At KEI, we aim at enabling our scholars to engage in purposeful endeavors by diversifying their knowledge to suit real life situations. In Kashmir, students are still exposed to the traditional ways of learning, where the teacher imparts knowledge and the student is supposed to grasp it. This has proven to be an ineffective learning technique that results in disengaged and bored students. Instead of repeating this cycle of passive learning, we aim at developing the culture of “Reflection based on Experience”. Our Experiential Learning Program organizes workshops that gives students hands-on experience on interdisciplinary learning, career development, leadership, professional and intellectual skills, and other areas of their interest. The focus is on topics that the students may otherwise not have ready access to.
KEI organizes trainer-led interactive workshops in all districts of Kashmir throughout the year, each one focused on specific competencies such as time management, public speaking, leadership, self-awareness, communication skills, psychosocial wellbeing, metacognition, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and teamwork. Each scholar batch attends two workshops every year covering around eight competencies and eight workshops for four years.
Over the last 4 years we have conducted 300+ workshops with our scholars which focused on various competencies including Metacognition, Critical Thinking, Leadership in Conflict Management, Communications Skill Building, Promotion of Psycho-Social well-being, Goal Setting, and Time Management, WORD (Writing, Opportunities, Reading, Dialogue) and Storytelling. This year, we have completed 70+ workshops. Throughout these sessions, the focus remains on engaging our scholars physically and mentally via numerous interactive activities, ice-breaker sessions, attention-grabbing informative videos, group or pair activities, and so on. We aim to keep our scholars’ skill set updated and relevant.
In 2020, the Pandemic induced Lockdown was a big hurdle, but we continued conducting these workshops online with our scholars. During the lockdown, we got 52 experts from across the globe to conduct numerous motivational sessions virtually for the Scholars on various themes, such as Self-Exploration, Personality Development, Self-Acceptance, Stress and Anger Management, Dealing with a Pandemic Crisis, etc. Career Counseling in alternate fields such as Journalism, Research, Banking, Entrepreneurship and so on.
These targeted workshops are critical for success in today’s world and as important as excelling in academics. The traditional education system that our scholars go through is not geared towards teaching such soft skills, mainly because of the continuing conflict and disturbances in Kashmir.
This KEI initiative fills a critical gap and equips our students to be confident leaders, movers, and shakers in their professional careers and in general aspects of life.
When scholars participate in experiential learning workshops with us, they acquire:
An enhanced understanding of their course material
A broadened intellectual horizon and an enlightened view of the world
An admiration of the community as a whole
Self-awareness of their dormant skills, interests and passion
Possibilities to fraternize with various organizations and people
Useful professional skills
Positive Self Image
Leadership skills
The workshops are hands-on and adaptive—we take the time to understand attendees’ learning patterns and level of intellectual ability and match their styles and needs with appropriate methods. KEI scholars consistently rate our competency workshops among their most valued learning experiences. The experience of learning together, with, and from each other deepens the sense of community and creates a supportive peer group among KEI scholars.