighat Bridge Clay Workers Studio to see where the ornaments, lockets and tiles we have been working on are fired.

Sajahan wrote a report on this trip in English:

We went to bharty in Gopalnagar.
We went on 29th July.
We left at 12 O’clock in the morning.
We walked to bharty from Shikshamitra.
We took 20 minutes reach to bharty.
We went with Nandita Aunty, Maura Aunty and Daniela Aunty.
We went to see clay wheel and cups
We see how did make those cups burn.
Mohan-sir helps to us.
If there not come to Mohan-sir then we did not see that, because
Mohan-sir and potter are friends.
Thank you Mohan-sir.

I think our photos tell the story of this outing. There are so many of these little bhar tea cups around us in our daily lives – and it was nice to see that behind each one, is a person with two skilled hands. As for anything, it is important to attach a face, and make the connections between the maker and the objects we use everyday, often without giving them much thought. I think that's mainly what the students got out of this wonderful local excursion.

- Maura

VISIT FROM DR. SUMITA BASU

2008-07-25T09:32:00.004+05:30

Boloram, Dr. Basu, Bikey, Daniela

Bikey wrote a short report in English on yesterday's health discussion:

Doctor Aunty’s Visit
24 July, 2008

By Bikey

Doctor Aunty said about our body. She teach us about care of body. She said to ask our parents to help us drink good water. The first step is care of our body. One more step is to eat good food. Wash hands with soap.

Then she talk of body organs. She teach how our body works. How beautiful is our body. How beautiful god gave us body. The heart is our body’s pump. Food is important for us. It is energy. Then she tell us digestive system.

We talk about diseases. We can help when diarrhea. We drink water, sugar, salt. Malaria does not go away. We go to doctor then. We eat medicine.

We asked questions about smoking and drinking. Companies take rupees but our body goes bad.

We first love ourselves, our bodies. Give respect. Then, responsibility to tell our parents.

We go to school. We learn love our bodies, our minds. We get good health.

Next time we get health check-up and see her tools.

TRAINING TO TEACHERS OF PRAAJAK

2008-07-25T08:59:00.006+05:30

July 10 -13, 2008

Praajak is an NGO working with railway platform children who asked us for assistance with teacher training. We organized a session that proved to be rather noteworthy for both sides. Shikshamitra feels that this is strength we can build upon in order to reach more children and address the fact that hands-on, independent-style learning is lacking in many of the curriculums being developed for marginalized children.

This was essentially a new experience for Shikshamitra. Prior visits to platform shelters of Praajak at Kharagpur and Malda gave us some insight into the program being tried there. We felt that the teachers needed: (a) some basic pedagogic concepts; (b) to develop basic reading/writing teaching skills; (c) to learn HOW to develop interesting materials; (d) to learn how to display them well; and (e) to manage multiple ability groups. With all these factors carefully noted, we designed the four-day workshop that was held right at Shikshamitra.

Summary/Highlights of the workshop
• 8 Praajak teachers and 3 Shikshamitra teachers participated in the workshop.
• The profiles, attitudes and habits of the platform children were written down. Based on that the content, methods, and management techniques of a classroom were decided. Emphasis was placed on “what a child could learn in very short teaching-learning slots.”
• Sessions on Reading, Writing and Text Creation were conducted. The children’s own writings are used as texts and activities are developed around them.
• A day of basic Maths with diversified activities created around the basic operations was also conducted.
• On the final day, participants chalked out a monthly programme.

Although most of the teachers had never been exposed to the pedagogic concepts and skill development techniques being introduced, they were able to pick up the ideas quickly and were soon able to develop their own texts with activities for further learning. They took the material being shown seriously and within 10 days of the workshop they developed many of their own new materials. They submitted a two-week work plan. Two of the participants, along with the Coordinator came over to show the materials they developed based on the workshop and to clarify a number of doubts they had. We were impressed with how they utilized the concepts we explained and incorporated them into a plan for their own particular students.

