not what to think, but

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Newsletter Teachers’ Resource Centre

he goal of good edu-cation is to teach stu-dents to think forthemselves, and notmerely to learn what

other’s have taught.Knowledge and experience arenot merely to be possessed butapplied in practice. Thisrequires judgment, an impor-tant characteristic of criticalthinking.

The dominant practice inteaching is to teach studentswhat to think so that they learnwhat the teachers know. Incontrast, the critical theory is toteach students how to think sothat they can find their ownsolution to the problems.Students should become indi-vidual repositories for storingstrategies and approaches forgathering, evaluating, andusing information. Thisrequires a new perspective ofthe faculty role and new waysto design the curriculum andteaching strategies.

Here are a few definitions ofcritical thinking:

“Critical thinking is the processof purposeful, self-regulatoryjudgment. This process givesreasoned consideration to evi-dence, contexts, conceptualisa-tions, methods, and criteria.”

or

“…the mental processes, strate-gies, and representations peo-ple use to solve problems,make decision, and learn newconcepts.”

or

“Reasonable reflective thinking

that is focused on deciding what to believe and do.” These definitions identify twomajor areas of critical thinking.One is a personal disposition:truth-seeking, open-minded-ness, analyticity, systematic,self-confidence, inquisitivenessand maturity. The second isthat of skill: analysis, evalua-tion, inference, deductive andinductive reasoning.

Research seems to support theidea that critical thinking is asmuch a habit ofthe mind as a“personal disposition to open-mindedness, inquisitiveness,and willingness to reconsiderin light of new information.”So, critical thinking is not onlya skill, but also a personalattribute.

The internal and personalprocess of defining phenome-na, establishing criteria, evalu-ating information, and choos-ing what is probably true and‘safe’ to believe is essential tocritical thinking. This involvesthe use of logic and inference.There is some research to sup-port the notion that reasoningcan be taught and that it is“possible to train such founda-tions of reasoning as how touse dimensions to analyze andorganize similarities and differ-ences and how to identify thestructure of simple proposi-tions.”(1)

Critical thinking rests uponsound interpretation of writtentext: the well-balanced, coher-ent composition; the clear com-prehension of what one hears;and the persuasive argument.It must rest upon proficient

Not What to Think, butHow to Think

by Anjum Bashir

Since acquiring critical thinking habits and skillstakes a long time it is a good idea to start early, saysthe writer.

P e d a g o g y

We are back with another issue of theTRC Newsletter. The biggest news forus this quarter and for many in thefield of education who deal withyoung children is the formalisation ofthe National ECE Curriculum. It tooka lot of hard work on our part as weworked jointly with the Ministry ofEducation to put together the curricu-lum document. However, when wethink about the many ways in whichthis child-centred, activity-basedapproach to education will benefitpublic school children, we realise thatit was all worth it. On 22nd August2002, the National ECE curriculumwas launched in a ceremony inIslamabad and you can see what awonderful success it was in theNewsletter’s centre spread.

As a teacher one usually knows whatis ‘right’ but not always how to imple-ment it. For instanc, most of us knowthat rote learning should be discour-aged, but aren’t sure about what toreplace it with. ‘Critical Thinking!’says Anjum Bashir in her article andoffers some valuable suggestions ongetting the thinking process going.The article on technology also givesideas on becoming part of the globalcommunity through the Internet, andwill guide you to websites your classmight want to check out. Meanwhilethe Headlearner continues to workwonders in her school with remark-able vision. You may remember herfrom the last issue and she’s back, thistime to discuss the induction processof new teachers in a school.

We are also carrying two interviews inthis issue, one in the Urdu section andone in the English, which school headsmay find especially useful. The health-environment nexus is covered in ourenvironment section and the Urdu sec -tion also carries an interesting articleon discipline. The article addresses aproblem most of us come across andget exasperated by – the undisciplinedchild. Don’t lose your cool, turn to thearticle and find positive ways to disci-pline.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

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reasoning skills that can assurecompetency in inference, aswell as upon proficient inquiry,concept-formation, and transla-tion skills.

