Inhalt

.

Dedicated to MY FAMILY

Chapter: 1 SCHOOL ORGANIZATION: ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION: ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT DIFFERENTIATED

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION

In order to have a clear-cut understanding of the two terms organization and administration, let us take a simple example. Organization is just like setting up a machine. The various parts of the machine are put together by the organizer and thus the machine comes into being. When the machine comes into existence, its proper functioning and operation is administration. One in the absence of the other is meaningless.

Organization is the pre-execution stage, whereas administration is the execution stage. The two terms are inseparable. They are interdependent. Thus good organization results in good administration and good administration causes good organization.so, we can say that organization determines the degree of success in administration.

Organization may be poor to begin with. It can be improved upon by the administrator through his administration. Organization is a part of administration. We cannot have administration without organization. Both organization and administration are in the hands of the management. The management fixes up the goal of education, decides the policy matter, provides finances for organization and administration and hence helps in achieving the goal.

Concepts of Organization and Administration

The effectiveness of an organization is enhanced:

By having a single executive head
By clear definition of goals and purposes
When every person in the organization knows to whom and for what he/she is responsible
When superordinates delegate authority to subordinates
By the division of labour and task specialization
By the development of standardized procedures for routine administrative operation
By assigning to each administrator no greater a number of persons than the administrator can supervise directly.
By continuing policies and programs until results can be evaluated
When it makes provision for innovation and change
When the organization provides security for its members
By personnel policies, which include selecting the competent, training the inexperienced, eliminating the incompetent, and providing incentives for all members of the organization
When provision is made for evaluating not only the products of the organization, but also the organization itself

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

Administration is a process of systematically arranging and co-ordinating the human and material resources available to any organization for the main purpose of achieving stipulated goals of that organization. When applied to the school system, the process is referred to as Educational Administration or School Administration. Administration is a term used to refer more to Government business. Administration occurs in every organization. The basic aim of administration is the need to get things done for defined objectives to be accomplished.

Educational Administration is the process of bringing men and materials together for effective and functional teaching and learning in the school. The focus of educational administration is the enhancement of teaching and learning. We can define educational administration as a process through which the school administrators arrange and co-ordinate the resources available to education, for the purpose of achieving the goals of the educational system.

Management:

Management is a term most often used to describe industrial activities. Management is a social process which is designed to ensure the cooperation, participation, intervention and involvement of others in the effective achievement of a given or pre-determined goal or objective.

The term management is derived from an Italian word “maneggiare” which means to “train horses” or literally “to handle”. From the French word “maneger’, it means to economize and manage an act of guiding or leading. Etymologically therefore, it means to handle, direct, economically guide and lead.

Management is an integrating process by which authorized individuals create, maintain and operate an organization in the selection and accomplishment of its aims. Management is getting things done through others. Management is the co-ordination of all resources of an organization through the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling in order to attain objectives (educational). It is the direction or guidance of people towards organizational goals and objectives.

So, management is the effective organization and utilization of human and material resources in a particular system for the achievement of identified objectives.

Why Administration and Management are sometimes used synonymously.

Administration is a component part of management. Administration is widely applied in associations and government services and non-profit organizations.

Management is usually applied when considering the executive functions and the expertise in government and civil services. But management encompasses much more than administration – it involves the work of analyzing and preparing complex policy documents for decision by political decision makers. Management is basically concerned with the formation of plans, progammes and polices while administration is principally responsible for the execution or implementation of these plans, programmes and policies. Administrators are implementators while management is formulating programme.

Administration, like management also involves such elements as planning, organizing, programming, staffing, budgeting, co-ordinating, reporting and evaluating, but on a smaller scale than management.

Organization and management are equally interchanged or jointly and inseparably applied occasionally. Organization refers to the structure or forms of an enterprise and the arrangement of all parts in a manner suitable for use in service.

Management includes all those in charge of the direction of the work of others, those who will see to it that the parts so arranged and structured are used in service to the best advantage.

Administration is also, an integral part of an organization. Here it is characterized as a service, an activity or a tool through which the fundamental objectives of the process may be more fully and efficiently realized. The school is an organization in the organization.

For effective school administration, the administrator needs to be knowledgeable in the theories, techniques and principles of school administration as a guide for action when necessary.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCHOOL ORGANIZATION, ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

School

The term school, originated from the Greek word ‘Skhole’, meaning leisure. The concept of leisure was associated with ‘school’ mainly because in ancient Greece, general education was not available to all members of the society. It was the privilege of the ‘rich’ and ‘highest class’ of the society.

W.M.Ryburn: School is a co-operative society or a society where co-operation is sought.

SCHOOL ORGANIZATION

Organization is directly concerned with planning and efforts made by the people. It is a medium through which goals and objectives envisaged by the administration are realized. Organization stands for a structure, framework, system or an organized body. It is concerned with the process of rules and regulations, form, calendars, schedules, material equipment, human equipment, workshops, laboratories, infrastructure facilities etc.

‘School organization means looking after the internal and external affairs of the school, the proper use of the resources available and taking proper cared of the resources so that teaching and learning can take place in a better way.’ Schools organization means the act of organizing all available physical and human resources in an organized manner to attain the objectives of education.

Elsbree’s – Organization of a school is the administrative expression of educational theory.

Stead’s – The organization as that agency by which we achieve the desire adjectives.

Aims and objective of school organization

The tremendous explosion of knowledge both in the content of subject matter and pedagogy has important implications for school organization. Even through teachers are professionally competent, they need to support the system – school organization – to put their theories into practice. The aims and objectives of school organization are:

To organize the school for democratic living
To plan for all-round development of students
To develop a permissive atmosphere

Need for School Organization

The schools are organized for the betterment of the society. School is a miniature form of society. It aims to benefit the society. The society is incessantly growing and developing. Without the organization of the schools, the growth of society may remain incomplete and unsystematic. It is the organization of the school that sets things right. Thus, school gives a reflection of the society where it is established and for which it is meant.

Organization, like fire is a good servant, but a bad master. When fire is under the control of man, it works wonders. Man can use it for various purposes. But as soon as it goes out of control, it can cause destruction. Organization proves quite useful when it is under the control of the Head. The Head should be able to mould it in any way he likes. The society is undergoing changes from time to time. So, the best organization is fluid and not static.

Scope of School Organization

In a democratic educational system emphasis is laid upon the all-round development of the individual. Hence, the scope of the organization of the school is very wide. Primarily, the following aspects are covered by this:

1. The qualifications of the headmaster of the school, their duties and their timetable.

2. The drawing up of the syllabus from the point of view of the social good.

3. Periods of work, chalking out and implementation of plans.

4. Management of co-curricular activities, discipline and control, the school building, furniture in the classrooms, libraries etc.

5. The scheme of admission, progress and examination.

6. The examining of work pertaining to the income and expenditure of the school.

7. The mutual relationship between the society and school.

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION

Administration is derived from the Latin word ‘monistic’ which mean service rendered to others for their welfare. The dictionary meaning is “management of business”, “management of public affairs”, “government” etc.,

C.V. Good: All those techniques and procedures in operating the educational organization in accordance with established policies is defined as administration. It is concerned with both human and material resources.

School administration has its attention primarily on the school. It is more concerned with the institution, its goals, policies, and execution of these policies. School administration is concerned with institutional policies, their direction and control.

Objectives of school administration

To organise the school life in such a way as to provide social life to the students so that they may be prepared in the ‘Art of Living Together’. The school has its own community life which can be used as an excellent training ground for citizenship.
To make the school a place of community centre
To provide initiative and freedom to the students and the teachers
To organise co-curricular activities
To help each pupil in the unfolding and blossoming of his personality
To prepare the students for vocation in line with their abilities and aptitudes.
To develop ethical judgment and aesthetic appreciation based on a correct philosophy of life.
To train them in scientific attitude towards life and its problems

The Scope of School Administration

It is important to identify the task areas of the school administrator.

There are five main areas:

1 The curriculum/Instructional Functions

2 The Staff Personnel Functions

3 Student Personnel Functions

4 Financial and Physical Resources Functions

5 The School Community Relations Functions

The Curriculum/Instructional Functions

Since the ultimate goal of educational administration is teaching and learning, curriculum development and programme management constitute an important area. The education administrator ensures that instruction is directed to the requirement of examination bodies. He/she is the academic change facilitator and academic change agent. He/she should, therefore, change the curriculum as and when necessary to serve the needs and reflect the aspirations of the society. Work scheduling is an important function of the school administrator as an instructional manager and supervisor. He/she ensures that allocation of staff to their correct disciplines and equally supervises to ensure that their teaching contents are in line with the current and relevant syllabus and that such context gets to the right students.

The Staff Personnel Functions

The education administrator is the leader of the organization who has staff under him/her to manage as subordinates. They cannot make or manage the organization alone. They have to harness the potentials of their staff to their advantage. He/she should place the necessary structures and allow his/her colleagues to participate in the organizational governance. Under a good organizational climate, discipline and harmony naturally emerges.

The Student Personnel Functions

The educational administrator also has the responsibility to manage the students put under their care effectively. The students are in their formative years. The administrator should have the grasp, full knowledge and understanding of the various stages of students’ developments and their relevant needs. This is done by providing relevant structures and programs capable of directing and shaping their academic and moral values.

Students have advanced from passive on-lookers to active participants on issues and programs that affect them, especially with the formation of student-union governments and other such bodies existing in educational institutions today. Students should participate in decision-making and governance especially in decisions that affect their well-being.

Extra-curricular activities as well as adequate health services, moral and civic orientations, discipline and adequate inter-personal relations should be maintained.

Financial and Physical Resources Functions

The administrator has to be quite knowledgeable in finance management as this is one of the most crucial functions. They have to start with budgeting by properly articulating the cash inflow and outflow in the system. The prudent education administrator creates alternative strategies for cash inflow. The education administrator distributes the available resources among the competing needs in his organization preferentially. His/her financial management has to be apt and his accounting and financial reports straight.

The educational administrator is responsible for the procurement and maintenance of educational plants and facilities. His/her procurement and maintenance of these infrastructures have to be properly planned and programmed. He/she determines the level of their usage or wastage.

The education administrator endeavours to promote school community relations through the participation of the school in community activities and projects, and community participation in some aspects of school life.

The P.T.A. and other stake-holders in the school should join hands with the administrator to formulate policies and reach major decisions as the situation demands. Once the community is in harmony with the school organization, some measure of success in guaranteed.

The educational administrator must be constantly alert to the objectivity with which the community perceives its school and must interpret this into special implication. The education consumer is the public and to a large extent determines what goes on in the school organization.

And therefore, the education administrator identifies what the education consumer wants from education and provides them accordingly.

The School Community Relations Functions

The community is the next-of-kin of school organization, and requires a joint responsibility of the administrator and the community. Although the school serves the community, it is the function or duty of this administrator to make the first move of positive relationship with the community. The educational enterprise is an open system. A social organization thrives on effective interrelationships within it and with its relevant publics.

Principles of school administration

Curriculum is a means to pupil’s growth
Respect for the personality of the members if the staff
Coordination
Sharing responsibility
Efficiency
Principle of relative values
Professional growth of the staff
Principle of optimism
Student participation
Principle of flexibility

SCHOOL MANAGEMENT

School management is the operational side of the principle for the realization of the objectives. PAUL MOUNRE – School management, as a body of educational doctrine comprises a number of principles and precepts relating primarily to the techniques of classroom procedure and derived largely from the practice of successful teachers. school management Is to forecast to plan, to organise, to command, to coordinate, to motivate and complement school.

Characteristics of school management

School management as an organised structure to fulfil certain objective
School management as an embodiment of ideals School management as a lens
School management as the coordination of various elements of the school
School management Is dynamic

Principles of School Management

1.The policies of the school have been developed according to educational principles, government policies and the goals of elementary school education.

2. Reinforce administrative organization, maintain job responsibilities and boost work efficiency.

3. Follow a democratic approach, make personnel, funds, opinions, rewards and punishment public in an attempt to lead the school toward united and harmonious direction.

4. Strengthen personnel management, increase employees’ motivation. Look, listen and understand more. Promote a focus on mobile management.

5. Emphasize delicate campus planning, improve working environment, and inspire employees’ professional spirit.

6. Encourage in-service teacher education to improve teaching methods and counselling skills in order to more effectively implement educational functions.

7. To respect and serve rather than manage.

8. Focus on teachers’ sense of honour and responsibility. Focus on research, experimentation, innovation and the teaching profession.

9. Invigorate teachers’ spirit and stimulate educational renovation.

10. Enhance teaching equipment and make good use of social resources in order to create modern well-developed citizens.

11. Incorporate the five main themes of education, and teach students in accordance with their aptitudes to maximize their talents.

12. Focus on the planning and delivery of special education services.

13. Strengthen life education, moral education, and traffic safety education in order to develop a harmonious atmosphere.

14. Develop good relationships with communities, make use of social resources, and continue school development in order to make the school a centre of community development.

CONCLUSION

Thus, we can differentiate between school organization, management & administration as:

School organization

It is the pre- execution stage
It provides resources
It defines and determines the function of the school programmes and activities
It provides a machine or set-up for doing work.
It stands for an organised body or system or structure or frame.
It is concerned with provision of material, human facilities, institutional plan and other facilities and services required for running a school

School administration

It is the execution stage.
It is the management of these resources.
It is basically concerned with the efficient execution of these programmes and activities.
It deals with the functioning and operation of the machine or set-up.
It stands for running, handling, conducting or controlling of an organization. It means getting things done.
It is the process of integrating the efforts of human resources and of utilizing appropriate materials and services to draw maximum educational benefits from the available resources.
It is the top level of the school organization with the decisive functions.
It is responsible for determining the policies and objectives of the organization or the firm.
The administration includes the principal and head of department.
It is mostly office oriented with little or no participative culture
It is also result oriented and more accountability is emphasized
Administration means implementing the broad policies laid down by the management

School management

It is the middle level executive function.
They implement the policies and objectives as decided by the administration
It is democratic, participative in nature. It encourages involvement of all functionaries.
It is result – oriented and accountability is emphasized
Management is mainly deterministic in nature and lays down broad policies, programmes

Chapter: 2 EDUCATIONALMANAGEMENT

EDUCATIONALMANAGEMENT

Management – Meaning and Definition

Management is an essential part of any organization and the success of any organization depends largely on the quality of management.

Harold Koontz defined management as the art of getting things done through and with people in formally organized groups.

Adesina (1990) defined management as the organization and mobilization of all human and material resources in a particular system for the achievement of identified objectives in the system.

According to Henry Fayol, to manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to coordinate and to control. Donald J. Clough defines management as the art and science of decision making and leadership.

Management simply means act of steering and organization or system towards certain predetermined objectives through systematic procedures. It also means act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals. The term management has widely been used to refer to the person or group of people who performs the act of management.

Management in organizations is the function that coordinates the efforts of people to accomplish goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling to achieve a goal.

Aims and Objectives of Management

The country has placed boundless trust in the educational system. People have a right to expect concrete results. Therefore, the school management should try to fulfil the following objectives:

The school life should be organized in such a way that it can provide social life to the students so that they may learn to live together and develop outstanding characteristics of an ideal citizen.
The allocation of resources such as finance, equipment and staff should be properly made.

Attempts should be made to make the school a community center.

Teachers and students should be allowed freedom and should be encouraged to take initiative in different school activities.
Co-curricular activities should be organized
While implementing some important policy matters, all the interested parties of the school should be duly consulted.

Instructional strategies should be planned keeping in view the needs, interests and aspirations of the students.
To get effective results in teaching-learning activities, human and material resources must be properly used.

Students should be trained to develop scientific attitude towards life and its problems.
Students should be trained to develop a sense of ethical judgement and aesthetic appreciation based on right philosophy of life.
Students should be provided with such education which will help them in getting vocations according to their abilities and aptitude.

The headmaster should supervise the work of the teaching and non-teaching staff members and allot them work on the basis of their worth, interest and aptitude.
The headmaster should maintain a cumulative record card to study the progress of the students in academic and non-academic fields.
There must be adequate provision of financial resources which should be properly utilized by adequate budgeting process.

There must be provision to discover the innate potential of the students.

Principles of democratic administration should be followed in all fields of work. Persons involved in school management should have freedom to work in all fields of life objectively, fairly and justly.
Efforts should be made for the efficient use of the school machinery.
All the organizational agencies of the school should be inspired to work with a team spirit to achieve the fixed objectives.

For the achievement of the above aims and objectives, the school management system should work systematically and efficiently.

Educational Management- Meaning and Definition

Educational management is the implementation of management principles in educational field. So, as the name implies, Educational management operates in educational organizations or institutions.

It is the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the activities of an institution by utilizing human and material resources effectively and efficiently so as to accomplish functions of teaching, research and extension. It also refers to an organized body of professionals that includes Principals, teachers and other educational professionals who takes decisions on human resources, finance, equipment and materials for achieving certain pre-determined educational goals of any educational institution.

So, educational management is a very complex human initiative in which several resources of an educational institution are brought together and made available to achieve and realize the desired educational goals. Thus, educational management suggests the practical measures for ensuring the educational system to work for accomplishing the goals of an educational institution.

Definitions of Educational management

There is no single accepted definition of educational management as it has developed from several disciplines like sociology, economics and political science. But some specialists have proposed their views in the form of definitions for educational management which are:

“Steering an educational institution towards specified objectives through certain processes” – Paul Monroe
“Theory and practice of the organization and administration of existing educational establishments and system” – Terrypage and J.B. Thomas
“Educational Management is a distinct process consisting of planning, organizing, actuating and controlling, performed to determine and accomplish stated objectives by the use of human beings and other resources.” - George R. Terry

It can be understood from the above definitions that:

Educational management is a comprehensive effort intended to achieve some specific pre-determined educational objectives.
It is concerned with educational practices. Educational philosophy sets the goal, educational psychology explains the principles, educational administration tells how to achieve educational objectives and principles.
It is concerned with both human and material resources where the human elements include: children, parents, teachers and other employees of the institution. Material resources include: finance, buildings, grounds, equipment and instructional supplies.
There are also ideas, laws, regulations etc. that have a bearing on the educational process.

In a broader perspective educational management describes about:

Setting directions, aims and objectives of educational institutions
Planning for progress of the institution
Organizing available resources like men, material and money
Controlling, implementing and evaluating processes
Setting and improving institutional standards

Need for Educational Management

The educational system is undergoing fast and tremendous changes. This has resulted in the development of a distinct branch of study known as educational management. The educational administration needs the use of relevant management theories and techniques. It is increasingly becoming important that educational system, if it is to become meaningful, must have well trained and experienced managerial personnel to cope up with the changing context of educational system and its administration.

An application of the sound knowledge in related areas would enable the professionals in the field to improve effectiveness of their institutions. The important factors that have influenced the development of educational management in recent years are:

Growing complexity of educational enterprise

Since the nature of education is so complex, its proper management is very vital. With increase in complexity, it necessitated the need to manage it systematically.

Modern technological developments

Developments in the field of science and technology significantly contributed to the emergence of educational management as a single discipline. With the introduction of new technological devices in education, there was a need felt for their proper management.

Ever changing pattern of education

The pattern of education never stands still and it changes as the society undergoes a change. So experts found a method to manage the educational institutions according to the changes in the society.

Rising cost of education

The cost of education is continuously increasing. Management ensures that all the available resources are effectively utilized to produce maximum results with minimum costs.

Increasing politicization of education

Both politics and education are closely interrelated. Even minor changes in the political system of a country would necessitate consequential changes in the educational system.

Social changes

School is a miniature society and it is the duty of the educational institution to equip the learner to lead an effective social life. Proper management is essential to prepare educational institutions according to social changes.

Educational management will have the following importance in today’s world:

To function effectively and efficiently

Educational management helps any institution to function effectively for achieving its desired goals. With timely management of all resources, maximum output can be produced.

To bring qualitative changes

Proper management will lead to creative and qualitative changes in all aspects of the educational institution

To achieve goals

By managing the resources efficiently, we can check the progress against pre-determined goals. Management helps to ensure that all efforts are directed to achievement of pre-planned goals.

Optimum utilization of resources

Educational management helps in coordinating all available resources for the optimum utilization to achieve expected goals.

Expansion and diversification

Management helps to identify required modifications, renovations and diversifications of material resources and programmes which in turn guides in enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of infrastructure leading to expansion of institution.

Motivating members

All members in the institution gets motivated when their attempts are regularly supervised and reinforced.

Maintaining good interpersonal relationships

Educational management helps to have good inter-personal relationship and mutual understanding among different stakeholders.

Scope of educational management

The scope of educational management is very vast. It includes everything regarding the efficient functioning of the educational institution, securing the greatest benefits through an adoption of practical measures. It interprets and clarifies the functions of an educational programme and harmonises their mutual action. It ensures sound planning, good direction and efficient and systematic execution. Thus, everything concerned with an educational institution come under the scope of educational management. They are:

Human resources- To provide human resources like teaching and non-teaching staff to schools and colleges.
Material resources- To organize material resources for their effective utilization. It selects and purchases school sites. It selects and arranges supply of text books.
School records- To maintain school records and accounts properly to ensure smooth functioning of school
Evaluation- To provide timely evaluation of pupil achievement and to provide regular supervision
Time table- To prepare time table for effective functioning of school
Discipline- To maintain good discipline in the institution
Co-curricular activities- To systematically organize co-curricular activities
Supervision- To effectively supervise school work. It is concerned with the selection, supervision and inspection of the teachers and other employees. It also pays the teachers and other employees and promotes them.
Finance- Prepares the school budget and secures revenues for financing the school. It ensures that all school money is economically spent and every expenditure is accounted for.
Educational research and publications- To encourage educational researches and publications

Functions of Educational Management

Management means steering an organization towards specified objectives through certain processes. These processes include planning, organizing, controlling, decision-making, motivating, leading, communicating, performance appraisal, linking rewards to performance, human resource development etc.

Planning

This is the most basic and extensive process in managing. It means deciding in advance what results are to be achieved and what actions are to be taken for the same and who should take such actions, where, when and how. It is necessary for a rational allocation of the resources and for anticipating the opportunities and problems that lie ahead.

Organising

This is the process of grouping people and activities at the disposal of an organization. In a judicious manner, people and activities have to be grouped to produce the best results by following the most appropriate sequence of events.

Controlling

Controlling means checking the progress of the plans and correcting any deviations that might occur along the way of implementation of plans. Controls ensure quality, appropriateness of means and actions.

Decision-making

This means converting intentions into action plans on a rational basis, on the basis of a perceived relationship between actions and outcomes. For every intended outcome, there has to be an appropriate action plan, committing energy and resources to the same. So, decision-making is the essence of all management.

Motivating

When people are brought together in an organization, there has to be a continuous process of generating sufficient interesting them to carry out actions that can benefit the organization. The process of accomplishing this is called motivation. As strategies for motivation, both monetary rewards and non-monetary rewardsare used. Motivation skill is an important component of managerial success.

Leadership

A group of people always needs leadership to function effectively and to produce significant results. Leadership is a process of making ordinary people to do extra ordinary things which they would not accomplish if left alone. Leadership involves skills in ideal building, inspiring, divergent interests, building self-confidence and morale etc.

Communicating

Communication is aimed at making others understand what they are expected to do and at ensuring whether they are doing it or not. This calls for clarity of objectives, of means, of the capacity and willingness of the people concerned, of their styles of thinking and acting etc.

Performance appraisal

For ensuring effective performance of individuals, groups and organisations, it is necessary to have good systems of performance appraisal. Performance appraisal is the process of evaluating the contribution of an employee for the purpose of determining his reward and development needs. This can be done through;

Establishing acceptable levels of performance in quantitative and qualitative terms
Adopting effective methods of assessment
Using performance appraisal data for various managerial objectives
Giving feedback to the employee to help him modify his/her behavior in the organization.

