Mentor Magazine March 2017 volume 10 issue 10

CONTENTs

March 2017 | Volume 10 Issue 10

Mentor Thoughts

COVER STORY

Sultan Speaks Page - 05 Shaping Policies

Infinite Scope for Innovation Page - 33

School Cinema- A successful life skills intervention

Global Perspectives Page - 32

Helping 21st-century students become lifelong learners...

Pedagogy

Shifting over to a Coloured Chalk Page - 06 Redefining roles as educators...

Lesson Planning Page - 10

How to write an effective lesson plan...

School Leadership

20 Mentoring Ability

Syllabus Completion Page - 14 Is the Jorney Worth it?...

School Governance

Handling mischievous children Page - 26

A conducive atmosphere‌

Innovation

Collaborative Learning Page - 29

Nurturing Creative thought using technology

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Publisher & Owner: Syed Sultan Ahmed Editor-in-Chief: Kalpa Kartik Associate Editor: Yashika Begwani Designed by: Uday S Production: Praveen U.M., Sathish C., Guna V. Printed by: Manoj Printed at: Elegant Printing Works, # 74, South End Road, Basavangudi, Bengaluru - 560 004.

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 Š 2016 EduMedia Publications Pvt. Ltd.

SULTAN SPEAKS

SHAPING POLICIES The idea of a ‘Private School’ in India is very misleading as the government has a lot of control and interference in the manner in which schools function. School managements over the years, have figured out ways of working around the system rather than doing their bit to change the system.

It is fair to comment that in India the manner in which the government makes laws is quite ambiguous, especially when it comes to educational policy.

A lot of policies that are made, lack basic common sense and logic and in most cases don’t even remotely consider researched methodology as a foundation for policy making. In a scenario like this the private education fraternity in India is at the receiving end and they believe they have very little option but to toe the line.

Private Schools in India have always been reactive to the situation rather than being proactive. They come together and form associations with very narrowed short-term goals like safe guarding their interest after the Right to Education Act, or putting their weight behind fee regulations. This approach has not yielded any significant results and I do not see any major changes in their impact in future too, since these associations are not proactive and lack vision.

I believe that one of the reasons why these associations are not effective is because whenever they interact with government representatives or with policy makers they normally tend to put across views, suggestions,

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opinions, experiences and thoughts about how things should be. It is very difficult for the government and bureaucracy to be swayed by views of an association.

It then becomes a debate of ideologies since there is no factual data or research findings that are available.

Public opinion backed by research findings is a great way of shaping the minds of policymakers.

Since the government does very little research before making policy, it presents a big opportunity for private school associations to initiate research on issues that matter. This research can be approached from 2 different perspectives – one from the grass root level in-school research and the other macro perspective of independent research by private bodies.

Every school can set up a research team comprising of a few teachers who can explore and analyse issues that matters

to them like – ways to engage parents, better understanding of discipline issues among children, impact of excess information on children etc. In addition to these topics they could play an integral part in supporting research for policy making by delving into topics like – impact of RTE, CCE etc.

This could lead to the creation of white papers and research data which when shared with the public and media at large will help shape public opinion.

Public opinion backed by research findings is a great way of shaping the minds of policymakers. This approach would be more impactful as you can argue with opinions and perceptions but not with data.

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

PEDAGOGY

SHIFTING OVER TO A COLOURED CHALK Mr. Rajaram Sharma

Prof. Rajaram S. Sharma heads the Central Institute of Educational Technology of the National Council of Education Research and Training. He leads initiatives in exploring appropriate applications of ICT in education, including radio and television, audio and video, web and interactive multimedia applications. He is closely associated with the implementation of the National Policy of ICT in school education, particularly the development of a National Repository of Open Education Resources and a curriculum which aims at enabling teachers and students in meaningfully using ICT to enhance their capacities to learn.His career in education spans over twentyfive years, exploring active methods of learning, helping children become independent learners, and helping school systems explore appropriate ICT methods. In this article continued from the ‘Magic of a Piece of Chalk (Mentor Magazine Volume 10, Issue 9)’ for MENTOR Prof. Sharma brings to light the coloured chalk replacing the white chalk which are metaphors for technology oriented learning and old ways of learning respectively.

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The replacement of a white chalk with a coloured one represents a leap in imagination, an opportunity to set higher benchmarks, use the benefits of technology to simplify, to shed avoidable baggage and to rightly orient our efforts. To the extent that the choices we make are informed, we are assured of greater productivity, greater efficiency and greater development of faculties.

We examine the role of Information and Communication Technologies for the teacher and student with the hope to find for ourselves a grandstand place, from which we could behold all the hues of the coloured chalk.

Information and Communication Technologies have acquired an aura with the various hues and patterns of the packaging and the bells and whistles that accompany. Teachers are under enormous pressure to adapt to it. More the teacher indicates a

willingness, more aggressive is the bullying by the sales team of the newest, hottest, jazziest avatars of technology.

But as we had argued in the previous article (see The Magic of a Piece of Chalk, Mentor Magazine; Volume 10, Issue 9) rebelling against ICT itself would be like throwing the baby out with bath water. We further argued that it is every teachers’ right, rather responsibility to engage with it, critically examine it for its worth, reject it if need be and claim it as an able assistant.

The most popular myth surrounding ICT has been that a colourful projected aid in the classroom results in effective teaching learning. While the roots of this myth are not difficult to fathom – the only package which had such value in the office suite was MS Power Point, which has turned out to be the most educationally unsound

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March 2017 device, package, software. . .

Look up your list, fill them into the boxes, observe the pattern, but hold back your judgement.

intervention. Despite this, efforts have been continuously made to embellish the projection.

The range of improvements to this technology ranging all the way to the Smart Class (read an interactive white board – and again “interactive” here means you can push with your fingers or a pen like device) continue to promote this myth.

To expect anything more from the makers or sellers of such packages would be expecting them to become educationists or become concerned with children’s education.

Why should they?

Before examining why a projected aid should be looked down upon, it would be worthwhile to ask, if ICT has to be meaningful in the life of a teacher, and also a student, what forms should it take? What purposes would we like them to serve?

The typical activities of learning constitute: reaching out to newer pieces of information, retrieving it, making sense of it, accommodating it amongst the other pieces of already existing information, connecting it to create meaningful chunks of information, use it to generate

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newer connections; thereby demonstrating learning. The role of teaching therefore, would be to facilitate this process. It would involve engaging students with gaps in their information, help formulate these as questions, seek sources and mine the information, sift and sort the information retrieved, question the connections being made and help the student present the knowledge generated.

If this is the business of teaching- learning, effectiveness of ICT would then be measured on how much, how efficient and how easy it makes each of the components of teaching and learning. Every device, every software, every ICT technique should be judged on this yard stick. To somewhat simplify this quest, let us broadly classify our work as a teacher and the work of our students into the following: Student • Before the class • During the class • After the class Teacher • Before the class • During the class • After the class You will readily see into which category you wish to fit any ICT

Each category also helps you ask, what are the activities of the student and the teacher. You will readily notice that students and teachers do different things. Get a little deeper, enjoy the scene.

Try and build your wish list for ICT. We will elaborate on one category – the activities of the teacher before the class. We will then try and fit in appropriate ICT. The process can then be expanded to other categories too.

ICT awaits the teacher. Try them out, critique them, build on them, share it with others, kick up your classrooms to the next higher orbit.

Before the Class Typically, the teacher lays out a grand plan for her class. As an example, let us choose a science teacher teaching at the upper primary and secondary level – she teaches classes six to ten. Let us choose light as the theme. Of course, this would be among various other themes that she would be dealing with, and light itself would encompass a large range of topics.

The first task would be mapping out all the ideas she has to cover – topic headings (eg., optics), concepts (eg., light travels in straight lines), phenomena (eg., reflection), instruments (eg., microscope), discoveries and inventions (eg., how are eclipses formed), people and places, dates and times, units and measures, tools and

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techniques. Immediately you will realise that even within classes six to ten, perhaps across four or five chapters, we cover quite a ground.

Mapping the ideas, also refers to establishing relationships between them. Reflection is related to mirrors and the laws of reflection. But, reflection at a curved surface also includes the geometry of a curved surface, real images, magnification.

