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How I engage students of India’s premier science school in folk arts

By: Bitasta Das.

 

This year, I am teaching the sixth edition of the undergraduate humanities course “Mapping India with the Folk Arts.”

In this course, we delve into indigenous knowledge, or common people’s knowledge, focusing on a different form of Indian folk art every year. By understanding the variations of this art across the country, we explore, infer and map cultural continuity and diversity. The assignments given to the students form an important component of the course, and it is through these assignments that a dialogue is established between science and art.

Having conducted this experimental course for a significant amount of time, I thought it was a good time to look back and reflect on the intention, process and outcome of the course so far.

Humanities subjects were incorporated in the academic curriculum of IISc from 2011, when the four-year undergraduate bachelor of science (BS) (research) programme began. The Centre for Contemporary Studies (CCS), under Raghavendra Gadagkar, assumed responsibility for designing and teaching the humanities curriculum. Students compulsorily undertook to learn humanities subjects in six out of the eight semesters of their BS programme.

While the conceptual thread across the courses remains the same, the humanities curriculum is designed to introduce the students to an array of disciplines and methodologies within the social sciences and humanities. Unlike in other science and technological institutes, the curriculum does not attach the humanities courses as disconnected subjects, rather, they are composed to provide a socio-cultural background to learning and understanding science.

Taking this philosophy forward, “Mapping India with the Folk Arts” treats the art of the common people as windows to their way of life. Drawing from the discipline of Folkloristics, the aim of the course is to understand the country, not from the outside in, but from the inside out.

As for my own education, folklore formed a large portion of my studies for a master’s degree in cultural studies at Tezpur University (Assam), and I qualified for the University Grants Commission’s National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) in folkloristics. My first job in Bengaluru at the Art Resources and Teaching Trust (while I was pursuing my doctoral degree on ethnic identity and conflict), was to manage and commission an art exhibition involving 65 folk artists from across the country.

Travelling to various pockets of the country for two years, meeting and interacting with indigenous artists, gave me practical exposure to the dynamic world of Indian folk art.

When Prof. Gadagkar asked me to design and teach a course, I decided to offer a hands-on course rather than a theoretical one. I turned to my experiences with the folk arts, but was initially apprehensive about teaching a course of this nature here. I was not sure if at IISc, where cutting-edge scientific research takes place, a course on common people’s knowledge would be welcomed. I was anxious that the folk arts would be taken too lightly, as a mere source of amusement.

My intention was to invoke and engage with the arts to sensitise the students to the values of diverse people. I lay out the course to the students as follows—a “folk” is any group that expresses inner cohesion by sharing common traditions, whether the connecting factor is language, place, ethnicity or occupation.

In this sense, a group of scientists is also a folk group! India, with its multicultural populace, is home to a wide range of rich folk art traditions. To understand the nation, we must understand its people. The category “folk” provides an agreeable premise for appreciating various kinds of people that the category “citizen” is unable to include, like diaspora, refugees, nomads, people who are displaced, and so on.

Since we take up a different folk art form every year, it is imperative that I keep finding new study material. The methodological approach and teaching also varies every year, though the assignments always focus on the interaction between science and art. If enquiry in the field of art and science is rare, works on folk art and science are even rarer.

The folk art of this country has a large vocabulary, yet the processes of science have never been its subject. I decided that the students, who have enough scientific understanding, could deploy folk art to create pioneering art works. I create the theme, which they have to deliberate on and represent.

Every year, we discuss beforehand how folk arts entail skills that are passed on within families and communities for generations and generations, and folk arts are as much about the artists as they are about the product itself.

To claim that first-timers trying their hand at it can excel in the art would be grossly wrong. But it is the beauty of folk art that it is not standardised or codified. We can work in that flexible space, and explore what we generate. And it often comes as a surprise to the students when we are discussing a folk art from their region, and they realise they have been completely oblivious to it.

Sometimes students see it as a “homecoming” to create art works from their region that they only know of, but have never tried to understand its intricacies. In class, we also discuss questions like these: Can common people make sense of the workings of science? Can art represent science effectively?

In their assignments, students have to use folk arts to present complex scientific concepts. Paintings, music, plays, and dances about science, using folk vocabulary, have been created so far. Workshops on Dollu Kunitha, kite-making, and Chittara art have been conducted. Public performances like “Folk Theatre Festival,” “Sway with Science,” and “Jal Jungle Zameen and Science” were put together by the students.

A pictorial book, Arting Science, published by IISc Press, compiles the paintings that were made. Another book, Jal Jungle Zameen… in the age of Science and Technology, is in the works. The Institute has earmarked a distinct section on its official website to showcase the students’ art works, under the category “Arting Science.”

