Mentor Magazine December 2016; Volume 10 Issue 7 issuu

CONTENTs

December 2016 | Volume 10 Issue 07

Mentor Thoughts

COVER STORY

Sultan Speaks Page - 05

A collaborative workspace!

Ever Changing Role of a Teacher Page - 34 Reinventing the role of teachers...

Pedagogy

What should we be teaching our future?

Page - 06 Necessary skills for the future generations…

School Leadership

Body Dynamics in Primary Teachers Page - 16

Expressions of concepts through body posture and body language...

Escalating Violence in Schools Page - 20

Dealing with violent incidents in schools...

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Entrepreneurship skills for students

Education is all about fostering a better connect...

School Governance

Conflict Resolution in Schools Page - 23

Do Principals Make a Difference?

Effective Teacher Evaluation Systems Page - 25

It is important to look at “Teacher Evaluation”...

Innovation

Building an Agile Practice and Culture Page - 29 How to get better all the time...

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Publisher & Owner: Syed Sultan Ahmed Editor-in-Chief: Kalpa Kartik Associate Editor: Yashika Begwani Designed by: Harpreet Singh, 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.

Published at: # 175, 2nd Cross, Lower Palace Orchards, Bengaluru - 560 003, India. Ph: +91 9019111110 NOTICE: As an author/contributor you are responsible for the authenticity of the information you provide in your 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 you agree they are 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.

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All Rights Reserved © 2016 EduMedia Publications Pvt. Ltd.

SULTAN SPEAKS

A COLLABORATIVE WORKSPACE! In recent times the work places have changed and evolved dramatically. The dominant professions today did not even exist a couple of decades ago. Our office infrastructure has changed dramatically. Gone are the days of reams of papers and printing, the advent of IT has made most of our work paperless and instant.

Keeping up with the times the workspaces have evolved too.

Offices today are designed to be more of a collaborative environment that allows free interaction and openness among colleagues. The boring whites, blues and greys have been replaced by vibrant colors, fixed cubicles and workstations have evolved into collaborative worktables and interaction hubs.

One of the biggest challenges faced by most sectors is a high level of attrition, to curb this trend many organisations are going out of their way to create spaces that employees love to work in. Gyms, hobby classes, food courts, etc are a norm in most medium and large organizations.

The youth brigade that is joining the corporate world is no longer happy with just the pay package and the job profile, the work environment is a key driver to joining an organisation and lasting in the workspace.

While the world around us seems to take the work environment very seriously it is strange that most schools have been oblivious to this need for change. The staff rooms are normally the most boring spaces in schools and the principal’s cabin can more often pass off as an interrogation chamber.

Teachers these days work under very high stress levels due to the

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expectations from parents and managements. They need time and space to unwind and relax.

Collaborative learning is a fancy word used by most schools, if teachers are not used to working in a collaborative work environment they will not able to facilitate a collaborative learning environment in their class rooms.

There are a few basics that go into making a work space collaborative Free Space: Environments that allow spaces for movement give a sense of freedom and encourage creativity. Staff rooms should have minimal furniture and lots of spaces to meet, to work together, to discuss, to plan.

Ventilation: Work spaces should ideally have a lot of fresh air, in our cramped and noisy cities this is almost a luxury these days. Air conditioning is the next best option.

Ample Lighting: Workspaces need to be well lit, here again sunlight would be the ideal option and if that seems a luxury a lot of new LED lighting does give warm white lighting that creates a very nice ambience Colors: They can make all the difference to space. The right colors can make spaces look happy, cheerful, energetic and comfortable. The usage of basics like white and grey blended with very bright new age colors make spaces look

inviting and encouraging.

Furniture: Individual desks and workstations are not the best for teachers. The concept of work/ meeting tables and discussion pockets encourage them to collaborate. Moveable chairs, varying heights, multipurpose furniture, etc. add to the environment.

Quite spaces: In the new collaborative work environments spaces along with creating collaboration it is always a good idea to have some space for ‘Quite’.

According to ancient Indian traditions spaces have a tremendous impact on the behaviours and energies of people. The basics have not changed inspite of all the evolution we have had as a society. People still long for spaces that make them feel comfortable, at home, reflects their personality and gives them a sense of pride.

Happy teachers make happy children and happy spaces make happy teachers!

Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director, LXL Ideas sultan@lxl.in

PEDAGOGY

WHAT SHOULD WE BE TEACHING OUR FUTURE? Col. Sudip Mukerjee

Colonel Sudip Mukerjee is a veteran with over 21 years experience in various appointments in the army including one year with the United Nations in Sudan, 2 years as Vice President of an airline and also as a trainer.

He holds amongst other qualifications, a Masters Degree in Psychology and is an NLP Master Practitioner and Trainer.

He works as a Corporate Trainer, a Consultant and a Coach for his company Anchor NLP based out of Noida. He is a prolific writer on social issues and brings his expertise in human behaviour to offer simple solutions which make learning easy. In this informative article for MENTOR, Col. Mukerjee brings out the essence of what the future upholds and what would be the skills required for the next generation leaders.

Empowering Tomorrow When we become education professionals, we volunteer for perhaps the most important task of them all and that is to help build the future - to guide the thoughts of children, adolescents and young men and women in a manner that we empower them, as future leaders to take the world forward in capacities such as thinkers, philosophers, artists, scientists and business leaders.

However, in many areas of life, by teaching or by example, we convey thoughts entirely to the contrary. For instance, in school they learn about passing exams not the usefulness of knowledge; about being part of a choir but not developing a distinctive voice; about being average in everything but not being exceptional in one; and about working on what they find hard and not honing what their unique gift is!

We set children against one another in contests, whether it

is school or sports or music and in their little minds, we confuse excellence with winning, as if, the only way to do something well is to outdo others. We teach them to measure their own value in terms of how many people they have beaten. We invite them to see their peers not as potential friends and collaborators but as competitors and obstacles in the path of their success. Finally, we lead them to believe that everything is a means to an end: the important thing is not to paint or read or sing or design or create, but to win. Thus, we devalue the enjoyment of painting or reading or playing music or designing or creating in their minds.

Quite predictably, researchers have found that the results of competition often include aggression, cheating, envy of winners, contempt for losers and a suspicious posture towards everyone. We kill trust and make our children lonely! What we also do is get them to be externally motivated.

Especially in India, parents teach their children to be politically correct and to value the society’s opinion about them is valued more than their self worth!

We, as parents, teach children to seek external affirmation from parents, from their teachers and with time this morphs into seeking affirmation from bosses and from people in positions of authority. And thus, they willingly hand over the keys of their

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happiness to others - and spend the rest of their lives wondering why they cannot be happy.

Ironically, all this is done by the parents and teachers ‘in good faith’.

So as educators, what are the 10 top skills that we should equip our students with?

Basic Human Psychology Perhaps the most important lesson to teach children and adolescents is how the brain functions. It is important to know how people react depends on themselves. If a child is bullied, or undergoes sexual abuse, s/he begins to believe that something is wrong with him/her. This image is carried throughout their lives and holds them back from progressing. Let the child learn why people behave in different ways and empower them to hold their own.

Thinking through Education is generally pragmatic, wherein the educators test students on specific data, and as such students will learn the specific data just for the test, often by memorizing. Too often,

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students are not taught how to think through to solutions; even in mathematics, formulae are memorized and the numbers plugged-in to the formula without an understanding of the formula’s formation and what it is solving for, and what is its practical applicability. The stakes are high in our duties and responsibilities in life and each decision we make have real-world consequences, some immediate, and some delayed, affecting ourselves and others.

Making the right choices could literally translate into the difference between happiness and remorse, success and failure.

We need to be equipped with the ability to think through scenarios and situations which inevitably arise in our lives, not only for the sake of successful endeavours, but also for the sake of being wise for its own sake.

Learning from Failure Ironically, children are fearless when they are born and all fear is learnt from adults! It is we who teach children to fear failure, to feel bad about themselves

when they do not succeed at all times which is practically neither possible not feasible. We teach our children to feel miserable when they fail. Have you ever seen a toddler walk, fall down, get up and walk again? Did he stop attempting to walk because he fell down? Does he learn to ride a bicycle without falling?

Then what makes him want to kill himself for not getting enough marks in his class 10 examination or when he does not get into the school basketball team? Unless children are able to overcome the fear of failure, they will NOT achieve satisfactory results because the focus will remain on failure and not success.

Neurologically, the fear of failure in children produces a series of negative and adverse thought patterns that eventually reduce your children’s strengths and potentialities. Fear of failure ties down the child’s mind and make him/her mentally weak and tired. In fact, it can make them incapable of achieving anything in life, even though they are capable of reaching the highest levels of success.

I think the so called ‘soft skills’ are more important than most of what our children are taught.

How to handle Finances?

The importance of handling money responsibly is a valuable life skill. Accounting, finance, and business classes do explain accounting procedures, financing arrangements, and business structures, but do not focus much on personal finances, saving or investing.

