“Schooling the World” Notes PDF

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Susmita Sil...

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“Schooling the World” Notes  Summary of the film  Look for the central idea/Look for specific themes – in your paper you will be required to bring up 3 research questions/themes  Try to connect ideas/themes/issues raised in the film with the readings/classroom discussions of previous weeks  Try to form your own opinion based on what you watched and how you connected these ideas to previous readings – agree/disagree Notes from the Film - Women speaking about the children moving on and getting an education as a result of the development:” traditional ways of compassion, kindness, and helping one another out is dying” - A secular education society should not be at the expense of losing your history - Program called “education for all”, a program sanctioned by every government in the world and is supported by the UN. The agenda is to get every child into school, this would lead to societies being able to develop and join the main stream societies. It includes shifting to a global economy o We have to change our education system to attain this goal of moving to a global economy o It is a necessary requirement for a sustained poverty reduction o Business men recognize that they cannot build their companies and their factories as a result of not having skilled workers o We should be careful about trying to preserve their cultures “if they don’t want that we should be there to help them” - School books describe their culture and their way of doing things as backwards as a result of the constant reminder that the western culture is more developed and successful - Women once has the role of staying at home and caring for her family, with the developments some think that education is only reading and writing and they believe they are not education - A woman discussed how her children left her and her husband to get an education and earn money. The women expressed that she wished the children stayed with her but she knows that money is more important - In the pre-development systems and economies, you will not find the kind of poverty that you find in the modern slums - People are selling everything they have got to give their children an education because they are under the impression that with modern society and the success it will bring, an education will make their children more successful and happy - A loss in terms of richness and culture resources because these people are being branded as failures. People are thinking in a very fragmented and one dimensioned way and are being rewarded for it - These institutionalized schools are just teaching students to be semi-literate and nothing about their local ecology or local culture

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Lamdon Model School: One of the best secular schools in Leh Ladahk o Regardless of how long they stay, they gain something o Some have to leave to work for their families in the fields or join the military o The kids learn compassion and more than just reading and writing

Notes from the Class Discussion - People want to embrace modern education because they want to be like us (westerns), but they only show the negative aspects. - Education is a privilege in other countries more so than we are in America - Some elderly women were upset that they couldn’t teach their children the way they learned from the land around them and once they go off to school they don’t know if they are going to come back. - The modern concept of education is taking over Discussion Questions: - What was the central idea of the film so far? Painted the modern education system in a negative light - Did the film challenge any of your central assumptions about knowledge, learning, ignorance, poverty, success, and wealth? Not really because we have been discussing these points in class. Funky in the way that the elders compared themselves to a different set of standards when ranking their education level - What is the overwhelming assumption of modern education systems about traditional societies and their people? People are getting an education because they think that if they get a degree they can get a job and get money. But if they stay on the farms and work in the fields, they don’t have a good chance of earning anything, they are backward and need help - Are these beliefs justified? How do you think they affect the people on the receiving end of them? Not really justified because it might be backward from their perspective and it really just shows oppression more than anything - What can we learn from other societies’ ways of learning about and understanding world? Similar to the way that Finland borrowed the US way of teaching but modified it to better the students and their ways of learning - What can we learn from their ways of nurturing children and raising them to a productive, satisfying adulthood? Continuation of Notes: - When students come to Delhi to study, they are exposed to a new environment and they forget their traditions and sometimes their own languages - People are too focused on money - English is considered one new languages and is taught in India as a learning method o “Languages are like ecosystems of the mind”

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They are in one of the most beautiful parts of the world (India) and they are learning about the vegetation and nature from inside a classroom o Separation from nature o Most indigenous culture revolve around nature is it a more hands on approach New emphasis on books and terminology o Instead of saying bias in society they created the term ethnocentrism In a way, it seems as though they are stripped of their individuality Modern education is compared to wealth and indigenous education is more focused on a better way of living o In the indigenous education, people learn how to survive and generally be happier o In modern education, we are capable of learning things that are not local to us but there is also evidence of more mental illnesses which might coincide o Modern education – you can pursue different routes and learn more things o The motivations behind the two systems are completely different. Modern education is focused on performance and making money. The film questions our basic assumptions of knowledge Those in the indigenous cultures are aware of the western advancements, a gentleman in the film said that if we had his leg cut off he would rather by in an emergency room with western doctors than trying to cure it with indigenous medicine. There is a lot of knowledge out in the world that isn’t given credit, such as medicine men If you are used to western traditions you might opt to go to a western doctor as opposed to taking a more homeopathic route Indian “living roots bridge”: art that is not one dimensional (I forget how we got into this topic). Utilized nature to build something modern

Discussion Questions: - Do you agree with the critique of modern education or is it an exaggeration? - Does indigenous education have a science culture? o People are aware of the idea of sustainability make it a point to keep their surroundings clean. o They have to keep their water clean because they offer the same water to their deities and it has to be pure - How do you think children are evaluated in both kinds of systems? o In western education, they are evaluated through tests o In indigenous education, they are evaluated through the ability to live and strive in nature - What can we learn from other societies’ ways of learning about and understand the world? - What can we learn from their ways of nurturing children and raising them to a productive, satisfying adulthood?

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How is our own current school system failing to support the creativity and diversity we will need to face the challenges of the 21sth century? What are some of the themes that you can identify with our previous discussions/readings?...