Dealing with Social problems - The Chanakya way

Once Chanakya and chandra Gupta Mourya were taking a round around their kingdom. Chanakya stepped on a thorn.. He immediately removed it from his foot and threw it aside. Then, plucked the thorn plant out and threw it aside. They both continued their path...
The next day both of them were back on the same path. But this time Chanakya got a pot of milk with honey mixed in it. He reached the same spot where the thorn plant existed. He emptied his pot of milk in that exact spot. Chandra Gupta was very surprised. He asked "Chanakyaji, may I know the reason behind pouring that pot of milk in that place?"

Chanakya said -'Chandra Gupta, you remember yesterday there was a thorn plant over there and I had plucked it out. Thorn is a problem... When I removed the plant I had addressed the problem to some extent. But, there is more chance for the plant to grow back in that same place in a weeks time and again harm any other people who pass by this way. When I pour the milk mixed with honey, the root remains of the plant would observe the milk. And this would attract ants and insects and they would finish off the remaining root parts completely. A leader has to operate not just in the effect level but he has to also operate in the cause level. He has to go to analyze the root cause of any problem and try to eradicate the cause and not just the effect."

Most of the social problems ultimately drill down to education as the cause.. abandoned children, abandoned elders, female infanticides, etc. are basically because of lack of 'right' education. And by education I do not mean the education system that is prevalent widely right now in our country. By education I mean the right knowledge, skill and attitude imparted to an individual to help him lead a peaceful life. An education that not just raises the standard of living but also the standar of life of people.

By setting up orphonages, old age homes, etc we are majorly addressing the effect... And if we ignore to address the cause, i.e. 'right education' ... well... any logical mind can guess what would happen..

Please do not mistake me.. We definitely need people to operate in the effect level. I am not criticizing that.. but over here I would request people to also give more importance to address the issues in the cause level.. Put your efforts to clean up the mess in education.. Voice out your concerns.. participate in building better educational instituitions..

Even a child knows what has to be better in school or what has to be changed in education.. But unless parents wake up to the 'right' education required, the system will not change...

Anybody can pick a paper lying down and throw it in the dustbin.. But it needs a lot of effort to go and educate thousands to throw the waste in the dustbin...!

Educating takes time.. but it is long term..

Let's not just be missionaries.. But let's also be visionaries...

Excuse me...

In the coming few blogs I am going to share some excerpts from the book 'What do you really want for your children?' by Wayne W. Dyer

I am choosing this below excerpt because it deals with what we are exactly talking about -'How to let the child blossom' and not inhibit...

Typical child and parent behaviours which INHIBIT inner development. 


punishing children for telling the truth, thereby making lying and blaming much more sensible alternatives, in their eyes for the future.

Being a person who uses excuses and blames others. "I never got anywhere in life because of - my spouse, my parents, the economy, or whatever."

Using "Its not my fault" as a regular part of your vocabulary.

Using pills and medicines for all sorts of pains and troubles, and encouraging your children to believe that pills will make them better.
(I especially liked the above point. That's something I too believe in strongly.)

Doing their homework for them because it is too hard for them to tackle.

Putting the major emphasis in life on being right. Encouraging aging children to never admit to being wrong by never ding so yourself.

(What a point! :) When I joined EZ Vidya I had a major block on whether what i am doing is right or wrong. And I would be surprised that the organization believes that 'its ok to be wrong!'. When I go and train teachers, I can see the same block even with the teachers. And they would be surprised that in our sessions we would emphasis that mistakes are part of learning and its ok to be stupid!')


Being concerned with impressing others in your dress, purchases and lifestyles.
(So true. In fact while I was teaching the higher secondary students for couple of years, I have observed that all that they are proud of is the latest gadgets they posses, the 'in thing' vocabulary they use, etc. And as part of my teaching I would stress a lot on 'Its not important as to what you have outside. but its more important as to what you have inside your head')

Demanding that they respect you and parenting out of fear.
(I am loving this... Its really true that most of us think, even unconsciously or subconsciously, that by instilling fear, people would listen to what I say and also that there is a lot of respect that i earn. But a little pause and a sensible thinking is all that is needed to understand that the respect that is earned through fear is not really going to help. In the last training that I had in one school I was having an interesting chat with one of the higher secondary teacher. She was complaining that few children were not learning well in her class. And the only question I asked her was 'Do you smile at those students? Do they like you?' Its not possible that we always scream at someone and expect them to well behave and learn well in our class when we are conveying the message that 'I care a damn about you. Better do what I say.' For any person who wants to be a sensible leader, this is a very key point.)

Making grades more important that knowledge...

Well, i am going to stop here. Let's internalize these points for now. I shall continue with other points in my next blog...

Chalta Hei....

"It is just this small paper.. How does it matter if I don't put it in the dust bin. Let me throw it here itself. Chalta hei..."


"How does it matter if I pay an agent just 200 extra to get me a confirmed ticket during holidays! Chalta hei."


"How does it matter if I don't vote!"

