Mentor Magazine January 2017; Volume 10, Issue 8

CONTENTs

January 2017 | Volume 10 Issue 08

Mentor Thoughts

COVER STORY

Sultan Speaks Page - 05

Guide on the Side

Life-Skills Based Education in Indian Schools Page - 32 Context, Challenges and Way Forward...

Pedagogy

School Librarianship Page - 06

A Changing Perspective...

School Leadership

School Leaders: Autonomy versus Accountability Page - 15 Striking a Balance for Effective Leadership...

Creating Active Citizens of tomorrow Page - 18 Need of the hour...

09 Innovation and Thought Leadership Anticipating future challenges...

School Governance

Self-regulatory practices in Unaided Private Schools Page - 21

Shunning bureaucratic practices...

Teacher’s Wellness Page - 24

Health threats for teachers...

Innovation

Technology is central to Flipped Learning Page - 27 Less talking, more doing...

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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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SULTAN SPEAKS

GUIDE ON THE SIDE

Everyone today has an opinion and they also have innumerable avenues to share it with the world.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, personal blogs, Snapchat and many other social media tools have made it simpler for everyone to voice their opinions and share their perspectives with the world.

There are so many opinions, views, reviews floating around that we are literally surrounded by ‘noise’ of information and content. There is too much happening out there and describing it as chaotic would be an understatement.

In a scenario like this, an important question that needs our attention is what will happen to the truth in the digital era? Information is literally available at our fingertips today and in quest to gain more information quickly, we seem to have sacrificed on its quality. In the digital world, if something is repeated a million times most people perceive it to be the truth, while things could actually be very different!

Opinions are construed as facts, while facts are skewed through interpretations and perspectives. This in turn,puts the onus on the reader or ‘consumer’ to use his/her judgment to sift through countless streams of

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information and prejudiced opinions to take a stand or subscribe to any school of thought. A discerning reader is rare; rarer still is empathizing and having a world view with a narrow lens.

In a scenario like this, an important question that needs our attention is what will happen to the truth in the digital era?

Clearly, the world we live in, has nothing in black or white, there are perspectives to everything!

Clearly, we cannot fall back on the age-old methods of teaching facts and passing information. How do we teach children, attributes like fairness, honesty and truth in today’s world?

Educators today have a challenging task of not only supporting children from being overwhelmed with information overload but also to guide them and help them understand that somewhere in the noise there is the reality of truth. The age-old description

of an ideal educator – ‘guide on the side’, sums up the roles of educators effectively in today’s scenario. The educator needs to be an active participant while students learn and engage and eventually inspire them to become curiositydriven learners who can filter information effectively. It is the beginning of a new year and a good time to reflect on the evolution of our role as an educator.

While we look forward to a fresh teaching-learning nexus let us welcome 2017 with positive energy and happiness! A new experience or learning, both boost confidence and selfbelief. This in turn, leads to more happiness and happy people make better educators.

Let’s pledge to make ourselves happy as we will make our children happier.

Happy New Year!

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

PEDAGOGY

SCHOOL LIBRARIANSHIP Ms. Seema Sohal

Ms. Seema Sohal took up librarianship right after finishing her Masters in Library and Information Science in Mohali.

She has been associated with Learning Paths School in Mohali, Punjab since 2008.

Ms. Sohal believes that any profession requires a classic blend of passion and hard work which when topped with encouragement from seniors makes for an enriching experience. In this article for MENTOR, she shares how school libraries could transform into learning agencies that encourage students to read and to learn effectively.

Libraries are the gateway of knowledge and librarians are the caterers of information.

The school library is the first place where a child is formally introduced to the world of books and reading.

Being a school librarian can be challenging sometimes. One needs to love the profession, enjoy reading books, be hard working, have patience and be ready to learn continuously.

Effective management skills and technological training are an added advantage!

with the job of acquisition, cataloguing, and the circulation of books. But in today’s scenario, the school librarians are engaging their students in reading projects, organizing book fairs, author visits, workshops and competitions to inculcate reading habits in them.

In order to bring awareness and inform the students, staff, as well as parents about their services and events, the school librarians have even started promoting and advertising about their resources and activities.

Gone are the days when school libraries had an isolated identity and the school librarians were just called store keepers.

Today, school librarians are active participants in the school curriculum. Traditional school libraries were only concerned

I strongly believe that one needs to come out of a stagnant zone to bring in a revolution. When I took up this profession, I faced criticisms like: ‘this profession is very low profile’; ‘you must be just doing a desk job’ or ‘you would only be taking substitution lessons’, ‘why don’t you try looking for another job’, etc which made me feel low and upset. Fortunately, my very first days were so delightful that it gave me the courage to take this profession seriously and that is how I started enjoying my job.

While I was given the freedom to initiate activities that would engage students in reading, I would like to share the activities that most schools/libraries in schools can undertake to make the school library a hub of learning.

Besides the regular and compulsory circulation of the library books, the following activities can be undertaken in the school to encourage the

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January 2017 students to read and use the school library extensively: Library Orientation: Every year the students can be introduced to the school library resources, services, instructed on how to use the library’s computerized catalogue - to make it easier for the students to browse books and also about the circulation procedure and rules. A digital library management software to automate library materials and services adds to its effectiveness.

Celebration of World Book and Copyright Day: Schools could recognize the importance of reading, and celebrate events like the ‘World Book and Copyright Day’. Besides that, the students must be encouraged to participate in book reading competitions.

The library must take care that each student takes part in such events. Various activities may be designed according to the classes- newspaper designing, book cover designing, biographical sketch of authors on bulletin boards, designing comic strips, bookmark making, picture dictionaries to name a few.

Celebration of Authors’ Birthdays: Events may also be organized to celebrate the birthday of children’s authors. This helps the students get to know the author, his/her writing style and the students are also motivated to read more. Celebrating birthdays of renowned authors like Enid Blyton, Ruskin Bond, Roald Dahl, Tagore, J.K Rowling and more must be considered.

The events could include short quizzes, greeting card making, introducing authors to the students through a beautiful display, fancy dress competition comprising of the characters discovered by the authors,etc.

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Celebration of National Library Week: Schools must celebrate the ‘National Library Week’ to mark the importance of a school library and reading.

Events could be organized for the week long celebrations: Grandparent’s Storytelling, Book Jacket Designing, Book Talks, Special Assemblies and more.

Today, the school librarians are active participants in the school curriculum.

Organizing Book Fairs: Organizing book fairs in the school premises and taking the students out to visit book fairs around the city is another way of engaging them in activities that promote reading. Such fairs organized mostly before the summer and winter vacations, allow students to pick up the book of their choice for reading during their break.

Organizing Authors’ Visit and Workshops for the students as well as the staff: Children’s authors and illustrators could be invited to take sessions and workshops for the students to

arouse their interests in reading and also further motivating them to develop their writing skills.

Book Reports: Students could be asked to write a book report of the book they have read. This further helps in developing the reading as well as the writing skills of the children. It could be done in any of the following ways - describing the character sketch, favourite character, twist in the book, plot of the book and so on. The motive behind this is to make the students share what they have read.

Summer Reading Challenge/ Reading Instruction Program: I started with this project in my initial years of the job. I always wanted the students to understand the content of the book and enjoy the real pleasure of reading. To achieve this goal, I played the dual role of a librarian as well as a reading instructor to attend to each child’s reading queries and help them in improving their reading.

In a library, the writing board was put up to practice reading with the junior wing. Every year the students participate in the ‘Summer Reading Challenge’ to win special awards. More than a competition, this project enables us to evaluate the reading level of

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an individual child and helps us identify weak students who need extra attention and assistance.

This project has proved to be successful as I have been able to see many good readers coming up from that level.

Inter House Library Quizzes: The school library could conduct an Inter House Library Quiz for all classes. Furthermore, the Library Quiz syllabus could be uploaded on the SchoolPad as well as the School Library Blog in the beginning of the session.

