Self Discovery Workshop

Before you can be anything, you have to be yourself. That's the hardest thing to find.

What is this thing called "self-discovery? Self discovery in simple words is self-learning. It is the ability of an individual to learn through personal experience and natural exploration, often motivated by curiosity. It is indeed a key to an individual's educational success. It is where education begins for everyone. The life of a child is full of learning, from the beginning of the day to the end. Most of this learning is through exploration and experience.

The child notices everything.There is pleasure in being praised. This pleasure serves as a motivator for the learner. It encourages further exploring and discovery. If the child is encouraged to experiment and exercise his mental processes, his learning will go far beyond what just a teacher can teach him. The child is actually teaching himself. Unlike learning from lecture and reading, experiential learning is retained at a very high rate.We, as teachers should encourage self discovery as it is paramount to learning throughout life.

As we place in front of students something they can interact with, or manipulate, we will stimulate self-learning.Curiosity results in learning. The more we can raise the curiosity level in children, the more we will allow them to learn by self-discovery. It contributes to feelings of positive self-worth.

Like every year,this year too we begin our new academic session with the SELF DISCOVERY WEEK. Eagerly awaited by all the students, these 6 days of fun-learning bring out latent talents of students besides acting as an ice- breaker. They get to know each other, but importantly, themselves.

This year,we plan to include a spectrum of exercises during the week to provide the students with a wide variety so as to encourage and inspire them to dig into the deep recesses of their minds and know themselves better. The 6 days will be divided into 6 different activities.

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DAY 1- The first day of the week will be spent in reading excerpts from the autobiographies of famous personalities to familiarise them to the idea of Self- Discovery. We intend to talk about autobiographies in particular as they are people talking about themselves which is the whole idea behind this exercise. We want to encourage the students to speak about themselves not only in terms of what they like and what they dont, but also about their inner feelings. They will listen to the teacher reading out from the book and try and look deeper into their own lives and remember and picture moments that have mattered the most. They will then be asked to introduce themselves and also talk about themselves.

As an example, I would like to share an excerpt from the book Ignited Minds by APJ Abdul Kalam.

"On 30 September, 2001, I was on my way to Bokaro from Ranchi when the helicopter carrying me crashed moments before landing. It hit the earth with a thud after it's engine failed. All of us on board had a miraculous escape. Grateful to God but unfazed by the incident, I went ahead with my scheduled programme the students in Bokaro.

"I imagined a conversation between five people who together symbolise the finest attributes of the human mind and whom I admire deeply. Through their conversation, I sought an answer. I saw myself in a desert with miles of sand all around. There was the full moon and the desert was bathed in it's light. Five men-Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, EmperorAshoka, Abraham Lincoln and Caliph Omar-stood in a circle, their clothes ruffled by the wind.

Another excerpt from the book Barack Obama-Dreams From My Father

"I remember there was an old man living next door who seemed to share my disposition. He lived alone,a gaunt, stooped figure who wore a heavy black overcoat and a misshapen fedora on those rare occasions when he left his apartment. Once in a while Id run into him on his way back from the store and I would offer to carry his groceries up the long flight of stairs. He would look at me and shrug and we would begin our ascent, stopping at each landing so that he could catch his breath. When we finally arrived at his apartment, Id carefully set the bags down on the floor and he would offer a courtly nod of acknowledgement before shuffling inside and closing the latch. Not a single word would pass between us.

Other books like-The Diary of Anne Frank, Helen Keller-The Story Of My Life or the autobiography of cricketer Yuvraj Singh can be read out as well.

DAY 2- What better place to start looking for ideas for your writing than your own memories?

When we write about our lives-be it in the form of prose or as a poem, we are celebrating and preserving our memories. This message will reach the students clearly when on the second day they are asked to compose a poem on their past experiences. This will help them explore their feelings. They can write about a dream world where there is happiness all around, just like in the poem Im going to read out to you-

I dream a world where man

No other will scorn

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its path adorn.

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedoms way,

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth,

And every man is free.

Where wretchedness will hang its head,

And joy, like pearl

Attend the needs of all mankind.

Of such I dream- Our World.

Other topics can be:

- My achievements

- My journey through the previous class

- My impressions of my school

DAY 3- The day will be named as I am Good At..Day

The students will display their creativity by making something they are good at. It can be a painting, origamy, paper mache or any piece of art. Their works will be displayed in school. This would encourage them and give them a sense of pride.

DAY 4- This day will see students narrating an incident,some fond memory or an unforgettable moment of their lives. They can talk about the school, what they like the most about it, what changes they would like to see etc.

The reason why school is such a popular topic with children is that it takes up such a huge part of their lives. So it can even be one of the best settings for fiction. The students can create an imaginary school of their choice and talk about it. This would be an instant hit among them.

DAY 5- This will be the day when the students will be asked to write their views about their partners in the new class. They will then share it with the class. This will teach them to be observant, be sensitive towards each other and get to know each other better.

DAY 6- On this day, the students will be writing about themselves including their experiences of the last five days. They will write about how they felt during the entire week, what all they experienced, how many friends they made and what their resolutions for the new class are going to be.Their imagination can also be sparked by asking them to draw themselves, each as a superhero! Ask what their superhero power would be, what their costume would look like, and what they would do with their power. This would help them discover what powers they would love to have and what good they would like to do in the world.

Filed by Ms. Gandharvi Mukherjee.

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