Anjanisain-Agri&Skill Development Center

Welcome to SBMA

Some of our valued characteristics are: confidence, mindfulness, open-mindedness, honesty, healthy relationships and sensitivity.

A Letter from an AIF Volunteer..

Anand Dwivediji, the Director of Paryavaran Vidyalaya, requested that I write a letter about my experience at the Environmental School thus far. Like Marc Alongi and Dan Vasquez, I am an American India Foundation Service Corps Fellow and will reside in Anjanisain for approximately ten months. Although my specific project proposal has not been defined as of yet, I find myself busy teaching English to the teachers and students, creating fun and engaging activities for the classroom, brainstorming for a written curriculum and syllabus for each class level, and of course adapting to an ashram lifestyle of living, meditating, working, cooking, and learning with the others involved in the school. Since my arrival in mid-September, I grapple with one question daily: what is holistic education?

Yet, the question on most people's minds here in the community we serve is much simpler: are we teaching the students? And are they actually learning? There is a simple yes/no answer. Yes, we are teaching the children. The introduction of new textbooks this year from the Jiva Institute and Oxford India has not only benefited the teachers as far as a tangible teaching schedule for math, science, social studies, English, Hindi, and other subjects but also benefited the students as far as a more child-centered and India relative approach to learning that these books encompass.

Yes, the students are actually learning. The Environmental School does scoff at traditional examinations but this does not mean the students are not "tested" daily in class. The teachers do not give the children superficial marks of 100%, 90%, 80%, and so on. Instead the small class sizes, which we hope to maintain, allows each child to participate in class through asking and answering questions, team-work, student-to-student teaching, and other activities. New to education myself, my method of measuring the quality and quantity of education at the present moment is simply to observe the children. Here the children are happy. They have the freedom to be children: to run, play, climb, sing, dance, and exert incredible amounts of energy that makes me tired just watching. They have the freedom to be students: explorers, discoverers, inventors, magicians, scientists, mathematicians, and actors. They have the freedom because they themselves want to be here.

And their best friends are not their classmates but their teachers. During a discussion on education, I asked Jaya, who teaches Class Six, what makes a good teacher. She responded quickly, "First we must be the children's friends and then only can we be their teachers." Without any college degrees or experience, the teachers are students as well. The student-teacher dynamic is thus one of mutual learning. The eight teachers have exhausting schedules as they must both care for the education of their students and at the same time constantly study and review the subject material. Consequently, the children on occasion teach the teachers, and in these magical moments the idea of holistic education becomes clearer to me.

Still we struggle. Recently two girls left the school for Dehradun and eventually will go to the United Kingdom after a generous grant from British foster parents. The girls are "lucky" because now they have opportunities never dreamed of before. And yet, the Environmental School is unlucky because we have lost two bright minds and two future leaders in our community. We struggle because the ideal of holistic education is still an ideal and not a reality. We need to provide an education that is competitive with the highest values in any country and harmonious with the indigeneous values of Garwhal, Uttaranchal. Only then will the Environmental School's potential to be a mimesis for the government schools in Garwhal, Uttaranchal, and India be realized.

Everyday I am myself teaching and learning. Although the thought of meeting leopards in my backyard and the actually of meeting huge spiders in my room daily makes me a little homesick; the energy and enthusiasm of Anandji, the teachers, and the students keeps me committed to this project.

Aloha,
Tatjana Johnson
AIF Fellow

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Training Center Agri & Skill Development Center Hostel Weaving & Card Unit People Health & Community Education Center	Shri Bhuvneshwari Parayavan Vidhyalaya (“Environmental School”) Introduction What has been happening… A Letter from an AIF Volunteer.. Introduction In October of 2003 a series of dialogues began revolving around the relationship of societal progress and education. What became clear was that there is a vast difference between education, as we would like to define it, and ‘schooling’. The dialogues reflected upon how systems of forced learning tend to produce children who are reserved, uncreative, highly competitive and finally, under achieving. In order to make children work, stand up strait, or be quiet, rigid discipline was enforced upon them. So it seems that traditional education is less focused on child psychology and rather has a tendency to act as a police force making sure children are able to regurgitate a certain set of information. Memorization enforced through competition replaces learning. (Of course acknowledging that the reason for this is pressure put on schools by government ‘standards,’ while teachers receive inadequate training.) So the social question stands, how will these young minds help our society to progress?
	Emerging from the dialogues was a consensus that relevant learning or learning originating from the mind of the child, ideally, should be a part of the educational paradigm. Is it necessary that reward and punishment be the means by which we force our children to learn? Or is it possible that by offering ample opportunities to experience new concepts and new ideas, and environments where creativity, mindfulness, individuality and confidence are at the foundation of all learning, that children will naturally blossom?


