Transformative learning for sustainable development -Professor Bal Chandra Luitel in a CCAD seminar

Summary

In a recent seminar organized by the Climate Change and Agriculture Development (CCAD) Cluster at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Professor Bal Chandra Luitel from Kathmandu University delved into transformative learning for sustainable development. His focus was on integrating both Eastern and Western philosophies to embrace a broader understanding of cognition and learning. Professor Luitel emphasized the importance of non-Western perspectives in education, highlighting the need for diverse cognitive processes like convictional and somatic knowing, which contribute to sustainable futures. A key takeaway is the transformative potential of education to act as a tool for empowerment and systemic change by harnessing the strengths of both internal and external knowledge systems.

Highlights

• Professor Luitel's approach integrates Eastern wisdom with Western educational theories 🌐.
• He emphasizes the role of transformative learning in empowering educators as change agents 🔄.
• The seminar highlighted the importance of non-Western ways of knowing in modern education 🎓.
• Embracing diverse cognitive processes is crucial for addressing global challenges 🌍.
• Luitel works closely with international collaborators to foster innovative educational practices 🚀.

Key Takeaways

• Transformative learning bridges Eastern and Western educational philosophies for a sustainable future 🌍.
• Education must integrate diverse cognitive processes, including somatic and convictional knowing 🤔.
• Professor Luitel highlights the importance of non-Western educational perspectives 🌏.
• A focus on empowerment and agency in education can drive systemic change 🎓.
• Collaboration across cultures enriches educational practices and solutions 🤝.

Overview

Professor Bal Chandra Luitel shared insights on transformative learning at a seminar held by the CCAD Cluster of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. He discussed the significance of merging Eastern and Western educational philosophies to foster sustainable development. At the heart of his lecture was the idea of education as a tool for empowerment, encouraging an inclusive approach to knowledge that encompasses diverse cognitive processes.

Luitel, a proponent of using both traditional and innovative methods, highlighted the importance of cognitive and somatic ways of knowing. He illustrated how these varied approaches to learning could empower educators and students alike to become agents of change, thus addressing both local and global challenges. His presentation underscored the role of non-Western perspectives in creating a more equitable educational system.

The seminar emphasized collaboration across international borders as a pivotal factor in evolving educational practices. With contributions from academics worldwide, including those from Asian and African universities, Professor Luitel's approach exemplifies how global cooperation can enrich and innovate educational methods to better prepare future generations for sustainable futures.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Welcome and Opening Remarks This chapter includes the welcome and opening remarks for a seminar organized by the Climate Change and Agriculture Development Cluster (CCAD) at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Science. The seminar is being held remotely, with emphasis on the global audience as it is two o'clock in some regions, and 5:45 PM in South Asia, particularly in Nepal.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Introduction of Professor Bal Chandra Luitel The chapter introduces Professor Bal Chandra Luitel from Kathmandu University in Nepal. He is set to give a seminar on the subject of transformation and its application within educational contexts.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Transformative Learning: Concepts and Context This chapter explores the concept of transformative learning, focusing on empowerment and the cognitive and consciousness shifts needed in a rapidly changing world. It contrasts traditional Western modes of cognition with non-Western ways of knowing, emphasizing the growing recognition and integration of diverse perspectives in the learning process.
• 05:00 - 10:00: Historical Contradictions and Dialectical Thinking The chapter explores various ways of knowing, emphasizing the diversity in methodologies such as somatic and convictional approaches. It introduces Professor Baal Chandra Wintel, who is based at Kathmandu University in Nepal and has received education in multiple countries, including Nepal and Australia. His work integrates Eastern wisdom traditions with Western frameworks.
• 10:00 - 20:00: Cognitive, Convictional, and Somatic Learning In this chapter, the focus is on promoting multiple forms of knowing through critical social theories in pedagogical practice. These forms of knowing include conceptual, reflective, critical, and creative imaginative ways of understanding. The chapter discusses the work being done by a transformative educational research group based in Nepal at Kathmandu University. It highlights the role of one of the key figures who is also the vice chairman of the International Transformative Education Research Network, a global consortium aiming to advance transformative educational practices.
• 20:00 - 30:00: Integrating Learning Perspectives The chapter discusses Dr. Louitel's educational strategies, focusing on transformative learning. Dr. Louitel works across universities in Asia, Africa, and Oceania, aiming to empower teachers, educators, and researchers to act as change agents for a sustainable future.
• 30:00 - 40:00: Critical Focus in Pedagogy The chapter 'Critical Focus in Pedagogy' begins with an invitation extended to Professor Luitel for a 45-minute presentation. Following the introduction by Professor Bisal Sithula, Professor Luitel expresses gratitude for the opportunity to speak and acknowledges the initial introduction of his background and role, setting the stage for further discussions or questions that may arise after his presentation. The opening remarks aim to establish the context and purpose of his presentation within the framework of educational pedagogy.
