Reflections on designing spaces for collaboration

Last week I spoke in two dialogue sessions with faculty from engineering colleges.  The theme of my presentations were on pedagogy and technology assisted learning and collaboration.

Central to my idea of pedagogy is collaboration.  Why do I put so much emphasis on collaboration? It is because I believe that we are in such a phase of history, one of those rare moments when there are sweeping changes in every spehere of human endeavour.   Such changes are reflected as changes in the zeitgeist, as paradigm shifts.  The shift that I see around is the recognition of collaboration as the key factor in progress, success and human evolution, and the relegation of competition to a secondary role.

I hope to elaborate on it later.

Some more random reflections are noted here before they get lost in my neuron jungle:

1.  There is a need to redesign spaces (within buildings and outside) to facilitate collaboration.  Much of the space that we inhabit today had been designed with an outdated paradigm in place. 

2. Classroom design inhibits collaboration.  Rarely do we find a school or college classroom which facilitates team activities and free expression from the part of the learners.  The lecture hall format is so restrictive when it comes to creating a space of collaboration.  My own favourite is the U-shaped seating arrangement, with plenty of free space in the room for group activities.

3.  Workspace design has to strike the right balance between open spaces facilitating free interactions without hierarchy, and closed or semi-closed spaces for team meetings, loud talk (over phone),  silent work and creative brooding.

Presentation on Pedagogy, E-learning etc.

Updated slides of my presentations on (1) Pedagogy and (2) Technology-assisted learning and collaboration. Here's the link: http://jjosephnotes-education.blogspot.com/2009/03/pedagogy-presentation-slides.html

What makes Kudumbashree tick

A few weeks ago, I had a memorable experience. I was asked to give a talk to a group of around 70 women who were members of Kudumbashree, a grassroots level initiative for poverty eradication in Kerala. The participants were members of local self-help groups, belonging to various age groups from 20 to 50 plus.

Since I didn't want to give a lecture or small talk, I opted for a training activity. I gave a simple exercise of making paper boats using plain A-4 size sheets. This was designed to demonstrate the importance of Quality, Cost and Time as important parameters to focus on while running any business. After all, these women were running their own small businesses.

What made the experience memorable for me was the spirit of perseverance and determination that I saw in this group of women with average or below average educational attainments. There were three women in the group who came from different parts of Kerala, with their small kids. One kid must have been around 8 years or so in age, while the other two were tiny tots sleeping on their mother's shoulders.

I was quite surprised seeing these women participating in the training activities, as if they were at home doing their household work, with the children in tow. Once in a while the children would wake up and start crying, and the young mothers would pat them back to sleep.

I could see what made Kudumbashree tick, and still keep making a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people. I am sure, the next generation, the children of these ordinary women will bring about a different culture and work ethos in Kerala.

Walking into the unknown

It is when you learn to walk in darkness that you learn to face the unknown. I mean it quite literally.

Last night after I got down from a bus near my hometown I walked to my sister's house. It was past 8.30 PM. With tall rubber trees on either side, and no moon or stars in the sky, it was totally dark. I could hardly see two feet ahead. But I had a sense of the road, and just walked. I recalled how many times I had walked in darkness, with not the eyes but the feet giving me the sense of direction. I would be afraid of stepping over a snake or falling into a ditch. I would stamp my feet heavily on the ground as I walked, signaling snakes to get out of the way. Through all these journeys in darkness, my Guardian Angel protected me.

These experiences taught me to walk into the unknown, the unexplored, with only intuition and hope; and sometimes, the faint glimmer of a distant light showing me the direction.

Happiness is being able to notice the sunshine on a rainy day. It is standing overawed by the beauty of a ray of light that streaks down to earth between dark clouds.

Reflections on maturity

Maturity is the ability to identify alternatives and make conscious choices among them. Immaturity is acting out of compulsion and going through life as a series of unconscious reactions. Maturity does not give us control over events (not even inner events), but gives us control over our response to those events.

Reflections on leadership

From miscellaneous notes jotted down during the early months of 2008:

• If you want ordinary people to do extraordinary things, learn to deal with what is inside them. What are their dreams? What are their aspirations? What are their hopes and fears? Leaders can inspire only to the degree that they understand the aspirations of those whom they lead. Leadership is basically the art of relating with and tapping the energy of aspirations.
  
• A leader does not complain about lack of support from his followers. It is the leader's task to gain the required support. To the extent that he complains, he ceases to be a leader.
  
• A culture of blaming indicates an absence of leadership, or the presence of leaders who blame circumstances.
  
• What you can do alone is limited. What you can do with a team is unlimited.