Dear Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May the New Year bring you all joys, peace of mind, prosperity, happiness, success, fame, wisdom, love and the Blessings of the Lord!
My New Year Resolution is to re-dedicate my life to help all concerned in imparting values through education using both the conventional and the high-tech approaches. There has to be a Life-connect and activities that bind our future generation to our roots and yet let them soar in the realms of their latent potentialities in an age of innovation & creativity.
What gives me the confidence and expertise that I can do this is:
I spent the first 26 years of my career at Vishwa Bharati, with girl students only; 12 years in the Women’s Degree College, 2 years in the 10+2 Girls School and then 11 years as the Founder Principal of a Residential Women’s Teacher Education College. Vishwa Bharati was committed to welfare of Women and the basic tenets of philosophy were Shiviaism, Sufism and Mysticism.
I had the privilege of being Project Director of NCERT National Conferences on Development of ‘Value Development Models of Teaching’ at Indore and at Srinagar. We developed two models: ‘The Value Dilemma Model’ and ‘The Jurisprudence Value Development Model.’
As Educational Consultant and Dean Academics for over 5 years at Darshan Education Foundation, I was responsible for Training Teachers in the implementation of a Spiritual Curriculum developed by the Organization. The Curriculum was based on the science of spirituality and included Life Skills, Peace, Meditation, Non-violence, Vegetarianism, Universal Brotherhood, Self-Introspection and Love & Respect for all Creation.
I have worked on my Research on Cognitive Development for several years at RCE Ajmer and in the process delved deep into Stages of Cognitive Development, Stages of Moral Development, Adolescent Psychology, Behavior Modification, Counseling techniques and Pedagogy required for the 21’st Century.
You will all appreciate that the need of the hour demands that we help our teachers, educators and administrators in creating a congenial climate for Value Education and learn how to do it. The CBSE has also recently come up with a Manual for Value Education, Value Cards etc and this can be of great help.
I count on guidance and support of the members of the IECS Academic Advisory Board:
Dr. Arjun Badlani, Dr. Avtar Singh,Dr. B.Singh, Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra, Dr. Rakesh Chander, Dr. Ranjan Roy, Dr. S. Arora, Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia, Mr. Anil Sharma, Mr. IR Pathak, Mr. P.S.Kalra, Mr. Sanju Tiwari,
Mr. Suraj Prakash, Mr. Vikram Dutt, Mr. Yog Raj, Mrs. Arti Khosla, Mrs. Mukta Misra, Mrs. Neera Mathur, Mrs. Paramjit Kaur, Mrs. Sadhna Pandey, Mrs. KR Maalati and Mrs. Rupam Sah.
I will also be seeking the cooperation of Educators, Administrators and Trainers like:
Dr. Nisha Peshin, Dr. Usha Tickoo, Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Mr. Anirudh Gupta, Mr. Arun Gupta,
Mr. Ashish Agarwal, Mr. Bharat Bhushan Jha, Mr. Kirpal Singh, Mr. Mohd Yussouf Wani, Mr. Mushtaq Mehindru, Mr. Ram Singh, Mr. RD Sharma, Mr. SL Jain, Mr. Vekat Aalagiri, Mr. Yogendra Singh, Mrs. Arti Chopra, Mrs. Harinder Sraw, Mrs. Kusum Warikoo, Mrs. Kavita Lohia Bajpayai, Mrs. Manjeet Kaur Makkar, Mrs. Monica Saraswat, Mrs. Namreeta Anandani, Mrs. Rupa Chakravarti, Mrs. Shyma Hawa, Mrs. Sona Babar and Mrs. Urmil Vajpai.
I am hopeful that with the efforts of all of us we will be able to give our education that cutting edge that helps us to bring a social change that is deliberate & planned and enables to reconstruct a society that is modern & progressive, liberal & free and yet safe, secure and just.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thursday, January 5, 2012
CBSE- CCE SCHEME- Class X SA-2 in 2012
The CBSE CCE Scheme introduced in Oct. 2009; has been a major demand since pre-independence period. Reform in Education & Evaluation has been the concern of all Educational Committees and Commissions.
Education has to ensure holistic development of all aspects of the personality of a student. Schools have focused on Scholastic Areas and marks too long and ignored Life Skills, Values, Attitudes, Performance and Participation of students. The result has been a crisis of character and conscience.
Evaluation is integral to teaching learning and has to help in both the processes.Students need to be assessed continuously in a stress free environment and feedback given to students and parents.
Teachers have to assess their own teaching and the students learning and diagnose the deficiencies and organize remediation. This is assessment for learning and is done through Formative Assessments, twice in each term; four times in a year. Assessment of learning is done twice a year, at the end of each semester and is called Summative assessment.
CBSE has stipulated Course content for each SA and Question Papers with Marking Schemes are sent to Schools. For FA’s teachers are required to use various tools & techniques like: Projects, Assignments, Quiz, Laboratory Work in Math & Science, Discussion, Survey, Presentations and an occasional paper pencil test.
Thus a year has Two Terms: April to Sept. and Oct. to March. Each Term has Two FA’s and an SA at the end of the Term. Hence during the year there are Four FA’s and Two SA’s. The weight age of each FA is 10% and SA is 30% from 2011 Class IX. In 2012 Class X, it is Sa-1 20% and SA-2 40%.
CBSE has thus moved over to School Based Evaluation and made evaluation continuous. Schools that are 10+2 Schools have to conduct internal SA-2 for all students; except those who intend to change the Board after Class X and make a request for the same in writing, well in advance in Oct.
The SA-2 held at School-internal- or held by CBSE-external- are both conducted on the same Syllabus. Question papers & Marking Scheme are provided by CBSE in both the cases. Evaluation is done at the School in internal and by the Board in external; as per the Marking Scheme; checked and moderated, where required by CBSE in both the cases.
Schools are required to send Grades for the remaining 60% evaluation already conducted by the School to CBSE, in both the cases. CBSE tabulates and declares the Results. There is no pass or fail.
The Certificates of all students-internal or external are issued by the CBSE and have no difference. The Certificate does not make any mention of SA-2 as external or internal.
Students of 10+2 Schools move normally from X to XI and the students face only one external examination at the end of schooling at XII.
CCE hence ensures development & assessment of proper Thinking, Social, Emotional Skills, Attitudes and Values. Aesthetic, Scientific, Cultural and Literary tastes are developed and students learn subjects like Science & Math and excel in Life.
Education has to ensure holistic development of all aspects of the personality of a student. Schools have focused on Scholastic Areas and marks too long and ignored Life Skills, Values, Attitudes, Performance and Participation of students. The result has been a crisis of character and conscience.
Evaluation is integral to teaching learning and has to help in both the processes.Students need to be assessed continuously in a stress free environment and feedback given to students and parents.
Teachers have to assess their own teaching and the students learning and diagnose the deficiencies and organize remediation. This is assessment for learning and is done through Formative Assessments, twice in each term; four times in a year. Assessment of learning is done twice a year, at the end of each semester and is called Summative assessment.
CBSE has stipulated Course content for each SA and Question Papers with Marking Schemes are sent to Schools. For FA’s teachers are required to use various tools & techniques like: Projects, Assignments, Quiz, Laboratory Work in Math & Science, Discussion, Survey, Presentations and an occasional paper pencil test.
