Shree Krisnna Janmaashtami

Today is a very auspicious day for Hindus. This is the day (at around midnight) when Lord Shree Mahaa Vishnu took avataar as Shree Krishna in Dwaapara Yuga. I'll write more about it later when I find time and leave you for the time being, with Shree Krishna Janmaashtami Greetings.  

Today there were two TV programs which I found interesting. The first one was about African restaurants in Australia; it contained a lot of interesting information about the diverse spectrum of food items in Ethiopia, Ghana etc. Ethiopian coffee and `Injera' (Ethiopian pancake) took me on a nostalgic journey to the Horn of Africa, down my memory lane. The second program was BBC's `Fast track'; it featured Vietnam (culture and traditions of which are somewhat similar to that of Cambodia). Such programs are not only interesting but also educative,    

World of contrasts

Today we seem to live in a world of significant contrasts. This morning two very contrasting news reports caught my attention: one was how most of our private K-12 schools function and the other was how a good person and his mother serve children in the orphanages. (Any honest school education professional knows the level of corruption, nepotism etc in most private schools in India. However there are very good private schools as well, but their number seems to be too small). I tried to provide a link to the second news report mentioned above, but I can't, as I am unable to access it from the news items list on the newspaper's webpages (This shows how user friendly our newspapers are!)       

Since this morning, I have been seeing ads at many places in my blog posts, though I never worked on my blog to add ads.  (When using IE instead of Google Chrome, I don't come across this problem. I have communicated via Google help team with a hope to get this problem sorted out. I am not sure as to whether the problem is with my browser settings or the computer system. Besides, according to the virus scan report, my PC is alright. I'm trying to resolve the issue with help of a qualified technician).   As this is something totally unexpected, I request all readers of my blog to ignore these ads.Thanks.

School mapping

Whether it is `No Child Left Behind' in the U.S. or `Child Friendly Schools' Policy in many countries of the world, national governments seem to hope that all children are enrolled in schools. In countries with rural populations, achieving this aim becomes difficult due to economic and geographic constraints, which can be solved.

Any experienced education professional would know that the first step in handling the issue is to develop an effective, contextually relevant school mapping policy. It is important not only to develop a clear and transparent policy but also monitor its implementation at all levels so that the program is sustainable and economically viable to the main beneficiaries: children and their parents. (The saying `Well begun is half done' may probably be very applicable in this context). 

Last month, there was a novel initiative in New Zealand in this direction. Let me leave you with the related news paper report which you may find thought provoking.    

Though most K-12 teachers and school principals know the problems associated with running schools effectively, they cannot do any thing about it, as some of these problems (for instance heavily quantity oriented curriculum and parental obsession for their children's `first rank') are beyond their control.

Added to these, are problems due to school managements. Well, I do not certainly say that all schools are mismanaged. Although there are several excellent K-12 schools and school systems in India, these seem to be a minority, if we go by media reports.

From my own experience as school principal, I think that it is very important to have good stakeholder relationship in school systems not only between teachers, parents and children, but also between school managements and principals. It was interesting for me to read a news item this morning in an Auckland (New Zealand) based newspaper. 

It is very important that school teachers and principals are given due consideration in decision making processes and their points of view recognized in all areas of school education.   

It was nice to hear from two of my best friends in the past week. These two gentlemen are a generation apart by age and worked with me in different periods of time. One of them is Jos. He and I taught at a school in Bhutan from 1978 to 1981. We are nearly of the same age. The other is Sreejith. He is a brilliant young flash programmer in his late '20s (or early '30s). He and I worked in an e-learning Company in Madras a few years back. Today is Sreejith's birthday. 

Wish you a very happy birthday and many happy returns of the day, Sreejith.

Science in a social context: Speeding train and centripetal force

Educationists all over the world agree that basic education is important to all people. It is reflected in K-12 school systems that include core sciences and social sciences across the curriculum. It is also generally agreed that not only professionals taking up scientific or technical careers but also skilled and semi-skilled workforce needs to be well versed in basic science concepts and their practical applications that are useful to communities. If we teach the applicability aspect of textbook concepts effectively to students in K-12, it is possible that they become scientifically literate.

Day before yesterday there was a newspaper report about an accident due to derailment of a high speed train in Spain. In middle school physics, we come across a concept known as `centripetal force'. This force acts on all objects that travel in curved paths. The force increases when the object's mass or square of its velocity increases. In this accident, the velocity seems to have doubled. This means that the square of the velocity has increased four fold. This means an enormous increase in the centripetal force which would have probably derailed the train as illustrated in this example.  

I think that it is important not only to learn textbook concepts but also analyse their application aspects and use them for the benefit of communities. It is good if people in responsible positions such as the driver of this train understand basic science concepts and apply their knowledge to avert accidents.

Nearly 30 years back, there was an interesting science curricular project in the UK known as `Science In a Social Context' (popularly known as SISCON) that worked with applicability aspects of textbook science concepts.

If I were still teaching Physics in a high school today, I would have asked my students to discuss the news report from their physics point of view.

I share a viewpoint shared by most people in our country (India): Though we have law and order rules and regulations on paper, in reality our country remains to be one of those topping the list of corrupt countries if we go by authentic multinational sources of information. Well, every community has good and evil people and every country is corrupt to some extent. The density of corrupt people and corrupt organisations in a country (or in any community for that matter) makes all the difference.

I was recruited by a Delhi based K-12 Educational Software Company (with its Main Office in the US) last September as Curriculum Specialist on a reasonably decent salary and perks (which I demanded) and worked as hard as possible and to the best of my knowledge and abilities (even on Sundays). I was provided with a proper written Agreement between me and the Company. 

But, after working for several months, communication channels between me and the MD of the Company (to whom I reported on almost daily basis via Skype) ceased. Moreover, the Company didn't pay my salary for a few months (Rs 40 000 per month is not a small amount).

I communicated to my employer over phone, by email as well as via Skype but never received any response. One fine morning the Company removed its presence from the World Wide Web. 

I communicated to all officials concerned explaining what happened and seeking justice. However none of them including Delhi Police, have responded.

I think that our law and order agencies including Police and Justice Departments should strive to implement law and order strictly in practice.

History TV18 and The Eagles

On past Friday and Saturday, History TV18 telecast a 2 episodes show on `The Eagles', one of the most famous rock music bands of the '70s and '80s. I'm sure it would have brought back acoustic memories of `Wood Stock' reflecting psychedelic lighting, flamboyant musicians and electric guitars to numerous people of my age group who were in their 20s and 30s then. That was a time when hippie cult was popular among youngsters in general and drug addicted guys and gals in particular, with many of them turning towards spirituality. Probably that was the time when West to East migration was at its maximum.

I was so interested in the band's music that I used some of their songs with good lyrics in my ESL classes.         

As I write this post, though my Googling `The Eagles' isn't difficult, downloading their videos or songs certainly is (due to the limited digital capability of my humble notebook).

As all Western rock music fans would know, it is not uncommon to find numerous bands performing not only their own songs but also those by popular bands such as The Eagles. Let me leave you with a rendering of `Hotel California' (which propelled The Eagles to popularity) by one such rock band.