Managing Social Consciousness in Schools
Dr. Nirmala Krishnan
Principal, Mahindra World School, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
April 29, 2016 the morning newspaper had flashed – Visually challenged 38-year-old K. Suguna, is on her way to becoming a teacher at Mahindra World School.
This has been a life transforming experience for Suguna and her family. It also led to many more interviews for Suguna and the school. Out of all this transpired a question – What led to such a normal human behaviour to become much talked about News?
Is it a lack of Social Consciousness? Social Consciousness is defined by Wikipedia as – Consciousness shared by individuals within a society. It essentially means to be conscious or aware of the problems within a society or community.
Problems are galore in our lives and in society. A personal problem is our prerogative, what about problems in society? Well it’s the responsibility of few who connect to them. Who are these few? They are people who either are the victims or have experienced it very closely. Being a victim is beyond our control, however, experiencing it closely to connect to these problems can be facilitated. Who will facilitate this? To start with, it is initiated in family, followed by Schools, Universities and Work places. To narrow down to our context on how are schools effective in Managing Social Consciousness with just one example directly out of their pages to bring in relevance. Each school experiences many such pleasurable moments of revelation for students and teachers each day as they focus on Social Consciousness as an integral part of their planning in line with their vision and mission of the school.
Individual Loyalty & Social Loyalty
Loyalty is subjective. Individual loyalty is formed due to personal experiences and is subjective where as Social loyalty is based on common beliefs or is inspired belief of one person causing ripple effect. Celebrating appreciation week in the first week of September describes both. First five days of September are allocated to appreciating different people who connect to us everyday. Day 1 – Drivers of the school who drive children safe to school; Day 2 – Newspaper boy, Milkman, House maid & Office assistant; Day 3- Parents Day; 4- Housekeeping, Security and Garden people in school; Day 5 – Teachers’ Day. As students engage in pot luck and interaction with these important stakeholders in their environment their individual loyalty is honed and Social loyalty is further enhanced leading to life skills to handle real life situations with a lot of respect for people they interact with each day as they grow up.
Compassion as a virtue, collaboration as a practice
Compassion for our near and dear ones is learnt from our elders and family. What about compassion for people from less fortunate circumstances? Can there be an effort to collaborate with them for a common cause which becomes a practice?
A regular practice is to raise funds for this cause from a fair which is good enough. Can we think beyond? Yes, how about showing our compassion through collaborating at student as well as teacher level? Students engage children in their neighbourhood who do not make it to school to educate them on a daily basis. Teachers spend half hour a day over phone speaking with teachers of other schools where they find it difficult to communicate in English. Both students and teachers have exemplified compassion as a virtue and collaboration as a practice.
Reaching out as a mindset
Every school engages in so many activities for students of their own school. How about activities where students of differently abled schools are invited to participate along with students of our own school in annual sports day? When a student from our school is blind folded and is led by a student who is hearing and speech impaired of other school, the outcome is lifelong learning. This brings about a complete change in mindset for the students when they accept the differently abled as very similar to themselves, learn that they are equally abled and may be better than them in many other ways. This makes them humble. A shift in mind set is inevitable. Teachers who are engaged in facilitating this programme also undergo shift in their mindset and acceptance is evident in their behaviour in school. Reaching out builds a positive mindset for the whole school.
Collective ownership of society
School is a micro eco-system which plays a key role in transforming society. Thus collective ownership of society is in the ambit of a school. Every event/programme planned in the school can be aligned to this thought which eventually grows into a culture of the school. The four ethos practiced in the school causes ripple effect in their respective home and extends into the society.
Four ethos:
- Respect for myself and others.
- Excellence as a habit – I am better today than yesterday – Compete with oneself.
- Innovation everyday – Alternative thinking in each activity – School with no bell.
- Integrity as a way of life –Doing the right thing when no one is watching you. The school follows invigilator free examinations
The four ethos when practiced every day in every way through conscious planning, the collective ownership of society emerges as an outcome. Small gestures like employing a differently abled person in the school opens everyone’s heart and communicates about the culture of a school to all its stake holders. This is Managing Social Consciousness in its pure form experienced by students and faculty in their real life scenarios. They have better connect to these real life examples.
The trend today in society depicting lack of Social Consciousness is constructively addressed by many schools as we raise students with Social consciousness and consider this as our core responsibility. This thought connects well with that of John Dewey who observed in his 1987 article,‘My Pedagogic Creed’ (1897).‘Education,’ Dewey wrote, is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness: and….the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction.’ In most of his writings: The School and Society (1900), The Child and the Curriculum (1902), Democracy and Education (1916) and Experience and Education (1938), Dewey continually argues that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place2.
Dr. Nirmala Krishnan is Principal of Mahindra World School, Chennai. Having completed her M.Phil in English Literature, Leadership training at IIM, Ahmedabad, Post Graduation in Guidance and Counseling, B.Ed., she has worked in various capacities including Academic Head, Counselor and Soft skill Trainer .She is the recipient of numerous awards that include National Award for Education, Innovative Idea Award and Fellowship in Innovation in Education.