Opening up education

There may not be a definitive answer to the question of, ‘What is Education?’ However, we can start thinking about the purpose of education. Is it to educate youth to be responsible citizens? Is it to develop individuals, as well as society, in order to ensure a society’s economic success? Or is the purpose of education to simply focus on developing individual talents and intelligence? Perhaps, is it the balance of all three that defines education? While our answers may differ, we can perhaps agree that education is a basic human right. 

How should education be structured to meet the needs of students in this 21st century world? How do we now define “School”, “Teacher” “Learner” and "Curriculum"?

Schools in the 21st century will be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter.

This is a dramatic departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centered, paper and pencil schooling. It means a new way of understanding the concept of “knowledge”, a new definition of the “educated person”. A new way of designing and delivering the curriculum is required.

We offer the following new definitions for “School”, “Teacher” and “Learner” appropriate for the 21st century:

Schools will go from ‘buildings’ to 'nerve centers', with walls that are porous and transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.”

Imagine a school in which the students – all of them – are so excited about school that they can hardly wait to get there. Imagine having little or no “discipline problems” because the students are so engaged in their studies that those problems disappear. Imagine having parents calling, sending notes, or coming up to the school to tell you about the dramatic changes they are witnessing in their children: newly found enthusiasm and excitement for school, a desire to work on projects, research and write after school and on weekends. Imagine your students making nearly exponential growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills and more!

According to a survey, the greatest barrier to global education in countries is the fact that it is not an acknowledged curriculum area. A few indicated that any global perspectives which are included in the curriculum must fit into existing courses such as history, geography, social studies, literature, foreign language, the arts, and so forth. Some others felt that because their educational systems were examination driven, it is difficult for teachers to alter the day-to-day curriculum to include global perspectives because that took time away from teaching topics and skills that would be tested. A couple of the answers pointed out that schools were reluctant to add a new curriculum area because community members were used to what is currently there and might be uncomfortable with something new. In a slightly different vein, a few responses suggested that the curricula in their countries overwhelmingly had a western orientation that, at least partially, precluded a more global one.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to provide the community a place for people to interact, socialize, and unify their societies. And this, indeed is only possible if we try to create a flat classroom, and globalize the field of education ! 

Flatclassroom - Cultural Scavenger Hunt!

Name: Anushka Agrawal

Country: India
School: Choithram International
Describe your culture: Indian culture is a blend of traditionalism and modernity. With some customs prevailing since ages, a shelter to the modern perspectives is also provided. We believe in globalization and lend a hand to everyone who promotes it. Our culture believes in "unity in diversity". So, it doesn't matter which culture you belong to because we'd anyhow be united :) We have a distinct perception over a lot of things considerably, this is our USP :) What is an interesting fact about your culture: Variety is an hallmark of Indian culture. India's culture has been enriched by the successive waves of migration. The invaders brought with them their own culture which was amalgamated into Indian way of life and it gave birth to an eclectic mix which can be seen today. As Mark Twain quoted, " India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."

My Languages: English, Hindi, a bit of french too. What are the most frequent mistakes done by people who're not native to your culture: It's excruciating how people misunderstand our culture. For instance, at some time of life, we're made fun of, either for our liveliness, our accent or maybe even for our complexion. But well, it'd be amazing if our culture was better known to everyone. This would cease all the frequent unwilling mistakes done by the non-natives of our culture.

The origin and story of my name: Anushka, as I believe, is a unique name. I'm proud that it's mine as well. In according to sanskrit texts, Anushka means "ray of light". In Russian context, it means a term of endearment or "grace". This name origins from the Hebrew and means "the favored one".

Culture is...: Culture is the essence of life. It's the root of a plant. Oxygen for humans. Equivalent to the moon in the night. It's the sole concept that'd lead you towards the true meaning of your life. Yet, the meaning is ours to yield, the way we do, determines our destination. We don't need to be overpowered by our culture, but we definitely need to respect it. Once it's done, the world is ours to fetch :)

Scribble Love

What do writers do?

Blabber, Blabber and Blabber more.