If teaching critical thinking canimprove education, it will bebecause it increases the quanti-ty and quality of meaning that

students derive from what theyread and perceive and whatthey express in what theywrite, say, and do. Withoutthese skills, we would not beable to draw meaning fromwritten text or from conversa-tion, nor could we impartmeaning to a conversation orto what we write. We mustbegin with the raw subjectmatter of communication andinquiry –with reading, listen-ing, speaking, writing, and rea-soning.

Literature in psychology andeducation emphasises the needfor faculties to develop theirown definitions of criticalthinking, determine criteria,measure outcomes, and revisethe curriculum in light of find-ings. They need to be unifiedin their understanding of criti-cal thinking as a concept, boththeoretical and operational.The faculty also needs toachieve a consensus aboutmethods and tools to be usedfor evaluation of critical thinking.

Mary Barton, an Englishinstructor at Bishop CarrollHigh School has suggestedthree sets of data teachers canuse to determine the level ofcritical thinking in students.The most superficial level of

"figuring things out" occurs atthe verbal level: it's easy to saysomething. As teachers, wemust listen to how studentstalk about their lessons. Next,it is a bit harder to read andunderstand how others “fig-ured things out.” As teachers,we must notice how studentshave interpreted what they

have read.Finally, thehardestway to “fig-ure thingsout” is towrite whatyou thinkaboutsomethingand presentyour thesisas a speech.As ateacher one

must look very carefully at thestructure and substance ofwhat students write and pres-ent orally regarding their les-sons.

Since acquiring critical think-ing habits and skills takes along time, it needs to be taughtthroughout an educational pro-gram. It would seem a goodidea to start as early as possi-ble by including logic, debate,and speech courses in the cur-riculum.While there arenumerous articles and ideasabout how to teach criticalthinking, there is one, whichseems particularly outstanding.

Chubinski has developedteaching strategies based onRichard Paul's theory of criticalthinking (2). For each of theskills identified in the theory,Chubinski has developed astrategy for teaching that skill.The skills include “identifyingthe problem, deciphering thepurpose, uncovering theassumptions, recognizing andusing different paradigms,demonstrating different meth-ods of reasoning, examiningdata, creating alternate solu-tions, and evaluating one'sthinking to improve it.”

For example, in teaching stu-dents to uncover assumptions,Chubinski uses the ShoeOwners game. She presents abunch of old work shoes to thestudents and asks them todescribe the former owners.The students work individual-ly first, and later in smallgroups to develop a descrip-tion of the owners of the shoes.This is shared with the class. Inthe end, Chubinski reveals thereal owner to the surprised stu-dents who were wrong or tothe cheering correct students.The “bright red flowery, beachsandals of a grandmother”help dispel stereotypes.

To teach how to recognize anduse different paradigms,Chubinski uses ParadigmTrades, which requires studentsto role-play various characters ina 15-minute scene. After this,each student identifies the goalof the character played.

Although critical thinking rep-resents only one of many con-cepts that are interwoven in acurriculum, it is the currentchallenge in education –teach-ing students not to learn, but tothink. Effective teachers them-selves have to be talented inresearching, learning, reviving,and adapting information tomeet the challenge.

REFERENCE: Critical ThinkingAcross the Curriculum Project( w w w. k c m e t ro . c c . m o . u s / l o n g v i e w / c t a c / # N - 1 2 - )

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A practicing clini-cal psychologist,Anjum Bashir hasan MA in the sub-ject from theKarachi University

and is currently enrolled in anM.Phil. programme.From 1996 to 1998, Anjumworked with the LiaquatNational Hospital as a clinicalpsychologist. She has attend-ed numerous training work-shops and has presentedpapers at seminars. Currentlyshe has a private practice andconducts workshops on childpsychology at TRC

Grandma in bright red, flowered beach sandals?: Throughteaching strategies such as the Shoe Owners game Chubinskihelps dispel stereotypes.


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he Internet todayoffers teachers andstudents manyonline global proj-ects and beckons us

to join the virtual learningcommunity. Student-centeredorganisations such as ‘Kidlink’offer activities and projects thatencourage deeper levels ofcommunication and a forumwhere participants exchange,organise and interpret sharedinformation. Teachers look forstimulating projects thatencourage inquiry and criticalthinking. Still, the lingeringquestion remains, how can weparticipate in global projectsduring our school days that arealready filled with specific cur-riculum goals that we mustaddress? Where do these proj-ects fit? The answer is waitingin the corners of our creativeenergies. Instead of teachingskills in isolation, give themreal world meaning. Provideyour students with an audi-ence and a purpose for whatthey do and a place to publishtheir work.