Thus a year has Two Terms: April to Sept. and Oct. to March. Each Term has Two FA’s and an SA at the end of the Term. Hence during the year there are Four FA’s and Two SA’s. The weight age of each FA is 10% and SA is 30% from 2011 Class IX. In 2012 Class X, it is Sa-1 20% and SA-2 40%.
CBSE has thus moved over to School Based Evaluation and made evaluation continuous. Schools that are 10+2 Schools have to conduct internal SA-2 for all students; except those who intend to change the Board after Class X and make a request for the same in writing, well in advance in Oct.
The SA-2 held at School-internal- or held by CBSE-external- are both conducted on the same Syllabus. Question papers & Marking Scheme are provided by CBSE in both the cases. Evaluation is done at the School in internal and by the Board in external; as per the Marking Scheme; checked and moderated, where required by CBSE in both the cases.
Schools are required to send Grades for the remaining 60% evaluation already conducted by the School to CBSE, in both the cases. CBSE tabulates and declares the Results. There is no pass or fail.
The Certificates of all students-internal or external are issued by the CBSE and have no difference. The Certificate does not make any mention of SA-2 as external or internal.
Students of 10+2 Schools move normally from X to XI and the students face only one external examination at the end of schooling at XII.
CCE hence ensures development & assessment of proper Thinking, Social, Emotional Skills, Attitudes and Values. Aesthetic, Scientific, Cultural and Literary tastes are developed and students learn subjects like Science & Math and excel in Life.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Parents Complain about adoloscent children!
We have been facing crises of character and crises of conscience, the world over. The family which is one of the basic institutions of our society has been under tremendous pressure for quite some time and has been breaking. Our mothers were our first teachers. The family was our first school. Unfortunately, transition from the agrarian society to the industrial society led to the family passing on its role of educating the younger generation to teachers in a school. Eric Ashby regards this as the first revolution of the world.
In India, we had a firm foundation of values and these were transmitted by the family to the children. The ethical foundations of the society were strong and prayer, meditation, fasting, religious teaching gave all of us a strong moral foundation. The elders were respected; parents were held in high esteem and hence obeyed and followed. Cut throat competition, absence of ethical values, desire to be rich as fast as possible and climb the social ladder of influence and power; has led to degradation of human values. Coupled with this, the social upheavals’, the spurt of violence, the influence of media, change in life style and food habits, the impact of peer pressure and the absence of rational and human parental control has led to growth of a misguided younger generation. The percentage of such youth is very high in each social strata and more so in upper middle classes and the upper classes. These youth resent being advised and guided. They want freedom from all controls and resent any intrusion or interference in their life and work. They have their own preferences, likes and dislikes, recreational activities, social and political outlook and look upon the family as an institution that meets their needs. They feel and believe that their parents are obliged to do what they do for their upbringing, education, career since the parents are under a debt to their own parents for having done it for them. Often, if the parents are not so well educated or placed in society, the young start taking charge and advising them on matters concerning family, life etc. The anti-social elements are always on the lookout for such youth as they easily fall prey to their mechanization and the desire to enjoy a life of luxury. Sometimes the youth experiment with their lives and fall prey to substance abuse, become drug addicts, alcoholics and so on.
Our problem as teachers becomes acute when we try to bring the school and the home closer and interact with the parents of such students, in the hope that together we may improve upon the behavior and academic performance of these students. What the parents share in confidence reveals that the student has revolted against parental control already and the parents are scared of him. He has already threatened the parents of dire consequences in case they keep nagging, advising or complaining against him. These threats vary from suicide, running away from home, joining bands of anti-social elements, bringing bad name to the family to physical assault on the parents. Stories from such parents are heart rendering and our blood boils. But this is the true test of a teacher’s patience, care and love for the student.
I have been a strong advocate of love-therapy and even when people regarded my love for my student as a sign of weakness and cowardice; I can boast of the fact that it has helped me in dealing with over 90% cases. The remaining 10% needed psychological counseling for behavior modification. Our Schools have to have a climate of dedicated scholarship and pursuit of excellence in any and all fields has to be rewarded. The students need to find that the school has teachers who are scholars in their subjects and role-models of what they say and desire their students to be. The Schools have to have a vision, a value system, a culture that sets the tone for all activities. Adolescents are passing through a period of stress and strain. They want to assert their authority. They need appreciation and recognition for what they are. They are very conscious of themselves and do not like to be treated as kids or insulted in public or a social group. They thirst for appreciation, for improving upon their self esteem, for recognition and for love. They have reserves of surplus energy and want to use it. They are torn by emotional conflicts, physical bodily and glandular changes, social interactions and the absence of models. The failure of both teachers and parents to understand the growth and developmental needs of the adolescent, the stress levels, the pressure of studies and the peer group influence are the other factors that add to his misery.
What should we as teachers do in these circumstances?
• Be aware of the growth and development characteristics of students.
• Find out more about their family, their peer group, their interests, their study schedule, their learning style, their hopes and fears, their psychological makeup etc
• Provide for a range of activities in the school as keeps the student always engaged. These have to be a variety of Physical Activities, Games & Sports, Recreational Activities, and Activities for Social, Emotional and aesthetic development.
• Activities like Theatre, Adventure Sports, Dramatics, Nature Trips, Tours, Leadership Camps, working in teams for NGO’s, Social causes, Experimentation, Group Projects etc; have been found useful.
• Every teacher has to be a counselor, a surrogate parent, a scholar with expert knowledge of his subject, a human being with a caring and loving heart and a friend.
• Value education has to be an integral part of the School Programme. It can be both Direct and Indirect. Schools have to realize that ‘Values are caught and not taught.’
• Teachers must be good listeners. Do not offer advice at once. Listen. Befriend the child. He needs an understanding friend. Model the behavior you wish your student to acquire. Show him examples and models that are positive. Use anecdotes, parables, and stories to drive home your point.
• Visit the family of the child more often. Have talk sessions with all present. The parents may also need counseling. Set targets and goals with time-lines for the students. Make parents help the child achieve the target.
• Conduct case studies of a few cases that you find alarming and in need of help. Use the Case Study to identify the causes and we can all put our heads together to find remedies.
In India, we had a firm foundation of values and these were transmitted by the family to the children. The ethical foundations of the society were strong and prayer, meditation, fasting, religious teaching gave all of us a strong moral foundation. The elders were respected; parents were held in high esteem and hence obeyed and followed. Cut throat competition, absence of ethical values, desire to be rich as fast as possible and climb the social ladder of influence and power; has led to degradation of human values. Coupled with this, the social upheavals’, the spurt of violence, the influence of media, change in life style and food habits, the impact of peer pressure and the absence of rational and human parental control has led to growth of a misguided younger generation. The percentage of such youth is very high in each social strata and more so in upper middle classes and the upper classes. These youth resent being advised and guided. They want freedom from all controls and resent any intrusion or interference in their life and work. They have their own preferences, likes and dislikes, recreational activities, social and political outlook and look upon the family as an institution that meets their needs. They feel and believe that their parents are obliged to do what they do for their upbringing, education, career since the parents are under a debt to their own parents for having done it for them. Often, if the parents are not so well educated or placed in society, the young start taking charge and advising them on matters concerning family, life etc. The anti-social elements are always on the lookout for such youth as they easily fall prey to their mechanization and the desire to enjoy a life of luxury. Sometimes the youth experiment with their lives and fall prey to substance abuse, become drug addicts, alcoholics and so on.
