Social entrepreneur is transforming schools to empower young people

SME INSPIRATIONS

Enterprise: EBD Educational Pvt Ltd
Founder: Sandeep Dutt
Year it was founded: 1986
Sector: Education
Based out of Dehradun

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - Nelson Mandela

This is the core belief that drives Sandeep Dutt, a social entrepreneur who has been working tirelessly to upgrade the standard of education in India’s schools for more than three decades. As the founder of EBD Educational Pvt Ltd, he helps schools to transform to deliver better. The aim is to enable schools to plan, implement, and measure high-quality professional learning so that they can achieve success with their system and empower their students. The ‘My Good School Program’ helps partner schools to work for the personal and social development of an individual by offering an environment where experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study.

In conversation with GlobalLinker (GL), Sandeep Dutt (Sandeep) shares his vision for providing quality education in India.

GL: Tell us about your initiative and how it came into being.

Sandeep: In our quest for 'My Good School' for over three decades, we have always tried to address the dilemma ‘what makes a good school’. This has given us deep insight into schools, today we are most delighted to share that schools can change—the only way to do so is by strengthening the school culture.

Our work with ‘The Fabindia Schools Program’ to demonstrate excellence in school operations, involving the community and establishing a sustainable model for delivering good quality education in India, is now being replicated on a larger scale. My belief is that the happiness of young people is in our hands, 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 quality education in schools across India.

GL: What do you believe are the challenges and opportunities in our educational sector?

Sandeep: The Indian education market is one of the largest in the world and expected to grow at 13-15% over the next 3-4 years. Further, the share of the private sector is rapidly increasing; K-12 segment (kindergarten to grade 12) is the largest in the world with 260+ million students and ~1.5+ million schools but continues to face multiple challenges. These include access and enrolment, differentiated stakeholder demands, an insufficient number of teachers, rapid pace of external changes, quality and relevance.

The focus must be on creating an environment where:

Experiential learning is made possible through activities beyond just study, this can consolidate and bring to life learning which would otherwise be theoretical and uncoordinated.
Encouraging students to become involved in activities in the community outside the confines of the school curriculum will help develop their confidence, knowledge and contacts to follow passion after leaving school. With teachers’ encouraging young people, they can take full advantage of what both the school and outside interests can offer; this can be a key factor in their progressing successfully through adolescence into a rewarding and fulfilling life.

GL: What are the challenges you have faced in establishing your initiative?

Sandeep: Changing a school's culture takes time, training, and support—resources that school leaders, especially principals, often don't have. Developing more opportunities for professional learning and collaboration often requires additional funding, which schools and promoters may find difficult to secure.

GL: How do you believe GlobalLinker can benefit business owners?

Sandeep: Thanks to GlobalLinker, we can not only connect, but work together to take learning forward and help schools deliver better. If you are a vendor, a service provider, an employer and a working professional you will find the right connections to take ahead your mission and yes,  grow your business.

GL: What is your big business dream?

Sandeep: My dream is to set up the largest professional learning association in the world, this alone will help us bring the necessary change in the quality of our lives and ensure that we not only care for the environment around us but build it to make the world better for generations to come.

GL: What is your message to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Sandeep: Leadership is inside you, we do not need to wear a patch or a badge or even look outside, find your passion and just follow it, with honesty, trust and single-minded focus.

Disclaimer: This article is based solely on the inputs shared by the featured member. GlobalLinker does not necessarily endorse the views, opinions & facts stated by the member.

GlobalLinker Staff
16 Nov 2018, 10:16 — 5 min read

David Geurin: The stuff that really matters isn't easy.