Well actually,

They Scribble, Scribble and Scribble more.

So, this night brings me to more scribbling and blabbering. I will write more shit and continue to write it until death separates me from writing. Well, that simply means you'll have to bear me and my bunkum for the rest of my life and possibly yours as well. Tonight, I am not going to talk about love, I am not going to talk about God and I am not at all going to talk about success or failure.

I will keep it plain and simple.

Well, not exactly my style. :P

Love, as we call it. Isn't it crucifying? We keep on thinking about love, long for it and keep waiting for it to happen. What a strange four letter word that plays with our testosterone and oestrogen, makes us go weak in our knees and feel butterflies in our stomach. Is it love? Or is it just a psychological disruption? I second my second thought. Psychological it seems to me, after that I have been in love, undergone a heartbreak, fallen in love again and again... and again. It just doesn't stop and it never happened that I was ever in love with two men at a particular point of time. Well, I am no prerogative for having falling in love over and again. I just have a psychological belief that love exists and I keep on expecting to receive it. I see someone, talk to him and in a blink of eye I know that he can be the one or not. I, then, turn my pursuits on and approach. Now I don’t know if that is love or not. However, that is.

When I can strenuously and consistently believe in the existence of God, how can I not believe in love with the same passion? People say love is about understanding each other. I question, if love is all about understanding each other then what is compromising? Isn't understanding the other person's will and suppressing your own, compromising? He likes coffee and I like tea but I am having coffee just because he likes it, is a compromise. Where as love is when he/she prepares a cup of coffee and tea, and they have it together. Well, this stands as a very understated example of a subject that has a much wider scope. A similar example cannot hold good in case of buying a car or perhaps something else.

When you fall in love with someone, at first they say - "I just want you to love me all my life." And then -

'I want that dress.', 'I want to meet your family.', 'I want to marry you.','I want the TV remote.', 'I want kids.', 'I want a house.', a new car...and on and on and on ...

Then they finally say (something that I call confessing) - 'I want a life.'

Horrid no? People call it a crazy sweet little thing called love.

If I have to summarize love, it would take me a lot more than just a few words and it would take me really, really long to express it. However, I will summarize love in some ugly true words.

Love is - Compromising with yourself for someone else. It is living for the other person and doing what he/she wants. Love is suppressing your own feelings for others. Love is essential. Like I said, love is, strange and crucifying.

They say love is bizarre. Love is, but we make it surreal.

Believe it - the best lies within you

I think of the time where I have ruthlessly felt depressed, lost or even dead at times.

Hard times, as we like to call them.

Hard because our mind is incapable to think or act. It’s hard because we lose the capability of exercising our thoughts. Hard because we feel that we are stuck somewhere and become claustrophobic. We think that getting out of the situation is impossible. We presume that it’s the limit and a dead end to the road. We are agitated, distraught, off balance and we completely lose track of what we are doing or what we want to do. We do things that we haven't done before just in order to feel some change, on the good side.

In such times, we forget what we are capable of. We have lost our confidence and are shattered. They say desperate time calls for desperate measures. They say it right but they also forget that the desperate time is actually the time where one can leverage the learning opportunity. It is the time to expand one's horizon and go for the kill.

The best in you lies within. You are the best and no one can beat you except for yourself. It doesn't matter if you are cheated or betrayed in any phase of life. Faith keeps the hope alive; hope ignites the fuel and rekindles the energy within you. Liberate the fear and fulfill your desires for you are the one for yourself, you are the driving force and none but you can make yourself win this situation.

In life, people will always tell you that you have made a mistake. They’ll tell you that you’re mistaken at this point but they’ll never acknowledge your efforts and the goods that you do. You just can’t afford to take it. However, it is only you who can convince you that you are the reason behind everything, be it good or bad and only you can make a change happen. Change is good and is inevitable. One cannot defy the nature’s law for it will complete its circle. It is difficult to accept the truth but one who accepts it comes out as a winner. Not many people will tell you the good things about you but you must respect those who do. Human tendency as they call it – not to be able to praise someone’s efforts. Yes, people will try to bring you down, somewhere near their position. Is that fair? Life is a strategic imbalance. The more you try to understand it, the complex it gets. The more you try to solve it, the more intangible it gets. It’s like a web that seems comprehendible but only the spider, God – the one who has built it, knows it intricacies. However, with concentration and meditation one can easily unravel the mystery. You just have to believe that the best lies within you, rest will follow.