Hence, we need to cover these before we attempt a study of images formed by curved mirrors.

How can ICT help? Not much really. You must think through all of these yourselves. But ICT can certainly help organise. You could think of a table, perhaps a spreadsheet to put together the various lists. Yes, but you need to connect these too. Coming across Newton or Huygens, microscopes or telescopes as discrete pieces of information would force us to memorise and hence make the process uninteresting. A beautiful piece of software that helps you visualise these connections is a Mind Map. Mind mapping can be done on a sheet of paper too. But the software helps us rearrange, make newer connections, plan out our lessons and later (during the class) involve students in

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its analysis and synthesis too.

Depending on the platform you use – Linux, Windows or iOS, there are several mind mapping software. My own preference is for Free Plane, but you can choose any tool.

Each of them have a few extra bells and whistles which may catch your attention. But all of them will help construct and represent your mind. By the way, the easiest way to find alternate software (perhaps this does not work on your machine, it is expensive,etc) is to visit the site alternativeto.net and search for alternatives.

Our exploration of mind maps as well as timelines has shown us how much more enriching teaching learning can become with the use of ICT.

Most of these softwares are rather straight forward to learn, and there is so much more fun in figuring it out yourselves. So here is the product we aspire – a mind map for the theme Light.

Having constructed this map, you will be able to choose

portions of the map and construct lessons. Each node (the ellipses) and each branch (the connectors) gives you ideas of how you would like to teach that particular connection.

For instance, if you were to be dealing with refraction, laws of refraction, dispersion, total internal reflection etc, you may do well to get yourself a prism, a laser pointer, a source of white light, etc.

Do not know how to take the next step, fire up a google search and you can quickly gather together a number of demonstrations (say, youtube videos), activities, questions, descriptions, and even notes from teachers on what works and how. Map these in too.

Now that we have all the ideas mapped out, connections figured out and lessons planned, let us look at another piece of eye candy. The eye candy part of it is for the classroom, but the making of it can be very enriching to the teacher. Before we start, visit https://timeline.knightlab. com/ and http://timemapper. okfnlabs.org/ . Look up the examples and you will readily notice, why I referred to them as “eye candy.” The concept of timelines and geographical maps are an extremely useful input to teaching learning.

March 2017 photographs, videos. Go ahead, try it out.

We began this article deriding the limited view of ICT that the use of a slide show in the classroom represents.

Our exploration of mind maps as well as timelines has shown us how much more enriching teaching learning can become with the use of ICT. Yet, we have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Try and populate the other cells in the table we built.

In our mapping of the ideas relating to Light, we came across several people and places, discoveries and inventions.

Many of these took years to develop and different people across different continents helped in developing it. Brick by brick, layer by layer our knowledge of the subject has grown. Appreciating the fantastic insights, the astounding perseverance and phenomenal hardwork would go a long way

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in helping ourselves and our students to acquire a respect for the products of science, the practice of science and the scientists themselves.

While Timeline helps lay out the events on a timeline, Timemapper extends this by combining the timeline with a geographical map. Your imagination sets the limit to what you would include against each pin on the map or each date on the timeline – text, graphics,

Figure out other ways in which you will unbottle the genie and command it. Not only will you have a lot more fun, you will also recover your sense of “I also can” and also a chance to relish that beautiful lesson you crafted.

ICT awaits the teacher. Try them out, critique them, build on them, share it with others, kick up your classrooms to the next higher orbit.

The promise of the coloured chalk will surely be met.

rajaramsharma@gmail.com

LESSON PLANNING Ms. Payal Bedi

Ms. Payal Bedi started her career as a Montessori Teacher in Ryan International School, Chandigarh. She is a science graduate and holds a Masters degree in Sociology from the Panjab University, Chandigarh.

A self-motivated teacher with a positive outlook she joined The Millennium School, Mohali in the year 2008. She believes that learning is an ongoing process and one needs to evolve as an individual with the changing times. She has received the Shantanu Prakash Excellence Award by Educomp for being the best facilitator for the year 2014-15. She has taught varying age groups across her teaching career and is currently teaching Science at the primary level in Learning Paths School, Mohali.

In this article for MENTOR, Ms. Bedi brings forth the challenges and solutions for writing an effective lesson plan.

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Teaching is a wonderful and challenging profession driven by passion and perseverance.

It requires a lot of hard work and dedication to be a good teacher. All the hard work and determination gets paid with the immense satisfaction a teacher derives from the results in her class. A lesson taught well and perceived well gives a sense of fulfilment to both the teacher and the taught. So, how does a teacher ensure that learning takes place in the classroom?

Home work can be anything interesting like watching a TV show, interviewing your neighbour, preparing a presentation, solving a crossword etc.

Significance of Lesson Plan It is extremely important that a teacher enters a class room well prepared, with an action plan in mind. This is also important because children are so vibrant and have so much to share that a teacher can easily lose track of what she was supposed to do in her class if she is not prepared beforehand. Lesson plan not only guides the teacher with its step by step instructions but also keeps the teacher focussed and determined. It helps a teacher to put her ideas across effectively.

Hence, lesson planning is an

indispensable component of the teaching-learning process.

A lesson plan is an organised, structured and sequential framework meant to empower the teacher. It provides helpful guidelines for the teacher to get the best outcome from her students. It has various components which we shall discuss further.

Every child is unique and has his/her potential and pace of learning. It is the teacher who is responsible for creating a learning environment for each child. Remember, a teacher is a role model for her students. So, as a teacher it is their responsibility to encourage and motivate the students at all times. S/he must do so by communicating ideas and thoughts very clearly while instilling confidence in the students.

Choosing a relevant topic To begin with, a topic should be chosen carefully keeping in mind the age group of the students, subject being taught and previous knowledge of the students on the topic chosen.

The topic should be age appropriate, interesting and engaging.

Objectives of the lesson plan Learning objectives are the heart of any lesson plan since objectives drive the lesson.

The teacher must clearly set the objectives of his/her lesson.

Objectives should be precise, achievable and clearly written keeping in mind the skills that

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March 2017 students will gain at the end of the lesson. Learning objectives give direction to the lesson plan and mention the outcomes to look for.

These help the teacher evaluate whether the desired objectives have been achieved at the end of the lesson or not. General objective or the aim of the lesson gives the insight of the topic; broader goals that need to be achieved; subject or theme to be covered while specific objective precisely mentions the measurable outcomes (knowledge and skills) to be achieved by the students after the lesson is conducted.

Previous knowledge – A prerequisite Previous knowledge of the students is an important pre requisite while writing a lesson plan. It lays the foundation of a successful lesson. In its absence the lesson can fall flat with fruitless outcome.

The teacher should be well aware of what students already know. Previous knowledge may or may not be the same for all the students. So, the teacher must spend some time in assessing the same so that she can take the lesson forward from there on.

This can be done by conducting an activity or a questionnaire wherein relevant questions are asked. The questions should be clear and easy to understand.

Once the teacher is clear with what the students already know, it is time to move on.

Instructional Aids Instructional aids are tools of teaching. These are an integral part of any lesson plan. These can be in the form of pictures, flash cards, videos, animations, art material, apparatus for an experiment, abacus, manipulatives and even real life

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objects around us. More so, in today’s world of internet many puzzles, activities, presentations etc. are available online to help the teachers. Instructional aids depend on the subject, topic and the activity being conducted in the classroom. These should be carefully and appropriately chosen. The key lies in using them effectively. Also, these must be procured ahead of time by the teacher. This saves a lot of time and the lesson goes on smoothly.

Objectives should be precise, achievable and clearly written keeping in mind the skills that students will gain at the end of the lesson.

Using instructional aids or resources can inculcate a feeling of enthusiasm and arouse curiosity (for the end result) among the students making the teaching – learning process more interesting and fruitful as these catch the attention of the students almost immediately.

Next comes the most essential part of the lesson planning. That is, the methodology of the lesson plans.

Methodology Methodology is a step by step laid procedure of conducting the lesson in the classroom. It involves a warm up activity, list of questions that need to be asked, main activity, closure of the lesson etc. The teacher must ensure that the language used by her is simple and the instructions clear and easy to follow. Also, the activities chosen should be engaging and interesting.