The assignments are planned consciously so that the creations are not just objects of communicating science, but both science and the folk arts demonstrate their tenability. The students are told that their works are not primarily for securing marks but are opportunities to co-create novel art.

The course has demonstrated creative ways of expressing science, at the same time, a new realm of content has been opened for the declining folk arts of the country—that of science and technology. The media has lauded this pioneer course at IISc and has frequently reported on our activities. This year the focus is on Indian folk tales, and we examine how the country can be understood by these stories.

This year is significant for another reason too—CCS has been reconstituted to form the Centre for Society and Policy (CSP), headed by Anjula Gurtoo. Humanities courses from now on will be conducted by CSP.

There are numerous examples where indigenous values and knowledge have enabled communities to live harmoniously with nature and with one another since ages. It is my argument that in the present times, when sustainable modes of living are sought, the philosophical foundations that inform community life calls for a deeper understanding.

Every batch of students has contributed to unfolding this understanding. Our efforts in treading untraveled paths have been filled with wonder and have been deeply enriching.

And for me, personally, it is satisfying to be able to work with the arts of India. It is saddening that so many of them are fading—they are soulful and bear the essence of the country. Discussing, engaging, and creating with them in a space like IISc gives them a new lease of life.

Source of the article: https://qz.com/india/1653995/an-iisc-bengaluru-teacher-is-mapping-india-with-folk-arts/

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Schools close as teachers walk off the job in South Australia

Oceania/ Australia/ 02.07.2019/ Source: www.9news.com.au,
Members of the Australian Education Union today rallied outside Parliament House in Adelaide with similar protests held at Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Mt Gambier.
The union says the action has not been taken lightly as it fights for a better education system for its members and for children.
It recently rejected an offer of a 2.35 per cent annual pay rise from the government along with other changes to working conditions.
So far 258 schools have indicated they will close because of the industrial action but Treasurer Rob Lucas says that means 676 of the state’s 934 primary, secondary and pre-schools will stay open, some with modified programs.
«While we recognise the fact that there will still be significant disruption and inconvenience to parents, grandparents and students, it’s clear the union bosses have not attracted the level of support that they were seeking from school communities.
“And while we respect their right to industrial action, we have made it quite clear that no amount of chanting, waving placards and singing is going to make more money magically appear in the budget.
teacher's strike
The union claims the action is necessary to ensure better conditions for staff and students. (9News)
“The government’s offer provides millions in additional funding for schools with higher levels of complexity, for highly-accomplished and lead teachers and also country incentives.»
Despite those concerns, the State Treasurer has said the pay offer is above inflation – and South Australia cannot afford any more.
«No amount of protest action is going to give me, as the Treasurer, any more money to be able to afford an anymore generous increase of salary,» Rob Lucas said.
The union said working conditions for teachers continued to have an impact on the learning environment for students.
“We think that is too important to compromise,» it said.
Source of the notice: https://www.9news.com.au/national/schools-closed-teachers-strike-250-walk-off-job-over-pay-dispute-south-australia-news/69fd8b0f-7376-4622-83dc-530ccb4a1093
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North-East Nigeria: Education Sector Humanitarian Response Plan Dashboard – May 2019

Africa/ Nigeria/ 02.07.2019/ Source: reliefweb.int.

 

The sector strategy aims to provide Improved learning and resilience of children/ youth affected by crisis in North East Nigeria through equitable access to quality education in safe, inclusive and protective learning spaces.

Creative and innovative mechanisms to support teachers are being explored to ensure quality teaching and learning in collaboration with state agencies ministries of education and other relevant ministries, departments and agencies

eiewg_hrp_dashboard_-_may_2019

Source of the notice: https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/north-east-nigeria-education-sector-humanitarian-response-plan-dashboard-may-2019

 

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The Urgent Need for Educational Equality

By: Diane Francis.

 

In the United States the SATs are supposed to be about measuring aptitude. Instead, they have also become a measurement of your parents’ bank account.

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Canada: Bondage spider? Elementary students given explicit sex ed guide by mistake

North America/ Canada/ 01.07.2019/ Fuente: bc.ctvnews.ca.

A sexual education guide featuring cartoon animals engaging in sexual activities with one another has prompted an apology from a B.C. school district.

The guide was published by CATIE, which publishes information on HIV and hepatitis C in Canada, and discusses everything from STIs to consent and sexual fetishes.

Using cartoon animals – such as tigers, snakes and bears – the guide lays out the risk of receiving cunnilingus, participating in bondage and sharing sex toys with others.

Parents upset over sex-ed guide

It also touches on subjects such as drug use during sex, telling readers that if they snort drugs they should use their own straw or bumper, such as a rolled-up sticky note.