Future Driven Thanksgiving Newsletter

Yesterday, our family went to see the new movie Instant Family. It's about foster parenting and adoption, and it's really a great story. It's raw and heartbreaking but also hilarious and inspiring.  One quote from the movie really jumped out at me. 'The stuff that really matters isn't easy.' Every day educators like you are doing stuff that really matters, and it's hard stuff. It's never going to be easy. There are challenges and frustrations, but you're doing something that has significance. You're making a difference. So today, as I celebrate Thanksgiving with family, I'll also be thinking of you and all of our fellow educators. And I'll remember to be grateful for what you give of yourself to students and learning. Blessings to you and yours. Here are 5 thoughts about gratitude for your Thanksgiving... 1. The more specific the gratitude the better. Be thankful for little things that you might overlook. When you turn on the faucet and running water pours out, that's a blessing that some parts of the world still don't enjoy. 2. The more regular the gratitude the better. It's great to be grateful on Thanksgiving. It's my favourite holiday. I love that it's a day to reflect and be thankful. But we need to make gratitude a daily habit. Continuous gratitude is the most powerful kind. 3. You're probably much wealthier than you think. I don't know about you, but I never think of myself as 'rich.' But if your combined household income is $50,000 per year, you're among the top 1% wealthiest people on the planet. 4. Gratitude is essential to having a positive outlook. Even when we are going through life's storms, gratitude helps us remain positive. There will be dark times. There will be difficulties. But we press on and recognize that there are still blessings even in the storms. 5. Sharing gratitude is a way to give back to others. It's never a good idea to delay telling someone you're thankful for them. Do it today. Don't assume anyone knows how much you appreciate them. I continue to be thankful for your support of my book and message, Future Driven. It's a blessing to connect with educators like you as we work to make our profession stronger. We're committed to preparing kids for the world they'll live in and not the one we grew up in. Y'all are world changers. All the best, David Geurin #FutureDriven

Muskan Rathod: Can Human Beings make this World a better place?

I can recall some lyrics from the song heal the world.

Heal the world make it a better place 

For you and for me an entire human race

There are people dying if you care enough for the living

Make a little space make a better place

Heal the world.......

It's true that we humans can make this world a better place because we are the mastermind of the world.

       It's true that God created us but it's totally false to say that we cannot change this world because we have all the rights and means to change this world. But in my opinion, we can change the world in favor of other living beings and not just for our greed.

       Though it is said that humans are the biggest animals, but we should not forget that we have got a more creative mind than other animals. Today there is so much development in the technical field that's just because of humans.

        I think that if humans can make things to destroy the world or specific country, then they surely have the power and means to make this world a better place. 

      Since every coin has two sides so do human beings!

     At last, I would like to conclude by saying that if humans have the right and power to destroy then they surely have the power to change this world into a better place.

                   ~Muskan Rathod

Student, Class-XII Science
The Fabindia School, Bali Rajasthan

Lucy Crehans: Five Principles for High-Performing, Equitable Education Systems

Principle 1: Get Children Ready for Formal Learning
Enhance children's social and pre-academic skills through rich environments and playful learning before age six, rather than requiring specific academic outcomes from them.

Principle 2: Design Curricula Concepts for Mastery (Context for Motivation)
A good national/provincial curriculum should be:
Minimal - Focusing on fewer topics, but in greater depth.
High-level - Clear on what concepts and skills are required, without prescribing context or pedagogy.
Ordered - Organising concepts in a logical order, based on research into how children learn.

Principle 3: Support Children to Take On challenges, Rather than Making Concessions
Delay selecting children into different schools based on ability until age 15 or 16.
Teach children in a mixed ability classes until 15-16.
Provide small, flexible group support from qualified professional before/after lessons.

Principle 4: Treat Teachers as Professionals
Require prospective teacher to undergo a rigorous teacher training programme of at least a year, which is recognised by a professional body and includes the study of pedagogical content knowledge.
Ensure newly-qualified teachers have a reduced teaching load and time with a dedicated mentor who also has a reduced load. Encourage teachers to plan and evaluate lessons in small teams, so that all teacher are pedagogically supported and learn from one another.

Principle 5: Combine School Accountability with School Support (Rather Than Sanctions):
Monitor school performance at a local or national level using school-level data or irregular national assessments.
Make use of or create a network of successful former school leaders, to visit schools regularly and provide practicing school leaders with advice, support, and connections.
Incentivize demonstrably good teachers and middle leaders to work in struggling schools, and provide pedagogical leadership to other staff.