• 40:00 - 50:00: System and Self in Sustainability Discourse The chapter discusses the author's work in teacher education, with a background in math education. They have recently been involved in areas related to esteem education, which is an interdisciplinary approach to research and practice in education. The author collaborates with teachers in this field.
• 50:00 - 60:00: Emancipatory Interest and Systems Change The chapter titled 'Emancipatory Interest and Systems Change' discusses pedagogical practices in the context of collaborative activities, specifically with a group from Nepal. The presenter acknowledges the audience's experience and aims to share insights about their educational approach.
• 60:00 - 70:00: The Role of Self in Transformation This chapter details the various individuals, including Professor Sitola, Professor Siri Bastian, Linda, Julie, Professor Sigrid, and Airlink Rogue, who contributed to the development of competencies over the past seven to eight years at NMBU.
• 70:00 - 80:00: Knowing Differently and Visionary Learning The chapter titled "Knowing Differently and Visionary Learning" begins with an introduction by Professor Peter Taylor, who expresses gratitude to his colleagues and friends, particularly those from Nepal, for their participation and contributions. He sets the stage for a discourse on transformative learning, focusing on its role in shaping sustainable futures. The summary indicates that the chapter will explore different perspectives and insights into how learning can be transformed to foster sustainability and visionary approaches to education and knowledge dissemination.
• 80:00 - 86:00: Concluding Remarks and Discussion The chapter "Concluding Remarks and Discussion" revolves around synthesizing missing links through a four-part presentation. Initially, it emphasizes the convention of historical contradictions, acknowledging the Greek philosophers for their role in bringing these contradictions to light. However, it also recognizes the presence of similar contradictions in other traditions such as Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

Transformative learning for sustainable development -Professor Bal Chandra Luitel in a CCAD seminar Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 so very good morning good afternoon everybody in always two o'clock now and in south asia particularly in nepal 545 we are beginning our seminar organized by climate change and agriculture development cluster ccad at the department of international environment and development studies norwegian university of life science in
• 00:30 - 01:00 norway today we have a special guest from nepal from kathmandu university professor baal chandra luitel will be giving his seminar and on transformation and how we can use transformation in the context of education
• 01:00 - 01:30 empowerment and also in the context of what kind of shift in cognition and consciousness is required in the rapidly changing world and in that context also in traditionally the western kind of learning western way of knowing the thing cognizing the thing has been very much popularized but now there is also non-western way of knowing
• 01:30 - 02:00 using something the effective part of our self also convictional way of knowing somatic way of knowing there are very many different ways of knowing and before i give now floor to professor baal chandra wintel i will just briefly read his tv professor baal central little is professor at kathmandu university in nepal he was educated in nepal australia as well as lieutenant has been using eastern wisdom tradition and western
• 02:00 - 02:30 in this critical social theories to promote multiple forms of knowing in his pedagogical practice such as conceptual reflective critical and creative imaginative kind of knowing he leads transformative educational research group in nepal in kathmandu university and is a vice chairman of the international transformative education research network a consortium of this is a consortium of
• 02:30 - 03:00 transformative educational wishes working in different universities across asia africa and oceania one of the goal of dr louitel's pedagogical practice is to embrace transformative learning as a as or for promoting the agency of teachers educators and researchers who can work a change agent for sustainable future so with this note
• 03:00 - 03:30 i would like to invite professor luitel for giving his 45-minute presentation and after that if there are any questions you can raise that one so please welcome thank you thank you very much professor episode thank you um thank you very much for this opportunity um uh is professor bisal sithula already uh introduced uh you know who am i who i am
• 03:30 - 04:00 actually i work in teacher education and my background is math education and then i kept on working in areas recently recently i've been working in areas such as what we call esteem education esteem education refers refers to a interdisciplinary approach to research and practice in education i work with teachers
• 04:00 - 04:30 especially those who are working already having a number of experiences um in today's presentation i am sharing a aspect of my pedagogical practice okay so um once again thank you very much for being here um we have a group from nepal part of the um you know ongoing collaborative activity
• 04:30 - 05:00 with colleagues at nmbu thanks to professor sitola uh professor siri bastian i can see linda julie thank you very much for being here and also professor um sigrid and also uh airlink rogue and many other colleagues who have been helping us in developing different competencies in the last seven eight years
• 05:00 - 05:30 um i can see professor peter taylor there thank you very much and you have so many things to contribute to develop this perspective you know so thank you once again uh my colleagues are here from nepal and i can see very many friends from nepal and elsewhere thank you my title today is transformative learning as in for sustainable futures and uh actually i'm trying to see
• 05:30 - 06:00 trying to connect the missing links um in this presentation i have four parts the first part i talk about the convention of the historical contradictions um thanks to the greek philosopher who actually um brought these these contradictions not just greek philosophers but these contradictions are present in other traditions such as in uh hindu and buddhist traditions as well
• 06:00 - 06:30 whether we conceive certain things internally or there are things outside this is historical uh you know difficulties or historical dilemma if you if you see in the east west north and south in the second part and i try to see this is not the problem this is actually you can transcend that uh through the help of uh dialectical thinking ever present in eastern and with western eastern and
• 06:30 - 07:00 western traditions in the second part i also discussed the uh the different learning orientations from cognitive and beyond and how we can integrate them uh so that we can promote uh learning uh of multiple uh of of dimensions uh and also in the the third part i would like to share the limitation of critical social theory
• 07:00 - 07:30 which i call half a story and then second half a story is how we can focus on shelf and how we can integrate both the structural transformation side as well as the autobiographical side and finally how this can come together in order to address these missing links which is a way to go for sustainable future as far as education is concerned this is my argument and this is how i i share today thank you once again let me begin the
• 07:30 - 08:00 the first part uh you know since the time of uh plato and aristotle this debacle ever exists and sometime we address sometimes we tend to think that this debacle ever exists that is exogenic that is the reality is external learning is demonstrated externally and in terms of learning theory this exogenic worldview is presented in in the form of behaviorism okay in the form of behavioristic learning theory and that
• 08:00 - 08:30 flows and that gives rise to the view that learning is demonstrable all the time learning is demonstrable and learning is outward activity the other is the endogenic view of reality that is reality is conceived in the mind and mind is assumed to be part of the body and that in in learning theory that is pretty much represented by cognitive learning theories cognitive and beyond i would say but this this is not so clear cut in terms
• 08:30 - 09:00 of cognitive and beyond but this is a simplistic classification of the philosophy of the ontologies of learning and this can also be we can also figuratively represent this these two worlds are bifurcated in terms of thinkings in terms of categories in terms of representing what counts learning and this internal versus external can
• 09:00 - 09:30 also be seen this way what is learning learning how learning happens in terms of i'm not just talking about what is learning now how learning happens learning happens internally one view the other view is that learning happens externally peripherally so that we can measure we can test this is one view the other way no the big chunk of learning get takes place internally because our mind and the mind is is a there are so many subtle systems which i don't want to you know invest much time
• 09:30 - 10:00 but we know that there is uh as professor sitola already you were mentioning about neurophysiology neurobiology neurological systems and which are very much there are so many subtle dimensions so in that i just jump quickly then so how do we deal with this internal versus external in terms of you know conceptual logical kind of dimension i brought here four orientations for dialectical orientation the first of
• 10:00 - 10:30 which is hegelian orientation second is by theodore adorno both are the western orientation of dialectical thinking and in the east we have mentioned vedanta and madame vedanta comes from hindu tradition and magdamika comes from buddhist tradition and the final one is integral this is also pretty much eastern or now it has been global integral thanks to ken wilbur
• 10:30 - 11:00 so here the theme is that learning is both ways okay so in that if we talk about the healing it's very basic that if we say it is external there is contradiction because some something happens internally and if we say solely internal and something happens external because we speak at least we show something we show moment even if we show movement something happens internally because we have internal system we have 12 systems uh
• 11:00 - 11:30 you know we have nervous systems and it is distributed the knobs are distributed throughout the body even if we don't see the mind okay so then of course this internal external there is contradiction if we see internally exclusively internally there is contradiction if we say inter exclusively externally then it is also contrast contradiction so what is the safe side the safe side is that it is the interplay of both
• 11:30 - 12:00 okay learning happens in both ways the first second uh theorem erdogan introduced the the the negative dialectic that is non-identification it hegelian uses the identification approach whereas theodore i don't know introduce the concept of non-identification for example i might say i'm a you know let's say i'm i have certain attribute and i i claim to be certain kind of person theodor i don't know
• 12:00 - 12:30 actually critiqued marxism and in you know uh um enriching enriched marxism in in its core so he actually critiqued the attribute of maxis practices and that was through non-identification you say this but you are behaving that way so that's how you know negative dialectic came to be so if we say again the same negation is the basis for formation let's say we say external then does this mean that there is no
• 12:30 - 13:00 internal but if you negate it then you find learning still happening there the process goes you know inner way and some aspects of are not internal development or internal process and some aspects of are not again external development and this can we can ask this question what is not or what is going on here meaning that it is happening both ways okay
• 13:00 - 13:30 so the third let me go into i've talked about both eastern way and western way so in the eastern one of the approach are negative eastern takes this logic that both ways are limited okay so in this rhetorical tradition there is a sanskrit word such a dictum called niti niti meaning that neither these nor the not these not that or neither these nor that