Linking rewards to performance

Rewards given to employees should be linked to their performance so as to motivate employees to perform better. Where such a linking is absent, fall in standards and failure to achieve excellence in performance are natural outcomes.

Human resource development

This is a process of helping employees to develop their competence in a continuous manner, for the benefit of themselves, their organization, and the society. Supervision and performance appraisal should always be accompanied by steps for human resource development. It is only then that it becomes developmental supervision. Career planning, career guidance, setting of standards for performance, performance appraisal, feedback on performance, training programmes etc. are some of the strategies for human resource development.

Principles of Educational Management

Henri Fayol’s principles of management (1916) are given below:

Division of work
Parity of authority and responsibility
Discipline
Unity of command
Subordination of individual interest to general interest
Fair remuneration
Centralisation and decentralization
Scalar chain of employees in ranks
Order
Equity(fair treatment)
Stability of tenure of personnel
Initiate (eagerness to work)
Team spirit

Management may be compared to a lens that brings everything about the educational system into focus for the community, faculty and students. If it is a poor lens, the image is fuzzy ,obscure and no one in the educational system or the community gets a clear picture of the educational system. If it is a good lens, the educational system becomes clear-cut and vivid projection of the ideals and ideas whose existence have been envisaged.

Aspects of Educational Management (5M’s)

Management of Men- Human resources

Human resources of an educational institution involves the entire staff, both teaching and non-teaching- teachers, clerks, researchers, students, parents, members of the community, members of the managing or governing body and departmental officials. Management of human resources is very vital at present and demands for selection, recruitment, appointment, retention, development and motivation of the personnel to achieve the educational objectives.

The individuals involved in the process should be provided with adequate facilities for reaching the highest levels of achievement and for improving their professional growth to a maximum. So, an educational institution in order to be effective and efficient must ensure that there are right type of people with the right skills, in the right place and at the right time for carrying out the various services.

Management of Money- Financial resources

It deals with the utilization and development of financial resources and its allocation in different heads for the smooth management of educational institutions. School management requires proper budgeting, accounting and audit system as these are required for making transparent policies, plans, rules and regulations.

Management of Machines- Instrumental resources

The modern age of science and technology has made it possible to equip the educational institutions with various media, machines and technological innovations. All these materials are to be utilized effectively and efficiently to yield maximum output.

Management of Materials- Physical Resources

Basic infrastructure is essential for every institution. Buildings, playgrounds, equipments, furniture, machineries and stationaries are required for varios practical purposes. Libraries, laboratories, auditorium, playground etc. are part and parcel of an educational institution for organizing different curricular and co-curricular programmes.

Management of Method- Ideational resources

This implies the organization of ideas and principles into the educational institutions. The resources based on ideas include the curriculum, method of teaching, innovations and experiments. Since these ideational resources have significant role in contributing to the well-being of the institution, their management is also crucial.

Models of Management

There are a number of different models of school management; each recognizable by the particular way in which decision-making is carried out. Some of them are as follows:

The Hierarchical Model

In this system, there is clearly defined structure of authority. The headmaster takes complete authority over all that goes on in the school. The lines of authority move downwards.

The Departmental Model

In this system, the headmaster delegates authority to senior members of staff and the lines of authority move outwards rather than downwards. The headmaster will usually make clear what he would like to see happening in the school and will do this through discussion with other teachers of the school.

The Democratic Model

In this system, there are no lines of authority operating as in the other models. Instead, the school operates through a school council which has representatives of all interest groups. Policy-making decisions are taken by this council with the headmaster in the role of chairman or co-ordinator of representatives from teaching units. This system tries to ensure that all interests are fully represented in the organization of the school.

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Participatory and Non-Participatory Management

Educational Management is an organizational behavior system for the purpose of improving the learning situation of children. It aims at facilitating the release of the human potential of the organizational members that makes available a more competent staff to conduct human interaction that is called education. It is participatory and non-participatory management system that determines how best human potential can be released.

Non-Participatory Management

Non-participatory Management system believes in managing its affairs without participating with the group-members involved in the process. Here, the management uses its power, position and authority to get people to do things as they think. The authorities here feel that they know what a good learning situation is and they have insight as to how the educative process can provide right learning. The management system takes the decision and tells the staff what to do. It exercises dictatorial types of control.

But the management system gives suggestions, formulates policies, recommends courses and textbooks, and suggest solutions to educational problems. Here the power has been centralized. Such non-participatory attitude suppresses initiative and originality. It also develops fear and distrust and tends to discourage the best persons who are intellectually honest, independent, original and resourceful. It limits the potential accomplishment of the group.

Participatory Management

Participatory management system likes to be assisted by the group members to plan together for programme improvement. As problems arise in the organization of the group, the management authority thinks of ways in which the group can attack the problem. The management authority participates in the discussions, exercises their full intelligence and gives the group the best thoughts. Whenever possible, decision is delayed until consensus is reached.

Group power is the total capacity of the staff, centered upon the attainment of definite goals and operating through relationships built under the guidance of the management authority. The participatory management system follows the “power with’ concept, where the leader is able to build group loyalty, a sense of personal responsibility for the accomplishment of group goals. They create co-operative working relationships with the members of the staff rather than personal control over the actions of individual members.

Chapter: 3 INSTITUTIONAL CLIMATE

INSTITUTIONAL CLIMATE

“The sum of the values, cultures, safety practices, organizational structures within an institution, teaching practices, diversity, leader-teacher relationships, parent-teacher relationships, is the concept of institutional climate.”

Institutional climate also called organizational climate, thus refers to the enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by the members of an organization. It is the human environment in which the employees work.

Meaning of Institutional Climate:

The institutional climate or climate of an educational institution is basic requirement of an educational institution and is the basis of health of a school. The cause is that the smooth functioning of an educational institution or school depends on the maintenance of discipline and co-ordination among the different persons such as head of the educational institution, teachers, students and other staff of the educational institution or school. The climate is the process while health is its end product which is also the result of growth and development of an institution.

Features of Institutional Climate

Each organization has its own climate. It consists of a set of characteristics that describe an organization to distinguish it from other organizations.
One cannot see it, but can experience it
Organizational climate influences motivation, performance and job satisfaction.

Definition

According to Norris Haynes “Institutional Climate is the sum total of a dynamic interaction among the psychosocial, academic and physical dimensions of the school environment”.

According to C.G. Michel “Organizational climate is the result of interpersonal behavior, attitudes, perceptions and values of the individuals who are working in the organization”.

Characteristics of Institutional Climate

General Perception

Organisational climate is a general expression of what the organization is. It is the global view which people have about organization’s internal environment within which they work.

Qualitative and Unmeasurable Concept

Organizational climate is a qualitative concept. One cannot see it, but it can be experienced.

Unique and Distinct Identity

Organizational climate gives a distinct identity to the organization. It consists of a set of characteristics that describe an organization to distinguish it from other organizations.

Relatively Enduring Quality

Organizational climate represents a relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by the organizational members.

Multi-dimensional Concept

The various dimensions of the organizational climate are individual autonomy, authority structure, leadership style, pattern of communication, degree of conflicts and cooperation etc.

Universal

Each organization has its own climate. This climate contributes significantly to its well-functioning.

Influential

Organizational climate influences motivation, performance and job satisfaction.

Components of Institutional Climate

The institutional climate is the basic requirement of an educational institution and is the basis of health of a school. The smooth functioning of an educational institution depends on the maintenance of discipline and co-ordination among the different persons such as head of the institution, teachers, students and other staff of the institution. The climate is the process while health is its end product which is also the result of growth and development of an institution.

Components:

Maintenance of discipline:

Discipline is a mode of life in accordance with certain rules and regulations. It is a sort of self-control, reflected in public actions. The modern concept of school discipline stresses self-discipline and social disciplines. Its only through discipline that man can attain power.

Principles for maintaining discipline:

The following principles should be obeyed for maintaining discipline in the educational institution of school:

(i) The base of discipline should be love, trust and goodwill.

(ii) Discipline should be based on co-operation.

(iii) The entire climate of the educational institution of school should be made beautiful and coordinating.

(iv) The children should be imparted knowledge about the importance of discipline.

(v) Adequate liberty and facilities should be given to students and teachers for ensuring their duties in the school.

(vi) For maintaining discipline, punishment should not be used.

(vii) The guardians should be encouraged for making family life beautiful and comfortable.

(viii) Various creative activities should be given place in the school programme.

Co-ordination in management:

It is the process of putting things together in a harmonious relationship so that they may function effectively. Co-ordination is required in all fields of administration such as planning, organization etc. It is also needed in respect of purpose, time and place of the various activities like laying down policies, preparing the budget, selection of staff and development of the curriculum etc. Co-ordination depends on the nature of the particular problem, circumstances and availability of resources and the final goal. The administrator should possess a good skill for harmonizing all these diverse relationships.

Factors of Co-ordination: Co-ordination has the following three factors:

(i) There are different parts and aspects of the programme, such as the staff, parents, students, curriculum etc.

(ii) There are the means of co-ordination, such as the rules, regulations, customs etc.

(iii) There are the climate, the environment and the powers of co-ordination. The administrator, for each particular situation, has to decide which parts, which methods and what powers he is going to use.

Stages of Co-ordination: Co-ordination is required at two stages:

(i) In the beginning of the administrative process, co-ordination is used to prevent the breakdown of the organisation.

(ii) During the process it is used to remedy the conflicts and maladjustment. It starts with establishing a unity and restores this unity whenever the purpose, the structure and the process is threatened. Hence, it is both a preventive and a curative measure.

Growth and development:

Education is a process of development. Educational institutions are established for human development. Kothari Commission ( 1964-66) has stated that destiny of India is being shaped in her classroom. The schools and classrooms are responsible for social, national and personal development. It is the duty of principal and teachers to create suitable environment for the growth and development of children. The main focus of school management is to bring desirable behavioral changes among children.

The growth and development are made in the following areas:

(i) Growth and development of children

(ii) Growth and development of teachers and

(iii) Growth and development of school.

The smooth functioning of an educational institution depends on the maintenance of discipline and co-ordination among the administrative, supervisory, teaching and non-teaching personnel. The reason is that the maintenance of discipline and co-ordination creates the academic climate of an educational institution which leads to the growth and development of the educational institution.

The climate of an educational institution is the basic requirement and is the basis of health of an educational institution. The climate is the process while health is its end product which is also the result of growth and development of an institution.

It has been properly observed that there is the need of three factors in bringing smooth functioning of educational climate of an educational institution. Among these three factors “Maintenance of Discipline” is the first and foremost one.

Dimensions of Organisational Climate:

The important dimensions or components which collectively represent the climate of an organisation are as discussed below:

Dominant Orientation:

Dominant orientation of the organisation is an important determinant of climate and it is the major concern of its members. If the dominant orientation is to adhere to established rules and regulations, the climate is characterised by control. If the orientation is to produce excellence the climate will be characterised by achievement.

Inter-Personal Relationships:

The interpersonal relationships in the organisations are reflected in the way informal groups are formed and operated. The informal groups may benefit the organisation also, but in some cases it may displace the goals of the organisation.

Conflict Management:

In the organisation, there can always be inter-group as well as intra group conflicts. The organisational climate will depend upon how effectively these conflicts are managed. If they are managed effectively, there will be an atmosphere of cooperation in the organisation. If they are not managed properly there will be an atmosphere of distrust and non-cooperation.

Individual Autonomy:

If the individual employees are given sufficient freedom to work and exercises authority, it will result in efficiency in operations. The autonomy will lighten the burden of higher level executives.

Organisational Control System:

The control system of the organisation can be either rigid or flexible. Rigid control will lead to impersonal or bureaucratic atmosphere in the organisation. There will be minimum scope for self regulation.

Organisational Structure:

The organisational structure serves the basis of inter personal relations between superiors and subordinates. It clarifies as to who is responsible to whom and who is to direct whom. If there is centralisation of authority, the participation in decision making by the subordinates will be very less. On the other hand, if there is decentralisation of authority, there will be an atmosphere of participative decision making.

Task Oriented or Relations Oriented Management:

The dominant style of managers will also affect the organisational climate. Task oriented approach means that the leadership style will be autocratic. The employees will have to show results or face the punishment. The employee morale will be low in the long run.

If the managers are relations oriented, the climate will be considerate and supportive. There will be team spirit in the organisation because the needs and aspirations of the workers will be given due importance.

Rewards and Punishments:

The system of rewards and punishments is also an important component of organisational climate if the reward system is directly related to performance and productivity, there will be an atmosphere of competition among the employees. Everybody will like to work hard and earn more reward in the form of promotions and pay rise. If there is biasedness in the distribution of rewards, the meritorious employees will be discouraged.

Communication:

The communication system of the organisation will also affect the organisational climate. The flow of information, its direction, its dispersement and its type are all important determinants. Proper communication system means that the subordinates are in a position to express their ideas, suggestions and reactions, otherwise they will feel frustrated.

Risk Taking:

How members respond to risks and whose help is sought in situations involving risks are important in any organisation. If individuals feel free to try out new ideas without any fear they will not hesitate in taking risks. Such an atmosphere will be conducive to innovative ideas.

The above dimensions or components are not mutually exclusive, they often overlap each other. The way in which these different dimensions operate an organisation indicates the underlying philosophy of the management.

The following techniques are generally helpful in improving the climate of the organisation:

Effective Communication System:

There should be a two-way communication in the organisation so that the employees know what is going on and react to it. The manager can modify his decision on the basis of feedback received.

Concern for People:

The management should be interested in the human resource development. It should work for the welfare of employees and an improvement in their working conditions. For developing a sound organisational climate, the management should have show concern for the people.

Participative Decision Making:

The management should involve the employees in decision making process, particularly those decisions which are related to goal setting and affect them. Participative decision making will make the employees committed to the organisation and more cooperative also.

Change in Policies, Procedures and Rules:

The organisational climate can also be changed by making changes in the policies, procedures and rules. It is a time consuming process but the changes will also be long lasting if the workers see the changes in policies, procedures and rules as favourable to them.

Technological Changes:

Generally, the workers and employees resist any innovative changes. But where technological changes improve the working conditions of the employees, the change will be easily accepted. Better climate will be there if the management adopts innovative changes in consultation with the employees.

Types of Institutional Climate

Open Climate

It is characterized by teacher relations that are professional, collegial, friendly and committed to the education of students. The principal, management is supportive and professional and does not restrict or direct teachers with orders.

An open climate depicts a situation which has relatively more openness. The teachers, principal and the management are intimate and friendly with one another and they work together without complaints or infighting.

Closed Climate

It represents the opposite to the open climate. It is primarily concerned with the lack of commitment and productivity. There is no commitment particularly on the part of principal and teachers. The school principal tends to be stern and wielding control. As a result, most of the teachers tend to be frustrated and ineffective.

A closed school climate is characterized by teacher relations that are disengaged, distant, suspicious, and not professional. The school principal is directive, restrictive, and not supportive.

Autocratic Climate

Managers use authority to complete the work. Employees live on the subsistence level and depend upon boss. In such an environment employee is inherently distasteful to work and avoid responsibility.

In an autocratic climate, the principal or manager acts as a dictatorship of the members of the group. He actuates and forces both the teachers and students. The principal directs and commands the members. Teachers are expected to follow and execute the commands and not ask for any advice. They should be absolutely obedient and loyal to him/her. Better performance is ensured through fear, threats, punishment and occasional rewards.

Controlled Climate

Importance is given to the completion of tasks and little time is devoted to social life. Teachers appear to be entirely devoted to their work and spend full time on fulfilling them. There is little time available for interaction between each other. Students are also heavily engaged with the tasks and are given little time for extracurricular activities. The principal usually keeps distance from the teachers, students and parents in order to avoid any degree of familiarity. So, controlled climate is characterized by rigid and more complex relationship among the group members and the employees feel as if they are continuously controlled by the manager.

Paternal Climate

In this, the school principal is a hard-working person, but he falls short of having any effects on the staff. There is a degree of approachability between the leaders and teachers. The school principal is full of life and lively, but his management style tends to lean on the autocratic side. Majority of the teachers, students and parents prefer to keep their cautious distance from the leader. So, this is a climate in which the authority of the management is hardly welcomed and approved by the employees.

Familiar Climate

It is described as a sort of ‘laissez-faire’ atmosphere (let them do it). The principal is much interested in maintaining a social atmosphere that favors the fulfillment of any particular task. Thus, a significant number of teachers is not committed to their main task. Most of the students do not take their learning process seriously and some others have hollow excuses to be out of school or to be absent from it (unexcused absences). Most parents are not involved in their children’s education. Here, employees take it as a familiar work space and they will easily be accustomed to the environment.

Supportive, Autonomous or Democratic Climate

In this climate, employees participate in decision making and interact with management in institutional matters. This model of climate believes that employees are self-motivated and have self-direction and control. Democratic climate help employees to fulfill their higher order needs such as esteem and self-actualization. Supportive climate creates conducive environment and best can be extracted from employees. There are no external threats of influences. There is a close relationship between the managers, teachers, students and parents.

This is the most effective work atmosphere where both the management and employees have mutual respect and understanding and cordial relationship. In this climate all the staff feels really motivated to participate in decision making and interact with management in school matters. Maximum energy and efforts of all the staff are directed to contribute significantly for satisfying pre-determined goals and objectives of the educational institution. This model of climate believes that teachers are self-motivated and have self-direction and control.

Characteristics of Democratic Institutional Climate

Complete freedom- All the staff feel free to perform the job with pleasure and satisfaction.
Collegiality- Employees like to be in association with others and they keep mutual respect and cordial relationship
Mutual Respect- Employees follow manager’s orders with respect. Subordinates work hard and show confidence in their superiors and the manager shows due respect towards employees.
Commitment- Employees work happily with commitment and dedication and associate with the organization with a long time.
Intimacy- Employees develop a sense of attachment with the organization and they contribute their maximum for the development of the school.
Increased job performance- It results in increased job performance and professional motivation among teachers.
Co-operation and unity- It improves cooperation and brings unity.
Conducive environment- It creates favorable atmosphere among teachers, students, parents etc. to keep the organization healthy and well-functioning.
Democratic decision-making- In this climate, decision is made through proper discussion and consultation. All the staff feel really motivated to participate in decision making.
Sharing of ideas- It is characterized by co-operative planning, discussion of problems, sharing of ideas and resources and joint attempts to solve the institutional problems.
Active Involvement- Entire participation and mutual encouragement is always ensured.
Frequent social gathering- there will be frequent social gathering of the staff, students and head of the institution.
Diplomacy-The principal is diplomatic and he listens to all the staff members and each member will have equal opportunity to share their views and opinion.
Delegation of duties- Duties are delegated appropriately among staff members.

Thus, in a democratic Institutional climate, Employees perform the job with pleasure and satisfaction and associate with the organization for a very long time. This keeps the organization healthy. An environment of mutual trust exists.

Early Childhood Care & Education identified nine theoretical dimension of organizational climate (oc)

Structure– The feeling that employee have about the degree of ‘structure’ in their organisation, like how many rules & procedure are there, is there red – tapism, whether jobs are clearly defines and logically structured, etc.
Responsibility– The perception about degree of autonomy at work reliance on individual’s judgement, problem-solving ability, accepting responsibility for mistakes, etc
Rewards– Perceived fairness of the reward and promotions systems, stress on positive rewards than punishments, etc
Risks – Emphasis on ting calculated risks, willingness to take a chance on a good idea, etc
Warmth – A friendly atmosphere among the people, a relaxed easy going working climate, warm management – workers relationship.
Support – Perceived support from authorities, colleagues, etc
Standards – perceived high standards for performance in the organization, pressure to improve performance.
Conflict –A climate in which conflict is brought up not ignored, openness, regarding speaking out different options.
Identity –People feel proud of belonging to the organization and there is personal loyalty to the organization.

Factors Influencing Institutional Climate

Organisational climate/institutional climate is a manifestation of the attitudes of organisational members towards the organisation. Researchers have used the data relating to individual perception of organisational properties in identifying organisational climate. Even in this context, there is a great amount of diversity.

Some of the factors affecting Institutional Climate are:

Leadership Style

There is a positive correlation between a good institutional climate and leadership style. In order to increase organizational performance, managers should make use of leadership styles that have already proven their positive impact on the working environment. Autocratic leader creates an autocratic climate whereas a supportive/democratic leader creates a democratic climate.

Institutional Structure and Policies

Most research studies show a strong positive correlation between organizational structure and Institutional climate. The structure of any organization includes organizational constraints, rules and regulations, laws, principles and directions will have influence on its climate. Organizational policy guides how organizations operate.

Managerial Values

Every organization has its own values. These values are communicated to employees through rules, regulations and policies so that they can adapt themselves and modify their behavior. The values held by managers have a strong influence on organizational climate, because values lead to actions and shape decisions.

Organizational Size

There is a strong positive correlation between organizational size and institutional climate. Small organizations are responsive and flexible and this guarantees them success. It is more difficult for management in large organizations to give the appropriate amount of attention to its subordinates.

Characteristics of members

The characteristics of members influence Institutional climate. The climate should be friendly, not only between students, but also between teachers.

Economic Conditions

Economic conditions also influences the organizational climate. Economic condition is closely correlated to the physical conditions of the organization. More sound the economic conditions, better the institutional climate.

Individual Responsibility

The responsibility each member feels in an organization is important in deciding its work culture and climate. Most of the research studies show that characteristics of members influence institutional climate since the work climate of an institution is the sum of individual responsibility and characteristics.

Rewards and Motivation

Feelings related to being confident of adequate and appropriate rewards in any organization contributes to the development of its climate.

Risk and Risk Taking

Work climate is also influenced by perceptions of the degree of challenge and risk in the work situation.

Warmth and Support

Feeling of general good fellowship and helpfulness prevailing in the work setting of an institution reflects its work climate and mutual trust and respect among staff members can be developed through proper support.

Tolerance and Conflict

Degree of confidence that the climate can tolerate, differing opinions, contribute to its climate since confidence helps the staff to exhibit maximum efforts.

Chapter: 4 Organizational Process in Schools

Organizational Process in Schools

Organizing, like planning, must be a carefully worked out and applied process. This process involves determining what work is needed to accomplish the goal, assigning those tasks to individuals, and arranging those individuals in a decision-making framework. The end result of the organizing process is an organization- a whole consisting of unified parts acting in harmony to execute tasks to achieve goals, both effectively and efficiently.

A properly implemented organizing process should result in a work environment where all team members are aware of their responsibilities. If the organizing process is not conducted well, the results may yield confusion, frustration, loss of efficiency, and limited effectiveness.

Meaning of Organization (School Organization)

Sears: J. B. Sears considers organization as a machine for doing work. It may be composed primarily of persons, of materials, of ideas, of concepts, symbols, forms, rules, principles or more often, of a combination of these. The machine may work automatically or its operation may be subject to human judgement and will.

Elsbree: “Organization of a school is the administrative expression of educational theory.”

Ryburn: “Organization simply means the practical measures which we take to ensure that the system of work we use will be of the greatest possible assistance in carrying out our aims and of the greatest benefit to our children.”

Stead: Prof. H. G. Stead stated that the organization is an agency by which we achieve the desired objectives.

Organization stands for a structure, framework, system, organized body, assortment, organism, a set or collection. It is concerned with the process of regulations, forms, calenders, schedules, material equipment, libraries, laboratories, workshops, museums, art galleries, lawns, playgrounds and other facilities of work. Thus organization has three aspects:

Organization of Material Equipment

It involves organization of building, campus, grounds, accommodation, furniture, fittings, libraries, laboratories, workshops etc. It implies arrangement of each physical facility in such a way that each item can be most efficiently used and no wastage takes place. Equipment will be proportionate to the number of students and nature of school programmes.

