Learning Forward Saturday

Early Childhood Development and Joy of Learning For Teachers 

Neelashi and Minakshi discussed the importance of maintaining focus during breathing exercises and emphasised the significance of consistent practice for students. They explored suitable books and content for nursery classes, focusing on basic skills and developmental activities while analysing the appropriateness of educational materials for young children. The discussion concluded with plans for implementing educational activities through various methods and addressing concerns about teachers who were absent from completing their assigned tasks.

Next steps

• Rahima is to write down the four points from the National Mission document in her notebook.
• Rahima will create a weekly lesson plan that includes math activities, drawing activities, and an introduction to Hindi stories.
• Rahima plans to implement circle time in her class starting next week.
• Rahima is to create and implement the math game activity with students divided into equal teams.
• Rahima is to establish rules for the art corner in her classroom.
• Minakshi to ensure Rahima implements circle time and the math activity.
• Minakshi to ensure Rahima creates and follows a lesson plan.
• Minakshi to try to get a portable microphone from Sandeep sir or purchase one from AFA.
• Minakshi to ensure absent teachers take notes from Rahima and implement the same activities before next Saturday.

Summary

Breathing Exercise and Team Support

Neelashi and Minakshi discussed the importance of maintaining clarity and focus during a breathing exercise, emphasising the need to clear one's mind and feel relaxed. They stressed the importance of consistent practice and its impact on students. Neelashi expressed gratitude for Minakshi's efforts in organising and supporting teachers, stating that her presence is a boost for the entire team.

Nursery Education Content Review

Neelashi and Minakshi discussed activities and tasks related to teaching nursery classes, focusing on identifying suitable books and content for young children. Neelashi emphasised the importance of understanding nursery expectations and making informed decisions about what to teach, including activities like colour and number recognition. She instructed Minakshi and Rahima to analyse the books together, assess their suitability for nursery students, and discuss developmental activities typically taught to young children. The task involved evaluating the books' effectiveness and deciding whether they were helpful in nursery education, with Neelashi expecting a detailed analysis and discussion from both participants.

Early Childhood Education Standards Discussion

Minakshi and Neelashi discussed the appropriateness of books for young children, noting that while some books help set standards, they may be too advanced for nursery students. They agreed that children should focus on basic skills, such as writing curves and straight lines, rather than covering extensive number ranges. Neelashi emphasised the importance of children using books independently and encouraged Minakshi to explore a document related to the National Mission for Education, which aims to improve literacy and numeracy among children.

Early Childhood Education Concepts

Minakshi and Neelashi discussed the importance of teaching basic concepts to children, including recognising letters and corresponding sounds, as well as understanding numbers, objects, and sequences. Neelashi emphasised the need to go beyond rote teaching and ensure children understand the logic and reasoning behind concepts. They also discussed the lack of awareness about what needs to be taught and the need for improved educational resources, including books. Minakshi mentioned the potential benefits of teaching history and regulations, highlighting the importance of understanding different systems prevalent worldwide.

Educational Activities for Children Implementation

Neelashi and Minakshi discussed implementing educational activities for children, focusing on introducing concepts through finger rhymes, stories, and math exercises. They emphasised the importance of creating lesson plans and establishing rules for the classroom corners. Neelashi suggested using simple math activities, such as addition, and teamwork exercises involving objects. They also discussed the need for teachers to take notes from Rahimaji and implement the activities by next Saturday. Minakshi raised the issue of absent teachers not completing assigned tasks, and Neelashi agreed that action would be taken if teachers continue to miss activities without valid reasons.

AI-generated post, E.&.O.E.

Hum Honge Kamiyab – From 'Me' to 'We'

Every morning at The Fabindia School, as we stood in assembly, our voices rose in unison, singing Hum Honge Kamiyab. It was more than just a song; it was a promise—a hope we carried in our hearts. It felt almost like our school anthem, a close substitute for the official school song.

One day, while walking out of school, I noticed something above the exit gate—a green archway that welcomed students, covered in thick climbers and the ever-flourishing karonda tree. Its deep green leaves remained fresh throughout the year, providing an incredible, shaded pathway. But what made it even more exciting were the small, tangy karonda fruits that ripened at just the right time—perfect for students to pluck and enjoy at the beginning of every new term. The entrance wasn't just a passage; it was a memory, a ritual, a place of shared laughter.

But that day, something else caught my eye. Painted in bold letters above the gate were the words HUM HONGE KAMIYAB.

