SAIIER 2016:Swadharma semester programme

Stewardship for New Emergence		Tetra Pak workshops
Swadharma semester programme

Introduction

The lifelong learning infrastructure in Auroville for adults is still in great need for further development in most of its domains. The creation of a semester program can be considered as a bold step in the area of research in further learning that will have a direct impact on our understanding of the same as inspired by Auroville. Moreover the direct exchange with outside students and learning institutes will engender greater accessibility of the Auroville learning experience and will offer multiple gateways for Auroville students to further develop their personal and professional capacities. In addition, a quality semester programme provides an attractive and alternative route for outside experts and students to efficiently contribute to and participate in the Auroville experiment.

In the past, programmes of this type have been offered by outside institutes and organizations and were therefore relying on external demand parameters with educational and administrative structures matching their needs. This regularly transmutes Auroville into a secondary or even nominal beneficiary with limited opportunities to adhere to its own identity and quality standards.

The work undertaken by the Auroville Campus Initiative (ACI) therefore focused on creating a program framework that is fully immersed in the entrepreneurial, and research based trait of the community and further aimed to tap into the markedly diversified, experiential and interdisciplinary educational setting of Auroville.

Description of project

The creation of a semester program is a complex and multifaceted undertaking which is further complicated if needs or requisites of different audiences have to be taken into consideration simultaneously. To facilitate the administrative (e.g. logistics, health & safety considerations, market and financial aspects) but also the academic planning process, it was decided that the first (pilot) program will be created with design parameters targeting predominantly the Indian student body, age group 18 to 28.

To maintain the required flexibility in the curricula development the first programme was developed without adjusting to or being guided by recognized accreditation schemes. This also eliminated restrictions with regard to faculty and assessment procedures and would further allows students from different walks of life to join the program.

Great care was taken to ensure that subsequent programmes based on the same framework can easily be geared towards international students. It was also anticipated that the programme would be equally rewarding for Auroville students who wish to continue their learning experience in Auroville according to their aptitudes and interests. Up to 20% of the available participant registrations will be offered to Aurovilians for free or for a nominal contribution. Since the semester programme strongly embraces a student-centered approach, the number of students will be limited to 20. This also takes individual student mentorship and a strong focus on group dynamics into considerations.

It has to be emphasized that this program aims to be accessible for a wide audience with varying backgrounds. This also required the budget to be as low as reasonably possible. This constraint had to be considered throughout the program design.

The program will be launched under the name SWADHARMA - the soul of action. It is a 14 week program and the launch date is set for August 1st 2016. Promotion of the program and admission process commenced on April 1st, 2016.

The program as planned

Pedagogy

Swadharma semester programme follows a pedagogy deeply rooted in exploring and discovering one's true potential. Its objective is to help the learner to come in touch with the inherent evolutionary force of their being through a series of simultaneous inner and outer explorations. The awakening and growth of the being is the fundamental condition for the unfolding of Swadharma, the work governed by one’s own nature. Only when this unfolding happens, an individual can act in the world with harmony and delight, expressing the highest possibility of one’s life’s creative purpose.

To facilitate the emergence of Swadharma, the learning process will be:

1. Self-referential - finding the inner guide
2. Self-directed - choices based on inner guidance
3. Experiential - learning by doing
4. Immersive - residential, full time
5. Integral - touching all parts, holistic

The pedagogy recognises that awakening and growth of the being is a lifelong process and the purpose of the semester is to initiate and establish the learner on the path of unending self-exploration, self-discovery and self-creation. A growing passion for the joy of learning and creative self-transformation will be the sign that the inherent force dormant within the individual is awake and beginning to chart its course of growth. Such an individual will be self-driven and in harmony with the individual purpose and the purpose of the larger whole of which the individual is a part. Thus the pedagogy simultaneously enables the learner to be:

1. In harmony with one’s inner nature
2. In harmony with one’s outer work
3. In harmony with the larger whole of which the individual is a part

Learning Objectives

Swadharma semester has been designed as a multidisciplinary foundation programme. It provides the learner with knowledge and skills to develop themselves further in any field of work that one may get drawn into.

The learning objective of the Swadharma semester is intended to be two fold:

1. Inner development
2. Outer manifestation

Inner development:
The inner development is envisioned to help the student to identify one’s inner nature and true calling by developing self-awareness and self-mastery. This would provide the necessary inner foundation for engaging with the outer world to manifest one’s dreams.

It is to be understood that development of self-awareness and self-mastery are lifelong processes and the Swadharma semester programme is only laying the foundations for the student to make this lifelong journey.

1. Self-awareness: Learning to distinguish the various part of being and the presence of the inner guide revealing one's potential and purpose. This opens the doors of intuition and inspiration setting in motion self-directed work in harmony with one’s own nature.
2. Self-mastery: Developing mastery over the movements of various parts of the being brings gradual unification of otherwise scattered movements of Will and aligns it with the inner guide and its inspired action. As the inner guide emerge, influence and act through various parts of being with it comes increasing integrity, harmony and perfection in one’s inner nature as well as the outer work.

Outer manifestation:
While the inner development enables the student to come in touch with one’s own calling, the outer expression and manifestation requires many generic knowledge and skills to actively and creatively engage with the world around to manifest one’s dreams. To facilitate this the programme has been envisioned to provide the following knowledge and skills.