Organization of Human Equipment

It involves organization of students, teaching staff, ministerial staff, experts, board of managements etc. It is the organization and mobilization of all the persons who are legitimately concerned and interested in teaching-learning and other educational activities. All the persons engaged in the task have to be organized in such a way that each member may contribute his best in the joint activity and collective responsibility. This organization has to ensure the effective and harmonious utilization of their talents and energies.

Organization of Ideas and Principles

The desirable ideas and principles are organized and translated into school systems, time schedules, norms of achievement, rules and regulations, curricular and co-curricular programmes. This aspect of organization caters to policy framing, drawing up priorities, working out innovations, and institutional programmes for improvements and reforms.

Organizational Process in Schools

Organizations can be seen as instruments designed to achieve specified goals through co-ordinated action. Organizational action is supposed to generate certain outcomes, and these outcomes can and should be evaluated and compared between organizations. Organizations develop a set of norms, rules and routines that play an important role in guiding everyday action.

Organizational actions reflect values, interests, beliefs and expectations that are relatively stable and persistent. Perceptions are also developed within the organization regarding how various tasks should be solved and how good results can be achieved. Organizations are capable of constant adaptation to policy signals, reactions and changes in the external environment.

School organization refers to how schools arrange the resources of time, space and personnel for maximum effect on student learning. Every aspect of the instructional programme will convey the values and goals of the staff toward students and their learning.

Need for School Organization

School organization facilitates the achievement of organizational goals and maintaining the organization for the progress of education. We need school organization for the following reasons:

Constant Process of Change

School education is in a constant process of change. There is always a need to facilitate student learning in a specified direction in this changing process. School organization, which includes the management of teaching, planning and supervision of instruction, can help to achieve the goal of student learning. Therefore, we need school organization to achieve the above goals.

Goal Development

The educational system is a sub-system of the society. Therefore, the society not only provides human and material resources, but also has certain expectations that the schools will achieve certain goals.Since society is in a constant process of change, the needs of society change and so do the goal specifications. It is essential for the educational institutions to be responsive to these changing expectations through school organization. School organization helps the teachers and others who are concerned with school education to continuously examine and evaluate the progress of education in a changing society.

Aims and Objectives of School Organization

The rapid expansion of knowledge both in content of subject matter and teaching methodology has important implications for school organization. Even though teachers are assumed to be professionally competent, they do need a highly specialized support system through school organization. School organization, being a specialized support system has the following aims and objectives:

Organizing the school for Democratic Living

Democracy is the government by the many. If the many are to rule themselves, and not by the dictator, they must be educated first. Thus, school in the modern society becomes a place for teaching students about democratic living. Therefore, the school should be organized in such a manner that it will enable the students to be inspired with the spirit of fellow-feeling, brotherhood and social service.

All-round Development of Students

All-round development of students continuing their studies in a school is the chief aim of school education. It provides opportunities to the students for the balanced development of their personality. Therefore, it is desirable to organize the school in a manner so as to develop the physical, mental, moral and social qualities of the students. The community establishes schools with a view to serve its own purpose by providing right training for citizenship.

The Study of the Students

The students constitute an important aspect of school organization. Student’s needs, hopes, aspirations, interests, achievement levels and attitudes are important sources of data for developing educational goals. This need to be studies on a comprehensive, intensive and continuous basis. Such study is an important aim of school organization. Since students are a part of society, the study of students contribute to the understanding of student’s needs.

To Follow Definite Procedure

In reaching a decision, school organization should spend much time on the what, the how, the when and the who. The procedure to be followed will be definite, even though the results may be in doubt. All the members of the staff should be encouraged to watch the results and participate in an evaluation.

Intended Engagement Opportunities

Intended engagement opportunities are the conditions which are developed in anticipation of the instructional process. The assumption is that the student can achieve certain behavioural objectives through a particular engagement like films and activities. These could be developed within or outside the school system. The planning and implementation for development of such activities is an important aim of school organization, which involves, students, teachers and administrators.

Curriculum Change

The school is a society in miniature. To bring the school and the community closer to each other, attempts must be made for curriculum change. Curriculum change should be initiated by school organization system t enable schools to undertake innovations in certain areas.

To Develop a Permissive Atmosphere

Permissiveness, means personal freedom to express a point of view or an idea without fear. The person who is different is encouraged to challenge, because out of that challenge comes more insight for all. Achieving this attitude is not easy. School aims at developing a permissive atmosphere.

To Develop among Teachers a Sense of Belonging

Teachers should feel that they belong to the group in which they work. School organization should try to provide an atmosphere of free interaction to innovate ideas for the progress of students’ learning.

Help with Personal Problems

People will grow intellectually and professionally through interactions involved in solving educational problems. But, if they are deeply troubled with personal problems, their potential for growth is not released. Actions by school organization to reduce tension contributes to the progress of education.

Principles of School Organization

Educational thinkers have propounded the following principles for the maximum attainment of educational goals.

Child-centered Principle

Since education aims at the all-round development of the child, it is essential that school organization should be child-centred. As a result, it can help in developing student abilities, innate qualities, emotions, attitudes and natural traits. The school organization should be such as to generate an atmosphere which may help the child in the development of his social, moral, physical and mental capabilities. To provide opportunity to every child for his optimum development, school activities should be properly organized.

Community-centred Principles

One of the objectives of education is to make the child an active, useful and worthy member of the society. Therefore, along with child-centred principle, community-centred principle should be adopted in schools. School organization should keep in view the developmental needs of the children as well as the community ideals, aspirations, needs, values and culture.

Democratic Principles:

The school prepares the future citizens and inculcates democratic values in them through school activities. The principles of co-operation and co-ordination in the entire school system can help the students to develop knowledge about democratic living. School organization should be planned in a manner that the headmaster, the teachers, the students, and other staff members work with team spirit.

Principle of optimum use of Available Resources

Education has certain objectives to be achieved. In order to achieve these objectives, optimum use of available resources must be made. The physical and human resources of the community should be used in such a manner that the items, money and energy are utilized effectively for proper organization of the schools. Recruitment of teachers, use of up-to-date teaching techniques, use of equipments, preparation of text books and construction of curriculum should be made in such a manner that they can directed towards fulfilling the educational needs of the students and avoiding the misuse of time, energy and money.

Principle of Flexibility

Society id dynamic in nature. Since education aims at developing the faculties of the child in a manner that would help in the development of the society, it becomes necessary to effect changes in school organization from time to time.

Scope and Importance of School Organization

The scope of school organization is very vast. It includes efficiency of the institution, securing benefits of the school through practical measures, clarification of the functions of the school, coordination of the educational programs, sound educational planning, and good direction, efficient and systematic execution. It provides close collaboration and sense of sharing responsibilities, organized purpose and dynamic approach.

Any organization plays a vital role in the life of a human being. It plays different functions like: brings efficiency, guide pupil to receive right direction from the right teachers, enables the pupil to get profit from their learning, bring co-ordination of the student-teacher-parents-society. It provides well defined policies and programmes, favourable teaching-learning situation, growth and development of human beings, make use of appropriate materials, effective development of human qualities, arrangement of the activities, efforts for attainment of objectives etc.

School is a system and its successful functioning depends on systematic implementation of the following important procedures.

Academic planning
Strategic planning is the process of identifying an organization’s long term goals and objectives and then determining the best approach for achieving those goals and objectives. The most important organizational function in an educational institution is planning of academic activities for an academic year since all other activities in school organization depends on its academic activities.
Academic planning includes planning and approval of academic activities for the year, introduction of new academic programs, substantial changes to existing programs etc. The staff secretary or any senior teacher usually leads this process and he/she plans the academic programmes of the concerned year through discussion with other members under the guidance of the principal. The academic plan is subjected to the approval of all the staff in specifically convened staff meeting at the beginning of the year.
A good academic plan evolves from self-assessment, investigation of the world of work, and knowledge of the educational programme that link your strengths and assets to careers in the workplace.
Resource mobilization
Resource mobilization refers to all activities involved in securing new and additional resources for the school enabling its extension, expansion and upgrading. It also involves making better use of, and maximizing existing resources and to mobilize financial, physical and human resources for the support and development of infrastructure and programmes. Advance planning must be done to enhance quality of all the resources and to maximize its use.
Conduct ongoing institutional assessment to identify weaknesses/gaps in capacity, structure, procedures, processes and environment as the basis for the development of improvement plans to enhance performance of the school.
In conjunction with faculties and schools, develop minimum standards that reflect best practice from regional and institutional higher education institutions as benchmarks for quality performance.
Facilitate the identification of appropriate performance indicators for every programme and sub programme of the school as a basis for keeping track of the school’s achievement in terms of its standards, goals and mission.
Formulate and develop project proposals to meet priority developmental needs of the school through international and local institutional linkages.
Monitor and evaluate the implementation of projects and programmes that are executed and managed at the individual, unit, departmental level with a view to preventing/minimizing time and cost overruns while ensuring that quality project outputs are realized.
Identify management information needs; design appropriate data collection systems to support analysis and reporting requirements in order to enhance policy formulation and decision making.
Contribute meaningfully and objectively to the decision making processes at various levels in the school system.
Planning of co-curricular activities
Co-curricular activities (CCAs), earlier known as extracurricular activities are the components of non-academic curriculum which help to develop various facets of personality development of the students and to supplement classroom learning. For all round development of the child, there is a need for emotional, physical, spiritual and moral development that is complemented and supplemented by co-curricular activities. The teachers must be good planners so that the different activities can be carried out systematically throughout the year to develop the student’s personality as well as to strengthen the classroom learning. They should be planned effectively in tune with academic activities. Through rich and diverse programmes, students should be able to experience safe, enjoyable and challenging activities which enable them to develop and grow into successful and happy young adults.
Students should learn how to work collaboratively through being part of a team, whether it is a sports team, hiking in the hills, debating or playing in the orchestra. They will learn about commitment and responsibility to themselves and one another.
By becoming involved and committed to co-curricular activities, it is hoped that students will learn integrity and self-discipline in coping with situations which they may not encounter in the classroom. Students will come to realize that involvement and success contributes to team spirit and allows all students to take pride in the success of the school within the community. Activities related to the kinesthetic and emotional developments of every student are integral part of the school’s curriculum. Co-curricular activities include individual and team sports such as football, basketball, table tennis, swimming, martial arts and athletics and performing arts such as music, dance, drama, arts, crafts and yoga. Competitive, educative and entertaining events such as quiz contest, creative writing, paper presentation, debate, public speaking, talent show, educational field trips and tours, celebration of religious festivals are all part of the school.
Time allocation

It is the allocation of time effectively for different activities and specific school programmes. It is an important aspect of planning. Extreme care has to be taken to allot proper time for each and every aspect of curriculum.

Monitoring

Monitoring involves supervising the progress of actions designed according to plans. Monitoring the implementation of projects and programmes that are executed and managed at various levels is essential for quality outputs.

Evaluating

An organizational assessment is a systematic process for obtaining valid information about the performance of an organization and the factors that affect performance. Organizations are constantly trying to adapt, survive, perform and influence. However they are not always successful. To better understand what they can or should change to improve their ability to perform, organizations can conduct organizational assessments. Evaluation helps determine the effectiveness of plans for both administrators and other stakeholders like teachers, staff, students and parents, and also the extended community. Evaluation is essential for obtaining valid information about the performance of an organization and the factors that affect performance. Frequent evaluation is organized for adaptation, changes and hence for survival.

Feedback

Focuses on:

Detailed analysis of strengths and opportunities for improvement
Subsequent action plan to address priority opportunities
Insight from all levels and groups in the organization
Difference in perception of performance between different levels and groups in the organization
Assessment findings and score which can be used to track your improvement over time and benchmark your performance against other organizations.

The School as a Social Organization

Schools are formal institutions where the younger members of the community are exposed to the values, skills and attitudes that make them useful to themselves and the society. The school is a social institution. It is an agent of social progress. Social organizations are human structures

designed to achieve common goals.

The school as a social organization is an extension of the larger society. It has forward and backward linkages with the society.Ajayi and Ayodele (2001) quoted Adepuju (1998) as having identified five key concepts which guide the operation and existence of the school as a social system as:

Interaction:

The school system interacts with the elements within and outside the system. It cannot operate in a vacuum.

Interrelationship:

A ‘mutual’ relationship exists between the school system and each of politics, economy, culture and prevailing technology around where the school is located.

Interdependence:

The strength of the social, economic, legal and political environment is a function of the survival of the school.

Cultural Entity:

As a social institution geared towards social progress, the school possesses its own values, customs and ways of doing things.

Internal structure:

The school is formed in such a way that is allows formal and informal structures, channel of communication andauthority – subordinate relationship.

Summary

Thus organization deals with making systematic arrangements so that the purpose of the entire programme are achieved. The school has to function as an effective and efficient organization. Good organization ensures unity of action, efficiency, economy, optimum utilization of resources, well-being, all-round satisfaction and good results. Without proper organization there would be confusion, chaos and haphazard activity resulting into wastage of time, effort and resources. In this session on organizational process in schools, we discussed the meaning of school organization, the objectives, scope and importance and principles of school organization. Lastly, we dealt with school as a social organization.

Chapter: 5 Educational Leadership

Educational Leadership

INTRODUCTION

School leadership has become a priority in education policy agendas internationally. It plays a key role in improving school outcomes by influencing the motivations and capacities of teachers, as well as the school climate and environment. Effective school leadership is essential to improve the efficiency and equity of schooling.

Ten years ago, school leadership was noticeably absent from most major school reform agendas, and even the people who saw leadership as important to turning around failing schools expressed uncertainty about how to proceed. Today, improving school leadership ranks high on the list of priorities for school reform. A particularly noteworthy finding is the empirical link between school leadership and improved student achievement. Leadership focuses with great clarity on what is

essential, what needs to be done and how to get it done. Leaders are responsible for establishing a school wide vision of commitment to high standards and the success of all students.

An institution is bound to fail in case it does not have an efficient, resourceful and professionally sound leader. Leadership is a must at each level of hierarchy for effective and purposeful management. As regards principal, he/she is the leader, the hub of the school management. A lot of power vests in him/her, and power brings responsibilities. In order to run the institution well and realize the set goals, as compared to his/her subordinates, needs to be essentially better qualified, well-versed in subject, better conversant in up-to-date methodology of teaching and better updated on the developments in the field of administration. He/she should also be proficient in human relationship. For development and successful achievement of these qualities one is required to attend rigorous training sessions. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) enables them on a regular basis to negotiate the emerging issues and deal with the challenges in day to day managerial/leadership activities.

EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Effective school leadership is essential to improve teaching and learning within each school and to connect the individual school to the outside world. Leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Leadership is simply the ability of a person to influence and direct the behavior of a group for satisfying certain pre-determined objectives. Educational leadership is a term applied to school administrations that strive to create a positive change in educational policy and processes.

Educational leaders are trained to advance and improve educational systems or institutions. Educational leadership is a relationship that influences organizational members to work toward achieving organizational goals. Usually we talk about two types of educational leadership:

Instructional Leadership

Instructional leaders focus creating a learning climate free of disruption, a system of teaching clear objectives and high teacher expectations for teachers and students. If leadership is instructional, the relationship is oriented towards improvement of instructional, curricular and assessment practices to improve pedagogical utility and to raise student achievement.

Transformational leadership

It influences followers to go beyond normal work requirements and strive to reach their fullest potential to advance the work of the school. While principals are central agents in this type of leadership, teachers are equally capable and important inspirational sources. Transformational leaders are tied to such actions as engaging with their teaching staff and inspiring them; creating high levels of energy and commitment; creating a sense of moral purpose and establishing an environment in which people can collaborate together to overcome challenges and reach goals.

Principles of Leadership

Know yourself and seek self-improvement
Be technically proficient
Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your actions
Make sound and timely decisions
Set the example
Know your people and look out for their well-being
Keep your people informed
Develop a sense of accountability, ownership and responsibility in your people. Ensure that tasks are understood, supervised and accomplished.

Leadership responsibilities that have consistently been identified as associated with improved student outcomes

First, leadership focused on supporting, evaluating and developing teacher quality is widely recognised as a core component of effective leadership. Teacher quality is perhaps the most important school-level determinant of student performance (OECD, 2005). The leadership responsibilities associated with improved teacher quality include coordinating the curriculum and teaching programme, monitoring and evaluating teacher practice, promoting teacher professional development and supporting collaborative work cultures.

Second, school leadership that concentrates on setting learning objectives and implementing intelligent assessment systems has been found to help students develop their full potential. Aligning instruction with national standards, setting school goals for student performance, measuring progress against those goals and making adjustments in the school programme to improve individual and overall performance are the dynamic aspects of managing curriculum and instruction. School leaders’ purposeful use of data is essential to ensure that attention is being paid to the progress of every student.

Third, with increased school autonomy policies, school leaders have more and more discretion over human and financial resource management. The strategic use of resources and their alignment with pedagogical purposes are key to focusing all operational activities within the school on the objective of improving teaching and learning.

Fourth, recent research (Pont, Nusche and Hopkins, 2008) has highlighted the benefits of school leadership beyond the school borders. Various leadership engagements beyond the school, in partnerships with other schools, communities, social agencies, universities and policy makers can increase professional learning, enhance improvement through mutual assistance and create greater cohesion among all those concerned with the achievement and well-being of every child.

Core responsibilities of school leadership

Supporting, evaluating and developing teacher quality

An essential function of school leadership is to foster “organisational learning”, that is to build the capacity of the school for high performance and continuous improvement through management of the curriculum and teaching programme, development of staff and creating the climate and conditions for collective learning.

Goal-setting, assessment and accountability

School leadership focused on goal-setting, assessment and evaluation can positively influence teacher and student performance. Aligning instruction with external standards, setting school goals for student performance, measuring progress against those goals and making adjustments in the school programme to improve performance are the dynamic aspects of managing curriculum and instruction. School leaders play a key role in integrating external and internal accountability systems by supporting their teaching staff in aligning instruction with agreed learning goals and performance standards.

Strategic resource management

In increasingly autonomous school systems, school leaders have more and more discretion over human and financial resource management. The strategic use of resources and their alignment with pedagogical purposes can help to focus all operational activities within the school on the objective of improving teaching and learning.

Leadership beyond the school borders

Yet another role that has grown in recent times to add to the repertoire of tasks to be handled by school leaders is that of collaborating with other schools or communities around them. Schools and their leaders are strengthening collaboration, forming networks, sharing resources, or working together. Moreover, school leaders are becoming more broadly engaged in activities beyond their schools, reaching out to their immediate environment and articulating connections between the school and the outside world.

Leadership Capabilities

Authentic educational leaders require a number of leadership capabilities to deal with the tension-filled environment of contemporary schools. The capabilities described here are adapted from the work of Duignan and Burford (2002). The capabilities are categorized into personal, relational, professional and organizationalto give coherence and emphasis to clusters of different capabilities.

A capability constitutes ‘an integration of knowledge, skills and personal qualities used effectively and appropriately in response to varied, familiar and unfamiliar circumstances’.

Personal Capabilities

Is self-aware and reflective
Projects a sense of self-efficacy and personal identity
Uses intuition as well as logic and reason
Projects confidence and optimism
Exemplifies honesty and integrity
Is ethically literate and morally courageous
Displays imagination and vision
Integrates work and personal life

Relational capabilities

Is relationally adept
Is emotionally mature
Communicates with influence
Is authentically present
Displays a trusting disposition
Cultivates collaborative working environments
Engages in positive politics
Nurtures leadership capabilities in others

Professional capabilities

Is contextually aware and responsive
Displays curriculum and pedagogical know-how
Focuses on educational outcomes and accountability
Engages in and supports professional learning
Demonstrates professional commitment

Organizational capabilities

Engages in strategic thinking
Enhances organizational capacity to respond to contemporary challenges and future expectations
Builds a collective and collaborative culture that focuses energies and talents on achieving high-quality performance and outcomes
Constructs creative designs for the use of people, time, space and technologies
Models cultural sensitivity
Demonstrates managerial aptitude and proficiency

The Headmaster

The headmaster, as an educational leader holds the key position in the school. As an important component of the school administration, he has two important responsibilities, the administration of the school and supervision of the personnel involved in teaching-learning situation. Everything in the school, the plant, the staff, the curriculum, methods and techniques of teaching, co-curricular activities etc. is organized by him. The efficiency of the school depends on the ability and skill, personality and professional competence of the headmaster. He may be described as the sun around which the educational planets revolve. The character of the school reflects and proclaims the professional character of the headmaster. He is the organizer, leader, governor, business director, co-ordinator, superintendent, example, teacher, guide, philosopher and friend.

Responsibilities of the headmaster have increased due to the expansion of scientific knowledge and the demands of the parents for quality education. Sizes of schools have been increased leading to the problem of management. Also students today are a less homogenous group with respect to interest, outlook of life and home training. As a result, problems of curricula, corses of study, methods of teaching and management have grown.

HM/Principal as a Leader

School leadership is one of the challenging professions. Headmaster is a person who should play the roles as a leader and manager in the school. Leadership plays the key reigns of an organization in bringing success in managing the organization. A leader must have credibility in the organization of uniting to help each other, work together and to ensure continuity and structure of the existing system. They should be able to move their subordinates to go hand in hand and face the current host of problems plaguing the system of education.

Headmaster is a person who brings the school towards achievement through his skill, dedication and character. A headmaster should have the mission and vision to make the school an outstanding learning organization. He is the person who should strive to develop students holistically with a wide range of skills, ability and willingness to face challenges. Leaders determine the degree of influence, effectiveness of the school’s plan, decision and action strategies. A leader’s actions not only affect the organization under his leadership, but also in terms of job satisfaction of the staff.

A great headmaster is the person who effectively implements the trust and responsibility by providing a solid foundation and conducive environment in order to live up the excellent learning culture.

As a functionary, hundreds and thousands of eyes watch him, judge him, and measure him and are eager to follow his noble examples. Unless he has a perceiving eye and understanding heart and all-adjusting mental poise, he is bound to fall in his duties. The headmaster should be firm in his dealings, resolute in his convictions and decisions and relentless in his execution.

They perform five key practices well:

Shaping a vision of academic success for all students.

Creating a climate hospitable to education.

Cultivating leadership in others.

Improving instruction.

Managing people, data and processes to foster school improvement.

All the activities in an educational institution should get properly directed by the headmaster. As an efficient leader he should provide active leadership to the following activities:

Leader of academic activities: Since he is the supreme authority responsible for successful implementation of all the academic activities in school, it is his duty to initiate or give direction for proper planning of academic activities and co-curricular activities.
Leader of Administrative duties: Like academic activities, administration of school is to be properly managed and supervised by the headmaster. He has to ensure that different administrative tasks are distributed effectively among his subordinates.
Discipline: It is the prime duty of the headmaster as a leader to maintain discipline in schools. His inability to lead a school will result in disruptive behavior.
Human management: As an effective leader, the headmaster should be able to manage human resources effectively.
Financial management: All financial transactions in a school are issued in his name and it is to be subjected to the final approval of the headmaster.

