To act as a team and to support each other is probably one of the toughest things to learn for our open school kids. The quote:
the team is only as good as its weakest team member
is very hard for them to put into practice.
Since January 2019 the five kids – Asha, Arun, Anil, Brajendra and Ajeet – are living and studying together in Noida. They all share one apartment. Prakriti School, where they study, is just a one minute walk away.
Their “teamlife” is challenging and it is hindering them to unfold their full potential. To harness so to speak their “collective intelligence” is a process we will focus on more in the coming months. It’s these questions and actions which are separating instead of uniting them :
- who does the cooking ?
- who does the dishes?
- who does the cleaning?
- who makes the rules?
- who is supporting whom and why?
- who is responsible?
- blaming over supporting
- talking over getting things done
- how to enter a commitment
- ME over WE
How to get this
right, was the topic of a long discussion we had with the kids. And it was a starting point for a “deeper look”.
We invited them in a circle session to
- point out the positive sides of each other
- think about how important it is to communicate and how to communicate in a transparent way
- think what it means when they say to someone “I will do!” and then don’t deliver (commitment)
- think what each single one can do to improve the team
- learn how to set up rules
- think about how teamwork helps to get things done
It was a kick off event. In two weeks we have a one week workshop back home in Janwaar where we’ll dig deeper into this.
I was very lucky to have Rina Singh with me, a very distinguished children book author, now living in Canada, who unexpectedly conducted this circle session with the kids.
Rina is also working with some of the kids in remote English sessions. Just like Nicola we are blessed to have such experienced educators in our team! A HUGE thank you for your efforts to both of you!