What top-performing systems understand is that when schools are underperforming it is often because of the teachers within them last the knowledge, expertise or capacity to make that change, and so they support them in whatever way is required to make the school better for the children.
- Clever Lands: Lucy Crehan
As a teacher in an inner-city school, Lucy Crehan was exasperated with ever-changing government policy claiming to be based on lessons from ‘top-performing’ education systems. She resolved to find out what was really going on in the classrooms of countries whose teenagers ranked top in the world in reading, maths and science.

A vision for equity in schools starts at the top

A vision for equity starts at the top. All educators—whether superintendents, teachers, instructional coaches, or directors of the curriculum—owe it to their students and communities to explore their assumptions, knowledge, and skills with a willingness to change.

Like children on a playground, adults recognize unjust practices when we see them. The question is, will we as educators be brave enough to shout out, "Hey, that's not fair!"? And are we committed enough to take action to make a change?

President of Learning Forward, Alan Ingram, discusses why leaders throughout the education system, must continually address policies, protocols, practices, and resources that lead to more effective teaching and learning environment. Read the full blog post: 

http://ow.ly/MkQ630mE32O#EdEquity 

#Leadership #MyGoodSchool #HappyTeachers #LearningForward #LRNFWD18 #Schools #TheFabindiaSchool #LearningForwardIndia #AffordablQualityEducation 

JOIN

Click Here

Kalpana Jain: Humility #22Values

Kalpana Jain, The Iconic School Bhopal

#22Values, The Value Of Values, bring back the Joy Of Learning 

with the Learning Forward India Professional Learning Program

www.LearningForward.Org.IN

Fabindia Schools

Fabindia Schools

We partner the Bhadrajun Artisans Trust (BAT) to provide access to high-quality education for boys and girls at the rural level using English as the medium of instruction. The schools view primary education as a major stepping stone towards social mobility, equality and employment opportunities.

Since its inception, the schools have been committed to encouraging education for girls in a culture where most parents who can afford an English medium school would send only their sons. To realise the dream of providing an equal educational opportunity for girls, the school has a policy of subsidising their tuition. The school provides scholarships for girls. It is a matter of pride that girls hold many leadership posts in the school. In addition, the school seeks to enrol and subsidise children from socially and economically marginalised communities who otherwise do not have access to quality education. One of the most important values imparted is for students to stay connected to their birthplace. They are instilled with a sense of pride in their local heritage and a sense of responsibility for the future of Rajasthan.

www.fabindiaschools.org
Join the Fabindia Schools Alliance
#SchoolLeadershipDevelopment #HappyTeachers #MyGoodSchool 
Email chairman@fabindiaschools.in

Sharmila Vijayvargi: It all starts with a quick fix solution to a problem

Every person in this world around us is going through a tough phase, which might appear easy to us. But certainly, for that person, it is one task to get over the problem being faced by him/her. The phrase indicates that one requires looking around to find a solution to the problems and not sit idle thinking at solutions will come to their doorstep.

Speaking about this phrase, Mr Earle Dickson realised that his wife repeatedly gets minor cuts while chopping vegetables, he decided to cover her fingers with some cotton pad which sticks. While doing so, he faced a lot of issues relating to the size, texture etc, of the cotton pad. While not giving up on his idea and protecting his wife from all the minor cuts, he accidentally discovered what we today know as “Band-aid”. This looks very easy and simple to be an example but this determination to protect wife’s fingers while cutting vegetables without causing her any inconvenience in performing her works led to a very genius discovery of Band-aid.

Learning from the life of Mr Earle Dickson, we can conclude that there exists a solution for every problem, how big or small it may be. We just need the right approach and direction to find a solution and then implement it. One should always try to move ahead on a solution-centric approach rather than keeping on problem-centric approach because problems form a part and parcel of everyone’s life.

