We speak with Dr. David Penberg and Adhirath Sethi about Agastya, a unique educational ecosystem serving students and teachers in 22 Indian states. Agastya has a hub-and-spokes design, with an elaborate 172-acre campus outside Bangalore and a fleet of mobile vans and bicycles delivering science and art programming to poor and rural children in far-flung towns and villages.
Overview
00:00-00:43 Intros
00:43-03:26 Agastya’s programs
03:26-04:51 Arts and interdisciplinary learning environment
04:51-07:58 Teacher training
07:58-11:10 Young Instructional Leader program
11:10-11:52 Ages of girls who started the YIL program
11:52-13:33 Where the YIL do their work
13:33-17:02 Teachers learning in the ways that students learn
17:02-18:43 Alignment with Nell Noddings’s “ethic of care”
18:43:21:48 Relationships with animals other than human
21:48-24:09 Common elements with schools like Central Park East in different settings
24:09-26:14 Agastya relationships based on trust
26:14-27:27 Agastya as a source of inspiration
27:27-29:07 Agastya’s vision of reaching more children
29:07-30:33 Relevance to U.S.
30:33-35:49 Measuring success
35:49-38:19 Adhirath’s book about Agastya: The Moving of Mountains
38:19- Outro
Transcript
Click here to listen to the full transcription of this episode.
References
Soundtrack by Poddington Bear
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