Kidlink Day

Hyperlinkh t t p : / / 6 5 . 4 2 . 1 5 3 . 2 1 0 / k i d s p a c e / s t a r t . c f m ? H o l d N o d e = 9 5 1

Over four hundred studentsfrom ten countries participatedin this year's 'Kidlink Day'project.These students were sixthrough eighteen years old. Kidlink students from aroundthe world wrote a journal, bythe hour, of their activities on

that day which we called 'AKidlink Day.

The project's main page linksto resources for teachers thatinclude:

• Lesson ideas for using theproject in the classroom

• Suggestions for writinginteresting journals

• Extension activities by par-ticipants

• Evaluating student journalsand participation in the project

The project provides teacherswith an excellent source ofdata for use across many cur-riculum are as such associal studies, math and writ-ing.

Social Studies:

• locating journal writers onthe map, latitude/longitude,hemisphere

• identifying customs and fes-tivals noted in the journals

• identifying local foods

• identifying study habits andvalues

• comparing the length of theschool day in various countries

• identify subject areas that arefavorites and those that areunique to the area.

Language Arts:

• writing for a specific pur-pose-to inform

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Integrating Curriculum andGlobal ProjectsThe Internet has made the world a global community.,In this article the writer asks ‘How can we participatein global projects on the internet during our schooldays that are already filled with specific curriculumgoals?’

By Patti Weeg

Te c h n o l o g y

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• using appropriate style andconventions

• developing as writers usingthe writing process having hadoccasions to prewrite, draft,revise and proofread their jour-nal writings.

• writing effectively by consid-ering correctness, complete-ness, and appropriateness oftheir text.

Science:

• recording, analysing andcomparing weather data andpatterns

• becoming aware that landfeatures help influence recre-ational activities of students invarious parts of the world

• comparing the kinds of foodkids like to eat for meals.

• observing good health habitsmentioned in journals such asdental hygiene

Math:

• recording, organising andinterpreting data

• comparing standard andmetric measurement - dailytemperature

• using percents and fractionsto describe daily activity - stu-dents spend 10% of their daywatching TV.

• totaling and averaging thehours of homework classmatesare doing on a typical day

In typical journals, studentscould see common threads intheir days. Students fromthree of the participatingschools examined some of thefollowing ideas in extension


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activities after journals werepublished in KidSpace:

Hyperlinkh t t p : / / 6 5 . 4 2 . 1 5 3 . 2 1 0 / k i d s p a c e / s t a r t . c f m ? H o l d N o d e = 3 0 2 8

• The hour kids wake up on aschool day

• breakfast and lunchfavourites

• transportation to school

• length of classes and schoolday

• favourite or least favouriteclasses

• after school activities

• time spent on chores afterschool time

• spent on homework orwatching TV

• favourite TV shows

• the hour for going to bed at night

Another Kidlink project whichincluded students from all agesis the 'Grandmother and Me'project. In many cases thisproject brought families togeth-er for dialogue and festivitiesin addition to addressing lan-guage arts skills and research.

Joy Boehm from HL BeelerElementary in New Jerseyjoined the 'Grandmother andMe' project with students at

her school. At the end of theschool year, second grade stu-dents at HL Beeler shared theirproject with their grandpar-ents!

Joy posted a link to theGrandparent Party in KidSpacewith this note:

“On May 22nd, we invited ourgrandparents to school to havea party and to see theGrandmother & Me Project.They loved it and so did we.You can see our party pictureson this link.”

http://www.evesham.k12.nj.us/beeler1/Whatare We Learning / Grandma _ Gabardi.htm

Kidart Self Portrait Project

The objective ofKidlink's 'Self-PortraitProject' is to give youngpeople the opportunityto express themselvesthrough sculpture,painting, etching, pencildrawing, mobile, stabile,animation, and comput-er art. The project givesstudents an opportunityto increase self-esteemand expand their cre-ativity.

Display of art can stim-ulate a universal dia-logue between partici-pants worldwide as theproject progresses.

