Mentor October 2015 Vol 09 Issue 05 by Mentor Magazine

CONTENT

Mentor, October 2015 Volume 9, Issue 5

Mentor Thoughts

05 Sultan Speaks Education is an experiment...

14 Cover Story

A blend of the oriental and the occidental...

34 Post Scriptum

The subjects for a school leader…

Pedagogy

06 Nai-Talim

Gandhiji’s philosophy of education was meant to reshape the future of new India...

School Leadership

Innovation

18 21 Do More ThanJust That! Stay Connected Ameliorate your leadership qualities through these must-have leadership skills...

09 An Aggravating Issue!

We need learning spaces outside the classroom...

25 Thinking With

School Governance

30 Indian Sports

Indian athletes can evolve into a force to reckon with, if they receive the right guidance and handholding at the right stage...

Technology

Technology for learning into classroom spaces ...

Schools should incorporate sex education in their core curriculum...

28 Educational

11 Transformative

Challenges In The 21st Century

Learning

The requirements of a 21st century school ...

Life-changing experiences through training...

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

EDUCATORS

Content Team Ms. Kalpa Kartik Ms. Sulagna Biswas

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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DID YOU KNOW? As we observe the occasion of the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on the 2nd of October let us learn a few interesting facts about this saint whose non-violent protests have inspired many around the world In 1915, Gandhi ji went to Santiniketan and wished Rabindranath Tagore as, ‘Namaste Gurudev’. Immediately Rabindranath replied, ‘If I am Gurudev you are Mahatma.’Hence, the prefix of ‘Mahatma’ used before his name. As a law student in London, Gandhi ji saved money by walking as many as 8 to 10 miles a day. He walked/travelled almost 18 kilometres a day (he averaged 15kms during the Dandi march) - totalling almost 80 kilometres during his campaigns from 1913 to 1938. That is enough to walk around the world twice over the equator. Time Magazine, the famous U.S. publication, named Mahatma Gandhi the Man of the Year in 1930. Gandhi ji maintained correspondence with eminent personalities including Tolstoy, Einstein and Hitler. During his days in South Africa, Gandhi ji’s income touched fifteen thousand dollars a year. Still a dream for most Indians. As Christ was crucified on Friday, Gandhi ji was born on Friday, India got its freedom on Friday and Gandhi ji was assassinated on Friday. October 2nd was announced as the International Day of “Ahimsa” by the United Nations. Mohandas K Gandhi, at a point in time, owned and managed two football clubs. He was a football aficionado and he founded two football clubs, in Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa, both known by name of The Passive Resisters, while he was working there as a lawyer in the rough time period of two decades between 1893 - 1915. As a part of his struggle against racial discrimination and injustice in South Africa, he used football as the medium of promoting his ideology of non-violence and passive resistance, thus the name of the clubs. Gandhi was responsible for Civil Rights movement in four continents and twelve countries. Einstein said of Gandhi:

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

ries or to us sto d Do write could ad tes that ll our a anecdo to t h g d thou @ value an n mail us at info a c d n u o se Y r s. o live .net , agazine mentorm rs to “The Editor” tte , le 5 r 7 u 1 o y ,# e in Magazin MENTOR Lower Palace , ss ro C 2nd luru - 03. s, Benga 899 Orchard 37 937 8 Ph: +91 9

Source Internet

SULTAN SPEAKS

Education is an experiment!

Mr. Syed Sultan Ahmed, MD, EduMedia India Pvt. Ltd. It is not a secret anymore that education is a great industry to be in. In fact in the entrepreneurship, start-up and investment space it is the coolest sector to be in. Every other day there is a new idea that leads to the launch of a new company that aims to make education better. What’s annoying for us at EduMedia is that every new start up claims to be very innovative, yet most of them come up with names that start with ‘Edu’, so much for their creativity! If we look closely at the educational ecosystem there are 2 types of players that operate here - One the brick and mortar kind that build schools and institutions; the other are service providers who aim to support schools. Words like change, new format, new pedagogy, innovative methodology, modern approach, interactive learning, experiential learning and progressive curriculum are randomly used by all and sundry. Strangely the biggest action happening in education is to teach academics and focus on grades. So whether it is the new age school next door or the new kid on the block startup, helping our children crack exams is the mantra. Is this a long term direction? Clearly NO! From my perspective what is obvious is that almost everyone out there is experimenting. I see this happening across all types of schools and across everything that schools are doing. Almost everyone out there is experimenting with education! So is it good or bad? The good is that education is no longer stagnant. People are trying. The bad is that we are experimenting with our kids! All these experiments seem to focus on children understanding concepts better and for them to get better grades. So the more innovation that comes into schools the more the expectations of parents seems to go up, they want all children to get great grades. This is a vicious cycle we have gotten ourselves into. According to me, the biggest influencers on education in India are our publishers and book sellers. It is not too far from reality to

state that our publishers dictate what our children study. Here too there is evolution, things are moving from text books to eBooks and digital content, but the one thing that has not changed is that publishers still decide what our children study. Having travelled and seen education closely in several countries I must admit that Indian schools are not the only ones struggling with change and evolution. Almost every country out there has its own share of problems and it is fair to say that the globe is struggling to educate its future generations. The world around us teaches us that the secret to success is to change quickly, fail quickly and change again. For all those out there who are experimenting with education there is a serious responsibility of ensuring that they are mindful of the impact experiments have on our children. One of the best ways to learn is to learn from experiences of educators. Mentor Conclave 2015 that is being held on 1 and 2nd of December at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru is a great opportunity to learn from educators who are leading some phenomenal experiments in education.

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

Pedagogy

Nai-Talim Ms. Insha Akhtar is a civil engineer in the making; firm in the head and feminist at heart. An active leader at almost all the events conducted at school and college levels. She has represented West Bengal as the Wizkids 2012 at the South Asian Finale. She is currently working as the lead actor/director for theatres/street plays under the banner Naqaab, founded by her. Words to follow – “If you can, I will. If you will, I should.” Ms. Insha Akhtar through this piece conveys to the readers of MENTOR how Gandhi’s philosophy of education was focused on bringing about an all-round development in an individual; an education that nurtures one’s body, mind and spirit. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement. He saw ‘basic education’ as the new education that could secure freedom to those villagers, who feed the country but themselves go hungry. Gandhiji’s philosophy of education is meant to reshape the future of new India; basic education in his words is education for life’s sustenance. Its impact is the all-round drawing out of the best in the child and a man, an education that nurtures his body, mind and spirit i.e., the whole personality development, be it physical and mental. Gandhiji’s cherished dream of economic equality after securing political freedom is well known to the world. Unemployment, poverty and caste system were impending the development of our country with its concomitant struggle between the haves and the have-nots. Lord Macaulay’s scheme of education was to engender a submissive cadre of clerks to smoothly run the colonial government machinery much like salvedrivers in an oppressive regime. Thus Gandhiji was inspired to chalk out a new education, which he had then been contemplating deeply. He wanted it to be accommodative and inclusive of all Indians; freedom fighters out from the prisons were guided in constructive programmes aimed at serving the country and basic education became an integral part in them, through which the society could be revitalized to pave the way for a non-violent social transformation. While there is a general perception that literacy is the end of basic education; in

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Gandiji’s words it is not the ending at all. So alphabets were not taught straight away as in the main stream education. The child was given useful handicrafts, viable in his locality. A productive vocation in the village was selected for the purpose and the child was given a scientific, culturally specific craft that could produce a primary material of selfsupport for the children as well as the society they came from.

Social re-construction’ thus understood in a young mind is powerful, though silent and subtle As the medium, Mahatma Gandhi had suggested spinning, the simple handicraft to produce yarn and the cloth which is basic to the villagers next only to food. With the advent of East India Company, began the monopolistic techniques of the British that sounded danger to the khadi production. The British unleashed armed forces on poor spinners and weavers and their most infamous atrocities included chopping off their thumbs. Eventually Manchester mill clothes began to hit our markets and khadi production eventually stopped while people had to depend on these imported mill clothes. Gandhiji introduced Takli, spinning wheels and looms and engaged his volunteers to redress unemployment and poverty. Khadi was also to be the uniform for the Congress party as well. Gandhiji endearingly called Khadi as the liberator, his approach was holistic and the medium of basic

October 2015

education was thus a productive handicraft much needed for the society. The idea did not develop in him incidentally. When his Secretary Mahadev Desai attained martyrdom in Aga Khan Palace, Gandhiji took up the guardianship of his son Narayan Desai who was just five years old then. Holding Gandhiji’s finger the young child would accompany him in his morning walks and would ask hundreds of questions on ‘if’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘how’, about the earth, the sky, the moon, the sun, the water and all creatures these serve. Gandhiji with great admiration for the child’s keen intelligence would patiently answer his questions to satisfy his inquisitive mind and creative spirit; from these queries of the child was born NaiTalim for the child to develop into a, noble, perfect citizen of India. After having studied in Gandhiji’s walking university for so many years, Narayan Desai walks to the villages even today entertaining the masses with Gandhi Katha, reminding the world around that has begun to forget fast, this great heritage of our recent past. It was Acharya Vinoba Bhave who pioneered basic education in the country through several Sarvoday institutions and village service units. He weighed each of the constructive programmes on the balance of rural reconstruction and fathomed deep into the implications of each programme against the touch stone of non-violence and implemented the same throughout the country. Takli was selected and introduced first by Vinoba as a handy spinning tool for the children and then he himself studied the Charkha, experimented, taught and gave these ideas to the teachers and lovers of basic education through his book “Thoughts on Education”. Vinoba stood for free education – free from the clutches of politics and power intoxicated

politicians. He stood for separation of school from the State. He held that schools and teachers under government authorities lost independence and the teacher lost dignity and freedom. He advised that education and judiciary should be above politics, independent of government control and that free India must have free education. Vinoba wanted 3 months holidays to children to go out free, play, grow strong, and walk in the fields, get exposed to open air, forests and rain, breathing independence. When Vinoba said the present education was useless, Zakir Hussain used the word referred to it as ‘ignorance.’

