The Best School
Which would be the best school for my child?
What are the characteristics of an excellent and effective school?
Lets first look at some excerpts from an article by Maya Menon, Executive Director, Jagruti - The Teachers' Centre, which appeared in Sep. 01 issue of Education World:
“From the position 30 years ago that ‘schools make no difference’, there is now widespread assumption internationally that schools affect children’s development, that there are observable regularities in the schools that add value."
Here are some characteristics of successful schools:
* The principal plays a proactive leadership role with a participative approach.
* The teacher in each classroom is knowledgeable, sensitive, creative and enthusiastic and aware of her role in changing the reality of the traditional school experience.
* Pupil rights and expectations – raising pupil self-esteem, providing students positions of responsibility and opportunities to manage their work on their own. The Learning environment for children is attractive, interesting and motivating.
* The institution exhibits and encourages and co-opts parents as partners in the quest for education excellence.
Indian schools are only now beginning to recognize that the teachers need to use numerous learning strategies for maximizing learning time in the classroom and enhancing student achievement. They need to employ instructional strategies that are versatile and collaborative, target thinking skills, and make the organization of information self-evident to students.
Moreover the role of the teacher in raising pupils' self-esteem needs repeated assertion. Student self-esteem is the single human value that underpins the development of all other values. Children need to be taught problem-solving and conflict resolution skills, encouraged for positive peer relationships, nurtured for moral and spiritual values like respect for self and others, honesty, courtesy, gentleness and non-violence in speech and action.
(Thank you Ms Maya Menon for permission to take excerpts from your articles)
As anxious parents our next question is bound to be, "All this is fine - but how do I find out whether a particular school has these characteristics?" Since this search is so crucial and critical we suggest the following process, done with due diligence:
1. Write down the parameters on which you would like to compare schools. Even distance from residence and fees may feature here.
2. Next to each parameter write why these parameters are important. This exercise may lead to your deleting, modifying or adding some characteristics.
3. Now, next to each parameter write what would be minimum level, which would satisfy, and how you are going to measure and find out. (See guidelines below). This can be tricky, hence may lead to deletion or modification, for what is the point of keeping some characteristic when we can't even measure it. In a society where school is often not a choice, where schools are not open to communication or observation, where there is no impartial body reporting on schools, how does one find out about all these parameters.
We provide a set of broad guidelines:
* Do not go by media hype.
They are not media hungry and vice versa.
* Do not get swayed by the facilities. A silver plate is no substitute for good food.
* The best way to know about a school is from the horse's mouth: talk to the children studying in the school. Talk to as many to remove any individual bias.
* Talk about what they like in school, why they like. Talk about how teachers deal with discipline issues, how teachers respond to a wrong answer and how she makes the subjects interesting. Talk about the extra curricular activities and whether they get equal opportunity to get involved in all of them.
* Talk to parents of children also, but with a big pinch of salt. Simply because parents have a very limited view of the school, mostly based on what their child tells them, homework and other things that child brings home. Schooling is a process often misjudged by the take home results!
* Talk to teacher's outside school. Ask specifically for their teaching ideology, vision of their school and what they do to teach the least interested or lowest scoring student in their class.
* Ask the same questions to the principle. If he or she is not ready to answer, isn't that a clue about the school.
* If the school allows, go for observation of classes. Please do not presume that school will not allow this - go ahead and ask - you have nothing to lose and you may be pleasantly surprised.
* Visit the school, trying to pick up the atmosphere.
Typically look at the excitement level of children. Or watch out for stress levels.
* Check out the library more than the computer center. Ask the school how they use the library in the learning process.
Schools have too long remained dominant and unrelenting partners in educational process. Its time we parents at least put forward our right for information. Yes, you might have to make compromises in finally selecting the school. But it is extremely useful to be aware of these compromises - you can then provide a balance at home.
"The secret of education is respecting the pupil" -Ralph Waldo Emerson.
By Ratnesh & Aditi Mathur
For www.geniekids.com
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