Our problem as teachers becomes acute when we try to bring the school and the home closer and interact with the parents of such students, in the hope that together we may improve upon the behavior and academic performance of these students. What the parents share in confidence reveals that the student has revolted against parental control already and the parents are scared of him. He has already threatened the parents of dire consequences in case they keep nagging, advising or complaining against him. These threats vary from suicide, running away from home, joining bands of anti-social elements, bringing bad name to the family to physical assault on the parents. Stories from such parents are heart rendering and our blood boils. But this is the true test of a teacher’s patience, care and love for the student.
I have been a strong advocate of love-therapy and even when people regarded my love for my student as a sign of weakness and cowardice; I can boast of the fact that it has helped me in dealing with over 90% cases. The remaining 10% needed psychological counseling for behavior modification. Our Schools have to have a climate of dedicated scholarship and pursuit of excellence in any and all fields has to be rewarded. The students need to find that the school has teachers who are scholars in their subjects and role-models of what they say and desire their students to be. The Schools have to have a vision, a value system, a culture that sets the tone for all activities. Adolescents are passing through a period of stress and strain. They want to assert their authority. They need appreciation and recognition for what they are. They are very conscious of themselves and do not like to be treated as kids or insulted in public or a social group. They thirst for appreciation, for improving upon their self esteem, for recognition and for love. They have reserves of surplus energy and want to use it. They are torn by emotional conflicts, physical bodily and glandular changes, social interactions and the absence of models. The failure of both teachers and parents to understand the growth and developmental needs of the adolescent, the stress levels, the pressure of studies and the peer group influence are the other factors that add to his misery.
What should we as teachers do in these circumstances?
• Be aware of the growth and development characteristics of students.
• Find out more about their family, their peer group, their interests, their study schedule, their learning style, their hopes and fears, their psychological makeup etc
• Provide for a range of activities in the school as keeps the student always engaged. These have to be a variety of Physical Activities, Games & Sports, Recreational Activities, and Activities for Social, Emotional and aesthetic development.
• Activities like Theatre, Adventure Sports, Dramatics, Nature Trips, Tours, Leadership Camps, working in teams for NGO’s, Social causes, Experimentation, Group Projects etc; have been found useful.
• Every teacher has to be a counselor, a surrogate parent, a scholar with expert knowledge of his subject, a human being with a caring and loving heart and a friend.
• Value education has to be an integral part of the School Programme. It can be both Direct and Indirect. Schools have to realize that ‘Values are caught and not taught.’
• Teachers must be good listeners. Do not offer advice at once. Listen. Befriend the child. He needs an understanding friend. Model the behavior you wish your student to acquire. Show him examples and models that are positive. Use anecdotes, parables, and stories to drive home your point.
• Visit the family of the child more often. Have talk sessions with all present. The parents may also need counseling. Set targets and goals with time-lines for the students. Make parents help the child achieve the target.
• Conduct case studies of a few cases that you find alarming and in need of help. Use the Case Study to identify the causes and we can all put our heads together to find remedies.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
CORRUPTION IN EDUCATION?
A recent report by British media revealed that millions of pounds of aid for education under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme have literally disappeared. The report put this figure at a staggering £340 million, which is around Rs 2,327 crore!
To further this report, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) investigation found that almost £14 million (around Rs 100 crore) had been spent on luxuries viz. new cars, luxury beds, computers et al, that had no connection with SSA. So much so that around Rs 1.02 crore was transferred into non-traceable bank accounts. Not just that, electronic equipments like air conditioners, faxes, photocopiers, colour television sets et al were bought for regions which had no electricity supply! And that’s just one side of the entire SSA story! Another CAG report reveals that around 68 per cent of the Rs 8000 crore allotted for ‘Elementary Education’ development work, which was spent under SSA, had no records. A 2006 report highlighted irregularities of funds usage to the tune of Rs 470 million in almost 14 states in SSA schemes. A brief glimpse through other media reports, in the span of the last few years, is enough to give a concrete idea about how states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are spending allocated funds on projects that have nothing to do with SSA.
In such a situation, what hope can we have of the RTE Act and our pious wish of getting everyone to school and having an educated India.
To further this report, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) investigation found that almost £14 million (around Rs 100 crore) had been spent on luxuries viz. new cars, luxury beds, computers et al, that had no connection with SSA. So much so that around Rs 1.02 crore was transferred into non-traceable bank accounts. Not just that, electronic equipments like air conditioners, faxes, photocopiers, colour television sets et al were bought for regions which had no electricity supply! And that’s just one side of the entire SSA story! Another CAG report reveals that around 68 per cent of the Rs 8000 crore allotted for ‘Elementary Education’ development work, which was spent under SSA, had no records. A 2006 report highlighted irregularities of funds usage to the tune of Rs 470 million in almost 14 states in SSA schemes. A brief glimpse through other media reports, in the span of the last few years, is enough to give a concrete idea about how states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are spending allocated funds on projects that have nothing to do with SSA.
In such a situation, what hope can we have of the RTE Act and our pious wish of getting everyone to school and having an educated India.
Friday, July 16, 2010
OUR YOUNG LEARNERS
We have to recognize the crucial importance of good quality education in the early years. The experiences and environment the children are exposed to in the first five years have a great impact on the child’s life. At our schools the seeds for learning are sown in the blossoming brain. We recognise that learning shifts from age to age. A three year old is not a five year old, but a perfect three year old. Children at different age levels have different needs and ways of learning.
Young children love to play and are naturally curious. They are full of love and purity. Games, puzzles and educational activities have to be incorporated in the syllabus, so that the children learn new skills in both a fun and challenging way. We know that children learn best when they are enjoying themselves. One of our main aims is for children to develop a joy for life-long learning.
School is often the first time the children are away from home, so the classroom becomes a new family. An atmosphere has to be created in which each individual is respected, loved and cared for. Children learn to grow and learn together in a cooperative environment. In parachute games they learn to work together as a team. Students also have opportunities to work in small groups, so that the teacher has more individual time with each child. We ought to have a daily organised routine with a variety of activities for the children to experience learning in a stimulating environment.
Students should start the day with a few minutes of meditation. This helps them to relax, develop their inner peace and be more focused. They should also have a daily period of Life Skill and Value Education, in which they learn to take care of themselves and others. They learn how to share, become a good human being, manners, and polite social interactions. They also learn to appreciate multicultural diversity and different religions.
We should incorporate kinaesthetic learning – learning through movement, in the learning process. Physical activities are a fun way to learn the alphabet, numbers and many environmental topics. Children love to move, jump and run. Children process new information through their whole body, in kinaesthetic learning. Some children learn best through their sense of touch, they are called tactile learners. Such children flourish when they can paint, and create things with their hands. These art and craft activities need to be linked to topics they are learning. They also love educational aids and manipulatives. The school is not about sitting still the whole day.
The preschool years are not the time to engage the children in lengthy memorization exercises. Children at this age develop their thinking processes in the context of play and physical activities.
During the year there have to be special theme days, like an Alphabet Party or a Number Day. On these days the whole day is packed with role play, games, music, and craft activities related to the topic.
Albert Schweitzer, a great Doctor once said: “There are three ways to teach: By example, by example, and by example.”
We need to be aware that children are keen observers. How we speak, listen and interact with others needs to be loving and polite. Children quickly pick up our attitudes and behaviour traits. By modelling how we want our children to behave and the skills we want them to learn, we do the best in creating a conducive atmosphere for learning and growing.
