The Open School, by Kartik, Founder, Driveway Devi

 

On a recent airport transfer, as I debated between reading my book or getting some work done on the laptop, I couldn’t help overhear stray bits of my Uber driver’s phone conversation. Things didn’t seem alright and I organically proceeded to ask him if something was the matter. 

Neither did I read a word of my book, nor did any work; like most of us I had assumed that in either activity, would be a judicious use of the time the longish drive would take – instead I ended up talking to the Uber driver for the entire hour and a quarter my intra-city journey lasted.

The minutes hardly called attention to themselves. Though that wasn’t the reward, that I’d been able to traverse a most unpleasant commute without glancing at my watch. Far from it. What this interaction did gift me, as I quickly realized settling into my seat aboard the flight, was the kind of insight, and knowledge, that years of academic study couldn’t have; compressed, authentic, from the horse’s mouth, in a fraction of the time!

This bounty of newly gathered wisdom around small-town Uttar Pradesh and migrant workforce in the national capital, their lives, struggles and modest triumphs, their hopes, fears, dreams and aspirations, their forsaken native lives, sacrificed family members, this gentleman’s wages and survival-mode existence, his ‘education’ that had falsified the promise of prosperity – each word out of his mouth encapsulated an India that I wasn’t ever a part of, and was unlikely to be – more significantly, his was a microcosm of a dismal epic-sized reality, one, astonishingly kept veiled, secret, a closely hidden & protected recipe that served and serviced only a waver-thin minority.

I digress, since this isn’t intended as a socio-political rant. That I’d gained so much, from such little time, and zero effort, got me to thinking. What I’d always known, practiced half my life then forgotten somewhere along my bigger journey, hit me like a ton of bricks. 

Join us at the Global Educators Festival

Get ready for the Global Ed Fest—an electrifying event where innovative minds come together to tackle pressing educational challenges! Mark your calendars for July 31, 2025, because you won't want to miss this fantastic experience, explicitly curated for India's school community. We at the Good Schools Alliance can't wait to welcome you to the colourful and dynamic Pink City! 

 

Join us as we unite to ignite ideas and cultivate a passion for learning! Let's make waves in education! #JoyOfLearning #HappyTeachers #EducationRevolution #GreatSchools #Conference #SGEF2025

 

Visit the website for details:

GlobalEdFest.com

Wanted a Primary School Principal!

FOLLOW YOUR HEART
Lady with the lamp, where art thou?

Primary years are your first 💕.
You love a breath of fresh 💨.

Want to settle at Dehradun?

We have a job to involve you for 10+ years, and the school will grow with you from Primary to K12.

Prior experience is welcome; if you want this to be your first shot as a principal, give it a try!

Image courtesy: Primary School Clipart, Png Download - Reading Cartoon, Free clipartkey.com

With passionate educators, EBD is setting up a school at Dehradun. Amidst a legacy campus that opened its doors in 1947 to give newfound freedom to young people. 

This is the new India; we decided to re-invent the wheel, building on a solid foundation with a sense of service to the community and a commitment to values.

Verdant greens, sounds of silence, birds chirping, water body, tree house, blue skies,  amphitheatre, pick-up from home...and even an area for parents to lounge in!

My Good School welcomes you with an open heart! No CV is needed; email LF@ebd.in and tell us why you are best suited.

OFFER CLOSES 31st July 2022

#mygoodschool #education #job #experience #love #jobalert #school #email #email #art #sing #dance #explore #walk #woods #magic

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sandeepdutt_mygoodschool-education-job-activity-6956834170148913152-3bDp?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

Gratitude - Sunita Mehta

My Good School presents Joy Of Reading.

The community reading program helps inspire you by reading and reflecting, sharing examples of where children and adults in real life are using values and is very useful to stimulate discussion and philosophical debate. The Joy Of Reading Program is only one part of our Life Skills Program - Reading, Speaking and Writing.

On Sunday mornings at 11.00 AM, you can join us for live reading sessions. Best you attend with a copy of the book and experience the Joy of Reading.  #ReadToLead 

Gratitude Chapter 15, narrated by Sunita Mehta, Headmistress Gyanshree School Noida, India

Ready to Login?

