Bill Damon suggests that motivation in students is related to Purpose, where Purpose is a Super-goal, a goal which organizes many other goals, an ultimate concern or goal that is stable and enduring. Arguing that since adolescence is the period when people...
Findings from ground-breaking research by the University of Chicago Consortium for School Reform on preparing adolescents for success in college, career and life. Language – English Author(s)/Editor(s)/Director(s) – The University of Chicago’s...
This video asks the question – “what determines character?” and answers “you”. The video provides an overview of the Character development movement, including the VIA classification of 24 key character strengths, the theory of “growth...
In an engaging Ted talk, Dan Pink makes a case for changing how business is done. Citing research on the power of incentives in solving problems, which found that those who got incentives to perform tasks took longer than those who did not. Pink suggests...
This video focuses on Carol Dweck’s ground-breaking research on the new psychology of success, based on the concept of “growth mindset”. Dweck distinguishes between a “fixed mindset” that considers intelligence as innate and...
This video provides insight into Seligman’s theory of ‘authentic happiness’ as the essence of the field of positive psychology. He suggests that nations should measure “gross national happiness” which, rather than economic growth, determines...
This seminal article developed by the Stanford group of leading researchers in the area of cognitive and non-cognitive development of students discusses the importance of focusing on not only cognitive factors—what is taught and how it is taught—but...
The Centre is named to honour the memory and pioneering work of the warm and wonderful Ferdinand Van Koolvijk, who, inspired by Sister Cyril’s work at Loreto Sealdah, Kolkata, established the Partnership Foundation to ensure education for girls on and of the streets of India. With a vision of establishing 50 model homes for girls in India’s Government schools, Ferd joined hands with Aman Biradari to pilot the program in Delhi in 2005. He was able to see the initiative extend to 45 homes in 7 States under the banner of the Rainbow Foundation of India (RFI). In Ferd’s passing in October 2013, many of us in RFI, CES and Aman Biradari lost a dear friend and a profound inspiration, and the street-children of India lost a stalwart advocate, who put all his energies into promoting their well-being.
CREATE
The CREATE study provides evidence that 33% of children achieve grade level competencies in Grade 3 and hence qualify as achieving “meaningful learning”, the percentage goes down to 25% in Grade 5, to 20% by Grade 8, and to 10% in Grade 12 and that these averages mask great variation between and within states. The evidence suggests high age-in-grade, an associated increased risk of dropout, and continued exclusion of girls, Muslims, scheduled castes and tribes, and that “participation and progression remain strongly associated with household wealth despite commitments to pro-poor policies and investment of resources” (p. 24) and “poorer underdeveloped areas have the worst facilities and teachers” (Lewin, 2011, p. 49)4
Starfish model of decentralized knowledge
In The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, Brafman and Beckstrom (2006)2distinguish between spider-like organizations with a clearly discernible head controlling the body, from starfish-like organizations, that have no central command, but rather carry the entire nervous system encoded in every part. They propose a model for decentralized organizations that thrive and grow, replicate and mutate as real or virtual communities organized around a central ideology that fills an urgent need: to overcome addiction (e.g Alcoholics Anonymous), for low-cost long-distance communication (e.g. Skype), to share knowledge and information (e.g. Wikipedia).They argue that such organizations are catalyzed by a powerful idea and characterized by groups that function as communities, providing autonomy and freedom from hierarchy, governed by common norms rather than rules, and often self- policing (Brafman & Beckstrom, 2006)2 .