Mentor August 2017; Volume 11 Issue 03 by Mentor Magazine

INVITATION to WRITE

Share your thoughts!

Bilingual Education Reading brain in the digital age Contextualising Learning

Share your thoughts & opinions on any of the topics above, and we’ll publish it in Mentor! You can also send your article on one of the following: School Pedagogy, School Governance, School Innovation, or School Leadership.

Word limit: 1,300 words | email: info@lxl.in | Submission deadline: 15 August | Email subject:“Mentor Magazine” * Subject to editorial discretion

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CONTENTS August 2017 | Volume 11 | Issue 03 | ₹ 40

MENTOR THOUGHTS 5 Sultan Speaks The case of overvalued board exams

31 The Role Of Advertising Media In Kids' Choices & Behavior Explore how the advertising industry targets kids

34 Teaching about World Religion

Inside the mind of a leader Being kind is as important as being great in academics

Raising a generation of peacekeepers

SCHOOL PEDAGOGY 6 Is Art-Education Necessary for Kids?

23 The What, Why and How of Modern Indian Education Value proposition of present generation private schools

Education through imagination – An artist speaks

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

8 The Importance of Structured Physical Education in Schools

26 Improving Instruction - Identifying Gaps in Teachers' Performances

Grooming children about health and tness from formative years

Periodic monitoring; continuous mentoring

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE 13 School Campus – The Most Fertile Ground to Create Next-gen Leaders

SCHOOL INNOVATION 29 Unconventional Pedagogy Shouldn't learning be fun more than formal?

Creating a generation of thought-leaders in school A Venture of Publisher & Owner: Syed Sultan Ahmed Editor-in-Chief: Kalpa Kartik Content Developer: Ashitha Jayaprakash Designed by: Uday S Production: Praveen U.M., Sathish C., Guna V. Printed by: Manoj Printed at: Elegant Printing Works, #74, South End Road, Basavangudi, Bengaluru - 560 004.

NOTICE: Authors/contributors are responsible for the authenticity of information they provide in the article. The publishers do not accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication. By submitting letters/emails or other publication materials to Mentor Magazine the author/contributor agree that it is the property of Mentor Magazine. All communication to Mentor Magazine must be made in writing. No other sort of communication will be accepted. All decisions regarding publishing of an article is the prerogative of the publisher and editorial team of Mentor Magazine. Mentor Magazine is owned and published by EduMedia Publications Pvt. Ltd. for and on behalf of Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts and forums in Bengaluru City.

Three prominent personalities who have had a phenomenal impact on the education system in India Devi Kar, Director, Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata

Macaulay's children may be a pejorative term for anglicized Indians but independent India still believes that an “English education” is the only ticket to a successful future. Even in remote villages Indians look for English medium schools for their children. So whether we like it or not, we have to accept that Lord Macaulay (Minute of 1835) revolutionised education in India. Montessori is the most well known term in preschool education in India. The Montessori movement started by Dr. Maria Montessori in the 1940s is alive and strong in India and there are thousands of play schools all over the country that observe the Montessorian method. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was instrumental in founding the ﬁrst IITs in India. These higher education institutions may have deviated from Nehru's aim and vision but they have maintained exemplary standard through the years. Today most high school students' lives are dominated by their preoccupation with preparing for the IIT entrance tests. And if you are an IITian, you will surely be branded with the stamp of excellence. For all things ﬁne and beautiful in the Indian education system we have the poet-philosopher and Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore to thank. Learning from nature, freedom of imagination, expression and play are aspects of every good school's educational philosophy today. Our National Curriculum Framework (2005) (the new one is still work in progress) includes Tagore's thinking on child education. (Tagore's Civilisation and Progress)

Watch this space to read articles that came to us for the anniversary issue. There will be lessons of life, lms and book suggestions and other informative articles that will take you on a journey of learning!

SULTAN SPEAKS

sultan@lxl.in

The Case of Overvalued Board Exams

not woken up to this fact and continue to fuel the rat race among children for grades. Parents are ever so eager to do everything to make their children succeed and most Indian parents believe that good grades alone in academics is the success mantra. I can't blame the parents because they know no better; it's the principals and school managements that have to take up the blame for this obsession with marks. Here is my take on the way I look at board results. Curriculums are designed keeping in mind the fact that there are sharp and fast learners and then there are very slow and different learners, the curriculum is designed to cater to the average among the children's population. So if a child gets 100% marks at the board exams, according to me he is as good as the 'average' among the population. I don't see any reason why schools celebrate so much for having produced 'average kids'. Amidst this noise, we forget that there will be failures and most kids grow up fearing this failure. If schools could spend a fraction of the energy they spend on trying to get marks, on exposing children to the possibilities of varied career paths for the future, and help build overall personalities, they would have far more successful children who would build a much better world. Stop celebrating the fact that your kids aced an 'average and redundant' board exam. As educators, we need to start celebrating and recognizing successes in all other spheres as much as we celebrate board results.

t's the month of August and the noise is just settling down. For the past two months the o n ly n e w s I c o u l d h e a r i n s c h o o l s , newspapers, television, social media et al was that of the stupendous results that schools have got in their board results. What was interesting is that almost every school got good results, every school had toppers, all batches in almost all schools got ďŹ rst classes/distinctions and in some cases all of them got above 90% marks. The media went to town talking about how kids performed in their cities, schools spend loads of money to put up billboards/hoardings to showcase the toppers and the social media was abuzz with photos and percentages and celebrations. For someone like me who has been trying to evangelize the fact that 'Academic Grades don't represent school success entirely', I have always found it very difďŹ cult to digest the scale at which schools celebrate. Over the years the focus on academic grades have become so ďŹ erce that there is an outlandish display of success by some schools. In talk and in communication, most educators will tell you that their schools focus on overall development of students, but the ground reality is far from what they say. In the primary and middle school classes there is a lot of focus on overall development, but the scene is very different in high school especially in grades 10 & 12. Today, like never before schools focus on academic grades, every system and policy adopted by them is aimed at getting better marks. I live in a world where most of the work places have no value for academic grades; the skills that are required to be a contributing citizen have nothing to do with academic grades. Yet school managements have

Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director, LXL Ideas 5

PEDAGOGY

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Is Art-Education Necessary for Kids? Dr. Ritwij Bhowmik

r. Ritwij Bhowmik is an Assistant Professor and the Convener of the Fine-Arts Discipline at the Department of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS), IIT Kanpur, India where he currently teaches Cinema-Study, Visual Culture, Art History, Art Appreciation and simultaneously working as a professional painter and researcher. He is at present serving as a Guest-Professor at the Department of Asian and Islamic Art History, University of Bonn, Germany. Trained as a visual artist, Dr. Ritwij Bhowmik obtained his MFA degree from VisvaBharati University (Santiniketan); later he studied Chinese Art and Calligraphy from Northeast Normal University (China), where he was awarded with a PG. Dip. He earned his Doctorate in Visual Culture and Cinema-Study from National Chiao-Tung University (Taiwan).

Baij's e xperiementation with their ar t, constructing new interpretations of modern Indian Art-Education, where they effectively merged the essence of creation with the joy of learning.

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” – Pablo Picasso Childhood is one of the best gifts that a person can get from his/her life. Children play, draw and create an entire new world of their own. That's how their imagination can ascend the pinnacle of creation. If they are provided with enough room to channel their raw creativity, their high rampant impulses will also be in control. In this respect, the elementory Art-Education is a creative but potent medium that can and should be considered as a necessery part of a school's curriculam. It is observed that children are the most sincere viewers of television and art exhibitions and due to this, they would beneﬁt the most with ﬁne art training. Unfortunately, that is not always the case in India.

In school, unfortunately, I was never exposed to any art class, however I never felt this void due to the impassioned support that I was getting from my family. But I was thrilled by the elevated sense of reality that an art work produced, and its promise of connecting with absolute strangers. Years later, when I joined Ashokhall Girls Higher Secondary School in Kolkata as a full time Post Graduate Art-teacher, I would recall my early school days and the felicitous words of George Bernard Shaw, “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last, you create what you will.”

Thankfully, I was born into a family of artists where art was the main purpose of living. And since my childhood, I have had ﬁrst-hand experience of how much difference Art-Education can weave into a child's selfbeing. I have grown up hearing stories of Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Binod Behari Mukhreejee and Ram Kinkar

To make children's basic Ar t-Education successful, generic drawing and craft lessons will never be enough. It is essential to ﬁnd a language that is unique to our present times, yet dogmatically different from that of the idleheaded 6

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don't necessarily spend large amounts of money for the development of an Art curriculum. This grim situation need to change, and this change can be sustained only by replacing these untrained teachers with proper degree holder (conventional specialized art degrees such as BVA/BFA and MVA/MFA) or skilled art-teachers.

Video Games and Television. It is advisable that the new elementory Art curriculam must include regular visits to various art museums and art galleries. Both TV and Video Games can push a child into inertia, but relevent art activity such as the ones mentioned above will compel them to engage themselves in a unique journey of innovation—the children, both as the creator and the spectator, have to use their imagination to ﬁll in the gaps.