Warm up is important The teacher sets the tone of the classroom. S/he must commence her lesson on an exciting and enthusiastic note by constantly motivating the students and arouse curiosity among them. Here is when s/ he can do a 2-3 minute activity to catch the attention of the students. It can be in the form of a breathing exercise, a small game, a physical exercise or an imaginative visit to a particular place. This is called a warm up activity. Warm up activity is vital since we all come from

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varied backgrounds and have our own thought processes and our minds keep wandering with innumerable thoughts all the time. Also, the attention span of any individual is very small. It is important to hold the attention of the audience before the teacher begins her class. So, to hold the student’s interest is extremely important before they are taken for a joyful learning ride. The activity must be simple to conduct and quick too as the main activity needs to be performed a while later.

This is the time when the teacher can introduce the topic. The teacher must communicate the lesson objectives to the students

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and they should know precisely what they are doing and why it is important. In this way, students take the ownership of their own learning.

Activity Every classroom has students from diverse backgrounds with varying learning curves. Also, every classroom has students with different learning styles.

The teacher must pick up a well thought of method to teach a particular topic depending upon the subject and class being taught. Sometimes a methodology that might work for a particular class might not work for the other class. The teacher

can also pick up a number of activities so that different types of learners (auditory, visual, kinesthetic) are catered to.

Students must be encouraged to ask questions and their questions must be addressed too.

There can be innumerable methods to teach a particular topic. The teacher can be as innovative and creative as she wants to be while picking up various methods. These can be varied as well. Right from brainstorming, debates, conducting experiments, nature walks, making models in science , interesting games, cooperative learning techniques, discussions in social sciences to conversations, role plays, narrations, recitations etc. in languages and deductions, number games, activities in math, the list is inexhaustible.

Many of these techniques can be used interchangeably too.

The teacher must use these techniques according to her will to maximise learning and obtain an effective outcome.

While carrying on with the lesson plan, the teacher must be eyeing the objectives all the time so as to stay on the track one is supposed to follow.

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Closure Closure of the lesson is an extremely important aspect too.

It is like a recapitulation of all that is done in the lesson. So, all the points should be put together or summed up before leaving the class. It clarifies the topic that was taught and summarises the main points. So, last five minutes of any lesson should be spent in summarising the main points of the topic taught. It is during this time that the teacher can introspect if the desired objectives have been met or not.

Evaluation Evaluating a lesson is important too. Evaluation is the assessment which gives a teacher the insight of the student’s learning process.

It is a way of measuring how much the students have grasped and whether the learning objectives have been met. It can be in the form of formative or summative assessments.

Formative assessment is a quick assessment carried out along with the going on lesson while summative assessment is carried at the end of the lesson.

These assessments should be planned and made well in advance.

Home work Homework or instructional practice is given to reiterate

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the concepts done in the class.

Gone are the times of traditional pen- paper style homework. A teacher can be as innovative as he or she wishes to be. So, home work can be anything interesting like watching a TV show, interviewing your neighbour, preparing a presentation, solving a crossword etc. as far as it is catering to the learning needs of the child and reinforcing the concepts taught in class.

The magic in the classroom lies between the fingers of the teacher. The humble chalk represents that power

Generally, homework should be interesting as well as challenging for the students. It should be done by the students on their own otherwise the purpose of giving homework is lost. Also, homework tasks should not be too time consuming as students should not sacrifice their family time completing school assignments.

A very important aspect of lesson planning is that it should be flexible and not rigid because

every teacher has his or her own teaching –learning style.

In that case, a teacher should feel free to make changes in the methodology of the lesson plan or any part of it according to the needs of the classroom and availability of resources.

However, while making changes the learning objectives must be kept in mind.

Execution is important too!

While it is important to write a lesson plan effective execution is also important. Remember, lesson plan empowers and help the teacher achieve her goals and keeps him/her on the track.

Appreciation is the key...

In the end, I would like to state the importance of appreciation, encouragement and motivation.

Everyone likes the feeling of being appreciated. Teachers are the role models for their students. Children look up to them. A note of appreciation, a word of praise, a pat on the back or a smile can do wonders and make you achieve the unachievable.

So, dear teachers it is important to keep your students motivated with your words and inspired by your actions. This will help you achieve the best out of your students. payalbedi8@gmail.com

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

SYLLABUS COMPLETION Mr. Satya Ramesh

Presently working as Assistant Professor, Psychology in Amity University, Gwalior, Mr. Satya Ramesh has been a teacher who has been teaching both Psychology and Mathematics for Senior Secondary and Secondary classes respectively for the past sixteen years. With a qualification in Psychology, Education and Counselling and a keen interest in this field, Mr. Ramesh shares with MENTOR his views on the impact on learning outcomes for students with a rush to complete the syllabus and effectively dealing with the same as educators.

A teacher falling short of time to uncover the syllabus has become a common phenomenon in most of the schools these days. The reasons could be varied and some of them include: • improper or split syllabus planning, • holidays declared due to natural calamities and/or political unrest of sorts • lot of academic time being utilized for the practice of school events • teacher absenteeism or their unavailability • the difficulty in bridging the learning gap among students in the class room etc.

Whatever may be the reason, this irregularity and rush to complete the syllabus has always been found to have a profound impact on the learning outcomes for students. With no option left except to complete the syllabus at any cost before the due date, teachers might have to go to the extent of making students stay back after school hours, cancel their activity classes for generating academic time and many more. Who is the ultimate loser in this entire cycle? Can something be done to control such irregularities in educational institutions?

Before the new academic session begins, it is the responsibility of the head of the institution to finalize a few things based on which a lot of other things would follow. These include • number of working days in the calendar year • list of holidays • vacations – summer/winter • e x a m i n a t i o n / a s s e s s m e n t schedule • annual events and other celebrations • parent orientations and PTMs • teacher training schedule • student workshops etc.

Only after these dates are identified, would it be easy for teachers to start working on plans related to their respective classroom teaching-learning

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process. It begins with the split syllabus planning for a given class and subject. Every teacher should invest adequate amount of time to make the planning objective so that the scope for deviation is negligible. Here is a sample format which could be used for split syllabus planning.

Estimating the number of periods required for completing a unit and the number of teaching periods available in each month requires a logical mind on the part of every teacher. It is most likely for a teacher to encounter deviation even after being objective while planning keeping in mind all possible factors. This deviation could be of two types.

• The actual date of completing a unit might be earlier to the proposed date

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• The actual date of completing a unit might be later than the proposed date A careful analysis of the causes for these two types of deviation would help better understand their impact on the learning outcomes for students. Some of the probable causes for deviation are mentioned below.

• Experienced vs Inexperienced Faculty • Senior Faculty involved in both teaching and administration • Teacher absenteeism/ unavailability • Unforeseen holidays • Loss of academic time due to practice for major school events • Difficulty in bridging the learning gap among the students in a class

Experienced faculties after a period, acquire a hold on their way of teaching, ensuring learning, classroom management, assessment, note book correction, making question papers, answer book correction, dealing with parents etc. They are considered capable of meeting the challenge of syllabus completion despite all odds. The problem lies with those who are new to the profession and facing difficulty in multi-tasking. In most of the cases, they are the ones who fall short of time to complete the syllabus in time. The net result is to generate extra hours within or outside the school timing. Be it an experienced teacher trying to complete a concept which requires four periods in two periods or an inexperienced teacher trying to engage students for four periods on a single day, either ways, it will have an impact on the learning outcomes. All these ways only help teachers feel satisfied that they have done their job of completing the syllabus. Who takes the responsibility to ensure if learning has happened in such extreme cases?

In most of the schools, it is an accepted fact that the senior faculty members are always given additional responsibilities

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related to school administration.

Often these teachers have to forego their classes because they end up doing things which are urgent leaving the important ones aside. Who should be blamed for this irregularity and is this not a clear example of quality compromise with respect to both teaching and learning. How can one expect better learning outcomes however seasoned or dynamic the teacher might be?

