Different perspective

“Best” is not always best

 “Best practices are useful reference points, but they must come with a warning label: The more you rely on external intelligence, the less you will value an internal idea. And this is the age of the idea” 
― Gyan Nagpal, Talent Economics 

         A few years back, I had an opportunity to visit one of the leading public schools in Gwalior. After the visit, I asked the Principal about the future expansion plan of the school & how many students are selected for medical, engineering and other competitive examination. His answer was very simple and unexpected for me. He said, “We don’t prepare students for competitive examination, we prepare them for life”. Regarding expansion, alumni are coming forward and very soon modalities will be finalized. After a few years, I get an opportunity to visit a school in Haryana, where I have raised some issues. The principal told me only about the number of students selected in the competitive examination and for expansion of the school; his answer was management will take care. These two incidents are enough to describe the difference in the value system of the school.

Best Practices are related to the vision and mission of the school

If you see & compare the vision and mission of the school, you will definitely get an idea about the best practices they are using in the school. All schools have best practices, but sometimes they themselves don’t know about them. Best practices can be in the field of pedagogy, administration, infrastructure, sports, service or any other related field.

Best practices in the school are for stakeholders

Stakeholders of the school are students, teachers, school administrators, and policymakers.

For students-Best practices may be related with the inculcation of democratic ideals (Youth Parliament, UN Assembly & celebration of days related to theme), Environmental Conservation (tree Plantation Drive, Say” No” to pollution, Save our rivers etc., Technology (recent advancement in the field, models related to global issues, adding international dimension(cultural exchange, video conferencing, celebration of International days like Peace Day, Yoga Day, UN Day)

For Teachers-Best practices are related to their classroom environment, pedagogy, school discipline, emotional intelligence, adolescence issues, psycho-socio problem affecting the studies & growth of students, Abusing, Bullying, Behavioural modification of students using the internet, value education, clean and green school etc. Action research projects & innovative practices could be regarded as best practices in which teachers can solve their problems.

For Administrators-Quality Management circles & total quality Management are the area where school administrators and owners could utilize their talent and energy. Similarly, if the expansion plan of the school is there, they can take Green Building, Eco-friendly furniture, Green Campus as projects

For Policymakers-Unfortunately policymakers don’t take projects or referendum before starting their policies. Policymakers remain away or isolated with the general public. They should also interact with the stakeholders on the issues related to education.

Make best practices as the culture of the school

It has been observed that most of our best practices are not forever, they are only for press or photographs to be displayed at school magazine, Facebook page or publicity material. Whatever best practices are adopted by us should be followed religiously. I will give one example of Tree Plantation. If you collect data from the schools of Delhi only that how many saplings they have planted. It will be shocking for you, if even half of them survive, Delhi would be full of the jungle but it is not. During Van Mahotsav, this drive begins and ends with the months. Very few cares about the surviving of the plants. So whatsoever best practices are adopted, they should be continued.

Nothing is permanent

I had received a message on my WhatsApp” Nothing is permanent in life”

WhatsApp killed BBM                                     Uber killed yellow cabs

Youtube killed DVD                                       Computer killed typewriter

Blue tooth killed infrared                              CDs killed cassettes

Android killed window phone                        SMS killed letter writing

 Phone killed post office                               Email killed FAX

Civilization killed culture                              E-card killed hallmark card

Money killed true love                                   Internet killed the library

Google killed dictionary                                Wikipedia killed Encyclopaedia & so on

Change the mindset

It is very necessary to change the mindset of all stakeholders. All teachers & students must be involved in the projects related to the development of the school, country, and society at large. The principal of Shri Satya Sai School, Guna told me about the “SEWA” programme they are running for the students in which students have to do community service and this year they have made few houses and handed them to poor. All the work related to purchase material and construction was supervised by the students. Money was collected by the students.

