Mentor Magazine December 2015

CONTENT

Mentor, December 2015 Volume 9, Issue 7

Mentor Thoughts

Pedagogy

School Leadership

04 School Cinema

06 16 A real disorder not a Examining

My Greatest Learning...

We need to provide teachers and parents with a better understanding of ADHD…

Contest

05 Sultan Speaks

Bringing people on board...

myth!

21

assumptions

Good teachers positively influence a child’s emotional health and conduct within the classroom...

19 Hole-in-the-Wall

10 Cover Story

Learning stations and academic performance among rural children in India...

Manipal Prolearn...

34 Post Scriptum

Innovation

Light Channeling

A Revolutionary Idea for Schools

24 Waste is beautiful

Why do we inherently tuck away waste in areas out of sight, hidden, dark, dirty or just plain boring...

School Governance

26 SCHOOL REFUSAL

School Refusal refers to severe emotional distress experienced by a child at the prospect of attending school...

30 MENTOR journal, 2015

32 Mentor Conclave - A Curtain Raiser

Power shift...

Publisher and Owner Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed Editor-in-Chief Dr. Vidya Shetty Farida Raj

EDUCATORS

Poonam Bir Kasturi

Content Team Ms. Kalpa Kartik Ms. Vibha Tirumalai

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Dr. Smita Desai

Ruvneet Bains

Designed by Mr. Harpreet Singh Production Mr. Praveen U.M. Mr. Sathish C. Ms. Guna V.

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A contest for teachers conducted by School Cinema announces through MENTOR it’s three wining entries which talk about the greatest lessons learnt by teachers.

Femisa S Gandhi - Atul Vidyalaya I am a primary school teacher and it has been 12 years since I have been in this profession.

Swimming is a compulsory sport for students in the school in Atul Vidyalaya, Valsad wherein I am currently teaching, unlike other schools.

Most of the students here are afraid of the sport. However I try my best and motivate them to attend swimming coaching. A newly admitted boy however at school was extremely scared and cried every time it was time for swimming coaching in school. I tried my best to boost his confidence by narrating many stories. To my surprise, the student asked me to accompany him for swimming and that was the day I realised how afraid I was of swimming.

Today, if I can swim a little bit with confidence, it is due to that little boy who unknowingly inspired me to try and learn something new. Now, whenever I take my students for swimming class, I make it a point to get into the pool, providing students confidence to a certain level.

Jayalakshmi - Sri Jnanakshi Vidyaniketan As a passionate teacher for over thirty years now, I can confidently say that children give joy to parents and teachers. Over these years, I have cherished number of experiences and I would like to share one such experience here which remains fresh on my mind. A ten year old student at my school at Sri Jnanakshi Vidyaniketan in bengeluru once expressed her desire to become an airhostess. My colleague at that point made a casual negative remark saying the girl was shabbily dressed, disorganized and indisciplined. Thus she would never be able to fulfil her desire to become an airhostess. The student left the room teary eyes as she was hurt.

Years later, a young lady, elegantly dressed, with an air of accomplishment around her stepped into the school. That was the girl who expressed her desire to be an airhostess! With great pride she told us how she achieved her goal. That was the day I learnt that instead of predicting students’ future, we should encourage them to achieve what they aspire to become.

Jyoti Lakhwani - Sunbeam School “Life as a teacher begins the day you realize that you are always a learner”- perfect quote to describe a teacher. I was bubbling with enthusiasm to teach my favourite topic “Environment” at my school. I used all the tactics, project work, brain stormingquestions and answers and asked the students to submit the notebooks. Rubina, came on my table next day; showed me the copy and what do I see? She had continued the new chapter from the left over blank page of the previous chapter.

“Rubina, don’t you know that you are supposed to start the new chapter from the fresh page? I asked annoyingly.”

Rubina replied “Ma’am, yesterday you explained to us that it is our duty to preserve the resources of the earth and to save the hard earned money of our parents”. I was stunned – “PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH” is what I learnt from this little girl while at Sumbeam School, Varanasi.

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SULTAN SPEAKS

BRINGING PEOPLE ON BOARD A very dear friend and advisor to EduMedia, Mr. Rajiv Soni once narrated a very interesting incident about JRD Tata. Mr. Soni now retired after over 3 decades of service at Tata Steel was fortunate enough to work very closely with the visionary Tata on several assignments in his career. One of the several experiences he remembers about JRD was how he was very particular about hiring the right people for the organisation. Here is one for sharing….

JRD Tata was once taking a final interview of a very seasoned marketing executive for a very senior role in the organisation. It was customary to have a meal with JRD as part of the interview process. During the course of the lunch it seemed that all was well and the conversation looked very interesting.

Once the lunch was over JRD informed the HR Department “not’’ to hire the gentleman.

When the HR prodded, JRD revealed that while having lunch the gentleman ordered soup, when the soup arrived, he promptly picked up the saltshaker and added it to his soup. This action of his was enough for JRD to decide that he was not the right person for the job. He could not hire someone who assumed that there was no salt in the soup without even tasting it. His reading was that : If he has had lived his life with preconceived notions and beliefs then he will not be able to learn, unlearn and adapt to the changing environments especially if he had to come in for a leadership position. Legendary leaders had legendary ways of solving simple problems.

One of the biggest challenges we face today is on bringing the right people on board our organisations especially in schools. It is said that with the best of processes available on the planet and with the best methodologies to hire people the success rate of hiring the right person for the right role is apparently 50%. This means that anyone who is hiring anybody for any role is picking up one wrong person in every two that are hired.

HOW do you bring people on board your

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organisation? An organisation is like a bus journey as leaders of organisations; our single biggest role is to ensure that the right people are on the bus and the wrong people are off the bus and most importantly the right people are on the right seat.

As leaders it is very essential that we constantly relook at the way we run our organisations and question the systems and processes that we put in place. If the systems and processes don’t evolve with the dynamics of the world outside, the very same systems will become a hindrance to the organisation.

Another year has come to an end. It is a great idea to relook at the systems and processes that run your organisation, change the redundant, retain the effective and bring in innovation with the way work happens.

This would be a way to end this year and welcome the coming New Year.

If he has lived his life with preconceived notions and beliefs then he will not be able to learn, unlearn and adapt to the changing environments

Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed, MD, EduMedia India Pvt. Ltd. sultan@edumedia.in

PEDAGOGY

A REAL DISORDER NOT A MYTH! There are hundreds of scientific articles, numerous books, newsletters and web sites available on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). One might question why I chose to write on this topic.

Over the years, I have come to believe it is a disorder that is often misunderstood both by parents and teachers that the term is loosely used. Dr. Farida Raj Director, Centre for Special Education, Hyderabad, Remedial Educator, the RCI gives a better understanding on it in this sharing with MENTOR. Abstract Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] is one of the most common disorders amongst children. It has been the most studied of all psychological disorders in children.

Over the last three decades the numbers have been increasing for children diagnosed with ADHD. There are a variety of reasons for this. First, there is a growing awareness by the general public about ADHD. Second, over the last decade, pre-school and adolescent children are increasingly being identified as so, where as in the past, pre-schoolers were rarely identified and professionals believed that most children outgrew ADHD by the time they reached adolescence. Third, most children are diagnosed by pediatricians and family doctors who may have inadequate expertise in ADHD, as a consequence a child may be misdiagnosed.

The mind has to be left unbridled and free to discover the extent of human imagination and capabilities There is an urgent need to identify children with ADHD early in order to increase school success and decrease the escalation of more severe social and academic problems.

An important beginning step for teachers is the acceptance of ADHD as a real disorder and not a myth, because pre-school and school age educational support is very important in minimizing problematic ADHD behaviours and learning challenges. Positive

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and supportive relationships are essential not only for cognitive development but also for a healthy social emotional development.

Your Attention, Please ADHD is one of the most common disorders among children. It is currently recognized as a disorder with behavioural, emotional, educational and cognitive aspects that impact on the life of a child with ADHD every day of the year. Children who have this disorder face two different problems at school. First, as they have difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention for the right amount of time on a given task, they have poor academic performance. Even bright and gifted children with ADHD may get poor grades. ADHD is also known to affect memory. Second, as they are unable to control their emotions, actions, gestures and behave the way they want to, they end up having poor relations with classmates.

ADHD is a term used by clinical psychologists but for us it simply means that our children are hyperactive and impulsive. Those who have never had to cope with the problems presented by hyperactive and impulsive children on a day-to-day basis have little knowledge of the colossal commitment, time and energy involved. These are children who won’t listen to anyone. Disciplining them is an uphill task and because of their constant motion and explosive energy, they get into trouble with teachers, parents and peers. On many occasions there is no understanding of the child’s basic temperament, with

December 2015

the result, parents especially, the mother is frequently blamed for being unable to control the child. This results in the mother being overwhelmed with the task of taking care of the child.

ADHD arises as a developmental failure in the brain circuit that underlines inhibition and selfcontrol. This loss of self-control in turn impairs other important brain functions that are crucial for maintaining attention, including the ability of behavioural organization.

No one knows for sure what causes ADHD. There is no simple primary cause. However, heredity or a positive family history appears to be the most common identifiable cause.

There are two clear sub-types of ADHD and for each of these the children who have them will show different kinds of behaviour.

In one case children will be very inattentive and in the other hyper-active with or without impulsivity. The pre-dominant behaviour will help in diagnosing the type.

