Unity and Caring - Welham Boys' School

Unity and Caring amongst students are essential for creating a positive learning environment. When

students feel connected and have a sense of belonging, they are more likely to be engaged and motivated in their studies. It also promotes empathy and compassion, which can help reduce bullying and other negative behaviours. Encouraging students to work together and support one another can foster a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. This can be achieved through peer mentoring, group projects, and community service. By prioritizing unity and caring, students can develop strong relationships with their peers, feel valued and supported, and ultimately thrive academically.

Exercise: Human Knot

Ask students to stand in a circle and hold hands with two people not standing next to them. Instruct the students to move around and untangle the knot without letting go of each other's hands. Encourage them to communicate with each other, work together, and be patient until the knot is

untangled.

Observations:

a) Initial Responses: At the start of the exercise, some students may feel hesitant or unsure about holding hands with people they don't know well. They may also need help approaching the problem of untangling the knot.

b) Contribution: As the teacher or facilitator, you can provide guidance and encouragement throughout the exercise. You can remind the students to communicate effectively, work together, and stay patient. You can also offer suggestions and help to keep the movement moving along.

c) Impact on Students: The Human Knot exercise can positively impact students in several ways. Firstly, it promotes teamwork and collaboration, as students need to work together to solve problems. It also encourages communication and trust-building, as students must rely on each other to untangle the knot. Finally, the exercise can help to build a sense of unity and caring as students come together to achieve a common goal.

d)Takeaways: Some possible takeaways from the Human Knot exercise include:

The importance of communication and teamwork in achieving a goal.
The value of patience and perseverance in difficult situations.
The benefits of building trust and working together towards a common purpose.
The idea is that unity and caring can be fostered through shared experiences and challenges.

Incident: An incident took place amongst the students that can be seen as a learning or takeaway

from this exercise.

While playing soccer, one kid (let's call him kid 1) kicked the ball a little too hard, and another kid (let's call him kid 2) ended up hurting his arm. Kid 1 took Kid 2 to the hospital, and the arm was fractured. Kid 2's grandparents had come to take him for medical leave, and kid 1, along with some other friends, helped him pack, change and carry all his stuff for him. The grandparents were overwhelmed to see his peers' caring, united and helpful nature.

- Neelima Parmar, Monika Gupta and Vandana Sahay

Welham Boys’ School

Humility and Appreciation - Byju Joseph

Humility is a humble nature to be possessed by everyone. It is one of the personality

traits. A humble person will always be loved and respected by others. He never expects any reward from others for doing any favour. We can observe this virtue in all great people.  Humility has its own attractive power. Humility in a person can make several changes in others. There was a real incident in Mother Teresa’s life. When she was serving in the slums of Calcutta she had some orphan children with her.

One day it happened that they did not have anything to eat. Mother Teresa called the children and told them, “We have nothing to eat today. So let’s pray to God, He will give something to us.’ After a while, she told them, “Come let us go and start to beg. The children followed her. She saw a shopkeeper and humbly asked him to give something to eat. But the shopkeeper hated Mother Teresa and he angrily spits saliva on her palm. She slowly wiped the saliva with her sari and said, “Thank you for what you have given for me. Will you give something to my children?” The shopkeeper was astonished at these words. He was shocked at the humility of Mother Teresa. He apologized for his misbehaviour. At that time onward he changed entirely and started helping the orphan children and it continued regularly. This is one of the most heart-touching real examples of humility.

Humility is a golden value which always entitles appreciation. The person who is humble will be appreciated everywhere. When we appreciate anyone, we value him and respect him. Appreciation is a beautiful gift that we can give to others for their service. It provides happiness and satisfaction to them and the same effect will be there towards us.

Being educators it is our duty to inculcate these values in our children. But these cannot be taught by lecturing. Teachers are role models for them. They are copying the behaviour, attitude and personality of teachers. So it is very important to be humble enough for them. For their minute contributions and humble acts, appreciation is important. We should appreciate them and make them aware that they are precious in their life.  Then they also will learn to appreciate others. These attempts will surely motivate them and that will inspire them to do many useful things in their life.

Byju P. Joseph

The Fabindia School

bjh@fabindiaschools.in