"How does it matter if I jump the signal. any way police is not around. Chalta Hei."


It did  cost us a lot when we allowed the EAST India Company to establish itself and rule us comfortably for over 300 years! And it solely happened because of this Chalta hei attitude!


Even the other day I noticed a hand pop out of a car window and throw a fruit drink can right in the middle of the road!

It doesn't matter much if an uneducated guy does that. At least we have a reason he is 'uneducated'! But why do we as educated adults make these 'chalta hei' mistakes!

Take a look at the list above once again and let's reflect how much of those we have done or we continue to do! Though they seem seemingly small, it really magnifies in many forms at different levels.


It is this chalta hei attitude that cost the nation.. that has cost many lives.. and would come on us heavy if we don't realize its effect right now...

If you are worried about the corruption of CWG, 2G spectrum, Adarsh, etc. be more worried about such seemingly trivial behaviours by the common man which includes us...

it is important we don't fall under the chalta hei attitude and also wake up people around from such a thoughtless attitude...

It is also important that you leave a comment for this post... 'Don't think 'How does it matter if I do not comment!' It does really matter dear Gentlemen and women... :)

What do you do!

"What do you do?"
" I work in an organization that is working in the education sector. We have a curriculum. We train teachers. We come up with lot of interesting and innovative teaching methodologies to make learning engaging and effective."
" Oh so you are a teacher"
" No. No. I kind of teach the teachers."
" Oh"

I have kind of explained what I do in as many ways as possible to my relatives, but ultimately the maximum that they can understand is that I am a personality development guy!

On a casual chat with other colleagues of mine, they too shared the same pangs..

Not to blame anyone, but the field of training, education consulting, etc. is so new in India that there are many people who are yet to recognize it as a respectable way of employment!

My mom still thinks I am kind of doing some social service. :)
Not just in the education field but in many other field, many new and varied courses have come in. Honestly I was not aware that such a stream of work exists when I finished my +2. Even now I am sure many youngsters in our country are not aware of the varied opportunities available in this 21st Century.


And isn't it true that we are actually preparing our students to the future and not just for the present! With the kind of technological advancements happening at lightning speed across the globe we need to surely expect drastically new and different kinds of job profiles that would be awaiting this generation of learners.

Having understood this, it is important as educationists and parents to allow the child to explore and innovate different opportunities.

And so, there is somebody waiting at my door to understand what I do.. Let me try my best now..
                                                                                                            (courtesy: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com)
Let the child blossom to face the future and not just the present!

Wish you a happy green and clean Diwali...

Education is one concept that is most commonly associated with lamp / light.

There is many significance associated with light...
- It symbolizes the beginning of knowledge
- It represents knowledge
- It represents prosperity, and more.


And this Diwali (Deepavali - array of lights) lets ignite that light of knowledge in us and celebrate the death of Ravana(negative tendencies) and the coming back of Rama (Positive tendencies) within each of us.
Let us educate our children behind the significance of this idea behind the festival...

Some tips tomake this Diwali green and clean:

-Make sure you clean up the place after bursting crackers
- Please do not chock the drainage with the cracker covers and boxes...
- Let's celebrate the Diwali to the fullest by bursting crackers till we are exhausted... But let us also adopt few plants and nurture them post diwali to balance the act of pollution.. :)

- Dot stick to Television movies and celebrity interviews... There are many people to listen to them... But only you are there to listen to your family... :)
- festivals are the best time to spread the message of love and sharing... So share your joy and gifts with your near and dear ones...


Wish you all a green and clean Deepavali... have a blasting festival...

You are intelligent...

I was in one of the well known private school a year back for a 2 day training for students on my favourite topic 'Thought blocks'. As I was conducting the session I asked the students to close their eyes and raise their hands IF THEY THINK THEY ARE INTELLIGENT.

There were around 300 kids from various schools between the age group 15 to 18 and I was surprised when only 20 to 30 kids raised their hands!

That means only 20 to 30 kids even think they are intelligent! what about the rest?
This became the point of my study for the rest of the sessions to follow. I raised this same question to many students and even personally to many students and what I observed was stunning!

Majority of the students felt they are not intelligent!

What an irony! Kids go to school to become intelligent and here is a situation or rather a crisis where majority don't even consider themselves as intelligent!


Why this situation! And is it at all important to make every child feel he/she is an intelligent person!

I don't know the answer. But according to my logic may be it is because as parents and teachers, after a certain age, we only point out the mistakes of a child than highlighting the good things that they do!

I have had incidences where few of the parents walk up to me and get overtly worried about their kids. I just ask them to tell few good things about their son/daughter and they take a long pause before saying the good things! They have to think so much for that!


what is more important than making a person feel good, feel intelligent, feel great! Yes... everybody has weaknesses and everybody does mistakes... Lets try to highlight the best and leave the rest...

A child deserves to feel intelligent.. That's the real human rights!

LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM!

Come to our school please...

Chat with a 4th standard student...