Each class must read the books in the library quiz syllabus followed by a preliminary round before the finalists are selected. These quizzes are a hit in the school and create a lot of excitement amongst the students.

Library Trophy: The spirit of competition brings better results and when students vie for winning the Library Trophy, the entire school is motivated to read, which is the ultimate goal.

Best Readers’ Award: Besides the Best House trophy, individual ‘Best Readers’ awards may be presented at the ‘Annual School Investiture Ceremony’.

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..all school librarians around the world should step into the world of ‘Blogging’ to tell their library’s stories.

School Library Blog: In today’s world, social media has become an integral part of our lives.

Many school libraries use traditional media-newspapers, newsletters, brochures and yearbooks, to showcase what they have and what they do.

But, how about using ‘Blog’ as our promotional tool? In fact, all school librarians around the world should step into the world of ‘Blogging’ to tell their library’s stories. I felt the need of having a school library blog to promote our library services, resources and events. So, I designed my dream school library blog.

The biggest problem was how to start with the process of making a blog. But thanks to the technological advancements, so many user friendly web tools are available today. One learns by

doing things and that is exactly how I learnt about developing the library blog, which was an interesting process. It keeps the reading community well informed about all the events in the library.

International School Library Month: October is celebrated as International School Library Month. It is a festival of books and authors and is celebrated all over the world to mark the importance of school libraries.

This event is conducted by the ‘International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)’ and gives greater insights about libraries around the world despite also serving as a platform for sharing information. The IASL has schools participating from Singapore, Canada, Croatia, USA, Hong Kong, Portugal, Romania and Hungary. It is a wonderful experience to receive bookmarks and learn more about them and their country.

The project ISLM is getting popular and recognized in the Indian School Library System, hereby proving school Libraries as strong portal for making ‘Book Friends’ across the world.

library@learning paths.in

COVER STORY

INNOVATION AND THOUGHT LEADERSHIP Ms. Padmini Sambasivam

Ms. Padmini Sambasivam started her career in 1996 as a teacher across different subjects in Bala Vidya Mandir, Chennai. In less than 7 years, she rose to become the founder Principal of Arsha Vidya Mandir, Chennai. As a leader, she has often strived to equip her students with the necessary skills that would help them face the challenges of the 21st century and encouraged teachers to continuously facilitate learning. She then moved on to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2010, to reengineer the academic process in a chain of schools across the Kingdom. She has also worked in the capacity of Director, Academics, for The PEEVEES Group. Currently serving as the Principal of Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Mrs. Sambasivam shares with MENTOR her experiential journey as a teacher, a leader and learner.

Personal Jouney Share your childhood education experience with us.

Born in the beautiful land of Kerala, I was fortunate to be part of a nurturing home which prepared me for life and helped me grow into a thinking, confident and empathetic individual.

As a student, I was consistently ranked among the top 3, and was a recipient of the National Merit Scholarship. I graduated with a Major in Zoology, from Stella Maris College, in Chennai.

My deep interest in Research and Sciences spurred me on to acquire a Masters degree in Environmental Toxicology, from the Post Graduate Institute Of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras. I then went on to do my M.Phil in Genetics, where I received an opportunity to work and interact with senior scientists. As part of my professional requirement, I went on to do my B.Ed and M.A in Education to equip myself as a trained teacher.

Later, I joined the NCC Air wing, as a cadet and was trained to

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be a solo pilot. I represented the Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry contingent in the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi, which helped me develop a sense of discipline and responsibility.

Balancing work and family life...

My journey has been varied and sometimes I have felt I have neglected my family. But they are the best I have since they have supported me throughout.

My husband has been a pillar of strength and a positive critic throughout. My children have kept me young, current and progressive in my thoughts and

action. I respect and love them for that!

Challenges faced at work...

Engaging with children gave me a fresh perspective to education. I found that schools are the most dynamic spaces, and a good teacher has to continuously upgrade his/her skills, to be able to keep up with the changing needs. I became aware that every teacher had to be passionate about the subject and the student equally.

I strongly believe that if one becomes too comfortable,

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it indicates stagnation. In education, one cannot afford to feel so, because when a teacher stagnates, it means a huge loss of opportunity for students and that to me is disservice to students.

To me, work is fun and exciting and being with young minds and seeing that look of awe and happiness in their eyes when they understand a concept, or connecting with an enquiring mind is exciting.

Personal opinion on a child’s education/future/career.

• I firmly believe in the unique potential of every child. All children possess something invaluable and their innate talents are waiting to be unleashed. There is a leader within every child who has something worthy and significant to contribute. My personal and professional goal is to motivate each student to learn and follow their passion, so that it remains a permanent learning experience.

• I do believe in this fast changing world, students cannot stop with finding solutions to problems they face, but must develop the skill to anticipate the future and become adept at problem seeking! This is the age of futurologists!

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• My dream is to send students into an educational adventure where students perceive learning as fun and trust that it is possible for all to dream, choose and excel in a field that they are deeply drawn towards. I believe that it is our responsibility to help each student grow with a selfbelief that they can make a difference to their community and environment. All this is possible only if we teachers are sensitive, caring and erudite.

Leadership What directed you into entering the field of education?

Initially, it was just destiny and I became a teacher when my children started going to school.

However, I love challenges and soon realized this field provided me a dynamic space that kept me constantly looking for avenues to improve processes on the outside and from within.

Also, nothing is more fulfilling than contributing to a person’s life – being a teacher gave me that opportunity every day, every minute in abundance. At the same time, education is one field that reciprocates on a unique scale – where you gain more than you give. Being a teacher has helped me find myself and gave purpose to my life!

What according to you is the purpose of education?

I believe the purpose of true education is achieved when knowledge is used to serve a larger purpose, a community … mankind! In this age when there is an explosion of information, it is up to us to discern and convert that information into knowledge and further use that knowledge to make choices that are right, to understand our choices have an impact on our environment, and feel accountable and responsible for it. If we as citizens, can believe in exercising this knowledge with responsibility, it would be ‘wisdom in action’ and of course the world would be a happier place to live in for all and not just a few!

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

I recently watched ‘Pink’ and I thought it was very relevant, especially because we are running a boarding school for girls. The movie put me in thought about legal awareness.

We are completely ignorant and unprepared for most situations.

We just do not seem to know our legal rights!

I am now in the process of putting together a programme where our girls are made aware of their legal rights as they will soon step out and become independent, working women.

I do believe all Indian women should be more legally aware and take actions when faced with situations common to our gender-biased and partisan society that still believes women must live, look and dress in a certain way to be accepted. I am not a feminist who wants equality in comparison, but I do strongly believe in equal justice for all that is here!

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January 2017

What do you do to upgrade your skills?

I enjoy listening to TED talks or other stimulating talks on a variety of fields. I interact with accomplished people and my peers who are also heads of schools – this helps me keep myself updated with trends and thought processes prevalent in not just education but the field of science, art, music, philosophy and psychology etc. I also enjoy reading articles published on current trends in education.

Thanks to technology there is no dearth for material! I consciously interact with young people, my students and staff to understand their hopes, aspirations and needs. I use their responses as pointers to hone my skills and to upgrade myself!

Governance How different is it to govern a boarding school? What are the challenges?

A boarding school is a unique place as opposed to a regular day school. Our children live with us for most part of the year! I personally look at this as an opportunity instead of a challenge because having them with us gives us an opportunity to make a marked difference in their lives. They come to us at an impressionable age and it is our duty to look after not just their academic growth but their mental, physical and emotional

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wellbeing too. It is crucial to build their characters and value system alongside monitoring their studies.

