The Progressive Teacher Vol 03 Issue 05

values
–Aditi Sharma
Do you have students
and staff members you
don’t see every day?
Reconnect with your entire
school ‘family’ at the beginning
of each day in the way that
many schools across the
country do -- with a ‘Morning
Prayer Assembly’. A wellorganized
assembly establishes
a positive tone for teachers
and students and encourages
community involvement,
without cutting into precious
instructional time.
‘To keep a lamp burning, we
must keep putting oil in it. We
too need oil for our ceaseless
work. What is the oil? It is
prayer. Prayer is the source
and strength of our work’-
St Teresa.
We often talk about building a
community in a school, but just
as often, the youngest children
and the oldest children in a
school never even see each other.
They have vastly different lunch
schedules, physical education
schedules, and recess times.
When we all meet together in
the assembly every morning, the
entire section of our school is
present. All the children from
their section i.e the Pre-primary,
Primary or Junior section and all
the teachers can see each other.
We’re all involved in the same
activity sharing an experience.
What is demonstrated in an
assembly is a reiteration of the
Rise and Shine With The
Morning Prayer Assembly
Do you have students and staff members you don’t see every day?
Reconnect with your entire school ‘family’ at the beginning of each
day in the way that many schools across the country do -- with a
‘Morning Prayer Assembly’. A well-organized assembly establishes
a positive tone for teachers and students and encourages community
involvement, without cutting into precious instructional time.
values, thoughts and abilities
of every individual pupil. The
children are invited to consider
their inner capabilities, their
positive worth, their place in the
community and their purpose for
the week. Children respond in
the affirmative, so that they are
focused, positive, calm, and ready
to start.
The daily repetition of sharing
begins to build in all of us a
history of shared experiences.
This is what a shared culture
Aditi Sharma, a trained teacher
and a Post-Graduate in Computer
Applications and Educational
Administration with a Certificate in
Guidance and Counseling, joined the
City Montessori School Lucknow, as
a Kindergarten Teacher in 1991. After
occupying a series of administrative
positions in the City Montessori Schools chain, she
was elevated to the post of Principal in the Asharfabad
Campus in September, 2014. She has had vast exposure to
international teaching practices as she has led a number
of school delegations to Hong Kong, North Korea,
Indonesia, etc.
comprises. It is in this forum
that the Principal or Head
Teacher emphasizes expectations
for behavior and character.
Here is where we celebrate our
achievements. The students love
these morning assemblies; so do
the teachers and the parents.
But the pertinent question
still remains - what activities
should do we have in our
Morning Assemblies?
The Morning Assembly should
become an integral part of the
school curriculum. If considered
from a proper perspective, prayer
assembly is the most important
and most productive community
building activity in a school. It
requires a well planned schedule
as it can then be effectively
used as a platform to develop
the latent capacities of children
46 The Progressive Teacher Nov/Dec 2016