Aaina: Reflections on Education and Society Videos

Classes go on as usual, attendance is marked, assignments are due…is this the best response colleges have to the current crisis engulfing the country? We are battling multiple emergencies. From the health emergency to the migrant labour crisis, there are issues that need our immediate attention. Many teachers and students, in fact, have risen to the occasion and continue to form volunteer networks to help those in need. But what are university and college administrations doing? At best, exams are postponed for a few weeks. What about organising donation drives, running community kitchens, using institutional resources to support those who are homeless and jobless? What about supporting students and teachers who have been affected by the current situation? Educational institutes have to begin by acknowledging that there is a crisis. It has to be acknowledged on their websites and official circulars. It has to be discussed in classrooms and open forums with students and teachers. This is no time to be passive and pretend that things are normal. Some of the ideas for the post have been taken from an article by Apoorvanand. Link in bio. #education #educationforall #indianeducation #reels #covid_19 #attendance #classroom #student #teacher #teaching #educationforchange #university #onlineeducation #onlineclasses #pandemicteaching

Honest Classroom Scenes: Episode 2
Classrooms are dynamic spaces. There are many voices, many perspectives. But classrooms are also highly unequal spaces—not everyone’s perspective is equally valued or even voiced. Teachers, especially those from socially dominant communities, may have beliefs about their own superiority. This might put students from marginalized communities in an even more vulnerable position. So, how do we learn to challenge hierarchies in educational spaces? A good place to begin is to observe these hierarchies, recognise the assumptions that people bring to the classroom. Both teachers and students have opinions about who should study, what should be the correct ‘age’ for studying, and what should be the ‘right’ approach to studying. These assumptions and opinions shape our knowledge, our identities, and our relationships in the classroom. By honestly accounting for what we see, feel, and think in the classroom and educational spaces in general, we can begin to have a more concrete debate about what needs to change. Let’s honestly expose the classroom, shall we? #honestclassroomscenes #indianeducation #educationforchange #mainhoonna #bollywood #classrooms #socialjustice #inequality #teaching