The need to know the capital of Florida died, when my phone learnt the answer!

The principle goal of education is to create men and women who are capable of doing new things,not simply repeating what other generations have done.

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” That’s a simple statement which may probably describe everything that this article contains. Privileged humans spend most of their lives in learning – in educating themselves. Yes, they’re privileged, not because of the way god made them, but because of the way system forced them to be. In literal terms, all of us are entitled to have education, yet not many are provided with proper facilities. Not to blame any specific person, it’s just a matter of mismanagement. 21^st century knocked our doors 12 years ago. Have we tried to change anything according to it? Has the method of learning changed in these 12 years? Are we even eligible to be known as the children of 21st century? No. We still believe in learning being possible only within the four walls of a classroom. The youth today, is not willing to stay in the old world, rather it likes to change the world in its own way and live in it. Ask yourself, do the curriculum bounded books teach us something for life? Or wait, are we merely studying to pass some mere examinations? Hell NO! Life has never been so easy to anyone – it always takes a test in order to teach a lesson. Are we ready for those tests then? Yes, I’m not asking for a Mathematics or Science test, rather I’m asking for a test of life. So, wake up people! It’s time to broaden our horizons in order to buck up for the real problems in life. We need to flatten the classrooms and gain a broader perspective. It’s time to change, for change is the only thing constant in life. We’ve already wasted a long life in realizing what we need to do and I guess, we should take a firm decision now.
Education is to know what you didn’t know you didn’t know. No, I haven’t repeated any words, it’s just meant to be that way! With advancement gaining its pace, traditional methods need to be advanced as well. We have to utilize technology and use it as our strength. What's the point in remembering all the stuff which you won't even require further in your life? What's the use of mugging up things which are already available with one touch on a technological device? Nothing much, we're just letting stupidity to engulf our future and lead us to a black hole. A place with darkness, pitch darkness. Is that where we want our future to be?
Think about it once, and wonder what all measures could be taken to bring reforms in education. It might just take our future to a better position, our life to a new - happier - standard ! 

Flatclassroom Workshop 2012 - a list of expectations! :)

"Memories last for a lifetime." Getting ahead with this phrase, I've tried to have all the experiences that are worth giving a try, just to grab all the cheerful memories. So, here comes another event, Flatclassroom workshop. It gave me immense pleasure to have known that I was a part of the event - and event which concentrates on destructing the walls which hinder the path of education. With every tick of the second hand, my excitement for the event is multiplying itself! I hope this would turn out to be an ocean of knowledge with different rivers from different corners of the world coming together. Well yes, the world is round and a circle apparently doesn’t have any corners! Anyway, that barely matters in front of my enthusiasm.
Bombay or Mumbai, whatever they call it, is a happening city. A week’s stay in the city would definitely be frivolous. Not only this, but a stay accompanied by some new friends from all over the world would be fun plus knowledge.For, this is what we mean by globalization, right? Integrating together as one, making the whole world a global economy. Had I been given a chance, I would’ve loved to attend this every other day!
Bearing in mind the theme of the workshop, “Opening up education”, I have a lot of expectations with what I’m soon going to go through. Probably, it’d be something like untying the knots of a rope which have been hindering the straight path. The rope signifies education while the knots express the four walls we are stuck in. These walls have definitely turned out to be an obstacle in our long paths to success. Issues regarding the importance of self-education might turn up. Since the past few years, I’ve been hearing about various cases concerning education- be it the lack of proper facilities (teachers) in most of the schools or the primitive and traditional thinking of the people. I’ve always imagined school as being an open ground, somewhere close to ourselves – yes, our own selves. I never wanted to stick to my books; I wanted to learn something beyond them. Unfortunately, till date I couldn’t find anyone who could actually understand what I always meant! Luckily, I found this platform where I look forward to education as fun and enjoyment- not just some heavy burden!
Opening up education would not only help the upper-class but the poor as well, for we might come up with ideas that may help in eradicating poverty by uplifting the importance of education. Won’t this be simply amazing for the economy as well? Yes, we’d be soaring high with a broader perspective-something away from books-and a broadened horizon!  I’m looking forward to the event and hoping to grab a whole bunch of knowledge from the same. Can’t wait to attend it!  