The most important part to remember is to keep trying and not wait for circumstances to become better. We often tend to underestimate our own potential to solve our problems, and do not realise that something which may seem small or inconsequential to us could pave the way to a bigger solution than we initially imagined. Belief in oneself and an unquenchable drive to take matters into our own hands is a quality that takes us a long way in life.

 Sharmila Vijayvargi

Educator, The Fabindia School, Bali

svi4fab@gmail.com

Valeria Brown: Why you should join Learning Forward?

Valeria Brown, professional development trainer and Learning Forward Board Member, explains why her membership with Learning Forward is important to her. Learn more about Learning Forward memberships here: https://www.LearningForward.IN

Learning Forward India Academy - Session 2456, Dallas

JOIN ME 
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
2456 | Developing a Professional Learning Program - The Indian Experience

Come to explore the Learning Forward India Professional Learning Program (PLP), an extended learning experience that immerses teachers across India in a model of inquiry and problem-based learning. Learn how blended learning provided a common platform to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing and accelerate program delivery. Appreciate the accomplishments of teachers who journeyed from resistance to the joy of learning and their students. Take away ideas to improve your own PLP.

Karl Clauset, National Center for School Change; Devanjali Dutt, Learning Forward India; & Sandeep Dutt, Learning Forward India (sd@ebd.in)

Area Focus: Outcomes - Educator and Student Learning
Topics: Blended/Online Learning, Deeper Learning, Global perspectives, Leadership Development
Session Length: 2-hours

Audiences: Principals, Assistant Principals, School-based Professional Development Leaders/Instructional Coaches, Teacher Leaders/Mentors/Team Leaders

#leadership #education #inspiration #training #coaching #india #learning #LearnFwd18 #LearningForward
https://conference.learningforward.org

Stephanie Hirsh: December Checklist

December checklist

I know that many of you are set to join us in Dallas in just a month for the Annual Conference. If you haven’t made your plans yet, here are just a few reminders.

• Have you registered? Visit https://conference.learningforward.org/ to do so.
• Have you chosen your sessions? You’ll need to log in at https://lfp.learningforward.org/session-selection/index.cfm to attach sessions to your registration.
• Have you reserved a hotel room? Our hotels are filling up. Go to https://lfp.learningforward.org/session-selection/index.cfm ASAP.
• Have you saved Tuesday night, Dec. 4, 7:30-9:30 to come to a benefit for the Foundation? This will be my dance party/celebration, and I look forward to a great time with all of you. I’m sure you’ll get more information about this from my colleagues.

Thank you for making the trip. I’m thrilled about all of our general session speakers – Glenn Singleton, Janice K. Jackson, Meg Wheatley and, of course, the remarks from former First Lady Laura Bush.

Stephanie Hirsh
Executive Director
Learning Forward
The Professional Learning Association
17330 Preston Road, Suite 106-D
Dallas, TX 75252-6036www.learningforward.org

www.LearningForward.IN

Sandeep Dutt: Schools Can Change

Karl Clauset and Sandeep Dutt collaborate for Schools Can Change in India.

In our quest for My Good School for over three decades, we have always tried to address the dilemma ‘what makes a good school’. This has given us deep insights into the schools and today we are most delighted to share that schools can change, the only way to do so is by strengthening the school culture.

Schools Can Change: A Step-by-step Change Creation System for Building Innovative Schools and Increasing Student Learning

Dale W. Lick, Karl H. Clauset, Carlene U. Murphy

Corwin, 2013 | Pages - 225

Free online resources with the book.
For distribution in India only

The English Book Depot  Special Price Rs. 1995.00

Amazon Kindle Edition Rs. 2535.45
Amazon Paperback Rs. 3875.45
Order by email sales@ebd.in Website: www.ebdbooks.com
Call Manish Chhetri on +91 135 2655192 for assistance

Genuine effective school improvement requires leaders and teachers to be part of a broad-based, creative change system that focuses on generating improved teacher practices for enhancing student learning. This guide provides a step-by-step, systemic approach to the change creation process.