The job of these classes is to prepare students for working environments, and not

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necessarily for managing their own finances. Popular financial personality Dave Ramsey’s advice for money management and getting out of debt is a good place to start. Furthermore, higher education does not spend much time teaching students entrepreneurship. For the self-starter, knowledge of how to set up their company’s structure, manage the finances, pay taxes and reinvest into the company is crucial, and can mean the difference between failure and success.

Let the child learn why people behave in different ways and empower them to hold their own.

Repair The army teaches you to do everything, right from stitching torn clothes, to fixing light bulbs to carrying out minor electrical and vehicle repairs and joining

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cables. Painting, plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, etc., are all involved in maintaining and repairing a home, and since home is where most of your valuables are and where you will spend most of your life, knowing how to manage repairs and improvements is always valuable. Knowing what tools are necessary for specific jobs makes the work much easier. All of this taken together contributes to the value of your home, both monetarily and intrinsically.

Basic Cooking Skills Learning how to cook and how to handle household duties are gone with the era of taking Home Economics class in high school. Nevertheless, cooking is essential to life and very beneficial to eating healthy, and therefore being healthy. With home cooking, the ingredients and dishes can be controlled, and the portions commensurate with one’s appetite. Cooking at home generally saves money over eating at restaurants and being a good cook is a valuable weapon in your arsenal.

Conversational Skills

When employers are asked about the most important factor in their decision to hire someone, almost always, communication skills are on the top of the list.

But how many of you were actually taught to communicate effectively? Think about it. Did you ever have a class between kindergarten and graduation that taught you how to work through conflict? Or be a good listener? Or how to express empathy? I am sure you did not.

And yet, that is exactly what all interviewers are looking for when fresh graduates apply for jobs!

First Aid The knowledge of rendering first aid and help, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation, applying a splint on a broken bone, cleaning a wound and what medicines to give in case of minor ailments and emergencies are necessary for all responsible citizens. Accidents can happen at just about any time, and being equipped with the knowledge of first response is important to the health and potentially to the life of yourself and loved ones. In extreme events, this knowledge could mean the

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December 2016 there is something applicable from the marketing world. Even just picking out a good headline for something you are writing so that it will actually get read requires some basic marketing skills and the earlier you learn them, the better you are.

difference between life and death. Often times the response time of medical professionals is too long, and can result in complications and worsening symptoms, which could be preventable by immediate help from a close individual. Looking for appropriate warning signs for things like a concussion, frostbite, heat exhaustion, dehydration, not breathing, etc., would be very valuable and potentially life and limb saving knowledge.

Self-Defence. We all have the right to self defense as a basic right, afforded to us by virtue of being alive. Learning selfdefense can be necessary in protecting the well being of yourself and your loved ones.

Hopefully, no one would ever need to use self-defense, but in the event that using skills learned in self defense classes was ever necessary, exercising those skills could mean preservation of life and limb. It is better to know how to defend oneself and never need to, than need to and not know how to. Having pepper spray, mace, a concealed weapon, is a good start to self defense preparedness, however, there could be scenarios in which these are inaccessible, and

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old fashioned hand-to-hand combat and defense becomes necessary. For women it is particularly advisable to know the weaknesses of a man, and how to apply manoeuvres accordingly that would leave any potential violator incapacitated.

Sales and Marketing Skills The basics of marketing are something everyone should understand. Even if you do not think you are marketing, you are invariably marketing! If you have an idea at work, or want to get a raise, or want to convince friends to go see a movie then

We ask ourselves the ‘why’ question for so many years. Why don’t we teach these skills in our educational system? I think the answer is a complex one, but a big factor is probably because it is assumed that children will learn all of this at home. But what if their parents model terrible communication skills?

Or they are living on the verge of bankruptcy? That may not be a great way to learn sometimes.

I think another reason we do not teach these skills is because they are taken to be ‘soft.’ In other words, ‘easy.’ I think the so called ‘soft skills’ are more important than most of what our children are taught.

Just think of it this way. On a job interview, they are assessing your communication skills, not asking you to solve a calculus problem or about King Henry VIII!

mukerjeesudip@gmail.com

COVER STORY

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE UNKNOWN Dr. Shashi Banerjee

With over 34 years of highly appreciated and exemplary teaching experience as a Senior Secondary and College teacher, Dr. Shashi Banerjee is currently serving as the Principal at Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula. Founded by Shri. K. M. Munshi in 1938, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan has grown into a national and international organization which is recognized as one of the most pioneering institutions in the field of education, art, literature and culture. The Bhavan has centres, known as Kendras, all over the country and abroad.The school aims to impart the kind of education which would release the future youth of India from the bondage of outmoded and worn out customs, whilst protecting them from the present day materialistic outlook of life in a wealth oriented society. The educational process must serve as a link between India’s glorious past and her endless future and this is what the school believes in.

Besides leading the team successfully, Dr. Banerjee has been actively involved in writing scripts and poems, directing plays and compered at many school functions. In this interview with MENTOR, Dr. Banerjee shares her experiences as an educator, trainer and leader.

Take us through your early life.

Childhood, education during your times.

During my school and college days, I was given the freedom to take my own decisions which in turn helped me to be self-sufficient and self-reliant. I completed my post-graduation in life science from Delhi University followed by a Masters and Ph.D. in Education from Punjab University. Education during the seventies was far different from the present times. The routine then was solely confined to classroom instructions, play fields, homework and then watching Doordarshan serials.

The evenings were happily spent in outdoor sports, games and with friends from the neighbourhood.

a platter. We were to deserve before we could desire but life taught us how to overcome the difficulties. Indiscipline in the class was only confined to some noise or not being in the seat unlike what the present teachers face today. Distractions were minimum and learning was in depth. Examination was a fear, not a phobia. Opportunities of activities were limited. Parents were hardly involved in our education. Their concern was

that we should perform well.

We were never compared with others not ever pushed against the wall. There was very little or no stress regarding our education.

Challenges faced at work.

Balancing work and family life.

Work has always been worship for me and I remained dedicated with all my devotion to begin with as a teacher and later as the head of the institution. My

The modern-day classrooms and methods of learning and the life of a student of today are vastly different from the times that I grew up. Unlike today, things were not served to us on

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passion for my work always gave me strength to overcome all that came before me as a challenge or any difficulty and I could somewhat do justice to both, home and office. My academic, teaching and administrative journey has remained rather smooth and pleasant. I have always received more than my expectations.

What directed you into entering the field of education?

To be candid, I took to education by chance. In my case, it was a love for the teaching profession.

Once I was on the journey, I continued to tread on and remained passionate about it.

What according to you, is the purpose of education?

I firmly believe that education is all about fostering a better connect with your ‘true self’ and cultivating a distinctive flair and talent. For us, education translates into a world beyond the prints of textbooks, where every individual is free to pioneer and innovate.

Tell us about a recent book you read or a recent film that inspired you and your key takeaways as a school leader from it.

“One should be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise”.

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The latest book I read was “Great by Choice” by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen.

The focus of the book is so powerful that it enumerates the principles for building a great and successful enterprise in our fast-changing world. Greatness is not primarily a matter of circumstances. Greatness is a matter of conscious choice and discipline. The factors that determine whether an institution becomes truly great even in a chaotic and uncertain world lies largely within the hands of its people.

Your way of learning?

I believe in learning and as suggested in one of the verses in the Rigveda, “let noble thoughts come to us from every side”. I keep reading, experimenting, attending workshops and seminars on a regular basis.

For me every situation every individual, every experience has something to learn from.

What are the key highlights of the advice you would give to your teachers/ staff at the beginning of each session?

First of all, love your profession. Teaching children is both challenging as well as demanding. As teachers, it is important to be the facilitators, encourage curiosity teach those skills and provide access to such

knowledge, as is necessary to satisfy that curiosity. At the same time respect and value the child and learn to adjust to the needs of the child. Remember, a constant evaluation is essential.

Without this, it is impossible for any educator to identify those areas which require re-enforcing when to proceed up the spiral and when to recap, stand still or even rework an aspect of the theme. It is also important to get some feedback from the children as their understanding of the concepts are being explored. By adopting this two-way evaluation process, you are equipped to realize the child’s full potential and achieve your learning goals.

How would you groom teachers/ staff to become leaders of tomorrow?

Teachers must be given ample opportunities to indulge in challenging tasks and situations.

Guiding them when needed, at times ignoring their mistakes and by developing a culture of ‘wanting to do’ rather than ‘have to do’ helps them grow.

As a principal, I always believed that one should create an environment in which teachers and students can express their thoughts without any hesitation.

