Beating The Odds

My Comments post reading the second chapter of the book 'Is your child ready to face the world?'  By Dr Anupam Sibal.

Beating the odds means creating the school with a soul. As an educator or teacher, we need to ask ourselves, why we became teachers? What do we want from our students?  Do we want them to be efficient test-takers or do we want them to be filled with the wonder of learning? An education for the child is complete when each child is provided with the tools to reach his or her full potential. As teachers, we are not accountable to the people but to the students or kids. Thus, we need to create a school with a soul. 

I mean a school with soul is one where all staff members work from their heart and keep the child at the centre of the curriculum. Our challenge is that we all must do our part. In my opinion, we can change our school, the challenge is to dedicate ourselves to creating soulful school but truly touch hearts and educate minds. Then we can say our child is ready to face the world. An effective teacher must have formal teacher training, hold some certification and hold high expectations for themselves and their students, dedicate extra time to instructional preparation and reflection, and see teaching as and art. Believe all students can succeed, help students make connections between community, nation, world and self. 

Teaching from the perspective of pulling knowledge out instead of 'pushing in knowledge'. There is the need for extended interaction beyond the classroom. Demonstrating a connect with all students, encouraging a community of learners, encouraging students to learn collaboratively, viewing knowledge critically, teaching content with passion, helping students develop necessary skills,  seeing excellence as complex but taking account of student diversity and differences. Frequent instruction in skills and strategies, masterful classroom management, positive classroom climate and activities that are appropriate, meaningfully and challenging. This will make the child ready to face the world.

- Girja Koul, is a teacher at the DBN Amarvilla School in Jammu, her email is gkl.av@dbntrust.in