t took a pandemic for us to acknowledge the fault lines in our “normal” way of being. Deep fissures caused by systemic inequities emerged loud and clear. Some pertinent questions that should have plagued us, but never did, insulated in a comfort bubble, far away from the harsh realities that were impacting 80% of humanity. Questions like, how were we ok with people dying from lack of vaccines and access to healthcare? Why were we complacent in our response to colonized countries that were seeking aid? How did we ignore the complete erasure of freedom in some countries? Why did we not understand that there was no ‘normal’ for children who had never seen the insides of a school? How were we ok with the long closure of schools that were the first ones to close and the last to open post lockdowns? How did we unsee what our young people were going through?
We need to reframe our definitions of normal, for it is not normal for a young person to be caught in the throes of an irrelevant definition of success. It is not normal to propagate competition amongst our young people at the cost of loss of empathy and kindness. It is not normal to create an illusion of a better future when we are teaching young people old ways of usurping resources at the cost of the planet. It’s not normal to assume that tech-oriented tools are universal remedies to solve ‘learning losses.’ It was never normal to presume that young people only lost out on learning in the last two years of the global pandemic. It was far from normal to believe that dominant narratives peddled by colonizers were the only way to be. It was not normal that we obliterated indigenous wisdom to force fit another that could never be ours. It was never normal to regurgitate the old ‘normal’ when we needed a better normal that worked for everyone. A normal defined by acceptance, understanding, and compassion, a normal that would require a complete shedding of the old.
Just as the old version of normal is irrelevant, our quest to make young people resilient to the uncertain future becomes redundant if systems do not transform. During the pandemic, it was young people who showed us the way forward. They do not need to reform or change, in fact it is our systems that propagate old ways of discrimination that need urgent transformation.
Bangalore, like other major cities of the world, is sitting on a veritable drought time bomb and one wonders how we would respond to the looming water crisis; will we seek solutions together or would we fend for ourselves?
Similarly, the present education system focuses quite disproportionately on self-gain, hence old ways of education will not pave way for the kind of societies we need for the future. Old definitions of transformation need a fundamental, radical shift where we are rebuilding solutions for the root causes of structural inequities impacting our young people. The new definition of transformation will not be consumeristic seeking economic growth at the risk of loss of physical and mental wellbeing, rather it will emerge from the intersectional lens of dignity, equity, and inclusion.
The three drivers of transformation from the New Education Story Report of purpose, power, and practice can help re-wire and reframe the way education is experienced, the way it needs to be and what it is truly for. If education transformation is viewed from a different lens away from the traditional notions of what it helps us achieve (a job, a good career/wealth) would we have a world that is vastly different? Could learners be co-owners and curate their own learning journeys where they decide what they want to learn and how? Could we re-direct energies towards enabling communities that do not have voice and agency? Could we actively engage in unlocking everyday acts of transformation among diverse stakeholders in the education ecosystem?
Transformation could be the creation of classrooms as safe spaces for young people to be their true authentic selves where teachers as facilitators help every young person on their thriving journey, where peers are introduced to compassion and empathy over competition and pursuit for academic excellence. Such transformation grounded on values when extended to community spaces would allow young people to learn and grow, where their dreams and voices matter and are encouraged. The larger questions looming over us remain—are we resilient enough to unlearn and move away from archaic ideas of success and transformation? Do we dare to let young people choose the kind of humans they want to be in the future? Are we audacious enough to be a values-oriented world that is unafraid to show love and care for young people and the planet?
a global affairs media network
A New Definition of the Next Normal
Photo from ASLSP.
January 19, 2023
It took a pandemic for us to acknowledge the fault lines in our “normal” way of being. We need to reframe our definitions of normal, for it is not normal for a young person to be caught in the throes of an irrelevant definition of success, write Dream a Dream's Vishal Talreja & Dr. Varsha Pillai.
I
t took a pandemic for us to acknowledge the fault lines in our “normal” way of being. Deep fissures caused by systemic inequities emerged loud and clear. Some pertinent questions that should have plagued us, but never did, insulated in a comfort bubble, far away from the harsh realities that were impacting 80% of humanity. Questions like, how were we ok with people dying from lack of vaccines and access to healthcare? Why were we complacent in our response to colonized countries that were seeking aid? How did we ignore the complete erasure of freedom in some countries? Why did we not understand that there was no ‘normal’ for children who had never seen the insides of a school? How were we ok with the long closure of schools that were the first ones to close and the last to open post lockdowns? How did we unsee what our young people were going through?
We need to reframe our definitions of normal, for it is not normal for a young person to be caught in the throes of an irrelevant definition of success. It is not normal to propagate competition amongst our young people at the cost of loss of empathy and kindness. It is not normal to create an illusion of a better future when we are teaching young people old ways of usurping resources at the cost of the planet. It’s not normal to assume that tech-oriented tools are universal remedies to solve ‘learning losses.’ It was never normal to presume that young people only lost out on learning in the last two years of the global pandemic. It was far from normal to believe that dominant narratives peddled by colonizers were the only way to be. It was not normal that we obliterated indigenous wisdom to force fit another that could never be ours. It was never normal to regurgitate the old ‘normal’ when we needed a better normal that worked for everyone. A normal defined by acceptance, understanding, and compassion, a normal that would require a complete shedding of the old.
Just as the old version of normal is irrelevant, our quest to make young people resilient to the uncertain future becomes redundant if systems do not transform. During the pandemic, it was young people who showed us the way forward. They do not need to reform or change, in fact it is our systems that propagate old ways of discrimination that need urgent transformation.
Bangalore, like other major cities of the world, is sitting on a veritable drought time bomb and one wonders how we would respond to the looming water crisis; will we seek solutions together or would we fend for ourselves?
Similarly, the present education system focuses quite disproportionately on self-gain, hence old ways of education will not pave way for the kind of societies we need for the future. Old definitions of transformation need a fundamental, radical shift where we are rebuilding solutions for the root causes of structural inequities impacting our young people. The new definition of transformation will not be consumeristic seeking economic growth at the risk of loss of physical and mental wellbeing, rather it will emerge from the intersectional lens of dignity, equity, and inclusion.
The three drivers of transformation from the New Education Story Report of purpose, power, and practice can help re-wire and reframe the way education is experienced, the way it needs to be and what it is truly for. If education transformation is viewed from a different lens away from the traditional notions of what it helps us achieve (a job, a good career/wealth) would we have a world that is vastly different? Could learners be co-owners and curate their own learning journeys where they decide what they want to learn and how? Could we re-direct energies towards enabling communities that do not have voice and agency? Could we actively engage in unlocking everyday acts of transformation among diverse stakeholders in the education ecosystem?
Transformation could be the creation of classrooms as safe spaces for young people to be their true authentic selves where teachers as facilitators help every young person on their thriving journey, where peers are introduced to compassion and empathy over competition and pursuit for academic excellence. Such transformation grounded on values when extended to community spaces would allow young people to learn and grow, where their dreams and voices matter and are encouraged. The larger questions looming over us remain—are we resilient enough to unlearn and move away from archaic ideas of success and transformation? Do we dare to let young people choose the kind of humans they want to be in the future? Are we audacious enough to be a values-oriented world that is unafraid to show love and care for young people and the planet?
