Disha India has set-up the design labs for work projects in Heritage School, Gurgaon. In the first phase we are setting up the design labs for carpentry, bicycles, fiber to fabric and pottery.
what are work projects?
Work project is a learning experience designed for children to do real and productive work around real life problems/possibilities in the real life context with real experts and people from community and the outcome has a productive value in the local context of the child.
The objective is to use productive works (available in the local context of the child) as a means of developing the Fundamental capacities, competencies/skills, values and the conceptual understanding in a child.
the philosophy of work projects is based on the basic principles of
• Preparing children for life through life
• Building confidence for life
• Learning by doing and by real life knowledge application
what is productive work?
any work that involves
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Working on the real life problem/possibilities –there is a real need/challenge/interest
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Working in real life context with real people and processes
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Working with hands
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Balance of head, heart and hands
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The output has a productive value in the local context of the child
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Children and teachers both are interested/curious/excited about it
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Age appropriate
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Working in small teams
the idea of work projects and design labs has genesis in
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Gandhi’s vision and understanding of Nai Talim /Basic Education
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National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India
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Kant Hann’s philosophy and principles of experiential learning
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Position paper on Work Centred Education, NCERT, India
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Systemic thinking
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Learning disciplines by Peter Senge
work projects leads to the development of productive skills like
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How to plan?
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Brainstorming and design
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Problem solving
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Thinking creatively and working with constraints, innovation
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Resourcefulness and entrepreneurship
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Systemic understanding and community life
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Respect for diversity
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Planning and Managing project
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Working in teams
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Learning from failures
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Thinking of future and creating future
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Capacity to act and implement
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Systemic understanding