I have learnt that it is extremely important to include the student body in all discussions. I have found that a norm works better when a consensus has been reached with their inclusion and they are more accountable to see it by, since they were involved in the decision making process. Top-down approaches do not work and the word of a peer is more important in a boarding school, especially. It also builds in them, a sense of responsibility and discipline which would go a long way in shaping their character.

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

A good school is one which has a clear vision and a mission statement generated by the staff -- it should percolate to the last member . An organization must have a set goal/direction and all members should rise to the need of the organization. A good school is where people communicate with clarity and collaborate with team spirit and abundant energy.

Quantifiable objectives set on a time line are communicated across all spheres and the teachers are encouraged to

review them periodically, to enable them take a re-course if there is a lag. I do insist on a periodical review because the actual status of implementation of activities on a measurable rubric system is what would help a school to propel itself into a state of continuous improvement and growth.

On the other hand, a good school must care for every member be it the student/staff, and ensure their self-esteem is not affected.

I am very conscious that the happiness quotient in my school remains high.

I constantly endeavour to keep the cheer and enthusiasm fueled to make the much needed difference! My teachers not only know the game plan, but are also aware of the rationale behind everything so that they feel personally committed to the larger purpose and are confident that the plan is solid and will work.

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

A good leader has to show adaptability! A good leader will have to develop the skill to respond nimbly and deftly to emerging circumstances, rather than to continue hammering away at a game plan that is not working. To exercise this kind of thought leadership, the leader must be made of sterner stuff!

It takes a lot of courage and immense confidence to not be afraid of failure or taking risks.

I encourage them to question all that they have been traditionally following, like a true sceptic and continue with any process only if it works in today’s context!

I offer them that space to try new things by taking complete responsibility for it, in the event it fails. I believe in trying something after studying a given situation than stagnating.

This attitude has a huge impact

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on the learning community as a whole because this is a hidden curriculum for all our students as they are watching us every day and absorbing some of our traits subtly and making their own impressions about how they would lead their lives. Leaders of tomorrow cannot be exposed to an environment that is afraid of taking risks or the fear of failing!

They must be able to view failure as part of a process in life before they meet with success.

They must be able to adapt and understand that failure is just an alternate method that is not suitable for the product envisaged!

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

I believe a Principal is first among teachers and I am extremely conscious that I am an instructional leader.

Here are some of the areas I put my focus on: • Planning: I believe “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

I constantly encourage my teachers to have a clear set of objectives that are actualized on time. We have introduced the concept of ‘timebudgeting’ in order to help teacher plan their lessons well.

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• Impeccable discipline and a sense of accountability among the members.

• Innovate with thoughtleadership which looks for means to improve what currently exists.

• Building team spirit that will take a school from being good to being great!

My interest would be to soar ahead and create educational facilities with cutting-edge technology that adequately addresses the current and future needs of our students. I would like to associate myself with schools that learn continuously to meet the challenges and ensure the delivery of a successful educational programme for the future!

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

Welham Girls’ School offers a plethora of activities for our young women. Our USP is that we take each individual and groom her to become the best in the skill/s she possesses. There is something for every child here and our teachers are trained to identify and nurture whatever skill the child has. I believe this individual attention goes a long

way in helping the child choose the career she will excel in the most.

And excel many of them have.

Eminent film director and Oscar nominee Deepa Mehta, activist and politician Brinda Karat, Supreme Court lawyer and activist Malvika Rajkotia, and many more who have all walked out of the portals of Welham Girls’ School.

Innovation How has the teaching learning process changed from your times to now or a decade ago to now?

How do you/ the school meet the current needs of students?

We were like products from an assembly line, where students had to consider the teacher as a repository of information and the access to encyclopedia was a luxury! We did know a lot of facts but our ability to generalize was limited unless you had a nurturing home (which I was fortunate to have)!

Today, the teachers cannot afford to give the same kind of education to kids who are bombarded with a sea of information every minute. We cannot teach them in any way that promotes thinking that is convergent. We have to develop divergent thinking. We have to help them develop an inquiring mind that can ask the ‘why’ of

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January 2017 things and not just the ‘what and how’ that we all asked.

All along as an educationist, I have considered it my duty to build the capacities of the spirit of enquiry and creativity among students by offering them opportunities across various fields.

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

The school has been awarded the Best Boarding School for Girls across India for the fourth consecutive year. Our accomplished alumni in a wide array of fields stand testimony to the type of education we offer. Our students across the world be it in the national or international field, have made a mark for themselves by working in NGOs in small villages in the remotest parts of India, as educators, as entrepreneurs, as journalists, as Civil Servants making a difference to their community and some have returned to serve their alma mater. We have given them the confidence and the adaptability to thrive and they in turn not only help others survive but ensure that they flourish around them!

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? (already answered in parts) We endeavour relentlessly to offer a curriculum that is challenging, that matches the standards of the world, and that which would turn them into lifelong learners. We consistently work towards: • Refining and improving our methodology in teaching, • Nurturing a student-centered

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and friendly environment, • Engaging all students through a curriculum that offers a wide range of scope for all types of interest and passion, • Integrating technology into the learning process, • Providing an environment where learning by inquiry forms the foundation, where students are constantly encouraged to break stereotypes and barriers, design experiments, observe, tabulate and make inferences like young scientists.

I encouraged every teacher to perceive herself as a contributor and continuously learn to facilitate learning by design than by default.

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

It is proven that a student’s interest can be directly correlated with achievement.

Welham Girls’ long illustrious history and grand achievements stand testimony to the incredible

work done here! In every way that schools are measured, whether it is academically, in the fine and performing arts, or in sports, Welham has always excelled.

Our outward bound programmes, IAYP, field trips to industries, exchange programmes to schools in UK, USA, and Australia, International tours to NASA, Bhutan, and Italy- cultural exchanges, France for language immersion programme, art courses in Bournemouth, UK, all nurture the learning capacities of students.

Students get exposed to different forms of Music and dance, drama/ theatre , debate, MUN, World Scholars CUP where all our 5 teams have been selected to participate in the finals at Yale University are some samples of where our students learn to participate, appreciate and explore themselves. A wide array of exposure to many fields help in the development of their overall personality and widens their horizon and therefore their acceptance and tolerance of forms and culture that is different from their own.

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?

It is no secret that we are at the forefront of one of the most

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exciting and promising moments in history. Having said this, the question that has constantly motivated me in my pursuit towards excellence as an educator for the last two decades is: “Does our educational system equip today’s students adequately with the necessary skills to take advantage of the immense opportunity and also deal with the accompanying challenges with confidence?”

I am aware that the ‘winners’ or ‘thrivers’ of the 21st century will be those who possess strong analytical skills, a knack for foresight as problem seekers, adequate creativity and most necessarily good people skills that make them humane in their thoughts and action.

I have inherited a school known for its rich lineage and tradition, built on the firm foundation of ethics. My predecessors were visionaries, who are all known for their unique and selfless style of working.

When a Welhamite walks out of the gates, I wish to see her as an embodiment of compassion, courage, confidence and above all a person who cares about the means, a person who would never stoop to compromise, no matter how close and desirable the end seems.

‘Life is the mother of learning!’

Your views?

It is very true and it brings great joy as long as one can view every learning moment as an opportunity to raise one’s level from yesterday or from the previous moment. Life and the learning it offers is fun, provided one understands that one can compete only with one self and there is no urgency for recognition from the outside as long as there is an honest acknowledgement from within!

I am sure my joy ride has just begun

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tête-à-tête

QUICK

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MENTOR in conversation with Ms. Padmini Sambasivam

1. I would describe education as….

Liberating.

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

A difficult choice! I enjoy my role as a Principal; however, I do miss the time I enjoyed in the company of students.

