Mrs. Kiran Bir
Sethi
One day before his final exams, a typical Indian
student will sit down hard at work trying to memorize pages of notes that he
never quite understood in the first place. With the massively prevalent
education system disallowing independence of thought and emphasizing on pure
facts and cramming over understanding, that is, quite often, the common
scenario. And with every year that goes by, the children become duller and duller,
forcing them through a seven hour routine filled with un-enthusiasm, lethargy,
and monotony. For them, this pressurizing, dreary situation is normal.
The traditional ways of teaching are considered
absolute, and there is little scope for an independent learning environment. Children’s
thoughts and ideas are rejected outright without the slightest bit of
consideration. For ninety nine out of a hundred, education is grades, reports,
and a 90%. Children are stifled, and independent, comfortable learning, freedom
of thought, and creativity is all but nonexistent, and directed toward a stiff,
preordained path that every child is expected to follow unquestioningly.
However, even within this moribund, declining
education system, change is budding, and spreading. With the efforts and work
of mavericks like Mrs. Kiran Bir Sethi, this stagnant, inflexible style of
teaching is evolving.
Born and brought up in Bangalore,
Kiran’s parents had a significant influence on her life. Her mother, Asha Bir,
was one of her earliest role models and her father, Raghbir Singh Bir, ignited
her then nascent interest in design. Two of her greatest sources of
inspiration, Kiran’s parents motivated her to take the same career path.
During her visit to Italy, she came
across a place called Reggio Emilia. The city had its own approach towards
education, with the entire community taking responsibility for the education of
their children while believing in their ability to think independently. They
also believed in giving a child the freedom to shape its own identity, and
explore itself and its surroundings to its heart’s content. Creative,
innovative, and unique, this approach contrasted sharply with what Kiran had
seen at her son’s school.
When Kiran’s five and half year old son, Raag,
started going to school, she discovered, to her dismayed surprise, that teachers
were demotivating and discouraging their students. Children were repeatedly
told that they ‘could not’ do several things, and reprimanded if they attempted
to explore or learn something on their own. In addition, they were made to
think competitively and vie for marks and academic achievements. Stifled under
an iron-tight fist, children were disheartened and cognitively handicapped, to
the point where eight to nine year-olds were still struggling to confront any
unfamiliar task given to them. When she realized this, Kiran concluded that the
existing system was flawed, and destroying the innate potential of children. Parental
expectations and pressure, coupled with a competitive mindset and the threat of
punishment, was ruining the inherently playful attitude of children, and making
them afraid and shy of taking risks.
Kiran decided to find another school for her
son; one that she hoped would teach in a freer way, but she could not find any
that satisfied her requirements. Most parents, upon finding that there wasn’t a
school that matched up to their ideals in their city, would simply opt to stick
to the school their child was already enrolled in. Kiran, on the other hand, took
matters in her own hands. She created a completely new learning centre that
followed a completely new education system- one that was exploration-oriented,
emphasized on free, independent learning, and supported creativity and nurtured
innovation: The Riverside School.
With Kiran believing in a literally- open
learning environment, the students of Riverside spend more than a third of
their time outside the school walls, going for nature walks or going exploring
or even simply sitting on a log and having a lesson in a classroom of trees. With
their classes remaining open-ended, without any set conclusion being doled out,
the children are free to decide what to take away from their lessons. Aside
from whatever they learn from the lesson itself, this practice allows them to
learn to think for themselves, without becoming dependent on someone else’s
thoughts. Because of this, the children become optimistic, confident, and
self-assured, tackling never-before-seen problems and uncertain situations with
glee, delight, and excitement. The students are allowed to lead, both inside
and outside school, and are sometime left to their own devices while their
teachers take a backseat.
Most Indian schools follow ‘periods,’ a concept
where each lesson, regardless of subject or topic, is limited to a pre-decided
time. However, Riverside did away with the idea entirely. Instead of settling
for a time limit, the length of classes in Riverside is decided a day earlier
by the teachers depending on the subject that is being taught, or whether a new
topic or unit is being introduced for the first time. Therefore, every lesson
is taught for an optimal time, one that is best-suited for the students, the
teachers, and the lesson itself.
Aside from the regular, day-to-day classes,
Riverside’s teaching approach is not restricted to lessons. To give a whole,
complete education, one focuses as much on being a good human being as a good
achiever, Riverside emphasizes as much on attitude and community service –with
the Citizenship and Persistence programs- as on skills and academics. To give
the students a chance to showcase and test the skills they accrue over the
school year, the students are often client projects, tasks, and challenges that
range from designing home-made water filter to organising a sports day or even
to the writing of this very article. Everyone has different strengths and
skill-sets. By encouraging and pushing a child to participate in different
events and activities, one can give them various opportunities to recognize and
nurture their individual skills and abilities, and train their particular field
of excellence.