Writer and poet Oscar Wilde said, "The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.” and surly Art can be the best conductor of actuating imagination and at most turns, Art becomes a facilitator for a child's growth. Once during my days at Ashokhall Girls High. Sec. School, I met two sisters both of whom were intensely introverted. Their parents knew that their interests solely lay in painting and with this belief, they persuaded them to take ﬁne-art as an additional subject in their curriculam. They were some of the most silent students in my class but that didn't mean that they weren't interested, in fact, compared to other students, they were much more keen to learn the stories and the practical techniques of art. Soon with proper guidence, their reticent souls found expression through their paintings. It was only a matter of a few months before the two girls began to be the most successful in class, making themselves known to all through their art. They found freedom through expression. During the next parents teacher meeting, I was informed by their parents that from being introverted last benchers, they have become the most active and motivated students in their class.

Here, I would like to suggest two very simple things to improve the level of Art-Education in our schools: First would be to ensure that the Art-Education ﬁnds a place in the elementary school education. Many schools already have it, but in the form of half way Art-Education, where it is jumbled up with various other things like craft works, workeducation, puppetry, knitting etc. Indulging into any such half-cooked Art-Education, instead of helping, will rather do more harm to the precious young minds. Schools should have good infrastructure that supports professional and passionate art training in order to provide children the best of Art-Education. Secondly, a bigger concern is the presence of untrained Art Teachers. This issue of the “untrained” or “partially-trained” teachers teaching art to children is a much greater threat than it appears to be. It is observed that schools

The stale scene is slowly but steadily changing. The tides have started to turn in the last decade, as Art-Education in schools have slowly started to adopt a more systematic art curriculum. Since our independence, the Indian school education has come a long way and it's high time that it comprehends the urgent need of incorporating appropriate Art-Education in its main curriculam. Great scientist and thinker Sir Albert Einstein said, “ It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” What else can we offer to our next generation? 7

ritwij.art@gmail.com

PEDAGOGY

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The Importance of Structured Physical Education in Schools Parminder Gill

arminder Gill is the Co-Founder & Head of Business at EduSports, India's largest sports education organization. Parminder's interests include use of body-mind connection in learning, organizational leadership and entrepreneurship. Parminder holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from University of Pune, and a Master's degree in Management from Arizona State University. Parminder is also a visiting faculty at Azim Premji University, where he runs a sports education course for Masters level students in Education and Social Development.

What is physical education? It is the process of imparting systematic instructions in physical exercise, sports, games and hygiene. Physical Education (PE) is important to students in schools because it has various physical and mental benefits like improved physical health fitness, increased academic performance, social assimilation and better mental health. PE forms an important part of modern education because education aims at the training the mind as well as the body and to keep a healthy mind within a healthy body, a student needs regular physical exercise. Additionally, physical education classes contribute to students becoming responsible adults who are aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Students can retain a higher level of knowledge related to overall health which will help them make educated decisions regarding their own health, safety and well-being. Lastly, sports and games can also help build a sense of cooperation and team spirit among students. To sum it up, the Physical Education and Sports curriculum is one of the most crucial programs in schooling as it promotes good health, suggests new ways to keep fit and helps cope with social pressure along with aiding students to learn

their lessons effectively by teaching them to manage hurdles in limited time. The importance of a structured sports program in school A long-term and robust-structured sports and physical education program in schools help improve fitness standards. Spor ts play a significant role in children's lives in developing their health and wellness. It is a well-known fact that children are happiest when they play. Whether it is playing informally, competitive play or playing just for fun, sports presents various experiences, situations and opportunities that have physical, social, psychological and academic benefits for children. Regular physical activity provides numerous health benefits for children. It helps control or reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, osteoporosis and improves their metabolic health. Children who are physically active are more likely to grow into physically active and emotionally balanced adults. Research conducted by Perkins et al. (2004) found that adolescents who are highly active in sports are 8

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apartment or in a playground. Instead, children now have different versions of their favourite sports that can be played at the comfort of their homes - in smart phones or through videogames. Also, with increased focus on academics and excessive exposure to technology, there is not much physical activity or exercise involved in children's daily routines.

eight times more likely to participate in sport and physical fitness activities when they become adults, than adolescents who participate very little in sports. Playing also provides many social benefits for children. When children play with each other they relate to each other and feel a sense of bonding and belonging to a community or group. They also learn to cooperate, share and understand each other's point of view. According to Casey (2010) when children play, they use their own language, rules and values which eventually help them develop their own identities. Aerobically fit students are 2.4 times more likely to pass math tests and are more than twice as likely to pass reading tests than those who are not fit.

According to WHO 2010 report on physical activity, the recommended level of physical activity for children between the ages 5-17 is at least 60 minutes per day which could include moderate to vigorous physical activity. This will help improve cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, bone health, and reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression. Physical activity of amounts greater than 60 minutes daily will provide additional health benefits. Unfortunately, many children do not meet these physical activity recommendations. The 7th edition of the Annual Health Survey conducted by EduSports, covered 1,69,932 children between the ages 7 – 17 across 326 schools in 86 cities and 26 states of the country. The key findings of the survey have been summarized as follows: Ÿ 1 in 3 kids don't have a healthy BMI Ÿ 2 in 5 kids lack adequate lower body strength Ÿ 1 in 3 kids don't possess adequate upper body strength Ÿ 1 in 3 kids don't have the desired sprint capacity Ÿ 1 in 4 kids don't have the desired flexibility Research by sport researchers like Brustad and Gould have found that youth sports could, very well be one of the most important activities in a child's life.

Aerobically unﬁt students

Aerobically fit students While participation in sports is most often connected to physical and emotional benefits, it also helps children in their academic performance. According to research done by Budde et.al, aerobically fit students are 2.4 times more likely to pass math tests and are more than twice as likely to pass reading tests than those who are not fit. It is also said that 20-40 minutes of brisk walking is said to improve mathematical performance in children. Research by Jarret et.al's (1998) published in the Journal of Educational Research, found that students engaging in directed physical activity during free time/recess have significantly higher concentration scores and is less fidgety. They are also more focussed on their tasks than the students who are sedentary.

However, as children get older, it becomes more challenging for them to get enough daily physical activity. This could be due to increased academic pressure, lack of motivation from parents, or the children's inability to play a particular sport well. Physical activity among children drops sharply between the ages of 9 and 15, according to a 2008 study published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association”.

How much play is needed for children? Today, across the world, it is a rare sight to see a bunch of kids playing around in the corner of an 9

PEDAGOGY

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According to a study conducted in Ireland, a number of well-established patterns in children's activity can be identiﬁed (Sallis, 2000; Caspersen et al., 2000). These include the following: Ÿ Children aged from around 8 or 9 years to 12 or 13 years are most likely to be active and likely to attain the recommended levels of activity. Ÿ Physical activity declines during the teenage years, with the onset of decline usually identiﬁed as occurring sometime between 13 and 15 years of age. By the late teenage years, substantial minors have developed sedentary or low-activity lifestyles, though not to the same degree as adults. Ÿ According to Sallis (2000), age-related decline in physical activity is so common in human populations and also occurs widely in many animal species that it must have a biological basis and is not simply a consequence of social factors (such as pressures of academics) that arise in particular cultures. Ÿ Boys are more active than girls and are less likely to be completely sedentary. Across the globe, implementing spor ts education programmes are a huge challenge, considering the various constraints we are faced with. However, with a structured approach to sports, these challenges can be overcome. The next section discusses this aspect in detail.

Sports Education Programmes It is known that children spend a signiﬁcant part of their time in schools. The school is therefore proven to be the best place to introduce changes in the way sports or physical education is handled, so as to reap its beneﬁts. Despite the wide recognition of the positive impact sports has on education and child development, physical education still does not feature in many schools as part of the curriculum or as a compulsory activity. Outside of PE classes, only children who are interested or talented in spor ts are provided training. Consequently, every school should evaluate how best to implement initiatives that provide the appropriate environment, tools and framework within which, this paradigm shift towards physical education and sports can be achieved. Schools have two broad areas through which they can promote physical education and activity levels amongst children:

“ Aerobically t students are 2.4 times more likely to pass math tests and are more than twice as likely to pass reading tests than those who are not t

Recess Time Activities Taking cue from studies conducted in the USA by shapeamerica.org, the recess time can provide a great opportunity for schools to drive the physical education agenda. Supervised play during recess time has had tangible, demonstrated beneﬁts in improving physical activity levels amongst children. One concern has been the allocation of correct resources for this and also the challenge of sustaining this amongst children in high school or higher grades, whose other activities also impinge on recess times. 10

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education. Availability of specialist organisations makes this a potential area of collaboration where schools can retain administrative control while reaping the beneﬁts of expertise in design and delivery of a structured PE curriculum. How Can Schools Implement Structured & Inclusive Sports Programmes? As with any other overhaul within the school system, implementing structured sports programs is also fraught with many challenges. Some of the key ways in which schools can effectively implement str uctured physical education programs include: Structured & Inclusive Sports Programs A structured sports programme is developed keeping in mind, the physiological, physical and psychological needs of children and delivers holistic sporting experiences. A good structured sports education programme– Ÿ starts at the kindergarten level Ÿ provides daily physical activity ensuring that every child participates Ÿ c r e a t e s aw a r e n e s s a m o n g t h e s c h o o l community on the importance of sports education Ÿ adapts the curriculum based on the speciﬁc needs of the schools Ÿ educates children on living a healthy and active lifestyle Ÿ and provides periodic assessment on each child's development

Support Group: Create a group drawn across various stakeholders – school administration, teachers, physical education instructors, parents and partner organisations who can contribute to the monitoring and support required to keep up momentum of structured sports initiatives Collaborations and Partnerships: Many schools in developed countries have benefited from partnerships with external specialist agencies that bring in the required expertise and tools to implement structured sports programmes Infrastructure and Equipment: Good sports infrastructure in schools with at least a good play ground, preferably a grass field. Assess the requirement of equipment needed for various age groups with reference to structured play programs The above assessment needs to be done bearing in mind: Age appropriate physical activities planned for specific groups of children and associated material/ equipment Ÿ Space availability within the school and extended location Ÿ In addition to traditional sports equipment, there are many more sports/ play aids to achieve better physical education standards Coaches and trainers: Infrastructure and policy are only part of the solution for better sports education. The most critical ingredient for success is having the right people as PE instructors, coaches and trainers. Even with a well-designed PE curriculum, the effectiveness depends largely on the availability of sufficient and qualified people.