1. Design Thinking: Train the thinking process to be systematic and be creative by opening to intuition and inspiration, so that it can be applied in solving problems that are challenging and engaging.
2. Communication: Learn how to articulate and express oneself precisely and efficiently so that one can inspire, invite and engage with the world.
3. Collaboration: Learn to work together as teams by deep listening, empathy and enjoying diversity; an essential skill to solve complex problems and to engage with the world joyfully.
4. Leadership: Learn to take responsibility and initiative and make things happen by perseverance.
5. Global citizenship: Learn to develop global perspective while solving local problems, assimilate the best from all cultures.
6. Sustainable living: Understand and redesign everyday life choices to be in harmony with Earth and Nature.

Semester Flow

Project based experiential learning
The Swadharma programme has been designed as a project based learning process in which the students will be working on real life projects in Auroville. This is to ensure that knowledge is tested in challenging real life situations where all other capacities are brought out and exercised in an immersive and integral experience of the whole being.

1) Discover Auroville - 1 week
After the initial orientation, students will be exploring the rich diversity of Auroville. This is to set the context and to stimulate inquiry and inspiration.

2) Discover Aurovilians - 1 week
The second week is to meet and engage with many inspiring members of the Auroville community, who are well established on their path of self-discovery and self-expression and manifesting their inner calling through actions. This is to give a taste of what is possible and awaken the flame of aspiration.

3) Discover your potential - 2 weeks
During these two weeks the studentswill be exploring their own inner nature through a series of explorations to identify various parts of their being, the inner sparks of inspiration and the inner calling or the presence of their inner guide. What lies latent deep within the heart has to be brought out into the clear understanding of the mind so that the intelligence and will can now engage in supporting the inner guide to unfold the process of inspired change.

4) Activate your potential - 8 weeks
After sensing the broad contours of the inner nature and the potential line of development in tune with the inner guide, the students will be engaging in three projects of increasing complexity to give outer expression to their inner possibility. This is the testing ground to validate one’s insights and immerse deeply into the journey of self-discovery and self-creation.

a) Self: 1 week project - solo - focusing on individual gift/talent/potential

b) Society: 2 week project - three member teams - focusing on how to compliment one’s gifts with the needs of the society and learn to collaborate and co-create with others.

c) Environment: 5 week project - five member teams - focusing on how to compliment one’s gifts with the needs of Earth and Nature and learn to collaborate and co-create with others.

All projects will be preceded by general learning sessions on the respective topic to sensitize the students to the wider context and build a sense of awareness. Mentors will accompany the students throughout the various projects.

5) Documentation and Presentation
The last two weeks are for documentation, presentation and evaluation and to prepare to reengage with the world from the Swadharma perspective.

Some General Practices
During the course students will be trained in the following practices to enrich and support their learning journey.

1. Mindfulness - to increase awareness
2. Meditation & Concentration - to bring inner silence, peace and focus
3. Journal writing - to observe and document the process
4. Gratitude Practice - to open the heart
5. Appreciation Practice - to develop empathy
6. Awareness Through Body - to develop subtle senses
7. Pranayama - to balance and increase vitality
8. Hatha Yoga - for physical fitness, suppleness and stillness
9. Cycling / Running etc - for physical fitness
10. Movies - as per context
11. Presentations - for communication skills, peer learning and review.
12. Sharing Circles - to share learning journey and provide peer support.

Note: Some details of the course may undergo change depending on the selected students and their emerging requirements.

The following diagram provides a brief course overview outlining the overall flow of this 14 week program.

Organizational and Logistic Consideration

Tasks completed:
Despite keeping the organizational structure as simple as possible, the administrative and logistic tasks for the SWADHARMA program are still considerable:

• The overall budget had to be detailed while considering a wide range of financial parameters ranging from the remuneration of all faculty, admin and resource persons to contributions for venues, accommodation, food and transportation.
• Accommodations has been secured and the application process finalized. For this purpose the conditions for participation had to be defined and application forms, student contracts and general guidelines created. Students will be selected after reviewing their application and direct interaction via Skype.
• For the promotion of the program, a web-site was created which provides the information of the program and allows for online application, www.swadharma.auroville.org. In addition, a promotional brochure was designed and is available for download on the website and distributed through various channels.

The majority of the material produced as well as the logistics and overall program delivery can be recycled or adopted for similar programs in the future.

Ongoing and upcoming tasks:

• The weekly schedule is being detailed including the exact timings for the individual sessions.
• Projects are being identified that match the underlying pedagogy and learning objectives of the SWADHARMA program. On the human resources level, particularly mentors for the different projects are being identified.
• Other tasks that still have to be tackled are revolving around program assessment, including students assessment tools, and general feedback mechanisms for all human resources involved and the program as a whole.

Reflections

The development of the overall structure of the program with its underlying learning objectives and the chosen pedagogy was a great learning experience for all involved. It was particularly interesting to see the many different viewpoints and insights that exist in our community with regard to approach, content, and delivery of such a program. In light of this it should be emphasized that this is a pilot for a foundational program which in itself does not claim to be superior of other approaches nor solely representative of all aspects that integral education in Auroville entails. Nonetheless, the program as developed is a solid starting point which will provide ample information for analysis and assessment and thus will enable further explorations and new avenues, including related or follow-up programs of varying duration and for various audiences.

The SWADHARMA program can thus be seen as a step forward for Auroville in realizing its potential as a university of the future.

Conclusion

The program is scheduled to be launched on August 1st, 2016. With the SWADHARMA program aiming to respond to the need for an education for our times it is of great relevance to learn about the readiness of the Indian Youth to embark on the educational journey offered.