Why are teachers averse to change?

For any school to develop or for that matter any organisation to grow, change management is the most daunting task. Teachers are the real change agents, and only when they take the onus of leading the change will there be change in a school. No system or school management can succeed without first addressing the challenge of handling the reservations our teachers have.

Over the years the education curriculum has not under gone much change and has not really kept pace with the modern day innovation needs. The teachers have become too comfortable in what they have been doing for years and some may say they do not want to 'sweat it out'. To be the change, you have to first change, and this is what innovation is all about. Many of our teachers are doing the job more as a profession of chance and not a profession of choice. There are very few people for whom teaching would be the profession of first choice. This is where the real challenge lies, today our 'guru' does not stand on the pedestal where our history and culture portrayed them. Likewise the student is not really in 'awe' of the teacher, and this is because his/her needs are not met by the education system. The biggest challenge for us is to make teachers feel real good for being teachers, and make teaching the most sought after profession in the nation. 

The biggest challenge for us is to make teachers feel real good for being teachers, and make teaching the most sought after profession in the nation. 

Teachers have a reason to be 'averse to change', as they find themselves on the receiving end from all the stakeholders in the education process - the parents, the students, the management and even the society as a whole is not really as appreciative of our teachers and their work. The lack  of appreciation, leads to the loss of self-esteem. The urge to live in the age of consumerism, leaves little way scope to be innovators, free thinkers and learners. To top it all the out-dated syllabus and the tools of delivery all make their job most uninteresting. Further, in most cases the students out-do the teachers in life-style and earning capacity, and this makes the teacher even more pessimistic in outlook. Some find that 'once a teacher, always a teacher', makes them quite staid and even brings about a feeling of isolation. The teacher becomes 'victims of thyself', as they believe their destiny is to be stuck in the profession alone.

Many use teaching as a pass time and try to study, pursue programmes and prepare to get better jobs. For them teaching is only seen as a small earning venture for a limited period of time. This is a fallacy as many then end up trying for years to move out, but do not make it. They do not end up giving their best in the class, and end up doing the samelesson plan, the same way all their lives. Only when they see that every student has the potential of being an Einstein and they alone can find the genius in every child, they will value their profession and go on to innovate.

With limited time, limited resources and the huge demand for schooling, we get away with poor quality delivery in any school. This is perhaps another reason for sub-standard teaching and why we get away with our teachers living in denial of the fact that they need to study and improve all their lives. Teaching is a profession with the no entry barrier and teachers have the most onerous task of building young minds, this is not the best environment for academic delivery. Low wages, lack of knowledge, no teaching standards and most of all the never ending population pressure for schooling, make teachers as such quite pessimistic in their outlook, and pardon me for writing 'averse to change'.

For any nation to grow, teachers must be the change makers and should not be averse to change. The teachers will have to go beyond the self, and like soldiers work selflessly as always and help young minds grow to develop into great teachers! There is the need of the hour for the administrators, the governments and the policy makers to work for making teaching the most sought after profession. This alone will help us overcome the teachers' aversion to change, and help us reach our full potential.

The views expressed in this article are those of Sandeep Dutt the author and you may contact him on sd@ebd.in directly please.

Creating Green Schools by mimicking nature!

Imagine being able to embrace nature and all its gifts and yet making economic sense out of it!!  By incorporating learnings from nature or Bio-mimicry into your work, you can increase efficiency in carrying out Wastewater treatment, Solid Waste Management and Organic Gardening. 

Today there exist solutions and  technologies to mitigate pollution in schools, provide substantial cost savings and conserve nature through recycling. Clover Organics Pvt Ltd are currently focused on 3 areas of intervention: wastewater treatment, solid waste management and converting existing gardens into organic gardens. They have very successfully implemented the solutions at The Doon School in Dehradun and The Lawrence School, Sanawar. 

Wastewater is treated scientifically so that the treated water meets Pollution Control Board’s norms, there is no foul odour or vectors and the water can be recycled for non-potable uses like irrigation, floor washing or flushing in toilets. What’s more, the running cost of treatment is reduced as they also use eco-friendly microbes to eat into the organic waste. Thus savings in energy and chemical usage is greatly reduced.

Any organic waste from kitchen and gardens is composted within 45 days without incurring any Capital costs as such. There is no need of any cow dung. They can convert existing gardens into organic gardens through simple techniques. 

The Lawrence School has started receiving > 38 KL of recycled water, which is being used for gardening and flushing. This has freed fresh water of equal quantity and now the School is surplus in water requirements.

You may contact them at: cloverorganic@gmail.com or info@cloverorganic.com 

The Fabindia School uses Fedena to mange the school better

How would it sound to you if you have software that manages the systems and processes of your school or college? Cool, isn't it? No point using primitive school management softwares that are brainchild of amateur developers who could never provide the right assistance and instead, just drop money bomb on the school. But with Fedena, the best management information system to manage schools and colleges, you can just relax. Fedena solves two of the biggest problems encountered in the market today-

Solution to Problem No.1: The Need for customization Schools are not an invention of 20th century. They have been here since the beginning of human civilization. Their systems and processes have undergone constant upgradation from time to time. As a result, schools and colleges have different processes, even if they share the same geographical location. But Fedena school management system has the solution for it! You can easily create new plugins and use it on top of Fedena, without even altering the main source code. The basic version of Fedena is available free and opensource and thus, you have the freedom to customize the school management software, the way you want.

Solution to Problem No.2 : Limited Usage Most of the management information systems are not easy to use and hence, most schools never utilize them. Fedena offers easy User Interface and User Experience design that allows you to use it even if you have basic knowledge in computers and email. And you can start using Fedena in just 10 minutes of your first login! The magic of Fedena is spread to more than 40,000 educational institutions and powers 20 million users all over the world. It already has so many awards and recognitions in its kitty, one of them being the prestigious MIT TR35 for innovation in education domain.

Happy to help you with more information, just email us at sks@fabindiaschools.in

3 Step to move a School from good to great!

What makes a school good?

• Good Systems
• Great Training
• Scholarship Programme

At the core of any vibrant society or any institution we need systems to manage, delivery and achieve our goals. No game can be won without strategy and this is the key to success. Today we have tools and good professional help to put in place systems to build a good school. It’s critical to understand the connection between good people and good systems. Good systems support good performance and drive good outcomes. Systems represent best practices which allow good people to excel. Systems provide consistency and predictability, eliminate waste and guesswork, and free people up to perform at their best. Schools must be better managed and the resources optimally used to help deliver 'affordable quality education'.

The greatest systems, the greatest technology, the greatest ideas in isolation won’t transform an organisation at all levels. Change creation for building innovative schooling and increasing student learning, is possible only if we manage our schools better. We need to put in place best practices and transform the leadership of the institution. To make this possible we need right people, find the right place and do the right job. To put in place this system we need great training. We must not confuse systems with technology or IT as we often do. System is a good process that makes efficient delivery possible. Yes technology is an enabler and a mere tool, it is not a solution.

Training is the key to building the best staff team. With the changing times, we have to continuously align our growth and development to meet the changing needs of the people, the society and the economy. A learning organisation brings to life an ecosystem for intellectual growth and development of the young people. We need to move from competition to collaboration and today the students too have a lot to add in our professional growth and development. The challenge for us is to first connect, then communicate, go on to collaborate and finally create. Knowledge is the epitome of creation, we need to have the best faculty to put in place the most fertile learning environment. To make this happen we have to continuously train and re-train to help deliver the growing aspirations of our people. Teachers today have to be regarded as professionals, like doctors, like lawyers, like managers... they need to keep learning and building up their professional capabilities. Schools Can Change published by Learning Forward explains the way to build transformational leadership and this is best explained in the graphic below. Training is the only way to help leaders find their strengths and we must work hard to build the leader in every teacher of the school.

As stated in Wikipedia, training and development is the field which is concerned with organisational activity aimed at bettering the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings. It has been known by several names, including human resource development, and learning and development. It encompasses three main activities: training, education, and development.

• Training: This activity is both focused upon, and evaluated against, the job that an individual currently holds.
• Education: This activity focuses upon the jobs that an individual may potentially hold in the future, and is evaluated against those jobs.
• Development: This activity focuses upon the activities that the organisation employing the individual, or that the individual is part of, may partake in the future, and is almost impossible to evaluate.

To make education meaningful, it must be inclusive and we need to value each and every individual for his/ her ability and needs. This is only possible if have have a good scholarship programme. Expanding the outreach of a school, is the area of social concern, a scholarship programme to promote the educational interests of the both needy and deserving students and thus helping them in shaping their careers helps make the world a better place. For youth to meaningfully grow and be a part of a harmonious society, we need an egalitarian economic model, we need to equip one and all with quality education. The power of knowledge can not only transform minds but help build sustainable livelihoods. 

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further his or her education. Scholarships are awarded based upon various criteria, which usually reflect the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Scholarship money is not required to be repaid. A scholarship is a grant or payment made to support a student's education, awarded on the basis of academic or other achievement, synonymous with grant, award, endowment, payment for a purpose and must become an integral part of a good school. 

Right from ancient time where wisdom or knowledge was not subject to patients or selfish wealth creation, we have examples of how the haves and have-nots work together in the conquest of knowledge. Education without boundaries is best achieved if we make it available to all without fear and favour. The power of knowledge to help transform lives is well established and is the only path for better livelihood for one and all.

The views expressed in this article are those of Sandeep Dutt the author and you may contact him on sd@ebd.in directly please.