Teacher absenteeism or unavailability is another major challenge in schools which has its cumulative effect on syllabus completion. Loss of academic time due to a teacher’s absence

or unavailability can never be recovered and the net result is to increase the pace of teaching (learning pace being constant or at times retarded). The easiest way adapted by many schools to overcome this challenge is to combine two sections and carry on with the syllabus completion by a single teacher. Be it a primary or a secondary class, imagine how difficult it would be for a teacher to hold the interest of such a large group for an hour or so. Needless to say, what would be its impact on the learning outcomes for students.

Nothing could be done when academic time has been lost due to holidays declared for

reasons of natural calamities or political unrest. The only option to recover the loss is to work on second Saturdays and holidays which would eventually disturb the weekend planning of almost all the stake holders.

Coming to the most important cause i.e. loss of academic time due to practice for major school events. A number of schools these days take pride in letting the world know about their efforts to ensure 100% participation of students in the school annual day. Most artists, be it choreographers or musicians are being outsourced by many schools these days. On the other hand, in the process of economizing on both time and money with these artists, some schools are even prepared to go to the extent of partial or complete suspension of classes not realizing the upcoming danger. Putting up a great show before the parents and other stakeholders is what matters at that moment and there is hardly time for anyone to think about academics until the event gets over.

At times, the pace of teaching – learning might become very slow due to difficulty in bridging the learning gap among students

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March 2017 in the classroom. In an ideal situation, there would definitely be a few students who are above the class level and a few who are below with a majority of the students in the class falling in the average category. There has been an immense pressure on teachers these days to achieve 100% result be it any class right from I to XII. In cases where students fail to secure the qualifying mark or grade in any of the FAs or SAs, they need to appear for a retest and this exercise continues till the student makes it to the qualifying grade. In this entire teaching – learning – assessment cycle, knowingly or unknowingly the efforts of both the teacher and the student are getting directed more towards the product rather than the process. Where is the possibility to generate additional time for bridging the learning gaps when teachers fall short of time to complete the syllabus?

The net result is that these gaps continue to remain with the child creating a learning gap which might go unnoticed in majority of the cases. Isn’t this an indication for us to relook at our teaching – learning approach and make appropriate changes to nullify the impact of such irregularities on the learning outcomes for students?

It is time for each of us be it Director, Principal, Head Mistress/Master, Academic Coordinators, Facilitators (Teachers) to carefully reflect whether or not we are on the right track. Neither a 100% result in X/XII or an increase in the strength of the school, year after year can never be an indicator for a school’s efficiency to produce better learning outcomes. Teaching – learning is a scientific process and it is the duty of every teacher to define learning outcomes which are specific and measurable.

Nobody is an exception to this practice and whether or not someone monitors, it is the sole responsibility of the teacher to ensure that the outcomes are achieved in an objective manner.

For development to be holistic, it is necessary that adequate amount of time is devoted for the development of other faculties of the mind through co-curricular activities. Schools where activities such as sports, yoga, music, dance and art find place in the regular time table must always extend this learning by improvising in a way that it fits into the flow of annual day event. In such a case the loss of academic time for event practice could be controlled. However, it is very difficult to find schools

which carve their co-curricular curriculum with this vision in mind. Why have events like an annual day celebration gained immense prominence in schools these days? It adds to the brand value and helps schools withstand the competition set by other schools existing in the city or town. In such conditions, every school management tries to come out with the best possible theme which was never thought of till date and be prepared to spend any amount of money to make it a grand success. All the teachers and students have to play a significant role in this endeavour to make the event a success.

What is the learning outcome for students in the entire exercise?

Is it well defined? If yes, then have we worked throughout with that mind frame? It is not that easy to answer these questions because we still have a long way to go in honestly accepting the fact that ‘it is not about what teachers cover; it is about what students discover’ which decides the real measure of their learning outcomes.

A teacher’s role is going to become more and more complex in the years to come, yet what matters is the personal commitment to the primary responsibility i.e. ensuring learning which is sustainable and not simply teaching. All other responsibilities are secondary and in no case should a teacher afford to interchange the primary and the secondary responsibility to achieve short term goals which are not sustainable. Only then can we claim to be called educators working for a noble cause i.e. shaping the destiny of our nation in the classrooms.

Are we prepared to be a part of the fraternity working in this direction?

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ramesh.satya77@gmail.com

COVER STORY

MENTORING ABILITY Ms. Suvina Shunglu

An alumna of La Martiniere for Girls, Lucknow, Mrs. Suvina Shunglu did her Post Graduation in History from Lucknow University and her Teachers’ Training at Loreto House, Kolkata. Mrs. Shunglu has an administrative experience of 12 years along with 15 years teaching experience in Kolkata, during which she also held the position of Middle School Coordinator after which she was charged with the responsibility of setting up Sri Sri Academy, a new co-educational school in the heart of Kolkata. As a Founder Principal of SSA, Mrs. Shunglu has been involved in the planning since its inception in 2009. Sri Sri Academy’s credo is to “deepen the roots and broaden the horizons” of its students. In 2015, she was given the honour and responsibility of being an Academic Auditor by the Academic Council of the Sri Sri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir(SSRVM) Trust. A firm believer in leading her team by example, Mrs. Shunglu is highly motivated and sensitive to the needs of students and her team. She helps them to build a strong foundation from which they can grow to be active, lifelong learners. In this interview with MENTOR, Mrs. Shunglu takes the readers through her experiences and journey as a teacher and a leader.

Share with us your childhood memories. Reflect and comment on education during your times.

Growing up in the city of Lucknow, in a family with four siblings was fun. I have very happy memories of my childhood. Vacations were spent playing with cousins, swimming, cycling to nearby parks, circuses, picnics and climbing trees, especially our guava tree in the garden. Another happy childhood memory is of “stories with sounds”. My father was a geologist who narrated stories which would draw us in as characters in the story and which unwound with a lot of sound effects. My childhood was simple and endearing.

Challenges faced at work.

Balancing work and family life.

Being extremely driven and focused on my work, I have often wondered if I managed to do justice to both. My husband, two children, and the extended family of husband’s parents and my parents have all been supportive and appreciative of my commitment. When women work, their priorities become

crystal clear; the guiding light for their life. The extended family of friends, colleagues and neighbours too, at times pitched in to provide nets of caring support. The only times that get sacrificed are the ‘me time’ and ‘spouse time’ as one rushes to balance both family and work. Having said that, I only took on the responsibility of setting and heading a school

School life was very formal and strict. Discipline was the norm. I loved organizing school events, was the school captain and was also a part of the basketball team. I loved attending my classes.

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March 2017 when my children had become young adults and needed less of my time.

Personal take on a child’s education and future.

The purpose of education is apparently to prepare us for life, equip us with skills and knowledge to handle the world in which we will exist. Additionally, education is also meant to create awareness of the changing needs of the world, social skills to work and live together, the ability to handle failure and finally for self-knowledge. In a world where job-packages, university cut-offs, ability to pay for education and Ivy league dictate decisions, education has become a passport to a cushy life style, an elitist metamorphosis and a social statement. No one really thinks about value-based education or education for citizenship and our commitment to improving the lives of others in the world and so using education for meaningful development. This is the focus area at Sri Sri Academy which makes the school different.

What according to you is the purpose of education?

Information is not education. It is culturing our behavior and attitude. It is our responsibility to perceive things better. Only an education that nourishes inherent virtues can impart true intelligence. Since a healthy body best supports a sound mind and spirit, creative sports and ancient practices as meditation and yoga which bring self-awareness are a part of a child’s learning process.

In a nutshell, education must address all aspects of life including the aspect of spiritual growth.

a school leader from it?

A recent book I just completed reading was What Can I Give?

by Srijan Pal Singh on the life lessons from his teacher, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It is a tribute to his teacher and full of deep meaningful messages for any educator.

The author leaves a cushy corporate job with BCG and stays back to become an intern and adviser to the former President of India. This defining moment was the crucial thread running through the book and very synonymous to our Founder’s philosophy who continuously tells us to aim high and find ways to give back to society and our country through Seva or service.

Learning and what it means to you…

Cultivating and practising leadership skills, being updated with technology, learning and updating myself through training programmes and workshops and using every opportunity to continue learning. I attended the Howard Gardner India Tour, Delhi Talk on Multiple Intelligence and Child Centered Education, the Executive Education Programme at Indian Institute of Ahmedabad on Strategic Leadership for Schools in a Changing Environment, the

SSRVM Trust Meet in Bangalore to synergise all schools under the trust among many others.