The focus of this article is not on the diagnosis of ADHD but to provide teachers and parents with a better understanding of it.

Attention is the ability to select and focus on what is important for the right amount of time and discard what is irrelevant. It allows us to plan, monitor and regulate our thoughts and actions. It also supports the more complex neurodevelopmental functions such as language and higher order cognition. When attention is focused as it is supposed to, it helps a child learn, become productive and behave appropriately. On the other

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hand, when we are unable to be attentive it leads to chaos in the learning process and in the daily life of a family. Children with hyperactivity and impulsivity are driven by the moment. Because of delay in inhibitions, they often say or do what first comes to their mind, without stopping to think about the consequences. They lack control needed to slow down. ADHD children with impulsivity have an insatiable appetite for stimulation, entertainment, and new play things. In their frenzied pursuit for stimulation, they look for opportunities that provide excitement. They behave recklessly and this makes them prone to accidents.

Permissive parents allow children who are already uninhabited and extrovert by nature to do “their own thing�. It may be easier for the moment, but the long term consequences can be disastrous. It can impair the development of important brain processes relating to self and impulse control, empathy and behavioural organization.

For lay people, ADHD is typically synonymous with hyperactive and impulsive behaviour but there is another sub-type of ADHD which often gets overlooked. It is known as Inattention. Children who are inattentive tend to be overlooked far more than those displaying outwardly noticeable symptoms.

They may sit quietly and look as if they are paying attention but the fact is they are probably attending to the most irrelevant things such as the colour of the teacher’s saree or the cover of the book she is

holding. As a consequence, they miss out on important information given by her. Children with inattention are internally rather than externally distracted. They often are seen as underactive, day-dreamers and cognitively sluggish. They tend to have problems with academics as they move to higher studies.

displaying refreshingly unorthodox pathways of thought. There is more that is right than wrong with these children. Many of them turn out to be extraordinary adults. Parents and teachers have to be on a constant diligent quest to discover the buried treasures within these children.

Children with attention problems hate routine activities as sustaining attention for longer period of time is an issue. They find completing worksheets, assignments, class work and home work boring and uninteresting. They may give up or move on to something else. But what is surprising is that when these children are introduced to novel and stimulating situations, they are as attentive as those without ADHD. In fact, these children baffle their parents and teachers by being able to attend to high interest activities such as video games and TV shows for long hours. They get so obsessed with what they are doing that they are totally oblivious to what is happening around them. This inconsistency in task performance confuses parents and teachers alike. “He remembered to complete the math assignment yesterday; why can’t he remember today?” Unfortunately this erratic performance is confusing to the affected child. The ability to perform on some days and not on others brings a heavy toll of unfair accusations of laziness and willfulness.

Treatment involves a mix of medication, behavioural therapy, occupational therapy and educational support.

Treatment is individually designed, as each case is different in symptoms, intensity, response and family background.

Children with constitutional hyperactivity usually outgrow the disorder even without treatment. They just need proper handling – discipline and direction.

In cases where neurological causes are behind the problem, neuronal maturation and impulse control can come with age and development.

Luckily, children who struggle to focus their attention often possess remarkable positive traits we cannot afford to overlook. They are often amazing people in their own right,

When reviewing findings related to attention, it is important to consider that observed or reported symptoms could stem from several different constructs. For example, language problems can create the appearance of weak attention. When you are not fluent in the language of medium of instructions in school, then your understanding of what you hear and read is limited and your capacity to communicate your ideas and needs is laborious. As you struggle to comprehend you might drift off and appear inattentive.

You would be likely to miss details. Picking up details, trouble with expressive language or difficulty putting thoughts into oral or written words can lead to frustration and inappropriate decision making in an effort to get needs met, which can look like impulsivity. In short you might seem like a person with attention weakness!

Problems of attention cause children to develop gaps in learning as they are not able to remain attentive when the teacher introduces information. Their decisions are based on partial information and this leads to incomplete assignments. But as they are not aware of their mistakes, they are confused.

Teachers and parents need to take note of the above mentioned and modify their teaching instructions otherwise there is a risk that they may develop problematic

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December 2015

behavior and secondary disorders.

Adults have a tendency to assume that a struggling child is lazy, willful, unmotivated or worse, he is not bright. We tend to perceive children with ADHD as having an attitudinal problem or simply bad behaviour. Yet, these are struggling and confused children, who very much want to succeed and win the respect of adults.

They need our support and want us to help them to cope with attention issues.

When they sense we are on their side and not accusing them of being bad or lazy, they often rise to the occasion and show steady improvement. Teachers need to form strong alliances with their children rather than adversarial relationships.

Forming relationships built on trust, respect and empathy is one of the most important strategies for success. Children with ADHD benefit the most when families, teachers and when necessary, doctors work together.

Characteristics of a child with ADHD In terms of Inattention.

Characteristics of a child with ADHD In terms of Hyperactivity

• Often fails to give close attention to details or make careless mistakes in schoolwork or other activities. on tasks or play activities.

• Often has difficulty in sustaining attention on tasks or play activities • Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.

• Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish school work • Often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities • Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort • Is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.

• Is often forgetful in daily activities.

• Often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat • Often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected.

• Often runs about or climbs excessively in inappropriate situations.

• Often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly.

• Is often ‘on the go’ or acts as if ‘driven by a motor’ • Often talks excessively.

The child’s distractibility is many times internalized and is not always recognized by teachers.

Remember: Seizure, middle ear infections, lack of sleep, emotional problems and learning disabilities can cause symptoms similar to ADHD.

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Characteristics of a child with ADHD In terms of Impulsivity • Often blurts out answers before questions have been completed.

• Often has difficulty awaiting turn • Often interrupts or intrudes on others (for example, butts into conversations) The child may be diagnosed as ADHD combined type if he exhibits symptoms of the above mentioned subtypes for at least six months.

rajfarida@gmail.com

COVER STORY

THE NEED FOR EDUCATION HAS COME A LONG WAY….

SHARING THE MANIPAL WAY From the Gurukuls of ancient India - where students went to a guru seeking shikshya or learning and in return practically ran the guru’s household while gathering academic as well as life skills - to today’s Karma Cola generation, where information access has created a knowledge economy, the need for education has come a long way….. or has it really?! Mr. Vaitheeswaran S, Managing Director and CEO Manipal Global Education Services, Bengaluru.

A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame. The teacher who has come to the end of his subject, who has no living traffic with his knowledge but merely repeats his lesson to his students, can only load their minds, he cannot quicken them. Rabindranath Tagore Technology today offers both students and teachers an astonishing choice of tools to gain and dispense knowledge.

What hasn’t changed is the incredible influence that a teacher has upon his or her young students. However, a teacher’s role has changed from being a repository of knowledge to a mentor who counsels

students, teaches them to seek, understand, and use knowledge and help them make better decisions in their lives.

Inspired teachers, however, are not enough.

Given the pressures of population and rapid imbalanced development, access to education and basic infrastructure facilities in schools become critical to ensure attendance. Traditional schools need the right environment, which includes clean classrooms, toilets and other infrastructure.

Then there are social issues involving education for girls, poverty and prejudice which also need to be tackled. But let’s just step back a bit and look at some of the key influences on Indian education and get a better global perspective of school education today.

Background: Formal school education as we know it today was brought to India by the British, more specifically by Lord Thomas Macaulay, member of the first Supreme Council of India between 1834 and 1838.

Macaulay, who sneered at Sanskrit and Persian, brought English-medium education to India through his famous ‘Minute on Indian Education’, where he argued that none of the Indian languages were suitable for teaching or studying history, science and technology.

The modern classroom – which stressed on ‘useful subjects’ like science, mathematics and of course English – soon replaced the

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personalised, all-round education delivered at the Gurukuls.

After Independence, successive Indian governments have grappled in vain with the task of providing affordable, quality primary and secondary education to a massive and growing population of young students.

But lack of funds, infrastructure and facilities and a huge shortage of skilled, trained and dedicated teachers ensure that most government-run schools (barring exceptions like the Kendriya Vidyalayas) are usually the last of choice for students. All those who can afford it – and many who cannot - opt for private schools. Private schools today account for almost 30 per cent of enrolment in rural India, and over 40 per in urban areas, and the number is growing. The number of dedicated, passionate, trained teachers, however, seems to be shrinking.

The sheer scale of the problem, both in terms of the rapidly growing number of schoolchildren as well as the logistics and costs involved, dictates alternate or supplementary options to the traditional classrooms. This is where technology can help. Online options like the Khan Academy are useful tools for not just teachers and students, but parents as well.

Continuity and change: At its peak, the ancient university town of Nalanda (5th to 12th century AD) attracted students and scholars from Turkey, China, Korea, Japan,

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Tibet, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and other South East Asian nations. The massive university complex, which also housed a library with hundreds of thousands of books and manuscripts, was razed to the ground by Muslim invaders in the 12th century.

Almost nine centuries later, in November 2010, the new Nalanda University was instituted by a special Act of the Indian Parliament. Located in Rajgir, near the original Nalanda in Bihar, the University is mandated to be “an international institution for the pursuit of intellectual, philosophical, historical and spiritual studies”.

At the 8th East Asia Summit in October 2013, an inter-governmental Memorandum of Understanding proposed to make the university a truly international one and over 17 nations have signed up so far.

