Rediscover the Joys of Reading

In this fast paced, wired world, is there still space for good old reading? Reading for the sheer joy of it. Do children love to read as much as they love to chat and post on facebook? To answer these questions, we have to move out of our comfort zone and take a peep into rural India. In places where children are deprived of their basic right to read.

In India, even in the remotest corner you can find a school, but that's the end of the story. There may be students, but no teachers. There may be classrooms, but no benches. Children in these schools have never come across good books that they can read and cherish. Even text books are not available to these kids.

In my earlier days when I worked in a non-formal education project, I have seen the thirst for knowledge among the kids of very poor families. They may not know how to read, but still they adore the pictures, they could relate to them and when the teacher narrates the stories from the book, she is a heaven sent blessing to the children. Whenever I used to visit the NFE centres in the fishing hamlets, I used to take Tamil books, comics, translated stories of Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens and leave it with the learners. The books became very popular that the adult learners in our centres started to fight with their kids to get hold of them!

I often marvelled at this thirst for knowlege, and wondered how we could ever quench this thirst.Recently, I came across an initiative with a very challenging title: "A Book in Every Child's Hand" now that is a gigantic vision, given the staggering size of India. However, when I heard Rohini Nilekani speak at the TEDx Gateway Mumbai 2012  partnered by Franklin Templeton Investments, I was inspired to note that in this day and age there are still few souls who want Every Child to enjoy the joys and experience the thrill of the winged words.

 "A Book in Every Child's Hand" has succeeded to a great extent in putting several million books in the hands of children who otherwise would never have the opportunity. The books are translated into most of the Indian languages. By putting the books on the open platform of Creative Commons, the organizers have literally opened up the flood gates of "Creative Collaboration" so much so that many of the Indian language books were translated into French, Spanish, German and other foreign languages! This highlights the universal appeal of this project.

You can listen to the inspiring story of putting books in the tender hands of every child and opening up a new world of hope and joy at this link: Rohini Nilekani. I am going to start digging out my books, fill up my backpack and visit the schools that I work with. I am sure you'd like to join as well. Believe me, the joy and satisfaction you get when a child comes in contact with her first book is unparalleled.

Essential Skills for CSR Manager

As in any Managerial position, interpersonal skills or people skills are very important in the professional life of CSR Managers. However there are certain skill-sets unique to the CSR Profession itself. As a CSR Manager, you are expected to work with two categories of people:

Managing People who have Passion and Managing People who have Power.

Managing People who have Passion:

As a CSR manager you will often interact with people who have passion, people who are not just doing a job, but doing something that they are passionate about. Volunteers, NGOs and other groups of people who are dedicated to a cause will come under this category. Their motivation is not money or power, but satisfaction and self-actualization and a deep sense of contributing to sustainable development.

I have come across, volunteers who with their sheer passion and dedication have really made my work all the more satisfying and fulfilling. These volunteers have night shifts (mostly in IT sector) sometimes stretching into the wee hours of next morning 3 or 4am. Still at 8 am sharp they will promptly turn up at a village 50 kms from the city! Their energy and passion is so powerful that to manage such energy levels you as a CSR Manager should share the same enthusiasm and motivation. In my experience, volunteers are mostly young people and unless you share the same vibes and passion as they do, you will not be able to 'connect'. Therefore, do equip yourself with the same vibes that moves generation Y in order to be their effective manager.

Secondly, you need to manage their enormous surge of enthusiasm, energy and motivation. Some of them could get emotionally charged up or some of them could just be frustrated because they are not getting the results as fast as they expected. The key here is to provide some sense of organization and streamline their enthusiasm so that their energies are channeled meaningully. I usually encourage them to take up small projects or break down major themes into “week sized” projects that they can tackle and contribute as per their skills.

Another important “Passion” sub-category are the NGO Partners. In your work as CSR Manager you have to explore, identify, nurture and develop Partnerships. NGOs with their work in the communities become a natural choice. Many of the NGOs have great passion for their work and take pride in what they do. You should respect that and tactfully work on that premise. For me working with NGOs gives me as much or even more satisfaction as working with volunteers. While volunteers with their raw passion just blow me away with their energy, I find the NGOs temper their passion with a deeper understanding of the communities they work with. It helps me to constantly update on the trends in community development and make me put the work I do in the proper perspective.

