VUCA WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY 2020 – TRANSFORMATIONAL KALIGI KRM TEACHER
Education should not stop with promoting Physical and Intellectual Growth. These must lead to Character Development . Then, the 'individual' learns to devote his excess Strength, Knowledge and Power, to serve the nation, to serve other people, to serve the world at large; he/she ceases to be Self-centered. He/She becomes Service-centered, which is the need of the hour.
This is the most important task before Teachers Today: Sculpting, Shaping, Moulding our Youth into Socially Responsible Citizens and making them Good Human Beings imbued with the Virtues of Sincerity, Commitment, Dedication, Service and Sacrifice.
A UNESCO Report of Education had the Significant Title:Learning To Be. Please take note – Learning To Be, not learning to do or learning to make – this constitutes the Essence of True Education. The art of living, the science of true life, not just the art of living in peace with yourself, but the art of living with people; serving people; helping people; and contributing one’s best to social and national growth. This is the essence of education as expressed by Swami Vivekananda: “Be and Make!
“THE TEACHER IS THE SCULPTOR”.
The image Sculpted is the Student. The expertise of the Sculptor reflects in the Sculpture, he creates. The Sculptor is full of Creativity and Imagination. The Resultant product as a Student is the Creativity with which the Teacher designed it and created it. So, if the Sculptor makes a single mistake in the Sculpture , It is gone forever. The Teacher realises this Responsibility and creates a wonderful Sculpture called Student.
In this Pandemic period, we live in a VUCA WORLD. VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty Complexity and Ambiguity. The most interesting and exciting part of our life is knowing that the world we live in full of uncertainties and unpredictable, we live as if it is permanent. VUCA is a terminology founded by American Army during the Gulf War. They were completely stranded in an alien environment and re-framed strategies. They accepted the reality and moved forward from there. As a Teacher you may wonder in what way it is relevant to you as you need to teach what is there in the Textbook. Even if you wish or not, We all live in an unpredictable world and the lessons which student studies now , may or may not be useful for him in the future. Still Educationists believe this is what the students should read and write. Educating Life Science for the students is appropriate along with the subjects is my belief. New strategies in this era of Online Learning , will definitely a create a new kind of adaptability and understanding in the Teaching Learning process. The life is predictably Volatile. Vibrant and Dynamic Education for the future requirement is mandatory. Continuous Professional Updation must be done by the Teachers to have a bigger vision that would help to overcome the volatile nature. The Teacher must learn the powerful way of dealing with the Uncertainties in Life particularly during adverse situations in their own way. You need to educate the students that Life will pose a lot of Uncertainty on everybody and they must face with courage and zeal. They must be educated to see any issue in a larger perspective and start appreciating the Life given to them. The Teacher must prepare Students to handle the Complex World after School. Giving Complex exercises and educating them that these are meant to prepare you to face Complex issues in real life . The Students must be able to relate to real-life scenarios with Education. Unclear Ambiguous future is what we all see and to overcome this, we should develop clarity among the Students. The purpose of Education is Ambiguous with many of us and we believe it is Natural. The Teacher must have a clear reason, that why they are a Teacher and why they choose to be a Teacher. If the intention is only to earn Money and nothing else, then I would strongly recommend you to quit and do something else. A Teacher must realise the Responsibility of a being a Teacher is to build the Nation by Educating Resourceful Young Students.
A Student becomes civilised because of Education. The Teacher does that wonderful job of making him civilised and cultured. It reflects in his/her Actions in the Society. The credit goes to the Mentor, The Teacher. When you see his/her behaviour , you will wonder at the Architect behind it. The Noble Teacher is a GODLY GUIDE.
KEY SKILLS TO BE APPLIED IN THE CLASSROOM FOR TEACHERS
When I first started as a Teacher in Kaligi Ranganathan Montford KRM School, I had fixed ideas around what my role was – Deliver content, address misconceptions, and assess Student work. Addressing misconceptions – I was both a Maths Teacher as well as Computer Science Teacher. Of course Maths , I taught how our RJ Master candidly explains in simple lucid steps so that even a dull student can understand. For Computer Science, I took a novel approach of Experiential Learning. For example , to make them understand the working of a Computer, I will take my Students to the Lab and dismantle all the parts of the Computer and demonstrate the functioning of the Computer. I soon realized that this was not enough for Students to Learn. Many of my Students from low-income families faced Struggles such as problems at home, learning gaps of multiple years, lack of conducive environment to study and also Low expectations. As I grappled with this reality, I had to change my mindset from just being the teacher to being the Leader of the class. This is Growth mindset. All my students’ obstacles then came under my locus of control and my role enlarged to supporting my students solve their problems, helping them to beat the odds to achieve at the same level as their peers . This holistic mindset approach is Teaching as Leadership model. I realized that we needed to have Six Key Skills to be applied in the Classroom to lead our Students towards achieving their Learning Goals .
- Setting Big Goals : Setting a justifiable ambitious goal for each student in my class for their end of Term Examinations.
- Investing Students and Influencing Stakeholders in the Big Goals : Empowering Parents to support their child’s learning at home, ensuring their attendance and creating a shared vision for their child to build confidence and eagerness that leads them to work hard towards long term goals.
- Planning Purposefully : Instructional annual, monthly and daily plans , behavioural expectations and procedures , lead students to mastering objectives and advancing towards their goals efficiently.
- Executing Efficiently : Setting Procedures in class to utilise every minute well and targeting questions to ensure every student’s engagement will reap maximum benefit efficiently.
- Continuously Increasing Effectiveness : Student Performance improves over time through data driven reflection, analysis and meaningful change in Teacher Performance and Practices with the aim of improving Learning Outcomes for all Students.
- Working Relentlessly : Time, Energy and Resources are maximised to ensure a healthy and high performing attitude and could do a challenging work for a long time to reach Big Goals.
Teachers are the Heart and Soul of our School System. The Success of the School should be measured, not by Results and Ranks but by the Number of Students who share their experiences as exciting and innovative in studying in Our School. And that is already eminent and publicly known factor that Kaligi Ranganathan Montford KRM Schools stand Tall in that aspect through our innumerous Alumni track records. Teachers certainly have a major role to play in this aspect. Unless a Teacher believes that conventional teaching methodologies will not bring the desired results, and only innovative thinking and a paradigm shift in teaching creatively will lead to extraordinary Results.
Empowered Teachers are bound to ensure creating useful and effective Global citizens in future India. When the Effort alters, Result alters. With VUCA 2.0, Our Teachers will have clear Vision, Understanding, Courage and Adaptability and take responsibility in creating a New Realm of Influence.