Reflection from the Masterclass of 10th Jan 2026

True self-worth and happiness come from feeling beneficial to the community — from knowing that our existence contributes to others. When we act with the intention to contribute, we naturally feel happier. However, this contribution should be free from the desire for recognition or praise, because expecting acknowledgement only traps us in dependency on others' approval.

Often, when people — especially children — cannot gain attention through healthy means, they resort to inappropriate or disruptive behaviour. Many children misbehave not because they are "bad," but because they want to be seen and heard. Every child needs to be listened to so they don't grow up feeling inferior.

Adults, too, sometimes engage in exaggerated behaviours to assert superiority or to stand out. In such environments, what is initially abnormal gradually becomes normalised. The Adlerian view reminds us that freedom, contribution, and belonging in community are essential foundations of a healthy sense of self.

Shalini Gupta

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Observation and classrooms - Neelashi Mangal

Everything ties back to being a teacher; this "Friday@ EBD" was another thread. We had invited Neha Negi, author of When Birds Talked, to our Meet-and-Greet. An artistic activity was designed in which Neha asked participants to observe and describe mundane objects around them using five adjectives or phrases. Participants shared their observations. There were beautiful connections and observations made by people. It is true, we do forget the mundane. The mundanities that surround us are constant. We discussed a powerful paragraph from her prologue, which noted that we tend to know more about distant lands than about the nature immediately available to us. I was thinking about whether I know more bird names than just crow, maina, pigeon, and bulbul. I do not. 

For me as a teacher, this is a powerful message that I'd like to take to my classrooms and teacher training. In the chaos of learning the alphabet and numbers, we forget the gifts we have received from nature. Can we bring this back to our classroom? It is also a reflection of how little we care or bother. As a result, we can destroy it because there is less connection and affection for it. 

This week, as in any other, reflections continue, and there is a wonderful group of teachers who meet at Learning Forward on Saturday, where there is an invisible love for teaching, dialogue, and shared realities. I'd like to invite my group to think of all the names of the birds and trees around us before we discuss phonetics and its difficulty.