At the Grassroots…
Takeaways from Young Leaders’ Camp 2018
College had just concluded, and I was searching for something adventurous and challenging to do. The Young Leaders’ camp happened at the right time and I got selected to be a summer camp trainer in one of the social welfare residential schools in Telangana. This was an attempt to try and implement changes in our education system (something I complain a lot about!) at the grassroots.
A few days before the camp, I got bumped up to the role of a camp lead, very similar to a principal. Our stay at the school was enriching as well as a tiring experience. The amount of maturity, curiosity and independence these kids showed awed me. We were shot with very interesting questions like (These are only the tip of the ice berg! :P)
“How do I make a drone?”
“What happens inside a watch?”
“How can I make an app?”
Our aim at the camp was to explore various sustainable practices to be implemented at the school to make learning a joyous and holistic one, for the students and the teachers. Students were encouraged to be independent learners and in turn, motivate their peers (hence the name ‘young leaders’). The improvement that the kids showed over time was phenomenal!
So, what were the important takeaways from the camp as a lead?
- Open mindedness: Every kid out there is smart and creative. All that they need is the space to express themselves without any fear of judgement. Once they get the sense of security that it’s okay to go wrong, they tend to come out and try various opportunities. Their inhibition slowly faded and they turned out to be much more confident towards the end of the camp.
- Don’t Judge!: One clear observation about the school staff was that they entered the school with very fixed thoughts about the kids. They were strongly of the opinion that the kids were from the most backward background and their abilities were limited. Such a mindset was a barrier to both the teachers and the students.
- Trust your trainers: Freedom makes them empowered as well as responsible towards their class. Once the expectations were discussed, the trainers had the freedom to implement things the way they wanted and that made a lot of difference.
- Patience: A lot of it. Many things went haywire and had to be dealt with a lot of cool. The hard realization of the impact of Murphy’s law happened here :P
- Grounding: Always. The lead had to keep the ultimate goal in mind and take decisions. It was very important to be assertive at times. The subtle art of when to pull and let go off the string is something I’m still learning!
- Decision maker: A lead had to be decisive. It was important that I don’t appear to be lost when expected to take a call. Carpediem, mate!
- Always a learner: Learning never stops. Every single day, we got to learn something new in the camp. Creative concepts in classes were very important for effective learning. We always tried out something new to make learning happier and wholesome for the kids.
Was I a pro in the above said bullets? Nope. These have popped up after 2 months of procrastination :P.
The 20 days flew so fast. The fun-filled orientation, solitary location, cooperative staff, friendly villagers, extremely spicy food, deep conversations, lot of learning, the emotional good-bye, best trainers I could ask for and most of all, talented, ambitious and intelligent kids. They sum up my stay at the camp.
Jo Aye Dil Ek Din Ka Yeh Qissa Nahi”
Alas, this was a team of 5 trainers with a few hundred kids. There are lakhs of kids out there who have been limited to a small and stressful world. Hope our little drop of effort creates some ripples of change among the kids and the teachers and makes learning a happy celebration.
PS: I’ve been wanting to write this article for long. The movie “Hichki” gave me the right amount of inspiration to get it done!
For more information on KAARMIC Education’s Young Leaders’ Camp: http://www.youngleadersinitiative.com/
Photo Courtesy: Sahil Budhwar