Published: May 2017 (8 years ago) in issue Nº 334

Keywords: Auroville Learning Activities (ALA), Study groups, Auroville Campus Initiative (ACI), SAIIER (Sri Aurobindo International Institute of Educational Research), New Era Senior Secondary School (NESS), Auroville Institute of Applied Technology (AIAT), Workshops, Training programs, Seminars, Volunteers and Interns

Guidelines for Auroville Learning Activities

In discussion with Dhanya, Dominique, Joster and Vikram Devatha — In dialogue with Manas

The ALA study group

During the guest season in Auroville, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the number of workshops, classes and seminars that are on offer. With notice boards overflowing with announcements of programmes, Auroville does look like “the place for an unending education.” Looking at this mushrooming of learning activities, and the potential impact of this sector on Auroville, the Auroville Council felt the need to establish some guidelines for the learning sector.

The first set of guidelines was drafted by the Auroville Campus Initiative (ACI), but these guidelines had two significant shortcomings: many stakeholders thought that the process of developing the guidelines was not inclusive enough and others felt that the guidelines were more like top-down directives.

A new Study Group was constituted in 2015, which has now completed its task of creating the guidelines for Auroville Learning Activities (ALA). An ALA Coordination Group (ALACG) has been formed, which will implement the guidelines for a trial period of one year, from July 2017. It’s important to note that these guidelines apply to non-formal learning activities only, and not to formal programs (such as schools) or informal learning (such as learning from daily experience).

Auroville Today met four members of the Study Group – Dhanya, Dominique, Joster and Vikram – to talk about their experience and their learning from the process.

Auroville Today: The Study Group has been working on the guidelines for a year and a half. Why has it taken such a long time to develop these guidelines?

Joster: What we did is a new approach. The effort is to bring all the learning activities in Auroville under one umbrella, for which the guidelines have to be there in advance. It took a lot of time to engage in the dialogue with all the stakeholders – learning providers, facilitators, venues, working groups. Even guest houses and taxi services get affected.

Vikram: Our work could have continued even longer to address some additional aspects of the guidelines, such as programme content or quality. We imposed a deadline on ourselves and decided to complete our work by April 2017.

Dominique: We did it differently this time. The Auroville Campus Initiative (ACI) had worked on the guidelines earlier, but that was more centralised and did not work for most of the stakeholders. Our approach was much more participatory. We regularly listened to, and captured the wisdom of, the community. For me, this was very new and very innovative. I also feel a huge sense of gratitude after the process.

Dhanya: We used an intensive bottom-up approach, where we engaged with every possible type of stakeholder. And as we worked through the landscape and the guidelines, a lot more complexity emerged than we had anticipated. But rather than cut the process short, we wanted to see how the process would play out. I don’t think it took too long. In fact, we were very practical and did not get lost in philosophical debates. Very importantly, we stayed focussed on the task, which was to develop the guidelines. We did not work on a vision for the learning sector. This is needed, but this was not our task.

The important thing is that we were looking at the guidelines from a sector perspective – the non-formal learning sector. This does not fit into the standard categories of commercial units or services. It cuts across all categories and domains of work. So, we needed different kinds of guidelines. This is something to look at in the future. Old frameworks might have to change.

In an earlier draft of the guidelines, ALA was Adult Learning Activities. But now it is Auroville Learning Activities, which is a much broader set of activities. Which specific learning activities do the guidelines address?

Joster: All workshops and seminars that are paid programmes are a part of this sector. This could be for guests, but also for Aurovilians. Very often people come in for an “experience Auroville” kind of programme, which are also addressed. The programmes can be in any domain: farming, wellness, sustainability.

Vikram: Initially, it was adult learning activities, but a lot of the facilitators we met do programmes for children. For example, Kalu teaches circus to children in Verite. So, for us it’s not about the age group, but any non-formal learning activity that has grown organically in Auroville.The ALA-specific guidelines will apply only to the non-formal learning activity.

So, if someone decides to start a new non-formal kindergarten, would that be under the ALA umbrella? Also, if a unit or division of SAIIER starts a non-formal learning activity, will it be a part of the ALA sector?

Vikram: Even if a kindergarten does not give any formal certificates, they are considered a part of the formal education system. But I think we are asking the wrong question. It’s not what activities are a part of ALA, but how the guidelines can help an activity, irrespective of its domain. Very often, the categories of activities are not watertight.

Dhanya: I think an important thing to keep in mind is whether the activity is considered a part of the regular education process, from pre-creche to higher education. Such programmes would not be a part of the ALA sector. So, schools under SAIIER, or the New Era Secondary School (NESS) or the Auroville Institute of Applied Technology (AIAT) are not going to be a part of ALA. But it’s possible that there is a specific activity conducted by any of these organizations which is short term, is a non-formal learning activity, and which has a participation fee. It could be a workshop, a training programme or a seminar that is open to volunteers, interns and guests. Such a specific activity can be a part of ALA. Another way to see this distinction is to see ALAs as extracurricular and different from the regular education setup. In any case, it doesn’t really matter where the activity sits. We are focused on the development of the ALA sector irrespective of whether the activity is a part of a business unit, a school or a service. We need to understand that this is a very large field, and we will have to keep learning and adapting as we move forward.

