Trailer

The forum brought together professionals to discuss the evolving landscape of education, its challenges, and its purpose in a rapidly changing world. The discussion revolved around fundamental questions posed by the moderator, exploring key themes such as education, success, facilitation of growth, and the future role of technology in learning.

Discussion Highlights

Introduction of Speakers

• Paritosh: Founder at Purnata Labs. He has a background in User + Service Experience Design & Psychology. Passionate about education and job creation, he collaborates with people that cherish & celebrate learning.
• Paras: A postgraduate in engineering who transitioned to focusing on adolescence education through the Head, Heart, Hands Learning Foundation, aiming to create a space where everyone is genuinely engaged in their own growth and holistic development.
• Swapna: Holds a law degree and a diploma in export management. Currently heads the Anjali Morris Education and Health Foundation, focusing on students with specific learning disabilities, inspired by her personal experience with her son who has dysgraphia.
• Aditya: Deeply passionate about embedding an entrepreneurial mindset within the education system, he runs Let’s Enterprise, creating curricula that expose students to real-life challenges and practical projects.
• Anand: Holds a PhD in psychology specializing in Surya Namaskar and mental health. He has conducted over 1,100 drum circles and training programs and also mentors at the Nano Entrepreneurship Transformation with ASRA Foundation.

Discussion on Education and Challenges

• Paritosh's Opening Question: What is education, where is it going, and what are the challenges faced by mainstream education?
• Aditya: Education is about preparation, but it needs to engage students. For education to be effective, it must spark curiosity and motivation in students to address problems. The biggest challenge is that students lack the hunger to solve problems and engage with learning.
• Anand: Education is an exploration of self. It's about the experiences you reflect on in the classroom and simultaneously experience outside the classroom. He believes success and failure are integral to learning, and challenges such as an overabundance of resources or scarcity must be addressed. While students with excessive resources may become bored, those with fewer resources struggle to overcome the challenges of scarcity.
• Paras: Critiques the top-down, merit-driven approach to education. He argues that education often loses its original purpose because it doesn’t consider the varying needs of children at different stages of life. A three-year-old and a thirteen-year-old have vastly different needs, but the system does not account for this.
• Swapna: Education should not follow a fixed method like class 1 to 10. True education is when a child learns something in their youth and can later apply that knowledge to solve real-life problems. She points out the disconnect between what is taught in schools and what happens in real life. Additionally, students who think or learn differently are not given the right opportunities or environments to thrive.

Discussion on Success in Education

• Paritosh's Question: What is success in the context of education?
• Swapna: Failure is not allowed in the current education system, yet failure should not carry a negative connotation. Failure offers valuable lessons, and all successful people have faced failure. Success is relative and personal—improving from 35% to 60% through hard work can be seen as a success for that individual.
• Paras: Success is not just academic achievement but also achieving social and economic freedom at a younger age, such as between 20 and 25, to allow more time for personal fulfillment and enjoyment.
• Anand: Success is linked to health and wellness, symbolized by the Sanskrit term "swastha." It refers to a balanced state where one is in harmony with the fluctuations of life. Success, in this view, is about achieving a state where one can simply "be" and remain calm amidst challenges.
• Aditya: Success needs to be clearly defined for the youth, as a lack of clarity can lead to confusion. He mentions that the goal is to create a world filled with abundance and happiness, and defining success properly is key to guiding young people toward that, which is what they also practice at Let’s Enterprise.

What More is Needed to Facilitate Success

• Aditya: Shares a personal story about being told by his father to learn accounts, but initially failing at it. When he faced the challenge of paying his employees, he was forced to learn accounts. He highlights that challenge-based learning, is essential, as it creates the desire and need to solve problems when faced with them.
• Anand: Advocates for an environment where teachers are allowed to experiment and fail, as they also need to grow professionally. He stresses the importance of balancing administrative and creative or content-related processes. He also emphasizes the need to embrace technology while keeping the human element alive in education.
• Paras: Believes that more forums like this one are essential for sharing ideas and experiences. He also argues that teachers should be compensated equally and valued on par with other professions. Teachers are central figures in a child's life, and empowering them financially is key to enabling their role in shaping students' futures.
• Swapna: Discusses learning disabilities, which are often hidden and not properly addressed in the education system. Teachers are not always equipped to cater to students with learning disabilities, even though these students may have exceptional IQs. She shares a success story from the Anjali Morris Foundation, where a student with severe dyslexia, who initially struggled, improved his grades significantly, and is now pursuing a design course in college. This highlights the power of support and tailored learning approaches.

What Do We Already Have in Terms of Education

• Paras: Emphasizes that there are already great educational models in place. He mentions the Waldorf education system, which focuses on experiential learning. In this system, all students are taught the same subjects until class 12, without being divided into streams like PCM or PCB, ensuring a broad and inclusive learning experience.
• Paras: Also mentions the gurukul system, an ancient educational model that remains relevant today. In this system, the focus is on the teacher, and all subjects are taught equally, with interconnections made between subjects like physics with mathematics and mathematics with music.

Impact of AI on Future Education

• Anand: Predicts that AI will lead to continuous learning, as humans will have more free time in the future. People may choose to live more connected with nature while still staying engaged with the world. People who once planned to retire will seek new learning opportunities, changing the landscape of education.
• Paritosh: Asks how education can help toward purpose.
• Anand: Emphasizes that education should be approached with awareness, and its structure must be rethought. People may need to change careers and learn regularly. He envisions a scenario where a student becomes a teacher, and vice versa. He also suggests that meditation and introspection will play a key role in personal evolution moving forward.

Finding the Purpose of Students

• Paritosh: How do we help students find their purpose?
• Aditya: Views education as an integral part of life. He emphasizes the harm in depriving youth of challenges by constantly protecting them and telling them what is right. This creates a lack of hunger for growth. Aditya asks how we can provide students with challenges that will engage them deeply, keeping them awake and striving for personal and collective growth.

Q&A Session Highlights

• How can alternative education systems be scaled for the masses?
• What will be the tipping point for replacing conventional education systems?
• How can individuals make a meaningful difference in education?
• Can we agree on a singular purpose for education?