I gave a few online sessions on 'our unschooling journey' and became an admin of a Facebook group called 'Homeschooling India'. I also attended a few sessions on unschooling as a co-host or a participant, but gradually weaned myself away. Not that I didn't enjoy these sessions and its not that I didn't learn from these forums. It's just that they would tire me out completely. It would take me sometime to switch from the virtual session mode to the real world. My eyes needed adjustment, my posture, my body needed to get back to a mode of real movement. My brain needed some time to realign itself to other stimuli. It was hard. I understood that I was spending a lot of time sitting in one position, looking at one screen while writing my blog, during online sessions and a whole lot of time checking my WhatsApp and Facebook notifications.
My children have been on their gadgets too for long hours. Infact they stay awake for most parts of the night and wake up post noon almost everyday. They are much younger than me. They take their breaks from their screens while making food or when they are engaged in household chores. Siddhu goes for a run early morning and Aditya takes little breaks every now and then. There are days when Tara prefers playing outside or with her toys and there are days when she is glued to her Ipad.
We all are engaged with our gadgets by choice and have complete control over what we use it for. There is no adult telling my children what sessions to attend or what games to play or whom to interact with. This is what makes us different from most others.
I see children in my neighborhood engaged in online schooling. When asked about his experience, a child trying to sound very important said, "We have to get ready and attend school on our laptop." My cousin who is a teacher at a reputed school in Pune shared, "Online schooling is a torture for both students and the teachers. We are getting our salaries and hence we are doing it." Another friend shared, "Its keeping my children occupied". These parents keep their children conveniently occupied by enrolling them for more online activities post online schooling or online homeschooling hours. Tara too attended a trial online session through a school. She said that she didn't like looking at the laptop all the time...and most often forgot to listen to what was being said. Tara could express clearly what she experienced, I wonder whether other children do express and if they do are they really heard?
I wonder what is the impact of online schooling on children. How is it like to wake up in the morning and wear school uniform (usually only the school shirt and sit in front of either a laptop, tab or a smart phone and log into a classroom app? Has anyone asked children?
To add to this, I also see people who passionately believed in Self Directed Learning - commodifying knowledge and once again offering it to the masses that access social media platforms. What I observe is a new meaning being assigned to self-directed learning. Maybe it could be differentiated from the actual self directed learning by naming it differently - it is 'choice based sessions' - where individuals choose sessions from an umbrella of sessions being offered on one platform or as one event.
So far I understood Self-Directed Learning as a path chosen by an individual to follow their passion and interests. To give an example - a child who is interested in mechanics follows this interest and works towards creating different machines. This is his learning path, designed and directed by him and only him. However now self - directed learning is taking a different meaning. According to this new understanding - Children have choices and a right to choose. However these choices have boundaries (i.e have to select from what is being offered) and children have no right to decide how they want to learn. Events are being created. Parents have access to these events. They enroll their children for it and pay high fees for the same. the Fear of missing out (FOMO) and the guilt of spending so much money pushes the parent to force their children to select a session. Some parents do take their children's consent. This consent is also a myth as the child feels forced to consent. Some children give their consent as they feel obliged to do so, some do so as they have been tamed to believe that only things that are taught bring in learning. Very few opt for these sessions because they feel these sessions will help them pursue their interest.
Once children are online - they have to choose from a list of sessions being offered. Most often the parent monitors these choices. The parent believes that not opting for a session means a waste of the money they have paid. Then the child enters a session which is being taught by an adult. The content too is pre-planned and hence not choice based.
I have been having questions about games too. I thoroughly enjoy games and love playing them by the rules. However I cannot term these as self directed learning as everything is in control of the facilitator. Children are not creating their own games or playing different games by making their own rules. They are simply following someone.
Productification and commodification of knowledge has been going on since a few decades. Now the products are being transformed into online products. This transformation yet doesn't address the core issues of learning - 'Control' - as yet the control over the design, content and implementation is yet with the adult. The child is in no way creating their own learning journey.
Two years ago, I experimented with running a learning center. I used to organize many workshops for adults and children. I observed that parents often decided for their children. There was either a fear of missing out or a need to expose their children to anything new. There were many a times that the children would move out of the sessions and prefer playing outside or with my cats or my dog. I would never have the heart to force these children and always rejoiced in the wee bit of freedom they experienced in unsupervised play.
At the beginning of the COVID crisis in India. I felt that online sessions were doing wonders. It was my children who showed me a different view. On one hand I saw them willingly engage in discussions on learning with their friends on a virtual platform and on the other hand - everytime I requested them to participate in a forum - they would say no. On having a conversation with them they both clearly told me - we don't like it when other adults plan things for us. While my older son loves character sketching - he didn't want to be part of any session being offered. He told me that I can learn by myself by watching videos and practicing. My daughter too steered away from any zoom meetings and sessions.
When I saw it from their eyes, when I truly put myself in their shoes and when I opened my eyes to their world, everything that they said made sense and I refrained from forcing them. I do send them event notifications on their phone. So far they have decided against being part of such online sessions and somewhere deep down I am glad. I am happy that they are not coming under the pressure of adults or their fears. They know what they want and are so aligned with their inner self.
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| Online learning Pic that went Viral. |