To implement a structured sports programme, schools require good sports facilities, certiﬁed instructors and coaches, support from parents and school staff, and most importantly commitment from the school to build a culture of sports education. Many schools might not have the expertise or resources to develop and implement such a programme. In these cases, schools can par tner with organisations that have developed research-based curriculum keeping in mind the needs of children. These organisations typically have certiﬁed trainers, age-appropriate curriculum, and assessment techniques that can provide a comprehensive approach towards spor ts 11

PEDAGOGY

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Importance of Sports and Academics: PE should be treated with equal importance as any other academic subject, and should not be over-looked as an extra-curricular activity. The same philosophy needs to be embraced by parents as well, and equal importance to the subject and the teacher should be given in forums like the Parent Teacher Association. Sports Education Curriculum: PE should be treated with equal importance as any other academic subject. Equip with necessary support and tools in order to run a good program in schools- This can include adequate rewards and recognition for students, a curriculum like any other academic subject, planned assessments and updates to parents like any other academic subject and the necessary support from the school in events like sports days or school sports events to make them successful. Use of Technology: Collation of programme information, training of coaches and relevant material can be made readily available with the use of technology. Internal reference websites, dashboards that help track student performance

to support sports education, appropriate implementation of these guidelines will be key in delivering sustainable outcomes. Also different schools across different countries could adopt strategies that work for them and their children, based on the resources available. However, to attain this paradigm shift towards physical education and sports, it is important to encourage the acceptance of a sports-oriented culture in schools and by the community at large, which requires a collaborative effort between various groups, associations and resources within the respective countries. Bibliography: Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Perkins DL, Jacobs JJ, Barber BL, Eccles JL. Childhood and adolescent sports participation as predictors of participation in sports and physical ﬁtness activities during young adulthood. Youth Soc. 2004;35(4):495-520. Ann Rosewater. Organised Sports and Health of Children and Youth Budde, H, Voelcker – Rehage, C, Pietrayk – Kendiziorra, S. Ribeiro, P. Tidow, G. Acute coordinative exercise improves attentional performance in adolescents. NeurosciLett. 2008 441:219-223. Jarrett, OS, Maxwell, DM, Dickerson, C, Hoge, P, Davies, G, Yetley, A. Impact of recess on classroom behaviour: Group effects and individual differences. Journal of Educational Research. 1998;92(2):121-126.

In conclusion, adopting a structured education programme clearly is a signiﬁcant step towards ensuring every child is involved in physical activity and can reap its beneﬁts. While many governments have guidelines and policies in place 12

parminder@edusports.in

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School Campus – The Most Fertile Ground to Create Next-gen Leaders Kashmira Jaiswal

ashmira Jaiswal is the Creative Director and Head - Innovations and Pedagogy at Navrachana School, Sama. She is the recipient of the Global Leadership in Education Award (2016) from the Education Council of India, ILEP (USA) Fellowship Award (2015), and the Pearson Teaching Award (2013). She is the Master Trainer for ASL (Assessment of Speaking Listening Skills) and has conducted Training Programs for Secondary School English Teachers of the Community. Being a drama enthusiast she writes and directs children's theatre, and has many successful concerts in her repertoire. She conducts workshops and training sessions for school and college students, ranging from Personality Development to Soft Skills, Leadership Skills, Drama, and Communication Skills.

I have observed that the one common factor that strings together all progressive schools around the world is that, students of all ages are leading changes big and small. Programs like Design for Change, I Can, and Social Outreach Projects inspire them to achieve seemingly impossible things like creating community gardens out of empty barren plots, tutoring their underprivileged peers in Computer Skills, Reading or Math. Everywhere around us, we see students demonstrating acts of leadership to improve their classrooms, schools, and communities. They are learning that even with fewer resources and no ofﬁcial authority, children has the ability to imagine a better world and help turn that vision into reality.

Being an educator by passion, and a facilitator by choice, I often upgrade my craft by visiting different schools whenever given an opportunity. The most remarkable element that stands out on a school visit is the interaction with its students. The success story of a school can be attested by the conduct of its student leaders. This belief has often been validated by my multiple visits to schools in India and abroad. For example, when the Student Ambassadors take charge of greeting the guests or organising school tours or providing thoughtful information about the school, the soul of the school reflects through their dealings! In the 13 years of my experience as a teacherfacilitator and a mentor, I have seen many reticent, uncertain, children bloom into confident and dynamic young front-runners when they have been entrusted with responsibilities in a leadership position. Simple activities like appointing the quiet child as the class-monitor will do two things in his/her favour. Not only will the student gain immense confidence from the fact that s/he has been entrusted with important responsibility, but s/he will also feel committed to deliver, therefore, the effort would be concerted and resolute.

My point is that the power of transformational education is unleashed when students discover their own leadership potential and take action to bring positive change in their environment. Only schools and administrators who are equipped to handle a complex, rapidly changing environment can implement the reforms that lead to sustained improvement in student achievement and leadership. 13

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

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are a great way of inculcating Entrepreneurial Leadership, especially Financial Management. Right from designing the event, to designing the theme, formalizing the budget, allotting stalls, paying the bills and donating the proﬁt for charity, when students handle the gamut of affairs under the able guidance of educators, magic is created, and the likes of Bill Gates, Ambanis and Tatas are given wings. Ÿ Volunteering for Community Projects: A school gains a lot from being an active participant in its local community. Pupils can become actively involved in their local communities by volunteering to teach underprivileged children, interact with Aanganwadis of the locality, running campaigns on local and national issues. They can be involved in community activities, such as raising money for the initiatives like supporting the education of the girl-child, participating in youth forums and projects of local and national organisations like MUNs and Youth Councils, being a buddy for the elderly by visiting old-age homes, visiting special schools and conducting friendly matches with peers of special needs. Ÿ Reviewing and Developing School Rules, Policies and Procedures: Pupils can be involved in policy and practice development by commenting on existing policy, for example on bullying or drug education. Having a task group, such as a policy-working group, allows students to evaluate existing policy and draft new policies after consulting with other children, which makes the process participative. A participative approach, involving staff and pupils together, can lead to better behaviour and a more inclusive school ethos. From involvement in school SelfEvaluations, helping write school policies on anti-bullying, or sex education, there are a number of ways pupil participation can enrich school life. Ÿ Involving Pupils in Decisions about Their Education: Pupils can be involved in a range of decisions that affect them, for example, target setting and learning assessments. They can be involved in improving their learning by giving

The onus lies on the foresight and initiative of the policy makers and administrators to go beyond a narrow set of academic outcomes and redefine student success; to include a range of academic and non-academic knowledge, skills, and competencies that children will need to become 21st century leaders who will address the challenges of tomorrow. It means supporting and preparing children to be strong communicators, critical thinkers, and gritty problem-solvers who are, among other things, inquisitive, creative, empathetic, and collaborative. What should be the aim of the school's Student Leadership Program? The Student Leadership Prog ram should empower students to work in partnership with staff towards shared goals and enable creativity to flourish as the school community benefits from the wealth of experiences, ideas, skills and sense of fun that students bring. The thrust of this program should be to provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills through a variety of inspiring, challenging and valued projects which impact positively on learning, teaching and well-being for both students and the school. The ultimate goal of this program should be to prepare students for achieving personal and professional excellence in life after formal education. What kinds of activities can we design to involve students in school governance? Ÿ Travel and Adventure Opportunities: Travel is a great Teacher! Providing opportunities for students to travel within the country and explore the wealth of its heritage and culture, or sending them on adventure trips on mountain treks or nature walks, opens up vistas of self-discovery, and leadership skills emerge as an inevitable learning outcome. Additionally, if they are given an opportunity to design the itinerary, budgets, finance, etc. it empowers them with essential life-skills that will not be found in the pages of text-books. Ÿ Fun Fairs and Entrepreneurship Exhibitions: School Funfair and Entrepreneurship Bazaars 14

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Leadership Training Starts From the Classroom! So, here are some ways educators can offer leadership opportunities. First step - Put them in charge. Involve students in leadership opportunities in the school. Next step Be a Role Model yourself! Explain how leadership works in your mind and how you would like to share it because good leaders do. Furthermore, get them invested in improving school culture. Involve them in extracur ricular activities. Extracurricular activities allow students to take lead. When students are given leadership opportunities—give them the space to learn by winning and failing.

