GoodWork at the Doon School

by Anez Katre

In the months gone by, I addressed all of the Grade 10 boys in small groups of 25.The aim was to get them to talk about what they consider to be the characteristics of a good worker and through that, to bring about a discussion about responsibility and ethics. We then did a responsibility exercise from the Toolkit and it was interesting to note that a number of students felt their core responsibility was to their parents, second to self and thereafter to teachers, friends, etc.

In one group, we had a very participatory discussion on lying and cheating. Though the students tend to believe that the way of the world is such that they feel that they cannot get by being completely honest, these discussions gave them an opportunity to reflect on their beliefs. The sessions were carried out in their Life Skills classes. A visiting teacher was able to participate, and took some of the Toolkit narratives with her, to share with her own students.

In another activity, role plays were used to demonstrate the challenges faced by teachers.  Role play 1 addressed the issue of students who want to study but feel that their parents are not very encouraging.  (Students complain of additional responsibilities such as housework, caring for younger siblings, etc.)  Role play 2 addressed the issue of a good student whose grades suffer because she is upset by what is happening at home: her father is an alcoholic and has lost his job. He is often abusive and disruptive at home. Role play 3 addressed a situation in which parents think a student is going to school regularly, when he is actually is playing hooky with friends.

At the Doon School, we have adopted a few village and slum schools to help with academics and upkeep. I took the initiative of inviting 12 teachers from these schools to talk about the GoodWork Toolkit.  Most of the teachers are passionate about making a difference. All 12 are women who are passionate about their work and will be taking the principals of the GoodWork to their respective schools.

I was provided with an opportunity to address 45 heads of schools at a seminar on “Management Imperatives for Educational Institutes,” a wonderful opportunity to introduce the GoodWork Project to various schools. The GoodWork concept was explained and we had a healthy discussion on misalignment and the 3 E’s – Excellence, Ethics and Engagement. Some of the schools have shown an interest in taking this forward and I hope to be in touch with them as they move forward!

GoodWork at Work in India: Part IV

by Elizabeth Kim

How does good work translate in the area of sports? Joyti Joshi of Maharaja Sawai Mansingh Vidyalaya Japur School undertook this question by targeting students who regularly play sports in the school.  In a series of five sessions, Joyti used materials from the GoodWork Toolkit to help students rethink the meaning of good work.

In the first session, Joyti introduced the GWT Worksheet on “What is GoodWork” and had students brainstorm their understanding of the term. Students suggested definitions such as “work that brings rewards and achievements” and “work that is recognized by society.” Similarly designed to probe students’ notions of good work, the next session utilized a GWT worksheet with a set of statements that they had to decide if they involved questionable ethics. The third session delved more deeply into the intricate controversies of ethics: the students examined a case study from the Toolkit – To Print or Not to Print – and fervently discussed the meaning of GoodWork in this scenario. Through these activities, Joyti reported that the students’ “sphere of responsibility” broadened beyond friends, family, teams, and school, but further encompassed society at large.

In the fourth session, students reflected on their responsibilities and again closely discussed a case study— Silence is Not Always Golden – deepening their notions of what constitute excellence, ethics, and engagement. Students were prompted to engage in self-reflection and introspection in the final session, when they pondered their responsibilities with the aid of the Enjoyment and Excellence worksheet. What were their responsibilities both in school and on the field?

Students had initially struggled with the need to be perceived as the “cool dude” of the group, an identity that many young boys, especially those in athletic teams, aspire to embody. But with the continuing GoodWork sessions, the students realized that “good conduct” was more important than this social perception. They concluded that “individual personality must be a perfect blend of ethics and our conduct, i.e. conduct must be guided by our deep-rooted ethics.” In addition to performing well on the field, the boys recognized the importance of being ethical and responsible. Acknowledging the importance of the 3 E’s, both students and teachers now intend to align their professional and personal standards with clear values.