The principal, as a leader, is challenged to develop a distinctive mission with a long-term plan with a set of quality policies, plans and strategies. Other important challenges are involving everybody in an environment of equality. Leaders in Total Quality Management organizations should do/have the following:

Have a vision of total quality for his/her institution
Have a clear commitment to the quality improvement process
Communicate the quality message
Ensure that the student’s needs are at the center of the institution’s policies and practices
Lead staff development
Be careful not to blame others when problem arise, without looking at the evidence; most problems result from institutional policies, not staff failure
Lead innovations within institutions
Ensure that organizational structures clearly define responsibilities and provide the maximum delegation compatible with accountability
Be committed to removal of artificial barriers whether organizational or cultural
Build effective teams
Develop appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating success

A number of studies have been made of leadership and the relationship of leadership to the group. Myers, after making an extensive analysis of these studies, proposed the following generalizations:

Leadership is the product of interaction.
Leadership cannot be structured in advance.
A leader in one situation will not automatically be a leader in another situation.
Leadership does not result from a status position, but rather from how a person behaves in an organization.
Whether a person is a leader in a group depends upon the group’s perception of him.
The way a leader perceives his role determines his actions.
Most groups have more than one person occupying the leadership role.
Leadership fosters positive sentiments toward the group activity and persons in the group.
Leadership may be democratic or autocratic.
Leadership protects the critical group norms.
Program development that involves only persons of a single position (such as principals or teachers) is not as comprehensive or lasting as that which involves people of various positions in the organization.

Academic management and academic leadership

Managers do things right; leaders do the right things.
Managers accomplish goals; leaders set goals.
Managers are tactical; leaders are strategic.
Managers maintain the status quo; leaders change the status quo.
Managers focus on the here-and-now; leaders focus on the future.
Managers emphasize efficiency; leaders emphasize effectiveness.
Managers execute visions; leaders create visions.
Managers emphasize facts; leaders emphasize values.

It is sometimes difficult to tell the difference between a leader and a manager, because much of the time managers and leaders do the same things and have many of the same characteristics. For example, managers and leaders are equally likely to:

Be intelligent, articulate, able to synthesize information, and capable of persuading others
Be charismatic (although they may display charisma of different kinds: managers increase their influence because of the charisma of their office, while the influence of leaders is enhanced by their personal charisma)
Have an expanded sense of responsibility, together with a diminished need for control.

The primary differences between managers and leaders arise not from the offices they hold, or from their activities, but from how the different sources of their authority affect the ways in which members of the department respond to them. In essence:

Management is a function performed by appointed officials in a hierarchical organizational structure. The influence of a manager essentially comes from the legal governance authority granted to the position, and not from the personality or other characteristics of the incumbent.
Leadership involves influencing others by inspiring their trust, and motivating them through words and deeds. The influence of leaders is not based on any specific legal authority, but on the professional and moral authority ascribed to them by the members of the department; the

Managers

Managers are appointed from above.
Managers possess legal authority.
Managers influence the department through reasonable/legal use of rewards, sanctions, and authority of office.
Managers may augment their influence through the charisma of their office.
Managers consistently fulfill the expected requirements of the job description

Leaders

Leaders are anointed from below by the department.
Leaders possess professional and moral authority.
Leaders may voluntarily forgo the use of legally acceptable influence that may lead to alienation of department members.
Leaders may augment their influence through the charisma of their personalities.
Leaders consistently engage the department in constructive activities exceeding expectations.

These two roles are not mutually exclusive. For example, individuals who have been appointed from above may also be anointed from below because they are seen as possessing professional/moral authority, personal charisma and a desire to avoid alienating members of the department. When this happens, managers may be leaders as well.

Educational management and educational leadership

Educational management and educational leadership are central concepts in understanding organising in educational institutions but their meaning, the difference between them and their value in educational organising remain the subject of debate.Educational management entails carrying the responsibility for the proper functioning of a system in an educational institution in which others participate. Carrying a responsibility of this kind is a state of mind and does not necessitate actions, though it typically and frequently does.

In contrast, educational leadership is the act of influencing others in educational settings to achieve goals and necessitates actions of some kind. When those carrying a delegated responsibility act in relation to that responsibility, they influence and are therefore leading. Although educational leadership is ideally undertaken responsibly, in practice it does not necessarily entail carrying the responsibility for the functioning of the educational system in which the influence is exercised. Educational responsibility is an important notion and it should play a more prominent role in analyses of organising in educational institutions.

The Need for Teacher Leadership

Teacher leadership is an idea whose time has come. The unprecedented demands being placed on schools today require leadership at every level. Yet many schools are still organized as though all the important decisions are made by administrators and carried out by teachers.

In the most successful schools, teachers supported by administrators take initiative to improve schoolwide policies and programs, teaching and learning, and communication. By understanding the phenomenon of teacher leadership and helping teachers develop the skills required to act as leaders, we will improve schools and help teachers realize their full potential.

The following are just a few examples of ways in which teachers may exercise their leadership within three areas of school life.

School wide Policies and Programs

Work with colleagues to design the schedule so that students have longer periods of time in each subject.
Serve as the building liaison to student teachers.

Lead a school task force to overhaul the school's approach to homework.

Represent the school in a districtwide or statewide program for drug-free schools.

Teaching and Learning

Organize a lesson study to examine the teaching team's or department's approach to a certain topic or concept.
Serve on a schoolwide committee to analyze student achievement data.

Help design a teacher mentoring program for the district.

Make a presentation at a state or local conference on alternative assessment methods.

Communication and Community Relations

Publish a department newsletter for parents.
Initiate a regular meeting time to confer with colleagues about individual students.

Develop procedures for specialist and generalist teachers to share their assessments of and plans for individual students.

Serve on the district or state parent-teacher association.
Lead an initiative to formulate methods for students who leave the district to carry information with them about their learning.

Teacher leaders have enhanced influence on learning

Recent research points to the centre role of teachers in influencing student performance and outcomes in schooling (Crowther, 2010; Darling-Hammond, 2010). Duignan and Cannon (2011) claim that teacher leadership is seen as a means of raising the morale of teachers, gaining greater commitment from teachers in carrying out the goals of the school and assisting other teachers in improving their practices by having teacher-leaders plan with them, demonstrate lessons and provide feedback. They also point out that giving teachers opportunities and responsibility for leadership, can also be seen as enhancing teacher professionalism, and empowering teachers. Hargreaves and Fink (2006) argue that student outcomes are more likely to improve when leadership sources are distributed throughout the school community and when teachers are empowered in areas of importance to them.

While teachers should focus primarily on leading improvement in pedagogy and curriculum, it is best if this is done as a whole school initiative. Together with the principal they can help ensure that this larger school orientation is achieved.

Educational leaders influence student achievement

It is widely recognized in relevant literature that effective educational leaders such as principals and leadership teams, influence student achievement in positive ways (Darling-Hammond, 2010, Robinson et al., 2009, Mulford et al., 2009). Robinson (2008) makes a positive connection between educational leadership and student learning. It is clear from their results that educational leaders, especially principals, influence the quality of student outcomes.

Chapter: 6 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEADMASTER

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEADMASTER

Introduction

As an educational leader, the headmaster shoulders various responsibilities, takes policy decisions, frame rules and regulations and adopts different means to ensure a healthy and productive environment for teaching-learning activities. And for the sake of achieving coveted standard and excellence in education he/she works in a vibrant manner. He/she pays due attention to the development of subordinates. The job of a headmaster is quite demanding and challenging, especially in the context of educational development and institutional effectiveness. Each day affords a rare wealth of experience and opportunities for creative thinking and discovering plausible solutions to the problems. It is incumbent on the headmaster to involve members of the staff and representatives from among the students to seek and suggest solutions to the problems. It will lead to shaping the styles and behavior of the members of the staff and students.

The role of the headmaster of a school has been identified as a primary factor that contributes to the proper and desired growth and excellence of the school.

The Headmaster:

plans and executes for the bright future of the students,
tries to achieve desirable standards for all students and staff,
supervises effectively the functioning of the school as per the policies, norms and

planning,

evaluates lesson plans, observes classes, and encourages the use of a variety of

instructional strategies,

supervises general discipline, attendance and related issues,
displays the highest ethical and professional behavior,
serves as a role model for students and the teaching staff,
encourages all teachers to display high level of professionalism,
assumes responsibility for the health, safety, and welfare of students, employees

and visitors.

communicates regularly with parents, seeking their support and advice, so as to

create a cooperative relationship with all the sectors,

keeps the staff informed and seeks ideas for the improvement of the school

through meetings and interactions etc.,

maintains positive, cooperative and mutually supportive relationships with staff.

Main roles of the Headmaster

Based on the functions, responsibilities and duties, we can summarise thecrucial roles of a headmaster:

The first role is:

As a Facilities/Resource Manager

A headmaster like any other administrator is responsible for arranging andutilizing resources of all kinds. The infrastructural aspects of a school need to receivespecial attention of the leader. Of course, the interest of the leader is based on his/hervision and future prospects. Human resource, in particular, is the ultimate focus ofthe organization and the leader.

The second role is:

As a Trend Setter

Morally as well as professionally, a leader has to keep a track record of goodwork, attach importance to sincere sense of calling, commitment, dedication and hardwork. The leader has to set a trend in order to seek and receive cooperation andparticipation in the collaborated efforts for the sake of the uplift of the institution.

Third is:

As a motivator

Motivation is a vital factor in the amelioration of all kinds of administrativeand educational set up. In today’s educational scenario, modern and dynamicprincipals need to be available for the groups of students, teachers and communityrepresentatives. The leader/administrator is basically responsible for employingpsychological/motivational techniques to become actively involved in the existingsystem for the betterment of learning-teaching activities.

As a Head Teacher

Educationally, the principal is the head/leader of the group by being seniorand more experienced, but in modern scenario, the position of the headmaster is viewedonly from the angle of a manager of the school who runs/leads and has nothing to dowith the academics.While the fact is that by virtue of his/her teaching experiences, a principal canafford valuable insight into the teaching-learning setting and provide remedies if thereare challenges.

The Headmaster as a Philosopher

A philosopher is often considered as a creature belonging to some otherplanet. But the fact is that every educationist is basically a philosopher. If one hasno vision/philosophy/thought/ideology, one can’t bring desirable changes in theeducational system. In the same way, one can’t make any contributions towardthe betterment of a society.

As a Trainer / Professional Developer

A headmaster is not only a leader or a manager of the teachers, resources orthe institutions but also a trainer of his/her sub ordinates. He/she has to share hisexperiences with juniors to develop them as well.

Headmaster as an Academic Leader

Education research shows that most school variables, considered separately,have at most small effects on learning. The real payoff comes when individualvariables combine to reach critical mass. Creating the conditions under which thatcan occur is the job of the principal. Some of the crucial roles usuallyperformed by the headmaster as an academic leader are:

-Shaping a vision of academic success for all students,

-Creating an atmosphere conducive the growth of education,

-Inculcating leadership values among the sub ordinates and juniors,

-Improving instruction,

-Managing people, records/data, resources to further the process, minimize thechance of waste and finally realize the goals.

Qualities of an Effective Headmaster

There can be a long list of main qualities of a headmaster. Some of them being: A headmaster

- is highly Knowledgeable and skilled,

- humble, honest and hardworking,- creative and innovative.

- is participative and motivating,

- delegates powers and responsibilities,

- is able and confident,

- is risk taking and task oriented,

- develops effective educational programs,

- participates in instructional activities,

- evaluates teachers and gives professional feedback,

- arranges professional development programs,

- maintains healthy relation with the students,

- is a true professional.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE HEADMASTER

The headmaster is the administrative and professional leader of a school, and as such he/she is directly responsible for its successful operation. The major qualities of the headmaster in the field of education is leadership and supervision, with stress on the improvement of teaching and learning. To bring about this improvement, he/she should call upon all the resources of the school. Some of the major duties of the headmaster are:

Supervision

Supervision means overseeing the work done by the teaching staff. Supervision improves the total teaching-learning situation. The primary duty of the principal is to develop and implement an effective instructional program appropriate to the students in his/her school. Careful attention should be given to the supervision of teachers and other instructional personnel working in the school, including both full-time and part-time personnel. A headmaster should certain principles of supervision: Some of them are:

Its purpose is to help, encourage and guide rather than criticize.
It should be done in a spirit of co-operation.
It should be done regularly and effectively.
Partiality and prejudice should find no place in it.
The criteria of supervision should be known to teachers.

Classroom is the heart of teaching situation. It is the centre of instruction. It is the duty of the headmaster to upgrade the quality of education through creative, co-operative and constructive supervision. Class visits form an essential part of the duties of the headmaster. When the headmaster finds any defect with any teacher, he/she should discuss the matter after the period is over in the headmaster’s office and not in front of the class. He/she should work as an expert source of help through free discussions with them. The headmaster should work with the teachers to improve “learning environment”. This will be possible through mutual esteem and trust, which again depends upon contact and interaction.

There are various aspects of supervision which has to be attended to by the headmaster:

Supervision of the instructional work

It has to be done regularly to render timely help to the teachers and the taught. An atmosphere of understanding should exist between the teachers and the headmaster. His/her visit to every classroom should be regarded as a friendly visit.

He/she should never give a chance to the teacher to feel insulted or harassed. If necessary remarks should be written or recorded in a very positive language. The headmaster can also go through the various homework notebooks of students sometimes and also answer books of students in various examinations.

Supervision of practicals

The headmaster may take a round when the students are engaged in science practicals in the laboratories or in craft work in the workshops or in survey-work in the neighborhood. He/she can be of help in these activities only if he/she gets touch with these situations.

Supervision of co-curricular activities

The headmaster should drop in sometimes when the games are being played in the playground, when rehearsals are going on for a play or when the student committee hold meetings to organize a trip. By presiding over the various functions in the school, he will be in a position to improve the standard of co-curricular activities.

Supervision for discipline

It is a part of the supervisory duty to watch the behavior of the students, their regularity, punctuality and sense of self-discipline.

Supervision for welfare of the pupils

The headmaster has to ensure the welfare of the pupils both inside and outside the school. There should be all types of provisions to make the students’ stay in the school fully rewarding, pleasant and convenient. The campus should carry a neat, clean and attractive look. Constant improvement in provisions and facilities should be taken care of.

Supervision of office

He/she should ensure high efficiency in the office through close and intensive supervision. The office has to look after admissions, classification of students, notification of time table and other activities, arrangement of supplies, maintenance of accounts, progress reports of students, routine correspondence etc.

The second duty of the headmaster is:

Teaching

The headmaster is the educational leader. He/she is essentially a teacher. So he/she must never get out of touch with day-to-day classroom situations. They will not be in a position to provide educational leadership if they stop teaching and gets out of touch with their specialized subject and the techniques of teaching. Their function is to guide education and educators in new methods, new techniques of education, new approaches, new outlooks and new ways of doing the old job. From them flows a continuous stream of new ideas to deal with rapidly changing educational scene. They should resolve to do old things in a new way and deliver them to his/her students in classrooms.

Headmaster of a school is a teacher first. Teaching is their fundamental duty. Headmasters remain so much absorbed in other duties that they never enter classes. But they should engage at least two periods a day on specialized classes.

Despite some frustration of administration and demands on their time, instruction is one of the most important responsibilities and duties of a headmaster. He/she is the key person charged with responsibilities of improving instruction.

By actually teaching, the headmaster comes to know the standards of students in different classes and standard of teaching in school. They also understand difficulties of students and teachers. A headmaster cannot be an expert in all instructional areas. In spite of the fact that headmasters are over-burdened with a number of other duties, they should be good teachers conversant with content and the latest methods of teaching. It will be appropriate with their position and prestige if they teach one of the most important subjects of the syllabus.

The third main duty is:

Planning

Unless the headmaster plans for the school, there will be confusion all round. For making proper planning, help of pupils, teachers and parents should be taken. Most of the planning will take place in the course of discussion of school problems in the staff meetings and student councils.

In some schools, certain situations arise like teachers without students, classes without teachers, class-sections with enrolment twice the capacity of the room, where teachers are handicapped because of shortage of suppliers, lack of books and equipments etc. This state of affairs is due to inadequate planning in schools.

The plans have to be drawn collectively by the headmaster, members of the staff, student’s council and parent-teacher association.

Planning before the start of the new session

Every detail of the work should be drawn up. As soon as the school reopens, everything should be ready and organized. The planning of work should be done before-hand to give a good start. In order to avoid a delayed and non-serious start, the headmaster should convene meetings of the staff well before the opening day to discuss and finalise the timetable etc. The admission and payment of fees should be date bound and this should not be unduly prolonged. Everything should be done in a time-bound and date-bound manner.

On the opening day and during the first week

Regular work according to a timetable should start on the very first day.The students may be acquainted with their syllabi and other activities. The prescribed textbooks may be announced and it should be ensured that the students procure them at the earliest. The instructions to the students should be given in a comprehensive and clear-cut manner through the prospectus or first day talk in the morning assembly.

During the course of the year

The headmaster has to ensure implementation of the timetable and calendar of activities. The instructional work should be continued with zest and zeal. Side by side, the co-curricular activities should also be carried out according to schedule. He/she has to maintain the supply line also in respect of equipments, chemicals, aids and other articles.

Evaluation programme in the form of class tests has to be organized from time to time. Guidance has to be provided by the needy students and teachers. Regular supervision of teacher’s work should also go on. Consistent efforts should be made for the procurement of grants and their utilization made according to well-prepared plans.

At the end of the year

It is the time for stock taking and evaluation. The annual report should be prepared to have an overall view of successes and failures. This report becomes the stepping stone for planning the next session. The annual statements in respect of attendance, enrolment, income, expenditure, results etc. have to be prepared.

The fourth duty of the HM is:

Organization and Administration

The administrative functions of the headmaster can be external and internal. The external function connects the headmaster with government, the state department of education, the high school education board and the governing body. The internal function connects with the internal functions of the school office and administering the school budget and the school plant.

The organization and administration areas can be further subdivided into various duty areas.

School Plant

In the organization of the school, the headmaster should procure adequate furniture and equipment for the school. He/she should make petty repairs, distribute the furniture, look into the buildings, organize laboratories, the workshop and the library and take care of the sanitation and entire material aspect of school plant. He/she has to keep sanitation and water supply in good condition, and has to procure for the school all types of latest amenities. He/she will also see to it that the library is well equipped with latest literature.

Instructional work

The headmaster also looks into the instructional work of the school including construction of curriculum, preparation and distribution of syllabi, work distribution among the staff, allotment of co-curricular duties, construction of the time schedule and the school calendar.

Co-curricular activities

It refers to the organization and administration of various activities during the session like experimental projects, sports, tournaments, debates, celebration of important days, inter-house competitions, alumni associations, parent-teacher associations and other activities. The headmaster has to ensure that these activities serve the desired educational purposes.

Office work

The headmaster has to see that the office plays its key role in the running of the school very effectively. He/she has to get various things done by the office, such as, official correspondence, registration, routine work, collection of fees, maintenance of accounts, preparation of the school budget and making purchases for the school.

Discipline

The headmaster should be a firm but considerate and strict disciplinarian. He/she should ensure that the academic climate of the school is not spoiled by frequent cases of indiscipline. He/she should also involve responsible teachers and leading students in the establishment of a healthy discipline in the institution.

The 5th duty being:

Maintenance of Relations

In respect of human relations in an institution, the headmaster again occupies a key position. His /her own success and the success of the school depends mostly on the relations that they cultivate and maintain with the staff, the students, their parents and the community at large.

Relations with the staff

The relations should be cordial, pleasant and affectionate. He/she must have humanitarian and sympathetic outlook. He/she should rule with love and kindness rather than with his position and authority. He/she should not suffer from an air of superiority, false pride and arrogance. He/she should keep staff in high spirits by encouraging and appreciating. Should also abstain from negative methods of maintaining discipline such as threats, punishments, fault-finding, surprise-checking and secret reporting.

He/she must not fail to recognize the individual differences in order to make judicious allotment of work and responsibilities to various teachers. He/she should ensure that undue tasks are not thrust on anybody. While taking major decisions, advice must be taken from teachers. Must be able to take teachers into confidence on all important matters. This will encourage a spirit of mutual co-operation and responsibility and will establish healthy relations based on mutual understanding.

Relations with students

Although from disciplinary point of view, the headmaster is required to maintain a distance with the students, this distance must be narrowed down to the limit of maintaining both intimacy and respect. His/her relations with the students must be based on understanding, good-will, progress and welfare for all.

The headmaster should develop these relations by taking interest in the students in respect of their progress in studies, their difficulties if any, their participation in activities, their problems in and outside the school, their health etc. He/she should be easily accessible to any student in need. It is the duty of the headmaster to mix freely with the students when they are on the playfield, out on a picnic, participating in activities etc.

It will be a great asset to know the names of as many students as possible and address them by their names. Should be affectionate, kind, intimate and sympathetic towards students. He/she should be looked upon by others as a sincere guide and reformer.

Relations with parents

The headmaster has to act as a liaison between the school and the society. He/she must avail of all the opportunities of direct and indirect contacts with the parents and other members of the community. It is very important to know the parents and other members of the community. They may be invited to the school functions and to the meetings of the parent-teacher associations.

When the parents are in a position to give some voluntary help to th e school, the headmaster should not miss the opportunity. He/she should rather create situations for their constant involvement in the activities of the school.

Relations with community

The headmaster should try to project his school as a centre of community life. With constant efforts he should bridge the gap between the school and the community. He/she should find out what the community expects from the school and try to satisfy the demands of the community through his able administration. He/she should be able to exploit the resources of the community for the benefit and welfare of the school.

He/she can introduce a number of activities in school which prove attractive for the community such as school v/s community competitions in games, use of school library by the desirous members of the community, arranging of exhibition, variety performances, documentary film shows, organizing social service programmes and inviting well known speakers to speak on topics of general interest.

The headmaster may himself become an active member of some of the social and cultural organizations of the community. He/she should also establish relationship with the District Public Relations Officer, the local press and other allied departments engaged in the welfare and upliftment of the community.

The 6th responsibility is:

Guidance

The headmaster is the chief guide for all the colleagues and students. Guidance can be provided in a variety of ways.

The students need his guidance in the selection of subjects at the secondary stage where diversification of courses take place. In order to be competent, he/she must understand the implications of aptitude, interest, intelligence and achievement in the choice of subjects leading to connected vocations and vocational courses.
Guidance may be required by the students in their day to day difficulties in learning and other activities.

The teachers may also need guidance in teaching work and other activities. They may face problems of discipline, truancy etc. for which they may have to consult the headmaster.

The parents may also seek guidance for educational as well as other problems of their wards.
The higher authorities may seek the opinion and point of view of the headmaster in matters of curriculum revision, selection of text books, framing of educational policies and educational problems arising from time to time.
The students may also seek guidance in purely personal problems, emotional and mental difficulties, ethical norms, parental interference in their affairs and various other complications. The headmaster has to enjoy the confidence and trust of his students so that they easily divulge their secrets and fears.

The headmaster has to evolve and adopt appropriate remedial measures in cases which suffer from various educational and emotional problems.

The headmaster should set up a guidance corner in the school and establish contacts with state level Guidance Bureau, Employment Officers, and Employers. The effective functioning of this service will necessitate a lot of data collection, record keeping, reporting, follow-up and liaison with many other agencies.

Now let us discuss Some specific responsibilities of HM

The first one is regarding

School Supplies

This involves planning of infrastructure facilities. Estimates are to be prepared regarding the quantity of purchases to be made. Specification of each item is to be laid down and quotations have to be invited and approved by the headmaster. Goods ordered should be inspected and checked on arrival. Headmaster will appoint a selection committee for the purchase and maintenance of equipment.

The 2nd responsibility is with respect to

School Campus

School plant should provide adequate educational services. Best use of all the rooms, laboratories, workshops and the farm is made. In case of over-crowding, students may attend laboratories in groups. School may be used for its specific uses. All school buildings should be guarded against building hazards. The perfect up-keep of the school campus is the lookout of the headmaster.

The 3rd duty is

Co-curricular Activities

The over-all management of school co-curricular activities is the headmaster’s responsibility. Various activities may of course be distributed amongst the staff members in accordance with their previous background, interest and aptitude. Adequate budget allotment should be made for these activities. All wastage and unnecessary expenditure should be checked.