She - "Hi. Can I see your cell phone."
Me - "Sure. Here. Take it."
She - "What pictures are there?"

And I showed her a few pictures and then there was this Teacher's day pictures where in children have written why they like their teachers. So she stared reading what is written in there. And then she turned and asked me - "What do you do?"
I said -"I take class for teachers."
She - "Teachers! What do you take for them"

 So I asked her - "which teacher do you like and why?"

She said -"I like my math teacher, because she doesn't beat anybody. I also like my English teacher because she is very beautiful."

So I told her - "This is what I teach teachers. How to take class without beating." (Obviously I can't tell her all the stuff that I do. She wont understand.)

and then I could see a smile in her face and she said - "Will you also come to my school?"

I just smiled.


The other day I saw in a school a teacher twisting the hand of a student and pressing an other boys ears hard with both his hands!
---------------

Is it so difficult to discipline children without beating?

Is it so difficult to bring about a change in children using love?

I have been a teacher too and I absolutely feel it is the inability of the teacher to handle kids without getting  beating. It is their weakness. What is your take?

My dear teacher... i like you because...

Courtesy: EZ Vidya's signature campaign on teacher's day across Chennai schools...

Who was your favourite teacher and why you liked him/her?

What do you really want for your children?

I was fortunate to get a hand on Wayne Dyer's book 'What do you really want for your children?'. I have seen many parents worried about their child's behaviour. "He is not able to decide something on his own. But his younger sister is very clear what she wants!" "He is not mingling with relatives." "He is not having many friends." "He sits in front of the TV for a long time." and so on... One very important exercise we need to do is to list "What we really want for our children?" Once we are clear what we want to build in our children the next step is to work towards it, to devote time to help your child to think on those lines.

Suppose you think that you want your child to take 'informed decisions' then look for the opportunities to trigger the thinking.
"Mom! I want an ice creame!"
instead of you saying "No. No. Not at this time!" ask
"remember what happened last time when you had ice cream at night?"
"No!"
"remember you got a soar throat and then cold. and then we had to give you medicine! You still want to eat ice cream now or you think we can have it in the morning!"
"Hmmm... "
(I don't know what a child would decide. But At least we are making the child to think on the effect of a decision and then make the choice. :)

The book was a very interesting and thought provoking one! If you come across one, please send me a copy too... :)

LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM

The hurried kids

Lights on. It was interval time in the theater. A kid who was sitting beside me started asking her mom - 'Why they are putting the light?' 'why only few people are going?' 'why we are not going?'

Kids always are full with questions. They are in this world trying to understand what is happening around them. after a ten month darkness the child is out in the light suddenly. It is out from a world of stillness to a fast paced world. it is out from a place where it could only hear her mother's voice to a world where technology speaks more than humans!

It is a feeling that we have gone through and forgotten. But it is important we try to empathize with the child and what it is thinking and why it is thinking. A child learns the most from the age 1 to 6. And what is learnt within this age probably remains with the child for a long time. And as parents and teachers we need to AWARE of the impressions, the thought process that we are going to leave behind in our children.

few principles that we need to keep in mind is -
1. Kids are not miniature adults:
They will run around in the restaurant. They cant sit in one place when guests are home. They WILL be 'naughty'. they will shout. They will break things. Kids are kids. we need to accept that.

2. Every child is not the same.

My 2nd child need not develop all the cognitive and socio-emotional skills that my first kid developed at a particular age. The learning pace is different for every individual. we need to be patient and allow the child to progress at its own pace. we need to wait for the flower to blossom. It is a crime if we force the flower to blossom at our pace!


there is no point in hurrying the kids in their cognitive and emotional abilities. We would probably end up damaging more to the kid. How sensitive are the nursery and kindergarten schools in our country to the child's learning. are they caught in a race to show that they prepare the kids faster than other kindergarten schools around. is it the fault of the parents to HURRY their kids to adults! The moment a child goes to school the parents expect the child to master the art of writing the alphabets from A_Z! If it is not happening they question the schools and the schools not aware of the child learning theories are left without reasons to convince the parents or educate the parents.

when a child asks us a question we are busy enough to just TELL the answer rather than taking the child through a thought process to help the child discover the answer. We feed the child rather than teaching the child to fish!

The other day I remember a kid said looking at the speedometer - 'Look. A clock' it is easy to say it is not a clock and it is a speedometer and go ahead with your other work. but it is important to lead the child to observe, list the differences between a clock and this device and then let out the name to the child. This helps the child to build a thought process rather than memorizing an other gadget's name!

 NO HURRY. :) what  is important is to teach the child to fish. stop feeding.. :) Let the child blossom.

There was 'hachal machal' in the house. Today was a big day for Rahul... Its D day of interview. Rahul's parents are running in all directions to help out Rahul to do well in the interview. Time ticks 8 and the whole family leaves the house. Rahul's parents are thrilled more than Rahul, because it is their dream organization. All their friends' and relatives' daughters and sons are part of this great organization. They forsee a great future for rahul if he is part of this org.