The guide was handed out to a Grade 6 and 7 class at Erickson Elementary, in the community of Creston, B.C. by a public health nurse.

Animated characters in sex-ed guide

The district says the guide was handed out at the end of a class for children interested in learning more and wasn’t part of the initial discussion.

«The document was really inappropriate. It’s definitely for the 19-plus crowd, in my opinion, it’s extremely mature,» said Dr. Christine Perkins, the superintendent for School District 8 Kootenay Lake. «It’s a mistake. This health nurse made a mistake.»

The school district has apologized, and Perkins says the school district and school called every parent in the class to discuss the material.

The nurse who handed out the guide has also apologized, and Perkins says she believes this was a one-off experience.

Sex ed guide criticized by B.C. parents

The guide received fierce backlash from a group of parents who say they’re upset it was handed out in the first place.

«Shock. Complete and utter shock. And anger,» said Liz Anderson, whose son was in the class and took one of the guides. «(The kids) wouldn’t have looked this stuff up on their own if they hadn’t been shown what it was.»

«I don’t think anybody in elementary school should be introduced to the things that were in the book.»

Anderson says she wants to see those involved reprimanded, and called for someone to step forward and take responsibility.

«It’s just sad that we have to be stronger advocates for our children when the school is supposed to also. The school is supposed to be a safe place for our kids,» she said.

But not all parents agree.

Debbie West, whose son is also in the class, says it offered parents an opportunity to have an honest discussion with their children about sex.

«I don’t see how the pamphlet actually traumatized anyone,» she said. «The ones that received it asked for more information because they wanted more information. There were students that said ‘no’ and didn’t look at it.»

West feels the criticism is coming from a small group of parents.

«They’re upset because they have to have this tough conversation. Next year your kid is in high school, potentially with 17-year-olds. They might hear and see things you’re not ready for them to know. I’m sorry, it’s hard. But toughen up and find out more about the information,» she said.

West says she doesn’t blame the teacher for the incident, calling it a simple mistake.

Her son didn’t take one of the guides, but rather found out about it from others, prompting West to have a discussion about sex with him.

«Someone’s going to talk to him about it and I’d rather it be a professional environment, like a school, or me. I’d rather that than the internet,» she said.

As a result of the guide and subsequent fallout, the school district says it is reviewing how sexual education materials are handed out in classrooms and is offering counselling for both students and parents.

Source of the notice: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/bondage-spider-elementary-students-given-explicit-sex-ed-guide-by-mistake-1.4485742

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Segregated student’s life changes after getting access to regular classrooms in Washington

By: Taylor Mirfendereski, Susannah Frame.

Sam Clayton, a 14-year-old with Down syndrome, was profiled in KING 5’s “Back of the Class” series about special education failures in Washington state.

— It wasn’t Sam Clayton’s xylophone performance of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” that brought his parents to tears recently.

It was the roaring applause and standing ovation from Sam’s classmates that followed his performance as the opening act at his high school’s band concert in May.

“I got really really choked up and thought, ‘This is amazing,’” Sam’s mother, Sandy Clayton, said. “This, in such a huge way, was a recognition of Sam.”

Sam, 14, just finished his freshman year at Decatur High School in Federal Way. He was born with Down syndrome.

Until Sam’s performance on the school stage, Sandy and Rob Clayton had never before seen so many other kids recognize their son. The school year prior, at a middle school dance, they watched Sam’s classmates ignore him while he spent 45 minutes in the school gymnasium dancing alone.

«Not one child came and interacted with him. No one came and said, ‘Hi Sam,'» Sandy Clayton said. «He experiences every emotion every other kid feels. He knew he was alone.»

For this family, the band concert applause was yet another milestone in a year full of academic and social progress for Sam. It symbolized the incredible change that can happen to children with disabilities when school administrators make one simple adjustment to their education: inclusion with students who don’t have disabilities.

“It still boggles my mind that no one came by and said hello to him [at the dance], and now, he just walks down the hall — it’s not even a special occasion— and the kids are saying hi to him,” Sandy Clayton said.

This school year, Sam’s freshman year of high school, was the first time in three years that Federal Way school administrators allowed him inside general education classrooms, learning alongside non-disabled peers for nearly 40 percent of the day. At Taf @ Saghalie Middle School, Sam spent every day in a segregated classroom with other students with disabilities, including lunch.

“[The inclusion is] changing his life significantly,” his dad, Robert Clayton, said.

Sam, who previously struggled to meet his academic goals, was the subject of the second investigation in KING 5’s “Back of the Class” series in May 2018. The investigation found that Washington schools exclude students with disabilities from general education settings more often than schools in nearly every other state in the country.

