Meet And Greet with Dr Anupam Sibal

To discuss Dr Anupam Sibal's book "Is Your Child Ready to Face the World?" and explore parenting insights with educators.

Key Takeaways

•⁠  ⁠Values like compassion, humility, and gratitude remain crucial for raising children, even as technology rapidly changes society

•⁠  ⁠Deeper parent-teacher engagement is needed beyond formal PTAs to support children holistically

•⁠  ⁠Time management, creating a positive environment, and teaching forgiveness are key habits for children's development

•⁠  ⁠The current generation faces unique challenges with impatience and mental health due to the instant gratification culture

Topics

Dr Sibal's Background and Parenting Philosophy

•⁠  ⁠Grew up in Kashmir until age 16, then moved to Delhi for medical studies

•⁠  ⁠Emphasises balance between mother's "soft touch" and father's "hard touch" in parenting

•⁠  ⁠Believes in a collaborative spirit between child and parent, allowing for open debate

•⁠  ⁠Stresses the importance of finding one's calling rather than forcing career paths

Challenges of Modern Parenting

•⁠  ⁠Today's children have much more exposure and access to information

•⁠  ⁠Parents struggle to accept children's logical arguments against their views

•⁠  ⁠Need to create an environment for meaningful dialogue and accept that children may know more about some topics

•⁠  ⁠Important to teach time management, balance, and patience in an instant gratification culture

Developing Compassion and Empathy

•⁠  ⁠The current generation is perceived as lacking in compassion/empathy compared to previous ones

•⁠  ⁠These traits can be trained, but shouldn't be forced - need to create the right environment

•⁠  ⁠Impatience and desire for instant results make it harder to develop these qualities

•⁠  ⁠Mental health issues are more prevalent in the current generation due to a lack of patience

Parent-Teacher Engagement

•⁠  ⁠Formal PTAs are insufficient for authentic engagement - need deeper, more frequent connections

•⁠  ⁠Suggestion to create an app/tool to better connect teachers and parents

•⁠  ⁠Home visits by teachers (1 per week) can dramatically improve engagement

•⁠  ⁠Understanding family challenges is key to supporting students holistically

Next Steps

•⁠  ⁠Explore creating a parent engagement platform as part of GSA initiatives

•⁠  ⁠Consider inviting parents to "Brewing Knowledge" sessions for shared learning

•⁠  ⁠Encourage schools to have teachers conduct regular home visits (1 per week)

•⁠  ⁠Join the upcoming My Good School Sunday session on communication skills with Kartik Bajoria

Living In Harmony With Compassion: RP Devgan

What is Education?

Mr. Arthur E Foot, the first Head Master of The Doon School in 1935, explained education as follows:

If, at the time of graduating from school, the student cannot differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, they have had no education.

In today's world, where children chase success and marks, they tend to forget the very basics of education, which are human values and being good human beings.

Success comes to those who are kind and compassionate. We need to be considerate and respectful of our peers and the people around us. We often tend to be very selfish and only care for ourselves. Our first service should be to the community. We need to be grateful for what we have. Very often, gratitude is missing, and we end up complaining about everyone and everything.

I feel there is no excuse for rudeness or obnoxious behaviour; there is no need to insult or shout at others.

One must learn to be tolerant and respect the opinions of others. We live in a secular society, and we must have the patience and understanding to respect the culture and beliefs of everyone. Just because others' opinions and beliefs don't match ours, there is no need to be aggressive or intolerant. For example, a person who is a vegetarian is no better or worse than a non-vegetarian. Diversity is our country's strength, and we are proud of it—something we have always been proud of.

Achievements in academics, games and extra curricular activities are very important but just as important is being kind and generous to others. To live in harmony inspite of all our differences we may have in our cultures, religious beliefs and eating habits.

Our present situation can be summed up by taking the metaphor from the Piano:

You can make music with the white keys, and you can make music with the black keys, but to make music in complete harmony you need the black and the white keys.

RP Devgan is the Chairman of Learning Forward India, a long-serving teacher, and the head of schools worldwide.

Thoughtfulness and Understanding - Dolly Pharasi

An important component of thoughtfulness is showing concern.

