Community Outreach

Sensitizing young minds….

                   ….Community Outreach 

Part of being a person is about helping others!

Is it possible to teach empathy and compassion to children? Is it realistic to ask Middle school students to think about people whom they might never meet? Is it easy to make children realise that they are worthy of positive contributions to the society irrespective of their age? 

          Cliches, aren’t these…! But are we in the process missing out on inculcating an extremely important life skill in our students? The following few pages will trace the importance of making community outreach programmes a part of the school curriculum and their consequent benefits.

                        Each time an individual involves himself in community service there is an opportunity to learn new ideas , understand new perspectives  and ultimately grow as an individual. The areas and the ways by which the community can be impacted by outreach programmes are numerous. The significance of these programmes at school level is immense as it is a place where both the head and the heart of  a nation is developed. Secondly when large no. of students in a school participate in such programmes a perceptible change happens.  

SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMMES FOR STUDENTS

·            They learn that they have a responsibility as  future citizens to know about       the world around them and to respect and appreciate diversity.  

·            They also learn to identify problems and find resources to address these       problems.  

·            Through these programmes students are introduced to new places and people and educated about issues in their community.  

·            Students develop heightened awareness and sensitivity to the needs of others in their community, and may develop a conviction to serve. 

·            Students apply academic, social and personal skills to improve the community. 

·            They are involved in making decisions that have tangible results. 

·            They develop Leadership and Team Building Skills. 

IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF PLANNING A WHOLE SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAMME 

Planning is an integral component of any successful programme. Following factors can be considered during planning:-  

·                     Availability of multiple options enabling students to choose projects corresponding to their interest.

·                      Integration with the core curriculum.

·                     Age appropriateness (Grade wise)of the project 

·                     Time duration required to complete the project.

·                     Other engagements of the students 

·                     Easy  availability of resources needed with effective guidelines 

·                     Continuous  motivation to keep children on task.

TYPES OF OUTREACH PROGRAMMES WHICH CAN BE TAKEN UP BY SCHOOLS 

A first hand analysis of the challenges faced by the society needs to be done before finalising the nature of the projects. Some of the suggestive programmes are:- 

Campaigns for General Awareness - Each month can be marked for a particular campaign which can be distributed Grade-wise. The Campaigns will involve the students to research on the topic, gather facts, design posters, leaflets , reach out to RWAs of various residential societies, Parents during PTMs, and to entire student community of the school to spread awareness regarding critical issues like 

1) Anti Cracker Campaign 

2) Blood Donation Drive and Camp  

3) Drive to Fitness 

4) Collection of Packed Food Material, Stationery items, Toys and Clothes to be donated to the orphanages. 

5) Sharing lunch with inmates of Old Age Homes and carrying gifts and monetary support for them. The sensitization campaign towards proper treatment of senior citizens can also be taken up. 

6) Adopting a Market place, a Heritage site or a nearby park and ensuring that the place remains clean round the year by taking up cleanliness drives and sensitizing local people. 

7) Awareness regarding Importance of Eye Donation. 

8) Following traffic rules for personal and public safety. 

9) Awareness regarding Importance of Rain Water harvesting, planting more trees, waste management etc. 

10) Promoting commitment towards one's Fundamental Duties. 

With properly planned campaigns the school can ensure participation of maximum students with less involvement of time and more benefits. The children will simultaneously not only become aware of their society and its need but also in the process of campaigning hone their research, presentation and inter- personal skills. 

 Apart from the above there are many ways which can be taken up by the students as Term projects  to reach out to the community. 

TERM PROJECTS 

1) Tutoring                                            6) School dropouts 

2) Bullying Prevention                             7) Disaster Services 

3) Civic Engagement                               8) Substance Abuse Prevention 

4) Violence Prevention                             9) Gender discrimination 

5) Family planning Awareness                 10) Health Services for poor 

                                                 These are some of the projects which the children can opt as per their interests and submit a report on the procedure taken up, the challenges and success ratio. This will provide the student an ability to think critically, work out solutions to problems, handle people and also to analyse their impact on others. They will be able to realise the hidden potential in them and their power as individuals to transform lives positively. The project supervisors should ensure enthusiasm and commitment through proper guidance. More help and details on above projects is available on www.servicelearning.org . 