3. What are the 3 qualities that schools can/should look at nurturing in students for them to be prepared for tomorrow?

• Curiosity and enquiry • Confidence to try new things • Never-give-up attitude

6. Balancing work and family life; what are the 3 things required to strike the perfect balance.

• When we love what we do, we find time for everything • You should be blessed with a family that supports you • Time management and a clarity of thought to prioritise according to the need 7. Your biggest learning from life has been…

Life is to live every moment to the fullest and let live!

4. A good leader has to show adaptability!” What are the 3 key qualities that educators/teachers must have/must build to connect with students today?

• If we want to bridge the generation gap, we, as educators, must question traditions to see if they are relevant in today’s context • Be a good listener • Be open to learning ourselves 5. You’ve said, “This is the age of futurologists..” Give us one technological advancement in recent times that you think has changed the way in which children learn. Why is it important?

To begin with, nothing can substitute a good teacher.

However, the interactive boards and virtual labs are a boon to understanding a concept better.

padmini.sambasivam@welhamgirls.com

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

SCHOOL LEADERSAUTONOMY VERSUS ACCOUNTABILITY Ms. Manju Arif

Ms. Manju Arif calls herself a technology enthusiast, a passionate teacher and a lifelong learner. Currently serving as Principal at Delhi Public School(North), Bengaluru, she has previously been associated with Mallya Aditi International School. A firm believer of inclusion, she believes diversity enriches the world and feels immensely privileged to be an active contributor in preparing children for the Fourth Industrial Age. Having been a Biology teacher herself, she believes in balancing scientific progress with ethics, morals and values thereby enabling children to make informed choices. In this article for MENTOR, Ms. Arif shares her thoughts on striking a balance for effective leadership.

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Abstract Student performance and learning outcomes in schools are greatly influenced by school leadership.

Research also shows that leaders who have greater autonomy and are more accountable steer innovation and change. Happy students, happy teachers and happy school leadership teams make happy schools. The UNESCO is looking at the overall wellbeing of children in schools through the SDG4. In a world that is so dynamic and where change is the only constant how do leaders find the right balance between autonomy and accountability? Will they want greater autonomy for individual institutions or will they work collectively to seek autonomy for their local community? The answers might lie in school leaders visualizing themselves

as change agents or building purposeful communities that resonate with collective efficacy.

“The more complex society gets; the more sophisticated leadership must become.”Michael Fullan Definitions: Autonomy • “Self-directing freedom and especially moral independence”Merriam Webster Dictionary • “Freedom from external control or influence; independence”Oxford Dictionary Accountability • “The quality or state of being accountable; especially: an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions”Merriam Webster Dictionary • “The fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility”Oxford Dictionary Effective Leadership • “Effective leadership is providing the vision and motivation to a team so they work together toward the same goal, and then understanding the talents and temperaments of each individual and effectively motivating each person to contribute individually their best toward achieving the group goal.” – Stan Kimer, president, Total Engagement Consulting.

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Research across the world on pedagogical practices shows that school level leadership impacts student performance and learning outcomes. School leaders who enjoy greater autonomy in their work delegate better, demonstrate trust in their teams, give them the power over what work they do and how they do it, while working towards a common vision. In such schools teachers in turn have greater autonomy, are happier and are therefore more effective. Happy schools make happy nations!

However, this autonomy if not used judiciously and with responsibility could swing the pendulum to the other side.

Autonomy without adequate knowledge, clear vision and sense of responsibility could be disastrous.

In school environments, this could lead to chaos. Therefore, we need to bring in a certain level of accountability. So how does this autonomy-accountability balance work?

It works by offering what most teachers usually want (and are given in countries like Finland and Singapore)— the freedom to work in ways that suit their individual strengths, talents, and preferred teaching styles — in exchange for strictly defined deliverables in terms of strong educational background, sound understanding of student psychology, quality teachinglearning experience, clear idea of curriculum, instruction and assessment, professional ethics, and other pedagogical needs and requirements. Effective leadership creates such an environment, resulting in a purposeful teaching community.

The shared vision and goal of such a purposeful community will enhance the collective efficacy of the school, which will ultimately lead to student success.

“When autonomy and accountability are jointly applied, students generally achieve

better grades, even when standard of living variances are taken into account,” Mathieu Bédard, “In Japan, for example, which is among the top countries in the most recent PISA rankings, teachers and principals are free to choose their student evaluation policies in 98% of cases, and the content of courses in 89% of cases.”

In the process of creating a purposeful community, school leadership must on the one hand constantly remain focussed on student outcomes, while on the other hand create demand, implement change, manage transition, evaluate and assess the results of this change. One of the many hats that school leaders wear today is that of a being agents of change. To lead systemic change, they need to know what, how, when and why to do it.

Change can be first order or second order. First order change is “an extension of past knowledge, implemented with existing knowledge and skills, within existing paradigms and consistent with prevailing values and norms”-Marzano, Waters, Mcnulty-2005. Second order change on the other hand “breaks away from the past, is outside of existing paradigms, is conflicting with present values and norms, is complex and requires new knowledge and skill.”

In the 21st century and the 4th Industrial Age, school leadership will be faced with the challenge of leading second order change.

This will require school leaders who will use the autonomy they have with great responsibility and will be accountable for the outcomes constantly. In these dynamic times, change will be the only constant.

“The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and change

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January 2017

amid order.” – Alfred North Whitehead. To achieve this a school leader will need to create a team where every teacher is - a change agent, is flexible, shares common ideals and beliefs, is intellectually stimulated, has sound knowledge of curriculum, instruction and assessment, monitors and evaluates good practices and is an optimizer.

Such leadership will steer innovation in an atmosphere of autonomy and accountability, thereby creating a culture of continuous self-improvement While school leaders with greater autonomy have greater freedom to implement change they also have greater responsibility to understand that change can be disturbing to some members of the team and so they must introduce change at a pace that team members can absorb. This will need them to be supportive, patient and realistic about their team’s abilities. They will need to provide their teachers with continuous professional development, feedback and celebrate their success.

This also brings us to the question that how much autonomy do schools actually

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want? While a certain level of autonomy is welcome to most school leaders, many schools appear to find the stand alone model uncomfortable and are clustering together in various groups.

Effective and empowered school leadership can transform an entire generation of students and help them become global citizens

From the point of view of pupils and their families, the likely collapse of any in-house strategic co-ordination and community governance issue could have serious consequences.Also, are academic performance results the only measure of student learning outcome, or are we looking at a holistic healthy outcome? In the latter case, accountability is much larger as we are measuring many domains which cannot be assessed by traditional methods and for

which teacher competencies are not well developed.

Educational leadership strives to move towards accountable autonomy. The term accountable autonomy was coined by the political scientist Archon Fung who stresses upon, ‘a conception of centralized action that counter-intuitively bolsters local capability without improperly and destructively encroaching upon it.’ The Chicago School Community adopted this method where the school with the local community addressed the needs of the local population.

Effective and empowered school leadership can transform an entire generation of students and help them become global citizens who are sensitive and empathetic to the needs of the world. Empowered by their school experience they will be ready to face the challenges of an uncertain tomorrow.

“Leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all factors that contribute to what students learn in school.” – Kenneth Leithwood.

manjuarif@gmail.com

CREATING ACTIVE CITIZENS OF TOMORROW Ms. Prarthana Ramesh

Ms. Prarthana Ramesh currently works with the Bala Janaagraha programme at the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy as Manager (Partnerships).

She has previously worked with ‘Dream a Dream’ on their experiential camps for young children and drafting content for their curriculum. She has also worked with the ‘Centre for Legislative Research and Advocacy’ in drafting policy briefs.

Ms. Ramesh has been associated with the New Indian Express as a reporter and AIESEC Russia as an exchange participant on the BRIC project in Samara, Russia. She was nominated as one of the 25 emerging ‘Not for Profit’ leaders at the fifth American Express Leadership Academy in India and also represented Janaagraha at the FNF Workshop in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In this article for MENTOR, Ms. Ramesh highlights the relevance of civic education to enhance leadership qualities in school students.

