Tuesday 15 October 2013

UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS

UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS 




Barring few exceptions, teachers do not treat students as their customers. However, if they change their view and treat them as customers, it can help in understanding students better and subsequently modify inputs in and outside classroom. Teaching  cannot be mass customized; however post lecture interaction, discussions, counseling can be made more meaningful if psyche of student community is understood. This is an important issue because challenges faced by teachers at school, college and at doctoral level are different. In school, class control is crucial whereas at postgraduate level, arresting attention of students after 30 minutes is critical.
Students (at different levels of education) are divided into four categories- on knowledge base and verbal/ non-verbal interaction in class. Their characteristics and behavioral symptoms are described. There may be overlap of symptoms across categories. Following pyramid shall make my point clear:-
1-Knowledgable + Silent (Genius): - Few teachers are fortunate to have taught students from this category (Exceptions- prestigious institutions such as IIT/IIM/Medical colleges). Reason being- they are very small in number. They are genius and not merely brilliant!  Identifying them at school and grooming then is crucial. Teachers take pride in having such student under them and refer his name publicly at first opportunity.
They are very polite and occupy middle bench in class. They have dish antenna and get signals from various quarters on different topics. Some teachers get nervous due to sheer presence of such students in class.
Normally they do not ask questions in class. If teacher has forgotten a point or gone wrong while explaining topic, they will tell him/her after class. Atmosphere in school or college does not have any negative impact on them.
 They solve Break Even Point problem to fourth decimal and show graphically final solution.  They bring those elements in answers which even teacher does not know. They will not solve question with negative marking in surprise quiz if not sure of answer. They do not compare themselves with other students from same school or college. They participate in on line essay or other competition at global level. They are publicity shy and are passive members in social functions such as school gathering/cultural festival in college (exception-competition related to academics or general knowledge). No statistics to prove but only general observation. Boys outnumber girls in this category.

2--knowledgeable + Vocal (Brilliant): - They are more in number compared to genius students. Obviously, they are intellectually few steps down compared to the genius but try to reach top with sheer hard work. They are ambitious; use multiple sources for knowledge and information gathering. They, like the genius, have dish antenna to receive signals. They are regular readers of newspapers, magazines such as India Today, Reader’s Digest and are current on happenings around world. They occupy first benches in class and in spite of criticism from colleagues; they ask questions to teacher or add value to what teacher has said. If student is a boy, his questioning to teacher in some cases is treated by his fellow colleagues as a tact to impress  girl students in class.
They are normally convent educated, fluent in English+ one foreign language,  from good family background and are focused on their goals. They may change school/college or even University if they find atmosphere not competitive enough. Teachers use their services during various programs as anchor, for welcoming guests and during interaction with external agencies such as inspection teams.  Before using their services, ego massage is necessary. They actively participate in science exhibitions at school level. They are  well connected to friends in other schools and colleges and are aware of academic and non-academic activities there. If school arranges international tour, they always volunteer first.
Girl from this category tries to find out (through phone call) from her friend a day before examination which topics she is studying. No statistics to prove but general observation – girls outnumber boys in this category.


