princess cj haven

“While Montessori education could open up creative channels in my daughter, it will not prepare her for the stress and competitions in the corporate world” ~ Hemalatha Iyer

Hemalatha, a member of our New Constructs community, posted her honest assessment of the Montessori method and why she would not chose it for her daughter. While her own mother-in-law was a Montessori teacher and completely convinced about the merits of the system, Hema’s concerns are threefold:

1) The Montessori Method is by and large available only till Grade 5. The transition after that to a regular system could be quite difficult.

2) As a middle-class parent, one of the most important things she can offer her child is a good education. The Montessori system is unproven and too much of a gamble.

3) While she would like her daughter to avoid the stress she went through in her own education, the corporate world still values only degrees and grades. To have a bright future, her daughter needs to graduate from the best colleges with good grades.

Many of you have posted feedback to my posts on education. This is clearly an area of interest to all of us as parents or future parents. All of you agree that the current system of education is broken. The alternative methods are still in an experimental stage and have not yet become main stream. The question, then, is what should we as parents do? Commit ourselves – and our children – to admirable but unproven alternatives? Or commit ourselves – and our children – to the traditional but flawed education system?

My wife Girija, far more of a pragmatist than I am, shares Hema’s perspectives. As a technology person, I can see Geoffrey Moore’s Technology Adoption Cycle as a possible paradigm.

In his book ‘Crossing the Chasm’, Moore noted that any new technology is first adopted by a handful of Innovators who are eager and willing to try new approaches. Once the technology is relatively proven, the Early Adopters, who are visionaries, get on to the bandwagon. Most new technologies move to this stage relatively easily. However, there lies a big chasm between the Early Adopters and the next big group – the Early Majority, a.k.a. Pragmatists. Most technologies don’t make it across this chasm and go down the ditch.

The Montessori system and other alternate systems like the J K Foundation and the Aurobindo system are still on this side of the chasm with the Innovators and Early Adopters. Nowhere in the world has any form of innovative alternative education breached the chasm to become embraced by the Early Majority or Pragmatists who could make it mainstream.  The push to get it across the chasm must come from a combination of three forces – employers, parents and policymakers.

As a business leader, I hear enough laments about the quality of people entering the workforce today – their inability to communicate, take initiative or innovate, and the low percentage of graduates who are actually employable.

Among policy makers, education is a high priority, with enormous budgets on programs like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. However, most of the money is going towards hardware – the infrastructure – rather than teaching methods and training. A few states have introduced the Activity Based Learning system, but implementation has been inconsistent because of inadequate training.

Among parents, more and more of us are recognizing the undue pressure on our kids. Look at the increasing rate of student suicides. We all have an uneasy feeling that traditional education is harmful to our kids, and we wish there was a good alternative. These are all indications of a target group that is ripe for transformation.

The idea behind New Constructs is to mobilize an engaged community that can dialog on causes like education. We need to know how to equip our children to pursue their true calling in the Connected Age. Do come forward and share your thoughts on how we can create a groundswell of support for alternative methods of education.

Sudhakar Ram is Chairman and Co-Founder of Mastek, a leading IT solutions company. Committed to transformation on all fronts, he has written articles on transforming India, corporate governance, financial markets and governments. He believes that we have the potential to create a sustainable world and live in harmony with our environment. However, this would require a fundamental shift in our mindsets – the “constructs” that drive our attitudes and actions. The New Constructs is his initiative to leverage Connected Intelligence in realizing the Connected Age. Do you have any unique schooling models to share? Do post your own examples on the Wall.

Empowering girls through education

2001 Indian government statistics hold the national literacy to be around 64.84%.Government statistics of 2001 also hold that the rate of increase of literacy is more in rural areas than in urban areas. Female literacy was at a national average of 53.63% whereas the male literacy was 75.26%. Within the Indian states, Kerala has shown the highest literacy rates of 90.02% whereas Bihar averaged lower than 50% literacy, the lowest in India. The 2001 statistics also indicated that the total number of ‘absolute non literates’ in the country was 304 million

India is the world’s largest democracy where billions of people live and almost half of these are women.  So how does woman effect India’s development?

