Kalpana Pathak, Breaking the mould: alternative schools in India, Chennai: Westland Ltd., 2016, ISBN 978-93-85152-29-0, pp. XVI+230, 295 rupees.
Education is a field of interest in our times. The proliferation of numerous institutes and educational centers and the amount of propaganda that is made are testimony to this. The educational landscape in India is neither something worth admiring nor worthy of outright condemnation. There is no doubt that India does not rank among the top countries when it comes to education. According to the Legatum Prosperity Index 2016, India is ranked 102 out of 149 countries surveyed, in the field of education. Our educational system leaves a lot to be desired. While, on the one hand, there are people who defend IITs and IIMs as examples of success, there are a larger number who deplore the rote learning approach that is characteristic of the Indian education system.
In Break the mold, the author explores the world of alternative education in India and attempts to present the intensive study she has done in the field. The book has nine chapters plus an illuminating introduction. The chapters explain the different facets of alternative education and thus comprehensively provide a good overview of alternative education in the country.
Alternative education in its broadest sense can simply be defined as everything that conventional education is not. The first impression one gets when hearing about alternative education may be to think of it as a Western idea. If that is the case, then one will be surprised to learn that there have been illustrious Indians who have also pioneered this concept locally. Famous western names associated with alternative education are Montessori and Steiner. In the pre-independence period, social reformers and freedom fighters began to explore alternatives to the educational system of the day. Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, and Gijubhai Badheka emphasized experiential learning and innovative pedagogy (p. 19). For some of these people like Tagore, the search for an alternative educational method arose from their own negative experience with conventional education.
The first chapter despite being called ‘The origins and history of alternative education’ offers very little in this regard. In fact, what it does is provide a brief history of education in India, from the Vedic period to the medieval and modern period, and culminating in the post-independence period. The final part of the chapter introduces the concept of alternative education and briefly describes the reasons for its origin.
Chapter two is extensive as it deals with the ‘Philosophies of Alternative Education Thinkers and their Schools’. This is perhaps the most crucial chapter in the book, as it forms the foundation on which all further explanation depends. The author examines the situation of the philosopher in the light of his views on education. He then goes on to carefully describe, down to the finest details, an institute associated with the philosopher.
The third chapter discusses the logic of alternative schools and their views on educational components such as classrooms, pedagogy, arts and crafts, physical activity, and assessment and study material. The next chapter is also a very important chapter from the point of view of the book because it presents the ‘Advantages, Disadvantages and Myths of Alternative Education’. To emphasize the point, the author compares alternative education with conventional education and thus shows the advantages and disadvantages of such a system. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and the myths thus showing a favorable inclination towards alternative education. The myths and disadvantages are presented although not in a completely neutral way; the author tends to be defensive towards alternative schools.
The fifth chapter deals with the ‘Challenges of Alternative Schools’. Once again the challenges presented are decisive but receive a subtly biased representation. The author downplays the potency of these challenges and makes them seem like minor hurdles that alternative education can overcome. Closer and more critical examination will reveal that it is not as easy to set them aside as the author makes it seem. Chapter six is obviously added for dramatic effect and chronicles interviews with students, parents, and a teacher associated with alternative schools. At this point, the author seems to become insistent on the concept of alternative education. The repeated emphasis on the goodness of alternative education works on the unconscious mind in much the same way as advertisements.
Chapter seven assesses the ‘Impact of the Right to Education Act (RTE) on Alternative Schools’. RTE threatened the ideology of alternative education and brought it to its knees. The emphasis on infrastructure and teacher qualification, for example, placed a heavy burden on the small budget of these schools and the volunteer nature of their teachers. Chapter eight touches briefly on the subject of ‘Homeschooling and Alternative Education’. The author ends the book with a detailed directory of alternative schools in India. As he went through the list, I noticed that it was mainly the larger states that were mentioned. I engaged in a little search and found a site (alternativeeducationindia.net) which acts as an online directory for all registered alternative schools. The author gives a brief description of each school and provides their contact details and address.
The book explores the lesser-known competitor to conventional education. However, the author bathes alternative education in milk and honey and presents it in a glorified way. On a few occasions the author has repeated quotes in an attempt to drive home a point. Such repetitions get tiresome after a while. The images that accompany the text are a failure as they are not clear due to their conversion from color to grayscale. The back cover reads: “All in all, a must have on every parent’s shelf.” I am sorry I disagree. While reading this may influence some parents to place their children in an alternative school, most parents will find that option not feasible despite the appeal of the concept. Basic factors such as proximity and transportation should be considered before enrolling a child in a school. Although alternative schools are cheaper, they are not always located in close proximity due to their pedagogical requirements. The book is undoubtedly very informative but it suffers from numerous grammatical and typographical errors. The author deserves credit for thoroughly visiting those schools firsthand and collecting data and commentary. His presentation, however, lacked journalistic neutrality, but was made up with the thoroughness and style characteristic of a journalistic background.