Gauging school climate is the new buzz. Thanks to the increasing number of suicides, school managements
have begun to realise the need to make the school a happy place. “We just keep finding over and over again, the more students feel safe and supported in school … the stronger the learning gains and the bigger the improvement in learning gains,” validates Elaine Allensworth, Director, UChicago’s Consortium for School Research.
Past studies, be it the Hoy and Hannum, (1997) or the Chen and Weikart (2208) confirm that negative school climate reduces student participation in school activities and student learning.
The challenges for the management are many, a slow learner feels detached from the peer group. A gifted child becomes a puzzle for the teacher. A child whose parents are filing for divorce stays unattended in the classroom and an obese student is bullied. Every classroom sketches its unique challenges and it becomes the duty of school to make each student a happy learner. And achieving this in India is not an easy task.
1.5 million schools are built in India for 260 million students. Every student has a school available within 1 km. Even with such provisions, classrooms are empty. Out of 100 students, on an average, only 70 finish their schooling in India. While the dropouts are maximum for the rural demographic, urban students are juggling with their own set of problems. Finding happiness against such a backdrop is akin to tracing a needle in a hay stack, but efforts are being made, the CBSE initiative of ‘Angry-free zone’ is
one initiative.
Collaborating with parents, teachers and the community can help reduce the stress and cater efficiently to the needs of Gen Z. In a research on the responsibilities of Australian school principals it was found that supplementary professional support from wider community can prevent burnout of principals.
Pooling in volunteers like parents, teachers and community platters varied perspectives for students to learn and explore.
