The Monthly Newsletter
SCOPE ISSUE NO 96
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SEPTEMBER 2013
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www.ei-india.com
This Month’s Issue The Role of.................... 01 India, My country.......... 02 earthian 2013................. 03 News Bite...................... 04 Thoughtful story........... 05 Abrahram Lincon.......... 06 Teacher’s Bite............... 07 ASSET Poster................ 08
The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking and Learning One of the reasons that instructors tend to overemphasize "coverage" over "engaged thinking" is that they assume that answers can be taught separately from questions.
Thinking is Driven by Questions Thinking is not driven by answers but by questions. Had no questions been asked by those who laid the foundation for a field —say, Physics or Biology — the field would never have been developed in the first place. Furthermore, every field stays alive only to the extent that fresh questions are generated and taken seriously as the driving force in a process of thinking. Questions define tasks, express problems and delineate issues. Answers on the other hand, often stop thinking. Hence only students who ask questions are really thinking and learning.
Feeding Students Endless Content to Remember Feeding students with endless content to remember is akin to repeatedly stepping on the brakes in a vehicle that is, unfortunately, already at rest. Instead, students need questions to turn on their intellectual engines and they need to generate questions from our questions to get their thinking to go somewhere. Thinking is of no use unless it goes somewhere, and again, the questions we ask determine where our thinking goes. Deep questions drive our thoughts underneath the surface of things, force us to deal with complexity. Questions of purpose force us to define our task. Questions of information force us to look at our sources of information as well as at the quality of our information. Questions of interpretation force us to examine how we are organizing or giving meaning to information. Questions of assumption force us to examine what we are taking for granted. Questions of implication force us to follow out where our thinking is going. Questions of point of view force us to examine our point of view and to consider other relevant points of view. Questions of relevance force us to discriminate what does and what does not bear on a question. Questions of accuracy force us to evaluate and test for truth and correctness. Questions of precision force us to give details and be specific. Questions of consistency force us to examine our thinking for contradictions. Questions of logic force us to consider how we are putting all our thoughts together, to make sure that it all adds up and makes sense within a reasonable system of some kind. Continue...
Dead Questions Reflect Dead Minds Unfortunately, most students ask virtually none of these thought-stimulating types of questions. They tend to stick to dead questions like "Is this going to be in the test?", questions that imply the desire not to think. Most teachers in turn are not themselves generators of questions and are not seriously engaged in thinking through or rethinking through their own subjects. Rather, they are purveyors of the questions and answers of others-usually those of a textbook. We must continually remind ourselves that thinking begins with respect to some content only when questions are generated by both teachers and students. If we want thinking we must stimulate it with questions that lead students to further questions. We must overcome what previous schooling has done to student-thinking.
India – My Country A Platform to Cultivate Appreciation for India's Cultural Diversity After becoming the Prime Minister of India, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru on many occasions had travelled throughout the length and breadth of the country and interacted with country folks. One of fundamental questions he often asked the country people he met was, - how they associate themselves with India. In most cases, he was told that they like India because of its rich fertile land, perennial rivers, mountains, lakes, oceans, wildlife and all other natural features. But these were not the answers Pundit Nehru expected. All these features are no doubt important. But they are worthless without their human connections. We must know and appreciate the rhythm of lives in India, its unity in diversity. India has 5,000 years of history. Many countries do have such a long history. But India’s history is a surviving one as many of its ancient traditions are still alive. What the Americas mean to the new world where members from all major ethnic groups of different continents have made their homes, the Indian Sub-continent used to be a similar land in the pre-modern age. Here communities from Arab, Persia, Europe, Asia Minor, Southeast Asia and Far East had found shelters and flourished. As a result, the Indian culture has become highly pluralistic and therefore referred to as a Sub-continent. The Indian Sub-continent has been home to many communities, culture and innovations. Interestingly the diversity has been contributing as threads to weave the fabric of this nation. But it is pity that in this age of globalisation, we are steadily losing the appreciation for India’s cultural diversity, a major force for constructing our national identity. As a result, there is a rise of hatred between communities and religious groups on petty issues. Some blame it on politicians, while others on religious fundamentalists and the past, which often is fabricated. We don’t deny that these have not been causes, but at the same time we blame it on a larger system of which all these causes are components. ‘India – My Country’ is aimed at citizens from all works of lives as a platform to cultivate love and respect for the country, not through pseudo patriotism, but through actually appreciating its great cultural diversity. Friends, lets join hands together and build a great nation, where love, respect and dignity are at the very heart of its fabric. More information on : https://www.facebook.com/indiadiversity In every issue, we will be carry one story about India’s Cultural Diversities
Komic in Himachal Pradesh – The Highest Village in Asia
Komic, situated at a height of 4,275 m in the Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh is the highest village in Asia. The village has only 114 residents. Located in a cold desert region, Komic is exposed to temperatures that range between -25 degrees centigrade and +28 degrees centigrade. In most part of the year, except the summer season, Komic is cut off from the rest of the world due to snow fall. The inhabitants of Komic are Buddhists and followers of Tibetan Buddhism. Though they live in harsh conditions, they are simple and hospitable. The crop of the area is ‘pea’. A key landmark of Komic is the monastery dedicated to Gyawa Jampa or the Maitrya Buddha, famously known as the ‘Future Buddha’.
