Looking Into the Mirror with Love
Five days ago, all we knew of Suchitra Academy was what its website told us. Today, our team of assessors understands the school better than ever—perhaps even better than those within the school community itself.”
This is the magic of a school review with Adhyayan. The journey begins with curiosity and ends in transformation, not only for the school but also for the people who are part of the process.
The Abode of Clouds:
I found ‘The Abode of Clouds’ in a 7-year-old diary. Re-reading old diaries often opens a window into the present as well as the past. Instead of being discovered in a dusty attic under a pile of magazines, my memories are recorded, accidentally archived, sometimes lodged in random electronic files and folders, and even downloaded from now discarded or defunct computers. Once opened, though, they speak to me as potently as the school I worked with yesterday!
Empowering Tomorrow: An Exploration of Student Voice
Did you know that only 34% of 18-year-olds in India are still enrolled in school or other educational institutions?
For the upcoming generation, regardless of whether they are born in Cambridge or Kolkata, the world will be more complex than it is today. They will navigate a technologically advanced environment where even Chat GPT could be replaced by newer innovations.
By 2040, students will need to make independent decisions for themselves, their families, and society, without relying on their parents for guidance. Are we preparing our students to become responsible citizens with their own unique voices?
The Road Less Travelled
How far down the road are you as a school community in creating a systemic culture of engaging student voice?
VOICES OFF !
We talk a lot today about student voice, about engagement and ownership but too often those are waiting room conversations marked by abstractions of aspirations, intentions and imperatives. So, this month I want to explore student voice, what it sounds and looks like and how it is impacted by the behaviours of their teachers and leaders and the culture and the systems that enrich or diminish them.
An Oasis In The Pink City
“An Oasis in the Pink City” is a school success story that is all heart. Read on to learn about a principal who demonstrates robust, adaptive & empathetic leadership by empowering her school community.
MONSOON IN MUMBAI
I was reviewing a K-12 school, no shoes, only sandals with trousers ready to roll up and trying to keep clear of the downpour. Most of the corridors were enclosed so I didn’t have to worry about anything other than misted windows and humidity. But at the end of the 2nd floor corridor was an open stairway. Since the rain had stopped, I decided to take the stairs. Halfway down, I slipped on the water lying on a step and only just saved myself. When later that day I went to check out the medical room, I asked for the accident report book. When I sat down and went through it page by page I found three entries of students having fallen on that staircase over the past couple of months. I congratulated the school nurse for her diligence in recording accidents. I then asked her, “Does anyone ever ask to see the accident book?” The answer was “No!”
The Long & Winding Road
Somewhere in the middle of rural Madhya Pradesh, an all-age 3-16 years school is opening its doors for the day. The lane feeding the school is winding and narrow with high hedgerows on either side. While parent vehicles can pull into the school field, the absence of school buses is replaced by tempos, rickshaws, bikes and ‘scootees’ which disgorged onto the roadside, were supplemented by random, fast moving trucks and bikes.
Data Leads Learning
Which is the handle that is turned least often by schoolleaders? That’s right. It’s the one attached to the classroom door.
LEADERSHIP SNAPSHOT
Why is it that Learning Walks have been integral to every one of over 1800 Adhyayan School Reviews we have led since 2012? And why is it that each day’s walk begins and ends at the school gates? My personal tally of reviews, which is now in the hundreds, combined with my evidence accrued from leading 5 schools, three in Europe and two in India, has convinced me that my learning walks are invaluable in helping me take the daily temperature of the school’s health and in confirming the culture of its community.
Learning Walks – taking the School’s Pulse
The top schools in our country and the best around the world have one thing in common. Their school leaders take daily walks around their school, walking the grounds, the corridors and most importantly the classrooms. Why do they do that? Schools are living breathing organisms, so their leaders want and need to keep in touch with the school’s pulse.