Good Schools of India
Joy of Learning Weekly #52
Celebrating one year of the Good Schools of India Weekly
#52 makes me look back on the year and reflect on this journey: how we started in 2015 and, along the way, came Ravi Santlani of ScooNews, who lit a match inside, and we worked our way with #HappyTeachers as our bullseye. We agreed on the statement bang on: “Changing Teachers’ Lives Every Day, Every Way!”
In 2015, on November 14, during our first Coffee and Conversations session, we birthed the idea of “Learning Forward India”. I shared my firm belief that my epitaph must say “He sleeps on the feet of his teacher”.
In my over four decades of working with schools, I have consistently advocated for teachers and never established a successful practice as a school development consultant who supports management and the promoters. Many school owners and institutions found my focus on governance training and learning challenging. After the initial period of acceptance, they realised that my priority is always the teachers and that transforming school culture is a long, arduous process.
Through travelling across the length and breadth of the country and worldwide, attending professional learning events, participating in train-the-trainer programs and dedicating myself to teachers’ day and night, I am certain that it is teachers alone who shape the world. The day we give them due credit and not merely lip service to the profession, we will become the leading nation in the world.
The core of My Good School lies in the intersection of passion and education. The book and my life started with the publication of my first book, Good Schools of India, in 1998, and finally came the Good Schools of India Weekly in 2025
Here we are celebrating the first year of our Good Schools of India Weekly, which has climbed the Substack Newsletters list of the top 10 in education.
With much love to all my teachers, as they are the only ones who understand the true meaning of love, a pure and sublime one and have the courage to be happy.
Searching & Browsing for Books
Browsing is softer. Slower. Almost accidental.
When I browse, I don’t limit myself to classic literature or fiction. I wander. I pause at shelves I didn’t expect to care about. I pick up a book because the cover design feels intimate. I read a random paragraph and decide based on a feeling rather than a plan.
Browsing allows room for curiosity. There’s no checklist, no urgency to “get what I came for.” Sometimes I walk in thinking I want something serious and literary, and I leave holding something completely different. Not because I changed my mind — but because something unexpected caught my attention.
That’s the real difference.
Searching is about certainty. Browsing is about discovery.
Read the full post by Sneha at The English Book Depot.
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER | THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | SHORTLISTED FOR THE WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023 | SHORTLISTED FOR THE FOYLES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
Rick Rubin is a nine-time GRAMMY-winning producer, named one of the '100 Most Influential People in the World’ by TIME and ‘The most successful producer in any genre’ by Rolling Stone. He has collaborated with artists from Tom Petty to Adele, Johnny Cash to Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Beastie Boys to Slayer, Kanye West to The Strokes, System of a Down to Jay-Z.
The Teachers Academy
Sandeep Dutt’s Masterclass discussed the book “The Courage to Be Happy,” which explores the concept of courage to be happy in a challenging world. The book features a dialogue between a young person and a philosopher that addresses the youth’s need for courage. The discussion delved into Adlerian psychology, questioning its classification as a science due to its lack of falsifiability. The conversation also explored the distinction between philosophy and religion, emphasising philosophy’s continuous quest for wisdom. The session concluded with a focus on education as self-reliance, highlighting the importance of human knowledge and relationships in the learning process.
Learning Forward Saturday with Brinda Ghosh and Sandeep Dutt
Key Takeaways
New Book: Launched a monthly book reading using Wanted Back-bencher & Last-ranker Teacher to explore teacher development.
Program Goal: Shift the teacher paradigm from “perfect” to “relatable” by focusing on reading, reflection, and relationships, rather than just training.
First Assignment: Teachers must submit a reflection on “What goes into the making of a teacher?” by next Saturday.
Resource Hub: www.
happyteacher.inIt is the central portal for all program content, including session recordings and participant reflections.
There was a time when mornings in school felt unhurried — a quiet assembly of thoughts, curiosity gently waking with the day. Today, our mornings have turned chaotic, rushed by schedules, expectations, and performance. In this haste, somewhere along the way, our learners have begun to resemble careful machines — efficient, instructed, measurable — yet distanced from wonder. The joy of learning has slowly thinned, replaced by the urgency to complete, score, and move ahead.
Manisha Khanna, GSA Principal and The Teachers Academy blog editor.
My Good School
जेराल्ड डरेल द्वारा लिखित कहानी “A Bushel of Learning” से हमें अनुभवजन्य शिक्षा और व्यक्तित्व की रुचियों के पोषण का महत्व समझ में आता है। इस कहानी से मिलने वाली सीख इस प्रकार है—
किताबी ज्ञान से परे शिक्षा:
कहानी बताती है कि शिक्षा केवल चारदीवारी के भीतर या पाठ्य-पुस्तकों तक सीमित नहीं है। प्रकृति, आसपास के वातावरण और व्यावहारिक अनुभवों से भी बहुत कुछ सीखा जा सकता है।
रुचि के अनुसार सीखना:
जेराल्ड को प्रकृति और जीवों में रुचि थी। कहानी सिखाती है कि बच्चों को उनकी पसंद और जिज्ञासा के अनुसार सीखने के लिए प्रोत्साहित किया जाना चाहिए, न कि उन पर पारंपरिक पढ़ाई जबरदस्ती थोपी जाए।
शिक्षा का आनंदमय होना:
सीखने की प्रक्रिया बोझिल होने के बजाय आनंददायक होनी चाहिए। जब सीखना मज़ेदार होता है, तो ज्ञान अधिक गहरा होता है।
यह कहानी हमें सिखाती है कि सच्ची शिक्षा वही है, जो जिज्ञासा को जगाए और व्यावहारिक जीवन से जुड़ी हो।
शिवानी यादव, कक्षा 6, Sunbeam Gramin School
My Good School hosted a children’s reading session where they discussed Gerald Durrell’s book “My Family and Other Animals.” Brinda led the discussion, explaining the story and engaging with the children’s questions. The group also read and talked about a story by Ruskin Bond. Manisha then took over for the second part, reading a Hindi story and prompting the children to reflect on what they had learned. The session ended with a discussion of the stories’ historical background and the children sharing their reflections.
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