I have also been a part of the Chinese Exchange Programme for the Principals held in China.

We keep organizing tours in our school. We recently organized a tour to Australia with a team of students to attend workshops on newer fields of study and to interact with university Staff and teachers. These events, workshops, seminars, help you broaden horizons and learn more about the world.

The key highlights of my interaction with teachers and staff at the beginning of each session are: • I revisit the vision and mission of the Founder to synergise and integrate personal goals with Institutional goals.

• The values which we wish to inculcate in our students must first shine through in ourselves only then would it be relevant to students and parents alike.

I try to encourage in them a feeling of belongingness and ownership of the school. This is primarily though sharing plans, addressing concerns, proposing solutions to earlier issues and announcing new proposals.

• Developing leadership and mentoring ability is also a

Tell us about a recent book you read or a recent film that inspired you and your key takeaways as

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key focus. This is often done by asking my team members to relate an incident that we appreciate. Highlighting efforts and initiatives taken by teachers and staff is important in building self-worth in teachers. Focusing on the positives while recognizing the shortcomings is a standard practice in our school.

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

Grooming teachers to become leaders of tomorrow is first by creating awareness of new and progressive practices and by encouraging participation in conferences, workshops and being aligned with teacher groups and initiatives in education.

Peer-mentoring and micro teaching sessions also prepare them to evaluate others and give objective feedback.

Secondly, reflection, specifically in relation to our current school practices and curriculum.

Analysing methods and practices leads us sometimes to review the benefits of what we do and helps us to change.

Introduction of new practices is often based on either selfreflection or feedback from parents or staff.

Lastly, in house training for professional courses for

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technology updation, skill and enquiry based training, blended learning are organized during the summer holidays and working Saturdays.

Information is not education. It is culturing our behavior and attitude. It is our responsibility to perceive things better

What are the key challenges that you go through as a Principal/ School Leader and how would you overcome those? What is the role of the trust in the school’s daily activities?

Principalship has long been described as a challenging position. Being a Founder Principal who has set up the school for the first time, launched it and has been responsible for its growth and statutory compliances for the last eight years, has been a journey full of amazing experiences and wonderful learning.

Challenges have been aplenty but nothing will stop me till I gradually implement the vision of the Founder to make Sri Sri Academy into a safe, creative,

caring and progressive school.

However, the foremost challenge I have faced is the paucity of time in building systems and processes in school administration, academic systems and meeting all norms, while putting together a school team of talented and committed members.

Another serious challenge school principals are facing is, balancing the attitudinal divide between veteran teachers and newcomers.

The school trust has a representative and members of the Core Committee who meet once a week at the school and guide us and give us a fresh perspective on school policies.

The Founder’s vision of a valuebased and stress free Education has found a resonance in all schools and is our guiding principle.

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

Every child is gifted with an innate skill or ability. SSA provides a sound platform to nurture such talent and give each child the room to grow and learn. The morning begins in school for each child with twenty minutes of Yoga, circle time, meditation and pranayama after a morning

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prayer. Academics is coupled with Games, Library, Activity time and excursions to give an all-round school experience and nourish multiple intelligences.

All students from the age of 8-14 participate in a fun, interactive and process based workshop which instill values and create self awareness. These are called the Art Excellence Programme and the Youth Empowerment Seminars organized by the Art of Living Teachers trained specially by the Trust.

exemplification of the best of our values.

• An inclusion policy has been implemented and those who show signs of learning disabilities are tested with the consent of parents and special educators. Special teacher developed equipment and worksheets are used for differentiated learning and prepared and stored in our resource rooms.

We believe that each child is unique.Ours is an inclusive school where all the students are accepted.

• We provide for special education and are equipped with the infrastructure for those who are physically challenged. We stress the importance of taking time out for reflection, mentoring, and parent orientation.

• We reward academic and non-academic achievements, including those of personal development. We nurture our students’ identities as Indians, emphasizing simplicity and modesty in dress, participation in cultural events, and the

Education has become a passport to a cushy life style, an elitist metamorphosis and a social statement

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

Academics in those days was very knowledge-oriented and revolved around text books.

However, modern teaching and progressive methods used in

our school, rely on a hands- onapproach, virtual experiments and technology to create interest in subjects especially those that are research –based.

Teaching Literature and Social Sciences is still personalityoriented, though we do try and bring in plenty of visits to museums, film-viewing, paneldiscussions, interviews, talks and project work. Languagedevelopment is priority through plenty of story-telling sessions, and fun activities like Just-aMinute, Elocutions, Debates and Seminars and MUNS at the later stage.

Differentiated learning is being experimented with remedial support and enrichment provided to students with varying abilities. All classteachers are trained to be mentors and provide pastoral care. We also have a full time counsellor who helps guide students with emotional and behavioural concerns.

How does the school infrastructure and the latest tangible deliverables offered by the school meet the demands of students today?

Ours is the first state of the art academy of the SSRVM Trust.

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Located in the heart of Kolkata, the school campus spreads over an area of 1.5 acres. It houses classrooms which are air-conditioned, spacious and filled with natural light. All the classrooms are equipped with Smart Boards. The furniture and teaching aids are of an international standard. The play areas comprise a multi activityAMAZON for tiny tots, an indoor mini-gym, 2 multi-purpose halls for group performances, an open paved courtyard for yoga, dance and music rooms, a basketball court, badminton courts, table tennis tables and an open playground. Special care has been taken for physically challenged children with the building of ramps and other needful amenities.The premises are safe, clean and hygienic and is well equipped.

What are the key values that a school/ institute must instill in students? What are the other spaces to learn?

We invest in the intellectual and holistic development of our students and seek to provide them with opportunities and experiences to discover their true potential. Further, we emphasize the core values that are integral to our school and should be recognized as an indispensable part of its culture.

We nurture each student’s personality and academic achievements and reward both academic excellence and positive attitudinal change.

Opportunities are provided for students throughout the year to participate in performing arts, sporting activities and inter school competitions thereby providing an active platform for growth. We emphasize an Indian identity and traditional roots in dress, dance, and culture while adopting the Western values of punctuality, courtesy, hygiene, and professionalism.

We

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emphasize the need for service, compassion, friendliness, mutual courtesy and considerateness.

Consumerism is a way of life that ultimately depletes; we wish to encourage simplicity in our children’s approach to life, in their celebrations, and even in their choice of apparel. We wish them to possess joy in who they are and in the good goals they attain, rather than in what they possess and purchase.

We treasure the development of each student’s independentminded, and ethical personality.

We strive to nurture students who set new and positive trends rather than blindly following in the paths of others.

How does the school deal with cultural exchange programs and ideas across the globe?

We truly believe in and follow internationalism and inclusion so that no group or individual feels left out. Activities and events are developed to include all stake holders. SSA organized its first inter school SSMUN 2016 which was attended by 10 schools.

Every class is responsible for school assemblies that portray concerns involving the community, the environment, the nation, the world and focusing on nurturing humanism.

Skyping with partner schools in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Zimbabwe, Poland and the United Kingdom is a regular affair. Exploring different cultures and countries helps nurture diversity in students and develop adaptiveness.

The other most important example would be to nurture respect for the environment and to make it a school that cares. We commit wholeheartedly to being environmentally responsible – in not just words but deeds.

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?

The latest value additions in terms of infrastructure as planned for the school includes the following: • A Design and Technology Lab coming up in the session 2017-18 to build hands -on-skills in Middle School students leading to innovation.

Teachers are being trained by an Australian trainer who works with the best known design school in Sydney according to the Technological Studies curriculum in Australia.

• Senior Cafeteria to provide healthy food for the middle and senior school students who stay in the school premises for longer hours. A tie up with a start up to deliver freshly made and balanced meals in school is on the anvil.

• Prayer / Meditation Room, which will be a serene and quiet room where anyone can meditate or pray or reflect.

• Multi-Purpose Hall: A two storied multipurpose hall with infrastructure for indoor basketball, cricket nets, badminton and table tennis and a stage with wings and the latest acoustics have been planned for cultural and social events and assemblies. With almost four months of rainy weather in the city of Kolkata, this has been a necessity, to help the students to have their games classes regularly.

