[PeDAGoG] A shout out to Melanie Bush

[Ashish Kothari]

That's amazing and inspiring, Pallavi! And thanks Melanie! This is so 
much the essence of this kind of forum and network ... and it probably 
happens every once in a while but is not always reported back. In the 
Vikalp Sangam process we get such news occasionally, of bilateral or 
multilateral linkages made at the Sangam confluences or online, 
resulting in some wonderful collaborations and actions, and it then all 
seems worth the constant emailing, phoning, and following up! :)

It would be great to get one or more of the students to write about this 
experience, which we can carry on vikalp sangam website .. and perhaps 
they can also publish in one of the youth magazines? And/or you writing 
about it ... with a bit more elaboration on what they tried, how they 
were transformed etc ?

(I am copying in here also the GTA core team to let them know of this).

ashish

 Ashish Kothari

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Ashish Kothari

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On 28/05/22 1:09 pm, Pallavi Varma Patil wrote:
> Dear PeDAGoG Members,
>
> I wanted to share a recent interesting and meaningful experience that 
> came about directly as a result of this network.
>
> You are aware (mostly thanks to my own emails) that Sujit and I 
> offered the first session in the new webinar series called 'Learnings 
> for Alternative Futures' (designed in collaboration with several 
> valuable networks)  by presenting our initiative, 'Living Utopias' on 
> April 1, 2022.  It was a session with a small group and we had a very 
> useful conversation amongst the participants. One of them , Melanie 
> Bush (more on her in our google sheet <https://bit.ly/3MWczsB> ) 
> reached out to us in the following week and we had a lovely 
> conversation about pedagogies and experiential learning- making 
> abstract values more tangible.
>
> And so I learnt from Melanie (with her generous sharing of ideas ) how 
> to set up an assignment around a Time Bank in a classroom space . I 
> was skeptical but my students in an Indian University (36 of them) 
> rose to the occasion and exceeded the brief and more. They paired up 
> on their own and shared their skills and gifts. So from bike rides to 
> coffee evenings to cooking, a lake walk, a photoshoot, braiding hair,  
> to watching a film together, playing childhood games - they completed 
> their time sharing tasks in  myriad ways.
>
> And just like that my University class transformed like magic . We had 
> a whole unit on Solidarity Economics with the usual reading list but 
> now each one of them came back to class with a different mind set 
> towards learning. They were so much more engaged as participants 
> in ideas around Living Utopias.  Without ANY exception I had 36 
> reflections that spoke about the huge impact a small assignment made 
> on the possibilities that friendships and connections bring,
>
> It was difficult to read their sensitive reflections without tearing 
> up. These students are in the age group of 22-27 years. Coming out of 
> COVID closures, and increased polarisation in the world around them,  
> several are struggling to make and maintain real physical comradeship 
> and friendships. Many are also very despondent about the future.
> In this context, thanks to such a  simple assignment, I got to connect 
> with my students in a very different and humane way.
>
> I wanted to publicly thank Melanie in this forum for this impromptu 
> collaboration.  Following our webinar was Dan Baron's fantastic 
> session and a 3rd webinar in the series is on its way. I hope what is 
> now set rolling continues and we do not stop soon.
>
> Because look how New York affected  Bangalore!.
>
> Best,
> Pallavi
>
>
>
> -- 
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>
>
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>
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