How To Build Every Individual's Self-esteem

Brewing Knowledge Fridays (05/02/2025): Sandeep and Manisha discussed the importance of Friday sessions and Sandeep's book "My Good School," which celebrates children's strengths and achievements in education. They emphasised the need to shift from rote learning to more active and meaningful learning methods, stressing the importance of empowering students with critical thinking skills and life lessons. The discussion also covered the significance of self-dedication, collaboration, and contribution in education and the importance of building a professional culture in schools and preparing for upcoming reading sessions.

Next steps

• Minakshi to train teachers on meaningful learning, associative learning, and active learning techniques.

• Manisha will share the knowledge pyramid graphic with all participants in the WhatsApp group.

• All participants must type one word they absorbed from the session in the chat box.

• All participants must present their school names in the chat box.

• Manisha or Minakshi will insist that participants share what they learned from the WhatsApp Brewing Knowledge group session.

• All teachers should consider implementing rewards for identity discovery, collaboration, and contribution at their school's annual day.

Summary

Friday Sessions and "My Good School

Sandeep and Manisha discussed the importance of the Friday sessions and the significance of the book "My Good School" by Sandeep. Manisha emphasised that the book is close to their hearts and helps them connect with their experiences. Sandeep then began reading the chapter "Annual Day at School" from the book, explaining the method of reading and using a reading sheet. He also mentioned that the book is interconnected with his other writings and that the chapter they were reading was first published years ago.

Celebrating Children's Strengths and Achievements

Sandeep emphasised the importance of celebrating children's strengths and achievements, notably through annual events like the annual day at school. He highlighted the significance of showcasing creativity, connecting with the community, and building self-esteem in children. Sandeep also stressed the need to involve all stakeholders in these events, including parents and alumni. He suggested that schools should provide opportunities for children to excel in various areas, such as service, skill, study, and sport, and that these achievements should be recognised and celebrated.

Celebrating Children's Successes Throughout the Year

Sandeep discussed the importance of celebrating children's successes throughout the year, not just during events. He emphasised that every teacher should find a reason to celebrate one child each day. Minakshi expressed her school's enthusiasm for learning English, despite not fully understanding the content. Sandeep also mentioned the role of music in their activities.

Empowering Young Minds Through Knowledge

Sandeep discussed the importance of knowledge acquisition in education, emphasising the need to move beyond mere information sharing. He highlighted the need for a shift from rote learning to meaningful, associative, and active learning methods. Sandeep also stressed the importance of empowering young people with thinking abilities and life skills. He encouraged teachers to adopt these new learning methods and recognise the power of knowledge in shaping future generations.

Empowering Students Through Active Learning

Sandeep discussed the importance of individual growth and vision in education. He emphasised the need for schools to change and empower students to think analytically, rather than just processing data. Sandeep also highlighted the need for schools to move away from rote learning and towards more active learning. He used the example of the Fab India School to illustrate these points, noting that the school had faced resistance to efforts to improve teaching performance and was now moving towards more active learning.

Emphasising Self-Dedication and Collaborative Learning

Sandeep discussed the importance of self-dedication, collaboration, and contribution in education. He suggested that schools reward students for these qualities, rather than just academic achievements. Sandeep also emphasised the need for a structured learning program to help teachers become self-directed and collaborative learners. He highlighted the importance of building a professional culture in a school, which is a complex and slow process. Sandeep also stressed the significance of collaborative learning and knowledge assimilation, and encouraged thinking about life lessons and soft skills students should learn in school.

Upcoming Reading Session Discussion

Sandeep led a discussion on the upcoming reading session, scheduled for the 9th of May. He emphasised the importance of cross-referencing and asked for any questions about the reading material. Sandeep also encouraged participants to share their schools in the chat box to better understand the group's composition. The conversation ended with Sandeep asking participants to type a word they remembered from the session in the chat box.

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Memorable Letter To A Schoolteacher - Book Extract

Here is the extraordinary letter that JRD Tata wrote to K.C. Bhansali, an educationist who lived in Howrah, on 13 September 1965:

Dear Mr Bhansali,

I thank you for your letter of the 6tof h August, enquiring what have been the guiding principles which have kindled my path and my career. I do not consider myself to be an 'illustrious personality, but only an ordinary businessman and citizen who has tried to make the best of his opportunities to advance the cause of India's industrial and economic development.