Education and judiciary should be above politics, independent of government control and that free India must have free education With practical trainings on handicrafts, alphabet is introduced gradually when the child imbibes knowledge on history, geography, mathematics etc. as a spin-off of spinning. Thus the knowledge gained is contextual and the child’s intelligence is developed in consonance with his inquiring mind and creative faculty and never against it as in today’s mainstream education. From each process, he learns the reasons it upholds. After six months he learns an alphabet, simple drawing, writing and reading, fully and naturally understanding these processes. When he grows up, he

understands how raw materials flow from villages to the cities and how the villages are exploited through city’s production chains. ‘Social re-construction’ thus understood in a young mind is powerful, though silent and subtle. Agriculture and protection of cows also can form a very useful medium for basic education. They both are indeed venerable in farms by farmers, but today’s ascendant culture alienates their own children from them and all these they uphold valuable in the name of modern education. It is this disconnect between one’s roots and Mother Nature that basic education directly addresses. The culture is carefully bred as an aggregate of our common collective wisdom over centuries. The basic education students who grew up with rich experience in the farms will nonetheless spring up from the soil organically and contribute immensely to the growth of a prosperous and sustainable India. The timeless example of Krishna and Sudama gives an exquisite picture of value-based education system of ancient preceptors. Sri Krishna was chivalrous and he overthrew Kamsa and freed Mathura, whereas Sudama was a very poor Brahmin boy who later became a poor family man. Notwithstanding this inequality later in their lives, they both shared a student life that was equal for both in all respects at Ujjain in Rishi Sandeepani’s Ashram doing physical labour as part of their service to their Guru. They punctiliously obeyed the rules of the Ashram and the commands of the ashram mother were followed dutifully, did hard and this was considered integral to acquiring knowledge. Every evening they went to forests to collect grass for cows and fuelwood for the kitchen as part of their daily chores. One such evening it got dark and they sat under the canopy of a tree on the banks of the river Shipra. Sudama putting hands around Krishna’s neck, asked him “Krishna, once after our education here, you would go back to your kingdom and be a great king and warrior and you are lord Krishna. Just tell me with the days passing, will you forget me?” To this Krishna promised he would never

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forget him. Sudama felt very hungry so they opened the bundle of flattened rice given by the ashram mother to appease hunger; they ate and drank water from Shipra. In no time it started to rain heavily with thunderstorm and Sudama was petrified and clutched fast onto Krishna as they sat as one. When the sky cleared, they walked back through the forest and on the way met their Guru Maharshi Sandeepani who had set out in search of them. He embraced them and took them back. When they reached the ashram the mother was standing outside waiting for them and they fell at her feet to, as tears fell down her cheeks. That was Gurukula and such was the sweet chord of deepest parental affection of guru and ashram mother towards the disciples. From this community life based on hard manual labour and spirit of selfless service, the ashram students acquire great spiritual knowledge. This is called Samyayoga where teachers and students live together without any difference of status. Thus core elements of human values in Gurukula life are inculcated in the character of students through basic education.

If humanity has to survive, it has to take the Father of the Nation seriously Moral values are to be upheld as primary principles underpinning a classless and castles society, based on economic equality. This was Gandhiji’s dream, a dream of Gramswaraj. This was the mission that Vinoba unto the last worked for. True to Gandhiji’s dictum of “world is my family/ Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”, Vinoba translated the principles of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam by striving to reshape villages free from exploitation, devoid of hatred, enmity and competition; thriving in mutual co-operation, service, love and respect. I boldly exhort the youth to usher in an ‘age of truth, an era of non-violence’ and thus the basic education students should be harbingers of “Sarvoday Social Order” in the world. Therefore, it can be concluded that, “If humanity has to survive, it has to take the Father of the Nation seriously.”

insha.akhtar17@gmail.com

October 2015

An aggravating issue! Prof. Bholanath Dutta is a globally well-known management education expert, a top consultant. He is the Founder, President and convener of MTC Global – An apex global advisory body in Management Education with a vision to ‘Educate, Empower and Elevate’. Smart Institute of Banking Insurance and Finance (SIBF) and Gyan Bharti Institute of Technology (GBIT) jointly conferred “Life Time Achievement Award-2015” on the occasion of Teacher’s Day for his contribution and dedication to Management Education. He is the recipient of the prestigious “Dharma” Award- by AAPNA, USA and ‘Asia Grid Leadership Award for Excellence in Management Education-2012’ along with one each from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka by India Grid. Sex Education in schools is a highly debatable topic and Professor Bholanath Dutta shares his views with the readers of MENTOR through this write up. He is of the opinion that “Sex education introduced in schools at an early stage is the only solution to this aggravating issue.” Sex is one of the life instincts gifted by nature to all living organisms. It is the tool that keeps on moving the wheel of life cycle infinitely. In case of plants, birds or animals endowed with less intellect, the nature’s seasonal cycles for sex are followed. As far as human race is concerned, by virtue of their intellect/ thinking power, man has created many manmade systems covering entire life span of a man. Sex plays its own role in an individual’s life that nature uses for her design and its experience keeps man on natural design.

Establishment of Life Cycle Cell institute for counseling of certain sex cases is imperative People can be broadly classified into three categories: 1. Tribal: Being close to the nature, they follow certain set practices that have minimized sex issues, no rape and respect for male and female is maintained. 2. Rural: The people also somewhat near to nature and kids learn many things by observations of activities that take place around. This rouses their curiosity but we suppress it. 3. Urban area: People being close to technology and advancements, kids are exposed to many desirable and

undesirable activities. In fact, urban kids lead an artificial life and not exposed to sex as rural kids are exposed to. Urban kids live in an extremely volatile environment, like kissing, rape, pornography, drugs, sex play at public places. These kids are also naturally curious about sex because sex is the forbidden truth which should not be brought on the lips. Now the question arises how to educate our kids about sex, in schools, at home or in society, public places. It is true that as we have been continuously failing to meet the sex-curiosity of kids, we are facing many issues like rape and other criminal activities. The seriousness of such ignorance is vividly manifested in our society through repeated sexual atrocities, teenage abortions and pregnancies; spread of HIV and other STDs.

What is the solution to this problem that is corroding the innocence of our young minds? Can we go for sex education in schools? If yes, then at what stage? Should sex education be introduced just before puberty at the age of 12-13 for boys and 1011 for girls? What would be the course contents? Purpose of sex, introduction to reproduction organs, how sex is operative in other creatures, hygienic conditions, some dos and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ts, importance of preservation/conservation of sex energy including life sketches of a few model personnel, HIV/AIDs, pornography. Establishment of Life Cycle Cell institute for counselling of certain sex cases is imperative. Parents, teachers and expert doctors/ psychologists need to be members of this cell. Frequency of meeting should be at least once in a month.

