Compassion in Practice

What kind of world are we living in? America, the most developed country in the world, is supporting rampant obesity and spending billions on war. China, with over 90% of its population educated, is surviving unbelievable pollution and inhumane crimes of food adulteration. India, a democratic country with second-largest population in the world, is battling with political scams and ugly violence towards women.

Most of these crimes have been perpetuated by individuals that have undergone some level of education. That brings us to an important question. Have we, through our current education systems, even been able to make the humans out of our students? Seriously, what good is basic history or science if the citizens haven't even acquired the skill to feel and acknowledge the pain they are causing to others?

Most ill in the world emanates from people's inability to feel the pain of the other beings (humans as well as non humans). I say we should systematically impart compassion as a part of essential psychology into the kids. Make them play games where they see someone in a particular situation and try to imagine how the other person is feeling. Help them get into a habit of noticing other lives and automatically feel their misery or joy. As they grow older the assignments could grow in complexity, or can be coupled with, say, art or poetry assignments.

I think that's a small and non-controversial step that can make a significant difference to ethos of our world.

Conceptualizing a new curriculum for Physics

Physics - A study of the universe.. A pursuit of truth through the path of reasoning.. A gateway to technological advancements..

I really loved physics in school but did not pursue it because there weren't much bright opportunities in this field. There was not even an aspiration in my mind to become a physicist. Now, I realize that my knowledge of physics had been quite superficial, as my focus was mostly on solving problems. And I rarely felt the joy of observing Physics principles working in the world around me. Yes, that's sadly the story of an Indian student who enjoyed solving the toughest of physics problems in school - she did not really appreciate the subject as well as one would hope.

That being said, I understand and appreciate the gravity of the subject in mankind's pursuit for a better life. I envision a vastly different school-level Physics curriculum 25 years from now, that would aim at the following goals:

• To impart the fundamental knowledge of physics necessary to live a well-informed life
• To help the youth feel proud as well as humble about humankind's progress
• To train the young minds to question everything and conceive unbelievable concepts
• To assess which individuals have high aptitude and potential for doing well in the field
• To generate extreme interest in the field in some individuals

These are some ideas that come to my mind as I think of the necessary tools to achieve the aforementioned objectives:

• What is most boring for the students is memorizing details which they deem completely useless in their upcoming daily life. We need to replace most of such junk content with practical and usable information. For example: a look into how the latest developments in quantum mechanics and nanotechnology can change our daily lives or an enchanting trip to an automobile factory would not only keep the students informed but also curious to learn more.
• The emphasis of learning must be shifted from solving the equations for the unknown to understanding the meaning and significance of theories and equations. 
• The most important Physics fundamentals could be explained to the students through illustrations. There are thousands of intriguing videos on YouTube that could act as prototype for the videos in the new curriculum. (We are talking about a curriculum in the year 2038, when the price of electronics chips would have dropped to abysmal lows. With some will and effort, the use of scientific gadgets should be totally possible in the schools across India.)
• Another important aspect of education must be opening the unsolved questions to the students - right from dark matter and dark energy to the possibility of parallel universes and time travel. A little bit of mystery would help develop curiosity and interest among students.
• Project/idea/concept exhibitions could be held yearly at school, regional and national level to assess the students with highest aptitude and appetite in this subject. These bright students could then be awarded scholarships to study in the best of national universities. (This method will perhaps encourage students to focus on their own work rather than compete directly with others, but will require much higher operational cost and complexity.)

This brings us to an incredibly important point - the macro environment would play a huge part in the success of this curriculum. Everything right from effective teaching to attractive higher education and career opportunities needs to be installed. How we would achieve that is a topic of discussion for another day.

