Workshop: Classroom Management and Culture: Creating a Culture for Learning
Facilitators: Nandani Parekh and Deepa Avashia, Riverside School
Riverside is the amalgamation of an approach to learning that is embedded in common sense and a vibrant research centre for school education. At Riverside, insights from cutting-edge research are turned into working models of pedagogical practices with a single-minded focus – student well being. Over the last 9 years, Riverside has developed, implemented and shared a unique curriculum that is proving to be the benchmark for providing a no-compromise school education of the highest quality. By developing and sharing such a research-based, practical curriculum, Riverside is providing schools with an alternative model which focuses on excellence and still works in different economic and cultural contexts which make it possible for children all around the country to have access to a true education.
The facilitators played some music and asked the participants to move around and smile at people. As the music stopped, the participants, too, had to stop moving and meet people standing close to them. A few people were asked to share whom they met and something inspiring they found out about the people they had interacted with.
One participant shared how his partner had started addressing the children in his class with what they aspired to be in the future, and how happy the children felt to be addressed in this way. For instance, a child who aspired to be a doctor was called Dr. so and so.
The participants were then asked to think about the image of a competent child. The responses included terms like happy, focused, curious, cooperative, goal-oriented, confident, enthusiastic, responsible, motivated, disciplined, and risk-taker. The participants were asked to think about how they could fit all of these components in their timetable, and how seldom they think about these aspects of development when they are teaching a child. The participants were then asked to pick the five most important qualities of a competent child. The settled for motivated, disciplined, happy, risk- taker, and curious. When we make our timetable we often lose all these elements.
The participants were divided into smaller groups and asked to plan for the month of September, keeping these elements in mind. People who belonged to the same organization were asked to sit together.
Some components of the teaching strategies used at Riverside School were then shared:
- Learning imbedded in real life: Learning is not restricted to classroom. Children need to know the relevance of what they are learning, and this helps to engage them and enables them to take ownership for their own learning- helping them to become lifelong learners.
- High quality adult learning: Riverside School invests a lot of time in teachers. The teachers work for 53 more days than the students. They have sessions around planning, thinking, motivation, inspiration, etc.
- Parent partnership: Riverside School tries to learn about what the child is outside school from the parents. It also educates parents about the philosophies of Riverside.
- Coffee at Riverside: Riverside organizes chat shows with famous personalities, so students get to learn about the lives of different people and interact with them.
- Artist in the residence: This is when an artist spends about 10 days with a particular class and puts up a production by the end of it.
- Buddy Interaction: Once every month, students from two grades come together to interact with each other. Some of these sessions are activity based. Some sessions are informal and are conducted outside the school. Since Riverside is a small school (with only 300 odd students), it is considered important for everybody to know everybody.
- Exchange programmes: Students get to go to different schools and interact with different children. This helps to build adaptability.
- Camps: This also helps build adaptability.
- Internships: This helps in building professionalism.
