Five Ideas for Teachers\’ Day

Teachers\’ Day is round the corner. Once again, we\’ll have the same old speeches, boring comments and everyone showing so-called \’respect\’ for teachers for one day – then it will all be forgotten till the next year comes around again!

For those of us who feel we need to go beyond the usual platitudes, here are a few straightforward suggestions. As always, your responses and further suggestions would be very welcome indeed!

1. Prepare a \’Teacher Strength Chart\’

On a chart, put a photo of the teacher (could even be children\’s drawing) and write down 5 things that you like about the teacher or 5 good qualities the teacher has. (Every teacher has these, just that some of them may not know they have them.) Who should do this? Students / SMC or parents / CRCC or fellow teachers. Keep the chart up for as long as you want.

2. Invite the teachers\’ families and honour them

Host a function where teachers\’ parents / spouses / children are invited and honour them along with the teacher. Why? Firstly because if a teacher teaches well, gives a lot of time, and lives up to professional standards, the family has to support the teacher and sometimes even make sacrifices. On the other hand if a teacher doesn\’t live up to professional standards, the family will… you get the picture! The SMC or the CRCC would obviously have to take the lead in organizing this, with students\’ help.

3. A special \’sports\’ session for teachers

Teachers have to be so responsible that they sometimes forget what it is to be a teacher. So how about something that helps them recall the time when they themselves were young. So you could organise a kabaddi or cricket match for teachers, or even races. Other possibilities include a Talent Show (whether teachers get to display their skills such as singing or mimicry) or even a picnic. Once again, the SMC with the students\’ help and the CRCC\’s support can easily organize this.

4. Stock the school library with books bought especially for teachers

Ask the teachers what they would like to read – and buy as many of those books for your school library as the budget permits. The CRCC would need to take active lead in this, with guidance from BRC and DIETs/

5. Launch a year-long \’Search for Greatness\’

This is a difficult idea, so read carefully! Every teacher and every school can improve and reach a level far better than what it is today. In honour of teachers on Teachers\’ Day, the SMC and students as well as the CRCC can get together, promise their support and work out how they will improve the school in the year ahead. Together they will discuss what it means for their school to be \’great\’ (and will not focus on infrastructure but learning processes), identify concrete steps to attain this greatness (see suggestions separately in my blog), and work out a phased implementation plan (see ADEPTS). Teachers will naturally be part of this discussion.

You can build on the School Development Plan and dedicate the effort to teachers (of course, they too would take active part in implementing the plan). Inform the teachers that the successes will be because of them, and shortcomings because they would not have got enough support from us (that is our Teachers\’ Day gift to teachers). So this would be a year long effort to show our respect to teachers while also working with them to bring about actual improvement. Neat, no?

Listening Workshops – Or the Simplest Step to Educational Reform

Is \’bottom up\’ change really possible?
If you are an educational functionary, by now you must be fed up of hearing how planning and change have to be \’bottom up\’. By which is usually meant that those who are \’under\’ you must somehow begin to contribute, own and implement a range of actions. And you inwardly wonder if this is ever going to happen!

It was during a discussion on precisely such views that the idea of a listening workshop emerged. Colleagues in the Institute of Educational Development (IED) in BRAC University, Bangladesh felt that a \’listening workshop\’ might help them understand teachers and grassroots functionaries better.

Listening workshop – a straightforward structure
It was agreed that before forming any views, it is critical to simply listen to teachers and head teachers. Hence a straightforward meeting / interaction / workshop was designed around the following three questions that would be asked of teachers and head teachers:

What do you really do? Exactly what does your work involve?
What do you like doing?
What do you find difficult or dislike doing?

It was also agreed that IED colleagues initiating the discussion would only listen, and not prompt or provide leading questions or offer any comment from their side. In other words, they really had to listen rather than talk!

So why is all this worth writing about? Because around ten such listen workshops were actually conducted, and most turned out to have a very interesting pattern, followed by an unexpected twist.

What teachers felt
The listening workshops, it transpired, tended to proceed in the following stages.