Sex education becomes all the more important in our society as children are totally flummoxed at the double speak of adults and by their behaviour As long as sex education is understood as talking about sex, we are going nowhere. Unfortunately for the excited a perfectly created programme is not at all about the act of sex. It includes womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights; it includes identifying and handling problems and above all addressing the myths that surround sex and adolescence. It makes children understand physical change

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and what is normal and abnormal. The most exciting and interesting part for me is when children undergo sex education they become so confident of their sexuality. They start feeling a lot more comfortable about their own body. This form of education emphasises greatly on relationships and responsibilities. And most importantly I feel it is not really sex education-rather we should call it sexuality education. Sex education becomes all the more important in our society as children are totally flummoxed at the double speak of adults and by their behaviour. We preach good behaviour and then follow bad practices. It is the myth and aura we create around the three letter word that excites everyone and ultimately pushes the impressionistic minds to take decisions that ultimately prove difficult for their individual lives. As water flows from high potential to lower potential, so the mind flows from positive to negative or from good to bad or from desirable to undesirable. Anything in life is closely associated with a bright and dark duality. It is up to one where to get involved and seniors or wise personnel are expected to play a right monitoring role. No doubt sex is an in-built instinct in human beings but this basic instinct requires needing wise implementations. I must say that education is the only way to enhance a better understanding of sex; there is no other way. Sex education in schools introduced at an early stage is the only solution to this aggravating issue.

bnath.dutta@gmail.com

October 2015

Transformative Learning Kevin Brinkmann is the author of The World-Class Leader™, a comprehensive nine-day leadership programme that has helped multinationals, government agencies and the United Nations to train ethical leaders with world-class skills. With an academic background in adult education and development, he is currently completing a PhD on how to design transformative training to multiply characterbased leadership in India. Mr. Kevin Brinkmann in this informative piece to MENTOR, talks about his unique model of transformative learning which has helped educators and trainers to facilitate transformative training for their teachers using a simple 3-step approach. The Best Research You Have Never Heard of

The Step-by-Step Model

Every diligent educator wants their teaching to be transformational (i.e. educating the whole person, impacting the head and heart, and creating a more just society), but how? Does it require expensive equipment? Better facilities? A master’s degree? Or an inspiring personality? No.

While there is no single model of Transformative Learning, most can be summarised in three interlocking stages as experienced from the learners’ perspective.

But it does require a basic understanding of Transformative Learning (TL). Unlike traditional learning that focuses on head knowledge, Transformative Learning focuses on heart knowledge (or what is sometimes called “mindsets”). Transformative Learning is the “process by which previously uncritically assimilated assumptions, beliefs, values and perspectives are questioned and thereby become more open, permeable, and better validated” resulting in changed behaviour (Mezirow 1991, Cranton 2006). This is fantastic: An entire body of research designed to help teachers ‘educate the whole person’! At our fingertips is twentyfive years of articles to help teachers bring mindset shifts to promote a more just society! And can be applied for teaching children or adults! Unfortunately, Transformative Learning is little known outside of academia. Moreover, its research is inaccessible to most practitioners. Indian school teachers do not need to know the nuanced differences between the two schools of Transformative Learning or how it compares to Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. They just need a basic model of how to implement it step-by-step in their classroom.

After a safe and empowering environment has been created in the classroom, learners will: 1. Experience cognitive dissonance: This may be a skit, a story, an activity, which brings the problem to the surface in an emotional way. 2. Reflect self critically: Now that the emotions are stirred, learners think about the problem both individually and / or in small groups. 3. Practice new habits: Once the group has agreed on their solution to the problem, it is time to begin implementing their strategies for change, in the safe classroom environment. This is the roadmap. It can be applied to any transformative learning topic. For example, the Transformative Learning process can be used to get learners to

identify some problem in their environment (e.g. something they feel needs to change in their classroom, their school, or their wider community), to brainstorm with their peers about how to change the situation, and to then work together to bring positive change. For example, one group of students decided they wanted to change the garbage thrown around their neighbourhood, and decided to conduct a ‘cleanliness drive’ where they themselves picked up trash thrown on the streets and performed street plays to bring about greater awareness against littering. From a facilitator’s perspective, the three stages break down into ten steps as outlined in the table. Participant’s Perspective

Facilitator’s Role 1. Create a safe environment

0. Feel comfortable, accepted, and eager

1. Experience cognitive dissonance, through an engaging experience

2. Empower confidence

3. Raise consciousness through creating cognitive dissonance 4. Utilise soul work / intuition / imagination 5. Allow critical self-reflection

2. Reflect self-critically, both individually and in groupsetting

6. Facilitate group discussion 7. Facilitate group problemsolving

these two scholars with the Three-Stage Model presented above, which is a synthesis of Mezirow, King, and other practitioners. Transformative Learning Theory Mezirow (2000)

Journey of Transformation King (2002)

Three-Stage Model Brinkmann (2015)

---

1. Create a safe environment

---

2. Empower confidence

1. A disorienting dilemma

1. Fear and uncertainty

3. Raise consciousness through creating cognitive dissonance

2. Self-examination

---

4. Utilize soul work

3. A critical assessment of assumptions

2. Testing and exploring

5. Allow critical self-reflection

4. Recognizing "shared" nature of experience

---

6. Facilitate group discussion

5. Exploring options for new ways of acting

---

7. Facilitate group problem-solving

6. Planning a course of action

3. Affirming and connecting

8. Facilitate group consensus

7. Acquiring knowledge and skills

---

8. Provisional trying of new roles

---

9. Practice incremental changes

9. Building of competence and self-confidence

---

10. Reintegration into society

4. New perspective

---

10. Make necessary institutional changes

8. Facilitate group consensus 3. Practice new habits, first in hypothetical situation then in preparing for post-training context.

9. Practice incremental changes 10. Make necessary institutional changes

Hopefully, this is just a beginning -- but an implementable beginning. Further Resources

Transformative Learning process can be used to get learners to identify some problem in their environment How does this compare with other Models of Transformative Learning? While there are many models of Transformative Learning, two of the most famous are by Jack Mezirow (2000) and Kathleen King (2002). For the practitioner that wants a broader introduction to the field of Transformative Learning, Table 2 compares

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Brookfield, Stephen. 1991. Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning: A Comprehensive Analysis of Principles and Effective Practices. New York: Wiley. . Cranton, Patricia. 2006. Understanding and Transformative Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Promoting

Dirkx, John M. 1998. “Transformative Learning Theory in the Practice of Adult Education: An Overview.” PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, Vol. 7, 1998, 1-14. Jackson, M.G. 2008. Transformative Learning for a New Worldview: Learning to Think Differently. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. King, Kathleen P. 2005. Bringing Transformative Learning to Life. Malabar (FL): Kreiger. Mezirow, Jack. 1991. Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

kevin@kevinbrinkmann.com

COVER STORY

Down memory lane

“Any questions?” I was nearing the end of a 75 minute six-to-one ordeal trying to convince the eminent interview panel of my suitability for the position of Principal of this yet-to-be-established school. I was at my wits end. “Just one Sir.” I fumbled out. “Please go ahead.” A macabre voice from the panel echoed. city?” I blurted out.

“Why do you think your school will be the most sought after one in the

The story goes that I was immediately bundled into a waiting jeep and very soon I found myself ankle deep in sludge, standing on-site. “From now on, it’s all yours” I was told. The rest is history Almost every successful institution begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and the institution will have the power to make it so. Factorizing, I could think of a multitude of causes that went into making Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s R.K.Sarda Vidya Mandir located in Saddu-Baronda Road, Raipur, what it is today. Northernmost would be thought process. We spent a lot of time over endless cups of sugar-less tea and black coffee brain storming and deliberating on what or what not will add value to the children coming under our tutelage; add to that the commitment of the team reinforced by their innovative ideas and their willingness to make a difference. Clarity of Vision, well-communicated, gave us a head-start. Our Vision… “Humata, Hukhta and Hvarshata” in the ancient Avestan language of Zoroastrian faith means ‘good thoughts’, ‘good words’ and ‘good deeds.’ These principles metamorphosed in the establishment of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s R. K. Sarda Vidya Mandir. Conceived under the aegis of the 77-year old institution of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the vision of eminent industrialist and philanthropist Shri R. K. Sarda to endeavour in a technology driven environment towards developing global citizens imbibed with values, who will guide desirable and sustainable social transformation and catapult India into the league of super powers, saw the light of the day on 5th April 2010 with 167 students and a dedicated team

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of 12 teachers. Having completed 5 sessions, today, we are a family of 1894 students and an inspiring team of 79 teachers. The school is affiliated to CBSE for Secondary and Senior Secondary school examinations. Our Unique Value Proposition revolves around four dimensions – Values, Physical Skills, Intellectual Skills and Life Skills.

Our Mission… We are of the firm belief that every child is unique and has different learning styles and it is the process of learning that should take precedence over learning. The approach to academics is student-centric and every effort is made to draw out an Individual Education Plan. We are on a mission to provide a creative learning environment that recognizes the uniqueness of every learner, integrate value components into all activities of the school, enable learners to acquire a set of competencies which could make them architects of future and using

October 2015

We are of the view that values should be the spiral around which all the other skills must revolve.

technology to enhance the effectiveness of pedagogy and management. Skill-based assessment and experiential learning is the norm of our school. Grappling with Challenges… There were many firsts - the first classroom, the first teacher joining, the first admission query, the first student getting admitted, the first school bus…………. and so on. Every first had its share of teething problems. But are not problems a part of life, and is not schooling all about building that PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) to overcome life’s problems. As the dust settled over the euphoria of accomplishing all the firsts successfully, focus now shifted on building those differentiators which will establish the school in the mind of parents and children alike. We are of the view that values should be the spiral around which all the other skills must revolve. Thus the unique model of schooling, so characteristic of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s R. K. Sarda Vidya Mandir, focussing on the four parameters of development is Values, Intellectual Skills, Physical Skills and Life Skills. Curricular, CoCurricular and Extra-Curricular activities were all designed and executed keeping in mind the four skills.

