Conventional v. Contemporary School Management

 Learning Forward Saturday

To introduce the Staff Leadership Development Program and its core philosophy. Reading from the book Wanted Back-Bencher & Last-Ranker Teacher by Kavita Ghosh

Key Takeaways

• Program Core: The Staff Leadership Development Program (SLDP) uses the book Wanted Back Bencher, Last Ranker Teacher to shift the teacher paradigm from “perfect” to “relatable.”
• Monthly Cycle: Each month, teachers read a chapter, discuss its themes, and write a blog post for happyteacher.in applying the concepts to their own classroom experiences.
• Chapter 1 Theme: The first chapter, “Conventional v. Contemporary School Management,” argues that teachers with personal experience of struggle are better equipped to connect with and counsel students.
• Key Insight: Every teacher must act as an “ed counsellor”—providing immediate “first aid” for behavioural issues—because school counsellors are too few to handle the volume of daily incidents (e.g., 155/day in the book’s example).

Topics

Staff Leadership Development Program (SLDP)

• Goal: Shift the teacher paradigm from “perfect” to “relatable” to better connect with students.
• Recognition: The program is recognised by the World Bank Education Group as a global innovation in professional learning.
• Structure: A monthly cycle centred on the book Wanted Back Bencher, Last Ranker Teacher.
  • Read: One chapter per month.
  • Discuss: Apply chapter themes to real classroom scenarios.
  • Write: Create a blog post  happyteacher.in on a related personal experience.
• WhatsApp Group: A dedicated group will share links and updates.
  • Rule: No “good morning” messages or forwards; the group is for learning-focused content only.

Chapter 1: Conventional v. Contemporary School Management

• Premise: The chapter argues for a new teacher profile—one with personal experience of struggle—to effectively handle student behaviour.
• Story: A school CEO (Jacob) hires an unconventional teacher (Roma) to address a severe student discipline crisis.
  • Problem: A specific class is unmanageable; previous teachers quit after minutes.
  • Solution: Hire Roma, a “paragon of imperfection” (a former “back bencher” and “silent mischief maker”) who understands student struggles.
• Rationale: Teachers who have experienced failure or broken rules themselves can better understand and counsel students facing similar challenges.
• Outcome: The board approves the hire for a 6-month trial, with Uncle Patrick’s support.

Next Steps

• All Teachers:
  • Order a copy of Wanted Back Bencher, Last Ranker Teacher.
  • Join the Learning Forward Saturday WhatsApp group.
  • Review the program introduction video (link in WhatsApp).
  • Research “Scarlett O’Hara” and share findings in the group.
  • Observe student behaviour this week to identify underlying reasons.
• Learning Forward:
  • Share the “Happy Teachers” presentation in the WhatsApp group.

They Need Structure (and So Do You)

THE DAILY DAD

June 9

The message is for teachers and parents and a life lesson for all.

If a person puts even one measure of effort into following ritual and the standards of righteousness, he will get back twice as much. - XUNZI

If you talk to a sleep expert about sleep training your infant, they'll tell vou: kids need structure and routine. If you talk to an educational expert about helping your kid do better in school, they'll tell you: structure and routine. If you talk to a behavioral expert about helping your kid behave, they'll tell you: structure and routine. Hell, if you talk to a dog trainer, they'll tell you the same thing about your pet: structure and routine (and exercise).

Pretty much whatever the problem or whatever the issue, structure and routine are the solution. Which makes sense. The world is scary. So much ofit is new and overwhelming. But if you give them structure and routine, they can relax because they have less to figure out, and less to worry about. Instead, they can explore. They can get comfortable and accept things. They can feel safe.

But what about you? What about Mom and Dad? Do you maintain structure and routine for yourself? You put them to bed at the same time each night, but do you wing it after that? You plan their dinners in advance ... but what about your lunch at work? You give them quiet playtime in the afternoon and downtime on the weekends. But do you create that kind of regular time for yourself? Structure and routine are essential ho matter who or how old you are. They're important for kids and they're important for parents.

And guess what-when you keep a routine for yourself... it's easier to keep them on one.

Page 181 from Ryan Holiday’s book The Daily Dad, published by Profile Books. 

Writing: The Power of Thought - Urmila Rathore

Writing is an important virtue to put all the thoughts and ideas clearly. Through writing, we can communicate clearly because this helps us to build a structure that will allow to express ourselves better and communicate complex ideas in a simple way. This way we gradually progress towards effective writing. Mistakes of grammar, punctuation and structure spelling are all progressively eliminated. Since these basics are more essential for good writing so automatically it improves our language skill and vocabulary.

Effective writing also demands thinking and imagination skills which improve by practice. I remember a line of Bacon's writing "Writing makes a man capable of thinking with logic and reason". He also describes that our thinking, speaking and writing abilities add charm to our personality.

Nowadays people don't have much time to listen to someone's concern but writing gives us the freedom to share good or bad thoughts. It reduces our stress effectively and later we feel joy and satisfaction.

Writing can even make us feel nostalgic through carving out childhood poetry, essays or letters to our dear ones.

When asked of its importance, I exemplify it as, “What if Shakespeare wasn’t a good writer? Perhaps, we never would have been able to understand the tragedy that occurred with Caesar, or literature itself would not have enjoyed its virtue as it does today.”

Urmila Rathore

ure4fab@gmail.com

Coming On Board - IAA

The International Award for Young People, India (IAYP)

Member: The Duke of Edinburgh's Award International Association

 

 

The Award Programme Foundation (APF) is licensed by The Duke of  Edinburgh's Award International Association. APF has a Board of  Trustees and they appoint the National Director. The office of the National Award Authority (NAA), is in New Delhi and the National Award Authority has an advisory Governing Council. The Zones are represented on the Governing Council through the Chairpersons. 


The NAA  issues Operators Licenses to Zones, Corporate, Social / NGO bodies and other youth organisations. The Indian Special Projects are all licensed and supported by the NAA.


The four Zones in India i.e. North, South, East and West, administer the Award in the Schools, and serve the needs of the participants in the 14-18 ages. In addition the national office under the YES (youth engaging society) initiative partners with institutions, social bodies, universities and governments to help young people of the 14-25 ages participate in The Award Programme.


All the Zones and member schools are listed on the website at: http://www.iayp.in/school_award.html


To learn more and partner for youth engaging society (YES), 
check out http://www.iayp.in/yes.htm 

Coming-On-Board video may be viewed at www.facebook.com/iayp.in

Welcome to call us on +91 11 26497154 or write to us at 'ai@iayp.in'
Visit the website http://www.iayp.in/

The Organization chart for IAYP, India