If girls are not educated, families suffer too.  Educated mothers use their knowledge to improve the health of their children and other family members.  They immunize their kids against major disease.  They provide better nutrition.  Their knowledge about health risk protects their families against illness.  Child mortality rate is much higher where mothers lack education than in families where mothers are educated.

Girls education is emerging as one of the top priorities of Indian society “educating girls is not an option it is a necessity”, we all want to  eliminate gender disparities in education.  Much progress has been made in recent decades.  The number of girls attending school is increasing but in  some parts of India a number of girls still receives little or no education.  Even today there are many girls which don’t even have access to Primary education.  In some areas female literacy is even less than half that of males.

Educating girls brings many benefits to society.  As educated mother gives importance to education and they invest more in their children’s schooling and this improves society’s development prospect.  They strongly believe and practice family planning.  They give equal importance to education, health and increase the productivity of future generation.  And if they are not educated then the productivity and capacity of future generation will be low.

We have to keep this thing in mind if we will not invest now on girls education then we have to pay prices in future in the form of slow growth and less income.

There are many cultural and economical reasons for girls illiteracy like verbal and physical abuse, lack of sanitation, long distances between home and school hazardous experience that deter parents from sending their daughters to school. Another barrier to education in India is the lack of adequate school facilities. Many states simply do not have enough classrooms to accommodate all of the school-age children. Furthermore, the classrooms that are available often lack basic necessities such as sanitary facilities or water. In Uttar Pradesh, a recent survey found that 54 percent of schools did not have a water supply and 80 percent did not have latrines (The World Bank, 1997b). Lack of latrines can be particularly detrimental to girl’s  school  attendance. Negative parental attitudes toward educating daughters can also be a barrier to a girl’s education. Many parents view educating sons as an investment because the sons will be responsible for caring for aging parents. On the other hand, parents may see the education of daughters a waste of money because the girls are not expected to make economical contribution in the family. They are expected to take care of family and carry out household chores.  Promoting girls education therefore involves changing attitude across society merely  spending money on girls education will not solve this problem.

Imparting good education doesn’t require building, uniform and even books but it does require good teacher.  Female teacher plays and important role in imparting education to girls, as they are mores considerate about the girl’s needs . Moreover families are more comfortable about sending their daughters to school..

I appreciate that our Indian government is also making good efforts for promoting girls education like recently they have launched “Saakshar Bharat Mission For Female Literacy” This mission aims to bring down female illiteracy by half of its present level.

According to International centre for research on women, the education that a girl receives is the strongest predicator of the age she will marry and it a would be a critical factor in reducing the prevalence of child marriage.  I think poverty is the whole sole biggest barrier to the access of education, so school fee abolition is absolutely necessary.  Moreover school near the slum area or in rural area should have flexible timings so that the families which deprive their daughter from going to school just because girls have to help their mother in daily house chores feel comfortable sending them to school.

Thus women’s education should be taken as a serious issue and steps should be taken to bring awareness about importance of education among every woman both in urban and rural area.  This way many of the social problems like poverty, begging, child labor, child marriage and child mortality will be controlled up to some extent.

Are you currently a single mom looking for a way to go back to school? The current administration is there to help you. He is advocating moms for getting back in college. Scholarships for mothers continues to be organized to aid in the strike against the dismal economical perspective.

To begin, the federal Pell Scholarhip to over $5,500. Mothers, single or not, may end up being able to afford the college costs using the extra help.

It is also handing out multi-thousand dollar scholarships to help lift the monetary burden of college. Many mothers will be eligible for a scholarhip and realize the desire of a greater education, a much better paying job and contributing to the rebuilding of the economy. Mothers are real busy either as stay at home moms or working therefore the choice of dealing with online classes makes more sense. If your kids are sleeping, this is the time when mom will go into movement as a college student. Many colleges and educational institutions possess this option, together with schools that are mainly on the web.