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The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture.

India falls under the category of a ‘Flawed Democracy’, meaning that while the country is democratized to the extent of fair and free elections, the country demonstrates low levels of participation in politics, an underdeveloped political culture and issues in the functioning of the Government.

Our citizens are minimally engaged in the affairs of the city around them, except when faced with service issues which affect their daily routine. This apathy is manifested in the low engagement and turnout at the civic body elections.

Civic Learning in Children Keeping in mind the challenges of engaging with citizens in urban India, promoting civic learning among children can be an effective strategy to inculcate the values of practicing citizenship.

Civic learning done right can help to develop “critical thinking, problem solving skills, communication, collaboration, creativity, initiative and innovation” (Torney-Purta & Wilkenfeld, 2009). A Stanford University Report echoes similar views. The report outlines that students exposed to civic learning receive balanced knowledge, skills and values, allowing them to become effective members of the society (Youth Civic Development & Education Report, 2014). The works of Kahne and Middaugh (2008) found that civic learning opportunities can effectively develop civic commitments and capacities. Accordingly,

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they argue that “the education and preparation of students to become informed and engaged citizens is essential for their empowerment and for the overall health of our democracy.”

However, there is much to be improved when it comes to the current state of civic education in India.

Krishna Kumar (Delhi University Professor and Former Director, NCERT) strongly professes that civic education is crucial in making informed and responsible citizens and is the need of the hour for a growing democracy like India. He also mentions that the current civics and political curriculum does not delve extensively into the concept of local governance; neither does it have the requisite content that will facilitate active citizenship.

Jagdeep Chhokar, a former professor of IIMA reiterates this point, on the inadequacies of existing civic education, and advocates the importance of civic education in today’s times given its direct connection with responsible civic participation.

Education must also act as a powerful instrument of profound social transformation that helps address problems of terrorism, violence and lawlessness.

“Large proportions of citizens are acutely conscious of their fundamental rights and demand their enforcement by the state, while being either ignorant or oblivious of their duties as citizens. This is one of the major ills of the Indian society. The civics and social studies curricula at various levels of education do not seem to have been effective in delivering the appropriate level of citizen education.

There is, therefore, an urgent need to devise mechanisms to ensure that all citizens, not only school and college students become conscious of their responsibilities as citizens.”

“At the school level Civic Education or Political Science is just seen as an easy subject which can help one score well.

Textbooks do not have relevant content to some extent to transform citizens into better ones nor is civic education taught in the manner where it will serve this purpose.”

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He further states that democracy involves hardship, the hardship of unceasing responsibility of every citizen. Where people do not take a continuous and considered part in public life, there can be no democracy in any meaningful sense of the term.

Civic education is crucial in making informed and responsible citizens and is the need of the hour for a growing democracy like India

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Today, simple basic education of merely literacy and numeracy is not sufficient. There is a need for a holistic and balanced education for young children in schools across the world that encompasses religious and spiritual values as well as adherence towards law, order and justice. Education must also act as a powerful instrument of profound social transformation that helps address problems of terrorism, violence and lawlessness.

In this context, we believe that there is a need to fill this gap, among the youth of this country – of knowledge, understanding and encouragement for young citizens to participate on aspects

related to civic issues in their neighbourhood; to contribute in improving their own quality of life; to participate and not be a spectator; to collaborate and not be a complainant.

As part of improving the “Quality of Citizenship”, we as educators must ensure that a practical civic learning programme is in place with the objective of transforming today’s children into active citizens of tomorrow.

A programme that engages them on aspects related to local governance and active citizenship, both through classroom sessions and field projects, is the need of the hour.

prarthana.ramesh@janaagraha.org

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

SELF-REGULATORY PRACTICES IN UNAIDED PRIVATE SCHOOLS Mr. M.L Babbar

Mr. M L Babbar is the Education Director of DCM Education Society, New Delhi and the Chairman for National Progressive Schools’ Conference,New Delhi. Mr. Babbar is an active member of the executive body at NCERT and has been in the education space for 48 years now having served as Principal for several institutes. Proud recipient of several awards including the National Award for Education in 1993, he currently works closely with the State and Central Boards suggesting remedial measures of improvement to the Government and as education consultant for schools. In this article for MENTOR, Mr Babbar highlights current issues faced in Private Unaided Schools and suggests measures to overcome those challenges.

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Private unaided recognized schools have been under heavy fire from the Government and some vested interest sections of people. In fact, there were times when the abolition of these schools was demanded on the ground that they are exclusive, expensive and charge heavy fees and that there are malpractices in the management of funds. It is alleged that the private schools lack accountability, transparency in admissions, manner of accounting and operation of school funds, recruitment of teachers, payment of salaries, promotion policy for students, and reserving seats for the economically weaker sections, etc. thereby threatening the independent functioning and autonomy of the schools. The Delhi Education Act & Rules, 1973 and Education Acts of other states, though professing to regulate education in private

independent schools, to say the least, have strangulated it.

Failing to level up the standard of education in their own schools the Government is hell bent on leveling down the quality education in private schools.

There is no dearth of money with the Government but due to the labyrinth of bureaucratic procedures very little money reaches the schools.

Nevertheless, it is gainsaying that the quality of education imparted in unaided recognised private schools, is spoken of in high laudatory terms. Parents want their children to get the best education available in these schools. It is their fundamental right.

They do

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Practice Transparency Admissions

not want to put their children in the dysfunctional Government school system. Private schools stand for quality education which briefly put, would mean turning out fully evolved persons equipped with the necessary tools to face life fairly and squarely. Private schools are well known for instilling in the children the spirit of adventure, sense of discipline, loyalty, patriotism and humanism.

To protect the very survival, Private Unaided Recognised Schools have continually been meeting the concerned authorities to explain their view point to dispel any misunderstandings and misconceptions they have clung to. In order to impart good education even to the children studying in state run schools, Private school managements have offered their expertise and infrastructure and assured that they want to co-operate with the Government to maintain quality.

Three very essential inputs: (i) Leadership of the school (ii) Quality infrastructure, and (iii) Pleasant learning climate are unfortunately missing in State run schools. In an age of privatization of education, if the Government improves these in their own schools, the demand for Private schools would automatically decrease. It is not a

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question of ‘money’; it is primarily a question of ‘management’.

There is no dearth of money with the Government but due to the labyrinth of bureaucratic procedures very little money reaches the schools. Private Un-aided Schools utilize every penny for creating the best of learning infrastructure. That is why even a class IV employee, a laborer and the likes prefer to send their children to private schools.

Having said all this, let us be frank and complete the soul searching. Somewhere, there exists a feeling of uneasiness.

But, woefully, the Government believes in painting all schools with the same brush since it serves their political interest.

Therefore, the Private Unaided Recognised Schools also need to put their schools in order.

Various associations of Private Unaided Recognised Schools in the country are not legislative organizations. They function on mutual trust and mutual wisdom.

This calls for self regulation and self regulation calls for self reflection. Let us do that. It is the crying need of the hour.

Following are a few steps suggested to wash out misconception carried by the Government and some vested interests:

• No donations or capitation fee, if any, in any form linked to admissions be accepted.

• Admission process for all classes, including PrePrimary, be done by adopting fair and transparent system which is above board and socially auditable.

• It has been noticed that some schools give admission in class XI to outsiders who have scored higher percentage in class X thus depriving their own children of their right to continue in the school. This must be discontinued.

• The practice in some schools, if any, of giving pass certificate to failures on condition of their taking School Leaving Certificate should be discarded.

Recruitment of Teachers Teachers are the most significant and human infrastructure. They are the conscience of the society.

• The recruitment of teachers should be done as per the provisions of State Education Act and Bye-laws of CBSE/ State Board. The processes and the selection should be fair and transparent.

