The next batch of The Goa School’s five-day, in-week program is scheduled for 24-28 January 2023 to be held in Goa. Applications are open now. In fact, Fellows may apply to attend the next program at any time. Interviews will be held about a month in advance of each edition.
How it works
The Goa School curates a unique list of mentors for every program. Mentors may apply with exciting offers for their sessions, and their willingness to mentor a Fellow for a year. The program is then advertised, giving potential Fellows the chance to learn about the upcoming program. See our mentor line up from previous programs.
Program components
A typical program has
- A five-day, in-week contact program Every selected Fellow is required to attend a five-day, in-week program — in Goa or at a pre-announced offsite location — to learn new skills and do some intensive group work as they prepare for the future.
- A year-long mentorship program Every selected Fellow is assigned a personal Mentor, and this relationship lasts for a year. The mentorship relationship is self-directed with the Fellow in the driving seat. The Goa School facilitates the mentorships during this period, and interaction takes place from home or in-person, if both mentor and fellow live in/travel to the same location.
- Networking opportunities The Goa School now has a community of over 50 Fellows, Advisors and Mentors. This offers innumerable opportunities for networking, knowledge sharing.
- The Goa School Open Talks These are online interactions with experts, mentors and fellows, curated to keep lifelong learning alive. The Goa School’s Open Talks are open to everyone in The Goa School tribe, and recorded for watching on your own time.
Topics
Each program or talk includes a variety of different topics, curated to encourage self-development, as well as the future of communities, cities and the planet. Whether it includes poetry, philosophy, photography or pottery, we tie those back to, and reflect on, a range of underlying themes including gender, environment, democracy, sustainability and more. Please check the bios of the people leading the next program to learn about their areas of expertise in our mentors line up to get an idea what to expect. Each Fellow is invited to reflect on these topics with their mentors during the yearlong mentorship program.
Seats
There are only 5-6 seats for Fellows in every five-day contact program. To become a Fellow at The Goa School, candidates will be competitively selected. Excellent candidates will be able to choose which program to join. See our fellows line up from previous batches, to get an idea of an ideal candidate. Apply to become a Fellow now.
Frequency
The Goa School schedules 1 or 2 five-day contact programs a year, depending on resources. We also hold monthly talks.
Timings
The five-day contact programs run from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm IST, with group activities in the evenings as well. Quarterly follow ups with mentors and fellows are held online, thereafter — usually on holidays, weekends and outside working hours to make it easy for everyone, sometimes across timezones, to attend. We try and hold the live monthly talks on weekends, to enable people to catch up outside of working hours. (Recorded talks can be watched anytime on www.thegoaschool.com/talks). Mentorship calls and meetings are agreed upon 1:1 between Fellow and Mentor.
Structure
Please note that, since the pandemic, we have been offering a ‘hybrid’ program structure in which some Mentors, particularly those located outside India, will Zoom in for online delivery of their sessions for the five-day contact program. Others will deliver their sessions in person. However, all Fellows, The Goa School management team and other facilitators must be available at the meeting location for all five days of the program. If health conditions do not allow us to gather in a room, we will move the program to an outdoor venue.
All follow-up activity after the five-day meet will take place online. We do hope that Fellow and Mentors in the same city will meet in person as frequently as possible.
Pandemic notice
All participants must show proof of vaccination and tests required for travel. We will ensure that we hold the event in a well-ventilated area. Taking basic health precautions is an individual responsibility.