The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Educating the child is a spiritual experience'

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Saturday, Nov 13, 2010
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Educating the child is a spiritual experience'

Staff Reporter

‘If you want to change the school system, you have
to change the teachers first'

INSPIRATIONAL:If you don't see the light in a child, then you have to create it and notice it, says Jenny Mosley.

Bangalore: “Today's heroes are the classroom teachers and it should be ensured that the self-esteem and morale of the staff is high enough in school,” according to Jenny Mosley, well-known U.K.-based author, teacher and trainer.

In the city this week for an interactive session with teachers, heads and principals of schools, organised by The Teacher Foundation (TTF), Ms. Mosley believes that educating the child is a spiritual experience. “If you don't see the light in a child, then you have to create it and notice it!” she said.

Nurturing spaces

The founder of the Whole School Quality Time Approach for Positive Behaviour Management, Ms. Mosley held a session with 15 schools that are part of TTF's Safe and Sensitive Schools (SASS) national pilot project. The project aims at making schools gentler and more nurturing spaces for students and teachers. However, making a classroom a nurturing space is not always easy, given that children come from varying backgrounds. An Indian classroom can be a particularly tough place since there is greater diversity to handle in terms of cultures, languages and castes, said Ms. Mosley.

Speaking out

The SASS project, supported by Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATIS), uses Mosley's Whole School Quality Circle Model to effect greater sensitivity in schools. “The Quality Circle Time aims at getting all the students together in one big circle and encourages them to speak out about everything. Jenny started it back in the '80s and now we use it too. The class teacher conducts it every week and a whole period is dedicated to this. The best part about the Quality Circle Time is that nobody judges anyone and everyone is free to speak about whatever they want,” said Ritwika Dwivedi, Relationship Co-ordinator of TFF.

“If you want to change the school system, you have to change the teachers and the head of the schools first. That is when I thought of starting The Teachers Foundation,” said Maya Menon, founder director of TFF.

The 15 schools that are part of the SASS project in Karnataka include Government schools and private schools that cater to different classes of people.

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