26 Intangibles

Written for Edlusion, my former employer, this talks of the Intangibles in Teaching Frameworks.

Intangibles in teaching frameworks and guidelines

All through schooling and life there is an unwrit and unspoken undercurrent of learning and character building. It is seen in some schools as moral science instruction or Bible class, or sometimes there is a personality development teacher.

Some teachers understand the importance of the "more than book knowledge" - the worldviews, perceptions and attitudes that they so gently and patiently help to shape.

Until recently institutions held onto a value system and ensured that all their teaching staff understood and tried to impart this. With the advent and dominance of consumerism and the thrust for success, many schools have given up completely on teaching these values that formed the basis of a progressive society.

This can change. These bandaid fixes we have applied to life's problems are not working anymore. There is a growing seed of discord and discontent. We need to regain the wisdom of old and are doing this more as East meets West and new pockets of intuition and heart-led teachings arise.

Some *1 call this the "hidden curriculum" at play in schools. This curriculum, preserved by these inspired teachers needs to now be brought to the fore and expanded upon. Just like we made Wikipedia work, we must rethink our attitudes to life and our struggles to find the gifts Mother Nature left for us on the way, and come up with a thought framework that lays out this invaluable teaching.

It is this author's invitation to all teachers interested in having time prove their sensibilities and gut feeling right, that there is more to teaching than just imparting book knowledge.

Let us build this hidden curriculum of life that is better learnt in the dreamy days of youth, for it is dreams that ought to keep our youth from sleeping *2. YieldMore.org is one such forum for this collaboration/discussion to take place.

And Transcend *3 provides just the technology needed to make these intangibles a part of the guidelines and metrics by which teachers are groomed and given direction.

A joyous mix of thought and technology I'm just waiting to see the kind of magic that YM and Headstream can weave together.

Amen

*1 - with reference to George Gilchrist's article on the hidden curriculum.
*2 - Quote by Abdul Kalam that dreams are the ones that should keep a body from sleeping.
*3 - The product of headstreamtech.in where Imran works.

Comments by KV: This "help to shape" thought triggered this rant:

There is a huge danger when we "teach" young minds to develop sensibilities and taste in a certain way, are we (even without intent) pushing them to think/feel/react in a certain way to external stimulus and circumstance?

Let's hold back and see how different this clearly is from Stalin's "education of the misled" according to him.

Would it not be a greater service as a teacher to layout all options and views and let the "student" choose the path and find the answer?

Are we so sold in our perception of things, that we fear their quests would lead them elsewhere to different results making our own lofty ideas defunct ?

I "so believe" in free association, that sometimes I find "organized education" almost as bad as "organized religion".