The Progressive School Vol 02 Issue 04

VOL 02, ISSUE 04 JUL-AUG-SEP-2018 ` 150
TOWARDS A MEANINGFUL
LEARNING IN SCHOOLS…
Arpita Acharya
Vice Principal, Blue Bells Public School,
Gurugram
MAKING CHILDREN
‘FUTURE READY’
Nikita Tomar Mann
Principal, International Wing,
Apeejay School, NOIDA
MAKING LEARNING
EASY AND ENJOYABLE!
Pinky Banik
Academic Director, Dhamma Dipa School,
South Tripura
HAPPY TO LEARN!
Benazir Shafaat Hussain
Special Educator
NURTURING RIGHT
LEARNING ATTITUDE
LEARNING:
A LIFE-LONG
CONTINUOUS
PROCESS
Rupa Chakravarty
Founder Principal,
Suncity School, Gurgaon
Pankaj Sharma,
Principal, Sagar Public School, Bhopal

JUL-AUG-SEP, 2018 Vol. 02 Issue 04
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AROMA OF LEARNING…
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The academic year 2018 has just dawned. The students and teachers come
back to the schools with fresh hope, fresh aspirations and with a will to
face newer challenges. Many schools are celebrating the success stories
of their previous academic year and a few others are working out strategies
for improving their current performance. They are also waiting for the new
generation education policy, which is overdue and also the design of the new
curricular and its much-celebrated objectives.
However, in spite of all these formal narratives that describe schooling and
its ancillary activities, learning appears to be happening continuously and
effectively through a number of informal sources night and day. The aroma
of learning has permeated into all corridors of information and knowledge
access and has provoked unlimited curiosity and opportunity for knowledge
assimilation and processing. There is evidence to show that the young learners
are keen in synthesizing the current knowledge packages into newer structures
and thus open unlimited opportunities for newer perceptions to evaluating
knowledge. These initiatives are not in any way blocking the formal celebrations
of knowledge, but engage the formal structures with unprecedented challenges
to prove their worth and to sustain their value in the tsunami of knowledge flow
and its management.
“Learning Beyond” has become the mantra of the younger generation and
hence they use all the available corridors of knowledge access to mindfully
engage themselves for futuristic growth. Cinema, television, sports, travel,
adventure game, social services, internets and on-line support systems help
them to enlarge the compass of their growth process. The current issue of THE
PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL magazine is addressing to this new challenge and
examines the possibilities of such corridors and avenues which could be helpful
to the institutions to be infused into the curriculum. The Progressive School
gratefully acknowledges the support given by all the authors, Principals and
others to have contributed for this issue.
Learning, it is claimed, is a continuous life-long process. Therefore the
magazine provides inputs to the entire spectrum of readers which includes
students, teachers, heads of institutions and school administrators to examine
their status and seek extended opportunities for learning and growth. The topics
covered in this issue scale a wide range of learning opportunities and learning
experiences.
Wishing all of you a Happy Reading!
Balasubramanian
Editor-in- Chief
Quotable Quotes
‘It is the supreme art of the
teacher to awaken joy in creative
expression and knowledge.’
–Albert Einstein
www.progressiveschool.in
‘A teacher who is attempting
to teach without inspiring the
pupil with a desire to learn is
hammering on cold iron.’
–Horace Mann
APR-MAY-JUN 2018
‘Teachers can change lives
with just the right mix of chalk
and challenges.’
–Joyce Meyer
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
3

C O N T E
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018 VOL. 02 ISSUE 04
08
TOWARDS A MEANINGFUL LEARNING IN SCHOOLS…
DELENG/2017/73326
An integrated approach which is systematic, sustained and has
concerted action is required to significantly enhance the creative
and innovative capacities of young students in ways that are relevant
to the outside world. Generally it is perceived, learning that takes
place in dedicated educational institutions such as schools is seen as
formal, that which occurs beyond the school walls as ‘informal’. Thus,
the challenge being faced and accepted by the schools today is to
integrate both formal and informal learning in a way that it benefits
the students in the long run.
Arpita Acharya
Vice Principal, Blue Bells Public School, Gurugram
18
INTEGRATING RESEARCH IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION/CURRICULUM
Teaching young minds about research is vital if we want
to encourage them to evaluate evidence so that they make
informed decisions. Let’s see how.
Sukhvinder Multani
Educationist and Researcher, Pune
34
WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO? I DO…
Teens and adults alike, love to imitate their favourite superhero,
aspire to be like them, dream about meeting them and follow
them on social media. The Superhero movies have united
the world in ways most things have not. So, what impact do
Superhero movies have on our children and how can these
movies be used to promote positive values and ideas
Shakti Jhala
Senior Strategist and Training Coordinator
at Schoogle (A TGES initiative), Mumbai
40
HAPPY TO LEARN!
“The capacity to learn is the gift, the ability to learn is a skill, the
willingness to learn is a choice”. -Brain Herbert
Benazir Shafaat Hussain
Special Educator
4 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

N T S
44
LEARNING BEYOND…LEARNING
ALWAYS
As educators, it’s our responsibility to look after the learning needs
of the students and make it a point that learning cannot be bound
within the four walls of a classroom. Let the students explore, expand
and experiment with their own learning style.
Shimmi Sharma
Sunbeam School Lahartara, Varanasi
51
NURTURING RIGHT LEARNING ATTITUDE
As Swami Vivekananda says, “Education is the manifestation of
the perfection already in man.” The perfection which has to be
manifested, Swamiji says – is already in man. When we already
have it, the role of education is actually a process of purification.
A process by which we realize the perfectness within and here
lies the critical role of an educator – be it a parent at home or a
teacher at school.
Pankaj Sharma
Principal, Sagar Public School, Bhopal
IN THIS ISSUE
Editorial 03
Aroma of learning…
RETROSPECTION 06
Reimagining teaching
PERSPECTIVE 08
Towards a meaningful learning in schools…
SKILL DEVELOPMENT 12
Making children ‘future ready’
FACE-TO-FACE 14
Nurturing learners for life!
LEARNING THROUGH QUIZ 16
Igniting curiosity through quiz
THINKING OUT-OF-THE BOX 18
Integrating research in school education/curriculum
ADVENTURE SPORTS 20
Adventure sports: not just fun but learning for life!
POINT OF VIEW 24
Making learning easy and enjoyable!
TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES 28
Parenting in the digital world
Q&A 32
Learning beyond…learning always…learning lifelong
LEARNING THROUGH CINEMA 34
Who wants to be a Superhero? I do…
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING 38
Enhancing experiential and social learning…
LEARNING 40
Happy to learn
ERGONOMICS 42
How seating ergonomics affect learning
BEYOND FOUR WALLS 44
Learning beyond…learning always
VIEWPOINT 46
Learning christened once again!
VIEWPOINT 49
Learning: a life-long continuous process
Q&A 51
Nurturing right learning attitude
INTROSPECTION 54
Sustaining academic leadership – the gateway
LEARNING 56
10 Characteristics of informal learning
NEWS & EVENTS 58
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
5

RETROSPECTION
REIMAGINING TEACHING
G Balasubramaniam
Editor-in-Chief, The Progressive School, New Delhi
For decades, we had been practicing certain classical approaches to teaching with a belief that all
we teach is learnt. Currently, nothing can be more foolish than this belief. Researches in cognitive
sciences have clearly established the gap between teaching and learning. It is in this context, we
need to reimagine teaching that could facilitate and scaffold learning.
When Shyam and his three friends
walked into my house, I was
extremely delighted. “What a
pleasure to see you, Sir,” they greeted in
a chorus.
“It is indeed thirty years since we
met.“
They were my students in the school
where I was a Principal in early eighties.
They came to invite me to an Alumni
meet in the school. “Hey, you guys have
gone bald and grey. I seem to be still
younger than you.” They all laughed.
“She is my wife Smitha and my son
Shubham.” Rakesh introduced his family
who were coming behind.
“Time flies,” I observed.
Meeting your students after thirty
years and more is indeed a pleasure…
Vice President of an MNC, Chartered
Accountant, Business man and a HR
Manager.
G.Balasubramanian, Editor-in-chief
of The Progressive School Magazine
is a leading educator in the field of
school education, curriculum designer,
author, HR trainer and educational
administrator. Widely traveled, he has
authored several books for schools,
educational administrators and is a
premier teacher-trainer both across the
country and abroad. He has authored –
Mindscaping Education, Case Studies
in Classrooms, Quality Spectrum – A
school’s bandwidth and Safety in Schools
– Issues & concerns.
Chatting over a cup of coffee, Rakesh
told his wife, “Sir was a great Chemistry
Teacher.”
I felt elated and wanted to pat my
back but recalled it when Sushil made the
observation, “But you know, he taught us
everything except Chemistry.” As Smitha
raised her eyebrows, everyone laughed.
“Yes,” Sushil continued, “You know,
he will walk into the class and our books
will be ready on the table. He will say
close your books. We will have quiz now.
You must see the level of happiness in all
our faces. For the next few minutes, he
will shoot questions.”
Rakesh continued, “He will start with
a question — Who wrote Gitanjali? We
will wonder what that has to do with
Chemistry. By the time, next question —
In what language was this book written?
When was it awarded the Noble Prize?”
And then Sushil continued, “Why
was Nobel prize instituted? What was
the substance that brought huge wealth
to Alfred Nobel?” And then he moves to
tell us about the dynamite and why it is
an explosive.”
Srinath continued, “The whole class
used to be vibrant and then suddenly he
would say that is enough and now it is
time to move to study the structure of
Methane. It has tetrahedral structure.
He would take someone by surprise and
ask, “Tell me why it is called Tetrahedral.”
If the guy gives the correct answer, he
would ask “If that has four faces, tell me
what octahedron is.”And thus, it moves
on.”
Towards the end of the class he would
say, “Guys. I want you to find the meaning
of the word “Will-o-the wisp.” You know
Shakespeare used it. And find it out what
it has to do with Methane…”
“Sir, honestly speaking, none of us
pursued Chemistry. But the opportunities
you gave for comprehensive and extended
learning, beyond your subject, that is
what made all of us what we are, today.”
I sat down silently enjoying the
conversation going down the memory
lane every minute. Back by thirty years….
Smitha intervened and asked, “Sir.
Did you ever reimagine about teaching?”
It was indeed a penetrating question.
“Reimagining Teaching?”
I replied, “NO. My singular aim
when I entered the class was How to
keep the students happy?How do I keep
them engaged and interactive? How do I
ensure strong positive relationship with
them? …I thought my job was to create
certain amount of curiosity in them for
self- learning.”
These discussions apart, I would like
to hang on to that wonderful question
relating to “Reimagining Learning.”
For decades, we had been practicing
certain classical approaches to teaching
with a belief that all we teach is learnt.
Currently, nothing can be more foolish
than this belief. Researches in cognitive
sciences have clearly established the
gap between teaching and learning. It
is in this context, we need to reimagine
teaching that could facilitate and scaffold
learning.
Here are a few random thoughts:
A happy environment
1 is essential for effective
learning
Learning doesn’t happen in a stressful
environment. If a few facts or concepts
are thrust in a stressful environment,
6 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

they become highly volatile and its
retention is limited to a short period.
They project largely an apparent
learning than real learning.
However, a little of positive stress
that challenges the brain and
in turn brings about a sense of
fulfilment on achievement of the
desired goal may help the learner.
Teachers could think of strategies
that promotes humour, freedom
and equity of opportunities which
make learners happy. Ensuring
happiness in classroom need not
be interpreted as disorganized
behaviour. Intellectual discourses
that absorb the attention of
the learners relieves them of
the boredom and a meaningful
engagement that promotes their
personal happiness.
2 Engagement
is essential for
purposeful learning
Engagement in a classroom
could be at a personal level or
as a group. Engagement is not
unidirectional. Engagement doesn’t really
mean a focused cognitive experience.
It is a delightful participatory process
of the teacher and the learner to a
dialogue, to a conversation, to a debate,
to an introspection, to a discovery or
to a research on unexplored vistas of
knowledge. Engagements could be
intellectual, multi-sensory, playful or
even sportive. This furthers the mutual
trust and demolishes the iron curtains
that bring about suspicion, doubt or fear
of authority. Engagements between a few
in the classroom could also spread the
aroma of joyful learning.
Emotionally competent
3 stimuli empowers
learning
Brain sciences urge the importance
of emotionally competent stimuli in a
classroom which have the strength of
impacting the learners’ emotions. Such
stimuli facilitate the power of learning
and trigger curiosity for further learning.
They have the power of consolidating
the stimuli-response bonds. Effective
classrooms provide the experience
of a theatre. Introduction of learning
experiences through role play, skits,
story-telling, music and dance promote
holistic and fruitful learning. Teachers
and schools should not be averse to such
interventions in a classroom thinking
that such interventions could promote
disorder, noise or may challenge the
www.progressiveschool.in
authority of the teacher. Classrooms offer
immense opportunities for providing
emotionally competent stimuli in almost
all subjects whether they have a larger
impact on the right brain or left brain.
These experiences also meet the inherent
needs of the differentiated leaners in
a classroom. They facilitate immersive
experiences.
Positive communication
4 scaffolds the learning
culture
The communication of the teacher
with the learners has to be positive,
encouraging and empowering. This helps
in building the confidence profile of the
learners in their personal self. Further,
this heals the wounds caused by past
repressions and helps them to project
themselves as confident individuals
committed to a cause. Reactionary trends
have to be handled without contempt,
rejection or isolation. Teachers need
to acknowledge the personal identity
of the learners in each classroom and
accept them as they are without any
pre-conceived notions or judgment.
Researches do indicate that dominance
of amygdaline reactions in the growing
children at their developmental stage
and hence absence of effective thought
and emotional controls. Positive
communication helps in moderating the
issues arising out of low self-esteem,
identity crisis, introvert and extrovert
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
behaviour and in reassuring
them of their worth. This indeed
helps in consolidating the
learning curve.
Aligning the
5 informal learning
with formal learning
Researches indicate that a
large part of learning is informal
and through a variety of inputs
which are not experienced in
a classroom. Teachers need
to provide a link between
formal and informal learning
through referral and integrated
experiential opportunities so that
learning becomes impactful. With
extensive treasure of informal
inputs to curricular concepts,
the opportunities for leveraging
such knowledge, skill and
experiential inputs to classroom
experiences is becoming
increasingly vital. Further, with
education being preparation
for life, relevant, positive and
conscious interventions that
would promote socializing and enhance
social consciousness of the learners
have to be structured into individual
and group learning opportunities and
resulting experiences. Concepts of
Blended Learning might help in achieving
some of these goals.
6 Non-judgmental
classrooms
Assessments, evaluations and
examinations have largely been
interpreted with a negative connotation.
They are often times used to differentiate,
single out and condemn the learning
profiles. Comments resulting from these
assessments have often done extensive
damage to the morale of even competent
learners thereby promoting an attitude
of self-defeat, self-contempt, self-pity.
Such learners turn out to be a greater
burden to the society. Mostly such
things happen at formative years due to
absence of understanding the potential
of the learners in their specific growth
pattern. Teachers need to be totally
non-judgmental in classrooms and
even if they have to be suggestive for
modification of behaviour, they need to
be handled at the personal level and as
a meaningful counseling and mentoring
exercise.
Reimagining classrooms is a
wonderful exercise and with basic
understanding of the above, teachers can
design their own strategies.
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
7

PERSPECTIVE
TOWARDS A MEANINGFUL
LEARNING IN SCHOOLS…
Arpita Acharya
Vice Principal, Blue Bells Public School, Gurugram
An integrated approach which is systematic, sustained and has concerted action is required to
significantly enhance the creative and innovative capacities of young students in ways that are
relevant to the outside world. Generally it is perceived, learning that takes place in dedicated
educational institutions such as schools is seen as formal, that which occurs beyond the school walls
as ‘informal’. Thus, the challenge being faced and accepted by the schools today is to integrate both
formal and informal learning in a way that it benefits the students in the long run.
Learning: a lifelong process
Learning is a lifelong process by which
every individual acquires and accumulates
knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights
from daily experiences and exposure to the
environment – at home, at school, at play:
from the example and attitude of families
and friends; reading newspapers and books;
or by listening to the radio or viewing films
or television. Generally informal education
is unorganized, unsystematic and even
unintentional at times, yet accounts for
Arpita Acharya is Vice Principal
at Blue Bells Public School, Sector 10,
Gurugram. She has contributed over
23 dedicated years to the teaching
fraternity. She was also honoured with
THE BEST MATHS TEACHER AWARD
in the year 2006 for her incomparable
contribution to the field of education.
She has also been the proud recipient of
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE for the two
consecutive years in recognition of her
outstanding contribution in the field of
education at the Shishak Samman 2013
and 2014.
She was the ISA Coordinator and
under her leadership the school got the
prestigious British Council International
Award (ISA) 2017-2020. As an ISA
Coordinator, she participated in Video-
Contest organized by British Council
and her presentation showcasing
systematic learning progression in
students was adjudged as one among
the best three videos of the competition.
She also facilitated setting up of ATL,
First Fully Functional Atal Tinkering
Lab in Gurugram, under the aegis of
NITI Aayog.
the great bulk of any person’s total lifetime
learning. To empower the child completely,
the education system must take it upon
itself to bring together the two. The need
for the integration of formal and informal
arises because the skills required in the
outside environment are more than the
basic skills that were traditionally taught
in schools, such as reading, writing, and
mathematics. The new skills which the
schools need to develop include coping
with incompletely specified problems,
communicating in heterogeneous teams,
developing shared understanding, evolving
knowledge artefacts, working at a distance,
and making use of Internet-based and
specialized collaboration technologies
[National-Research-Council, 1999].
Informal instruments of
learning in schools…
In general, informal education in
schools tends to be underplayed. Given
the supremacy of the examination system
and, more recently, the rise of the National
Curriculum, informal education is found in
pockets of activity rather than in explicit
policy. However, the term is used to
describe different aspects of secondary
schooling.
Students make use of ICT which not
only helps in better understanding of the
concepts but also without the fear of being
assessed on every presentation/ video/
activity they are involved in. Teachers
use these sessions as opportunities to
share personal interests using informal
methods. Examples might include making
a video, improving or learning a new sport,
community involvement, peer learning.
School’s Student Council offers
students in the school, opportunities to
organize social events or debate issues
concerning the environment, bullying etc.
and in some cases they can gain access
to agreed areas of decision making on the
way in which the school is run.
Much of the curriculum innovation
through integrated Life Skills incorporates
informal education aims and methods
of developing the personal and social
competence required for adult life.
Home Science is a component within
several areas of the formal curriculum.
Within this setting, informal education is
extensively used and this learning helps
them retain it and use it for life.
Informal education complements
the work of the teachers by offering
opportunities for getting to know students
better and for working with students
of different ages across curriculum
boundaries. Teachers view informal
education as a way of gaining greater
8 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

fulfilment in their jobs, as a chance to share
their interests with students and to engage
in joint activity with colleagues.
Students are attracted to informal
education because it provides them with
an opportunity to feel recognized for their
own worth in settings in which students
can influence and control the pace, as well
as the content, of their learning. Many feel
that they can contribute in these settings
in their own way: that they are valued
for what they have to contribute and
feel a greater ownership of the learning
experience. Informal education can offer
students a chance to try out new things,
to take risks and extend their experience
beyond the immediate environment of the
school. It can act as a catalyst where it is a
departure from more routine experiences.
Role of rote learning…
Rote learning is a memorization
technique whereby the material is learned
by repetition. The extent to which you can
recall the materials is dependent on how
often you repeated it. The problem with this
is application. Because one parrot-learns,
one might find it difficult to apply what
they have learned.
The concept of ‘Rote Learning’ can’t
be discarded completely. Up to some
extent, it has its own advantages e.g. it
helps students learn Tables, chemical
and mathematical formulae, grammar
rules etc. Look every time you can’t derive
s = ut + ½at 2. But we have to move on
as in the senior classes, the approach has
to differ. Importance should be given to
the creativity and innovation. Otherwise
we will be having the armies of so-called
achievers who will be intellectually
bankrupt. The schools need to give
exposure to those students who display
creativity and innovation in any field and
other students should be encouraged not
to follow them blindly but get inspiration
from them.
Towards meaningful
learning…
Meaningful learning is the learning
that has taken place when one has
engaged with the materials and learned
Arpita Acharya
how to apply it. The material is learned
due to interest in it (therefore one puts
more effort into it). This form of learning
is an understanding of the material and
memory of the material lasts longer than
Rote learning. Now, at the beginning of
the 21st century, almost all information
can be gleaned from the Internet, so long
as you ask the right questions on Google.
So is there any point in having students
memorize facts? Instead, students could
spend their time learning to ask the right
questions, which requires critical thinking
skills. Today’s kindergarten students will
graduate from college in 2029. We do
not know the knowledge and skills that
students will need to possess in order to
succeed in this future world. Therefore,
teachers cannot successfully impart 2029
knowledge and skills to students in today’s
classrooms. Instead, the best that we can
do is help students adapt to different kinds
of environments and adaptation requires
critical thinking skills.
Integrating informal
learning experiences…
Informal learning experiences can be
integrated with curricular architecture
and there is definitely a scope for providing
qualitative education with exact planning
and execution. Our school follows an
integrated inquiry-based approach wherein
learning by doing is pivotal. These include:
• Assimilation of conceptual knowledge
and the application of the acquired
knowledge.
• Theme-based trans-disciplinary
approach.
• Excellence in scholastic, co-scholastic
and life skills education is central to
our pedagogy.
• Circle-Time is a specially designed
time-slot at the disposal of the students
when they avail the opportunity to
express their thoughts without any
inhibitions and give flight to their
imagination.
• D.E.A.R. Programme ( Drop
Everything And Read) is initiated to
encourage the reading habit among
our students.
• THOTS PROGRAMME provides the
students with a structured approach
for the development of cognitive,
critical and creative thinking skills.
THOTS stands for the much needed
‘The Higher Order Thinking Skills’ for
today’s generation.
• SCHOOL ENTERPRISE
CHALLENGE– a project taken up
by the Commerce Stream students
of Class XI. This programme guided
and supported the teachers and
students to plan and set up real school
businesses. The students developed
essential skills in business and
entrepreneurship in a practical, fun
and innovative way.
• SAFETY DRILLS to apprise about
Disaster Management and develop
their skills to combat any catastrophe.
• MUN (Model United Nations) is
organized to create awareness about
the problems being faced in the world
and how amicable solutions can be
crafted. This event helps in honing
their communication skills along with
critical and creative thinking.
• SERVICE BEFORE SELF – Working
with organizations like Helpage India
and Indian Cancer Society to sensitize
students about various social issues
and how they can play a pivotal role
in bringing in a positive change in the
society.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
9