The fully-residential university, to be completed by 2020, will eventually have seven schools, all for post-graduate and doctoral students, offering courses in science, philosophy and spirituality and social sciences.

According to its Chancellor George Yeo (former foreign minister of Singapore), “Our inspiration from the old Nalanda is man living in harmony with man, man living in harmony with nature and man living as part of nature.”

Which is what the ancient Gurukuls were all about.

quality education for all. Apart from daily hot meals, these schools offer health and dental services, psychological counselling and a host of other services for families and children in need.

‘Moreover, all high school students must take one of the most rigorous curriculums in the world, including physics, chemistry, biology, philosophy, music and at least two foreign languages,’ said The New York Times in an editorial titled Why Other Countries Teach Better.

What are other nations doing? In January 2002, then US President George W. Bush signed into law the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act, which is based on the premise that setting high standards with measurable goals can improve outcomes in education. Under the Act, all public schools which receive federal funding must conduct an annual state wide standardized test for every student. Schools that consistently fail to deliver adequate yearly progress in these tests are penalised and finally denied government funding.

In 2009, President Barack Obama unveiled another ambitious proposal called Race to the Top, a $4.35 billion Department of Education grant which rewards innovation and reform in school education. From students, the focus shifted to teachers and academic leaders.

Yet a survey last year by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a grouping of the world’s richest economies, found that the American workforce has some of the weakest mathematical and problem-solving skills in the developed world, scoring far below average and better than only two of 12 other developed comparison countries, Italy and Spain.

Finland, on the other hand, has consistently ranked very high in global literacy and mathematical skills.

After World War II, Finland began creating schools that would provide comprehensive

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Then, in 1979, Helsinki shifted teachers’ colleges into the more rigorous university system. ‘By professionalizing the teacher corps and raising its value in society, the Finns have made teaching the country’s most popular occupation for the young,’ said the NYT editorial.

India Shining? In India, The Right to Education Act (RTE), which came into force on 1 April 2010, guarantees free and compulsory education for children between the age of 6 and 14.

The good news is that as per a survey conducted by ASER, an NGO involved in autonomous assessment, survey, evaluation and research in the social sector, ‘96.7% of children (in the age group 6 - 14 years) are enrolled in school in rural India. This is the 6th year in a row that enrolment rates have been 96% or above.’

This linkage between learning and earning, even at the school level, is not new The bad news from the survey is that ‘Of all children enrolled in Std V, about half cannot read at Std II level..’

Overall, nearly 20% children in India didn’t complete primary education in 201314. Nearly 36% children didn’t complete elementary education.

The RTE Act seems to have led to higher enrolment, but with dubious educational benefits.

Another interesting finding: Against 39% boys who dropped out before completing elementary education in 2013-14, only

December 2015

33% girls did so, says the latest statistics of the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD). In 2012-13, nearly 41% female students had dropped out of the schools without completing elementary education, as against 40.3% male students.

This sudden gender gap reversal in dropouts within a year seems more pronounced in the upper primary classes (5-8).

Experts opine that poverty, poor academic performance, substandard teaching, migration and the need to earn to support the family are major factors behind the higher dropout rate of the boys.

This linkage between learning and earning, even at the school level, is not new. A hungry child is unlikely to focus on learning. Which is why despite all the scams associated with the program, the mid-day meal scheme helps sustain some attendance. But it is up to the teachers to keep the students interested enough to stay on and complete the course.

For those unable to attend regular classes due to work or lack of schools in the neighbourhood, distance education offers a solution. Technology plays a pivotal role in Distance Education and facilitates customised pedagogy!

The Shanghai Plan: Let’s take a look at Shanghai, whose students topped the charts in math, science and literacy in the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (or PISA) conducted every three years by the OECD.

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Shanghai, China’s largest and most internationalized city, was among the first to revive the education system devastated

by Mao’s Cultural Revolution. After quickly ensuring universal enrolment, the city’s elders consciously moved away from the elitist system to a universal one. They launched a neighbourhood attendance system which brought and taught students from diverse backgrounds under one roof. According to the OECD report, Shanghai has embraced the notion that migrant children are also “our children” — meaning they too had a stake in the city’s future. Others steps included a massive review and overhaul of the school system, including infrastructure and educational quality. And recently, strong schools were asked to take over and administer weaker ones.

All it needs is leadership, some vision and the courage to take those famous first steps All this goes to show that when it comes to schools, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, and that economic might does not necessarily mean better primary education.

Each nation must forge a primary education policy keeping social, economic and other factors in mind. More importantly, these policies need to be regularly reviewed to quickly adopt new technologies and adapt to changing demographic and economic patterns. But most of all, teachers need to keep reinventing themselves.

The structural flaws: The Manipal Centre for Professional and Personal Development, for instance, aims to empower and educate the academic faculty, students and nonacademic staff of all Manipal University institutions by promoting global trends and new teaching methodologies. This is based on the belief that students today pose fresh challenges which need to be addressed innovatively, and that teaching is as much about creation of new knowledge as it is about imparting existing knowledge in text books. The phenomenal success of Manipal ProLearn is perhaps one.

A major survey conducted by the Foundation found that ‘Rural government schools demonstrate better learning outcomes In India, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an autonomous organization, was set up in 1961 ‘to assist and advise the Central and State Governments on policies and programmes for qualitative improvement in school education.’

But it is hamstrung by the fact that education is mainly a state subject, and many states often base their education policies, priorities and even syllabus on political, linguistic, ethnic and other interests. The two central boards - the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council of Indian

School Certificate Examination (CISCE) which run class 10 and class XII examinations follow different patterns and syllabi.

The Department of School Education and Literacy, which falls under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, is responsible for several initiatives and schemes aimed at strengthening the primary and secondary education system.

But ambitious government efforts - both at the national and state level - and schemes to deliver quality primary education have often been bogged down by systemic inefficiencies, bureaucratic and political red tape and of course corruption. The lack of trained teachers still remains a major hurdle.

At the same time, the focus remains on traditional infrastructure and in most government-run and private schools, on rote learning, rather than on problem solving.

Nor is there a conscious attempt to link the academic learning to the real world.

By a time a student is in the plus 2 (class 11 and 12) section, he or she is already looking at career options. The curriculum for these classes should thus have some industry relevance. This needs to be academic as well as skill-based.

Given the incredible and growing number of career options today, this can become a daunting task unless the teachers are clued into the industry demands of the day, and aware of the various options that open up with each discipline and domain. Manipal Institute of Technology, for instance, offers 18 specialised departments, ranging from automobile engineering to biomedical engineering, many with sub-specialisations.

As for skills, Manipal City and Guilds combines the strengths of Manipal Global Education Services and the City and Guilds, UK, to provide cutting-edge, industry-relevant certifications and job assistance.

Multiple levels of qualifications are available at the entry, supervisory and managerial levels, opening up opportunities for lifelong learning

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and growth.

Several other private and non-governmental organisations have launched initiatives to pick up the slack. Teach For India, for instance, is modelled on Teach for America, where young graduate students and other professionals volunteer to teach children less privileged than them.

In 2008, the Azim Premji Foundation in collaboration with the National Knowledge Commission launched a national portal for teachers, which offers the teaching community a platform for sharing best practices and generating discussion and debate on ways to improve education.

A major survey conducted by the Foundation found that ‘Rural government schools demonstrate better learning outcomes when teachers are committed, head teachers provide leadership and the parents and community care about quality education. Better infrastructure or better qualified teachers by themselves don’t lead to better learning.’

Manipal Foundation, the charitable arm of the Manipal Education and Medical Group, partners with several NGOs helping underprivileged children get a mainstream education.

But all this is not enough. The national education policy needs to shift focus from hardware to software. From setting up infrastructure to setting up intelligence. And given the huge demand for employability,

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perhaps it is time to consider two-level institutions - one focussing on application of concepts, vocational and other skills and employability and the other for pure research. This would also help ease the skill gap that plagues Indian industry today.

The phenomenal success of Manipal ProLearn, an online education marketplace, is perhaps one indication of the way forward.

An innovative mix of online and offline learning, it allows students to learn at their own pace and convenience online, with the reassurance that help is also available at select brick-and mortar outlets, staffed by trained counsellors, nearby.

The sky is the limit: The National Optical Fiber Project (NOFN), touted as the World’s largest rural broadband connectivity project through optical fibre, is expected to connect 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats at a minimum 100 Mbps bandwidth by 2020.

Imagine the implications of the children in these panchayats being able to plug into this network using the low-cost Akash tablets.

No more trudging for miles to reach the nearest school, no need to buy expensive books and stationery. The money saved from not having to build schools and transport books and stationery could be used to train and incentivise better teachers. All this on a system that allows objective assessment of not just the student, but also the teacher.

The technology is already there. All it needs is leadership, some vision and the courage to take those famous first steps…

ceo@manipalglobal.com

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP

EXAMINING ASSUMPTIONS Learning is a social and emotional process. It is enhanced by positive social engagements and negatively impacted by stress.Ms. Ruvneet Bains, Chief Consultant, Assessments and Professional Development, Pearson Education, Delhi shares with MENTOR how to improve learning outcomes.

It is exam time and you come home to find the television on and your dear child glued to the screen. ‘Stop wasting your time on TV when you should be studying!’ you admonish. ‘I’m sure you’ve been sitting here since the time you got back from school!’