Students were alsoencouraged to build a psycho-logical self-portrait; to thinkabout the mental image thateach teenager has of himself.To translate his own imagewithout taking the physicalfeatures too much into consid-eration and using colors,graphic signs and techniques,freely.

A self portrait display was cre-ated by Erika T. Age 14, inMuggi, Italy Erika explainsher art:“It’s hard to understand some-thing about my inner nature byjust looking at my self portrait.I'm an extrovert with many

friends - (color: azure ). I'msensitive to all emotions -(color: pink). I'm a very cheer-ful and natural girl - (color:yellow, bright orange.) I'mkind to people - (color: green),but at the same time also, a bithorrible, (nuances violet darkand light). By and large, I'm avery sweet girl - (color: whitewith pink nuances.)”

In short global projects are notan additional layer of 'work'for students and teachersadded to the tight schedules ofour daily classes. Consider thefollowing learner outcomes asdefined by one school system:

Writing: “use relevant descrip-tions, including sensorydetails, personal experiences,observations, and research-based information to make atopic or message clear to thereader”

Math : “represent and interpretquantitative relationships in atable or graph.”

Social Studies: “describe andcompare cultural characteristicsof different groups of people”

Can global projects target theseoutcomes? Indeed, creativeteachers can find the connec-tions. Global projects form thetapestry where learner out-comes are seamlessly woveninto creative works by studentsand teachers who yearn for morethan skills taught in isolation.

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Patti Weeg is acomputer teacherat the DelmarElementary Schoolin USA. She isactively involved inteacher training

and has presented at manyconferences on integrating theInternet into the curriculum..Patti has written a book,Kids@ work: Math in theCyberzone and has receivedawards including MICCAComputer Education of theYear and MarylandDistinguished TechnologyEducator.

An example of a self portrait made by a child forthe Kidart Self Portrait Project.

Parts of this article appeared inour April-June 2001 newsletter.


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ith Mrs Jamil ashead teacher, theschool wasbecoming wellknown as a

place where pupils were highlymotivated to learn as much asthey could and where teachersenjoyed teaching.

We join the school again justafter the appointment of a newteacher, Saira to her first teach-ing post.

Saira had been delighted whenMrs Jamil offered her the job.She had heard that this was agood school, that the head-teacher was demanding yetsupportive of staff, and thatshe called herself a ‘head-learn-er’! Saira thought that this wasa strange notion, but she waskeen to discover what it meant.

As the new term approachedshe felt a mixture of excitementand trepidation. What wouldher new colleagues be like?How would she manage a classof her own? Would she meetthe expectations of the head-teacher? Was teaching theright job for her?

Saira’s teaching duties wouldnot begin until the afternoon ofher first day. This enabled thehead to spend time with her,tell her about the school andfind out how Saira was feelingabout becoming a teacher. MrsJamil explained that Saira, as ayoung person new to the pro-fession, would be helped bythe school to learn as much asshe could about the craft ofteaching. She explained thatthe school was testing a system

of induction for new teachersand that Saira would be thefirst teacher to experience this.

As the head described themain features of the InductionProgramme, Saira was struckby the amount of thought thathad gone into it. The headexplained that three teacherson the staff had researched

good practice in teacher induc-tion, and that she, with the restof her colleagues, had devisedthe school’s induction pro-gramme which lasted for thefirst year of a teacher’s career.

During the morning Sairalearnt that for her first year shewould have half a day everyweek out of class. This timewas to be spent observingother teachers teaching, com-pleting her ‘learning journal’for the week, drafting herweek’s lesson plans or attend-ing in-service training. Saira was also introduced toher Induction Tutor, MrsShafqat, an experienced andskilful teacher who had thespecific role of helping peoplenew to teaching to develop

professionally during their firstyear in school. As well as herteaching duties Mrs Shafqathad been trained to provideadvice and guidance to newteachers. She would observeSaira teaching two or threetimes a term, offer her feed-back and help her to set objec-tives which would improve herskills as a teacher.

At the end of her first day

Saira returned home with a lotto think about. In her bag wasa copy of the staff handbookcontaining practical informa-tion about the school’s policiesand procedures. She also had acopy of her InductionProgramme, which containedthe following documents:

The Induction Year :

This document outlined theroles and responsibilities of theInduction Tutor, theHeadteacher and the NewTeacher.