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 I feel in the pursuit of building a value-based institution, I have had the courage of my convictions and have followed

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March 2017 my dreams. The two most profound examples of inspired learning would be my personal belief in my Founder’s Vision.

All my processes and initiatives are based on his Mission for the school. I truly believe in all initiatives that I introduce in the school, for my students, staff and teachers, parents and make sure I apply and follow the same rules of punctuality, attendance, decorum, dress, openness, humility and respect for all.

As educators, leaders, we must prepare students for the unforeseen and hence skill-based education and experiential learning are extremely important. We have become too closed. We need to be more accepting to change and that change begins from us.

The seeds of change should be sown early.

‘Life is the mother of learning!’

Your view?

Yes agreed. Life is also a platform where existing learning must be nurtured.

8th March is celebrated as International Women’s Day. Your thoughts on the essence of being a woman...

In India, women culturally take the larger responsibility of home, children, in-laws and all family issues. Therein lies the great challenge of balancing work and family; of prioritizing and making choices and sacrifices.

Secondly, women rarely get their due respect and it is normally attributed to a pretty face or a good personality.

Even as the head of a school, I have been the recipient of such remarks. However, I feel that women have the ability to strike the perfect balance between emotional and intellectual quotient.

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tête-à-tête

QUICK

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MENTOR in conversation with Ms. Suvina Shunglu I would describe education as….

A lifelong process

laboratory aims to utilize and nurture skills of students.

You’ve attended several workshops both in India and globally. Give us 3 ways in which workshops/seminars help educators?

• Helps you stay connected with similar people • Broadens perspectives, makes you progressive • Serves as a platform to share ideas and experiences

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

Fortunately for me, balancing was never a hiccup. I came into the profession after my children had already grown up.

Today, I am fortunate that this profession helped me befriend so many individuals from diverse backgrounds. My children have so many people to look up to, those who could guide them.

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

• Human Values • Updating with technology • Diversity and inclusiveness What are the 3 key qualities that educators/teachers must have/must build to connect with students today?

• Compassion • Communication • Emulating and being the perfect role model

Your biggest learning from life has been…

Accepting yourself the way you are!Being anxious never helps. I have learnt to be more calm in my approach to everything and that is something that I have learnt from my Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

You’ve said, a design and technology lab is upcoming in 2017-18. Give us one technological advancement in recent times that you think has changed the way in which children learn. Why is it important?

Robotics; software; application development.

Students have the power to think and to create. Our design

s.shunglu@ssa.org.in

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

HANDLING MISCHIEVOUS CHILDREN Dr. Seema Gupta

Dr. Seema Gupta has been in the field of education for past ten years. A positive leader with a dynamic personality, she writes on pedagogical issues and children’s problems and has been published several times. She has stayed in Nairobi having worked as an educational counsellor and hence has a diverse experience with children. She is a senior English Teacher at Doon Presidency School, Dehradun and is passionate about assimilating the new changes that ensure quality education.

In this article for MENTOR, she delineates between various types of children found in an average classroom and suggests possible solutions for teachers dealing with them.

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From a tiny tot to a kid , and from a kid to a student, a child undergoes a series of transformations. They move on , continuously growing ,adapt themselves to the existing environmental conditions.

During these formative years of their lives, they experience various changes mentally, physically and emotionally. But some traits remain unchanged and constitute their personality.

These characteristics are well noticed by their teachers and parents. In a class of twenty students, a teacher finds a mixed bag of children who are calm, quiet, extrovert ,introvert , active ,hyperactive and mischievous children. Thus, in a classroom composed of different types of children the teacher becomes responsible for handling this diversity.

Teaching demands complete

dedication, absolute devotion and passion. Quality teaching is possible only when a teacher generates a conducive environment of learning in the classroom. It is created by allowing a student- centered approach and prior lesson planning. This is how we can cater to the need of individual children while maintaining his/ her interest levels.

In a class we find certain students who are: • Attention seeking children • Inattentive children • Mischievous children • Hyperactive children Attention seekers are those children who continuously try to attract the teacher’s attention either by asking too many questions or by teasing fellow students. These students want to be heard and in order to achieve this they disturb the smooth functioning of class.

How to manage attention seekers : To manage such behavior, a teacher must question the class in between the lesson so as to keep the children focused followed by volunteering for answers. This would give the enthusiastic bit, a chance to contribute in the class.

Inattentive children are those who have attention diverting problems. They often indulge in activities that distract them and others too.

How to bring inattentive children on the right track : Such children

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March 2017 Of course, all children exhibit such symptoms at times but the difference between a mischievous and a hyperactive child is that these symptoms are present for a longer period of time in hyperactive children and this hampers their social and academic behavior. These children demand special attention and they need to be addressed differently. Treating such misbehaving children requires a lot of patience.

must be assigned some challenging task to accomplish which keeps them occupied.

Besides this, rotation of seats on regular basis helps minimise their unruly behavior.

Mischievous children are those children who are inclined to annoy or vex teachers and peers with playful tricks or some other nonsensical behavior. They are active and smart and always ready with the excuses for their unrestrained behavior.

Managing mischievous children -keep watchful eyes on each child and involve them in group activities.

Hyperactive Children- this group of children is full of energy. Their energy and enthusiasm needs to be directed in the right direction.

Managing hyperactive children to understand these children, a teacher must have tremendous patience.

Sound teaching is possible only when children follow the general code of conduct in a classroom.

It is observed that in spite of all these efforts, a teacher faces many problems while delivering her lesson. There are many

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such children in a class, who find it difficult to concentrate on the topic being discussed in the class. They silently indulge in the activities which hinder quality teaching. So how does one handle these mischievous children? When faced with such a situation, a teacher generally gets infuriated and scolds the child. The child is either sent to the principal or made to stand at the back, suspending him from attending the class further. This is not a constructive measure to punish the child. Rather than showing any decency of behavior, he secretly disturbs other children of the class. He stealthily talks to fellow students, nudging and pushing, he tries to distract others and as soon as the period gets over and then smilingly he returns to his seat.

Now the bigger question before a teacher is how to differentiate between a mischievous child and a hyperactive child. Children who show signs of hyperactivity disorder are unable to sit still.

They are always : • fidgety • inattentive • do not complete their work • talk excessively, and • interrupt others

Our concern should be focused on the appropriate way to deal with these unruly children.

The conventional methods of punishment are no longer fruitful.

The child should never be humiliated in front of the whole class. Expelling the child from class is no solution for his unruly behavior. It will be detrimental to his personal growth.

Today’s teacher is not a hardtask- master but a friend to a child.

Thus instead of ridiculing , he should be given a conducive atmosphere Effective teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about students and using that knowledge in classroom teaching. This can be obtained by regular parents cooperation through parents teacher association. Most of the times, it is observed that various conditions of life at home and school also influence child’s behaviour. There are a few students who succeed despite their poor home lives, but most students need parental support and guidance in their day to day activity.

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If these things are ignored, the consequences are hazardous not only to the child but also for the parents as well as society at large. These children either become slow learners or hyper active. Handling such children is the biggest challenge today. Their energy has to be channelized in the right direction.

To bring them to a satisfying level of behaviour, they need to be orchestrated with other students of the class. Establishing what they want would help determine the appropriate remedy for the benefit of such children. The most suitable idea that can be incorporated with mainstream teaching is to provide hyperactive children a specific environment that is away from the classroom activity where they can introspect . Therefore, it is opined that there is a strong need to build remedial houses in the school premises. These remedial houses are the special rooms where such mischievous children are taken for an hour or two. Here they are made to sit and meditate under supervision.

It helps better their concentration and eventually results in holistic development of their personality.

It would prove effective in shaking up classroom behavior.

These innovative methods of punishment will not only discipline the child but also help to bring him on right track.

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The approach to deal with mischievous children is either verbal or non-verbal. Verbal approach includes asking questions repeatedly , warnings over disagreeable conduct, describing rules and classrooms norms etc. non –verbal includes gestures , facial expressions and stern look that convey a silent message to the students who are mischievous.

