Hi all,

Building on my initial blogging experiences, it has emerged that what is needed is a bit more specificity on the nuts, bolts, developments and daily workings of the school. Henceforth, therefore, I will try to give my impressions on the following – class sizes, resources, curriculum, environment and atmosphere, areas of excellence and areas for development – so that in the weeks and months to come I can return to these topics and ultimately provide an evolving report on how their dynamic interplay creates the unique educational establishment that is the GMMCS.

For those seeking a more George oriented slant on things, I will be blogging henceforth at www.Pause4thoughtina2quickworld.blogspot.com which is an old blog I started years ago, and needs some serious updating. No time like the present I guess.

Back to GeorgeGMMCS…
I intend to conduct some 'market' research among both teachers and pupils to guage their views on the elements of the school pertinent to them. The more angles one can acquire of any given truth, hopefully the closer one can get to it. I will write this up in the blogs to come.

Class sizes and year groups…
The year groups are divided into 'Standards.' The school currently provides for 1st through to 7th standard, with an additional two year groups pre-1st standard known as UKG and LKG. 7th standard comprises 12-13year olds, down to 1st standard for 6-7year olds, with LKG and UKG being for 4 and 5 year olds respectively.

Currently the class sizes seem to increase as you go down the school, with 16-18 students in 5th, 6th and 7th standard, up to 20-25 in 2nd, 3rd, 4th up again to 35-41 in 1sr, UKG and LKG
It is estimated that numbers will continue to grow year on year and this will of course impact on the ability of the school to deliver on its intentions.
From a personal point of view – coming from the P.E and English teaching perspective – it is a challenge to consistently engage all the class once the numbers stretch beyond about 24. I'm sure anyone in education in England will concur with this. Where the teaching of English is concerned, my progress in Hindi is helping, but it is still the case that there will be a core in each class of proficient English speakers, whilst those who are either content not to stretch themselves, or are too timid to do so still understand the phrase 'do you understand?' to which they reply without fail 'yes sir' even if they have no knowledge of what they should be understanding. Initial conversations with the teachers confirms that even they find this to be the case to a slightly lesser degree. The challenge the school faces in the teaching of English is that we have the pupils for such a short period each day that, though children absorb language far more
readily than adults, we have so little contact time with them our impact is as a line upon the sand, for as soon as they climb aboard the bus home, their tongues slip back into the comfort of Hindi or Punjabi. It is my gut feeling that even a small increase in daily face time would drastically improve the amount of osmosis learnt English in those pupils who have no desire to stretch themselves.

Resources…
At the present time the school is very much like a rose bud in the process of blossoming. The petals of an enlightened principal, sizeable classrooms, capable teaching staff, dedicated support staff and happy students have so far unfurled to meet the light. However, a few key petals remain in the bud at present. As you can see from some of the photos, there is excellent potential for the development of sports programs of a wide variety, given the ground space we have at our disposal.
This will be one of the main areas I hope to have significant impact on during my tenure, so stay tuned to coming blogs for progress reports.
The science lab is ready. However, the key elements of equipment, a teacher and space within the timetable remain to be resolved. The computer room is without question a standout resource in the school's armoury, yet with one shattering chink in its armour. The room boasts more than ten pristine computers and at a time when the true power of the internet is building like a wave crest throughout the infrastructure, ready to inundate with the sweeping changes of its tide, this places the school in a hugely advantageous position of potentially being able to turn out already internet savvy students into a nation that will be clamouring for them…except for one major 'but'…but at present there is no broadband at the school. If we are able to get hooked up soon, the massive leap forward this will enable the school to take in terms of twinning with other schools, acquisition of teaching materials and resources, inspiration for creative play,
teambuilding etc cannot be overstated. Apparently the problem lies in the fact that we are more than 7km from the main phone exchange. Any computer whizzes out there who can come up with a solution would be as revered among the GMMCS family as was Gitanjali when first displayed to an English public.
Stop Press! Continuing this blog a day or so after beginning it, I have just walked past the science lab and witnessed the Principal and 7th standard students unpacking a load of science equipment…it seems the petal of the science lab may reach for the light sooner than anticipated.
I mentioned the need for an increase in face time to improve the pupil's absorption of English. I believe the single most important step the school could take besides the connection to broadband would be the institution of an afterschool club focussing on the development of the students sporting and artistic development. It is not only English ability that would be improved, but also the pupils' sense of identity, their capability to integrate as part of a team, their use of imagination and the development of a personal vision of the future stretching beyond the current, which seems to be limited by the blinkers of necessity to perform well in rote exams. My other reason for believing that such an afterschool activities period would be of dear importance is that there is currently no time within the timetable for arts and crafts, theatre, music or design and technology or gardening and other outdoor pursuits – participation in which is surely
paramount at a formative age in order to nurture rounded individuals who have had the best chance possible to learn what it is in life that puts a smile on their face and makes their heart beat quicken.