Working on Innate Talent… The aim of the school is not only to impart knowledge or to prepare students for examinations but also to help the students develop an all-round personality. Thus, Meditation, Yoga, Aerobics, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Clay Modelling, Painting, Tennis, Badminton, Basketball, Volley ball, Tae-Kwon-Do and Athletics are an indispensable part of schooling in the formative years. There is a balanced emphasis on cultural heritage and modern technology along with a special emphasis on Information Technology. The aim of the school is to make students self-reliant and enable them to face the challenges of life successfully without being alienated from our culture, traditions and values. Our philosophy is to blend oriental and occidental knowledge by which values will be inculcated, power of mind is enhanced and intellect is expanded, which will help students to stand on their own feet. Throughout the year students are encouraged to exploit their potential to

the fullest. At Bhavans, we strongly believe that in student life, extracurricular activities empower students to make their own decisions and also help them to gain an accurate experience, skills and confidence to lead them on the path of their future. We at Bhavans, believe that children must be exposed to an array of careers, both conventional and non-conventional, so that they may be able to explore different facets, identify with something and over a period of time, become passionate and fascinated with it. They can only become successful when they pursue a career at the convergence of discipline and passion. Bhavan’s educational strategy aims at enabling a learner to learn on his own. For Science, we adopt activity based learning. We provide the podium of opportunities of national and international exposures by participating in NSO, ASSET, Green I (By Yi), Green Olympiad and Science Exhibitions. They discover opportunity by their own and stand equipped for the human race. These experiences stimulate their thinking. Providing the Perfect Environment… The school has an awe-inspiring infrastructure. Special moisture absorbent bricks have been used which keeps the mercury inside at least 5 degrees less than outside. Ergonomically designed in a manner that no wall of any classroom gets direct sunlight, the building houses 54 classrooms – all multimedia enabled – that integrates technology

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into the regular teaching-learning process. Every classroom up to standard 1 is also equipped with an additional play area. In addition, there is a multi-activity hall, a learning resource centre, and 3 music rooms; 1 clay modeling room, a painting room, 3 Science labs, a social sciences lab, a mathematics lab, 2 computer labs, a knowledge centre and a Wellness room. There is also an administrative block and an open back stage. Believing in the fact that a healthy body houses a healthy mind, the school has one-of-a-kind sports facilities. 2 synthetic tennis courts, 1 synthetic basketball court and 1 synthetic volleyball court form the core of its sporting infrastructure. Besides this, there is also table tennis, badminton, hockey, cricket, carrom and chess. Plans for an 800 meter running track and shooting range are also on the anvil. Parent Orientation Programmes… Children are God’s greatest gifts and a joy forever. We are of the opinion that if these children are to grow up and become worthy world citizens, the troika of teachers, school and parents must work incessantly on them at all times. Parents need to reinforce the learnings that happen in school. Parental engagement through workshops, seminars and Parent-Teacher Association form an integral culture of the school. Parenting workshops are held regularly. Off late, the school has started an Infant Siddha Programme (ISP) for the parents of KG

October 2015

children. Over a period of time, we plan to equip all our esteemed parents with all the nuances of parenting. We strongly believe in familiarizing parents to the norms of the school, including rules and regulations along with a briefing on theme-based curriculum, assessment, subjects and a typical school day. Parent orientation programmes at Bhavans are aimed at building a very fruitful interactive relationship between the school and the parents. Teacher’s Capacity Building Programmes… The backbone of the School is the Bhavan’s Enthusiastic Staff Team, ever-ready to learn and venture out into uncharted waters. We are a learning organisation, for we believe that only when are we open to learning can we keep our minds open and accept and answer the unending curiosity of the children who are entrusted to our tutelage. Teacher training forms an integral part of our system. The School has been one of the pioneers in adopting and training the teachers for the School Excellence Programme started by the CII- Institute of Quality under its School Excellence Initiative. Workshops on Integrated Blended Learning Design, Curriculum Transaction, Phonetics and ICT-enabled Learning have already been conducted. Every teacher has to mandatorily go through 10 man-days of training every session. We think that it makes us futureready and helps imbibe in us an attitude to keep learning. The various teacher capacity building programmes are: ASSET (Assessment

of Scholastic Skills through Educational Testing) Thematic Education, (SOF) Science Olympiad Foundation, Accelerating Pedagogy (Integrated Blending Learning Designs), Assessment of Listening & Speaking Skill and CCE Workshops to acquaint teachers with the concepts and methods of continuous comprehensive evaluation.

We are on a mission to provide a creative learning environment that recognizes the uniqueness of every learner First Bliss of Success… Well into our 6th session, it gives us immense pride to see children grow up with the right attitude and belief systems. With a 100% result, as our first batch of class 10 proudly strides into class 11, we realize that today’s children are children of abundance born in a liberalized global village. If the next century is to belong to India, these future citizens will have to be turned into global citizens firmly rooted in Indian values. We remain firmly grounded. Any decision is questioned thus, “how will this add value to the children?” Given the learning that they are going through in school and appropriate reinforcement at home, we are trying to predict the future and hope that the alumni of this August, of our institution will make the world a better place. Only hoping, for hope is the elixir of life. The Road Ahead… Schools need to equip their students with certain specialized type of skills so that they do not just survive, but thrive in twenty first century .To us at Bhavan’s those skills are CHARACTER, COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE giving your best shot at everything you do as if it were your last, confidently and ethically. Are not these the only variables that could thrust our Country into the “less travelled” uphill path leading to limitless human possibilities and the hope of the world? We, the fraternity at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s R.K.Sarda Vidya Mandir believe that every child can walk this path, if shown the way.

principal@bvbraipur.org

School Leadership

Do more than just that!

Ashwini Bindinganavale, until recently, worked as a writer/editor in London for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a clean energy unit of Bloomberg L.P. Prior to that, she worked for India’s leading newspaper Deccan Herald as a freelance writer. She also worked as a sub-editor for Vijay Times, an English daily from the VRL Group, for over a year in 2003-04 before which she also worked as a journalist for The Tech Mail, a technology daily published by the Technology Media Group. She has also edited a course book on computer fundamentals and renewable energy-based electricity generation for isolated mini-grids in Zambia, all three of which were Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru) projects. Ashwini has a Master’s degree in Mass Communication from Bangalore University. Training and motivating a team should happen consciously but effortlessly by a leader. A leader should know the know-how of the industry to keep his institution vitalized. Ms. Ashwini Bindinganavale throws light on the philosophy behind consistently staying a successful leader with MENTOR. Wikipedia defines leadership as “a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. Investopedia states: “Leadership is the ability of a company’s management to make sound decisions and inspire others to perform well”. Forbes’ definition of leadership is “a process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others, towards the achievement of a goal.” The Oxford Dictionary says leadership is “the action of leading a group of people or an organisation or the ability to do this”. Google could quite possibly throw up several more definitions of the term leadership, but a closer look at the four mentioned above will already provide us with what stands out. Simply put, a leader would influence and inspire. But an effective leader would, especially in today’s world, do more than just that. For starters, I would like to think that leaders today are made, not born. I am aware that at this point, many of them reading this article will want to stop and take me up on the question of whether leaders are born or made. The debate has gone on for ages and you will excuse me for trying to get you to lean on the ‘made’ side of the fence. I have my reasons. For one, it takes a leader to influence and inspire, yes; but it takes skill, luck, 18 www.mentormagazine.net

learning, persistence and dedication to get to that point even; which brings me to the next section: leadership character. Leaders come in all kinds of everything. Where one type is all avant-garde, progressive and ushers in radical changes with the confidence to pull it off, there is another that conforms to ‘industry standards’ which I will get down to elaborating on in a minute.

October 2015

Where one sits back and absorbs the talk around in order to come to a decision, there is another that talks – loud and clear – as to be heard. Where there is one who is all too willing to make a mistake, learn from it, rectify it in the shortest time possible and move on, there is another who is decidedly against risks and seeks error-free results. Where one constantly pushes the others outside their comfort zone in order to achieve results, the other is happy to let a team do what it does best if it means achieving the desired results.