Your teenager glares back at you, leaves the room and refuses to speak to you for the rest of the evening. When you finally make your peace, you find that your child had, in fact, studied and had just settled down for a TV break when you arrived.

Unfortunately, the actions that follow will not likely give us the solution we want, instead our actions would be fragmented, contradictory and confusing and may look like this -

Assumptions at play So often, as in here, our reading of a situation is based on an erroneous assumption. Here, we assumed that our child + unsupervised time = television or wasteful use of time.

Assumptions are the underlying basis on which our reasoning, theories, strategies, plans of actions and actions are based.

ct/

a it af It’s know we FOR

That’s how it always is FOR

Let us examine another situation where the underlying assumption leads to unexpected results.

Tak e gra n for nte FOR d

ASSUMPTIONS Fig. 1: Actions based on false assumptions often look like this We often base our actions on false assumptions that seem to be justified by one of the statements above. We rarely challenge our assumptions and proceed to take action based on these assumptions.

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A pre-school in Singapore found that almost every other day, a number of parents would be late at pick-up time. They had tried sending reminders and requests to parents to be on time; however, without much effect. A suggestion was made to charge a nominal penalty fee every time a parent was late by more than 10 mins.

What do you think happened when this new rule was implemented?

Result A: The number of late parents increased.

OR Result B: The number of late parents decreased.

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What followed was that more number of parents were late and for longer! On inquiry, it was found that while the parents had earlier felt a moral duty to be on time, now with the new ‘penalty fee’, it simply became a monetary transaction. They felt – ‘Oh, well, since I’m paying for it, it’s ok if I’m late!’

Here, the management based its action on the ‘it-will-hurt-to-pay’ assumption that asking parents to ‘pay’ for being late would reduce this undesirable behaviour. In hindsight, if they had built their action plan on the ‘moral guilt’ of making the teacher wait beyond school hours, it may have had the desired effect. Perhaps a direct note from the teacher explaining that her personal time was affected on account of having to stay back in school with the children of late parents may have been more effective.

Assumptions for a successful life A dearly held assumption is that high marks and excellent grades in school are the strongest indicators of a successful student and by extension, a successful life. This assumption tends to lead to rewards and praise being centered largely on academic performance, and if tuitions and extra classes are needed to achieve the same, then so be it. However, this may be a case of misplaced focus as a number of significant longitudinal studies have established that academic excellence is not a pre-requisite to a happy and successful life. A number of other factors seem to have greater impact. A more recent report from the London School of Economics – ‘What Predicts a Successful Life’, noted, “The most powerful childhood predictor of adult life-satisfaction is the child’s emotional health. Next comes the child’s conduct.

The least powerful predictor is the child’s intellectual development.” Further, it goes on to say, “many well-intentioned programmes carried out with the best will in the world have been found to make no difference”.

Breaking old assumptions of Classroom practices One of the most exquistely designed research projects and a personal favourite, is the 1999 Hole-in-the-Wall experiment headed by Dr. Sugadha Mitra in which he set out to measure the amount of ‘teaching’ that computer learning required. To do so,

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he embedded a computer and mouse into a wall on a street corner in an urban slum.

A camera opposite captured the people who would come forward to engage with the PC. Not unexpectedly, it was the children who twiddled with the computer and through trial and error, self-discovery and group discussions over a period of three months, grasped browsing, file saving and other functions completely. The results were so surprising that he then expanded the experiment to more cities and regions across the country. Everywhere, without any formal teaching, with no knowledge of English, children discovered the computer and the internet and mastered them. Some of the key findings that emerged were: • that primary education can happen on its own, it does not have to be imposed by the teacher!

• given the resources, 6-13 year olds can self –organize and achieve an educational objective!

In conclusion of this research that spanned almost a decade, Dr. Mitra concludes that • Learning is a self-organizing system • Values are acquired, doctrine and dogma are imposed Assumptions are the underlying basis on which our reasoning, theories, strategies, plans of actions and actions are based New assumptions of a teacher’s role in the classroom If indeed learning is a self-organizing system as evidenced by various research, perhaps the real value that teachers bring to their classrooms and students needs to be uncovered. Good teachers no doubt leave a lasting impression on students who recall with fondness the care, the guidance, the support they may have received from their teachers. Indeed, good teachers positively influence a child’s emotional health and conduct within the classroom experience and curriculum demands. In light of these, let us examine what drives learning and how best a teacher may contribute to her/his udents’ learning and development.

Curiosity.

Children are always asking questions, inquiring, probing, discovering.

Children, especially young children, ask a million questions a minute! Do they need to have all the answers or ‘know everything?’

Not really. It’s the path of discovery rather than the end, that inculcates life skills, allows contextualized learning and brings them greater joy. It is themselves they discover during their investigations. Unfortunately, this is easily buried by ‘answers’ eagerly given out by textbooks, teachers and parents. My advice is to increasingly engage, chat, listen, do with the students and lessen the telling, the teaching and the checking. Create more conversations and opportunites for curiosity to be stoked.

Meaning.

Why do I need to know this?

Every teacher is confronted with this question a couple of times a year, if not more.

It’s a wonderful question, yet it remains unanswered satisfactorily most times.

The encylopaedic approach to learning appears meaningless to children – how much of Pythagorus Theorem, the Law of Thermodynamics or the differences between monocots and dicots do adults recall or use in their daily lives? Learning must hold real world meaning for the child. Leading them to discover/ observe/ derive at least a few direct applications of each chapter’s content to the students’ lives is essential to creating inventors, researchers and life long learners.

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Communication.

Are we good listeners? Do we communicate our thoughts effectively?

Teachers and parents need to be aware of the tremendous impact they have in establishing classroom climate, and on the other hand, they need to actively create opportunities and spaces that cause students to communicate with each other. Small group work or partner work that are built around information-gap pedagogy supported by rubrics for self and peer assessment are ideal for building communication skills in a very personalized development continuum and minimum teacher intervention.

Verifying assumptions, then acting on them The next time you come home to find your child in front of the television, I hope you will react on an assumption that you don’t know how your child utilized the time while you were away and why; and hence, you would inquire from your young one of how he/she is, what kind of day in school it was and how they are feeling (emotional health). Only after bonding with your child would you inquire how he/she used the time, praising their good conduct or guiding them for better. And lastly, you would find out about the studies they did/ need to do. Similarly, teachers tend to rush into their syllabus and textbook. Pause, engage with your students, find out about how they are feeling, how their day or week is going. Guide them on their conduct, praise them for courtesies and kindness. Pay attention to their emotional health and conduct, the rest will follow.

ruvneet.bains@gmail.com

December 2015

HOLE-IN-THE-WALL

The present paper indicates that the HiWEL LSs seem to complement as well as supplement formal schooling in rural and semi-rural villages.

Children organize themselves and become self-regulated learners.

However, so far no study has been undertaken to determine whether children accessing Hole-in-the-Wall learning stations (HiWEL LSs) can improve in Mathematics and English. The intent of the present study is to examine whether groups of children are able to pick up Mathematics and English on their own using the learning station. Ritu Dangwal, Researcher and Project Coordinator, School in the Cloud TED Speaker, Delhi shares with MENTOR her insight and learning from the study in two parts to be published as sequels‌...

Role of ICT in education In recent years, there has been a groundswell of interest on how computers and internet can best be harnessed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of education at all levels and in both formal and non-formal settings (Tinio, 2003). In a study done by OECD (2005), it was demonstrated that regular computer users perform better in key school subjects as compared to those with limited experience with computers or those students who are not very confident about their ability to perform basic computer functions. It was also found that the availability and use of computers outside of school is a more important determinant than the use of computers at school. This same study moreover found a striking relationship between student performance in Mathematics and the use of ICT. In a meta-analysis study done by Kulik (1994), it was revealed that on average, students who used ICT-based instruction scored higher than students without computers. The students also learn more in less time and like their classes more when ICT-based instruction was included. Kulik (2003) did another analysis and found that students using computer tutorials also had significantly more positive attitudes toward instruction and the subject matter than did students receiving instruction without computers. This finding corresponds to that in elementary schools in Japan (Takahira et al., 2007) in which students who used the internet for web browsing and message posting reported increases in positive attitudes toward learning.
Attwell and Battle

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(1999) examined the relationship between having a home computer and school performance, for a sample of approximately 64,300 students in the USA. Their findings suggest that students, who have access to a computer at home, for educational purposes, demonstrate improved scores in reading and math. Thus, a lot of studies done over the years substantiate the claim that ICT does have a positive impact on the learning and development of students. Cox et al.

(2004) found a positive relationship between use of ICT in education and children’s motivation.

Educational challenges in India The millennium development goals set by the United Nations states achievement of universal primary education by 2015 as one of the eight goals towards which all nations are working. Today, in more than 60 developing countries, at least 90 per cent of primary school-age children are in school; the number of out of school children has decreased from 25 million in 2003 to an estimated 8.1 million in 2009. Yet, considerable amount of hurdles stand in between the target and the achievement, especially in the developing world (UNICEF, 2010).

Significant challenges still remain in subSaharan Africa and South Asia where enrolment and attendance levels are generally poor. Taking the case of India, a fast developing country, despite its large educational system, accessibility and resources available are inadequate and

fall short of delivering quality education. Of the world’s illiterate people, 35 per cent live in India. Even though, schooling is free and compulsory from ages 6 to 14; inadequate facilities, lecture-based curriculum and gender bias are primarily the cause of illiteracy in India. Over the last decade, the expansion of primary education in India has been phenomenal. Despite this, there has been deterioration in the quality of education. Recent studies have shown that even when students are retained in schools, they do not learn what they are supposed to learn.