Effective teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about students and using that knowledge in classroom teaching Generally teachers give strict warnings or ‘angry looks’ to warn a mischievous child. But if these verbal and non-verbal approaches leave no effect on child’s attitude then the teacher can enforce some sort of non-physical punishment like detention from some important activity, exclusion from group activity, giving some extra homework etc. Another important strategy to tackle such misconduct is to assign them with some responsibility and giving reminders daily to fulfil

the task. This will enable them to remain focused.

Keeping all these aspects, in mind it becomes necessary that these unruly children should be dealt with, judiciously. Present day scenario is entirely different from the past. Today’s teacher is not a hard- task- master but a friend to a child. Thus instead of ridiculing , he should be given a conducive atmosphere where his disruptive activities can be mitigated. There is no better solution other than these special rooms.

As I see it today , promulgation of such inventive measures of punishment will bring complete overhauling of the child’s behavior.

The practice of meditation would be of great help in disseminating positive energy affecting their mind, body and soul.

Thus, providing a welcoming atmosphere to their behaviour would be a very positive step forward. This would also ensure that the school truly caters the need of individual child. It is hoped that this innovative approach would work wonders for the benefit of the child.

seemagupta437@gmail.com

INNOVATION

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING Mr. Yuvraj Krishan Sharma

Mr. Yuvraj K. Sharma is the Co-founder & Director of Kompanions,an innovative Ed-Tech-Scientific organization with a vision to re-visualize education and to make the learning processes impactful.

A graduate from C.I.E.T, Chandigarh, he was chosen by the Confederation of Indian Industry to attend their Young Indians (Yi) program in IIM Ahmedabad(07-08). A passionate and informed user of technology, he is also a Google Certified Advanced Online Advertising Professional and has held important positions with global brands such as Pearson. With a firm belief that ‘It isn’t about how much you COVER; it’s how often you DISCOVER!’ he shares with MENTOR, his thoughts on nurturing creative thought.

The Edtech Ecosystem The recent advancements in the edtech industry has brought about changes in the Indian education ecosystem.

E-learning concepts, tools, models and methodologies have been readily deployed in the classroom. Despite a section of Indians being inclined towards the brick-and-mortar format of learning, the e-learning industry is gaining acceptance at a very fast pace. There is a growing understanding of the fact that technology empowers students seeking higher or skilled-based education to get quality classroom experience and education.

Computers strengthen specific skills, foster creativity and problem solving, and enhance the writing process

According to a recent study of a global-level online learning programme, India has been reported to have the secondhighest number of online course enrolments after USA with more than over 1,55,000 students from the country. In fact, a total of around 1.2 million students worldwide, 15% are from India.

Benefits of Technology in the Classroom Today, technology in the classroom is becoming predominant. Digital tablets are replacing textbooks, and smartphones have made researchers out of each one of us. Social media has become commonplace, and the way we use technology has completely transformed the way we live our lives. Educators who are conservative in their approach also recognize the importance of technology and of developing skills in students to make them well equipped for the future.

When it comes to technology in the classroom there are many questions. What should students be learning and at what age?

How much computer-based instruction should students receive? Where do you find money to put technology in school and classrooms? A good place to start is recognizing that students need to be exposed to technology in the school setting.

In today’s world, technology is a part of almost everything. We are surrounded by technology and are becoming more and

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more dependent on it each day. Technology can truly transform student learning and student engagement. I have seen that computers strengthen specific skills, foster creativity and problem solving, and enhance the writing process.

Students who are visual learners benefit a great deal from using technology, because most of the time it caters to both auditory and visual senses simultaneously.

In a research done by James Kulik and his colleagues from the University of Michigan, it was found that when technology was integrated into good writing instruction, students were more engaged, writing more per minute, and able to use more descriptive vocabulary than they did without technology. It has also been seen that technology enhances the students’ learning, particularly when students use the technology directly.

Hardware such as smartboards, digital tablets, smartphones or software such as applications, tools and multimedia expose children to enhanced learning experiences through experiential and visual reinforcements. The use of technologies such as Augmented and Virtual Reality are taking learning pedagogies to the next level by giving highly immersive experiences to learners. Such experiences not just lead to greater concept clarity but also improved concept retention and application.

learning experience – being more of an advantage than a necessity. However, there are also skills that get applied and honed in the process. Some of these are – creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

Creativity and Technology Creativity is not only a privilege of the arts or people associated with arts. Creative thinking can be fostered and demonstrated in all school subjects and curriculum areas. It is even more important in today’s age when digitization and technology is playing an instrumental role in education.

Creativity not only improves test scores, but also inspires students to become curious, engaged, and interested in the world around them and within them.

The rapidly evolving related technologies and applications have influenced, and often transformed the way we think, learn, communicate and create knowledge. Technology encourages creative processes as they allow information to be represented in a variety of modes, which other media and

tools cannot offer. They therefore support a diversity of learning styles. Thus, they enable learners to retrieve, evaluate and synthesize information, try out creative ideas, explore alternatives and solve problems in a personalized and active way.

Nowadays, the process of using technology to facilitate creativity in thinking and practice is not merely a technical matter, but adopting innovative pedagogical practices that utilize the existing and emerging technologies for nurturing both creative thinking and twenty-first century skills and competences.

The new age technologies like augmented reality, virtual reality and gamification which is fast changing the education in India is igniting the interactive and imaginative element in their thinking and moulding it towards creativity. All these tools of technology help students develop creative thinking and other essential skills. They are easily and freely available and teachers should readily adopt them into their academic curricula so that their students never lag behind when it comes

So what are the right skills that students must be equipped with for use of these technologies?

The answer to this is actually - none. In fact, the exposure to such technologies in an educational format builds the skill sets and thinking abilities of an individual. Having said this, possessing some skills might enhance the overall

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to creativity since it is vital for their all-round development.

The use of VR help learners visualize, leading to enhanced creativity and imagination.

The learners are able to see objects and perspectives never possible from passive modes of learning. For example, imagine seeing India Gate or Taj Mahal in snowfall. This can never be possible in real life or any scenario other than using technology driven simulations.

It opens a whole new world of imagination which not just results in enhanced learning at a given point but also leads to building mental faculties of the learner for life. Technologies such as AR and VR are creating learning environments that encourage the learners to explore and discover in ways that are otherwise unfathomable.

Imagine being able to see exactly how a dinosaur sits, walks and sounds when it is angry. A child who has never been through such interactive and immersive ways of learning will probably never be able to visualize that a dinosaur sits on two’s and not four’s, or how an asteroid looks up close or go on an underwater safari to see the beautiful aquatic life.

Students build creativity and

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critical thinking by the types of questions we ask them to respond to. With all of the information that can easily be found online, we no longer need to have students think of things, but think about them.

Communication and Technology Students should be building communication skills that reflect the media rich world they are surrounded by. Rather than writing an essay or a report about a subject they are learning, educators must help students solve a problem and let them share their solution using formats they see in the world around them such as digital stories, e-books, virtual museums, video journals, news broadcasts, and interactive games.

While one should encourage students to respond to a question in multiple ways without using technology tools, multimedia authoring tools engage students, challenge their intelligence and interests and naturally encourage them to create products that reflect their individuality and unique ideas.

Collaborating with Technology While we often think about collaboration in terms of

connecting with experts, technology tools, like GoogleDocs, are allowing for collaboration on documents.

The latest versions of Pixie, Frames, and Share include collaboration options that allow multiple students to work on the same project at the same time!

Collaborative learning entails more than just students working next to each other or even helping one another. Truly collaborative project work enhances student learning and helps students achieve the large-scale goals of a project in the time allotted.

Concluding thoughts The more exposure an individual receives to environments that are new, immersive and visualization driven, the wider are his/her perspectives. This will enable enhancement of creative and thinking abilities in learners. Such exposure to new and different environments is possible using technology to a very large extent. So, it is very important to focus on embracing technology in the learning and education space more and more.

Today, it is easy to get looking for that one correct answer. There are products which foster a learning environment where lots of right answers are accepted and encouraged. Additionally, it is important to help students figure out how to ask good questions to prepare them for their future.Thus, technology, when integrated into the curriculum, revolutionizes the learning process.