• In some schools, teachers are kept on temporary/ ad-hoc basis for years. In case of teachers on long leave, ad –hoc /contractual appointments may be made for a very specified period of time. Such appointees should be given full salary and all admissible allowances as per rules.

• Unqualified/under-qualified teachers should not be

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appointed. Let us remember: “An un-taught child is better than an ill-taught child.”

It is suggested that Associations of Schools should evolve a self-monitoring mechanism and also constitute an internal grievance cell to look into the complaints and advise resolution.

us remember that schools primarily belong to the service sector and not to the commerce sector. It is strongly suggested that such a practice, wherever it exists, should be stopped.

• Surplus revenue be ploughed back into school funds for development of the school infrastructure.

• As per CBSE rules, a student appearing in Class XII Board Examination should have studied a subject for two

years—in class XI as well as in class XII. But there are schools which (for some reason) allow change of subject in class XII. This is against the CBSE Bylaws. This should stop.

Recommendations It is suggested that Associations of Schools should evolve a selfmonitoring mechanism and also constitute an internal grievance cell to look into the complaints and advise solutions.

Accounting and Operation of School Funds Unfortunately, lack of full transparency in this aspect of school administration by some has brought Private Schools a bad name. Therefore, it is necessary that: • The Accounts should be properly & transparently maintained. The most serious and damaging charge leveled against the Private Unaided Recognized schools is that they make huge profits and siphon off funds for their own personal benefits. Let

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mlbabbar@gmail.com

TEACHER’S WELLNESS Ms. Bharati Jajoo

Ms. Bharati Jajoo co-founded Ergo Works Inc. in 2003. Ergo Works Inc. is the pioneer of Bengaluru’s innovative on-site health care services. She is an Occupational Therapist and Certified Ergonomic Assessment Specialist who has developed and implemented ergonomic programs of various levels at many corporate offices, hospitals as well as in the industry - manufacturing, assembly lines etc.

She writes and presents at various forums dealing with work-life balance issues, injury prevention, health awareness creation, back safety etc. Prior to Ergo Works Inc. Ms. Jajoo worked with O’Connor Hospital San Jose, California, and also at several multispecialty health care organizations on the east and west coasts of USA. A member of American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and a licensed Occupational Therapist for the State of California, she is also a lifetime member of Indian society of ergonomics and all India Occupational Therapist Association (AIOTA). In this article for MENTOR, Ms. Jajoo highlights the neglected areas of physical and mental health and well-being of teachers.

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Where it begins “Good Morning,” I said cheerfully wishing the teacher in my son’s school. Ms. Deepa, who is generally bright and cheerful wishes me back, but this time I can see the pain behind her smile. Upon asking if she was OK, she stated, “Oh it’s my back yet again! I have been to many doctors and therapists over the last few years but my back has its own mind and it acts up every now and then!”

I look around her workspace and quickly scan her work environment with the occupational therapist and ergonomist eye, I notice so many things that are routinely done across daily chores at school, which pose risk to people working in that area leading to awkward postures, unnecessary physical strains, etc.

work sitting and working in an environment not suitable for her body’s anthropometric measurements. This does not mean that everything around us must be customized, however it must be “adjustable”!

I ask Ms. Deepa if she can rest her back against the backrest of the chair and if her chair can go up a little or if she can place her monitor at a higher level! She fiddles with chair but nothing moves. She has to make do with what she has and continue doing her work. Barely 5.1 inches, Ms. Deepa is sitting at a desk meant for a 6.2 inches tall person!

A teacher’s duty today is not limited to only teaching in classes. They must prepare for lessons, assess students’ exercises, perform nonteaching clerical duties, prepare for external school reviews,

Wellness is combination of many factors including but not limited to physical, mental, social, spiritual, financial wellbeing. All these areas influence one’s well-being. Most common wellness concerns faced by teachers today is complains of musculoskeletal pain. Students are also dealing with many issues including: overloaded backpacks, improper school furniture and the ergonomic challenges of the new electronic mobile devices.

Current challenges

She has eventually used her body to accommodate and fit into her environment. Among the complex array of risk factors for many back, neck and other musculoskeletal pains, this is definitely one of them. Ms. Deepa like many other teachers spends all her eight hours at

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January 2017 musculoskeletal pain was 73.5%. The most common musculoskeletal pains were localized on the shoulders (31.6%), upper back (27.8%), neck (27.2%) and ankles and/ or feet (24.0%). Circulatory and respiratory problems and Common Mental Disorders were associated with pain in the shoulders, upper back, neck and ankles and/or feet.

All the above factors have a big impact on a teacher’s happiness and the ability to deal with the stress and demands that arise in the classroom scenario.

participate in continuing professional development, all in addition to their core job of teaching. Thus, teachers may suffer from mental and physical health problems due to variety of job functions they are expected to perform. Many overseas studies show that teachers are subjected to heavy occupational stress that could adversely affect their mental health status. In addition to occupational stress, teachers, during their careers, faced physical health problems that were caused or worsened by their jobs.

Teachers spend all the day on their feet, pointing, bending and squatting down to low tables. No wonder most of them experience a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders, especially concerning the lower back, neck and shoulders.

Shoulders and back pain for teachers may be caused by incorrect working posture during marking homework at a pupil’s desk in primary schools and prolonged writing on the upper part of a blackboard. Moreover, standing for a long time may lead to leg and lower-back pain as well. Most past studies on teachers focused on work stress,

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mental health problems, or a single type of physical health problem. Focusing on school teachers’ occupational health is important, but little recent research is available. Thus, the health threats confronted by school teachers in most countries are relatively unknown.

Many overseas studies showed that teachers were subjected to heavy occupational stress that could adversely affect their mental health status

A study by ergonomists at the United Kingdom’s Loughborough University found that 88% of examined teachers had experienced back pain, 73% had experienced neck and shoulder pain, 53% had suffered through knee problems, and 33% reported hip problems. Altogether, 82% of those surveyed reported suffering pain from some form of musculoskeletal ailment at least once a week.

The overall prevalence of

Here are some tips for teachers Determine some of the challenges in your situation. Is your pain developing after • Standing for too long while teaching?

• Reaching up to media on the wall?

• Bending over desks?

• Sitting at your desk?

• Using your computer or laptop?

See if you can modify that task or activity, if you are not able to do, consult a health care professional.

Sitting/Computer Ergonomics: Chairs should be kept at such a height that your feet fall flat on the ground without angling the knees up or down too much.

The armrest should be at a comfortable height, and the desk should be placed so that you can type or grade papers while keeping your elbows at a right angle, with your hands naturally over the desktop or keyboard.

Monitor screen should be at eye level, back should be rested against back rest of the chair Support Devices for Electronics and Mobile Devices: Although budgets are tight, support devices are a cost-saving

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investment, as they are sure to help in keeping teachers injuryfree and productive. Since most of us work from mobile devices, a stand for your laptop or tablet will help to place these devices at an eye level when working, prevents eye strain and neck and back pain. Ergonomic, wireless keyboards with touch pads allow both mobility and reduce strain on the wrist and arm.

Modify teaching positions and keep moving! Of course, none of these solutions will be effective if teachers do not move throughout the day, and take breaks from stagnate teaching positions.

Stress Stress is inevitable for everyone.

It manifests in various ways.

Stress is not bad, however when we cannot cope with it in a positive way, it becomes unmanageable leading to poor coping. This results in poor physical health and behavior changes, such as anger, irritation, and frustrations.

Teachers face stress and often tend to feel burned out. It is critical to learn to recognize if stress is leading to unhealthy physical and mental health patterns!

As a general help to cope from stress deep breathing exercises,

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relaxation exercises, mental imagery techniques, yoga, meditation, exercises can all be good tools to cope with stress in healthier ways.

A healthy and stress free workplace makes for satisfied and high performing employees.

