Paperstory | solving design : ipsitarajak

Children. Lockdown. Learning.

DESIGN RESEARCH | PROBLEM SOLVING | PRODUCT DESIGN | USER TESTING

My househelp's son is 8 years old, in the middle of the pandemic he was sent to work in a tea stall, that was shut then he is now sent to a thread making factory nearby.

- Deepa, 55 yr old ex-NGO worker, Kolkata

Guided by: Mayukhini Pande, Zubin. S

Time allotted: 12 weeks

Abstract

The following design project was carried out to understand the plight and future of learning among the children from the economically disadvantaged communities with the current pandemic and designing solution for the same. The children of 5 - 11 years old were not to going to school for study, but it was more like a home to them.

Being away from such an environment brought traumatizing grief and the social conditions in a way created less scope of having hope for a future.

The solution for the children living in the psycho-socially deficit environment of the urban disadvantaged communities to process grief and feel encouraged to learn before unlocking of schools seems to be in the design of a system and learning through play.

mother fish with other fish 2_edited.jpg

The project is divided into two spaces, research and solution. Click to explore.

RESEARCH : PROBLEM SPACE

SOLUTION SPACE

Framing the Problem

The study was undertaken during the mid of second wave of pandemic in Kolkata.

While framing the problem space, my attention went towards the children of the house-helps around as I was exposed to listening to their problems.

Defining 'left outs' from the opportunity to grow, dream to build upon and nurture

1 empathetic

children (7 years and above)

sent to work to help their parents with livelihood

Few children are affected and feeling the need to help their parents trying and working hard to make the ends meet. They are forced by finger of fate and eventually lured by the money they earn by working.

Few very tender aged children who start earning instead of learning are being left out from understanding the importance of education. Hence, discontinuing.

If they start earning at the tender age of eight, will they be interested in going to school when the situation is better?

My househelp's son is 8 years old, in the middle of the pandemic he was sent to work in a tea stall, that was shut then he is now sent to a thread making factory nearby.

Deepa, 55 yr old ex-NGO worker, Kolkata

2 constricted

children (7 years and above)

feeling obstructed, unaware of free educational resources leading to distraction

These children are working at home in a helpless situation. (here parents are working more than ever like sweepers, garbage collectors, rag pickers, rickshaw walas who are understanding)

Tutopia learning app is a recent development (going on in a cycle)

Their tuition teachers were helping in the beginning of the pandemic but not able to help because of their unhygienic conditions.

Whom would they go if they have doubts?

I am myself a sugar patient, I cannot teach those children anymore as safety is an issue because of my health conditions, they use public toilets where 20 people use one, at times they go in open!! I have been doing this for more than 30-40 years, taught them about hygiene but this virus is dangerous.

Deepa, 55 yr old ex-NGO worker, Kolkata

3 carefree

children (7 years and above) happy as schools never attracted them for learning.

4 unaware

children (below 7 years)

never went to kindergartens or nurseries

Neither children nor parents of these children believe education is a foundational medium to secure necessities of life.

They are also being left out from understanding the importance of education. Hence, discontinuing.

Who would inspire them for formal education?

Who would tell them about the fun of learning?

We are trying to help these kids following the current protocols but feel that everyone is helpless here, they are having one phone, that too the parent is taking it for work.

Seema Paul, Development Action Society, Kolkata

As many as 1.5 million schools remained shut during 2020 due to the pandemic and lockdowns, impacting 247 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary schools in India. - UNICEF

Shutting schools to maintain social distancing amidst the COVID-19 crisis was the most logical solution to avoid community transmission through schools and among school children.

However, this prolonged closure of more than 16 months and counting, shifting to the online mode, has a disproportionately negative impact on the most vulnerable children having no access to electronic devices, steady power supply or internet facility or even guidance to continue their education.

Online mode of education proved to be unsuccessful where only 23.8% of Indian households have internet facility and 37% can use it, in spite of teachers going out of their way.

They are suffering the most with lockdown. Private and English medium schools are booming than ever before but Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) schools have gone for a toss.

Development Action Society, Kolkata

Secondary Research

Stakeholder Mapping

Following are the stakeholders in learning and growth of a child from marginalised urban communities.

Child

Tution Teacher/ Volunteer

Parent(s)

School Teacher

NGO

School Principal

Children who were going to school from the economically disadvantaged communities before pandemic

With pandemic and enforcement of lockdown

municipality schools closed
no / less access to remote learning options
losing interest because of communication gap
unaware of existing knowledge delivery systems (apps etc)

Children

dropping out

Children trying to

continue

WHY?

Loss of Livelihood

HOW ARE THEY HELPING?

helping family in earning a living, joining as house helps, shopkeeper's help or delivery boy at a local grocery shop

Earning Early

Learning Loss

Fulfillment of immediate needs

What are the conditions they are exposed to?

How is the personality, growth and aspirations of the child shaped?

