Recent global climate rallies by schoolchildren place a welcome spotlight on the role and development of citizenship and activism amongst young people. This presentation provides a case study of a small girls school in Uttarakhand that prepares students for active citizenship towards socio-ecological community, through a pedagogy of head, heart and hands. Lakshmi Ashram is a small residential school for girls from rural villages, responding to the need of families who might not be able otherwise to provide an education for their daughters. The school’s pedagogy is based loosely on the thinking of Mahatma Gandhi, who, while he did not write about ‘the environment’, is considered in contemporary discourse as a profoundly ecological thinker. This active pedagogy, of lessons, gardening, singing, performances, cow husbandry, craft, and all aspects of a shared inner and outer daily life, develops the whole personality in an atmosphere of love and responsibility.
Over 70 years the school has built a trusted presence in the region, sending out both students and dedicated workers as activists in relation to issues of social and environmental justice such as forests, water, river health, sanitation, schooling, liquor problems and empowerment of women in local decision-making. Senior girls might do some survey work in a village, help and advise villagers, or participate in educational and awareness campaigns or marches. Girls emerging from this education become leaders in their communities, fearless and well equipped to address social or environmental problems and to take action to produce change.
While the specific socio-ecological challenges and cultural context may be different from Australia, there are universalities: valuable pedagogical lessons to be learnt across cultures, alongside understandings of a braided education/activism/citizenship. This presentation aims to give some entrée into life at Lakshmi Ashram while unpacking some specific educational approaches that are easily transferable across cultures.