I try to develop capacities of my teachers. I have groomed my staff members and empowered them to be responsible in decision making, authoritative and have a good sense of professionalism. Some of them joined inexperienced and have proved to be outstanding faculty members eventually. My mentoring initiative has been very satisfying for me. Our own teachers have risen to the posts of the Head Mistress and the Vice-Principal. Many of the other staff members have been recommended for higher posts of heads or Vice –heads in reputed schools of the country.

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of diagrams, sounds videos images etc. Mobile devices tablets and apps have become a part of our school systems.

Technology has changed the face of education today.

What are the key challenges that you go through as a Principal/ School Leader and how would you overcome those?

Increasing distractions leading to indiscipline in schools is one of the major challenges that need our attention. Another issue to be addressed is to make peace with the rapidly changing technologically driven generation! Yet another challenge we anticipate is probably the inability to articulate: despite the plethora of internet blogs, Generation Z is trained to communicate with each other using 140 characters or less (Twitter), 15-second videos or less (Instagram and Vine), texting, chat abbreviations (LOL, TTYS, etc.), emoticons, social networking posts and terse e-mail messages. When it comes to fully expressing themselves -- academically, socially, emotionally and professionally– there will be a challenge for students in articulating their thoughts and delivering a message human-tohuman.

All efforts are made to keep the students engaged in creative, constructive and socially productive activities in the school.

In fact, the school is a platform for providing opportunities to the students to indulge sports and in activities of their choice thereby channelizing their

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energies. This not only solves the problems of indiscipline, but also helps in honing their skills and discovering their potentials.

School keeps updating the smart education tools and technologies as well as upgrading and empowering the faculty by building their capacities by planned workshops and training sessions.

What are the activities that students engage in? What is their relevance/ importance in their development?

The school is a hub of multifarious activities. Children participate in activities of their choice picking from a wide range. Activities serve as learning spaces as well as the recreational purpose. Contests are held regularly to imbibe the spirit of healthy competition and responsibility in students. Inter house competitions expose them to various qualities such as discipline, obedience, leadership, hard work and team spirit.

Innovation How has the teaching learning process changed from your times to now? How do you/ the school meet the current needs of students?

Traditional lectures are fast being replaced by savvy multimedia presentations that consist

With an objective to empower students academically by providing them the 21st Century learning tools and go global interacting directly with their peers from around the world to exchange beliefs, culture, values and attitudes, we use digital technology to upgrade the quality of learning in the following ways:

• Video Conferencing: Through video conferencing, a fruitful discussion culminated by finding practical solutions towards saving the environment globally. The school is also working towards team blogging across the globe as a part of the ‘Face to Faith’ programme sharing meaningful dialogue for better outcomes.

• Digital Recording: The school boasts of its state of the art recording room. ASL recordings for all classes from IX to XI are conducted as per CBSE guidelines. Also, all the recordings of school functions are done in house. There are three adjacent small rooms which are well equipped with latest digital set up.

• Tab Lab –Digital Tablets in classroom teaching allow students and teachers to communicate better. Different apps facilitate communication between teachers and students where they can hold discussions, post and turn in assignments and have class discussions and debates.

Furthermore, students can make use of interactive maps or facility-specific content available on tablets.

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December 2016 • Technology aided Learning: To familiarize the students with the latest in the field of technology, special activities play a prominent role. These activities held both at Junior (III-VI) and Senior(VII-X) level, train the students in various areas of information technology and enhance their skills in creating web pages, blogs, using flash, Photoshop, Corel Draw to enable them to use these tools for school newsletter, and magazines.

The‘Learning-enabled Assessment’ in OLabs in subjects like Mathematics, Science, Social Science and English through various online evaluation tools is powered with an effective testing platform that creates a systematic learning environment and also facilitates communication within the school and parents.

How is the school infrastructure and what are the latest tangible deliverables offered by the school to meet the demands of students today?

The Vidyalaya has an area of 5 acres with 67 classrooms, 5 Science labs, 2 mathematical labs, 4 audio-visual rooms, 4 music rooms, 2 dance rooms, 3 art rooms, 2 computer rooms, an English language lab, a recording room, an activity room, a sports room, a gymnastic hall,

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a yoga hall, a mini auditorium, a big auditorium with state of the art AV aids with the seating capacity of approximately 650 students, a large conference hall and two libraries.

The factors that determine whether an institution becomes truly great even in a chaotic and uncertain world lie largely within the hands of its people.

After school hours, the school premises are actively utilized for social causes like reaching out to the underprivileged children where children of cycle rickshaw pullers, maids etc. are taught and are free to use the space.

Rigorous training in various sports like swimming, volley ball, cricket, roller skating etc. is given. The school auditorium is used for holding discourses, yoga and meditation camps and free workshops for parents and students.

What is the one thing that you would like to/are trying to introduce in the school blending with the latest trends so that students may be prepared for

challenges of tomorrow?

Entrepreneurship is the need of the hour and I wish to introduce it in the school system effectively.

As leaders, this is how we can develop a systemic initiative to keep young people in school, learning academic and work skills effectively, continue to stay motivated to be productive and engaged in their communities and the larger economy.

Entrepreneurship education is an important tool to help every child and youth explore and develop his or her academic, leadership, and life skills.

Providing them with guidance and opportunities at the most critical junctures along their educational journey, can have a profound impact. To increase student engagement and success and favourably impact completion rates, students need to be equipped with the perseverance and determination of an entrepreneurial mindset. If education equips students with an entrepreneurial mindset at the outset of their careers, they will be more engaged and take ownership of their own success.

Entrepreneurship education benefits students from all socioeconomic backgrounds because it teaches kids to think outside the box and nurtures unconventional talents and skills.

Students need to be able to take initiatives and contribute to the world. We should encourage

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these skills within our classrooms and our communities. Our students can be incredibly creative and interested in shaping their experiences in the classroom. Furthermore, it creates opportunity, ensures social justice, instils confidence and stimulates the economy.

Entrepreneurship is the capacity to not only start companies but also to think creatively and ambitiously at the outset!

What are the key values that a school/ institute must instill in students? How does the school deal with discipline and life beyond classrooms? What are the other spaces to learn?

Inculcation of universal values is a lifelong process and should be supported in the classrooms.

Along with the parent it is the educator’s duty to guide and show directions to the students to develop values like truth, love, honesty, right conduct, service, empathy, care for environment, patriotism, appreciation of other cultures, religion etc.

The school has various clubs for inculcating the sense of responsibility towards humanity and environment. Throughout the year, these clubs organize various activities to spread awareness regarding the social issues among the young generation.

We foster a school climate that is non-threatening, safe and supportive of individual. All school programmes are theme based to promote Indian Culture, human values and respect to all religions, patriotic fervor and concern for environment.

We believe in Vasudeva Katumbkum. Bhavan’s motto “Let noble thoughts come to us from every side” and K.M. Munshiji’s faith is the guiding light and prevail in the school’s culture. Students observe and

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in turn get influenced by the value system of their teachers.

A teacher’s work carries the desired effect only when it is coming out with conviction.

Students like to see how much of these values, teachers live by themselves.

The key here is cooperative effort, home and school supporting each other towards the same goal.

Student discipline is of paramount importance in the successful implementation of any educational program. Good discipline in school comes from within the students as the result of happy, well-adjusted attitudes, involvement in school activities and lessons directed at attainable achievement levels.

We insist that students be held accountable for their behavior both academically and socially.

We strive to be flexible and to guide our students so that they learn proper judgment skills. The emphasis at our school is on the positive reinforcement of good behavior and the correction of negative behavior. Every staff member respects their students and we expect the same respect in return. This is to help our children build the basis for good relationships with others including peers and adults.

What is that one strong belief you have and what is the message

you would like to give to fellow educators/ institutions in the making?

We want to prepare our students to lead productive and successful lives once they leave us and enter the realm of adulthood. But what lies ahead for our students in the future?

Did educators twenty years ago, know, that so much of our world would be based on computers and technology now? Could they have known what skills would be needed in the job market today? Nowadays, educators are still charged with the same complicated task – preparing students for the unknown.

In the present context of the developments and changes in this technological driven educational era it is clear that text-book driven, examinationcentered curriculum, right answers and grades and ranks, though important, are not going to help our students face the challenges of the 21st century.

As educators, we must realize that the technological revolution and media- saturated society has brought in a new paradigm into our education; therefore, it is imperative to re-define the concept of education and revisit our education system, curriculum and pedagogical practices and assessment practices. In the words of Alvin Toffler, the author of Future Shock, “the 21st century

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illiterates will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and re-learn”. Our educational mindset and school culture needs to be aligned to the new realities of the 21st century otherwise as Scott McLead says our education will be dangerously irrelevant. It is time for us all to think forwardly.

tête-à-tête

‘Life is the mother of learning!’

Your take?

I believe the journey of life is a long learning process and you get to learn something or the other every day. I cannot point out one single instance that has not taught me something. Life in fact itself is the mother of all learning. A lot of learnings have been put together to form the person that I am today. I have always believed in one thing. If one does not succeed, it is not a loss but a lesson! “There are no regrets in life. Only lessons!”

