Recently Reia spent 2 weeks volunteering at a public school run by "Muktangan". She enjoyed her time there and was very excited by the time she spent at the Muktanagan school and with the kids. Her last day was supposed to be Tuesday, while the other volunteers were to be there till the end of the week. The kids requested Reia to come back for the other days, since they had not completed a "Thank You" card that they were making for her. She was touched. And of course, went back for the rest of the week.
While sharing her experiences with us, one thing she mentioned stood out to me. "I wish my teachers used these techniques while teaching us". Considering that she was part of the privileged lot who went to a private school, the comment about a public school stood out. More so, since the public school system in India unfortunately does not have a good reputation and the dream of most parents is to put their children in private schools even when they may not be able to afford the significantly higher fees.
I asked for some examples and she gave me 2. I loved both of them. The first was the methodology used to quieten the class. As with all children the class is typically noisy when a teacher enters. But unlike most schools, they do not ask them to be quiet or some such in an angry tone. Instead they draw a circle on the board called the circle of silence, and as the circle is completed, the kids who are engaged in the drawing quieten down until there's complete silence when the circle is completed.
The second is getting kids back on track when during the class they get distracted. The teacher starts singing, "Are you listening, are you listening.". And the distracted kids are suddenly engaged and reply in unison, "Yes, we are, yes we are". These are seemingly simple things. And yet not so commonly used. Like Reia, I too wish my teachers used some of these techniques.
They adopt and use what they call a "New Model of Education".
"Muktangan is a new model of education providing quality, child-centred, inclusive English-medium schooling to thousands of underprivileged children in Mumbai. We are truly "education for the community by the community," integrating the training of teachers from the same neighbourhoods as the students, creating empowered change agents.Check it out."
No amount of admiration for the founders is sufficient. Elizabeth and Sunil Mehta started Muktangan in 2003. And what started as a small initiative has grown into a major success that has brought quality education to tens of thousands of kids.
And in addition to that they are also great people. Although I've not had the privilege of meeting them, Reia is full of praise for the dedicated couple and went so far as to say, "Sunil is the nicest, funniest, person I've met and reminds me of Daddy". And no, the Daddy is not me. She's referring to
my Dad, her granddad who she adored.
On behalf of Reia and the thousands of children whose lives you'll have touched, to Elizabeth and Sunil, a BIG THANK YOU.
You can learn more about Muktangan, their mission and what they do at their website.
http://muktanganedu.org/
While sharing her experiences with us, one thing she mentioned stood out to me. "I wish my teachers used these techniques while teaching us". Considering that she was part of the privileged lot who went to a private school, the comment about a public school stood out. More so, since the public school system in India unfortunately does not have a good reputation and the dream of most parents is to put their children in private schools even when they may not be able to afford the significantly higher fees.
I asked for some examples and she gave me 2. I loved both of them. The first was the methodology used to quieten the class. As with all children the class is typically noisy when a teacher enters. But unlike most schools, they do not ask them to be quiet or some such in an angry tone. Instead they draw a circle on the board called the circle of silence, and as the circle is completed, the kids who are engaged in the drawing quieten down until there's complete silence when the circle is completed.
The second is getting kids back on track when during the class they get distracted. The teacher starts singing, "Are you listening, are you listening.". And the distracted kids are suddenly engaged and reply in unison, "Yes, we are, yes we are". These are seemingly simple things. And yet not so commonly used. Like Reia, I too wish my teachers used some of these techniques.
They adopt and use what they call a "New Model of Education".
"Muktangan is a new model of education providing quality, child-centred, inclusive English-medium schooling to thousands of underprivileged children in Mumbai. We are truly "education for the community by the community," integrating the training of teachers from the same neighbourhoods as the students, creating empowered change agents.Check it out."
No amount of admiration for the founders is sufficient. Elizabeth and Sunil Mehta started Muktangan in 2003. And what started as a small initiative has grown into a major success that has brought quality education to tens of thousands of kids.
And in addition to that they are also great people. Although I've not had the privilege of meeting them, Reia is full of praise for the dedicated couple and went so far as to say, "Sunil is the nicest, funniest, person I've met and reminds me of Daddy". And no, the Daddy is not me. She's referring to
my Dad, her granddad who she adored.
On behalf of Reia and the thousands of children whose lives you'll have touched, to Elizabeth and Sunil, a BIG THANK YOU.
You can learn more about Muktangan, their mission and what they do at their website.
http://muktanganedu.org/
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