feedback on the method of teaching and reviewing the curriculum by providing feedback on teaching and content. The following quote from a young student shows how effective this can be: “In science classes, we didn't like using textbooks. We found them hard to read and didn't learn much from them and preferred to do worksheets and activities. We spoke to our teacher who let us do a survey of what activities people feel they learn the most from. We now help plan lessons and have more say about what happens in class.” School Management: Pupils can bring a unique and valuable perspective to issues of school management and have a useful role to play in decision-making. By working in partnership with staff and coordinators, pupils can help ﬁnd creative solutions to issues of school life, like taking care that water is not wasted in the toilets, drinking from water coolers and fountains etc. control of food-wastage in the Dining Hall/Mess, negotiating with the defaulters, communication with the Class IV employees using an empathetic approach towards them are all soft skills that they can learn. Ÿ Sharing Leadership and Democracy in School Systems and Structures: School Councils are a democratic way of involving pupils in school governance. It gives all pupils a chance to participate, stand for Council and then be democratically elected. Ÿ Being Involved in Staff Selection: Children and young people can be involved in staff selection interview panels for the school. It is helpful for pupils to receive training in interview skills and to be briefed about the process and to be supported to participate effectively on the interview board. Ÿ Peer Support System: Peer support services work very well in tandem with the counselling cell of the school. Involving pupils in initiatives like mentoring and anti-bullying counselling can bring about positive changes in the school ethos and behaviour. Ÿ

“ The onus lies on the foresight and initiative of the policy makers and administrators to go beyond a narrow set of academic outcomes and redene student success All forward-thinking schools have their Student Council in place, with posts like The President of the Council, the Head Boy, Head Girl and other Prefects like the Cultural Prefect, Community Outreach Prefect, etc. Here are a few suggestions for some new portfolios, which can be instated in the student-council. Student Co-Planners are Students who co-plan lessons with teachers. Student Researchers are students from higher classes who research a topic related to the School Development Plan and feed the research ﬁndings back to the school 15

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of mentoring is customized to the needs of that pupil and progress is reviewed weekly. I can quote many examples from the treasure trove of my rich experiences where I have seen metamorphosis happen, where back benchers became frontrunners, where introverts became the best orators, where the muddled ones became the most systematized, and the wary have become bold. But the biggest reward, I am sure, is that they all learnt to handle the complex puzzle called life, handling dextrously all the challenges it throws towards them with ease and panache.

administration departments and the relevant staff. Student Ambassadors represent the school to visitors. This includes meeting and greeting, organising tours and providing information about the school. Ideas and Innovations Prefects' job is to ideate, harness the creativity of young geniuses of the school, for example the stalwart quizzers, the scientist-minded brainy geeks. Subject Mentors and Peer Mentors can be students who are trained as mentors to support other students in some subjects that they are proďŹ cient at. Charity Leaders are students who exemplify in raising funds for charity projects. Student Lunchtime Supervisors manage discipline at lunchtimes, working alongside the food monitors and class teachers for dining hall etiquettes and discipline. Mental Health Ambassadors are trained by the school psychologists to help with student Mental Health issues. Anti-bullying leaders raise awareness and challenge all aspects of bullying throughout the year.

I cannot emphasize it more that Student Leadership is the need of the hour today! Schools will soon be redundant if they continue to only disburse knowledge, which is already available at the click of a button. Schools that foster Citizenship Education are educating children, from early childhood, to become clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning the society. Schools that inculcate Leadership skills in students give them a unique position to exert their voice, put ideas into action, and bring about changes that will impact not only the entire campus community but the world around them at large.

Another innovative idea that I had learnt during one of my quests, was about the school court. The school court can be put in place as a way of supporting a pupil whose behaviour is disruptive. Prefects sit on the school court and undertake the role of a mentor to pupils who are referred to the court. Children are referred by teachers or General Secretaries to the court if they feel that the strategies in place at classroom level are not working. The pupil will then be assigned two mentors from the school court panel. The length

For us educators, it is best advised to take time out to work with students to simply have fun with them, to build solid relationships which will be cherished forever and ďŹ nally, to bask in the glory of this profession, for none is nobler and more rewarding than this. 16

kashmiraj@navrachana.edu.in

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INSIDE THE MIND OF A LEADER The world's simplest idea. The Golden Circle, coined by Mr. Simon Sinek. A man who deciphered the minds of leaders, leaders like the Wright brothers, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King. He said exceptional leaders had a way of life, a way of doing things and realizing this gave birth to the Golden Circle. It consists of 3 concentric circles. It begins with the why? How? And ﬁnally what? The purpose of this is to understand what a leader is made of in their core and what drives them in this dynamic world. In this issue, Ms. Shanti Krishnamurthy, principal of the Chinmaya International Residential School takes us on her journey of rediscovering pedagogy and how she manages one of the top boarding schools in India.

WHY? What made you embark on this remarkable journey and what keeps you going every day? It all started with my passion for Mathematics. I started my career as a mathematics teacher and later was moved to administration. I still teach and the time I spent on teaching gives me immense joy. Education is the ﬁeld where there is much scope for innovation. Every day is a new day with children. Children have immense potential and to see them blossom and bring out their potential is highly inspiring. Interestingly enough I have never got tired or bored till day. If my health permits, I can keep going as I am driven by my passion and also, I feel much energized in the company of children.

the Chinmaya Vidyalaya as a Mathematics teacher for plus two classes in 1981. Though I tumbled into this profession accidentally, I realized my heart was in this profession. My passion for the subject made me a popular teacher. Children loved my classes. The acceptance by children was the ﬁrst step that pulled me into this profession. Once a teacher gets connected to students s/he will realize that it is no longer a job, but the very purpose of life. People say that one requires good IQ for teaching but I would say teaching is not just brain work but a lot of heart involvement. My love for children and the subject is the secret behind my success. Slowly I was moved to administration and started as a Plus two section in-charge and I never realized the time passing by. Over time my journey continued as Vice Principal and before I knew it, I took on the role as Principal in 1996. In 2002, I came down to Chennai and headed the MCTM

Tell us about you, about your story. I have a Master's degree in Mathematics and Education. I started my career in Jamshedpur in 17

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Tell us your core belief. The growth of an organization depends on how well the leader and members are aligned with the vision of the School. Resources and strategies will fall in place automatically when there is perfect alignment. Another thing I strongly believe is that every individual is capable of learning, every child holds the potential of greatness and it is our responsibility to bring out this greatness. We need to understand the differences in children and acknowledge them. As educators we should be able to put them on the right track and guide them accordingly. I strongly believe that all knowledge is available to us and is already with us. It gets revealed when the mind is clear and free of fears. I have a strong conviction that we shouldn't be anxious about our results. The effort is more important than the result itself. When the aspiration is noble and the efforts are intense, results have to be good. All achievements, academics or sports or other activities of Chinmaya International Residential School are all because of the dedicated efforts of the team.

C h i d a m b a r a m C h e t t ya r S c h o o l a s t h e i r Educational director. In 2004 I was sponsored by the British Council to go to London as part of the International School award program and stayed there for a week in a Primary school. This event was an eye opener and provided me with a rich and unforgettable experience. Later in 2008 I also had the opportunity to start a new school for the Mahindra and Mahindra in the Mahindra world City in Chennai. That opened up a gamut of opportunities to learn and explore. I moved to the Chinmaya International Residential School as Principal in 2009 where I have found ground. At the moment I am enjoying my newly found experience with the IB curriculum that we are offering at Chinmaya International Residential School at the diploma level. I am an active member of the Chinmaya Education cell which governs all their schools (almost 100) across India. I have developed a model for School assessments and conduct regular academic and vision audits of the Chinmaya Schools. Being associated with CBSE board for the last 40 years, I also take up assignments with CBSE, like being a paper setter for Mathematics class 12 Examinations. I was awarded the CBSE mentor Principal award in 2014 and was honored to receive the award from Mrs. Smriti Irani, the then HR minister. I was instrumental in forming the Coimbatore Sahodaya school complex in 2013 and was the secretary of the association till 2016.

â&#x20AC;&#x153; Over these years I feel like I have made many differences to the lives of children but in actuality, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my life that has been transformed by these children 18

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shouldn't go the extra mile. We must, as is our duty, take care of a child outside of their home environment. Over these years I feel like I have made many differences to the lives of children but in actuality, it’s my life that has been transformed by these children. Share an instance that tested your strength and how did you overcome it? Once, an adolescent child completely inﬂuenced by wrong company and bad habits was a great challenge to me. The other teachers and I tried all kinds of counseling but all in vain. He also started inﬂuencing other students in the class. It had reached a point where we would have had no choice but to expel the student. Once, he was caught in the market openly engaged in a clash and was about to be caught by the hands of law. I intervened in the matter and saved him by a s s u r i n g t h e a u t h o r i t i e s t h at h e i s my responsibility. That one incident completely transformed him and from then on, it was easy to put him on the track. He understood something beyond his age. It was something that gave me immense joy, to have been able to help someone in a way that provided redemption. Once children start looking up to you with respect and love, we can do wonders. He, till today, remembers me for guiding him and putting him back on track, for giving him a second chance. We all make mistakes, and as educators we need to understand that children are always learning and are always capable of both good and bad. We just need to be able to steer them in the right direction.