2. You’ve been both a teacher and a principal, which one do you enjoy more and why?

The role of a Principal is credibly rewarding and I do enjoy it, as it is more challenging and I can contribute my best both as a teacher as well as a visionary.

Life taught me beyond what models of theories could ever teach me, I learnt what was needed to practically implement them. I saw the patience, hard work and perseverance required for success. It is this learning that has helped me succeed in my endeavours since then, no matter how big or small. As the team leader, I had to motivate the team members to give their best and help coordinate between the different sub teams to ensure that they were all working towards a common goal.

In the words of John Stuart Mill “There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realized until personal experience has brought it home.” And I am glad for having experienced this as it has helped mould me into what I am today!

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QUICK

MENTOR in conversation with Dr. Shashi Banerjee

1. Education is….

Education is investing in a child to enable him lead a life of purpose.

3. You’ve said, “Entrepreneurship is the need of today” What are the 3 qualities that schools can/should look at nurturing in students to hone their entrepreneurship skills?

• Optimistic • Prepared to changes and challenges.

• Should invest in technology

contextual and supplemental learning. Students become more interactive, learning is no more a passive activity and is not time bound.

6. Work and family life balance!

What are the top 3 things required to strike the perfect balance for you?

Managing self, acknowledging the co-operation from family, keeping calm and composed in challenging situations and never mixing the two roles.

7. Your biggest learning from life has been…

If you let people’s perception of you dictate your behaviour, you will never grow as a person!

4. What are the 3 key qualities that educators/teachers must have/must build to connect with students today?

• Cheerful and Caring • Approachable • Respect and value student’s point of view.

5. Give us one technological advancement in recent times that you think has changed the way in which children learn. Why is it important?

Mobile Learning applications wherein learning is done through portable devices such as Tablets and smart phones.

It provides “anytime anywhere” access to content and community as well as allows for

principalpklbhavan@gmail.com

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

BODY DYNAMICS IN SCHOOL TEACHERS Dr. Gayatri Sharma

Dr. Gayatri. K. Sharma, is the proud principal of A. P. International School, Thane. A philanthropist and Chairman of the “Mother Foundation Charitable Trust, Mumbai”, she is also the author of various books for pre-primary school to junior college. As a curriculum coordinator in the Diocese, she had the opportunity to conduct research and develop best practise instructions with dynamic teachers and administrators.

With an expertise and interest in elementary and higher education and as a research scholar in the same field, Dr. Sharma shares with MENTOR, how teachers must work on their body language to improve the teaching-learning experience.

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A survey was carried out to find out how teachers in different schools would be receptive to new techniques / proficiencies of teaching. The questionnaire distributed to the teachers had multiple choice questions. The sample questions took the teacher through a series of questions on who is an ideal teacher, new methodologies, relationship between teacher and the children etc. 90 responses were received which helped to understand and give a close analysis on the objective of the research. The questionnaire was also circulated to educators and professionals from the field to understand the basic concept of body dynamics and its importance in primary level teachers.

A total of 50 responses were received which may be summarized as below.

• Teachers prefer an environmental based learning

and development skills that facilitates the transfer of learning.

• The teacher is receptive towards new methods of teaching and developing skills required to accommodate today’s children.

• Learning body dynamics through dance and drama which in turn can be used to share the learning’s with the children can be introduced in the teacher’s training session.

• The teacher will have an overall development in body dynamics, role-play, aesthetics, non-verbal communication and voicemodulation.

A detailed research was conducted to study the effective use of body dynamics among pre - primary teachers as part of my doctorate programme and I am happy to share the key findings that have been drawn from the observations made.

Effective teaching methods have become part of planning and designing of curriculum for every level of formal schooling, especially at primary levels.

These are important years of a child’s life when they need to develop interest in academics and prepare themselves to take up challenges of more complicated curriculum in future. Evaluating efficacy of body dynamics in learning outcomes would bring forth the fact, that it has perpetual benefits in a child’s engagement

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December 2016 and understanding, and physically the classroom becomes an active arena of gaining knowledge.

Teaching is an evolving line of work. However, there are many passionate teachers who struggle on a daily basis, to convey messages and lessons to their children. The facilitation of lessons from teacher to children is an art of communication.

However, even the finest communicators often struggle in the line of teaching and it is a challenge for the teachers to keep primary children grounded to their feet and make them learn the essential values that are taught nowhere apart from a classroom.

Body dynamics is relevant for teachers because of the following reasons: A teacher offers the ‘human touch’ and ‘emotional ground’ for the children to walk on, and learn newer things while staying grounded and secure, a sense of being ‘seen’ known and understood. Moreover, one of the top most factors of a good teaching environment is engagement which is almost impossible in the virtual learning modes because it takes prolonged time for the teacher to respond to the child’s queries.

The realization of disadvantages of virtual learning is on-going.

This shifts the focus towards

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class environment. The major subjects under discussion is how the teacher can make the classroom environment more engaging. This is where body dynamics come into picture.

The importance of body dynamics used at primary level for teaching and learning process cannot be ignored. It is a powerful tool to differentiate, instruct and meet the learning needs of an individual student.

It is observed that teaching behaviour involves little or no active instruction. It is also important to evaluate the impact of body dynamics strategies on student engagement and understanding levels in formal education in the formative years. Body dynamics convey expressions of concepts and ideas through body posture and body language. It involves the dynamism of the teacher in her actions, voice, and reactions. It includes understanding of five personality dynamics namely openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

Taking into consideration different IQ levels of children, cultural diversity and linguistic variations, it is proved that children who have developed basic understanding of concepts of lessons have no problem in following ‘assign and assess’ instructional method,

but in many cases this method does not prove beneficial due to the above said variations and lower grasping power in a few children. These children need someone to actually teach them the strategy to learn; someone who would model and demonstrate the concepts and abstract ideas; thus applying body dynamics in clarifying the concepts which can prove to be fruitful.

A teacher’s communication to the child will get completed when she complements her verbal with non-verbal communication.

According to Mester and Tauber (n.d)1, some of the steps that can be taken to improve our physical animations are: • Stretching exercises before going to class • Making use of lecture notes to the minimum • While using visuals and referencing them, use appropriate gestures • Concentrating mentally on the intricacies of the subject and allowing natural enthusiasm to reach out to the children.

Research proves that body dynamics have been in existence since the time human psychology has been understood and is evolving. The research done across reflects that verbal communication occupies about 7% of all information submitted. The rest

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are divided as follows: 38% paraverbal communication (voice volume, inflection) and 55% nonverbal communication (body posture, facial mimics, gestures, and attitudes). The research also shows that each one of us who perceives messages is divided as follows: • 87% visual perception • 9% hearing perception • 4% through other senses

..amidst this era of changing scenarios, we should focus on developing the next generation of entrepreneurs in schools itself

It is here that we then learn that what is conveyed reflects through the approach of the person and its effectiveness. If an individual has understood this and has worked upon, he or she is then comfortably animated in their approach with the world through body. The more flexible and approachable the human body for effective communication the better is the understanding of the subject. Hence, we can define body dynamics as the capacity of a human body to be flexible, rightly coordinated and presentable which finally becomes an effective mode of communicating with others.

Following are the current challenges faced by teachers due to the ignorance of body dynamics: • Reports on teaching methods show that pupils at primary level of schooling show disinterest or lack of attention.

It is not deliberate, but due to their hyper-active nature or deficiency in alertness or

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concentration. In the USA, for example, result of a 1994 national survey (Hootstein, 1994)2 indicated that many children ‘felt bored at least half of the time’ they spent in school. Numerous other studies have highlighted significant relationship between low engagement levels and failures to develop basic academic skills. The comprehensive literature by Skinner and Belmont (1993)3, sums up the education related behavior of children, both with children who are engaging and dissatisfied or imperturbable.

• This communication is usually in the form of body language and gestures. As the child joins school this important method of learning cannot be totally given up only for ‘listening, learning and understanding’ concepts. It is a primary source of sensory input and if omitted altogether at a young age; children will experience greater difficulty in engaging with learning situations. The reinforcement of tonal experiences, hand signs and gestures enhance a child’s overall learning engagement.

• Traditional classrooms are fast proving ineffective.

Schools have to practice to accommodate diverse thinking patterns or various modalities.

According to Markova and Berrios (1992)4, there are six primary thinking patterns exhibited by pupils, reflecting the relative reliance and priority given to the auditory, visual, and bodily movements.

• The issue of applying body dynamics in teaching is a need of time, as in India, almost all the schools have multicultural crowd of children, right from kindergarten

and primary levels. These classrooms are also receiving increased numbers of children with disabilities or developmental delays. The diverse composition of early childhood classrooms brings many challenges as well as many opportunities to educators. With knowledge of effective practices, and with the support of administrators, colleagues, families, and the local and global community, teachers can create classrooms that are responsive to the diverse needs of all children.