Naturally, a CSR manager who needs to earn their support must have the same knowledge (if not the experience) as the NGOs. This will make your interactions meaningful. In most cases, NGOs with their years of experience in the 'Field' try to look down on Corporates that undertake CSR activities. They sometimes feel that Corporates are trying to enter their domain without much understanding. Therefore, you as a CSR manager should equip yourself with the domain knowledge as the NGOs are working in. NGOs will then listen to you and lend their support. Otherwise, they tend to “hijack' the programs and run away with their agenda with the corporates not having any say in their choice of interventions.

Managing People who have Power

The other category of people are People who weild tremendous Power and Influence. They could be Government Officials, CEOs, Senior Executives in your own officee, Commissioners, Department Heads, Bureaucrats and even senior NGO Leaders.

While working with these “Influencers” a CSR Manager has to be constantly on their feet. First thing to understand is: these people in power are Resource rich and Time poor. While you may get a whole day to spend with your volunteers and NGO partners, you may hardly get 10 minutes or maximum 30 minutes with them. Even in this extremely short time, they will have other phone calls, VIP visitors and other interupptions. The key here is short precise communication. You won't have time for elaborate presentations or case studies. Another trait is the Power category people are more concerned about results, outcomes and deliverables. While your NGO partners may be interested in the process, your bosses and bureaucrats would like you to jump directly to what results your CSR project has achieved or what it is expected to achieve.

You have to also learn to be calm, patient at the same time firm otherwise you risk intimidation by their powerful presence, body language and sheer speed in their thought process. I want to recall here an incident to emphasize my point. In one of my early assignments when I represented a German Small Business Association , I was to meet the Board Members – President, Vice President and Chairmen of various committies of a prominent Business Association in Tamil Nadu. After duly fixing up an appointment I waited my turn in the imposing Board Room, mentally rehearsing my presentation and what I need to say etc. I had done a bit of homework as preparation and knew that the President and other Board members are mostly Engineers and are leaders in their respective fields and also politically well connected. However, still as it was my first meeting with them, I was very anxious.

Exactly on time, the Secretary walked in and announced that the President and his team will be joing soon. After few minutes they walked in and the President took his position at the head of the table. I introduced myself and requested that I make a presentation of the German Organization that I represent and how we could work together. Even before I could start the presentation, I was faced with a barrage of questions. Sample this: “Do you speak German? ( apparently many of them could) Have you visited Germany? (at that time I had not visited Germany) Are you an Engineer (I am not)

These questions at once put me on the back foot, as I had to answer in the negative to all of them. But I was honest, If I had tried to bluff my way through, I would have been sorted out by the experienced men there and none of my presentation that followed would have mattered.

After this initial hiccup, I composed myself and gave a short,crisp presentation. I could immediately feel that I had made a good impression. They were very appreciative of the work I (my organization) was doing and wanted to know how we could work together. Thus started one of my first induction into the world of Small Business Associations. Over the years the same President and other Office bearers became my friends for life.

The lesson learnt here is, be truthful, be straight forward. It took only few minutes for me to prove that I don't need to speak German or be an Engineer to work with Germans or Engineers. You must learn to organize your thoughts calmly and present them firmly. You have to radiate confidence – not over confidence though - and your actions and communication should express it. You really get only one opportunity to make an impression with these influencers and you have to make it count. Once they are convinced and agree upon your line of thought and action, the rest of your work is a walk in the park.

Amber Forever – A Precious Lesson on Business Ethics

In the summer of 2003, I led a business delegation from Chambers of Commerce to Copenhagen Denmark. The entrepreneurs and small business owners enjoyed the interactions with their counterparts in Copenhagen. We also had regular orientation workshops, industry visits and other opportunities to understand doing business in Denmark.