Indeed, teachers were active participants in this project. A teacher development workshop used the same GWT worksheets and case studies as had been used for students. An important outgrowth of this workshop was a significant change in before/after thoughts about good work in sports instruction. Summarized, the teacher’s change in perception about their roles as sports instructors is outlined as follows:

Before

• Good work means dedication, determination, with goal in mind

• Teachers should be responsible towards the work place i.e. school

• Teachers should develop a strong sports culture

• Teachers should help students understand the rules and regulation of sports

• Teachers should help students stay physically fit and healthy

After

• Teachers should go beyond the field and teach the importance of value and ethics

• Teachers should help students maintain mental and emotional equilibrium in all situations, especially when it concerns winning or losing a match

• Teachers should become not only instructors who teach “the rules of the sport” but also those who teach “the rules of game (i.e. life)”

• Teachers should broaden the sphere of responsibility for students as well as themselves (more input on this?)

While sports and good work may at first glance appear to be disjointed, unrelated issues, Joyti was able to evidence the connection between the two. Through GoodWork Toolkit activities and deep introspection, both student and teacher alike were encouraged to see the value of the 3 E’s in their behavior in sports. The sports community at the school realized that a harmonious blend of conduct and ethics will result in “excellent performance, happiness, and satisfaction.” In this way, good work is being carried out beyond the confines of the classroom and into the field.

Next in the series, we will examine how one school was able to engage a wide range of students and teachers from schools all across Mumbai in good work.

For access to the full power point presentation, please contact us!

My experience as a part of GoodWork Project

by Farah Shamsi

As a teacher, I’ve always felt that children are forgetting their ethics and value systems and just blindly following the rat race to be successful in this materialistic world. They want to achieve their goals in a short span of time, thus compromising on some meaningful and very important aspects of life. I have been trying to inculcate values in them but the introduction to the ‘Good Work Project ‘by Ms. Reetika Khanna gave me a greater insight on how to make children aware of the meaning of good work in real sense. Making it a part of the curriculum by introducing some activities, our teaching schedule would be a significant step to make.

One of the activities I introduced in my class was by asking the students to write the qualities of their role models. The students were then asked to underline the common qualities which I later listed on the whiteboard. Then I asked the students to select the three qualities they considered most important to be successful in life. To my surprise, honesty didn’t figure in almost 80% of the responses, though for most of them some of other good qualities were important like hard work, patience, compassion, intelligence etc.

The discussions held during the Good Work Project meetings proved really meaningful and added to my learning experience. It provided enough food for thought for me on how to grow as a Good teacher. The various activities that were carried out, like value sorting etc. were very good examples of how we can introduce Good Work in our school curriculum for the students as well as the teachers.

Narrative Five: ” Picture Yourself As” (A Closing Activity)

by Marian Brown

Today’s class at Arlington centered around “wrapping up” the semester. This is the second to last session during which the students will engage with the GoodWork Toolkit this year. Cheryl decided to use the exercise “Picture Yourself As.”

This exercise asks students to picture themselves as either a college professor, astronaut, or actor. Cheryl gave firm directions that each student had to pick one of these three professions, and that they would have to defend their decision. Students were given ten minutes to read the prompt and to think about the impending fictitious professional choices. They made bullet point lists of the reasons why they wanted to join their chosen profession.

After this intrapersonal (solitary) work time, Cheryl had the students circle up at the front of the room for interpersonal (group) work. She took the temperature of the room by asking students to show hands for which profession they preferred. Overwhelmingly, the most popular choice with Period B was astronaut, and with Period D it was professor. A discussion then ensued regarding the student’s choice. Instead of asking why the students choose they professions they did, Cheryl decided to ask them about the professions they did not chose.

Cheryl started by asking the astronauts and actors why they did not chose to become college professors. Some answers were light hearted, such as, “I thought astronaut would be more fun”, whereas others were quite penetrating, “Well, I thought about the amount of schooling necessary to become a professor, and the selflessness of teaching and realized that it was too big of a commitment for me. I don’t think I could do GoodWork as a professor, or at least not my best work”. The second answer in this set shows great synthesis of the GoodWork curriculum, and applies its concepts in a real life context. Cheryl then asked the actors and professors why thye choose not to become astronauts, and so on. All of the students had varying answers that encompassed ethics, engagement and excellence in work and how we can best choose jobs that will exemplify the three E’s in our own work.