Induction Tutor

1. Ensure the new teacherunderstands school policiesand procedures

2. Set up a timetable of regular

The Head Learner School Management

The story of the headlearner continues as a new teacher joins the school and is struck bythe amount of thought that has gone into the induction and review process.

By Gaynor Smith

(Part 2)

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fortnightly meetings with thenew teacher

3. Observe the new teacherteaching within the first 4weeks and then two times eachterm

4. Give feedback and help theteacher to reflect on successesand development needs

5. Plan further training/activi-ties to meet needs of newteacher

6. Develop own skills inobserving, advising and coach-ing new teachers

New Teacher

1. Familiarise self with schoolpolicies and procedures

2. Ask for advice and clarifica-tion as necessary

3. Participate fully in theinduction programme

4. Be observed teaching

5. Undertake a termly self-review using the teaching stan-dards, feedback from inductiontutor and reflective journal

6. Contribute fully to profes-sional review meetings withinduction tutor

Headteacher1. Ensure induction pro-gramme is in place

2. Arrange that advice andtraining is available for theinduction tutor (for example inthe skills of observation andgiving feedback)

3. Ensure release time is avail-able for the new teacher and the induction tutor

4. Have termly meetings withinduction tutor to evaluate theprogramme and progress ofthe new teacher

5. Meet informally with thenew teacher to hear her viewsand ideas for improving theinduction programme

Teaching and LearningStandards

(ada pted from Teaching Skillsresearch - Hay McBer June 2000)

High ExpectationsDo You:

- encourage high standards ofeffort, accuracy and presenta-tion?

- draw on pupil experiences orideas relevant to the lesson?

- tailor lessons appropriately tochallenge all pupils in theclass?

- allow pupils to take responsi-bility for their own learning?

PlanningDo you:

- do you the communicate aclear plan and objectives forthe lesson at its start?

- provide as many relevantresources and materials as youcan and have them ready at thestart of the lesson?

- review what pupils havelearned at the end of the lesson?

Methods and StrategiesDo you:

- involve all pupils in the les-son?

- use a variety of activities andlearning methods?

- use a variety of questioningtechniques to probe pupils’knowledge and understand-ing?

- encourage pupils to use avariety of problem-solvingtechniques?

- give clear instructions?

- listen and respond to pupils?

TERMLY SELF-REVIEWName---------------------- Date---------------------------------

This review is at the end of my 1st / 2nd / 3rd term of teaching. It records the areas where I feel I have made progress and sets out my objectives for next term.Myknowledge and understanding of ------------------ subject (s) has improved in the following ways:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I consider my planning to be very good / good most of the time / reasonable with some things inneed of improvement / in need of major improvement.The following are examples of my improved planning. My classroom management has improved in the following ways:-----------------------------------------

The following are examples of ways I am developing positive relationships with pupils, parents andcolleagues----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other areas I am pleased with are:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The areas I need to develop next term are:---------------------------------------------------------------------


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Pupil ManagementDo you:

- keep the pupils on taskthroughout the lesson?

- correct bad behaviour imme-diately?

- praise good achievement andeffort?

- treat different children fairly?

Time ManagementDo you...

- structure the lesson to use thetime well?

- ensure the lesson lasts for theplanned time?

- use an appropriate pace?

- allocate your time fairlybetween pupils?

AssessmentDo you…

- focus on understanding andmeaning? factual memory?skills mastery? applications inreal life settings?

- use tests and competitions toassess understanding?

- recognise misconceptions andclear them up?

- mark pupils’ written work inaccordance with the school’smarking policy?

- encourage pupils to do betternext time?

Saira used this checklist tohelp her to reflect on how shewas doing during her firstmonth as a teacher. Shere c o rded her experiences inher learning journal, whichcontained some of the follow-ing useful prompts and guide-lines to help her reflect on herpractice (see box on page 6 ).

After teaching for four weeksSaira had her first review dis-cussion with her inductiontutor. Mrs Shafqat listenedcarefully and encouraged Sairato think about what she wasdoing well and where sheneeded help and guidance.Saira wanted to improve herquestioning techniques. Sheused some of her class releasetime to watch how anotherteacher in the school usedquestions to stimulate andencourage children to thinkcreatively.