• 13:30 - 14:00 okay so meaning that one category is not is is limited to represent the entirety of the phenomenon so this is the very basic logic this is applied in the context of representing any phenomena okay any phenomenon so neither learning happens internally and nor it happens externally so these two categories do not represent this is the the rhetoric that is being used thus
• 14:00 - 14:30 both internal and external you might argue here it might it is not this not that might be referring something else beyond these two it can be i'm using the rhetoric at least to uh to show that this internal versus external is not the right thing likewise if we look at the uh the uh the buddhist way then the buddhist way is something like you know
• 14:30 - 15:00 if even if we say internal the very basis of in conceptualization of the category internal is external because one one gives rise to the other because there is boundary and then we say okay this part is internal and there that part is external so this dependent colorizing is another concept this actually challenge the single category approach to conceptualization okay so not external not internal so it can
• 15:00 - 15:30 be both let me come to the integral space this is dynamic synthesis of inner and outer of course there are similarities between integral between negative negative ed or no hegelian but i'm just trying to make some kind of distinctions if there are any uh selective distinctions it is called in philosophical studies then there is internal there is external but the large part is unknowable
• 15:30 - 16:00 from integral theory perspective or the last part is the synergy of birth maybe beyond these two so then in plus out or internal sorry internal plus external can be both and the synergy of both so this is these two negative eastern and integral are are the product of uh the thinking philosophical traditions in the eastern wisdom tradition
• 16:00 - 16:30 so from these now let me so this is the kind of debacle that we can resolve okay because in any system these categories are limited there are opposites there are um the categories which cannot be represented by either of them and in any way not none of these represent the entirety of the system so is the case of learning let me talk about these different learning perspectives figuratively the
• 16:30 - 17:00 first one stimulus response you can see there okay is it because of the election no internet is here i think something is going on in there maybe the time or yeah okay thank you in this in this uh one you can um okay that's okay listening okay in this representation i try to now i
• 17:00 - 17:30 see now learning let's come to us learning theory this is um part two i suppose different learning perspectives so one is that one is a stimulus response that represent that is represented by more of exogenic view and cognitive process is driven by or represented by endogenic process but within endogenic process if we consider this as internal kind of system probably this internal versus external
• 17:30 - 18:00 has no it is not representing the reality of learning or learning theories now let me is coming okay so now let me then introduce the next one is internal even within the extension of cognitive system is the convictional learning that learning one is to acquire knowledge to know this the to develop understanding
• 18:00 - 18:30 the other is to act out that is convictional knowing convictional learning that you have conviction you have determination to change so this is second part okay can you see okay okay in the third and then the the third within uh you know beyond cognitive cognitive just convictional and the third yes it's coming and the third is
• 18:30 - 19:00 um i would say it is like somatic that your body involves it is not just cognition it is not just cognitive it is not just convictional now it is somatic now you act out you perform you work in in in the world you deal with people you in intervene you reflect so you become more active now whole body becomes active so this somatic side has to do with more of
• 19:00 - 19:30 vision more of action more of reflection more approximate okay so then now we have ranges of perspectives of learning theory and this is where i come from i am a practitioner although i teach you know postgraduate students i have to do a lot with theory deal with theory but i am a practitioner i am a practitioner educator so i use range of these perspectives but if we limit behaviorism
• 19:30 - 20:00 versus cognitivism then the story would remain incomplete that would be untransformative for me yeah so i i me i i miss because of this uh one you know so in different learning approaches we have these two initially this is our initial understanding in indonesian versus exogenic versus hinduism the first one is is about
• 20:00 - 20:30 behavioristic knowing other or behavioristic learning stimulus versus response it is pretty much driven by outward focus but when we shift to cognitivism then all such possibilities are open so cognitivism is about conceptual knowing conceptual learning and which is necessary but insufficient so what we need then then we have concept so what so we need to change the world so changing world requires conviction so this is different version different
• 20:30 - 21:00 approaches to learning of course there is cognitivism but it is beyond cognitivism this is conviction of learning and still we might bifurcate the bifurcation becomes little you know edgy now because when we talk about conviction then some aspects of your behaviorism come into play when we go to somatic version next that is to do with body engaging with the body acting out
• 21:00 - 21:30 and reflecting and questioning challenging you know then again then in that context probably part of the behaviouristic learning come into somatic learning as well okay it is both external and internal so in that particular context we can integrate these two in this way okay so we have uh this uh external kind of system or behavioristic learning perspective which
• 21:30 - 22:00 focus more on outward side it would be you know you see the whole paradigm of education whole paradigm of teaching is driven by behaviorism that is the sad part of the story that's how transformative learning is difficult to conceive in academia because many of us think that in education that learning objectives should be measurable should be testable should be you know accountable and this is one size of the story once half a story