During the weekends, the delegation also had an opportunity to explore Copenhagen and soak in the local culture, do a bit of sight seeing and shopping. During one of these explorations, our business people came across stores selling “Amber” stones. Amber is actually fossilized resin from ancient forests. During this process, it traps debris like seeds, leaves and insects. Amber stones with insects are considered very valuable. Amber sold in Denmark is considered highest quality and is approximately 30 – 90 million years old (source: internet)

All of them were naturally fascinated by its honey and bright orange (amber) colour and also curious about the insects trapped inside (see inset picture: Source: Wikipedia) Some of them wanted to buy and even enquired the price. Strangely, even after visiting several stores selling Amber, nobody actually purchased any thing. I thought to myself, maybe the price put them off.

On monday morning, when our host for the day wanted to know the experience of shopping in Copenhagen, few of the 'shoppers' were excited about the Amber shops. Our host acknowledged their excitement and wanted to know if any of the curious shoppers brought any Amber. The response came as a chorus from our delegation: “We did not buy, as we are not sure if the Amber sold in these shops are genuine” The host seemed to be taken aback by this 'genuine' question. He took his time to gain his composure then asked them another question: Where did you see the amber stones? The response was in “Amber Stores” Then the host shot back: “If the shop says it is selling Amber, it is selling Amber” From his Danish perspective, he could not even understand the reason behind such a question from our Indian guests. For us fakeness, corruption and mediocrity being the order of the day, it seemed a reasonable question. Whereas in the Nordic Countries that enjoy high level of integrity and transparency in all aspects of life, the question itself struck a jarring note.

Let's pause here a bit while I want to take you back to an incident that occured in “namma' Chennai during the famous Mango Season. Few of my German colleagues were visiting Chennai on a business trip and on their way to airport, asked me if I could get them some mangoes to take with them. I jumped at the opportunity to showcase our King of fruits and went to a fruit seller who had neatly packed “Export Only” cartons of Alphonso Mangoes. After usual haggling on the price, I chose a carton which had “Genuine Alphonso Mangoes” Export quality etc colourfully marked on the sides. I could not resist the temptation to take one more box of this export quality for my own consumption – after all why should only foreigners eat export quality mangoes?

After dropping them at the airport with the neatly packed mangoes duly delivered, I smiled all the way back impressed with my alacrity. My happiness was short lived. When I went home and unpacked the “Genuine Alphonso” cartons, there were only few rotten mangoes and the rest of the package was only paper stuffed in the shape of mangoes. Even the rotten mangoes looked like the local variety and not the colourful Alphonso mangoes advertised on the sides of the carton.

I felt terrible not just for the fact that I had been cheated by “genuine” mangoes but felt sorry for our German guests and what impression they would have when they discover the truth. Later I wrote an email apologizing for the incident.

To get back to the Amber story. It taught all of us a lesson that day of what it means to be truthful and genuine in business and in other walks of life. Of course, the delegates went back to the Amber stores and purchased them – a precious acquisiton - not just because it was 90 million years old, but because it taught them the importance of being genuine in transacting business.

Testing Time for Teachers

Teachers in Tamil Nadu and across India are waking up to a new reality. In a role-reversal of sorts, it is the turn of the teachers now to face "exam tensions". I am talking about Teacher Eligibility Test which has landed many a teacher ironically in a situation that they used to face with their wards. Major Newspapers had a field day in presenting the same news with different twists: "Less than one Per cent teachers pass the TET"...read one. Another headline dramatised it by announcing "99% teachers failed in TET"

What is clear is however, the Indian exam system that is the bane of analytical thinking and creative expression has come to haunt the teachers themselves. The poor results in the TET also points out to the malady in our Teacher Training System itself. As a recent article in the Hindu noted, "there are 600 teacher training institutes in Tamil Nadu alone" These institutions apparently produce 'Teachers' who could not clear a Teacher Eligibility Test.

I was involved in training teachers in Govt. schools for more than 5 years and to me the poor results are not surprising. First of all, what is the "Eligibility' that they are being evaluated for? is it subject knowledge, ability to produce charts and PPTs? the whole system of teacher education itself is a mirror of our education system. Driven by blind focus on numbers and percentages, these tests do not really evaluate a teacher's eligibility to teach but their ability to memorize and reproduce. Same medicine, which the teachers have been prescribing to their students all along.

