Shiskhantar & Swaraj University: Alternative Educational Spaces
Shikshantar Andolan
Located in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India is an “unlearning space” that confronts conventional educational methods. Manish Jain and his wife Vidhi co-founded Shikshantar: the ‘People’s Institute for Rethinking Education and Development’ to challenge existing teaching practises, the current culture of schooling and institutionalized learning.
The aims of the centre are as follows:
1). dismantle the monopoly and hierarchy of formal Education and Development
2). support each human being to self-design their own unique lifelong learning program, with a view towards personal and collective swaraj
3). strengthen diverse informal learning commons and indigenous knowledge systems
(shikshantar.org 2017)
With these goals in mind, they create spaces that encourage individuals and communities to gather, share knowledge and generate dialogue that critiques models of education while also creating sustainable, inclusive and horizontal learning structures. Every social class and race is welcome during their free rotating workshops, saturday Hulchul cafe (slow food and gift culture), or to wander with curiosity and vision into this special place.
Led by a group of varying youth and adults, each individual has a different role -albeit interchangeable- such as: maintaining the outdoor garden, cooking meals, artistic endeavours (mural painting), public sports organizer and coach, film maker, writer connecting with local and trans-local partners and so on. My part in this radical movement was multi-purpose as a writer, gardener and artist. Each day I traveled to various locations in Udaipur working on website content for the first eco-guesthouse in the city, painting dance centres, meeting with philosophy professors or NGOs that bring light bulbs to rural villages. The wealth of information was inspiring and the anarchist library provided me with knowledge to keep me company for days. I felt at home.
Members of the core team, the backbone of the organization, openly expressed their gratitude for Shikshantar because it gave them purpose beyond their homes and jobs. A safe space where they can put their skills to work, help the community (and ultimately the planet) in their quest to rewire the mind of institutionalized learning.
Shikshantar’s emphasis on community has far-reaching effects with initiatives that include: Learning Societies unConference, filmmaking, upcycling workshops (encouraging jugaad innovation), Udaipur as a Learning City, Innovations in Shiksha and so on. All directed by the community, for the community. Self-designed learning that extends knowledge beyond work spaces to the hive mind, accessible by everyone.
To find out more about their upcoming programs check out their website:
http://www.shikshantar.org
Swaraj University
In 2010, Manish Jain co-founded the sister project to Shikshantar, Swaraj University. Designed as a two year programme for youth, without a degree or certification upon completion, it initiates the process of self-learning.
Whereas most conventional universities put the goal on the title you leave with, Swaraj is interested in being a vehicle by which students learn what their passions are and how to go about them outside the context of schooling. Their is no generic curriculum only individualized programs specific to each students needs, skills and dreams.
Speaking with Harsh Mittel, a team member I worked with at Shikshantar and a student or ‘khoji’ at the school, he explains that swaraj means self governance or self rule. And with a focus on apprenticeships, community projects, entrepreneurship and leadership development, the nonlinear structure of the school emphasizes independence. In the first year, students study with aims of self discovery, unearthing their passions and path in life. In the second year, students are asked to create a final presentation. Except it is not a test, but a demonstration by the student who has over the course of two years learned their direction in life and turned it into a “green” business development plan.
Multidisciplinary and under a backdrop of social justice, social innovation and holistic living, topics of study include: organic farming, media and publishing, eco-building, self-healing and zero-waste crafts. Like Shikshantar, Swaraj is a nurturing environment that re-defines processes of learning. Tuition-free, stress-free and collaborative rather than competitive, it focuses on preparing khojis to start their own sustainable ventures in their communities instead of shutting the door behind them after graduation and telling them to find a job in a crumbling economy. It is future orientated, not grade orientated.
The 15 acre campus is located in an isolated scenic valley between two mountain ranges at Tapovan ashram and it can be reached by bus from Udaipur, followed by a gloriously unsatisfying hike through a desert landscape. But beyond tumbleweed and dry cracked lips is a sort of pedagogical nucleus. Mentors teaching students in the garden, an outdoor classroom made of clay, students debating philosophical concepts and an open discussion panel facing the mountain range. It is not the stressful, fast-paced atmosphere of atypical post-secondary schools; learning is being done because it’s desired, not because it’s forced.
You can find more information at swarajuniversity.org but only by visiting the place can you feel the dynamic energy and warmth of everyone wearing a smile and a gentle demeanour. A radical way of learning and a radical way of being.
