I spent nearly six months as a curriculum and outreach developer at Ashram Paryavaran Vidyalaya (Ashram Environmental School aka APV School),

a model school and teacher training center that provides holistic, mindful and education for children in the surrounding villages of Anjanisen (Near Devprayag) in Theri District, Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India.

As teachers of APV School we collectively live as a mindful community nestled on the campus of Shri Bhuvneshwari Mahila Ashram in the Shivalik Himalayas.

Together we meditated, farmed, trekked, made music, designed the school’s links-syllabus conceptualized by Anand Dwivedi, and ran the school just a quick hike down the hill from our living quarters. However most of the teachers are from both Garhwal and Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand, they also receive an American volunteer via The American Indian Foundation’s William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India.

I however found them during a search on Idealist.org where they had posted an ad soliciting a teaching fellow. At the time my Hindi language skills were not up to par per their requirement of a Native Hindi speaker. Regardless I got brought on as a curriculum developer and got them started jumping into social media.

At APV school my mentor was Anand Dwivedi, who has taught at some of best progressive educational institutions throughout India…

including Shantiniketan [ made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore ] and Rishi Valley [ a school dedicated to the philosopher J. Krishnamurti‘s vision of education. APV’s vision is to support children to explore not only the external world but also the internal world. Self-awareness helps them to gain a better balance between body and mind and to contact the infinite source of intelligence within.

One thing that really struck me when I went for my initial few day visit back in October 2010, was that Anand Ji was actually impressed that I had never completed my Masters of Education, having quit a little more than midway through to come to India for the first time. He told me, “If you had a degree in Education then I’d have more work to do in order to un-learn you!” He appreciated and practically expected us to be clean slates, so that we would be open to his sometimes radical ideas. His methodology for teaching children via practical methods, mentoring teachers, living in community and running a school were far from mainstream status quo.

Taken from the Vishnu Purana, APV School’s motto Sa Vidya Ya Vimuktaye – Knowledge is that which liberates…. symbolizes the true ancient Indian meaning of education – to free us from all bondages.

The philosophy and methodology of the APV School springs from the simple belief that education, at its core, is not the accumulation of information but an inner evolution, an insight into the self, a refinement and deepening of awareness, and a flowering of compassion. 

How I was involved at APV School: