Teachers Travel With You All Your Life

Learning is a lifelong process; it is imperative we have the best teacher accompany us on the journey of life. We may grow up and follow a 'guru' or a mentor, whomsoever we follow the teacher's leadership is supreme, the teacher travels with us for life. The empathy and care our teachers bestow on us will be etched in our memory for life. No matter where you go, you will always carry your teacher in you. The empathy and care our teacher bestows on us will be etched in our memory for life. No matter where you go, you will always carry your teacher with you.

What Makes Teachers Great?
There are characteristics that can predict whether a teacher will be a great teacher even before they get into the classroom. Studies show the teacher is one of the most crucial factors in your child's school success. A poor teacher can set your child back forever; a great teacher inspires them forever.

I discovered some great poetry in Pat Kozyra's book on Tips and Tidbits for Parents and Teachers:

I am a counsellor and psychologist to a problem-filled child,

I am a police officer that controls a child one wild.

I am a travel agent scheduling our trips for the year,

I am a confidante that wipes a crying child's tear.

I am a banker collecting money for a ton of different things,

I am a librarian showing adventures that a storybook brings.

I am a custodian that has to clean certain little messes,

I am a psychic that learns to know all that everybody only guesses.

I am a photographer keeping pictures of a child's yearly growth,

When mother and father are gone for the day, I become both.

I am a doctor that detects when a child is feeling sick,

I am a politician that must know that laws and recognise a trick.

I am a party planner for holidays to celebrate with all,

I am a decorator of a room, filling every wall.

I am a news reporter updating on our nation's current events,

I am a detective solving small mysteries and ending all suspense.

I am a clown and comedian that makes the children laugh,

I am a direction assuring they have lunch or from mine I give them half.

When we seem to stray from values, I become a preacher ,

I'm proud to say, "I am a teacher."

Children require guidance and sympathy and not mere instructions. The degree and certificates a teacher carries will not be of any use, if there is no empathy and concern for the child in the teacher. You do not need a classroom to teach, what you need is a heart with all the room. Look back and recollect the best teacher who touched your heart, who made you feel very special and who had full faith in your ability. A teacher is with you all your life, even today I remember my first teacher in Kindergarten, my special teacher in Class I and others who have helped me find myself. Their love and care irrespective of domain knowledge will always carry me for life. 

As we grow up, we strike a chord with a 'guru' or a mentor and sometimes the person is even a colleague. Learning is from the heart, the mind is a mere knowledge bank. For effective learning the teacher must become an integral part of your life, you will have the teacher in your heart, it is the true disciple who becomes most successful and inherits the mantle of the successful leader.

Building a Professional Learning Community

The aim of the programme should be to EMPOWER rather than advice or train the staff. The school personnel in all probability has years of professional experience which must be valued. The idea is to UNDERSTAND where the teacher is coming from and addresses the issues as we move along TOGETHER. Until the time we are seen at as outsiders, no plan will work in their domain. Moreover, spoon feeding a plan of action will be a trivial exercise bearing no fruit. The government has a hand down approach that is clearly disconnected with reality. A more personalised plan is the need of the hour, wherein, we are the facilitators.

The Art Of Writing At School

In this world of electronic delivery, the art of writing could be the casualty!

We are in an era of instant communication and connecting more; the need to be comprehensive in our writing is losing ground. SMS language, abbreviations and slang are corrupting the art of writing very rapidly. Business at the speed of thought, sometimes even pushes us to share information without thought and editing. Writing has character, a physical form and conveys emotions far more efficiently. The written word is an art form in itself and is very personal too. With the proliferation of the electronic and print media, who knows the handwritten word may be extinct shortly itself. With touch and voice pushing us to new frontiers with gadgets, we may even end up with a paperless world in some years ahead. Indeed, be a heartbreak for the romantics, the writers and the creators of the cursive writing form.

Mission & Vision

Our mission is to help provide better governance, good leadership and build professional learning communities at schools. 

Educational Philosophy My Good School works for the personal and social development of an individual by offering an environment where experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study; this brings to life learning that would otherwise be theoretical and uncoordinated. School teachers have the most important role in delivering quality education. There is an enormous paucity of good teachers, the only way out is in-service training and building a Professional Learning Community.

The Learning
Our work for The Fabindia Schools Programme, demonstrating excellence in school operations, involving the community and establishing a sustainable model for delivering good education in the villages of India, is now being replicated at a larger scale. We believe that the happiness of young people is in the hands of teachers and mentors, and we must do all to help them live their dreams by providing them with the best possible education. Taking ahead this vision and mission, we are working to provide affordable quality education in rural and urban India, by putting in place good systems, offering best in class training and ensuring that we have happy teachers to lead us.