• Even experienced teachers confront great challenges every year; changes in subject content, new instructional methods, advances in technology, changed laws and procedures, and children’s learning needs (Hayes Mizell, n.d)5. These challenges are present with all the other parameters including being with the child emotionally.

• The art of body dynamics is ignored by the teachers and therefore they are unable to meet the challenges.

Body dynamics can be effective and useful in the following ways: • It will assist the teacher to accommodate different learning processes and communication with different personality dynamics thus making the teaching-learning process an effective one.

• Body dynamics play an important role in growth of a child right from the infant stage. An infant is languageignorant and learns by observing his first teacher, the mother and others who communicate with him.

• Body dynamics is a technique of non-verbal communication and is as important as verbal skills. It includes, body and

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December 2016 limb movements, hand signs and gestures, proper eye-contact supported by modulation of voice. It should work as effective teaching at the primary level that would involve outcomes, clarity, enthusiasm, and engagement of a teacher in the process, manifesting selfreflective practices. It involves accommodating each student’s need, its distinctive learning and developmental need in the teaching learning process.

• As far as children are concerned, applying this technique can have longterm advantages, because later in life these children tend to use more of non-verbal communication to convey their ideas and expressions. Body posture and body language could help in conversation effectively. Such conversation is helpful in culturally and linguistically diverse people.

• Language skills help to gather, interpret and convey information. Children who have difficulty in developing these skills, especially those who have difficulty in reading, writing and/or speaking need an added skill for effective communication.

Body dynamics too play a role through all these stages.

• Since most of the countries see education as the only path to success with parental demands, competition, fear of failure and in certain cultures pride, emotional management of the child needs to be strengthened. This is possible through body dynamics, voice modulation and facial expressions thereby enhancing their engagement and interaction in class.

Communicative competency will be effective throughout an individual’s life if the

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individual learns from a good communicator. It is obvious that language instruction like grammatical accuracy and phonological correctness to make oneself understood is important at an early age.

But likewise, a closer look at all the available elements at our disposal that strength our communication skills is required (6) (Gregersen, n.d.).

• A teacher is also a leader who plays an important role in understanding the child and imparting these skills both verbally and non-verbally.

Each child being different coming from a different economic, social, and cultural background, a teacher needs to identify the characteristics and distinct learning needs.

• However, the common factor that amalgamates all the children in a classroom is learning. There is one thing common between all children – emotions; which as human beings we all tend to express both verbally and nonverbally. Body dynamics leads to controlling the classroom in such a way that it is neither too imposing, nor too casual. The body dynamics of a teacher, in fact, can convey a lot of things that are extremely difficult to

communicate through words, especially to children from diverse backgrounds.

• Eye contact, facial expression, gestures and postural changes are all part of body dynamics.

For example, with eye contact the teacher communicates that she has something important to say and trusts the child to address it. Gestures and expressions that correspond with the words and eye expression will reinforce and emphasise what is being communicated to the child. Any teacher can benefit from using these elements.

References: (1) Tauber, R.T. and Mester, C.S. (2006).

Acting Lessons for Teachers. 978-0-27599192-0 (2) Hoolstein, E. W. (1994) Enhancing Child Motivation: Make Learning Interesting and Relevant. Education, vol. 114(3). https://www. questia.com/library/journal/1G1-15524423/ enhancing-student-motivation-make-learninginteresting (3) Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (1993).

Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and child engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 85(4), pp. 571-581.

(4) Markova, I.S. and Berrios G.E. (1992). The assessment of insight in clinical psychiatry: (5) Mizell, H. (2010). Why Professional Development Matters. Learning Forward.

Retrieved from (6) Gregersen, T.S. (n.d.). Language Learning Beyond Words: Incorporating body language into classroom activities. Reflections on English Language Teaching, vol. 6(1), pp.

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gayatrisharma30@yahoo.com

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS Ms. Ajitha Paladugu

Ms. P Ajitha is an eager learner and teaching practitioner who believes that true education is transformational in nature.

A second generation teacher who claims to have inherited the aptitude for teaching as a legacy from her parents, Ms Ajitha owes them her solid foundation in education by virtue of having studied in Sainik School, Imphal. She is presently teaching at Delhi Public School, Coimbatore, but prefers to call herself a co learner in the journey of self-discovery which she embarks on, with her students.

In this contribution to MENTOR, Ms. Ajitha highlights the concerns around increasing violence in schools.

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Sample this scenario- a ten-yearold child is constantly pulled up by his teachers for getting into frequent physical altercations with his classmates. Threats, reprimands, counselling nothing works. After a brief respite complaints about verbal and physical abuse continue unabated. The child is socially ostracized, with no one wanting to even sit near or include him in any group activities. It is as if the child cannot get through a regular school day without hitting or getting into a physical scuffle with someone. Upon enquiry, it becomes clear that there is no genuine provocation or a valid justification for the violent behaviour the child exhibits. Confined to his desk during teaching periods, he either becomes inattentive or engages himself in doing something else when the teacher is teaching. Being under continuous supervision during class hours makes him restless,

fidgety, nervous and prone of violent bouts of crying and name calling.

Home environment seems alright with nothing to be concerned about. One cannot put a finger on the exact cause that could possibly explain what can be safely termed as delinquent behaviour. This is just one of the many kinds of behavioural problems teachers encounter almost every day in any regular school anywhere in the world.

Violencephysical, mental, emotional, is very much palpable today in what are supposed to be “temples of learning�.

Such violent incidents are not sporadic but reflective of a deep seated and brooding unrest not just among the adolescent student population but even younger children. This simply highlights the inadequate and ineffective mechanisms in place to deal with such scenarios.

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December 2016 Disturbing incidents of child abuse within the sacred precincts of a school, shame the teaching fraternity and exposes us to compromised and endangered safety of children by people who are entrusted to protect and nurture them.

Additionally, sincere and professionally committed teachers are increasingly being subjected to alarming levels of verbal abuse, mental torture, emotional manipulation and in a few cases in physical intimidation and aggression of students!

So, what is our response to this disturbing scenario? Do we require the media frenzy around some hyped cases to make us sit up and take notice? Are we not partly to be blamed here?

Do we not at times choose to ignore and turn a blind eye to escalated conflicts among our students, which upon timely intervention and wise counsel would give them an opportunity to correct their errant behaviour and attitudinal problems?

Who or what is ultimately responsible for this moral quandary that we find ourselves in? How can we diffuse this potentially explosive situation that we come across way too often? For starters, we must examine the problem to ascertain the root causes and then work on practical solutions to deal with it effectively.

A perfunctory analysis would reveal the breakdown of support system at home to be the root cause of juvenile delinquencies manifesting itself in varied forms in social settings. In the absence of a good supporting and nurturing environment at home, a child’s emotional and psychological needs are not fulfilled resulting in a feeling of dissatisfaction, discontentment,

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frustration that finds an outlet in rebellious behaviour, confrontationist attitude and unmitigated aggression. To deal with such volatile minds we require tactfulness, wisdom, sensitivity, patience - qualities that are unfortunately not readily available. Not handling these problems at the initial stage when they are still manageable with timely parental intervention leads to undesirable behaviour which becomes very difficult to change later. ..violent incidents are not sporadic but reflective of a deep seated and brooding unrest not just among the adolescent student population but even younger children.

abuse and/or sexual abuse • Exposure to violence in the home and/or community • Being the victim of bullying • Genetic (family heredity) factors • Exposure to violence in media (TV, movies, etc.)

• Use of drugs and/or alcohol • Presence of firearms in home • Combination of stressful family socioeconomic factors (poverty, severe deprivation, marital breakup, single parenting, unemployment, loss of support from extended family) • Brain damage from head injury Other studies give symptomatic description and categorization of aberrant behaviour in children based on the causes for aggression. Some of these categories are:

Research on violent behaviour in children helps identify telltale signs screaming for attention and intervention. American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry lists the following factors that explains violent behaviour in children: • Previous aggressive or violent behaviour • Being the victim of physical

Mood disorders: Children who are bipolar, in their manic stages, very frequently become aggressive. They lose selfcontrol, they become impulsive.

On the other end of the spectrum, when they become depressed, although aggression is less common, they can become irritable, and sometimes that irritability and cantankerousness causes them to lash out.

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harm or suicide in adolescents and young adults. Children with IED tend to feel a lack of control over their behaviour, resulting in both verbal and physical outbursts of anger.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation disorder (DMDD): It is a condition in which a child is chronically irritable and experiences frequent, severe temper outbursts that seem grossly out of proportion to the situation at hand.

Frustration: Children who have problems with cognition or communication may also manifest with aggression. When children with these conditions become aggressive, they often do so because they experience difficulty dealing with their anxiety or frustration and cannot verbalize their feelings as others do. The aggression may also be a form of impulsivity.

