Self-Discovery Week - classes 6-12

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Aristotle

Self-Discovery Week is observed every year at The Indian School to provide children with insight for rapid personal growth and accelerated success through introspection and understanding of others.

This year, the School observed self-discovery from 1 to 6 April 2019. All students of classes VI to XII participated in several interesting inter-disciplinary activities to identify their potential.

In English, students read excerpts from the autobiographies of famous personalities like Ruskin Bond, Anne Frank and Sachin Tendulkar. They penned down their personal autobiographies, as well. It accorded them a chance to revisit their past and ruminate about where they want to be in the future. They noted personal vision and mission. The young scholars were asked to use metaphors to describe their personal appearance, feelings and behaviour. This intrigued the children and enabled them to think out of the box. It was heartwarming to see them explore their creative side as they drew comparisons with self-portraits of the previous years. They were surprised to find the changes in their choices and preferences over the years!

Students read the biography of Helen Keller in Hindi. AtamParichay and a self-composed poem 'Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai' was written by the students. The speaking skills of students were enhanced when they were made to share their childhood experiences. The topic of discussion was Bachppan ki koi galti ya shararat!

Students studying French and Sanskrit were asked to draw a family tree in which they posted pictures of their family members and mentioned the relationships. This activity helped them learn more about their own families.

The young mathematicians were asked to draw self-portraits using 3 D geometrical shapes imagining they were robots. They also made beautiful patterns with origami sheets. The students of the senior wing were asked to identify their positions by connecting all the points while adhering to the limitations. They were surprised to discover how every position when connected resulted in a beautiful and fixed pattern. This activity enabled the students to learn adaptability under limitations, and at the same time, maintain movement without stopping till the next instruction. They discovered the subtle fact that math is not just about numbers but art to lead a logical life.

Biology invited the students of the senior school to express their opinion on If you are given a chance to undergo 'Crisp Gene Editing Technique', what changes would you acquire from your favourite personality? Students also discussed and then wrote down their views on the statement Human beings are not merely a product of their hormones. The dialogue focused on how we are driven by our hormones under most circumstances but we still have a mind that can work above and beyond the power of hormones. Unlike all other animals, we have a brain that can analyse our responses and take the approach that seems wise.

In chemistry, junior students read the biography of Satyendra Nath Bose. They were asked to introspect on five qualities that they possess which are a prerequisite of becoming a good scientist. They also mentioned their weaknesses which need to be improved upon. The senior students were asked to carry out salt analysis in the lab whereby they identified the acidic and basic radical in salt. The students of class XII Science were encouraged to undertake a SWOT analysis as a process of discovering themselves.

The physicists in class IX were tasked to write a few lines on any Indian scientist of their choice who had similar characteristics and personality traits as them. Next, they identified an attribute that they would like to associate themselves with. The students of classes XI and XII were motivated to read APJ Abdul Kalams autobiography, Wings of Fire which teaches us how we can change our destinies with faith. To succeed in life and achieve results we must master three mighty forces- destiny, belief and expectation. They were advised to rethink and realise how they could imbibe these qualities.

Kings and queens have been a source of inspiration for the common people. The fascinating discipline of history encouraged students from middle school to use their imagination and put themselves in the shoes of a monarch of their choice. They were asked about how they would have ruled, and how they could prove to be better rulers than their chosen historical figure.

The students of classes XI and XI wrote on the topic Gender Roles in Indian Society. They expressed their opinions on a diverse range of topics from how gender-based roles have changed in India to what kind of occupations men and women follow, how women are treated today; are the salaries of men and women at par across all professions and what kind of roles men and women perform in a marriage? These were some of the questions weighed by the students in their report. A discussion ensued on the same topic wherein students expressed divergent views. They connected the division of labour from the past to the present. They cited examples not only from the lives of rulers or emperors but also from their grandparents and parents. The activity concluded with a question and answer round and students seemed to enjoy the debate.

Students of Psychology enthusiastically participated in self-discovery activities. They were divided into six groups comprising of six members each. Each group was asked to plan a friend's birthday party and present a role play. The groups based their role play on the source of ideas referred to as 'Experiences'. In the second activity, they were shown a picture and asked to speak whatever came to mind. Various thoughts emerged and were listed under 'mental processes'. Simultaneously, they were told about actions and responses made by them which were classified as 'behaviours'. The activities concluded with the exploration of three processes studied in psychology. Students also talked about a recent family trip.

Programming is a process of taking an algorithm and encoding into a notation, a programming language so that it can be executed by a computer. Students were asked to prepare a report on the characteristics of a good programmer for converting an algorithm into a program. They were asked to relate their strengths and weaknesses with respect to the features they have gathered.

The sociology students engaged in a self-reflective piece of work in the form of an essay, a story, a comic, a caricature or a poem. The question presented to them was-Who am I? How does my present state of mind influence my relationship with the social institutions of family, education, gender, politics, economy and so forth?

The activity in commerce was designed to provide students with real-world application of classroom curriculum. Students were asked to take decisions related to the budget in the light of inflation, unemployment, and other unforeseen additions or strains to the family budget. To discover their analytical aspects, they were also asked to calculate mean, median and mode from the data to analyse it using a pie graph in order to record the suggestive changes.

The students of class XI and XII were asked to put down their thoughts on the topic India of my Dreams. All wrote about the good things that existed in our country and also mentioned what they would want to change to make our country the best nation to live in. More emphasis was laid on the best practices that we already have and how they can further be made stronger.

Last but not least, students studying physical education wrote about their achievements and qualities. They stated the changes they wanted to make in their lives. The most interesting part of the activity was that everyone wrote about the sportsperson they looked up to and wanted to emulate in order to achieve greater goals in life. Another interesting feature of the activity was that everyone wished to bring about many changes in order to have a healthy lifestyle like- waking up early, regular exercise, helping others, improvement in the decision-making process, etc.

Thus, the week-long voyage of self-discovery concluded with the young voyagers pleasantly surprised to discover a new aspect of their multi-faceted personality. Mans quest for self-discovery is eternal and so we wish our young travellers many such moments in the future towards greater self-realisation and self-actualisation.