A gentleman (Mr Sandeep Dutt, then the chairman of the Trust that operates the school) in the assembly, addressing the students, told us, "Every time you pass through this gate," he announced, "say these words in your heart. Carry their meaning forward."

I was in Class 6 then, and while the message was inspiring, something about it unsettled me.

A Question That Wouldn't Leave Me

Why just Hum Honge Kamiyab? Where was the rest of the song? And more importantly—why Hum and not Main?

That evening, at home, I shared my thoughts with MaaSa. “Why do we say Hum Honge Kamiyab instead of Main Hounga Kamiyab?” I asked, my young mind wrestling with the thought: Does saying "Hum" make us sound like royalty, speaking in plural like the kings of old?

And then, something else bothered me. The sign above the gate had Honge instead of Hoga. As a typical Rajasthani, I naturally tended to replace "we" with "I," I wondered if the painter had done the same, making a grammatical mistake. A small part of me wished my Hindi teacher, Ms. Rajeshwari, had noticed it. With her red pen, I imagined her circling the words and making us write them correctly ten times over. But then, I realized—maybe she hadn't spotted it because she didn't have a tall ladder to reach the sign! And I certainly didn't dare to point it out to her.

Days passed, but the question remained unanswered.

The Answer That Changed My Perspective

Then, one day, I found my chance. During a Student Council and Editorial Board meeting, I sat across from Ms. Deepika Tandon, our principal. I finally asked her:

"Ma'am, why do we say Hum Honge Kamiyab instead of Main Hounga Kamiyab?"

She leaned back in her chair, a thoughtful smile on her lips. She simply observed me momentarily as if deciding how best to answer. Then she said:

"Kunal, when you become successful, it's never just about you. Your success is tied to the people around you—your teachers, your friends, the driver bhaiya who picks you up daily, the Bai Ji who cleans the school, the librarian who helps you find books and even the gatekeeper who watches over the school. When you succeed, all of them succeed in some way, too. Your journey is never yours alone. That's why it's Hum Honge Kamiyab—because success is a collective effort, not an individual one."

That day, something shifted within me. Schools, education, and life are not shaped by a single person. It takes a community. The teachers in the classroom, the staff in the background, even the smallest contributions—each one plays a role in shaping a student.

From Main to Hum, my perspective changed.

Now, I remember those words whenever I walk through a school gate. Success is never alone. It belongs to everyone who walks the journey with us.

And I hope, one day, I will make the same journey.

KUNAL RAJPUROHIT

Fellow & Analyst

www.schooleducation.com

Learning Forward India Foundation

Schools can't become the best places for students to learn and grow unless we make them the best place for teachers to work and grow.

Everyone has a story about a teacher who made an impact. Whether that teacher ignited a passion, discovered a strength or recognized a need, students carry the memory close to their hearts long after they leave the classroom. 

'The things you say and do have a lasting impact on the people you serve. As a qualitative researcher, I can support that statement with data. I have interviewed hundreds of people about the teachers they remember, and I am always amazed by the clear memories former students carry for decades. Even more amazing are the ways a teacher’s words or actions continue to impact their lives.' - Julie Schmidt Hasson

Learning Forward India Foundation

Section 8 not-for-profit company

We grow the capacity of your people to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources.

The Foundation works for school transformation with an emphasis on culture as a service. We'll design a plan that meets your unique needs and improves teaching and learning in your system. When teachers experience the joy of learning, you are assured of better learning outcomes for the students. We do this by involving all the stakeholders - Teachers, Students, Parents and the Management.

Learning Forward India Professional Learning Program - Focuses on building professional learning communities. The program leverages the best in adult learning, research on organisational change, and practical experience to create capacity for sustained improvements in educators. #HappyTeachers

My Good School - We help our partner schools to work for the personal and social development of an individual by offering an environment where experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study. The program helps measure the improvement in student learning at school. Our digital portfolio is the game-changer and works to deliver a tailor-made school experience for every individual. #MyGoodSchool

Our work with The Fabindia School has been widely acclaimed all over the world, we have had the opportunity to be invited to Finland, Singapore, USA and other places to tell the story of school culture transformation.

The Foundation website www.SchoolEducation.com will further help showcase our scope of work; the Learning Academy Blog www.BrewingKnowledge.com shares how teachers experience the joy of learning.

Partner us for helping teachers deliver better learning outcomes, send us an email <LF@ebd.in> and help build learning communities.