The Professional Learning Community
Brewing Knowledge shows you how to plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so you and your team can achieve success with your system, your school, and your students. We are a group of passionate educators working for professional development and assist our members, to leverage the power of professional learning to affect positive and lasting change. 

Apply For The Principal / Senior Leadership Position

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We have openings for the position of the Principal/ Senior Leadership positions at our partner schools. If you are a serving principal or a senior teacher with a PG degree in English, have worked in a CBSE / CISCE school and have experience with pastoral care, you will have an advantage.  Please fill this form online and we will keep you informed with job opportunities.

Our Educational Philosophy

My Good School works for the personal and social development of an individual by offering an environment where experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study, this brings to life learning which would otherwise be theoretical and uncoordinated. 

Early Academic Training Produces Long-Term Harm

Research reveals negative effects of academic preschools and kindergartens. Post published by Peter Gray on May 05, 2015 in Freedom to Learn

Source: Google images approved for reuse

Many preschool and kindergarten teachers have told me that they are extremely upset—some to the point of being ready to resign—by the increased pressure on them to teach academic skills to little children and regularly test them on such skills.  They can see firsthand the unhappiness generated, and they suspect that the children would be learning much more useful lessons through playing, exploring, and socializing, as they did in traditional nursery schools and kindergartens.  Their suspicions are well validated by research studies.

A number of well-controlled studies have compared the effects of academically oriented early education classrooms with those of play-based classrooms,  in an article by Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Geralyn McLaughlin,and Joan Almon). The results are quite consistent from study to study:  Early academic training somewhat increases children’s immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at (no surprise), but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years and, at least in some studies, are eventually reversed.  Perhaps more tragic than the lack of long-term academic advantage of early academic instruction is evidence that such instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development.

School Leadership Opportunities

We are hiring!
Quality in education consists of happy teachers, a good student-teacher ratio, modern equipment and adequate space and classroom facilities. A good school should offer facilities for retraining teachers and good salaries at par with related spheres. A well-designed school should have modern aids and teaching devices. A school should be a centre for excellence. It should employ good teachers and pay them well. It should encourage a concern for environment and cleanliness. Above all it should be managed by a dynamic Principal and competent, humane teachers.

Above all it should be managed by a dynamic Principal and competent, humane teachers.

Image courtesy : allthingslearning.wordpress.com

As the numbers grow the biggest challenge is school leadership development. Quoting from one of my earlier posts, "... my thoughts were at once directed to the head of the school. Should the principal be the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) with due qualification and degrees? Are owner driven schools, which look at the school purely as a business enterprise better than schools run by charities? Such questions always make us think and we do debate this matter often. Many good schools are owner driven and do not have the principal with the degree of an academician.  What is most important however that the Principal / Head of the School should be the Chief Learning Leader".

If you wish to be the Chief Learning Leader and help transform schools  join us ...

Professional Development Programme (PDP)

In service training  for school staff leadership development

The school may deliver a structured programme with the help of visiting faculty and experts who take time out to work with the school staff and offer eLearning services.

The Fabindia School in association with EBD Educational Pvt Ltd has set up a Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at Bali village and is offering an opportunity to the school staff and schools in the neighbourhood, for up-skilling and professional development. We are happy to share the structure of the PDP and will appreciate teachers and professionals join us in this effort.

Should A Student Leader Be A Mentor Or Monitor?

It is a big challenge for the class teacher to find the best monitor for the class, one who can help discipline the class, lead the class and be the role model. We really need to have in place the leader who can inspire, must value his position and commit to be disciplined. Monitors are often 'high handed',  are not able to live up to the position of responsibility and be impartial in their delivery. The authority of the teacher may not be a sufficient deterrent power at hand with the Monitor of the class. We need the an opinion maker, a leader, an individual best suited for being Mentor, in place of a Monitor.

When the cat is away, the mice are out to play! This often happens when a class teacher steps out of the classroom and young people are left to themselves for a while.

Monitor is one who admonishes, cautions, or reminds, especially with respect to matters of conduct. Also defined as 'a pupil who assists a teacher in routine duties'. A wise and trusted counsellor or teacher is a Mentor. It is a Mentor who is best suited to lead us and  not the Monitor who is there to only watch us and goad us. Class Monitors have the rights and duties to assist the class and subject teachers to maintain a good order in their own classroom.

