CBSE teacher workshop on Happy Classrooms

The Indian School organised a CBSE workshop, Happy Classrooms on 26 June 2023, for its teaching staff. 60 elementary and middle school teachers attended the informative seminar, which was divided into two modules: module I (8 a.m.10 a.m.) and module II (11 a.m.4 p.m.).

Principal, Ms Tania Joshi, welcomed resource persons, Mr Pankaj Munjal, freelancer associated with the CBSE and Ms Priyanka Bhatkoti, Principal, Maxfort School, Dwarka.

Mr Munjal stated that the workshop aimed to instill in teachers 4 main factors, namely, a curiosity to seek truth, a feeling of abundance, self-control, a healthy mind, and interpersonal harmony. These values help create a happier, more playful, and nimble state of mind. He added that thoughts were the most significant resource and should be properly harnessed.

Mr Munjal emphasised that, for teachers to create happy classrooms, they need to be happy from the inside; only then would they be able to instill happiness in their students. For this, he suggested that teachers should have self-awareness, they must understand relationships and student behaviour, and deal with interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.

He mentioned that if we understand ourselves, we might also understand others, thereby achieving natural acceptance. He also noted that every person's intention is always good, but competence depends upon upbringing and sanskaras.

The second module was most ably conducted by Ms Priyanka Bhatkoti. She divided the participating teachers into 3 groups: past, present, and future activities. She explained that the role of the present is to learn from the past, not grieve over it, and remind of the daunting future.

She focussed on self-reflection through emotional self-regulation by engaging the participants in various activities. The interactive segment saw the teachers name their respective groups based on happy emotions, introduce their group's name, and share the inspiration or story underlying their choices in the context of the school/classroom.

These activities reveal if the teacher's physical, mental, and emotional well-being, creates a positive learning environment in the classroom. To arrive at this state, she introduced the teacher's toolkit for emotional self-regulation: Stop take a deep breath observe pull back practice and proceed.

She stressed acquiring and updating knowledge and recommended that teachers acknowledge desired behaviours for early detection and prevention.

The session concluded with group-wise presentations on the theme of Happy Classrooms. Each group aesthetically summarised the key elements of a happy classroom on charts using earth-friendly materials like leaves, thread, newspapers, etcetera.