Experiential Learning and Social Science Education

The last couple of years have been a period of reflection. Every day the facts changed, what we heard in the morning was no more the same in the evening. There were layers of perspectives, from local to national and global, many contradicting each other. We learnt to adapt to new ways of life, and critical thinking emerged as an essential for thinking about sustainability. In this dynamic world in which we live now, only technological adaptation is not adequate. We need human connection and exposures to grassroots communities. Understanding of local history, culture and geography is essential to finding our place and position in a fast-changing world.

To facilitate such understanding, Virasat E Hind Foundation (VEHF) was established in Ahmedabad to work in the area of local history education among middle and high school students. As a part of the pilot study thanks to the support of the district administration of Ahmedabad, VEHF carried out research and developed a book titled ‘Maru Viramgam’ on the history and heritage of Viramgam, a medium-sized town in Ahmedabad District.

Enriching Social Sciences Learning with Local History

Viramgam is rich in heritage from the medieval era. It is located in the transitional zone between the marshy lands of the Little Rann of Kutch and the plains of Gujarat. The region receives moderate amounts of rainfall. But due to the soil condition, immediately after the monsoon season, the water bodies of the area dry up and it faces severe water shortage for the rest of the year.

Understanding this problem, the erstwhile rulers and mercantile communities had created a large number of ponds and step wells in and around the town, the prominent one among these being the 12th-century Munsar Talab, a large tank surrounded by hundreds of miniature temples.

At the time of the freedom struggle, Viramgam had drawn a lot of attention. It is supposed to the place where Mahatma Gandhi had made up his mind to begin the experiment of nonviolence in India, but later it was shifted to Champaran in Bihar.

However, because of the heavy emphasis on regional and global history, the school going students of the town are not aware of local history. As a result, they don’t find a connection between what they learn from textbooks and in their daily life. A sense of belongingness and taking pride in the place of their upbringing is lacking.

‘Maru Viramgam’ was a project initiated by VEHF to sensitize school students towards their history and heritage. On the day the book was released, VEHF also curated a heritage walk and exhibition on local history and heritage for both the citizens and school students of the town.

Before the publication of the book, I had engaged around 100 Grade VIII students from Rachana School of Ahmedabad in an experiential learning project. They had made three visits to Viramgam as part of this project. Each visit lasted three to four hours excluding the travel time.

The children were divided into groups and each one was led by a social science teacher from the school. During their visits they were given exposure and training on civics and local heritage. Students interacted with the local communities to understand their association with Munsar Talav, and the various civic issues faced by them. Most of the civic issues and the idea of water management are covered in their class. Here they had practical exposure. At the end of each day’s visit, they summarized their experiences and learnings.

I also facilitated an art mela for school kids on various themes related to local heritage and history as a part of this process. More than 200 students from various schools of Viramgam participated in this mela, in which students and teachers of Rachna School worked as volunteers.

Textbooks or Experiential Learning?

We learnt from this experience of Viramgam that textbooks have become more or less obsolete. Today’s education demands experiential learning. This is especially true of learning social sciences at the school level.

Social science subjects are not preferred among most of the students in schools. In the natural sciences, students get to do experiments. In languages they see their application in communication and in creative performances such as drama and scriptwriting. But social sciences disciplines have remained as subjects where one just remembers facts. Students in most cases find these boring and meaningless.

However, social sciences can be made interesting and engaging if we introduce experiential learning systems. Students are to be facilitated on how to identify problems and work on their probable solutions.

For example, understanding of climate and landscape is a part of the middle school geography curriculum. But in schools, the learning of these concepts remains at a theoretical level. Students need to go out into the field and engage with nature and people.

Immersive Travel and Experiential Learning Here I would like to illustrate the connects between immersive travel and experiential learning with my experiences as a facilitator of learning trips to Badimaha, a remote village in the tribal dominated Kandhamal District of Odisha. Badimaha is located near the well-known mountain gorge Mandasuru in the Eastern Ghats. It is a biodiversity hotspot where the weather changes every moment. Today, because of its natural wonders, it draws a large number of tourists throughout the year.

But located in a rainshadow region, the villagers of Badimaha face acute water scarcity. Recently they have tried to bring in a solution by laying bamboo pipes for almost 800 meters from a hilltop to the village. This video link discusses Badimaha.

For middle school students, Badimaha offers a platform for experiential education. Here students get a chance to appreciate how people in rural India are solving their perennial problems through community participation; now these extend to fighting climate change through appropriate natural resource management.

Mangalajodi is another place where we are trying out experiential learning through immersive travel. It is a marshy wetland in the fringes of Chilika lagoon, located at a distance of one and half hour drive from Bhubaneswar. An internationally renowned birding destination, Mangalajodi is a great place for experiential education. It once used to be a hub of poaching; today Mangalajodi is transformed. Those who killed thousands of birds for their selfish reasons have today become their saviours.

At Mangalajodi, students learn multiple facets of the fragile ecosystem, food chain, migratory and resident birds, communitydriven tourism and issues related to sustainability through participation in nature trails and interactions with communities. More details about the work at Mangalajodi can be found here.

To conclude, experiential learning is one of the most important ways to excite and engage students in the social science disciplines. If implemented properly, such pedagogy has the potential to transform the way we look at and transact teaching and learning the social sciences at the school level.