Later in the term, Mrs Shafqatwatched Saira at work with a

Gaynor Smith is an

education consult-

ant with Education

Bradford, UK. She

specialises in the

continuing professional

development (CPD) of head-

teachers and is an accredit-

ed trainer for Performance

Management. Gaynor has

co-edited a series of books

on educational leadership

Teachers' Resource Centre is an N.G.O,

It's doing its best,

but it still has far to go,

It is not merely a working place,

Because everybody works hard,

no matter what their place,

All of them strive for excellence,

And this is TRC’s real essence,

Everything here is well organised,

Look at the fabulous paintings, they can never ever be priced!

If you visit it once, you would love to comeback for more,

group of children and was veryimpressed with the way sheencouraged their learningthrough effective questioning.

The induction programme fornew teachers was anotherpractical way for the headteacher to demonstrate theimportance of learning forteachers and pupils alike. Theprogramme provided develop-ment opportunities not onlyfor the new teacher, but forother members of staff as theylearned about supporting andencouraging their new colleague.

The glory starts right when you step on itsfloor,

Teachers' Resource Centre is a place full ofpeace,

That's why all its members work at ease,

Here creativity is always in the air,

Whoever comes here, learns to share,

Attend the workshops here and see,

How fruitful training can be

Written by : Muneeza Karim who teachesclass 3 at the P.E.C.H.S Girls' School.

Thanks for the tribute Muneeza, Editor


8

time the Rangoonwala Trustowned it. Since that time, theschool had worked on a dou-ble-shift system, with theprimary school studentsattending the afternoon ses-sions, while the secondaryschool sessions were held inthe morning.

The problem started when theschool was nationalised in 1972and the medium of educationwas changed to Urdu. Thestandard of education was thefirst to be affected and duringthat time a lot of people pulledtheir children out of the school.

Today, the majority of our stu-dents are economically-chal-lenged and most of them arefrom the surrounding areas.Most of the boys in the second-ary section work in tailorshops or TV repair shops andare earning supplementaryincomes to contribute to thefamily kitty. About 50% are onscholarship.

TRC: What were the problemsyou faced when you tookover?

ZH: Because of the two shifts,with the primary section pupilscoming in the afternoon, therewas a serious time manage-ment and co-ordination prob-lem. Then there was the prob-lem of staffing as we had trou-ble finding good teachers for

roubled by the prob-lems that set inwhen VM PublicSchool went on a

roller-coaster ride after beingnationalised in the '70s andsubsequently privatised, themanagement of the schoolapproached Teachers’ ResourceCentre to have its primary sec-tion evaluated, as the startingpoint in salvaging the situa-tion. TRC carried out an exten-sive evaluation of the primarysection of this large and beauti-ful trust school located in aquiet part of Dhoraji, inKarachi.

In this interview, Ms. ZiaHalai, the principal of theschool discusses the evaluationprocess and explains why theschool's management has nowasked TRC to evaluate its sec-ondary section.

TRC: Why did VM PublicSchool decide to have an eval-uation done?

ZH: VM Public School was pri-vatised in 1984. Since then, thetrustees have been trying toturn around the standard ofeducation of the school. As

principal of the school, thetrustees gave me the task andthe logical thing was to findout the state of affairs andwhat was going wrong. So werequested TRC to carry out anextensive evaluation, identify-ing our strengths and weak-nesses and recommendingsome remedies.

TRC: As the principal of theschool weren’t you alreadyaware of the problems theschool faced?

ZH: Of course when you are ina certain situation you can seethe problems and I did too. Butat the same time one needsguidance and training to startworking in the right direction.It also helps to see everythingin black and white.

Secondly, a qualified outsidercan give you a more objectiveview of things. The evaluationwas done primarily so that wecould move forward.

TRC: Tell us a little about theschool

ZH: VM Public School wasfounded in 1963 and at that

VM Public School: Going for a Test-drive

I n t e r v i e w

By TRC Staff Writer

In 1999, TRC carried out an extensive evaluation of the VMPublic School. In the following interview to the TRCnewsletter, the principal of the school gives her feedback.