• MODULES on Safe Diwali, Dengue
Awareness, Health & Hygiene and
Substance Abuse so that students
are provided righteous knowledge
which further develops their thinking
abilities.
• MORNING GAMES are organized
to provide for specialized coaching to
the sports enthusiasts by NIS trained
coaches.
• TRIPS & EDUCATIONAL
EXCURSIONS are an integral part
of regular curriculum for experiential
and research based learning. Such
excursions are organized on a regular
basis to provide hands on learning
and practical knowledge which
gets enhanced through group work
activities.
The facilities are offered to all the
students of the school for their holistic
personality development without incurring
any extra cost.
Nurturing powerful ‘selflearners’
We, at Blue Bells, strongly feel that our
students must grow up with the capacity
to contribute to the social and economic
growth of our country. As is rightly said,
“Education is what remains with you when
you have forgotten all that was learnt at
school.” Thus, project based learning is an
integral part of our curriculum inculcating
in the students the inquisitiveness for
research. Students learn through handson
activities thereby strengthening their
critical and creative thinking skills.
The focus of the institution is on valuebased
learning along with building the
capacity in the children to use high-end
technology. The school has in place an
International policy under which the
students have exchange programmes
with schools in different parts of the
world. This helps them to understand the
culture of the regions and absorb their
unique learning strategies. The students
are involved in the entire learning process
and research and they are motivated to
be self-learners where their facilitators
provide them support to explore the content
further. The excellent result of the school
in the Board Examinations year after year
reiterates our faith in our pedagogy as we
believe in evolving an educational system
which caters to the innovative and creative
minds of the Gen-X.
Towards a positive and
personalized interactive
social learning culture
Modern day education is aided with
a variety of technology, computers,
projectors, internet, and more. Internet
provides abysmal knowledge. One can
learn everything one wishes to and can use
the search engines to generate information
with a touch of a button. Every topic has
been developed into a subject. Skilldevelopment
and vocational education has
added a new feather and there is something
to learn for everyone. Presentations, Data
Management, research work and so on
have become easy and the resources can
be generated for anything and everything.
Too much use of technology is hampering
the thinking process of Gen Now as
everything is easily available to them,
thus, entire learning has become a process
of spoon feeding which in the long run
teaches us nothing but the shape of the
spoon. We are being fed with facts and
knowledge where there is no time left
for self-analysis and self study. We have
all become tech slaves than being techsavvy
and this is an addiction which will
have a long term influence on the learning
processes. We need to learn the judicious
use of technology to enhance our learning
capabilities and knowledge base.
The need of the hour is to have a
knowledge based society with a perfect
blend of technology where learning
becomes an integral part of progressive
development. Each and every member has
to constructively contribute in developing
skills and resources where everyone feels
the ecstasy and joy of maturing and
growing in totality.
10 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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SKILL DEVELOPMENT
MAKING CHILDREN ‘FUTURE READY’
Nikita Tomar Mann
Principal, International Wing, Apeejay School, NOIDA
The system and syllabi needs to be revamped to facilitate educators to integrate development of skills
within the existing system and reform subject-based curricula to an amalgamation of subject coupled
with skill based curricula.
The focus of the new education policy
appears to be on development of
skills among the learners. How are
schools gearing up for this change and
what needs to be done, shares Nikita
Tomar, Principal, International Wing,
Appejay School, NOIDA
TPS: In an educational scenario,
where the current ‘certification’
Nikita Tomar Mann is presently
serving as the Principal of the
International Wing at Apeejay School
NOIDA. She is a trained post graduate
teacher with over two decades of
teaching experience at the senior
secondary level. On completion of her
schooling from Air Force Bal Bharati
School, New Delhi, she pursued her
degree from Venkateswara College,
Delhi University, a Bachelor of Education,
on scholarship, from Regional College of
Education, Ajmer and a Post Graduate
Diploma in School Leadership and
Management (PGDSLM) from IGNOU.
She has rich experience of
having served as the Head of Biology
Department in several prestigious
schools across the country such as The
Cathedral and John Connon School
(Mumbai), Convent of Jesus and Mary
and Navy Children Schools. She has
served as a Principal for more than a
decade at several schools and was the
founder Principal of the highly ranked
and reputed Sadhbhavana World School
at Kerala. She has been the Master
of Ceremony for several high profile
government functions and events,
including the International Fleet review.
For her dedication, commitment and
professional competence of high order,
she was awarded two commendations,
one by the Commander in Chief of
Andaman and Nicobar Islands in
2006, and the second by Commander
in Chief at Visakhapatnam in 2013. She
is a proud recipient of the Computer
Literacy Excellence Award.
focused delivery systems in schools
have become irrelevant, how do you
see this paradigm shift would help
to generate a sense of relevance to
imparting education?
Nikita:The paradigm shift in the
education policy from ‘Certification’
to ‘Skill Development’ is an extremely
welcome change as the system has
acknowledged the fact that hands on
education is in the true sense education
for life. Sound theoretical knowledge
does serve as a strong edifice but without
development of skills, there remains an
evident disconnect with application in
real life and employability in future. This
move reflects our priority of investing in the
future of our nation, facilitating economic
advancement as well as productivity and
social well being for the individual and
society.
TPS: With greater focus on ‘skill
development in schools’ what do
you think are the opportunities
and challenges to school systems to
respond meaningfully to the emerging
needs?
Nikita: The first and the foremost
challenge to the school systems remains
the alignment of the thought processes of
heads of institutions, teachers and parents
to appreciate the need of the hour and
encourage and steer students to focus on
skill enhancement in order to leverage from
the opportunities that they will encounter
in the near future.
With increasing awareness on the need
for skill development, it is imperative that
schools focus on identifying the requisite
skills for the workforce of the 21st century,
introduce these skills at schools, provide
infrastructural support to sustain this
change and train the faculty/hire trained
staff to effectively deliver these courses.
TPS: How do you think ‘skill
development’ could be achieved in a
classroom with closed walls and with
a focus on ‘completion of syllabus’?
What kind of changes are required to
the ‘classical’ classroom model?
Nikita: ‘Future ready’ skills encompass
honing competencies such as financial
and civic literacy, global awareness,
cross-cultural skills, critical and inventive
thinking, problem solving, communication,
collaboration as well as social and
emotional competencies.
The system and syllabi needs to
be revamped to facilitate educators to
integrate development of skills within the
existing system and reform subject-based
curricula to an amalgamation of subject
coupled with skill based curricula.
In a content-centered classroom,
teachers cover &‘uncover’ the content, and
students ‘acquire’ it. In contrast, teachers
and students in a learner-centered classroom
12 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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use content to construct knowledge. The
classical classroom model needs to be
revitalized and metamorphose in terms
of fluidity in classroom arrangement,
kind of interactions between the teacher
and the taught and incorporation of time
for focussed activities aimed at skill
development. Untethering the facilitator
from the front of the class will yield more
fluid learning space which will promote
a wider range of interactions between
the learners and the facilitator. We need
to create learning commons which are
engaging, comfortable and, perhaps most
importantly, flexible to allow for a wide
range of teaching practices
TPS: The development of conceptual
models to imparting skill- based
education would require several
auxiliary support systems like
textbooks with an entirely
different frame of content delivery,
pedagogical innovation, laboratory
and experiential support? What is
the current preparedness in schools
and what kind of support systems do
schools expect from the administrative
agencies?
Nikita: At present, the schools are steadily
getting sensitized to the imperative need
for skill development but are ill equipped
to implement the plethora of changes
pertinent for making it a reality.
Modern teaching practice can no longer
be modelled on the didactic teaching
methods of the past. Classrooms will
need to be flexible learning spaces,
which enable multiple users to work
Nikita Tomar Mann
concurrently with multiple purposes. While
bringing in changes in the content and
textbooks will be relatively easier, the
more daunting task would be to train
the teachers to transform the quality
of classroom instruction by including
experiential learning and adequate
time for internalization of the concept
by the learners. Appropriate tinkering
laboratories, material support and forums
for brainstorming will be required to
create self directed learners.
Administrative agencies are required
to review the system holistically to capture
an accurate picture of impediments to
this process and propel radical as well
gradual changes that will be integral to
this transformation.
TPS: Classroom transaction would
probably have to be more personalized,
interactive and facilitative to
empowerment of skills. It would
indeed mean a new frame of mind
from the teachers. How do you
think teachers can be empowered
and facilitated to discharge their
work effectively in the changed
scenario?
Nikita: Classroom transaction is a
dynamic process which defines the
efficacy of learning outcomes. To make
any learning apropos, it is vital that
the teacher is enthusiastic, passionate,
sensitive to the needs of different learners
and takes initiative to assist them
in their construction of knowledge
through enriching experiences where
a learner’s old knowledge transacts
with new information to construct new,
relevant and meaningful knowledge.
Academic achievement would then be
demonstrated through use of this ability
to address and solve real-world problems
or to create products that are valued in
one or more cultural settings.
Teachers will need to ‘unlearn and relearn’
and undergo training to encourage
lateral thinking. Teachers will need
to endorse collaboration and sharing
of ideas. A paradigm change of this
kind will necessitate a hand holding
period with infrastructural and material
support which will prepare them to more
accepting of this change, effectively
handle this change and finally turn
into change agents. ‘The most valuable
resource all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is
limited to our own perspectives.’ - Robert
John Meehan.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
13

FACE-TO-FACE
NURTURING LEARNERS FOR LIFE!
Uma Ramesh
Head Curriculum – Lakshmi Vidya Sangham
The schools should ensure that young adults leave the school with the motivation and capacity to
continue learning throughout life. To do this the school should establish the goals, persevere, monitor
their learning progress, adjust the learning strategies as necessary and overcome difficulties in
learning in the big picture of the curriculum map.
The schooling process should
reflect each student’s interests,
readiness and personal investment.
The pedagogy needs to be changed
to make the learner to communicate
and collaborate and not to be a passive
listener, shares Uma Ramesh.
TPS: There is a long standing view
that only a limited quantity of
learning is obtained through formal
institutions of learning and informal
learning plays a significant role in
the empowerment of individual. This
view has been further strengthened
by cognitive psychologist. How do you
think schools can cope with situations
Uma Ramesh, Head Curriculum
– Lakshmi Vidya Sangham, a young
spirited fresher, entered the LVS
institution three decades ago as a
teacher of the primary level. Now she is
a confident and promising leader of all
the LVS schools.
Her passion for teaching Maths
is boundless and is proven across the
student community. She gained the
ability to handle teachers and share her
subject competency through the post of
the Academic Supervisor of the middle
level of TVSMHSS. Active participation
in Quality Circles has enabled her to
travel across nations and be a part of
international conventions.
As the Principal of TVS Matric
School, she took the school to great
heights through her open attitude for
learning and her love for children. As the
Project Team Head she has been able to
spread her learning to the outside world.
Heading the LVS Schools as the Head of
the Curriculum department, she strives
to enhance the learning climate of the
LVS institutions and ensure 21st century
learning and skills for each and every
child of all schools.
by synergizing formal and informal
learning modes?
Uma: I have had my eyes open to the
world of schooling that happens beyond
the walls of the traditional brick and
mortar education. The stimulating
environments like park, libraries, living
rooms, play ground and toys plays vital
role in the learning. Self directed learning
from the environment through the senses
teaches the essential understanding of the
concepts. A lot of time invested in doing
something promotes the responsibility
for a child on what and how to learn.
This learning changes everything and
empowers students with the opportunity
of holistic learning and supports them
to uncover the concepts hidden in the
manipulative/products. Incorporating or
expanding upon at least a few of this gives
a trust that students can be masters of
their own learning. The schooling process
should reflect each student’s interests,
readiness and personal investment.
TPS: Can you suggest a few informal
instruments of learning provided by
schools that helps in the process of
empowerment of the individual and
how do they play a scaffolding role
in learning?
Uma: Field trips, activity areas, Science
corners, projects, labs, manipulative
puzzles, group discussions, think pair
shares activities, role plays, nature walk,
debates are the few instruments that
promote informal learning. The first is the
pedagogical perspective that deals with
scaffolding self-regulated learning and
supports the completion of tasks creating
a shared understanding of the task. In the
pedagogical perspective, a self-regulated
learner enters into interactions with the
more capable peer. Through grounding the
two negotiate a common understanding of
the task and the more capable peer then
uses support structure to adapt the support
to the learner, transferring more and more
responsibility to the learner. In this process
of learning, a network is created providing
opportunity to each individual to teach as
well as learn from peer.
TPS: With a high thrust on competitive
learning, most schools appear to
have neglected or marginalized such
vital requirements and appear to be
promoting rote learning preparing the
students for a rat race. In this context
what do you think are the future
challenges and how do you think
schools can cope with them?
Uma: Understanding concepts in depth,
to think critically, solve problems and draw
decisions, the ability to analyze, apply,
synthesize and create, work creatively
and able to communicate and collaborate
are the essential skills that form the heart
of the curriculum as these are essential
14 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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for both the world of work and success in
life. The pedagogy should address deeper
learning and foster higher order thinking
skills. The pedagogy needs to be changed
to make the learner to communicate and
collaborate and not to be a passive listener.
Deep understanding and actionability
for the real world will occur only by
embedding skills within the knowledge
domain such that each enhances the other.
Emotional stability and health education
are to be factored in the school curriculum.
The in-service education for the
teachers should reflect the above and to
make students equip for future challenges,
we need to give them a voice (i.e) they have
to be responsible for their likes and choices.
The goals of education and of a school
should aim to synthesize and contribute
on why skills matter and which skills
are important for learning and future
outcomes.
TPS: Many schools believe that
provision of informal support to
learning for extended and impactful
learning comes with the cost which
parents cannot afford and hence find
it convenient to marginalize them.
Is there a scope for integrating such
learning experiences with curricular
architecture and how do you think
this can be done?
Uma: According to me, it’s a myth that
quantum of learning is directly proportional
to the cost of learning materials. The
curriculum design of a school should create
learning outcomes and learning objectives
to match the learning environment
without compromising the standards.
Mapping the available resources with
the curriculum will be an added value to
provide significant learning experiences.
Seminars, study sessions, workshops
provide opportunities for the students to
meet the standards. Retaining teachers
with such skills who care about the
subject, their learners and about teaching
and learning will be productive for the
organization. Usage of active learning, the
system of feedback that promotes impactful
learning, interaction with the students,
www.progressiveschool.in
Uma Ramesh
challenging students to make progress
in learning could be considered in the
curricular design of the school. A mindset
is required to thoughtfully integrate
various disciplines that provide a strong
foundation in conceptual understanding
and optimizing the usage of resources.
TPS: Learning beyond” is fundamental
to “Learning always” and“Life long
learning.” It is development of a
mindset and attitude to learning
which is required for a vibrant
knowledge society and a global
learning environment. How can this
idea be seeded in the young mind
which would trigger them to be
powerful “Self learners”?
Uma: Children come to school with an
open mind and willing to learn. The
schools should foster and strengthen this
predisposition and ensure that young adults
leave the school with the motivation and
capacity to continue learning throughout
life. To do this, the school should establish
the goals, to persevere, to monitor their
learning progress, to adjust the learning
strategies as necessary and to overcome
difficulties in learning in the big picture of
the curriculum map. Students interest to be
fostered and positive attitude towards the
subject to be reflected in the curriculum.
As the majority of students, learning
time is spent in school, the climate of
the school is important for the creation of
“Learning beyond,” and effective learning
environment. Learning beyond always
kindles the curiosity of the child and some
of the non-cognitive outcomes of schooling
that serves the purpose of education. The
concept of personalized learning and
individual learning targets are the force
behind learning which steers the plan of
the curriculum.
TPS: In a world haunted by technology,
most learners spent their time with
the instruments of technology for
further and extended learning. What
are its advantages and shortfalls?
How do you think this mindset can be
changed to a positive and personalized
interactive social learning culture?
Uma: “We are living in the world where
technology almost surpass humanity,”
said Albert Einstein. Use of these hi-tech
mechanizations hinders the steps of
learning and also demolishes the creativity
and thinking skills of learners. The learners
are misguided by wrong information
available that become a serious obstacle in
their development. The click of a mouse has
the power to control everything and makes
the learners lazy and disconnected from
the real world. Students use technology
in place of handwriting which slows
down the writing skill and thinking
processes. Though e-books are handy
and eco-friendly, replacing books with
e-books causes eye strain and are not
cost effective at times. On the other hand,
technology should be fused with the
method of teaching to make learners’ brain
working instead of being totally dependent
on them. If used appropriately, it has
the great potential to enhance students’
achievement and teachers learning. The
new software and applications which
are interactive could be used to create
environment in which students can learn
by doing, receive feedback and continually
refine their understanding and build new
knowledge. Bringing exciting curricula
based on real world problems by providing
scaffolds and tools to enhance learning will
provide expanding opportunities for the
teacher and the taught. Create an active
environment in which students not only
solve problems and also find their own
problems/queries could be done through
appropriate software. For example in a
banking simulation, students assume
roles, such as vice president of a bank
and learn about the knowledge and skills
needed to perform various duties.
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
15

