learningnet-india.org The complete educational resource
Home What's New Profiles Activities Announcements Publications Articles Resources WWW Learning Network Learning Network Group Profiles	Avehi-Abacus Keywords Social Science, History, Gender, Caste, Government, class, religion, curriculum, urban, rural, environment, geography, development, civilization, middle school, resource centre, library, audio-visual Geographical Location Mumbai, Maharashtra Languages Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, English Philosophy/Beliefs Avehi believes that education should not be broken up into different subjects. The world around us is one and so we need to learn everything as a whole. That's the way children learn naturally. Education needs to give them skills that they require, skill to make decisions, weigh options, skills to find out information (rather than just giving information, since it keeps changing). Objective/Mission/Goals Avehi is an organization, working to facilitate community access to relevant media resources. Avehi, an audio-visual resource centre, was launched in 1981 as an initiative of the Avehi Public Charitable Educational Trust. Shanta Gandhi conceived the idea of Abacus in 1952 in the village Nikora, on the banks of the Narmada River. She worked with adivasi and non-adivasi children in an atmosphere that was totally informal, nothing pre-planned and no curriculum. She started with their questions relating to their surrounding and in exploring answers to these questions through drama, dance, songs, she began discussing various themes, various topics like evolution, how life emerged, why we are what we are and how we have reached here. Work Description In 1990, Avehi took up the Abacus program in Bombay. As the organization has grown in the last 12 years, Avehi Abacus is now working with all schools of the Bombay municipal corporation and 100 schools in the districts of Chandrapur and Yavatmal in eastern Maharashtra and is developing learning material addressing issues of caste, class, gender, religion, development in our classrooms in an interactive way. Material developed is extremely visual and attractive for both teachers and children. The material caters to the municipal school children that don't have a library. Most of the children live in chawls with different communities, castes. The various learning modules are activity based and applicable to the children's daily lives. Avehi produces manuals for teachers in two languages - Hindi and Marathi. The worksheet for children is published in 8 languages - Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, English and Gujarati. Basically instead of taking separate subjects like history, geography, science, math, Avehi's material is thematic, and within those themes almost all the social sciences are covered in a realistic manner. Avehi takes up the following themes in the 6 kits: Myself, my body and our needs: Understanding that I am unique; I have unique needs, unique emotions, unique way of looking at the world; but we are all unique and share common needs; seeing the connections with everyone else. All of us are interconnected. Understanding the world and the web of life. It helps in understanding that the earth fulfills all our needs. The topics explored include our being on this earth, understanding our world and web of life that binds us all together - living and non-living. How societies developed? Where have we come from? This helps in understanding what we were, where we came from, the mechanizations that get people together, what were the structures set up, which in turn helps in understanding our society today. How we operate in this world today. The way we live. Where are we today? What is the role of social institutions like family, state, class, caste today? What role do they play in our lives today, how relevant are they, how do they influence us? Having understood them - what do we accept, reject or challenge? Exploring changes - change is inevitable. We can either be passive and react to the change once it happens, or if we understand change - learn how to be proactive, hasten a change that is good or resist a change that is not welcome Where are we going? What do I want in life? What will I be encouraged to do? What will take me further? What will determine the future of the place I live in? What will determine my future and the future of the world around me? Avehi Abacus consciously works with the system and uses existing space and the SUPW (Socially Useful and Productive Work) time to address these themes in one-hour sessions. First 10-15 minutes is an introduction of an idea through a story, flip chart or discussion. Then there is discussion or an activity to connect what is discussed to their lives. Then there may be group activity or worksheets and taking it home to relate it to their own lives. The activity also address the values that are very important to everyone and guides everyone's work; these are working together, respect for each other, dignity, co-operation, respect for labor, peace, and respect for all living things. The children discuss it by putting themselves in positions where they debate and come up with solutions. There is a lot of work that the children bring from home. It is not graded; so it is not a question of right or wrong; it's a question of sharing experiences and learning from each other. The materials take up issues and not on topical information and so can be easily adapted, since the values and the issues remain the same. Resources Available The 6 kits of Avehi-Abacus curriculum along with worksheets and teachers manual An Audio visual library that is open to teacher, social workers and educators. Contact Information Deepa, Ms. Simantini Dhuru, 3rd Floor, K.K. Marg Municipal School, Behind New Shirin Talkies, Saat-Rasta, Mahalaxmi, Bombay 400 011 Phone: 022- 23075231 Website Links http://www.avehi.org Presentation at January 2003 Conference Addressing Caste Issues in Curriculum Presentation at November 2003 workshop Presentation at February 2004 Conference
For more information about The Learning Network, contact info at learningnet-india dot org