After modelling we also need to give children the opportunity to do things on their own. Learning through doing has to be a key word at our Schools. Mistakes are okay, and part of the learning process. We remember 90 % of what we do, whereas we remember very little of what we read. Our teachers have to be committed to providing the best possible learning experience for your children. Encouragement is an important word for children. Words of encouragement work wonders. We should help our students develop self confidence in them. All of these efforts will make our School a wonderful place for a child to grow.
Young children love to play and are naturally curious. They are full of love and purity. Games, puzzles and educational activities have to be incorporated in the syllabus, so that the children learn new skills in both a fun and challenging way. We know that children learn best when they are enjoying themselves. One of our main aims is for children to develop a joy for life-long learning.
School is often the first time the children are away from home, so the classroom becomes a new family. An atmosphere has to be created in which each individual is respected, loved and cared for. Children learn to grow and learn together in a cooperative environment. In parachute games they learn to work together as a team. Students also have opportunities to work in small groups, so that the teacher has more individual time with each child. We ought to have a daily organised routine with a variety of activities for the children to experience learning in a stimulating environment.
Students should start the day with a few minutes of meditation. This helps them to relax, develop their inner peace and be more focused. They should also have a daily period of Life Skill and Value Education, in which they learn to take care of themselves and others. They learn how to share, become a good human being, manners, and polite social interactions. They also learn to appreciate multicultural diversity and different religions.
We should incorporate kinaesthetic learning – learning through movement, in the learning process. Physical activities are a fun way to learn the alphabet, numbers and many environmental topics. Children love to move, jump and run. Children process new information through their whole body, in kinaesthetic learning. Some children learn best through their sense of touch, they are called tactile learners. Such children flourish when they can paint, and create things with their hands. These art and craft activities need to be linked to topics they are learning. They also love educational aids and manipulatives. The school is not about sitting still the whole day.
The preschool years are not the time to engage the children in lengthy memorization exercises. Children at this age develop their thinking processes in the context of play and physical activities.
During the year there have to be special theme days, like an Alphabet Party or a Number Day. On these days the whole day is packed with role play, games, music, and craft activities related to the topic.
Albert Schweitzer, a great Doctor once said: “There are three ways to teach: By example, by example, and by example.”
We need to be aware that children are keen observers. How we speak, listen and interact with others needs to be loving and polite. Children quickly pick up our attitudes and behaviour traits. By modelling how we want our children to behave and the skills we want them to learn, we do the best in creating a conducive atmosphere for learning and growing.
After modelling we also need to give children the opportunity to do things on their own. Learning through doing has to be a key word at our Schools. Mistakes are okay, and part of the learning process. We remember 90 % of what we do, whereas we remember very little of what we read. Our teachers have to be committed to providing the best possible learning experience for your children. Encouragement is an important word for children. Words of encouragement work wonders. We should help our students develop self confidence in them. All of these efforts will make our School a wonderful place for a child to grow.
Monday, January 4, 2010
HOLISTIC TEACHER.
QUESTION: Who can be called a "Holistic Teacher?
With everyone talking of 'Holistic Education' there is need for 'Holistic Teachers' and we need to list the traits, attributes and qualities of such a teacher. –Prof. B. L. Handoo
k kemper- Management Consultant, writer, past TV show producer
Answer: since i invented "holistic accounting" in 1982,a holistic teacher could be one who brings all subject matter and teaching concepts to the classroom and endeavors to succinctly use those melded together to meet the needs of the students as the instructor "facilitates" the mandated material.
FRANK FEATHER ►CEO ►Strategist ►Customized "Hot-Topic" Keynotes + In-House Seminars ►2020 Forecasts (30-yr track record
Answer: A "holistic teacher" is a "facilitator of learning." The traditional role of teacher has become one of an instructor who drills or pours "info-facts" into a student's head, treating knowledge as content, i.e., finite, and this archaic model has been reinforced by the computer age of how information gets processed. Yet the caveat of "garbage in, garbage out" now applies to today's obsolete industrial-era mass education system.
Holistic education is based on a concept of knowledge as a process of reasoning and of
continuous learning, i.e., infinite.
Carl Rogers wrote about the role of the holistic teacher back in 1967 in "Person to Person: The Problem of Being Human", (Real People Press), as follows:
- concentrate on creating a classroom climate to facilitate self-initiated learning, the freedom to learn and learning to be free.
- allow the students to be free and responsible so they confront real life problems.
- the teacher must be genuine and sincere, with a confident view of humanity and a profound trust in the human organism.
- able to accept their feelings as their own, they have no need to impose them on others.
- the teacher values the feelings and opinions of students who are regarded as imperfect humans with many potentialities.
- the teacher never denies a child's feelings and has empathic awareness of the learning process and education from the student's point of view.
In 1993, John miller, the pioneer of holistic learning at OISE in Toronto, wrote a seminal book "Holistic Teacher", and very recently "The Holistic Curriculum".
Hope that helps.
M. Joyce McMenamin- "Chief-of-Quite-A-Lot"
Answer: Looking around, it appears a lot of people can self-assert a holistic title.
Some of the most famous holistic practitioner-authors have no specific training or credentials.
I have sought out credentials and found that many of the certification programs are elementary and 'wanting'.
The concept of 'holism' is 'complete' (eg., whole).
I tend to believe that holism either "is" or "isn't".
Those that teach successfully are typically holistic from a combination of experience + learning vs. formal training.
Firas Abo Assaf- CEO ♦ Finance & FMCG Professional ♦ Real Estate Brokerage ♦ All In One ♦ One For All
Answer: In holistic education, the teacher is seen less as person of authority who leads and controls but rather is seen as:
1) A friend,
2) A mentor,
3) A facilitator,
4) An experienced traveling companion
Schools should be seen as places where students and adults work toward a mutual goal. Open and honest communication is expected and differences between people are respected and appreciated. Cooperation is the norm, rather than competition. Thus, many schools incorporating holistic beliefs do not give grades or rewards. The reward of helping one another and growing together is emphasized rather than being placed above one another.
In considering curriculum using a holistic approach, one must address the question of what children need to learn. Since holistic education seeks to educate the whole person, there are some key factors that are essential to this type of education.
• First, children need to learn about themselves. This involves learning self respect and self esteem.
• Second, children need to learn about relationships. In learning about their relationships with others, there is a focus on social “literacy” (learning to see social influence) and emotional “literacy” (one’s own self in relation to others).
• Third, children need to learn about resilience. This entails overcoming difficulties, facing challenges and learning how to ensure long-term success.
• Fourth, children need to learn about aesthetics – This encourages the student to see the beauty of what is around them and learn to have awe in life.
Wallace Jackson ; Multimedia Producer and i3D Programmer for Acrobat 3D PDF, JavaFX, Mobile & Virtual Worlds
Answer: A Mentor. An Example. A Leader. A Visionary. One Who Inspires. The Dalai Lama
Adam Maclennan; Lead Tutor at Tutorpedia
Answer: In my opinion very few (if any) people could be called a "Holistic Teachers." Though I would say that some people take a holistic approach to education and that is very good.
My primary bench mark for holistic teaching would be if the teacher seeks to impart a desire to learn and show connections to the real world as well as just disseminate basic knowledge. The teacher doesn't have to be able to teach all subjects by any means but does need to show how the subject being taught relates to others and to life. What's more teacher should seek out what interests and inspires the student and relate the subject to that. Any connection could be made even if it is honestly admitting that the current subject matter is simply a "hoop to be jumped through" on the path to the students eventual life goal.