	These discussions in which we are continuously engaged, have given us the inspiration to work with children. We believe that it is our privilege and responsibility to provide the most creative, motivating and nurturing learning environment possible for our children and ourselves.

		Mission Our goal is to create an environment for students, teachers and teacher trainers where intelligent living is possible. A focus on dealing with present realities becomes a habit and learning an on-going and natural process.
	We seek to: Eliminate forced learning (both physical and psychological force: abuse, grades, exams, and other competitive activities). Introduce a relevant learning environment where children are presented with fun and real challenges. Move away from abstract and ‘book-based schooling’ and move towards concrete activities with practical applications. Focus on making mindfulness a part of every activity. Whether we are singing, doing a math problem or cleaning a classroom, that we do it from the heart. We will do things for the process rather than an end. Create an environment where all members are constantly learning about themselves and the world around them. Some of our valued characteristics are: confidence, mindfulness, open-mindedness, honesty, healthy relationships and sensitivity. A Letter from an AIF Volunteer.. Anand Dwivediji, the Director of Paryavaran Vidyalaya, requested that I write a letter about my experience at the Environmental School thus far. Like Marc Alongi and Dan Vasquez, I am an American India Foundation Service Corps Fellow and will reside in Anjanisain for approximately ten months. Although my specific project proposal has not been defined as of yet, I find myself busy teaching English to the teachers and students, creating fun and engaging activities for the classroom, brainstorming for a written curriculum and syllabus for each class level, and of course adapting to an ashram lifestyle of living, meditating, working, cooking, and learning with the others involved in the school. Since my arrival in mid-September, I grapple with one question daily: what is holistic education? Yet, the question on most people's minds here in the community we serve is much simpler: are we teaching the students? And are they actually learning? There is a simple yes/no answer. Yes, we are teaching the children. The introduction of new textbooks this year from the Jiva Institute and Oxford India has not only benefited the teachers as far as a tangible teaching schedule for math, science, social studies, English, Hindi, and other subjects but also benefited the students as far as a more child-centered and India relative approach to learning that these books encompass. Yes, the students are actually learning. The Environmental School does scoff at traditional examinations but this does not mean the students are not "tested" daily in class. The teachers do not give the children superficial marks of 100%, 90%, 80%, and so on. Instead the small class sizes, which we hope to maintain, allows each child to participate in class through asking and answering questions, team-work, student-to-student teaching, and other activities. New to education myself, my method of measuring the quality and quantity of education at the present moment is simply to observe the children. Here the children are happy. They have the freedom to be children: to run, play, climb, sing, dance, and exert incredible amounts of energy that makes me tired just watching. They have the freedom to be students: explorers, discoverers, inventors, magicians, scientists, mathematicians, and actors. They have the freedom because they themselves want to be here. And their best friends are not their classmates but their teachers. During a discussion on education, I asked Jaya, who teaches Class Six, what makes a good teacher. She responded quickly, "First we must be the children's friends and then only can we be their teachers." Without any college degrees or experience, the teachers are students as well. The student-teacher dynamic is thus one of mutual learning. The eight teachers have exhausting schedules as they must both care for the education of their students and at the same time constantly study and review the subject material. Consequently, the children on occasion teach the teachers, and in these magical moments the idea of holistic education becomes clearer to me. Still we struggle. Recently two girls left the school for Dehradun and eventually will go to the United Kingdom after a generous grant from British foster parents. The girls are "lucky" because now they have opportunities never dreamed of before. And yet, the Environmental School is unlucky because we have lost two bright minds and two future leaders in our community. We struggle because the ideal of holistic education is still an ideal and not a reality. We need to provide an education that is competitive with the highest values in any country and harmonious with the indigeneous values of Garwhal, Uttaranchal. Only then will the Environmental School's potential to be a mimesis for the government schools in Garwhal, Uttaranchal, and India be realized. Everyday I am myself teaching and learning. Although the thought of meeting leopards in my backyard and the actually of meeting huge spiders in my room daily makes me a little homesick; the energy and enthusiasm of Anandji, the teachers, and the students keeps me committed to this project. Aloha, Tatjana Johnson AIF Fellow (For Questions and comments Click On Feedback)