The basic purpose of ideal institutions of learning is to nurture responsibility in children, through careful observation and alert responsiveness. This will enable them to go beyond the idea of the wants of their individual self and realize them as a part of an interconnected whole. The children will also be trained to look at the fundamental factors of any given situation through which an internal process of transformation happens.
The advent of readily and easily available flood of information has led to two major concerns amongst many others, especially in children. First, it has reduced attention spans which make sustained thought and deep inquiry difficult. Second, it leads to an imbalanced development of the physiological and psychological self. These continuous impact of excessive stimulation are leading us towards a major challenge of our times- the inability to take up a responsibility and act upon it due to lack of interest, boredom, laziness etc. The conditions are similar in the majority of children across India, probably across the globe, irrespective of their physical, geographical environments, social and traditional enculturations.
In order to nurture this in children, we will have to identify or train teachers who are not mere information gatherers or transmitters but are agents of transformation through various creative pursuits. This is not anything new but already being experimented and practiced through the cycle of ‘reflection-action’ by various small groups, across the globe. These diverse open-ended communities of learning practices have arrived at contextual solutions in their own possible ways and means, as an attempt ‘Towards Naitalim.’
In this regard, we consider it necessary to hold a collective gathering to bring together various people who work in the area of education to discuss, formulate and share the ideas and develop pedagogy for implementing to suit the present times.
This proposed three day gathering will be an exploration of such isolated practices coming together, for filling in each other’s gap through sharing of their expertise, experiences, resources etc. Here both experienced and new ones come together so the nature of the baton passed on remains as is. Together through dialogue. There might be a ‘Naitalim Collective’ formed or eventually something hopeful will definitely happen leading to a society where there is hope and compassion. This is proposed as a jointly held gathering by various organisations and learning spaces, under the auspices of various mentors across India at the Cuckoo Forest School in Tamilnadu.
This gathering is proposed to be held on 27, 28 and 29 March 2026.