For the session on 29th January, Samya and I decided to stir up our usual routine. Instead of talking about a particular incident of genocide, we chose to discuss ‘power’ and the many ways in which it functions in society, with the students. Our objective was to work towards sensitizing them to the larger structures…
In the past, I had often wondered how schoolteachers teach the same subject, the same syllabus, the same topics out of the same textbooks—year in and year out! It must take great ingenuity and creativity to not fall into the trap of monotony. ccccThe understanding of how this works has come to me through the…
For the first session at CHS in 2019, Samya and I decided to pick a topic that is usually excluded from school syllabi in India- the stolen generations of Australia. ccccWe began the session by dividing the class into three groups and giving each group a testimony from Bringing them Home: The ‘Stolen Children’ Report…
A military state where soldiers protect citizens from the state enemy- terrifying, dangerous and contagious ‘roaches’, is the premise of ‘Men against Fire’, an episode in season 3 of the anthology series Black Mirror. The narrative traces a young recruit’s journey from emerging a ‘hero’ on his debut roach hunt in the army, to his…
Disclaimer: Since it is easy temptation to conflate one’s intentions when taking a class with what students take away from it, I’ll try to stick to reporting how the class unfolded. I had five images on a pen drive by way of ‘class material’ as I headed for my first session at Chowringhee High…