My Good School is now OPEN, would you like a Login button on your school website?

My Good School empowers students by creating an environment for personal and social development of an individual. Experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study, this brings to life learning that would otherwise be theoretical and uncoordinated. #MyGoodSchool

How HundrED Ambassadors in India have Supported Learning during Lockdown

The Indian school system is one of the largest in the world, with 247+ million learners and 9+ million teachers across 1.5+million schools. On Monday, March 16th, 2020 the Indian Government announced the closure of all educational institutions and the implementation of a 21-day nation-wide lockdown. For many, classes and examinations have been suspended until further notice. Depending on how long the current lockdown lasts there will be an impact on the duration of the academic year, which will in turn severely impact students, as the planned syllabus will have to be covered over a shorter period of time.

Unlike urban communities where schools have already adopted remote learning solutions, there is limited access to dedicated devices, amongst peri-urban and rural community stakeholders. Lack of connectivity and tech-savviness is posing major roadblocks in the transition to online learning. The expected impact on local communities if the lockdown continues and schools remain closed for a longer period will be harder to combat due to the inherent challenges in these areas, such as limited access to dedicated devices for students, low technology readiness of school staff who often have had limited exposure to online tools and methods of delivery and teaching. 

Below you will find three examples of initiatives our HundrED Ambassadors and Innovators have taken to help combat the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in India. 

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Learning Forward India, a professional learning community-led by Sandeep and Devanjali Dutt is helping galvanise their community to handle the social and emotional connect on the ground in the lockdown. Devanjali shares, 

"Before the COVID-19 Crisis, Professional Learning seemed a drag and most teachers were not finding the necessary space and time to look at their personal and social development needs. Today, as we do not have formal school, the focus is on their skill development, they need a plan for the day and look forward to a structured approach. The Joy Of Learning Program (our flagship offering) was built to help teachers at this hour of crises, with a focus on the values that will help children be prepared for the future, overcome the social upheaval, and learn to appreciate the community as well as the environment. "

Learning Forward has taken this lockdown as an opportunity to coach teachers. Multiple studies reveal that teachers’ capacity building strategies enhance students’ performance. Supporting teachers positively also furthers the growth of other key stakeholders, such as students and parents, within learning communities. As a professional learning organisation supporting nearly 400 members and five schools, Learning Forward has taken the following steps:

• Delivering support modules to coach and enable teachers to overcome their tech roadblocks by offering sessions on using various tools and applications 
• Offering their flagship professional development programs across 11 sessions of both structured training sessions and self-directed professional learning with increasing amounts of self-directed time as they progress from week to week. 
• Providing regular webinars and short sessions on defined themes chosen by the target group to support them in their individual learning journeys. 
• Hosting short remote group sessions to take on assignments and discuss solutions to chosen in-class scenarios.  
• Conducting dedicated one on one sessions for school leaders/principals to mentor and guide them in the task of remotely managing teaching and non-teaching staff. 
• Sharing best practices and inspirational stories across social platforms to applaud and recognise steps taken by their target communities to fight the on-ground impact of the pandemic

Read more

- https://hundred.org/en/articles/

Seeing with the New Eyes

We as an educator should be able to see the hidden talents and difficulties of our students, that they are not able to excel or discuss with us freely. Consider an example - a student is not able to perform well in a particular subject or in study/skill/sport, the subject teacher or all teachers teaching him will tag him/her as a weak student without understanding and finding out a reason, why is it so?

There can be many reasons behind this nonperformance, such as -
                -   basic foundation or concepts may not be clear to him
               -    the family atmosphere may be not peaceful

The reason can be anything, the duty of an educator is to see the unseen, and find the reason that is deflecting the student from performing and excelling in that field. Seeing with New Eyes will help the educator to assist the student to excel in a particular field or help the student to come out of his problems and become a good student and later a good citizen. 

Our learning from “Can You Teach A Zebra some Algebra” by Debashis Chatterjee.