Many moms will be qualified for other scholarship programs even if these people can’t get the Pell grant. Enrollment is needed for the choice couple of moms that are going to be chosen for this favorite program. School certifications for moms are extremely expensive whether the classes are taken from an internet or normal class. The various funding options helps make this possible with regard to the majority who will go to college. Together with permitting all people the opportunity to achieve a higher education, this may help energize the faltering economic climate.

School expenses are large and mothers will need much more than a individual scholarship or government funding option can provide to handle almost all of the expenses that they will have. Businesses and the federal government may help the economy by putting their dollars into the education industry. The greater the education the higher the salary in most companies. Moms, and anybody striving to get a university degree, are bettering themselves and their families. There is certainly a good feeling surrounding this plan.

Mothers can think of a happier and much better period into the future when enrolling for classes because of the help of the scholarship or grant system. The meaning is that your home is your place of refuge and every mom wants her castle. A mother knows that a solid career is required to purchase a house and that can come about when you gets a better education that calls for a greater salary. Moms are helping the economy of the nation by enhancing their education through trying to find and obtaining scholarship programs.

Scholarships options for mothers are a dream come true simply because with out this particular financing these people couldn’t allow themselves to believe the unattainable. Scholarships or school funding for mothers is a fantastic method for individuals not just to improve the economic climate, but to improve themselves and end up being the most well-rounded and educated people they can become. There are monthly scholarship or grant drawings only for the mothers who have signed up, so do not hold out, and look for one in your region.

In the event that you are a single mom and would like to acquire a free college education, the time to do it is right now. The government is offering funding for almost all women that desire to earn their college education at a regular university or on-line from the comfort of their home. Do yourself a favor and submit an application now.

Are you are a single mom and need college grant money? If so, CLICK HERE

Finding new and innovative ways to educate school children has long been a primary concern for teachers, as the challenge of being able to engage with students on each subject whilst providing enough stimulus for the lesson to sink in can be an uphill struggle. As teaching resources have developed at a steady pace for generations, the latest tool in a teacher’s armoury is the interactive whiteboard. The interactive whiteboard, or IWB, carries on from where the traditional whiteboard, and even the old style chalky blackboard, left off, by offering a far more interactive approach to displaying information.

Hooked up to both a computer and a projector, the IWB projects the computer’s desktop image onto a wall and, through light sensors, detects movement on the projection and reacts interactively much like an actual computer would. The interactive whiteboard is therefore not only a very hands-on and creative way to teach a class, but is also very flexible and portable; ideal in a busy school environment really.

Although good at displaying anything a traditional whiteboard would display, an IWB really comes in useful when used for fun activities and games, as the way the display works relies on interaction with the students and teachers; away from the traditional 2D chalkboards. From showcasing video clips and going online to producing customised Power Point presentations, the list of activities to use a IWB for is as long as your imagination.

For learning English vocabulary and spelling, a visual way to present the subject is by ‘revealing’ individual parts of the word at a time, giving the pupils a chance to raise their hand and guess what the word is. To do this, create a Smart Notebook page with some words scattered across, then cover each word with a coloured circle or star, and then, using the rubber tool, start to ‘rub out’ each circle to slowly reveal the word.

A fun way to learn history and geography is through using an online map, like either Google Maps or Google Earth, and use the IWB’s ‘freeze’ function to freeze and zoom in on either the country or the town that relates to the subject. From there, geological features can be highlighted, like meandering rivers, and long-gone historical sites can be added back in to give the pupils a visual and tangible perspective on each lesson.

Through the use of loudspeakers and text recognition in several languages, an interactive whiteboard can be used to dynamically teach languages. Supported with audio and text files, words and phrases can be learnt by either matching sentences to images or instead pupils can interactively pair up the matching English and non-English words.

There are countless other ways to use an interactive whiteboard for fun classroom activities, and many free online teacher resources to make it even easier to use too, from educational games to customised video displays.