A Good School, Twice Defined

A note of gratitude from Nidhi, who attended the Learning Forward Retreat, 19-21 July 2026, at My Good School’s Joy of Learning Studio in Dehradun.

A school occupies a singular place in one’s life—not once, but twice. The first time, you are the one groggily rising before dawn, gulping down a glass of milk, and racing toward the gates of learning. The second time, you are the one rousing another, urging that same glass of milk down a reluctant throat, and shepherding them toward those same gates. It is in the space between these two experiences that the true measure of a Good School comes into focus.

I recently had the privilege of attending an immersive two-day workshop hosted by Learning Forward India Foundation, where a colleague and I sat—quite literally—in circle time once again, engaged in deep reading, discussion, and reflection. The question posed to us was deceptively simple, yet formidable in its scope: What makes a school good? Guiding these conversations was Mr Sandeep Dutt, ably supported throughout by his colleagues Kunal and Sneha.

The insights I gathered over those two days could easily fill a book and perhaps one day they will. For now, I offer this distilled reflection.

A truly good school is one unburdened by prejudice, artificial ceilings, or narrow thinking. It is a space that nurtures agency, champions self-directed learning, and opens multiple pathways to growth, through service, sport, skill, and scholarship; shaping individuals who feel genuinely whole. None of this is possible without sustained collaboration among teachers, support staff, management, parents, and students; it is this collective engagement that makes education a holistic, living experience.

As an educator, the workshop brought me back to the heart of my purpose: to spark curiosity, welcome questions, and mentor each individual in my care as the unique person they are. Above all, it reaffirmed a truth that should be self-evident—every single person is already a 10 out of 10, with limitless capacity to go further still.

My heartfelt thanks to Mr Sandeep Dutt and his team, Kunal and Sneha, for their thoughtful guidance throughout the workshop; to Learning Forward India Foundation for conceiving and organising such a meaningful experience; and to my school, Doon International School, for allowing me to attend.

Regards,

Nidhi Verma

The Retreat was a treat!

Over three days of The Learning Forward Retreat, I had the opportunity to spend time with teachers and educators from different schools from different backgrounds and experiences, we were brought together by three simple ideas 3Rs

Reading, Reflection, and Relationships

Our journey began with reading the book, Is Your Child Ready to Face the World? during the YES Workshop, we explored chapters on humility, honesty, goals and other values. Every teacher had a different story to tell and reflected on their years of teaching and listening to these experiences made me realise that a book is never read in the same way by two people as they had their teaching reflections, and i had reflections from my student life, The discussions encouraged me to pause and ask questions like, do my actions match my values?

Coming to the second day, it was dedicated to reflection where we all worked together to create flip charts based on our learning from the book and being together, it may sound like a simple activity, but what stood out to me was seeing teachers become students again. We spent time deciding how to present our ideas, discussing colours, drawings, words, and layouts.

I had fun watching experienced educators carefully sketching, colouring, and debating which illustration would best match a sentence. It reminded me that creativity doesn't belong only to children, sometimes adults just need the opportunity to use it again. We listened to one another, and built on each other's ideas. We didn’t do reflection alone but together.

The final day was about relationships, we visited Aasraa Trust, a shelter home for underprivileged children. It was a chance to connect with people whose lives are very different from ours. Spending time with the children reminded me that everyone carries struggles we cannot immediately see yet despite those challenges, they welcomed us with warmth, curiosity and joy.

The retreat also helped me build relationships with the educators around me. Whether it was chatting over lunch, exchanging ideas after a session, and thats how every conversation added a new perspective and every person had something valuable to teach.

As I look back on these three days, I realise that the three Rs are deeply connected. Reading opened my mind,  reflection helped me understand what I had learned, and relationships gave those lessons a human meaning.

- Sneha, The English Book Depot

Afterword ”The Courage to Be Disliked”.

Masterclass concluded the discussion on the book.

The Courage to be Disliked and introduce the sequel The Courage to Be Happy

Key Takeaways

• Book 1 Concluded: The group finished Courage to be Disliked, clarifying that Adlerian psychology is a philosophy, not a falsifiable science, and that happiness requires continuous action.

• Book 2 Announced: The sequel, The Courage to be Happy, will be the next book, with a one-week break for participants to acquire copies.

• GSA’s Mission: The Good Schools Alliance (GSA) was introduced, focusing on its “3 Rs” (Reading, Reflection, Relationships) and “6 Cs” (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Character, Citizenship).

• Scholarship Initiative: A new scholarship program was launched to bring more Youth into the masterclass, with the first 3,000 INR donation funding a student from PYDS Learning Academy.

Topics

Concluding Courage to be Disliked

• The session concluded with the afterword, resolving the Youth’s scepticism about Adler’s ideas.

• Core Question: Is Adlerian psychology a science?

  • Answer: No, not in the strict sense of being falsifiable. It is a philosophy for practical use.

• Philosophy vs. Religion:

  • Religion: Explains the world via stories (e.g., gods).

  • Philosophy: Explains the world via abstract concepts.

  • Analogy: Philosophy is an endless walk on a pole of inquiry; religion is jumping off, satisfied with a final answer.

• Socratic Wisdom: The Philosopher’s stance aligns with Socrates’ “I know that I know nothing,” emphasising continuous learning over claiming absolute knowledge.

Introducing the Good Schools Alliance (GSA)

• Sandeep Dutt introduced GSA, the foundation running the masterclass.

• Mission: Focus on three Rs → Reading, Reflection, and Relationships.

• Framework: Develops “6 Cs” in participants:

  • Critical Thinking

  • Creativity

  • Collaboration

  • Communication

  • Character

  • Citizenship

• Programs:

  • Teachers Academy: Saturday sessions for educators.

