1. Historical Context 1987 Abacus School in Chennai 1995 CWC & PRIs: Working children & School-going; in Udipi, Bellary & Sirisi Dist, Karnataka: 60 panchayats 2001 PD for Teacher Educators, DIET Faculty, BRCs, Teachers:TN 2003 -06 ABL Pilot in CoC 2007-08 ABL Scaled to state

2. Discovering the Child's Potential ………………….. ABL in the Early Years Amukta Mahapatra SchoolScape A childhood, good or bad, lasts a lifetime…

3. PPP: Sriramcharan Trust CMTC & Corporation of Chennai

4. KG sections in Corporation of Chennai: Teachers 2007-08: Pilot with CMTC with 6 teachers trained (UNICEF); 6 classrooms in 2 schools 2008-09: 61 Teachers trained (Rotary Club, Madras East); Materials for 5 classrooms (Kalvi Trust) 2010-11: Rest of 29 trained www.cmtcindia.org

5. Training & Mentoring

6. Sriramcharan Trust 27 schools and balwadis, from 2005, now 950+ children Not only academic skills, but develop personality and citizenship Chose Montessori pedagogy and partnered with CMTC Social Audit 2011 – 2013 www. sriramacharan.org

7. Corporation of Chennai 30 schools, 96 teachers trained, material for all With 10 more announced, all schools with KGs are covered Sustainability in spite of changes in state govt & Corporation

8. Common Approach Not for ‘show and tell’ Systematic, quiet Towards long term benefits for children and community Education as ‘Assisstance to Life’

9. Feedback from Parents: Quoted Children are regular in their day-to-day work No stress in handling the children at home They are very particular in taking care of their physical cleanliness Children share their things and have harmony with their peer group A SchoolScape

10. Contd - Feedback from Parents Their spoken skills have evolved with natural respect for others Usage of English words has increased They narrate all stories and sing songs at home and make us happy A SchoolScape

11. Pedagogical Framework SchoolScape

12. Child’s Development: three circles of influence universal laws of human nature social context child’s unique innate potential SchoolScape

13. The first factor of influence: child’s unique potential Heredity Genetic coding Innate nature SchoolScape

14. The second factor of influence: the social environment The child’s potential The social context: The family The community The School SchoolScape

15. The third factor of influence: the universal human tendencies SchoolScape

16. Human Tendencies What it is it that makes us human beings? What is common to all human beings? What is special about our species? What is the nature of human beings? SchoolScape

17. Universal tendencies of the human being relevant for learning The need to: Explore Orient Adapt to one’s environment Establish order Use and extend one’s intelligence Translate thought to practice Strive for perfection Communicate and relate SchoolScape

18. Stages of Development Children do not grow like a tree Needs at each stage? SchoolScape

19. Children Develop Like a Butterfly In stages with different needs at different times SchoolScape

20. Stages of a Butterfly Needs At Every Stage? SchoolScape

21. Child’s unique potential  Physical  Cognitive  Affective SchoolScape

22. Child’s unique potential: 0 - 6 yrs Physical  Manual dexterity to be achieved  Co-ordination of movement, intelligence, and will  Repetition of activities  Movements purposeful  Regular, nutritious food  Hygiene of face and hands and body functions  Activities around the house to use materials carefully  Variety of experiences for right and left hemispheres of brain SchoolScape

23. Child’s unique potential: 0 – 6 yrs Cognitive  Intellect reached indirectly through the senses, preparation of the mind via the senses  Enjoy slapstick, comedy, clowning  Centre of the universe  Matching, pairing, sorting, comparing, grading, sequencing  Where, What, and How are the recurring question in the child  Each situation experienced separately, e.g. home and school  Initiative  Sense of order: each has a place and a place for each  Coming to grips with the world, so real stories, incidents, events to be shared. A sense of wonder SchoolScape

24. Child’s unique potential: 0 – 6 yrs Affective  Builds trust / mistrust in oneself and in the environment  Autonomy  Does not need acclaim, only encouragement  Recognizes and accepts differences without judgments  Spontaneous expression of feelings  Individualistic  Around 3 years, needs social interaction beyond family  Happy with worlds of home and school  Learning graces of being of a group  Empathize with smaller children, animals etc.  Personality is established SchoolScape

25. Legs become important tools for exploration Hungers to establish interrelatedness, to generalize and abstract From self moves to interest in `others’ Industrious No tolerance for vagueness and uncertainties Critical period for imagination Knowledge, culture base is established Child’s Unique Potential: 6 – 12 yrs SchoolScape

26. Adolescence: 12 – 18 yrs A search for identity A struggle to make pro-active choices rather than negative choices The capacity to commit oneself to an ideology, a philosophy Searching for the ideal and the perfect, a life without blemishes Difficulty in locating one's strengths, a feeling of inadequacy Being neither `fish nor fowl’ SchoolScape

27. Classroom SchoolScape

28. Classroom Child’s potential SchoolScape

29. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment SchoolScape

30. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies SchoolScape

31. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies Pedagogy SchoolScape

32. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies Pedagogy Constitution of India SchoolScape

33. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies Pedagogy Constitution of India All these frames have to be aligned SchoolScape

34. Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies Pedagogy Constitution of India … not scattered ideas SchoolScape

35. To be aligned to impact the child, the school Classroom Child’s potential Child’s Environment Human tendencies Constitution of India SchoolScape

36. If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much. --Marian Wright Edelman SchoolScape

37. For Discussion: ©Amukta Mahapatra SchoolScape, Centre for Educators E-mail: schoolscape@yahoo.com SchoolScape