I may, however, simply be documenting personal opinions and pipe dreams. The reality remains that the vast majority of parents in India and Indian society at large still regard education as one part of a 'worthwhile life' sequence that runs something along the lines of: education  exams  degree  job, with as ostentatious a marriage as possible shoehorned in somewhere towards the end of the sequence.
The consequence of this, in the context of our discussion, is that many parents simply desire that there children should be sufficiently drilled to enable them to progress to the next stage of the sequence – to the point where they actively encourage the teachers to use physical force if necessary to ensure their sons or daughters successfully complete their work. Convincing them therefore of the benefits of allowing their seed to engage in afterschool activities may be impossible. Further exacerbating the challenge is the fact that a number of pupils live at least 20km from the school, meaning once two hrs or so of activities have been undertaken, the pupils would arrive home barely in time for supper, let alone with time to complete their homework.
My hyperactive mind being what it is, I've begun to try to fathom ways around these problems, but before discussing them with the management here and back home, it would seem ill advised to publish them quite yet.

Curriculum…
Thus far I have only encountered the English curriculum in any detail. The school is affiliated to the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum. I intend to give it a second chance but, if you never get a second chance to make a first impression, I'm afraid the signs are not good. Being tied to a curriculum that expects students who are still learning the meaning of words such as travel and gratitude to have to understand poetry that contains words such as 'weal' 'beden'd' and 'bone-marrow' is I feel asking too much, especially when some of these words are expected to be understood so that students can complete the activities associated with the relevant poem. Such a gratuitous use of over-complicated English does noone any favours. The teachers suffer the pressure of having to ensure the students know both the simple and complicated words. The students suffer because of the learning load placed upon them.
By the way, I will be grateful to anyone who can give me a satisfactory explanation of the word 'beden'd'. I will try to engage the other teachers to give some feedback on their experiences of the degree to which their particular curriculum helps or hinders their ability to provide teaching free from undue strain on either party.

Environment and Atmosphere...
For the outside observer there is a possibility that certain aspects of the school's environment may be a little like Marmite. The politeness of the students is truly exemplary – to the point where one wonders what authoritarian strictures were necessary to achieve it. Staunch old-school educationalists will look approvingly on the fact that students are called to a satisfactory military style attention before the end of each outdoor games period and at the beginning of morning assembly, where they also sing the national anthem each morning. These aspects may be a cause of revulsion among more participatory/progressive educational approaches. What is not in question is the deeply commendable open-mindedness, patience and warm-heartedness of the principal, nor the ready smiles of the students. There are parts of me that still cringe when the students are called to attention or when they stand as one to welcome you into the classroom, but the longer I
spend here, the more another part of me whispers 'nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so.' The students possess such joie de vivre and I am yet to come across anything that could remotely be considered bullying. Perhaps the foundation of respectful discipline is allowing for an environment where the students feel safe to flourish as themselves, and consequently the school is going from strength to strength.

These of course are my initial impressions, and may well change according to evidence and learning. I am making stringent efforts not to form any judgements, but to maintain a fluid awareness that allows whatever ideas I've formed about a particular topic to adjust to any new knowledge or circumstance.

