Experiential learning is what embodies the spirit of Heritage Xperiential Learning School, where we focus not only on textbook notes and lectures contained within four walls, but rather living the lesson itself. Be it tackling a social issue or expanding our knowledge through a hands on approach. Khoj was an outbound expedition scrapped after 2015. While it still continues for IGCSE and 8th grade recently went on a trip, for the CBSE Senior Program it is currently disbanded.
With it being a widely discussed topic, Uday Srivastava and Karan Anand of the Newsroom present to you an overview of where the students, the teachers, and the parents stand on it.
STUDENT VIEW
All views are paraphrased and taken directly from survey responses.
Almost all students of Heritage can agree that Khoj is an experience to be shared and cherished with everyone, not only helping us bond with and discover others but to discover ourselves. We connect with our peers on a deeper level as we spend seven days living and learning right by them. We get to know our teachers beyond the realm of their class room, discovering their hidden talents and watching them adopt a new approach at learning.
In a poll sent to the entire senior program regarding Khoj, 365 students responded, with 208 responses in the first ten hours. Out of these, 97% (354 respondents) want Khoj back, 5 are satisfied with its abandonment and 6 students are unsure if they would like Khoj back or not.
“Khoj is really fun because you get to hangout with your classmates and get to know them better it also educates you, I think khoj is worth the security risks because if we fear everything in the world then we will not be able to enjoy life. Life is all about choices, fears and problems.” - Lakshay Gupta (lakshay2313@ggn.hxls.org)
“Khoj used to be a time we all used to look up too. We bonded with our friends and made new friends who will last forever. I personally have met and started talking to people after khoj who I never thought I would approach.” - Rishabh Ghosh (rishabhghosh.ths@ggn.hxls.org)
“Taking Khoj away [from school] is like eating food without taste” - Suryansh Kumar (suryansh2591@ggn.hxls.org)
TEACHER VIEW The teacher opinion is not too different from that of the students , they believe it’s an excellent opportunity to see the other side of a student’s persona which helps them revaluate their image of that student. Out of the teachers that responded to the survey sent out by the team , 77.2% (17 teachers) stand strong on the re-introduction of KHOJ. The rest 27.8% (5 teachers) believe that KHOJ is best left in the past. We also decided to ask these teachers if there was something that could be worked upon regarding how khoj is conducted. A huge chunk responded with “students need to be more disciplined and be more careful” . There seems to be a divide on whether khoj should or shouldn’t be part of the curriculum , with some saying yes while others believe not. A teacher even proceeded to say “ first bring KHOJ back “.
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