3-Ignorant + Vocal (Impressionist): - They are not knowledgeable but are vocal in class. They have in-built antenna due to which they have I KNOW IT ALL attitude. They have more nuisance value because discussion related to their questions takes classroom nowhere. They very well know that aggression is the best way of defense and hence ask question to teacher before he asks. There is no clear cut purpose behind asking question except for making presence felt in class.  In case of co-education, their purpose behind asking question to teacher may be to impress fellow girl students. They have a feeling that examiner has done injustice to them in examination and demand revaluation of answer sheet if facility is available.
They do multiple activities apart from study and hence are relatively poor performers in academics. They are up to date on technology and use it for homework, project and other academic activities.
When they participate in group discussion, they say -I fully agree but also ask other participants their opinion. Their participation has no substance. They are under impression that if they take initiative to open group discussion, panelists are impressed and evaluate favorably.
If attendance is compulsory, they help absentee friend by proxy. If teacher does not cover particular topic, they are vocal and blame teacher. If valuation of answer sheet is done internally, they argue with teacher and ask for more marks even though their answer is not comprehensive. If teacher exceeds his time while teaching, they tell him to stop immediately.
If teacher does not fix particular order while taking individual quiz, they motivate others to go first and prefer to face oral quiz in last. Their logic is- by the fag end of the day; teacher is tired and may ask few/repeat/simple questions.
4- Ignorant + Silent (Spectator): - They form large number in class (not referring to school or college, which admits only brilliant students). They are silent spectators who are interested in attendance, which may affect their grades. Reason for their silence can vary from sheer indifference, earlier failures, priorities back home, parental pressure, comparison with siblings, to family issues at other extreme. They have simple (five-element) antenna.
They are vocal on issues related to extracurricular activities. Earlier, they used to take help of knowledgeable students. However, now with Google search, they are on their own. “Why me” is the reaction on their face if teacher asks question. They do not believe in asking questions to teacher during classroom interaction. They carefully look at icons on laptop of teacher. Nevertheless, once presentation starts, they switch off mentally.They are passive during group work. In institutes with residential accommodation compulsory, they can be seen half-asleep in first session and  alert in last session. If teacher decides to shows video, they insist that lights in class should be put off. While doing individual project work, they outsource it to juniors, friends, family members, relatives or in extreme cases to service providers (by paying money). They kill time in class by solving puzzles in notebook, or X and 0 game, graffiti on benches, drawing caricature of teacher etc.
In case of practical examination laboratory, they establish good contacts with attendants. If they participate in group discussion, only sentence they normally speak is – Yes. I agree! They are active during field trips and have good contacts with sponsors if social events are organized. They expect that teacher should be sympathetic while evaluating them and give some concession because they brought sponsorship for cultural event.
Teacher should bring them in mainstream and best way is to ask open-ended questions.
To conclude, students from either school or colleges show some traits in and outside classroom. Once teachers understand them, handling becomes easier.

Thursday 10 October 2013

CUP OF COFFEE ON THE WALL & ART OF GIVING



              CUP OF COFFEE ON THE WALL & ART OF GIVING
The (true) story related to cup of coffee on the wall goes like this. A man enters coffee shop and orders saying “Two cups of coffee, one of them on the wall”. He is served with one coffee and he pays for two and leaves the coffee shop. Immediately, waiter pastes piece of paper on the wall saying “A cup of coffee”.  After some time one poor man enters shop apart from other regular customers. He looks at wall and orders- One cup of coffee from wall. Waiter serves coffee to this man with dignity who drinks coffee and leaves without paying. The waiter takes off piece of paper from wall and throws in dustbin. Welcome to the fine art of giving!
A busy traffic signal in Nagpur/Bhopal or for that matter any Mini-metro - A luxury car stops at signal and waits for 80 seconds for green. Beggar child approaches car and knocks window near driver’s seat.  Lady driver of car opens window and quickly closes down without parting any money. Conversation starts among bicycle and scooter riders nearby on how miser owner of car is! Signal gets green and all disperse to various directions.
How on this earth can anybody on basis of one incident such as this stamp her as miser? There are donors in our society who donate silently, who do not prefer to give any money to beggars.  The difference lies in - some do it in retail while few others do in wholesale, some in organized manner while others at impulse! There are those who make noise while giving and others who keep silent and make it a point not to let others know what they are doing for the society. Donor may be individual, family, organization, or even a country.
Some of us have myopic view on donation and confine it to only money (cash). However, donation today takes many forms, sizes and shapes. Donation can of pair of eyes or whole body after death. Others donate blood, essential items such as food, and medicines in case of natural calamities. Volunteers donate time while doing social work. Musical program by famous artist to generate fund for NGO, appeal by Shah Rukh Khan for donation & request to buy a brick at Rs. 1,000 to build cancer hospital at Kolkata also fall under category of donation.
Way back in 2003, after earthquake in Gujarat, Israel, apart from other countries offered help. The unique feature was- Their rescue team had asked only for land to put their tents on. They brought even drinking water. They came, helped in their own way and went back quietly after they thought purpose for which they came was served well by rescue team.
 Indian philosophy says that donation is important but equally significant is receiver – who should deserve one.  
Following are some observations and reservations regarding donation:-
1-      We need to change perception that only rich donate. Middle classes, even Poor also donate; the difference is only in amount. On the contrary, the value of his (poor person’s) donation is much higher considering his net disposable income and share of that income going to donation.
2-      Purpose behind donation is equally important. Some donate to get concession in income tax (nothing wrong there!) while few others donate to fulfill wishes of diseased ones. Some donate at impulse after reading news item about poor child in need of help for open-heart surgery.  Some out of fear – of Lord Saturn.  Ulterior High Net Worth Individuals donate to gain status in society, some to gain Punya, few donate because they do not know what to do with surplus money. Complications arise in eye/body donation and purpose is defeated, unless family members are mentally prepared and informed in advance by donor.