Teachers found it really difficult to believe that anyone could come down from the capital only to listen to them! There had to be a \’hidden conspiracy\’ or an \’agenda\’ they were not aware of… It would take anywhere from 40-60 minutes to convince the participants that the intention really was to listen to them. (What do you think this tells us about the functionaries that teachers usually deal with?)
Once teachers believed the above, their initial reaction was that of giving vent to all their frustration and anger at \’you people who sit up there and form all kinds of views about us without ever visiting the field and observing the realities for yourself.\’
Finally, teachers would pour their hearts out on the three questions given above.

The teachers\’ replies have of course begun to inform the work of the institute in many ways. However, it was the completely unanticipated outcome below that left everyone (cautiously) elated.

The unexpected \’reform\’
In the case of a large number of teachers who participated, a few days after the listening workshop it was found that they were implementing many new pedagogical actions in their classrooms! In the entire discussion, at no point had they been asked to make any improvement in their classrooms. So it was not as if teachers did not know improved methods – a large number of in-service interactions had ensured that they had had exposure. It\’s just that they were not using them. But for some reason the listening workshops triggered a change process in the classrooms!

What do you think this tells us about teachers, about their motivations, and about the kind of relationships they experience? If you can bear the initial first hour, isn\’t holding a listening workshop the simplest way to initiate educational reform at the local level?

AIMS OF EDUCATION

The aims of education serve as broad guidelines to

align educational processes to chosen ideals and

accepted principles. The aims of education

simultaneously reflect the current needs and aspirations

of a society as well as its lasting values, and the

immediate concerns of a community as well as broadhuman ideals. At any given time and place they can be

called the contemporary and contextual articulations

of broad and lasting human aspirations and values.

Educational aims turn the different activities

undertaken in schools and other educational institutions

into a creative pattern and give them the distinctive

character of being ‘educational’. An educational aim

helps the teacher connect her present classroom activity

to a cherished future outcome without making it

instrumental, and therefore give it direction without

divorcing it from current concerns. Thus, an aim is a

foreseen end: it is not an idle view of a mere spectator;

rather, it influences the steps taken to reach the end. An

aim must provide foresight. It can do this in three ways:

First, it involves careful observation of the given

conditions to see what means are available for reaching

the end, and to discover the hindrances in the way.

This may require a careful study of children, and an

understanding of what they are capable of learning at

different ages. Second, this foresight suggests the proper

order or sequence that would be effective. Third, it

makes the choice of alternatives possible. Therefore,

acting with an aim allows us to act intelligently. The

school, the classroom, and related learning sites are

spaces where the core of educational activity takes

place. These must become spaces where learners have

experiences that help them achieve the desired curricular

objectives. An understanding of learners, educational

aims, the nature of knowledge, and the nature of the

school as a social space can help us arrive at principles

to guide classroom practices.

The guiding principles discussed earlier provide

the landscape of social values within which we locate

our educational aims. The first is a commitment to

democracy and the values of equality, justice, freedom,

concern for others’ well-being, secularism, respect for

human dignity and rights. Education should aim to build

a commitment to these values, which are based on

reason and understanding. The curriculum, therefore,

should provide adequate experience and space for

dialogue and discourse in the school to build such a

commitment in children.

Independence of thought and action points to a

capacity of carefully considered, value-based decision

making, both independently and collectively.

A sensitivity to others’ well-being and feelings,

together with knowledge and understanding of the

world, should form the basis of a rational commitment

to values.

Learning to learn and the willingness to unlearn

and relearn are important as means of responding to

new situations in a f lexible and creative manner. The

curriculum needs to emphasise the processes of

constructing knowledge.

Choices in life and the ability to participate in

democratic processes depend on the ability to

contribute to society in various ways. This is why

education must develop the ability to work and

participate in economic processes and social change.

This necessitates the integration of work with education.

We must ensure that work-related experiences are

sufficient and broadbased in terms of skills and

attitudes,that they foster an understanding of

socio-economic processes, and help inculcate a mental

frame that encourages working with others in a spirit

of cooperation. Work alone can create a social temper.

Appreciation of beauty and art forms is an

integral part of human life. Creativity in arts, literature

and other domains of knowledge is closely linked.