A holistic approach to education does not mean that the teacher needs to befriend the student, treat them as an intellectual equal, or equally value their opinions about the world. In fact the teacher should do not really do any of these things because they all lead to the loss of credibility. As the teacher, even the holistically minded one, you should be the guru, the master of the material and on a higher intellectual rank than the student. People in general don't tend to learn from those with equal knowledge on a subject, they debate them. I'm not suggesting that students differing in opinion from you are a bad thing; in fact that process is extremely good. However, if you are a teacher worth your salt, nine times out ten the debate should end with both you and the student understanding that you are the winner, but not that the student has lost.
However the image of a mentor or role model is not far from where a holistically minded educator should be. This image must be carefully maintained and needs to differ from student to student. In all cases students must respect the teacher a great deal in order for any holistic program to take place.
Shankar Barua; Writer, Artist, Thinker, Musician, & Oddball Innovator
Answer: A good parent should do Bhushan.
Keep well ~ Shankar
Rayaprolu Sarma; Owner, SASU Academy Pvt. Ltd
Answer: Is being a "Holistic Teacher" a possibility?
Can there be any one who is complete and can we measure the completeness? To me a holistic teacher or some one close to a holistic teacher who understands his limitations as a human and still allows the possibility of other's growth through constant search for answers. A Holistic teacher need not be a subject matter expert always. He can merely be some one who encourages learning not by teaching but by being and becoming.
Teachers most often have to fill in the shoes of unrealistic ideals and hard to survive methodologies. It is important that self realization and truth seeking become the motto of teaching or imparting learning, only then can a teacher be holistic.
From a philosophical, real life, scientific and cultural perspectives, allowing learning to sprout in turbulence along with accepting learning as an event in a journey, all these are qualities which a holistic teacher can aim to have
Siphiwe Silinda; Document Controller B&W Madagascar Sarl
Answer: A holistic Teacher is someone that educates, mentor and do coaching one on one with his or her students. When students see her or him they regard as a role model because of the drive and the skills that he or she is passing on to the students. He or she posses the following attribute
Strong Leadership, Career and Family Counseling, Planning into Detail & Motivator
Nanette de Ville; at Life Reflections
Answer: I work as a Healer and I would expect to see the following qualities in a Holistic Teacher:
They should be someone who is compassionate, understanding and can listen. To be able to give impartial guidance and coaching to child:
Guiding children:
1. to understand they are responsible for the own actions and words
2. to learn how to identify personal issues and deal with the positively
3. learn how to identify goals and the steps to achieve them
4. to identify self-limitations and imposed limitations giving guidance and coaching on how to overcome them and what positive actions they need to take.
5. Learn how to love themselves and be joyous and passionate about their lives.
This will result in children being able to see their unique talent and will bring about a responsive curriculum instead of a restrictive and conditioned curriculum.
The more a person is in control of their lives the more they understand themselves and be who they really are.
There are many successful entrepreneurs who only had limited education clearly we cannot say they are failures but the education system failed them.
Julia Shirkey; Promoting learning as a way of life
Answer: Holistic teachers appeal to cognitive, affective, spiritual, relational, and somatic aspects of learning.
DAVE MASKIN; Wire name party favors made at parties ★ Highly effective lead generation for your trade show booth ★ WireNames.com
Answer: My chiropractor, Dr. Howard Kessler, Hillsdale, New Jersey is a wonderful holistic Doctor and teacher...
Harish Nair; Founder, Ragnar & Rearden Consultants
Answer: As an ardent student of systems thinking, i believe, being holistic is the ability to understand something from all possible perspectives, understand the invisible and visible assumptions behind those perspectives; understand that something in its context and outside of that context and the implications thereof.
Being able to also understand as well as detach oneself from one's own beliefs and prejudices to aid objectivity is a key to being holistic.
Anyone who has these capabilities can be considered as someone who is able to view things holistically. Being able to teach is another talent altogether. One who can combine the above along with the basic necessities of being a good teacher in my view can be termed a holistic teacher.
I also believe, being able to get this across to others would be a key to being a holistic teacher. One who has a holistic approach will enable others to do the same as he understands fully the limitations of not being holistic and how much is richness is lost in not being holistic.
Trust that helpful
Cheers
Harish Nair
Gurinder Ahluwalia; Marketing Consultant to SMEs, Professor in Marketing & Director
Answer: First and foremost a teacher must know the subject s/he teaches. Secondly s/he should be able to understand the students' personality and learning abilities. Thirdly a teacher must remain dispassionate in all situations. Lastly a teacher should respect divergent opinion and be open to all viewpoints.
Ida Durling: Management/Executive
Answer: Holistic teachers have clear and simple rules:
1.Respect - for the teacher, for classmates, and for materials
2.Raise Your Hand if you want to speak
3.Always try your best (as a person and on your work)
4.Take responsibility for our classroom (pick up after yourself)
These are just some of the classroom guidelines a holistic teacher will implement:
1.Respond to Adults
2.Make eye contact
3.Congratulate a classmate
4.Respect other students' comments, opinions and ideas
5.If you win, do not brag; if you lose, do not show anger
6.Cover your mouth with the crook in your arm when you sneeze
7.Do not show disrespect with gestures
8.Always say thank you when given something and do not insult the gift or giver
9.Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness
10.Follow along when we read together in class
11.Answer all written questions with a complete sentence
12.You must complete your homework every day
13.Subject transitions will be swift, quiet, and orderly
14.Be organized as possible
15.When a substitute teacher is present, all class rules still apply
16.Follow the specific classroom rules
17.You may bring a bottle of water to class, you may not get up for a drink of water during instruction.
18. Greet visitors and make them feel welcome
19.Do not save seats at lunch or in line
20.Do not stare at a student who is being reprimanded
With everyone talking of 'Holistic Education' there is need for 'Holistic Teachers' and we need to list the traits, attributes and qualities of such a teacher. –Prof. B. L. Handoo
k kemper- Management Consultant, writer, past TV show producer
Answer: since i invented "holistic accounting" in 1982,a holistic teacher could be one who brings all subject matter and teaching concepts to the classroom and endeavors to succinctly use those melded together to meet the needs of the students as the instructor "facilitates" the mandated material.
FRANK FEATHER ►CEO ►Strategist ►Customized "Hot-Topic" Keynotes + In-House Seminars ►2020 Forecasts (30-yr track record
Answer: A "holistic teacher" is a "facilitator of learning." The traditional role of teacher has become one of an instructor who drills or pours "info-facts" into a student's head, treating knowledge as content, i.e., finite, and this archaic model has been reinforced by the computer age of how information gets processed. Yet the caveat of "garbage in, garbage out" now applies to today's obsolete industrial-era mass education system.
Holistic education is based on a concept of knowledge as a process of reasoning and of
continuous learning, i.e., infinite.
Carl Rogers wrote about the role of the holistic teacher back in 1967 in "Person to Person: The Problem of Being Human", (Real People Press), as follows:
- concentrate on creating a classroom climate to facilitate self-initiated learning, the freedom to learn and learning to be free.
- allow the students to be free and responsible so they confront real life problems.
- the teacher must be genuine and sincere, with a confident view of humanity and a profound trust in the human organism.
- able to accept their feelings as their own, they have no need to impose them on others.
