The Joy of Learning experiment

On 2nd March, the eighth Joy of Learning session took place, on the topic of mobility. Previous sessions have focussed on the Auroville economy, on food and farming, the Master Plan and on water. The next one will be on the Auroville Maintenance system.

But what is the idea behind the Joy of Learning? And how successful has it been? Auroville Today talked to members of the organizing team to find out more.

What was the inspiration for the Joy of Learning programme? How did it begin?

Mike: Lalit came up with the idea. We had been working on further learning programmes, but he pointed out that nobody was looking at major issues affecting the community and we needed to do something on that line.

Min: During a meeting with the Governing Board and International Advisory Council, we shared with them what we wanted to do in terms of developing further education. And they told us, “You guys want to teach the world but you should be trying to learn some things yourself”. It really sank in that we had to do something for our own learning.

The original idea was that we would follow the TED talk format and there would some emphasis upon coming up with solutions. But then we realised that the job of solving problems belongs to the community, so we decided the best approach would be for us to do the information part and, if a community decision needed to be made, the RAS would organize that process.

Alan: The information part is crucial because often in our community decision-making meetings important information is missing, so we make decisions based on very partial knowledge. And often when we have to decide upon an issue, it’s an emergency situation and people tend to be very reactive or want to force through their opinion. So we decided to try to lay the informational groundwork on important topics in a more relaxed space where people could absorb information without having to immediately act on it.

Mike: As soon as we had the first potential presenters around the table, they started expressing their perspectives and opinions: it felt a bit like a General Meeting. And I think we all realised that this was not the way we wanted to go; that we wanted to focus on facts to raise awareness rather than on pushing personal agendas and opinions.

Alan: The process is fascinating. Whenever we start a new topic, the resource people come with their personal perspectives, which may be very different. But then, just by sitting round a table and listening to others, something changes in them.

Mike: For me, this is the best part. We ask them, what do you really want to tell the community? What do you think the community needs to know in order to understand your work better? That’s where the shift happens.

Alan: Also, when resource people understand that others not only have a huge amount of knowledge too, but are very dedicated I think it helps dissolve the differences. Then they start listening to each other and building upon each other’s insights.

Min: It’s a process of collective co-creation.

Alan: The whole training part is also fascinating. We help the presenters pull out the essence of what they want to say. I think that because of this, the general level of the presentations has been high.

Mike: We always want to ensure the best presentations, but this takes time and energy. When we started, we thought we could do one session a month but we soon realised this would be impossible, simply because the process of getting the right people together, developing a common understanding of what we are trying to accomplish, and jointly creating a coherent synthesis of all contributions is very time-consuming.

How are the topics chosen?

Mike: The topics would emerge from something that was around, like issues that were already being thought about or worked on by the Residents Assembly Service or a major working group.

Why is it called the ‘joy of learning’?

Min: It is about finding ways to learn in a more joyful, entertaining manner. To achieve this, we have tried varying the format from the usual lecture type presentations. We made a farm visit, for example, which was very successful, and we also talked about doing a session at the Visitors Centre where we would combine humorous skits, a talk show, music etc.

Alan: I think we’ve been less successful then we set out to be. We have fallen back into the old mode of PowerPoint presentations which, I think, address only one level of understanding or area of the brain. This probably reflects the way that we, the organizers, learn but it may not appeal to those who absorb their information in other ways.

Mike: Learning for me is always a joy! But I agree that we can be a little bit more playful.

I think part of the problem is that a lot of the material we are dealing with is academic in nature, so it is a challenge to translate it into something else without losing important information. Maybe we should consider always running two sessions on an issue, where the background information is given in the first session and then there is a more experiential follow-up, just as we did with farming.

Is there any way to assess the impact of these sessions?

Min: Immediately after the presentations, many people have come up to us and said this was very useful.

Mike: Some of the experts are missing more of the in-depth information but, overall, the feedback has been quite positive. And if you measure success in terms of the numbers of people who have attended, we have not done badly. Over ninety people attended the last session on farming.

Clearly, what we had been doing in these sessions was appreciated by some people because we were asked to use a similar approach to gather information from the community in preparation for the Auroville Retreat.

Min: For me, the most interesting change has been in how people react in the question and answer session after the presentations. In the beginning, we would have people expressing strong opinions and this would quickly turn into a debate, but now generally people ask questions for clarification; and those questions and answers energise the session rather than dampening it. People behave differently now because they have realised we’re not trying to make people decide on things but that we are trying to expand knowledge about an issue.

Mike: It would be great if we could translate what happens in the small preparation meetings, where the learning is really happening, on a larger scale, but as yet I don’t know how to do this.

Do you feel that the Joy of Learning approach is part of a larger movement in Auroville, a shift away from the old adversarial approach to issues to one of cooperation and discovery?

Min: I think that a culture of communication and collaboration is developing. For example, Slava who helped us with the Retreat saw what we were doing and now he has become one of the key people in the Residents Assembly Service, taking responsibility for collecting and disseminating information.

Alan: I sense the Joy of Learning approach may be part of a wider movement in the community. The Residents Assembly Service ensure there is a much bigger information component in our General Meetings now, the three day selection process for members of major groups builds upon the collective wisdom of the participants, and other groups are working independently on improving meeting process with the intention of coming together in more respectful, collaborative ways. It’s subtle, it’s not easy to quantify, but I think an important shift is happening.

Have you been changed through this process, have you learned things?

Min: I have learned a different way of working in terms of exchanging points of view and working together in a harmonious way. That’s why I look forward to the sessions: they energise me.

Mike: The common thread that runs through all the presentations is the famous ‘human factor’. In other words, the solutions always seem to involve us. We, I, have to be ready to change to make possible the larger changes.

Two things have happened for me. Seeing the amazing work some of these people have done over such a long time and how much knowledge they have acquired has brought me a new level of trust in our human resources.

The second one relates to the amount of information that is out there. We have to make a selection for the presentations, yet if we look at the number of studies that have been done on topics like mobility, water and farming, it is quite amazing. For every topic, I have learned a lot.

Alan: For me, what came through more than anything was the dedication and enthusiasm of the presenters. You may forget some of the information they have given but you don’t forget the way they are giving it, the dedication and love for what they are doing.

Min: I remember the closing slide of Deoyani’s presentation on soil. She brought it to another dimension by connecting together the various aspects of water and soil by reference to the attributes of Sri Lakshmi. I was very moved.