This is one basic question I have been long trying to address. Education is a constant process of human evolution which enables a person to be an independent and responsible member of the society. Today, the process of evolution through the discourse of education often seems obsessively standardized, with curriculum and teaching techniques scripted to achieve a goal set by an ‘agency’ of academics to enable a person with a skill set to ‘perform’.
The practice of preparing a human being for adulthood on a criterion, the qualification of which is to meet the demand and supply value chain of an extremely competitive world, now appears to be counterproductive. This, then becomes a hurdle for them to adapt to the basic life skills and perceive life from other, various scientific aspects of the world.
With this background and context, the standardization of events in the education ecosystem means that we are continuously losing the opportunity to address the importance of life skills during human development. This also means that our basic ability to navigate through adulthood is affected at its core. The issue is intensified when we categorically refer to persons with special needs, due to the complexities inherent in the situation. If we integrate the essentiality of life skills with inquiry-based learning, it becomes easier to adapt and deal with the challenges of the everyday life more effectively.
Therefore, we choose to engage our team members to enquire and learn beyond the defined script of teaching methods. We take on topics that relate to everyday life and broadly around cognitive development, interpersonal communication and the skills required to manage one’s self. We do not stress on performance as such, but on how an activity makes the person feel: just the joy of fixing an electric lamp to light a bulb, pedalling a bicycle or self-exploration of the colours, contours on the globe and its significance.
The stress is on the sense of enquiry: from the learner’s perspective, this has developed the sense to investigate, reason, collate, resolve and arrive to a conclusion. As instructors, we are motivated by our belief in the importance of life skills and believe passionately in moving away from conventional trainer- led training to one that gives joy, sparks the curiosity and the ability to think critically.
In the accompanying pictures, you may see the delight of the team when engaged in doing just that, whether it may be exploring the globe independently, fixing a table lamp, setting up a workshop or cycling.