- the teacher values the feelings and opinions of students who are regarded as imperfect humans with many potentialities.
- the teacher never denies a child's feelings and has empathic awareness of the learning process and education from the student's point of view.
In 1993, John miller, the pioneer of holistic learning at OISE in Toronto, wrote a seminal book "Holistic Teacher", and very recently "The Holistic Curriculum".
Hope that helps.
M. Joyce McMenamin- "Chief-of-Quite-A-Lot"
Answer: Looking around, it appears a lot of people can self-assert a holistic title.
Some of the most famous holistic practitioner-authors have no specific training or credentials.
I have sought out credentials and found that many of the certification programs are elementary and 'wanting'.
The concept of 'holism' is 'complete' (eg., whole).
I tend to believe that holism either "is" or "isn't".
Those that teach successfully are typically holistic from a combination of experience + learning vs. formal training.
Firas Abo Assaf- CEO ♦ Finance & FMCG Professional ♦ Real Estate Brokerage ♦ All In One ♦ One For All
Answer: In holistic education, the teacher is seen less as person of authority who leads and controls but rather is seen as:
1) A friend,
2) A mentor,
3) A facilitator,
4) An experienced traveling companion
Schools should be seen as places where students and adults work toward a mutual goal. Open and honest communication is expected and differences between people are respected and appreciated. Cooperation is the norm, rather than competition. Thus, many schools incorporating holistic beliefs do not give grades or rewards. The reward of helping one another and growing together is emphasized rather than being placed above one another.
In considering curriculum using a holistic approach, one must address the question of what children need to learn. Since holistic education seeks to educate the whole person, there are some key factors that are essential to this type of education.
• First, children need to learn about themselves. This involves learning self respect and self esteem.
• Second, children need to learn about relationships. In learning about their relationships with others, there is a focus on social “literacy” (learning to see social influence) and emotional “literacy” (one’s own self in relation to others).
• Third, children need to learn about resilience. This entails overcoming difficulties, facing challenges and learning how to ensure long-term success.
• Fourth, children need to learn about aesthetics – This encourages the student to see the beauty of what is around them and learn to have awe in life.
Wallace Jackson ; Multimedia Producer and i3D Programmer for Acrobat 3D PDF, JavaFX, Mobile & Virtual Worlds
Answer: A Mentor. An Example. A Leader. A Visionary. One Who Inspires. The Dalai Lama
Adam Maclennan; Lead Tutor at Tutorpedia
Answer: In my opinion very few (if any) people could be called a "Holistic Teachers." Though I would say that some people take a holistic approach to education and that is very good.
My primary bench mark for holistic teaching would be if the teacher seeks to impart a desire to learn and show connections to the real world as well as just disseminate basic knowledge. The teacher doesn't have to be able to teach all subjects by any means but does need to show how the subject being taught relates to others and to life. What's more teacher should seek out what interests and inspires the student and relate the subject to that. Any connection could be made even if it is honestly admitting that the current subject matter is simply a "hoop to be jumped through" on the path to the students eventual life goal.
A holistic approach to education does not mean that the teacher needs to befriend the student, treat them as an intellectual equal, or equally value their opinions about the world. In fact the teacher should do not really do any of these things because they all lead to the loss of credibility. As the teacher, even the holistically minded one, you should be the guru, the master of the material and on a higher intellectual rank than the student. People in general don't tend to learn from those with equal knowledge on a subject, they debate them. I'm not suggesting that students differing in opinion from you are a bad thing; in fact that process is extremely good. However, if you are a teacher worth your salt, nine times out ten the debate should end with both you and the student understanding that you are the winner, but not that the student has lost.
However the image of a mentor or role model is not far from where a holistically minded educator should be. This image must be carefully maintained and needs to differ from student to student. In all cases students must respect the teacher a great deal in order for any holistic program to take place.
Shankar Barua; Writer, Artist, Thinker, Musician, & Oddball Innovator
Answer: A good parent should do Bhushan.
Keep well ~ Shankar
Rayaprolu Sarma; Owner, SASU Academy Pvt. Ltd
Answer: Is being a "Holistic Teacher" a possibility?
Can there be any one who is complete and can we measure the completeness? To me a holistic teacher or some one close to a holistic teacher who understands his limitations as a human and still allows the possibility of other's growth through constant search for answers. A Holistic teacher need not be a subject matter expert always. He can merely be some one who encourages learning not by teaching but by being and becoming.
Teachers most often have to fill in the shoes of unrealistic ideals and hard to survive methodologies. It is important that self realization and truth seeking become the motto of teaching or imparting learning, only then can a teacher be holistic.
From a philosophical, real life, scientific and cultural perspectives, allowing learning to sprout in turbulence along with accepting learning as an event in a journey, all these are qualities which a holistic teacher can aim to have
Siphiwe Silinda; Document Controller B&W Madagascar Sarl
Answer: A holistic Teacher is someone that educates, mentor and do coaching one on one with his or her students. When students see her or him they regard as a role model because of the drive and the skills that he or she is passing on to the students. He or she posses the following attribute
Strong Leadership, Career and Family Counseling, Planning into Detail & Motivator
Nanette de Ville; at Life Reflections
Answer: I work as a Healer and I would expect to see the following qualities in a Holistic Teacher:
They should be someone who is compassionate, understanding and can listen. To be able to give impartial guidance and coaching to child:
Guiding children:
1. to understand they are responsible for the own actions and words
2. to learn how to identify personal issues and deal with the positively
3. learn how to identify goals and the steps to achieve them
4. to identify self-limitations and imposed limitations giving guidance and coaching on how to overcome them and what positive actions they need to take.
5. Learn how to love themselves and be joyous and passionate about their lives.
This will result in children being able to see their unique talent and will bring about a responsive curriculum instead of a restrictive and conditioned curriculum.
The more a person is in control of their lives the more they understand themselves and be who they really are.
There are many successful entrepreneurs who only had limited education clearly we cannot say they are failures but the education system failed them.
Julia Shirkey; Promoting learning as a way of life
Answer: Holistic teachers appeal to cognitive, affective, spiritual, relational, and somatic aspects of learning.
DAVE MASKIN; Wire name party favors made at parties ★ Highly effective lead generation for your trade show booth ★ WireNames.com
Answer: My chiropractor, Dr. Howard Kessler, Hillsdale, New Jersey is a wonderful holistic Doctor and teacher...
Harish Nair; Founder, Ragnar & Rearden Consultants
Answer: As an ardent student of systems thinking, i believe, being holistic is the ability to understand something from all possible perspectives, understand the invisible and visible assumptions behind those perspectives; understand that something in its context and outside of that context and the implications thereof.
Being able to also understand as well as detach oneself from one's own beliefs and prejudices to aid objectivity is a key to being holistic.
Anyone who has these capabilities can be considered as someone who is able to view things holistically. Being able to teach is another talent altogether. One who can combine the above along with the basic necessities of being a good teacher in my view can be termed a holistic teacher.
I also believe, being able to get this across to others would be a key to being a holistic teacher. One who has a holistic approach will enable others to do the same as he understands fully the limitations of not being holistic and how much is richness is lost in not being holistic.
Trust that helpful
Cheers
Harish Nair
Gurinder Ahluwalia; Marketing Consultant to SMEs, Professor in Marketing & Director
Answer: First and foremost a teacher must know the subject s/he teaches. Secondly s/he should be able to understand the students' personality and learning abilities. Thirdly a teacher must remain dispassionate in all situations. Lastly a teacher should respect divergent opinion and be open to all viewpoints.