Studies have shown, time and again that technology integration in the curriculum improves student learning processes and outcomes.

yuvraj@kompanions.com

MENTOR THOUGHTS

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Mr. Paul Bullen-Smith

Back in the 1990s, with the dawn of a new millennium quickly approaching, many educators were thinking about the future and what a 21st-century school, teacher and student might look like.

Mr. Paul Bullen-Smith is Head of Cambridge Global Perspectives at Cambridge International Examinations. He is responsible for realising Cambridge’s policy of placing Cambridge Global Perspectives® in the centre of its curriculum offering and as a vehicle for the assessment of the skills needed for the 21st century.

He has worked at Cambridge International Examinations both in assessment and syllabus development, for seven years. Prior to that, he spent nine years as a teacher and Head of Department, and has been an examiner for several examination boards.

Before moving into the educational world, he has had 20 years of experience in business, primarily in sales, marketing and general management. In this quick read for MENTOR, Mr. Smith shares his perspective on how students must be well equipped with global education skills.

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The American moral and social philosopher Eric Hoffer summed it up well: ‘In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.’

Instead of a traditional approach, educationalists need to look at creating and designing a syllabus binding all the other elements of the curriculum together and put skills at its very core. The focus must be on the skills that students use and develop in all aspects of their education, university studies and their future working life, enabling them become a lifelong learner.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the 21st-century skill set should include the ‘capacity to analyse global and intercultural issues critically, from multiple perspectives to understand how differences affect perceptions, judgments, and ideas of self and others and to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with others from different backgrounds. Acquiring these skills makes an individual globally competent.’There is a need for interconnectedness among people, countries, and economies as a result of globalisation and the rise of internet technology. There is a universal dimension to all of us, and a positive way of responding

to this is by developing global perspectives and then critically look at them to solve problems.

In the Cambridge Global Perspectives curriculum, learners take ownership of their learning, collaborating with one another on team and individual projects.

The curriculum includes important and often controversial topics that affect everyone, from climate change to fuel and energy, from sport and recreation to belief systems.

These topics spark discussion and debate and give students a wealth of material and opinion to collect, analyse and reflect on so that they can develop their own thoughts and opinions. The curriculum is cross-disciplinary and team-focused, and above all it helps students work within a flexible learning environment that is learner centred. Education is about the capacity to live in a multi-faceted world as an active and engaged citizen and as educators, we believe it is vital that students develop lifelong learning skills throughout their education. To determine how young learners will adapt to this new approach, we are currently running a pilot programme with six schools in India at a primary level, which will run until summer 2018. We believe that it is important that these global views are engrained right from the start at a young age, to ensure that our leaders of tomorrow are truly globally competent. desai.v@cie.org.uk

March 2017

INFINITE SCOPE FOR INNOVATION Ms. Prachi Misra

In the last article of this series for MENTOR, Ms.Misra delves deeper into the scope and scale of implementing cinema pedagogy beyond life skills education to achieve enhanced student learning outcomes.

Introduction Discussions around need and scope of life skills or skill development programs have now become a part and parcel of the academia. With plethora of programs on the platter, we need to take a step back and understand the stage and nature of interventions required for effective life-skills based education.

presence of interactive methods like ‘Projects/Assignments’, ‘Exposure Visits’, they still need to be used frequently to facilitate holistic learning.

The Content and Experience Gap The conventional pedagogy approach, systemic gaps, lack of motivation and clarity further widens the gap between curriculum content and experiential learning, escalating to low-priority for life skills based education. LXL Ideas conducted a series of research studies with teachers, first one focusing on mapping various teaching methods. 300 private school teachers in 14 cities of India participated in this selfadministered survey.

Findings of this study resonate with the hypothesis that the content and experience gap is evident in school pedagogy. As shown in the figures reflecting upon the teaching methods, higher frequency of ‘Lecture/ Dictation’ and ‘Reading’ reinstates the continued focus on conventional methods.

Though there is a significant

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day to day experiences to enable lifelong learning. This can be achieved only through an optimum combination of teaching style which ensures facilitation, delegation, expertise, authority and personal modelling. Next in the series of research study with teachers, LXL Ideas conducted a study with over 250 private school teachers across 14 cities in India through a self-administered survey to understand the patterns of teaching methods used in classrooms.

This survey was based on Grasha’s Teaching Style Inventory: Expert Possesses knowledge and expertise that students need. S/he is concerned with transmitting information and ensuring that students are well prepared.

Formal Authority. Possesses a status among students because of knowledge and role as a faculty member. Concerned with the “correct, acceptable, and standard ways to do things.”

Integration and Contextualization Relevance and being able to relate to a topic of the school curriculum is highly contingent upon the effective integration of experiential learning into pedagogy. The temporal and spatial nature of life skills calls for contextualization which leverages upon the students’

Personal Model. Believes in “teaching by personal example” and establishes a prototype for how to think and behave.

Facilitator.Works with students on projects in a consultative fashion and provides the necessary support and encouragement.

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Delegator.

Concerned with developing students’ capacity to function autonomously.

The teacher is available at the request of students as a resource person.

Weighted Score of Teachers’ on Teaching Style Inventory Expert - (3.32) Formal Authority* - (4.08) Personal Model - (3.97) Facilitator - (3.41) Delegator - (3.90) *The dominant teaching style of respondents is ‘Formal Authority’.

The analysis reveals dominance of ‘Formal Authority’ style of teaching. The second most common teaching style is ‘Personal Model’. Both these styles, as described in Fig 3, are not student-centric.

The School Cinema Pedagogy: The development of School Cinema films is followed by the creation of interactive workbook/ worksheets that enhance learning in an entertaining and informative manner. The workbook has four levels of evaluation – self, peer, parent and teacher, and looks at three levels of learning: • Awareness – The students/ educators/parents relate to the film and identify the core issues addressed in the film.

• Understanding – The students/educators/parents understand the issue and relate it to their own lives.

• Action - The activities in every module enable the

students/educators/parents to internalize and act out the key learning.

To understand the teachers’ experience and feedback, LXL Ideas reached out to 72 school teachers through random sampling. Teachers participated in an online self-administered survey for rating the School Cinema films and workbooks across 19 cities.

The study revealed that School Cinema is a well-received module amongst school teachers and counsellors and enable students to think over issues, express and articulate their thoughts and share experiences. Teachers stated that sensitive yet crucial discussions around child sexual abuse, puberty and gender sensitivity are easily brought into classroom discussion through these films.

Perspective building is also seen as a quintessential aim of teaching. This aspect is challenged by limited access to teaching tools in classroom which can enable students think critically and with a sense of inquiry and ability to discern from plethora of information at their disposal. Educators are recognizing the need to identify and adopt a nuanced approach for lesson planning that goes beyond conventional methods.

Way Forward Simple yet measures are

path-breaking required to

assimilate life skills in school curriculum. Equipping teachers with competent tools along with an inquiry into their teaching styles followed by in-service trainings to achieve a balanced and student-centric style is necessary. This can be a significant measure for bridging the content and experience gap as well as for optimum integration and suitable contextualization of life skills into curriculum.

Cinema encompasses the key features of being an entertaining medium with a long-lasting impact, higher probability of contextualization based on learners’ needs and infinite scope for innovation.

Activities followed by display of audio-visual medium reinstate the message conveyed to the audience and increase the probability of advanced awareness, comprehension and application of the skill or issue in real life situations.

Backed with rigorous research and collaboration with existing curriculum bodies, this medium can be successfully amalgamated not only in a stand-alone skills based class but across subjects. The need of the hour is to re-look at the existing curriculum and run it through the basic yet crucial ‘What (is being taught)’, ‘Why (is it being taught)’ and ‘How (is it being taught)’. The sooner we start addressing this aspect the better!

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prachi@lxl.in

R

To foster and nurture effective leadership in schools, LXL Ideas (formerly EduMedia) organised a series of seminars on Leadership in Schools for educators. Conducted across four cities, the event focussed on ‘Unravelling the Various Facets of Leadership to Enhance School Governance.’ Under the banner of Mentor Connect, a platform for school leaders and management to explore, collaborate and share best practices, Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director, LXL Ideas addressed Principals on what makes an effective school leader and why school leadership needs to evolve with changing times.

Connecting educators across four cities

Gurugram

Bhubaneswar

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Jaipur

Chandigarh