Yoga of Teaching @vijayaragavaned - Tumblr Blog

The Power of Inclusion

'The magnificent tree that stands behind you tells us how to live a life in so many ways..' began Dillibabu as I invited him to address the assembly. I have known him as a man with a relentless spirit to make positive mental health accessible to everyone, a man who is a catalyzer of conversations around mental health through several of his initiatives.

'Our values are like the roots of the tree. It is not visible right away but it is what holds us strong no matter what.', he continued much to the rapt attention of the students and teachers.

In the 4th grade class, after an activity leading to the reflection that 'The more we help others reach their dreams, the more we grow', we had more time to engage with him and listen to his life story when Subash, the 9 year old asked the question, 'What problems you faced in life?'. 'I lost my legs to polio attack when I was 1 year old. But as I grew up, it was not so much a loss for me. I developed my strength above my neck - through my communication and thinking', said Dillibabu.

A state-level top 4 Chess player, he spoke to the youth about the 4 pillars of success according to him - skills, knowledge, ability and attitude, and some practical tips to build concentration and analytical thinking through games.

Dillibabu, your footprints in our learning space shine with self-reliance and grit. You've nourished it with your insightful metaphors for values of vision, focus and hardwork. Our salutes and hearty wishes to you for your efforts towards equity in mental health! Keep inspiring and spreading your impact!

#peopleinclassroom #inspiration #rolemodels

NSS as a Pathway for Student Leadership

How can we expand and build on the opportunities that NSS (National Social Service) offers, towards equity? How can we integrate NSS to enhance youth outcomes in academic achievement, value education and exposure to the world within and without? What possibilities can we create for Student Leadership?

These were the questions I explored at MSSW (Madras School of Social Work) with a very receptive audience comprising of Government School Teachers coordinating NSS activities in different rural districts of Tamil Nadu. Was gratifying to speak almost entirely in Tamil to a large group after a long time. Thanks to Dr.Sarah of MSSW for making this happen.

#fightforequity #studentleadership

‘Leadership for Social Change’ at VIT

A man's capacity for reflection let's him shape the path and the path to shape him. My visit to VIT, a stronghold of high academic rigor, to deliver a guest talk on 'Leadership for Social Change', ended with me getting inspired by the students sharing their insightful reflections as I engaged them with the guiding questions. Proud of them as their former teacher, to see them have grown so much and investing their energies productively in multiple activities. Thanks to Subhasree Srenevas, Priyamvada Kundu and Dr.Bharghava for inviting me.

#inspiration #youth #potential

‘Geeft’ for Vijay Saar

When I walked into the school I used to teach at on a humid afternoon, the little girl Ashiya Begum came running towards me, and said, 'Vijay Saar, wait'. She dashed to her bag and pulled out a sparkly purple box with green ribbon tassle that had a chocolate tied at the end of it.

'Geeft', she said grinning joyfully. 'How did you know I was going to come today?', I asked. 'I bring it daily to give you when you come', she said. * * * What I carried back with me was not just the watch that was in the box or the surprise of the beautiful gesture but the richness to life and world that only children can bring with their innocence and love.

#love #joy #gratitude

‘Teaching as Leadership’ at University of Madras

Honored to be invited to speak and share my learnings about 'Teaching As a Leadership Development Journey' with postgraduate students of Psychology at my Alma Mater University of Madras. I drew from my personal experience of a 2nd-3rd grade teacher in a Corporation School serving underprivileged children.

It was within the hallowed portals of the University that my life turnaround began. My academic stint was brief at the University of Madras, but it was deep nevertheless, thanks to my peers and professors who pushed my thinking about the self and the world.

#speaking #teachingasleadership

An evening with Madhi Foundation

Thanks to Merlia (a TFI Staff Alum) and the passionate Madhi Foundation team for letting me be a part of their rigorous meeting and patiently answering my questions. All the current employees at Madhi - known as Program Collaborators - are TeachforIndia Alumni. It was great to connect with them and see how they continue to work hard beyond the fellowship, towards the cause of Education Equity.

Here's wishing the best to Madhi Foundation for her ambitious dream to transform teaching in Chennai Corporation Schools and beyond!

#alumleadership

Sex Ed in Chennai Corporation Schools - 1

Interacted with and interviewed the SSA officials and teacher trainers for a project I am working on - 'Sex education in Chennai Corporation schools'. They were quite forthcoming with their responses, giving valuable inputs on what the current state is, and suggestions on how schools could be a lever to drive awareness in what society considers to be a 'taboo' topic.

If you know of any organizations working on 'Sexual Health and Awareness' for young people (teenagers - middle to high schoolers), please contact me. Thanks!

#publicschools

At the Fellow Induction

Reflected aloud along with two other Alums - Nate and Gowtham - on ‘What would I have done differently if I could do my 2nd year again?’.

Grateful to Teach For India for the crucible of the fellowship. Will continue to give back, hopefully a lot more.

#gratitude

Parent Community Huddle

It was powerful to explore the concepts of freedom and Inequity with parents of the children in our underserved community, in our parent-teacher huddle today.

Excellent education and achievement for children is not just made possible by teachers but with parents who intensely involve themselves in the education process. How can parents skillfully involve and participate in the education of their child? That was a question we asked ourselves. While answers are not instant, we hope that we raise our bar of excellence as we seek to be better selves. Lesson learnt - there's a whole lot of parents willing to improve their parenting skills but as of now, there's a scarcity of supply. How would India be if all teachers can effectively upskill the parents in need?