Education must provide the means and opportunities

to enhance the child’s creative expression and the

capacity for aesthetic appreciation. Education for

aesthetic appreciation and creativity is even more

important today when aesthetic gullibility allows for

opinion and taste to be manufactured and manipulated

by market forces. The effort should be to enable the

learner to appreciate beauty in its several forms.

However, we must ensure that we do not promote

stereotypes of beauty and forms of entertainment, that

might constitute an affront to women and persons with

disabilities.

Hope: Real or Mirage?

It is important to appreciate the recent events in the Middle East starting with the Iraqi election. It doesn’t matter if you are for or against military action, if you believe this will solve the religion’s problems or believe it will make no difference in the long run. The hopeful spirit, while embryonic and uncertain, still deserves our respect. Let’s examine why.

Since the toppling of Saddam’s regime, terrorist attacks occurred on a daily basis with Iraqis as the primary target. The aim is simple: terrorize the Iraqi people into submission. Both Baathist fascists and jihadists seek power to establish the traditional repressive government that is typical of the region. From the day Saddam was removed, Iraqis were fearful of stepping forward and winding on the wrong side of the next dictatorship. Any flicker of hope for a civil society required confidence in their fellow Arabs that was non-existent. Resignation and cynicism suggested waiting for a clear victor before aligning one’s interest with the new regime.

If you remember, prior to the Iraqi election there were doubts that holding the elections as scheduled could produce a meaningful result given chaos and threats of violence. The result, however, was quite meaningful … to the “Arab Street”. What was shocking to the Arab world was seeing their fellow Arabs braving terrorist attacks to vote! How often have you wondered about the value of voting? Imagine having to vote when your life is threatened! Why did they do it? Could one vote matter that much?

Most explanations seek either a compelling concrete payback or chalk it up to some innate drive. Let me propose another explanation. The act of voting itself is a transformational act. It says that one wants to be worthy of living in a civilized society. By voting one acts like a member of a community where arguments are settled at the ballot box and under the protection of the rule of law. When Arabs saw that their fellow Arabs could act in such a manner they gained a confidence in a new future. And it sparked a sympathetic surge for democratic change in other Arab nations.

Of course, this is an aspiration that is emotional in nature. This isn’t an explicit understanding of what liberty is, what makes it important and how to secure it. However, there is a sense that the liberal societal model provides hope; there is, on some level, an awareness that living in a free society brings the good life. Despite all the propaganda and ethnic pride, the West still inspires hope.

But an emotional sense is not an articulated principle, program, or ideology. By itself, it cannot lead to clear and certain progress. At most, by mimicking the success of advanced societies a modicum of progress is possible. By osmosis, trial and error, feeling one’s way in the dark, one can take a few steps toward modernity. However, fear and cynicism are competing emotions. One ultimately needs explicit principles to secure that which is implicitly sensed, to guide specific actions and to defend against the enemies of liberty.

Standing in the wings are the devout Islamists, they have declared the liberal Arabs the enemy and their moral claims – backed by 1400 years of Islam – remains unchallenged. A liberal society will never be secure, if by some accident it is established, as long as these ideas are given respect.

I recently read a poignant example the captures the dilemma in the lives of today’s Muslims. An Iraqi father sent his son to live with relatives in Saudi Arabia in anticipation of the war. During that time he was taught about the Islamic tradition, became devout and adopted a strict puritan lifestyle. When he returned home, the father was saddened to see his joyous boy had become an angry dogmatic stern young man. There was nothing the father could say. His son knew the religion thoroughly and could refute his father’s notions of how a young Muslim should live his life. The only thing the father could do was hope that his son would wake-up from this horrible nightmare. The boy’s childhood friends were called in the hope that he would recall his more joyous days. With temptations and examples, slowly the boy started to soften. One only hopes he makes it back.