  • MyGoodSchool: Sunday sessions for students.

• Resources:

  • Blog: HappyTeacher.in

  • YouTube: Session recordings and summaries.

New Participants & Scholarship Program

• New participants were introduced to diversify the group and bring fresh perspectives.

• Diana: Principal, PYDS Learning Academy (charitable school for underprivileged children in Uttarakhand).

• Rudra: Single father joining to learn about education.

• Khushie: 8th-grade student from Lotus Petal Foundation, attending on scholarship.

• Scholarship Program:

  • Goal: Bring more Youth into the masterclass.

  • Funding: The first 3,000 INR donation from Rudra will fund a scholarship for a student from Diana’s school (PYDS).

  • Rationale: Creates a “train-the-trainer” model, fostering dialogue between the student and principal to apply learnings in their school community.

Next Steps

• Group: Take a one-week break to acquire copies of The Courage to be Happy.

• Diana: Nominate a student from PYDS Learning Academy for the scholarship.

• Rudra: Connect with the scholarship recipient to foster dialogue.

• Sandeep Dutt: Begin The Courage to be Happy in the next session.
  
  FATHOM-AI supported the note-taking.

Have The Courage to Join The Masterclass 2026

"The Courage to Be Disliked" and "The Courage to Be Happy" by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi are based on Alfred Adler's individual psychology. The author relates to the youth in the book who is doubtful, questioning, angry, and struggles with an inferiority complex and a tendency to people-please.

The summary of the core concepts is structured around the nights of conversation between the youth and the philosopher:

• First Night: Courage to Change. The focus is on "lifestyle," "decision," and the "courage to change." The idea is that changing one's lifestyle, thought, and action tendencies alters one's interaction with the world, despite the anxieties involved.

• Second Night: Interpersonal Relationships. All problems stem from "interpersonal relationship problems." The author notes they struggled with this, often viewing others as enemies rather than allies.

• Third Night: Freedom from Recognition. True freedom is achieved by having the courage to be disliked and to "deny the desire for recognition" by practising "task separation." The core message is: "Do not live to satisfy the expectations of others." Being disliked signifies freedom, as the desire for recognition makes one dependent on others' judgment.

• Fourth Night: Community Feeling and Contribution. To find happiness, one must move beyond self-centeredness and develop a sense of belonging to a broader community—beyond just work or family—and focus on making meaningful contributions to it. This involves shifting from a vertical (power/hierarchy) to a horizontal relationship (comrades/partners) approach and using encouragement instead of praise or punishment.

• Fifth Night: Self-Acceptance and Living in the Now. The final night discusses "self-acceptance"—embracing oneself as ordinary—and focusing on the "now." Adler's psychology suggests that "life in general has no meaning. Whatever meaning life has must be assigned by the individual." The path to freedom and happiness is to live earnestly in the present moment.

The author concludes with the three main ideas for achieving freedom and happiness from the first book:

1. Self-Acceptance: Accepting oneself as an ordinary person who does not need recognition.

2. Building Horizontal Relationships: Seeing people as comrades, not in a power hierarchy, which enhances one's value and contribution.

3. Moments of "Now": Focusing on living earnestly in the present.

The second book, "The Courage to Be Happy," expands on these ideas, clarifying concepts such as empathy versus sympathy, discussing the concept of love, and advocating for removing oneself from a victimhood mindset ("That Bad Person and Poor Me").

Three years after their first conversation, the young man finds himself disillusioned and disappointed, convinced Adler’s teachings only work in theory, not in practice. However, through further discussions between the philosopher and the young man, they deepen their understanding of Adler’s powerful teachings and acquire the tools necessary to apply them to the chaos of everyday life.

The Youth is now a teacher and meets the Philosopher for the second time to find out the meaning of life and living. He must learn to manage his students and develop his interpersonal skills.

We’d love for teachers and anyone who loves reading and thinking deeply to come join us every Saturday at 5:30 PM for a yearly fee of Rs 3000. We’ll be acting out stories on Zoom. Gurdeep will be the Youth and Sandeep will be the Philosopher, and we promise to have some great conversations and #JoyOfLearning.

If you wish to make payments using digital wallets like Paytm, Google Pay or UPI, you can transfer funds using the following details: 

• UPI ID: LF@idbi

Account: Learning Forward India Foundation
Account Number: 0070104000305341
Payments Bank Name: IDBI Bank Ltd
Account Type: Savings Account
IFSC Code: IBKL0000070
SWIFT Code: IBKLINBB015
Registered Charity
NGO DARPAN ID UA/2020/0271053 
Not-for-profit Section 8 Licence Number 117470

Payment link 

https://pages.razorpay.com/LearningForward

BYB - Bring Your Books!

We will not screen share for Masterclass 2026

#HappyTeachers spread #JoyOfLearning with the spirit of #JoyOfGiving

पानी बोला धीरे से

 

Image sourced from Google Search

पानी बोला धीरे से,
"मैं हूँ जीवन की आस,
मुझसे ही हर चीज़ चले,
मुझसे ही है हर सांस।"

नदी, झरना, ताल बना,

कभी बना मैं बर्फ का तन,

बादल बनकर उड़ता फिरूँ,

बरस पड़ूँ जब हो सावन।

पौधों को मैं सींचता हूँ,

प्यास बुझाऊँ हर जीव की,

माँ के जैसे लाड़ करूँ मैं,

न हो कमी किसी चीज़ की।

पर अब मैं हूँ थोड़ा दुखी,

मुझको लोग  समझ न पाए ,

बर्बादी की हद कर डाली,

बूँद-बूँद को तरसाए।

संभालो मुझको प्यार से 

समझाता हूँ हर बार,

ना रहा अगर मै 

धरती पर तो जीवन 

जाओगे हार।

सुमन सिंह