Impulsivity: In children with ADHD, impulsivity and poor decision-making can lead to behaviour that is interpreted as aggressive. These children often do not consider the consequences of their actions, which may come across as callous or malicious when they are just not thinking.

Conduct Disorder: With conduct

disorder, aggressiveness is part of the matrix of the illness, a large component of what that is. Unlike the child who just is not considering consequences of his actions, kids with Content Disorder are intentionally malicious, and the treatment and prognosis are quite different.

..violent incidents are not sporadic but reflective of a deep seated and brooding unrest not just among the adolescent student population but even younger children.

Unrecognized anxiety : A child who appears oppositional or aggressive may be reacting to anxiety which he cannot articulate effectively, or not even fully recognize what he is feeling.

Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED): Children who exhibit short episodes of intense, uncontrollable anger or aggression with very little or no apparent cause. It usually shows up in late childhood or adolescence, and eventually leads to a higher risk of self-

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Considering the fact, a child spends a considerable amount of his waking time in school, it becomes imperative to examine the role of the school in timely identification and intervention.

The psychological factors apart, the general realities of the present times namely- the collapse of joint family system, hectic lifestyle, cut-throat competition, sudden affluence, too-much-too-early syndrome coupled with moral degradation, instant gratification of desires, end justifying the means that most people belonging to Gen -Y seem to follow has set a bad precedent for the present young people of Gen-Z, who are clueless about who they are and what they want from life.

They are at the crossroads of a monumental transition the world is witnessing today and if we continue to remain inert and a bystander to disturbing levels of violence and aggression in our children, I am afraid when our posterity demands uncomfortable answers, we would not be able to justify our actions or in our case -the lack of it.

References: childmind.org/article/aggression-in-childrencauses/

ajithapaladugu@gmail.com

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN SCHOOLS Mr. Chetan Singai

Mr. Chetan B. Singai is an Assitant Professor at the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. He is finalizing his doctoral thesis at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science campus, Bangalore, associated with EDGE (Emerging Directions in Global Education), India. He has completed his Erasmus Mundus European Master’s in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management and Masters in Political Science and Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Law and Governance, from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

He is also a visiting faculty with the School of Education at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. In this informative piece for MENTOR, he elucidates conflict management in schools and the key stakeholders involved to resolve it continuously.

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Conflict is the condition in which the concerns of two parties appear to be incompatible. Such conditions are prevalent across schools. A safe and orderly environment are essential components in promoting quality in teaching, learning and ensuring that all children develop to their fullest potential.

Today, the need for a safe and orderly environment in schools is one of the critical factors vis-à-vis quality of teachers, pedagogy, fees and infrastructure, for parents/guardians in choosing a school for their children. Such a need was not so explicit in conventional/traditional school systems. Schools have evolved to be a complex milieu of social structures, in addition to its core function of teachinglearning. The disjuncture(s) among learners between what is experienced and what is taught – before, during and after school – aggravates conflicts.

Conflicts are witnessed ‘before, during and after school’.

Conflicts between principals and students, teachers, parents, and community elements reflect our troubling social conditions/

contexts. Learners in school are subjected to series of conflicts viz., bullying, teasing, and senseless, sometimes fatal disputes over clothing and other possessions. Many of these conflicts either begin at school, or are brought into school from the home or the community.

Each of these episodes of conflict have varying impact on one’s experience in school life.

In a nutshell, the milieu in which these conflicts operate are diverse, which demands myriad strategies for conflict resolution in schools.

The role of the principal in espousing effective management style and strategies in dealing with conflict is critical

Searching for ‘Armistice’ in Schools The purpose of conflict resolution is to provide an environment in which - each learner can feel physically and psychologically free from threats and danger and can find opportunities to work and learn with others for the mutual achievement of all.

The diversity of the school’s population must be respected and celebrated. In a school setting, who is responsible to ensure such an environment?

The student, teacher or the principal…?

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Do Principals Make a Difference?

School principals today, are faced with increasing pressures, more change and aggression than their predecessors, and consequently, myriad conflicts with which to cope. Conflict can be a serious deterrent to a school’s efficiency and effectiveness. In fast-emerging management-centric school types (especially), such deterrents are a serious issue. In these organisations, the principal is the key actor in ensuing efficiency and effectiveness, by deterring conflict.

An environment of ‘no-conflict’ or/ and ‘effective conflict resolution’ in schools, is dependent mainly on the leadership styles and attitude of the principal.

The leadership styles and attitude of the principal are critical in ensuring a peaceful environment in the school.

Educationists across the globe, have examined series of variables that impact the principal’s leadership in manging conflict in schools.

Variables like conflict response styles, social problem solving behaviours, communicator

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styles, and bases of social power. These dimensions of leadership behaviour are related to the amount of conflict that principal encounters and the successes and failures resulting from managing it, in the school as a complex organisation. The ‘conflict response style’ – is the most important leadership variable influencing successfully managing the conflict. Such leadership variable is illustrated by following managerial strategies engaged by principals in schools.

The disjuncture(s) among learners between what is experienced and what is taught – before, during and after school – aggravates conflicts.

There are numerous managerial strategies to which principals may resort in dealing with conflict that will enhance the total efficiency of the school

organisation. In 1925, Mary Parker Follett developed three strategic method of dealing with conflict by leader of the school – the principal: domination, that is the overpowering of the opposition; compromise, each side involved in the conflict by giving in on certain issues while gaining on others; and integration, the bringing together of the needs and demands of both sides to be considered in the alternatives for action.

Arguably, the best strategy for the principal is to become adept at integration which has the most enduring effects on productive education. The first step in utilizing this process is getting the persons involved in the conflict to bring their differences into the open, unlike domination and compromise strategy. To handle conflict effectively, a principal needs to know the precise nature of the conflict condition and the behaviour.

In conclusion, conflict in schools are inevitable in view of the diversity of actors and their socio-cultural-economicpsychological conditions that influence their behaviour in schools. Conflict resolution is featured as one of the main reasons for labelling a school as ‘good’ and ‘not-so-good’, in addition to the quality of teachers, teaching, infrastructure and the history of the school(s).

To this end, conflict resolution is critical to the school. The role of the principal in espousing effective management style and strategies in dealing with conflict is critical. The choice of these strategies and/or a strategy by the principal in managing or resolving the conflict is determined by the leadership styles and attitude of the principal. Hence, the principal is the key actor in conflict resolution and in promoting a ‘meaningful culture’ in the school. chetanbsingai@gmail.com

December 2016

EFFECTIVE TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEMS Ms. Sowmyaa Arun

Ms. Sowmyaa Arun is a Management Graduate from University of Northumbia UK and Visvesvaraya University, Belgaum. She was associated with Pearson Schools and has worked closely with many Principals for improving Human Resource(HR) processes. She has always been fascinated about HR and has given her best in terms of Talent Acquisition, Onboarding and Induction, Payroll Process, Performance Appraisal, Policy Drafting, Grievance Handling etc. She feels that school HR systems need to be re-designed and thus co-founded HaveHR, a place for complete HR solutions in schools and colleges headquartered in Bengaluru.

In this article for MENTOR, Ms. Arun gives an outline on the teacher evaluation and the benefits of how teachers and students will be impacted.

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One of the most significant resources in the school are the teachers who will set the education standards. As a school leader a key agenda is to ensure that teachers are highly skilled, well resourced, and motivated to perform at their best. The importance of doing a teacher evaluation is to maximize substantial growth in students learning through teachers.

The effective monitoring and evaluation of teaching and continuous improvement is an ongoing process. The best part of a teacher evaluation process is to know the teacher’s strengths and focus on the areas to be developed further.

The implication of teacher evaluation involves; effectiveness of teaching, strengths, areas of developments, reviews, coaching, learning and development, assistance as needed and opportunities for professional development.

This will also ensure that we can recognize and reward the teachers along with upgrading their skillsets through learning

and development which will be directly linked to the commitment of the teachers towards the school.

We all are aware that nothing matters beyond having great and effective teachers in an institution.

Despite having great technology, incredible infrastructure standards, it is imperative to have the right teacher. However, not evaluating them as and when required would result in schools failing to meet their targeted goals.

Teachers sustained by goals, skills, behavior will result in transforming any school for the better. This will help the students to choose the right career and be ready to learn for the rest of their lives. It is not the technology, infrastructure or the curriculum which will help the teachers but the support to a teacher in terms of their personal development along with measuring the success will help them evolve as a great teacher.

Teaching and learning will not improve if we fail to give teachers high-quality feedback based on accurate assessments of their instruction as measured against clear standards for what is known to be effective. Everybody needs feedback on their efforts and guidance about what they are doing and what to do differently.

However, measuring teaching is difficult. “Teaching is a complex interaction among teachers, students, and content that no single measurement tool is likely to capture” says Jeff Archer,

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note that all teachers are the same and rated with slight variations.