The last duty being

Office management

The modern conception of the headmaster’s office is that, it is a service centre. Communication with higher authorities, the parents, the public, the teacher and the students is made by the headmaster. For the efficient functioning the following should be made available. The office must be located at a suitable place. It must be adequately spaced and proper up-keep ensured. Office work must be distributed adequately among members of the office staff. Headmaster must supervise their work, check irregularities, check inefficiency and ensure regular and prompt work. Thus:

Headmaster must decide the time to be devoted for office work.
Headmaster must make note of his office duties.
Duties of Headmaster prescribed by education department and managing committee should be strictly followed.
The headmaster should strictly obey the rules and regulations of school board to which the school is affiliated.
Routine duties of the headmaster should be admission, checking class registers, cash book, acquittance roll, attendance registers and accounts of various fees and fines.

All these general duties and specific responsibilities of the headmaster would make better schools.

Chapter: 7 PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Teacher performance management is a continuous process for identifying, evaluating and developing the work performance of teachers, so that the goals and objectives of the school are more effectively achieved, at the same time benefiting teachers in terms of recognition of performance, professional development and career guidance.

We shall now discuss the Meaning and Definition of performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of the employees/teachers to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. Performance appraisal is to assess the performance of an individual in relation to the objectives, activities, outputs and targets of a job over a given period of time. It is done in systematic ways, which are:

The supervisors compare the pay of employees with the targets and plans and evaluate an employee’s work behavior by comparing it with present standards.
The supervisors will analyse the factors behind work performance of employees
Uses the results to provide feedback to the employee to show where improvements are needed and why
The employers role is to guide the employees for a better performance.

According to Edwin B, Flippo, “Performance appraisal is a systematic, periodic and so far as humanly possible, the impartial rating of an employee’s excellence in matters pertaining to his /her present job and potentialities for a better job”.

All schools should have now put in place certain key components of performance management, such as staff appraisal system, induction and professional development of teachers. The first and foremost step in establishing the appraisal system is to define the objectives of the appraisal, which in turn decides the criteria and procedures of appraisal. The appraisal system applicable to one school may not be so for another. Before establishing the teacher appraisal system, schools should understand their culture, their educational goals and the needs of the various parties (the school, teachers and students) and then decide on the methods and criteria for appraisal.

High quality teaching is essential to improve student outcomes and reducing gaps in student achievement. The Teacher Performance Appraisal System provides teachers with meaningful appraisals that encourage professional learning and growth. The process is designed to foster teacher development and identify opportunities for additional support where required. It helps teachers achieve their full potential, with high levels of student performance.

These are contained in new regulations that cover teacher appraisal and a model policy that covers both appraisal and capability. Together they form one of a number of changes that are designed to improve the quality of teaching.

The new regulations on teacher appraisal are mandatory for maintaining schools and local authorities. They give schools and local authorities more freedom to design appraisal policies that suit their own individual circumstances.

Rationale for this change shall be discussed now

Firstly, The evidence from around the world shows us that the most important factor in determining the effectiveness of a school system is the quality of its teachers.
Secondly, Good teachers make a profound difference.
Third, The majority of teachers in our schools are highly competent professionals who are committed to providing good education for our children. Where teachers do not meet the standards that are expected of the profession, it is important that head teachers have the freedom and authority to tackle under-performance.
Fourth, No one is helped when poor performance remains un-addressed. Under-performing teachers place additional pressures on their colleagues and let down the children in their care.

We shall now see the Objectives of Performance Appraisal in school

Performance appraisal can be done with certain objectives in mind: They are:

To set agreed performance targets and monitor the progress by measuring actual performance against the targets
To assist school management in assessing teacher’s performance ensuring that teacher commit to their duties and that they develop their teaching effectiveness in order to provide quality education.
To help identify and resolve cases of underperformance.
To provide school management with proper records, which serve as important references in the selection for promotion and in helping underachieving teachers.
To recognize the achievements of teachers, appraise effective teaching practice and encourage the development of quality teaching.
To provide constructive feedback to individual teachers.
To assist teachers in identifying their potential and, ways for improvement, so as to raise their professional standard and improve their team spirit, which support the overall development of the school.
To provide guidance, counseling and training to teachers having difficulties in their performance.
To provide relevant information on human resource development for schools to plan appropriate teacher development activities.
To provide feedback to employees about their performance and status.
To assess the potential present in a teacher for further growth and development.
To identify strength and weakness of teacher to place right men on right job.
To maintain records in order to determine compensation packages, wage structure, salary increment etc.
To determine levels of competence
To increase teacher efficiency, effectiveness and good performance.
And lastly, To ensure that teachers perform their duties with integrity and maintain a positive vigilant attitude towards all learning activities.

There are certain Advantages of Performance Appraisal. Let us see some of those:

It is said that performance appraisal is an investment for the company or any organization which can be justified by certain advantages like:

1.Accountability: Performance appraisal ensures that teachers/employees commit to their duties and that they develop their teaching effectiveness in order to provide quality education.

2.Feedback: It provides constructive feedback to individual teachers/employees.

3.Promotion and Compensation: Performance Appraisal helps the head to consider teachers for further promotion and compensation. Efficient teachers can be promoted to higher post and proper compensation can be provided.

4.Professional Development: The systematic procedure of performance appraisal helps the supervisors to frame training policies and programmes. It helps to analyse strengths and weaknesses of teachers leading to their professional enrichment.

5.Selection Validation: Performance appraisal helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.

6.Communication: For an organization, effective communication between employees and employers is very important. Through performance appraisal, communication can be sought for in the following ways:

Through performance appraisal, the head can understand and accept skills of subordinates.
The subordinates can also understand and create a trust and confidence in superiors. It also helps in maintaining cordial and congenial labour management relationship.
It develops the spirit of work and boosts the morale of employees/teachers.
All the above factors ensure effective communication.

7.Motivation: Performance appraisal serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of teachers, their efficiency can be determined if the targets are achieved. This very well motivates a teacher for better job and helps him to improve his performance in the future.

And last is Quality Enhancement: It helps to enhance teacher efficiency, effectiveness and performance.

Now let us see what we mean by PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF TEACHERS

The appraisal of teachers should focus on the performance and not on the personality. The appraisal should focus on the following items: teaching and teaching related duties, non-teaching duties and professional and personal competence. Each teacher should have a job description outlining his/her responsibilities and scope of work. This can serve as a reference in deciding the areas of appraisal. The areas of appraisal should be in line with the school goals, major concerns of the current year and programme plans under various subjects. Some of the major components of teacher performance appraisal are:

Educational leadership: The extent to which the teacher is making an impact on teaching and learning beyond his/her own teaching, as evidenced by leadership in teaching innovations, scholarship of teaching and learning, and other forms of contributions leading to system-wide impact.
Contribution to development/management: The extent to which the teacher is contributing to the development and operation of subjects and programmes, as evidenced by involvement and contribution in planning and implementing programme curricula and subject syllabi, and their relevant discussions, projects and processes.
Subject competency: Content knowledge/subject competency refers to teacher’s accurate and up-to-date information and mastery of the subject that teachers teach and that students are expected to learn in a given subject or content area, such as English language, Mathematics, Science or social studies. Content knowledge refers to the facts, concepts, theories and principles that are taught and learned.
Knowledge of delivery methods: Teaching is an art for expert teachers. Expert teachers own unique qualities including a passion for their subject and an ability to transfer it to the learners sound knowledge and excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Also, a good teacher does more than teaching by contributing to the general academic, emotional and cultural development of learners.

Knowledge of delivery methods refers to teacher’s ability to co-ordinate learning content with instructional objectives, to use effective examples and illustrations and to present learning content in a logical sequential order. Good teachers are expected to have an ability to transfer the content to learners in an effective and appropriate way.

Communicating ideas and concepts in a simple, clear and sequential manner using examples wherever possible is an important criteria for effective teaching. Experts agree that for classroom instruction to become effective and professional, it should be palatable to the learners, be practical and linked to everyday life, generate an interest in the subject and also lead to serious discussions. Also, effective teaching does not take place without student interest and for this teachers adopt techniques such as the usage of simple analogies, interesting anecdotes and also small doses of humour. Even in the highly advanced learning environments of the present day world where technology tools offer considerable teaching support, basic teaching skills matters a lot.

Communicating ideas and concepts in a simple, clear and sequential manner using examples wherever possible is an important criteria for effective teaching. So, a tr should possess Pedagogic content knowledge (PCK): It is a special combination of content and pedagogy that is uniquely constructed by teachers and thus is the “special” form of an educator’s professional knowing and understanding. Pedagogical content knowledge is also known as “craft knowledge”. It comprises integrated knowledge representing teachers’ accumulated wisdom with respect to their teaching practice: pedagogy, students, subject matter, and the curriculum. Pedagogical content knowledge must be addressed within the context of a diverse pedagogy. It involves:

Demonstrating ability to conduct lessons using a variety of methods
Organizing materials, supplies and equipments prior to the lesson.
Integrating materials and resources smoothly into a lesson.
Identifying available supplemental resources.

Development of PCK

Pedagogical content knowledge is deeply rooted in a teacher’s everyday work. It encompasses both theory learned during teacher preparation as well as experiences gained from ongoing schooling activities.
The development of pedagogical content knowledge is influenced by factors related to the teacher’s personal background and by the context in which he or she works.
PCK is deeply rooted in the experiences and assets of students, their families and communities.

Impact of PCK

When teaching subject matter, teacher’s actions will be determined to a large extent by the depth of their pedagogical content knowledge, making this an essential component of their ongoing learning.
Pedagogical content knowledge research links knowledge on teaching with knowledge about learning, a powerful knowledge base on which to build teaching expertise.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Core Content Areas

PCK illustrates how the subject matter of a particular discipline is transformed for communication with learners. It includes what makes specific topics difficult to learn, the conditions students bring to the learning of these concepts and teaching strategies tailored to this specific teaching situation. To teach all students according to today’s standards, teachers indeed need to understand the subject matter deeply and flexibly so that they can help students map their own ideas, relate one to another, and re-direct their thinking to create powerful learning. Teachers also need to see how ideas connect across fields and to everyday life. These are the building blocks of PCK.

Understanding the Learning Process: In order to engage, motivate and teach all learners at optimal levels, teachers must understand the learning process. There are six interactive components of the learning process: attention, memory, language, processing and organizing, writing and higher order thinking. These processes interact not only with each other, but also with emotions, classroom climate, behavior, social skills, teachers and family. Most of the learning process will involve four essential processes:
Synthesising( bringing together information internally)
Organising( making sense and ordering this information)
Memorising( holding onto this information in order to use it at will)
Communicating ( making your ideas available to others)
Understanding Student’s background and needs: To effectively choose teaching methods and help students learn, teacher must first know something about whom they are teaching. Students will be coming from different backgrounds and have various learning needs. Not all students will have the same background in your field. Knowledge about students will enable teachers to refine lectures, class discussions, comments, illustrations and activities so that they are more effective learning experiences. References to student’s interests, backgrounds, knowledge and even anxieties can make the class seem more personal and the material more accessible. By assessing student’s comprehension levels of the subject, you can modify your own teaching to fit their needs. By customizing your course to student’s needs, you can teach more efficiently and effectively.

Student’s background can be properly accessed by suitable tools like questionnaires etc.

On the first day of class, hand out a questionnaire. You should find out what previous classes students have had in your field and related subjects. You can list basic terminology you expect students to understand, and ask students to mark the words they do not understand or feel comfortable with. Ask your students if their attendance or participation in class and on assignments will be affected by their religion, disability or any other unique situation. Leave an area for students to write down any special accomodations they may need for learning disabilities, work or family obligations etc.

Curriculum alignment: Curriculum alignment is defined as the degree to which expectations and assessments are in agreement and serve in conjunction with one another to guide the system toward student’s learning , what they are expected to know and do. Curriculum alignment is otherwise known as curriculum mapping. It is formally to evaluate a course or an educational programme to address the changing needs of students and the work force. In case of public schools, curriculum alignment is an important part of curriculum. It follows certain principle, with the “wheels” being curriculum, instruction, standards and assessment. Curriculum alignment helps to modify courses and programmes to better target student’s post-secondary success and make better uses of resources of the school. It also helps to reduce remediation. Research indicates that this kind of alignment can point a school or district toward improved student achievement.
Ability to use Student Achievement Data in Planning Instruction:

The goal is to formulate specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations for use by educators and educational administrators to create the organizational conditions necessary to make decisions using student achievement data in classrooms, schools and districts. If teachers have information that helps them confidently identify the root of educational challenges and track progress, they can more readily develop action plans that will have a positive impact on their students.

All teachers share a common goal to see every student succeed. So what are some effective ways to work with information to improve student achievement? In the context of education, data is a synonym for information. Data can be words, numbers, or observations that are collected systematically, usually for a specific purpose. Educational data includes student achievement data such as teacher observational notes of student’s performance in class, samples of student’s class work, student portfolios, results of formal and informal classroom assessments, report cards or large-scale assessment results and other student data relevant to the students such as student mobility, attendance data, behavioural incident data and homework completion contextual data that are not under the direct control of the teacher( such as student’s linguistic background, gender or community socio-economic factors) are important to consider when planning for improved student achievement.

Classroom management

If students are engaged, they are managed. This is the absolute truth. But we still need rules, routines, and trust and student ownership to make a classroom run smoothly and effectively. So classroom management is the ability of the teacher to manage classroom efficiently. This involves:

Building community
Designing a safe, friendly and well-managed classroom environment
Including students in creating rules, norms, routines and consequences.
Creating a variety of communication channels
Always being calm, fair and consistent
Addressing conflict quickly and wisely
Integrating positive classroom rituals
Partnering with parents and guardians
Managing disruptive behavior constructively
Arranging the classroom for effective instruction
Promoting self-discipline
Managing discipline problems in accordance with administrative regulations, school board policies and legal requirements
Establishes and clearly communicates parameters for student classroom behavior.
Professional Growth/Continuous Improvement

This indicates teachers’ frequent and continuous involvement in professional enrichment programme. Professional development follows certain lines. These include content knowledge and quality teaching, research basis, collaboration, diverse learning needs, student learning and the aforementioned variables.

Opportunities for active learning, content knowledge and the overall coherence of staff development are the top three characteristics of professional development. Opportunities for active learning and content specific strategies for staff development refer to a focus on teacher application of learned material. Overall coherence refers to the staff development program perceived as an integrated whole and development activities building upon each other in a consecutive fashion.

Ability to use Technology as a Tool in the Classroom

Teachers should have basic knowledge in technology to use it in classroom for effective teaching and learning. Teacher should learn to use various softwares, projective and non-projective aids to make teaching more interesting. Additionally it is good for teacher to have knowledge about blogging, using google tools, Web 2.0, interactive white boards, web designing, video-audio editing, wiki, spreadsheets, social bookmarking, presentation tools, video and podcasting, mobile and handheld computing, collaboration and communication tools etc.

Relationship Management

This means the ability to maintain a cordial and constructive relationship with different stakeholders of the institution like colleagues, students and parents. The interrelationships between students, staff (teaching and non-teaching) and parents must be open, honest and respectful and have the achievement of the student and the well-being of all parties at their core. All parties i.e. students, staff (teaching and non-teaching) and parents must accept that they have a role to play in the development and maintenance of these relationships. The quality of these relationships will be reflected in the outcomes for students. Soft skills training play a crucial role.

METHODS FOR PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL OF TEACHERS

First one being the Ranking Method

In ranking method, employees are ranked according to their performance levels. It is easier to rank the best and the worst employee. When a large number of employees are working, ranking of individuals become a difficult issue. There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The ranking system does not eliminate the possibility of snap judgements.

Rating Scale

Rating scales consists of several numerical scales representing job related performance criterion such as dependability, initiative, output, attendance, attitude etc. Each scales range from excellent to poor. The total numerical scores are computed and final conclusions are derived. Advantages include adaptability, easy to use, low cost and every type of job can be evaluated, large number of employees covered and no formal training required.

Checklist Method

Under this method, checklist of statements of traits of employee in the form of ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ based questions is prepared. Here the rater only does the reporting or checking and HR department does the actual evaluation. Advantages of this method include economy, ease of administration, limited training required and standardization. Disadvantages are rater biases, use of improper weighs by HR, does not allow rater to give relative ratings etc.

Critical Incidents Method

The approach is focused on certain critical behaviors of employee that makes all the difference in the performance. Supervisors as and when they occur record such incidents.

Some Advantages of critical incidents method are: Evaluations are based on actual job behaviors, ratings are supported by descriptions, feedback is easy, reduces biases, chances of subordinate improvement are high.

Some Disadvantages are: Negative incidents can be prioritized, forgetting incidents, overly close supervision; feedback may be too much and may appear to be punishment.

Essay method

In this method, the rater writes down the employee description in detail within a number of broad categories like, overall impression of performance, promote ability of employee, existing capabilities and qualifications of performing jobs, strengths and weaknesses and training needs of the employee.

Advantages of this method: It is extremely useful in filing information gaps about the employees that often occur in a better structured checklist.

Disadvantages of essay method: It is highly dependent upon the writing skills of rater and most of them are not good writers.

IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

It provides a record of performance over a period of time.
It can be motivational with the support of a good reward and compensation.
It provides an opportunity for the head to meet and discuss performance of the staff.
It provides an employee to discuss issues and clarify expectations.
It provides the employee with the feedback about their performance.
It establishes line of communication.
It forms a basis for personnel’s salary increases, promotions, disciplinary actions, bounces etc.
It validates selection techniques and human resource policies.
It helps to judge the gap between actual and desired performance
To reduce grievances of employees.

Chapter: 8 THE SCHOOL PLANT

THE SCHOOL PLANT

The school plant is one of the major aspects of school administration. The school can be compared to a plant. It grows and develops gradually like a plant. A school building to come up requires hard labour for many many years. Good students can be products of a good school only.

Dr. Jaswant Singh says, “While it is true that a bad workman blames his tools, it is certain that the best work can only be accomplished with the best tools.”

The school campus includes the building, the lawn, the school garden, playground, the hostel, staff quarters etc. By school building we mean the whole constructed area of the school with classrooms, a big hall, open air theatre, staff room, student’s common room, library, science laboratories, drawing room, SUPW room, visitor’s room, office, guest room, canteen, cycle shed, bath rooms, lavatories etc. It refers to the material provisions of the school. The school plant is of great importance because of its impact on the educational processes and programmes.

The school plant should be ideal for the growth and development of young children. It should be situated in healthy surroundings, and its structure must be appropriate in respect of climatic conditions.It must be an attractive, neat and clean building in the area concerned.

A school cannot be set up everywhere and anywhere. The character of school building and grounds are important elements in the child’s education. Dr. K. G. Saiyidain has described the importance of school plant as: “A school or college is a vital and life-giving environment to the extent that it brings into the life of its students an abiding love and appreciation for all that is best and most significant in national and human life”.

We have now realized that all environments educate, and the character of school buildings and grounds can be important elements in the child’s education. The school buildings are instructional equipment and they must be planned to implement the educational objectives and philosophy of the community. Word pictures and even photographs are very inadequate means of conveying the real beauty, the inviting atmosphere, the spacious comfort and the functional usefulness of a school plant.

Essentials of a School Plant Site

It is not the main building alone which is important, the site itself may be regarded as of fundamental importance. The surroundings of the school should be neat, healthy and congenial and free from disturbances and noise. The site should be spacious enough to meet all the requirements of structures, playgrounds, farm, lawns, shady trees and cycle stands and there should be scope for further expansion. The situation of the site should be easily accessible.

Building

The building should have adequate accommodation for the various purposes. Its structure should be safe and stable. It should be well protected by a boundary wall or a fence. The rooms should be provided with proper ventilation and lighting arrangements.

In order to meet various requirements, there should be the provision of rooms in the school building such as:

Principal’s office
School office
Staff room
Library and reading room
Assembly hall
Common room (especially for girls in a coeducational institution)
Laboratories as per the number of science subjects
Workshops for various vocational or semi-vocational courses
Guidance room
Museum and audio-visual room
Stores as per requirement
Dispensary
Sports room
C.C. Room
Urinals and Lavatories
Classrooms adequate in number
Subject rooms for special subjects
Rooms for activities etc.

Equipments

The classrooms, laboratories and subject rooms should be equipped with adequate furniture. It should be convenient for work and suitable for the correct posture of pupils.
The library should be well stocked with all types of relevant books. It should be well furnished. Similarly, the reading room should be furnished in a manner which stimulates and facilitates self-study on the part of the students.
The laboratories should be well-equipped with the scientific apparatus according to requirements and laid down specifications. It should have water supply arrangements.
The school should be very rich in respect of audio-visual equipments. It should have a large stock of illustrative aids.
The classrooms should be well provided with the black board, almirahs and teacher’s desk.
The principal’s room, staff room and office should be well furnished and well-equipped.
The equipment in respect of games and athletics, common room, museum and activities rooms should also be up to the mark.

Maintenance and Repairs

Regular attention should be paid to the maintenance of the campus. With the help of plots, lawns, flower beds and gardens, it should be made attractive and beautiful. It should be cleaned daily to keep it neat and tidy.
The building also needs annual repairs and white washing.
Replacement and repair of the broken furniture should also be a regular process.
Replacement, addition and upkeep of the books in the library, apparatus in the laboratory, games material etc. should also be a continuous process.
The water fittings and electric fittings should also be kept in working order through constant checkup and needed repairs and replacements.

SELECTION OF SITE

When the site is being selected for a school, it should be done with greatest care and farsightedness. An ideal site is the first prerequisite of an ideal school. It is not possible to create a beautiful and attractive school in ugly and unhygienic surroundings, because you cannot create a healthy environment in unhealthy surroundings. There are a number of considerations to be kept in mind while making this selection.

Surroundings:

The school must be located in healthy surroundings. It should be accessible by bus or other means of transport, and at the same time it should be situated a little away from the main or a busy road. Its environment should not only be neat and clean, but also quiet and pleasant. There should be enough of open space in and around.

Level:

The level of the site should be a little raised as compared to its surroundings, so that waterlogging and dampness do not occur. The level should be sloping to enable the rain water or flood water to flow and not to stagnate anywhere on the campus.

Direction:

It should be possible to construct the school building on the site in such a manner that sunlight enters all the rooms directly during winter, whereas in the summer season, the sunlight can be barred entry into the rooms. The situation of the site should be such that it allows for the front portion of the building to face the main road or the approach road.

Shape:

A rectangular shape of the site will be more suitable and useful for the lay-out of the building. Its front should be wide enough and not unduly narrow.

Service Conditions:

A site should not be so far away from the main populace so that water, electricity and drainage facilities cannot reach there immediately.

Scope for further expansion:

The site should be so located that there is possibility of further expansion according to growing needs.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SCHOOL CAMPUS

A school must look like an ideal place and structure in many ways. It should possess certain distinctive characteristics like:

Adequacy:

The school campus should be sufficient enough to satisfy the requirements of the necessary curricular and co-curricular activities.

Safety:

The campus and plant should ensure physical and hygienic safety of its population. It should be a strong and stable structure. It should be situated safe from the risks of heavy traffic. Its surroundings should be safe from the health point of view.

Coordination:

All the wings and sections of the school building and campus must be inter-connected so that it is easy to supervise and coordinate all the activities going on in it. They should be so located that they do not interfere with each other’s work, instead they promote it.

Efficiency:

The campus and structure must be planned in a manner which gives the maximum benefit to all concerned. It should be possible and convenient to put to their maximum use all the facilities available. Its arrangement should not result in the wastage of time and energy on the part of students, the staff and the Principal.