Every child is young and inexperienced in life, and they need all the lessons they can get it. When a child learns that thoughtfulness is not only a virtue but a practice, they will find ways to create good things and make life better for themselves and everyone else in their lives. The value of thoughtfulness comes in many forms, and teaching a child how to be thoughtful creates a healthy sense of self-esteem and well-being that will make it possible to survive lives with many ups and downs.

All you need to do is to be loving, kind, and compassionate, as well as understanding. If you teach a child about thoughtfulness, you will find more of it in yourself as well.

 

Tools used in the classroom to inculcate thoughtfulness are:

1. Offer your help

Guiding students when they have a problem and want others to help them. 

They should also provide help to resolve situations for others students.

For Example:-

1. When the teacher gives some colouring activity to the kids, some forget

to bring their own colours. The kids who have colours willingly share their colours with them.

2. In the classroom, when some written work is given to the students. Some of them have language problems but to increase their

vocabulary. We give them new words to use in story writing, creative writing and sentence construction.

2. Believe in one another 

It’s easy to assume the worst in others, but we should make conscious efforts to believe in one another, which are considered more thoughtful acts.

For example:

In circle time, we should tell moral stories to the students or stories of great personality; they learn to believe in one another through these stories.

3.Observation

To make our students understand that genuine care can only be developed by observing our surroundings, only positive care can be seen in others' attitudes.

Example: - In an empty bag, the teacher can put different objects like sandpaper, soft toys, a piece of wood, a pebble etc. Children will sit in a circle and close their eyes. They will touch and feel the object one by one, and the teacher will ask the question- Which object do you have? What is the shape of the object? How do you feel when you touch the object? This activity will enhance the ability to observe.

To be understanding towards the world around you, you need to 

develop empathy. 

To be understanding towards the world around you, you need to develop empathy. Empathy is a foundation for acting ethically, having good relationships of many kinds, loving well, and professional success. And it’s key to preventing bullying and many other forms of cruelty in the world around you.

The attachments are key to adopting our values and behaviour; therefore, empathizing with our children takes many forms, including tuning in to their physical and emotional needs, understanding and respecting their individual personalities.

Activity 1: Feelings Collage

This is a fun activity to try in any classroom, especially if some of your students are especially shy and might have difficulty acting out emotions in front of the class. Bring a big stack of magazines to class and give each student's art supplies: poster board or construction paper, scissors, glue sticks.

➢ Invite your students to cut pictures of people expressing any kind of feeling, and instruct them to use these images to build a “feelings collage.” Hand out markers to label each picture in their collage with a feeling word; then, take turns explaining their collages and feeling labels to the group. 

➢ Encourage your students to elaborate on the details of what they noted regarding the person’s facial expression, body language, or the context of the photo or illustration.

Activity 2: Group Circle

Another good activity to encourage empathy is the Group Circle. Choose a “talking piece” is an object passed around and signals that the holder has exclusive speaking rights. Tell your students that only one person may talk at a time in the Group Circle, and everyone else must listen quietly and respectfully.

➢ First, have the students pass the talking piece. This is a good opportunity for everyone to practice holding and passing the talking piece and an opportunity for students to say a few quick words about how they are feeling or what is on their minds.

➢ Introduce a topic or ask a question that you would like the circle to respond to. However, after you have sparked the conversation, make sure to take your seat in the circle and become a member rather than a leader.

➢ The Group Circle exercise helps students relate to one another, and it can encourage students to accept and share feelings that may be difficult to talk about.

          

- Dolly Pharasi@JMMS, John Martyn Memorial School, Salangaon, Dehradun 

Responsibility and Cooperation - R P Devgan

India's Test Match Series win against the Australians in Australia is one of the finest examples of Team spirit. After a debacle and humiliation in the first Test Match, the Indian players rose like the Phoenix and were applauded the world over for their grit, determination and team work. The players rose from the ashes and combined perfectly to take on their individual responsibilities and carve out an almost impossible win against all odds.This just goes to prove what responsibility and collaboration can achieve.

I have often advocated the importance of team games and group activities in schools.These  teach students to be responsible and how to learn to collaborate.

It also helps in being compassionate and considerate. It encourages trust and belief in each other. In case of defeat it gives people the strength to get  together and overcome their weaknesses.

