Month: December 2015

The turn of the takli and the charm of the charkha

G Gautama
The humble takli sings a song that says, ‘you are one, and spin but one yarn, one weak link. Together there is great strength! Do your bit, spin your yarn, and offer it to the common pool…. and see what can happen.’ The takli sings a song of hope and possibility. Can the humble takli energise people and bring consciousness of the community into their lives?

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Recovering Gandhi

Rajan Venkatesh
The truth of Gandhi’s assertions can be seen if one takes that leap of faith and experiments in small ways in his or her school. The learning can happen in several ways–through production activities, of ‘subject’ matters being understood using the local environment as the medium and of the child’s positive emotional and intellectual development.

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The Gandhi Experiment: Lessons for non-violence, truth-force and action

Margaret Hepworth
How can teachers teach young people the essence of Gandhi? Three of Gandhi’s principles are needed for today’s education scene–that of non-violence, satyagraha and taking action. All teachers need to do is to encourage this movement of non-violence to grow and this way they will be helping youngsters to engage in new ways with the world.

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Exploring through practice: transformative SUPW

Satya Teertha, P Usha Rani, and Dr. P Sudhakar
This article introduces teachers and readers to a new strategy that realises the spirit of nai talim. An experiment by the Haritha Ecological Institute, Khammam, Telangana, using locally renewable resources in day to day activities illustrates several important concepts that are part of the mainstream curriculum. All the productive works that have been tried out have been found to be rich with all the essential ingredients of child pedagogy: fun, useful, practical and with great scope for critical observation and learning.

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The possibilities of bamboo

Sujit Sinha and Nazrul Haque
Gandhi’s charkha was made of bamboo. This article explains how bamboo can be used in school education especially in the rural areas to realise Gandhi’s vision of self- sufficient, self-governing village communities.

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Why Gandhi matters

Sandhya Rao
Gandhi’s big and small ideas definitely have a place in our classrooms today. Because Gandhi is about ideas, about the power of ideas and because he always led by example. Like him, can we all, as ordinary people, not do extraordinary things quietly? That is how relevant he is.

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Education for a violent world

Nidhi Gaur
How relevant is Gandhi’s nai talim in today’s fear-stricken times? The author takes us to Anand Niketan, a school in Sewagram, Wardha, where nai talim is being implemented. Gardening as one of the main subjects is used to nurture sensitivity, inter-dependence, fearlessness and trust in children.

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A letter to Gandhi

Chintan Girish Modi
Who is the real Gandhi? How can an ordinary school child make sense of him? Read up this interesting letter to Gandhi that seeks to find answers to some questions.

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Teaching like Gandhi

Krishna Kumar
How can a teacher teach like Gandhi? If a teacher wants children to be happy and self- reliant in their lives, she or he must give them experiences that require all-round care and exercise of responsibility. This explains in simple terms the Gandhian idea of education. Read up this article to get new and fresh insights into how your teaching can be made more delightful.

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