- Ajay Vijayvargi, Kusum Dangi, Tarun Mishra & Usman Gani

The Fabindia School

रचनात्मकता को पुरस्कृत करे।

बच्चों के लिये कक्षा में उसके पाठ को रोचक बनाने के कही तरीके होते है उसमे
से कुछ बच्चों को पाठ के आधार पर खेल खिला कर तथा छोटे - छोटे नाटक करके
कही तरीको से पाठ का सामान्य ज्ञान करवाया जा सकता है। बच्चों के उत्तर को
सकरात्मक से देखते हुए उनको नए तरीके ढ़ूढ़ने के लिये उत्साहित कर के बच्चों
के ज्ञा न को बढाया जा सकता है। भ्रमण करवा कर छात्रों की रूचि बढाकर ज्ञान को बढाया जा सकता है।

ये हमारी सीख " आइस्कीम मेकर से "  लेख़क सुबीर चौधरी

कुसम शर्मा ,राजेश्वरी राठौड़ & इशू चौहान ऊर्मिला - The Fabindia School

Youth and Sports

As part of the 2010 Asia Pacific Regional Meeting - and to celebrate the spirit and values of the Commonwealth Games - we will be hosting a Youth in Sports photo exhibition at the British Council New Delhi in October. If you would like to submit your photos from the region, please upload them to the following site http://203.19.70.21:8080by 31st August. Pictures must be provided in a jpeg format.

Where is the Open Award Centre in Delhi?

Open Award Centre

SACAC

Sri Aurobindo Society

Adchini Crossing, On Qutab Road, New Delhi 110017, India

http://sriaurobindosocietydelhi.org.in/

TATW

Weekly Award update

1. AV Team (Award Volunteers Team) Meeting will be on the 23rd August 2009
Venue: SACAC (Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Culture)
Please visit website for details and location, http://www.saimc.com/

AGENDA
• Orientation of new Award participants
• Enrolment at the Open Award Centre
• Plan for the Award Holders Association

Award holders and volunteers are welcome, for more information please contact:
AV Team Leader - Devyani Dutt
LSR Award Leader - Kritika
St. Stephens Award Leader - Saachi
Hans Raj College Award Leader - Meehak
JMC Award Leader - Freya

2. The National Office will host the IS supported National Workshop.
The Workshop originally planned for Coimbatore 9-11 October 2009 has been relocated to New Delhi, as a part of Capacity Building and Training, supported by the International Secretariat.
The venue now will be Sri Aurobindo Centre http://www.sriaurobindosocietydelhi.org.in/

National Training Workshop (NTW), New Delhi India, 9-11 October 2009
Theme: Growing Confidence
Format: TRAIN-THE-TRAINER
Building on the core competency and capacity building in India, the focus will be on:

 Train the trainers and award volunteers
 Offer a snapshot of the Award experience
 Responding to an enhanced national agenda

NTW will carry forward youth engaging in society, and work on ways to deliver the Programme for the 18-25 age groups

Format & Key Topics
The NTW will incorporate group work, case studies, presentations and subject matter experts on how to best engage and add value to the sections of the Award Programme.

Outcomes: Confidence and capacity building to meet the draft plan objectives
 To demonstrate the Award’s usefulness to society and drive development, Participants will interact with Trainers and volunteers.

The Trainers
The trainers for NTW2009 will be from the National Office and Zones.

The Participants
The participants sought for NTW2009 must be Award Leaders and Trainers in the Zones / Units. We are seeking participants with a demonstrated interest and/or involvement in extending the Award into the wider community to meet a higher need.

The NTW 2009 participants will be five from each Zone, please contact the nearest Zonal office for further details and for expression of interest.

In addition, it is aimed to have a group of external high level resource people – to work with each of the groups and then form a panel for a series of group presentations.



3. As a part of capacity building and training, NAA will do an add-on session to the Coimbatore Workshop in Delhi and focus on "Role of Volunteers". The workshop will help draft the Volunteer Management Policy. This will be developed after the meeting at the Open Award Centre on the


4. Nominations called for RTW 2009 in November, last date is 1st Sept 2009.
Asia Pacific Regional Training Workshop, New Delhi India, 23-29 November 2009
The details and forms available with the Zonal office.

Theme: Define The Future. The Award and National Development.
RTW will carry forward youth engaging in society, an umbrella challenge for the Region 2009-10.