LEARNING THROUGH QUIZ
IGNITING CURIOSITY THROUGH QUIZ
Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramanium
Quizmaster & CEO, Greycaps
A quiz is a great way to teach students about various subjects and test their knowledge. They ignite
curiosity and make children look for answers. Here’s how schools can use this tool effectively.
Greycaps is Asia’s largest onstage
quizzing and knowledge services
company. They are also the
creators of the largest GK program
across schools in India with over quarter
million children reading their books every
year. Here Quiz Master Giri ‘Pickbrain’
Balasubramanium shares why quizzes
are important for school and how they
can help create knowledge tribes through
igniting curiosity.
TPS: Mr. Giri, It is indeed a pleasure
to interact with a Quiz King like you.
You had been engaged in developing
the quizzing skills among learners for
the last two decades. Can you recount
what brought you into this field and
what struggles have you faced in
developing this field?
Giri: My debut was a sheer accident.
I was in class 4 and we were to have
an inter-house quiz at my school. The
teacher who was to host the quiz was
unwell and hence on leave. I was called
to the staff room and simply told I would
play the host. Perhaps the only virtue at
that time was that I was a loudmouth.
When I decided to quit a cushy job at Walt
Disney exactly two decades after that
school debut to become a professional
quizmaster, it was a more planned
decision with a bunch of batchmates from
college – a typical start-up.
Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramanium,
is Asia’s leading quizmaster and CEO of
Greycaps, publishers of some of India’s
largest General Knowledge programs for
schools. Seen every weekend on national
television channels hosting shows, he
has presented over 2000 shows across
10 countries of the world. He is a TEDx
speaker, educator and youth mentor.
A recipient of several awards, he is an
alumnus of the iconic Harvard Business
School.
No journey is without struggles.
Infact, if there are no struggles, it is
possible you are on a wrong lane! One
of the biggest challenges was to make
schools look at general knowledge as not
just a requirement for those interested
in quizzing but for all students. With
21st century skills becoming imperative,
from competitive exams to admissions
to interviews, general knowledge has
become a necessity for everyone.
TPS: How do you think Quiz is an
important dimension of knowledge
provocation, knowledge assimilation
and knowledge management. How
does it help the youngsters to improve
their competency levels?
Giri: We see quiz as a learning tool and
a method to build good communication
skills and conversation abilities. It ignites
the curiosity in a person and when
that happens one wants to know the
answer. The process of learning starts
automatically. Curiosity drives us to seek
out information. When we are informed,
we make better conversation and feel
more confident to speak. When we do
that with a higher frequency, the odds of
our success increase. As educators, we
should always strive to ignite curiosity
in our children.
TPS: How do you think Quiz can be
integrated as an effective pedagogical
skill in classrooms and how this can
be achieved by schools?
Giri: Schools can integrate Quiz as an
effective pedagogical skill in classrooms
by:
• Quizzing can be a powerful tool to
help children remember longer and
recall faster.
• Frameworks like multiple intelligence
can be brought to life using quizzing.
• The effectiveness of a teacher
increases manifold as engagement
value increases.
• Quizzing stems from the Socratic
pedagogy of asking and answering
questions to stimulate critical
thinking and map out solutions.
TPS: You have performed hundreds
of Quiz programs in schools and in
colleges and also in corporate sector.
16 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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What are your observations in quiz
being a powerful tool for learning?
Giri: It is like the saying “I forget most
of what I was taught and remember all
of what I learnt.” World over, systems of
education that have succeeded are those
that focussed equally on learning skills
along with teaching skills. When we
emphasise heavily only on the teaching
side, we run the risk of merely preparing
our children for exams and fuelling a
rote culture. Learning through inquiry
opens the mind to understand and not
merely recall.
If we look at great institutes, like
Harvard, MIT, IITs and IIMs, that foster
higher order thinking skills almost as a
way of life you would find them having
weekly quizzes as an integral part of
their system.
TPS: With the onslaught of technology,
the excessive coverage of information
through media is becoming both an
opportunity as well as a challenge.
How do you think the Quizzing skills
can transform to meet the emerging
dynamics?
Giri: Information overload is a global
problem and an even bigger one when
it comes to children. We, at Greycaps,
experimented with a GK program called
Global Awareness where we supply
schools with monthly workbooks. Schools
loved the idea and we today reach over
a quarter-million-children each month
across India.
We live in an era where content has to
be generationally relevant to the audience
we cater to (i.e. what they want to read,
not what you choose to write) and has to
be curated in a snackable manner.
TPS: Do you see a future for quiz in the
emerging educational dynamics? How
Giri ‘Pickbrain’ Balasubramanium
do you find the role of quiz programs
worldwide and its status in India?
Giri: Quizzing has a central role in
emerging educational dynamics.
1. The future will not be only learning
from teachers. It is also about peer
group learning.
2. Learning through highly engaging
gamified platforms like quizzes is the
in-thing with corporates. It can be
extremely useful for schools to adopt.
3. Learning beyond our comfort zones
is going to be a key area. Quizzing
naturally takes us from the known
to the unknown without creating a
discomfort in the unknown quadrant.
Quiz programs both in India and
several countries is reflective of a huge
upward trend. We, as Greycaps, would
have never imagined a decade ago that
we would be hosting quiz shows in as
many as nine countries. Technology
(app) powered quizzes are also on the rise
making learning fun.
TPS: What are your plans to enhance
this informal learning process to a
learning community in which schools
are one part of the system?
Giri: Learning beyond curriculum is
critical but we cannot expect our schools
to deliver on that front too in the time
they have (or don’t have). They can merely
create the platforms and opportunities for
informal learning and students have to
choose their areas of interest that would
take them beyond.
We, at Greycaps, have curated a
portal called Knowledge Tribe (www.
knowledgetribe.in) which brings together
information and people who appreciate
knowledge. It is an absolutely free
knowledge network to share, discuss and
learn with like minded people.
TPS: What message would you like
to give to the school community and
students in particular to develop this
informal learning skill?
Giri: Informal learning skills are as
important as formal. In the modern world
it can be your game changer. Everyone
wants integrated solutions.
• Take Steve Jobs for example. He
changed the face of computers by
introducing beautiful typography
which came from informal calligraphy
classes he had once attended.
• Here is one more. Back in 1994, Bill
Gates paid about 30 million dollars to
buy a creation of Leonardo Da Vinci.
These were not one his sculptures or
paintings, but a manuscript called
“Codex Leicester,” a collection of
scientific writings by Leonardo.
Jobs, Gates and many others who
have impacted the world have done so
because they invested time and money
into informal learning as well. Widen your
horizons to give yourself a larger landscape
for success.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
17

THINKING OUT-OF-THE-BOX
INTEGRATING RESEARCH IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION/CURRICULUM
Sukhvinder Multani
ISC Coordinator and Section Head (Senior Secondary),Avalon Heights International School, Mumbai.
Teaching young minds about research is vital if we want to encourage them to evaluate evidence so
that they make informed decisions. Let’s see how.
The term ‘Research’ sets a premise
that it is a study applicable to higher
education alone. In the present
scenario, school education is going through
transformation in terms of exploring
myriad aspects. Research in this context
is being understood as an integral part of
school curriculum. The need for integrating
research in school curriculum is a welcome
change, however, the expertise to impart
these skills in schools matter the most. Not
many schools are equipped with resources
congenial for facilitating research. Besides,
there is a need of faculty who have the
required skills and expertise to impart
these skills in students, thereby making
teaching–learning a unique experience.
Teaching young minds about research
Sukhvinder Multani is a n
educationist and researcher. She has
completed her Masters and M.Phil.
with Political Science, her main area of
interest. She has been in academics for
over 20 years. Besides, she has taught at
undergraduate and graduate levels. She
has also been instrumental in designing
curriculum for Under graduate and Law
Courses of ICFAI University. She is a
prolific Case Writer and has written
case studies on International Affairs,
International Trade and Business. Her
Case studies have been published in
the European Case Clearing House
(ECCH), London, which is the largest
repository of case studies. As researcher,
she has edited and published books on
diverse domains. She has also briefly
worked with NGOs and currently she
is associated with school education.Her
other areas of interest include Defense
and Strategic Studies, Women Studies
and International Affairs.
Currently, she is ISC Coordinator and
Section Head (Senior Secondary),Avalon
Heights International School, Vashi, Navi
Mumbai.
is vital if we want to encourage them
to evaluate evidence so that they make
informed decisions.
Defining Research
Research is a systematic process of
collecting and analyzing information to
increase understanding of the phenomenon
under study.
It is time schools recognize the
significance of research and are prepared
with resources to integrate it in the
curricula. The moment children show
evidence of questioning in their daily
learning, the time is considered ripe for
them to get involved in research and
explore wide range of research techniques.
Finding answers to questions does
involve research using books, media
resources available, interacting with
others to complete an individual project,
home assignment or a task leading to
investigation. This type of research is
content driven and finding facts, however,
filtering the content, using the right kind
of resources and optimum utility of the
information to sync with the given project/
assignment needs to be taught, in the
absence of which the student may tend to
engage in the following:
1. Wastage of time
2. Collecting information, data which is
not relevant.
3. Browsing online resources which are
inappropriate.
4. Confusion in designing assignments
and projects.
Children are also unclear about areas
where research can be applied in future.
What does Research entail?
A wide variety of research tasks across
subjects has specified that research can
be conducted in different ways such as
conducting field trips, survey, preparing
questionnaires for interviews and working
in the libraries to collect data/information.
It has become essential to make
students practically understand the
concepts learnt by way of giving them
assignments and projects which apply
surveys and sampling methods. This is
not only a method away from classroom
teaching but will also inculcate interest
in students in terms of completely getting
involved as the learning is not restricted
to classroom. This widens the learning of
any student who is unable to comprehend
concepts in a usual way of learning in
the classroom with chalk board method.
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Students can also learn to prepare
questionnaire pertaining to a topic or
concept and they can be encouraged to
collect information and data by visiting
libraries.
Research using internet
Internet, these days, has become the
first source of information to students
and they depend on this source largely.
However, they need to be informed about
the right sites to visit as there is no dearth
of information available on the internet.
Besides, there is information which is not
appropriate. While doing research on the
internet, the student needs to keep in mind
the following aspects:
1. Usage of right terminology or
keywords. This will help them to type
right words in the search engines. In
this regard, the teacher can guide them
how to use keywords in the search
engines.
2. Identifying and using search
engines. Children should be
encouraged to use more than one
search engines than sticking to just one
so that they can compare and contrast
information and use what is best for
them.
3. Assessment of reliable and
unreliable sources. Giving them
information that not all the sources
on the internet is reliable is very
important. Also, it is important to help
children to decide about the reliability
of a website.
Integrating research with teaching
learning and training educators to
impart these skills in students is no
doubt a challenge at the moment which
most schools have recognized. Across
educational boards and curriculum, the
Sukhvinder Multani
need for subject enrichment activities
and projects has been given significance
in evaluation and assessment of subject
specific knowledge of students by schools.
This kind of evaluation also requires
students to be at their creative best in
terms of initiating and completing these
activities. The role of research when
integrated with these activities definitely
adds value and enriches the students in
three ways viz knowledge acquisition,
deeper level of understanding of the
knowledge with a unique way of application
and the output in terms of understanding
each aspect of the knowledge and thereby
deriving inferences.
The subject enrichment activities
and projects in almost all the scholastic
subjects when synthesized with research
will bear fruits and will also set base for
students about its significance and role
in higher education. Student’s familiarity
with research will equip them for pursuing
future research assignments at higher
educational levels.
Besides, students will also learn and
develop skills viz. writing a proposal,
information gathering, information
collating and referencing, analysis of
information and data, drawing inferences
and categorizing sources. Research skills
will also encourage students towards
writing research papers, publishing
papers in journals/magazines and paper
presentations in conferences and seminars.
Research skills also lead to development
of cognitive and other skills in students
such as:
1. Searching skills (secondary search)
2. Preparing hypothesis/arguments
3. Knowledge of research methodologies
and their application
4. Knowledge of various data collection
methods
5. Ability to analyze data
6. Draw inferences
Ways to develop learner’s
research skills
The educator can take initiative and
adhere to the following in order to develop
learner’s research skills:
1. Encourage students to frame their
own research questions which must
certainly link to learning outcomes.
2. Discuss with children the different
research frameworks across disciplines
such as scientific method of research,
historical method etc.
3. To emphasize that research is a
systematic enquiry and does not
provide any personal opinions.
4. Make them aware that research is
relevant to diverse areas and is done
by many professionals.
Subject beneficiaries
Research skills are applicable to almost
all the subjects including languages.
Therefore, there is an urgent need to
integrate research skills with school
curriculum which can happen through
the following:
1. A change in pedagogy to inculcate
research skills.
2. To revisit assessment criteria for
evaluating research components.
3. To bring in and encourage more interdisciplinary
and multi-disciplinary
research.
It is evident enough that when students
were given better research experiences
and orientation, they are better prepared
for their future work. Research also
enhances writing skills in students which
is applicable in almost all the areas.
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19