How effective a leader’s talk can be is defined primarily by their predisposition to listen to and understand the needs of the others in a team If I can just take your mind back to what leadership was a few decades ago, it was exactly what I said in the last paragraph. A leader was one who played by the rules, spoke the loudest, strived to either completely avoid or minimise risks and allowed a team to work within the limitations already set. This is what I mean when I say industry standards – merely as conforming to an established norm. There were rules to abide by and leaders looked to attain the desired results whilst respecting those rules. In today’s world, however, it is interesting to note that this may be true in some situations and incongruously not in others. Take, for example, the workplace of the 21st century. A leader will stand out predominantly for his or her ability to take risks. I am perhaps only slightly exaggerating this view because the no-risk-no-reward sentiment echoes almost everywhere. And this is exactly where I think leaders and leadership have come of age. For finally, after years of thinking of mistakes as stupid, we have come to the conclusion that mistakes are meant to be made and lessons are meant to be learnt. The attitude has arrived a little belatedly, but has arrived nevertheless. Of course, different situations call for different actions and so it is imperative for a leader to be adaptable. This could mean pushing their team members much beyond what they are used to. In other words, push them outside

their comfort zone. Indeed, comfort zone could be just a phrase in the near future – referring to perhaps, a day out at the spa. Companies today measure their success based on employee performance. That can only happen when a leader can engage his or her team to stay committed to the job at hand. And so how effective a leader’s talk can be is defined primarily by their predisposition to listen to and understand the needs of the others in a team. A good part of management and therefore leadership also includes proactive and reactive behaviour. To be proactive is good; however, it would be wrong to frown upon its parallel. After all, situations are not always under control and a leader would do well to react to the odd one that demands a response on the spot. In today’s Darwinian world, leadership has very little to do with change itself and a lot to do with the capability to manage that change. In other words, leadership is not just knowing that every rule is subject to change but also understanding how essential it is to constantly adapt and assess. Consider a leader who says, “That is never a possibility”, or “It should be done this way always”. By using absolute words such as never or always, not only is the leader claiming that there are no exceptions – which is just plain wrong – but he is also demonstrating his inability to expand his horizons and open the mind to any possibilities lurking just beneath the surface.

Leaders do not create followers, they create more leaders As much as characteristics do for leadership and for the argument that leaders are born, I find it difficult to believe that, they are all, one needs to become a leader. Imagine a situation where you are leading a team of say, 5 people (or 20, the number is irrelevant). Now let us think of what would happen if you had a problem that needed solving, had a team that had the resources to do it, but did not know where to start or how to execute the otherwise-perfectly planned task? It is this question that brings me to believe that developing skills are necessary

to make a leader. Of course, there is no denying that the characteristics you possess could make it easier to pick up certain skills. Delegate responsibility Top on my list of must-have leadership skills is the ability to delegate responsibility. Abdul Kalam Azad once said, “The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it”. This speaks volumes for what delegation means. The key is: • To be able to identify the strengths of the team • To capitalise on them. It is vital for a leader to first realise that in order to do a job, and do it well, he needs to understand what each of his team member is capable of and then delegate work accordingly. The chances are if they find the task to their liking, they are likely to put more dedication and effort into it. Forging strong relationships A leader can have a vision, but if he is not going to trust his team with that vision, all is probably already lost. Be it Satya Nadella at Microsoft or the more-recently appointed chief executive of Google, Sundar Pichai, they build and nurture relationships, which explains why they do what they do so well. Self-regulation It is human nature to act on impulse. The behaviour can pay off at times, but could backfire at other times. A leader must be able to self-regulate in order to curb disruptive impulses. Only a leader who has the ability to selfregulate can alter his/her response as demanded by a situation. By learning to exert control over his/ her own thoughts and actions, a leader is setting the scene for a healthier discussion within a team while reducing conflict.

access to information where is very little is even more critical. For this to happen, a leader must be confident enough to ask questions and provide alternative resources. Time management One of the hallmarks of a great leader – and I believe this is an underrated quality – is time management. On its own, exercising control over the time spent on specific activities is a simple enough practice. Try doing the same when juggling multiple tasks and with the same level of tenacity and you will know what I mean. Leaders make it their business to first prioritise, and in order to do so, it is important to first learn to differentiate the urgent from the important. Investing time initially – even before embarking on a given task – to separate what needs doing immediately from what could wait could be all that it takes to get organised and therefore use time effectively. The list that I have compiled here is by no means a complete one. There are several others that warrant mention but a cap on how much I am allowed to write has me stopping right here. However, I would like to sign off on a certain quote that I read a few days ago as I was trawling the Web. Given that leadership is more than just being in-charge, I thought the quote by Tom Peters (an American writer on business management practices) articulated very well what exactly it should be. “Leaders do not create followers, they create more leaders.”

Resourceful An essential skill to have, a leader must be able to draw on both himself and others as resources. While assessing what resources are available to make use of is vital, creating

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ash_raj_2000@yahoo.com

October 2015

Stay Connected

innovation

Professor M. M. Pant is pursuing pedagogy, technology tools and curricula for educating for the future. He has a special interest in encouraging self-learning and leveraging social media and bringing the Tablets, mobile and other handhelds into the classroom where they have been traditionally banned in a framework named “Learning 221: Learning for the 2nd Decade of the 21st Century.” He has been the Former Pro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and on the faculty of IIT, Kanpur, MNIT Allahabad and Faculty University of Western Ontario, Canada. Prof. Pant is the founder of the LMP Education Trust, an organisation that promotes new age learning and supports underprivileged learners. Through MENTOR, Professor M.M. Pant opines that “we are witnessing in real time, the transformation of teaching from a mainly didactic ‘sage on the stage’ model to an interactive and collaborative exploration augmented by technology in ‘the augmented classroom lecture’.” This model has the potential of transforming the learner from a passive learner to an active participatory learner, with a curious and questioning disposition with the confidence of being able to create knowledge and acquire a deeper understanding. We are likely to witness a significant disruption in the present inadequate model. As Clayton Christensen has pointed out, it is not the use of technology that is the disruption, but it is personalization of learning that is the real disruption. This implies a space shift, a time shift and a device shift from the earlier rigid locations earmarked for learning and earning, separated in both Geography and time. With learning needs changing through the different stages of life, enhanced longevity and rapid obsolescence of knowledge and skills, the new age educator has a very profound role, balancing the learning and earning needs of the learner and has to come to terms with possibilities of an artificial intelligence programme that automatically delivers content to students based on what they need to learn and how they learn. This year Teachers Day 2015, took place on Krishna Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna, the greatest teacher of all times. On this occasion, we organised an event which showcased some new and innovative aspects of teaching-learning.

To an observer whose sights are on the developing technological horizon of Big Data, the Internet of Things, Robotics, Drones and enhanced Machine Intelligence competing with humans, it is clear that as we enter the 2nd half of the 2nd decade of the 21st Century, the next 5 to 10 years are likely to emerge as a new Renaissance in education.

We now realize that the Teacher is far more important than the expert practitioner because an expert can demonstrate his or her skill in context, but it is the Teacher that creates an expert practitioner out of an initially ignorant or incompetent person. Education has to be learner centric and knowledge is mutually created by the teacher and learner. In fact, Science the most glorious of human endeavours flourishes because it is a community of Scientists that drives it, and not a hierarchy of bureaucrats and politicians.

We must prepare to move from the ‘art of teaching’ to ‘the Science of learning’and just as the microscope, telescope and other instruments aided Scientific progress by providing data to be put into contexts, patterns and insights, it is the Computer, Internet and allied technologies that will drive this transition from a qualitative uncertain authority based model to a data driven one that allows every learner to learn. The potential of mobile and handheld learning in education is now accepted by the UNESCO which is organizing annual Mobile Learning weeks. And for the 2015 Mobile Learning week the focus was on ‘educating the girl child’. With the accessibility of Mobile phones and the MHRD initiatives through the CIET, NCERT of all their books in English, Hindi and Urdu being available for free on mobile devices, a new era in education is upon us. Amazon is shortly launching $50 tablets and Reliance plans to offer Smartphones with built in Apps at about Rs 2500/-, bringing these devices in the hands of almost every learner. The pedagogy of mobile education and adoption of Heutagogy, managing the learning of self-directed lifelong learners will become one of the important competencies of the new age teacher. Two important strands in this scheme are: ‘Teaching-learning with Mobiles and Handhelds’ and ‘ Educational Innovation’, especially disruptive innovation. We had a number of presentations describing models and experiences of a very diverse nature. One video presentation was a complete replacement of the traditional lecture and was presented as a narrative sharing a range

of experiments and experiences. In another one, the presenter gave an introduction to the video that he would play, and asked the audience to think of experiences that they could relate to while watching the video. This was followed by a discussion on the comments raiding from the audience.