We realize that as far as pedagogy is concerned, Shikshamitra’s involvement needs to be long-term, continuing upon this first four-day workshop. Shikshamitra staff will soon need to visit the platforms and assist in some class transactions in order to build up teacher capacity and confidence. So all in all, we have started a good relationship for more community outreach and we all feel a bit more empowered to do it together.

-Sudeshna

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR COMPUTER STUDENTS

2008-07-08T06:44:00.005+05:30

INTEL launched a competition for students and teachers on the theme 21st Century Skills. Students were asked to develop Powerpoint Presentations on some suitable topic. All the students (12 students) who are taking Shikshamitra's Advanced Computer classes participated in the Intel challenge and we are very proud to announce that two of our students took home prizes in the student segment:

Ms. Khairun Nisha for her project on A Healthy Diet

Sonia Khatoon for her project on our locality, Chetla

They received their prizes on in a state level seminar on 21st Century Skills at Jadavpur Indumati SabhaGriha in the presence of some great educationalists and other people from varied backgrounds.

We are very proud of all of our computer students!! This encourages us to continue to expand the computer program as we also try to develop new, motivational ways for teaching.

- Shankar

Reaching Out on Sunday

2008-07-05T11:52:00.006+05:30

For a change of pace, we held a very informal Sunday Drawing & Writing Workshop on 22nd June from 10:30am to 12:30 pm for local community members to get to know a little bit more about our school and what we believe. There was one hour for Sudeshna’s writing corner and one hour for Maura’s art corner. There were 33 participants from five different local neighbourhood clubs. Though we invited eight clubs we got response from only five. All participants were school-goers, most in the age group of 10-15. We were surprised that three of our participants were less than nine years old, one who is in Class 1 and two from Class II.

In the Writing Corner, they were asked to write and draw whatever comes to mind after listening to a song. As they were not accustomed to this kind of exercise, it took a few minutes to actually realize what was happening. After a bit of time warming up, some of them did really well.

In the Drawing Corner they did one of our popular art exercises, known as Art Switch, which also appeared to be a new concept to them because there was no given theme or expectation of what they should put on the paper or create. The first group went wild and jumped into the spirit of the exercise, while the next group didn't grasp the flow so easily. We realized that it is important to conduct follow-up workshops if we want to unlock the creativity in the room!

We asked for feedback from the club secretaries as well as from the parents who were present, and this revealed that what took place was totally a new concept to them. They praised the group efforts involved in it. We had suggestions for the future, that this be a 2-3 workshop or that we offer dance workshops. Ms. Soma Dhar, who runs a coaching class, wanted to have a teachers’ workshop to gain the inputs of teaching from the trainers at Shikshamitra. She commented that she, “would like to put these kind of inputs into her own teaching at the coaching centre.”

There were a few parents who were not as happy because they were expecting their children to go home with some prizes, as is the case in most of the conventional “drawing competitions” held at schools. Here, we wanted the focus to be that everyone adds to the fun, and everyone was treated equally – so we had a lot of winners, and no losers! We tried to steer their mindset away from the idea of a competition, explaining that this is a workshop where participation counts. This was totally different from what they were accustomed to.

In the end, we also collected feedback from the participants and they seemed to go home quite happy. Mr. Sukhendu Santra, who used to work at Shikshamitra as a social worker and knows the children in the community very personally, handed out the certificates and a gift – a beautifully hand-decorated packet that included a book of Bengali stories created by the students of Shikshamitra – to the proud, if not somewhat magically perplexed, participants.

- shankar

AN AMERICAN "TWIST"

2008-07-01T08:34:00.012+05:30

On a very dreary Monday morning, students of Shikshamitra welcomed students from The Dwight School in New York City, USA. These Dwight students were visiting Kolkata in an exchange program organized in collaboration with Calcutta International School. They came with a big black rolling suitcase that, over the course of the fun-filled morning, gradually became a lot lighter.

The morning started out a bit quiet as we went around the room and all introduced ourselves. We sat in a circle looking at each other and feeling a bit shy, perhaps -- but the Dwight coordinators, Ellen and Libby wasted no time in breaking the ice. They soon made three games of that old American favorite "stocking feet game," TWISTER, appear out of their magic black bag! We broke into three groups and got started! Then they started picking the top players from each group for a show-off that really got everyone into the spirit. It was good, healthy competition at its best, and all for fun!

