Enhancing Learning Through Relationships

 

Learning Forward Saturday, hosted at the Mayoor School Jaipur, My Good School Retreat - 10-14 April 2026

To read and discuss Chapter 3 of Wanted Back-bencher & Last-ranker Teacher.

Key Takeaways

• Empathy is the Foundation: A teacher’s personal experience with struggle builds empathy, which is essential for connecting with students and creating a safe learning environment.

• Emotions Drive Learning: Research shows that emotions dictate attention, which in turn impacts academic performance. Positive interactions release endorphins, counteracting stress and improving learning.

• Unconventional Methods Work: Teacher Roma’s strategies—such as using the news for vocabulary and a student-led “buddy system”—successfully engaged students and improved their performance.

• Teachers Have Immense Influence: A teacher’s words carry significant power, as demonstrated by Sophie’s grandmother, who thanked Roma for helping her granddaughter eat vegetables after years of trying.

Topics

Recap: The “Productive Failure” Framework

• Manjula Sagar (Sunbeam Gramin School) provided a recap of the previous session’s “Productive Failure” framework, which views mistakes as the starting point for learning.

• This framework was directly applied to the book’s theme of supporting students who struggle, connecting theory to practical classroom experience.

Chapter 3 Reading: Teacher Roma’s Journey

• The chapter opens with Roma’s personal history of struggling with math and feeling “not clever,” despite passing.

• This experience shaped her teaching philosophy: success is tied to having kind and understanding teachers, not just innate ability.

The Science of Learning & Emotion

• Research shows emotions dictate attention, which directly impacts academic performance.

• Positive social interactions (e.g., encouragement, smiles) release endorphins, counteracting stress and improving learning and behaviour.

• A lack of healthy social encounters can reduce the physical development of the cerebral cortex by up to 20%, highlighting the importance of Social and Emotional Quotient (SQ/EQ).

Teacher Roma’s Classroom Strategies

• Building Rapport:

  • Stood while teaching and discussed non-academic topics (politics, cricket) to build trust and create a safe space for students to share personal issues.

  • Caution: Maintain a professional boundary; be friendly, not a peer.

• Engaging Content:

  • Made newspaper reading mandatory to connect lessons to current events and build vocabulary.

  • Used storytelling (e.g., vegetables as “specialists” like Popeye) to make healthy eating appealing.

• Personalised Learning:

  • Sat beside students during explanations and used humour to break the monotony.

  • Learned from a student (Shreyas) how to solve a Rubik’s Cube using algorithms, demonstrating that academic performance doesn’t define a student’s full potential.

• The “Buddy System”:

  • Paired high-achieving students with struggling peers for tutoring.

  • Rationale: Harness the “high voltage intelligence” of mischievous students and leverage the fact that teaching others improves retention.

  • Incentives: Tutors earned bonus marks; the class earned extra free time for timely assignment submission.

  • Outcome: Significant improvement was observed, with students such as Shreyas passing a surprise math test.

Next Steps

• All Participants:

  • Reflect on Chapter 3, specifically identifying all the teaching strategies used by Roma.

  • Read Chapter 4 for the next session.

• Sandeep Dutt:

  • Host the next session on Saturday at 3 p.m.  

Fathom AI-generated content, read with care.

Moral Development And Reasoning

Brewing Knowledge Fridays

November 14, 2025  

To discuss moral development, socialisation, and effective teaching strategies.

Key Takeaways

• Kohlberg's theory is culturally limited. It fails to capture non-Western moral principles (e.g., ahimsa) and may measure verbal justification rather than actual moral development, explaining why few individuals reach its "post-conventional" stage.
• Empathy is innate, but guilt is a learned conflict. Research shows young children are born with empathy, but causing harm creates a conflict between helping and self-distress (the root of guilt), which is shaped by adult discipline.
• "Other-oriented reasoning" is the most effective teaching tool. It fosters empathy, works even when adults are absent, and promotes reconciliation. In contrast, "power assertion" (through threats and punishment) is counterproductive, fostering anger and dependency.
• Moral development is shaped by social context. Children in "toxic social environments" may learn that power, not fairness, dominates. However, strong community ties can provide a buffer, fostering moral strength even in poverty.