Format & Key Topics
The RTW will incorporate group work, case studies, presentations and subject matter experts on how to best engage and add value to these six (6) sectors:

Education/academic
Local community
Youth
Government
NGO/international sector
Industry

The Participants (Selection Criteria)
The participants sought for RTW2009 will have to be experienced hands and individuals with roles in policy, administration and youth engagement in the Zones.

We are seeking participants with a demonstrated interest and/or involvement in extending the Award into the wider community to meet a higher need.

The RTW 2009 participants from each Zone (two per zone) will work in six pre-selected groups. Each delegate will be asked to give inputs as a part of the RTW2009 registration process, and be involved in one or more of the six sectors and area of particular interest. The need for previous experience is important.


5. Proposed AHA (Award Holders Association) Summit in December 2009, send in your suggestions to Rohit Saxena please. He is our moderator on Facebook; we hope to have a group of 1000 individuals on FACEBOOK by then. Rohit Saxena is our NAA Youth Rep. and is working on this. He will contact the Zones to form chapters in each Zone, Namrata Daga in South, Swati in East have volunteered to assist. Rhea and Utkarsh, Gold holders in Delhi will support Rohit in his efforts.


6. Facebook and the website very active; and we now have near 340 fans and friends on Facebook.


7. South Zone to host the Annual National Workshop in Ooty in January 2009. The design and delivery will be done by the South Zone Team alone, with necessary inputs from all the Zones.


8. The OAC (OPEN AWARD CENTRE) pilot project of the National Office - details above in Para 1
How will we do this?
•On the 23rd of August 2009 Shloka will do a road show for new entrants.
•The OAC will be run and managed with the help of the AV Team.
•The final AV Team will be in shape in the coming few weeks.
•In Sept 2009 the AV Team will attend the ROLE OF VOLUNTEERS workshop.

The Open Award Centre is a pilot being done by the National Office and will register participants / individuals who cannot make it of any of the North Zone units. In addition the National Office will License Corporate bodies and Social organisation to operate the Award Programme.

The National Office is working with the AV Team and will run necessary training and development.


9. In the coming week the National Director to attend meetings at:
The British Council - to work on plans for partnering
The Modern School - to update NAA members and Award Volunteers on development so far
The British High Commission - seek support from the HC

Cheers, more until next week!

The Award this week (TATW)

1. The first meeting of the Delhi AV Team (Award Volunteers Team) was great. Fresh faces at the Delhi University campus are surely going to make a difference to us. Three College Award Leaders appointed Mehaak at Hans Raj, Krithika at LSR and Saachi at St. Stephens. We meet again next week, and the first orientation will be at the Open Award Centre (OAC)  in August 2009. OAC Delhi will be the epicentre for the college award units, and will even assist individual participants. Thanks Devyani for the initiative and am sure with you as the Award Leader, the Open Centre will be in good hands. Malini our key resource is the mentor to many of our volunteers.

2. The South Zone will host the IS supported National Workshop at Coimbatore 9-11 October 2009. The venue is Chinmaya International School. 30 participants will attend from India alone, with an observer nominated by the NAA, to monitor quality and asses impact. The Workshop is being designed by the NAA and hosted by the SZAA. One session of this workshop will be hosted by the NZAA and will be held at New Delhi.

3. As a part of capacity building and training, NAA will also do an add-on session to the Coimbatore Workshop in Delhi and focus on "Role of Volunteers". The workshop will help draft the Volunteer Management Policy. This initiative is being chaired by Mrs. Lata Vaidyanathan and Malini will help in execution please.

4. Nominations called for RTW 2009 in November, last date is 1st Sept 2009. Only two experienced participants from each Zone. For details contact the Zonal Chairperson please.

5. Proposed AHA (Award Holders Association) Summit in December 2009, send in your suggestions to Rohit Saxena please. He is our moderator on Facebook.

6. Stage set for the APF Trustees Meeting on the 22nd of July 2009 at Mumbai.

7. Facebook and the website very active, and we now have near 275 fans and friends on Facebook.

8. South Zone to host the Annual National Workshop in Ooty in January 2009.

9. in last week of July 2009, Sandeep Dutt to attend the IC Brand Task Force meeting in London. A group of 8, meeting will be chaired by The Earl himself.

Cheers, more until next week at TATW

We are on FACEBOOK

http://www.facebook.com/iayp.in