Tell us about some of the instances that changed your life? The instance that you felt was your calling. I am always learning new things and there have been so many instances in my life that has shaped me into the person that I am today. Our Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji says, “This profession is not about teaching children but it is about touching the lives of Children.” I started my career as an impatient and strict teacher and now has transformed to a mature leader. I have over the years, understood when learning happens in a child and when it does not. Here is an instance that I'd like to share; there was this timid little child in grade 3 who had had a tough time completing assignments. I took an unusual step of visiting her home and realized the reason for her abnormal behavior in school. Her parents were at the verge of breaking up and hence the home environment was in a mess. If the security of the child is at stake, how can one expect the kid to do Mathematics, Science or English? We started working with the child, by speaking to her every day and making her feel special and good. All attempts were taken to make her feel secured and comfortable in the class room and soon she started handling herself well. No learning can happen in a threatening environment. The adults at home need to be consciously aware of the damage happening to the young ones when the environment is not conducive at home. The home and the School environment, both, are very important for the child to grow. We as teachers are just facilitators but that doesn't mean we

HOW? How have you channeled your passion into your present role as a leader? The most important thing our children need today are role models. Children emulate the values and attitudes of adults as they grow up. Values cannot be taught but have to be caught from us. All of us, not just at school, but in the homes and in the society also have this responsibility of demonstrating the appropriate culture and 19

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the school stands for. And it has had so much impact on the students that the leader endorses these values through their action. In this aspect, I believe I have made a great impact. In fact, we were awarded the Vision award by the Head of the Chinmaya Mission in 2012 for effective implementation of value based education.

behavior. This will help children believe in goodness and love thereby creating good human beings, only then, can we have a harmonious society. Achieving that kind of a transformation is my passion and that keeps me going as a leader. At CIRS we have compulsory service hours that a child has to earn by taking up service activities during vacations. At school we conduct regular service activities that I ensure, instills a sense of responsibility to the society in children. There is a Bal Sevak award founded which takes children through structured service activities. Around 300 children have received the award till date. It's reassuring to know that parents play a big role in supporting these initiatives.

We want to know what your leadership strategy is in the field of education and how you implement it. One must know that people are the essence of an organization. It is important that the team is empowered in an organization. We have a lot of processes in school and the team members/ teachers take ownership for these processes. They are guided to make a road map to achieve the goals/ objective of these processes. We measure the outcomes and revisit them to make modifications till we get desired results. I am proud to say that I have a responsible team who contribute immensely to the growth of the organization. When I say team, I also mean the parents and alumni of the school. I believe that parents are rich source of knowledge and experiences that it should be channeled into the conduct of the school. In fact, CIRS parents conduct our entrance examinations all over the world. We have a data base with the details of parents who wish to volunteer for the school in their own field of expertise. To cite a few cases, parents conduct workshops for children, take career counseling sessions or advise us for setting up infrastructure facilities or plantations in the school. Recently we established a recording studio completely designed by a parent who is associated with audio engineering. There is a parent who is guiding our garden supervisor to develop coconut farming and also provides advises for all the other plantations.

“ Once a teacher gets connected to students s/he will realize that it is no longer a job, but the very purpose of life How have you impacted your school's growth since your joining? I joined the current organization in 2009 and it's been uphill from there, a steady growth for the school. My role is to keep creating bench marks for the school and to ensure that sincere and reasonable efforts are in place towards attaining that goal. The academic results have been steadily improving since then, so much so that we are looked up as one of the premier institutions in the country. The Education World survey has placed us 2nd in the country among the other Co-ed boarding schools. They have also placed us No.1 in academic reputation among the Co-Ed boarding schools. The USP of the school is value-based education. Parents look up to us for the values that

Take us through the process of – ideation, plan of action and execution of one of the best practices/idea that you implemented in your school. On joining the School, the first thing I realized was that there was immense potential in children to bring better results in academics. We identified an academic excellence project. As a first step target marks of all subjects for all classes were shared 20

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implement to create a brighter and more creative future for children.

with the students before examinations. Children who achieve the target marks are given merit cards in the respective subjects. When it was executed the ﬁrst time we had around 10% of the children getting the merit cards but soon it caught up so well that in 2017 March examinations almost 50% of the students received merit cards; almost 270 cards were distributed. After the exams, the excitement was about merit cards and the discussions among students were only about the number of subjects they have managed to get the cards for. Today we have no child getting less than 50% in any class in any subject. And for a boarding school to be achieving this was not easy. Credits go to the teachers who supported this initiative and gave a big hand by taking remedial classes wherever children required extra help. I am not surprised that we stand 4th in academics among the thousands of CBSE schools which offer senior secondary classes.

What have you done in your school that represents the belief system that you would like to instill in children? We want to communicate to the students strongly that being a good person is equally important to being a smart person. One gets a prize if he comes first in academics, gets a prize if he wins a running race but what does he get if he is a good person? We have started awarding children for being soft and gentle, prizes for using non-abusive language, and awards for being a helpful student and so on. This has created a wave of transformation towards goodness in the schools. What future do you see for your school? Our Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji envisioned our school as “Knowledge, service and efficiency”. He started schools with an ambition to create well-rounded individuals who will stand out fearlessly even if he is amidst a crowd of selfish individuals. Creating such strong individuals is the future I see for the school. We are providing children a lifestyle of being good and gentle. The impact of the school depends on the degree of endorsement we receive from parents. For example, we educate children to avoid over indulgence in media, suggest them to play outdoors than to sit indoor and be stuck to video games. The same value systems need to be emphasized at home to get the actual impact. Else children will compartmentalize that these values are only for the school life and will not make it their life style.

WHAT? What all changes have you brought about in your school that was parallel to your beliefs for a better future for children? Structured bridge classes for new language learners, graded assessments for children, setting the bench marks of the performance of children in academics to better their own performance, holiday home works to enhance social skills of children, creative web page wherein children write creative essays on a given topic, many programs like so, we have implemented and continue to

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Chai time chit-chat Tell us your life's journey all the way from your first steps into a school to right this moment. Ÿ Interesting, Ÿ Challenging Ÿ and Rewarding. What made you embark on this journey of school leadership? Passionate about what I do. If you could pen down your mantra for managing a school into words, what would it be? Enthusiasm is the essence. Share one of the finest advices you have been given that you still carry along with you today. Never be anxious about the outcome. Let the goal be noble and efforts, honest. Tell us about someone who has had a significant impact in the making of the leader that you are today. Our Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda. His entire life is an inspiration to me. I have had the wonderful opportunity of meeting him. Anyone who has met him even once in their life time gets transformed forever. As a leader what kinds of changes do you aspire to make in the future of education? Inquiry should come from inside our class rooms, Customized assessments should be a part of the education system, and too much of uniformity is killing the creativity in children, flexibility is required.

Tell us 3 policies issued by the government that was either a boon to the education in India or a bane and why? Ÿ The different boards and their preference to one over the other is a bane. Ÿ The abrupt changes brought in, like the recent abolition of class 10 formative and summative assessments is indeed a bane. By the time Schools took time to understand the policies and were trying to get stabilized, the system changed. Ÿ The policies on language laid by the state and the central government are also a bane. Sanskrit is the oldest language and it is losing its importance in the country. Tell us about a technological innovation that you want to implement in your school in the next 5 years. Technology is already strength in our the School. Annual planning, record maintenance, reporting systems are all computerized. Our website www.cirschool.org is a highly dynamic website. Updating the website happens on a daily basis. Parents use their log in ids to check the performance of children. This year we are introducing online payment module for parents to pay the fees and online admission processes which includes OMR sheets for admission tests. I am proud to share with you especially since all of these are developed in-house. We do not hire vendors to provide these services to us as we believe in the highest quality.

What is the most unexpected thing you've learned along the way as a leader? Apart from aspirations and efforts there is an important factor that plays a big role in any profession: the divine or the unexpected intervention that takes the outcome to unbelievable levels. 22

shanti@cirschool.org

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The What, Why and How of Modern Indian Education Shubhalakshmi Amin

n engineering graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an MBA from INSEAD, Singapore/France, Shubhalakshmi Amin began her career as Program Manager with Microsoft Corp followed by a management stint in the manufacturing industry. In 2016, she quit her corporate career to take charge as Executive Director of the Navrachana Education Society (NES), Vadodara, which manages 8 education institutions that include 5 schools, 2 schooling programs for the less-privileged, a sports academy and the Navrachana University. She strongly believes that educational institutions have to constantly innovate and reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant in this fast-changing world.

Most toppers in the SSC exams came from these schools, which followed traditional teaching methodologies, where children were rarely spared if they did not study, and having to go for tuitions was something of an embarrassment which was kept under wraps. The teacher held a position of veneration in most families. Some of India's ﬁnest economists (Dr. I G Patel, Dr. Manmohan Singh), political leaders (Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Lokmanya Tilak), scientists (Dr. Abdul Kalam, Dr. S Chandrasekhar, Visvesvaraya), authors (P L Deshpande, Suresh Joshi, Ganesh Devy), artists (M F Hussain, G M Sheikh, Bhupen Khakhar, K G Subramanyan) and so many others studied in village schools or regional language schools in small towns. The few English medium schools that existed were either run by the Christian missionaries or by trusts which were catering to the needs of Western-style boarding school/dayschool education demanded by royal scions, children of extremely well-to-do industrialists and the like. Even in those days, the fees charged by these schools were considerably higher than those by private vernacular medium schools, since their infrastructural and co-curricular facilities were of a much better quality.