earthian 2013 for schools
earthian, WIPRO’s sustainability education program is in its 3rd year now. The program explores the issues around sustainable human living on the planet. Over the last 2 years it has seen participation from more than 2000 schools and colleges. 30 educational institutions have been selected. Schools from across the country have participated in this program. The submissions from schools have been essays covering a wide range of sustainability issues. Schools have written about issues around water, waste management and various activities in their school campus and nearby areas like lake restoration, water quality monitoring etc. Some of the schools even wrote fictional narratives on sustainability related issues like malnutrition. The winning schools joined the earthian 3 year Continuing Engagement Program, which aims to promote a more integrated sustainability education in the school. The program included a series of experiential workshops that covered a wide-range of topics like place-based education, interactions of native forest communities and their livelihoods with the local biodiversity, campus ecological foot-printing and theatre-based programs. Inspired by these workshops and interactions, many schools have started new learning initiatives on their own too. This year, the earthian program has been redesigned for schools with a set of interesting learning activities on the theme of water. Increasing unsustainable use and competing demands is creating a severe stress on water availability across the world. Through this program, let us explore and understand what is happening in your school, the community and the region around. Based on the learning from these activities, schools have to submit a written entry exploring water and its interconnections with other areas like energy, waste, biodiversity, climate change and so on. The activity booklet, supporting videos, brochures and posters can be downloaded from the website or can be ordered.
Call Toll free: 1800 200 5824 (10 AM to 5 PM on weekdays) or write to earthian.contact@wipro.com or visit www.earthian.in
News Bite CBSE Makes 25% Marks in Summative Assessment Mandatory to Qualify for the Exam Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is not going to be a cakewalk any longer. From the current academic session class IX and X students of the Central Board of Secondary Education will not only have to appear for both the summative assessments (SA), but will also have to score a minimum of 25% taken together to qualify for the examination. Earlier students were graduated to the subsequent class if he/ she scores 33% in the complete assessment which includes four formative assessments and two SAs. There was no minimum pass marks for the SAs, which is the written examination conducted at the end of the two semesters.
Register for Online Test Management: CBSE to Schools The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has asked all the newly-affiliated schools to register themselves for the integrated test management system (ITMS). The ITMS is an application that provides each school with unique question papers for the summative assessment of class IX and X. "This innovative solution will allow the CBSE affiliated schools to access question papers," said the CBSE statement. The board earlier used to provide question papers and marking schemes to conduct the summative assessment through CDs, after the board authorised the schools to conduct class IX and X exams on their own.
An ode to ASSET Students’ assessment, Parents’ worries, How, Why, When and What? Are the queries Of concern for the teacher. The English teacher emphasizes On punctuations and phonics While the Maths towards Integers and Fractions. The Science teacher feels Scientific concepts reasoning and facts Are the basics of daily life. Every question in the book is a MUST, Every quarter is to be scored. The child, slogs day in and out, To the pleasing effect of parent and educator. The tutor dominates, the pupil sustains Is this Art or the Mastery of the Tutor? To test knowledge through tremors and shivers. The child’s boat lurking thro’ the Ebbs and Tides of April. The days have changed, A new era dawned. Here is a new scenario, Learning through Interaction, The child being the Centre of Attention. Thoughts are nurtured with care, Leading to Misconceptions that are rare. ASSET is a tutor’s aid, Analyzing Students’ skills, Strong And Weak. The child now its Prodigy. Taken to higher levels of learning, Aided by Mindspark and Test Generators. The creativity also assesses Through contests like, Mathcovery. Composed By Maria.F.Amreliwala. Zenith School, Vadodara, Gujarat
Thoughtful Story: The Two Hospital Patients Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on holiday. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colour of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and, after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish Politician, there is a dedicated leader… Teach him for every enemy there is a friend, Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter. Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick… Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books… But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside. In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than to cheat… Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong… Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough. Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon… Teach him to listen to all men… but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through. Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad… Teach him that there is no shame in tears, Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness… Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul. Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he’s right. Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient… let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind. This is a big order, but see what you can do… He is such a fine little fellow, my son!