• 22:00 - 22:30 of educational paradigm pedagogical paradigm there are lots of other possibilities for example cognitive even within cognitive there are several cognitive learning theories and beyond cognitive of course there is convictional driven by more critical social perspective and somatic probably it's more integral kind of learning perspective so in this line we have just bifurcated and i want to tell uh i want to share today that this
• 22:30 - 23:00 bifurcation is untransformative so we need to integrate so how do i take these perspectives in my pedagogical practice that's what i want to share next in part one i shared what is uh wrong with the conceptualization of our ontologies in general an ontology of learning in particular you know by means of exogenic versus injury endogenous at least in
• 23:00 - 23:30 in teacher education paradigm this bifurcation is not helpful and of course there are many learning theories that try to address and how transformative learning can address this bipartisan second even within this bifurcation we can still expand both ways you know in a continuum of of various perspectives and theories and that's what i try to see the connection so in that we need a critical focus of
• 23:30 - 24:00 course convictional is driven by critical social theory and in order to help learner to become uh you know to to keep put them in transformative zone then we need a critical focus okay among others that's what i would like to say then when what how do we conceive learning in the context of the discourse of sustainability this is a question and you might be thinking because you work in those areas okay environment agriculture so on and so
• 24:00 - 24:30 forth for us for me and for us learning for sustainability can be you know now broadly speaking of course i am not just making the story very simple there are so many intervening variables so many modifying variables but you can see these two ways one is are we talking about the system if you are to talk about sustainability because we need to transform we need to fix the system you know we need to fix the system so that we reduce the pollution we reduce
• 24:30 - 25:00 the plastic use we reduce karmic carbon emission that's fine that's one side or we can reduce we can reduce the chance of water we can reduce the chance of terrorism we can reduce the chance of you know global calamities if we fix the system that's one side of the story but what is missing here the individual agency the quality of that individual agency is missing we cannot simply you know because when
• 25:00 - 25:30 we say system system is very much outward so we can measure we can see you know how the system is functioning there are several tools and and and and techniques that how we can measure the system as far as self is concerned we need to invest more so that's what i i'd like in university so then back in 2019 peter taylor and i who edited a book uh research and transformative learning for
• 25:30 - 26:00 sustainable teachers and local visa voices and regions and these are uh the the peoples the chapters come from our research at carpenter in nepal pakistan indonesia africa australia and and many other past that part of the world okay so the book i think is available from real sense website i think you can get it from there or you might have in the
• 26:00 - 26:30 library let me begin the half a story one half story that is part three first part challenge we talk about endogenic oxygen debacle and that how it can you know addressed by uh the dialect of various forms of dialectical thinking mainly the western and critical and eastern negative or eastern vedanta and mathematical tradition by the help of
• 26:30 - 27:00 these two second part i talk about learning theory now i'm coming into a kind of pedagogical model and pedagogical process that we use i use in my practice put together with my colleagues who are here as well some of them are here you know we know this finger pointing approach if i say this means the metaphorical meaning of these even literal meaning there are these all are bad and i'm good that's one story
• 27:00 - 27:30 but actually this is not as long as we point finger to others these three fingers point to us okay so this is the analogy thanks to peter taylor who introduced this concept so this is okay there's something wrong there let me begin again then let me just share this one can it be seen
• 27:30 - 28:00 okay okay i'll say no worries okay can be can it be seen is it moving is it moving okay so sorry about the the problem there probably there was something with the presentational aspect of the slide um okay so let me i did this one and okay so in the next in next 15 minutes
• 28:00 - 28:30 and even i try to finish off issue that we can have dialogue conversation and okay so i was talking about this finger pointing and here i have you know created a border kind of thing that we are talking about this part of the story okay so this half one half a story is something like this okay that let me introduce yogan hawa mas
• 28:30 - 29:00 havamashian um interest almonds introduce this cognitive interest so if we link cognition with interest then we open the ideological debate of what counts as learning what counts as curricula what counts as pedagogy that is that is uh that has propensity to transformation so according to haba mass technical is pretty much driven by repro
• 29:00 - 29:30 mechanical repetitive stability it has to do with um the rationality driven by technique driven by what what greek called technique given t-e-c-h and e-technique that's the greek word for technical rationality okay we need techniques but that becomes the source of rationality which is problematic for our mass and it is less transformative because it is other
• 29:30 - 30:00 it is imposed and it is because it is largely the scientific discourse that has a minimum sense of critical and critical debate and critical questioning second practical this is better because we communicate with people about science we communicate about agriculture we communicate about pesticide it is better okay the third the question then first is what is in the world what is the world or what is