Education is the single most powerful tool available to a country to shape its future. It is at the heart of all national success indicators, whether it is availability of good jobs, wellbeing of citizens, environment, fairness in the system, or health care. According to an EY-FICCI report, over 40% of India's approximately 250 million students are enrolled in private schools. This is an enormous responsibility for the private sector to shoulder, which is equally challenging. Indian private schools - what exactly are they and how did we get here? In order to effectively ideate and articulate the value proposition of present generation private schools, we must ﬁrst examine the context within which they have evolved over the years. School Education in India is either under the control of the Government, or privately, by notfor-proﬁt Education Trusts registered with the Charity Commissioner. The basic idea is that the school will not be a money-spinning entity and fees charged should be reasonable. This idea worked till the mid-1970s. Government schools did teach well, as did the vernacular medium private schools. 23

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“ the value

admit their child in an English medium school. Regional language schools languished, if any still exist, with poor quality teaching and infrastructure resources.

proposition of present generation private school is closely linked to the policies set forth by the government as well as the state of affairs at the higher education level

Whether we like it or not, the value proposition of present generation private school is closely linked to the policies set forth by the government as well as the state of affairs at the higher education level. It is the policies and an enabling environment created by the government that will empower the private sector to deliver its best services in the most efﬁcient manner possible, at the best prices. Superimposed regulation to the current system will not work – it will only lead to schools reducing the services provided or diluting the quality of services provided – both detrimental to the most efﬁcient development of the student. The shortage of good higher education institutions has created a mad rush to get better percentages at the schoolleaving exams (class XII) and standardized entrance exams that would ensure ease of admission in the desired institute of higher education. This, in turn, fuelled the demand for tuition and coaching classes that promised those few extra marks that would give students an edge. Education soon became an unending, mindless, highly competitive race that began as soon as the child was born. Enrolling in a tuition class after school has unfortunately become the norm. This is an important cultural shift to note, since for a parent, the exorbitant cost of these tuition classes is part of the total expense on their child's education.

The reforms that looked at higher secondary education (class XI and XII) in the mid-1970s were meant to control youngsters aimlessly going to college, creating hordes of the educated unemployed which was a major problem for India at the time. The Government decided to instead divert technically driven students to leave school after Class X and go to diploma level vocational education for absorption in the manufacturing sector. While some states decided for schools to offer class XI-XII, the schools were required to upgrade their resources – laboratories, teachers, libraries – all of which cost money. Some states decided that schools will teach only till class X and the students should do Class XI-XII in Junior College, a new concept added to local Universities. But as a result, both schools and colleges had to invest much more than what was required until now. However, this reform fell ﬂat on its face as few parents, except of the economically disadvantaged, wanted their children to study for diplomas instead of degrees. And so, the demand for entry into class XI and XII continued with even more severity, ultimately leading to the mushrooming of private schools and colleges to absorb the demand that could not be taken in by government-funded colleges and Universities. Added to this was the aspiration of every parent to 24

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was created in the Indian education space, and naturally, it is being ﬁlled by market forces. Given the extent of the over population in India, this is not surprising. Coming back to the point of affordability - Fees are determined by the market's ability to support them. When schools are charging a certain fee, whatever it may be, and parents are lining up for admissions for their children, by deﬁnition this means that the school is affordable. There are people in the community who are willing to avail educational services at that fee. If the school fees are truly not affordable, the correction will come from within the market itself. The school will either have to shut down or lower its fees.

While it is true that school fees have seen a rather sharp jump in the 1980s and early 1990s, one of the main reasons has been that schools have become much more modernized, offer a great many facilities in the form of infrastructure, laboratories, learning spaces, subject choices, cocurricular and extra-curricular options than they did in the decades post-Independence. Schools understand the value of innovation in pedagogy, in-service training for teachers, career and psychological counseling services, and often go that extra mile to mainstream children with physical and learning disabilities in an effort to embrace diversity.

The next logical topic in this discussion about affordable fees is the profit margins enjoyed by private schools today. Are profit margins ethical in educational institutions? In order for schools to keep up in this dynamic, globalized and fastmoving world, a certain profit margin is required in order to upgrade themselves to be relevant to the times we live in. Profit margins are also needed to be invested back into the objectives of the Trust and for growth and expansion. There is no such thing as 'cheap and of good quality' – this is a contradiction in terms. A good school has to invest continuously on several fronts – human resources, infrastructure, services, facilities, and now technology. Ever y compromise will have increasingly negative effects on the Education provided to the child, and subsequently to the future development of the country. So what is at the core of this conundrum of private schooling as it exists in India today (with its heavy regulations and all)? I believe that it is a question of Leadership. The Leadership drives the ethical management of an educational institution. The mindset, philosophy, temperament, and ability of the Leadership to attract, recruit, structure and effectively manage a competent, well-qualified team to drive their institutions is crucial. This is where the government comes into the picture, because they have the ability to attract the right people into this industry through sound and carefully considered policies.

As a result, private schools all over the country, both in small cities and in metropolises, can offer high quality schooling to the child, and a fulﬁlling and challenging career to the teacher. The beauty of present generation Indian private schools is that they offer something for everyone; it caters to a wide socio-economic gamut, different teachinglearning methodologies and pedagogies, varying educational philosophies and distinct areas of educational focus. Parents have the luxury to choose the type of school to send their children to based on its affordability, and their priorities. Here, one might argue that affordability should not be a restricting factor when it comes to education, which is a valid argument. The responsibility of providing a good quality, relevant education to its citizens is shouldered by the government in most countries around the world. However, as we discussed earlier, a vacuum 25

shubbu@navrachana.edu.in

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Improving Instruction - Identifying Gaps in Teachers' Performances Satya Ramesh

resently working as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Amity University, Gwalior; Satya Ramesh has been a teacher of both Psychology and Mathematics for Senior Secondary and Secondary classes respectively for the past sixteen years. With a qualication in Psychology, Education and Counseling and a keen interest in those elds, Mr. Ramesh shares with MENTOR his views on how to mentor and monitor teachers’ performances.

Siddharth takes Mathematics for IX and X. There were times when Siddharth became conscious, nervous, and uncomfortable in the class simply by his presence even after knowing that it was for his own beneﬁt. However, here are some of the best lessons he learnt through his mentoring which today made him a distinguished teacher.

Since the age of Gurukuls till today, the primary expectation from a teacher continues to remain the same despite innumerable changes in the domain of education from time to time. What actually is the primary expectation? It is none other than the transmission of knowledge. Almost all the schools in India today are experiencing a paradigm shift from teacher centeredness to student centeredness. Irrespective of who is at the centre - the role of a teacher can never be undermined be it facilitating or mediating. What matters in this entire process is how a teacher instructs in order to enable students to construct knowledge by themselves? Instructional skills being vital in the teaching profession can never be overlooked and in this process, no teacher could be an exception to the experience of four stages of learning provided below.

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The anecdote given below would help us better understand how the transition happens in the life of a teacher from one stage to the other.

Siddharth started his career as a teacher at an early age of 22. The Principal of the school used to make it a point to be present in the class whenever 26

Stage of Unconscious Incompetence: A stage of blissful ignorance which is quite common in the life of every teacher. Stage of Conscious Incompetence: Siddharth moved to this stage only after getting to know certain deficiencies in his instructional skills which were consistently noticed by his Principal during the class observation. Some of the deficiencies include: Pace of Teaching too fast. Taking students' understanding for granted. Stage of Conscious Competence: This is the most crucial stage in this entire learning process which could either build or break the confidence of a teacher. Siddharth consciously practiced to take a pause after each and every problem/concept along with checking for

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What is the objective of monitoring and mentoring the teachers? To identify gaps in instruction and thus improving the performance of a teacher in the classroom. Who takes the responsibility of monitoring and mentoring the teachers? Principal, Vice Principal, Head Master/Mistress, Academic Coordinator or Subject Head What would be monitored? The performance of a teacher in the classroom. How it would be done? Veriﬁcation of Lesson Planning Diaries, Note Books of Students and through Class Observations. How often it takes place? Monitoring is periodic but mentoring is continuous.

understanding. Many a times he felt that these practices are time consuming and preventing him from not being able to uncover the syllabus in time. Still he was ﬁrm in his determination to master those skills without any compromise. Ÿ Stage of Unconscious Competence: Siddharth is 39 years old now and he couldn't recall when and how these instructional skills which he once consciously practiced have become an integral part of his teaching life. Today he has reached the stage where he is able to uncover the syllabus in time by optimally adjusting his pace of teaching along with checking for understanding. This would not have been possible without the genuine involvement of the Principal in monitoring and mentoring Siddharth from time to time with a clear purpose in mind. Let us see what exactly these processes of monitoring and mentoring are.

Monitoring the performance of a teacher is a scientific process which has to be carried out in a manner where there is no room for subjectivity or personal bias. The indicators for assessment need to be very specific with no ambiguity. It should be carried out in an environment which is nonthreatening. Only then can such an assessment be called objective which provides scope to identify the gaps in instruction and take necessary steps to improve the performance of a teacher. Mentoring always follows the process of monitoring. Providing feedback to the teacher immediately after monitoring is the foremost requirement before it gets followed by the process of mentoring. Mentoring too is a very systematic and goal-directed process. Anyone and everyone cannot fit into the role of a mentor. A good mentor is similar to a great guru who accepts his disciples unconditionally and has the desire to see them excel in their respective fields.

“ An environment which allows teachers to become co-learners along with the students should be promoted Monitoring and Mentoring A careful analysis of the anecdote given above reveals how important the processes of monitoring and mentoring are in the professional life of every teacher. The discussion further will outline the process in detail.

