At the Learning Forward India Foundation, and the Good Schools Alliance (GSA), we
are dedicated to the transformative power of education by empowering teachers. #HappyTeachers
Hiring good teachers is essential because they shape both learning and the emotional environment of classrooms. Schools should look beyond qualifications to qualities like empathy, patience, communication, and a genuine connection with children. Demonstration lessons and thoughtful interviews help reveal how teachers engage with students and approach learning.
Good teachers are lifelong learners who reflect, adapt, and collaborate. Hiring should align with the school’s values and culture to ensure long-term commitment. Careful teacher selection is not just recruitment—it is an investment in students’ growth and well-being.
Write a weekly blog column on Brewing Knowledge, incorporating teachers' reflections from the WhatsApp chat.
Neelashi
MEETING SUMMARY ✨
To continue the "Brewing Knowledge Fridays" book discussion series, we will focus on Chapter 4 of Kamala Mukunda's book on child development.
Key Takeaways
The brain undergoes significant growth and development from birth through adolescence, with synaptic connections forming and pruning based on experiences.
Child development occurs through a combination of stage-like qualitative changes and continuous quantitative improvements in cognitive ability.
Children are not "blank slates" at birth, but come with some innate capabilities that interact with environmental experiences.
Engaging students through active listening and allowing them to share their thoughts is crucial for addressing attention-seeking behaviours.
Highlights
Brain Development in Children.
Brain weight increases rapidly in the first year from 400g to 850g, reaching 1450g by adulthood.
The cerebral cortex is less mature at birth, with frontal/prefrontal cortices maturing in late adolescence.
Brain plasticity involves the formation of synaptic connections and the myelination of neurons.
Experience-expectant plasticity: overproduction and pruning of synapses based on experiences
Experience-dependent plasticity: formation of new synapses in response to specific experiences
Theories of Cognitive Development
Piaget described distinct developmental stages with qualitative differences in reasoning abilities.
Alternative view: continuous quantitative changes in processing speed, knowledge, and strategies
Debate on whether development occurs in discrete stages or as gradual, incremental improvements
Educational implications around concept teachability, learning readiness, and environmental stimulation
Nature vs. Nurture in Child Development
Children are not "blank slates" - born with some innate neural circuits and abilities.s
Significant interaction between genetics and environment from birth
Analogy of a child's brain having an innate "operating system" to which programs are added
Mythological tales and research support the idea of some inherited knowledge/tendency
Addressing Attention-Seeking Behaviours
Give students opportunities to be heard and express themselves
Allocate time to listen to students' thoughts and observations
Use creative activities like drawing to channel students' need for attention
Recognise potential lack of attention at home, driving classroom behaviours
Minakshi coordinated the start of the meeting and ensured the teachers from JDS were joining, while Sandeep discussed the importance of teachers being visible and engaged in their learning sessions. Sandeep emphasised the challenges of change management, especially in schools, and stressed the importance of valuing teachers and reframing teaching as a sought-after profession. He also discussed the importance of reflection and commented on challenges faced by teachers and the need for personal and social development in students facilitated through experiential learning and mentorship.
Next steps
• All teachers are to read the chapter "Why teachers are averse to change" from Sandeep Dutt's book My Good School.
• All teachers should reflect on the challenges they face as teachers and why they might be averse to change.
• All teachers must write reflections and comments on the blog post about "Why teachers are averse to change".
• All teachers to email or WhatsApp their thoughts and reflections to Sandeep Dutt.
• All teachers are to participate in the Saturday Master Class at 5:30 PM and Sunday "My Good School" session at 10:30 AM.
• All teachers should focus on experiential learning and encourage students to participate in activities beyond the syllabus.
• All teachers should identify and nurture students' passions in service, skill, sport, and study.
• JDS School and Arthur Foot Academy teachers to join the next Friday session at 1:40 PM for the entire month of March.
• All teachers must suggest chapters they want to be covered in future sessions via the WhatsApp group.
Emphasising Teacher Visibility and Adaptation
Sandeep emphasised the importance of teachers being visible and engaged in their learning sessions. He encouraged them to use cameras during classes to improve their connection with students. Sandeep also discussed teachers' challenges when adapting to change, using the metaphor of seasons to illustrate the need for change in their profession. He highlighted the challenges of change management, especially in schools, and shared his observations from 2 champion schools, Jds and Arthur Foote Academy, which were struggling to adapt. He stressed the importance of accepting the moment as a challenge and adapting to it.
Valuing Teachers in India's Education System
Sandeep discussed valuing teachers and reframing teaching as a sought-after profession. He highlighted teachers' challenges, including a lack of appreciation, outdated curriculum, and limited resources. He emphasised the need for teachers to be innovators, free thinkers, and learners, and to see every child as having the potential to be an Einstein. Sandeep also suggested the idea of an India Education Service to value teachers as service providers, not just school employees. He concluded by expressing his optimism about young people wanting to become teachers and the need for change in the education system.