Ida Durling: Management/Executive
Answer: Holistic teachers have clear and simple rules:
1.Respect - for the teacher, for classmates, and for materials
2.Raise Your Hand if you want to speak
3.Always try your best (as a person and on your work)
4.Take responsibility for our classroom (pick up after yourself)
These are just some of the classroom guidelines a holistic teacher will implement:
1.Respond to Adults
2.Make eye contact
3.Congratulate a classmate
4.Respect other students' comments, opinions and ideas
5.If you win, do not brag; if you lose, do not show anger
6.Cover your mouth with the crook in your arm when you sneeze
7.Do not show disrespect with gestures
8.Always say thank you when given something and do not insult the gift or giver
9.Surprise others by performing random acts of kindness
10.Follow along when we read together in class
11.Answer all written questions with a complete sentence
12.You must complete your homework every day
13.Subject transitions will be swift, quiet, and orderly
14.Be organized as possible
15.When a substitute teacher is present, all class rules still apply
16.Follow the specific classroom rules
17.You may bring a bottle of water to class, you may not get up for a drink of water during instruction.
18. Greet visitors and make them feel welcome
19.Do not save seats at lunch or in line
20.Do not stare at a student who is being reprimanded
ACCREDITATION OF SCHOOLS!
Question asked by Prof. (Dr.) B. L. Handoo
Q: How is Accreditation of Schools going to improve education?
The HRD Minister and the CBSE Chairman have proposed Accreditation of Schools as an initiative to improve Quality in Education. The Schools are wary. The parents want to know the benefits. The students and teachers think exploitation will cease. The managements fear exposure. Good Schools are hopeful of benchmarking their best practices. Some see Business prospectus and the general fear is dilution of standards in the name of Quality, since unscrupulous elements are vying for a piece of the pie.
(Location specific: India)
Answers from Friends from various walks of life
Virendra Pratap Mishra: Professor at Institute of Productivity & Management, Ghaziabad
Accreditation shall surely help. The process need to be set right.
Maximum weight age- 75% and above- should be given to the views and performance of passing out students in last few years. Say pass outs of last one to five years. Accreditations should be derived based on ratios of fees charged by institutes and salaries earned by pass outs in next five years. Minus weight age should be given for un-employment periods beyond six months of just passing out students.
Accreditation ranking should be published and institute be asked to display it prominently at every point of soliciting students.
Admissions to institutes be based on one single all India or state entrance score and no technical or other university should try to fill seats in affiliated colleges. Let all institutes fill their own seats based on their rankings, fees, common entrance scores and candidate preferences.
Accreditation should essentially be done by a private organization and 100% objective based on preset criteria scores. Accreditation agency should not have a subjective decision criterion
Michael Lyubomirskiy: consultant, project manager, inventor, programmer at Lyubomirskiy Consulting, lyubomirskiy@gmail
Government accreditation is not good because it easily gets corrupted and subverted to serve the goals and ideologies of the government. By contrast, private accreditation by private bodies/associations - that's not bad. E.g. if I think that Association 1 is a gang of morons and Association 2 is a gang of thieves, maybe I will go to Association 3 which is not reputed. Or maybe I will start my own Association... Naturally, these various organizations would quickly develop their reputations, and you, as a parent or government official, would have some notion of what their accreditation means.
Incidentally, MIT is, imagine that, not accredited by anybody. Their engineering programs are accredited (otherwise graduates could not have called themselves engineers) but the university itself has no accreditation. Believe it or not, they do fine :-)
Oops, no, I was incorrect. "MIT is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education."
I distinctly recall reading 12 years ago about how MIT lacked some common accreditation and didn't care about it, but I cannot track down this tidbit anymore.
Rajesh Venkatesan: architect @HCL
I think the intention of an accreditation is good...but as everything else in India, implementation is a whole different nightmare...
I see this as no different from engineering colleges going like mad after getting deemed university status. The schools eventually will work out a strategy to get the accreditation whether they have the right infrastructure/staff/methodology or NOT.
My opinion is that even now some schools are flooded with applications for admission because they are good at what they should do - Education. I don’t see really Good Schools even caring about accreditation as they will get it de facto. It MIGHT serve as motivation for the other schools to better their state of affairs. That might be the only crucial point for me to favor accreditation. I think even if 20% of schools improve, I will support it.
Craig Eyermann: Instructor at University of Phoenix
Accreditation is not well correlated with the ability to achieve meaningful goals in education. For example, most of India's public school teachers are accredited, yet fail to adequately perform their jobs (see second link.)
The current move to accredit schools should be viewed as an attempt to suppress competition from private schools, where the instructors are incented to show up and teach (unlike India's public sector teachers). It's little more than a political power grab intended to take the pressure to perform off the public sector teachers by making it more difficult for private schools to be established to compete with them.
Wallace Jackson: Multimedia Producer and i3D Programmer for Acrobat 3D PDF, JavaFX, Mobile & Virtual Worlds
Any system is prone to corruption under the wrong sequence of events. Time will tell.
Al Macintyre: Computer Professional in IBM Midrange
Depending on what organization sets the standards, and manages the process, there is a potential to let parents know what schools are meeting what standards, so they can select best education for the students.
Ramesh Kumar: CTO & one of the Top 10 All time experts at Linkedin
Accreditation helps the schools which do not have a proper system in place. There are thousands of schools that are affiliated with some board or other and no one knows if the norms are properly implemented.
There are some schools which are more than 100 year old and have best practices in place. They know the importance of infrastructure and teaching practices.
Accreditation brings in some uniformity and the schools will be required to follow certain norms. And these will be reviewed at regular intervals.
Personally, I feel it is good as the accreditation requires minimum requirements for the school. The students, teachers and parents will be happy. However, managements may have to shell down more money for creating the infra required for accreditation. However, the problem is that the managements may try to recover the additional costs from students in one way or other!!
Ramesh
The Human Search Engine
Rayaprolu Sarma: Owner, SASU Academy Pvt. Ltd
First of all Accreditation of Schools will stop the commercialization of education. Following up the accreditation with tough criterion for setting up schools will allow quality and education to prosper rather than mere literacy.
Like many say India's problem is not unemployment, it is un-employability. The problem is not demand, the problem is supply. Accreditation will help in streamlining standards which will enable the best practices to reach out to the deserving people.
Accreditation will also allow the Govt. or Corporate sectors to involve in Global Citizenship and design methodologies of handling socio-economic insecurities which prevail not just in the students but also in the teaching population of the country.
Accreditation should allow the banning of schools which do not match the standards set, there by ensuring only quality to exist. A road map should be sought and enforced in to place by the Govt. to enable the good schools to become better and the better ones the best.
Accreditation if followed by stringent close down measures, will also bring to the fore, innovative low cost high quality interventions which will allow a better reach to the deserving candidates of the rural areas.
My take on the whole topic is that accreditation clubbed with action on low quality schools will be helpful. Lack of follow up action will render the accreditation useless.
Steve Taylor: Instructor at SAU Tech, Manager of Alien Productions, Freelance Video Producer
Obviously, in the US accreditation has failed. Anything that is controlled at the federal level will eventually fall prey to corruption and ultimately failure. Let the free market decide. If a school has graduates who are getting jobs upon graduation, that school will see an increase in students. If a school has graduates who are not getting jobs upon graduation, that school should see a decrease in students. All schools are not created equal. All instructors are not created equal. No mandate from the government (accreditation) will ever make them of equal value to society.