Next, our students put on two exciting dance performances, a mime skit about how money talks, and one drama that the students dreampt up about one poor old Bengali man being tormented by a fly and a mosquito! These drew great applause from our very receptive audience. It was time to break for tea and biscuits.

Following our break time, we tried a project with solarization where you put objects onto photographic paper and expose it to sunlight, of which there was none to speak of. No matter - because we had a great time arranging objects and making friendship bracelets for each other out of colorful pipe cleaners, that also appeared out of the bag at some point in the course of the morning. The "special paper" was left with us and on the next sunny day, you can be sure it will be experimented with again. It is wonderful how bringing out craft materials can really bring people together, kids starting talking to one another, helping each other arrange the objects, cutting out shapes for each other and drawing pictures together.

Lastly, out of the big black bag came beautiful t-shirts that The Dwight School group had made for Shikshamitra students. We cannot begin to thank them for such a practical and useful gift. We have decided to "keep these for good" to be used when we go for outings or as representatives of our school to other NGOs. We will share the Twister game and all the silliness it mysteriously is known to unlock, with other people in the community as well.

At the very end, after adult supervisors had repeatedly yelled out, "really, we have to go, get ready....," just right after our big group photo, we all broke into song...

You are my sunshine,
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take
My sunshine away....

I'm sure a lot of nice exchanges were made and we hope that we can continue this link with our new friends in the future! We wish to say a big thank you to all the Dwight students for coming, and for taking an interest in our school. It is encouraging to all of us. After all the excitement of the day, we had a very special goodbye at Shikshamitra – with every child quietly settling down into meditation and after being tapped on the shoulder, leaving for home, one by one in complete silence...no doubt with thoughts of all that happened at school and sunshine in their hearts!

-maura

Back in Business

2008-06-28T07:32:00.004+05:30

Following a long break, we got back into the groove of designing fabric patches for our most popular Learn & Earn product, eco-friendly cloth tote bags. Shikshamitra students had strong ideas about what they wanted to put down and we already started discussing how stitching into the designs they painted can enhance their designs. It's been a long time since we worked on these and we all felt a surge of creative energy!

Field Trip to the Village

2008-05-17T16:24:00.002+05:30

Our students wrote nice reports in English on our recent school field trip to visit our umbrella organization, Swanirvar, also working to develop alternative education in the rural areas of West Bengal:

Our Trip to Swanirvar

We went to Swanirvar on 25th April.

We left at 6 o'clock in the morning.

First we took taxi for Sealdah from Shikshamitra.

Then we took train to Maslandpur.

Then we took trekker to Swanirvar in Adhar Manik.

It took 3 hours to reach Swanirvar.

We saw the Ichhamati river, mango trees, and lot of greenery.

We played football.

We went swimming in the pond.

We taught the students of Swanirvar wall painting/

I liked the mango trees and the Ichhamati River.

I disliked the power cut.

We enjoyed the trip.

-- Shahjahan A.

2008-05-17T15:55:00.000+05:30

Welcome to our blog!

While going through the reports we have compiled over the past three year period, we came up with the idea of starting a blog which will highlight some of the activities, learnings, and hurdles we have come across as educators dedicated to developing a new, more holistic school model here in urban India. It is our hope that we can develop some form of alternative learning project to fill the void in the existing formal education system offered to marginalized people in our city. We do not just mean "the poor," but all those students who may learn in different ways, and will not necessarily go into an academic occupation. We firmly recognize the changing conditions and needs of the country's younger population who, upon completion of their schooling, need to think independently and creatively devise a means of living through labor, crafts, or other options.

Instead of posting a long, drawn out diary of our past, we say hello from right where we stand now. We hope to introduce the ups and downs of trying to make this model work, as well as introduce the people involved: through the accomplishments, excitements, and yes, even the daily difficulties of our students and teachers who want to make an honest attempt to move in a new direction, avoiding the mainstream, rote-learning systems of current education.