How far can emotion overcome dogma? Not for long. Sooner or later Arabs will have to explicitly attack and reject Islamic doctrine. The Islamists aren’t going away of their own free will; they will attack secularized Arabs (or any opponents of theocracy) as Infidels and that is exactly what they have been doing in Iraq. Eventually, if Iraqis ever hope to secure a free and modern society, they will have to aim for the heart of Islam and slay this vicious beast. Unless they do, they will not be able to maintain the joyous optimism of this post-election period. It will have been a fleeting moment – lost to the cynicism and fatalism so familiar in Arab and Islamic culture.

Fighting for reason and liberty.

Ed Hudgins points to the importance of speaking out critically in the face of the horrors of foreign cultures, especially as these cultures are imported to America. “[I]t is imperative to discuss openly and without concern for political correctness of irrational sensitivities that obscure the truth, the moral and cultural foundations of a free society.”

Ed is right. Free Speech is a powerful tool but we must use it! We cannot remain silent about the savagery of foreign religious practices; we cannot lie and pretend there is a moral equivalence between our culture and others; we cannot silently sanction the irrational – primitive or post-modern – in our culture or in the world. We must speak out and make moral judgments.

Speaking of the primitive and post-modern threats to our Enlightenment heritage, David Kelley, has an excellent introduction to the subject and the false alternative between pre-modern faith-based philosophy and secular irrational post-modernism. Most importantly, he defends modernity – reason, science, individualism, liberty, and capitalism. “Who speaks for those values? Who provides the intellectual defense? Who carries the banner of modernity in the culture wars? Among popular writers, Ayn Rand was far and away the most articulate advocate. At the center of her Objectivist philosophy, which she explicitly aligned with the Enlightenment, was a morality of rational individualism.

CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL OF EDUCATION

In the constructivist perspective, learning is a process

of the construction of knowledge. Learners actively

construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas

to existing ideas on the basis of materials/activities

presented to them (experience). For example, using a

text or a set of pictures/visuals on a transport system

coupled with discussions will allow young learners to

be facilitated to construct the idea of a transport system.

Initial construction (mental representation) may be

based on the idea of the road transport system, and a

child from a remote rural setting may form the idea

centred around the bullock cart. Learners construct

mental representations (images) of external reality

(transport system) through a given set of acti vities

(experiences). The structuring and restructuring of

ideas are essential features as the learners progress in

learning. For instance, the initial idea of a transport

system built around road transport will be reconstructed

to accommodate other types of transport

systems—sea and air—using appropriate activities.
The

engagement of learners, through relevant activities, can

further facilitate in the construction of mental images

of the relationships (cause-effect) between a transport

system and human life/economy. However, there is a

social aspect in the construction process in the sense

that knowledge needed for a complex task can reside

in a group situation. In this context, collaborative

learning provides room for negotiation of meaning,

sharing of multiple views and changing the internal

representation of the external reality. Construction

indicates that each learner individually and socially

constructs meaning as he/she learns. Constructing

meaning is learning. The constructivist perspective

provides strategies for promoting learning by all.

The teacher\’s own role in children’s cognition

could be enhanced if they assume a more active role in

relation to the process of knowledge construction in

which children are engaged. A child constructs her/his

knowledge while engaged in the process of learning.

Allowing children to ask questions that require them to

relate what they are learning in school to things

happening outside, encouraging children to answer in

their own words and from their own experiences,

rather than simply memorising and getting answers right

in just one way — all these are small but important

steps in helping children develop their understanding.

‘Intelligent guessing’ must be encouraged as a valid

pedagogic tool. Quite often, children have an idea

arising from their everyday experiences, or because of

their exposure to the media, but they are not quite ready

to articulate it in ways that a teacher might appreciate.

It is in this ‘zone’ between what you know and what

you almost know that new knowledge is constructed.

Such knowledge often takes the form of skills, which

are cultivated outside the school, at home or in the

community. All such forms of knowledge and skills

must be respected. A sensitive and informed teacher is

aware of this and is able to engage children through

well-chosen tasks and questions, so that they are able

to realise their developmental potential.

Active engagement involves enquiry, exploration,

questioning, debates, application and reflection, leading

to theory building and the creation of ideas/positions.