Such school employees are more likely to be happy in their position of work and tend to stay longer.

Towards the ideal learning space Teaching is a noble professions.

Teacher nurture the next generation and are likely role models for all their students.

Teachers who establish a healthy work life balance, have more energy and serve as healthy lifestyle role models for their students. Healthy children are fast learners. Hence, one sees a simple two-step chain with the philosophy that whatever the teacher or role model does, is easily adopted by the students.

Healthy employees are a crucial component of a happy and progressive school. A healthy and stress free workplace makes for satisfied and high performing employees.

Such school employees are more likely to be

happy in their position of work and tend to stay longer.

It is very beneficial for schools to carry out workplace wellness programs that cover the entire school staff. By creating a culture of healthy lifestyle - from being more physically active to eating healthier foods and carrying out hygienic practices, wellness programs improve employee morale and increase an individual’s ability to focus, among many other benefits.

The teacher’s mental and physical health gets impacted by occupational health risk factors. They are prone to physical health issues such as occupational risk factors for development of musculoskeletal injuries.

Basic classroom ergonomics and developing wellness programs for teachers can help create healthier environment for teachers, thereby being healthier role models for children. With the ample benefits that a wellness program offers, the teachers ought to look after their wellness to become catalysts in changing schools and communities for the better.

References: http://www.goldtouch.com/ergonomicsclassroom-teacher-edition/ http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_ arttext&pid=S1415-790X2015000300702

bharati@ergoworksinc.com

INNOVATION

TECHNOLOGY IS CENTRAL TO FLIPPED LEARNING Ms. Karishma Kotwani

Ms. Karishma Kotwani is an Associate at R.N. Podar School Mumbai working in strategy, innovation and teacher training.

She has closely worked on designing and bringing innovative teaching practices to the school and practitioners across the country via series of hands-on workshops known as LSIx (Learn Shift Indiax).

She also works actively with students on building Leadership skills through real world projects & assignments. Prior to this she was a Founding Member & Head of Operations at 3.2.1 Education Foundation, and successfully setup a high quality low income English Medium School under the PPP Model. With a corporate stint of seven years at Motilal Oswal Private Equity & TCS, she has always been interested in working towards sustainable models for change in education for all children. Ms. Kotwani is a qualified teacher from the Bombay Teachers Training College and holds an MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. In this informative piece for MENTOR, Ms. Kotwani has outlined the Flipped Classroom approach to learning and its impact on every student in every class every day.

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Reversed Learning The flipped classroom approach to learning is a pedagogy in which the typical classroom lecture and homework elements in a subject are reversed. It is based on the Socratic approach to learning, where the teacher/ instructor sends instructions to students beforehand either in the form of videos or in the form of lecture notes. This approach requires teachers to curate as well as create their own repository of lecture videos to be shared with students, based on grade specific topics as outlined in the curriculum. Teachers record direct instructions using video cameras as well as technology tools like Youtube, Camtasia Screen capture, Edpuzzle etc. which are then shared with students to be viewed at home on a given day.

Through this, learning becomes self-paced and self-directed.

With relevant content available to students anytime, anywhere, they can optimize their learning and refer to the videos multiple times. Students can also

pause and refer to the video when needed to reinforce their individual understanding.

With relevant content available to students anytime, anywhere, they can optimize their learning and refer to the videos multiple times.

Through this model the teacher becomes a facilitator who guides, mentors and ensures that every student gets personalized learning. As the teacher moves away from direct instructions, there is deeper engagement of the class through higherorder discussions, hands-on activities, problem solving and peer-to-peer learning. In our experience at RN Podar School, we have found students to be more active in class as they are enthusiastic to learn through real time challenges and case

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studies wearing the hat of a problem-solver, decision-maker, and meaning-maker, rather than being merely a passive listener and note-taker.

With the flipped approach, the teacher mentors and guides the students in class through the process of problem solving.

The teacher, who was earlier hard-pressed for time to complete the comprehensive syllabus given that a large portion of class was spent in fact sharing, can now devote time to help struggling students, encourage group activity and monitor their progress through the year. Most often when a teacher teaches a concept to a class of 40-50 students, every student’s grasping power is different and many would have gaps in their understanding of the concept. These gaps in knowledge or misconceptions generally manifest when the student sits to solve complex problems. “By adopting the

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‘flipped classroom’ method of teaching with the aid of technology, one can do away with the age-old method of teaching, which was teachercentric, into a student-centric classroom. The teacher is able to spend a lot of face time with the students in the flipped method and discuss the higher order thinking skill questions one-on- one. The students come to the class with pre-requisite knowledge of the matter, so it becomes easier for the students to raise questions or clear doubts, thus enhancing their

knowledge and transforming the monotonous lecture method into an interactive and energetic classroom.

The flipped classroom method provides the right ingredients to students to use it in their own recipes of learning,” says Ms. Sudeshna Bose, Grade 9 Math teacher.

With the flipped approach, the teacher mentors and guides the students in class through the process of problem solving.

Thus, problem-based learning being student-centered makes a fundamental shift-from a focus

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January 2017 supported through the entire process of transformation. The idea being radically novel for all stakeholders was discussed at length with parents, students and teachers. It was ensured that adequate information was disseminated to all beneficiaries through orientations and regular organised sessions for solving issues. This ensured a buy in from all stakeholders which were critical for the successful rollout of this innovative way of learning.

on teaching to a focus on relevant learning. There is greater scope for flexibility in the entire learning process and students are able to take control of their own learning. They learn to be independent and responsible learners, constructing their own knowledge as they tackle information and analyse, interpret and critically evaluate and apply it to solve problems.

Further, the teacher also gets an opportunity to clear any misconceptions that students might have and consolidate their learning. In higher grades, concise and in-depth videos of laboratory experiments also created by our teachers, go a long way in helping students revise concepts and to be better prepared for their practical exams.

Technology is central to flipped learning and hence identifying the right technology, technology providers and securing the necessary technical training is vital.

The teachers gradually came on board as they saw a positive response from students. Faculty development workshops were conducted and teachers were

To facilitate this entire process of flipping online resources like Google Apps for Education, EDpuzzle, etc. for sharing, communication and collaboration were used.

Technology is central to flipped learning and hence identifying and securing necessary technical training is vital.

Each school is bound to have a unique technology infrastructure.

Since the flipped classroom approach relies on the usage of technology, integrating with existing school infrastructure is critical for a successful roll out of this approach to student learning. The school’s partnership with Phyzok Learning Solutions has led to the conceptualization, development and implementation of Flipped Learning, especially for subjects like science & mathematics for

Initiating the change When we initiated this model of teaching and learning, students got excited with the new approach, since it bridged the gap between the way children learned outside of class and the way they approach it in the class.

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class 6-12, making it the first school in the country to introduce the same and joining the ranks of HBS, MIT, and Stanford.

With the flipped approach, the teacher mentors and guides the students in class through the process of problem solving.

The Lasting Effect With this pioneering pedagogy, we have witnessed classrooms becoming more active and the teacher turning into a coach, where the classroom becomes a studio in which students collate, collaborate and put into practice what they learn online.

other practitioners/ schools, especially in the area of incorporating technology and design thinking to teach 21st century skills to all students. This also greatly helps to emerge and become the voice of innovation and encouragement to other practitioners.

“As a teacher, the Flipped Classroom approach gives me more classroom time; which I can utilise to proceed further with the concepts, delve deeper, create further curiosity and engage students in activities.

It also makes students take ownership of their learning, thus making them more responsible.

Recording videos, using online quizzes, feedback portalsetc. makes learning and assessment fun for students and helps in generating better and faster results for me with detailed analysis,”says Ms.Olicia D’Cruz, Grade 9 and 10 Biology Teacher.

