[IAEP] NN, Mitra, and the role of the teacher

[Yamandu Ploskonka]

Are y'all familiar with the RIVER Project? (Rishi Valley Institute for 
Educational Resources)
their website doesn't do quite justice on how concepts like this 
multi-age social-based mentoring that is being shared have in a most 
appropriate approach to education in poor areas.

http://www.river-rv.org/

"Over a decade the number of schools using this model has grown from 16 
to 25,000. "

some more up-to-date info:
http://river-rv.blogspot.com/search/label/Theory%20of%20MGML

On 10/31/2010 10:23 PM, K. K. Subramaniam wrote:
> On Sunday 31 Oct 2010 9:25:30 am Caryl Bigenho wrote:
>    
>> Actually, Mitra's "Grannies" may not be actual grand parents and they do
>> have a curriculum.
>>      
> True. A Grannie need not necessarily be a grand parent of the learner but a
> curriculum-driven learning is very limiting, esp. in India with its extreme
> social diversity. Sugata's high tech props distracts us from seeing the
> facilitative aspects found in the environment. "Grannies" do three things that
> facilitates the learning process. Firstly, they are there during learning[1],
> Secondly, when a child completes a task, they celebrate the culmination of the
> process regardless of the economic value of the outcome. Thirdly, they guide
> the child to select the next process that is *meaningful* to both the child
> and the *social context*. Such appreciation and mentoring are invaluable in
> helping children learn faster and better.
>
> A centrally planned curriculum applies a linear model of learning over a large
> number of children in different social contexts. It assumes that there is only
> one way for the next level. In practice, a child is faced with lots of choices
> on what to pursue next.
>
> Notice the slip in TED teaser's last statement - "results that could
> revolutionize how we think about teaching". We have a hard time treating
> education as a learning process.
>
> [1] In Sikshana, our school intervention project, the physical presence of an
> friendly adult in the classroom turned out to be the most important motivator
> for learners. One such "Grannie" volunteer was a young village girl in her
> twenties who was so impressed with this transformation that she joined our
> project and is now replicating the model across a cluster of 15 schools.
>
> Subbu
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