Learning Beyond Classrooms

Through patience and pedagogy, Dr Archana Shukla helped students move from observation to action, creating a scalable model of experiential learning rooted in public responsibility

- ANIL SWARUP

Dr Archana Shukla transformed a biology lesson into a living classroom, proving that inquiry-driven teaching can build ecological awareness, civic responsibility and lasting student engagement.

In 2021, as schools cautiously reopened following the COVID-19 pandemic, many students remained mentally and emotionally disengaged from learning.

The traditional education system, already under strain, was ill-equipped to reengage learners in a meaningful way. Amid this uncertainty, in a government school classroom in Madhya Pradesh, a quiet yet powerful revolution began—not through textbooks or online modules, but with a single question posed during a biology lesson:

This simple yet profound question sparked curiosity in a group of 11th-grade students. One student recalled how her mother used to feed a small bird called goriya, or the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which they no longer saw. This nostalgic memory became the seed of a transformative journey—one that would blossom into a state-supported conservation project and a model for Project-Based Learning (PBL) in India.

As a government school science teacher, ornithologist, and State Resource Person for PBL, Dr Archana Shukla had long advocated for inquiry-driven education. She believed that learning should go beyond rote memorisation and foster curiosity, critical thinking, and real-world problem-solving. Instead of assigning a theoretical chapter on conservation, she encouraged her students to investigate the actual causes behind the disappearance of the sparrow. Contrary to the popular belief that mobile tower radiation was responsible for their decline, students discovered through scientific literature and field research that the true culprit was habitat loss—specifically, the disappearance of nesting spaces in modern urban architecture.