The Barcelona skyline overlooking the Mediterranean sea from Park Guell
Looking back over the many projects we had worked on, we decided to present a large, interdisciplinary project we had created and ran over 2019-2020. The project, called Silk Roots, was a great example of place-based learning and could lead to a generalised design template that other schools could follow. I submitted our abstract on 9th July 2023. Several weeks passed and we got on with the 100 things teachers have to do every day. And then, it arrived in my inbox – our acceptance into the conference. We had a presentation to make at an international conference in less than three months.
Over several conversations, Geeta and I decided that we would like to present in-person at the conference in Barcelona. The opportunity to learn and network, the potential for international collaboration for our school and the lure of Barcelona itself was irresistible. Presenting online was kept as a backup plan, just in case. However, the inequities of international travel were still to be navigated. Indians have to jump through hoops to obtain visas to travel to Europe, and this requires considerable time and money. Multiple travel agents told us it would be nigh-impossible to get even an appointment for a Spanish visa and have it processed within two months. However, one resourceful agent suggested obtaining a French visa which was much more likely in the time available. This added considerable expense and time to our trip but seemed to be the only way we could make this happen. We had limited support from our school which enthusiastically sanctioned time away to make the presentation but could not financially support our travel.
Suffice to say, it worked. A few days before our departure, our visas arrived.
September swung around and it was time to leave. My colleague and I had got precious little done making our presentation for the conference but had identified the key themes and points to discuss. Off we went to Paris!
Paris and Madrid were a wonderful time! We immersed ourselves in art, culture and food, and had a grand holiday. Not getting a visa to Spain directly proved to be quite serendipitous and led to memorable experiences for both of us. We spent our days exploring the sights, and our nights working on our presentation. We felt fully prepared for the conference by the time we arrived at the conference in Barcelona.
Geeta and I at the Louvre, Paris
The conference itself was a rich learning experience. We drew the short straw – presenting after lunch on the last day of in-person presentations. However, we decided to make the most of attending the numerous presentations that we could. Over a year later, I still can recall the sessions I attended on the trap of perfectionism and education system reforms in Norway. One pleasant surprise was the opportunity to chair a session on multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary education.
It soon came time to take the stage and present our work. The many years of collaboration and the strong rapport Geeta and I have built helped us move seamlessly between the sections we presented. Starting from giving brief context on the education system and what constitutes a meaningful Project-based learning (PBL), we dove into how we applied the principles of Design Thinking to bring together a multidisciplinary team of teachers to engage students in interdisciplinary learning. We then used the Silk Roots project and our learnings from its creation, organisation and implementation to create an operational design sequence that schools could follow to achieve similar learning outcomes.
Presenting at BCE2023
Our focus on teacher learning and collaboration through this work as well as the place-based pedagogy were very well received. We were thrilled and gratified to receive kudos from professors of education from places as diverse as Nigeria and Malaysia who saw the relevance of our presentation even in their own contexts.
The strongest impression both Geeta and I were left with was how ahead of the curve Mallya Aditi International School and many of the teachers’ practises were – it reaffirmed just what a unique and academically vibrant space the school has been. Hearing participants from around the world, I keenly felt the dearth of Indian voices. I personally knew of so much cutting-edge practice in education that was going on that was undocumented and therefore invisible to the world. The whole process of applying to the conference and presenting in person also highlighted how privileged and lucky I was to not only have the means and support to do so but have also had the opportunities to develop the skills and the exposure to be able to do so. The logistical obstacles are numerous and teachers don’t often identify themselves as knowledge-creators and knowledge-sharers outside the classroom.
That was when I caught the bug.
I knew then that I would not be satisfied with just teaching but I wanted to create and share knowledge on the process. At that point of time, I did not know I was a year away from starting my PhD at Purdue University, but it definitely lit a spark in me. I decided that I would present my own practice as a teacher and educational leader and work to document the rich, varied and considerable pedagogical innovation that takes place on the ground while continuing to teach and serve my students and school. One year later, my determination has not wavered, but I can see my learning at Purdue honing the skills I need to accomplish this goal.
Jayanth N., & Paul M. (2023) Silk Roots – A Design Template for Interdisciplinary Learning Projects ISSN: 2435-9467 – The Barcelona Conference on Education 2023: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 909-919) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2435-9467.2023.72
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