Unfortunately today most people go for personal glory that individual Sports like Athletics,Tennis and  Shooting bring. There is nothing wrong with pursuing these sports, but only after you have participated in Team Sports while in school. Bjorn Borg in his autobiography writes that in schools students must take part in all sports.

To finally succeed in life it is important to be considerate and care for others. Selfishness and one-upmanship only leads to conflicts and ill-will. Whether it is a family, an organisation or a group of people like Educators; all need to be responsible and collaborate to live in harmony.

Educators must lead by example and inculcate the values of Responsibility and Collaboration in their wards.

Mr R P Devgan is the Chairman of Learning Forward India.

Email rpdevgan@gmail.com

www.SchoolEducation.com

Thoughtfulness and Understanding - Ajay Vijayvargi

Being kind and compassionate - Thoughtfulness. If you care for someone, definitely will think about

that person and will act and react with that person in a purposeful and loving way, will forgive that person easily and wholeheartedly, help the person in a better way which will be more productive.     A thoughtful educator will always help his students to achieve better results by positive actions, he will pay more attention to his students need by being nice to them and guide them properly, will always give them the benefit of doubts wherever possible.

 He will always be considerate to them and will give space to them to think, decide and act and will always be ready to guide, suggest and rectify by suitable ideas and measures at the right time to always make them a better individual. A thoughtful person will never jump to conclusions will have a sympathetic approach to others and will always follow the steps: 

LISTEN CAREFULLY                 
USE THOUGHT PROCESS                       
ACT   and look back always.    

 Thoughtfulness will lead to a better understanding of individuals, you will think about them with compassion and sympathy. One should have a better understanding of oneself, one's emotions and of course the same for others. A teacher with understanding will have the ability to think, learn and judge after suitably analyzing the difficulties and problems of the students. He will allow his students to learn by experience,  respect his student's beliefs and feelings with a better understanding of his subjects will create a harmonious and great learning atmosphere in the classroom.

Ajay Vijayvargi

The Fabindia School

avi@fabindiaschools.in   

Unity and Caring - Ajay Vijayvargi

` A family that dines together stays together. ` - how wonderfully the unity of a family is

defined, in today's scenario when each one of us we work round the clock, mostly online for hours together. Even when we are at home or at a party we all are busy fiddling our fingers on our mobiles. When we with our family to dine or watch televisions in our living room we are isolated even when we are together in a room. 

We are not united, but if we care for each other we will be together in all thick and thins – we will be united which in turn will protect us from all odds, we share our thoughts, feelings and care for each other. This feeling of being united will help the family in surviving ups and downs of life with courage and power. This feeling of being united at the workplace will help us in collaboration and teamwork yielding better results.

This feeling will only develop when we start caring for each other, compassionate, helping each other in times of need. It increases our self-esteem, self-worth and develops better social connections. If we care for someone, a small gift or holding hands, keeping a hand on his shoulder shows our togetherness with him in tough times, this will reduce his stress and will develop a strong bond of love giving a feeling of being united.  

These types of gestures in a classroom by a teacher to his students will develop a strong bond of unity and show that we care for each other.

Ajay Vijayvargi

The Fabindia School.

avi@fabindiaschools.in

Unity and Caring - Prakash Dangi

Unity is a very important value in human life. Doing any work United for completing any special

work or goal is called unity. It means being together or well connected to everyone. We all know that a common phrase is " Unity is strength". It means standing together in thick and thin. I remember when I was a child, this value was explained by a chapter in my textbook. This chapter had a short story which is based on the importance of unity. It explained that one stick can be easily broken.

On the other hand, to break a bundle of the stick is really difficult or impossible. So we recognize the power of unity. It has great value at every stage of life. So Our first duty is to maintain in our life. Unity is the root of success in every great work. It gives us the strength to face the difficult situation without becoming weaker, mentally or physically. Unity is the teamwork of players which help them to win matches and bring pride to their school, country and yourself. 

It helps us in enjoying every moment. On the other hand, Caring is when you do a good deed for someone because it is the right thing to do. When you care for someone, you make a difference in the world with kindness. I believe that caring for others is beautiful and noble. Great teachers care about their students. They want them to succeed and are committed to helping them achieve their goals. 

Moreover, teachers care about their students’ happiness, well-being and life beyond the classroom.