Schools must provide opportunities to question,

enquire, debate, reflect, and arrive at concepts or create

new ideas. An element of challenge is critical for the

process of active engagement and learning various

concepts, skills and positions through the process. What

is challenging for a particular age group becomes easy

and uninteresting for the other age group, and may be

remote and uninteresting at another stage.

So often, in the name of ‘objectivity’, teachers

sacrifice f lexibility and creativity. Very often teachers, in

government as well as private schools, insist that all

children must give identical answers to questions. The

argument given for not accepting other answers is that,

“They cannot give answers that are not there in the

textbook.” “We discussed it in the staffroom and

decided that we will only accept this answer as right!”,

or that “There will be too many types of answers.

Then should we accept them all?” Such arguments

make a travesty of the meaning of learning and only

serve to convince children and parents that schools are

irrationall y rigid. We must ask ourselves why we only

ask children to give answers to questions. Even the

ability to make a set of questions for given answers is

a valid test of learning.

Really Walmart ? Plumbing ??

Walmart closed down five stores in the US. What\’s new ? This happens all the time – stores are closed and stores are opened. So what ? What is strange is the reason it was done and the manner in which it was done.

Walmart announced to its employees two hours before store closing time on Monday last week that the stores were closing from the next day. The reason stated was plumbing problems !! That is the most unusual reason you might have heard for stores to close.

Walmart has a history of treating its workers, shall we say, a little less generously than most other businesses. But , even by their standards, this closure is curious. One of the stores that was closed was at the forefront of a strike a couple of years ago. The whiff, that this was retaliation against the workers is strong. But the other four stores weren\’t the leaders of the strike – so why these five ? Where the four simply lumped together to deflect the real intention to get at those b%^&*s who dared go on strike ?

Telling people two hours before shift ends that they don\’t have to come tomorrow does not appear to be a humanly good thing to do. But there is no place for human feelings in the business world it seems, at least in Walmart. To be fair Walmart is saying that all employees would be paid two months paid leave when they can apply for jobs in other Walmart stores and that if they didn\’t succeed in two months, the permanent employees would be paid some severance pay.

The ostensible logic for the short notice to employees is that apparently if you give them a longer notice, they would all steal the store blind ! A more \”acceptable\” reason is that they don\’t have to legally do any better. Is this what employee relations in Walmart have come to ?

The stated reason for closure is urgent and pressing plumbing problems that have to be fixed. Really ??? Nobody the city or amongst the employees seem to have heard of the \”ongoing and pervasive\” sewer problems before. No permissions have been sought from city councils for any repairs. Its difficult to believe that the emergency closure of stores is really because the loo is leaking.

Even the most charitable view of the issue has to concede that Walmart could have handled the whole thing better. But this is probably a symptom of the real problem – Walmart management does not rank handling employees with care and concern very highly amongst its business priorities. That\’s a sad commentary on the business world. If one of the largest corporations and employers in the world, treats its employees as impersonally as a pallet of stock, then it is no wonder that they are hated as viciously as they are. The very word corporation has become a four letter word. And by their actions, corporations are doing their very best to justify that tag.

What a stink !

Job losses in India too ?

My good friend who goes by the moniker of Vaingluory, at least on my travel blog, messaged me drawing attention to this story . The opinion piece from a headhunter is titled \’Expect 100,000 to 200,000 Jobs to be Lost Every Year For The Next Three Years\’ .

There is a lot of hyperbole in this – I don\’t think India is going to lose jobs at that rate. Certainly not from the IT industry . But there is an undercurrent of truth , and there is a chill wind coming.

In the last 10-15 years, India, especially in the IT and BPO sectors has seen a pace of job creation that has been unmatched in its history. The impact this has had on people\’s lives is very visible in India\’s cities. In any other country, these job numbers would have been a spectacular miracle that would have transformed the country. India has a huge population and hence this is only a small wave in the ocean.

The young have come to believe that this scorching pace is the natural order of things and that anybody can get a job for the asking. Of course, this can\’t last for ever. The IT industry has matured and the rate of job growth has slowed down. That is only to be expected. The days of \”Tresspassers will be recruited\” are long gone ! Companies are not recruiting in the same numbers. They are asking some underperformers to leave. Some have to cut their costs and so some layoffs have happened too. I do not see any evidence that there is going to be a large shrinkage of jobs ; there will be a much slower rate of growth and there will be some layoffs. But the overall numbers is not going to shrink in a short span of time.

