LIFE is the Best Education
 

The purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life - by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The students have to learn to think, to understand, to integrate, to  prove and  to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by their own effort. The training needed is conceptual     ~ Ayn Rand

What is the meaning of education? 

Webster defines education as the process of educating or teaching. Educate is further defined as “to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of...” Thus, from these definitions, we might assume that the purpose of education is to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of students. Unfortunately, this definition offers little unless we further define words such as develop, knowledge, and character. 

Once one gets beyond a dictionary definition—a meaning that is often of little practical value—the meaning we assign to a word is a belief, not an absolute fact.

The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think—rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.~ Bill Beattie

True education is not derived from nor does it depend upon books. It should lead to development of the mind, body and soul. It should also take into consideration the social, cultural, religious and the political dimensions.

Education should be a beautiful blend of Craft, Art, Health and education and cover the whole education of the individual. Instead of regarding craft & industry as different from education, I will regard the former as the medium for the latter– Gandhiji

Ideally,the school curriculum should focus not only on cognitive domain but also on other pedagogical aspects such as appreciation – appreciation for the arts and crafts, music and dance, trees and plants, birds and animals, rain and water,  traditional ways of managing and caring for our natural resources, the varieties of “unknown” culinary delights  and customs and traditions as the physical, natural, cultural  and social environment are domains of children’s life. What kind of curricular framework does it entail? How can this be done without overburdening the children and curriculum? How can it be made an enjoyable learning experience?  

A week with craftsmen

Indeed crafts and craftsmen have been great educators. A group of 40 tenth grade students had an opportunity to spend a few days with craftsmen from different regions of the country at the Crafts Museum, Delhi. The students in groups of five lived with the crafts people not just learning their crafts but the geography, the environment, the culture, the food habits, their way of life, the social issues, the local governance and much more.

Women can’t touch the wheel!- The group with the Kutch potters learnt to make terra cotta pottery and also learnt that the women of Kutch were not allowed to touch the wheel and hence had to make bowls, pots and plates without using the wheel! The process also taught the students how to balance the wet clay on an inverted karahi (to make the pots and plates), the consistency of the clay, the speed of rotation etc. They learnt about the natural colours used for decorating the pots and the technique of baking.

The potters also shared the water scarcity problems in Kutch and how they manage the scarce resource.

Leather puppets from Andhra Pradesh – the play of light and shade: Andhra puppets are tinted in brilliant colours and made from deer, goat, calf and buffalo skin. The students learnt how to cut the treated hide into various shapes of human figures ,animals etc and make  puppets having  joints at the shoulders, elbow and the hip,  secured for manipulation by a string. They learnt that  puppetry performance draws from the epics and  local legends and are also used for spreading awareness about current events and issues.

Gobar  "Eco"Toys of Orissa

What began as “Yuk” gobar changed to “Wow” gobar during the course of the day. The need to use gobar as a  binder  with clay and how the fibres in the gobar gave strength to the clay toy, changed their attitudes. They also suggested that the craftsmen could go back to using colourful cotton threads instead of the plastic zari to make it  “ecofriendly” 

Madhubhani from Bihar and Gond art from Madhya Pradesh- the art of dots and dashes

Both the art forms are so full of colours and yet so simple in using lines and dots conveying  messages on biodiversity, festivals and rituals and everyday happenings including  contemporary issues. Not only did the students learn to do the art, they also understood how the art form was a mode of self expression for women and how their  beliefs, customs and creativity were portrayed in the form of paintings on  the walls and floors of their homes.

Basket weaving from Manipur

Using locally available bamboo and cane and making beautifully crafted baskets, chairs, lamps was a means of livelihood for the people of Manipur. This was a good example of sustainable livelihood for the students. Though they had a tough time learning to weave the bamboo strips into baskets, each one of them  eventually  exhibited their wares with pride. They also learnt how bamboo tubes were being used for drip irrigation to conserve water.

Metal craft from Bastar

The craftsmen of  Bastar are famous for their excellence in making handicrafts with wood, bamboo, terra cotta and metal. The artifacts made in brass have  exceptional detailing in them. These details are created by the “lost wax” method, dating back to ancient Egypt. Students learnt to handle bees wax and made little figurines. The wax impression was then carefully encased with refined clay and allowed to set. Once the clay was set, they were fired in an open kiln. They learnt how to operate the bellows and maintain the suitable temperature to melt the wax and the brass. When the metal figurines were taken out there were loud expressions of surprise, astonishment and accomplishment.

They also learnt about “no poly bag” use in the weekly haats in the villages of Bastar. One had to carry his/her own bags or get their purchase wrapped in tendu or sal leaves.

Note: The article is based on the project undertaken by the author with a group of school children in Delhi. q

Usha Srinivasan

usrinivasan@devalt.org

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