Christoph Knoess: Founder and President, Engaged Minds Inc.
I think the best analogy to accreditation is the government mandated annual inspection of motor vehicles. It sets some minimum standards, but says little about the best schools (or cars). As governments get deeper and deeper into financing education, it is inevitable (and good stewardship) that it will insist on minimum standards for all schools and institutions that receive government funding.
Schools and institutions of course see accreditation as an imposition and a constraint to their academic freedom and pursuit of their educational mission. However, the purpose of accreditation is to protect students and tax payers, not to serve educational institutions.
Q: How is Accreditation of Schools going to improve education?
The HRD Minister and the CBSE Chairman have proposed Accreditation of Schools as an initiative to improve Quality in Education. The Schools are wary. The parents want to know the benefits. The students and teachers think exploitation will cease. The managements fear exposure. Good Schools are hopeful of benchmarking their best practices. Some see Business prospectus and the general fear is dilution of standards in the name of Quality, since unscrupulous elements are vying for a piece of the pie.
(Location specific: India)
Answers from Friends from various walks of life
Virendra Pratap Mishra: Professor at Institute of Productivity & Management, Ghaziabad
Accreditation shall surely help. The process need to be set right.
Maximum weight age- 75% and above- should be given to the views and performance of passing out students in last few years. Say pass outs of last one to five years. Accreditations should be derived based on ratios of fees charged by institutes and salaries earned by pass outs in next five years. Minus weight age should be given for un-employment periods beyond six months of just passing out students.
Accreditation ranking should be published and institute be asked to display it prominently at every point of soliciting students.
Admissions to institutes be based on one single all India or state entrance score and no technical or other university should try to fill seats in affiliated colleges. Let all institutes fill their own seats based on their rankings, fees, common entrance scores and candidate preferences.
Accreditation should essentially be done by a private organization and 100% objective based on preset criteria scores. Accreditation agency should not have a subjective decision criterion
Michael Lyubomirskiy: consultant, project manager, inventor, programmer at Lyubomirskiy Consulting, lyubomirskiy@gmail
Government accreditation is not good because it easily gets corrupted and subverted to serve the goals and ideologies of the government. By contrast, private accreditation by private bodies/associations - that's not bad. E.g. if I think that Association 1 is a gang of morons and Association 2 is a gang of thieves, maybe I will go to Association 3 which is not reputed. Or maybe I will start my own Association... Naturally, these various organizations would quickly develop their reputations, and you, as a parent or government official, would have some notion of what their accreditation means.
Incidentally, MIT is, imagine that, not accredited by anybody. Their engineering programs are accredited (otherwise graduates could not have called themselves engineers) but the university itself has no accreditation. Believe it or not, they do fine :-)
Oops, no, I was incorrect. "MIT is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education."
I distinctly recall reading 12 years ago about how MIT lacked some common accreditation and didn't care about it, but I cannot track down this tidbit anymore.
Rajesh Venkatesan: architect @HCL
I think the intention of an accreditation is good...but as everything else in India, implementation is a whole different nightmare...
I see this as no different from engineering colleges going like mad after getting deemed university status. The schools eventually will work out a strategy to get the accreditation whether they have the right infrastructure/staff/methodology or NOT.
My opinion is that even now some schools are flooded with applications for admission because they are good at what they should do - Education. I don’t see really Good Schools even caring about accreditation as they will get it de facto. It MIGHT serve as motivation for the other schools to better their state of affairs. That might be the only crucial point for me to favor accreditation. I think even if 20% of schools improve, I will support it.
Craig Eyermann: Instructor at University of Phoenix
Accreditation is not well correlated with the ability to achieve meaningful goals in education. For example, most of India's public school teachers are accredited, yet fail to adequately perform their jobs (see second link.)
The current move to accredit schools should be viewed as an attempt to suppress competition from private schools, where the instructors are incented to show up and teach (unlike India's public sector teachers). It's little more than a political power grab intended to take the pressure to perform off the public sector teachers by making it more difficult for private schools to be established to compete with them.
Wallace Jackson: Multimedia Producer and i3D Programmer for Acrobat 3D PDF, JavaFX, Mobile & Virtual Worlds
Any system is prone to corruption under the wrong sequence of events. Time will tell.
Al Macintyre: Computer Professional in IBM Midrange
Depending on what organization sets the standards, and manages the process, there is a potential to let parents know what schools are meeting what standards, so they can select best education for the students.
Ramesh Kumar: CTO & one of the Top 10 All time experts at Linkedin
Accreditation helps the schools which do not have a proper system in place. There are thousands of schools that are affiliated with some board or other and no one knows if the norms are properly implemented.
There are some schools which are more than 100 year old and have best practices in place. They know the importance of infrastructure and teaching practices.
Accreditation brings in some uniformity and the schools will be required to follow certain norms. And these will be reviewed at regular intervals.
Personally, I feel it is good as the accreditation requires minimum requirements for the school. The students, teachers and parents will be happy. However, managements may have to shell down more money for creating the infra required for accreditation. However, the problem is that the managements may try to recover the additional costs from students in one way or other!!
Ramesh
The Human Search Engine
Rayaprolu Sarma: Owner, SASU Academy Pvt. Ltd
First of all Accreditation of Schools will stop the commercialization of education. Following up the accreditation with tough criterion for setting up schools will allow quality and education to prosper rather than mere literacy.
Like many say India's problem is not unemployment, it is un-employability. The problem is not demand, the problem is supply. Accreditation will help in streamlining standards which will enable the best practices to reach out to the deserving people.
Accreditation will also allow the Govt. or Corporate sectors to involve in Global Citizenship and design methodologies of handling socio-economic insecurities which prevail not just in the students but also in the teaching population of the country.
Accreditation should allow the banning of schools which do not match the standards set, there by ensuring only quality to exist. A road map should be sought and enforced in to place by the Govt. to enable the good schools to become better and the better ones the best.
Accreditation if followed by stringent close down measures, will also bring to the fore, innovative low cost high quality interventions which will allow a better reach to the deserving candidates of the rural areas.
My take on the whole topic is that accreditation clubbed with action on low quality schools will be helpful. Lack of follow up action will render the accreditation useless.
Steve Taylor: Instructor at SAU Tech, Manager of Alien Productions, Freelance Video Producer
Obviously, in the US accreditation has failed. Anything that is controlled at the federal level will eventually fall prey to corruption and ultimately failure. Let the free market decide. If a school has graduates who are getting jobs upon graduation, that school will see an increase in students. If a school has graduates who are not getting jobs upon graduation, that school should see a decrease in students. All schools are not created equal. All instructors are not created equal. No mandate from the government (accreditation) will ever make them of equal value to society.
Christoph Knoess: Founder and President, Engaged Minds Inc.
I think the best analogy to accreditation is the government mandated annual inspection of motor vehicles. It sets some minimum standards, but says little about the best schools (or cars). As governments get deeper and deeper into financing education, it is inevitable (and good stewardship) that it will insist on minimum standards for all schools and institutions that receive government funding.
Schools and institutions of course see accreditation as an imposition and a constraint to their academic freedom and pursuit of their educational mission. However, the purpose of accreditation is to protect students and tax payers, not to serve educational institutions.
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