Low levels of learning at the primary stage are almost a universal phenomenon in India (Dave, 1988; Shukla et al., 1994; Varghese, 1996a, b).

Quality education While, the scenario is fraught largely with poor quality, there has been an increasing expression of concern for quality (Mukhopadhyay and Parhar, 1999). The basic competencies in language and Mathematics at the primary level of education are missing.

The issue of quality is directly linked with these basic competencies. Can a child be expected to achieve quality education if s/ he is unable to read write or do some simple arithmetic calculations? Since, the primary aim of an educational institution is to ensure that all learners acquire the desired skills and knowledge (Aggarwal, 1999a, b), the quality of a school can be estimated by the extent to which students have acquired knowledge, skills, values and attitudes, which refer to the actual learning outcomes.

Nirupam and Goyal (2004) have compiled substantial evidences of poor quality of primary schooling in India, They observed that: The actual quantity of schooling that children experience and the quality of teaching they receive are extremely insufficient to any mastery of basic literacy and numeracy skills. This seems to be true of both the educationally more advanced states as well as the educationally backward states.

In Maharashtra, community based surveys of twenty eight cities and eight rural districts found that only 30% of boys and girls in the age group 6-14 yrs. could read basic text fluently or do simple arithmetic (Banerjee

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et al., 2007). Grover and Singh (2002) too found in their study of two districts of Tamil Nadu that most students lacked functional literacy and numeracy skills. We note here that Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are two of the educationally most advanced states in India.

Similar results are reported by the PROBE team (1999), in their surveys of four North Indian states. Leclercq (2002), in his study of two districts of Madhya Pradesh found that in most schools visited, few children could read their basic texts fluently. The emphasis was on rote learning and there was little attempt in teaching activities to impart understanding or comprehension of the text.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2005 presents a dismal picture with regard to basic competencies of a substantial percentage of children. If we see at an all India level, about 40 per cent of children of grade V do not possess competencies commensurate with grade II in reading. Similarly, over 53 per cent of children do not have competencies of grade II, in mathematical abilities (division and subtraction).

Remoteness vs quality education Dr Mitra et al. (2008), re-defined “remoteness” as not just being understood by physical, geographical distance but also in terms of motivation and quality teachers. According to him, there are schools both in developed and developing countries, whether in large cities, in slums, ghettoes and disadvantaged areas of the city where there is a decline in the quality of education. And, one of the contributing reasons was teacher migration or motivation problem among teachers, just like in geographically remote area (rural areas).

In “SOS for UPE: self-organizing systems for mass education”, Mitra et al. (2005) suggested that a school’s distance from an urban centre, i.e. its remoteness, affects the quality of education it offers. Quality of education has been explicitly stated

by Dr Mitra et al. (2008), is determined by motivated and qualified teachers, proper classroom infrastructure and having appropriate facilities for children.

To be continued as a sequel...

ritudangwal@gmail.com

December 2015

INNOVATION

LIGHT CHANNELING: A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA FOR SCHOOLS Every once in a while, a truly revolutionary idea takes birth. Light Channeling is one such.

Through the centuries, India has produced some of the greatest systems of thought or life-enhancing concepts that have over time become woven into human life and living throughout the World. The concepts of Zero, Calculus, Chess, Yoga and Ayurveda, to mention a few. Today, Light Channeling is one such revolutionary concept. Ms. Vidya Virkar, Proprietor Strand Bookstall, Mumbai shares with MENTOR on this revolution.

In a few short years, a silent revolution has been sweeping through numerous schools across Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, and other cities. The day begins with 3 or 7 minutes of Light Channeling. All students do it, and some or all their teachers join in.

These schools are of all shades and religious leanings, whether Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Arya Samaji, or non-denominational. The kids belong to all strata of society: whether they study in posh International schools or in humble Government schools, or the regular middle-class schools most of us studied in.

By now, more than 27lakh school children have channeled Light and benefited, and over 5 lakh children are channeling Light every single day! Guided by a handful of 100 volunteers who work selflessly and for free, this simple technique given to us by

21

the late Guruji Krishnananda, a Light Master and Founder Guru of Manasa Foundation, is being taught to school after school. As more and more institutions realize the benefits of this simple technique, this network of Light is simply growing.

Though utterly simple to do, without the use of props or paraphernalia, Light Channeling has the power to equip children to be better students, the teachers to find greater calm and peace, and transforms the school environment. The benefits are beyond belief and far-reaching.

Imagine this for a moment. The Principals, HODs and teachers put in so much thought, work and dedication into working out a curriculum for their classes. Every topic to be taught requires immense preparation and planning. But when faced with a normal class-full of children, we know what to expect. There are different levels of attentiveness and absorption.

Students vary from the very bright and attentive to the average now on, now off student, to the downright distracted and subversive ones who never seem to settle down and absorb what is being said.

Would it not be simply the last word if these same students who teachers face every day were all calm and happy, poised to listen and cooperate

– with better concentration and memory?

Well, when practiced every day for just 3 or 7minutes by both students and staff, Light Channeling has the ability to transform the individual in this way, while simultaneously spreading Peace and Love throughout the school and the world. And the purity and innocence of children has the power to spread this Love best of all!

We’ve had literally hundreds of testimonials pouring in from so many Principals and teachers who simply swear by the manifold benefits of LC, as well as from children including the youngest of the young – who say they’ve found it beneficial in all sorts of ways - not merely in studies, but at home or in the playground.

Teachers have seen children settling down much quicker; students have found calm and focus despite usual family or peer group pressures; unruly children have become ‘good’ and gotten included in the mainstream; teachers have found they need fewer revisions as children’s concentration and memory improves; children find better recall of studies during exam time if LC is done regularly or just before an exam; and the icing on the cake : schools that have regularized LC have reported better scores in exams!

Besides this, every Principal dreams of creating solidarity and a warm, caring environment in their school – and channeling

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Light definitely Oneness.

nurtures

this

feeling

of

The Light Channeling technique: By now you must be wondering, what is Light Channeling all about? How do we channel Light? How often should we do it?

The Light we speak of here is not the visible light or sunlight. It is a very subtle Light; it is the force behind this entire Creation. The Light has the highest Intelligence, Love and Peace. It is the source of all that is positive.

When we channel Light, we take in the Light and spread it to our surroundings and to the whole world. Doing this spreads Love and Peace.

The technique is very simple. It does not require any training. It does not involve any money or membership.

Imagine an ocean of bright Light above.

From this ocean of Light, imagine a beam of Light coming down and entering your head. Let the Light fill every cell in your body.

Try to experience the Love and Peace that the Light carries in every cell for a minute or two. Then, spread the Light to your room, the building, your area, your city, country and then to the entire world.

Practise this daily for seven minutes in the morning or in the night before going to bed or before doing your homework or any important work. Anyone and everyone can practise this. If you have free time, you can

December 2015

practise this anywhere at all, and for longer.

Some amazing testimonials: I used to study a lot but never used to get appropriate marks. I came to know about Light channelling and decided to try it. I practise this technique everyday in the morning for 5 minutes. You may not believe but a miracle happened as in our next unit test I scored full marks in few of the subjects.

For an average student like me, this was very surprising!

- Samiksha Vagare, Std. X, Kalmadi high school, Pune When I got less marks in Mathematics, our Headmaster called my father to school and talked with him. Then my father scolded me.

After that whenever the teacher asked any question I used to forget everything. I started doing Light channelling every morning in the school and in the evening at home for 5-7 minutes and now I am good at every subject. Now I don’t get angry and my mind is very calm.

- Sannathimmamma P. M., Std. VII, Govt.

Higher Primary School, Kodihalli, Bangalore Summary of benefits: 1. Increases energy. It instantly energises the mind and body and makes even tiredness go away. Makes one feel fresh in just those few mins, ready to get on with the day. A great way to begin the school day for all.

2. Calms and focuses the mind. Both are necessary for learning well. It arrests racing thoughts and centers and prepares the

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mind for learning. Equally helps students and teachers.

3. Improves concentration. Concentration is a must for students. There’s a rise in levels of concentration which is noticeable after just a few days of practice. Enhanced concentration makes it easier for students to learn, and teachers to teach. Both good and bad students will improve. Repetitions, revisions can be lessened over time.

Before, I could not sit in one place and study for more than half an hour. Now I practice Light channelling before I begin to study and I am able to concentrate and study for 2 ½ to 3 hours without getting up from my seat.

4. Improves memory. Better concentration results in better retention. The capacity to remember improves so much that exam revision becomes easier. A lot of our lessons in school have to be understood first then memorized. With this simple technique practiced prior to homework, or before sitting an exam, the child will be able to help himself. Learning and answering questions becomes more fun.

5. Promotes solidarity. Channeling Light together promotes the feeling of Unity and Oneness. All schools want to nurture this sense of community thereby producing children who are better balanced. Doing an activity like this together daily promotes these finer values.

vidya.virkar@gmail.com

WASTE IS BEAUTIFUL Ask around and you are likely to get the word “waste” associated with the word ugly, yucky, disgusting. These are the usual perceptions and unfortunately in India we have added another attribute - class.