Areas of Excellence
With the exception of the power lines that have recently been erected annoyingly low over the proposed community centre roof, the schools grounds and site are certainly arrows in our quiver of the finest grade. If ever in these early stages we doubt our ability to achieve all that we would hope, we need only look at the grounds we possess to provide instant relief from our blues. Whether thinking of the accommodation we will come to provide, or the sports facilities which could materialise, or the fields that might be used to pioneer alternative farming methods to prevent the lands of Punjab and Haryana sliding irrevocably towards desertification, all roads lead to one conclusion…we have a rare piece of clay in our collective hands. We need simply the muscle of commitment and the clarity of a shared creative vision to craft a sculpture of eternal beauty and inspiration.
Two other aspects standout for me. One is the support staff, who never fail to impress me with their attentiveness and diligence in seeking to ensure the smooth day to day workings of the schools nuts and bolts. Two of their number can be seen in the photo of Kapil and Ramkumar posted in an earlier blog.
The final 'area of excellence' that immediately springs to mind in the writing of this blog is our principal Mr Nammalvar. In conversations with Mota and Janet (two of BKIT's founding members) it invariably crops up just how lucky we are to have him at the head of our school. He is not your TNT, blasting a way for a new road, rather he is the water eking out the wonder that is the grand canyon. I am told some parents are disconcerted, believing all principals should be in the TNT mold, but I share the belief that his heartfelt commitment to the nurturing of the children coupled with his openness to try new approaches will stand us in excellent stead in the years to come.

Areas for Development
Homework: when something emerges as a pattern that is disrupting the harmony of the student – pupil relationship, it is clearly and area for development. Both on my previous visit and at the present time, I have encountered the teachers' frustrations that many of the children simply ignore the homework they are given. Of course I can hear the choruses of ''twas ever thus' from teachers and former pupils, but having personally witnessed the extent to which a lack of application from one or two students can hold up the whole class, coupled with my aforementioned misgivings about the curriculum, I feel some way needs to be found to incentivise the children to commit to their studies outside of the classroom. Use of physical force, whilst socially ingrained, nevertheless dehumanises student and teacher, demotivating if anything. Sorry to sound like a broken record, but if a way could be found to initiate afterschool clubs, one could adopt the
approach of Coach Carter and other such examples in requiring students to achieve certain academic minimums before participation in sporting or creative activities is permitted.

If such an approach were to be adopted, there would certainly be some preliminary work in developing the team unity of the teachers and their awareness of their role beyond that of teacher. I was discussing this with the principal the other day. If the school is an onion, the teachers seem too content to know only their layer of it, rather than seeking to gain a sense of the plant as a whole. To use another unwieldy and overly verbose metaphor, as is my wont…The teachers are the wood from which our ship is fashioned. At the moment, they have taken on board only that they are a number of planks of wood, without grasping that they are the very fabric of our survival, and that collectively they are wrought into a peerless vessel. Theirs is a worrying tendency to focus on the potential leaks of others and on the colour of the sails (whether the teachers should wear uniform), or what varnish should swab the decks, without taking a moment to consider the
direction of the winds or our intended destination. Until we can lift their gazes to the broad seas upon which we sail, until we can germinate in them the understanding that theirs is no role of mere teacher, but of pioneering explorer and soul activist, until we can glean their wisdom of local weather patterns, swift currents and dangers of the deep, our vessel will progress with only a limited rudder and in ever present danger of being capsized by a sudden storm.

Finally, it is my opinion that no school can serve its pupils optimally without providing opportunities in sports, music, theatre and other creative arts. Ultimately, an invention that could freeze time for a couple of hours each day would be ideal. We'd even be willing to try untested prototypes of such contraptions…any offers? No? In that case, we must use our collective brilliance and problem solving skills to create available time where there appears to be none. There are certain rays of hope dimly perceptible through the clouds of intransigent tradition. One is the upsurge in X-Factor type TV programs here in India, such as Dance Premier League and Indian Idol. Whilst I would rather cheese grate my hands, arms and face to bloody stumps than sit through a series of such programs, the fact remains that they legitimise creative arts in a way that our words and affirmations never could, making the career paths of actress/singer/dancer bordering on
acceptable, where before the only choices on offer would have been doctor/lawyer/engineer. Similarly, in the field of sports, the meteoric rise of cricket's Twenty20 format and its ability to earn big quickly, suggests the possibility of a similar rise in the popularity of sportsman as a career choice and in its parental acceptability, provided the students have sufficient schooling to fall back on.

I hope this initial missive gives a clearer idea of the direction this blog is to take, and of the soil we have at present and the challenges faced in trying to till it as best we can.

I welcome any questions, and can be reached at GeorgeJDH@yahoo.com, or preferably by txt on 0091999698354

Much love.
George.
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