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Greetings
and Welcome
to the July issue of news.desk
As
the world witnesses one of the
most spectacular sporting
event of now-The London
Olympics, we at news.desk
and our parent organization
Develop Schools identify with
the spirit of the event: Faster-Higher-Stronger.
Look
closely, there is a message
for us all
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Every
time we witness a set of
people competing for the
higher glory of the human race
we see human beings at the
epitome of efforts trying
to live the moment they
have been preparing fro years
-It is the now moment
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Every
time a record is broken or
a new record is set, it
enthuses us to be part of
a time when we can improve
further.
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Every
time a participant fails
and re-rises to the next
occasion, we know that
there is hope the
opportunity to win one
more time
While
we wish the 'best man wins', I
hope our participants better their existing record.
More
closely back home, the Indian
subcontinent is yet to receive
its share of rain, which
is causing
concern and sounding bells of
change. We need to change our
attitudes to global warming,
change our perspective on
environment, change our view
on taking nature for granted.
The
one thing that can assist all
the above is education. We are
of the firm belief that the
time for change in school
education is now and together we can Develop
Schools.
In
this edition:
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We
welcome our Guest editor, Rev. Fr.
Dr. Jose Aikara, Chairman,
Council for the Indian
School Certificate
Examinations’ who writes on
"School - Symbol of
Unity"
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Our
Chief Editor, Mrs. Rita
Wislon with her views on "The
Four Cs in Education"
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I
share my views on "School-what
is it that parents
want?"
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Web
links on the happenings in the
education industry
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You
could know more about
services offered by
Develop Schools, the
itinerary of our
associates for you to
benefit from during their
visit to your locations
Send
us your articles. If your
entry is selected we will
cover your article in our
forthcoming newsletters.
I
now invite you to read on and
send us your feedback / suggestions. After all we
improve when you assist us.
Feel free to FORWARD
this newsletter to your
Trustees / Managing committees
/ References.
Sincerely,
Melwin
Braggs
Business
Editor
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School
- Symbol of Unity
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Our Guest
Editor,
Rev. Fr. Dr. Jose Aikara,
Chairman,
Council for the Indian School
Certificate Examinations, New
Delhi
 The
word 'school' usually brings to
mind big structural buildings
with long nostalgic corridors.
In modern times it may be a
massive concrete building in
different shapes and colours.
This is the physical
understanding of the school
identifying it with the size and
shape of its building. In fact,
a school is far beyond this. It
is the symbol of unity and
co-operation among the
management, parents, staff and
students. It is true that a
school needs the physical
infrastructure. It is on this
stage that the aforesaid actors
play their roles. A school is
good when all those four
contribute their share of work.
The school suffers a stunted
growth if any of its part fails
its duty. The greater the
contribution, co-operation
and unity, the better will be
the performance of the school.
Barak
Obama, the U.S President,
praised the Indian Education for
its quality and discipline,
because our education system is,
if not the best, is at least one
of the best in the world. The
full credit of this great
recognition goes to the private
schools because, it is the
private schools that are
responsible for such quality
education in India. As our
former Prime Minister, Pandit
Jawarharlal Nehru said,
"the building of the nation
goes on and on and on… It
never ends". In the same
way the management, the parents,
the staff and students also
should keep on working together
so that the improvement of the
school also goes on and on and
on. This must be the driving
force for the management that it
takes part directly in the
process of the nation building.
It
is important that all the four
constituents of a school have a
positive approach towards life
and towards one another. Only
then will the India
of tomorrow will be educated
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The
Four Cs in Education
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Rita Wilson, Chief
Editor
(Ex-chief
executive and Secretary, ICSE)
Most
of us know that "there is a
profound gap between the knowledge
and skills most students learn in
school and the knowledge and skills
they need in typical 21st century
communities and workplaces".
In
the new century there has to be a
dramatic shift from the ideals
schools adhered to for years,
created during the industrial
Revolution, with the idea of
educating children not for their
highest potential, but for factory
jobs.
That
model taught children to be
compliant - by sitting in neat rows
for long periods of time, moving en
masse to the sound of bells,
following prescribed patterns of
behaviour, working in fixed blocks
of time - and discouraged creativity
and individual initiative.
Today,
there has to be a fusing of the
"three Rs and four Cs".
The Four Cs are as follows:
1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Critical Thinking and Problem
Solving
3. Communication
4. Collaboration
For
Creativity and Innovation, emphasis
has to be on Thinking Creatively
(brainstorming techniques, creating
new ideas, refining and evaluating
ideas), Working Creatively with
Others (communicating new ideas,
being open to diverse perspectives,
demonstrating originality, viewing
failure as part of the process) and
Implementing Innovations (Acting on
creative ideas and contributing to a
field).
Young
people must become better critical
and creative thinkers-the most
crucial cognitive skills they'll
need to help them build a more
sustainable, peaceful, equitable,
and just world. In order to store
and retrieve the information they
will need to develop and practice
these thinking skills. They will
also need to systematically acquire
the all-sensory, interactive skills
to access that information:
communication and collaborative
skills.
Within
the context of core knowledge
instruction, students must also
learn the essential skills for
success in today's world. These
skills are creativity and
innovation, critical thinking,
problem solving, communication and
collaboration.
The
education world has long been averse
to change - in many ways we are
still preparing students for a world
that no longer exists. The fact that
the Four Cs have been defined and
already embraced by many leaders is
a promising step. The conversation
is happening. We will see if that
can lead to real change and better
learning for our students in the
near future.
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School-what
is it that parents want?
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Melwin
Braggs, Business Editor
Parents,
a very important stake holder in any
school, focus on a few aspects
while relaying expectations from the
school.
Parents prefer teachers who make
their children happy even more than
those who emphasize academic
achievement, shows an international
study. These findings, however,
reveal striking differences across schools,
students coming from lower economic
backgrounds strongly value student
achievement and appear indifferent
to the report of a teacher's ability
to promote student satisfaction. The
results are reversed for families in
wealthier schools.
What Parents Want School Staff to
Know -The "3 R's:"
Respect, Relationships, Rules
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Respect:
parents want school staff to
respect them and their
commitment to their child.
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Relationships:
parents want to have a trusting
relationship with teachers.
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Rules:
parents want to know the school
rules and be part of how
learning at school works.
One
would be surprised by the results of
our review of parent responses and
feedback. When parents are selecting
schools for their children, we've
discovered, they don't conform to
conventional wisdom on what
constitutes "best" or
"most important." We've
learned that parents don't
necessarily look for the
"biggest," the
"highest," or the
"best" when they have a
chance to choose their children's
schools, and they don't necessarily
agree on what constitutes
"biggest,"
"highest," or
"best" either.
A survey of parents by a research
company has revealed that parents
top criteria in choosing a school
for their child is its academic
performance, followed by how close
the school is to their home.
But
that's not all...
Results of Research Company Survey
shows the following school selection
criteria not necessarily in order of
importance to you.
1. Academic performance
2. Proximity to home
3. Quality of buildings and
equipment
4. School team's care and concern
for the student
5. Other parents and pupils
6. Strong discipline
7. Competitive sports-Music-Drama
8. Co-ed / gender specific school
9. Availability of scholarships and
bursaries
10. Special needs provision
11. Religion
12. Boarding school
At the end of the day the impression
I got and feeling I had about the
school when visiting sealed my
decision.
The Criteria of the pre-primary
parent would be a bit different and
would include -
1. Make sure that the ABCs and 123s
are a key part of the school's
learning goals.
2. Ask how "play" is woven
into the day, particularly
imaginative and physical play.
3. Ask if children are able to
choose some of their activities
during the day.
4. Look for close alignment with
"home values."
5. Check for positive and/or
nurturing relationships between
teachers and children.
Hope our input is helpful, go ahead Develop
Schools
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