If you are in your own mind a person who is “doing well in life”, then being involved with your dustbin is really not your thing. In fact often, you don’t know what goes in your bin and what happens to it after it leaves your home. You are relieved that your garbage is gone. Admit it, that job is “beneath” you, yes its not right to say it in polite society, but really that is one simple deep rooted belief that is quite universal. These are thoughts from Poonam, the CEO of Waste Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru. So of course waste is not high on the list of conversations as we read Poonam Bir Kasturi’s share of thoughts on waste management to MENTOR. Enter the Swachh Bharat programme (a new name for the older governments’ Total Sanitation Project). Every corporate and politician is now mouthing these terms and while there is a general heightened awareness there is also a sense of uncertainty.

Should we build more waste to energy plants or build landfills or invest in mechanised sorting plants or should we create more jobs through waste recovery?

and manage poison instead of nutrition.

Why do I say poison? Well, mixed waste is just that, poison. When we mix vegetable with sanitary napkins in one plastic bag and throw it out and expect the city to pick it up and take it far away and dump it, we are packing, throwing, hauling and dumping poison. And cities continue to invest their money in systems that do just this, maybe more efficiently but often at much more cost.

The questions are usually around things that we know, waste is carried away, waste is processed, waste should be hidden, waste needs infrastructure and so on. Governments don’t think that money needs to be spent on nudging new social norms through legislation, communication and incentives.

Their argument is that we do not have the time to make that change happen, so might as well try something that has a promise of immediate resolution. Most of the decision makers cannot believe that the idea of waste in it’s current form shapes us as much as we try and shape it.

I began with the question -”Why do we despise our garbage so much? Why do we inherently tuck away waste in areas out of sight, hidden, dark, dirty or just plain boring!

And why is it ok to chuck it outside our homes, in public spaces and not inside our homes?”

Why can’t we appreciate that this “way of seeing waste” is the problem? Unless we care an awful lot of how we perceive our resources, we will continue bringing this short-sighted approach to this issue. We will communicate the incorrect vision of what we need to do and create more problems than solve them. We will also do our next generation a big dis-service by creating cities that pick up poison, process poison

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We want everything around us to be beautiful. Our house is not just house, it is home, adorned with lovely interiors, set-up and cared for with a lot of love. But that one corner, where the dustbin lies, is the most neglected one. It is our mind-set to ignore that corner. “It is waste after-all, what can be done there?”

Make waste visible, not out of sight out of mind. Make it useful, encourage principles of social, environmental and ecological connections This is where Daily Dump believes efforts need to be directed if we are going to even scratch the surface of the problem (and problem it

December 2015

is, it is a unseen poison that we cannot see which is destroying our water, land and air).

We talk about how waste is useful, even beautiful and life giving; we make products, do demos and share stories in which we urge our audience to challenge their perceptions of waste. We pay attention to what we say about waste how we say it and how we make waste understandable. We want the ritual of waste handling to be fulfilling and imbued with meaning. This matters to us, because we believe it is the key to get our audience to see “waste” differently. This for us will bring about the much-needed shift in mind-sets around waste.

Our principles of beauty are: Make waste visible, not out of sight out of mind. Make it useful, encourage principles of social, environmental and ecological connections Make waste decentralised in practice Make waste into resource. Make waste beautiful to look at, something that you want to be proud of, to be celebrated and to be engaged with.

So what happens when we do this? Over the past 9 years: • We have set the ball rolling in the direction of Waste as pride. Waste being visible and not out of sight out of mind. Waste not being something to be ashamed of. Our customers all tell us that they feel incredibly proud that they can show their beautiful composter in their main balconies or gardens. They say that because the products are lovely to look at and contribute to the enhanced livelihoods of potters, they have a relationship with the composter that they do not have with perhaps their other products at home, like the refrigerator or TV. • Our customers also say that the product is something they enjoy using, so the engagement of waste is not seen as “not my job”.

And if we can continue breaking down the class

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barrier in waste, it is a direction we want to grow. It brings dignity to the simple job of looking after resources well. While there is a long way to go on that one, our biggest feather in the cap happened when a maid told her boss to come and buy the Kambha because she thought it was a good product to manage kitchen waste. And the boss listened!

• Our customers also are able to appreciate the radical transparency that we demonstrate in our communication.

While they all may not agree with the importance of maggots or lizards in the composting process they do enjoy our fun visuals and well designed diagrams.

• Our competitors have said they have been inspired by our vision, our product design and our commitment to making waste beautiful. They say that our vocabulary and customer insights have helped them articulate their positions. So we have opened up a market that did not exist before.

• And most importantly the practice of managing waste at source, of making waste visible and beautiful is something that is being transmitted to the next generation. When they see their parents, their teachers and the community making this the default option only then will they continue and grow the “cleaning up” mission.

For us the rhythm of natural cycles, the face that nature has no waste, the throbbing life force of composting all inspire us to see the beauty in the idea of “waste”.

It makes us want to do much more and there is no doubt in our minds that if we continue making waste “beautiful” and “meaningful”, we will come a step closer to understanding on how to make the planet a better place daily. For us perceptions and mind-sets are at the core of this issue as much as technology and legislation.

pbkasturi@usermail.com

SCHOOL GOVERNANCE

SCHOOL REFUSAL School refusal behaviour is a term that encompasses all subsets of problematic absenteeism, such as truancy, school phobia and separation anxiety. Children and adolescents of all ages and boys and girls alike, can exhibit school refusal behaviour. School refusal occurs when a student will not go to school or frequently experiences severe distress related to school attendance. Comprehensive treatment of school refusal is important because studies show that with treatment, the rate of remission is excellent. Dr Smita Desai, Founder-Director, Drishti, Hon. Secretary, BPA, Mumbai shares with MENTOR the intervention, treatment and integration of such children into the system.

Himanshu stopped attending school since the mid-term of grade 6.

the teachers were worried that he may be getting socially isolated and/or bullied.

It started with a gradual downward trend in his academic grades, especially in Mathematics. Slowly, there were increasing complaints of headache and abdominal pain. When allowed to go home, he was fine. This continued for about 3 months, during which there were frequent absences.

At home, time was mainly spent watching TV. After an absence of about 10 days, the school asked the parents to send the student to attend school for part of the day, hoping this may gradually help. This worked for awhile, but then finally Himanshu refused to come to school for even half the day. Upon being counselled, he only spoke of not feeling well and thus not coming in. Additionally, he displayed effeminate behaviour-both verbal and nonverbal, and

As a historical record, the school reported that the mother had been anxious about leaving him in school since the beginning of pre-primary years and would remain on or around the school premises on a daily basis till almost the 4th grade. Himanshu too would be asking and looking out for his mother frequently through the day. This reduced thereafter, but had not stopped completely.

He was referred to a mental health professional almost a year after he had stopped going to school. The mental health professional recommended a comprehensive evaluation as a starting point. The report indicated presence of significant learning difficulties in the core areas of Reading comprehension, Written expression, mathematical computation and reasoning. Presence of Emotional/ behavioural difficulties and meeting of criteria for school refusal was indicated through the evaluation. The evaluation did not meet the criteria for Gender Identification Disorder.

Recommendations included Remedial Education therapy (to help build up required competencies), counselling for individual and family. It was advised that he resume school at the earliest, preferably in grade 6 as that is where he left off and also accounting for the difficulties faced in the core academic skill areas.

Counselling is now focused on getting him

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December 2015

into school; a change of school is expected which might help as it would mean starting over in a new environment (with no history of difficulties).

Nature of School Refusal Behaviour problems which are challenging to the teachers and disrupt the classroom are typically the ones which draw attention; however, children with emotional problems without challenging behaviour often go undetected. These students may be anxious, become withdrawn and may remain absent from school for prolonged periods.

School Refusal refers to severe emotional distress experienced by a child at the prospect of attending school; this can result in prolonged school absence. School refusal was previously known as school phobia.

School refusal is different from Truancy and School withdrawal.

School refusal vs. truancy School refusal • Severe emotional distress about attending schools • Parents know about the child’s absence • Child doesn’t have significant antisocial behaviours • During school hours child usually stays home in the safe environment • Child is willing to do school work and completes work at home Truancy • Lack of excessive fear about going to school • Child tries to hide absence from parents • Child exhibits antisocial behaviour, like stealing or lying • During school hours child frequently doesn’t stay home • Lack of interest in school work School withdrawal is a term used to refer to a situation where the child is kept away from school for an extended period by the parents for various reasons (prolonged illness of child/parent, a peculiar family situation, etc.).

A majority of the referrals with school refusal are seen to appear in secondary school age students; however, in a large number of

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these cases, the reluctance to leave home for school has been evident since the preprimary and primary years. These are the kids who may be absent for weeks or months.

Some may cry or scream for hours every morning in an effort to resist leaving home, others may hide out in the nurse’s clinic.

Some children who miss school are simply truant, while for the others there are genuine reasons to fear school-unable to complete classwork, bullying. But in about two-thirds of cases, an anxiety disorder, is the cause, according to research led by Christopher A. Kearney, professor and director of clinical training at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Anywhere from 5% to 28% of children will exhibit some degree of school-refusal behaviour at some point, including truancy, according to Dr. Kearney, a leading authority on this behaviour.

A multi-pronged and consistent team approach is usually very helpful. A strong partnership between school and family is essential for early detection and resolution of this behaviour.”