There are two basic things which a teacher should be clear about before going to the class. The ﬁrst one is the aspect of 'What' which is the subject knowledge and the second one is the aspect of 'How' which is the methodology. Depending upon the competency of teachers in these two areas, one can easily place them into any one of the four categories indicated in the matrix given below. 27

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Teachers who fall in Category IV i.e. who are good in both the subject knowledge as well as their methodology can become good mentors provided they possess the right attitude. Teachers in category II despite their command over the subject fail to deliver due to lack of skills necessary for teaching. Teachers in category III possess the skills necessary for a good teacher but they would be of no use unless willing to gain command over their subject. Hence teachers of both the categories II and III come into the category of those who are trainable.

What can mentors do to improve instruction? Ÿ Teachers of Mathematics, Science and Social Science should make efforts to completely go through the content provided in the text books/reference material very carefully without missing out even a single concept. If necessary teachers of Mathematics, Science and Social Science should not hesitate to refer the text books right from Class I in order to strengthen their basic knowledge of the subject. Ÿ Teachers of Languages too are expected to go through the entire literature, be it poetry or prose included in the text books before the academic session begins. If need be, teachers should not hesitate to practice all the exercises well before they decide to take up the lesson. Ÿ Mentors should identify the micro teaching skills which teachers should be good at. Some of these include black board work, skill of questioning, nuances of communication, use of relevant teaching – learning tools etc. Ÿ Continuous Training should be provided to teachers in these skills as per the need analysis

but one at a time. Regular monitoring followed by feedback would help the teacher transit from the stage of conscious competence to unconscious competence. Both the mentor and the teacher must collectively work towards accomplishing these short term goals which inadvertently would add immense value to the instructional process that happens in the classroom. Teachers should get ample opportunity to observe as many classes as possible of those who come in category IV of the Matrix given above. Team Teaching should be encouraged as much as possible so that complementary skills of teachers would be recognized and reinforced. It also allows for simultaneous observation and learning from each other involved in the process. Allowing teachers to view the recordings of their respective classes would help them to identify their short comings and make necessary improvements. An environment which allows teachers to become co-learners along with the students should be promoted.

Conclusion 21st century India has been witness to tremendous transformation in all the domains and education is no exception. From the times of Nalanda and Takshila till today's IITs and IIMs, the role of a teacher has been redeﬁned several times keeping in mind the changing needs of the society. Every school expects to have the best of the teachers but they fail to understand there were always great gurus behind the making of the best teachers. In today's scenario, it is only possible through the process of purposeful monitoring and mentoring which builds a sense of trust in the teacher towards continuous development. As educators we cannot shirk from this responsibility if we envision having a generation of teachers who could carry the legacy.

ramesh.satya77@gmail.com

AUGUST 2017

Unconventional Pedagogy Sunita Pant Bansal

unita Pant Bansal has been writing for more than thirty years with a vast repertoire of columns, articles, and books for children & general masses. She has dabbled in all forms of media. The various themes handled by her are education, culture, traditional wisdom, wellness and self-help. Her forte is demystifying myths, making education edutainment, spiritual & philosophical writing aimed at a holistic picture of life.

effective in improving the concentration as well as the grades of children. According to studies carried out at the National Institute for Child Health and Development in the United States, connections between developing brain cells form most effectively when the brain is given regular breaks, hence the spaces between lessons are every bit as crucial as the content of the lessons themselves. In some ways, spaced learning seems to be a modern twist on a very old-fashioned approach of rote learning that was done in ancient Indian gurukuls. The chanting done in the gurukuls is replaced by technology to bombard children with key points, ﬂow charts and data.

With due respect to all the teachers out there, I have always found teaching to be a monotonous vocation – and I am sure it's not by choice but by certain 'standard' norms/rules that the teachers have to follow. The race of trying to ﬁnish the syllabus on time has left no space for any sort of interactive learning sessions; turning the educational institutions into factories. It has been proved scientiﬁcally now that a student absorbs and retains only 25% from a straight chalk and talk lecture. This leads to extra assignments and tuitions to drill the subject into a seemingly unwilling brain. But all is not lost yet! Some innovative educators have devised teaching methods that are highly irregular or unusual. Ÿ Ÿ

Spaced learning is the method used in Monskeaton High School, UK, where the children are taught using power-point presentations, one lesson for eight minutes followed by a ten-minute play break, repeated three times. Based on neuro-scientiﬁc research, this method of short sharp lessons interspersed with an entirely different activity, and repeated at regular intervals, is proving to be 29

An anti-thesis of high-speed learning is seen in Leasowes Community College, also in UK, where a single class can last up to ﬁve or six days. The theory is that complete immersion in a subject leads to deeper understanding and better academic results. The reason why such diverse approaches work is simply because the factory model of education is not built around the best way children can learn, but the best way to organise learning. Summerhill School,

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UK is a coeducational boarding school, where children are free to attend formal lessons if they want to, but they're not obliged to. It's up to them to decide how they spend their time, allowing them to grow at their own pace and select activities they feel personally motivated to take part in. Students and teachers have an equal vote in the school's weekly meetings, a part of its unique system of self-governance; this makes children feel that their opinions are valued. They grow up managing their own lives, being incredibly self-motivated – a valuable preparation for life beyond the education system. But then, this is not new; there have been alternative approaches to education in the past too.

“ spaced learning seems to be a modern twist on a very old-fashioned approach of rote learning that was done in ancient Indian gurukuls Ÿ

before learning to write, are still a part of Montessori classrooms. Austrian philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner developed an educational model that focused on the holistic development of the child and founded his first Waldorf School in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. He believed there are three seven-year periods in a child's development. The first seven years of a child's life, a period marked by imitative and sensory-based learning, should be devoted to developing a child's non-cognitive abilities. They should be encouraged to play and interact with their environment instead of being taught academic content in a traditional setting. Steiner also believed that children should learn to write before they learned to read, and that no child should learn to read before the age of 7 years. From age 7-14, creativity and imagination are heightened. During this stage, they may learn foreign languages, as well as performing arts. By age 14, children are ready for a more structured environment that stresses on social responsibility. The first Sudbury Valley School was founded in 1968 in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA. Sudbury schools operate under the basic tenets of individuality and democracy, where students have complete control over what and how they learn, as well as how they are evaluated, if at all. The Sudbury philosophy is that students are capable of assuming a certain level of responsibility and of making sound decisions. In the event that they make poor decisions, learning comes in the form of dealing with the consequences. According to the Sudbury approach, students are inherently motivated to learn, like an infant learns to walk despite the fact that lying in a crib is a viable and easier alternative.

As we can see, there are and have been a number of unusual approaches to teaching and they have yielded positive results. Our own ancient Vedic system of education was through stories, where all sciences and arts were taught through stories and practice. There were no rules about age; everything depended on the desire and aptitude of the student.

Dr. Maria Montessori developed an educational model for preschool children in 1907, in Rome, Italy. She believed that children needed long periods of concentration and that the traditional education model, with its structured lessons and teacherdriven curriculum, inhibited a child's natural development. She strongly believed that children were born with absorbent minds and were fully capable of self-directed learning. Montessori developed the framework in which children, empowered with the freedom to choose how they would spend their time in school, would seek out opportunities to learn on their own. She was a major proponent of tactile learning. Classic kits, such as the Brown Stairs and the Alphabet Box of wooden letters that children are encouraged to hold and feel

Modern education has certain rigidity; it is formal and has turned into an occupational training programme – training for engineering starts from sixth grade! While informal or unusual teaching has no ﬁxed approach; it guides the students to understand the ups and downs of life and move through it to become well-balanced individuals. I certainly prefer the latter more Zen approach to education, what about you? 30

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AUGUST 2017

The Role Of Advertising Media In Kids' Choices & Behavior Dr. Sagneet Kaur

r. Sagneet Kaur works with LXL Ideas in the research and development domain. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology, and has more than 9 years of experience in the area of cognitive developmental and applied psychology. Her doctoral research entitled “Facilitating Ego-Identity Formation in Adolescents: A Psycho-Educational Intervention” was to design and test the impact of identity related intervention on process of ego-identity establishment in adolescents. She was appointed Research Intern/Fellow by Maulana Azad National Fellowhip, under the UGC grant, which included full time teaching assignments for postgraduate students in the university. In this article of Mentor, she shares research driven facts about the role advertising plays in a kid’s behavior.

11% (KPMG, 2016). The future growth rate projection for year 2021 also show highest growth rate for digital advertising (through social media) by 30.8%.

New age media and the changing trends of advertising products have strategically inﬂuenced the new age young market as well. Kids have become more active and agile in the way they understand, interpret & decode the adverting media. The increasing inﬂuence of advertising media is channelizing the choices and mediating the opinions of the children nowadays.