Monitors as supervisors are required to lead by example (modelling, mentoring, influencing) such that their subjects stay ethically robust in their work, fostering practice wisdom and ethical maturity. At times, supervisors are also working with people who struggle in this regard, indeed supervisors may also struggle themselves.

Mentoring today has even become a profession, most of us look up to a 'guru' a leader who will leave footsteps on the sand for us as 'marg darshan'.  Mentoring is a powerful personal development and empowerment tool. It is an effective way of helping people to progress in their careers and is becoming increasing popular as its potential is realised.

A mentor may be a peer, when we look back to our days at school we will find some individual who really held our hand and did more than just a Monitor could in a class. In school often students help each other to sail through many a tough times. From class work, assignments to emotional support the role of a peer as a mentor is very important. A Monitor must be a mentor, his circle of influence must be beyond a small group, then alone the class will look up to the student leader.

The Role of  a Monitor in the classroom, must be like a Mentor for life.

Who should you choose to lead your class? Having the best set of Prefects in a school or putting in place a School Council is always a major task in every calendar year for the school staff. How to find a Monitor who can be a Mentor? We have a list of attributes that is not complete, it will help you make your own. Find the best individual to be the leader of the class, group or a house in the school.

• Peer pressure, a young person will first succumb to pressure from friends and individuals he or she has in the circle of friends and well wishers. This is a big challenge, a test and even the single most issue in terms of delivering discipline or leadership in a class.
• Value system, is the key to assess an individual's integrity and ability to be valued.
• Physical strength, may look as a way to have delivery with brute force, this is often not a good way to find the best person to supervise or monitor a group.
• Excellence in study, individuals best in academics are often too committed to their cause and will not really want to be the leader you need.
• Individual with a skill,  is a potential leaders, they may sometimes be a little eccentric though!
• Good in a sport, this could be the quality of a team builder, his lack of performance in the class may not make him the best mentor. Often sports participants have a great following and are able to drum up a band of cheer leaders.
• A great communicator, will be motivator, but not always the true deliverer.
• One who tries to appease the teacher, this individual may often be referred to as one who appeases for self needs, is not much appreciated by peers.
• A child of a person of influence, often gets to be a monitor, this individual may not be the best choice as a mentor.
• Compassionate and loving, individuals are best mentors and great monitors too, they are able to win friends and influence people.

The challenges above and the need to develop students as good leaders is what we really need to look at. Mentor or Monitor, it is the real leader who can deliver and make the true difference in leading by compulsion or leading by example.

The Student Leader  must be a Mentor, not simply the one who will be the Monitor or 'minds a class'. We need to look at the attributes of good student leadership to be able to find the best mentor for the class, instead of appointing a class monitor to merely supervise and be the Pied Piper.

Essential qualities for a student leader:

1. Integrity:  Leaders must be true to themselves.  Leaders who behave consistently with their value system inspire trust in their followers and are seen as honest.  Leaders need to know themselves well to be true to their values as well as to create a vision for their group that comes from the heart.

2.  Autonomy:  Leaders must be self-directed.  Individuals who can act without an authoritative figure telling them what to do each step of the way. Such individuals can make the decisions necessary to move their group along towards its goals. Leaders need to see options, make choices and solve problems in order to direct themselves and others. 

3. Group Dynamics:  Leaders must involve group members. Those who assign tasks appropriately to followers and incorporate group members’ ideas into the group vision recognise that they cannot be leaders without followers.  

4. Human Relations:  Leaders must use the human touch. Individuals who create an organisational environment in which all participants feel welcome, respected and valued, are exercising their power well, can maintain group membership and energy. 

5. Positioning:  Leaders must see the big picture.  Leaders need to know which tasks require the help of those outside their own group. 

6. Task Effectiveness:  Leaders must get the job done. Competent leaders match tasks to followers’ abilities and motivations, provide training and understand time management.

These may seem very hard to find in the average student and as much a challenge for the average teacher to spot too. Task delivery is undoubtedly the key point in finding the right person for the right assignment.

Prefects and Class Monitors as mentors are members of the student body who have to be chosen as good role models for others and are willing to help make the school a safer place too. They play a very important role in taking ahead the mission of the school.

References

1. Qualities of Student Leadership - from Troy University website
2. Mentoring versus monitoring: Juggling relationship, discomfort and task - Australian Institute of Relationship Studies

3. Images have been sourced  from  Google User Content online and this blog (www.sdutt.com) claims no design or copyright please.

The author  Sandeep Dutt takes the onus of the content and the opinions expressed are his alone. You may please email the author on sd@ebd.in for comments if any. For more about the author www.sandeepdutt.com