Beauty:

Neatness and cleanliness, coupled with simplicity are the signs of beauty of a school. The design should present a harmony. It should be simple but artistic.

Flexibility:

It should be possible to put the existing campus and structure to various uses according to the changing needs of the school. There should be scope for modifications and adjustments in the available design and structure under any changed circumstances.

Economy:

Each item in the campus must be constructed economically. It should also be possible to put the available facilities to multiple usage. The school plant should be economical with respect to original cost, operation and maintenance.

TYPE AND DESIGN OF SCHOOLS

There are prescribed rules and regulations for the construction of schools. The Secondary Education Commission opines:

“Provision is made in such schools to see that there is free circulation of air, proper light, shelter from monsoon and it also laid down that the rooms constructed should have a certain minimum area to accommodate a certain number of school children in a class.” The Commission again emphasizes to pay attention to the report of the School Building Committee appointed by the Central Advisory Board of Education in 1941. This is a comprehensive report with valuable suggestions regarding the school building and equipment. The Commission says, “ We believe that every classroom should provide for an area of not less than 10 sq.ft. per student.

The minimum number of students in a classroom should be 30 and the maximum number should not exceed 40. The school building must provide for:

Certain amenities for the students such as common room, sanitary conveniences. Provision for mid-day meals and refreshments to be taken and in the case of girl students retiring room with necessary conveniences separately.
Accommodation for teachers with a common room available for them.
Reading room and a library
A visitor’s room where parents or relations who wish to see the headmaster may wait.
A room for the headmaster and an office room.
Laboratories and workshops where necessary.

SCHOOL CAMPUS

An ideal school campus must consist of large number of items like classrooms, office rooms, assembly hall, laboratories, library, playgrounds, gymnasium, dispensary, hostel, staff quarters etc. Some of them are being discussed here:

PLAYGROUNDS

They are a must in a school campus for the allround development of the personality of the child. While selecting a site for the school and planning its layout, due consideration must be given to the provision of spacious playgrounds. Our schools should be guided by the philosophy of universal participation in games and sports. Games and sports is an essential part of the total education. Play is accepted as the natural agency of education. Schools therefore, should provide open spaces for playgrounds. The Education Commission says “Playgrounds and open space student’s recreation are essential. It may not always be easy to secure enough playground and open spaces in a crowded city, but such open spaces as are available must be conserved to be utilized by groups of schools, if necessary. It is desirable that in all cities, a committee representative of the school management, headmaster, city authorities and others interested in the physical welfare of the students together with representatives of the state should be organized to promote ’play center movement ‘and from time to time see that the playground available in the city are effectively used by the school-going population”.

LIBRARY

Every school should maintain a library with the aim to encourage readership among students. It will also help in the development of instructional programme. In the changing pattern of today’s education, library is considered to be the most powerful media to promote self-education, to acquire information and to provide research facilities.

Location of the library

The school library has been regarded as the heart of the school. It is the hub of the academic life of the school. A school without a library is just like a body without a soul. The library should be centrally located with respect to classrooms. It should be large enough to serve the needs of the schools. The library room should have adequate natural light with sufficient windows for proper ventilation. It should be attractive, colorful and inviting. It should have a rich stock of books. Where resources permit, reading room should be separate from the main library. It should be well equipped with furniture.

Functions of school library

The library should prepare cards, catalogue and arrange them properly.
It should exhibit new books that are purchased from library grant to attract the students.
It should create a conducive reading atmosphere to encourage students to read general books.
It should promote inter-library cooperation by contact and visit to others school libraries.
It should organize an orientation programme by arranging lectures to explain the importance of library in school life.
THE HOSTEL BUILDING

The building should be single storeyed with a quadrangular shape. The living rooms of the students, the kitchen and the dining hall should be properly located. The study room of the students should be equipped with wall-shelf, chair, table and other things. There should be proper ventilation facility with sufficient doors and windows. Hostel life, if provided to the students, enables them to acquire many good qualities like cooperation, self-dependence, justice, economy etc. A school hostel should be housed in a proper building with good sanitary arrangements. It should be within the school compound, in a quiet corner. Bath rooms and washing rooms may be placed at the back. The main gate should be separate to be closed at night. Superintendent’s quarters may be located at a little distance from the main gate. Necessary furniture may be provided to each student.

CLASSROOM

To make the physical plant of education adequate and efficient, it would be desirable to give top priority to classroom accommodation. Each section should have a separate room. The classroom should be ideal and a workable one according to the present need, where new teaching devices like audio-visual instruction, laboratory work, discussion and debate etc. are followed. The desirable space at present is 25-35 sq,ft for each student.

The classroom should have shelves to keep the teaching materials and books. Black boards should be provided for teaching programmes. The classrooms should have a pleasant look.

ASSEMBLY HALL

According to the local need, a big assembly hall should be there in the school campus to accommodate all the students of the school, the teachers, guests and parents on special occasions. Activities like drama, debate, exhibition, meetings etc. are to be arranged there. It should be located on the ground floor. It is in fact a multipurpose room which can be put to various uses from time to time. At one time it is the examination hall, at some other time it is the assembly hall, or hall for film shows, or exhibition room, or hall for various functions and co-curricular activities, or gymnasium, or meeting room for general lecture, or refreshment room or community centre etc.

The hall should ensure easy access for both pupils and public, safety of gatherings, easy access from corridors and adjacent classrooms, freedom from disturbance and accessibility to parking. It should have good acoustics.

The size of the hall varies from school to school. The standard size is 60 feet in length, 40 feet in breadth and 30 feet in height. Its size should be such that at the time of general functions it can accommodate at least 50% of the total school population.

It should be well equipped with suitable furniture, stage, dias, sound and light system, fans and exhaust fans. There should be a permanent arrangement of seats and furniture so that any programme can be organized at a short notice. The hall should be well decorated with portraits, paintings, pictures etc.

THEOFFICE ROOM

The office room should be centrally located with rooms for the headmaster, waiting room for the visitors, an office room for the clerical staff, store room with shelves and wall cupboards for office. The school office should have a well-organized office with computers, duplicating machine, rubber stamps, wall clock etc.

BLACKBOARDS

An important equipment for classroom teaching is the blackboard. A true teacher is one who knows the use f blackboard. A wall blackboard and the easel blackboard are considered to be the best. It can be moved from place to place and can be used outside the classroom. Both sides of the board can also be used. The blackboard should be located where the written work by the teacher will be visible to all. Light should come to the board from the front side. It should therefore be kept away from the window. Dark black or green color should be painted on the black board. The blackboard should be washed daily before and after the school. Dusters should also be used by the teacher while teaching. The blackboard should be at an easy distance from the teacher.

CUPBOARD

To keep the articles like maps, dusters, registers, reference books, pictures, models etc., a cupboard is necessary for the classroom. It should be fixed in the wall. If properly arranged, the furniture and equipment will make the classroom a learning laboratory. Teachers can make the best use of varieties of instructional materials.

BOUNDARY WALL

The school campus including its playgrounds must be surrounded by a boundary wall, otherwise the maintenance of the whole area and the building becomes very difficult.

GYMNASIUM

It is another justifiable need of a secondary school. It should be spacious enough. Special attention should be paid to the upkeep of appliances and equipment in the gymnasium.

DISPENSARY

Every good school must provide for a dispensary also. It is necessary to treat the emergency cases, give first aid, arrange periodic medical tests for the children and to provide medical aid in routine cases. If possible, it should consist of a room for the doctor, a nursing room and a sick room with one or two beds. A toilet should also be attached to it. It should be adequately equipped and supplied with necessary items and medicines.

STAFF ROOM

This is the common room for the staff. Here the teachers can relax during the free periods, can do correction work, prepare their lessons or hold staff meetings. A separate cupboard or shelf will be provided in it for every teacher to place their books, registers etc. It should have an attached bath room. It will be fitted with notice boards meant for the staff.

Chapter: 9 SCHOOL COMPLEX

SCHOOL COMPLEX

“School complex programmes are taken up to make the maximum use of the human and material resources”.

There is a need for drastic measures in order to make education capable to meet social, economic and political needs of the country. The educationists have recommended a school of institutional complex by which primary schools, secondary schools and colleges are brought closer to one another to enable them to benefit from each other.

WHAT IS A SCHOOL COMPLEX?

According to Indian Education Commission (1964-66)- “The group of schools, built around a secondary school, as the minimum viable unit of educational reform is termed as school complex.”

The Commission further says- “It is possible to provide certain facilities and equipment, which cannot be provided separately to each school, jointly for all schools in a complex”.

A school complex is a cluster of schools. It is a group of neighborhood schools, comprising a number of primary, upper primary, secondary schools and one or more senior secondary schools which function together in an integrated way as one educational unit. These are well-knit schools and they function as one cooperative group for raising the quality of education. The member schools plan their activities in such a way as to give help to and receive help from the sister institutions grouped together in one school complex. The teachers working in the senior and junior schools of the locality can join hands and work together to pool their ideas, efforts and resources for improving the quality of education.

A school complex provides fororganizing subject committee meetings, preparation of teaching aids, inter-school competitions and visits, sharing of library books, laboratory facilities and games material, organizing of refresher courses for the professional growth of teachers and planning evaluation programmes collectively.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF A SCHOOL COMPLEX

Teaching, training and learning takes place in both formal and non-formal situations, enriching the nation’s human resources for individual well-being and social progress. But, the material resources for the improvement of education in India are very much limited. It is therefore, very difficult to establish wee-equipped schools. It is felt that the implementation of school complex can help us to solve this problem to aa great extent. The Kothari Commission recommended to implement the programme of school complex, for certain reasons like:

Breaking the isolation

A school complex aims at breaking the isolation that exists between one school and the other.They will come closer to work for the common cause.

Collective Effort

It will promote joint and cooperative effort among all the functionaries working in these schools. There will be exchange of experiences to prepare common workable policies.

Sharing of Resources

It will make possible sharing of available resources and make their best possible use.

Solving Problems

Common problems will be more effectively tackled through the joint efforts of a school complex.

Common Planning

It provides assistance and opportunity for common and comprehensive planning for the overall functioning of member schools.

Educational Standards

A school complex can make serious efforts for improving the educational standards of the schools belonging to it.

Guidance

Finally, a school complex is a source of guidance for the constituent schools, in the use of better methods of teaching, undertaking projects, organizing co-curricular activities and in institutional planning.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

Neighborhood

School complex consists of a number of neighborhood schools in which some primary, secondary and one or more senior schools are grouped together.

Unit for Educational Reform

School complex can be understood as a compact unit of educational reform or development. These neighborhood schools join hands and function for raising the quality of education. The teachers benefit through the exchange of ideas and discussion. The senior school functions as a source of inspiration and enlightenment for the junior schools. Any good school in the complex becomes a model for all others. The complex ensures pooling of resources for common good and for raising the quality of education.

Cooperation

It brings many institutions and their teachers on a common platform. There is meaningful cooperation between primary, secondary and senior secondary schools of the area. Instead of working in isolation, they learn to work in cooperation.

Solution of problems

There may be common problems faced by the schools of an area which demand collective effort on the part of all of them. The pivotal school can arrange for identifying the problems and their causes and recommend similar solutions.

Guidance

In a complex, the head of a nucleus school acts as a competent guide for all the member schools. He/she is in a better position to watch the situation as a whole and provide suitable guidelines.

Better teaching and evaluation

School complex will be a manageable unit for trying and introducing better methods of teaching and evaluation. The teachers can come together to work out an improved approach in their activities.

Unit of promotion

The complex can also be treated as unit to work out the norms of promoting the students from lower to the next higher class.

Complex committee

The complex can set up a coordinating committee under the chairmanship of the head of the nucleus school. The heads of the remaining schools will be the members of this committee.

Departmental tasks

It can also set up a joint channel to look after departmental tasks on behalf of all the member schools. This will reduce the amount of botheration and correspondence for each one of them.

Three tier set-up

The complex will have a well-knit three tier set-up which shall be explained now.

THREE-TIER STRUCTURE OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

The school complex will be organized through a three-tier set-up for establishing link between institutions of various levels.

First tier: In the first or the lowest tier, each middle school will be integrally related to eight to ten primary schools of the neighborhood. In this first tier complex of the main complex, the middle schools will be the pivotal and central schools to give academic guidance to the neighboring primary schools. The head of the middle school will provide professional and academic leadership to the heads and teachers of the primary schools under his/her charge. He/she has to ensure qualitative improvement in these schools.
Second-tier: In the second tier, all the middle schools in a particular area will be related to one high school in the neighborhood. The high school will be the pivotal school of this cluster of middle schools and will ensure quality education in all of them.
Third-tier: In the third tier, all high schools in a particular locality may be associated with a neighboring senior secondary school/junior college/degree college/college of education/State Institute of Education as the case may be.

All the three tiers will work simultaneously at their own level and also in an integrated manner. All these tiers will form one complex of institutional facilities.

FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

The objectives of introducing the school complex will be fulfilled only when the organization functions successfully. For its successful functioning, the members of the committee, the District Educational Officer and the Inspector of Schools should help in making the system more elastic and dynamic. If the system is to function effectively and successfully, adequate powers and responsibilities will have to be delegated to the complex. This includes:

Providing academic guidance

A school complex can discover experts among its teachers and headmasters and harness their services for providing academic guidance to the member schools in these areas like:

Teaching: It is a source for guidance towards better methods of teaching. The subject committees can be formed in each one of the subjects to perform activities like:

Division of syllabus for the preparation of unit plan,
Preparation, collection and maintenance of audio-visual aids for the entire complex,
Discussion on new methods of teaching and other innovations in teaching,
Giving model lessons for the benefit of subject teachers,
Supervision of lessons by more competent senior teachers,
Supervising the diaries of teachers,
Preparation of model lesson plans,
Providing supplementary reading materials,
Making collective arrangements for remedial teaching in the case of slow learners and backward students,
Organizing team teaching
Arranging special talks on the topics of common interest,
Planning and executing projects,
Providing guidelines in the setting up of question papers, question banks and actual conduct of examinations, and
Arranging complex level academic competitions for both students and teachers

Co-curricular activities: The school complex will provide guidance in the co-curricular activities like:

Inter-school friendly matches
Inter school tournaments
Inter-school competitions in debates, poetry, singing etc.
Tours and excursions
First-aid in the member schools
Exchange of good organisers of various co-curricular activities
Sharing of materials, facilities, playgrounds, auditorium etc.

School Improvement Projects: A school complex can create in it a cell for suggesting improvements projects for each member school.
Providing equipment

Arrangement and exchange of equipment is the second most important function of a school complex. The better equipped school may be in a position to lend material to the other needy schools. Some of the items of equipment which can be borrowed and shared are:

The better stocked libraryof the central school may be used by member schools and books can be lent by each one of the schools to other schools,
The nucleus school or any other school may lend teaching aids, laboratory equipment, maps, models, tape-recorder, television and other audio-visual equipment and furniture to the member schools on special occasions,
The sports materials can also be shared by schools,
The materials for dramatics can also be shared,
The playground of a bigger school can also be used by other schools for sports day and tournaments,
Some of the schools can spare funds and purchase costly materials to be used commonly by all schools.

Supervisory Role

The head of the nucleus school, heads of the member schools and senior teachers of various subjects can constitute a supervisory team to supervise the instructional work, organizational work and other activities of the constituent schools and give their suggestions for improvement. This team can take care of the follow-up work also.

Evaluation Function

The school complex will ensure improvement in the evaluation work of the member schools also. Subject wise committees may be set up to prepare better question papers, prepare and maintain cumulative record cards and to introduce innovations in the evaluation programmes.

In-service Training

It will also look after the in-service training, professional growth and updating of the teachers. For this purpose, it can maintain a central circulating library for the teachers. It can also arrange periodical meetings of teachers for discussion and exchange of experiences. Some talks, demonstration lessons and paper reading can also be arranged. During long vacations, some special orientation courses may be held to meet their requirements in respect of new techniques of teaching and new additions to the body of knowledge. Audio-visual aids can also be prepared by a group of teachers jointly as part of their in-service training.

Imparting Educational Information

The nucleus school may serve as a clearing house for expertise, educational information, latest educational literature, educational data, educational news and trends in education. An average teacher does not enjoy access to these items of information on their own. Only a central body with better resources can acquire such valuable information for them.

Institutional Planning

The nucleus school with the co-operation of member schools will draw up and get executed institutional plans for every member school. A master plan may be prepared by it as a design. Each institution should be guided and motivated to draft its own plan with respect to curricular, co-curricular and developmental activities.

Administrative Functions

The nucleus school has to discharge some administrative functions also. If it is a school complex consisting of government schools, then, the pivotal school may perform financial and other administrative functions on behalf of the department. Even the local adjustment of curricula, timetable, examinations etc., may be made through this school. It may provide leave substitute for the teachers in the member schools. It may also look after the correspondence, grant-in-aid, other financial aid, scholarship etc.

ADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

Better Utilization of Resources

The available resources find a wider use. The services of good and inspiring teachers can be utilized by other schools also. Similarly, a single piece of infrequently usable equipment can be availed of by all the schools.

Professional growth of teachers

The teachers by natural exchange of ideas and experiences provide opportunity of professional growth to themselves. The central school can organize seminars and orientation courses for member teachers.

Improvement in teaching and evaluation

The standards of teaching and evaluation are qualitatively improved by mutual consultation, planning, experimentation and follow up.

Breaking of isolation

A school complex helps in breaking the isolation among schools. It promotes collaboration and inter-dependence. The schools join hands for improvement in their programmes and practices.

Assistance of external agencies

The school complex will be in a better position to get the assistance of external agencies for the benefit of larger number of teachers and students. Distinguished persons and experts can be invited. Specialists in various subjects and activities will disseminate their views and experiences for the benefit of member teachers and students. Books can be borrowed from district level and state level libraries for circulation among member schools.

Better administrative control

Better administrative control and supervision can be ensured when a higher school of the area is made in charge of the lower level schools of the neighborhood.

Improved performance

Local or neighborhood supervision requires the teachers to work with great zeal and responsibility. It results in improvement in their performance. Moreover, professional guidance and inspiration is available at the doorstep which further improves the performance in general.

Wider resources

The school complex with its wider and richer resources is in a better position for trying out and evaluating new curricula, textbooks, methods, techniques and aids.

Economy

A school complex tries to achieve qualitative improvement in the member schools by harnessing and sharing existing resources and without making any additional investment. Various types of material resources and personnel can be pooled together for common use.

DISADVANTAGES OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

Greater load of work

Effective functioning of school complex would necessitate a greater involvement of the heads of the schools, senior teachers, competent teachers and even average teachers. Apart from one’s own quota of work, every functionary will be required to share many joint responsibilities and common assignments.

Inferiority feeling

The system of hierarchy may cause a feeling of inferiority among junior teachers as well as heads and teachers of lower level schools.

Neglect of normal duties

The teachers may get preoccupied with the school complex programmes resulting in the neglect of their duties and responsibilities towards their own students.

Incompetent teachers as guides

By virtue of their status, every teacher of a nucleus school will be required to act as a model and guide for the junior teachers of the school complex. But, every such teacher may not be really capable and competent to act as an expert.

No gain for some teachers

The teachers of senior schools may only be assisting others all the time while getting no benefit for themselves by participating in school complex programmes.

Curbing of initiative

The initiative of a lower level school may remain may remain curbed if the nucleus school tries to impose its suggestions and decisions on the member schools.

Burden on the student

The student may be overburdened with a large number of joint responsibilities and activities.

FUTURE OF SCHOOL COMPLEX

The school complexes have been given trial at many places in different parts of the country. These complexes were initiated after the report of Kothari Commission of 1966. The school complexes work according to the local conditions and initiatives of local teachers. The running of such complexes require sound planning, persistent efforts, patience, careful implementation of planned programmes and problem solving approach. Many of these complexes continued to work in spite of various challenges, but some of them stopped functioning due to various administrative difficulties and lack of understanding among the heads of participating schools. Many a times, school complexes failed as the head of the nucleus school could not create a sense of confidence and a need of mutual give and take among the heads concerned. At the same time, in several states of our country, the school complexes are functioning to the liking and satisfaction of many teachers and administrators.

It can be hoped with confidence that school complexes will play a greater role in improving the quality of education in the days to come. The concerned authorities should provide necessary incentives and guidelines to more and more schools to form themselves into school complexes.

Chapter: 10 SCHOOL RECORDS AND REGISTERS

SCHOOL RECORDS AND REGISTERS

A school is an important public institution. In the matter of its effective functioning, it is answerable to several bodies, agencies and authorities. To the parents, in the first place, it is responsible to show that the aims and objectives of education have been attained and the children are receiving fruitful education. To the society, in the second place, it has to give assurance and satisfaction that future citizens being prepared in it will prove equal to every social task and responsibility.

To the State and central Governments, in the third place, it has to give satisfaction that public funds are being best utilized for the cause of education and norms, standards and directions given by the governments are being observed honestly and efficiently. Lastly, the staff and authorities have to provide satisfaction to the pupils by ensuring and watching their progress in studies, ascertaining and appraising their attainments and capacities and conditioning their conduct and behavior.

In order that the school may obtain information and furnish it to all the concerned or interested parties, it is necessary that complete and systematic records be maintained. These records consist of a large number of documents and registers.

According to Durosaro(2002), records are important tools for effective planning and administration of a school.

Records and registers form the core of any organization. They provide deep insight into the state and status of the organization. A school is no exception. We maintain so many records to keep track of the events going on in the school.

Every school has to keep records and registers which will facilitate to know its origin, its growth and development, its progress and efficiency at different periods, its achievement and usefulness. Records are important because they serve as major information tool that sustains the school and aids in achieving educational goals and objectives. Records restore teaching competence and maintain the trend in the history of teaching and learning processes.Therefore maintenance of school records and registers is very important.

Importance of School Records

The maintenance of records is indispensable for systematic and successful working of a school. With the increase in the functions and responsibilities of a school, the numbers of its records and registers have considerably increased. Records are essential on account ofseveral reasons like:

Schools keep an account of each student on its roll and submit periodic reports, which contain all the necessary information about the students.
The school records help to submit to the Department of Education the budgetary statement of financial needs at the beginning of the session.

School records help to judge the progress of the student on rolls, their strength and weakness and help the teachers and parents to bring about desirable changes.

The records also help to know the educational achievements of a particular locality and even of the state.
School records help in the development of healthy relationship between the school and home. From the progress report, both the teachers and parents evaluate the student’s achievement and progress.
School records help in undertaking educational research. Research scholars get a complete picture of student progress, instructional materials, physical development, promotion practices, different tests etc. The research findings also help the school authorities to introduce new educational reforms.

why records are essential:

Legal Requirements

The department of education, managements, provisions of educational code and other rules and regulations make it binding on the school authorities to maintain records of various types. The school has to keep up-to-date information about student strength, average attendance, leave, grants, expenditure, income, staff strength, activities, examination results, scholarships, vacancies, work allotment, admissions, withdrawals etc.

Financial needs

The school has to submit a lot of data to justify its budget and financial needs. In order to get additional funds and posts, it produces the anticipatory student strength, staff position, position of equipment etc. The budgetary statements of financial needs are prepared and submitted to higher authorities each year well in advance.

Administrative needs

Records and registers are very essential for administrative purposes. The school work cannot be planned without them.

Appraisal of institutional programmes

The records show the progress made by the pupils, the work done by the teachers, the guidance provided by the supervisor and other authorities, facilities provided and their utilization etc. It will enable the administrators to know the direction in which changes are to be made for improvement.

Research needs

Records supply comprehensive and authentic data to those who undertake the responsibility of educational research and reforms. The data also facilitates statistical analysis and evaluation of policies and programmes.