They arrive at the venue. Lot of other parents and candidates are waiting at the lounge. It is Rahul's turn now. He is been called inside. There is a panel of 3 members sitting at the desk. they fire question one by one. They smile for some answers. They seem to be dejected for a few other as if Rahul has wasted all his life by not knowing answers for such questions.30 minutes later he is out from the room. Parents eagerly run to him... He seems shaken. Rahul's parents are now called inside.

The interviewer says - 'Rahul is ok. He doesn't seem to know most of the things. You should have prepared him a bit more. But nevertheless  we will put him in waiting list. we will send you an intimation by next week.'

Dejected parents come out of the room. Rahul doesn't seem to be dejected. He is just happy as usual with his Jetix dolls and lolly pop. After all he is just 30 months old in this world.

As the family return to their house in their car they see an advertisement - 'Pre-KG admissions open. Hurry. Limited seats'

let the child blossom.

Where is the child in me!

'Catching insects'
'Climbing trees'
'Counting steps'
'Collecting stamps'
'Collecting coins'
'Colouring'
'Making insect boxes'
'Rolling stones on the road'
'Making paper boats during rain

The list goes on! Who doesn't wants to go back in time and cherish the childhood memories. :)

Where is that child in me! Where is that curiosity! Where is that happy mood! where are those innocent questions!
Are they dead or are they all just hiding deep in me!
Are they gone forever or are they just lying low!

most of us at lest at one point or the other think with a sigh "wish I remained as a kid!" :) - No worries, no responsibilities, no rules of adult world!


Do you have the child still alive in you - who is inquisitive to learn new things, who is quick in forgetting small fights, who smiles with innocence, who enjoys being in his world!

Let the child blossom in me and in you!

Need for Jambavans!

It may be an over hype by the media or it may be a reality. I cannot conclude sitting 2500 kms away -  I am talking about the Common wealth games scam. one thing I would like to divert our attention to is the capability of Indians to plan out our work and work out our plans! 'Loot. But at least finish the work in class!' is what I want to say to Kalmadi!

Touch your heart and say how many times you would have started preparing for your exams only a week before! touch your heart and say how early you get ready to go to your office! touch your heart and say how many times,  how many things you would have forgotten to take to a trip!

Many of us even think that our best comes out only when we work at the 11th hour. The creative tension is what gives us a 'kick'!

whereas one thing that I admire about the west is their ability to plan! whether they execute or whether the things go as per the plan is secondary. But the way they meticulously plan is what we need to appreciate. I also sometimes wonder is it because of this organized culture that they had that made Indians admire them when the British stepped into India. And whether it was this ability that made us a slave to them.

The magnificent buildings in Marina beach, the mount road, the central station buildings, the Rippon buildings! If you actually think there was no need at that point of time for the Britishers to build such huge roads and buildings. But thank god they had built it that way. Or else imagine the chaos! 

Are we Indians very short sighted! are we really lacking the skill to plan! Should the schools start preparing students to analyze, plan from long term perspective, visualize and look beyond!

Ask a teacher what she is doing and majority of the teachers may just say "I teach!". Aren't the teachers the nation builders! Aren't teachers the creators of a generation! aren't teachers the architects of  the future! Unless we wake up this fact to the large teacher community, who are just like 'Hanuman' who forgot all his strengths , we are going to continue to produce short sighted, self centered and unorganized  generations after generations!

We need 'Jambavans' to come and wake up the thousands of ignorant 'Hanumans'. Once they wake up no body can stop them! :)

Jai Hind!

INTENTION

How do we help children develop good intentions and get out of their tensions?

Even a 3 year old kid today uses the word tension so naturally. "Mom, don't disturb me. I am in tension." Children pick up the lingo quite quickly from the people around. They start imitating the elders around. We all know this. All of us, at least most of us, definitely would have played the role of a teacher or mom or dad when we were young. :)

In recent times I have seen many children picking up some of the lingoes used by comedians in films. Those in Tamil Nadu would understand this better - the dialogues of Vadivelu and Vivek like 'vanduttaanya vanduttaanya!" 'risk ellam engalukku rusk sapdaramaadiri!' have become so common with the kids here. Its because the elders use it commonly and also television channels keep playing these over and over.

and so it is important for us as elders to be 'CONSCIOUS' of what world we are creating for the children and in the children.

I have especially highlighted the word CONSCIOUS because it is sad to note that many of us are not even 'aware' what impressions we are creating in children using our language and actions!

The other day I was walking through a street and I saw a man kicking a 2 year old boy. So naturally the kid is going to imitate the man!

I truly believe that children have to be exposed to good intentions. They need to experience noble intentions. take some time and ponder upon this term 'intention'. Behind every good man, behind every successful action, behind every smiling face, behind every true friend, behind every true mother what is there is this INTENTION. any action in itself is not good or bad, it is the intention that makes it good or bad. Do you agree? Think!

And these intentions are very powerful. It can change the course of any individual and even a nation! If the intention of a CEO is to make 100 Billion dollars then only money matters! If the intention of a politician is to get the minister birth, then his actions are driven by that.