ADVENTURE SPORTS
ADVENTURE SPORTS: NOT JUST
FUN BUT LEARNING FOR LIFE!
Lt Col Satyendra Verma
Adventure Enthusiast
School days are formative years for the mind and body of the student, making it the ideal stage to
inculcate physical fitness and fearlessness towards attempting new physical and mental challenges
and adventure sports go a long way in inculcating them.
Adventure sports are important
for children as they are highly
motivational and practical.
They aim at increasing productivity,
encourages students to work in different
Lt Col Satyendra Verma (Retd)
was commissioned in Indian Army in
1991, but he took premature retirement
in 2013. He is B Tech in Electronics
and Telecommunications. He is also an
expert in GIS with one patent. He is an
Adventure Enthusiast — a Skydiver;
B.A.S.E Jumper; Wingsuit Pilot;
ParaglidingPilot and MicrolightPilot.
He has to his credit 2400+ Freefall
jumps; 350+ Wingsuit Flights; 53 BASE
Jumps. He conceptualized and raised
the Army Skydiving Teamin 2006 and
was the Team Captain, Army Sports
Skydiving Teamfrom 2006 to 2012. He
is an Instructor in all Skydiving training
methods (AFF, Tandem, SL & IAD ) and
Chief Instructor for Army Skydiving
Training for 07 yrs, trained 200+ persons
without a single incident. He represented
India in two World Military Parachuting
Championships at Ryazan, Russia
in 2006 and Switzerland in 2010 and
also represented India in Two World
Wingsuit Championships (2015 &2016).
Lt Col (Retd) Verma is FAI Qualified
Judge in Accuracy Skydiving. He
won National Adventure Award 2015
(Equivalent to Arjuna Award) and three
entries in Limca Book of Records.
working environment, builds team spirit,
build trust and more. These physical
activities also help in maintaining the
physical mental balance of a student.
Here, Lt Col Satyendra Verma (Retd.)
shares his views on the same.
TPS: As an icon in Adventure Sports
in India, it is indeed a privilege
to introduce you to the school
community. Can you briefly recount
your success stories in this field of
Adventure Sports?
Lt Col Verma (Retd): In fact it is my
privilege to get this opportunity to
interact with your magazine and share
my journey. I have been lucky to be able
to pursue my dreams in various forms of
aero adventure sports.
• I am a Skydiving Instructor, which
means that after more than 2000
freefall jumps, I can still experience
With ipc president Mr Graeme Windsor during opening ceremony
the excitement and fun of the First
Jump through the eyes of my students.
It is a humbling feeling when your
student trusts his life in your hands
during the jump.
• I am a professional Wingsuit Pilot
(Advance Discipline in Skydiving)
and represent India in World
Championships. It is truly an honour
to represent my country on the world
stage and makes me push my own
limits.
• I am a B.A.S.E Jumper, which means
I jump of Static Objects fixed to Earth
and open my parachute after jumping.
This is a highly technical and
dangerous sport, which challenges
one’s concept of fear and mental focus
and has made me a much stronger
person.
• Although I have jumped in many
parts of the world, some years back
I started undertaking independent
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Wingsuit Flying & BASE Jumping
projects in India with the aim of
sharing my experiences with the
future generations and helping the
ones who wish to pursue their dreams.
I also give talks to motivate junior &
senior classes to overcome challenges
in the face of fear and rejection.
TPS: What kind of challenges have you
faced in developing the right attitude
and skills to achieve these peaks of
excellence?
Lt Col Verma (Retd): The foremost
challenge is to overcome the basic human
mindset that tells us not to take risks and
follow the path already tried and tested.
The first reaction of the ecosystem,
from your parents, teachers, colleagues
& even employers, will push you to
reconsider your decision to pursue
adventure sports. It was particularly more
difficult, when I was a student, but it got
easier with age when I was responsible
for my own decisions.
The other big challenge was access
to knowledge and expertise. Since these
sports are not very common in India, I had
to mainly rely on magazines earlier and
then later Internet helped a great deal.
The challenge to get the right
coaching and training in these high risk
sports. I was lucky to get the same from
the Army instructors and from abroad but
now it is my dream that I can provide this
for the volunteers in India.
TPS: Can you identify any five
important requirements to engage as
an adventure sportsman and how does
one nurture them?
Lt Col Verma (Retd):Pursuing Adventure
Sports safely need a mindset which some
of us are lucky to be born with but if one is
truly motivated, it can also be developed.
In recognition of the National contribution in the field of Adventure Sports, Lt. Col
Verma ( Retd.) awarded Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for Year 2014
(Equivalent to Arjuna Award)
That mindset consists of 5 parts:
• Confidence to stand out among your
peers and be able to chart your own
path unfazed. As a society, safety is
presumed to be linked with following
a treaded path, hence it requires a
special confidence in the person to
break away towards his/her own
journey.
• Perseverance to follow up on one’s
dreams as obstacles will come in
form of physical limitations and
circumstantial support. One has
to display grit in the face of these
obstacles and keep moving ahead.
• Physical fitness is the key for any
sport and more so for adventure sport
where physical risks are heightened
with this aspect. Apart from being
over all fit, most adventure sports
will also require certain muscles to
be more developed that are used in
that sport. For example, in Wingsuit
Flying, one must present a very
minimal area in the direction of flying
which requires the Core Muscles to be
highly developed and agile.
• The ability to focus on your actions
when the body is pumped up with
adrenaline and mind is telling you
to quit. This is essentially the most
important quality, and this must be
developed over a period of time with
practice.
• Hunger to learn more about the sport
and its consequences will make one
safe in the sport.
TPS: What kind of opportunities do
you find in developing Adventure
sports in India and what are the
roadblocks in developing them?
Lt Col Verma (Retd): We are at the
starting block for Adventure sports in
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India and while many crib about the
situation, I see the positive side of it, such
that opportunities are open to the entire
ecosystem. Right from the organisers,
sponsors and participants, we all are
privileged that we do not have any legacy
to follow and that we can build it from
ground up with the best of methods and
equipment tried and tested worldwide.
While comparing the development of
adventure sports in other countries, the
roadblocks that we face today in India are
no different. These include:
• Acceptance
• Regulation
• Support from financial institutions
(Insurance, Banks)
• Importing specialised equipment.
• Training of instructors.
However, one unique roadblock for
India is inculcation of safety as a mindset,
but I am sure in times to come, after good
examples of best procedures are made
mandatory, we will overcome this too.
TPS: How do you think adventure
sports helps in developing an
individual’s profile and make him a
confident and contributive citizen of
the country.
Lt Col Verma (Retd): As we can see
that the five qualities mentioned above
as essential to pursue adventure sports
safely (Confidence to stand out among
your peers, Perseverance to follow up
on one’s dreams, Physical fitness, The
ability to focus, Hunger to learn more) also
happen to be the important qualities for
character building for a student.
Great things are done by breaking the
norm in a positive manner and adventure
activities can help build these habits.
Also, experiencing adventure activities
pushes the boundaries of your mental
strength and that confidence that, “I will
be fine” & fearlessness is very infectious
and invariably transcends into other life
decisions also.
TPS: What is your message to the
school community in nurturing
adventure sports?
Lt Col Verma (Retd): School days are
formative years for the mind and body
of the student, making it the ideal
stage to inculcate physical fitness and
fearlessness towards attempting new
physical and mental challenges.
Low level adventure activities
like Para Sailing (to remove fear of
heights), Scuba Diving (to remove fear of
water), trekking into difficult terrain (to
understand that we are one with nature)
can easily be organised for all classes
and not only limited for senior students.
No doubt that this will entail
additional financial and organisational
burden on the school and parents, but
I assure you that in the long run it will
pay back to the student, parents and the
school also.
With the rising economy, these days
a lot of corporates show keenness to
partner and sponsor school activities
and I feel that this sweet spot can well
be used by the school administration to
seek support and reduce the financial
burden in organising adventure activities
for children.
The only word of caution is Safety
which can be ensured by very closely
checking and verifying the antecedents
of the operator organising the adventure
sport for students.
If given an opportunity, I would be glad
to be of any help to guide the schools in
this regard or motivate the students to take
on personal challenges, both physical and
mental, because finally it is these qualities
that will see him through rough patches or
help achieve his/her potential.
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POINT OF VIEW
MAKING LEARNING
EASY AND ENJOYABLE!
Pinky Banik
Academic Director, Dhamma Dipa School, South Tripura
In our lifespan, we learn through both formal and informal modes. In informal context, we learn at
home, we learn from everyday living, infact we learn from all aspects of life. It is a life long process
and educators need to integrate informal ways of learning into the current curriculum.
In formal way, learning and education
happens in institutions. Formal
learning has taken a front seat with
teachers going for officially structured
syllabus, following a routine system
of learning with time assessment as
continuous process in defined stages.
Formal education includes primary,
secondary, higher secondary and
university level education — all with a
certification.
But, the boundaries between formal
and informal learning are blurred and
can change from context to context,
from discourse community to discourse
Pinky Banik,Advocate,High court
of Tripura, is the Academic Director of
Dhamma Dipa School, South Tripura.
She is a Montessori trained teacher and
has also been a lecturer in MBB College.
She holds a B.A. (Law), LLB (Honours)
degree and has been practicing law
from 2009. She has also completed
her M.A. in Sociology and has been
associated with different organisations,
imparting social work in Tripura.
She has conducted various
workshops for teachers, students
and different other groups for women
and children to impart practical
knowledge about the basic legal rights
and remedies. Some of the modules
she conducts workshops are – Law
Awareness Program,Right to Education,
Procedure of approaching and utilizing
various channels available for the
redressal of grievances, role of courts
in achieving gender equality, District
Legal Service Authority, Protection of
Children against sexual abuse, and
Criminal law and women to name a
few.
community; and there are many hybrid
varieties of learning. In much informal
learning, there are some elements of
formality, assisted learning with small
components which are structured in order
to master a particular element, drawing
out of general conclusions, promotion of
more conscious learning, and assessment
of learning outcomes. On the other hand, in
most formal learning situations, there are
elements of informality, situated learning,
application of the generalised learning to
the specific life situation of the learners,
reconciliation of the new learning with
the individual experience of the learners,
to name a few.
Informal learning is now recognized
as being far more extensive than formal
learning. The image has been used many
times of an iceberg of learning: what
cannot be seen is not only larger but also
more influential than what can be seen,
for it supports and indeed determines what
can be seen above the water line. But much
of this informal learning is not recognised
as ‘learning.’
For overall development of a child,
both formal and informal learning are
necessary. Nowadays schools are going
for activity based curriculum, which is a
good step.
Informal learning in
schools…
Informal learning is what keeps us
vibrant, mentally active and interested
in the world around us, as well as our
own development. Just because informal
learning cannot be easily quantified does
not mean that it is not worthwhile – or even
essential to our development and growth
as human beings.Informal learning is a
lifelong process. Few informal instruments
of learning include:
• Club activities: Students learn how
to work as a team.
• G.D. (group discussion): All
students learn to speak and share
their thoughts and views.
• Rapid fire questions: The game can
be played solo or in groups. This can
help in keeping the students minds
proactive.
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• Slate chalk games: Give a slate and
chalk to each child and make them
sit or stand in the manner that two
kids face each other. Ask a question
and let them write the answers on
the slate. Once the teacher says turn
around, each child shows his slate to
his partner.
• Spinning board should be made
with different topics. As soon as the
spinner stops, the revolving pointer
stops on a topic and randomly a kid
is asked to speak something on that
topic.
• Memory word games: These can be
used for the junior level kids, who can
improve their vocabulary with it.
Academics - a rat race?
Academia has turned into a rat
race, leading to a deep change in the
fundamental structure of academic
behaviour, and entailing a self-defeating
and hence counter-productive pattern.
The teachers are pressurised to finish the
syllabus on time and the parents pressurise
kids to come first. This has become a mad
race.
Students should learn to accept
criticism and both school and home should
counsel them that way so that the rat race
can be coped up. Teach the students to
love themselves and accept failures in the
positive way. And consecutively admire
those who are able to successfully get out
of the rat race, because very few people are
able to follow their passions and succeed
in unconventional streams.
Integrating learning
experiences…
When I was in school, I was taught
comprehension only in reading class,maths
in only mathematics class, and so on. I
often wondered why some math concepts
weren’t taught in science since they
somehow seemed to have a relationship.
Also, maths it is described as one that
Pinky Banik
connects different areas of study by
cutting across subject-matter lines
and emphasizing unifying concepts.
Integration focuses on making connections
for students, allowing them to engage in
relevant, meaningful activities that can be
connected to real life.
Students not only connect and
create more real world connections in
integrated classrooms, but they are
also more actively engaged. Creating
an integrated curriculum means that
teachers are charged with having to create
challenging, fun, meaningful tasks that
help students connect to information.
Creating a solar system unit that also
requires oral language development and
practice, reading comprehension skills
and mathematics, can engage students
far more than just a lesson on the solar
system alone. Integration helps to achieve
retention and engagement in classrooms,
which yields higher mastery of content
standards.
Learning: a lifelong process
Education is a part of life itself and an
infinite preparation for life. As technology
advances quickly, lifelong learners have
to learn new skills and adept to rapid
changes in professional and personal
environments. Nowadays, we replace
workers with learners or community
members to acknowledge all participants
in the learning. They also give educators
the ability to create a private network with
a clearly defined purpose, an alternative to
using Facebook—a system that may be
perceived as primarily a “social” system—
for educational purposes.
When we are in the classroom, 90% of
your interest in the subject depends on your
teacher: if the teacher is passionate about
his/her discipline, then students can feel it
and care more. Even if they have problems
with this class, they do not feel afraid of
looking for the teacher’s help because
passionate teachers are usually very open
and eager to offer any assistance ever
after school hours, so learning beyond the
classroom are much more sensible.
Learning outside the classroom helps
children feel the nature better and become
more concerned about the environmental
issues, which is also crucial today.By
taking learning beyond the classroom
you’ll find dozens of opportunities to make
learning concepts, real and relevant by
putting them into a more realistic context.
Suddenly their minds are free to explore
and you can often end up with some very
creative results no matter what subject
you’re teaching them.
Experimenting is also a fantastic way
to learn – very young children learn a
huge amount about volume and textures
by simple things like sand and water play,
whilst older children enjoy becoming
nature detectives and learning about minibeasts
and their habitat.
Co-curricular activities facilitate in
the development of various domains of
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mind and personality such as intellectual
development, emotional development,
social development, moral development
and aesthetic development.
One of the key benefits of learning
outside is that you have the most amazingly
well resourced stock cupboard you could
hope for – and a lot of it is free. No matter
how tight your school’s budget, so long as
you have a good imagination, you’ll be
able to develop free, meaningful learning
opportunities for your children that will
stick with them.
Technology in education
Education has been greatly advanced by
the technological advances of computers.
Students are able to learn on a global scale
without ever leaving their classrooms. But,
the impact of technology in modern life
is unmeasurable, we use technology in
different ways and sometimes the way we
implement various technologies do more
damage than good.
Here are few advantages of technology
in education:
1. Easier for Education: In the working
world, in nearly every job you may
take, you have to know how to operate
a computer. Teaching this skill to
children early will give them an
advantage.
2. Wider approach to society: Before
the internet, children knew what their
family taught them. This caused their
political and religious views to be
the only ones that the children knew.
Having access to the technology will
expose them to things outside of their
parents interests and help them to
form their own opinions
3. Sea of information: Virtual classes
are delivered at many schools.
E-learning is making inroads in
education. Students make use of
internet technology to download
important study materials in the form
of text, audio and videos.
4. Brings some fun into the
classroom: Learning the same exact
way from the same person every day
can really get boring. This boredom
turns into a lack of motivation in
the students. When they are able to
integrate computer learning into their
normal schedule, they become much
more excited to learn. Use of AR and
VR can further keep them engaged.
But, there is a flip side too. Here are
the major shortfalls of technology in
education:
1. Huge reservoir of wrong or
harmful information: Getting
access to inappropriate information is
a big challenge. Parents
need to see what their
kids are accessing.
2. Wastage of time:
Some children waste
immense time and
energy in doing nonproductive
activities.
Some of them get
addicted to internet
activities such as
browsing, gaming, etc.,
and waste time and
energy.
3. Distraction:
Attentiveness drops
drastically when
students have their
cell phones or other
technologies near them.
But, technology is
a powerful contributor
to learning if it is used
to deepen students’
engagement in meaningful
and intellectually authentic
curriculum. Technology
can be used to restructure
and redesign the classroom
to produce an environment
that promotes the
development of higherorder
thinking skills.
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TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES
PARENTING IN THE
DIGITAL WORLD
Dr Upendra Kaushik, B Com (Hons),
M Com, B Ed, Ph D, D Litt is in school
education and administration since
1978. He is a well known educationist,
consultant, mentor, trainer, motivator
and institution strategist. He has
authored 19 books and has rich
experience in the field of Curriculum
Development, Measurement and
Evaluation, Development of Text Books
and Instructional Materials. He has
been a resource person for training
programmes on Value Education,
Consumer Education, Population and
Development Education, General
Management, Marketing Management,
Capacity Building for Skill-Upgradation,
and associated with CBSE, NIOS,CIE
University of Delhi, etc. Since 1990,
he has trained more than 2,000
entrepreneurs. He is the recipient
of more than 65 accolades at the
State, National and International level
including ‘National Award to Teachers
2001’ instituted by Ministry of Human
Resource Development, Government
of India, ‘State Teacher’s Award 2002’
instituted by the Government of NCT,
Delhi.
At present, Dr Upendra Kaushik is
Chairman, Governing Body, Bharatiya
Vidya Bhavan’s Vallabhram Mehta
Public School, Vadodara; Member
Governing Councils and Management
Committees of a number of well-known
schools of the country.
Dr. Upendra Kaushik
Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s V.M.Public School, Vadodara
The role of parents is very important in the life of a child. A child
learns a lot from his/her parents. But, parenting has its own
challenges, here’s how to be a responsible parent in this digital world.
What we need to remember as a
parent is that while there is no
right or wrong, sometimes our
actions depend on the situation and we
should rely on our instincts in making
decisions. There are certain skills antd
instincts we all possess which acts as a
guiding force to help us be good parents.
Being a parent is not a one-time job but
needs constant work and growth. With
constant change happening around us
in terms of eating habits, advancement in
technology, higher levels of stress, living
conditions to name a few, we need to
keep updating our skill sets to hone our
instincts further.
Why Parenting?
Parenting is important:
• To make the children realize their
potentials and become a self-reliant
progressive citizen.
• To make the children value the
concept of ‘love’ and develop in them
a sense of love and appreciation for
each and every component of the
atmosphere.
• To make the children recognize that
they belong to a nation of responsible
citizens and have certain rights as
well as duties to fulfil.
• To help the children to develop
patience for every aspect of life.
• To make children educated and opt
for a right career in life.
• To help children face the period of
‘stress and storm’ that is adolescence.
• To teach and help the children to face
the challenges in life.
• To make citizens prompt and efficient
enough to take decisions in life.
• To make children financially stable
and teach them the ethics of fair
money transactions.
• To give them life experiences and
training for life, if children see good,
qualitative and a fair parenting
happening with them, they will be
able to be good parents in their future
life.
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Types of parents
We are influenced by how we were
raised (incorporating methods or doing
the opposite). Parenting styles have
been found to predict a child’s wellbeing
in the area of social competence,
academic performance and psycho-social
development. The four parenting styles
are Authoritarian Parents, Permissive
Parents, Authoritative Parents, Rejecting/
Neglecting Parents.
Studies reveal that the decadesold
parenting principle of being an
Authoritative Parent is what our kids
need today. This style of parenting relies
on a balance between parental control
and parental warmth. An Authoritative
parent strives to have a strong, loving
relationship with his children, yet they
also provide high expectations and
definite limits that help kids meet
expectations. Children raised with this
parenting style perform better in school,
are less hostile and have greater selfesteem,
they show more purpose and
independence in their activities, are more
self-reliant, more socially competent,
have positive coping skills and have a
clear understanding of acceptable and
unacceptable behaviors.
Strict parenting can turn children
into adept liars as they do not feel safe
telling the truth, experts have claimed.
Psychotherapist Philippa Perry says a
child should not be solely to blame for
lying as the parenting style has a big
impact on their ability readiness to fib.A
study by Canadian psychologist Victoria
Talwar, using the ‘Peeping Game’
reinforced the claims. Examination two
schools in West Africa, one with stricter
rules and the other with a more laid back
approach, researchers asked children to
guess what object was making a noise
in the game.
According to game, people are asked
to identify the objects by sound only,
with the last one bearing no correlation
to what it looks like. The researchers
then left the room and on return
Dr. Upendra Kaushik
asked the children what the object was,
and if they peeked. Talwar found that
the number of students from the relaxed
school who lied and told the truth
was roughly on par with studies from
other schools. But those from the strict
school were quick to lie, and did it “very
effectively.”
Technology bombardment
As a parent, we not only need to
keep ourselves updated with parenting
skills but also what is happening in our
child’s life especially with the drastic
changes/advancement in technology.
Being online on social networking sites
and apps is a part of children’s lives and
with technology changing all the time
and new apps, games and networks
becoming popular day by day it can be
difficult to keep up.
The American Academy of Paediatrics
(AAP) recommends monitoring the use
of websites and social media platforms
children visit by parents. “Technology
per se is not bad. It is needed for the
overall development of children. But
overdependence on it is certainly a
worrying trend. Such children often
interact less with parents or avoid
participating in real life activities,“
said Dr. Kameshwar Prasad,
Professor and Head of
Neurology at AIIMS.
Digital parenting
isn’t different to offline
parenting in many ways.
What can be tricky is
that the online world
is often hidden from
view and needs to be
monitored closely.
While in India, the
data on overdependence on
technology among pre-teens is
scarce, global data suggests even
six to ten years olds are hooked to
technology that distracts and exposes
children to online bullying, among other
things. “We have come across many
children who are good at solving tough
puzzles in online or app-based games.
But when they are asked to solve a
simple mathematic equation, they find
it difficult,“said Dr. Pravat Mandal,
Professor of Neuroimaging at National
Brain Research Centre. NBRC, he added,
plans to take up the project to map the
brain activity of children hooked to
technology from a young age, and use it
to assess the impact of technology.
TOI had reported in February about
two brothers who were addicted to gaming
and required a month of rehabilitation in
the psychiatry ward of Ram Manohar
Lohia (RML) Hospital. Always engrossed
in gaming, they had no time for studies,
meals, bathing or changing clothes. They
slept fitfully, ignored phone calls and the
doorbell, and twice turned a blind eye
to robbers cleaning out their house. The
most odious symptom of their decline was
the habit of defecating and urinating in
their clothes while playing.
For the first time, two psychiatrists
claim to have proven through research
that the obsessive need to post selfies
or selftis is a mental condition and those
suffering from it may need professional
help. Janarthanan Balakrishnan from
Thiagarajar School of Management in
Madurai and Mark D Griffiths of UK’s
Nottingham Trent University, the two
researchers have based their claim on
the responses they got from 400 young
students pursuing management courses
at two colleges in India, the names of
which have not been disclosed. According
to the researchers, they targeted Indian
students because India has maximum
Facebook users and it accounts for more
selfie deaths in the world compared
to any other country – with 76 deaths
reported from a total 127 worldwide.
In this research, results of which have
been published in International Journal
of Mental Health Addiction, the authors
confirm three levels of selftis : borderline,
acute and chronic. Borderline cases
include people who take selfies at least
three times a day but don’t post them
on social media. Acute selftis involves
people who post them on social media.
The chronic sufferers are those who feel
an uncontrollable urge to take selfies
and post them more than six times daily.
In their study involving the students —
mostly aged between 16 and 25 years
– 40-50% subjects fell in the category of
acute selfitis, 34% were in the borderline
category and 25.20% suffered chronic
selfitis.
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The factors responsible for this
behaviour comprised environmental
enhancement, social competition,
attention-seeking, mood modification,
self-confidence, and social conformity.
Following this study, the Indian Medical
Association (IMA) has issued an
advisory which advocates moderate
use of technology. “A lot of us have
become slaves to devices that were really
meant to free us and give us more time
to experience life and be with people.
Unless precautionary measures are taken
at the earliest, this addiction can prove
detrimental to one’s health in the longer
term, ” IMA president Dr. K.K. Aggarwal
said.
Speaking at the Aligarh Muslim
University on ‘Radiation Hazards of
Cell Phones’, the scientist Prof. Girish
Kumar from Electrical Engineering
Department of IIT Mumbai urged the
smart phone users not to take lightly the
latest warnings pertaining to “hidden
dangers” of technology, which stem from
indiscriminate use of such devices, also
categorically warned people from using
smart phones for more than 30 minutes
a day and said that the release of free
radicals into the human body due to
excessive use of cell phones was also
causing irreversible damage to male
fertility. The scientist stressed that
children, in particular, were suffering
grave threats to their health as “a child’s
skull is thinner and easily penetrated
by radiation.” Talking about the adverse
impact of indiscriminate use of latest
technology on youngsters, Prof Kumar
said there was a 400 per cent increase in
the risk of brain cancer among teenagers
due to excessive use of smart phones.
“Such radiation is causing irreversible
damage to the human DNA, especially
of youngsters. It is also responsible for
a steep increase in sleep disorders and
neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer
and Parkinson’s disease,” he said.
In the words of Rajiv Makhani,
Managing Editor, Technology, NDTV
and the Anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell
Guru and Newsnet 3, “Phones today
have become omnipotent, omnipresent
and omnieverything! In India, there
are 300 million smartphone users and
growing exponentially. It’s what we use
every day for everything. But while the
smartphone brings us closer to those
who are far away, it separates us from
those who are right in front of us. While it
makes us connect with more in quantity,
it completely destroys the quality of that
connection. Teenagers have turned into
screenagers, friends have turned into
machines and restaurants have become
Instagram ATMs.”
The breakdown in socio-cultural
and family structures and an intrusive
social media have affected the mental
health of many young people. Most
parents and teachers are unaware of the
teenager’s inner world until it reaches
a critical stage. Members of the family
and friends fail to interact with children
and understand their inner feelings and
problems. They need to listen, share,
empathize and encourage them to come
out and tell what bothers them. Parents
should advise children knowing their
mental state.
A news item in TOI quotes a report
from American Psychological Science
centre which shows that teens who
spend more time using social media and
less time on meeting friends in person
show higher rates of depression, suicidal
thoughts and actions. The report urges
parents to watch for changes in behaviour
and track what kids are doing online.
The highlights of the study show that
the usage of electronic devices including
smart phones for at least five hours or
more has more than doubled from 2009
to 2015. These teens are 70% more likely
to have suicidal thoughts or actions than
those who reported one hour of daily
usage. There is a tendency to say that
kids are communicating with friends, but
monitoring the social media and setting
reasonable limit is important.
What schools can do?
The educational institutions should
also create a healthy environment by
encouraging cooperation instead of
competition, prevent bulling and ragging
by other children, and also educate them
on the evils of some media games like the
Blue Whale Challenge. The government
should work along with parents and
teachers to ensure emotional and social
security of children. They can legally
ban such media that are harmful to the
younger generation Education should
be holistic and aim to develop skills to
challenge the evils and problems facing
them.
Tips to control child’s
digital world
There are certain tips that can be
used to control the child’s digital world.
Some of the things that can be useful are
as follows:
• Make your own family media
plan: Media should work for you
and within your family values
and parenting style. When used
thoughtfully and appropriately, media
can enhance daily life. But when
used inappropriately or without
thought, media can displace many
important activities such as face-toface
interaction, family-time, outdoorplay,
exercise, and sleep.
• Treat media as you would treat
any other environment in your
child’s life: The same parenting
guidelines apply in both real and
virtual environments. Set limits;
children need and expect them. Know
your children’s friends, both on social
networking sites and otherwise. Know
what platforms, softwares, apps your
children are using, what sites they are
visiting on the web, and what they are
doing online.
• Set limits and encourage playtime:
It is said that families that play
together, learn together. Unstructured
and outdoor play stimulates creativity.
Make outdoor playtime a daily priority,
especially for very young children.
And—don’t forget to join your children
in outdoor play whenever possible.
Media use, like all other activities,
should have reasonable limits. Family
participation is also great for media
activities—it encourages social
interactions, bonding, and learning.
Play a video game with your children.
It’s a good way to demonstrate good
sportsmanship and gaming etiquette.
You will have the opportunity to
introduce and share your own life
experiences and perspectives—and
guidance—as you play the game.
• Be a good role model: Teach and
model through actions because
children are great mimics. Limit your
own media use. In fact, you’ll be more
available for and connected with your
children if you’re interacting, hugging
and playing with them rather than
simply staring at a screen.
• Know the value of face-toface
communication: Young
children learn best through twoway
communication. Engaging in
“talk time” is critical for language
development. Conversations can
be face-to-face or, if necessary, by
video chat with a traveling parent or
far-away grandparent. Research has
shown that it’s that “back-and-forth
conversation” that improves language
skills—much more so than “passive”
listening or one-way interaction with
a screen. Swapnil Kamat, CEO of Work
30 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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Better agrees, “Digital connectivity
cannot replace physical connectivity.
There is nothing better than personal
face to face talk. You cannot rely on
the social media to replace personal
interactions.”
• Limit digital media for your
youngest family members: Avoid
digital media for toddlers younger
than 18 to 24 months other than
video chatting. For children between
18 to 24 months, watch digital media
with them because they learn from
watching and talking with you. Limit
screen use for preschool children,
ages 2 to 5, to just 1 hour a day of
high-quality programming, and
watch it with them so you can help
them learn from what they’re seeing.
Similarly, certain controls need to
be kept for your teenager in terms
of putting time limits for use and
knowing what they are doing online
when using technological devices.
Kanika Khandelwal Ahuja a Professor
of Sociology at Lady Shri Ram
College New Delhi says, “Kids are
chained to their phones these days.
It is obvious that they have picked
this up from watching adults. It is
becoming tough to separate people
from their smart phones, ultimately,
impacting our everyday behaviour
and conversations”. In the words of
Amrit Bhasin, Sociologist, “Spending
more than seven hours a day on your
gadgets will lead to the breakdown
of cognitive abilities, akin to having
a severe head injury.” Social media
commentator Chetan Deshpande
feels, we are a mobile zombie
generation. “Staring at our phone
24 x7 has given rise to unpredictable
behaviours cybersickness, facebook
depression and internet addition
disorder.”
• Create tech-free zones: Keep family
mealtimes, other family and social
gatherings, and children’s bedroom’s
screen free. Turn off televisions
that you aren’t watching, because
background TV can get in the way
of face-to-face time with children.
Recharge devices overnight—outside
your child’s bedroom to help children
avoid the temptation to use them
when they should be sleeping. These
changes encourage more family
time, healthier eating habits, and
better sleep, all critical for children’s
wellness.
• Don’t use technology as an
emotional pacifier: Media can be
very effective in keeping children
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calm and quiet, but it should not be
the only way they learn to calm down.
Children need to be taught how to
identify and handle strong emotions,
come up with activities to manage
boredom, or calm down through
breathing, talking about ways to
solve the problem, and finding other
strategies for channelling emotions.
• It’s OK for your child to be online:
Online relationships are part of typical
adolescent development. Social media
can support teens as they explore and
discover more about themselves and
their place in the grown-up world.
Just be sure your child is behaving
appropriately in both the real and
online world. Many children need to
be reminded that a platform’s privacy
settings do not make things actually
“private” and that images, thoughts,
and behaviours children share online
will instantly become a part of their
digital footprint indefinitely. Keep
lines of communication open and let
them know you’re there if they have
questions or concerns.
• Warn children about the
importance of privacy and the
dangers: Children need to know
that once content is shared with
others, they will not be able to delete
or remove it completely, and this
includes sharing of inappropriate
pictures. They may also not know
about or choose not to use privacy
settings, and they need to be warned
that sex offenders often use social
networking, chat rooms, e-mail, and
online gaming to contact and exploit
children.
• Remember that children will be
children: Kids will make mistakes
using media. Try to handle errors
with empathy and turn a mistake
into a teachable moment. But some
indiscretions, such as bullying, or
posting self-harm images, may be a
red flag that hints at trouble ahead.
You must observe carefully your
children’s behaviour and, if needed,
enlist supportive professional help.
Responding to your child’s changing
needs can be the toughest part
of parenting. What’s important is to
remember that good parenting is about
unconditional support and love. You
don’t have to know everything they’re
doing to still be the major influence in
their life. Children need to develop their
independence, take risks and find their
own ways to cope with things. There
comes a point when it isn’t possible to
keep track of what your child does. You’ll
be relying on things you taught them
early on, and doing everything you can
to make sure they know you’re there if
they need you. Media and digital devices
are an integral part of our world today
and the benefits of these devices, if used
moderately and appropriately, can be
great, but excessive use can be damaging
too. In the end, we need to remember that
face-to-face time with family, friends,
and teachers plays a pivotal role in
promoting children’s learning and healthy
development.
To conclude, in the words of Chetan
Despande, “To be pragmatic, gadgets,
per se, are not bad; it is our dependance
on them that is harmful. It has become
imperative to incorporate cyber
mindfulness (being aware of your online
activities and your digital behaviour) in
our lives. We must consciously choose
to disconnect, for some time at least, as
a daily ritual.”
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31