The formal education system is no longer equipped to cope with the emerging challenges There were several presentations with PowerPoint slides to support the talk and there were interventions which were entirely speaker thoughts. There were also considerable deliberations on innovation, especially disruptive innovation. Not only were the general principles of disruptive education propounded and distinctions drawn with Blue Ocean Strategy, a roadmap for possible disruptions in education, with entrepreneurial education being a distinct possibility. QAI, a private awarding body registered in the UK shared the following innovative ideas that were being developed by them: • Learning English to International standards: diagnostics and learning interventions • Acquiring accredited qualifications from MOOCs (largely self-learning) • Creating individual learner profiles to help both self-learning and instructor led personalization of learning • Badges for micro-credentialing of nonacademic life-long learning • Training and certifying educators for blended delivery of International qualifications (A levels, MOOCs and others) as Independent Educators A very important outcome of the deliberations was the demonstration of a new model of blended teaching-learning of which the traditional classroom or distance learning is a special case. We call this emergent model ‘ The Augmented Classroom Lecture’ which performs a space shift, device shift and timeshift of the traditional classroom lecture. It incorporates the ideas of ‘flipped learning’,

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October 2015

mastery learning and personalization of the learning experience. Attention was drawn to the significance and importance of ‘social learning ‘ a component that gets significantly enhanced with technology and the size of the learning cohort. Teachers were at some point in history respected as much as Gods and teaching was a ‘calling’. In the industrially dominated era, they were often treated as ‘machines’ to produce trained humans who could carry out those functions in factories that could not be carried out by machines. Thus ‘ learning outcomes ‘ assembly line production and quality control processes became dominant. As we contemplated on the future and specifically of the role of educators and learning, a few insights emerged. In the foreseeable future, both the human population and its longevity will be increasing significantly. “Millennials will have over 13 jobs in their lifetime and the median¬ time they will spend in a job will be three years … when they switch from one job to the next, the skills they will need in that next job will usually be something they not only don’t know but in many cases didn’t even exist when they went to school,” Professor Koller, co-founder of Coursera said in Melbourne recently. The formal education system is no longer equipped to cope with the emerging challenges, and the big opportunity is for educators to emerge from the background and take centre stage in addressing the challenges. It is constrained by a tradition of preparing clergy for the church or academics for the academia, and is not readily able to respond to other challenges of learning. Even in the classical space of learning and

research there are many examples of nonrecognition of talent or brilliance. For instance John Gurdon was while at Eton considered completely unsuitable for learning Science ( in fact his report card said that this would be a ridiculous idea, and a waste of time of all concerned) would later win a Nobel Prize in Medicine. The biggest anomaly is that while we teach a number of subjects, we still do not teach learning. Nor do we have a proper system of assessment, and no examination Board declares the error margins inherent in the design of their systems. It is said that the Internet changes everything and accessing the Internet through the mobile, even more so. There is a movement in the developed world that ‘ sitting is the new smoking’ which basically draws attention to the fact that sitting at desks (whether at the office or at School or College) beyond brief periods for rest is significantly harmful, comparable to the harmful effects of smoking.

Education has to be learner centric and knowledge is mutually created by the teacher and learner So we need to have new learning spaces outside the classroom where learners can move around and explore. With handheld devices for content flow, and assessment spending time in the real world rather than in the cloistered existence of academia may be the way. It is often said that ‘Ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for “ignoranceof the law excuses no one”). But in real life “ignorance is no excuse”. So learn, all that you can

learn. You never know when not knowing something can be a problem. The role of the educator is to remove ignorance. Sometimes the learner may know what he needs to learn. But more often in the mode of Socratic questioning, the educator takes the learner through the four stages of unknown incompetence, known incompetence, known competence and finally unknown competence. And learning happens in several ways from multiple sources. There is a Buddhist saying that ‘when the learner is ready, the teacher will appear’. And the role of the educator as subject matter expert is secondary to the role of creating conditions in which learning happens. For this the future educator has to blend nature, technology, data and human and machine intelligence to ensure that every learner is able to achieve his desired learning goals. As a follow up to the event, we are launching several innovative programs with the following broad objectives : to make every learner a better learner, to make every educator a Rock Star teacher, to help every parent become a smart and enlightened parent, to facilitate learning opportunities for the second half of life and continuing professional updates throughout life. The first in this series is a ‘Diabetic Literacy’ program with the title “Learning to Live a Quality Life with Diabetes”. India is hurtling away to reach the 100 million diabetics mark by the year 2030.

The main point is that education as a cure or remedy for ignorance is the new reality, and is equally applicable to health, justice, relationships and nation and world building. With millions on screens on which educators can be viewed both synchronously and asynchronously, we should not be surprised if a decade from now ‘educators’ will become the new celebrities. Who can believe today that great actors at one time worked as salaried employees in theatre companies and film studios?

It is the Teacher that creates an expert practitioner out of an initially ignorant or incompetent person In a decade or so, salaried teachers at Schools or Colleges will be a thing of the past and celebrity Rock Star teachers and professors will have millions of learners from all over the world following them on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter. A precursor to that is for example the Korean English Teacher Kim Ki-Hoon who earns around US$ 4 million a year, or Cha Kil-yong the Maths teacher who earns US$ 8 million a year. Educators who shape minds (not only young minds, but throughout the life-span as well) are therefore very important now, and it is indeed the best time to be an educator. Stay Connected, Keep Learning!

As of today, the number of diabetics in India is estimated to be about 40 million, about 3% of the population. Unlike many other medical conditions, most people believe that ‘diabetic literacy’ is an important and integral element of the overall management of diabetes. The pioneering American diabetologist Dr. Elliott Proctor Joslin said ‘ The diabetic who knows the most, will live the longest’. Of course he or she will have to translate that knowledge into action and behavioural change.

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mmpant@gmail.com

October 2015

Thinking with technology Ms. Shyda Rana has more than two decades of experience in Teaching and Learning. Having been involved in Teachers Training at Faculty Development & Research Centre for the last 6 years she isenriched with the experience of training nearly 8,000 Teachers and School Leaders from the Army Public Schools across India. Her assignment involves designing, developing and conducting teacher empowerment programmes. She is also involved in coordinating and content development. Her core areas are Lesson Planning and Integrating Technology with Pedagogy. She was invited by the Chinese Education Bureau and INTEL Education China to deliver a lecture in China in May 2014 on “creating future teacher leaders”. This article of MENTOR by Ms. Shyda Rana is to focus on the alignment of understanding that the teacher is far greater than technology alone in isolation. However the power of technology will only find meaning in bringing classroom transformation if technology is embraced with pedagogy and trainings are a cohesive effulgence of the studies on educational technology, technology practitioners and teachers are technology users. In the attempt to train teachers various training programmes are being conducted by various institutions and even more so schools are enabling themselves with technology to stand apart as technologically driven 21st century schools. However while various changes in lifestyle to societal styles have been impacted by technology; classroom teaching is yet to be impacted by the integration of technology with pedagogy rather than training human potential in isolation. The outcome should be using technology to facilitate conceptual building and clarity to harness learning rather than to deliver the syllabus content. It was not long before educators started realizing the imperative need to use technology in classroom practices. Changing employability skills affected upon the societal trends to analyze the urgent need of technological skills for sustainability. Therefore, in the cyclic chain, what caught sight was the unanimous focus of employment, society and future demands to hark upon education to “embrace technology in education.” Policies envisioning its importance have therefore marked its presence by leveraging school curriculum in undergoing modifications and redesigning the existing one to adopt technology as an emergent

reality for engaging learners in this century, along with teachers’ empowerment in learning ICT. In addition, maybe someday what I write today will be documented somewhere in the archives too -thanks to technology! Therefore, what is the issue here? Everything seems to be falling in place like the jigsaw completed and picture perfect. While some of the jigsaw puzzles are encrypted as Interactive Smart board or PowerPoint presentation, yet another piece as Web 2.00 Tools or Google tools in Education yet the synchrony is missing? Synchrony of what? What is it that has missed the attention of the detailed and prescribed programmes for implementing ICT in education?

pedagogy. A mention of the TPACK model by Mishra and Koehler 2006 merits attention in understanding the same, as it draws attention on the integration of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge. Understanding, what, how, when and where to integrate content knowledge with background knowledge of pedagogy facilitating technological integration is a muchneeded awareness to be capacity built in the teachers. At this point two agendas surface in my thoughts: • The need to “orient and train teachers to integrate technology with pedagogy.” • The need to motivate and empower teachers to create content by “thinking with technology.” There is no doubt that schools are investing greatly to empower teachers’ skills in enhancing the use of ICT in the classrooms, however the practice of “technology in isolation” is becoming the cause for lack of synchrony in “embracing technology in education”. The understanding of using technology by a teacher is not on the basis of educational research and the rationale to apply in classroom practice but more on the basis of urgent need to use technology to “teach the students,” with technology. What we miss out here is that students no longer want to be taught with technology but they are looking for opportunities for using “technology for learning”. Researchers working in educational technology and practitioners of technology hardly get an opportunity to interact with the teachers and vice versa leading to gap creation. It is evident that every adopter of technology whether teachers, educational researchers or technology practitioners are all working in isolation in their own spheres. The synchrony lacking is in giving a “direction” for all practices and researches to reach the classroom practice to guide the teachers not only “How to use technological devices” but more so “what”,“ when” , “where” to use technological skills, pedagogical skills and subject expertise in transacting the curriculum by embracing technology with

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The myth has to be resolved that it is not technology alone that is important but it is the “teacher’s creative capability” that is far more important “to be able to apply” to technology not for teaching but for Learning!