Any such guiding principles I might unconsciously have had in my life can be summarized as follows:

That nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without deep thought and hard work;

That one must think for oneself and never accept at their face value slogans and catch phrases to which, unfortunately, our people are too easily susceptible;

That one must forever strive for excellence, or even perfection, in any task however small, and never be satisfied with the second best;

That no success or achievement in material terms is worthwhile, unless it serves the needs or interests of the country and its people, and is achieved by fair and honest means;

That good human relations not only bring great personal rewards but are essential to the success of an enterprise.

Yours sincerely,

J.R.D. Tata

"I think this extraordinary letter, and the principles it sets forth, withstand the test of time." Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian Tata Companies and author of the book #Tata Stories

Shared with students and teachers at My Good School to help them understand the meaning of a good life and how we need to look at values and ethics in the world and aspire to make it a better place. We have contacted Mr Harish Bhat and hope to hear from him soon.

National Education Policy - Pinki Chouhan

NEP [National Education Policy 2020] is a policy formulated by the Government of India to promote and regulate education in India. The Policy covers elementary education to higher education in both rural and urban India. The NEP is the supreme curricular document. It forms the first tier of a two-tier model of the educational program. It defines the main principle and aims of the curricular policy of the state. 

Apps Curriculum in Alignment to NEP 2020

● Pre-primary education helps the child in the following aspects as the curriculum prescribed by NEP 2020

● Faster respect for the parents, cultural and national values and traditions, mother tongue and child’s own cultures. 

Activity-Based Learning ( ABL) programme is an innovative, interesting and collaborated classroom transaction programme for students of one to four who have been introduced in the pre-primary schools worldwide. 

Activity-Based Learning has the following objectives: 

To gauge the learning achievement of students of Classes K.G. to IV. 

To study the difference in achievement concerning social groups, gender and location. 

To understand the factors of the learning environment offered to children before and after the invention of ABL pedagogy.

Pinki Chouhan

The FabIndia School

pco@fabindiaschools.in

Happiness and Tolerance - Magnets DGS

 

A dialogue between a teacher and a student

Student: As I look out of the class and watch the birds fly past, the squirrel run up and down from the tree to the grass, that is happiness for me! 

Teacher: I see you look out of the window and not at the board, the window to the world, that I worked all night in the cold, for you my child and yet not say a word, that is tolerance for me!

Student: Do you know, teacher? Much as I would love to hop, skip and jump, walk forward and backwards and then take a turn and run, I walk in a line, one foot behind the other, with a body like a pole, from head to toe, that is tolerance for me!

Teacher: I know my child, I understand what you say, for I have seen you jump in the puddles, as you go walking in the rain, my childhood memories come flooding back again, that brings happiness to me!

Student: Oh really, teacher? You too were a child like me, in school, and listened to your teachers without being naughty? Then why don’t you let me be ME?

Teacher: I wish I could get off the silly-bus, my child, that we call the syllabus and let you experience the world unfold, just the way, YOU want it night and day, for happiness leads to tolerance and tolerance leads to happiness, is what we believe and say!

We as educators understand that happiness comes from contentment and achievement of goals, happiness leads to tolerance and tolerance comes with understanding, understanding the perspective of the people around us. So, let us set realistic goals and work towards tolerance.

Magnets DGS: 

Kiran Juyal, Manju Srivastava, Mezhu Chopra, Pooja Sharma, Renu Sundriyal
The Doon Girls' School, Dehradun

Courage and Patience - Optimizer BHIS

Every teacher has a series of stories to share, so do I. My first teaching job was that of a primary teacher, though teaching was not new to me. I have been teaching for a very long time. I taught math and science to 4th and 5th graders then. When I went to this particular group of 4th graders to take my math class, everyone seemed happy to see me. There were greetings all around except Aman. I went up and greeted him as he looked down, ignoring me. I started teaching and solved a few questions on the board and while kids were writing in their notebooks I got the time to look into each student's work. Everyone was quick in writing down solved questions from the board, except  Aman.