3-      Frequency of donation is associated with quantity and to profession donor is associated. Those with fixed income (salary) have different kind of psyche than that of businesspersons who have variable income. Those who believe in luck and God donate generously but in wholesale. In nutshell, salaried income donors show more predictable behavior compared to businesspersons.
4-      Some do not believe in retail donation- to beggars. They normally donate to NGOs, educational institutes, even to their Alma Matter.
5-      Public memory is short; public memory is shorter in natural calamities. Media highlights places where maximum casualties occur. It is not this epicenter, which requires maximum help! The reason being- there is hardly any survivor there. The real place where help is needed is- lot of damage to infrastructure but human beings survive. Donors and NGOs rush for help to epicenter. After initial hype is over, nobody bothers for reconstruction. Real help is required after initial shock is over and survivors start their regular routine.
6-      Philosophy of some donors is- donate and forget! On the contrary, if donation is big, careful scrutiny should be done on how money is going to be utilized. This is done by corporate and by few individuals.  NRIs donating to NGOs in India insist on regular report on progress of project
7-      Not all of us are borne donors as mythological character – KARN in Mahabharata. Some of us are misers to core; others cannot afford to donate because they find it difficult to meet two ends. However, there are cases, where one life-changing event transforms ordinary person to donor. Normally these incidents are tragic and they change context of propose of living of individual. Rajshree Parmar Foundation in Pune is an example to prove the point. Visit to TATA cancer hospital to meet relative, long wait outside morgue in public hospital to take delivery of dead body of student who committed suicide, guilt in mind of not helping others in past- all can change attitude to donation.
8-      There is niche of donors who make it a point not to donate to temples. They know how offerings such as coconut, garlands are quickly recycled and can be seen in retail outlets outside temple after two hours. They instead donate to NGOs.
9  -      Some donors donate out of love and few out of guilt. Many expats who have settled in USA or Europe do not forget their motherland-India. They have feeling that they cannot do much –being away from India. Their donation has a multiplier effect due to dollar rupee rate.
10-   Some receivers of donation are on autopilot in sense there are many donors ready to help them. The reason being their social work gets lot of publicity. However, few other social workers are publicity shy. They need real help.
11-   Some donors ask the receiver to create a chain. This is found in case of scholarship to needy. When receiver later on does well in life, he is expected to help needy in similar way.
12-   In case of calamity- what to donate is important. Many have an attitude to clear unwanted things from their homes. We see photos of kids, who survived Tsunami, jumping on heap of clothes in newspapers and other media.
13-   Giving fish is important or teaching fishing is a matter of debate. Answer to this question is simple and complex both. In case of natural calamity- giving fish and in other cases teaching fishing!
14-   Globalization has helped to spread the word and internet is used for on line appeal.
15-   There have been cases where few announce donation in public meetings and later on back track. In spite of follow up, they do not fulfill the promise made earlier.
To conclude, donor has to take precaution that resources donated by him or by his organization are properly utilized for the needy or for general well being of society. Equally responsible is receiver who needs to utilize donation(wholesale) for the specified purpose.


Monday 30 September 2013

MANAGING THE BETTER HALF (WIFE)