Q&A
LEARNING BEYOND…LEARNING
ALWAYS…LEARNING LIFELONG
Prof M Abubaker
Scholars Indian School
Formal schooling, unlike an informal one, undermines students from concrete and distinct learning
and problem solving on their own. Indeed it’s the schools’ onus to try and bridge this gap by entailing
informal educations in their curriculum.
How can schools bridge the gap
between formal and informal
learning, shares Prof M Abubaker
in conversation with The Progressive
School.
Prof. M. Abubaker, M.A.(English);
M.A. (Political Science); B.Ed; P.G.D.B.M;
P.G.D.H.R.M; D.C.A. joined Scholars
Indian School in the year 2006. Has
an experience of over 27 years as a
Principal and has diligently served both
in India and in the UAE. He is a profound
catalyst who places a strong emphasis
on education for making it unique with
far reaching positive implications. A
seasoned CBSE Counsellor of students
on matters related to behavioural,
emotional, social and academic related
aspects.
He is an eloquent speaker who
has proved to be very convincing and
assertive with his diverse perceptions
and notions on issues pertaining to
education. A visionary with immense
potentials in launching new ventures
and putting forth openings for both
students and teachers to meet the need
of the hour. His 27 years of sedulous
selfless service has accorded him
priceless status and recognition both
in India and in the UAE. He is mindful
of not only catering to the academic
necessities of the young minds of today,
but also functions painstakingly to
produce holistic individuals.
His concerted and tireless efforts has
bestowed on him several prestigious
accolades from Government bodies
– Education Ministry, Educational
Boards, Scouts and Guides etc. He also
holds the credit of securing the Best
amazing Teacher Award from Beary’s
UAE and the Best Principal award
from E MAX respectively. His integrity
and wholehearted service towards the
field of education has made him the
Brand Ambassador of the Gulf Indian
Education by Apeejay University, Delhi.
He has also been graced at several
ceremonious gatherings where he has
partaken as a speaker. He has also
been involved in counselling service
of the CBSE and an official of the CBSE
affiliated schools in the Gulf.
TPS: There is a long-standing view
that only a limited quantity of
learning is obtained through formal
institutions of learning and informal
learning plays a significant role in the
empowerment of the individual. This
view has been further strengthened
by cognitive psychologists. How do
you think schools can cope with this
situation by synergizing formal and
informal learning modes?
Prof Abubaker: Formal institutions
impart the meaning of the concepts but
applying the imparted concepts in an
effectual way in ones’ real life is procured
through informal learning. If a person
masters a skill by engaging in solving
a problem, then giving students such
opportunities to tackle real world issued
in their own lines and communities would
certainly spur and help them gain mastery
over new concepts. For eg. if we apply
English and grammar lessons to eloquently
converse with others in the community,
students would be more inclined to
effectively consummate these concepts
since they would be applying them both
for individual and group dealings.
We see that formal schooling, unlike
an informal one, undermines students
from concrete and distinct learning and
problem solving on their own. Indeed it’s
the schools’ onus to try and bridge this
gap by entailing informal educations in
their curriculum through individual and
group tasks that have scenarios from
real life and hypothetical situations. This
sets a platform for students to use their
creativity and thinking skills efficaciously.
Moreover students would not only apply
their theoretical lessons practically but also
persuade them to think out of the box with
a different perspective.
TPS: Can you suggest a few informal
instruments of learning provided by
schools that help in this process of
empowerment of the individual and
how do they play a scaffolding role
in learning?
Prof Abubaker: Informal teaching
methods often take the form of rigorous
drilling and mentoring.
Students work on
a par with their
teachers, who try
to assist them by all
means to surmount
problems. These
32 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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mentors perpetually work with the same
students for a continual period of time
thus acquainting themselves with each
child’s learning style. This proves to be
of great advantage when mentors moil in
raising their (students) level of performance
in order to procure remarkable results.
In other words, informal teacher is child
oriented and not teacher centered.
For instance, if a lesson is to be
delivered in class, the facilitator may cite
some videos o be watched on the eve of
the presentation. This takes the form of
pre-learning as students get acclimatized
to some main concepts pertinent to the
assigned topic. During the course of the
presentation, students could query their
peers and elicit varied responses from
them to check their previous knowledge.
This eventually progresses into fruitful
group discussion where the focal point is
student learning than teacher teaching.
Thus students become sensitized to the
allotted topic much prior to the teaching
of the same.
TPS: With a high thrust on competitive
learning, most schools appear to
have neglected or marginalized such
vital requirements and appear to be
promoting rote learning preparing the
students for a rat race. In this context
what do you think are the future
challenges and how do you think
schools can cope with them?
Prof Abubaker: Schools promote rote
learning because the Indian system of
education places thrust on high percentage
marks. Entry into the competitive medical
field or engineering course demand for
soaring scores without probing into the
positive and negative effects
of learning on the learner.
India is single-mindedly
striving to become a
well equipped nation in
terms of infrastructure,
business and
Prof M Abubaker
literacy, for which we need to have an
adept and apt workforce. Children who
learn through the rote method are doomed
to flunk at the very beginning. Therefore it
has to be made mandatory that students
in every nook and corner of the country
have an exposure to both comprehensive
and constructive education, which should
enable them to apply all that they learn in
their daily lines and this would certainly
add value and meaning to what was learnt.
TPS: Many schools believe that
provision of informal supports to
learning for extended and impactful
learning comes with a cost which
parents cannot afford and hence find
it convenient to marginalize them.
Is there a scope for integrating such
learning experiences with curricular
architecture and how do you think
this can be done?
Prof Abubaker: Formal
teaching often takes place
solely in the classroom where students
work through prepared material over the
course of an academic year. Moreover,
projects may be assigned that require
students to interact with the real outside
world and its people.
TPS: “Learning Beyond” is
fundamental to “Learning Always”
and “Lifelong learning.” It is
development of a mindset and attitude
to learning which is required for a
vibrant knowledge society and a
global learning environment. How
can this idea be seeded in the young
minds which would trigger them to be
powerful ‘self-learners’?
Prof Abubaker: Self-learning can be
as diverse as simply discovering new
information and thinking critically about
it or actively participating and contributing
to a learning community, or designing
one’s own learning path and selecting
resources, guides and information.
TPS: In a world haunted by technology,
most learners spend their time with
the instruments of technology for
further and extended learning. What
are its advantages and shortfalls?
How do you think this mindset
can be changed to a positive and
personalized interactive social
learning culture?
Prof Abubaker: Technology is a man
made creation and not vice versa. The use
of technology would be purposeful and a
boon to the society only if students are
guided in its proper sense. Technology
and its use should be rightly targeted, so
that this man made creation turns out
to be beneficial and nifty not only
to the existing generation but
also for the generations
to come.
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THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
33

LEARNING THROUGH CINEMA
WHO WANTS TO BE A
SUPERHERO? I DO…
Shakti Jhala
Senior Strategist and Training Coordinator at Schoogle (A TGES initiative), Mumbai
Teens and adults alike, love to imitate their favourite superhero, aspire to be like them, dream about
meeting them and follow them on social media. The Superhero movies have united the world in ways
most things have not. So, what impact do Superhero movies have on our children and how can these
movies be used to promote positive values and ideas
When Iron Man and Chota
Bheem start becoming regulars
at birthday parties replacing
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, we
know that the world has changed.
It is not that the Superhero genre is
something new. Christopher Reeve was
flying the friendly skies as Superman
since 1978. In India we, too, had our own
Superman in Puneet Issar (Duryodhana
from B.R.Chopra’s Mahabharat), the
little known 3D movie Shiva ka Insaaf
(1985) and the more recent Krrish 2
(2006) and Krrish 3 (2013). The point
being, superheroes have been around, in
mythology, pop-culture and very much on
our TV screens. So what’s changed that
suddenly children, teens and adults are
drawn to the theatres to see these movies
making them billion dollar block-busters?
And why parents taking their children to
watch these violent and action-packed
movies with innuendos and jokes not
shared in our drawing rooms in front of
the children?
Well the answer is simple enough, the
children want to be like them. They wear
their T-shirts, flaunt watches, and carry
bagpacks or any other accessory that
they can get their hands on. Teens and
adults alike, love to imitate their favourite
superhero, aspire to be like them, dream
Shakti Jhala is Senior Strategist
and Training Coordinator at Schoogle
(A TGES initiative). He has also worked
with CurrEQlum as Head – Training and
Delivery – Life Skills (K-12) Curriculum
and Training and Curriculum Developer
at Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd. He
has also worked with Podar Educatiion
Network Creative as Curriculum
Developer and PPMS India Insurance.
34 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

about meeting them and follow them on
social media. The Superhero movies have
united the world in ways most things
have not.
Now to the most important question
for a teacher and a parent, who some
cases would be the same person - What
impact do Superhero movies have on
our children and how can these movies
be used to promote positive values and
ideas?
Since I am a Superhero geek and
a Captain America fan, I propose we
discuss impact taking the Marvel
Cinematic Universe (MCU as it is called),
as an example and what children can
learn from it.
Anyone can be a Superhero
Captain America was a scrawny little
kid from Brooklyn who wanted to do his
part in the war and stand up against the
bullies. Thor Odison earned back the right
to his hammer, Mjölnir, through
sacrifice himself and saving
the lives of others. Ant-man,
Scott Lang, was a convict
turned Superhero by using
a high-tech suit, all the
while still being a
human being.
www.progressiveschool.in
Shakti Jhala
Marvel heroes are not just people
who get at their superpowers through
laboratory accidents or super-serums.
There are those with an element of
science and intellect. Many characters
work very hard to keep their superhero
powers intact. Case to point – Hawk-eye,
Falcon and Ironman. Many superheroes
come from humble backgrounds or
tough childhoods. Star Lord, Racoon,
Glamora and the Black Widow are
all examples of heroes born from
adversity.
Children can learn that to be
a superhero is to do what others
would not because it is hard
and takes a lot of effort. A
teenager who
g o e s t o
school in
the morning,
studies under the
street light all night and helps
his father at work is a superhero. A
little girl who takes care of her
ailing mother and still finds
time to read her lessons
is a superhero. The
difference between
a superhero and a
normal human being
is an excuse.
Being a
superhero is a
responsibility not a
privilege
In the climax of Captain
America – The Winter Soldier,
Captain America delivers an
inspiring speech, “I know I’m
asking a lot. But the price
of freedom is high. It always has been.
And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And
if I’m the only one, then so be it. But I’m
willing to bet I’m not.” Here MCU shows
that even a superhero needs help from
others. But he or she does not stop doing
what is necessary because of the lack of
it. Uncle Ben from Spiderman said, “With
great power comes great responsibility”
- a line that is true for each and every
superhero.
Children can be made to understand
their roles and responsibilities as peers
and as students. A correlation of ‘what
would Chota Bheem do in this cases?’ or
‘What would the Black Widow do in this
situation?’ are good examples on how to
get them invested in the conversation.
Even children can be
Superheroes
Charles Xavier’s(Professor X) School
for the Gifted helped children with
special needs to be what they are in a
safe environment. They were taught to
use their powers to help others and be
integrated with the society. A perfect
example for Children with Special Needs
if there ever was one. The X-Men
comics show that
how those
who are different
ca n be
outcaste, even
if they
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
35

have fantastic abilities. It stresses on
acceptance without fear and integration
of those who are different from us into
our lives, and as a part of our community.
Empathy, tolerance, diversity and
inclusion can be discussed in the class
using the example of Marvel’s X-men.
And of course, I would be committing
comic-fan blasphemy if I do not mention
the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman
who, for all purposes, is just a kid, a little
guy trying to make a difference.
Superheroes have
weaknesses too, but they
chose to do the right thing
Each and every superhero has some
weakness which can be exploited, and
in most cases is, by the evil archenemy.
However, despite their weaknesses and
short-comings they still do the right
thing. Captain America stands against
his friend Bucky (Winter Soldier) and
later Ironman, for what he believed is
the right thing. Hulk cannot control
his anger but he is able to channelize
it to save people. Marvel, through its
flawed set of superheroes like Glamora,
Racoon, Thor and the Scarlet Witch has
given us something more believable
and thus relatable. These are characters
with human flaws of pride, jealously,
vengeance, greed and anger. Yet, they
rise about it.
Children could be, in higher
grades, provided the timeline of the
Superhero to understand and discuss the
circumstances under which they become
a superhero. This will allow them to see
that it is the choices made by individuals
that made them a superhero.
Superheroes can be
defeated and they die too
Marvel through Avengers: Infinity
War I has shocked the fans by the
sheer number of Superhero deaths on
one film. An important lesson on how
mortal and how human these powerful
beings are. They can be defeated and
they too can die. With one film, Marvel
brought everyone together to mourn their
favourite Superhero death and in the
expectation of their return in the second
Avengers: Infinity War II movie.
Children, here, can be reminded
that no matter how confident one is,
caution and care are also virtues to
be had. One can never be certain and
hence one must be prepared for all
eventualities. Such situations also
provided a great opportunity for ‘What
if’ scenarios. Avid comic book readers
know how the story goes, however since
Marvel takes creative, albeit sometimes
absurd, liberties to change the storyline,
we can definitely be certain of various
possibilities.
Marvel movies present us with an
opportunity to view a world beyond our
own lens — A fantastic world, a world
with infinite choices and countless
possible outcomes;a world very different
from ours, but yet similar in many ways;a
Universe which teaches us the value of
team-work, the need for compassion,
the beauty of imagination, the courage
to stand up for what is right, the pain of
loss and the joy of victory.
In the end, as Superman says, “There
is a superhero in all of us. We just need
the courage to put on the Cape.” So now,
who wants to be a Superhero?
36 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
ENHANCING EXPERIENTIAL AND
SOCIAL LEARNING…
Amishi Parasrampuria
Founder,Upcycler’s Lab
It is said that when it comes to children, only 10% is formal learning. Another 20% is social learning
and a whopping 70% is experiential learning! This means almost 90% of what the child learns is from
informal environments, outside the classroom or once the textbook closes. Here, let’s see how we can
enhance experiential and social learning in classrooms.
The formal learning only helps us
with the facts and theories on which
we can base our understanding of
things. It is not much different in adults
honestly. While children learn most
through hands on play, adults learn best
through experiences that they have
and by actually doing an activity rather
than hearing or reading about it. Social
learning also attributes to more than
double of formal learning. This means
that being the social animals that
we are, children learn better in team
environments than by themselves.
Since most skills needed to succeed
are developed by age 5 and most
behaviour is formed by age 9, experiential
and social learning are particularly
important in early education. This is
exactly why the Finnish education
system is repeatedly ranked number one
globally. Early education in the Finnish
school system includes a LOT of play
based learning with both structured and
free play included in the daily schedule.
Till the age of 7, students in Finland do
not even begin to read and write, unlike
most of their peers worldwide who begin
at age 4-5! However, by age 11, Finnish
children catch up with their peers and
as they progress through school, often
excel where other students struggle.
There is definitely a thing or two we can
learn from this system, considering early
education impacts the adults of tomorrow
so deeply, the same adults who will
become productive members of society.
Below are five tools that can be
implemented in the classroom to enhance
experiential and social learning:
Play Based Learning:
As with the Finnish school system,
teaching concepts through play helps
retain them for longer and makes the
learning process more effective. We too
incorporate these principles into our
workshops and products at Upcycler’s
Lab where we teach sustainability
through play. For example, our workshop
on water conservation includes an
exciting game of emptying water from a
container in small teams within a certain
time. The running around and having fun
With over 3 years of experience in
sustainability, Amishi Parasrampuria,
Founder, Upcycler’s Leb, started this
venture with a vision to change mindset
and behaviour around the environment
and impact consumption patterns in
the adults of tomorrow.Amishi is a
Global Shaper with the World Economic
Forum, has been an UnLtd India Fellow,
a Cherie Blair Foundation mentee and
her work has been featured by over 30
media publications.
38 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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with water excites the children but
through this, we also teach them a
valuable lesson on how when not
conserved, water may not last for
the generations to come and this
is a race against time.
Similarly, gamifying lessons
can make the teacher’s job more fun
and help students fully understand
concepts and implement them in
daily life. This is a really important
tool in the educator’s toolkit.
Repetition:
When you do a job repeatedly,
day after day, year after year, you
become really good at it. This is
exactly why we respect those who
have more experience than us. For
children too, this applies. Making
children repeat games, songs,
stories and activities, commits
it to their memories and helps them
understand it better. Turning boring
and mundane lessons into fun poems
or stories can really help make the class
more effective. I mean think about it, you
remember the rhyme ‘twinkle twinkle
little star’ from over 20 years ago but
often you don’t remember the news
article you read yesterday! Keeping this
in mind, we teach many of our concepts
through board games that we develop so
that children can keep playing them over
and over again to completely understand
the concept. Our board game, Garbage
Grab allows children as young as 5 to
develop cognitive, analytical skills and
motor skills along with teaching them
the concept of waste segregation.
Collaboration:
We often see that working in teams
for projects is extremely fun and the best
ideas come out of these experiences.
Human beings are known to be social
animals and working together is not only
Amishi Parasrampuria
fun for children, it also helps develop
extremely crucial social skills. Learning
to work together to solve common
problems at a young age can dramatically
impact the adults that these children
turn into. One thing we incorporate in
our programs is to create small teams for
each game that is played and give each
team a time limit. Children are motivated
to work together towards a common goal
because of the short amount of time
available to complete the task.
Sharing experiences:
Just as adults benefit from peer
mentors, friends and family, children too
benefit from sharing their experiences.
Sharing experiences not only helps their
communication skills, it also help them
gain confidence and develop soft skills
such as empathy. It also allows them
to learn from the experiences of others
and inculcate these learnings into
their own life. Our sessions begin with
understanding the starting point of what
the child understands about the concept.
This allows us to be better educators
by creating a customized experience
for that group of children and it also
allows the child to communicate his/
her experiences confidently, drawing
from his/her own experience.
Challenges:
Keeping children engaged
through small, fun challenges help
them develop problem solving and
analytical skills. When they do
complete the challenges, it gives them
a sense of accomplishment which
in turn improves their confidence
and self-esteem. When they work
on challenges in teams, it further
improves their social skills. This can
be an exciting tool that teachers
can incorporate into the classroom
as a fun, non-formal way of teaching
concepts. School programs should often
end with a challenge for the week, these
small challenges allow for the learning
to continue at home and for children to
transfer the learning into a practical, real
life environment.
At Upcycler’s Lab we make
sustainability based learning tools for
children ages 5+. Our vision is to change
mindset and behaviour around the
environment so that we can create better
consumers for tomorrow. Our work is
mainly based around UN Sustainability
Development Goal 12 – Responsible
Consumption and Production.
We incorporate all the tools for
experiential and social learning
mentioned above in our products and
programs. Our games range from simple
topics such as waste segregation to more
complex ones like how to create the
perfect planet.
To know more, get in touch on info@
upcyclerslab.com
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
39