T


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the second shift. There wereother problems too, such as theuse of traditional methods ofteaching by the teachers andthe lack of formal lesson-planning.

TRC: What was the evaluationprocess like?

ZH: The evaluation carried outby TRC was extremely thor-ough. The evaluator made anextensive visit to the schooland looked in on all the class-es. She also met the teachers,pupils and the parents to gettheir point of view in order tothoroughly analyse the situation.

Another thing I would like tomention is that instead of con-centrating on just the bad inher report, she also highlightedwhat we were doing right –thepositive aspects – in the school.Her recommendations werevery good.TRC: How useful was theevaluation?

ZH: It was extremely usefuland it played a decisive role inthe management's decision toturn the school into a singleshift one.

The report identified a lot ofother problems, that we hadnot looked into such as theinappropriate furniture for thelower classes, as a result ofwhich we bought proper furni-ture.

Then it also helped institutelesson-planning. Before theevaluation, teachers wouldplan the lessons in their headsand go take the class. After wewere advised by TRC, we start-ed a formal system of writtenlesson planning.

In addition, the report evaluat-

ed the curriculum and helpedus take a look at our scheme ofstudies. Certain things, like thetiming of certain lessons tocoincide with national events,were carried out.

TRC: The evaluation alsohelped you draft a missionstatement. How useful do youthink that is?

ZH: It is extremely useful. Itgives everyone in the schooldirection. I’ll give you a smallexample: the mission statementstresses computer literacy andmany of our teachers are noweither computer literate or

VM Public School Inset: Mrs. Zia Halai

attending computer classes tobecome computer literate.

TRC: What is your vision forthe school?

ZH: It all comes from having amission statement. I want thechildren at VM Public to behighly skilled communicatorsand for that fluency in bothEnglish and Urdu is necessary.

I also want them to developcritical thinking skills, so thatthey are able to think for them-selves. I want to see VM PublicSchool at par with other

schools in Karachiand of course I lookforward to goodMatric grades(laughs).

TRC: What next?

ZH: The managementwas extremelypleased with the eval-uation of the primarysection and is nowlooking to TRC tohave the secondaryschool evaluated.

We also want TRC to carry outa review of the changes madein the primary classes, as aresult of the last report's rec-ommendations.

TRC: Would you recommendthe evaluation for otherschools?

ZH: Definitely. Any school thatwill go through the processwill come out the better for it.


210

he reality is that wecannot expect everyoneto think about the envi-ronment. But one thinga lot of people do think

about is health. So it is worthexploring the health-environ-ment nexus as it is easy to definehow the environment affects ourhealth. An unhealthy environ-ment affects human lives andmay even endanger their resist-ance to diseases or survival.There are many causes of anunhealthy or polluted environ-ment such as the dumping ofchemicals and other poisonouswaste on land. Emission ofsmoke and other toxic sub-stances from industrial areas intothe air, the discharge of industri-al effluents into rivers and thedumping of oil and garbage intothe sea, are other ways pollutionfinds its way into our environ-ment. The thick smog whichresults because of the high levelof vehicle emission, has alsobecome a big threat to health.

Over the years people havelearnt the value of environmen-tal health and the efforts of glob-al society in this regard. Inresponse to the agenda of theEarth Summit, which was heldin June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil, the WHO (World HealthOrganisation) formulated a newglobal strategy for health impli-cations within environmental lifeand the rural and urban situa-tion regarding health and envi-ronment:

• In rural areas, the major envi-ronmental threat to health isinadequate or unsafe water sup-ply, poor sanitation, indoor airpollution, toxicity, pesticides anddiseases.

• In urban settlements, theenvironmental health problemsare many and exceed even thegovernments’ capabilities forcoping with these problems.

Uncontrolled rapid urbanisationand its growth have causedsevere problems of air and waterpollution, the management ofsolid and hazardous wastes andhealth issues.

Professor Dr. H.K.B-Dir, theMinister of Education in Egyptanalysed the link between chil-

dren’s health and school per-formance and concluded: “Whenchildren are hobbled by poorhealth, their weakened conditionreduces their learning by up to30%, and in many cases, forcesthem to end their school careerspermanently or remain in schoolas failures”. (Education for All, No.30, Jan-March, 1998)

One third of the world popula-tion, at any one time is ill, espe-cially those belonging to devel-oping countries. Among themthere is an alarming number ofchildren. Every year over 14 mil-lion Third World children under5 die of a handful of diseases,due to the lack of health care inwhich malnutrition is a majorcontributor.