Sam Clayton - April 2018
Sam Clayton completes a school worksheet at his Federal Way home on April 5, 2018.
Taylor Mirfendereski

That’s not supposed to happen under state and federal law. Public schools in the United States are required to provide specialized educational services to all children with a disability recognized under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

That law guarantees that the more than 150,000 special education students in Washington have the right to go to school in the “least restrictive environment.” It means they should get the opportunity — to the maximum extent appropriate — to learn in a general education setting around children who are not disabled, even if they can’t keep up academically or if schools have to provide extra support.

«I see all too often that kids are removed from the regular classroom unnecessarily when they are capable of learning with the right support,” said Kathy George, a Seattle-based attorney and a special education expert.

Just over half of Washington’s 6 to 21-year-olds with disabilities spend 80 percent or more of their day in general education classes. Only seven states have a lower percentage of special education students in regular classes, according to an analysis of the U.S. Department of Education’s 39th Annual IDEA report to Congress, published in 2017.

Five percent of Washington’s students with intellectual disabilities spend the majority of their day in regular classrooms. Only two states in the country — Nevada and Illinois — have worse inclusion rates in that category, according to the same report.

Source of the review: https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/segregated-students-life-changes-after-getting-access-to-regular-classrooms-in-washington/281-51c6a966-b467-4947-954a-6495a455210e
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Earthquakes are making Japan think twice about banning smartphones in schools

Asia/ Japan/ 25.06.2019/ Source:qz.com.

 

To allow or not to allow smartphones in schools, that is the question. Educators around the world are struggling with this issue as it becomes increasingly obvious that mobile devices, the most practical of distractions, are deeply entrenched in our postmodern lives and are not going away anytime soon. Earthquake-prone Japan is no exception.

In Tokyo, mobile devices were banned altogether in elementary and junior high schools in 2009, and have been prohibited in high school classrooms. These limitations are finally being lifted due to safety concerns, the local board of education announced on June 20, according to the Japan Times.

The move comes after officials in the prefecture of Osaka rethought their ban on devices in schools last year. In June 2018, an earthquake rocked the region during morning commute hours, and the utility of cellphones then prompted the local government to lift its prohibition on the devices in educational institutions serving young students. In May, officials in Tokyo commissioned a report to assess whether the same action would be practical in the nation’s capital and concluded that it was, based on the prevalence of smartphones among students and their usefulness in emergency situations.

A study last year found that more than 97% of Japanese high school students already use smartphones. This means that in cases of emergency, the vast majority of teens could be located and accounted for via their devices. Now, principals at each municipal high school and junior high school will have to determine specific rules for their institutions and communicate the new guidelines to students. While some may allow smartphones in classrooms, others are free to choose to limit device use to commutes and can continue to prohibit them during lesson times.

Japan is not alone in its effort to contend with the contradictions of student smartphone use. However, its recent decisions run counter to the direction of some governments.

In France, classroom smartphone use for students ages three to 15 was banned last year. The measure was passed enthusiastically by a vote of 62 to one. “We know today that there is a phenomenon of screen addiction…Our main role is to protect children and adolescents. It is a fundamental role of education, and this law allows it,” education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told French news channel BFMTV about the legislation.

However, some criticized the measure as unnecessary, as France banned all smartphone use in classrooms—except for pedagogical use—in 2010. “This isn’t a 21st-century law in our eyes, but a law from the era of news channels and binary debate,” said former teacher Alexis Corbière, a deputy from the left-wing Unbowed France party, according to a CNN report.

In California, Democratic assemblyman Al Muratsuchi of Torrance introduced a school smartphone bill (paywall) in March that would allow administrators to limit technology in schools. It would require local school boards to formulate policies on cellphone use on school grounds but will not dictate the rules, allowing administrators to reach their own conclusions.

“To the extent that smartphones are becoming too much of a distraction in the classroom, I think every school community needs to have that conversation as to when is too much of a good thing getting in the way of educational and social development,” Muratsuchi said after introducing the bill. He noted, too, that many school districts have already had these discussions and formulated such limitations.

In Australia, the New South Wales government also decided to limit cellphones in schools last year. After a review led by psychologists considered 14,000 survey responses and 80 written submissions, local officials determined that primary school kids will be barred from using smartphones in school to reduce bullying and sharing of explicit images. High schools have the option of deciding whether to participate in the ban and to what extent.

Education minister Rob Stokes noted that cellphones can be educational, “But they can also be dangerous and be a distraction.” ABC News Australia reported that the minister wasn’t concernedthat students would respond negatively to the change, explaining that many complaints about the technology actually came from the youth themselves, who claimed the devices were distracting.

 

Source of the notice: https://qz.com/1650676/japan-rethinks-school-smartphone-bans-following-earthquakes/

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