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.

Educated: Memoir of Dr Tara Westover - Chapter 2 and 3

Meeting Purpose: To read and discuss Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated.

Key Takeaways

• Mother’s Strategic Autonomy: Tara’s mother used her midwifery income to gain independence, strategically installing a phone and securing birth certificates by framing them as necessities for her work, which her government-averse husband accepted.
• High-Stakes Midwifery: Operating as an unlicensed midwife was illegal and dangerous. The mother used deception—feigning ignorance to doctors—to protect herself from legal repercussions after a high-risk delivery.
• Generational Contrast: Chapter 3 introduces a stark contrast between the mother’s strict, respectable upbringing and Tara’s own unconventional, self-sufficient childhood, highlighting the mother’s rebellion against her parents’ values.
• Digital Resources: Participants were introduced to the “My Good School” YouTube channel and Happy Teacher blog, which provide timestamped notes for efficient review of past sessions.

Topics

Review of Last Session

The previous session covered Tara Westover’s survivalist upbringing and her mother’s transformation into a midwife.

Key themes included:

• Survivalist preparations (stockpiling, rifles).
• The mother’s journey to self-reliance through midwifery.
• The value of learning by doing over formal schooling.
• The importance of journaling for personal growth.

Digital Resource Tutorial

Sandeep Dutt demonstrated how to use the “My Good School” YouTube channel and Happy Teacher blog.

• YouTube Channel: Contains 723 videos, including session recordings with timestamped notes in the description.
• Benefit: Allows users to jump directly to specific topics, saving time.
• Accessibility: Subtitles can be translated into Hindi.
• Happy Teacher Blog: Serves as a public journal, publishing participant reflections (e.g., on Educated) to foster collaboration.

Reading: Chapter 2 - Midwifery & Government Interaction

Midwifery as Empowerment:

• The mother charged $500 per delivery, gaining financial independence.
• She invested in her skills, buying an oxygen tank and taking a suturing class to avoid hospital referrals.
• Strategic Government Engagement:
• She installed a phone by citing her husband’s own logic: a midwife needs a phone for emergencies.
• She secured birth certificates for her younger children, framing them as necessary for Luke to get a driver’s license and earn income.

The Birth Certificate Ordeal:

Securing Tara’s birth certificate was difficult due to conflicting birth dates from family and church records.

The process highlighted the family’s lack of official documentation and Tara’s unique perspective on identity.

High-Risk Delivery:

Tara’s first birth experience revealed the mother’s fear and the illegal nature of her work.

The mother rehearsed with Tara what to say if “feds” (federal agents) arrived: “I was asleep... I don’t know anything.”

After a high-risk delivery, the mother used deception to avoid suspicion from doctors, feigning ignorance to protect herself.

Reading: Chapter 3 - Generational Contrast

Mother’s Upbringing:

Tara’s mother, Faye, grew up in a highly respectable Mormon family.

Her mother (Tara’s grandmother) was a seamstress who enforced strict social norms to protect her daughters from the social contempt she had experienced.

Mother’s Rebellion:

Faye rebelled against this structured life by marrying Tara’s father, an unconventional man who ran a junkyard.

She rejected the “white picket fence” lifestyle, preferring a more self-sufficient existence.

Tara’s Perspective:

Tara saw her mother’s rebellion as a liberation from trivial concerns (e.g., choosing between white or cream shoes for church).

Tara preferred exploring the junkyard to attending church, highlighting the stark contrast between her life and her mother’s past.

Participant Feedback & Program Overview

• Sona Rao (St. Xavier’s) found the session “rejuvenating” and the book’s themes relatable.
• Sandeep Dutt outlined the Learning Forward program for St. Xavier’s:
• Teacher Training: A 3-day program (Oct 18–20) to implement Learning Forward’s methods.
• Sunday School: A reading program (10:30 AM–12:30 PM) for students.
• Retreats: An invitation-only prize for active participants; the next one is in November.

Next Steps

Brinda Ghosh:

Use the Happy Teacher blog for future session notes.

St. Xavier’s Participants:

Review the recording or notes from the previous session to catch up.

Attend the upcoming teacher training program (Oct 18–20).

Enrol students in the Sunday School program.

All Participants:

Continue reading Educated for the next session.

FATHOM AI-generated notes

Managing Your Emotions - Ajay Vijayvargi

Courtesy: Learning Life Skills by Goyal Brothers

Success in life does not depend on what you have but on the ability to manage your emotions, how you relate to others. It helps in understanding others, their feelings and handling relationships. Social competence will have the biggest effect on everyday life.

Emotions play an important part in memory, imagination and all mental activities. Like our IQ, we have EQ. It also involves thinking about how you feel. You become aware of how you feel just by thinking about it. EQ helps you in using emotions in achieving goals. They not only help in finding out what we feel but also what we want to feel.

For example, if you know that you are feeling very angry at the moment, you would want to control your anger. If you are feeling sad at the moment you would want to control sadness and try to be happy. If you are feeling lonely now, you would make efforts to find friends. What you want to improve in your present state of mind will become your goal. 

Look around you and see how many facilities are provided to you today. But strangely the present generation is emotionally more troubled than the generations of the past. Children, especially teenagers, today are more troubled, more angry, more unruly and more prone to anxiety and worry. Why is it so? 

Teenagers or adolescents need more grounding in emotional management.

It means you should have the ability to choose the right emotion for the right occasion. For example knowing when it is necessary to be more angry or less angry. Wise teachers and parents maintain calm, do not lose their tempers easily when dealing with rudeness, laziness or rebellion of their wards. They remain calm but assertive, cool but confident. It has a better effect on correcting an errant child. Their maturity has given them a balance, they manage their emotions. Thus, what is important is the emotional management and control over thoughts as it is the key to happy and successful life. 

Ajay Vijayvargi

The Fabindia School

avi@fabindiaschools.in