We set the alarm clock to wake us up every two hours, so I could check email from my professors. The deadline to send the dissertation to the grad office was fast approaching, and I was hoping to get it out of the way before traveling to Trivandrum on Saturday. One professor said she was entirely happy with what I had written,but another one said she'd be entirely happy if  I connected my findings to Carl Rogers's (1963, 1995)  theory of motivation. I am very fond of this particular theory because it examines motivation holistically (in different contexts), and defines it as an ongoing process of personal growth (thus focusing on a long-term study of one's motivation rather than measuring it with a five-minute test). The theory is considered humanistic because of its emphasis on the enormous potential that lies within every individual. Because this theory is so humane and actually acknowledges the potential of a single person, I wish it was used a bit more in education.

On our way to the Parikrma school, I composed my thoughts about Rogers, so that after the visit I could quickly put them into my dissertation and send it off to my professor. The school is sponsored by Yahoo and its students come from poor and the most underserved populations (orphanages, incarcerated parents, single-parent families, etc). Sad as such harsh conditions may be, my mood brightened as soon as we entered the school building. Its walls were blue-green, painted with flowers and tree branches.When we ascended the stairs,, the first thing we saw was a poster with names of all students, their pictures tucked into paper flowers and ladybugs. What a nice visualization of Rogers's idea! He once compared people to sunsets. As he explained, we look at sunsets with awe and are not trying to change them (add a bit of purple here and some red there). In the same way, we should respect other people and not try to impose our ideas of how they should live their lives. 

We went through the classrooms, called Sun, Venus, Mercury, etc. The name of the classroom corresponded to the level of students' advancement. Thus, students who were the most advanced were in Mercury and Venus, while those who joined the school recently were in classrooms with the names of planets more distant from the earth. This naming system ensures that the less advanced students would not feel like they are worse because of their poorer performance.

We then took part in a school celebration where students received awards and performed a short program, consisting of dances, a short play and a poem. The poem was brilliant. It ended with the following dialog:

guy: fair maiden, what is your fortune?

girl: my fortune is my face, sir

guy: fair maiden, I cannot marry you.

girl: Nobody asked you to, sir.

Victor and I thought it was wonderful that the children (girls in this case) are taught from an early age to stand up for themselves instead of blindly clinding to traditions and simply follow a script prescribed to them by the society.

After the ceremony, we had the pleasure of meeting the people who ran the school and the Parikrma foundation. They told us incredible stories of how they located their potential students and what challenges they had to overcome, especially in their first year of existence four years ago. What I loved best about the program was its holistic nature (yes! reminiscent of Rogers's ideas) . It not only provides education for the children, but also offers a range of services like helping parents set up a small business, making sure that the children get nutricious meals (at school), creating a pleasant environment for the children, so that they can learn and play, etc. What I also loved was that the children were hugged by the teachers and school administrators. Moreover, we learned that the teachers had to attend a month-long training before teaching at the school. The purpose of the training is to ensure that they did not feel sorry for the children, and that they did not treat the kids differently from students coming from more privileged backgrounds.Our time at school passed way too quickly.

Back in the office, I quickly typed up the additions to my dissertation, about Rogers. I was about to send them (my email program was already open), when I saw the message from my chair, with the subject that simply said "PASSED." The editions were minor and could be done ever after sending my dissertation to the program director. Wow! What a relief. The world is brimming with possibilities again! With Rogers and the children on my mind, we enjoyed another wonderful Indian dinner (my thanks go to Anapurna, the food Goddess), and Zaika (the restaurant).

Photos will follow soon!