Most disturbing aspect of these low scores is the excuses that the teachers are ready to give. There seems to be a negative attitue towards learning and to teaching itself. Many teachers that I had interacted with have a low self esteem and expressed very little motivation to excel in their profession. They would rather give excuses than use the opportunity for personal and professional development. TET is an opportunity that should enable teachers take a hard look at what they have been practising and re-assess it.

A complete overhaul of the Teacher Training system is called for. Inservice training that focusses on teaching skills, leadership and facilitation skills must be conducted. Peer learning, opportunity to collaborate with other teachers, should be provided for them to expand their horizons. Continuous professional development and assessment instead of one time evaluation is the need of the hour to make teachers realize their potential. Only attitude change will lead to behavioural change and the Teacher Eligibility Test has exposed only the proverbial tip of the ice berg. It is time for Teachers and educationists to ponder. 

CSR - Old School

The year was 1991, that was the time when Corporate Social Responsibility was unheard of. Life was simple, Corporates did just their business and made profits and Charity Organizations did not do any business but doling out welfare and feeding the poor and did not make any profit. The two entities functioned in their own spheres and nobody bothered or even thought that Business should engage with Community Organizations or vice versa. 

In that period, I was working in an International Aid Agency's Non Formal Adult Education for Fishing Communities in Coastal Tamil Nadu. Total Literacy was the all encompassing Mantra and every district in Tamil Nadu was busy declaring themselves "100% Literate". In this backdrop, we got zero support from the Govt. when we said we wanted to educate the fisherfolk

I was joined in this mission impossible by a Catholic Priest, and a fiery character who had strong communist idealogies. We soldiered on against all odds and went about setting up non-formal education centres in fishing hamlets - where we also taught them to read and write. Predominantly, though the NFE centres were more a platform to discuss the aspirations, the joys and sorrows of the younger generation of the fishing community. We also were privy to the ocean like wisdom of the village heads who extended their full support and wanted their wards to be 'educated' not just literate. 

It was no coincidence that the fishermen /women were as broad minded as the ocean itself. They had their priorities right and their approach to life was to face it with all its struggles and never back down or complain. They believed that the Ocean with its abundant treasures will take care of them – come what may. They also understood, that education is not just knowing to write down your name. They did not go to any classroom, but even a 5 year old in that village will tell the time by just looking at the position of the sun. They know when to venture out into the sea and when not to. They knew how to calculate the “profit -loss' for the day, and the women could make accurate guess on the weight of the fish caught even while it is being offloaded onto the shore. 

Enthused by their active participation, the NFE centres became a centre of intense discussion on issues of community development like creating jobs, income generation, mainstream or formal education etc. Government meanwhile got wind of the happenings in these centres that they finally decided to close down all centres. The foreign Nation which was generously funding this activity was told rather bluntly that they cannot continue with a "literacy' program in a 100% literate State. The Development Counsellor fought valiantly, but had to succumb to bureucratic pressure and finally the project was abruptly shut down.

Back then there was no Govt. backing, no corporate funding, no fancy Public Private Partnership or fancier Citizenship Initiatives - but it was purely, unadulterated People's Participation that kept the project going. The fishing community supported the project not because it will help them write their names on a piece of paper, they understood that it will help build their community stronger. 

The project also me a new perspective to life, They helped define my approach to life. Till this date, this conviction has helped me to work towards bringing out the true meaning of education and unearth the treasures of knowledge buried deep under the recess of rote learning and discover the joy of learning – something that the humble fisherfolk realized from day one.

Technology in classrooms - old wine in new bottles?

 Technology penetration in educational institutes is rapidly gaining ground. In India, many private schools now proudly display their "smart classroom' status. In remote villages, Government Schools have computer labs. There is now talk about using Tablets, iPads and smart phones to make education interactive and meaningful.

However, in this race to embrace technology, are we forgetting the good old pedagogy - the foundation for any education program to succeed . Noted ICT in Education expert Shelley Pasnik cautions educators about this gap -"is Pedagogy keeping up with technology" he asks.  Let us examine this question in Indian context.