How satisfied are you with the process and the output?

Vikram: It was a very satisfying process and a great learning experience. For me, the biggest takeaway is that we need to find a way for working groups to come together. If we can find a way to unite the working groups, we will find human unity!

Dominique: We spent a lot of energy on financial aspects, which involved, among other things, discussing the financial contribution with the BCC and FAMC. I would have preferred if there was no financial contribution in the first year. We are trying to grow this sector and it is too early for a tax. It’s like planting a garden – you have to wait for the flowers and fruits. You can’t keep pulling out the plants.

Dhanya: I think issues such as financial contributions are for the Coordination Group to consider. We were only asked to create the guidelines, for which we had to step out of our roles as providers of learning activities. In a process like this, I don’t think everybody will ever be fully satisfied. But we did quite well.

What can other study groups learn from your experience?

Dominique: I remember that we began by trying to map out the landscape: mapping all the ALAs, establishing what we wanted to know from them, what was our field of play. This gave us a kind of plan, and we have been slowly digging into the complexities in a collective way. We were enriched by different skills and different sensitivities within the group. This was so much richer than one person doing the job.

Dhanya: It was very helpful to have a member of the Auroville Council on the team. Even if that is not possible for other teams, it is critical to have a designated person who can stay involved because we need to check in with the different working groups repeatedly to assess the issues and understand the sentiments.

Vikram: There are four things I can think of, which can be generalized for other such groups:

1) There needs to be some kind of endorsement for the study group from the Auroville Council. When we approach stakeholders, we are seen in a different light when we have the formal backing of the Council.

2) The process needs to be bottom-up and participatory. Certain issues, like visa and taxes, are top-down rules, but everything else needs to be figured out collaboratively.

3) We need a clear scope of work. In this team, we were constantly drawing boundaries and asking ourselves about our scope of work and our responsibility.

4) There needs to be a budget.

What are the next steps?

Joster: The first step is to register all the ALAs. Dominique and Dhanya are setting up a new unit called LEAD, which will serve as a home for learning activities that are not part of any registered unit or activity.

Dominique: It is up to the Council now to take the guidelines forward and set up the Coordination Group. This group will have to look at the implementation of the guidelines as well as the strategies to grow the sector.

Vikram: The problem in India is implementation. We have a great Constitution, but the implementation is weak. This weakness is amplified in Auroville, because the normal incentives and motivations don’t work in Auroville.It’s very difficult to enforce anything. So, we have to find other ways to motivate and inspire people to adhere to the guidelines.

I noticed that the tone of the guidelines is “we encourage” rather than “you must” …

Dhanya: We have to see this from an evolutionary perspective. We need to make people aware of the guidelines and then facilitate and encourage people to follow them. This is very different from saying “you are doing something wrong, shape up or else”. We have to give everyone a chance to educate themselves.

How do you plan to measure success? How will you know if you are achieving your objectives?

**Vikram: **One thing we will do is to repeat the learning activities survey that we conducted one year ago. We had collected detailed information, such as registration status, income generation and service tax. After the survey, we have shared the guidelines several times over the past year, and the new survey should tell us if there has been any change in the learning activities and how they operate.

Dhanya: I think we need to first ask stakeholders to acknowledge that they have read the guidelines. That’s the very basis of adherence. Secondly, we can measure the number of units and activities that are registering with the Coordination Group. Once we have these basic measures in place, we can start thinking about other aspects such as quality. I think these measures will emerge slowly as we work collaboratively on issues such as feedback received and a code of conduct.

Joster: We will learn a lot from the feedback of participants. The guidelines encourage activities to collect participant feedback and we have also included some sample formats.

What do you see as the main focus of the ALA Coordination Group?

Joster: The first important step is to ensure that all ALAs are registered. The Council will have to find enough people for the Coordination Group who can deeply engage with this sector and take it forward.

Dhanya: Apart from implementation, one critical issue that the ALACG will have to unpack is the interface between content and context. Can any learning content be delivered in Auroville? We have said that the content has to be aligned with the Charter. What does that mean? How should learning activities relate to Auroville’s raison d’être? These are all fertile questions. The ALACG will have to work on the vision for the ALA sector.

Ten Key Features of the ALA Guidelines

1. Establish the need for the guidelines to: • promote the growth of the non-formal learning sector in Auroville, • promote and encourage communication, sharing and collaboration, • encourage practices in tune with the ideals of Auroville, • abide by the laws of the Government of India.

2. Differentiate between formal, informal and non-formal education.

3. Require all providers of learning activities to register themselves as an Auroville unit or activity.

4. Reinforce the legal requirement for an appropriate visa to conduct learning programs.

5. Encourage providers to provide free, at cost or subsidized programs for Aurovilians and Newcomers.

6. Remind units and activities about service tax regulations.

7. Propose a City Services contribution of 5% of turnover and a sector development contribution of 0.5% of turnover.

8. Touch upon the areas of content, quality and logistics.

9. Envision an ALA Coordination Group (ALACG) to implement the guidelines.

10. Include templates and tools for service providers and facilitators.