Further, to bridge the education divide, educators must welcome new ways of integrating educational technology, which is first incubated within their schools and then shared with the larger audience of students, teachers, school leaders, parents and policy makers.

Flipped classrooms have transformed the one-to-many model of passive teaching into a one-to-one active coaching.

What the flipped approach does particularly well is to bring about a distinctive shift in priorities— from merely covering material to working towards mastery of it.

It is important for schools today to share best practices through hands on workshops with

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karishmakotwani@rnpodarschool.com

January 2017

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MENTOR THOUGHTS

LIFE SKILLS BASED EDUCATION IN INDIAN SCHOOLS Ms. Prachi Misra

Ms. Prachi Misra is a researcher at LXL Ideas Pvt. Ltd. Bangalore. She holds a Masters degree in Women’s Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Honors in Political Science from Lady Sri Ram College, University of Delhi.

Ms. Misra has worked on various research based policy advocacy projects focused on the gender dynamics of livelihood, life-skills education, climate change and agricultural economy. Her primary research interest and prior publications revolve around issues involving feminist perspectives of life skills education, environment, religion and popular culture.

She was also an editorial columnist for The Lucknow Tribune and Head Editor for Scintilla Magazine initiated by Medical Students Association of India (2015-16). As an education management consultant, she has worked with multiple non-profit organizations on establishing monitoring and evaluation systems for life-skills training modules. This article for MENTOR contextualizes life skills and discusses challenges faced in implementation followed by possible solutions to ensure effective integration of life skills in pedagogy.

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Concept and Context What comes to our mind when we think of ‘school subjects’? Math, Languages, Science, Social Sciences and further detailed specializations emerging from these ‘core’ subjects are the most common responses. Placed at the pinnacle of hierarchy, these subjects are discrete with well-defined boundaries.

Student learning outcomes for them can be measured easily using quantifiable assessment tools. Knowledge however, is a continuously evolving process that cannot be compartmentalized, since subject domains are bound to overlap and co-exist. Thus, it is essential to discuss ‘Life-Skills’ and map the global definitions vis-a-vis the national agenda for integrating it in education.

The sections below give an overview of Life-Skills and their categorization by different agencies: World Health Organization • Decision Making • Problem-Solving • Creative Thinking • Critical Thinking • Communication • Interpersonal Skills • Self-Awareness • Empathy • Coping with Emotions • Coping with Stress

Hilton-Pallegrino Framework Cognitive Competencies • Cognitive Processes • Knowledge • Creativity and Innovation Intra-personal Competencies • Work Ethic • Positive Self- Evaluation • Intellectual Openness • Inter-personal Competencies • Teamwork and Collaboration • Leadership Partnership for 21st Century Skills Learning Skills • Critical Thinking • Creative Thinking • Collaborating • Communicating Literacy Skills • Information Literacy • Media Literacy • Technology Literacy Life Skills • Flexibility • Initiative • Social Skills • Productivity • Leadership • Challenges Though the international standards for life skills seem to have a holistic development approach, it is essential to contextualize them in the Indian

January 2017 education scenario. Education experts highlight that large-scale implementation of the National Curriculum Framework struggles with ill-equipped leaders to spearhead the movement of education transformation.

Certain exemplary student learning outcomes and local context realities being taken into consideration, either remain miniscule or are confined to specific communities with a limited reach.

Challenges Systemic Issues Lack of robust systems that ensure rigorous and unbiased content development, teacher training and impact evaluations, cripple the agenda of life-skills based education. Research and development is a highly neglected domain with lack of resources, limiting the scope for innovation. Also, evaluation of life-skills remains abstract and this pushes it further below in the subject hierarchy for school curriculum. These systemic lacunae are often acknowledged and debated upon without escalating them into concrete corrective measures.

Conventional Approach Success in the 21st century calls for learning outcomes that go beyond marks scored by students. While debating over ‘quality of education’, the focus on improved test scores and related educational achievement has been dominant. Life skills have become a part of this discourse recently. Experiential and interactive learning is one of the key tools in life skills education. Teachers, however are still set in their ways of traditional hierarchical teacherstudent relationship.

This not only reduces students’ learning outcomes but also results in failure to achieve a mind-set shift of teachers

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from perceiving themselves as authoritative figures to being facilitators in learning. High teacher dependency along with lack of equipped teachers disintegrates the scope and efficiency of integrating life skills in pedagogy. The present generation of teachers have undergone a conventional schooling system wherein life skills discourse was completely absent. This has both a positive and negative impact. While some teachers acknowledge the requirement of this intervention, there are others who uphold the conventional method and are not open to change.

Though the international standards for life skills seem to have a holistic development approach, it is essential to contextualize them in the Indian education scenario.

Lack of Clarity: Life skills are often confused with value education. Problem solving, effective communication etc. cannot be taught through the conventional lecture method.

Many schools in India continue to survive with age-old moral

science periods wherein the teacher is expected to impart values to students, expecting them to soak in the wisdom and cope with the challenges life throws at them eventually.

Similarly, teaching vocational skills does not ensure that the individual is well-equipped to survive and adapt to changes in the world that lies beyond the academic or instructional space.

Way Forward What are the possible solutions for overcoming challenges and enhancing pedagogical experiences for life skills education? Any module or pedagogy which attempts to integrate life skills should adhere to the following key features: Relevance and Sustainability: The pedagogy needs to be contextualized based on the socio-cultural and economic ethos of the stakeholders. A life skills module cannot function effectively if it does not address the uniqueness of these facets that the students, teacher and parents represent. This adaptability will also ensure that the methodology is sustainable in the long run.

Scale: Increasing the reach of life skills education in schools is largely dependent on infrastructural amenities and trainers. Therefore, a cost-

effective curriculum can be developed by revisiting the existing modules and addressing problems in implementation due to inefficient resource allocation and/or insufficient resources.

High teacher dependency along with lack of equipped teachers disintegrates the scope and efficiency of integrating life skills in pedagogy.

Impact: This is an extremely challenging area since assessment of Life Skills is a long term process and its impact can be studied with an in-depth and regular tracking of the students’ life cycle, making it a time-consuming and expensive process. Since learning outcomes are primarily dependent on quantifiable results, research on impact assessment tools for Life

Skills Based Education(LSBE) modules is vital.

Collaboration: An alliance of experimental institutions, LSBE specialists, policy makers and other stakeholders in the education domain will support in devising a module that incorporates the above mentioned features and also build a network of sharing best practices.

Research and Innovation Life skills pedagogy has enormous scope for innovation. Myriad tools can be used in their existing forms or improvised upon to make the process engaging. Extensive ‘actionresearch’ that goes beyond theoretical analysis of curriculum and provides innovative and effective pedagogical solutions is quintessential. Revolutionizing the existing teacher-training practices along with parent/ community involvement and sensitization are substantial solutions to escalate awareness for life skills.

Besides having the attributes mentioned above, life skills education needs to be student/ learner centric. A research study conducted by LXL Ideas with over 200 private school teachers across India revealed that 70% of the teachers have a ‘formal authority’ style of teaching.

LSBE requires patience and guidance by teachers which is sometimes not suitable for an authoritarian style teacher. An innovative method using cinema to teach life skills that is relatively less dependent on the instructor will be explored in the next article in the series.

References: Grasha, A. F. (1994). A matter of style: The teacher as expert, formal authority, personal model, facilitator, and delegator. 42(4), 142149.

Reimers, F. M., & Chung, C. K. (2016).

Teaching and Learning for the Twenty-First Century. Harvard Education Press.

Singh, B.D., & Menon, R. (2015) Life Skills in India. Central Square Foundation.

Robinson, K., & Aronica, L. (2016). Creative Schools: The grassroots revolution that’s transforming education. Penguin Books.

WHO, Skills for Life, (2001). Geneva Pp.8 Pellegrino, J.W., & Hilton, M.L. (2012), Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century. The National Academies Press.

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