Signs of School Refusal • Frequent absenteeism for no clear reasons • Frequently late to school • Long periods/frequent attendance in the school sick room • Tearfulness/temper tantrums, pleas to stay at home before school • Complaints of illness like stomach ache, headaches, nausea, diarrhoea before or during school.

• Refusal to get back to school/absenteeism after vacations, weekends, etc.

• Absence on important days-test, exams, elocution competitions, etc.

• Request to go home from school • The symptoms appear to settle fairly well after reaching school or after being allowed to stay/return home.

Causes of School refusal School refusal is mainly known to be present for two reasons: 1. The student has developed a phobic reaction either to the general school environment, a particular event or person within the school.

Impact of School Refusal Prolonged absence from mean:

This may include: Academic /Learning difficulties in the classroom, Peer issues (bullying, extreme shyness, social isolation, etc.), difficulty or conflict with teacher/s, Educational pressures or demandsperformance/evaluation/activity situation, transition-new school, new section, after vacation and so on.

2. The student displays a fear of attending school; however, the main source of the worry is leaving the familiar home environment or separating from family. This is known as Separation Anxiety.

This may include: anxiety about being separated from a particular parent, separation from emotionally secure home environment, rewards innate to staying at home-spending time with a parent, watching TV, playing video games.

Although, on the surface, these two appear distinct, a single cause of the student’s anxieties can often be quite difficult to understand. The student or parent also may not be able to establish or express the core issue.

Other causes could also include separation from a favoured teacher/friend, physical/ sexual abuse within the home, sudden trauma-death of a parent or pet, parental divorce.

In some cases, the parent may suffer severe anxiety regarding the child and finds a way to keep the child with her/him.

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school

could

• Missing out on important parts of academic curriculum, which can result in academic difficulties, both immediate and long-term • Social relationships get diluted, leading to social isolation • Disruption in family routine, often leading to strained relationship within the family • Long term issues: mental health difficulties, social problems, noncompletion of school and college graduation, occupational dysfunction.

The School has a vital role to play in the Prevention, early Identification and Management of school refusal. A few recommendations for management of this behaviour include: Preventative actions • Ensure presence of clear policies and guidelines with regard to general student attendance and attendance difficulties due to medical/behavioural/emotional issues. Communicate the same to parents through clear documentation and during parent-teacher meetings.

• Good liaison guidelines between preprimary, primary and secondary school sections to ensure smooth transition of students.

• Create a positive school climate in which children feel supported by peers and teachers • Ensure school staff have an awareness of the factors that contribute to school refusal and how students can receive support during attendance difficulties • Good pastoral care programs: Programs meant to support the social and emotional wellbeing of students. This can be done through the School counsellor, Senior teachers, Student council all functioning as one community.

Identification • Closely monitor student attendance to enable early detection of attendance problems • Understand the pattern of attendance:

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reluctance to leave home, arriving late at school, missing specific classes, frequent absences for whole/part of day.

• Observe the pattern of work: lack of concentration in class, failure to complete classwork/ homework • Observe peer interaction, physical changes such as weight loss/gain, excessive sweating, reporting sickness/ nausea/abdominal pain/headache frequently • Rule out actual physical illness as a cause for absence • Insistence on a comprehensive evaluation by a mental health professional. That evaluation will clearly identify the reasons behind the school refusal as well as provide objective and best recommendations.

Intervention measures • Understand the report submitted by the Mental health professional and follow the recommended guidelines • Follow school policy guidelines for early follow-up with students’ family regarding absence- emails, phone call, personal meetings • Regular meetings between key staff members (school principal, senior teachers) and school’s wellbeing team (counsellor and others) regarding the student • Work with family to understand child’s school refusal, acknowledge the challenges faced by family in this situation • Meetings with child and family members to convey adequate positive support • Ensure access to a specified staff member who can be approached and access to “safe” place within school premises in anxious situations • Support families to maintain a morning routine conveying expectation of school attendance to student • Provide a flexible timetable to initially support a gradual return to school; this must be planned with a timeline for final return to full time school day.

Guidance for Teachers/School administrators • Recognition and positive feedback for efforts for school attendance • Maintain close contact with family, even during period of non-attendance • Set up a peer buddy support program

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• Supportive routine once in school-meeting a specific friend on arrival at school, using a quiet place to settle in, given a responsible role liek class monitor/teacher’s helper, etc..

• Constant and consistent follow-up by wellbeing team regarding the student The school plays a vital role in management of the problem through prevention, identification and intervention strategies Counsel to Parents “The most important thing a parent can do is obtain a comprehensive evaluation from a mental health professional,” says ADAA board member Daniel Pine, MD, who directs research on anxiety disorders in children and adolescents at the National Institute of Mental Health.That evaluation will reveal the reasons behind the school refusal and can help determine what kind of treatment will be best.

• Expose children to school in small degrees, increasing exposure slowly over time.

Eventually this will help them get over their fears.

• Keep your children in school. Missing school reinforces the anxiety rather than reducing it.

• Spend time with your child speaking about troubled feelings and fears, and what might help reduce them.

• Emphasize the positive aspects of going to school- being with friends, learning a favorite subject, and playing at recess.

• Arrange frequent, brief meetings with your child’s classroom teacher and school counsellor until the child has settled.

Execute their recommendations.

• Encourage hobbies and interests. Fun is relaxation and hobbies are good distractions that help build self-confidence A multi-pronged and consistent team approach is usually very helpful. 84% of such cases are reported to be successfully integrated back into school. A strong partnership between school and family is essential for early detection and resolution of this behaviour.

smita@drishtionline.com

JOURNAL

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As part of the MENTOR Conclave reach and activities, educator, speakers, writers, bloggers, trainers were invited to send in their papers on various themes that ranged from governance to pedagogy to be printed in the MENTOR journal, 2015. As a sequel, we bring you the abstracts of some of the papers for you to read, ponder over and deliberate……

Title: Self-directed learning Author: Sajeetha Barathi

Title: Educating Children Against All Odds Author: K E Premkumar David

Abstract of the paper written by Ms. Sajeetha Barathi, The Titan School, Hosur

Abstract of the paper written by Mr.Premkumar David, Daniel Matriculation Higher Sec. School, Chennai

To create interest about a topic for students to take ownership for learning and be active learners, I used a method called ‘I know, I wonder, I predict’. This shifts the focus from teaching by teachers to learning by students.

Students are presented with a topic or a problem. Eg. ‘White Tigers’, ‘Sea otters are less in Numbers’. Students will think, reflect and write under the three headings.

I know .................

I wonder .............

I Predict ..............

They will write down three to four points under each of the headings. This will be followed by teacher student interaction.

Students will then do reference from different sources (including library books, internet, and interaction with experts) facilitated by the teacher and arrive at answers and verify their predictions.

This method used in Science, EVS and Social Science was very effective in generating interest in students. There was involvement, participation and learning was meaningful and personal. Hence it ensured retention.

Also it gave a method to find information on various topics – learning to learn.

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This paper presents my experience in leading an educational institution for the last 2 years after leading a large corporate company for over 2 decades. My short journey so far has been exhilarating, challenging, shocking at times but very satisfying. With no experience in school education, only led by passion, I am able to see visible change in all stake holders with small interventions executed in our school. Our school is located in one of the notorious slums of Chennai and educates 3200 children mainly from lower income homes (fishermen, auto-drivers, coolies etc.,).

Many of our children come from broken homes with poor parenting. What is done in school is on most occasions undone at home. Counselling, motivation is the only way to make the student want to study.

Recruiting and maintaining a dedicated team of teachers is yet another challenge as we need teachers who have real dedication not just degrees. Last but not the least is the illiterate parent who depends completely on the school to the extent of disowning their parent responsibilities in educating their child. The odds are stacked around us as management who need to deliver against all odds. We improvise, imitate and innovate to reach our goal to give wholesome

December 2015

education that the street child ‘s parents expect from us. Though there is “Miles to go before we sleep”.... we are proud that we are making a difference step by step...

Title: The Making of An Effective School Leader Author: Nikita Tomar Mann Abstract of the paper written by Nikita Tomar Mann, Navy Children School , Visakhapatnam The past two decades have witnessed a virulent burgeoning of educational institutions across the cities, which provide a wider choice for parents to choose a school which will equip their children to land in a plush job and earn a handsome salary package.

But with so many schools around, the pressing need is to identify educators who can shoulder the daunting task of delivering on the aspirations of the parents and the society. To withstand the onslaught of such humungous expectations and yet emerge triumphant, educating the educators is of vital significance. Transformational Leadership at the helm of the school can determine the roadmap to steer the teachers not to tread the beaten path of being mere knowledge furnishers but instead assume the role of facilitators who nurture curiosity, create novel and exciting learning experiences, are open to contradictory opinions and willing to adopt radical teaching pedagogy to lend meaning to the process of schooling. This lays the edifice of a Learning Organization where the future leaders can be groomed to address the skills of identifying and absorbing the dynamism of the educational arena where the only constant factor is Change!!!

Title: In Pursuit of Educating the MINDS Author: Sarmistha Banerjee Abstract of the paper written by Sarmistha Banerjee, Vivekananda Mission School, Kolkata In the course of my teaching profession, I have always felt the utmost significance of a teacher’s role in a student’s life. The

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individuals who choose the noble profession of teaching are human beings who carried the liability of committing human errors. But, these errors, if counted can leave impending marks in a student which in the course of time can get faded but cannot get erased.