LABOUR

STRESS

ABUSE

HARSH WORKING CONDITIONS

Will they go back to school leaving their immediate source of income (solving livelihood crisis) ?

HOW IS IT A PROBLEM?

Causing Long term Education Crisis

TRAPPED IN THE VICIOUS CYCLE

Desire to continue studying but victim of their background, financial conditions, living conditions and inability to learn without guidance

IN PERSON LEARNING

How to bridge the

G A P

for children to

GRASP?

REMOTE

LEARNING

Notes from interview conducted by Teach for India initiative done on Feb 27 2021 in a slum in Mumbai:

Unable to understand, grasp and remember

"couldn't study well, not useful for me, couldn't understand many topics"

"itna stress h padhne mein." ( There is a lot of stress in learning now. )

"science k formulae kitne mushkil hote h aapko pata h na, wo samajh nahi aate h" ( Science Formulae are so tough you know, one cannot understand like this.)

Infrastructure and financial problem

"kabhi network chala jaata h" (at times, network goes. )

"kabhi awaaz nahi aata" (at other times, voice is not clear. )

"net pack khatam ho jaata h, bhara nahi paate h kyunki bhai k paas raheta h phone." (in between class, the daily net pack is utilised and cannot even recharge as the phone we recharge from is with my brother who goes for work. )

"three brothers, humaare beech mein one phone" (we are three brothers, we share one phone. )

"mummy papa kaam pe jaane lage toh phone bhi nahi raheta tha ghar pe." (Mummy - Papa has started to go for work, now we don't even have one phone at home. )

"camera off rakhna padta h net k wajah se, kuch samajh nahi aata" ( Because of network and the pack we recharge, we have to keep our videos off.)

Behavioral problem and living patterns

"sablog unmute rahete h" (everyone keep themselves unmute.

"background noise aata h" ( thers is a lot background noise.)

"clash of timings, paani laana hota h 10 baje, ghar pe kaam raheta h" ( Classes start at 10 and it clashes with the time of water supply and other household chores. )

problems faced by children studying online

Children are mostly playing and interacting with others more than trying to study

"purey time khelte rahete h" ( All the time, they are playing}

"ghar pe rahete h, masti karte h, idhar udhar se bacche aate h bulaate h" ( They are staying at home, they are enjoying, friends also visit them often. )

"jitna acche se school mein padte h, utna accha lakshan dikh nahi raha h online mein" (It doesn't feel like they are studying in online mode how they seem to study at school. )

"bacche log sunte hi nahi h, mummy papa dekhte h toh padhte h, nahi toh PUBG khelne lag jaate h" ( They are kids, they study till the point we keep a watch on them, otherwise soon start to play PUBG. )

concerns of parents of these children doing online education

Children are unable to concentrate as the environment around is noisy with people.

5-6 family members living in one room houses

experience of living in one room houses all day

Precedent study done (Social Experiments)

Hole in the wall experiment, by Sugata Mitra

Books in a box experiment

Girls' learning circles

Involving kids in Shilo Shiv Suleiman's artwork in slum areas of Delhi

Primary Research

Conducted interviews with NGO workers in Delhi and Kolkata, three teachers taking private tuitions and workshops with children from marginalized communities. Click to see in detail.

Problem Statement

What are the problems they face?

Schools were more than just a learning institution for them,

a home away from their single room houses for 5-6 family members,

a get-away to meet and play with their peers,

to engage in activities,

to dream for the future of their choice!

DISAPPEARED.

What is the age group to focus on and why?

5-7 yrs | 7-11 yrs old

This is the period when the brain is developed to its maximum for lifelong learning. They need foundation, if they are strong at

this level, they can grow as independent and responsible citizens.

What do they need?

Insights and Articulation of Problem Statement

Current news and developments with literature on Cognitive development and SEL concepts.

Kids from these communities tend to forget things learnt in Diwali vacations and other times, our teachers constantly help them revise but this gap was huge, and it is not surprising that an eleven - twelve years old kid forgot to read, or forgot to do simple additions. Their brain needs to be rewired.

- In a conversation with Divya Dhingra and Hitanshi Gandhi, TFIx

The SCERT, Delhi has engaged teachers to find the students who were not in touch for the past 15 months and involved counsellors from the organization “Children First” to work with mentor teachers to help children process their emotions and provide a space for engaging with peers.

How might we help the children living in the psycho-socially deficit environment of the urban disadvantaged communities process grief and feel encouraged to learn before unlocking of schools?

How about helping children process their emotions with LEARNING THROUGH PLAY to grow as independent and responsible beings?

Paperstory, a design intervention to bridge the kids aged 5-11 years old from economically disadvantaged communities rewire their brain to help them prepare to recover learning loss effectively and efficiently once they go back to school.

It is just not learning loss but their psycho-social wellbeing is at stake!