I was addressing a group of faculty members in a leading Arts and Science College in Chennai as part of a faculty development program. Since the session was on e Learning and ICT usage in classrooms, I asked them how many of them are on Facebook, about 10 - 12 hands went up. Then I asked them how many of them have a blog of their own. There was complete silence, until one young lecturer rose up and asked "Sir what is a blog?"  

Another day, another place, this time it was a Government School. In my interaction with school teachers on use of computers and ICT in education, many teachers proudly declared that they have attended Computer Training during summer holidays. Some teachers even displayed their certificates to me. At the end, I wrote my email ID on the blackboard and asked them to send me emails if they needed any information or wanted to share any information. The teachers exchanged quick glances and finally one teacher confessed, sir we do not have email ID and another teacher said, I have email ID, but internet connection in this school does not work. This particular Government school has a well equipped Computer Lab - computers with LCD monitors and names of prominent IT companies listed as 'sponsors'.

The point is on one hand our schools have computers and they also have 'computer classes' and training, but the teachers are still not oriented to make the best use of it or they are hindered by infrastructure barriers like lack of internet connection. You may think this is common in Government schools, but it is similar in so called elite 'Smart Schools'. Once, when I asked my daughter how is her 'smart classroom' functioning as I see that board everytime I drop her to school. She said, oh, that my teacher switches it on shows some slides, then fumbles with the controls and then switches it off. It is back to the good old blackboard and lecture.

When the college lecturer asked me about blogs and the school teacher asked me about creating email ID, I really felt that our teachers, administrators and educators simply do not understand the real power of technology. Mere placing of computers, gadgets, interactive white boards without training the teachers in their proper usage will not change anything. Teachers will brush aside the technology as simple waste of time if they are not properly trained.

Administrators and educators should realize that just buying all sorts of new technology does not make learning meaningful, it is about how you use them. Even with latest technology teachers still struggle to retain students interest. New technology to be effective must be backed up by innovative pedagogy. Pedagogy should dictate how the devices, tools should be used. As Shelley Pasnik says, "it is what you do with (technology & devices) and how teachers and students use those tools"

While developed countries are leapfrogging to digital devices of all shapes and sizes, our education system is caught in a time warp.Teachers and students  are mere onlookers as other Countries, even countries like Bangaladesh and Sri Lanka are overtaking us in terms of technology usage in education.

Traditonal pedagogy practices must evolve to match the growing technology, if the investment in Computers and other technology has to start bringing in rich dividends. Teachers must be sensitized and oriented to new technology and its usage. Otherwise it will be the classic case of old wine in new bottles, or its digital equivalent : PDF and powerpoint slides of traditional textbooks on computers and iPads.


 

Initiatives in Classroom Transformation – ICT

17^th March was a red letter day for many people involved in education reforms. For on that day, a middle school teacher from the Chennai (corporation) School, made history when she stepped up to the podium at the NGO 2012 seminar – a prestigious gathering of NGOs from across the Country - and declared to the world that she is a Champion Teacher.

The people, who had gathered to hear a teacher speak, ended up listening to the inner voice of a life changing experience. The teacher’s voice trembled with emotion and she could barely string together meaningful words in English, but she communicated in the universal language of love –straight from the heart and with passion. 

Yes, Sridevi is a not just a Champion Teacher, but a real champion in life who surmounted many challenges and today she could face the world with enormous confidence. “Sridevi Miss” as she is affectionately called by her children (she always refers to her students as ‘my children”) is part of the Reinventing Education Program – an education partnership program conceived by IBM and driven by Govt. school teachers in two southern states of India – Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu.

As I watched Sridevi articulate the transformation that she helped shape in her classroom through the Reinventing Education program, my mind raced back to 2007 when it all started. The setting was the Andhra Pradesh Residential School.  There were a group of noticeably bored set of teachers, head masters (HMs)   and education officials.  Apparently, they did not relish the idea of spending a Saturday afternoon listening to someone who wanted to for some reason –to build a smarter planet

 Anticipating a ‘techie’ to walk into the classroom with a laptop in tow, they were a tad disappointed to see me with no such gadgets. They had set up an LCD projector, again anticipating the inevitable powerpoint presentation and had closed all the windows rendering it dark and gloomy.

