Good Schools of India
Joy of Learning Weekly #70
We are reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari
In Chapter 19 of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari focuses on how rapid technological and social shifts render traditional schooling obsolete. He argues that schools must stop teaching rote information and instead focus on resilience, mental flexibility, and lifelong learning.
The most prominent and defining quote from this lesson captures the core of his argument:
“Since we do not know what the world and the job market will look like in 2050, we don’t really know what to teach children today. Most of what they learn will likely be irrelevant by the time they are forty. [...] In such a world, the last thing a teacher needs to give her pupils is more information. They already have far too much of it. Instead, people need the ability to make sense of information, to tell the difference between what is important and what is unimportant, and above all to combine many bits of information into a broad picture of the world.”
To adapt to this reality, Harari suggests that educators should prioritise the “four C’s”:
Critical thinking
Communication
Collaboration
Creativity
Ultimately, he notes that teaching kids to embrace the unknown and reinvent themselves is far more important than teaching them standard academic subjects.
Literacy Project for Educators, 1st Edition, Ballia
It gives us immense pleasure to welcome you to Ballia for the Literacy Project on July 4. Known for its warmth, resilience, and rich heritage, Ballia opens its doors and hearts to all who visit. We hope that during your stay, you not only participate in a meaningful cause but also experience the hospitality, culture, and spirit that make our city special.
Akanksha Rai, My Good School Intern at Sunbeam School Ballia
Learning Forward Retreat
Join us for an immersive learning experience in Dehradun.
The three Rs
Learn to connect deeply with young people through Reading, Reflection, and Building Meaningful Relationships.
The YES Way
Youth Engaging Society (YES) offers equal opportunities to every individual: Service, Skill, Sport, and Study.
The six Cs
“The 6 Cs” are designed to equip students for a rapidly changing world.
Learning Forward Saturday
We are reading “Wanted Back-bencher and Last-ranker Teacher” by Kavita Ghosh.
Key Takeaways
Roma’s Strategy: To motivate her difficult class for a presentation, Roma shared her own past struggles with stage fright and low confidence. This humanised her, building trust and showing that overcoming fear is possible.
Cheating Dilemma: A student’s detailed advice on how to cheat effectively prompted a discussion on integrity, highlighted by Roma’s decision to refuse a leaked exam paper in high school.
Public Speaking as a Skill: Roma reframed the upcoming assembly as a crucial opportunity to develop critical thinking, verbal skills, and confidence, directly addressing students’ anxieties.
The “Air Hostess” Experiment: To cure her stage fright, Roma applied for an air hostess job. She passed the interview by mastering facts, proving that deep knowledge, not a memorised script, is the key to confident communication.
BOOKS OF THE WEEK
It’s all about helping teachers, educators, and students access the tools they need to embrace the joy of learning, including reading and critical thinking.
Navigating The School-Buffet!
As parents, it is infinitely more complex than being at that tantalising buffet I earlier referenced. The former is limited to ‘papi pet ka sawaal’. Here, it is ‘bache ka bhavishya aur vansh ki shaan’!
Maybe not quite with the same crass fervour of the ride-hungry autorickshaw drivers outside a train station, or wheeling-dealing vendors within the barely legal underbelly of Palika Bazaar; the schools mentioned above tug at the heartstrings, and more overtly, at the hitherto unfulfilled aspirations of us new-age parents, who want a no-compromise ecosystem to capitalise on our children’s maximum potential.
So what’s the catch? That it isn’t heartstrings, or even head-leaning logic, that finally serves as the primary factor in the choice of school we make. It is, for many of us parents, admit it or not, what looks the best. Like that untried dish in the buffet, most captivating, the school that is most fancy, contemporary, modern, cutting edge, biggest, grandest, ultimately ends up tugging, in fact draining the purse strings (no other strings are harmed in this decision, at least not at the outset).