- Sandeep Dutt

As School Improvement Coach, he focuses on school transformation with an emphasis on culture as a service. With over 30 years of experience as a trainer and mentor, Sandeep has been involved with schools across the country and worked with teachers and students all over the world. Read more...www.SandeepDutt.com

Nikita Rajpurohit: Courage

Well, talking about courage is a complex topic, and at the same time, it is important as well. In the long run of dragging students from a lower class to higher class; somewhere in between, we have seen students losing courage in their lives.

Let us discuss, what is courage? Sounds something like bravery. Well yes, it is bravery in a sort. But there is much more to explore in it. Today, students seem to be too tensed, too pressurized regarding book knowledge and results, that they show the least interest in other co-curricular activities. Just suppose, if a student is informed to deliver a speech in the assembly, he gets so anxious about it, that the speech seems to be mission impossible for him.

Now lets put an eye over some initiatives that could be taken by teachers to motivate the students and make them realize that there is no reason for hiding their weaknesses or feeling inferior. Teachers should build trust among students and create an environment where they don’t hesitate to share their problems and at the same time, the teacher should help them get over it. Teachers should let students know that if they make a mistake while taking a step forward towards something, then it's not just a mistake, it's a lesson. 

Just like every expert was once a learner. Courage can be built by motivating the students to participate in various activities keeping in mind the strength, not the weakness.

Nikita Rajpurohit

rajpurohitnikita123@gmail.com

Social entrepreneur is transforming schools to empower young people

SME INSPIRATIONS

Enterprise: EBD Educational Pvt Ltd
Founder: Sandeep Dutt
Year it was founded: 1986
Sector: Education
Based out of Dehradun

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

This is the core belief that drives Sandeep Dutt, a social entrepreneur who has been working tirelessly to upgrade the standard of education in India’s schools for more than three decades. As the founder of EBD Educational Pvt Ltd, he helps schools to transform to deliver better. The aim is to enable schools to plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so that they can achieve success with their system and empower their students. The ‘My Good School Program’ helps partner schools to work for the personal and social development of an individual by offering an environment where experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Sandeep Dutt (Sandeep) shares his vision for providing quality education in India.

GL: Tell us about your initiative and how it came into being.

Sandeep: In our quest for 'My Good School' for over three decades, we have always tried to address the dilemma ‘what makes a good school’. This has given us deep insight into schools, today we are most delighted to share that schools can change—the only way to do so is by strengthening the school culture.

Our work with ‘The Fabindia Schools Program’ to demonstrate excellence in school operations, involving the community and establishing a sustainable model for delivering good quality education in India, is now being replicated on a larger scale. My belief is that the happiness of young people is in our hands, we must do all to help them live their dreams by providing them with the best possible education. Taking ahead this vision and mission, we are working to provide quality education in schools across India.

GL: What do you believe are the challenges and opportunities in our educational sector?

Sandeep: The Indian education market is one of the largest in the world and expected to grow at 13-15% over the next 3-4 years. Further, the share of the private sector is rapidly increasing; K-12 segment (kindergarten to grade 12) is the largest in the world with 260+ million students and ~1.5+ million schools but continues to face multiple challenges. These include access and enrolment, differentiated stakeholder demands, an insufficient number of teachers, rapid pace of external changes, quality and relevance.

The focus must be on creating an environment where:

Experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study, this can consolidate and bring to life learning which would otherwise be theoretical and uncoordinated.
Encouraging students to become involved in activities in the community outside the confines of the school curriculum will help develop their confidence, knowledge and contacts to follow passion after leaving school. With teachers’ encouraging young people, they can take full advantage of what both the school and outside interests can offer; this can be a key factor in their progressing successfully through adolescence into a rewarding and fulfilling life.

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your initiative?

Sandeep: Changing a school's culture takes time, training, and support—resources that school leaders, especially principals, often don't have. Developing more opportunities for professional learning and collaboration often requires additional funding, which schools and promoters may find difficult to secure.

GL: How do you believe GlobalLinker can benefit business owners?

Sandeep: Thanks to GlobalLinker, we can not only connect, but work together to take learning forward and help schools deliver better. If you are a vendor, a service provider, an employer and a working professional you will find the right connections to take ahead your mission and yes,  grow your business.

GL: What is your big business dream?