#communityengagement #parentinvestment

Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan for 3rd Graders

"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." ~Helen Keller

The last book in the 'Book of the Week' series was 'The Story of My Life' by Helen Keller.

My purpose in building lessons around slightly advanced books is not to read them to completion, but to use them as a symbol of human values, aspiration and possibility. (Of course this needs to be complemented with lot of children literature.)

The approach is to summarize the story using 'Show-don't-tell' narration and read parts that are accessible to children. Then, I ask questions and write their responses and ideas on the board. It took me several months of ‘reading comprehension’ exposure to prepare my children to reach where they are now - to be able to infer ideas, think critically and creatively, as well as to be able to construct sentences on their own.

Below are some of my student samples demonstrating their skill of making connections to the self and the world, and of giving a personal response to the text.

Subash’s response:

Question: “Do you know people like Anne Sullivan? What did they do?

Fathima’s response:

Ashiya’s response:

Question: How do you feel after listening to Helen Keller’s story?

Subash’s response:

Saifullah’s response:

They are surely on their way to forge a bridge across the historical literacy gap in their community. My hope and wish for them is that they grow into authentic leaders of thought and action that the world sorely needs.

#students #criticalthinking #reading #helenkeller #inspiringbooks

Ambedkar in the 3rd Grade Classroom

Poverty. A volatile culture of dysfunction. Survival instincts sharpened like a diamond. "Just scramble and wrangle a place in that queue" will be a rampant, ubiquitous thought when a water lorry lurches its way into the sullied road. Swearing is a part of the vernacular. Self-sabotage is a pattern.

Children, the most beautiful souls, end up being the unwitting victims. At a very young age, they are already disabused of their innocence. Oppression beats it out of them. Vulnerable children experience anger frequently because of injustice either done to them or others. They develop various reactions - helplessness, indifference, aggression complexes.

Their unspoken theory of the world, their smaller truths soon become not very different from their precursors - 'It's a dog-eats-dog world. There's no hope.' Eventually, they are anointed by these circumstances as persecutors who perpetuate and pass on the inequity.

The other truth, the bigger one that is not readily visible, is that there is hope. With the right role models, children can indeed find themselves on an alternate path. The incredible potential that lays dormant within them can be nudged gently, stirred with a fierce love. Education delivered with passion, then, becomes a scalpel for children to gradually self-excise those nascent worldviews toxic to the society. It unveils to them, the dimension of change and optimism.

At the moment, there is a crying need for vulnerable children to know that there are adults who have fought fairly for justice and have succeeded in it. I have never been more acutely aware of this. How can we bridge this? How can we quench their need?

I see salvation in stalwarts like Ambedkar and Malala. In bringing them alive in lessons not taught to the test but to the heart. I started with a mild apprehension when bringing into class, the books like, ‘Annihilation of Caste’ and ‘Malala: The girl who stood up for education and changed the world’. The books were not as much for reading as they were to serve as a token for the cause. It’s been surprising how the 8 year olds were receptive to these and could connect to the stories. Child-friendly realistic stories of hope do have the power to kindle aspiration for social change.

#inspiration #potential

Saifullah’s Letter to Ambedkar

When my student asked me the spellings of 'inspired' and 'sincerely', I knew he was upto something. When he showed his first draft, all I did was to ask him a couple of questions. With his thoughtful responses not just in 'getting his grammar right' but also in the depth of ideas enlivened by an innocent passion, he's the one who amazes and inspires me! If I were a kid, I'd definitely want a teacher like him.

#inspiration #mywhytfi

Grit

Their house might be above a meat slaughter house with endless noise and stench but nothing stops my third grade girls, even on a holiday, from relentlessly practicing the cadence of their speech to be soon given to all the students in school. They sure want to use their reading and speech skills to impact the other students in the community. The speech being on a student leader - the youngest Indian TEDx speaker Ishita Katyal.

Malala Yousafzai in my 3rd Grade Classroom

Model not just reading but a love for reading and the 8 year olds will defy what we think they can do. Some of them spotted here with 'Malala, the girl who stood up for education and changed the world'.

#inspiration #passion #reading

‘Engineering’ for 3rd Graders

Vinoth, the irrepressibly curious boy, wanted to know how to make motors run. He had an explosion of questions, which he asked me to translate to ask the akka. Credit goes to my former students at VIT University, Chennai Campus -Priyamvada akka and Tharun anna for giving us an exposure of what 'ENGINEERING' is.

To the awe of 3rd graders, they demonstrated a simple circuit using a breadboard, LED and battery, and showed videos of the national-award-winning electric race car that Priyamvada and her team designed at VIT.

Proud of their initiative and efforts towards social justice. For kids like Vinoth who live on the societal fringes, it's these role-models and experiences that pave an alternative trajectory of hope and inclusion.

#exposure #peopleinclassroom #engineering

Change The Script 2016 in the Classroom

The Change the Script 2016 conference by Dream A Dream foundation shaped my lessons this week. Explored the platform to facilitate exposure lessons for my third graders about 'Bengaluru City', 'NGOs' and 'Conferences' as well as to discuss about values of 'Listening', 'Leadership', 'Problem-solving' and 'Gratitude'. This provided an opportunity to integrate the learning experience with Reading Fluency and thinking skills (through follow-up worksheets with aligned questions) as well.