The changing preferences of children from outdoor physical activities to more and more indoor screen time and social media involvement can be a major reason for advertisers to bend towards the digital marketing solutions for their products. It is reported that children between the ages of 2-11 years spend about 25 hours per week watching television and see approximately 20,000 ads per year and 7,000 of these ads are for sugared products (Sood & Virmani, 2015)

Research shows that the advertising media revenue share has increased by 11.2%, from 2015 to 2016, and has the potential to increase further by 14.3% to touch the 2.26 trillion INR by 2021. The total advertising share is 33.04% in the TV & Media industry, out of which Television holds 38.40%, print 37.80%, digital Advertising media 14.80%, OOH 5.20% and radio 4.30% (KPMG, 2016) The industry data also shows that the TV & Media industry is largely driven by increasing digitization and higher internet usage over the last decade. Internet has almost taken the role of conventional advertising media for most of the people. The statistics and projections state that the digital advertising media has shown the highest growth rate of 28%, followed by Radio 14.6% and TV by

However, research highlights that there are limits to advertising on children's programming to 10.5 minutes per hour on weekends and 12 minutes per hour during weekdays. However, much of children's viewing occurs during prime time, which features nearly 16 minutes per hour of advertising (Barve et al, 2015). Cognitive Penetration of Advertisement Content Research says that the cognitive diffusion of 31

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children between the age of 15 to 20 like captivating music element in the commercials (Neilson, 2015).

advertising media depends upon the level of maturity of the child. A child below the age of 4-5 years does not consistently distinguish between the prog ram from commercial and noncommercial content. They cannot differentiate between a serial/movie/TV programme and advertisement. Later after 4-5 years, they start perceiving categorical distinction between the two but primarily on the basis of certain affective ("commercials are funnier") or perceptual ("commercials are shorter") cues only (Wilox et al, 2004). Another important aspect highlighted by cognitive theorists in relation to advertising media is persuasive intent that an advertiser has, i.e. child's comprehension of advertiser perspective to persuade/convince the audience to buy the product. This is difﬁcult for a child to interpret, who is below the age of 7-8 years. The ability to use and understand graphics and handle creative graphics to infer events not directly seen, to judge what is true and false, all develop considerably from age 7-8 to 10-11.

Influence of Advertising Media on Children In a study done by LXL Ideas (2017), asking parents about the buying behavior of their kids, 46.30% of parents reported that their children get highly influenced by TV/media & especially social media advertisements (31.91%). The other major influence for children nowadays is brand built, as 42.80% parents cited as the brand influence is most important factor channelizing their choices, followed by parents opinion about the product (37.35%), followed by price (34.63%) and digital advertising (31.91%). 58% of the parents agreed that they do consult their children before making a purchase (Neilson, 2015). In digital advertising media, YouTube holds the highest rank in influencing the child's choices. 40.85% of parents found that their children are influenced majorly by YouTube, followed by facebook posts (33.71%), then Instagram (18.15%) and then twitter (7.13%), while making their choices (LXL Ideas, 2017).

Advertisements not only focus on the cognitive dissemination of the information given in the commercials, but with large focus on the ultimate aim of selling the products to the market, kid's recall the commercial and the product preferences as another major factor that the advertisers target on. The extent to which they can make the child recall a commercial is by adding uniqueness to the advertisement, offering something fascinating along with it, like a toy/game etc., or putting an emotional context in the commercial.

Celebrity, reality & talent TV shows also influence the choices of kids while shopping, 26.07% of parents felt the same. However, in the world's largest film producing country, India, only 10.12 % of parents feel that movies influence the choice of children (LXL Ideas, 2017).

Research evidence categories three themes; fun/happiness, taste/ﬂavor/smell, and product performance appealing children in advertisements, i.e. Taste/ﬂavor/smell is mostly associated with breakfast cereals commercials, fun/happiness with fast food and product performance with toy commercials. (Raju & Shekhar, 2016)

A research done by Arul & Vasudevan (2016), stated that children use different kinds of strategies to convince their parents to buy the products of their choice, such as pressure tactics (i.e. use of threats or intimidates parents to persuade), upward appeal (i.e. taking help from the elder/older one to convince parents), exchange tactics (i.e. promise something in exchange of the product) and coalition tactics (i.e. using others agreement for the product and its uses).

Children between the age of 5 to 14 enjoy watching animations and cartoon characters. However,

Children get maximum inﬂuence from TV Advertisements (95%); followed by online 32

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and dominates the purchase decision. Nearly 92 % of the parents surveyed feel that there is need for regulation as far as food related advertisements are concerned. Ÿ Around 80% of children watch TV while eating which may affect their food intake. Research also concludes that advertising of intoxicating substances contributes to youth smoking and drinking (Wilcox, 2004). Television (58%) was found to be the main source of information for tobacco products followed by newspapers (26%) and movies (16%) (Singh et al, 2015).

advertisements including games (application, social media adver-games); followed by School Marketing (30%) and 50% through other mediums (like banners, store visits, events sponsorships etc.).

Advertising and marketing in schools also happens via direct channels like advertiser-sponsored video or audio programming, indirect advertising like corporate-sponsored educational materials and others like product sales contracts school-based corporate-sponsored marketing research. Schools have started taking this as the medium of generating revenue (Wilox, 2004). But it is less appreciated by parents and public in general.

The advertising media, today, has huge inﬂuence on the tender minds of the kids. The advertising strategy should take into account the cognitive, affective and behavioral effects that any commercial can have. Right message strategy, proper statutory warnings (wherever required)/ disclaimers and care while incorporating any aggressive, violent and provoking content are necessary factors in responsible advertising.

Perception is reality, most of us believe in this, apart from the agenda of luring the kid into buying an item, advertisements have the potential to change perception especially among and through children. These days advertisements are a powerful tool to teach right from wrong. Apart from product choices, these also impact the overall perception of gender roles, notions about perfect body image or appearance and adoption of lifestyle habits. Research states that Ÿ 53% of the parents agree to the fact that ads create awareness. Ÿ 62% of the parents agreed that ads contribute in developing healthy habits among children by promoting healthy things like milk, eggs and health drinks. Ÿ 77% parents agreed that ads do help in developing a civic sense in children. Ÿ According to a survey conducted by the cartoon network 74 percent said advertisement helped children to decide what to buy.

An active intervention by parents in terms of educating children a bo ut a dva nta ges & disadvantages of different products advertised and by government, developing advertising laws and proper regulatory policies can also help in directing the perception of children in a constructive way. References: Arul. M.D., Vasudevan. V. (2016). Inﬂuence of Children on parent's buying behavior. The cost and Management, 44. Barve G, Sood A, Nithya S, Virmani T (2015) Effects of Advertising on Youth (Age Group of 13-19 Years Age). Journal of Mass Communication Journalism, 5 Brian L. Wilcox, B.L., Kunkel, D., Cantor, J., Dowrick. P., Linn S, & Palmer, E. (2004). Report of the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children. American Psychological Association. KPMG India - FICCI Media and Entertainment Report 2017 Murty, D. T. N., Chowdary, D.V. V. R. R., & Rao, S.R. (2013). Impact of advertisements on children with special reference to eating habits. Abhinav: International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Management & Technology, 2. Raju, T.M., & Shekhar, D.G.C. (2016). A study on television advertisements message strategies targeted towards children. International Journal of Science Technology & Management, 5 (7).

On the contrary, some parents feel that advertising led to increase in intake of non-nutritious food like junk/fast food, snacks & candy, which is the major cause of increasing obesity among kids nowadays. 79% parents responded that the impact is negative and only 21% responded it to be positive (Murty et al., 2013). Ÿ About 60% parents responded that their children aggressively demand some food items 33

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Teaching about World Religion Kalpa Kartik, Editor, Mentor Magazine, Director, LXL Ideas

Few ways Schools/Teachers can include ‘about religion’ in their lesson plan (Arel, 2015) are:

ising intolerance for religion and varied communities today gives rise to the quintessential question whether religious tolerance and teaching about religion should be made necessary in schools. India is a secular state and diverse in its religious beliefs and practices, it almost seems natural that ‘about religion’ be taught to students to bring about peace and harmony for future generations to live in. The spirit of Indian concept of Secularism can be well-understood in the statement of the great statesman-philosopher Dr. S Radhakrishnan who said, “When India is said to be a secular State, it does not mean that we reject reality of an unseen spirit or the relevance of religion to life or that we exalt irreligion.” Fundamental Duties demanded in the Indian Constitution Article 51-A, (e) that every citizen shall “promote harmony and spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities”. Based on these teachings, a subject of eternal wisdom would enhance the spirit of the Constitution of India (Muttungal, 2011). Then why do schools refrain from teaching about religion? It would only be a healthy option for children to understand and learn about various religions across the world so that they are aware, remain neutral from a young age and develop a balanced, as against a radical view on any religion.

Just observation as instruction for students when taken on ﬁeld trips to places of worship Ÿ Invite someone neutral and knowledgeable to talk on various religions Ÿ Train children how to talk about religion in the classroom being sensitive to others Ÿ Be culturally sensitive to religious festivals by d e c l a r i n g h o l i d ay s fo r a l l i n yo u r community/area/address of school Imagine a whole generation that does not know about any culture, that has little insight into religions and only managed to learn what they know from the media— they would see hateful signs and scientiﬁc illiteracy, something we know is not representative of religions as a whole. Including these teachings will remove the stigma of discussing or criticizing religion by both those inside and outside the faiths. So we don't simply owe it to our children to educate them in world religions, we owe it to society. Ÿ

Reference: Muttungal, F.A. (2011). Should religion be taught in Schools? The Milli Gazette. Wertheimer, L.K. (2016). Faith Ed: Teaching About Religion In An Age o f I n t o l e r a n c e . R e t r i v e d O n l i n e from:https://www.lindakwertheimer.com Arel, D. (2015). Teaching religion to children may not be easy but is necessary.