I walked in, and asked them to open the windows so that I could see their faces. I told them to switch off the LCD projector too. Now I could clearly see and sense that I had certainly created some curiosity and wee bit of attention. I introduced myself and my company IBM. I explained to them that I wanted to discuss with them about an education reform initiative proposed by IBM and asked them to list out their expectations. Now the audience’s curiosity turned into déjà vu. With practiced ease, much like a student reciting memorized lessons, the teachers and HMs started to narrate a ‘shopping list’. They said, computers are very good and their school needed more computers. Some of them wanted CDs for all lessons from 1- 10^th grade. The more adventurous demanded that all teachers be given laptops! I only wondered if it were that simple, IBM could have just completed a one day laptop mela and sent me home without a job!

I realized that the teachers are so conditioned by the onslaught of technology companies on their sensibilities that they equated technology with gadgets and stuff. Wanting to shake them up from their techno – gadget fantasy, I gave them a simple exercise.

Requested all of them to forget about computers, technology and gadgets for a moment close their eyes briefly and reflect on their school days – when there were no such ‘distractions’.  They obediently closed their eyes and soon they were travelling back in time. After few minutes when they ‘got down’ from their time capsules, I asked them to narrate a few things they remembered about their school days.  

Now the narration was different, they are no longer producing a shopping list but articulating their experiences. Many said corporal punishment, strict teachers, lots of homework, exams all the time, too many books (heavy), memorizing tables and formulae etc. Some of the ‘enlightened’ teachers also said only boring lectures and no computers (sigh!)

I grabbed half a chalk that had been thrown on the floor by an exasperated teacher and made a list of things they told about their school days in a column on the not so black board. Quickly I had run down the length of the board and also had difficulty holding on to the remnant of the half chalk, I barely managed to scribble on the top of the column “Education in 1970s” – I could have as well named it ‘education woes’ – then I stopped.

Turned around facing the audience again, I asked them to close their eyes one more time and this time I wanted them to ruminate on education today, in the present, in the 21^st century. They closed their eyes but quickly opened them with an understanding smirk and smiling eyes when they discerned the irony. Nodding in agreement to their dignified silence, I rubbed out 1970 from top of the list and replaced it with 2007.

The silence was broken when one teacher said ‘nothing has changed sir’ same boring lectures, more homework, more books and more memorizing. Then I asked them can IBM bring in the change? Can supplying 100 computers and 1000 CDs change the situation? Almost the entire classroom joined in unison and said No - We will have to bring in the change. I then said, IBM will join hands with them and we will make the change.

Thus began the long journey of Reinventing Education that had transcended the narrow understanding of technology, broke the barriers of attitude and years of conditioned behavior and transformed ‘boring’ teachers into bold Champion Teachers and insipid classrooms into thinking Transformed Classrooms. Presently there are more than 400 teachers who are touched by the Reinventing Education Program.

The significant change was, the teachers never again asked for computers, laptops and CDs. Instead they had asked me – teach us how to use them in my classroom, teach us how to open an email account. Show us how to download pictures and information from the internet and how to convert them into interesting lesson plans.

We listened, started training the teachers in pedagogical tools, ICT and together we created a Reinventing Education portal for the teachers to collaborate, share and learn. Today teachers like Sridevi for whom computers were once associated with computer labs and boring administrative work, are using it as a powerful learning tool.  For her presentation at the NGO 2012, she had downloaded education quotations from the internet, created a PPT, loaded it on a pen drive and made a wonderful presentation.  Today she proudly says: “ because of Reinventing Education, I have become a leader in my school, the commissioner and education officers invite me and ask my views on bringing in any changes in curriculum. I take pride in sharing my experiences with other teachers. My students find that I am a completely different person now and they say I smile more often. In my classroom even the quietest child will boldly answer any questions or even better ask me more questions”

The rousing applause that marked the end of Sridevi Miss’s presentation woke me up from my reverie. As people gathered around congratulating her, IBM’s tag line of let’s build a Smarter Planet – suddenly rang very true.