Sandeep: My dream is to set up the largest professional learning association in the world, this alone will help us bring the necessary change in the quality of our lives and ensure that we not only care for the environment around us but build it to make the world better for generations to come.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Sandeep: Leadership is inside you, we do not need to wear a patch or a badge or even look outside, find your passion and just follow it, with honesty, trust and single-minded focus.

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the member.

GlobalLinker Staff
16 Nov 2018, 10:16 — 5 min read

School Coach: the role defined

A school coach—sometimes called a school-improvement coach—is typically an individual hired to advise a school on how to improve its academic program, instructional effectiveness, and student performance. While a school coach acts much like a consultant, the use of the term “coach” is usually intentional—i.e., it’s meant to distinguish the school coach’s role from those of other professional educational consultants. While the specific role and responsibilities of school coaches may vary widely from school to school, there is some degree on consensus on what a school coach is, and is not, within the education community. For example, school coaches are usually mission-driven or expertise driven, as opposed to project driven, in the sense that they bring a particular educational perspective, belief system, instructional expertise, or advocacy role to their job. School coaches are often hired specifically for this reason: they are committed to helping schools achieve a specific goal, such as increasing educational equity (an ethical or social-justice goal) or expanding and improving the use of new learning technologies in the classroom (an instructional or programmatic goal).

While school coaches may be independent contractors, many are employed by nonprofit organizations or universities, and they may be hired by a state agency, school district, or school or by an outside organization or foundation. In many cases, school coaches are employed as part of a state program or grant-funded school-improvement project. School coaches may work on a fee-for-service model—i.e., they provide narrowly defined services on a short-term contract that may be renewed annually or every few months. Yet it is also very common for school coaches to be contracted for a multiyear commitment as a school undertakes a comprehensive restructuring of its academic program.

In some cases, school coaches are described as “critical friends”—a common education term that refers to fellow professionals who are understanding, supportive, and empathetic but who are not hesitant to speak candidly about problems and provide constructive criticism about what needs to change. In this way, school coaches are similar to athletic coaches: they are experienced professionals with specialized expertise who advise, train, and mentor the team and who are not hesitant about making individuals put in the practice and hard work necessary to succeed.

School coaches are often former educators and school administrators who can understand the workings and internal politics of a school from an educator’s perspective, although some have previously worked in other professions outside education, such as psychology, business, or communications. Coaches typically have expertise in skills such as group facilitation, interpersonal dynamics, public speaking, and conflict resolution, and they often help educators communicate, collaborate, and solve problems more productively and cooperatively. In some cases, though, a school coach will provide “coaching” on a specific issue, such as training teachers in specialized instructional techniques.

Another variation on the school-coach role is the on-staff coach—a full-time or part-time district or school employee who provides coaching services to educators in a local school system. While on-staff coaching may take many different forms, and job descriptions may vary widely, these positions are often created for educators with highly specialized experts who are tasked with delivering professional development to teachers. Two common positions, for example, are literacy coaches and learning-technology coaches; the former helps teachers improve the quality of reading and writing instruction in all subject areas, and the later trains teachers in how to use new technological devises and products as instructional assets.

While there are no formal credentialing organizations for school coaches, many organizations around the country offer training, resources, and support networks for school-coaching professionals.

https://www.edglossary.org/school-coach/

Whatever It Takes - PLCs lead the change

The Power of Collective Intelligence

How Professional Learning Communities Respond When Kids Don’t Learn?

All we need to do is work hard to honour and organize the creative capacities of school-based teacher teams, of authentic “learning communities,” to live up to the mission and vision that glibly proclaim that “all children will learn.”

This will only be accomplished by systematically and aggressively identifying and solving problems as they merge; by creating “places of action, experimentation and a willingness to test ideas.

The stories of schools from the book, WHATEVER IT TAKES, featured schools encountered and solved these problems make for great reading. They worked on problems thoughtfully, collectively and continuously. These schools found a way, they worked while inventing, innovating and adjusting their way towards excellence.

An Unprecedented Challenge

“Quality teaching requires strong professional learning communities; they must become the building blocks that establish a new foundation for schools.” 

Professional learning communities (PLC’s) differ from traditional schools in following substantive ways: Shared Mission, Vision, Values and Goals.

Educators in PLCs embrace the notion that the fundamental purpose of school is learning, not teaching. 

My next post would be defining the School Motto, extracted from the book, WHATEVER IT TAKES.

~Ms. Rajeshree Shihag is the Principal of The Fabindia School. Her email address is principal@fabindiaschools.in