Unconditioning our minds so we can think differently about "school" - A Conversation with Manish Jain
Apr 13, 2025
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Manish Jain is a visionary educator and co-founder of Shikshantar and Swaraj University in India, dedicated to transforming traditional educational paradigms. He discusses the necessity of unlearning systemic biases ingrained in education and advocates for fostering independent, community-oriented learning. Jain highlights innovative concepts like Ecoversities, which celebrate local knowledge and emphasize experiential learning. He also urges a shift away from conventional schooling methods that undermine self-worth and creativity, promoting a more holistic approach to education.
Education should empower individuals to embrace their unique contributions, moving beyond traditional measures of success and rote learning.
Conventional schooling perpetuates a mindset of scarcity, negatively impacting mental health and highlighting the need for systemic change in education.
Unlearning is fundamental in education, enabling individuals to reconnect with their innate motivations and fostering more inclusive learning environments.
Deep dives
The True Purpose of Education
Education should help individuals recognize their inherent beauty and capabilities, fostering a mindset that everyone has unique contributions to offer the world. When education fails in this regard, it perpetuates a narrative that causes many to feel like failures, particularly when they struggle in traditional schooling systems. The crux of the issue lies in the design of these systems, which often stifle diverse intelligences and create limited views of success. A transformative education should empower individuals to embrace their unique paths and realize their potential beyond rote learning.
The Dangers of Conventional Schooling
Conventional schooling is critiqued for its role in creating a mindset based in scarcity, which affects mental health and self-worth among students. The examples of rising suicide rates in academic pressure-cooker environments, such as Kota, India, highlight the urgent need to examine the damaging effects of the educational system. Institutional responses often fail to address the root causes, instead opting for superficial solutions that overlook the deeper societal issues. Reassessing how we define success and the structural factors within education is crucial for creating a healthier environment for learners.
Rethinking Learning Through Unlearning
Unlearning is presented as a vital process for educators and students alike, helping to dismantle limiting beliefs and behaviors formed within traditional educational frameworks. It is a pathway that allows individuals to reconnect with their innate motivations and the broader definitions of success. This process involves recognizing and healing the fears and limitations instilled by these systems, facilitating a shift toward more holistic and meaningful educational experiences. Emphasizing unlearning can foster a more inclusive approach to education, allowing diverse forms of intelligence to flourish.
The Role of Community and Local Economy
Building educational initiatives that resonate with local needs, such as Swaraj University and the concept of Ecoversities, emphasizes the importance of place-based learning. These initiatives aim to strengthen local communities and economies by connecting students with their immediate environments and fostering collaboration among local organizations. By taking a participatory approach, learning becomes deeply tied to the context and challenges faced by communities, steering away from the distant, corporate-driven narratives of traditional education. A successful educational model encompasses the broader ecological, social, and economic fabrics of the community.
Creating Radical Trust and Playful Learning
Radical trust forms the foundation for transformative educational experiences, encouraging deeper connections between students, educators, and their communities. This trust nurtures a culture where individuals feel empowered to explore and experiment without the paralyzing fear of failure often ingrained by traditional systems. Incorporating elements of playful improvisation and responsiveness to local contexts can lead to innovative practices that enrich learning. By cultivating environments that embrace spontaneity and trust, communities can initiate meaningful change and growth within their educational paradigms.
Is it possible to unlearn the conditioning of our minds, that many of us who have had traditional educations have experienced, such that we can think differently about what an education could be? This week's guest has seen both sides of this experience, and is weaving incredible communities and new institutions all over India and the world!
Manish Jain is deeply committed to regenerating our diverse local knowledge systems and cultural imaginations and is one of the strong planetary voices for de-schooling our lives. He has served for the past 20 years as coordinator and co-founder of Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development based in Udaipur, India, and is co-founder of the Swaraj University, Creativity Adda, Learning Societies Unconference, Walkouts-Walkon network, Udaipur as a Learning City, and Families Learning Together network in India. He recently helped launch the global Ecoversities Network and the global Giftival Network. He is a featured speaker / advisory member of the Economics of Happiness network for localization. He has edited several books on vimukt shiksha (liberating learning) on themes such as learning societies, unlearning, gift culture, community media, and tools for deep dialogue. Prior to this, Manish worked as one of the principal team members of the UNESCO Learning Without Frontiers global initiative. He has also been a consultant to UNICEF, World Bank, and USAID in Africa, South Asia, and the former Soviet Union. Manish also worked as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley. He has been trying to unlearn his master’s degree in education from Harvard University and his BA in economics, international development, and political philosophy from Brown University. He and his wife Vidhi have been unschooling themselves with their 15-year-old daughter, Kanku, in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Manish is passionate about urban organic farming, filmmaking, simulation gaming, bicycling, group facilitation, clowning, intercultural dialogue, and slow food cooking.