How can we really create lasting change? By applying the Change Creation system! Learning community pioneers Dale Lick, Karl Clauset, and Carlene Murphy lead teachers, principals, and schools in this dynamic approach to school improvement. With a free, comprehensive online collection of practical resources, this book shows you how to: Develop the right vision, relationships, and culture to create and sustain change Model learning-inquiry cycles for action teams for success Build loyalty, trust, and responsibility within your teams and across the school.

Having a mentor can keep teachers for longer

Professional support plays a big role in how teachers view their jobs. Research has suggested that having a mentor can keep teachers in the profession for longer and that teachers who like their principals rate their school climate more favourably. 

A new report attempts to pinpoint the factors that hinder this kind of supportive work environment for educators, and it offers a roadmap toward creating a stronger professional culture.

The report, published by 100Kin10, a national nonprofit seeking to recruit and train 100,000 new science, technology, engineering, and math teachers by 2021, stems from the organization's previous research into the "grand challenges" facing STEM education. Of the 14 "catalysts" 100Kin10 identified—changes that would have the highest impact in attracting teachers to the profession and retaining them—three were related to work culture: making time for professional growth during the school day, providing more opportunities for teacher collaboration, and creating a positive environment for staff.

The group identified these trends by analyzing published research and news reports and consulting with 100Kin10's partner organizations, which include school districts, teacher-preparation programs, nonprofits, and companies.

For a Better Teacher Work Environment, Look to These 4 Factors, Report Says

The report argues that four main factors prevent schools from reaching these goals:

Belief: Too often, schools look at improving professional culture as one end of a binary choice: They can prioritize either student learning or teacher growth. But the two aren't in conflict, the report argues, as actively supporting teachers can lead to better student outcomes.

Structures: When schedules, teacher-evaluation methods, or professional-development practices don't allow for collaboration or growth, school leaders may not have the authority to make changes to the system. Promising programs—like teacher-leadership pathways—are often put in place without a roadmap to implementation.

Capacity: Changing a school's culture takes time, training, and support—resources that school leaders, especially principals, often don't have.

Resources: Developing more opportunities for professional learning and collaboration often requires additional funding, which schools and districts may find difficult to secure.

While 100Kin10 is focused on recruiting and retaining STEM teachers specifically, these are issues that affect school culture for all teachers in the building, the report says.

How can schools and districts address these barriers? Principal leadership plays an important role, said Talia Milgrom-Elcott, the co-founder and executive director of 100Kin10.

Principals are instructional leaders, but also school managers—they need to be able to set a vision and goals for their teachers' development as professionals, she said.

"We often don't prepare principals to think of themselves as leading work environments for adults," said Milgrom-Elcott. "We don't support them with management skills."

Research suggests that teachers' opinions about their principals could shape perceptions of their school environment. In a 2016 study from Loyola Marymount University, teachers' ratings of their workplace climate matched their assessment of their principals.

And as my colleague Madeline Will reported in a new Education Week special report on the challenges principals face, school leaders say providing instructional leadership and positive recognition is key to teacher retention.

100Kin10's report identifies commonalities across successful teacher workplace culture initiatives. Among them: setting aside one to two hours a week for teachers to collaborate and meet with coaches, and creating clear, formal pathways for teacher leadership that are supported by the school administration.

The organization also highlighted "models to learn from," which include both local nonprofit organizations like the Academy for Urban School Leadership in Chicago and nationally available teacher effectiveness programs, like the Building Assets, Reducing Risk (BARR) model.

"Promising practices" from research and existing programs drive the report's recommendations, which focus on identifying and implementing school structures that prioritize teacher learning, capacity-building strategies for principals, and flexible funding models to support teacher growth.

Going forward, said Milgrom-Elcott, the network plans to work to implement the recommendations with their partner organizations.

Original Post: https://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2018/10/better_teacher_work_environment_100kin10.html
Image: Getty