Be a friend and guide
One of the purest forms of relationships in the world is that between friends. You can share your inner most thoughts and secrets only with friends. Therefore, when you first meet your class, approach them as a friend. Although your primary role is that of a guide you should also be a friend to the children for only then will you be able mix with them and learn about what problems and difficulties they face. An authoritative teacher will only instill fear in the children who will hold back from expressing themselves.

The author is a teacher in Social Science at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Uttar Pradesh. He can be contacted at hare_321ku@rediffmail.com.

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The only learning which significantly influences behaviour is self-discovered, self- appropriated learning.
– Carl Rogers

Self-directed learning is often considered the ultimate goal of education. Knowing how to learn is necessary. The most important skill for today’s fast changing workplace is skill in reflection. The highly motivated, self-directed learner can approach his/her workplace as a classroom where he can learn and succeed in his/her chosen profession. This article highlights some of these principles as they apply to schools and to life.

During childhood, we are naturally inquisitive. For instance, children ask parents many questions and try to learn new things. What happens to this inquisitiveness after they join school? Do we discourage/encourage self-directed learning? Do we train our teachers to teach our children to become self-learners? Do our schools and education boards promote a curriculum that fosters this kind of learning? The answer to most of these questions is in the negative. A fact that we can all agree upon is that our schools should encourage self-directed learning. All educators must understand, what is important is not the age, but the learner’s situation. In fact, the learners “need to know” that self-directing capacity increases steadily during childhood and rapidly during adolescence. Schools can foster the development of learners’ skills through enquiry-based teaching. Encouraging self-direction does not mean giving learners total control and responsibility but rather providing opportunities to facilitate independence for lifelong learning.

The author is the Vice Principal of Dhruv Academy, Sangamner, Maharashtra. He can be reached at smartteacher@rediffmail.com.

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The early teen and pre-teen years are an extraordinary period of our human development; psychological, physical and emotional changes cause turbulence in the minds of adolescents. The only other time we grow as much physically, emotionally, and intellectually is from ages zero to two. Early adolescence is much more than growing taller and calling friends on the phone to discuss a variety of issues. Yes, during this time friends start becoming more important and s/he starts paying greater attention to her/his looks. The ways we deal with conflict, relationships, and personal development as adults have direct connections to specific experiences we had between the ages of 10 and 14. As teachers, we can create a very positive future, if we provide careful and compassionate experiences, for today’s young adolescents.

The author is principal, Pallavi Model School, Secunderabad. She can be reached at
manjugupta09@hotmail.com.

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You will find my ‘A-Z of classroom management and relationships’ on the opposite page. This is a list of tips which I use on teacher training courses to help trainees to manage their classrooms and to build productive classroom relationships with their students. In CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) courses, which usually last around four to six weeks, I present the list in one of the early sessions of the course after an input session on teacher/learner styles and after the trainees have taught their first lessons.

Having said that, I see no reason why it could not be used for or by more experienced teachers as some kind of revision, reference or in-service teacher training tool. I think it also has potential to be used for observation purposes, perhaps preceding or following a continuing professional development tutorial. Trainers could focus on a different letter or group of letters for individual observations/teachers: ‘Today we’re going to be looking at letters A to E or letters BRIAN (a BRIAN lesson).’ The choice of letters could be made by the observer or by the observee.

An A-Z of classroom management and relationships

Simon Brown has taught in France, Spain and the UK< and he is now a freelance teacher, CELTA tutor/trainer and assessor, he is interested in the welfare and motivation of CELTA candidates as they progress through their intensive training, and he is an enthusiastic advocate to teachers as humanists rather than linguistic technicians. He can be reached at snickolas2002@yahoo.co.uk

This article has been reprinted from English Teaching Professional, India with permission of Keyways Publishing UK, Macmillan Publishers India Pvt Ltd and the British Council. For information about how to subscribe to this magazine, please contact Macmillan Publishers India Ltd, 2/10, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002
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