LEARNING
HAPPY TO LEARN!
Benazir Shafaat Hussain
Special Educator
“The capacity to learn is the gift, the ability to learn is a skill, the willingness to learn is a choice”.
-Brain Herbert
Benazir Shafaat Hussain is a
passionate special educator and
loves working with children with
special needs (Autism and learning
Disabilities). Working them them for the
last eight years has taught her that each
child has an ability to learn, and it is our
responsibility, as grown up individuals,
to teach each one of them according to
their individual needs.
She is an expert in Remedial
teaching, Individual education
planning, psychological assessments
and curriculum development. Before
getting into special education, she
was working as lecturer of Psychology
at Diana Nursing College (Bangalore).
Besides having Masters in Clinical
Psychology from Bangalore University,
she also did Diploma in Family
Counseling, specialization in Family
Counseling and certification course
in Autism Spectrum disorders from
UC Davis University. Currently, she
is pursuing her research in Autism to
study how we can improve the learning
experiences in children with Autism.
Learning happens best when it
makes you happy, children start
learning from the womb of a mother,
such beautiful is the whole process and
journey of learning!
Learning is an innate and a continuous
process. We learn many things; both
formally and informally. Informal learning
happens naturally and so it is sustained
in our memories for longer period. For
instance, when we travel, we carry those
memories for years to come but one might
easily forget what one had learnt years
back in school. Almost 90% of learning is
informal and it is so strong that it holds into
our brain for long years. It happens instantly
and in stress-free circumstances. Whereas
things learnt formally are sometimes forced
and stressful.
Learning through travelling
I strongly believe that stress-free
learning happens throughout our lives
and in what we tend to do. For example,
one of the best moments of learning
occurs when one travels. When you
start a journey, you learn the directions,
different cultures,people,cuisines,flora,
fauna,landscapes,people, and their
language and so on. One learns to survive
in any situation and learns to adapt
to the worst situation. Survival of the
40 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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fittest happens only through the learning
experiences. So, one should travel a lot to
learn a lot.
Learning during childhood
As child, we learn the most without any
hesitation or fear of being judged. We all
remember our “abc” and nursery rhymes
so well. . . Ever thought why?
Learning happens everywhere
informally and formally. It’s just that we
need to be open and happy to learn at
any point in time. Toddlers and preschool
children are the happiest people who
learn maximum with extreme sense
of happiness. The way a child from
kindergarten recites his poem shows the
enthusiasm in his learning. They are
happy when they recite. Their tone would
be high, face filled with expressions,and
body would flow with the rhythm. All this
can only happen when one learns with
happiness. As adults we lack interest and
motivation in learning things and due to
that, cannot retain what we have learned
or get bored easily while learning. The art
of learning is best with kids.
Modern way of learning
Over the years, the whole approach
of learning has made a shift. Earlier
children were taught in gurukuls where the
emphasis was on rote learning. Learners
listened to what their gurus taught them.
Now is a different module where learning
takes place differently wherein visual,
aural, kinaesthetic and sensory inputs are
energised. It has moved to greater heights
technology-wise with greater wisdom.
Knowledge is transferred mutually and is
accessible to every person. Modernity has
changed the outlook of learning.
Learning through social
media
People learn from social media too.
Individuals who use Facebook, Twitter
and other social platforms also tend to pick
Benazir Shafaat Hussain
up alot of information from varied sources
but the authentication of subject matter is
questionable. This is superficial learning
that happens only for specific time. This
kind of learning is only temporary and the
storage of information may decay soon.
The arena of social platforms (Facebook,
Whatsapp and so on) is highly lucrative
but this learning diminishes and fades
away from memory. It is a forced learning
and burdens your memory and overloads
the brain with irrelevant information. It
changes your priority and mindset. One
tends to become Vagabond in the field of
information and technology. The whole
idea of learning deviates and becomes
merely a source of killing time. This
shallow learning is more of a sharing of
information; done with a different intent
and certain individuals get carried away
by the content and get influenced.
Learning through books
Books, as we say, are the best friends of
humans and are one of the greatest sources
of learning. One can acquire substantial
amount of good learning from books. It
depends on the readers how one learns and
reads the book. I believe that if you read the
book with keen interest, you remember it
for years and can narrate the incidents in
its chronological order too. Books can be
amazing source of learning.
Learning through imitating
Great deal of learning happens by
imitation. For instance,kids learn from
imitation. Though they do it without
any understanding but at the bottom
of it, a behaviour of learning develops.
Kids behave exactly the same way they
see their parents behaving. They pick
up patterns or styles of their parents
and siblings too. All of it is learned by a
child. When I smile as a mother, my child
reflects back with the same smile and
that is the beauty of the art of learning.
A child develops into an individual by
learning many aspects of life. What
matters is the process of his nurture and
nature around him.
Learning through cinema
Another interesting form of learning
is cinema in today’s world. The amount of
information one gets from television and
cinema is huge. It is easily accessible and
any age group can get the most interesting
stuff from this source within no time. Kids
can learn a lot as it helps them process any
information with ease. The visuals and
auditory reflections enhance their learning
and help in retaining information for a
longer period of time. That is the reason
modern schools adopt modern ways of
teaching with smartboards, presentations,
and videos. Research also suggests that
children learn better visually.
Learning without deadlines
The reason why a child’s learning
is stress-free, because they are never
bothered about the end result or worry
about the deadlines. We as adults always
carry the fear of losing or worry about
imperfections. All these habits only
become an impediment in our process
of learning and acquiring knowledge or
skill. We should learn that it’s “ok” to make
mistakes and good to be defeated at times.
We should learn and continue
learning for ever. Nurture your hobbies:
travel to new places, learn gardening,
cooking, stitching, swimming, driving
or anything of your interest. This will
keep your brain healthy and you will
keep rising.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
41

ERGONOMICS
HOW SEATING ERGONOMICS AFFECT LEARNING
John Mathew
Director, Dovetail Furniture Pvt Ltd.
‘Future Learning Environment’ aims to build awareness among Indian educators on the importance of
planning for ergonomics, multi-functionality, interactivity, amidst other emerging trends.
In modern times, we’ve come to
associate ergonomics with comfort
and convenience.Ergonomics for
office spaces is something that is always
spoken about and given importance to,
due to long seating duration and the
ill-effects it could have on the health of
employees. Similarly, as with classroom
furniture, ergonomic furniture must refer
to that which is not only comfortable
but healthy and functional for students.
School children have the most fluctuating
body dimensions. But in most elementary
schools, children sit at chair-desk
combinations which are not suitable for
their body height.
John Mathew is an alumni
from National Institute of Design,
Ahmedabad. He is the Co-Founder and
Director of Dovetail Furniture Private
Limited, and is also a Dean and head
of the Industrial Design Department
at Srishti School of Art, Design and
Technology. John Mathew has over
30 years of experience with design,
maufacturing and teaching and is
considered a leader in the design field.
As a result of longer periods spent
seated, often in furniture that is not
ergonomically designed, children
have become increasingly physically
inactive and are sitting more and more.
Conventional chairs have a rigid seat
that inclines backwards and merges
into a seating hollow, causing lack of
blood circulation, rounding of the back,
tense shoulder, neck, and back muscles,
spinal cord to be pressed to one side and
constriction of the digestive organs.
Ergonomically designed furniture
allows for comfortable and flexible seating,
enabling children to concentrate and learn
better. So, it is important for schools to
wake up and do what it takes to ensure
good ergonomics in classrooms which
in turn ensures good health and better
learning. Children range wildly in height,
size and strength. Classroom seating
should promote healthy postures from a
young age, especially since young bodies
develop rapidly. Children spend long hours
in a classroom and having a good posture
helps them concentrate well since they are
not being distracted by discomfort which
can arise due to various factors such as
strain and muscle exertion.
Even with furniture designed for
ergonomics, proper use requires attention
to posture, as well.Seated in the chair,
the back should be at a 90-degree angle
to the thighs and fully supported by the
chair back, both feet should be firmly on
the floor, etc. Hence, there is an urgent
need to allow for sitting with movement,
for which ergonomic designs like Flexi
chair – changing seat inclination, rocking
mechanism – swivel chair with height
adjustment must be suggested for school
children. Also it has become a necessary
step to provide adjustability in elementary
classrooms due to the ranging size of the
students.
Furniture must fit the children, allow
movement and hence invariably encourage
a good posture. Movement plays an
important part in seating. A school in which
movement is supported and encouraged
has a positive effect on the learning ability
and attentiveness of the children.
42 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

John Mathew
‘FUTURE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT’
CLASSROOM COLLECTION
Nordic desk: The Nordic Desk, as
the name suggests, is inspired by
Scandinavian design themes. The Nordic
table is a premium classroom desk, not
only aesthetically well designed, but
functional as well; the desk features a
laser cut, sheet metal book stand at the
front, which can be used by students to
read easily, without having to crane their necks downwards for
extended durations. In addition to this, the desk also features a
sheet metal book storage under the table top a colourful bag hook
and a groove carved out of the table top to place pens or pencils,
thus eliminating the possibility of items rolling off the desk. All
of this allows for better utilisation of space, and thus ensures that
the Nordic Desk is more than just a desk.
Spaghetti desk and chair: The
Spaghetti Desk and chair features an
aesthetically striking design. Each leg
of both the chair and the desk are bent
from a single pipe, giving the form a
flowing feel. The Spaghetti Desk and
Chair create a more organised and
coherent classroom feel, which can
have a positive impact on classroom productivity. Not only is this
classroom furniture set a unique looking piece, it is also functional,
as it comes with a sheet metal bookstand at the front of the table,
enabling students to lean their books instead of having to look
down and strain their necks when reading. The table also features
a bag hook and a sheet metal storage underneath the table, as well
as an optional modesty panel. Overall this pairing is a sensible
and stylish option for any classroom!
Shine desk: The Shine Desk is a
premium desk that not only looks
elegant but is also highly durable. The
choice of stainless steel for the frame
of the desk makes it completely rust
proof, even in humid coastal areas.
The desk also features a rounded- post
formed MDF table top that prevents
students from hurting themselves if
they bump into them. The table top is
also laminated with a glossy white surface to allow students to
doodle or work out problems on the desk itself and erase it easily
later. In addition to this, the desk is functional as it comes with a
bag hook, storage underneath and a modesty panel. This allows
for maximum utilisation of space making the Shine Desk a highly
recommended product for schools across the country, especially
areas with high humidity.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
43

BEYOND FOUR WALLS
LEARNING BEYOND…LEARNING ALWAYS
Shimmi Sharma
Sunbeam School Lahartara, Varanasi
As educators, it’s our responsibility to look after the learning needs of the students and make it a point
that learning cannot be bound within the four walls of a classroom. Let the students explore, expand
and experiment with their own learning style.
Academic Learning is an indicator
that combined academic
identification (which refers to
getting along with teachers, having
an interest in the subject matter, and
related behaviours and attitudes) and
academic participation (which captures
the student’s work effort both inside
and outside of school, including hours
spent outside the school. In education
it is important to observe the degree of
attention, curiosity, interest, optimism,
and passion that students show when
they are learning or being taught, which
extends to the level of motivation they
have to learn and progress in their
education.
Learning through
traveling…
Summer vacations provide students
with a wide spectrum of learning
experience when they step out of their
school boundaries and travel. Travelling
helps the students to know vivid cultures,
explore the unknown and to see the
unseen. Travelling also widens their
view, it makes them modest. Travelling
enhances their knowledge and its wide
source for generating new ideas. It makes
the students smart and self-reliant. By
travelling, one can gather wisdom and
experience which can be shared time and
again and it also enlighten others. We get
to know what the gifts of Mother Nature
are. We get to see the demographic division
Shimmi Sharma, with her ambitious
aim, inspires young minds about love
of learning and helps them become free
thinkers. She currently teaches English
at Sunbeam School Lahartara Varanasi.
Academically, She is an MA in English,
Education and Psychology; holds Post
Graduate Diploma in Higher Education;
Bachelor in Education and Certificate
in teaching Functional English. She is a
die-hard literature fan with special tint
of writing.
44 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

of our beautiful world like soils, forests,
flora and fauna, architecture, sculptures,
monuments, scenery, climate, environment,
history, music, art, technology, languages
and much more while travelling.
Nature as a teacher…
When the students step out in the
natural surroundings, the bliss of the
natural surrounding is enormous. It
readily reminds one of the famous quote
of William Wordsworth, “Come Forth into
Light of the Things, Let Nature be Your
Teacher….”
When the students learn in the
premises of natural environments, they are
inspired to build learning ambience which
is build up on the framework of experience
and innovation. Naturalized outdoor
learning environments stimulate the
diversity of children’s play experience and
contribute to their healthy development.
Best practice design incorporates trees,
shrubs, vines, flowers, grasses, edible
fruits and vegetables—to connect
children with nature and diversify their
outdoor experience. Today’s children and
families often have limited opportunities
to connect with the natural environment.
In this modern era, the family life has
changed dramatically in the last two
decades. Children spend more time
viewing television and playing video
games on computers than they do being
physically active outside. The benefits of
connecting to nature is that children’s
social, psychological, academic and
physical health is positively impacted
when they have daily contact with nature.
These connection with the nature will
definitely show positive impacts on the
students. It helps the students to grow their
dimensions intellectually, emotionally,
socially, spiritually and physically. It also
supports creativity, problem solving and
enhances cognitive abilities.
www.progressiveschool.in
Shimmi Sharma
Tripping social values
through trips…
Leaving the classroom for a field trip
places the students in a different social
environment. They encounter a new set of
adults and possibly other children during
the course of the average field trip. These
interactions teach them how to behave
in different settings. They employ more
self-control because it is a less contained
environment than the classroom. It fosters
a sense of teamwork and community
among the students as they experience a
field trip together. When the students travel
from one end to other, they meet different
people of different culture and of different
perspective towards life, during these
kinds of trips they interact with diverse
sectors of the society which ultimately
makes them to learn social values of life.
It is found that the students who travel a
lot they are well versed with the position of
states rather than those who observe these
states on the flat surface of MAP hanging
on the wall of their classroom. They learn
the demographic division of the country
more easily than the classroom learners.
Episodic memories…
eduventure…
When the students learn out of their
experience, they tend to retain the facts and
figures for a longer time span. Students
follow a set pattern of learning style in
the classrooms which gets monotonous
and ineffective as time goes on.
These adventure camps provide the
essential break that every student
desires. Sometimes teaching the
same academic concepts in different
ways and in a different environment
helps the kids understand them
better. The kind of encouragement
and nurture the students receive at
camp makes it a great environment to
endure setbacks, try new (and thereby
maybe a little frightening) things, and
see that improvement comes when
we give something another try. Kids
get a chance to explore areas and
fields that might not be available in
their schools, this not only helps them get
enriched with new things but also help
them gain self-confidence. Adventure
camps give students a chance to polish
their existing skills or add new skills in
their learning capacity. We can’t expect
our students to learn throughout the
year, non-stop. Such adventure breaks in
between help them rejuvenate and bring in
the same amount of energy to their canvas
of learning process. Such breaks are vital
for improving efficiency and gain focus in
everyday activities.
Kaliedoscopic learning
spectrum…from reel to real
life experience
Motivation is one of the most important
factors in determining successful secondlanguage
acquisition. Films and TV
shows are an integral part of students’
lives so it makes perfect sense to bring
them into the language classroom. Film,
as a motivator, also makes the language
learning process more entertaining and
enjoyable. The visual aids of film make
it an invaluable language teaching tool,
enabling learners to understand more
by interpreting the language in a full
visual context. Film assists the learners’
comprehension by enabling them to listen
to language exchanges and see such
visual supports as facial expressions and
gestures simultaneously. These visual
clues support the verbal message and
provide a focus of attention. Film exposes
students to natural expressions and the
natural flow of speech. Watching films
give them a varied exposure to complexity
of life problems and solutions through the
lives of the protagonists. There is purgation
and purification of emotions which leads to
cleansing of ones thoughts and mind thus
leading to renewal and restoration of their
energy level.
Versatile spectrum of
learning
When the students are exposed to
these varied real life situations they
retain the information that they receive.
Students learn the difficult and complex
lessons of life when they have hands on
experience. As an educator of this fast
learning students, we have to manage
with their pace of learning which will
come through the wide spectrum of
knowledge provided to them. It’s our
responsibility to look after the learning
needs of the students and make it a point
that learning cannot be bound within
the four walls of a classroom. Let the
students explore, expand and experiment
with their own learning style.
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
45