The importance given during these evaluation processes is for non-performers than the performing teachers, so that it is a onetime yearly task to drop the non-performers out of the school. This will demotivate the rest of the teachers since it does not give any valuable feedback to them.

Kerri Kerr, Robert Pianta, Why Measure Effective Teaching?, 2014.

The Conventional Teacher Evaluation Process: The key note in this journey is to ensure that the teachers accept the teacher evaluation process.

Currently most of the time, the administrative team will observe and put the comments based on their observation, which can even be biased. Since, the teacher’s role is passive; they do not feel the process is valuable or supportive to their learning. So most of the time the evaluation process itself becomes futile and the teachers do not feel valued. If the teachers are not part of the evaluation process, this results in poor commitment from the teachers towards their own evaluations.

“Most of the time, I have been a mind reader!” says Ms. Lakshmi, the teacher of 9th Grade of a reputed school. “I had no idea what does my Principal look for? In the previous School, my Principal had a checklist which was never revealed to us. However, I’m happy that the current institution tells that what exactly they focus based on that I think and prepare myself and my students as well.”

The drawback of the conventional method of evaluating teachers: • Most the time the evaluation

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is based on the checklist and the observation of the administration, which is a oneway approach • The scale to measure the evaluation criteria will mostly be on A+, A, B and C ratings.

This will result in giving higher ratings to most of the teachers and fails to focus on respective teachers and their developmental areas • Infrequent appraisal process for the long tenured teachers • Focuses specifically to reward the top performer and punish the low performers • Following the bell-curve, which will insist them for forcefit most of the teachers on the higher ratings and rest put the blame on the management for not providing the freedom to do so

The best part of a teacher evaluation process is to know the teacher’s strengths and focus on the areas to be developed further

Most of the time teachers feel the evaluations do not give any useful feedback on them and they are not helpful. Current evaluations give a devastating

Few Aspects to Consider while Designing the Teacher Evaluation Systems • It is important for any institution to have teacher evaluation systems in place wherein they should ensure that teachers find their work meaningful and improve continuously.

Institutions must not only have effectiveness and consistency in designing their evaluation systems, but also engage teachers in activities that promote learning, namely self-assessment, individual learning objects and professional conversation or the relationship management.

• All teachers should know the process of the teacher evaluation well in advance or the beginning of the year.

These will emphasize on tasks the teachers must perform and help them be more focused and goal-oriented than working on grades.

• Teacher evaluation process to be transparent.

• Self-assessment will help the teachers become more focused and engaged.

This will result in excellence in teaching, engaged and committed teachers. Ultimately the institution will have the right set of people. Once they have the right team the next process is to recognize the efforts they have put-in and reward them. For the high performers the institution

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December 2016 must accommodate by sending them for higher education or courses to upgrade their skillset. This way institutional values will be recognized and teacher retention can be taken care.

The uses of having better evaluation systems will help the teachers in the following ways: • It emphasizes on teachers to be productive in their classrooms • Ensures that teachers love their job • The good teachers evolve to be a great teachers • It addresses the continuous improvement in teaching • Focused effort from the teaching fraternity towards the students growth

It is important to look at ‘Teacher Evaluation’, as ‘Teacher Development’.

The evaluation process should emphasize on all the above points, but most of the time they do not even come closer.

Teachers should be helping students make measurable progress against ambitious learning standards.

process must have multiple dimensions to determine whether the teachers have met the performance expectations than having a single data point and decide on teacher’s performance. All stakeholders must be present to provide the inputs like parents, students, other peer teachers, senior teachers and principal, and last but most important, the “students learning outcomes must be achieved”.

• An evaluation system should not be limited to yearly ratings, instead there should be regular and frequent feedbacks given to the teachers. It must be a continuous and it has to be incorporated as a part of the working process. The teachers should also seek and collect feedback about themselves on a regular basis.

E.g. seeking feedback from peer teachers who attend their sessions for evaluation purposes. The instructional leaders should strive to cultivate the performanceengaged culture by providing constructive feedback periodically.

• In today’s age , one of the greatest sources for teachers feedback is the teacher ability

to understand and use multiple sources of data for feedback, which means looking at all sources of student wellbeing; Teacher’s reflection on students values , conduct , psychosocial behavior , mental and physical strength etc. The teacher must be able to help students acquire all of the above which is the real objective!

• Evaluations can be formal and informal.

Informal evaluations have found to be more effective than formal because real nature and performance can be judged during informal evaluations.

Formal evaluations usually give very different results because of the preparedness of the teacher towards the evaluation.

• How about teachers who built life principles? E.g. getting a student passionate about reading, writing, playing, painting or science. How do we quantify and capture such great work which is often missed. Perhaps the real role of a teacher.

• While most evaluations are usually short term, or up to a term or a year, the long term model must also be

New process of Teacher Evaluation • It is important to look at ‘Teacher Evaluation’, as ‘Teacher Development’.

The word ‘evaluation’ has a threatening value attached to it whereas development connotes progressiveness and continuous improvement connotations.

“Inputs” to teacher development can be an evaluation process.

• Teacher development

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the demands of the teaching profession requires tremendous will, ability, and preparation.

Teacher Assessment and Evaluation, the National Education Association, US(in text citation)

introduced. Student feedback after many years of education must be taken into account because specific influences can be traced after many years of separation, the seeds of which had been dropped by the teacher and the fruits of which were born many years later! We often give examples in our lives saying “earlier I didn’t like “x” subject, but that was such a valuable lesson I learnt, I really owe it to my teacher”. How do such voices and feedback reach the teacher?! I am sure with digitization and big data this is just round the corner, and this to get implemented is a must.

• Are schools retaining consistently top-performing teachers at higher rates than consistently low performing teachers?

• Are teachers receiving progressive feedback based on clear expectations?

• Teachers should regularly to be asked whether they are confident in the fairness and consistency of the evaluation process.

Conclusion Teaching is a demanding and complex profession. In many ways, teaching can be even more challenging than scientific endeavors. Meeting

Every child in the class is unique and shall have his/her own learning curve; it is big challenge for the teacher to impart the learning in every child. It also requires continuous learning and support; There should always be constructive and actionable feedback given to the teachers.

This will result in improving school climate, not having a Principal than becoming an instructional leader, building gaps on school improvement, professional development and student learning is the bottomline.

Effective teaching contributes to student learning, nonetheless of the situations and environments.

If a school has strong leadership, adequate resources, and the engaged stakeholders, effective teaching has the power to transform the education and ensures great career to every student.

So there must be more thought around this and but some of the above in practice might really change this profession which is or should be the most valued profession.

Implementation Stage The success of any evaluation system does not depend on how solid it has been designed but ultimately how well it has been implemented.

• Are school leaders evaluating teachers accurately?

• Are teachers generally improving their performance over time?

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sowmyaa.arun@havehr.com

INNOVATION

BUILDING AN AGILE PRACTICE AND CULTURE Ms. Akanksha Thakore Srikrishnan

Ms. Akanksha Thakore Srikrishnan is an Independent Facilitator, Education Consultant, and Founder, Ripple Effect. She works with students, teachers, parents, and school leaders on personal and professional growth programs using drama, reflection, and creative art. She is presently running a Personal Growth Lab for Grade 11 students at R.N. Podar School and working with RPG Foundation to design and facilitate a teacher-training program with municipal schools in Mumbai. With an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad and a Diploma in Personal Counselling from Heart to Heart Centre, Mumbai, she has also been associated with organizations like Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Foundation. In this informative piece for MENTOR, Ms. Srikrishnan brings out the learning outcomes from the Learn Shift India, 2016, an education innovation conclave held in Mumbai on 8th-9th November 2016.

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“If the rate of change on the outside exceeds the rate of change on the inside, the end is near”, said Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric.

This fast-changing world is merciless on anyone who fails to keep pace with it. The profession that creates other professions is the one carrying the most weight of expectations – because it needs to prepare little humans as they grow up and send them out into this world to fend for themselves. While the basics of education have not changed, expectations from it have. The only way, therefore, to thrive in this multi-directional current is to stay nimble and agile.

This was the context for LearnShift India 2016, organized

by R.N Podar School on 8th-9th November in Mumbai. In its fifth year now, this education innovation conclave hosted a workshop by Dr. Simon Breakspear, Executive Director, Agile Schools, on Agile School Leadership followed by a cross-

stakeholder discussion on how one may translate Policy to Practice, especially in light of the Draft New Education Policy.

So Much to Do, So Much Already Done If you are a school principal reading this, it might sum up what you think of your jourmey on the path to innovation. You have redesigned your team roles, become creative with the curriculum, trained your teachers, infused energy into the classrooms, turned the school tech-savvy, regularly communicated with your parents, managed your expenses, and yet...it never seems enough. You seem to be standing on ground that is forever changing. The moment you feel you have arrived, the landscape changes and you are expected to do something more, something different. While all along ensuring that the school functions smoothly, of course.