Relationship with home and community

Reports based on school records and examination results are sent to parents from time to time. The data enables the teachers and headmaster to discuss student problems and shortcomings with parents in particular and the community in general.

Future reference

Certain things which are being put into records may not look very essential today, but after sometime, it may be of great importance. It may throw light on the root cause of many ills, clue to any later problem, causes of deterioration etc. They may also become a treasured document of our rich educational heritage. It is only from records that anything of the past can be obtained.

Essential for Child’s all-round growth and development

Regularly maintained detailed records of the child can keep track of the child’s all-round growth and development and can be dependable in providing guidance and direction.

Efficient working

Maintenance of records in any institution will promote efficiency in it. The staff will be conscious about the fact that their activities, achievements and failings are being recorded regularly. The record makes various activities and programmes clear cut and smooth. The record provides an indication that everything is in the knowledge of the office, colleagues, headmaster, students, parents and authorities. Every teacher will show a good record so that his/her credibility in the profession remains high.

how records are useful for the school, teachers as well as pupils:

Records help the school

To locate each pupil quickly
To have available the facts significant about each pupil.
To explain and remove undesirable conditions.
To find if all legal requirements are met.
To determine if any administrative or other changes are desirable.
To make important investigations and case studies possible.
To find if school funds are adequate and wisely expended.
To reduce retardation and failure to the minimum.

Records help the classroom teachers

To know pupils when the school year begins.
To determine what work a pupil is capable of doing.
To provide learning activities suitable to each pupil.
To formulate a basis for the intelligent guidance of pupils.
To explain the behavior characteristics or unhappy conditions of any pupil.
To make possible the development of unusual capacities or exceptional talents.
To identify and make proper provisions for the mentally slow.
To make assignments to committee work and monitorial positions.
To make periodic reports correctly and in time.
To be properly informed when conferring with parents and others about a pupil.

Records help the pupil

To receive fair consideration in his classification.
To do his best in making a good record.
To make progress in accordance with his ability.
To secure development of his natural capabilities.
To secure transfer of correct information to other schools when desired.
To receive proper adjustment and guidance.

Maintenance of School Records

It is one of the major responsibilities of the headmaster to keep and maintain the records of his school. Without maintaining records and keeping them up-to-date, he/she will soon lose grip over the institution, teachers and students. Ultimate responsibility in respect of these records falls on him/her. It is simply expected of him/her, that he/she is well conversant with this aspect of his/her job. Although he/she carries out this responsibility through members of the staff and laboratory staff, yet he has to maintain touch with all the records of the school. He/she has to check and verify these records from time to time.

School Office

The school office is the custodian and keeper of most of the school records. Every high or senior secondary school must have an office, preferably in a separate room. It should also be spacious. As it is the coordinating center for the school, it is desirable that it is centrally located. The office will look after a number of important duties like:

Maintenance of records
Correspondence

Accounts

Stores
Typing and duplicating
Attending to visitors

Miscellaneous office work

Requisites of School records

If the school records have to serve the desired purpose, they should be maintained by keeping in mind a number of considerations:

Accuracy: All information, facts and figures contained in the school records should be correct and accurate. The records should be genuine, valid and reliable. They should not misguide anybody in any way. Accuracy can be ensured by prompt entries and their regular and systematic checking.
Completeness: The records should not be left incomplete. Data about every child, every teacher, every activity, every house examination and every department should be complete in its detail.
Utility: Every record should be maintained with utilitarian motives and considerations. It should serve the purpose of reference in future.
Easy maintenance: The records and registers should be maintainable and should require a minimum of time and energies for making entries.
Systematic maintenance: It is necessary for avoiding duplication in its maintenance and its loss for future reference. The filing should be flawless so that the entire record is usable to the greatest advantage even after a long time.
Availability: It should be possible to locate it promptly at the time of need. Its placement and storing should not be such which necessitates endless searching when reference has to be made.

Mode of Keeping Records

Prepare a stock list of registers maintained in the school.
Write distinctly and completely the necessary identity on the outer cover of each register; such as the name of the institution, the name of the register, the opening and closing dates, the number of pages.
Number all the pages in the register and never tear any page under any circumstances. If at all a page is left unused, it should be cancelled.
Keep the registers neat and tidy and avoid overwriting.
Get each cutting attested by the headmaster.
Do not start a new register till the previous one is completely full.
Fill up every column provided in a prescribed register and avoid leaving blank space between entries.

Essential Records in the School

Every school needs to maintain several types of records and registers so as to make the process of administration efficient. A school is accountable to the students, parents, government, managing committee and the larger society. This necessitates proper record keeping for present and future reference.

Different kinds of Records, Registers and Reports

School records may be classified as:

The General Records
Calendar
Log Book
Visitor’s Book
Service Registers of the Employees
Admission Register
Personal record of the Teachers
Transfer certificate File
Duty Registers of teachers
The Financial Records
Acquittance Roll
Contingency Register
Bill Register
Register of Scholarship
Register of Donation
Student’s Fund Register
Cash Book
Fee-collection Register
The Correspondence Records
1. Register for Dispatch and Receipts
2. Order Circulation file of the Department
3. Casual leave register
4. Register of D.O. Letters
5. Examination File etc.
The Educational Records
General Timetables
Teacher’s Timetables
Workload statement of the Teachers
Teacher’s Diary
Terminal Examination Register
Register for Maintaining Cumulative Record card
Inspection Report of the Headmaster
Order Book of the Headmaster
Health Cards of the students
Register of Private Tuition
Register of Punishment etc.
The Equipment Records
Stock Book of Furniture and School Appliances
Issue Register of Furniture
Library catalogue
Library Issue Register
Stock and Issue Register
Stock Register of Craft Articles
Stationary Register
Register for Newspaper and Magazines

Admission and Withdrawal Register

It is one of the most important school registers. The head of the school is personally responsible for its sanctity. According to departmental rules, it is to be kept permanently and therefore it should be durable enough and should be kept in safe custody. It is a permanent record of all the pupils who are admitted to a school. It contains the serial number and name of the pupil, his/her father’s name, occupation and address, date of birth, date of admission to the school and class to which admitted. Each child retains this register number as long as he/she remains in the school. It also contains a column for entering the date of pupil’s withdrawal or migration from the school as and when it takes place. A new entry is made if a pupil leaves a school and rejoins it by producing school leaving certificate from another school.

Special care is to be taken in recording date of birth of every student. It should be correctly entered and there should be no over-writing. The entry once made should not be altered unless authorized by competent authority. This entry regarding date of birth is very important as it is often required as documentary evidence in important matters.

Importance of admission and withdrawal registers

Serves as a historical document or reference with detailed records of every child who was admitted to the school.
The admission register is a reference for tracing the entry progress and exit of any student admitted into the school.
It is useful in supplying information on the personal and family background of student.
It becomes a vital document for the settlement of legal controversies and claims.
It contains reliable data about each student which may be needed for the planning and administration of the educational system.
Shows students who withdraw from the school.

Attendance Register of Staff/Teachers

To record the daily attendance of the teachers, schools maintain the teacher’s attendance register. This shows the time of arrival and departure of the teachers on each day. There may be separate register for teaching and non-teaching staff. It should be regularly signed by a teacher or staff twice a day. Holidays and their nature should be entered in this register. It should also indicate the number and nature of leave taken by teachers such as casual leave, sick leave, leave without pay, duty leave etc. It should be kept in office or in the room of the headmaster. When the first period starts, it should go to the headmaster for verification. Some uses of attendance registers are:

Helps to maintain institutional discipline.
Informs about absentees
Inculcates values like regularity and punctuality
Provides an overview of leaves taken by staff members

Pupil’s Attendance Register

An attendance register is a book in which the presence or absence of students in a school is recorded on a daily basis. It is a statutory record that must be kept by every school. This is another important register to be kept in each class and it shows the names of the pupils on the roll of the class with his/her attendance on every working day. The class teacher is the custodian of this record.

The student’s roll call is taken once or twice daily by the teacher concerned. This register is maintained section-wise. The attendance is marked in the beginning of the school day and in the afternoon at the closing time or a little earlier. Presence is generally noted by ‘P’, absence by ‘A’ and leave by ‘L’. Late comers, irregular students and truants can be easily detected from this register. Leave in genuine cases is granted if proper application duly signed by parent/guardian is submitted. The name of the pupil who remains absent without leave for twelve consecutive attendances is struck off the rolls. Holidays are indicated in red ink. Attendance is recorded regularly without leaving any blanks. The fees, funds and fines realized from each pupil are also shown against his name. On the last working day of each month, a summary of average daily attendance and other necessary information is prepared by the teacher in charge. The register is checked by another teacher and countersigned by the headmaster every month.

Its importance includes:

Providing necessary data like admission number, name and roll number that may be requested from time to time by concerned authorities.
It could be used to identify total intake of a class and total number of girls and boys.
It helps to locate any student during school time.
It is also helpful in identifying sick students, truants, absentees and students who attend school regularly.

Chapter: 11 STOCK REGISTER, ACQUITTANCE REGISTER, TEACHING MANUAL, SERVICE BOOK, STUDENT PROFILE, CUMULATIVE RECORD

STOCK REGISTER, ACQUITTANCE REGISTER, TEACHING MANUAL, SERVICE BOOK, STUDENT PROFILE, CUMULATIVE RECORD

Stock Registers

The whole stock of the school is entered in a register called the stock register. It contains the record of all the immovable property of the school. Whenever any equipment or furniture or any other item of a more or less permanent nature is purchased for the school, it is duly entered in the stock register. Such an entry mentions the name of the article, its quantity, its price, date of purchase, name of the firm which supplied it and the authority ordering its purchase. In case of different departments say Physics, Chemistry or Geography department, there are separate stock registers which are maintained by the concerned subject teacher.

In the stock registers, each page has a number of columns, as date from whom received, quantity received, rate, total amount spent, issued if any, balance, remarks etc. Usually one item is entered on one page. At the top, name of the item with specifications is given. In the case of consumable stock register, consumption is shown date wise and initialed by in-charge of that subject.

Whenever an article gets unserviceable or gets damaged after use, it is destroyed or auctioned and written off with the permission of the headmaster. A physical verification of the entire school property is done annually on the basis of the record of stock register. It shows which articles are missing, which need repairs and which are unserviceable. In addition to the main stock register, there will be stock registers for the laboratories, library and sports material.

Acquittance Register

Acquittance is a written receipt attesting settlement of a receipt of a debt. It shows salaries paid to teaching and non-teaching staff, number of working days for which a teacher has been employed, it temporary, deductions of provident fund, income tax and any other deductions. It is the official record of any amount received by way of salary, arrears or any other kind of wages or allowances. The signatures of the teachers and other supporting staff obtained against their names on duly affixed revenue stamps.

Teaching Manual

For attaining curriculum objectives by utilizing textbooks, teacher’s handbook, other tools and situations, the teacher has to make an idea about how he will create learning situations within the available time. This planning is very important for the effective classroom transaction. It helps the teacher to design and develop various classroom activities/processes. There are two levels of planning, Unit Plan and Daily Plan. Unit Plan is the pedagogic analysis of a particular unit whereas daily plan is the plan for classroom processes for each day. The planning note for one day based on this is known as Teaching Manual.

Teaching Manual has to be prepared by each teacher and its advance preparation shows how much a teacher is prepared to teach. It gives clear and concrete information on what a teacher plans to teach the students at a period of time. There shall be two columns in the teaching manual as process page and response page. Activities administered by the teacher need to be assessed in the response page so as to change strategies in the learning environment.

It clearly shows the teacher’s level of preparedness and his level of competence.
It reflects estimate of academic work which a teacher expects to accomplish in each subject based on number of lessons he will have during each term.
It assists head teachers or educational administrators to know what is being taught in school.
It assists in enforcing accountability and continuity in the work of school.
It clearly shows teacher adherence to the syllabus and how and when the work is done.
It is a means of evaluating teacher’s competency and efficiency.

Service Book

Service books contain the record of the official life of every employee of the institution. On the basis of this record, matters concerning leave, transfers, promotions, superannuation, etc. are determined. It is therefore very essential to make correct and complete entries in it. These entries should tally with other records of the employee. The entries mention bio-data of the person, his date of appointment, his post and scale of pay, permanent home address, qualifications, leave taken with or without pay, annual increments, placement in a new grade, transfer, efficiency bar crossed, suspension, degradation or any other punishment, promotion or reward, reinstatement etc. Service in other institutions and departments should be got duly entered in the service book and verified by the competent authority. No change in the entries is permissible except with the permission of competent authority.

Service books of the employees of high and senior secondary schools are kept in the custody of the headmaster and those of the primary and middle schools respectively with the Block Education Officers and District Education Officers.

The first page of the service book contains the following information:

Name
Residence
Date of birth by Christian era as nearly as can be ascertained
Educational qualification
Exact height by measurement
Personal mark for identification
Father’s name and residence
Left hand thumb and finger impression
Signature of the teacher
Date of entry into service
Signature of the headmaster

From the next page, the name of the post, temporary or permanent, monthly pay, date of increment, details of leave account etc. are written neatly. The entries of the first page should be renewed or re-attested at least every five years except in the case of finger prints.

Custody of Service Book

A service book shall be maintained for a Government servant from the data of his first appointment to Government service. It must be kept in the custody of the head of the office in which he is serving & transferred with him from office to office.

Attestation of Entries in Service Book

The head of office can delegate, to a subordinate gazetted officer under him, power is to attest in the service book of all gazetted officers for the maintenance of which he is responsible.

Entries of Foreign Service in Service Book

If a government servant is transferred to foreign service book to the pay & Accounts Officer who will returns it after noting in it, under his signature, the order sanctioning the transfer, the effect of the transfer in regard to leave admissible during Foreign service etc.

Nature of Entries in Service Book

Every step in a Government Servants official life should be recorded in the service book and each entry must be attested by the head of officer or if theythemselves is the head of office, by their immediate superior.

Service Book – Opening, Writing, Verification

A service book must be maintained for every full time Govt. employee.
Head of the Office is responsible to open service book in duplicate immediately after the joining of an employee.
One copy shall be kept under the custody of the Head of the Office. Another copy shall be given to the employee.
Every step of an employee’s service life must be recorded in the service book. Each entry is also to be attested by the head of the office.
As per direction of the head of the office the employee shall submit the service book every year for verification. After necessary entry the same will be returned to the employee. Both the copies of service book shall be treated as original.
Following information are generally entered in a service book: -
- Date of Birth of the employee.
- Statement whether medical and police verification reports are satisfactory.
- Statement whether name or surname has been changed.
- Copy of nomination for death gratuity, group insurance, GPF etc. should be attached with the service book.
- Family details as per Appendix I of DCRB Rule is to be written.
- While an employee is transferred, up to date entries is to be made in the service book and is also transferred to the head of the office of the new place of posting. As such the service is to be verified by the head of the office up to the date of last pay drawn from his office.
- Head of the office should show the service book to the concerned employee and obtain signature from the employee each year.
- In case of transfer to foreign service the head of the office or department shall send the service book to the Audit Officer as the Auditor General may prescribe. No entry is to be attested while on foreign service by any authority other than the Audit Officer. After re-transfer to the Government service the service book is again sent to the Audit Officer for necessary noting.

Student Profile

A student profile provides a summary of information about the student’s academic and social progress. It clearly presents what a student actually is. This profile gives a clear picture about personal data, family background, health information, scholastic and non-scholastic development, personal traits etc. It is to be kept by class teachers. Developing a student profile helps to provide a deeper understanding of an individual’s unique interests, styles and abilities. By gathering information from a variety of sources, teachers are in a better position to make educational decisions that will enhance the student’s development. It is necessary that the school should have as much information on every one of students as possible without violating their privacy.

While writing a paragraph describing the strengths and needs of the student, we should describe what the student does well, and it does not need to be limited to academics. If the child has good rapport with teachers or gets along well with peers, it is appropriate to mention that in the paragraph. The statement should address academic deficits as well as physical or mental limitations that make it difficult for the student to participate fully in the educational process.

While writing a paragraph describing how the student’s disability affects his involvement in the general educational setting, we could address curriculum modifications and teaching accommodations in this paragraph. Modifications are changes to what is being taught to the student or the level at which it is taught in relation to his peers. Accommodations do not change what is being taught or the level, but instead provide strategies to make the tasks easier for students to accomplish. For example, a visually impaired student may be provided textbooks with extra-large print, a student with an orthopedic impairment may be given copies of class notes or outlines rather than being required to write them out.

While writing a paragraph assessing the student, list current test data results including the names of the assessments, the date on which the assessments were given and the student’s scores. Also, list the student’s current grade in each academic class.

While writing a paragraph describing progress toward annual goals mastery and present level of performance, we should also include any comments or concerns expresses by the student, his/her teachers or parents.

Importance includes;

It provides current and first-hand information on the student’s situation.
It can have the data submitted by the student himself as well as information supplemented by staff members.
It will be used as a reference in case of any emergency
It makes it easy to locate student’s relatives during emergency.

Cumulative Record

Cumulative record cards have been introduced in the centers of learning to collect information about a child during his/her student career. The cumulative record refers to all records which make provision for the collection of valuable, useful and reliable information about a student over a period of years with a view to help him/her in their student life and at the time of leaving it in the manifold problems of educational, vocational, personal and social nature. The student can get much help for achieving maximum development in life.

Student’s cumulative record folder is a storehouse of information on student’s cognitive, affective and psychomotor development. Cumulative record card contains complete and comprehensive record of the student, indicating his/her bio data, date of admission, progress from year to year, attainment in various subjects and activities, intelligence, aptitude, interest and information from school to school. It is a document in which the relevant information about a particular student at one educational institution is recorded cumulatively. This gives a complete and growing picture of the individual student, which helps him during his long stay at the school and at the time of leaving it, in the solution of his manifold problems of educational, vocational, personal and social. It follows the pupil from class to class and school to school. It provides an opportunity to have a comprehensive picture of the all-round development of the personality of the child. It is a very important record which should be maintained in every school. In view of the growing importance of cumulative records, The Secondary Education Commission recommended that “these should be a common feature of all schools, all over the country”.

The Nature of cumulative Record Card

It is a fact of experience that every child grows and develops as an entity. We can understand the behavior and personality make-up of the child at a given time, if we can collect information about the child in the light of past activities. The most important characteristic of such information is comprehensiveness and continuity.

It reflects continuous assessment on student’s educational or academic progress.
It also reflects student’s performance in extracurricular activities.
It could be useful by researchers on both child development study and school management.
It keeps the whole history of a child during his school life.

The Content of the Cumulative Record Card

The contents of the cumulative record cards are as follows:

General Considerations
Information should be collected on the basis of the growth and development of the students
The type of information to be included should be determined on the basis of the needs of the schools.
Information should be collected on different aspects of the personality of the child
Types of Information

The types of information to be included in the record card are:

Identification of Data

Data Collected from Environment and Background:

Data is collected from home, neighborhood influences, socio-economic status of the family, cultural status of home, number of brothers and sisters in the family and their educational background and occupations in the family.

Psychological Data

Tests of intelligence, aptitude and interests, personality, emotional and social adjustment and attitudes.

Physical Data

This includes weight of the body, height, physical disabilities, illness etc.

Educational Data

This includes previous school records, educational attainments, marks obtained in the school, school attendance, long absences etc.

The card should include activities in the physical, intellectual, artistic, social and recreational fields, which have a bearing on the student’s educational and vocational growth.
Taking into consideration the individual’s life goals, ideals and aspirations, data should be collected on educational and vocational preference and plans of the student.

In short, we can say that, cumulative record is a file of general school information that contains grades, attendance, discipline, standardized assessment reports and other information from a student’s educational career.

Parents have the right to inspect the file and have copies of any information contained in a cumulative file. When parents want to know why their child is struggling in school, the student’s cumulative file is one of the documents they examine.

Need and Purpose of Educational Records

The cumulative record card is needed because it helps the teacher and counsellors to understand the child and to present a developmental picture of the child. It enables the teacher to assist the child in the solution of the manifold problems which confront them during their stay and at the time of leaving it.

A thorough review of a student’s records involves analysis of his entire educational history. So evaluators try to get records from any previous schools the child may have attended. Information from the student’s files may provide important details that help examiners understand why the child is having learning problems in school.

Such information is especially helpful if the child is too young to articulate what the problem is, and parents and teachers are confused as well about their learning difficulties. It should also be remembered that a cumulative record card is not meant to be a tool in the hands of authorities for taking certain decisions about the child on certain matters of his/her life nor is it meant to serve just as a means of measurement and assessment.

Contents of a Child’s Cumulative Record

In addition to the information already mentioned, cumulative files typically contain a history of programs children have attended, previous support services provided to children or their family members, and an educational performance history.

Cumulative files also feature the names of past teachers who may be available for further research on the student’s educational history. Such files also contain records about the number of times a student may have changed schools and the student’s health records, such as immunization records. So, this information can shed light on why student’s struggle, but it may not reveal whether a student has a learning disability that requires special education services.

Educational Records with Special Education History

Some students may in special education classes. Students with a history of placement in special education will have a special education folder that school faculty will consult during the educational records review. The special education folder is typically stored separately from the child’s cumulative folder to protect the student’s confidentiality rights.

Only educators with a legitimate educational interest in the child have access to the folder.

Use of the Cumulative Record Card

It helps the teachers and counsellors to identify the needs of the individual students and understand their manifold problems.
It helps counsellors to know the strengths and weaknesses of individual students and deal with them.
It aids teachers and counsellors to discover special abilities in students which should be developed.
It furnishes suggestions and reasons as to why certain students are not adjusted to the school situation.
It contains data which may be useful in conferring with certain students about behavioral problems.
It provides information, which is helpful while talking with students about their achievements in school.
It furnishes assistance to counsellors in aiding students to plan their high school and post high school courses to study intelligently.
It is valuable in assessing the students’ occupational insight and in aiding them to become realistic in their vocational planning.
It provides much of the raw material which is used in the making of case studies of certain problem students.
It is of use in conferences with parents about the achievement and school adjustment of their children.

It forms an excellent basis for reports to colleges, school and prospective employers.

Classroom Uses of Cumulative Record

When a teacher wants to make a systematic appraisal of a student for the purpose of seeing trends in his physical, intellectual, social and emotional development.
When a teacher wants to understand a behavior or discipline problem in the class.
When a teacher wants to confer with parents about their child’s progress and also failure.
When a teacher wants to group his students for instruction within a class and aims at more individualized instruction.
When a teacher wants to find out children with special abilities or handicaps to provide instruction which accords with their individual needs.
When a teacher wants to identify students who need special diagnostic study and remedial instruction.
When a teacher wonders about discrepancies between potentiality and achievement.
When a teacher wants to make a report to parents.

Collection and Recording of Data on pupils

Sources of collection

The child himself is an important source of data collection.
Teachers who know the child
Parents
The friends of the child and his neighborhood

Techniques of data collection

Testing

It includes standardized tests for assessing intelligence, aptitudes, interests, personality traits and achievement.

Non-testing

It includes:

Interviews
Questionnaires
Self-inventories
Observation

Techniques of Recording Data

Characteristics of a Good Recording System

Usability

We should record information about the child in such a manner that it may be easily used and interpreted at the time of need. Complicated and crowded record should be discouraged to keep and interpret records.

Objectivity and Accuracy

The information collected in the record card should be measured objectively and accurately.

Continuity

The information should be collected year after year with a view to maintain continuity.

Recording of Student’s data

Student’s data can be collected both formally and informally. Informal recording of data is much easier than formal recording. Experts are of the opinion that every teacher should maintain a file for each child in which he goes on accumulating data about him, recorded on separate sheets of paper which may be tagged and put safely within the file cover.