So a question for all parents - What is your intention behind your child's growth? Is it that he has to take care of you when you are old? Is it that he has to be an engineer and get you good name? is it that he has to be the first always? Or is it 'LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM'?

I am leaving the blog with lot of loose ends. I have not connected all dots. It is because I have an intention behind writing this blog.

'THE world' vs 'MY world'

I saw a very interesting presentation by Devdutt Pattnaik in TED (East vs west - The Myths that mystify). He spoke on the basic cultural difference between East and west and as a result the difference in the business structure between these paradigms.

One point that really set me thinking was the way he connected the story of Ganesha and Karthikeya going around the world to get the divine fruit. while Karthikeya set out in his peacock to go around the Earth for 3 times, Ganesha just went around his parents thrice and got the divine fruit. :)

karthikeya went around 'THE WORLD' but Ganesh went around 'HIS WORLD' !!! Think!
and this is what I would call as making a 'WORLD of difference' :) Thanks to Devdutt

While most of the parents are more concerned about alighning the child to THE World, they hardly dive into the 'MY World' of a child and get to know his dreams, aspirations, values, etc, etc.

I came across the mission statement of a 'so called' good school, it read something like- ' To prepare students to fit into the society...'

lets zoom into the word 'fitting'. is fitting the students into the society the goal of a school. Then are we not completely ignoring the 'My world'of the child and only 'Moulding' them to FIT into 'THE WORLD'!

Lot of educationists also proudly claim that they 'MOULD' the children. I can only remember a potter moulding a pot! Imagine the state of the child whom every teacher is trying to 'mould' according to 'THE World' of the teacher / parent.

'Do like this. Don't do like that!'
'DO MBA. That is the 'in' thing now.'

Look around people who made a mark in the history. They are the ones who d
ared to live by 'Their World' and not 'THE world'. While the world belived that EARTH was flat one person stood by 'HIS world'. It took almost centuries to really understand his world.

While the whole world was going towards violence, one person stood by 'HIS WORLD of non-violence' and proved to the world the power of non-violence.

There are many ways to interpret the concept of 'MY world and THE world'. lets think about it.

Lets start listening to the child's world. Lets start understanding the child's world. lets start nurturing the child's world.

Lets 'LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM'

MBA / NBA ('Namesake' Business Administration)

"What is your name?"
"Me Parthasarathy"
"So you have done your MBA in HR."
"Yes"
"Please tell something about you."
and then followed a conversation that ended up strengthening my fear that a 'Namesake degree holdres' in our country is growing in number.

I really pity those youngsters who are swayed by the mob and end up fooling themselves by getting some degrees for name sake. My conversation with this guy really left me worried on the way degrees have been given so loosely. An MBA graduate who cannot speak English. A Hindi graduate who cannot speak Hindi. An engineering student who cannot engineer on his own! These are just a few. Look around the number is enormous.

I was referring to the article in ToI the other day on lack of employability skills in Indian graduates. The statistics clearly says that a huge problem is awaiting Indian graduates who would be left behind due to lack of these employability skills.

I believe the problem again boils down to lack of inspiring teachers who can model, aspire, dream, think, motivate and really inspire students to think beyond and explore the innumerable possibilities, opportunities and follow their dream.

A university rank holder and a gold medalist (Don't ask me how many students did the course along with me.. :p) I had all the time in the world during my college time, still, looking back, I feel I could have learnt much more if at all I was awakened to the 'awe'  of learning, pushed to think beyond, challenged to explore...
I feel I wasted my time and just got some degree for name sake. I too was one of the 'namesake' degree holders.

And I didn't want to continue being like that. I applied in many colleges and seeing the course material and quality of questions and assessment I feared I would again land up getting a NSD(Namesake degree) and dropped out of my masters several times.

I was eagerly waiting to see my first semester results in MBA education management from a reputed distance education college. I know how much time I had spent preparing for the exams - Hardly 2 hours for each paper! The results were out and I couldn't believe myself. I passed the semester with 56% marks!

Now, I could have continued my studies and could have easily got a degree and proudly say that I am an MBA graduate. But my conscience wouldn't let me do that. I didn't want to  be a NSD. I didn't want to learn some random stuff which were mostly recall type and score marks and get job!

 And what use is the mark if I don't know where I lost the rest of the marks! Of what use is the mark going to be if I do not know what strengths in me got me the 56% score! And what use is it for the company that is going to employ me by seeing my marks! What insights is this so called MBA degree going to throw open to them about me!

I would rather wait for the day when the universities in the country would offer a more constructive and higher order curriculum than wasting my money in acquiring a NSD and following the mob.

I was really feeling proud for those boys out there who made the smallest satellite and set it in the orbit. Youngsters must draw inspiration from them and learn to learn.

Hats off to those young boys who made the country and their family proud. Sure, they are not the NSD holder's who would be a burden to the country and for themselves.

LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM

?DIPUTS os yhw

When was the last time I did something new?

When was the last time I thought about my thinking?

When was the last time I really did some 'THINKING'?

When I first heard this question – 'when did you think last?' I said, of course I am thinking 24x7. What a stupid question this is! And then I REALLY started to THINK!

 

Am I really thinking or am I just……. 'Rethinking' ?

Am I really thinking or am I just……. 'recollecting'?

Am I really thinking or am I just……. 'remembering' ?

 

Am 'I' really thinking?

Am I 'really' thinking?

Am I really 'thinking'?

 

(Man! I am proud of myself, for, I remember my English lesson on 'stress'J This was one lesson I really enjoyed. How the meaning of the same sentence changes depending on the stress on a particular word! )

Edward De Bono in his book 'Why so stupid' claims that human race has never really learned to think! What an audacious statement!

'We brush, we eat, we think!' is what he says. We are not really thinking. We are just browsing our memory and doing what is being stored in there. We are most of the time remembering and recollecting than really thinking.

Thinking about 'thinking' is a PhD by itself. There is so much to think, evaluate, analyze, debate and conclude.

But it would be a valuable exercise to start thinking about these questions.

Let's begin our first step towards thinking and do this simple exercise.

1. List down 6 random words and form a story. Give the same 6 random words to few other people and see what story they form. Share over here, whether they were similar stories or were they completely different. Do it with elders and do it with children as well.
   

It's an interesting exercise right! Share your experience. We would then discuss further.

 

LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM!

GIVE ME AN OTHER CHANCE...

What a thrilling FIFA quarter finals yesterday. the BIG guys - Brazil dropping out and the last African team missing its chance for glory.

When I saw Gyan missing the last chance of penalty he had the song that hit me was -
"Give me some sun shine.. Give me some rays...
Give me an other chance I wanna grow up once again"

Na..na..na..na...

GIVE ME AN OTHER CHANCE....

Imagine the emotions that Gyan would have faced when he missed that easy opportunity! They could have easily gone to the semis and made history! The next chance they are going to get is only after 4 years! And by the time a see of change could happen!

Does this ring a bell when we connect it to education?

It definitely rings a bell for me.. But let me leave it to you to share your thoughts.

Schools that L‘EARN’!

No. I am not going to talk about whether schools are over exploiting with fees or I am also not going to talk about education becoming business. I feel educational institutions becoming more commercial is fine. But, in the process what schools need to keep in mind is what I would like to discuss here about.
First let us list some advantages of educational institutions becoming commercial. I have come across many such schools who charge fees substantially. Some positives things that I observed in this trend is that –

1. Schools are equipping themselves with more infrastructure and sophisticated learning environments
2. Schools are slowly moving beyond booking knowledge to at least positioning themselves as catering to the holistic development of a child
3. In the competition, each school is also trying to position itself as one step ahead of the other so called 'best' schools

So I am seeing development and growth because of education becoming commercial. I am not going into the negatives now. Let us keep that aside as of now.
While it is a healthy climate to see growth, what is worrying is when schools empower themselves for the sake of earning and not learning, when schools better themselves for attracting parents but not for benefitting students.
'Air conditioned classrooms.'
'Air conditioned library'
'Smart boards in every class'
It is very important for a school to equip themselves with latest technologies. But at the same time Air condition is a luxury over empowering teachers on various new methodologies of teaching! 'Project based learning' has been a buzz word in the west almost for the past 2 decades. But How many of our school heads would have tried and implemented it. How many of the schools are open to learn new things in teaching or open to bringing in a student centric approach or creating a culture of thinking in classrooms! While majority of the schools have budget allocated for books, sports equipments, teaching aids, technology, etc. it is saddening to note that not many have a budget allocated for empowering their teachers. And even if they have, it is very minimum and suffices just to put a record in the books that they are empowering teachers.
We stop learning when we feel we are full. So what would be the state of a school whose head feels he is full / his school is the best / he knows everything. The learning stops and they are no longer available for learning new things.
In the last week times of India there was a half page article on 'Innovations in education' and it stated that in a decade the world is going to face a huge crisis. The number of degree holders would be much more than the job demands. India has a greater chance but at the same time Indians face a big problem. We lack 'employability skills'. Empathy, working in teams, being a team player, motivation-all these fall under the employability skill. I have seen MBA graduates who can't speak English properly! So there are lot of youngsters out there who think they would get a job if they have a degree!
The process has to start from school. The teaching has to extend beyond textbooks to different levels of Blooms. Unfortunately, though Blooms taxonomy is taught in B.Ed. schools the application is just in examination level and teachers don't remember it beyond that.
'It is good to earn. But don't stop to learn.'
I end this blog with this punch dialogue. J
LET THE CHILD BLOSSOM


Leave your comments below.

The ‘Expected Answer Seeking’ Syndrome

Q1 - "You all enjoyed the previous blog right?"
Q2 - "So what are your comments on my previous blog?"


Q1 - "Is there a difference between the above two questions?"
Q2 - "What do you think about the above two questions?"