Topics

• Kohlberg's Theory & Cultural Limitations
• Kohlberg's theory, based on the "Heinz dilemma," proposes a universal sequence of moral reasoning stages:
• Pre-conventional: Self-interest, fear of punishment.
• Conventional: Upholding laws, social order.
• Post-conventional: Abstract ethical principles.

Critiques:

Cultural Bias: Fails to capture non-Western principles.

Jyotsna Vasudev & Raymond Hummel found that Indians use principles like ahimsa (sacredness of life) and prioritise social issues over individual lives.

Methodological Flaw: May measure verbal justification, not actual moral development.

This explains why few people worldwide reach the "post-conventional" stage.

Innate Elements of Morality

Evolutionary arguments suggest humans have both aggressive (e.g., grabbing toys) and cooperative instincts.

Empathy: Present from birth; babies match emotional expressions and cry in response to others' distress.

Marion Radke-Yarrow's Study (1-year-olds):

Children increasingly responded to distress with pro-social acts (hugging, helping) and empathic concern.

When children caused the distress, they still helped but also showed more enjoyment, aggression, and self-distress (crying).

Conclusion: Early helping stems from empathy, not remorse. The conflict between empathy and causing harm is the root of guilt.

Socialization & Internalization

Internalisation: The process by which external rules become internal values.

Effective Discipline (Grusec & Goodnow):

Requires accurate perception and acceptance of the adult's viewpoint.

Must be flexible (contingent on situation/temperament) but not inconsistent.

"Other-oriented reasoning" is most effective. It builds empathy and encourages repair.

Ineffective Discipline ("Power Assertion"):

Threats, force, or withdrawing affection.

Negative Outcomes: Insecurity, anger, aggression, and dependency on the adult's presence for moral behaviour.

Social Context & Moral Development

William Arsenio's Research ("Toxic Social Environments"):

Children in disadvantaged Western contexts may learn that power, not fairness, dominates, leading to aggression.

Robert Coles's Research (Poverty):

Found moral strength (e.g., not wronging others, caring for the helpless) in children from Brazilian favelas.

Hypothesis: Strong family and community ties can provide a buffer against the negative effects of social injustice.

Next Steps

All Participants:

• Reflect on personal experiences with "other-oriented reasoning" in adult relationships.
• Consider the factors that prevent students from reporting a teacher's scoring error.

Neelashi M:

Continue reading the book, "What did you ask at school today?" in the next session.

AI-generated notes 

Transformative Learning: Strategies for Success

Reflection questions based on Chapter 5: Performance Scores Must Be Honest and Chapter 6: People, Scores and Outcomes from My Good School by Sandeep Dutt:

Chapter 5: Performance Scores Must Be Honest

1. How can we ensure student assessments reflect their understanding and growth rather than just test-taking ability?
   (Consider both academic and personal development perspectives.)

2. How does honest feedback, both given and received, influence the learning culture in a school?
   (Reflect on the role of trust and transparency in your teaching or learning environment.)

Chapter 6: People Scores and Outcomes

3. How can we better measure a student's contribution to the school community beyond academic grades?
   (Think about leadership, collaboration, empathy, and service.)

4. What changes can we make in our schools to shift the focus from competition to character and community development?
   (Reflect on how success is currently defined and how it could be reimagined.)

📚 My Good School Reading Session Summary

🌿 A Special Session at Khan Farm

The recent reading session was uniquely held at Khan Farm, near Rajaji National Park, offering a serene and natural setting for a meaningful gathering. The session was designed for our Special Schools and brought together participants from various regions.

The virtual meeting ran smoothly thanks to a smooth technical setup and strong coordination. The peaceful surroundings and collaborative spirit made the session memorable, highlighting the power of learning in harmony with nature.