Joyful

Meaningful

Actively Engaging

Iterative

Socially Interactive

What are the key features of Paperstory?

made of paper

Being made of paper, it is low-cost as well as will encourage the kids to create their own toy from anything around them.

re - nurture teacher student relationship

The three Paperstory play – kits are part of the larger paperstory bridge; the system in which teachers are one of the vital stakeholders who distribute the kits understanding the mental state of the kids.

child-led and adult scaffolded plays to harness creativity and happiness

All the kits are such that they can play and create in their own ways with their own circle of friends.

How will the Paperstory kits help?

Paperstory is designed to boost and build social and emotional skills that will eventually help them in their academics.

Paperstory activities will help release the reward chemical, dopamine, and the bonding chemical too, oxytocin while playing with peers.

Making stories around their creation will let the neurotransmitters release and pull them out from their hardships, suffering and giving way for speedy learning recovery.

Paperstory Bridge

Paperstory Bridge is a system solution under which the Paperstory kits have been designed for the problem identified is wicked. The paperstory bridge is staged to propose to MNCs like P&G as CSR program. P&G shiksha is already such a program that builds schools and provide other amenities for the underprivilged.

Situating the solution of Paperstory in network of relationships

Every dimension of the project is affecting the other dimmensions.

1, 11, 15. Govt. teachers and schools joining the Paperstory system to bring change in the society helping kids recover from the root cause of learning loss. Safety and basic right to education is taken care of in the system which is one of the vital part of the system.

2, 12. The products are designed to be economical and designed according to standards.

3. Upgrading society with point no. 2.

4, 8, 9. Because of 1. 2. & 3, people from marginalized communities breaking out from traditional practice of caste and might bring occupational change in future.

5, 10, 16. Paper technology and engineering has made it possible to make products economical.

6, 13, 14, 18. For 5, paperstory is envisioned to be environmentally responsible.

7, 17. For 5 & 6, job opportunities are generated to bring cultural shift.

PESCSTLEEM FRAMEWORK

Paperstory kits will be shipped to the schools signed up for.

Schools sign up for adopting the Paperstory system before they welcome their students back to school.

Counsellors and designers engage with the teachers and volunteers for a brief description on how to use it with the kids.

Teachers or the volunteers visit the kids once in a week while kids play in group during the week.

The kits have an exhibitor pass, an attraction factor for them to go back to school to display their stories.

Vans/buses are hired for the ease of the teachers to carry the kits and their safe and comfortable journey.

Teachers or the volunteers interact with the kids. They play with the three kits to understand which one suits the best for the kid.

Now they give away the suitable kit from the three, imaginary play.make, animal play.make or the papercity play.make according to kids’ need.

Children Personas

Paperstory Kits

Communication Skills | Improves Imagination | Geometrical understanding

animal play.make

The idea of creating toys from scratch gives an unmatchable thrill within a theme of the puzzle they just solved is the core idea of this semi-guided play

Puzzles to solve ; puzzles as the physical base for the story setting.

Stories can be made in real life.

Visual instructions, so kids aren’t limited by language. Pages are pre partial - cut, pre - folded, to be glued to make 3D paper animals.

It consists of 5 jigsaw puzzles with 5 animals in a book. The animal book let kids make 3D paper animals for the puzzles that they solve, out of pre - partial cut and to - fold dotted marks and play with those, letting them absorb in the concept of bonding and values.

imaginary play.make

A play designed for the kids to design.

A two sided 2D abstract shape puzzle of exciting colours!

The imaginary language of the imaginary play.make and soothing colours gives kids’ minds the scope and freedom of visualizing different objects/creatures inviting them to give their meaning.

Solid colour abstract shaped puzzle to visualize different things/ objects from their imagination and build stories with those.

papercity play.make

With the idea of learning from the surroundings, imagining for the surroundings, and playing within the city they design, the open ended play papercity play.make is conceptualized.

Trees of India- Colour and Cut Out Book.

4 set Colour and Cut Out Book are there :

Trees of India | Building Blocks| Vehicles | Humans and Animals

There are 4 Colour and cut out books and single colour puzzles to make roads, water bodies, green areas and other city settings. These books are just not books to read, but let kids colour, cut out (pre-cut) to make 3D physical forms, design, play with those and make stories.

Paperstory Exhibition

The storytelling exhibition will enhance their social and communication skills. The exhibitor pass makes them believe that they can be independent, though with a lot of doubts and speculations. This also plants the seed of hope and trust which will help them recreate the bond with their teachers. These are RFID cards.

The exhibitor pass given to the kids with the kits.

Experience Journey
with Paperstory

Prototype Testing

Future Scope: Paper Talkie

Every school will have these Paper Talkies which can help kids engage with each others' stories.

It is made with the notion of continuing the scope of learning and engagement through play using the idea of most commonly available material, paper and their own Paper- stories!

Paper Talkie consists of RFID reader where their cards will be inserted, a wi-fi module and a speaker to listen to each others' stories or group stories.

Learning through play is about continuity; bringing together children’s spheres of life – home, school and the wider world, and doing so over time.

-Susan MacKay,

Director of Teaching and Learning at Portland Children’s Museum