• 30:00 - 30:30 in the world second how are worlds the third why our words meaning that now we engage in the critical dimension of our learning being and valuing meaning that we ask whether this learning promote social justice empowerment inclusivity and authenticity there are lots of you know lots has enough a number of papers have been written has been written around this theme of emancipatory interest whether the learning has emancipated interest or
• 30:30 - 31:00 not what it does it also focuses the inner dimension but it does a little less than the external dimension it it raises finger it points finger to the world where you know there are lots of these systemic deformities systemic absurdities and contradictions so this is the book um that i've been using and actually however much focuses
• 31:00 - 31:30 on systems in system change because this is the precondition for a better world for a justifiable world for the world that promote equity that promote social justice so system change is very important in that we need to work on structural transformation and that is possible through ideal speech situation that there is no um you know constraints and we can speak we can argue we can take responsibility of our speech and
• 31:30 - 32:00 that is where ideal speech and all and and humans become changes and what kind of change engine it's in there isn't unconstrained changes and they are they are called autonomous sensors and they it is different from libertinist approach you know libertinist approach is different from this emancipatory interest here they have responsibility and they are autonomous paulo freire the second person that we draw a lot especially this part okay
• 32:00 - 32:30 pablo phrase approach is pretty basic because there is a context of operation we need to be aware and we need to raise our consciousness which is called critical consciousness but the question here this is very good because paolo freire draws from libertarian theology and even he talks about theological sociology sociology or something like that english in his basic earlier books but the problem or the issue here paolo ferris
• 32:30 - 33:00 said that transformation is not idos aedus edos is a greek word edos means the perfect idea transformation or critical pedagogy or consensitization is not a use it is it has to be contextually specific there has to be a number of tools techniques and approaches we need methods in context so for that we need and especially pedagogy of the operation and chart that that statement if you re repeat or reproduce paulo
• 33:00 - 33:30 freddy you won't be transformative you won't be critical you won't be raising consciousness you will be reproducing so for this especially moving from this change in status you know if you have reactive awareness then you change the status you know who is operation but again what to do with that status you need to move further in order to transform in order to raise your consciousness in there you need all you need to require lots of methods and
• 33:30 - 34:00 approaches where we can draw where where there is a quality of self where there is an importance of quality of self what type of self is there that self is very important those subjectivities are very very important what type of subjectivities we need or interest objective is space we need so i think this is the first part of the story and how about this then so the first half of a story
• 34:00 - 34:30 tell more about story tells us about the entitlement sense of entitlement we have rights you know rights to justice and so on and so forth but what about responsibility what is the second part because who is going to change you know i mean it's not that easy as i equated this this way but you know in terms of uh uh our uh this narrative that i'm presenting here is sort of uh
• 34:30 - 35:00 part one and part two part one our first half is yes we need to improve the system but who we who helps improve the system who is responsible us human change isn't there is one assumption very compelling assumption that human can change themselves and they can change others makes us this assumption makes us think about transformation makes us think about
• 35:00 - 35:30 transformative learning things makes us think about personal transformation we do not remain the same but how do we take that change because he outlines it and many other vigor skin authors write how the the ontological safety is needed that we are changing we are not just the consumer but we are the change agent we are not just have the sense of entitlement but we also have the responsibility for the world so how can we do about that
• 35:30 - 36:00 the other half a story today i'm sharing is coming from these three fingers you know these three fingers so what do these three fingers i mean metaphorically speaking they're pointing to us because we are part of the system self called in self-cultural dialectics self cannot be separate from the culture but self can facilitate self can
• 36:00 - 36:30 question self can act out in order to make that culture more transformative or more justice oriented here i take the help of buddhism although scholars in buddhism may disagree that this is not the entirety of non-self in buddhism buddhism what buddhism says that this not because of the over reliance on self the positive identity of self it might give rise to ego so it makes it might be there is a
• 36:30 - 37:00 possibility that we might be wished we might take charge of everything at your hand which is not which is not expected in buddhism as well that so they begin to question the very existence of self thanks to the philosophy of emptiness thanks to the idea of emptiness so the first is removing eu questioning ourselves becoming self-critical in in
• 37:00 - 37:30 the western induced theory but this is more important the importance in buddhism and also in hinduism is is given to the examination of self examination of our one activity so that's why i said this is another happy story these three fingers so disentering self self is not centered self has many melodies many components that might
• 37:30 - 38:00 project our our non true being so self other so and again as i said madhyamika one of the philosophies one of the orientation of madhyamika is dependent co-arising any constructs any categories until and unless there is it's opposite there is also uh you know non-categories of this then there is the possibility that they are they are understood one on