Now, are we able to see the difference between the Q1 questions and the Q2 questions? The answer that I am expecting from you is "YES". This is exactly what we are going to talk about – The expected answer seeking syndrome. J And the largest community that is suffering from this syndrome is the teaching community. And they religiously pass on this syndrome to generations after generations. Please don't mistake me that I am being very pessimistic about the teacher community. Are you getting me wrong? NO…? YES…? NO…? This is when we really get confused and the syndrome works out really well.

Tell me if you have not been put in such a situation, where you are been asked a question. You answer and the tone of the teacher would tell you that the answer that you gave was not the expected answer and if you are intelligent enough, you would take the clue and change your answer without even understanding the reason!

Tell me if you have not experienced a situation where you want to tell something but you KNOW somehow that the person who is asking the question will not be pleased by your answer and you just give out the answer that would please the questioner!

This syndrome is the greatest enemy of creativity. If I am suffering from this syndrome I rarely appreciate unique and creative answers. I would even say I don't understand what it means to be creativity or I would not be able to appreciate seeking unique answers. It is just not there in my dictionary.

Rewind a bit to the school days and recollect such incidents. A question in a 3^rd standard annual exam – "_______ adds beauty to face?" Without the context of a lesson you could answer smile, hair, makeup or whatever you want. But in the context of the lesson 'Teeth' the expected answer is – teeth. While the teacher was teaching this topic I remember a child got up and asked "Ma'am, a child is not having teeth but still it is so beautiful right?"

What a brilliant observation and question. But the question was lost in the syndrome. The teacher just smiled and asked the students to underline the word teeth in the sentence – Teeth adds beauty to the face.

Coming late – How many teachers would have got irritated even if we had genuine reasons? "Look at his audacity. Why can't you just say sorry?' So the expected answer is just sorry and the teacher would be satisfied with that.

Imagine the situation where a principal has a doubt that a particular teacher has not been teaching well and he wants to prove that her students know nothing. When the objective is to prove that the students are stupid the questions will be framed in a way that the students will be seen to be stupid. It is as simple as that. And even among them if some student is trying to make a mark he would not even be appreciated and even more tougher questions will be thrown.

The only solution for this problem is…

I am sorry. I don't know. J Please leave your comments on what you think on this topic.


"You enjoyed the blog right?" J
J
J

On a mission…

Mission teaching and mission parenting:


It is tiring, it is challenging, it is fettering, it is fretting. But what can make this mission a mission of joy, discovery and success is the mantra ‘Let the child Blossom’

It is a powerful statement that I have borrowed from EZ Vidya’s mission statement. The more I think about it, the more revelations I get.

Before judging, before instructing, before advising, before thrusting, before answering, before questioning just ask one simple question – ‘Am I letting the child blossom?’

One day my boss asked me “What do you think is the key word in the mission statement – Let the child blossom?’

I thought for some time and said ‘child’, somebody said ‘blossom’. She said according to her it is the verb ‘LET’. Think about it.

As I started observing I really understood how important that verb is.

A child sees a horse for the first time and says ‘Hey such a big DOG.’

Immediately we would laugh at the child, think he is dumb and say ‘It is not a dog. It is a horse!’

If we relook at this same situation with the mission statement in mind, then few questions that would pop up is –

‘Why is he saying it is a dog?’

‘If I am just going to let out that it is a horse what thought process would happen in the child’s mind?’

‘How can I make him understand that it is different from dog?’

These questions could possibly lead us to an other approach. We would rather ask the child to say why he said it is a dog and ask the child to state the difference between a dog and the animal that is in front and construct a thought process and finally tell out the new lingo ‘Horse’.

This way a child starts observing more.

With this mission –

A teacher would not just teach but facilitate

A parent would not just advise but add wise

A boss would not thrust but would allow

We would not Tell but we would ‘LET’



I am now going to stop telling and let you think more about it and share your thoughts. Join the mission ‘Let the child blossom’

Unwind

What comes to your mind when you think of -

'India'

'School'

'Government'

'Religion'

'Men'

'Women'

'Teachers'

'USA'

'Mathematics'



This fluency exercise is a great tool to capture the 'perception' of people. We see only what we want to see and perception plays a vital role in the mind to make us see what we want to see. List down your perception on the topics that are listed above and Analise how these perceptions were formed!



A powerful statement that I learnt in CHYK* was 'Man is limited by his beliefs.' What a statement! WE form certain perceptions, beliefs and assumptions and we are limited by them! Lot of us even fail to recognize this truth and continue to be limited by them.


Once a person forms a strong perception or belief it is really difficult look at things the other way. How difficult would be to convince about democracy to a communist or the vise verso! Its that difficult.

Imagine how difficult then is to influence the education scenario! How many stockholder's perceptions we need to influence...! Parent... Teacher....Principal...Decision maker....