      School Management and Teachers can directly contribute by indulging in the following: 

   1) Adopting a Small School( Gramin/ underpriveleged) and donating/sharing their resources viz..  old benches and desks , black boards, stationeries, school dress etc, sponsor some students who are performing brilliantly, share school infrastructure after School, ask school teachers to take up guest lectures for such students. 

   2) Conducting sessions for Parents and Local Community on Adolescent issues and good parenting. 

    3) Conducting Free Health Check up Camps for the underprivileged. 

    4) Organising Evening School for adults in the school premises.

The possibilities are endless but a strong will and commitment to a better world for everyone is a pre-requisite for the success of any community outreach programme.

      Being an integral part of the society we cannot remain  isolated  and indifferent towards community needs. As Educators we should empower our students to address social, environmental and global issues and to realize the obligation, value and delight in serving others. The law of Interdependence is a reality, thus, all the links of our society have to be strengthened and its responsibility is on each one of us.    

Let’s give ourselves to Public GOOD!

Of time learning and technology…..

“Matter is something which occupies space and has weight”. This definition of matter is so finely etched in my memory that I can recall it even when I turn 80, courtesy, my science teacher (Std. V) who gave me the punishment to write it 100 times for not being able to recall exactly. ROTE was my ladder to success irrespective of the fact that ubiquitous “matter” remained an alien to me for long.

          Class rooms and teachers have undergone a significant transformation. Today’s class rooms are no more inanimate. They are vibrant, pulsating places witnessesing practically everyday students honing their oratory, dramatics, scientific and literary skills (just to name a few). Teacher is not the only speaker in the class; the co-speakers are students and technology.

                   Given these ideal conditions of education one can only imagine its byproduct to be a highly informed and truly knowledgeable individual. This perception is validated by the fact that students scores in Board Examinations have compelled some of the colleges to raise their cut offs to a perfect century.

          I wish to see this entire scene once again but with a magnifying glass this time, mainly to discover those fine cracks which still exist in our education system. Today when all information is available on a mouse click that too, crisp and customized, something for which our parents and grandparents had to spend hours in the library or under the lamp browsing each page, I am still doubtful of the amount of real knowledge being absorbed by the students.

          The research work or the project work undertaken by a child mostly reflects the ‘Google cut-paste culture’. The beautifully decorated information once reaches the assessment table appeals the teacher’s aesthetic faculty leading to the child securing an A grade.

          The significant purpose of imbibing knowledge through that research/project work does not meet its desired end. The very same technology which makes education easier and interesting somewhere throttles the spirit of research.

          It is said that our mind is in the state of meditation when we are creating something. An assignment on poster making on a given topic naturally draws a child to “Google Images” to get countless ideas and an opportunity for the child’s indigenous creativity to find an expression is lost. Infact the google syndrome has so deeply mechanized our brain that it refuses to think before a google click. We can hardly match up the league of yesteryears novelists, dramatists, poets and painters. What made their work unique was their individual thought, the passion and the feel behind their creative work.

          Efforting one’s brain is essential for increasing its folds and hence one major aspect which is still grossly missing in our class rooms is the thought process, engagement of mind, involvement of students to explore, absorb knowledge and to create new things.

          Our education system is changing and definitely changing for better but at each step we need to be cautious that we don’t digress from our real purpose.

Technology is an indispensible part of our everyday life. We are fortunate to be born in the world where technology offers simple solutions to many of our complex problems but unfortunately it is used more as a gaming gadget by our new generation and a quick means to fake knowledge.