Q:
What is your approach to classroom management and student discipline?
Classroom management is a wonderful experience if teachers are really committed and dedicated. Each day the children must have a new experience. The teacher must enter the class with full confidence, creative ideas and also instill the values. The teacher’s job does not end by finishing the syllabus. Each teacher influences a student in different ways. So I will engage my students by starting the classroom by teaching one value in each class by students ( VI std GK / MS class) and sharing sessions in VIII & IX std, Botany classes. During sharing the student come out with various facts, experiences, happenings in their families. The teacher must be well-equipped with her subject knowledge before she / he start the lesson, and it need not be a chalk and talk method as nowadays students have very little attention span (20 minutes /40). We need to instill values and also subject knowledge within these 20 minutes. So interactive sessions will make the classroom very interesting and very effective. Students are more interested in visualizing, so through audio visual teaching we can manage our classes which will be long lasting in their memory. But for all these, teachers must do the ground work prior to the class, which helps them to manage the class in a smooth and lively way. When we talk about discipline, for me it’s like our breathing. Discipline is loving firmness. It is direction, it is prevention before a problem arises. It is harnessing and channeling energy for a great performance. Discipline is not something we do to others, but something we do for those we care about. Discipline is an act of love. Self discipline will take one to a great position. But teachers must be role models for discipline. If a teacher is going to the class after 10 minutes of a bell and punishes the students coming late to the class that teacher will lose respect. Discipline must be instilled in students from a younger age by telling inspirational stories of many leaders who attained their positions. I had many students who call me a strict teacher, for my discipline towards the students but they remembered me later when they took up jobs, with gratitude and tears in their eyes. The students must be given responsibilities to organize some activities, to hold meetings etc so that they learn the basic manners. By committing mistakes they learn the right things. School assemblies are a very good platform where values and discipline are instilled in the minds of students. Even if the student doesn’t fair well in Academics but is disciplined, he must be appreciated in front of his peers, which will boost up his confidence to improve his academics. In our school, the students who are not disciplined are given some responsibilities like arranging the mike in assembly programme, finding out the students who are not in a proper uniform etc. which gradually helps them to fall in line with discipline.
For some families, the residential area influences the indiscipline. Those students can be counseled personally after discussion with the parents. All children are good when they are born but due to the environment the child loses track of good behavior and so, it’s the duty of the teacher who can bring him up and show him the right path. Children brought up in a loving, disciplined environment end up respecting their parents more and become law abiding citizens. If discipline is practised in every home, juvenile delinquency would be reduced by 95 %. Good teachers and parents are not afraid to enforce discipline because of a momentous dislike by the children. What are your views regarding the 'Importance of Teacher Training and Development' in educating Students? True education is training both the head and the hearts. Teacher training is a must, provided the teacher is trained with all the necessary inputs which is important to be delivered to the students. Each candidate must be tested for their confidence level, their language, capacity to deliver their subjects to students. Not only that, the candidate must have more creative ideas to reach the children easily. Educating student is not an easy task. When raw material is given , it’s a teacher who moulds them into beautiful products. The product must undergo various processes, such as testing, heating, polishing etc. But if the teacher is a skilfull person, definitely the product will be highly appreciated. So all teachers who are trained must have the capacity to educate students in a proper way in all aspects. Nowadays many school managements expect fresh hands to educate students so that the candidate can be trained in their own style. The teachers who have come by choice will be more effective in schools than those who have come by chance. “ the Influence of a teacher never ends in a student’s life”. Only a teacher can mould a student into various personalities from an office clerk to a Prime Minister, No other profession has this credit. So I request all the teachers who wish to come to this profession must have real dedication and commitment to bring in a change in the society by educating a student. They must not come to this job just fascinated by money, vacation and other allowances. One could have good grades and a degree and still not learn much. Educating the mind without morals creates maniacs in the society.
Q:
Q:
What is your view regarding the ASSET Test?
It helps to inculcate the following qualities in the student community. A Assertiveness S Self-Confidence S Self Learning E Endurance T Truthfulness When a student is Assertive to learn the subjects he acquires Self confidence which leads him to Self-learning, though the task is tough it gives Endurance to meet all challenges and be a Topper in the class, school and society. This makes others turn towards him and get Encouraged to be Sincere and Truthful in life.
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