The habit of reflection at Vidhya Vidhai schools

“I have observed students of Grade 5 choosing books from their classroom library during lunch hours. I appreciate the class teacher’s efforts in creating such an environment in her class.”- School Leader provided a smiley badge to the teacher as a token of appreciation. 

“I changed the seating arrangements in my classroom. It helped me in giving attention to all my students in the class.”- a proud voice from Grade 3 class teacher. 

“Time management is the biggest challenge I face whenever I try new teaching practice in my class”- an experience shared by a teacher.

The above conversations happened between School Leaders and teachers of our cluster schools during their Reflection Circle held during their winter breaks. What is a reflection circle? Why is it important to conduct in schools? How our school leaders make it happen effectively? Let us dwell deep into their journey. 

Reflection circle is a quarterly meeting of school leaders and teachers, where they can discuss concerns, share best practices, appreciate one another and create a culture of collaboration in the school environment. It drives and influences school culture by enabling conversations among stakeholders and promotes stories of positive change. 

To put it simply, just like a mirror reflecting our image, self-reflection enables teachers to carry out an enquiry about themselves and to understand their practices. By constantly looking into their own actions and experiences, they professionally grow on their own. The most basic structure it can happen is the reflection circle. But not everyone feels comfortable speaking up or share more conveniently in their environment. Hence the session was carefully planned to include various activities that gain participants’ interest and comfort, thereby improving their involvement. 

The pre-reflection stage happened with the School Leader about how the meeting can be executed. This planning also ensured the facilitator’s part and who will be facilitating the different segments of the meet. To make it more effective, School Leaders gathered stories of positive changes in school to share during the meet. There was also a surprise element planned for teachers, which comes in the next segment. 

Highlights of the meeting–

1. Wall of experience– A space where teachers can write their stories about-

1) What I have learned

2) Changes in my teaching practices

3) Changes in the learning behavior of my students

4) Challenges

There was a Gallery Walk at the end for everyone to see other stories. 

“I have 45 students in my class. Managing them daily was a huge challenge for me. I learned different classroom management techniques from the workshop that was conducted by Vidhya Vidhai. Now I am confident enough in handling my class with complete attention”– posted by Grade 1 teacher. 

The idea is not just about sharing the best practices but also thinking of what makes these changes happen and how changes happen. When they were made to understand the continuous chain of improvement they were undergoing, they developed confidence about themselves and their growth. 

1. Highlights of the Quarter– After teachers posting their stories, the School leader shared the collected positive change stories that happened in this quarter. She also provided her feedback and suggestions for the areas that need to be improved in the teacher and in school as well. 

“I could see the entire classroom environment has changed in a more positive way. There were motivational quotes, separate classroom library with different categories of books, word wall, etc.”– Jackline, School Leader  

1. Appreciation board– A joyous moment of the meet when the leader introduced the structure of appreciation board to teachers. It was evident from their joy that sometimes a little appreciation brings magic. 

“I would like to appreciate Valli ma’am for her creative idea of making her class desks as a learning aid for sight words”– appreciating Grade 3 teacher. 

The meeting ensured that everyone gets an opportunity to speak and every idea has been valued and contributes to learning. We at Vidhya Vidhai believe that Leaders and Teachers who are on a journey to mold our students into creative thinkers and reflective human beings should themselves first be a reflective practitioner, Hence reflection circles are a small effort to support Leaders and Teachers to grow and develop. 

-Karunya, School Transformation Lead

Vidhya Vidhai Foundation