When the faculty designed the Makers Program at Rishihood University, we realized we had to force ourselves to challenge every assumption about the way “modern” education works. It could not  be an MBA or BBA or CBA or whatever Here are a handful of things we experimented with.

1. Bold interviews and conversations that focused on finding the fire within.  Yes, marks and grades are important. They do give a hint of the ability of a student to focus and work hard – essential to any endeavour, and particularly so for entrepreneurship. But it is not enough. We searched for restlessness. We searched for the confused student who was interested in many things and simply could not decide.
2. Encourage trial and error. Our interviews and actual teaching underscore our belief that a subject ought to embrace failure as a WhatsApp critical step of the learning process. Questions in quizzes that are open-ended are framed to draw a variety of answers rather than the “right” answer. We do not see the point of penalizing an honest attempt. What we seek is an honest attempt and clues of a positive attitude. When we say to potential students and parents that we encourage failure, they are taken back. But the point then is made that we want them to develop resilience; failure and recovery does exactly that.
3. Throw them into the pool. The real world outside gives perspectives and contexts that text books cannot. And so, we take out students and let them lose in markets and let them find their way. The assignments are brief. They need minimal direction. Interviewing business owners, learning to observe the world and working as a team – the world is the true classroom and no PowerPoint presentation can teach them all this.
4. What are the questions? The entire idea that students must be tested for the right answers has to be relooked at. So, we encourage the formation of questions, when situations are expressed or presented. The ability to create questions is very stimulating and the whole weary business of rote learning is discarded.
5. Humour in the classroom. It’s quite simple. If you are not laughing or enjoying yourself, you are probably not learning. In fact, you are probably in a cage and want to get out as soon as possible. So, we try to make sure that everyone has a good laugh. As an instructor, I find self-deprecating humour a great valve. In the process, the distance between the teacher and the student decreases and knowledge is exchanged in both directions.
6. Unusual classroom experiences. As an extension of the previous point, we decided to try to wake up sleepy students by offering them chai. In an entrepreneurship class, a student was appointed the official chaiwallah and his job was to offer hot tea to anyone who yawned. We said that anyone who yawned was assumed to be ordering tea! The student made a small amount of money, but even more importantly, experienced micro entrepreneurship and had a happy time.
7. Encourage chaos and disbalance. Things as prosaic as seating can be addressed. Just shifting students around at random can make a difference to their energy levels and attentiveness. I have found this works very well. Today a front bencher, tomorrow a back bencher. A sense of anticipation grips the students as they enter the classroom; what’s going to happen today? Seating as per your zodiac sign is also a fun twist. But it needs to be different every day!
8. Create crazy but meaningful memories.  As part of the welcoming experience, we distributed sweets and bitter gourds to all students. After the first shock of receiving something completely unexpected, the important point of being likely to experience unusual and bitter experiences in the journey ahead was understood very well.
9. Under the tree.  Who says that we can’t teach under a tree? We opened up the classes. As a group we formed a nice circle around a tree, holding hands. Dramatic, yes, but a great way to emphasize team spirit and unity.
10. Creating impact. Very recently, we asked students to come together at an unearthly time and do a campus cleanup activity. The enthusiasm was incredible. Needless to say, the instructor must lead from the front. These seemingly unrelated experiences bring even greater credibility to the instructor in the classroom.

The moment the instructor is settled, his or her teaching becomes predictable. When that happens, channels of communication calcify. A certain zing is lost. The student’s energy diminishes. The classroom becomes oppressive.

And so, we work on precisely the opposite. Challenge every classroom norm. Make the student your partner. Let air flow, let laughter guide knowledge from the source to the destination and let it be absorbed gently. The teacher must wear the hat of a crazy friend too and must make every effort to speak the language of the student.