Inspirations:

Set your minds free - with what's known and from what's known
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPccMlgug8A&list=PLD78AEC57DB201EFA

Cool Science Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/AsapSCIENCE/videos?view=0
http://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce/videos?view=0

From Competitiveness to Excellence

Competitiveness, so rampant today, is not an inherent Indian value. We haven't historically been a nation too big on sports or other competitions. Our insistence had mostly been on excellence - one that emerges from the union of body, mind and spirit. This is the land that invented chess, Ayurveda and Yoga. This is the land that produced the finest poets, architects and mathematicians. Even in the context of Mahabharata, the largest war in our mythology, Krishna preached Arjuna to give his best effort without focusing on the outcome (or the victory).
But somewhere in history, after several conquests and wars, the focus on excellence was lost. The Mughals and the British, being our conquerers and rulers, imported and imposed their ideals on the Indian society. And the new ideals were triumph and victory over peers.
This eventually resulted in a society engaged in a blind rat race, deprived of its true identity. This is evident from the enormous level of competitiveness in today's schools and entrance exams that is not really contributing to the welfare or progress of the society.
Could we build an education system that would help students identify their true interests and potentials, and train them to pursue excellence in the domain of their passion; a system that could provide attractive opportunities to artists as well as sportsmen, as much as it would to doctors and statisticians? Such a system will force the people to stop evaluating themselves against others and will bring out the best talents in the society. How would we implement such a system? Will including yoga and meditation in the curriculum help? Will the inclusion of non-religious spirituality be helpful (or even possible in this country)? A few tough questions need to be answered before we can dream of building a system that nourishes and rewards pure excellence.


Inspiration:
3 Idiots
Ancient Indian Gurukul Tradition

Specialization vs Cross-disciplinary education

Has our education system become too appreciative of the specialists? While a move towards specialization of the curricula promises a more efficient division of labor in the society, it certainly overlooks the dangers associated with narrower outlook. We could hypothesize that the incidence of various international challenges - be it environmental pollution, increasing cancer rates or even wars - can in part be attributed to narrow perspective of the engineers, industrialists, policy makers, diplomats etc. Had we cared about things outside our focus areas, we'd have created more responsible solutions.

But wouldn't going cross-disciplinary vastly diminish the value that experts are able to bring? Well, we certainly need to draw a new line. 'Where' and 'how' still need to be figured out.

Inspiration:
Ted Conference - A call to reinvent liberal arts education

The "I can" bug

Case: Riverside School founded by Kiran Bir Sethi

She advocates that blurring the boundaries between school and life can help bring better and deeper learning. At her school, they observe a three step process to inculcate confidence in the students that they can, in fact, change the world.

• Kids  become AWARE that a change is needed (for example, by making them feel the plight of child laborers by letting them live or observe that lifestyle)
• Kids feel ENABLED to bring a change (for example, by allowing them to wander in the streets and talking to the employers of working children)
• Kids feel EMPOWERED, bitten by the "I Can" bug

This approach not only helps students gain confidence in general, it also motivates them to do better at academics, as proven by the students of Riverside School in the Asset Exam. The change brought about by some kids also attracts greater respect and admiration from adults towards kids. 

Sources:
Ted Conference - Teaching kids to take charge
Riverside School
aProCH - A Protagonist in every Child

Why this blog?

Today I faced another "What am I here for" moment. Like several times in the past, my path seems to be directing me away from my purpose. The destination is hazy. I don't exactly know what or where it is. But I feel I'm able to sense where it is not.
After a lot of introspection this is what I came up with:
"I want to change the education system of our country. I want to contribute to one that makes people more compassionate, loving, creative and joyful."
And this isn't a momentary thought. It is an idea that has stayed with me for years though has never been treated with urgency or enough importance. I always thought I'd do something when I have accomplished enough or when I feel confident about my leadership. Will that ever happen? Will I get up one fine morning and think, "Yeah, now I must change my course"?
And even if I will - I cannot assess how exactly I must prepare myself now in order to achieve my purpose in future. The answer will occur to me eventually, I know. But to get more aligned with my dreams, I am starting this blog as a journal. 
A journal where I'd scribble when I am inspired by different concepts, struck with new ideas or stopped by challenges.