Preamble “How do we understand our connection with our neighbourhood?” This was the question that prompted the Longitudinal Survey (LS) process that was initiated and conducted by Classes 9 and 11 of Pathashaala in 2014, 2015 and 2019. The effort was not linked directly to any specific subject outcome, or part of the academic programme of any exam requirement. At its core, we initiated the LS because the equity-based lifestyle of the school made the question inevitable. In the stated words of LEs from their presentation at Vasanta Vihar in 2019, they aspired “to understand various aspects of the lived reality of a rural community, to build an experiential understanding of how lives and lifestyles of a village shift and change over time, and the global and regional dynamics that influence this change; to explore through analysis and reflection, the socio-economic, cultural, environmental and livelihood-related impact of governance and development”, and perhaps primarily, “to sustain an ongoing relationship with the people of Vallipuram.”
We have focused on Vallipuram, as the nearest village to Pathashaala, and one with which the school has many connections, with the help of an NGO, Hand in Hand. These surveys were based on a sample of 196 houses, one in every four in the village.
Note: LE and EL are terms used at Pathashaala for Learner-Educators and Educator-Learners instead of student and teacher, pointing to the symmetry in the roles as supporters of learning and learners.
When COVID struck, students went back to their homes and began the tortuous process of learning online. One online academic year stretched into the next and the future seemed bleak and isolated and there was no hope of continuing the LS at the time. It was then, in the first term of 2020, that it suddenly struck us that we could connect to ourselves and others in a wholly new way—through the dynamic reflection that ‘pre-surveys’ could provide.
The change that this wrought in both ELs and senior LEs is difficult to describe. The prefix ‘pre-‘ did a lot for the morale as well, for it gave a sense that real-life contact and connection would return. We embarked on what we thought would be one pre-survey; but as the quarantine extended and students came and went from the campus in a sporadic manner, we ended up doing four. The exploration resurrected the spirit of these surveys and built a measure of sanity into a chaotic landscape of life and learning during COVID.
Pre-longitudinal Survey 1: Surveying ourselves — October 2021
In this first pre-survey, the peak period of COVID, LEs turned the spotlight on themselves and their immediate surroundings. Giving each other numbers and codes to mask identities, they asked themselves important questions like the ones that they had asked people in Vallipuram. By understanding, calculating, looking closely at their own lifestyles and consumption patterns, they were able to better understand the issues that affected them, and develop their own parameters of analysis. The first step was to look inward. The areas that were investigated were—landscape around me, energy use, water use, and power consumption.
Siva Kiran, an LE who opted to work with solar and power audit, said in his review: “My journey with this survey started with my interest in Physics. But as we came further down the tunnel, my findings on the socio-economic aspect of power generation and production were both reality-breaking and reality-measuring for me. The question, ‘Is more better than less?’ has made changes in my understanding of the purpose of our existence.”
Shreya who had opted to be a part of the power audit group commented: “Now I’m more aware of my surroundings, like if I see the fan running on in another room I go and switch it off, which I rarely used to do before.”
Krishna Prasad in the landscape survey group, said: “This survey made me realize how life starts and ends with soil.”
Pre-longitudinal Survey 2: Rural-urban connect — February 2022
The intention of this survey was to understand how the issues and parameters looked at in the previous survey connected to the rural realities of India. They researched governmental and other frameworks, budgets, schemes, and policies in relation to their concerns, and in the process also attempted to understand the rural and urban relationships and equations. The areas that were focused on are—renewable energy, housing and finance, water and health and nutrition.
Ayush who worked with the housing and finance group said: “The last pre-longitudinal survey was a much more personal exploration and introspection of my life. This time I was able to connect my findings with the larger reality of government budgets and policy related to rural and urban spending. This has made me realize the impact of policy and good policy making.”
Yash who worked with the water group said: “The major learning for me from this project was the realisation of the disconnect I had from the rural reality of water in India. I learnt how I had taken for granted the water I was receiving and not looking at where it comes from. I learnt the importance of the availability of water in each household in the village.”
Pre-longitudinal Survey 3: Solutions — April 2022
In this survey, with the possibility of the COVID menace receding, LEs decided to look at the possibilities or initiatives that can be taken based on their own interests. The areas that were focused on, based on their choices, were waste management, rain water harvesting, solar power, menstrual health, and ‘agripreneurship’.
Rohan said: “In all these areas we have looked at what can be done in our school and also how it can be implemented in the villages around us.”
Mahathi who is part of the agripreneurship group reflects: “While I think, on the surface, I was aware of the importance of agriculture on any economy, especially the Indian, I was unaware of the potential for it especially when paired with entrepreneurship. I feel like agripreneurship would produce an indestructible superpower, not only for the benefit of the farmers but also for the economy.”
Pre-longitudinal Survey 4: Linking to the SDGs — July 2022
The beginning of the first term in the academic year 2022–23 did not allow us to be sanguine about COVID. The LEs proposed another pre-survey. The attempt was to enable the LEs to understand issues in a global context and framework and see and work proactively with the local connection. They were encouraged to form tangibly implementable outcomes that would mitigate or alleviate issues in their chosen areas, and these were linked to an interaction they had with the gram sabha at Vallipuram on 15 August. The areas that were looked at include: food wastage, metal waste, electronic waste, plastic waste, glass waste, community libraries, games and poverty, rainwater harvesting, secondary education and employment, solar thermal energy, mental health, and farming.
The impact of this effort may best be summed up in Khyati’s words: “Through the process of this Pre-longitudinal Survey… I learned how interconnected everything in our world is and more importantly how even small steps can have a global impact.”
Learning for Educator-Learners
Bhaveen: The pre-longitudinal surveys have taught me that learning to ask a genuine question is the most crucial spark in the learning journey. What begins as a first step is the seed to flower into a deep and rewarding journey of exploration and enquiry. I have realized and seen validated the knowledge that the role of the educator as a facilitator is to attempt to create the right kind of atmosphere where learning can take place.
Sumitra: Who knew that COVID would offer so much scope to learn? The process of learning does not separate the teacher and the taught. The journey has been one of discovering what is possible as learning—initiating, facilitating, and participating in the scope of the ‘radical change’ that Krishnamurti indicates. There is a sense of exhilaration and spirit that the young bring just by being who they are, and that fuels an immediacy in evoking the learning possibility for the unpredictable ‘now’. Through this process there was vital scope to explore new relationships with the world and with oneself, and to learn from the connections one makes.