Thousands of pages are written, hundreds of jokes do round on managing wife and one more article on same subject? A different route is taken to discuss this delicate issue.
First thing first! There is no ONE best way of managing the better half! Your partner may be homemaker or working person. As husband, you have to find out your own unique way of managing. Unlearning is first step in this direction! Forget those Hindi film formula of pleasing wife by pampering her brother or gifting saree on her birthday! Forget those generalizations that you can bring peace in home by cleaning drawing room once in year on Sunday or by trying to enforce peace treaty between saas-bahu.
 Following points might be of some help.
1-Appreciate her role in home which is 24 X 7 x 365. Whether she is homemaker or working housewife, she is not fully free from cooking assignment. Make sure she gets casual leave from this JOB. Question is how you do it. One solution is- you do the cooking once a while. Nevertheless, if you do not possess this talent, other option is simpler. Make sure both of you respect all invitations received for lunch or dinner and attend all marriage receptions, housewarming parties, birthday bash and so on. However, this should be done with diplomacy and care. Your logic while convincing her should be- if we do not  attend their function, they will not attend our functions in future! This is a win-win situation, which enhances your social quotient and frees her from routine cooking. Using dial for food or bringing dishes from restaurant should be an exception than rule.
2- Not quickly attending to repair/ breakdown complaints is common with majority of husbands. But you must have dozen of creative excuses for not doing job quickly. If cooler is not in operation in spite of summer heat is on; your logic should be- let kids be tough to face summer. Also, criticize those neighbors, who are using coolers for excessive usage of water. At no point of time should she feel that you are unwilling to do job. Do not put conditions, as I shall do it only after I get breakfast. Say- simply- I will do it after breakfast!
3- Creation of atmosphere is crucial before you announce your important plan or reveal hidden agenda. If you can get her scooter or car serviced when she is out of town for day or two and surprise her; there is every likelihood that your proposal of gathering of friends on holiday will be accepted without much resistance. Only issue is- you should not tell her about servicing job and secondly she should realize difference while driving vehicle! Alternatively, you will have to find your own unique way (quick replacement of second empty LPG cylinder, using your contacts to get her friends ADHAAR card etc).
4-Disagree in an agreeable manner- Use YES BUT transaction. Your communication should start with sentence- I fully agree with what you said BUT…….! This helps to reduce friction and by the time, she realizes what you wanted to say, you already got approval from her.
5- Never disclose that you use ECS facility to make payment of various bills. She may argue that you should use drop box facility to save time. You may actually be doing it but do not disclose this; tell her about risks involved (perceived) in doing so. This suggests that large part of your time is spent on home-related work, which you actually can utilize for your own recreation. The key lies in describing how long the queue was!
6-If you are accompanying her to her friend’s place, which has a pet such as dog or cat; remember name of pet. Do not sound foolish by saying – keep your dog at a distance! Dog or cat is not animal here; it is their family member.
7- Ensure she has her own quality time to be spent on hobbies or entertainment. Pursue her to go for  musical program or painting exhibition with her friends /relatives. Your own program of rummy or party with friends can coincide with it. Ensure that she has reached destination and program is about to start by calling her on mobile. Day and time is crucial. Convince her to go on Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon. Your argument should be- majority goes to movies during these timings and hence she can enjoy at leisurely pace with no crowd at such places.
8- Strike delicate balance between complete surrender and surprise aggression. Surrender should normally be in front of key member such as kid or her sister. Aggression should be occasional and with specific purpose to be achieved. Also, note that surrender should be on minor issues or issues unconnected to family (North Versus South Korea) and aggression should be on critical factors.
9- Reacquire habit of faking attention! She will never tolerate that while an important point is raised by her, you are watching Formula One race which in no way is going to be affecting you immediately. Best way is ask her to repeat point and nod occasionally.
10- You need to spend some QUALITY time with her. The problem is difference between perceptions of quality. If you are watching serials with her in which you are least interested; ask questions such as –Will Mihir come back or What Anandi should do- you have won battle half way. If you take a break for smoking during commercial break in these serials and then come back; ask question- what happened to those characters during this time?
11-Be aware of J factor which is omnipresent and accordingly modify your communication. You can always praise her friend but utmost precaution should be taken and praise should come with a Rider.
 If salt is in excess in food; do not blame her. Blame manufacturer, which in your opinion is not consistent in maintaining quality. If food is half cooked; your mantra should be – ANNA HE PURNA BRAMHA! Food is God!
12- Develop your own secret treasure that includes items needed in emergency but not normally found in home on occasions. They include matchbox, Moov, gift envelope, cellophane tape, band-aid, one rupee coins to be put in gift envelope, mini pencil cells used in remote of T V, revenue stamps, staple pins and so on. Producing these items in front of her like Aladin on Sunday evening or on day when all shops are closed due to strike will bring brownie points to you.
13-Respect her suspicious nature and try to be as proactive as you can. If a friend has brought for your family chocolates from Europe, ensure you ask him to give original carry bag. Secondary package of Harrods (U K) or Galleries Lafayette (Paris) will remove any doubt in her mind. Do not remove the price tag from dress material or saree which you have bought for her.
14-Occasionally declare in front of her how forgetful or ignorant you are. However, be careful. Do not overdo it; else, she will treat it as 100% truth.
15-Remember one thing-TIME SAVING DEVICES IN KITCHEN NEVER SAVE TIME. Nevertheless, do not try to convince her directly. It will have boomerang effect. Take indirect route. Chutney made in traditional way is more tasty should be your mantra. Rays from microwave are not good for health should be your instant reaction.
If you are disappointed with article because it does not talk of mother in law or her brother or her lack of humor: sorry! The purpose was not to take beaten path but venture into unknown track.