Lesson planning demands from the Teacher a greater understanding of integrating technology in knowing where, how, when and what to use technology for So what does this bring us to? This draws our attention to teachers’ familiarity with classroom practices and subject content implying that subject expertise and pedagogy are the core strength of a teacher. What is the new skill required; the ability to be creative to integrate technology with pedagogy? Creating lesson plans have been the plan of action for all teachers ,however now lesson planning demands from the teacher a greater understanding of integrating technology in knowing where , how, when and what to use technology for – hardware or software , online tools or offline tools for building conceptual clarity in learners. This leads us to the realization that learners need to be given the opportunity to make learning personalized and self-paced. The outcome of such learning will be “co creating Knowledge” and classrooms will

October 2015

change from monotonous teacher’s voice to interactive collaborative learning hubs. The question now is –“are we as educators prepared to pass the baton of learning to our students?” “Are schools ready to introduce technology for learning into their classroom spaces and not for teaching alone?” When schools start thinking of creating opportunities for learning they will:• Introduce devices that will facilitate student learning like a 1:1, Laptop, tablet learning or four students: 1 Laptop model. • Schools will provide internet connections or create a LAN system with the school server as the main data bank which is readily accessible from the classrooms or library and even homes. • If students do not have Laptops, PC’s schools might allow mobiles in classrooms / use parents mobile for students learning at home. • If tablets cannot be procured by schools for every student or policies for BYOD ( Bring Your Own Device) cannot be implemented so quickly , you may like to learn the model developed by INTEL Education India to create a knowledge hub as created at the President’s Estate schools by Intel Education India for the students , where they use the INTEL Education Flag hill Tablets. • If Schools are following the “ teaching with technology model “ then they will still have an Interactive Projector, teacher will have a laptop and students will watch the show as a PowerPoint. What is your vision as a School Leader for your students? To empower them for the future or to give readymade solved answers. • Teacher’s empowerment is a core focus at the Faculty Development & Research Centre. We developed a customized programme with the support of INTEL Education INDIA to support the teachers of the Army Public Schools to “embrace technology with pedagogy” by

conducting workshops with a team of a subject teacher and a computer teacher , thus using the computer skills of the subject teacher and the subject knowledge and pedagogical skills of the subject teacher. We conducted 23 TAL workshops called Technology Aided Learning (TAL) and trained 700 Lead master trainers in our system. In conclusion, when schools decide to invest in training teachers, schools should aim to: • Train teachers on “how to integrate technology with pedagogy” rather than having isolated ICT Training. • Create teams of computer teachers and tech savvy subject teachers to train the other teachers whereby you can use the ICT skills of the computer teacher and the subject expertise and pedagogical skills of the subject teacher. • It is important to give teachers collaborative platform tools to share and display their content; sharing is learning. • Emphasize technology integration in lesson planning • Empower teachers in tablet training, classroom management software’s and against plagiarism. • Establish a technology resource centre where teacher’s e-Lesson plans are uploaded in the school server. • Create a tutorial bank for your students to access notes or questions from the school server. • Therefore ideas are many but only a few in which profound thinking has germinated will fructify.

saishyda@gmail.com

Educational Challenges in the 21st Century Mr. Ravindruda Gurujada is currently working as a Principal, Ramakrishna School, Visakhapatnam since 2005. Prior to this assignment, worked in Zinc Smelter Senior Secondary School, (C.B.S.E affiliated), in different capacities as a Post Graduate teacher in Biology, H.O.D of the Department of Biology and Vice Principal till the date of superannuation in 2005. Mr. Ravindruda Gurujada in this excerpt to MENTOR throws light on the need for parents, schools and the law makers to actively participate and work towards addressing the core challenges that the Indian Education space is facing in this 21st century. Among vital needs of human beings education demands special attention as it moulds a person to lead a harmonious life in all aspects and it needs change when required. Therefore education in the 21st century needs change to fulfil the needs of human beings. Though many educators, policy makers and even individuals respond; “that is impossible”, when challenged to adopt a new paradigm of education for the 21st century. Most people today adhere to the paradigm of education of the 19th century; but many educators have taken upon themselves the onus and are trying to accomplish the so called impossible. The change we want should apply to all of our society. Our prime assignment is to take education into the 21st century, so that it can match steps with the presently occurring changes. The challenge before us is to reinvent schools for the changing times, for

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the sake of our children. Although making a paradigm shift in the education space is not an easy task. It requires a lot of effort, clear vision and the burning desire to transform the current face of education in India. Normally when anyone of us think of education, we think of which we know as school. That is the thinking of policy makers, politicians and students. If we really feel a paradigm of education is a must, the question before us is “what is the 21st century education?”

It is of vital importance to see that the curriculum is project oriented, research driven for life, engaging students in addressing the real world problems We are aware that the new millennium was ushered by a dramatic technological revolution. Today we are living in an “increasingly diverse, globalized, complex media saturated society.” Hardly any of us take up the responsibility to prepare our world of how it would look in another five years. But one responsibility that we cannot ignore is; we have to take up the onus of preparing our children for that life in that world. There are many challenges before our children like global warming, health issues, population explosion, famine, these challenging issues lead to a need for students to be able to communicate, function

October 2015

and create change personally, politically, socially and economically at the national and global levels. 21st century schools should be designed in a way to recognize the needs for developing skills. These skills can be learned through our curriculum and it should be interdisciplinary, integrated and project based. The next question before us is how education should be designed to meet the needs of the 21st century students?

Teachers take the role of orchestration of learning and helping students to translate information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom It is of vital importance to see that the curriculum is project oriented, research driven for life, engaging students in addressing the real world problems. In this background the definition of school, teacher and learner assume a new look; schools should not be confined into the four walls, rather they should connect teachers, students and society to the

wealth of knowledge that exists in the world. Teachers take the role of orchestration of learning and helping students to translate information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom; learners to be seen in a different context. Teacherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s onus is to see that students maintain interest by helping them to see how and what they are learning prepares them for life in the real world. The next question before us is, is it possible to design future schools as per the above mentioned criteria? I sincerely feel it is possible provided we have positive and flexible attitude towards the needs of our young ones. Let us hope the 21st century schools take shape with the active involvement of our educated parents and politicians who can enlighten the lives of millions of children in this country.

ramakrishnaschool@yahoo.com

School governance

Indian Sports Deepthi Bopaiah is the Marketing Director of GoSports Foundation. Formerly a wealth advisor and a trainer during her stint of 6 years with HSBC, she decided to pursue a longstanding interest in sport. A sportswoman herself, she has previously represented her University and Karnataka State in tennis and basketball. Deepthi holds a Business degree in Finance and Marketing from Symbiosis, Pune and a Masters in Economics from Pune University. Ms. Deepthi Bopaiah shares with MENTOR her thoughts on the current scenario of sports in India. She is of the opinion, “with one year to go for the Rio Olympics and India’s performance at the biggest stage in world sport steadily improving year on year, there is no better time than now for all of India to look deeper and consider the potential in Indian sport.” August 29th marks the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand. Fittingly, this day was celebrated across the country as our National Sports Day. Schools organized their annual sports meets; the Rashtrapati Bhawan hosted a ceremony where the President of India bestowed awards recognising exceptional contributions by Indian athletes and coaches. However, not many among us know the significance of this day stemming largely from the contribution of the Indian hockey team in the early history of the Olympics. The dominance of the Indian men’s hockey team began with the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam and continued through the next six successive Games up until 1956. This astounding fact grows in significance

when viewed in the context of the times it was achieved in: SIX successive gold medals spread over 28 years in a world that witnessed massive political upheavals, a world war, and – closer home – a fight for independence. The Indian Hockey team dominated the sport like no team had done before and went on to win two more Gold medals at the 1964 and 1980 Games. It is therefore, perhaps, surprising that India’s national sports today does not enjoy the prominence it should. Today, cricket is by far the most watched and passionately followed sport in India. Little wonder, given India’s success and the abundance of national role models in the sport. It is not surprising at all that parents encourage their little ones to pick up a bat and ball and dream of bringing up the next Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid. Sports – The Key Ingredient for Children Realising that it teaches children skills relevant to life, like strategy and team-play whilst inculcating confidence and determination, parents today are increasingly enrolling their children in sport early on. Unfortunately, many schools in our country do not have the funds to develop proper sporting facilities. This is a direct setback to junior sportspersons in sports other than cricket, compared to their

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October 2015

counterparts in other countries who benefit from well-tended grounds, equipment that is cared for and maintained to a certain standard, and a grassroots sporting system that nurtures young athletes. Enough research exists to prove that a healthy, active lifestyle plays a major role in the development and advancement of the youth. Sport enhances psychological, physical, and physiological aspects in children. However, when we compare ourselves to sporting giants like USA or China, sports is still not as high a priority as it should be and students are asked to focus more on their academics. India falls far behind most other countries when it comes to performance at the Olympics and in other international sports (excluding cricket). The main reason for this is the lack of sporting infrastructure at the school and other grass root levels. According to the All India Education survey, only half of all primary schools in India even have a playing field.