Discussing Reflection, Challenges, and Knowledge
In the meeting, Sandeep emphasised the importance of reflection and commented on the challenges faced by teachers. Neeraj discussed the difficulties of communication barriers and knowledge gaps in teaching. They also discussed a book reading session starting on February 7th, focusing on chapter 7. Sandeep encouraged participants to share their thoughts and challenges via email or WhatsApp and stressed the importance of accumulating knowledge to adapt to change.
Overcoming Aversion to Change and Building Relationships
Sandeep discussed the importance of adapting to change and overcoming aversion to it. He emphasised the role of building relationships and confidence in overcoming these challenges. Sandeep encouraged participants to read and reflect on the topic and to ask questions for better understanding. He also mentioned the availability of helpful articles on the blog for further learning.
Developing Students Through Experiential Learning
Sandeep emphasised the importance of students' personal and social development and encouraged teachers to use experiential learning and mentorship to facilitate this growth. He urged teachers to overcome their resistance to change and start reflecting on their practices, even if it's just through a voice note or drawing. Sandeep reminded everyone that they have only five weeks left and to think critically after each session.
New Meeting Schedule Confirmed for March
The team also confirmed they would attend the meeting next Friday at 2:20 PM and for the rest of the month.
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Session recording is available on our YouTube Channel @MyGoodSchool
Almost everyone dreams of something while growing up. We all have ambitions when we are little, which change as we grow up. Ambitions lead us to a definite aim in life. Furthermore, they help us focus on our goal no matter the cost. It drives us to do better in life. Ambitions differ from one person to another.
However, one common thing usually found is that over time, people switch their ambition to something else than that which they wished to be when little. We have many people in the medical field who wanted to be dancers. Similarly, some of the greatest politicians wanted to be artists. So we see how easily one gives up on their dreams and ambition to adapt to society.
Ambition is a great incentive to work. A life without ambition is like an arrow without a target. Seneca rightly said, "If one does not know which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable". Ambition is a dream with a deadline. All successful people have ambition. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do. Precisely, ambition is the path to success. So we all should have ambition in our life to become successful.
With the lockdown , children are spending all their time at home with the parents. It is a good time as any to pass on two qualities the children can benefit from in their later years. The qualities being Dignity of labour and Adaptability.
Some of the children coming from affluent homes who have not been to boarding schools are very snobbish about menial jobs. They feel it is below their dignity to do them. For example, sweeping and washing dishes or digging in the garden would be considered sacrilegious.
In my experience, it is largely the parents who are to blame for these kind of thoughts. I have known of children who go home after school and expect the domestic help to take of their shoes. In the day schools I have headed, the first thing I did was to stop all students below 18 years of age coming to school driving a two wheeler or a car. Once I caught a boy guilty of driving - parking his car 100 yards away from school. I suggested that since he didn’t live too far, he could easily take a cycle rickshaw to school. His reply stunned me when he said that only poor people used cycle rickshaws. Such is the mindset of many of our younger generation who are born with a golden spoon in their mouth. It is upto the parents and then the school to drill some humility in them. Now is the time for parents to teach their children that no work is below anyone’s dignity. We are all human beings and should be able to do our own work; especially now during lockdown when no outside help is available the children must share the household chores.
I must admit that most residential schools do a good job of teaching dignity of labour to the children. In one particular school all the workers went on a lightning strike and the students, staff and their wives ran the school till the workers put up their hands and came back to work. During those days, everyone got together as a team and worked, right from cleaning toilets to cleaning the campus, washing utensils and cooking meals. It’s genuine social service boarding schools do that make the students self reliant.
Adaptability
In todays world if you adapt, you succeed, if you don’t, you perish.
Lockdown is a good time to learn the great skill of adaptability . Adaptability is the skill to make the best of what you have and do so happily. The world is not going to change for you so the sooner you learn to adapt the happier you will be. Children at home today have learnt to adapt even without making an effort. With a complete lockdown , fast food has not been available. Those who thrived on ‘Fast food’ had to stick to ‘ Mama’s cooking’.
It's a part of life that when there is no choice, one has to adapt. Indian students not willing to adapt often suffer when they go overseas to study. The biggest hurdle is the food they eat. To expect rajma chawal or parathas at every meal is just not possible. It’s in school that they should learn to accept and eat all kinds of food and be prepared for the future. The same goes for adapting to different cultures and people. Once again diversity comes in. Children and students who can handle diversity adapt easily. - Rajinder Pal Devgan Chairman of Learning Forward India