• 38:00 - 38:30 the basis of the other for example self is understood on the basis of no shell they are the other or something else for example day is conceived on the basis of night that's the argument that's why we need to understand the relative relational kind of dimensions between self and non-self so that's what the argument so how i have i have used in my practice is
• 38:30 - 39:00 that we we request or i do myself as well or the critical reflective dimension of my limitations okay rather than just put focusing on strengths i focus on my limitations there are a number of uh reflective journals that my students write about their limitations and this is the this is the uh this is the philosophical background of that one and this basic book on central philosophy of buddhism
• 39:00 - 39:30 explains expounds this the second part is the quality of self and this is vedanta thanks to vedanta vedanta focuses more on self the positive identity of self so self is understood in terms of history strength and propensity to expand propensity to to become big to become kind to become compassionate that also comes in hindu buddhism as well because buddhism
• 39:30 - 40:00 that practices maybe there are similarities but especially in hinduism that you see self as big as gigantic as inclusive as possible so here i'm part of the cosmic system the first victim in in sanskrit and second you are also that that is in sanskrit this is called asi and third is shaha shaha means community like ubuntu you are i am
• 40:00 - 40:30 because of you so these three um sort of orientations are present if i are to connect with the western induced theories then i am part of the cosmic system i am this is pretty much connected with radical constructivism and that machine is i mean i would say there is parallelism between radical constructivism and ahamra masami or i'm part of the cosmic system or i am custom system because radical constructivism puts lot emphasis on self and second you
• 40:30 - 41:00 are that this is pretty much relational more social constructivism side so i thou relationship this is also pretty much popular in the christian theology as well theologian put lot emphasis on idol relation how i thou relation creates the the sins of of uh being divine the third the community that is pretty much driven by um the constructionist relational ontology so
• 41:00 - 41:30 that can be you know connected with um the more communitarian perspective of being so self has these three dimensions according to hinduism or there might be many but if we categorize then we can come up these three so i use them as pedagogical tool how do they work in the group how do they reflect as a group how do they reflect into your work how do they use second person technology even i use this for first person second person
• 41:30 - 42:00 and yeah and also third person pedagogy so that first person how do they feel how do they reflect i'm part of the system and you are that second person how do you think about it they discuss with friends and community how our community of practice for example if i teach you know science educators then science community of practice they they become in touch they read the papers and reflect accordingly so this is this i can be distributed the self can be distributed
• 42:00 - 42:30 in many possible ways and thanks to stanislaw milisana professor of san diego university talks about the possibility of self in this in this particular book consciousness in indian philosophy part four knowing differently now i come to with these all you know debacle and kind of uh uh kind of uh kind of refreshment of these different debacle in the east and the west now we use this uh oh i have just
• 42:30 - 43:00 one minute i try to so i can come up i i come up with this full sort of hierarchy thanks to parker palmer as well who writes about teaching learning and telling truth and and teaching is an act of fulfilling and the community educational community is the community of truth seeking and truth sailing so he and also i use kieran again the
• 43:00 - 43:30 educated mind so there are different cognitive tools so that we know so many things differently there is not just cognitive there is not just concept there are so many things that we can know one is conceptual definitely there could be practical knowing practical learning there could be critical learning there could be visionary learning so these all ring there can be many these are just four categories that i tend to think that i am using and some of my friends also use it so that can be we can raise this question what am i
• 43:30 - 44:00 going to learn how am i going to learn why am i going to learn and who do i become after going completing uh after completing going after completing sorry there is a typo completing this course or module why i'm this is very basic question these are very basic question many people ask what am i going to learn all people ask if we if your students come to your you know course first time what is your question what is my question study what am i
• 44:00 - 44:30 going to learn what concepts ideas theories perspectives am i going to learn that's everyone ask this question second question how am i going to learn probably many people ask but not all why am i going to learn probably few people ask but very important question very existential question of learning and even teaching who do i become after completing this course after going through this course who do i become after teaching this course
• 44:30 - 45:00 even teachers we we do not ask so thanks to practice the courage to teach exploring the inner landscape of teaching life and i can see the the philosophical dimension of eastern vision tradition are integrated in these four questions as well let me quickly go through this one what am i going to learn there is a in one upanishad prasanna punisher there is a question what is in the universe what question what is the question or the the seeker ask this
• 45:00 - 45:30 question what is in the universe what planets are you know creases are there and here in modern time we ask this question what am i going to learn and then by this we are referring to structure or what piaget call calls schema probably we try to see the relation between concepts and we try to see the effect of one over the other this is more of conceptual learning and which is almost 95 percent of our curricula
