My name is Harrison Hinde, I’m 25 and I have been able spend my second year of my bachelor’s degree of special education learning and education at Stockholm university. In my time at SU, I was offered an exchange to Rajasthan, India, to be able to further explore international comparative learning in Asia where there is little research in terms of education statistics and personal encounters in the field.
In March of 2019, I spent 21 days being able to travel around what is probably one of the most culturally rich communities in the world to be able to observe (and occasionally teach) in schools of different backgrounds, wealth status and ability levels. Each visit boasted extreme highs, memories for a lifetime without sounding to cliché and situations I never thought I would be in… some that I’m still trying to figure out whether they should count as highs or lows (they definitely were highs of course!). I will try to compress my 3 weeks of madness into a short summary to give you an idea of my first visit to India was like.
Jaipur was one of the first cities I was able to stay in and explore the culture and famous street food scene of India, it seemed appropriate to try before my first school visit of UMANG school based in the southern region of Jaipur city, a school that specialises in helping children and young adults with mild, moderate and extreme learning difficulties integrate into the society. This school has a high reputation in the area for being the best of its kind, even sometimes hosting events with famous Bollywood actors and actresses boosting its profile. In my 2-day visit to UMANG, I was given a tour around the modern school and put into multiple classes to talk about where I’m from and what I did and for the children to teach me some Hindi! The visit allowed me to understand more about city life in India, compared to western city life for people with learning difficulties and how they over come issues. Most children with learning difficulties born in India will usually never leave the house due to societal embarrassment depending on the region that they are born in, so to see a school that celebrates their differences is advanced for India. The children that attend this school will go on to learn how to handle money in shops or learn how to make materials to help contribute to their family or even the society around them, which doesn’t sound a lot to people that may have been raised elsewhere, however this means the world to the families of Jaipur and to the children with difficulties integrating into society.
After my brief city visit, I went into the heart of Rajasthan where I had multiple school visits to different schools as well as the true Indian experience, untouched by tourists and very much raw life at its best. I had been told before my visit that I may see and experience things that I may not be used to from a western point of view in regards to education. My first visit to a school in a village called Shahpura, was an all girls school run by the community in the old palace ruins, meaning that there was no official curriculum set up for young girls of the area. When speaking to the headmaster of this ‘school’ he described it more as “a place where the girls of our community learn to become house wives”. It’s these type of moments that I feel I may have been warned about before leaving towards the rural parts of India and to understand that these communities live different lives to us, that it’s not up to a person from another culture (like myself) to want to change it or suggest ways of how we think it should be done. From a personal point of view, I feel that these young girls of Shahpura were given some kind of independence of a future husband and allowed to grow mentally quicker than the boys of Shahpura. These same young girls also attended a weekend school that I attended in the same region and it was clear that even though the girls received no formal academical education, they showed that they were superior to the boys when it came to academical skills. Many of the young boys of this area are brought up with almost a guaranteed job and this shows in their education also.
In summary, I highly recommend students to pursue an educational excursion to a country you would not necessarily go to and to push the boundaries of your studies. Being able to visit a different culture, a different way of life, a different culture will enrich you for the rest of your life and I believe will help any potential future employers get a good idea of your character by going on a new adventure, especially in an educational setting! India for me was a new stepping stone in my journey, I can’t wait to return one day to the monkeys, tuk tuks and incredibly well priced curries.
/Harrison Hinde