          It is seen that an average student spends a quarter of his time on internet of which a gross 80% is graciously donated to social networking. This huge encroachment of internet on a students’ valuable time needs to be controlled. Internet is a vast resource which if used in a thoughtful manner by the student -teacher team can catalyse the teaching- learning process to spontaneity.

Hence we as Educationists and parents have to realize the seamless utility of technology and handle it in such a way, that its optimum and apt usage is ensured.

  

Towards 21st Century Skills

TOWARDS 21^ST CENTURY SKILLS

“I want to be a politician” was the response of one of the student on being asked about the aim in life. A little taken aback by this unusual answer I tried to delve a little deeper to discover the origin of this desire. To my amazement I found that the child was contesting a class election as a part of his Social science activity. I was thrilled to see the impact of an activity which made a child discover a leader in him. Never before were the class X students seen so involved in sporting and extracurricular activities even towards the end of the session which earlier used to be abound with revision, re-revisions & mock tests. Can we credit this to the CCE Scheme?

It is now two years since its implementation in senior classes and is just the right time to review its impact. In my role as a Principal I am fortunate to interact with all the stakeholders of education. Varied people, diverse opinions, multiple concerns. Let’s glance over a few.

Ask a student to respond on CCE and the general observation is a dropped face due to different reasons. For some the spice of competition has gone missing and for many it is a deluge of project work and activities from which wading out for a breath is next to impossible.

Ask a parent to respond on CCE and it would be ‘Yeah! It is good but I hardly see my child studying. The seriousness towards studies is grossly missing. S(he) spends most of the time on internet.

Ask a Teacher to respond on CCE and you would get a mixed reaction - It is helping many students to overcome their inhibition to speak in public , the classrooms have become more lively but it is practically impossible to assess all students for an activity in just one period. The record maintenance is huge, children are adopting more casual attitude towards studies.

It is time to ponder on “exactly what are we achieving out of this system”?  A system which is being debated so much in India is running successfully in many countries. Whenever I am on a recruitment drive, it is difficult to get even handful of right candidates. It is not unemployment but unemployability which plagues the country today. Is our education system developing all those skills in the students which are needed at work? Communication skills, inter-personal skills, team work, looking through the problem, being creative and innovative are the 21^st century skills which are indispensible and should be ensured by our education system. 

I see CCE as the only answer to our current problem. It is swiftly bringing people out of the marks syndrome and allowances are being made for co-curriculars. The activities which used to be an undeclared taboo for board classes are now a necessity. Students have to move out of their comfort zone and explore themselves a little more.

Let’s look at the challenges to this system. They are mainly the high student strength per class, non-flexi seating arrangement and time duration of a period. Another big challenge is planning the curriculum delivery which requires different subject teachers to get together and innovate on activities which are a blend of two –three subjects.  A project of social science can also be an English activity along with an Art assessment. E.g. A seminar presentation on “Democracies of the world” can be assessed by an English teacher on language& communication, by Social science Teacher on content & research and by the Art Teacher on the quality of displays.  Moreover focus should be more towards designing the activities such that it offers flexibility to the student to take up tasks which are in accordance to his/her dominant Intelligence.

Today we are fortunate to be living in the world where a hobby can find an expression as a lucrative career, hence, we just have to provide a system where the child is able to discover his innate talent and hone it further. The need of the hour is not to debate on the CCE system but to work towards its right implementation so as to assure a 21^st century skilled youth ready to confidently take over the biggest challenges.

Strengthening Formative Learning

Formatives and summative are the buzzword in today’s educational circles. All the stake holders of education have attached different connotations to these words. Education is in its transition state and this transformation has brought along an increased sense of apprehension in some people and some have welcomed the changes with open arms and a sigh of relief.

The need of the hour is to have a 360⁰ view of this word “formative”, to peep into its soul, to absorb its real essence and implement it comprehensively. During the learning process there are certain gaps which remain due to students’ different learning patterns. Identifying and filling these gaps leads to formative learning. It is said that “beauty lies in this eyes of the beholder” hence the beauty of this word from different eyes may reveal starkly opposite descriptions. It’s the perspective which makes the difference. Let’s have a few glances of various stake holders of education on it.