In 2001, I was the principal of KV JNU and we have started a project with the help of IIT, in which 20 problem children were selected from class IX and they were given training in electrical repairing and other related activities. After training, these children soon became assets of the school rather than a liability. All of them passed with good marks. At that time there was no Skill training programme but now we can train children under skill development. Similarly, schools that are running Fashion Technology, hotel management, entrepreneurship etc. should associate themselves with nearby industries.

Best Practice in education that was not so best

Biggest best practice in the history of education in free India was reformed in examination –Continuous & Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).CCE was the process of assessment mandated by the Right to Education Act of India in 2009. This was for the students of class VI-X. The main aim was to evaluate every aspect of the child in the school. This was thought that it will reduce the stress of examination on students. It was the paradigm shift from chalk & Talk methods of teaching. Marks were replaced by grades. CCE was abruptly withdrawn in 2017 and replaced by the old system of board examination. Formative & summative assessments were removed. Interestingly no stakeholder was involved at the time of implementation and withdrawal. We came to know through media that it is implemented and withdrawn. CCE was an excellent reform in education but failed miserably because of all the stakeholders, as we were not ready for this change. It was the best practice but probably implementation was not best or we were not ready for the change.

Another example is the introduction of the school Building as learning aid (BALA) in elementary schools. This best practice was started by Delhi Govt. for its schools in 2012. BALA is an innovative concept towards qualitative improvement in education, through developing child-friendly, learning and fun based physical environment building in school infrastructure. BALA is a way to holistically plan and use the school infrastructure. It incorporates the ideas of activity-based learning, child friendliness and inclusive education for children with special needs (CWSN). At the core, it assumes that the architecture of school can be a resource for the teaching-learning processes. This concept was originally developed by Vinyas, Centre for Architectural Research & Design with support from UNICEF. All these components were described in the school building. The programme was started with great pomp and show but what is the status today? Only a few signs are left to reminiscence us about the great programme. Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan & a few public schools have adopted this programme and they are doing well.

Digital Initiatives of Govt. - Aadhaar identity platform is one of the key pillars of ‘Digital India’, wherein every resident of the country is provided with a unique identity or Aadhaar number. The largest biometrics-based identification system in the world; Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is an app that makes payment transactions simple, easy and quick using Unified Payments Interface (UPI). It enables a direct bank to bank payments instantly and collects money using a Mobile number or Payment address. DigiLocker is the Indian Government’s flagship program aimed at transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. DigiLocker ties into Digital India’s visions areas of providing citizens a shareable private space on a public cloud and making all documents/certificates available on this cloud. Besides these several programmes like Beti Bachao Beti Padhao are also taken up as best practices in many schools.

“Back to Basics” is an initiative to ensure attainment of expected learning outcomes mentioned in the NCERT document in classes I to VIII in all subjects. The project aims to ensure the mandate of the RTE Act and fill the gaps in learning ensuring class /age appropriate learning capability of children with special emphasis on basic numeracy and reading competencies. The project has taken off from the session 2017-18 in Kendriya Vidyalayas.

A new project is currently started by Govt. to celebrate linguistic diversity of the country under the name” Bhasha Sangam”

Best Practices should be discussed with the staff members

It is advised that all the teachers should be briefed about the projects taken up by Principal and administrators so that they can also contribute. Similarly, teachers should also know about the projects of other teachers and students should also know about the projects taken by their friends and teachers so that a culture should be developed and out of these few best can be taken up.

Following points should be noted before the implementation of best practices

i)             Best Practices should be discussed with staff before implementation

ii)           Always multiply the idea with your colleagues and other stakeholders

iii)         Best Practices should be followed regularly

iv)          Remember the words ”Nothing is permanent” so update and upgrade yourself

v)      Be open for discussion, criticism & suggestions for the improvement of the project

vi)     A clear  common focus that all students can learn and improve their performances

vii)   High standards and expectations-All students are ambitious and study in which high standards of performances are clear

viii)  Strong Leadership focussed on enhancing the skill, knowledge, motivation and

the culture of the school

       Ix) Personalized Learning & Parent Involvement

       

 “Utilizing best practices in my classroom positively impacts students by providing motivation to learn and promoting success in a global world.”