St. Saras High School
Koramangala
Year 02
Big
Goals
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Build a love for learning amongst students who are about to enter the rigorous experience of high school
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Build emotional intelligence in pre-teens who engage in substance abuse and physical violence
SUB GOAL 1
Push for students to engage with different learning experiences, to help identify their unique learning style, and hence build a love for learning.
SUB GOAL 2
Promote socio-emotional balance in pre-teens that are battling substance abuse, and entering into the puberty phase.
Who are we?
We are a group of 23 6th graders with a strong passion for science and math, eager to learn and explore. However, we struggle to understand ourselves, our interests, and our strengths. Our communication skills are limited, and we lack the confidence to express ourselves freely.
We are a group of 23 7th graders with high exposure to media, making us hyper-aware of the world around us. However, we struggle with emotional regulation, often expressing anger through physical fights and verbal abuse. We are stuck in the past, unable to trust that the present or future holds anything good for us. Lacking a genuine love for learning, we see school as nothing more than a waste of time.
Building a culture that promotes a love for learning
Problem Identification:
Having spent their foundational years in the pandemic, the students of grade 7 could not even sit still and focus for 3 minutes, let alone follow and promote a healthy classroom culture.
Design Solution:
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Building a culture that promotes healthy participation, with conscious consequences.
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Strong structures that give students a sense of predictability and hence allows them to feel safe.
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A culture plan that pushes them out of their comfort zone.
Building ownership towards the classroom through art
Problem Identification:
After following a strong culture plan for 2-3 months, i could see a shift in student behaviour.
However, upon further conversations with students, i understood that there is a fundamental lack of motivation towards learning.
As young adults transitioning into puberty, they had not had an experience where they took ownership of something by themselves, and hence lacked the skills to do it.
Design Solution:
In my childhood, i learnt the skill of taking ownership of my life, by first taking ownership of the spaces i occupied.
I tried something similar with Grade 7 - building an ownership towards our classroom, through art.
Building a love for learning by leveraging the strengths of students
Problem Identification:
90 % of students are not thriving through elementary and middle school because their strengths are not leveraged by traditional curriculum design, fuelled further by low parents and teacher confidence and lack of school support.
Design Solution:
The Builder Brigade creates healthy learning environments for students through leveraging their strengths and interests, to enjoy and thrive at their key roles and responsibilities.
Current Narrative of students of grade 6 and 7
Shifted Narrative after intervention by The Builder Brigade
The Model
“Quick Links to know more about
The Builder Brigade”
The Impact
Data after Year 2
40%
students did not pass the BOY science test
60%
did not pass the science test in december
40%
Scored above 60 percent in the BOY test
65%
scored above 60 percent in the december dipstick test
0%
scored above 80 percent in the BOY science test
40%
scored above 80 percent in the december test
Alinas self image - an evolution through 6 months under The Builder Brigade
At the beginning of the year, when asked what makes you powerless? Alina mentioned specific students in the class, who make her feel inferior due to her skin tone and body build. A classic case of targeted body shaming.
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The initial prototype of my BTCP included a piece on colourism and discrimination, where i leveraged a volunteer to take one hour lessons with students on the origins and effects of colourism.
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At the end of the Unit Alinas creative puppetry script on how all colours are good colours, shows a drastic evolution of thought on these topics, and i see her turning into a leader of the class, rather than somebody who feels small.