A PARENT

View ·      Might have apprehensions towards his child not gaining enough as the sight of doing rigorous reading and writing practice may become rare. ·      Might feel his involvement into activities a waste of time ·      May not be able to correlate grades with real learning ·      May not value child’s innate talent or ability ·      May feel that studies are no more preparing his child for competitive examinations.

Counter view ·      Might see a sudden boom in child’s confidence ·      Might notice his inhibitions vanishing ·      Might notice the child becoming more curious ·      Might feel elated to see the child creating things most of the time. ·      Might discover some inherent or acquired talent in a child ·      May be able to correlate the feedbacks and discoveries and use the knowledge for an apt career choice for the child.

                                                                                          

A TEACHER

View ·      Might look at the teaching learning process as an additional labour ·      Might  feel the pressure of increased documentation ·      Might feel compromised on language skills to report feed backs ·      May feel threatened by the new age learner who has the world of knowledge at the click of mouse ·      May resist change from lecture made to discussion mode ·      May feel integrating technology a harassing task

Counter view ·      Might jump to joy with the thought of conducting an activity in the class ·      Might take pleasure in distributing  tasks amongst students and motivate them to collaborative learning ·      May love to moderate a discussion and promote critical and imaginative thinking ·      Might search opportunities in the curriculum to provide experiential learning to students ·      May feel immensely satisfied after an effective and constructive feedback by the pleasure of being able to connect to the students.

BUT

In the eyes of a child there can be just one perspective if formative learning is taken up in the real sense of the word as the child is exposed to

·      Joy of doing things

·      Exploring the world of knowledge

·      Innovating and imagining the abstract

·      Discovering hidden talent

·      Honing communication, thinking and decision making skills

·      Learning to collaborate, work in groups and hence enhancing interpersonal skills

      Some of the practices which effect formative learning most effectively are:

Activities			Benefits
Dissociating a lesson into subtopics which are distributed in groups and children give a presentation on their respective topics			·      Children hone their skills in ·      Comprehension ·      Analysis ·      Compilation of data ·      Visual presentation ·      Effective Communication ·      Confidence development
Follow a KWL approach K-Know, W – Wonder, L – Learn		·      .Building on previous knowledge ·      learning outcomes get clearly defined ·      imaginative thinking is enhanced
Children  can frame Questions / make a question paper/ assignment sheet/ create online test / Quizzes etc		·      Better comprehension of topic ·      Question making skills ( critical thinking ) get enhanced ·      Creativity is ignited as various types of questions can be designed Viz.Puzzles, crossword, give one word for etc
Carry out school wide , local area wide campaign on social issues		·      Group work ·      Planning ·      Interpersonal skills ·      Power of conviction ·      Organising ability ·      Responsibility towards society
Forming Quality circles for discussion on case studies for life skills		·      . Sharing ·      Reflecting ·      Self discovered learning
Interview a neighbour , family member people in different profession etc	·      Learns to prepare a questionnaire ·      Interpersonal skills are honed ·      learning from people’s experiences ·      Drawing inferences
Provide opportunity to students to join various clubs viz… Literary, dramatics, dance, vocal music, instrumental music, eco club, quizzing, cookery club, sports club, Science & technology club etc.   1.     Senior most class to head the club 2.     Design curricular and carry out activites 3.     Designing assessment criteria and making an assessment report.	·      Children discover their innate talent ·      learn to manage a separate entity on their own – Managerial skills Are promoted.
Enactment / staging a drama indigenously	§  Writing skills(Scripting) §  Team work §  Directing skills
Design a costume/ logo	·      Thinking out of the box aesthetic skills being honed

      

Above are just a few examples which can be taken up by the teachers which will engage students and lead to learning accompanied with a lot of fun and skill enhancement. After all, that is formative learning all about.

Oliver Wendell Holmes has said it all in a sentence

“ Man’s mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions”