Today we visited Parikrama Nandini school. We received a lovely welcome and lit candles, floating them in a bowl of flowers. Adam and I were then invited to join circle time with two different classes. The children I sat with were exploring issues to do with gender equality and discrimination. It was a topic that challenges cultural and family norms for many.
Adam’s junior school group were talking about something that made them happy and something the person next to them was good at. All the children engaged well and it didn’t feel so different from being at The Mulberry Bush. We then joined the whole school assembly, where the children ran the whole thing. It included their choir singing, dancing and a song and dance by the junior school. It was wonderful.
There was a conversation about the importance of the Parikrma values. Adam and I were then Invited to the front to speak and we thanked them for warmly welcoming us and said how at the Mulberry Bush learning to talk about your feelings was so important. We had a tour of the school and then met with the psychologist who presented a case history for us to discuss. Again there were many similarities with struggles we work with in the UK, as well as many differences. We were served a lovely lunch at school before heading off to a government school, Gandhinagar, where Parikrma have been asked to introduce their culture, values and teaching style. (306 Muslim children aged 5- 15) This has resulted in greatly increased attendance and the children seemed to be enjoying their learning as they adapt to different ways of being taught and having some fun.
Finally, we joined two of the psychologists at the Education Transformation Centre to hear and discuss a case study of a young person who is studying the NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) curriculum which is offered to students who struggle to engage with the curriculum in other classes. I hope we were able to offer some helpful observations and reflections.
Again we were both left very impressed with the work being done and developed across the Parikrma Humanity Foundation.