Starting the discussion in this reverse questioning format opened a safe environment where students were really able to express their desires and decisions from both standpoints of the argument. This level of synthesis led to a rich discussion. After having the initial “I didn’t choose this because…” discussion, Cheryl opened the floor to have students articulate why they choose the professions they had. Not surprisingly, a lot of the answers connected to the level of enjoyment the students anticipated from the job, and also their ability to produce GoodWork within the field. The students discussed the necessary skill sets, training, personal attributes, and assets they would need to be successful in the work force. They then started discussing these topics in relationship to the actual careers they hope to pursue. As the discussion concluded the students echoed the importance of GoodWork, and finding jobs that are personally fulfilling to them.

This upcoming week at Arlington Cheryl plans to dive deeper into the wrap-up of the GoodWork ToolKit. She will introduce another activity for reflection and synthesis. She is going to center the conversation on the graduating seniors, asking them to apply GoodWork in their upcoming endeavors. It will be really interesting to get an intimate look into the graduating senior’s experiences at Arlington High School; the excellence, ethics and engagement they have applied here, and how that will transition these concepts into their future careers in academia and the work force.

GoodWork at Work in India: Part III

by Elizabeth Kim

A continuation of the report of several Indian schools’ incorporation of the GoodWork Toolkit in classrooms, this post explores the ways in which GoodWork does not solely translate to the active work we do for society. Valsa Balaji of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec School interprets GoodWork by looking inward through the lens of health and investigates how we can treat our bodies with excellence, ethics, and engagement.

Valsa realized the deep entwinement between healthy eating/living habits and academics. To battle the unhealthy eating habits of youth who readily turn to junk food and packaged synthetic food, Valsa launched a campaign that sought to achieve a number of objectives including: to impart knowledge of health benefits to the younger generation, to help students develop practical skills and self-confidence in planning meals, preparing foods, reading food labels, and making healthy food choices, and to enable students to  critically analyze sociocultural influences, including advertising, on food selection. Valsa endeavored to promote consciousness of nutrition and to inculcate skills that would help students critically discern healthy foods from unhealthy ones.

Valsa and her team worked fervently on a number of initiatives to achieve this vision of healthy eating and healthy living. Some of the efforts they put forth included a campaign called “treat yourself to a healthy snack” in which students were encouraged to bring to school healthy snacks such as sprouts, nuts, apples, and corn. Moreover, children were trained to read and interpret food labels to inform their eating choices. A Health and Wellness Club was established to provide ongoing awareness of this cause. The members of this club participated in hands-on activities such as making low-calorie recipes, participating in yoga demonstrations, and producing a newsletter regarding health and wellness. Another important component of the project involved physical education instructors teaching about the unique nutrition needs of athletes. They elaborated on the right kinds of foods and the right amounts that are optimal for a fitness plan. For athletes must be mindful of foods to help sustain both performance and growth.

However, students were not the only participants in this project. The teaching staff partook in the activities alongside the students and strove to be role models through their healthy living habits. Several teachers, such as Ms. Annapoorna and Ms. Chitra of the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Sr. Sec School commented on how improving eating habits had a powerful impact on their body aches and sleeping patterns. Together in union with the students, the school seems to be encountering a potent wave of change towards health.

In considering future plans, it is clear that Valsa is committed to encouraging healthy eating throughout the school. She plans to reinforce messages of healthy eating to the cafeteria staff and to include more whole foods in the menu. Posters and fliers regarding nutrition will also adorn the walls of the cafeteria. Parents will be asked to continuously support and reinforced a balanced diet in preparing meals for their children and Valsa hopes to assign students nutrition education homework, which will need to be completed with their family. By encouraging all school staff and parents to join in the movement to practice healthy eating habits, Valsa challenges them to “be the change you want to see in the world.”