Later I inquired about him and his behaviour. His class teacher informed me that he was a first-generation learner and had a learning disability. That very day during the dispersal I saw  Aman scribbling on the board with a smile. I got an idea of seeing this. Next day, I solved a sum on the board, explained a particular concept and later divided the board, using chalk, into three sections.

I called three students randomly to solve similar questions, every child was excited to solve the sums on the board and awaited their turn, eagerly. I saw Aman writing in his notebook. It was filled with many mistakes.  I corrected them and asked him to write the answer on the board. He hesitated but agreed to copy it from his corrected notebook. I appreciated his work and asked everyone to clap for him. I could see the smile of achievement on his face. After this, we continued doing this every single day. He was appointed the homework monitor. One part of the board had been assigned to him for solving homework answers on the board. Of course for a math teacher to give time for homework solving in class is time-consuming and frustrating. Yet, I was PATIENCE and the whole class co-operated. So I feel in this process of teaching we all learnt the art of PATIENCE.

I could see a drastic change in Aman's behaviour. He began to greet me with a smile whenever I entered the classroom. In fact, he waited for the math class, where he felt like the star of the class. Moreover, he became a happy child, more confident than he was before, and was enthusiastic to come to school. He started showing COURAGE. Every child in the classroom got a chance to solve sums on board, but for  Aman, it became a symbol of his achievement. A permanent column was made on the board for him to solve the sums. He started doing his homework regularly, knowing he had to do it on board every day.

" A little patience can make a timid child courageous".

If you love and care for someone you have to have patience and understand their behaviour. When you do that to bring in some positive change in your students it makes you feel happy and this happiness translates into a more interacting and enthusiastic class.

Optimizer @ Billabong High International School Thane.

- Rupal Trivedi, Kalyani Chaudhari, Madhubala Saji, Kshama Rajgor, Momita Banerjee, Ajita Bhoir & Sanket Patel

What is Conscientiousness? : Kavita Devda

Conscientiousness is the motivation of being responsible, careful and diligent. Conscientiousness implies a desire to do a task well.

Conscientious people exhibit a tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully and aim for achievement.

The following are the examples of conscientiousness:-

Diligence: Committing attention and effort to a task.

Persistence: Continuing with a task until it is completed.

Honesty: A desire to tell the truth and avoid to be dishonest.

Responsibility: Taking responsibilities seriously and doing what it takes to deliver to commitments.

Self-Discipline: An ability to control feelings and thoughts to focus on a goal.

An ability to focus on a task and work extended hours until a task is complete.

Why is it important to be conscientious?

Conscientious individuals also are more likely to succeed because they tend to have higher levels of organisation ability. This bides you more time to focus on what's actually important and to complete what actually needs to be done.

Kavita Devda

The Fabindia School, Bali <kda4fab@gmail.com>

Honesty and Respect - Spectrum SHS

Janet, a middle school student, was the hub of the class. First, in academics, co-curricular activities and well-disciplined was the tag for Janet. Since she was in her adolescence, she was very conscious of her looks. She felt that her looks were not at par with her achievements. Her extra hours were spent in front of the mirror with the make-up kit beside her. She brooded over her looks more than anything. A behavioural change was slowly visible in her. As school children, she had friends, and Fred was the dearest one for her. 

Fred being the closest, noticed some changes in his friend. He was worried about her and bring out the truth about her changes as a person. It was a tough task for Fred to break the ice for he knew that Janet was pretty enough, but her scything habits over the others was her weakness...just because she admitted that she was pretty. She did not notice that her nature did give a negative appearance on her looks too.

One Sunday evening, Janet invited Fred to tea. He made up his mind to be as honest as possible to Janet for he knew that he would raise questions to him regarding her looks!

As the story goes, Janet did ask Fred about her looks, and Fred simply answered that she was a compound of pretty and ugly. Janet broke down bitterly. The other day Fred tried his best to explain the reason for using such a phrase at her. It was an honest answer because Fred wanted to open his friend's eyes and take away her snobbish habits.

A week passed by, Janet did not call Fred at school or at home. She felt that Fred was too rude and impolite and may be jealous of her looks and achievements.

