The ‘outclass’ plug-in
Meera Bhuvanesh
What is education? What is education? It is essentially the art of learning, not only from books, but from life. The printed word has become consumingly all-important. You are learning what other people think, their opinions, their values, their judgements and a variety of their innumerable experiences. The library is more important than the man who has the library. – J Krishnamurthy
Tree jummaring
Photos courtesy: Meera Bhuvanesh
In the pleasant and parched fall of October, 37 students of class XI with two facilitators hopped on to a bus from Coimbatore, on a 5-day trip, to Yercaud, a popular hill station in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu. This camp is called the ‘outclass’ program. Students look at camps or field-trips as an escape from the daily churn of a routine school day. It is also assumed that camps and excursions are “no-study hours” and no learning takes place. The thought that learning happens all the time seldom dawns on most of us.
This camp is compulsory for all the students of class XI in our school; if anyone wants to opt out, it is allowed only under unavoidable circumstances. It is an adventure camp and intended at self-learning. While it is called the Self Learning Camp (SLC), a more appropriate name probably is the ‘Self-Finding’ camp. Being in a conventional day-school, students are not familiar with overnight stays and long travels with school mates. Considering the weather and climate patterns in Yercaud, the camp is slated in the month of October every year. After almost two years of online life courtesy COVID; students were excited for the SLC. They were not aware that the experience was going
to push them to the edge, teach them to survive with what they had and make-do with whatever was available. They had the entire itinerary, but none of us could guess exactly, what was in store for the students.
Another batch had been to the same camp some years ago, so the teachers had some idea. Our school has tied up with an organization called inme, which organizes adventure camps for children and adolescents. (https://inme.in/).
This camp had learning goals; team work, team spirit, trust-building among peers, undertaking prompt action when required, identifying the need of the hour, problem solving, and the best one was reflecting at the end of the day. Overall, the highlights of the camp were life skills, team-building, and navigation skills – navigating through tasks, also among and within teams. Besides, it was five days of “no phones”. There was no mobile network; one had to climb a hill with a rocky pathway to get some network to contact school authorities or any such.
On day 1, we reached the camp at around 1:00 pm. The camp is inside a forest, in the midst of a coffee estate. It is a 13 km ride inside the jungle from Yercaud on rutted roads. The jungles of the Servarayan or Shevarorys range of hills in the Eastern Ghats at an altitude of 4,969 feet above sea level. The jungles are locally called as the Sholais. The Sholaikaadu (forests of Sholas) are the covers of short tropical montane forests found in the valleys of higher mountains and grasslands of South India.
Friendship ladder
After a resplendent lunch where they abided by the zero-food wastage policy, the students were requested to wash their respective plates. A checking inspector, one of the instructors or kitchen staff, then checked if the plates were clean enough. No left-over food should be on the plate, each camp member is expected to finish all the food they have taken. This is to instill a sense of value for food and also to encourage small servings. If plates are not clean to set standards, then the inmates are sent back for cleaning them again! Due care was taken about water usage also; four tubs with water were kept on different tree trunks and finally the clean plates were kept in a basket for sun-drying. Subsequently, students assembled and they were given detailed instructions regarding the dos and don’ts of the camp by the inme campus chief.
Friendship ladder
Two groups were formed and each group was asked to work on their goals. The students had to list out their expectations from the camp. The result was on expected lines, students made use of words and phrases like relaxing, having fun, enjoying with friends and so on. The camp instructors made sure that at times, the “friends” were in different teams, courtesy the two facilitators from school.
The students were put up in tents, they had to sleep in sleeping bags, either personal or those provided by camp organizers, on the tent floors and had common toilets to share. They would choose their tent mate. To our surprise within a couple of days there were quite a few requests for change of tents. Hence, many students ascertained that more often than not we assume that we are getting along with a particular person, but only when we travel or stay together with them for long stretches of time, do we figure out that we may have different expectations or wavelengths.
Only once the change of tents was allowed, and after that camp mates were expected to manage, adjust, and keep going. Many of them had never been told some of these terms and initially they faced difficulties.
As mentioned earlier reflection at the end of each day was special. Students are requested to silently sit alone, each of them had to find their cozy-corner, a place of their choice around the campus and make diary entries. A well-designed diary with thought-provoking questions had been given and the students had to self-analyze their day.
Power activities
This activity is somewhat analogous to ‘Asthachal’ practiced at the Krishnamurti Schools. It is a transitory noiselessness and quietude spent with self at sundown. I have observed that students find it difficult to keep quiet for that much time.
Day 2 was all about enjoying the journey and not worrying about the indents and chasms on the way. It had rained the whole night, so rock-climbing was replaced with rope-climbing.
At the outset the activity came across as an adventurous task but it turned out to be a trust-building activity. It was designed in such a way that only if both participants climb together, they can reach the top. This activity was named ‘Friendly Ladder’. Another activity on the same lines that the students tried was the ‘Big V – Walk’. In this activity, the ‘V’ is the shape of the commando ropes tied to a tree trunk on which the students had to walk and balance, holding and depending on each other to survive on the rope and complete the walk. Before the climb, they were given protective head-gears as well. The bustle was intended to develop physical and mental strength to overcome obstacles, along with team work.
With no gadgets and absence of city noise, the sounds of insects, birds, and rain drops appeared louder. On the mornings of days 3 and 4, students woke up to a heavy drizzle and had to give the power up activities a miss. They stayed indoors till the rains subsided and then got ready and finally walked out for their activity sessions slated for the day. The two groups interchanged the activities performed so they get the chance to try it all. Here we learned to perform in adverse conditions. However well planned we are, we cannot do anything about what is beyond our control and it is in these situations that we learn true life-lessons.
The tree jumping act required the students to climb a tree using ropes with harness tied, and once they reached up a certain height, they had to jump down in a stream. Students were mentally and physically prepared for this activity. Certainly, it was something that almost no one had ever experienced. Some who were not ready initially watched others jump and in the end we all tried it at-least once, including the teachers. The back-packing skills and navigating the forests with the help of a compass were tasks for learning team work, behaviour in a group, value for material things, and learning to work with a group of people who perhaps are not so familiar with each other, even if they have been schoolmates for long.
Sometimes it is necessary to take the road less travelled, to unravel what holds us back from trying new things. The most pivotal rule and principle to survive in the wild is Leave No Trace (LNT). Therefore, before we all left the campsite, we cleaned the space thoroughly. Students were asked to gather for a session of closure and reflection on day 5. This session was aimed at team building and sharing of understandings from the five days of camping. Students opened up about their experiences and indulged in some serious self-reflection and the key thrusts from their involvement in the wilderness. Every student in small groups reflected on their learning and things or habits that would they leave behind and new habits they would develop from the life lessons they learnt at the camp. A sense of calmness had set in and so had a tighter bond amongst them.
The peaceful and serene faces of the students told a story of self-learning that textbooks may not be able to impart. There was a clear image of transformation among students which was remarkable to see. This encounter made them realize the importance of organizing skills, team play, trust building and accommodation for feat in life ahead. With cherished memories and an introduction to a set of significant life skills, we headed for the roads that took us back home.
All of us retain more of what we practically apply in life, but theory cannot be completely discarded either. True facilitators try and bridge these gaps for students to cross-over and then inspire the students to create their felicitous learning patterns and spaces.
“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” – J Krishnamurti
The author is a faculty member in the humanities department, Delhi Public School, Coimbatore. She can be reached at meera.bhuvanesh@dpscoimbatore.com