VIEWPOINT
LEARNING CHRISTENED ONCE AGAIN!
Salla Vijay Kumar
Lecturer & Academic In-charge, IHM Ahmedaba
We need to create Learning Rooms and not Classrooms, because there exist massive, innumerable
and hands-on classrooms, outside existing structures of classrooms.
Salla Vijay Kumar is a National
Awards’ Winning Lecturer. With a
Masters in Philosophy from MKU,
Madurai and pursuing Ph.D.
(Management). He is lecturer &
academic in-charge at I H M
Ahmedabad since 2002.He is
a proud recipient of four National
Level Awards: National Award for
Excellence in Hospitality Education
the best teacher 2008-09 MoT, GOI l
Aspiring Researcher 2015 IHC; and
Award of Excellence in the field of
Tourism & Hospitality 2018 , IHC.
His research interest pertains to
areas of human resource development,
food, hospitality and tourism.With
International exposure to Bahrain,
Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and
Switzerland,he has been instrumental
through industry operations, academia
and writing (in various disciplines); he
is a Qualified Learning Facilitator
from Ecole Hotelier De Lausanne,
Switzerland and handling multiple
portfolios.
School is one of the places we
learn at, and we learn at so many
schools. Some are individuals,
some are institutions and many others
are senses-oriented. It is the education
that is driven by so many stakeholders
as a manifestation to acquire, develop
and execute. The same classroom could
be represented as “This Room belongs to
those who believe to use it for the purpose
of LEARNING.” So we need to create
Learning Rooms and not Classrooms,
because everyone will agree with me that
there exist massive, innumerable and
hands-on classrooms, outside existing
structures of classrooms.
The objective of a teacher is not
teaching, primarily. It
is to enable learning
as the outcome of the
exercise. There is a
paradigm shift in the
air, the way education
is looked as tableau of
a barely exhibited place
where a teacher with or
without a stick in hand,
but a book is stationed
to see you do your C.W.
and standing in front of
you asking for the H.W. and this is evident
not only in the primary and secondary
levels of schooling but predominant in
institutions of higher learning also. These
engage in more of back home assignments
- this could be an underlying trend but
contact hours play their vital role in the
process. The shift is taking its place in
the noble profession from Teaching to
Learning. The clients in this case happens
to be a much advanced next generation
students who need to be shown just the
direction and they find the light at the end
of the tunnel. There can be a method of
accrediting learning points and rewards
suitably. Perks count for one and all.
The close-in curricular tactics against
46 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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the classroom dissemination alone are
indicative of the change for good to
pull rather than push information into
the flower vases like one great author
described children’s brains. They are to
be heard and acknowledged rather than
interrupted and discouraged because at
times I agree it seems good that they think
out-of-the-box and sometimes out-of-theirshoes
which make things escalated. “Use
the talent you possess, the woods would
be very silent if no birds sang there, except
those that sang best,” said Henry Van
Dyke. The students by large are equipped
with creative prominence through schools,
colleges, technological advancement,
and industry exposure/interface and onetouch
worldly concepts, waiting for their
turn to get reasoned.
The student never gives an indication
to his mentoring authorities that he might
have the answer to the posed question or
query. The simple strategy is to quarantine
the studious quotient. The conception
of what is worth depicting is shifting
dramatically from teaching to learning,
but at a nascent stage, with awareness
for a larger race of the academia in this
pursuit. It is superficial that a single event
Salla Vijay Kumar
at any educational organization or any
level of hierarchy or any individual or a
small group of teachers / facilitators, could
catalyze a whole revolution.
The enablers or the facilitators –
the teachers have always been in the
charge since time immemorial with their
academic rigor and teaching aid. It is
time they give their nod for the learning
made fun, equip system and syllabi, tech
delivery of notes, assignments online,
performance appraisal irrespective of
degree of outcome, only the degree of
difficulty accounted for. The best people
who can do this are… guessing who? You
the children!! And if why is your question.
It is drawing a mind map by facilitated
reflection synthesizing experiences with
academic content, keeping you in the lead
role will encompass inter disciplinary
learning through engagement, experiential
as well as explorative approach.
The dream of creating this eccentric
venue in the existing history of gurukul
will only take us a few steps ahead into
inter cultural know-how. The learning
is going to be christened once again
amidst us trying to absolve an apt place
for the future generation not a colloquial
term global but truly developmental for
to-be-learning squadron of students.
It is therefore likely to make a viable
proposition of the education as resource
factories and cultivate LEARNING - AN
OBSESSIONAL HABIT.
48 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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VIEWPOINT
LEARNING: A LIFE-LONG CONTINUOUS PROCESS
Rupa Chakravarty
Founder Principal, Suncity School, Gurgaon
Education is not a preparation for life, it is life itself. Learning is never-ending and we can learn from
every aspect of what we observe around us. True educationists know that life is the biggest teacher.
Schools must amalgamate formal
and informal learning to provide
a holistic learning experience and
transversal education is the answer to
it. Here, Rupa Chakravarthy, Founder
Principal, Suncity School, Gurgaon, shares
her views on learning beyond classrooms.
TPS: There is a long-standing view
that only a limited quantity of
learning is obtained through formal
institutions of learning and informal
learning plays a significant role in the
empowerment of the individual. This
view has been further strengthened
by cognitive psychologists. How do
you think schools can cope with this
Rupa Chakravarty is the founder
Principal of Suncity World School and a
teacher of English, having experience
of teaching CBSE and Cambridge - A
levels and IGCSE. She has trained as
the IB-Coordinator at Montezuma–
Arizona, USA and for Handling of
Adolescence in Worcester, USA. She
is trained for ‘Leadership strategies’
at IIM- Ahmedabad. She has been an
observer on behalf of CBSE numerous
times for various examinations and
programmes including SQAA. She has
been the master trainer for most of the
trainings imparted by CBSE – CCE,
FA,Mentoring and monitoring SQAA,
listening and speaking skills (ASL)
and so on.
She is an ideator with the CBSEinternational
curriculum and she
has been training Principals and
teachers abroad for three years on
behalf of CBSE to implement the CBSE
international curriculum in CBSE
schools abroad, for which the pilot
project is presently being implemented
in a few schools including SUNCITY.
She is on the ‘Core committee’ of
reforms being implemented by CBSE.
She has also won various awards for
her work.Her ultimate aim is to work
towards being and moulding ‘Able and
noble’ human beings.
www.progressiveschool.in
situation by synergizing formal and
informal learning modes?
Rupa: Education is not a preparation
for life, it is life itself. Learning is ever
encompassing of every aspect of what we
observe around us. Learning though is
categorised into formal and informal but
true educationists know that life is the
teacher. Like for our ancestors, they learnt
from nature; from the mistakes made by
them while out hunting and from the food
found in the wilderness that they ate and
later with the coming of civilization in
the crops that they grew, the speech they
developed and so on.
Formal learning is in fact just tabulation
of the observation of life’s findings, factual
demonstrations, experiences that informal
learning around us provides to make
learning easier but it is not meant to
substitute but only complement informal
learning because true learning is all
informal.
To put into black and white, the
concept of formal and informal learning
all classroom, structural learning is
formal learning and learning through life’s
experiences are informal learning.
Schools must amalgamate formal and
informal learning to provide a holistic
learning experience and transversal
education is the answer to it.
So what is transversal learning?
Experiential learning gives just two
dimensions of learning-knowledge and
experience (application) but Transversal
learning provides knowledge, experience
(application) and a third dimension - skills
for employability.
Only if we implement Transversal
learning will the true ethos and spirit of
education be truly learnt.
TPS: Can you suggest a few informal
instruments of learning provided by
schools that help in this process of
empowerment of the individual and
how do they play a scaffolding role
in learning?
Rupa: Learning is everywhere. What we
need to take cognizance of is that every
interaction we have with a child should
be a step to internalize another learning.
To help empower students, we must
enhance their thinking skills, their power
of observation and their critical and
creative thinking skills. When a child
runs in the corridor, teachers in almost all
schools usually say-“Stop! or Don’t run”.
To develop their critical thinking skill,
we should give them open ended questions
like in a situation where they are running,
we should ask, “Are you supposed to be
running in the corridors? What will happen
if you run?”
The power of observation is another
informal instrument of learning.
To organize games like treasure hunt,
find the clue, memory game, find the
difference, can play a scaffolding role
infusing informal learning with a formal
one.
TPS: With a high thrust on competitive
learning, most schools appear to
have neglected or marginalized such
vital requirements and appear to be
promoting rote learning preparing the
students for a rat race. In this context
what do you think are the future
challenges and how do you think
schools can cope with them?
Rupa: With increase in our country’s
population, competitiveness cannot be
ignored. It is going to be there for a while
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ut a time will come when the numbers
will start depleting but that will be beyond
the next few centuries so how do we tackle
this intolerable, inane rat race. Teach
CONCEPTS not CONTENT.
Think — Did the action of force happen
first or the book containing the description
of force? First is the concept, then is the
content. If we see force being applied by a
mother pushing a perambulator or an iron
monger hammering a block of iron, it will
take a fraction of a second to understand
FORCE. Even pushing of a door can be
used to explain FORCE. This will help a
child’s curiosity and sustain it. We need
to remember that psycho somatic learning
is all based on curiosity. The greater the
curiosity, better the learning. So teachers
arouse CURIOSITY in a child first before
teaching them and this will remove the
rote learning.
Five lessons from Einstein which may
help to prevent rote learning:
• Follow your curiosity
• Imagination is powerful
• Make mistakes
• Don’t be repetitive
• Knowledge comes from experience
TPS: Many schools believe that
provision of informal supports to
learning for extended and impactful
learning comes with a cost which
parents cannot afford and hence find
it convenient to marginalize them.
Is there a scope for integrating such
learning experiences with curricular
architecture and how do you think
this can be done?
Rupa: This is definitely not true. Provision
for informal support for learning comes
at a cost which parents cannot afford is
a myth. To give a simple example, when
students learn civilizations and delve into
archaeological surveys learning about
civilization like Mohenjodaro and Harappan
civilization, we make the students do a
treasure hunt wherein the teacher hides
bits of pottery, ceramic pieces, glass
bangles under the soil and ask students
to excavate them through the game of
‘treasure hunt’. This enables them to learn
through a fun and interesting method. It
enables them thereafter to understand
Rupa Chakravarty
how civilization was discovered and
excavated to give us the knowledge of our
heritage and past era. The world around
us is a living example of what is in a book.
All we need to do is develop the students’
observational power and this will help
them learn more actively and accurately
unlike in rote learning. If I cannot learn the
way you teach, then teach the way I learn.
TPS: “Learning Beyond” is
fundamental to “Learning Always”
and “Life long learning.” It is
development of a mindset and attitude
to learning which is required for a
vibrant knowledge society and a
global learning environment. How
can this idea be seeded in the young
minds which would trigger them to be
powerful ‘self-learners’?
Rupa: Frankly, learning beyond is a trait
the younger generation is born with. Our
staid, boring and archaic way of teaching
quells that desire to ‘learning beyond’. They
know a lot more than we could have ever
thought of at that age.
Learning environment should match
competency for them to sustain their
desire to learn. There should be a clearly
understood vision that encapsulates how
it will be achieved, here is where we can
help them by building their vision.
Life long learning is the ongoing,
voluntary and self motivated pursuit of
knowledge so education is not learning of
facts but the training of the mind to think
which will lead to ‘Learning always’.
We now accept the fact that learning
is a ‘Lifelong process’ of keeping abreast of
change and with a dynamic and vibrant
methodology, we have created a learner.
We can teach a student a lesson in a day
but if you arouse his curiosity he will
continue the learning process as long
as he lives. Curiosity about life in all its
aspects I think, is still the secret of great
CREATIVE people.
TPS: In a world haunted by technology,
most learners spend their time with
the instruments of technology for
further and extended learning. What
are its advantages and shortfalls?
How do you think this mindset
can be changed to a positive and
personalized interactive social
learning culture?
Rupa: Donald Norman rightly said, “I’m
not a fan of technology. I am a fan of
pedagogy – of understanding how people
learn and the most effective learning
methods: But technology enables some
exciting changes.”
We must remember technology is just
a tool. It promotes independent learning in
students as the internet is a treasure trove
of information. The information is also
updated regularly so it’s in real time. The
shortfall is how to analyse and synthesise
the information.
Effective technology integration offers
opportunities to be more actively involved
in the learning experience.
We all know that technology will never
replace great educators but technology
in the hands of great educators can be
transformational hence it is the teacher’s
vision that could lead to creating an
exciting way to teach students and
arouse their curiosity for curiosity dies,
rote learning begins. Technology also
encourages teachers to research and
adapt innovative teaching methods like,
technology has really helped in ‘Flip
classroom’ teaching.
Technology is advancing at such a
phenomenal rate that at times it is difficult
for teachers to keep abreast with it but not
so for students.
There is no denying that one of the
shortfalls of technology is to access
to negative and harmful information
photographs etc. can result in trauma for
a child. The child may in his innocence fall
prey to cyber stalking.
We must refrain from confining our
children to our learning for they were born
in another time. They are natives of this
land called technology.
50 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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Q&A
NURTURING RIGHT
LEARNING ATTITUDE
Pankaj Sharma,
Principal, Sagar Public School, Bhopal
As Swami Vivekananda Says, “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.”
The perfection which has to be manifested, Swamiji says – is already in man. When we already
have it, the role of education is actually a process of purification. A process by which we realize the
perfectness within and here lies the critical role of an educator – be it a parent at home or a teacher at
school.
As educators, we need to throw light
on the strengths of the student
and facilitate ways and means to
bring out those strengths, so as to nurture
a confident and courageous adult. For this,
both formal and informal learning are
required, shares Pankaj Sharma, Principal,
Sagar Public School, Bhopal.
TPS: There is a long-standing view
that only a limited quantity of
learning is obtained through formal
institutions of learning and informal
learning plays a significant role in the
empowerment of the individual. This
view has been further strengthened
by cognitive psychologists. How do
you think schools can cope with this
situation by synergizing formal and
informal learning modes?
Pankaj Sharma, M.A. (Political
Science and History), M.Ed., is the
Principal of Sagar Public School
(SPS), Saket Nagar Bhopal. She is a
passionate teacher from past 20 years
and has been successfully handling
the responsibility as Principal from
last 10 years. With a very practical
approach she lays emphasis on
empowering the team; the teachers as
well as the students. She has a special
interest on working on group learning
strategies and developing critical
thinking skills. SPS is scaling new
heights under the leadership of Shri
Sudhir Kumar Agrawal, Chairman
Sagar Group, whose constant
guidance and philanthropic approach
enables the school to grow as a unique
learning centre based on values.
www.progressiveschool.in
Pankaj: Learning is not confined to the
formal sources as the informal sources
too have an impact on students’ mind. In
fact now the students’ social and mental
touch points have tremendously increased
and therefore the schools should synergize
both, the formal and informal sources
by incorporating them in the teaching
learning strategies such as the home
assignments, projects, visits, experiential
learning, flipped classroom techniques etc.
which will ensure better learning. Though
it is slightly difficult to gaze the learning
through these tools however keeping in
mind the impact they have on developing
interest, these cannot be ignored.
TPS: Can you suggest a few informal
instruments of learning provided by
schools that help in this process of
empowerment of the individual and
how do they play a scaffolding role
in learning?
Pankaj: Learning through outdoor visits to
various institutes such as banks, industries,
markets , public offices, governing bodies,
observatories, parks, study of the reports
published on various media, data analysis,
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project work, blogs, and other websites on
the internet, outreach programs by reputed
higher educational institutes, online study
mediums, exchange programs and many
other informal sources of learning are used
by the schools besides the formal sources.
TPS: With a high thrust on competitive
learning, most schools appear to
have neglected or marginalized such
vital requirements and appear to be
promoting rote learning preparing the
students for a rat race. In this context
what do you think are the future
challenges and how do you think
schools can cope with them?
Pankaj: I don’t agree that most of the
schools promote rote learning. As primarily
the schools are guiding and preparing
children to take up the board examinations
and because the board examinations
have a certain system of examining the
children, so the schools focus on the same
so that children score good marks and
seek admission in reputed institutions.
However, good schools definitely go
beyond this and prepare children for the
future challenges wherein they focus on
a good career guidance including the
offbeat courses, working on the personality
development, nurturing the talent in the
fields other than the academics, working
on providing exposure through beyond
classroom programs. What is required is
the alignment of the board’s evaluation
system with that of the other competitive
examinations’ approach. Still there is much
to be done in this area.
TPS: Many schools believe that
provision of informal supports to
learning for extended and impactful
learning comes with a cost which
parents cannot afford and hence find
it convenient to marginalize them.
Pankaj Sharma
Is there a scope for integrating such
learning experiences with curricular
architecture and how do you think
this can be done?
Pankaj: It is true that the informal sources
of learning do bring additional cost to
schools but at the same time there are very
many which can be extended at a very
nominal cost. In fact what is incurred is
time as all the informal sources take more
than the usual time and schools do face
time constraints. The best way would be
integrating them as a part of the school
schedule and involving parents as partners
to it. Everything cannot be covered by
school and within, so if the sources are
properly tapped and coordinated among
the stakeholders, these would never get
marginalized.
TPS: “Learning Beyond” is
fundamental to “Learning Always”
and “Life long learning.” It is
development of a mindset and attitude
to learning which is required for a
vibrant knowledge society and a
global learning environment. How
can this idea be seeded in the young
minds which would trigger them to be
powerful ‘self-learners’?
Pankaj: It is true that Learning Beyond
is fundamental to Life-long learning and
this will happen only with the learning
attitude. I believe that right from the early
age, children need to be guided to be selflearners.
They need to learn to take charge
of themselves for which the training has to
start while they are young. The teachers
have to facilitate learning and should not
come with a mindset of teaching or telling
rather extending support and empowering
the learners. As Swami Vivekananda Says,
“Education is the manifestation of the
perfection already in man.” The perfection
which has to be manifested, Swamiji says
– is already in man. When we already
have it, the role of education is actually
a process of purification. A process by
which we realize the perfectness within
and here lies the critical role of an
educator – be it a parent at home or a
teacher at school, to throw light on the
strengths of the student and facilitate
ways and means to bring out those
strengths, so as to nurture a confident
and courageous adult.
TPS: In a world haunted by
technology, most learners spend
their time with the instruments of
technology for further and extended
learning. What are its advantages
and shortfalls? How do you think
this mindset can be changed to a
positive and personalized interactive
social learning culture?
Pankaj: It is true that the learners
spend a lot of their time on screens and
technology definitely has been a boon
in extended learning. With one click
children have an access to all sort of
information available on the net and it
has opened new avenues of learning.
The virtual classrooms with augmented
realities are helping children to have a
better understanding of the complicated
concepts. But this bombardment
of information needs some checks,
guidance as well as monitoring because
the children are not mature to know the
limits and they may get carried away.
This is taking away the self-practice time
and habit of trying again and again . The
possibility of getting deviated is also too
much. It needs a cultural grooming where
the school and home have to provide an
interactive environment with a positive
mindset.
52 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in