In developing countries, the sta-tistics are scary, nearly 11,000children die every day fromdiarrhoea, over 4,000 frommeasles, and about 2,750 frommalaria. Many children diebefore going to school.

In developed countries, there isone doctor for about every 500people. In poor countries

(excluding India and China),some 13, 500 people have toshare each doctor.

Pakistan is near the bottom ofthe pile amongst the 25 worstcountries who have the highestpercentage of population with-out access to sanitation services,49% in urban areas and 94% inrural settlements.

Statistics such as the above haveforced educational institutions todevelop methodologies forhealth education. As a result theconcept of ‘Health-PromotingSchools’ has been developedwhere teachers are encouragedto contribute to establishing suchschools with the collaboration oftheir community.

ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH Part 1

By Bilqees Seema Bhatkali

E n v i r o n m e n t

Bilqees SeemaBhatkali is a sen-ior journalist andconsultant withIUCN's Education& CommunicationProgramme. She

has a Master's degree inJournalism & InternationalRelations and is currentlyenrolled in a Ph.D. pro-gramme. Bilqees has been anacademic staff member andeditor for 22 years and hasdevoted her life to environmen-tal journalism.

T

The Third World’s health statistic are scary. These have forced edu-cational institutions to develop methodologies for health education

In the next issue Bilqees will discussthe concept of Health PromotingSchools which has become a key play -er in environmental health education.


211

children’s creativity.” He praised the curriculum sayingit sparked their curiosity by offering them a chance togrow as opposed to resorting to memorisation. Also present on the occasion were Randy Hatfield ofthe Aga Khan Foundation, Jonathan Mitchell of USAIDand Maurice Robson of the UNICEF who pledged their

support to the implementation of ECE in Pakistan’spublic sector schools.The National ECE Curriculum is the result of a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Education(Curriculum Wing) and the Teachers’ Resource Centreunder the umbrella of the Education Sector Reforms(ESR) Action Plan 2001-2005 and will now be a formalpart of the National Scheme of Studies. The curriculum focuses on the holistic development ofchildren in the 3-5 year age group with special empha-sis on active learning.

TRC News

Heads' Management Manual Out!

We have been keeping you updated on the develop-ment of the Early Childhood Education Curriculumthrough the newsletter. On 22 August 2002, theNational Early Childhood Education Curriculum waslaunched in a well-attended ceremony hosted by TRCin Islamabad. Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman, the FederalMinister for Education was the chief guest at the occa-sion. Also present were Tariq Farook, the EducationSecretary, and Dr. Haroona Jatoi, Joint EducationAdviser.

Dr. Rehman (who also holds the Science andTechnology portfolio) reiterated the goals of the newcurriculum, saying that it was designed to “unleash

History in the Making

Left: Seema Malik Right: Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman

Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman and Seema Malik: Working toimplement global ECE standards in public sectorschools.

On request from Save the Children Fund, TRC conducted a workshop in Kasurto train teachers on the effective use of the Pehla Taleemi Basta (PTB) in theclassroom. The workshop was held from 17 to 19 September 2002 and wasused to supplement the PTB, which has been distributed widely by SCF.Both male and female teachers, most of who are teaching in governmentschools, attended the workshop. The workshop was successful and participantsgave extremely positive feedback. The Pehla Taleemi Basta is an educational kit developed by TRC to help teach-ers use active learning methods in primary classrooms.

Workshop in Kasur

A scene from the workshop in Kasur

The heads management manual has finally been printed. TRC had been workingon developing a manual to support and guide heads working in public schools.The manual is the result of a collaborative effort between TRC and heads ofschools who actively cooperated in its compilation by providing valuable insightsinto the day to day administration of the school.

In the final stages the manual was reviewed by heads of public sector partnerschools before going for a last appraisal to the Additional Secretary, Education,who has highly recommended its distribution among public school heads. Themanual grew out of our Primary Education Programme and care has been takento make the manual reader-friendly and useful.

not what to think, but

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