• 45:30 - 46:00 whereas the remaining part is largely missing so how i practice this in my teaching these are the journals that my students should reflect i also use this conceptual learning quite quite quite often probably 50 percent of it i use it or for at least 40 percent but i also use practical learning in that we focus on methods procedures approaches and this is about being in the world
• 46:00 - 46:30 being in the world with the world with people this is what we call practical learning okay in practical learning the question how am i going to learn how has the universe evolves that's the question the question of method question approaches a little bit meta compared to conceptual learning so this is how they are going to write please respond to the following question by accompl uh while accomplishing the how has was your learning approach as a
• 46:30 - 47:00 high school and in university student how did your learning so this is pretty much you know uh reflective so they reflect the question their one practice critical in critical we talk about justification we talk about justice we talk about agency we talk about empowerment these three dimensions are very important in critical learning why am i going to learn is not this question why has the universe existed or evolved that's the question in upanishad
• 47:00 - 47:30 and in critical learning uh critically access your role as a teacher who just wanted to get things done or finish the course without paying attention to a student's perspective what disempowering forces so they would going to analyze their one you know lived contradictions that might preclude them becoming a critical reflective empowering teacher teacher or teacher educator and the final is visionary learning values assumptions and beliefs and this
• 47:30 - 48:00 is who am i becoming this is about vision of myself leader of the community reason of their school vision of their community of practice so who am i in the universe that's the question raised by um raised by nazi keta with yama and that probably 1500 years oh no 25 years before then before buddha that
• 48:00 - 48:30 that question was asked by a seeker again we are asking the same question parker palmer is helping us to ask the same question who am i becoming after going through the course concept and idea there for me this is the learning i won't say ultimate and this is somehow tentatively the final learning for adult for teachers for teacher educators for me this is the i think this is very important even for uh you know even those who are doing or any
• 48:30 - 49:00 other courses who they become and this part of course this part is very difficult it's not easy there are we need a lot of activities and and so there's a book by john marcus edited by john marcus spirituality and sustainability talks about shell personal sustainability self-sustainability in terms of imagining future in terms of envisioning future so this question are still relevant and this is published in 2022
• 49:00 - 49:30 and then again in responding to the journalists you may refer to specific views about different facets of such and such so they and place for you imagine without constraints dream about a classroom where you become the key person of yourself there is no vice chancellor there is no director there is no deem there is no resource constant so how would you do how would you develop your curricula so that's how i helped you know imagine so finally what i you
• 49:30 - 50:00 know this conceptual learning is pretty much driven by scientific approach you might say and practical is more reflective practice the experience and they bring their experience in the practice and critical is about questioning sorry there is a typogram and challenging the status quo strength status quo of the system and self because self can be a source of status quo the biggest system is self for me because that can facilitate and hinder
• 50:00 - 50:30 the change among himself or herself and beyond himself or herself and learning about future visionary and for us because i come from this vedanta and buddhist tradition in that the vision comes from self so if we put how how you see the self if it is expanded self inclusive shelf that the imagination would be different if it's restricted self very much individual self the vision would be different so
• 50:30 - 51:00 with this i thank you for your attention thank you very much so ladies and gentlemen floor is open i will allow who are in the zoom to unmute themselves they can they can unmute themselves now but before i give to the floor very highly respected professor that i have a high regard for professor peter taylor
• 51:00 - 51:30 would you like to give some of your your take and your kind of creative remark on this presentation by your former student professor barcelona please oh that's uh that's very kind of you uh thank you so much uh for that invitation um there is so much that can be said uh very briefly i guess you know we live in a complex world um it's a problematic world and we need complex solutions
• 51:30 - 52:00 uh to solve these problems if we want to go beyond the anthropocene and all the global crises that we're currently living through that we need to be educating people with certain qualities that enable them to find complex solutions so learning itself becomes a very complex process and i think what baal has just demonstrated is the complexity of his pedagogy that he it brings to bear with his students in in not just in the
• 52:00 - 52:30 teacher education programs at kathmandu university but also in outreach into community schools and colleges around nepal and what's particularly noteworthy and of great value is the relationship that he is now demonstrating with uh your university in norway and the uh the outreach and the international collaboration so there is so much uh value in what i've just been listening to with with bale's presentation um i'll just leave it there okay thank
• 52:30 - 53:00 you very much thank you peter now the floor is open for here and also any of the participant from the zoom there are just microphone hanging there so they can hear those who are in the zoom and of course we hear you uh all of us who are here so please flourish and you can share it again i can respond if there are any questions you might you might post
• 53:00 - 53:30 what i do is that i stop the recording so