INTROSPECTION
SUSTAINING ACADEMIC
LEADERSHIP – THE GATEWAY
G Balasubramaniam
Editor-in-Chief, The Progressive School, New Delhi
The last two decades have thrown open a wide variety of challenges to academic leaders that it is
becoming increasingly difficult to sustain their leadership. The skills required for academic leadership
needs to be repositioned.
Several questions are being
raised at all levels of academic
leadership about their competency,
responsiveness and global relevance. The
knowledge dynamics and its accelerated
growth scaffolded by the technological
interventions to information flow,
the newer tools of data analytics and
data management, the availability
as well as the delivery of knowledge
capsules for freewill learning have linear
and traditional systems of academic
management. Increasingly academic
leadership is becoming inclusive, a skill
that needs to manage a multi-channel
knowledge flow and processing. The
skills required for academic leadership
needs to be repositioned. However, there
are no broad global prescriptions to
meet this challenge as they need to be
contextual and relevant to the local sociocultural
and geo-political environments.
Here are a few suggestions, I
think, would help academic leaders
to rethink their value and to respond
to the future professional needs:
Unlock your learning
Learning is non-linear. It is time and
space free. Recent research in neuro
G.Balasubramanian, Editor-in-chief
of The Progressive School Magazine
is a leading educator in the field of
school education, curriculum designer,
author, HR trainer and educational
administrator. Widely traveled, he has
authored several books for schools,
educational administrators and is a
premier teacher-trainer both across the
country and abroad. He has authored –
Mindscaping Education, Case Studies
in Classrooms, Quality Spectrum – A
school’s bandwidth and Safety in Schools
– Issues & concerns.
cognitive sciences have unleashed many
new theories revealing the enormous
potential of the human brain, its intense
networking and the neuroplasticity which
enables continuous and comprehensive
learning. Learning is not significantly
impacted by the process of ageing. Hence
the idea of life long learning empowers
the fertility of the brain to generate new
ideas, respond to new learning and
adapt to newer challenges and changes.
However, many of us are held by blind
belief systems that psychologically force
us to lock our learning over a certain
period and deem it as a treasure house.
Questions are raised whether learning
is a treasure or a currency or both.
The universe of academics calls for
continuous learning to be a meaningful
partner in its dynamics. Rhetoric on its
past doesn’t help much to sustain the
leadership or for a growth. In the current
knowledge society, with increasing speed
and irrelevance of knowledge capsules,
it appears important to be an effective
continuous learner. Possibly, it is not the
one who knows much, it is the one who is
current and futuristic in knowledge who
will sustain the leadership.
Be sensitive to learning
cultures
It is said that, “A learning culture is a
set of organizational values, conventions,
processes, and practices that encourage
individuals—and the organization
as a whole—to increase knowledge,
competence, and performance.”
With innumerable tools for facilitating
and providing content and diverse
approaches to meet different learning
styles and with methods that help
in stress-free learning, the learning
culture is being impacted significantly.
Traditional tools and methods are giving
way to innovative practices that focus
on speed of learning, self-learning and
focused learning reducing the critical
time for learning. The learning curve
both at societal and individual levels are
getting modified to provide a measure
and direction of learning. All these
call for a high degree of sensitivity to
emerging learning cultures and the
54 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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need to adapt oneself to the frequency
of change in knowledge management.
Academic leaders are required to respond
to these both purposefully and effectively.
Sensitivity to learning cultures will define
the quality of academic leadership of the
future.
Engage with change
as a team
The journey of an academic leader is
not exclusive. He has to lead a core team
in chasing the change and to engage with
change for growth and development. It
is, therefore, important for an academic
leader to organize, manage and lead a
learning team so that his responsibilities
of an academic leader are manifested
into a shared vision. No academic
progress is individualistic. It is conceptual
engagement which is immersed in
appropriate skills. The development of
a conceptual change in the universe of
academics needs progressive diffusion of
new knowledge, competence and skills.
An academic leader cannot make this
journey as individual and has to ensure
it as a team work. This alone could help
in acknowledging and sustaining the
leadership.
Focus on changing
behaviour than skills
An effective change should lead to
transformation. Transformation largely
involves both attitude and behaviour.
Hence the academic leader should work,
bringing about a change in the mindset,
consequent to any new learning rather
than simple acquisition and exhibition
of new skills. Superficial demonstrating
of new skills might have more cosmetic
value and help in exhibitionism rather
than an organizational transformation.
Academic leaders would be successful
only when they mentor transformation.
Lead the change
Promotional activities about
organizational change could lead to
thrill, challenge or fear. In an academic
engagements, changes happen much
slowly as compared to other business
or formats of work. The measurement of
the impact of change and change impact
analysis are quite a long and strenuous
process. Hence the personal engagement
of the academic leader with the change
and to lead the change is vital to any
institutional set up. Unless there is a clear
evidence of the leader being a part of the
change process, the confidence profile
of the team would be low and weak. An
academic leader who leads the change
ensures not only his personal growth
and of his team, but of the organization
as a whole.
Align the process
with results
In many academic set ups, the
process and results are largely viewed
independently, least realizing the latent
relationship with the two. In a number of
cases, the results are considered more as
a data rather than as reflections of inputs
to the processes that lead to results. The
underlying reason for this is either lack
of alignment between the process and
the results or the improper correlation
that is established between them. While
pedagogues tend to focus on processes,
the managers and administrators tend to
focus on results. Such inadequacies exist
both at the micro level as well as at the
macro level. An effective academic leader
builds his vision keeping them in tandem.
Competing with the self
Academic leadership is highly noncompetitive.
It is a personal branding of an
academician to a world he engages with.
Therefore, it is self-nurturing process and
has to be full of life. Any comparison of
an academic leader with others except
the self is a deceitful process. It could be
referral but non-prescriptive. The only way
an effective academic leader can sustain
his leadership is through a competition
with the self, demonstrating a continuous
progress of the levels of learning and
empowerment of the learning curve. As
the domains of knowledge and skills of
each leader has a variant, the growth
and development happen by redefining
the self.
Enlarging the spectrum
The universe of operation and
performance of an academic leader is
continuously enlarging. The spectrum
of knowledge, skills and competencies
continuously demand newer approaches
and domains of knowledge. Both
convergence and divergence of knowledge
impact the learning spectrum and its
consequent behaviour. There has to
be no road blocks to this engagement
with larger vistas of knowledge. If any,
they need to be removed to ensure the
expansion of knowledge spectrum.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
55

LEARNING
10 CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL LEARNING
Varsha Verma
Learning is everywhere - you can learn from nature, you can learn from reading or watching TV, you
can learn from other’s conversations…infact you can learn from just anything and everything. So,
what are the main characteristics of informal learning?
Informal learning starts even before a
child is born. It is a scientific fact that
children start learning in the mother’s
womb. Even our epic Mahabharata says
that when Abhimanyu (son of Arjuna
and Subhadra) was in his mother’s womb,
Sri Krishna used to take Subhadra on
excursions and narrate many adventures
to her. One day, Krishna was narrating
his experience with the technique of
Chakra-vyuha (military formation) and
how step-by-step the various circles could
be penetrated. Abhimanyu was listening
carefully to the same. Unfortunately,
Subhadra fell asleep before Krishna
could complete his narration. Seeing her
dozing off, Krishna stopped reciting and
Abhimanyu could not hear the last part,
which later became the cause of his death
in the battle of Mahabharata.
So, learning is everywhere - you
can learn from nature, you can learn
from reading or watching TV, you can
learn from other’s conversations…
infact you can learn from just anything
and everything. So, what are the main
characteristics of learning?
1Informal learning in
unorganised: There is no
structured program for this kind of
learning. When a parent teaches the child
to brush his teeth properly, it is informal
learning. Similarly, when a teacher makes
children stand in a queue, it is also
informal learning.
Varsha Verma is Associate Editor
at The Progressive School. She has
20 years of experience in writing and
editing. An MBA in finance and a
graduate in science, she has an eye
for detail and reading and writing has
been her passion since childhood and
she is happy to pursue her passion as
her profession.
2Informal learning is often
spontaneous: When a teacher
is in a class and he/she comes
across a word in the book, which a
child cannot understand. He/she recites
various situations where the word can
be used. That is informal learning and
it is spontaneous. The teacher might not
have prepared to teach children this way.
3There is no pressure to learn:
Have you noticed the thrill and
excitement on a child’s face when
he is learning to play a game or a toy with
his/her friend? The child is eager and
attentive. There is no pressure to learn,
yet he learns it with zeal.
4No curriculum for informal
learning: There are no set rules,
you can teach whatever way you
like. Mostly it depends on the teacher’s
experience.
5No set time for informal
learning: You can learn at any
time of the day. Even when a parent
recites a story to a child before sleep, he
is learning something.
6Anybody can be an informal
teacher: If a child learns from his/
her peer, that child is the teacher.
Anybody can give informal education
- father, mother, grandparents, sibling,
friends and of course the teachers.
7There are no classrooms; world
is your classroom: The learning
can happen anywhere — you
can learn from nature, you can learn in
your iiving room, your bedroom, while
travelling, while playing —it is endless.
The world is your classroom, literally!
8One can’t quantify informal
learning: Since there are no
exams, we cannot quantify informal
learning. But, this learning can be used in
life situations and children can be better
adept to face life challenges.
9
Informal learning: good for
child’s development: Before a
child starts formal school, he is
sent to playschools to learn basic things.
The environment is informal and a child
learns while playing. Similarly a child
learns to talk even before he goes to
playschool. Thus, informal learning helps
a child to cope with formal learning as
well
10 in hand with formal learning
It is a lifelong process:
Informal learning goes hand
and when the formal learning stops,
informal learning takes the frontseat. For
example, when computers became the
way of life, adults who had never seen
a computer before, learnt it from their
children or even grandchildren to stay
abreast with the technology.
So, the importance of informal
learning cannot be undermined. It is
what keeps us mentally active, makes the
world interesting and keeps us abreast
with the changing times.
56 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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NEWS & EVENTS
Odisha schools to introduce robotics
The Odisha State Government has decided to introduce
robotics in the curriculum of select schools across the
state. The aim of
the project is to keep
students technologically
updated. This will help
children develop their
skills on robotics and
artificial intelligence
from an early age. In the
first phase, the course
will be introduced in 10
model schools of the state, where students will be imparted
robotic education along with training on drone technology.
Smart government schools
in Punjab on the anvil
In Punjab, as many as 1,000 primary
and 1,800 secondary schools will get
laptops, multimedia projectors and
high-speed internet via joint funding
from the state and Centre., thus turning
government-run
2,8 0 0 school s
in the state into
smart schools
i n 2 0 1 8 - 1 9 .
This will make
the teachinglearning
process
easy and more
effective.
This smart
schools project in
Punjab will cost Rs 64 crore, which is part of the Rs 900 crore
project approved by the Project Approval Board of the Union
Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry under the new
and integrated education scheme Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan,
which focuses on improving quality of education, enhancing the
learning outcomes and using technology to empower children
and teachers.
While Rs 50,000 have been approved for converting two
classrooms in each of the 1,000 primary schools into smart
classrooms, 1,800 senior secondary schools will get Rs 3
lakh each to make teaching more interactive and improve
creative thinking in learning process through the integration
of technology in education.
Madhya Pradesh school to get a facelift
Th e Madhya
Pradesh state
government is all
set to provide tablets to
15,000-odd government
schools, as a part of state
government’s ambitious
proposal of ‘Digital
Pedagogy’, in which
government middle
schools will be given tablets for digital teaching.
Uniform and Common Minimum
Programme for Value Education
The Central Government is set to roll out a ‘Uniform and
Common Minimum Programme for Value Education’ for
implementation across India’s entire schooling system, in
the 2019-20 academic session. The uniformity of value education
imparted across schools will be ensured with a firm focus on
‘Core Constitutional values’ and these have been identified as
Justice, Equality, Fraternity and Liberty. In a bid to stay noncontroversial,
Value Education will focus on values enshrined
in the Constitution and general concerns on compassion
and respect for all
persons. Students,
teachers as well
as schools will
be assessed on
Value Education
through a nonmarks
based
approach. The
National Council
of Educational
Research & Training (NCERT) will mainly prepare these
modules which, though not mandatory for any school board to
follow, are expected to acquire a pan India effect on their own
as a number of school boards go by NCERT textbooks.
Indian students to get faster visas
to study in Canada
The Canadian immigration authority, IRCC (Immigration,
Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has introduced
major changes
in visa procedures to
reduce the processing
time, which will help
students from India get
faster visas to study
in Canada. The same
will be applicable
for three other Asian
countries as well—
China, Vietnam and
Philippines. This is a
welcome move as UK’s government has decided to exclude
Indian students from easier visa norms.
Tamil Nadu continues not to disclose ranks
and toppers of board exams
Continuing last year’s decision
of not announcing ranks and
toppers of board exams, Tamil
Nadu’s school education department
reiterated same rule this year too.
Earlier, the government would
recognise the top three ranks in the
state. But last year, the government
decided to do away with announcement
of ranks for Class X and XI board exams
and this year it applied to Class XII board exams too. The
decision had been taken to prevent unhealthy competition and
promotion among schools, leading to stress for students.
58 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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English medium in 444 West
Godavari schools soon!
Following the government’s decision to introduce
English medium
in all elementary
schools of the Andhra
Pradesh from the
current academic year,
Andhra Pradesh school
education department
has selected 444
schools in West
Godavari district for
implementation of the same. Out of the 444 schools, 287 schools
have been selected for implementation of English medium in
the first phase and 157 in the second.
Performance-based funding for key
education schemes
The HRD Ministry will kick-start the performance-based
f u n d i n g f o r
key education
schemes—from
primary to senior
secondary level—with
the newly launched
Samagra Shiksha
Abhiyan, which clubs
key schemes such
as Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and teacher
training. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the Centre has
given the states a lot of freedom through this new scheme. Of
the total funding for key school schemes, between 15 percent
and 20 percent will be performance based and decided on the
basis of measures such as teaching-learning outcome and
rationalization in teacher deployment. This will work as an
incentive to push states to perform better, according to officials
in the HRD ministry.
Mobile app to monitor schools in
Bhubaneswar
The government
of Bhubaneswar
has launched
a mobile app for
monitoring the schools
in the state.
The app will be
used to check and
upload information such as teachers’ absenteeism, attendance,
infrastructure, pedagogy, midday meal and other provisions. The
app is developed by National Informatics Centre, Bhubaneswar.
BS Poonia, Project Director of Odisha Primary Education
Programme Authority, said the main objective of app is to go
digital and paperless and get real-time data on the functioning
of the schools. The app will also help to ensure proper
implementation of remedial programmes such as Ujjwal, Utthan
and Utkarsh. All district education officers, block education
officers, block resource centre coordinators and cluster resource
coordinators can download the app on their smart phones.
12 lakhs teachers go for NIOS diploma
in elementary education
In pursuance of Prime Minister’s Digital
India campaign,
more than 12 lakhs
untrained teachers
across the country
are appearing for
the examination for
two years diploma
course in elementary
education conducted
by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). There are
a total of 3186 NIOS examination centres across the country
and 12,62,044 learners enrolled for the Diploma in Elementary
Education (D.El.Ed) programme. The D.El.Ed programme is a
specifically designed package for in-service untrained teachers
working in primary or upper primary schools of different states
of the country.
‘Spoken English’ course for government
school students in Delhi
The Delhi government is inviting applications from
government
school students
for enrolment in the
‘Spoken English’
course to enhance
their English speaking
skills. The programme
has been organised in
collaboration with the
British Council, India-
McMillan Education, Academy for Computers Training (Gujarat)
and Trinity College London. The course is open for full-time
regular students who have taken part in Class X board exams
and have passed the pre-board exams in three subjects with
English as a subject.
Dr Debashis Chatterjee returns
as IIM-K director
Dr Debashis Chatterjee,
who served as the director
of the Indian Institute
of Management - Kozhikode,
(IIM-K) from 2009 to 2014, is
returning to the post for a second
term. The post had been lying
vacant for nearly four years. Dr
Debashis has been credited
with admitting more than 50
percent women in its flagship
postgraduate programme.
Dr Debashis has been a Senior Professor and Dean
(International Relations) at IIM-Lucknow and is currently
serving as the Director General of International Management
Institute, Delhi, overseeing its three campuses. He handled
the leadership classes at Harvard University and at the IIMs,
Kolkata, Lucknow, and Kozhikode. He is awardee of the
prestigious Fulbright Fellowship twice for pre-doctoral and
post-doctoral work at Harvard University.
60 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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All govt schools to get digital boards
from Classes IX to XII
The Centre government is set to launch a new scheme
to provide
digital boards
for Classes IX to XII
of all government
schools. According to
HRD Minister Prakash
Javadekar, as many
as 15-lakh classrooms
will get digital boards.
The scheme will be
implemented under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, an umbrella
scheme rolled out recently to implement Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan and Teacher Education
Programmes together. To provide blackboards to schools, the
Centre had launched ‘Operation Black Board’ in 1987 under the
Rajiv Gandhi regime. But today, according to Javadekar, the
centre is launching ‘Operation Digital Board.’ Since the cost
of digital boards is ‘very high,’ the government is planning to
reach out to the India Inc for contributions under the corporate
social responsibility (CSR). Installation of digital boards will
allow schools to adopt “flipped classroom model” of teaching
and learning. A flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in
which short video lectures are viewed by students at home
before they attend their classes.
Eastman Auto and Power Ltd to solarize 100
schools in India
Raipur Government
Primary School is
the only school in
Raipur village of Mewat.
Being the only primary
school in the village, it is
expected to bring about a
paradigm shift in literacy
levels. Yet many basic amenities elude the school. Come
summers and power outages become common. Students have
to brave the scorching heat amidst the lessons and it becomes
increasingly difficult to sit and study in the classrooms.
Eastman Auto and Power Limited (EAPL), one of India’s
leading companies in energy storage and solar solutions, has
found a noble way of redressing the power woes of the school by
harnessing sunshine. Government Primary School will be one of
the schools among 100 others in India that will be solarized as
soon as the part of the company’s ‘Yellow Umbrella Campaign.’
This CSR initiative apart from taking the schools solar and
providing them uninterrupted electricity also aims to sensitize
students about the need for sustainable development and
judicious use of green resources. The project is aligned with the
broader vision to contribute to National Solar Mission by moving
a step forward towards encouraging the use of renewable energy
through solarizing schools.
As a part of this initiative, a full solar structure consisting
of solar panels, PCU and batteries will be installed by EAPL
at the school completely free of cost. A total of 15,000 students
are expected to be sensitized about the benefits of solar energy
through this project. Beginning from Mewat, Haryana, the
campaign will target states such as Rajasthan, UP, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala &Madhya Pradesh.
www.progressiveschool.in
Reena Ray takes over as Secretary HRD
Reena Ray has been appointed
as Secretary of Department
of School Education and
Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India.
She is the 1984 batch IAS officer of UT
cadre. In 2015, she was appointed as
Additional Secretary, Department of
School Education and Literacy, HRD.
Prior to it, she was Chief Electoral
Officer, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. She takes over her current
position on superannuation of Anil Swarup on June 30, 2018.
Reena Ray brings with her enormous experience in the sector.
R Praggnanandhaa: The new
grandmaster from India
R
Praggnanandhaa, a 12 years and 10 months old chess
prodigy from Chennai, made history by becoming the
youngest ever
Indian grandmaster
and the world’s second
youngest till date by
earning his third
GM norm during the
Gredine Open in Italy.
He had won his
first GM norm at
the World Junior
Championships in
Tarvisio in November
2017. He achieved his second norm by winning the Herkalion
Fischer Memorial GM Norm tournament in Greece in April this
year. Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine holds the record for being the
youngest GM at 12 years and 7 months.
Court intervenes in NEET question
papers leak case
Delhi High Court refused to stay results of the 2018 National
Eligibility Cum
Entrance Test
(NEET) on a plea
alleging that the
question papers were
leaked. The petition
was filed by one of
the candidates, who
appeared in the exam
at a Gurugram centre.
It alleged that there was a shortage of question papers in one of
the cities that showed that the papers were leaked. However, the
counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE),
which conducted the exam, said there was some confusion in
the distribution of the question papers, but later it was sorted
out and there was no shortage. The court was informed that the
CBI has also lodged an FIR after it received a complaint from the
CBSE, alleging that a few touts helped students in qualifying
the NEET in various government and private colleges across
the country. A total of 13,26,725 candidates had appeared for
the NEET examination on May 6, which was conducted in 136
cities in 11 languages.
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
61

National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct
JEE Main, NEET Exams twice from 2019
Prakash Javadekar, HRD Minister, has announced that JEE
Main (for admission in Engineering colleges) and NEET
(for admission in Medical colleges) will now be conducted
by National Testing Agency (NTA) and will be held twice in a
year from 2019. Earlier, these tests were conducted by CBSE.
Apart from NEET and JEE Main, NTA will also conduct
National Eligibility Test (NET), Common Management
Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test
(GPAT) exams from now on
Shri Himanshu Gupta
of S Chand Group
on being listed at #9 in
PrintWeek India Power 100
PrintWeek India Power 100
is about ranking the
printing industry’s 100
most influential individuals,
decided through a fair voting
in which voters considered
the spending power, industry
influence, knowledge, and
innovation quotient of the printers while casting
their votes. Himanshu Gupta, Managing Director,
S Chand Group is in the list of 100, recognising his
way of mastering the art of monetising books. He is
at the 9th rank in the list. S.Chand Group acquired
three firms in a short span; then in 2017 the group
launched S Chand IPO (Initial Public Offer).
New curriculum for Tamil Nadu
board unveiled
Tamil Nadu CM
Edappadi K
Palaniswami
recently released the
revised textbooks
with new syllabi for
classes I, VI, IX and
XI of the state board.
The CM unveiled the new textbooks at an event held at the State
Secretariat in Chennai in presence of School Education Minister
KA Sengottaiyan and other officials. The revised textbooks
aim at helping the students to face competitive examinations.
A source from the state education department said nearly 80
lakhs textbooks have been printed. School teachers in the state
will also be given short training sessions to update themselves
with the newly introduced syllabi.
The state government in July 2017 formed a 10-member
committee headed by M Ananthakrishnan, former Vice-
Chancellor of Anna University, to draft the new curriculum
and syllabi. The committee comprised a panel of experts from
different fields including agriculture, environment, arts and
mathematics, apart from academicians. Sources said the syllabi
of the remaining classes will also be revamped in phases.
Indian student’s Anitha-SAT
launched from Mexico City
Anitha-SAT, a lightweight satellite developed by a 17-yearold
Class XII pass
out student of RSK
Higher Secondary School
at Tiruchi in Tamil Nadu,
was recently launched from
Aztra Labs in Mexico City.
The satellite is designed
to measure the effects of
air pollution and global
warming. Villet Oviya, a
medical aspirant, who appeared for NEET, had named the
conical-shaped satellite after the late Ariyalur student who
could not pursue her career in medicine after failing to clear
the entrance test. Fitted with a global positioning system and
a camera, the satellite weighing 500 g was pushed into the
troposphere, to a height of 15 km, in a helium balloon. Thereafter,
the balloon exploded and the capsule began its descent towards
the sea, measuring temperature, air quality and concentration
of gases in the strata of atmosphere.
62 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
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