Few of the many strong perceptions that are really challenging to break is -
'Text book is my curriculum' (In fact many a teachers and principals may not even be aware of what is a curriculum... Many wouldn't even be aware of a NCF

'I need to mould my children. I have to impart knowledge.' (This very assumption stems from the perception that children don't know anything. I will have to 'teach' them. )

'I have taught for 20 years. I 'know' how to teach.' (A very strong perception that blocks a teacher from learning and implementing new techniques and appreciate new concepts. )

'My child has to score good marks to be successful.' (A very powerful assumption, the side effect of which all of us are aware of. The other hidden assumption in this is that we think we will be happy if we are successful and 'success' itself varies according to each ones perception!')

These are just a few. There are many more such perceptions that act as strong force in education reformation.

As we gather more and more experiences perceptions, beliefs, assumptions are formed without even our knowledge. It is very important we INWIND, REWIND and UNWIND from time to time.

Leave your comments on this. Share some of the perceptions that you think are influencing the change in education.













*CHYK is the Global youth wing of Chinmaya Mission

Teach'errr...'

One poem that really touched my heart... that took me to my teaching days and that kept me pondering over for long, was this poem called 'Little Boy' by Helen Buckley. I would like to start this journey of blogging on education with this poem. (Scroll down... read the poem and then return back to this section.. :) )

Going back to when I was a teacher... I considered my self as a good teacher. I made my class interesting, Students could never expect my behaviour. I would always go with surprise elements. And also do a lot of activity based teaching. Yet, one thing that I have never thought of, before reading this poem, is about creating an atmosphere where students can express their own thoughts in their own way... I always thought my teaching was complete if I just finish presenting or rather telling what was there in my mind! I thought my teaching was complete if students could do what I expected!

I remember how I struggled to 'think' and express my 'own' thoght in EZVidya in my initial few days. It was so hard to think on my own. I wanted to yell out 'Just tell me what to do and I shall do! Plz dont ask me to think!' But now I enjoy thinking and enjoy making others think... :)

In our ICT curriculum we have a component that requires the students to think and express their own thoughts... What we observe is that initially teachers have a great block to implement that componenet. But once they do it they enjoy that component the most! But there are still few teachers who would rather dictate the answers to the students than trigger the creativity in students. Why do you think it is so? Leave your comments... :)

--------------

Little Boy - By Helen Buckley

Once a little boy went to school.

He was quite a little boy And it was quite a big school.

But the little boy Found that he could go to his room By walking in from the door outside,

He was happy And school did not seem Quite so big any more.

One morning, When the little boy had been in school awhile,

The teacher said: Today we are going to make a picture.

Good, thought the little boy.

He liked to make pictures.

He could make all things;

Lions and tigers, Chickens and cows, Trains and boats -

And he took out his box of crayons And began to draw.

But the teacher said, Wait.

It is not time to begin.

And she waited until everyone looked ready.

Now, said the teacher, We are going to make flowers.

Good, thought the little boy.

He liked to make flowers, And he began to make beautiful flowers.

With his pink and orange and blue crayons.

But the teacher said, Wait! And I will show you how.

And it was red, with a green stem.

There, said the teacher, Now you may begin.

The little boy looked at the teacher's flower.

Then he looked at his own flower.

He liked his flower better than the teacher's.

But he did not say this.

He just turned his paper over And he made a flower like the teacher's.

It was red, with a green stem.

On another day, When the little boy had opened The door from outside all by himself,

The teacher said: Today we are going to make something with clay.

Good, thought the little boy.

He liked clay.

He could make all kinds of things with clay:

Snakes and snowmen, Elephants and mice, Cars and trucks -

And he began to pull and pinch His ball of clay.

But the teacher said: Wait, it is not time to begin.

And she waited until everyone looked ready.

Now, said the teacher, We are going to make a dish,

He liked to make dishes, And he began to make some

That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said, Wait And I will show you how.

And she showed everyone how to make One deep dish. There, said the teacher.

Now you may begin.

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish, Then he looked at his own.

He liked his dishes better than the teacher's.

But he did not say this.

He just rolled his clay into a big ball again And he made a dish just like the teacher's.

It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon the little boy learned to wait, And to watch,

And to make things just like the teacher.

And pretty soon He didn't make anything of his own any more.

Then it happened That the little boy and his family

Moved into another house, In another city,

And the little boy had to go to another school.

This school was even bigger than the other one,

And there was no door from the outside into his room.

He had to go up some steps,

And walk down a long hall To get to his room.

And the very first day He was there,

The teacher said: Today we are going to make a picture.

Good, thought the little boy, And he waited for the teacher To tell him what to do.

But the teacher didn't say anything. She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy she said: Don't you want to make a picture?

Yes, said the little boy, What are we going to make?

I don't know until you make it, said the teacher.

How shall I make it? asked the little boy.

Why, anyway you like, said the teacher.

And any colour? asked the little boy.

Any colour, said the teacher.

If everyone made the same picture, And used the same colours,

How would I know who made what?

And which was which? I don't know, said the little boy,

And he began to make a red flower with a green stem.

-------------------