Ecstacy - an unquestionable answer, or an unanswerable question?

The hardest thing in life is knowing which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn. People often remain depressed whenever they tend to fail in distinguishing what parts of life to cross in a way they succeed. Usually, while climbing the stairs of the ladder of life, we don't take the proper steps and fall. Falling makes a human disheartened and life seems to be miserable. Even a single hurdle makes us fall with a deeper wound than expected. Indeed life is complicated, yet easy. Herculean, yet angelic. We barely know what surprises life has for us, henceforth, we hate what we get. Here, lets come as one, and enjoy every tits and bits of life.. Let's use our education in easing our problems, not complicating them. We learn for life, not merely to pass some examinations. Get up people, there ain't any point in sitting lonely, there are many who need your company!


Well, Hans Christian Anderson rightly said, " Just living is not enough; One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." Indeed, the purpose of life, is a life of purpose. People tend to forget what they landed for. Inhumanity, Selfishness, Unkindness, inconsiderate, mean, disobliging and so on. These qualities are quite common, aren't they? Well, they weren't earlier, but now, look around yourself, and just think to yourself, can you even find one person who's kind, generous, amiable, affectionate, indulgent, benevolent or even one percent of the things mentioned here? Indeed, no. Every time we fell into a pit of sadness, drollery, and haziness, we curse someone else. Someone else, for what we did? Oh yeah. Do we ever curse ourselves? No. A big no. Human is sadistic. Always ready to face pain. I guess, we love it. We know which puddle to cross and which not, but still, we choose the difficult one. The one which should be avoided. AVOIDED. Ask yourself, don't you do the same? Perhaps, yes. As we struggle to make sense of things, life looks in repose, for sure. But we have to face it. Somehow. Human never created any lock without a key, so why do you expect God to create a problem without a solution? God always creates a solution to every hurdle fellows. Stop cursing him. Find that key to the lock. Believe me, the day you do so, you'd be the happiest person ever! Like, maybe it isn't that easy, still life isn't a bed of roses. Life is actually a mixed blessing, which we vainly try to unmix. The only way to have a life, is to commit it like crazy. Do whatever you can, whenever you want. For at least this would make you curse yourself for what happens with you, isn't it? Make life your most favorite game. Play it. Win it or lose it. But then, you're responsible for what comes in front of you. Take the challenges as they come. Just accept them. Once you do so, God will realize how stouthearted you are, and he'll send you parcels with solutions to each and every problem.


Basically, once you understand what you're gifted with, you'll love life. I love my life, and so do several others. I like it, despite of the thousands of the hurdles it offers me, despite of the millions of injuries it presents me, and despite of every drollery it gifts me. I do so, `cause, I'm responsible for those hurdles, I'm responsible for those injuries and I, at last, am responsible for all those drolleries. Never do curse someone, never. Be responsible. Face everything as it comes. Just don't turn around. When we are alone on a starlit night, when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove of junipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children, when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet, Basho, we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, all these provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.


Opportunity is indeed like a bird that never perches. It does, but silently. People say opportunity knocks our doors once, and usually, we tend to ignore it. Regrets, sorrows is what we intend after having lost our good luck. Perhaps, there is nothing as luck. All we have to do, is hard work. Key to success, huh? So, do whatever you're up to, fly up to your aspirations, ambitions, and hallucinations too.Spread your wings wide apart, and there you're ready to fly!


Here we are, concluding, "The meaning of life is not an unquestionable answer, rather an unanswerable question." Just a change in the position of words, but makes a big difference.