📖 Chapter Discussion: Reflections on Chapters 5 and 6

The main body of the session was focused on Chapters 5 and 6: Performance Scores Must be Honest and People Scores and Outcomes from the reading material.
Key discussion points included:

• Self-Care and Love: A highlight was the importance of nurturing the self—connecting body, mind, and soul.

• Teacher Reflections: Sandeep Dutt encouraged teachers to reflect on their challenges and share personal stories to build mutual understanding.

• Work-life balance: This theme emerged as a crucial takeaway, emphasizing emotional well-being and balance in professional and personal spheres.

⚖️ Balancing Act: Challenges in Education

The session moved into more profound reflections around the daily struggles teachers face:

• Peer Pressure and Burnout: Discussed as everyday stressors among educators.

• Work-Life Balance: Reiterated by Seema Khare, who introduced the idea of a "Tipping Point", stressing the need to maintain harmony to prevent burnout.

• Group consensus formed around the importance of self-awareness, mindfulness, and time management.

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Self-care is not a luxury—educators need to be effective.

• Building positive connections within oneself enhances professional capability.

• Regular reflections help personal growth and create a culture of empathy and openness in schools.

• Staying connected helps maintain momentum and mutual support among educators.

🏁 Closing & Gratitude

The session concluded with a warm thank you from My Good School Retreat.
Sandeep Dutt and Manisha stressed the importance of:

• Staying connected through WhatsApp groups and other digital platforms.

• Continuing open dialogue around well-being and personal development.

I request everyone to share their learning outcomes by posting a reflection below the post or emailing it to mk@learningforward.org.in. Your thoughts and insights will be valuable to the community! I look forward to applying these strategies and growing through such learning opportunities.

Session highlights

Meeting ID

Reflection on a year of Transformation: By Sanyogita Dubey and Reeta Tiwari

Attending multiple learning sessions from Masterclass 2024 is a transformative experience for us.

We have gained many skills under the guidance of our mentors which enhanced our teaching learning process. We have learnt how to write creative blogs? How to be a good videographer?How to work in a podcast?  and How to be a good story teller? Blogging, serve a plateform to share teaching strategies, Classroom experiences or other insights.

These skills helped us in creating educational video for students which make our class more interactive and interesting and promote the student's to make their own videos and blogs.

Now we are able to think outside the box and bring fresh ideas into our classroom.

Masterclass has proven to be a plateform that not only enhance our personal skills, self esteem, our confidence but also revitalizes our teaching approach to resonate with modern learners. We would like to show our gratitude to all my mentors.And we are so privileged that we are the part of this learning session.

Thank you and Jai hind.

Reeta Tiwari 

Sanyogita Dubey

Sunbeam English School Bhagwanpur.

Work from Home: New Learning - Ajay Vijayvargi

Due to the pandemic, the spread of COVID -19 virus, everyone was faced with a situation like never before. A complete lockdown in more than 22 states with the postponement of exams in schools, colleges etc gave new learning opportunities to educators which involves greater use of technology while implementing Social Distancing. 

At this time of Social Distancing to protect everyone from disease, we need to assign our students daily work and stay tuned with them to get the feedback, solve their difficulties, keep them away from rumours and update them with important information issued in the public interest by the government.

 If we look at the larger positive side of this the situation,  this has given us an opportunity to spend the much-awaited time with our closed ones and has also given an opportunity to try our hands at new learning opportunities, strategies using the technology and implement them in our teaching and learning styles effectively.

While social distancing requires staying aloof but the need of the hour is to stay connected with our family, relatives, workplace, colleagues, students and school leadership through alternate modes of communication(s) by simple calls, WhatsApp group chats, group calls, video recording of lessons prepared by yourself or by using any other apps – Youtube, Khan Academy, Zoom, Skype and many more.

Let’s pray for everyone’s well being while being connected and safe.

Let’s fight it together.

Ajay Vijayvargi

avi4fab@gmail.com

The Fabindia School, Bali