Apart from pushing them, these projects also
give them the satisfaction of having their work approved and employed. The
seventh grade students of Riverside were given a client project by the manager
of the Vastrapur Lake Park to design trash bins to ensure that the park becomes
clean. The third graders were asked to design an itinerary for Ahmedabad that
emphasized on the city’s heritage, its most acclaimed and famous sites as well
as ideal rest stops and restaurants. Likewise, tenth graders studying Business
Studies designed a new ice cream flavour, deciding on a price and developing a
marketing strategy to create a detailed and comprehensive proposal that was
accepted by Pradeep Chona, the Marketing Director of Havmor. These projects
provide platforms for the students to utilize their skills and theoretical
knowledge, emphasizing on practicality and execution.
With Riverside, Kiran noticed that children are
closely connected to their environment, and love to stay out playing as long as
they can. However, with industrialization and urbanization, the environment is
no longer safe for children to play in.
Once again trying to alter an unsatisfactory
situation, she founded an initiative called ‘aProCh: a Protagonist in every
Child,’ in 2007. aProCh’s aim is to work for
the children, with the children,
addressing their needs and wants by including them in every step of the
process. Slowly, the initiative’s success grew to the point where it became
manifest in child friendly zebra crossings and an event called ‘Street Smart,’
wherein an entire road is blocked for vehicles and turned into a playground for
children, replete with activities and games. ‘aProCh’s work helped Ahmedabad
acquire the tag of India’s first ‘child friendly city,’ even as it grew to host
many more events from ‘Movie’ing Experience’ to ‘Parents of the Park.’ Of
course, the names are pretty much self-explanatory.
Realizing that children’s thoughts are
undervalued and underestimated in India, Kiran also founded ‘Design for Change’
in 2009, whose primary aim is to encourage children to actively make a change as
well as give them the confidence to do so. Age matters all around the world. It
decides who listen to whom, and plays a part everywhere from jobs and schools
to colleges and homes. However, age does not
play a part in the inherent value of a suggestion or an idea. If a ten year
old or a thirty year old have the same idea, the child’s thought has as much
value as the adult’s. Design for Change’s primary objective is to promote this
concept, and give children that have already made a change in their
surroundings, either from reinventing their school’s image or from defusing
social taboos, the recognition they deserve.
She believes that if anyone wants to make a
difference, they need to be shameless. Instead of needlessly worrying about
society and ‘what everyone else will think,’ you should do what you think is
necessary. On being asked to convey a message, she responded, “Take care of
today and it will take care of tomorrow.” Kiran has always believed that change
cannot be wrought overnight. One has to be persistent, determined, and
perseverant, even when everything explodes in your face. Stay with your idea,
with your passion, and you will succeed.
Primary
Source: Skype Interview of Mrs. Kiran Bir Sethi by Yash Raj conducted on 19th
May 2015.
1. What inspired you, to come up with revolutionary ideas such as Design for
Change and Riverside’s teaching approach? What were the sources of your
inspiration?
It didn’t start with inspiration as
much as desperation. And the source of that
was what my son was going through at his school. My desperation to do
something for my son became my inspiration. However, other than that, my inspiration
would be Mahatma Gandhi. How long he stayed with the idea of freedom, and
achieved it in the end. His tenacity and perseverance inspired me to keep
going.
2.
What challenges did you face, during
both the creation and development of Riverside and Design for Change?
The challenge was stamina, and perseverance. How long
you’re willing to stick with your idea when things don’t work the way you want
them to. Everyone has fantastic ideas, but ideas alone can’t change anything.
It’s your stubbornness, and persistence, and stamina, coupled with the idea
itself that can propagate the change. Sometimes you may struggle, you may
suffer, and you may hit an obstacle every other step you take. Sometimes you’ll
be so tired that you may think your idea is not worth the effort required to
realize it. At those moments of weakness, you simply need to take another look
at what inspired you in the first place, and you will find the strength to keep
moving forward.
3.
What do you think are your strengths?
When did you discover them? How? How did you cultivate them?
I
think my strength is really the ability to stay with the idea I had fifteen
years ago and feel as passionate about it today as I did when I started
Riverside. However, I think my greatest strength is not me, but my teacher team
and the entire Riverside community. They support me continuously and are always
inspiring me, and when I feel tired or worn out, I just have to take a look at
everyone else working as hard as they can to get pumped up again.
4.
What, in your opinion, are qualities
that people need to cultivate to make a difference for others?
I think you need to be shameless. If
you truly want to make a difference, doesn’t worry about what people think. Does
what you think must be done to change what it is you want to change?
5.
Would you like to give us a message?
I think that people are too concerned
with the future to act decisively in the present. I think that if you take care
of today, it will take care of tomorrow.
As per
the interview conducted by Yash Raj, TVRLS and co-authored by Vishwesh Desai,
Riverside School.
Below are references from which the
secondary data is collected on 19th May’2015:
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