A student is far more responsive to a teacher who cares, and is, therefore, more likely to learn and engage. Connecting with your students establishes trust, which is important to the students’ learning because it makes them comfortable enough to participate, ask for help when needed, and pay closer attention to advice and encouragement. It is being compassionate and supporting people as they go through tough times. It is a good trait for everyone to have and the world will be a better place if we care for one another.

Prakash Dangi

The Fabindia School

pda@fabindiaschools.in

Homework and Tuitions: Prerna Rathod

Homework and tuitions are the terms connected with the school. Homework is an essential part while tuition is an imposition. If a school handles homework in the correct way, then there is no need for tuition.

Many times homework is given and students don’t do it. There may be many reasons for this like student may not have understood it or he has forgotten or he needed guidance but he did not get help for parents. Homework must be given in such a way that students can do it easily and independently. It should be interesting so that he is eager to do. Too much homework should not be given otherwise the student will think it as a burden and not do it. Homework should be given to developing skills in a student like reading, creative writing, thinking skills, etc. In Mathematics sums should be given which have been taught in the class and students have understood it properly. This will help them to practice sums and improve it. Thus, a school must have qualified, compassionate, hardworking and caring Educators who will set homework keeping in mind their students. If homework is given keeping time in mind, then the child will get time to play, spend time with family and friends and do work which he likes.

Tuition, on the other hand, are an extra burden for the child. Nowadays, it has become a fashion to go for tuition. In some cases, parents send their child thinking this will help their child to get good marks. While sometimes, a child joins tuition because all his friends are going so he joins too. If a child is attentive in class and concentrates while the teacher is teaching then there is no need for tuition. Tuitions are necessary only for those children who really can’t do learning on their own and needs guidance. Parents should understand this and not put their child under stress.

If a child is able to do his homework on his own, then it is a sign that your child is going in the right school and is making progress. Also, your child does not need any tuition. It is important that your child becomes a good human being by developing skills rather than just mugging up notes.  

Prerna Rathod

prd4fab@gmail.com

The Fabindia School, Bali

Dr Gargi Singh: Is Your Child Ready To Face The World?

My thoughts on reading the book by Dr Anupam Sibal.

Child...Ready...and world...these three words connected extremely well throughout the book. The connection with children in a childlike manner and not following the same theory always to connect is something very interesting. Dr Sibal has been able to listen to the voices of the children and talk on their  behalf to the community of adults who are around the child with a tag of a relationship.

I connected the most with Reassurance, Confidence in their abilities, compassionate in  circumstances... as in the rat race of achievements we are taking our children away from these key values and virtues. The importance of instilling these virtues has been simply woven through discussions and taking every single moment as an opportunity to discuss and discover these virtues.

Throughout the book the respect given to every individual whether he or she is a renowned personality or a child who visited the clinic is remarkable. We all keep on talking about children in some or the other context, but this book challenges me for many of my thought processes and at the same time as every chapter proceeded I was more thoughtful as a parent at home and in school.

My biggest experience after reading the book is the happiness and confidence gained on things can be changed and excuses are the last option that parents can opt for. So advance with your kids and walk with them through the technology world and take every experience to connect the most beautiful virtues that makes one a good human being.

Dr Gargi  Singh
Honest Icons
Dr Gargi is the Vice Principal at The Iconic School in Bhopal, she has been a part of the founding team.

Compassion is Action

The term compassion implies genuine concern towards others. Being an educator, it’s one of the most important traits to be possessed. By being compassionate, one is able to look through the larger picture and not only just materialistic happiness. An educator shall be compassionate enough to understand and give what the students want rather than being involved in trivial day to day issues because when educators sow the seeds they shall reap the benefits. It helps the educators to address the issues of the students both locally and globally. An educator needs to be compassionate to understand the students stress, depression, anxiety and pain. To understand his students well a student needs to cultivate compassion and clarity in himself. 

Compassion is a key to inner happiness and a powerful way to spread the joy around. It is also part of our evolving definition of leadership. But in order to cultivate compassion, self-compassion has to be established, too. If an educator cultivates compassion then he can create an happy atmosphere in the school and leaves an experience of long lasting happiness on a student’s mind.

Our learning from “Can We Teach a Zebra Some Algebra “by Debashis Chatterjee
- Sharmila Vijaywargi, Usha Panwar, Bharti Rao & Krithika Rao
The Fabindia School