Break the mold
Kalpana Pathak, Breaking the mould: alternative schools in India, Chennai: Westland Ltd., 2016, ISBN 978-93-85152-29-0, pp. XVI+230,295 rupees.
Education is a field of interest in our times. The proliferation of numerous institutes and educational centers and the amount of propaganda that is made are testimony to this. The landscape of education in India is not something worth admiring or outright condemnation. There is no doubt that India is not among the top countries when it comes to education. According to the Legatum Prosperity Index 2016, India ranks 102nd out of 149 countries surveyed, in the field of education. Our education system leaves a lot to be desired. While on the one hand there are people who defend IITs and IIMs as examples of success, there are a larger number who lament the rote learning approach that is characteristic of the Indian education system.
In Break the mold, the author explores the world of alternative education in India and tries to present the intensive study she has done in the field. The book has nine chapters plus an illuminating introduction. The chapters explain the different facets of alternative education and thus comprehensively provide a good overview of alternative education in the country.
Alternative education in its broadest sense can simply be defined as everything that conventional education is not. The first impression one gets when hearing about alternative education may be to think of it as a Western idea. If that is the case, then one will be surprised to learn that there have been illustrious Indians who have also pioneered this concept locally. Famous western names associated with alternative education are Montessori and Steiner. In the pre-independence period, social reformers and freedom fighters began to explore alternatives to the educational system of the time. Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, and Gijubhai Badheka emphasized experiential learning and innovative pedagogy (p. 19). For some of these people, like Tagore, the search for an alternative education method arose from their own negative experience with conventional education.
The first chapter despite being called ‘The origins and history of alternative education’ offers very little about it. In fact, what it does is give a brief history of education in India, from the Vedic period through the medieval and modern periods, and culminating in the post-independence period. The final part of the chapter introduces the concept of alternative education and briefly describes the reasons for its origin.
Chapter two is long, as it deals with the ‘Philosophies of alternative education thinkers and their schools’. This is perhaps the most crucial chapter in the book, as it forms the foundation on which all subsequent explanations depend. The author examines the situation of the philosopher in the light of his views on education. He then goes on to carefully describe, down to the finest details, an institute associated with the philosopher.
The third chapter discusses the logic of alternative schools and their views on educational components such as classrooms, pedagogy, arts and crafts, physical activity, and assessment and study material. The next chapter is also a very important chapter from the point of view of the book because it presents the ‘Advantages, Disadvantages and Myths of Alternative Education’. To emphasize the point, the author compares alternative education with conventional education and thus shows the advantages and disadvantages of such a system. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and myths thus showing a favorable inclination towards alternative education. The myths and drawbacks are presented although not in a completely neutral way; the author tends to be defensive towards alternative schools.
The fifth chapter deals with the ‘Challenges of Alternative Schools’. Once again the challenges presented are decisive but receive a subtly skewed representation. The author downplays the potency of these challenges and makes them seem like minor hurdles that alternative education can get around. A closer and more critical examination will reveal that they are not as easy to set aside as the author makes it out to be. Chapter six is evidently added for dramatic effect and chronicles interviews of students, parents, and a teacher associated with alternative schools. At this point, the author seems to insist on the concept of alternative education. The repeated emphasis on the goodness of alternative education works on the unconscious mind much like advertisements.
Chapter seven assesses the ‘Impact of the Right to Education Act (RTE) on Alternative Schools’. RTE threatened alternative education ideology and brought it to its knees. The emphasis on infrastructure and teacher qualifications, for example, placed a heavy burden on the small budget of such schools and the volunteer nature of their teachers. Chapter eight touches briefly on the theme of ‘Homeschooling and alternative education’. The author ends the book with a detailed directory of alternative schools in India. As he went through the list, I noticed that the largest states were mostly mentioned. I undertook a little search and found a site (alternativeeducationindia.net) which acts as an online directory for all registered alternative schools. The author gives a brief description of each school and provides their contact details and address.
The book explores the lesser-known competitor to mainstream education. However, the author bathes alternative education in milk and honey and presents it in a glorified way. On a few occasions the author has repeated quotes in an attempt to drive a point. Such repetitions get tedious after a while. The images that accompany the text are a flop as they are not clear due to their conversion from color to grayscale. The back cover reads: “All in all, a must have on every parent’s shelf.” I beg to differ. While reading this may influence some parents to place their children in an alternative school, most parents will find that option not feasible despite the appeal of the concept. Basic factors such as proximity and transportation should be considered before enrolling a child in a school. Although alternative schools are cheaper, they are not always located in close proximity due to their pedagogical requirements. The book is certainly very informative but suffers from numerous grammatical errors and typographical errors. The author deserves credit for painstakingly visiting those schools firsthand and collecting data and feedback. His presentation, however, lacked journalistic neutrality, but he did his makeup with the thoroughness and style characteristic of a journalistic background.