There is a paradigm shift from ‘pedagogy’ to innovative ‘learning by doing’ teaching strategies. The teachers are expected to be a person of dynamic traits and proficiency.

If the teachers are equipped with skill of mastering and controlling all kinds of classroom situations, then both the teacher and the taught can be in the “win-win situation”. We, the teachers are the torch bearers of our future generation, and we can create curiosity and ignite thousands of minds through methods of teaching which are drawn less on texts and located more in the real world. As a staunch believer of Swamiji, I would like to state in his words – “The great lesson to learn is that I am not the standard by which the whole universe is to be judged.”

Title: Education to Human Evolution Author: Prashant Goverdhan Brahmane Abstract of the paper written by Prashant Goverdhan Brahmane, Concept Director, Gurukool, Pune Education to Human Evolution: “He who thinks the possibilities evolve; then the world revolves.”

When you are in India you can never be far from the cricketing lingua. Does Sachin Tendulkar play for himself or he plays to give people a living example of dedication, personal sacrifice? Did he learn cricket from a technical coach or he kept on following the inner inspiration to perform something that is also called cricket? The world of motivation ends where the inspiration begins.

The world of physics ends where the physics ends. Typical school is for the pedagogic aspirations nee the social aspirations. How does one make this a human aspiration that you school for the benefit of thousands around?

conclave@mentormagazine.net

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MENTOR CONCLAVE - A CURTAIN RAISER The Annual MENTOR Conclave-- a congregation of Managements, Educators and Principals and Senior Coordinators in the country and from all over the globe is back on the 1st and 2nd of December, 2015 in J.N. Tata Auditorium, Bengaluru. This year the focus of the Conclave is on School Leadership, School Governance, Pedagogy and Innovation

About the Conclave: • the Conclave is exclusively for Management heads, Senior Educators and Principals in the country • has a sheer academic dimension to the entire flavour of the Conclave and with a clear focus to concentrate on the whirring minds engaged in education • is a good forum for Principals to meet their counterparts across the country and exchange ideas, thoughts and deliberations • is an intellectual growth session and introspective journey for educators Anu Monga Head, Bangalore International School Anu Monga has been the Head of Bangalore International School (BIS) for the last thirteen years. She has served on the Council of International Schools as the Vice Chair and serves on the accreditation teams of the CIS and NEASC. She is a member of the International Baccalaureate Organization – Asia Pacific Regional Committee and Heads Council. She is also on the Board of the Next Frontier Inclusion (NFI).She is a founder member of The Association of International Schools of India (TAISI), and has been serving as the Chair since its inception in 2005.

International Education and the demand for the same in India.: Highlights of her talk will be

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issues and concerns related to pedagogy, curriculum differentiator, assessment strategy and a global perspective in education for learners.

Besides, the first time ever this year, the MENTOR Conclave will have a forum which is for Principals and by Principals, wherein every selected school gets a chance to showcase the following: • legacy of the school • attributes of the school which has led to its sustainability • best practices of the school: in governance, leadership, • co-scholastics, academia or pedagogy • leadership and vision of the Management’ • showcase one practice of the school as a takeaway for the other schools • impact on society and the way forward through education’ As a part of the curtain raiser and to ensure that the audience and the illustrious participants are clear on the expectations from each of the sessions and the outcomes, here is a quick synopsis of what each session has in hold for all of us…so read on before you participate.

Dr Vidya Shetty Editor-in-Chief MENTOR

December 2015

1. Maya Mohan Principal, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Ernakulam Ms. Maya is the recipient of the prestigious National Award for Best Teacher (2005). As an educator, she carries an experience of over four decades. Maya Mohan has been a role model for other teachers and a teacher of outstanding merit.

2. Anvita Bir Director Principal, R N Podar School, Mumbai A postgraduate in Economics, Mrs. Bir has worked in the field of Education for over three decades across various institutes. She is a member of the Governing Body of CBSE, a member of Education Reforms Committee and member of the India Jurisdiction at the Global Education Leaders Program (GELP). Mrs. Avnita Bir is the recipient of the prestigious National Award for Teachers, conferred by the Hon’ble President of India.

3. Amrita Burman Deputy Director, Sunbeam Educational Institutions

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Mrs. Amrita Burman is into school education for the last 25 years as a teacher, principal and now a Director. She heads the group which has 6 Sunbeam Schools in Varanasi , a women’s college a philanthropic endeavour and 14 associate schools and has been instrumental in developing Sunbeam’s successful curriculum and delivery system called the’ Sunbeam Precept’.

A certified Internal Auditor for Inspection of ISO 9001:2000 systems by NQAQSR, she is also a Certified Quality Circle Trainer by Jenny Mosley Foundation, U.K. and Teacher Foundation, Bangalore.

4. Vinaayaka Kalletla Founder Director and CEO at Abhyasa International Residential School, Telangana State As a leader of Abhyasa School and a Youth Activist, Vinaayaka (meaning: “The Leader of Leaders” - in Sanskrit language) is indeed engaged in the creation of leaders who

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would make a difference to their society by consciously co-existing with Society and Nature and adapt harmoniously to changes and challenges in life, so that they succeed professionally and are empowered for Collective Leadership and World Citizenship.

5. Ajaya Kumar Principal, KV Pattom, Trivandrum Mr Ajaya joined as a post graduate teacher in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan in 1992 and worked at different places in North East, Kerala and Maharashtra. The year2003 onwards saw him work at different places including Visakhapatanam, Mumbai, Delhi, Kumbhirgram (Assam ),and Trivandrum as a Principal. He was awarded the KVS Regional Incentive Award for Principals in the year 2011. Presently working at KV Pattom,Trivandrum His school is top-rated on the parameters of competence and commitment of teachers and sports education and rated highly on parental involvement and value for money.

6. Rajiv Vasudeva Country Director ,GIIS Singapore Mr. Rajiv Vasudeva, Country Director at Global Indian International School, Singapore and One World International School, Singapore carries with him over two decades of experience in Senior Management roles such as Leadership, Overall Development and Growth, Policy Formation and Implementation, and Governance. A strong believer in Educational Excellence Initiatives, Rajiv led his team in education quality journey and was instrumental in getting close to 40 International/National Educational/ Business Excellence Awards for all the three Singapore Campuses in last 6 years.

In the next few days Rajiv would be joining Millennium Education Management Pvt. Ltd, Gurgaon as a President (Network Expansion and Special Projects). He looks forward to this opportunity to make a difference in the K-12 space in India.

conclave@mentormagazine.net

POST SCRIPTUM

POWER SHIFT

Dr. Vidya Shetty, Editor-in-chief MENTOR

Travelling mid air on a middle seat for 2 hours and for the sole reason that there is no other choice afforded, took me back to the school days seating arrangements. With limited freedom given to the teacher to be an authority on such matters, with teachers feeling challenged about curriculum and delivery; little was left in time for her to think of reforms to work on school pupil behaviour….

Back in the memory cocoon of my school days, had the teachers ensuring that we were strategically placed in class; with a so called ‘well-behaved’ child seated in between two unruly children in class. Use of the desk space was marked by might is right and there were distinct demarcations and zones marked amongst the three seated in a row. Elbows on the table, coupled with physical strength to push the other elbow, was another distraction during class. Access to the centre space was determined by the relationship you shared with the girls seated in the aisle and God forbid a book or a piece of stationery invading the space of the neighbour, resulted in you hunting for it through the day.

Leg and hand movements were controlled throughout the day if you had no peace with the neighbours. High price you paid for being absolutely good and well behaved in class. When complained to, the teachers did empathise with all of these concerns and intervened in small measures, leaving you to your fate of managing the other two with self-made strategies. Looking back, guess the teacher, for sheer lack of awareness and time to manage such behaviour had no choice but to handle disruptive behaviour this way. S/he clearly lacked alternatives to work with good behaviour and work on control over pupils in the classroom.

Today, we are fortunate that our school system has important strengths, but have we really invested enough in confronting some of these weaknesses that are still prevalent in our system of teaching in the classroom?

Do we need to confront some of them?

Teachers are appalled by the reaction of parents to even a mild admonishing in class,

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an observation on the behaviour of the child for the good of the child is taken up otherwise and teachers are left with very little authority to deal decisively with bad behaviour in class. Teacher training and education has very little emphasis on this subject of class management and focus on how to teach and how to teach effectively to achieve targets. The greatest concern that our teachers are facing today in the classrooms is poor pupil behaviour. All of us would agree that just a minority sometimes even one student can create a lot of serious disruptions in class. Such children cause misery to the rest of them in class who are disciplined and all the while the energy of the teacher is spent on reforming that one disruption caused. We need to spend some time and read the cases of the numbers of physical assaults on teachers from school to college to University. The numbers have drastically risen over the years.

It is vital that we restore the authority of teachers and Principals. It is also crucial that we protect our teachers and Principals from false allegations at times from parents.

Without good discipline and appropriate support from all stakeholders we will very soon lose out on good teachers or good candidates who would have otherwise entered the profession of teaching. Good discipline is a must inside the classroom without which teachers cannot teach.

Let us look at workshops and sessions that focus on building on authority of teachers the healthy way, strengthening their powers to work with pupils who have behaviour concerns and share effective ways of using reasonable force wherever necessary to work with children. vidya@edumedia.in