Beyond Marks: What True Education Looks Like

Learning Forward Saturday with Brinda Ghosh

Discussing Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated, and its themes.

Key Takeaways

• The group reviewed reflections on Educated, highlighting Gulabee’s post on home vs. school learning for publication in the “Read and Lead” newsletter.
• Sandeep Dutt introduced the “CH Factor” (Curiosity & Hygiene) as a framework for school success, arguing it builds creativity, collaboration, and citizenship.
• A reading from the memoir showed Tyler’s silent rebellion against his father’s anti-education views by juicing his tacos, a symbolic act of defiance.
• The session recap and participant reflections are available on the happyteachers.in website.

Topics

Recap & Reflections on Educated

The session began with a recap of the previous meeting, which focused on childhood memories, family dynamics, and homeschooling.

Sunita Tripathi’s reflection emphasised the importance of understanding a child’s full story to explain their actions and build confidence.

Brinda Ghosh led a discussion on homeschooling’s potential as an effective alternative to traditional schooling.

Gulabee’s Reflection: Home vs. School Learning

Gulabee read her reflection aloud, posing the question: Does education begin at school or at home with family and life experiences?

It argued that home provides initial lessons (speaking, behaviour), while school offers opportunities to expand those experiences with knowledge and critical thinking.

A personal anecdote illustrated this: a quiet student, dismissed as uninterested, revealed deep practical knowledge of environmental conservation when prompted, proving that students arrive with a “world of experiences.”

The “CH Factor” Framework

Sandeep Dutt introduced the “CH Factor” (Curiosity & Hygiene) as a framework for school success.

Curiosity → Builds creativity, collaboration, and citizenship.

Hygiene → Fosters good citizenship.

Rationale: A low CH factor leaves a child unprepared for the world.

Reading from Educated: Tyler’s Defiance

Brinda Ghosh reads a passage from the memoir in which Tyler silently defies his father as he prepares for college against his father’s wishes.

While his father lectures about the “Illuminati,” Tyler carefully prepares three tacos, then puts them into a juicer and drinks the resulting liquid.

This act of defiance symbolises the period, representing Tyler’s quiet but firm resolve to pursue education despite his father’s opposition.

Next Steps

All Participants:

Read and reflect on Educated, focusing on homeschooling and education at home.

Share reflections for potential publication in the “Read and Lead” newsletter.

Responsibility and Cooperation - Innovators BHIS

Taking responsibility for oneself is by definition an act of kindness.  -Sharon Salzberg 

Vraj, a student of grade 7, was the most active child in the class. He could not contain his energy and was simply unable to sit anywhere, at a stretch, even for a little while. The teachers were at their wit’s end, as they attempted to make Vraj focus in classwork. It seemed there was nothing that could calm him down during the class hours. The class monitors always had his name in the trouble makers’ list. Despite the warnings, nothing made him behave well in class.

His peer, Rahul, was a complete contrast.

     

Rahul, a specially challenged child was timid, quiet and sat in one corner of the class, the whole day. Other students, including Vraj, often bullied him. Some were not even willing to go near Rahul, leave alone help him cope with the class. A unique idea struck the class teacher and she announced in the class that she knew Vraj to be a responsible child, who could be trusted upon to help Rahul study in class. Saying this, she changed Vraj’s place and made him sit beside Rahul. She gave Vraj the responsibility of helping his buddy Rahul with all the class notes and finishing his work on time. Vraj felt very strange at this decision of the teacher as he had never thought that any teacher could ever find him capable of shouldering responsibility! 

Vraj was determined to put his heart and soul to prove that the teacher had made the right decision! He realised that in order to help Rahul, he too had to focus on the classes. He became very serious about school, dutifully sat beside Rahul every day, and ensured that he had completed his own work before he could begin to help his buddy. Rahul too started co-operating with Vraj and tried his best to grasp how he could work in class. All the teachers noticed the sea change that had come over the boys and appreciated them a lot. This further encouraged them to work harder! On seeing that both Vraj and Rahul were being appreciated for taking up responsibility and co-operating with each other, their classmates unconsciously co-operated with them to do better. The bond between the classmates was enhanced. The teachers were proud of the huge change that they noticed in the class. Responsibility successfully changed the personality of a child for the better and they also learn co-operated with each other in the process.

Innovators @ Billabong High International School, Thane
 - Bhumi Punjabi, Vaishali Phatak, Krishnakshi RaviShankor, Smita Bhobate