But some global trends are inevitable and they will have a big impact. The most important of them is automation. This is an inexorable trend and will affect all industries including IT. This is going to be the single largest impact on jobs. It\’s a global problem without any easy answers.

The second problem in India, is agriculture. Agriculture has always been the sponge – the vast majority of the Indian population is employed (more accurately underemployed) here. This sector is increasingly becoming financially strained, for reasons that are peculiar to India . Small land holdings, a major water crisis, inability to make significant profits, and the extent of risks for which there are no commensurate rewards. All these make agriculture likely to shed jobs on a scale that will be gargantuan. This has profound consequences for India. Manufacturing or services simply cannot absorb this load and even if they could, there is a massive skill gap for agricultural workers to migrate to other sectors.

India has one big advantage – an already strong services sector which will keep growing. This has the capacity to absorb skilled manpower. Touch any area and India has actually a huge potential for job creation. Judges, policemen, health care workers, retail industry workers, logistics industry workers, even professions like carpenters, plumbers, electricians – everywhere we have a shortage of qualified people even today. Jobs will keep getting created in each of these trades. Many of them will be self employed . Many of them may be in the government ; for example if we have to have a policemen to population ratio that is even remotely comparable to other countries, we will need to add millions of policemen. Ditto judges. Ditto nurses.

The issue is skills. India has a young population that is extremely keen on education and willing to work hard. It lacks a real effective skill building initiative. The National Skills Development Corporation, if it really does its job, can transform India.

Your Father knows

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:7-8).

People speak about “the power of prayer.” But prayer by itself does not have any power. The One to whom we pray has unlimited power. No magic words can be sprinkled into our prayers to force him to do what we want. God wants us to pray, but he does not want us to trust in the power of our payers. He prefers that we put all our trust in him.

The Gentile approach to prayer treats the words of prayers as if they have magical powers. Repetition is important for such prayers and incantations to work. In the Gentile world, special times are set aside for prayer and meditation, because those activities are seen as a source of power for the faithful Gentile.

Jesus denies to us these forms of babbling. He gives us no special words to use and no special times to pray. He places no value in the repetition of prayers. Rather, Jesus wants us to treat prayer as conversation with God. Talk to God in a way you would speak to anyone you respect. Have your mind on him as you pray, not on the mechanics of your prayer. Treat God as a Father who can be trusted to love you, to understand you, and to want what is best for you.

Failing to pray is a sin. The person who refuses to pray reveals that God does not matter to him or her. Misusing prayer is also a sin. Prayer itself can become an idol, something worshiped in the place of the true God.

Jesus makes genuine prayer possible for us. Our sins had come between us and God—including our sins of neglecting God and our sins of replacing God. Jesus cancels our sins by his sacrifice. His forgiveness opens channels of communication between us and God. Because the only Son of God sacrificed himself for our adoption, we now are children of God and are invited to call him “Father.”

Genuine natural prayer requires some effort on our part. Such prayer includes struggle, and often our prayers fall short of the ideal. The more we think about prayer, the more likely we are to change prayer into something God never intended it to be. Instead of thinking about prayer when we pray, we think about Jesus. We lift our prayers to the Father “in Jesus’ name,” but not because that name is a magic formula which guarantees that we will be heard and answered. We pray “in Jesus’ name” because the life of Jesus, his death on the cross, and his resurrection have made prayer possible for us. We pray because of Jesus. We pray with our minds and hearts set upon him. J.

Do\’s And Don\’ts for the Head Teacher

In your view, what are the three things a head teacher should NOT do?

And what are the three things she SHOULD do?

Your comments are awaited! Please enter in the comments section below. Later, I\’ll bring out a summary of comments received.

(As you can guess, an in-serve training programme for head teachers is under development, and your contribution will be both acknowledged and appreciated!)

Do\’s And Don\’ts for the Head Teacher

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