Dr. Simon Breakspear crisply summarized the context for

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change that essentially outlines the many challenges a school leader juggles today • Expectations of higher-order learning outcomes • Growing diversity of learner needs • Expectation for evidenceinformed practice • Staff expectations and multigenerational teams • Multi-level policy reforms • Technological innovation • Parental expectations The role of a principal is complex and constantly adapting to these changes. Education is not linear; schools and classrooms are chaotic places. No wonder, it is so exacting a task to keep up in the attempt to impose order on an otherwise tumultous, fluid landscape. Dr. Breakspear likened it to attempting to solve the Rubik’s cube which changes

even as you are trying to figure it out!

Winds of Change... ...can blow from any direction, but one must turn the sail that way to steer course. Today, employers are seeking skills that the education system is not fully preparing kids for – creativity, critical-thinking, collaboration, design-thinking, emotional intelligence, and a multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving applied to business, ecological, and social issues alike. All this while, changing policy at the central and state levels poses

particular constraints as well as opportunities to schools.

Changes in curriculum and assessments take longer than those demanded by the world of employment. Even as we speak of these aspirational higher-order skills, millions in the country are not even achieving the basic benchmarks for literacy.

As it was discussed at LSI Day II, Policy to Practice, several tensions are present between policy and practice like the one mentioned above - competition among individual schools versus the need for collaboration between them to reform the

The conversation needs to move from ‘change’ to ‘improvement’.

Hence the question – how does one get better all the time?

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December 2016

Today, employers are seeking skills that the education system is not fully preparing kids for – creativity, critical-thinking, collaboration, designthinking, emotional intelligence…and social issues alike

entire school system; teaching for assessments and teaching for learning and so on. A school is expected to navigate and creatively solve these tensions, finding the way that works best for its unique ethos. However, we far too often get stuck up on the idea of ‘change’, which does not by itself indicate growth. The conversation needs to move from ‘change’ to ‘improvement’.

Hence the question – how does one get better all the time?

What Comes in the Way? Surely every school wants to keep getting better, but somehow too many things fill up the plate.

That is the first thing that gets in the way – too many priorities all at once. Secondly, the nature of teaching in our country is such that it has become more of a habit than an evolving profession. And we all know how hard it is to shake off old habits, to move from what is familiar and comfortable to unknown territory full of risks and rewards alike. We expect teachers to equip students with 21st century skills but are they themselves fully equipped to do so? And to keep doing it in newer, better ways with every generation of learners. Thirdly, parents’ focus and demands for their children,

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restricting their freedom to learn and explore in the pursuit of marks and admissions into certain institutions, their own fears and insecurities often driving their decisions for their children.

Lastly, leadership commitment to building this culture and practice into the school, willingness to question and re-examine existing ways of operating and being, could either make or break sustained innovation and meaningful progress for all within a school.

Breaking Inertia, the Agile Way ‘Agile is a way of becoming and being’, said Nelson Gonzalez,

Co-founder of Declara, a global online learning platform, while giving inputs into Dr. Simon’s workshop at LSI. ‘It is a way of responding to unpredictability through incremental, interative, evidence-based work cadence.’

At the heart of the agile movement is the ability of a team to trust one another and work together by focusing on ‘that which matters’ – sharply prioritized goals emerging out of desired student learning outcomes for certain groups of students at a time.

Teams of teachers within a school – say from a particular subject area - work towards commonly identified microgoals over short bursts of 2-4 weeks called ‘improvement stints’. They start by focusing on a particular target for a

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particular group of students.

They then immerse themselves into the student context, taking a design-thinking approach to the situation by asking themselves – what may this particular student do, say, think, and feel in a typical classroom situation?

They activate empathy for the student to understand why she is not making progress. Taking that as the centre-piece and examining their current teaching practices, they then redesign the classroom learning experience to help the child make progress.

They gather evidence of whether the practice actually worked, moving from ‘Did I feel it worked?’ to ‘Did it work for the students?’, make changes to their approach, and dive in again. Note that the evidence gathered is such that it informs improvement of practice, is not cumbersome to gather or a burden to prove to anyone. Think student samples and interviews, parent interviews etc. more than test scores or results.

already doing. It cuts through the clutter and helps you focus your energy on the things that really count. The movement has a few key features – Focus on Impact, Learn by Doing, Iterate with Evidence, and Build Collective Efficacy of Teachers.

While the teachers work on micro-goals, it is the leader’s role to set the overall direction and priorities of improvement.

It will also rest on the leader to do away with excess baggage – those practices or initiatives that might sound and feel good but do not serve to improve student learning outcomes. To

create a movement away from improving ‘teacher practice’ to securing ‘learning outcomes’.

The school leader can increase the tolerance to ambiguity of herself as well as her team to embrace the many ups and downs that come on the path of constant improvement. LSI 2016 took school leaders through understanding the process of adopting an agile mindset and helped them contextualize the same for their own organizations.

As Mrs. Avnita Bir, DirectorPrincipal, R.N. Podar School and Curator, LSI put it, “Schools and educators have had to

Building an Agile Culture As a school leader, you might wonder how to sustain this way of being. As opposed to a whole new way of doing things, the agile school process simply helps you do better what you are

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December 2016 professionalizing the teacher workforce will give teachers a greater agency and voice into critical matters of curriculum and assessment.

keep pace with the rapid rate of change and the onslaught of new technology, new methodologies, new terminology in the last decade. For these to get optimally leveraged in order to improve learning outcomes, what is needed is an agile mindset that allows you to quickly review and adapt to the changes. The Agile School Masterclass led by Dr. Simon Breakspear, in that sense, felt therapeutic and soothing.�

Riding the Change Wave While growth is what we desire on the inside, waves of change will continue hitting us from the

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outside. Even as you read this, the Draft New Education Policy is being debated and reframed.

However, what emerged out of the discussion on Policy to Practice at LSI was that policy only sets the tone and general direction; schools that want to innovate often have very little stopping them except their own intent and action. Dr. Simon, on the panel, gave perspective on policy changes by saying that macro-reforms cannot impact the classroom and so schools must begin focusing on ‘microreforms’ that are completely in the hands of principals and teachers. He added that

Students in the gathering asked questions around freedom to learn and express their own understanding as opposed to what was required of them in the exams. Warren Patrick, Sr. President and Chief Learning Officer, YES BANK, responded by sharing how employers today valued skills like innovation, design-thinking, and entrepreneurship, and that students can still go ahead and build those. That today, more than STEM education, a Liberal Arts approach is needed in the workplace.

The upshot of the discussion was that any change will bring opportunities and challenges alike. By adopting an agile culture, schools can not only embrace the changes but also exploit them to the fullest to achieve their desired learning outcomes. As practitioners, we could either be terrified of the depths of the waters or choose to become expert surfers that ride the change wave!

akanksha.thakore@gmail.com

MENTOR THOUGHTS

EVER CHANGING ROLE OF A TEACHER Ms. Kalpa Karthik

“My teacher was instrumental in changing my life” “My teacher made all the difference”.

“I owe my life to my teacher” “My teacher was my biggest influencer” No longer do you hear students say these lines. For years now the role of teacher has been that of someone who knows it all.

Armed with subject knowledge s/he would set out on this huge task of teaching. “One system suits all”. They were expected to teach using the same methods as past generations, and any deviation from traditional practices was discouraged by supervisors or prohibited by myriad education laws and regulations. Thus, many teachers simply stood in front of the class and delivered the same lessons year after year, not being allowed to change what they were doing.

Reinventing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in significantly better schools

Fast forward ten years later that role has changed. A rather lot has been said about the role of a teacher as a guide, facilitator and the likes …… Besides just teaching content s/he in the near future would be required to • teach a skill, • build relationships, • teach content • and of-course use technology.

Let us look at some of the facts that teachers are facing on ground. We at Mentor, surveyed 110 school principals and head teachers in 9 cities across India to understand the challenges faced by the teaching community. While large classroom size was the most common problem faced (37%), the lack of quality teaching material came close to a second with 30% of teachers reporting it as a challenge. Poorly behaved students and lack of support were indicated as challenge areas by 23% and 19% teachers respectively. So, how do we then expect the teacher to Build relationships when she

can barely manage the class, remember their names let alone build a relationship.

Teaching is most effective when the teacher acts like a facilitator, uses technology whenever and wherever required to deliver content in a meaningfull manner. Lack of teaching supplies discourages teachers to perform in his/her best capacity.

Reinventing the role of teachers inside and outside the classroom can result in significantly better schools and better-educated students. But though the roots of such improvement are taking hold in today's schools, they need continued nurturing to grow and truly transform.

The rest of us -- politicians and parents, superintendents and school board members, employers and education school faculty -- must also be willing to rethink our roles in education to give teachers the support, freedom, and trust they need to do the essential job of educating our children.

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