I was an above average student in school. Ah! why be modest? I prided myself on being part of the cream layer in my schooling batch. I won a seat in the best college in my city and took up subjects of my choice. As I slowly progressed into my degree obtaining years, my will, interest and keenness to study were burnt out. I began unschooling myself at that point, without, of course realising it at that time. You will never realise it while it's happening, only in retrospect do you see life events for what they were.
Its amazes me that what you remember eventually is only what you felt at the time- the moments, the specifics of the experience all fade out of memory, only the haunting feelings remain. These come back in a knife edged manner, stinging the heart and soul even today- feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, dissent, dissatisfaction, dismay, disquiet, restlessness and disillusionment.
These were omens- of a change I was beginning to make- slowly but surely- of unschooling myself.
My unschooling began when I realised that college couldn't teach me what i wanted to learn. The teachers were incapable of helping me. It started with searching for what drove me- experimenting with various roles and figuring out my true passion/s. Instead of attending college full time- I began to work-
My reputation grew in these circles, and somehow the initial schooling helped me ace my college classes as well. I developed skills such as photography, public speaking, presentatation, collaboration, innovation, critical thinking and problem solving- Skills that no formal education had ever been able to impart to me.
I went ahead an completed a master's program in biodiversity and conservation and cocooned myself in the world of research and education for 6 years thereafter.
And today, I've taken a sabbatical for a couple of years to study independently again- as I had, all those years ago- And what today I am educating myself on- is alternative methods of learning- with an aim to set up my own un-schooling alternative education institute in the near future.
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Its amazes me that what you remember eventually is only what you felt at the time- the moments, the specifics of the experience all fade out of memory, only the haunting feelings remain. These come back in a knife edged manner, stinging the heart and soul even today- feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, dissent, dissatisfaction, dismay, disquiet, restlessness and disillusionment.
These were omens- of a change I was beginning to make- slowly but surely- of unschooling myself.
My unschooling began when I realised that college couldn't teach me what i wanted to learn. The teachers were incapable of helping me. It started with searching for what drove me- experimenting with various roles and figuring out my true passion/s. Instead of attending college full time- I began to work-
- With NGOs supporting social causes related to the environment, education, child rights, disaster management;
- Spent the vacations interning with hospitals, labs and industries;
- And using any spare day to take out camping trips exploring the wilderness, working with children, corporates, families, educational institutes and government officials.
My reputation grew in these circles, and somehow the initial schooling helped me ace my college classes as well. I developed skills such as photography, public speaking, presentatation, collaboration, innovation, critical thinking and problem solving- Skills that no formal education had ever been able to impart to me.
I went ahead an completed a master's program in biodiversity and conservation and cocooned myself in the world of research and education for 6 years thereafter.
And today, I've taken a sabbatical for a couple of years to study independently again- as I had, all those years ago- And what today I am educating myself on- is alternative methods of learning- with an aim to set up my own un-schooling alternative education institute in the near future.
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The biggest challenge of education is preparing children for jobs
of tomorrow in a fast changing world of today.
So what is UNSCHOOLING and why choose to do it?
Unschooling is a learner curiosity driven process in which the
classroom is life and the medium of learning is experience, reading,
experimenting, discussing and debating. The process of unschooling is dynamic,
in the sense it changes direction and focus with developing and altering
questions. The learner develops the skill to think and question, criticize and
search for possible explanations. There are no time lines to follow, nor any
instructions laid out in advance. The learner may learn at his/her own pace and
needn't use any one set pattern/method of learning. He/ She may learn whatever
interests him/her, with no set syllabus to follow.
Unschooling teaches the learner how to learn and teach himself-
which is the biggest lesson in itself
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