On the other hand, Fred simply ignored Janet's perception and wanted to go over Janet and talk to her. Janet simply avoided him. She felt that Fred was no more her best friend.

Class unit test approached. Janet was haunted by Fred's answer. She could not concentrate on her studies and perform well. Patricia stood first in the class! Got a shock for Janet! She could not take the defeat. She concluded that an ill omen was hovering over her life. 

The rift between Janet and Fred widened. Janet lost her charm and looked depressed, beaten. Fred could no more take Janet's situation. He went up courageously to Janet and explained to her the fact about his honest statement. With respect, he wanted to bring a change in her. He accepted that he was straightforward and told her that every honest answer given with respect sounds rude.

Finally, Janet understood Fred's way of correcting her and also helped her to respect others and most importantly, oneself.

 Prakash Yonzon <yonzonprakash1@gmail.com> for Spectrum at Sacred Heart School Siliguri

Conscientiousness: The Key to Success : Bharti Rao

Conscientiousness means to do something well and the purpose of practising it is understood. It is a long process of learning but the reward and achievement that we get through it is always enjoyable.

The system of Education according to the parents and students is to obtain high grades and get admission in the best colleges. This is not conscientiousness. Those who are conscientious are the people who are responsible, passionate, risk-takers, fearless and ambitious. To be conscientious you need to be efficient, organized, neat and systematic.

We as Educators need to help our children to be conscientious. We need to help them not to be dependent. They should be able to overcome their disability and take it as their advantage, and then they will surely become creative. Educators or parents should help the child to learn to embrace their disability than letting it rule his life. Every problem should be taken as positive learning and try to overcome it.

Conscientiousness comes when one takes the responsibility to achieve the target that he has set. In school we should help our kids to be focused, spontaneous by motivating them constantly. We should give the kids such tasks which will help them to be risk-takers and responsible. We should help them to plan their work and be punctual and disciplined towards work. This will help them to be systematic and conscientious.

You need to be passionate about your goal. An Educator should motivate his students to be conscientious by inculcating in them the traits of being dutiful, faithful, self-controlled, punctual, disciplined, steadfast and responsible.

Bharti Rao

TheFabindia School, Bali

bro@fabindiaschools.in

Our belief taking Learning Forward

The Professional Learning Program (PLP) aligns with the mission of Learning Forward, the world's largest body of individual educators, with a vision of excellent teaching and learning every day. The Learning Forward India Academy is working to build the capacity of leaders to establish and sustain highly effective professional learning. Professional learning means a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement.

Our belief is:
The purpose of professional learning is to ensure a comprehensive, sustained, and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement.

• Professional learning strives to go beyond standardised testing to promote authentic learning experiences and the application of knowledge and skills. 
• Professional learning is aligned with rigorous student academic achievement standards, as well as related affiliation standards of state and central boards and guidelines for school improvement goals. 
• Professional learning regularly assesses the effectiveness of achieving identified learning goals, improving teaching, assisting all students in meeting challenging academic achievement standards and is used to inform ongoing improvements in teaching and student learning. 
• The success of the students is affected by sustained professional learning conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by well-prepared school principals and/or school-based professional learning trainers, coaches, mentors, master teachers, or other teacher leaders. 
• Professional learning is a continuous cycle of improvement, which evaluates the student, teacher, and school learning needs through a thorough review of data on teacher and student performance. 
• Effective professional learning honours differences in student and adult learners by using various approaches to learning and assessment.  
• Educators have the right to expect excellence in their professional learning and have the power to achieve it. All educators share the responsibility for their own individual growth as well as that of their organisations.
• Professional learning is most effective when supported by an organisational culture that fosters learning for all. Professional learning must be embedded in the organisational structure for systemic change and may be supported by external assistance. 
• Collaboration and fostering collective responsibility for improved student performance within the school community is essential for school improvement and student success.
• All professional learning should be of high quality and aligned with the best standards for professional learning. 

The term professional learning means a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teachers’ and principals’ effectiveness in raising student achievement. School improvement will happen only when the School Board and the Management support the principal in creating an environment that nurtures excellence, trust, risk-taking and creativity.

www.LearningForward.Org.IN
Learning Forward India is an affiliate of Learning Forward