Regular physical activity in the form of aerobics, sports and physical training, along with a balanced diet, can result in drastic reduction in the incidence of childhood obesity While rural India struggles to find a proper avenue to participate in organized sports,

urban youth are retreating indoors and becoming sedentary. Anoop Misra, Chairman of the National Diabetes, Obesity and Cholesterol Foundation points out, “Obesity among children and adolescents is acquiring epidemic proportions. Regular physical activity in the form of aerobics, sports and physical training, along with a balanced diet, can result in drastic reduction in the incidence of childhood obesity.” Unlimited inspiration in villages and small towns Against the worrying context of what is written above, I would now like to present three real life stories of achievements that I think can inspire many more. The stories are also relevant from the perspective of how much of a difference the right support can make in the life of a budding athlete. Supriya Mondal A fisherman’s son learns swimming in the water tank in his village, starts entering swimming meets in his area and is spotted by a coach who grooms him. His talent and competitive streak pays off when he is relocated to Bengaluru to continue training under India’s best swimming coach, who has trained several of India’s Olympians. Today, aged 18, Supriya has represented India at the Youth Olympics in 2014 and is a mere 3 seconds away from the ‘A’ qualification mark for the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Manish Rawat

and consider the potential in Indian sport.

A farmer’s son walks 7 kilometres to school every day in the mountains of Uttarakhand, and participates in several running races in school. His visionary coach suggests he take up race-walking, given that his daily commute offers plenty of opportunity for practice! Today, the fortunate youngster is among the few Indians to have qualified for next year’s Rio Olympics (in the 20-km and 50-km events).

The Indian Sporting Ecosystem Several Indian athletes are training for next year’s Olympic Games. Of the multiple challenges they face, the one that is truly beyond their control is lack of financial resources. They are battling the odds in order to raise funds that will enable them to participate in international tournaments that are recognised as qualifier events to the Olympics. While sports federations are trying to help by providing them with funds and by organising training camps all the over the country, athletes also need an ecosystem that helps them with expert advice in aspects like mental conditioning, nutrition, physiotherapy, injury rehabilitation etc. Fortunately, some private organisations are working towards bridging these gaps for our athletes.

Rani Rampal Daughter of a cart-puller, Rani grows up in a small village in Haryana famous for generating many of India’s best hockey players over the years. She becomes a regular observer of the players training locally until a coach asks her to run around the stadium. He feels that she is too scrawny for the sport, but the 8 year old’s steely persistence pays off when he agrees to train her with the others. A few years later, aged 15, Rani Rampal is named “Best Young Player of the Tournament” at the Women’s Hockey World Cup in 2010. These are a few stories of sporting success thrown up by rural India, despite the paucity of the afore mentioned training facilities and a qualified support system. There are many such achievers all over the country, hoping for a lucky break. With one year to go for the Rio Olympics and India’s performance at the biggest stage in world sport steadily improving year on year, there is no better time than now for all of India to look deeper

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I work in one such organization – GoSports Foundation, an organization full of passionate individuals working towards Empowering India’s Future Olympians. The GoSports Foundation is a not-for-profit venture working towards the development of some of India’s most talented junior athletes, competing in Olympic and Paralympic disciplines. Joined by India’s only individual Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid, and All England Badminton Champion Pullela Gopichand on our Board of Advisors, our mission to empower India’s Future Olympians is premised on the belief that sporting champions are created when the right talent gets the right support

October 2015

at the right time. We work with some of India’s top junior Olympic and Paralympic talent, through our athlete scholarships and knowledge building programmes. The Foundation has offered crucial support to more than 200 junior athletes across various sporting disciplines in the last six years, with many of our athletes representing and winning medals for India at the Olympics, Paralympics, Asian, and Commonwealth Games. The three athletes mentioned above are just some examples of the talents we are fortunate to be supporting. The New (Sporting) India Today, several organizations and initiatives are working towards showcasing sport and fitness as a way of life to our children and the youth. Several organizations have introduced physical education and sport as a part of the curriculum in schools and have created programmes based upon the core principles of inclusiveness and ageappropriateness.

If different boards of education include sport as a part of the main curriculum, then parents and children will devote more time to sports and physical activity NDTV and a leading real estate company together have launched “Marks for Sports” as part of the “Fit India Movement”. It aims to develop fitter, active, and healthier lifestyles for kids. The core belief of this campaign lies within the premise that if schools and more importantly, different boards of education include sport as a part of the main curriculum, then parents and children will devote more time to sports and physical activity. The sports market in India in 2014 was estimated to be worth $ 1.8 billion, of which cricket forms a major portion. However, there is no better time than now to contribute to India’s Olympic and Paralympic dreams. Sport is an effective nation building activity, and sporting victories inspire others to play as well. All England Champion Pullela Gopichand has been instrumental in revolutionizing the sport through his own career as well as

thereafter. One of his protégés, men’s world no. 4, Kidambi Srikanth, beat five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in his own den last year in the final of the China Open Superseries Premier. His achievement at the China Open holds the same significance as that of his coach at the All England Championships back in 2001 – it has shown that Indian athletes can evolve into a force to reckon with, if they receive the right guidance and handholding at the right stage. The Future is Bright! India is breaking new ground; we have in the past year alone seen an Indian woman win a medal in gymnastics at the Commonwealth Games; an Indian shuttler defeat a Chinese legend at home; and an Indian golfer finish in fifth place at the PGA Championships – the best ever finish for an Indian at a golf major. These are all monumental and unprecedented achievements for each sport in question, and the list is growing. It is inevitable that the second most populous country in the world will have a much stronger representation on the Olympic medal tally in years to come. It is now time for parents to encourage their children to try their hand at different sports; for the joy of playing, if nothing else. Every child should experience and enjoy the benefits of physical movement, the long term health benefits and life skills that come with it, as well as the various levels of empowerment that competitive sports bestows on the player. Organizations like ours are working to build a widespread professional support system and create role models for current and future Indian athletes to emulate. All athletes share the very tangible dream of being on the top step of the podium at medal ceremonies, seeing the tricolour hoisted and hearing the Indian national anthem ring out at international sporting events. Today, let us applaud and honour our sporting achievers. And then, let us all jump on the bandwagon; whether it is by supporting our future Olympians, picking up a racquet/bat/ball, or lending our expertise to those who could benefit from support. Sporting glory beckons.

deepthi.bopaiah@gmail.com

Post scriptum

The subjects for a School Leader A leader needs the right guidance at the right time and this makes all the difference. Leadership cannot be taught, it has to be learned….lines that we read over and over again from all those books that speak about leadership and emerging leaders. History has proved this all. Alexander had to convince the League of Corinth to elect him as his father’s successor (as hegemon), Chandragupta was just an ordinary boy until he was spotted by Chanakya. You make the right moves, the right decisions and have the courage to walk on the untrodden paths and then make or become a leader. School Managements have been worried for long that not many senior school teachers choose to get into leadership or that you do not find the right candidate to fit into your school as the leader. So identification and grooming process of a potential candidate begins early in schools. But then, creation of a leader is just not enough to run an institution. One has to know how to effectively lead your team after becoming the leader. Being a sheer administrator and managing people defines you as a manager. With tender, young crowd and the grooming of the youth of today to grow to be skilled, capable, competent people of the future is certainly not a possibility with a Manager. One has to have the capability of leading the young students and the teachers after acquiring the position of a school leader. To become a school leader, it is important that one understands a wide range of subjects. One cannot claim to be a student of Education or Mathematics or Literature alone, but needs to revisit basic Science, Mathematics and Social History before realizing the value of all these subjects prescribed for study at school. A deep understanding of human psyche, reading on basic theories of education, theories of leadership is a must. Psychology and a basic understanding of the subject may build an understanding of appointment of core team members to your team. Maintenance of discipline in the school and ensuring that rewards and sanctions are taken care of judiciously needs not only study of

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principles of education but a deep sense of spirituality and sensitivity. Giving judgments cannot be considered a right of a school leader, but judgments need to be preceded by thought and sensitivity. Administration needs a study of policies and systems built by great leaders in the past and a certain understanding of political science. Strategies become a part of the leader’s mind and this calls for a liking for philosophy too. There is a very famous saying in the army: wars are not fought in the battlefield, but in the minds of the generals. Strategy becomes an important part of leadership and without strategic thinking, a leader cannot steer the school forward. Thinking strategically in any given situation: be it while handling parents or students or teachers can make a leader a winner or a loser. And strategic thinking begins in the playfield, while watching the students play matches, play scrabble or play chess. Finally comes planning…without planning a school is direction less and an effective leader is one who plans effectively. As a leader you need to have the foresightedness, the vision to carry the school ahead, cultivate the ability to see things ahead of time and think and act like a leader and certainly make a conscientious effort to be morally right. Most of all, you need to inspire and motivate constantly the team that you are leading. One has to know how to effectively lead your team after becoming the leader

vidya@edumedia.in