At the end of each year, the information may be summarized and entered on the cumulative record card so that it presents an integrated picture of the individual assets to be further developed. Weaknesses may be overcome, direction in which he is moving and recommendations that should be provided for him may be hinted at.

In order to record observations in a systematic manner, the following methods should be taken into consideration:

Anecdotal Records should be properly maintained
Rating scales should be used while recording data

A school record is used as unified account of the child’s personality. Therefore, it is not desirable to read and interpret an item of information in isolation. Taken together, they should help in understanding and interpreting any particular aspect of the behavior of the child and his personality. The aim of interpretation should be to know the child and to guide in the best development of their life.

Most of our teachers are influenced by their own prejudices or by previous impressions of the child. They assess children only on the basis of results of the examinations.

The teachers should be careful about the following points while preparing the cumulative record card:

Information which presents a child in unfavorable light and is likely to prejudice a person against him should, as a rule not be made on the record card. If any confidential material has to be maintained it should be kept in a separate file.
While filling in information about a particular child, the teacher should avoid his own judgement.
Recordings should be easy if it is done for small groups of pupils at different settings than for the entire class at one sitting.

How to Interpret and use Records

The teachers seldom make the distinction between what the record shows and what it suggests.
Most of them make generalizations and draw inferences which are not warranted by the data on record.
They fail to note important relationships.

The teachers who keep and use records should keep in mind the following suggestions:

That the student is growing and changing. What was true of him last year is not necessarily true this year.
That the record represents only a small sampling of his/her behavior. There is much that is unknown about the child.
That the record often reflects the bias of the person.

Chapter: 12 SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION

SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION

“Supervision is, in a sense, the back-bone of educational improvement.” – Education Commission

Supervision and inspection is provided by the state to help educators and educational administrators to do a better job. This service provides educational leadership and guidance to various workers in the field of education. It incorporates checking, enquiry, fact-finding, keeping watch, survey, correction, prevention, inspiration, guidance, direction, diagnosis and improvement. Its immediate purpose is the improvement of instruction.

SUPERVISION DEFINED

Supervision of instruction may be defined as, “the effort to stimulate, coordinate and guide the continued growth of the teachers in school, both individually and collectively.”

According to Barton and Burckner, “Supervision is an expert technical service primarily aimed at studying and improving cooperatively all factors which affect the child’s growth and development.”

In the words of Dicky, “Supervision is a planned programme for improvement of instruction.”

“Supervision”, according to Barr and Burton, “is the foundation on which all programmes for improvement of teaching must be built.”

Adams and Dicky defines educational supervision as, “The function of educational supervision is the improvement of instruction.”

Thus, the term supervision has been defined by different educationists in different ways. But all agree that the improvement of instruction is a cooperative process in which all the teachers participate and the supervisor is an educational leader who acts as stimulator, guide and consultant to the teachers in their effort to improve instruction.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE

There is rapid expansion in education. It has become very essential to keep up its standards and safeguard its quality. In our need to universalize education, quality is getting ignored for the sake of quantity. Only a supervisory service can cater to the need of standards and quality. By close watch and systematic check, it can ensure that the work of instruction is properly perceived, carefully planned, rightly carried out, competently directed, correctly evaluated and intelligently reviewed.

The headmasters and teachers face numerous problems in every educational programme. They cannot tackle some of these problems without expert guidance and continuous enlightenment. Their knowledge of methodology, administration, discipline, adjustment, mental health etc. gets stagnated and need constant orientation and revival with the help of more informed and experienced supervisors.

There is lethargy and slackness all around in our society. The schools also have not escaped from these tendencies. Only a well-organized supervisory service can keep the educational workers in good form. This service constantly reminds them of their important role in the development of future citizens. It reminds them from time to time to be duty conscious.

Before 1947, inspection was a device to ensure that an institution receiving grant-in- aid from the Government, utilized money correctly. Another function of the inspector was to extend recognition to privately managed schools on the basis of certain criteria. The concept of inspection has now changed, and inspection tends to promote the professional growth of teaching personnel. The role of inspector is that of a senior colleague to teachers. The re-designation of ‘inspector’ as ‘educational officer’ in many states marks this shift in the emphasis of duties.

NATURE OF SUPERVISION

In order to carry on instruction, we take the help of administration and supervision. The purpose of supervision is to bring about a continuing improvement in the instructional programme. Administration executes and directs, but supervision advises, stimulates, explains, leads, guides and assists.

Supervision is making potential actual

Studies from anthropology and psychology indicates that each person is born with more potential than they use. They never fully develop all their potential. Supervision attempts to release this human potential and develops it fully. It is an organized process for improving the learning situation for children. Supervisor is simply a “formal” leader in the process to release human potential by conducting human interaction, which we call education.

Supervision is communication

Communication has deep significance for human organization, since individuals make specialized contributions to the achievement of overall goals of the organization. It is a cooperative effort and an interpersonal influence for the achievement of human and organizational growth.Work of the supervisor is to influence teaching behavior in such a way as to improve the quality of learning for students. This can be achieved through effective communication with the persons involved in the organization. Supervisors, teachers and other members should work together for the development of a teaching-learning situation.

Supervision is Leadership

Leadership is a quality by which an individual can change the behavior of another individual. In supervision, this is accepted as one of the important elements. The supervisor being an official leader should try to influence the behavior of others in the organization. He/she should not be an authoritarian. They should assist the members involved in the organization to plan together. Here the chief purpose will be to develop group power that will enable the staff to achieve its goal.

AIMS OF SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION

There are a number of aims and purposes which supervisory service has to fulfil. These can be summed up as:

It provides professional leadership to educational workers so as to improve their work and give them correct direction. It is in this light that the Secondary Education Commission suggested to replace the word “Inspector” by “Education Officer” or “Educational Advisor”. The new term will be in conformity with the real aims of supervision and inspection.
It offers technical service to teachers in the form of teaching techniques, instructional aids, diagnostic techniques and remedial measures.
It promotes the professional growth of all teachers by providing them guidance in the field and in-service training in between.
It clarifies and interprets educational goals for educational institutions and gives them all types of help and guidance to achieve those goals.
Supervisory service aims at checking inefficiency and negligence in schools, finding out serious lapses and irregularities in their functioning and ensuring that all these short-comings are removed.
It aims at offering new, forward looking and constructive suggestions to educational workers. It also goes to their help in solving their difficulties. It is the duty of the inspector to inspire teachers by counselling.
It aims at appraising the work of educational institutions so that those doing well may be encouraged to do better and those not doing that well may be guided to come up to the mark.

SCOPE OF SUPERVISION

The educational institution is assumed to be a sub-system of a group of interdependent parts which exist for the purpose of contributing to the overall goal of the organization. The organization of a particular school is a major factor in determining the special characteristics of supervision. This organization involves both the human and material elements, for the improvement of quality of learning for the students. This is done through certain functions which come under the scope of supervision. They are:

Technological and Psychological Support for Teachers

Development of human resources in the teaching situation requires efficient supervision of instruction. To utilize the instructional supervision personnel effectively, there should be proper consideration of their function, allocation, organizational structure, roles authority, needed specialization etc. They should be provided with improved materials of instruction, new instructional media etc., as a technological support system after proper supervision. Again the technological and psychological support can be provided to the teachers through cooperation with institutions of higher education.

Supervision of Curriculum Design

In our school system, the individual schools and the individual teachers should be encouraged to move ahead on their own experimentation and innovation in the programme of curriculum development. The school staff, with the help of supervisory staff, should lay a set of criteria by which they can judge whether curriculum material developed by an outside source will fit into the design of the curriculum in the school system in which they work. A blueprint of curriculum development should be drawn. To spend the money and effort wisely, a proper plan and strategy and supervision must be conceived.

Continuing Professional Development of the Staff

The changing nature of what is to be taught and how it is to be taught demands the development of new understandings and skills on the part of the teachers. It is through the programme of professional development that teachers can maintain a readiness to meet the challenge of new programmes and new responsibilities. Hence, the supervisory staff should know the special competence and skills of the professional staff and should guide them in their professional development.

Evaluation of Teaching-Learning Process

The focus of the evaluation should be on the outcome of instruction and learning rather than the instructional process itself. It is the responsibility of the supervisory system to know the effectiveness of each professional person in the teaching-learning situation. They must try to facilitate the self-evaluation of teachers. The technological and psychological support system will help a lot in this connection.

Selection, Allocation and Development of Materials and Equipment of Instruction

The supervisory staff has the responsibility for locating and making available the materials and equipments of instruction that are appropriate since teachers do not have the time to get informed about them. The supervisory staff must survey what is available and recommend the desirable new materials in the teaching-learning situation.

The selection of content textbooks is also the responsibility of the supervisory staff. Thus, textbooks can be used effectively and intelligently. The supervisory staff should also see that the materials are supplied quickly upon the request of the teachers.

Research Programme

A neglected function of supervision in our system is the conducting of research into instructional procedure and curriculum design. In this age of science and technology, when many new ideas are coming, research at every stage of education is essential. A well-developed supervisory staff can encourage effective research practices in the school system.

Dissemination of Knowledge

To improve dissemination of ideas, teacher, visitation, headmaster groups, workshops and curriculum planning activities etc. should be encouraged.

Supervision of Co-Curricular Activities

Modern schools should not only be a place of instruction, but also a place of joyous participation for the entire school community. The playgrounds and libraries, laboratories and debating halls should throb with life. School should be a place of different co-curricular activities throughout the year. The supervisory staff can bring life to the programme and make it effective.

Supervision of School Records

A school has to maintain certain records, reports and registers. They are indispensable for the successful working of the modern school. The school, being a social institution is answerable to parents, who send their children to school; to the local and state government, which maintain it and to the students, who must be developed physically, intellectually, morally, culturally and socially through different programmes, activities and functions. Effective supervision of the school records is equally important.

Supervision of Pupil Growth

The important objective of all educational activities is the growth of the students. The supervisory staff should see the effectiveness of instruction secured by the students in the academic, cultural and physical fields and the educational programme of the school to help the gifted, the backward and the retarded children etc. All the students in the school have a potential for making contribution to school improvement.

INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION

Inspection refers to a specific occasion when a school is examined and evaluated a s a ‘centre of learning’ in such a manner that suggestions may be given for its improvement and those suggestions are reported. It is an area of school organization, where we want to develop active and independent thinking and imagination on the one hand and on the other we want the general conformity to rules and regulations. Inspection is more or less authoritarian and rigid in nature. The inspecting officers supervise classroom instructions because of their official position. Such inspection does not help in the professional improvement of the teachers and improvement of instruction. At the time of their visit, the inspectors confine their attention to the inspection of departmental rules and regulations, condition of building and equipments, position of staff, registers, records, accounts, government grants etc. Even then it is one of the several methods employed for the improvement of quality of education.Realising the defects of inspection, the Indian Education Commission (1964-66) emphasized on supervision and stated that it was “one of the major programmes in the reform of school education”.

Supervision, on the other hand is a constant and continuous process of more personnel guidance based on frequent visits when attention is directed to one or more aspects of the school and its organization. It is a procedure of giving direction to and providing critical evaluation of the instructional process. It is to co-ordinate, stimulate and direct the growth of the teachers. It gradually moves from the improvement of instruction to the improvement of learning. Therefore, supervision aims at the development of the teacher, the growth of the student and the improvement of the teaching-learning process.

NEW TRENDS IN SUPERVISION AND INSPECTION

Firstly, there is significant change in the nomenclature of inspection.

The present trend among educationists seems to expel the word ‘Inspector’ from the ducational vocabulary in favour of ‘Supervisor’ or ‘Education Officer’.

The Secondary Education Commission observed, “In our view the true role of an inspector – for whom we would prefer the term Educational Advisor- is to study the problems of each school, to take a comprehensive side-view of all its functions and to help the teachers to carry out their advice and recommendation.”

Secondly, modern supervision is creative and constructive rather than destructive.

It seeks to ensure creative participation of all the teachers rather than to criticize them for their faults. When the occasion demands, the inspector(supervisor) shows by demonstration how to adopt a particular method or technique, or how to teach a particular topic effectively, or how to use aids and devices to capture the interest of pupils. As a positive approach, they will not fail to put in the encouraging remarks about the satisfactory work done by the teachers and will not hesitate to appreciate and commend the good work done by them. Their criticism if any, is also constructive.

Thirdly, modern supervision provides educational leadership.

The supervisors are supposed to be experts and specialists. They have to guide and advice the teachers to do better and improve professionally. They are up-to-date regarding trends in education and provide necessary reorientation to the field workers. It is a part of their professional responsibility to be conversant with the latest and their work with the teacher lies in communicating the latest ideas and practices to them.

Fourthly, modern supervision is democratic.

There is complete absence of authoritarian attitude and approach in the modern supervision. It provides educational leadership of a democratic type. The supervisor does not impose their point of view authoritatively, but recommends better alternatives after convincing and persuading the teachers. The teacher’s point of view is also given due consideration. The supervisor uses in their work the devices of observation, discussion, recognition of good work, demonstration, persuasion and suggestion.

Fifthly, modern supervision id carried out in a scientific way.

It is now taken as a technical, methodical and scientific job. Subjectivity is being replaced by objectivity. Good supervision leads to positive results in the form of educational standards, better teaching, pupil’s progress and development.

Sixthly, modern supervision is coordinating and integrating in nature.

The supervisory service is a co-ordinating agency which collects all good traditions, practices, programmes, ways and means, experiences, experiments, projects available from various institutions and disburses them onwards to other institutions. The qualities and achievements of one institution are publicized throughout the area by this agency for all-round adoption and benefit. It integrates all educational efforts of the area for inter-school improvements.

Seventhly, modern supervision employs a variety of new devices.

Supervision is becoming increasingly professional. Through scientific tools of evaluation, it not only assesses the quality of instruction, but also evolves new ways and means to make up deficiencies. New supervisory devices like seminars, meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops are now becoming increasingly popular. Exchange of ideas and experiences between teachers is encouraged. Teaching techniques are further improved through researches, experiments and projects undertaken by enthusiastic teachers, headmasters and educationists.

METHODS OF INSPECTION

There are no set procedures for inspection. But the prevalent procedures are:

School visits

The supervisor is supposed to visit every school in their area at least once in a year. There may be certain problems in some schools, backward or developing schools which may require more than one visit. The visit is undertaken after giving due notice to the school. In addition to this, sometimes surprise visits will also be needed. During the visit the supervisor observes the work in the classrooms and the activities of students outside the class. In case they find it necessary for a change in the situation, they should give the demonstration of the new procedure they propose as the alternative.

Teacher’s meetings

Immediately after the inspection is over and on other suitable occasions, meetings of the teachers and headmasters are held. In them, general defects and shortcomings are discussed and procedures for improvement thought out. The difficulties expressed by the teachers are also discussed and suggestions given for their removal. Due appreciation of good work is also expressed in such meetings to provide further incentive for improvement.

Issuing Orders and Circulars

Regular guidance is provided to teachers through circulars containing academic suggestions for physical welfare of students and guidelines for their overall development. Administrative orders are also issued for various activities like tournaments, competitions and contests and for sending information on educational matters like syllabus, textbooks, examination system, departmental instructions, educational seminars and conferences to be held. The circulars and orders also initiate a number of school improvement programmes like school projects, cleanliness campaigns, science fairs, student camps and service towards community.

Evaluative criteria

The evaluation should be carried out through a scientifically prepared evaluative criteria. NCERT has already evolved one and the state authorities can evolve their own on the basis of this. A detailed proforma including questions covering all aspects of the school should be prepared and used. The supervisor will collect data on all aspects through visits, observation, records and reporting by the headmaster.

New Methods suggested by IEC

The Indian Education Commission suggested a number of methods for making supervision more purposeful and useful.

School Complex: The commission suggested that in certain areas, a school complex may be formed. The headmaster of the high/senior secondary school may inspect the middle and primary schools of the complex once in a year.
Statistical Cell: There is a need to provide a small statistical cell in each district office, and the factual data regarding all the schools may be continuously collected in this cell.
Classification: The schools must be classified into various categories. Each category will have its own standard and hence its own difficulties, problems and levels of attainment. Guidance would be given in accordance with the desired standards.
Evaluative Criteria: The criteria may be prepared on scientific lines for various types of schools. Schools may be classified on the basis of their performance.

Chapter: 13 INSTITUTIONAL PLANNIMG

INSTITUTIONAL PLANNIMG

Planning is an attempt to organize resource for the attainment of a chosen goal. It is a purposeful action.

Planning can be defined as a process of taking decisions for future actions in order to achieve predetermined objectives by optimum utilization of available resources in a limited timeframe. Effective planning is the key element to any organization.

Institutional planning is a programme of development and improvement prepared by educational institutions on the basis of its needs and the resources available, with a view to improve the school programme and school practices. It is the process of thinking, deciding and willing so that an institution becomes a model institution according to its purpose. The plan may be for long or short duration according to need. It is based on the principle of optimum utilization of resources.

Institutional planning is the plan for the institution as a unit so that its targets are defined in the plan, its time-bound progress is determined, the rate of progress per unit of time is also determined, and the commitments are made in the plan which regulate and accelerate its working. It is a scheme for the efficient running, steady growth, balanced expansion and priority-wise expansion of an institution.

New Trends in Planning

Institutional planning is the product of new trends in planning which advocate making the process of planning a two-way process. Planning has been mostly coming from above, but new planning should commence mostly from below. Institutional planning starts the process of planning from the grassroots. There is a radical change and a movement to shift major emphasis towards planning at the base.

Our educational planning in the past had certain characteristics:

It had been a centralized affair, being prepared by a central agency and then sent down to sub-agencies for implementation.
It had been carried out as a high-level planning; resembling an inverted pyramid.
It had been purely expenditure oriented and not task-oriented or result-oriented.
It did not involve the teachers in its preparation or even in implementation.
It did not emphasize the implementation part and the full utilization of the already existing material and human resources.
It did not attempt any planning at the level of institutions.

The new trend in the planning process involves:

Progressive measures of decentralization of educational planning.
Emphasis on implementation, administration and methodology.
Preparing plan from the institution point of view.
Associating the local community actively.

The purposes of Planning are:

To ensure success of the institution
Good method to solve problems
Efficient and effective planning to keep pace with the time
Needed to encourage initiative and creativity of teachers.

DEFINITIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING

According to M.B.Buch, “Institutional planning is a programme of development and improvement prepared by an educational institution on the basis of its felt and the resources available or likely to be available, with a view to improving school programme and school practices. It is based on the principle of optimum utilization of the resources available in the school and the community”.

W.Franklin, “Institutional planning is a milestone in the journey towards the improvement of education. The teacher is the kingpin in any educational effort. It is for the first time that the teaching community is being asked to act as the planner and executer of educational improvement”.

Meaning of Institutional Planning

It is an institutional mission to ensure high quality of teaching and training of young generation with efficient skill for contributing to the national development within the framework of present institutional management.

Institutional planning is a:

Plan for development as a whole
Plan for improvement of the existing situation
Plan for felt needs, necessity of the institution
Plan for an effort to make a balance between available resources and planning
An effort to find out to be available resources

Need and Importance of Institutional Planning

Institutional planning is a milestone in the journey towards the improvement of education. Institutional planning is need based because of the following reasons:

It ensures success of the educational enterprise.
It helps in giving a proper direction to educational planning in the country.
It encourages initiatives of teachers which in turn promotes developmental prospects of the school.
It leads to optimum utilization of existing resources by reducing wastage at every stage of educational planning.
It accelerates works among teachers and develops cooperation among them.
It enables the teacher to experiment with the new ideas.
It democratizes the process of planning.

It is essential to involve administrators, teachers, parents, students, educationists and social reformers in the process of educational planning, because democratic planning presupposes popular participation. Educational planning has to be decentralized to the district level and still further down to the level of institution.

By recognizing each institution as a unit, it is quite easy to develop District and State Educational Plans. In such a situation the individuality of an institution is not only preserved but promoted and becomes the centre of planning. There should be complete revolution in education starting from below. The institution will enjoy academic freedom in this arrangement. The teachers, administrators and even students will assume their rightful leadership in the process of educational reconstruction.

Characteristics of Institutional Planning

No two schools can be identical in their needs and requirements. Hence every school will have to prepare an institutional plan for itself independently. An ideal school plan will have the ceratin characteristics:

It is need based and not grant based.It should be prepared according to the needs of the institution and not on the basis of grants sanctioned.
It is Based on present resources: It attaches more importance to the present human and material resources. Instead of going on with demands of more, it endeavors to make optimum utilization of the resources in hand. It should aim at the maximum use of the available human and material resources.
It should limit itself to the total improvement of the school and should not suggest work for the district educational authorities or demand funds from the directorate of education for its implementation.
It is specific for an institution. There cannot be a single plan for all the institutions.
It is Task oriented: As it is written in the form of tasks, rather than the finance, it is task oriented.
Scientific: It is scientific in nature.
No waste: Institutional planning avoids all wastes. Grants received if not utilized are surrendered rather than wasted through hasty purchases of useless materials.
Cooperative institutional planning: Planning is a cooperative effort undertaken by all the staff members of the school involving school staff, community, management, pupils, parents, etc.
Apart from involvement, it results in motivation for students, teachers, management and the community.
Prospective: Institutional planning is prospective. It spot-lights not only present needs but also future needs of the institution. It can be prepared as an annual and five-year plan.
Goal oriented: It is purposive and goal oriented. It should be based on certain ‘predetermined objectives’ and goals and all activities planned should help directly or indirectly to achieve these ends.
Inspection: It serves as the basis for annual inspection.
Development: Inspection is designed for the development of the institution.
It is continuously developing. An institutional plan cannot be rigid and static.
It forms the basis for the District, State and National Plans.
It should be a ‘plan of work’ and not a charter of demands. It must aim at utilizing what is available and not demanding what is not available.
It at all it needs more finance, the same should be available from the local community which must be a party to the preparation of the school plan.
The plan should have a well-defined and finely classified activities for the school improvement and school development.
It should be flexible in nature so that at various stages of its implementation changes may be effected according to needs and requirements.
It should only further the cause of education- its quality and quantity and should not criticize and condemn the approach of district authorities or the directorate of education.
It should be in consonance with the district educational plan.
It should neither be too ambitious to be implemented nor too modest to make any appreciable improvement. It should, therefore, be a working plan based on the capacity of teachers, the needs of the students and the local community.
It should clearly indicate the time limit for its implementation. It can be a short term one or a long term one depending on the circumstances and needs of the school.
It should have a plan of evaluation also, so that the result of the efforts could be evaluated after some intervals.
It should have a balanced approach so that it does not tilt towards academics or out of class activities alone. The principal has to play a very important role as a co-ordinator.

ESSENTIALS OF INSTITUTIONAL PLANNING

Different levels of improvement programmes

We cannot insist on the same level of progress in different improvement approaches. Some programmes will progress at a faster rate than others depending upon their degree of simplicity or complexity and upon the ability of the teachers concerned.

Each school has its own individuality

No two schools are alike. Therefore, any two schools cannot be given the same plan to follow. A school should not borrow or import institutional plan for its improvement. It should evolve its own plan keeping in view its needs, priorities, problems and resources.

Involvement of all teachers of the school

In the process of preparing the school plan, the headmaster should take care to involve himself, as well as all the teachers of the school. Every member of the school population should be involved in the task of preparation and implementation of the school plan. Efforts should be made to involve the community groups as well as the students. Committees consisting of parents, teachers and students may be formed to prepare and carry out different aspects of the plan.

Forward looking plan

While planning for the current session, the experience of the past should be taken into consideration. At the same time, the plan should be forward looking, aiming at excellence in the near future.

AREAS OF THE INSTITUTIONAL PLAN

Every area linked with the school is an appropriate area to be covered in the plan. Some of the major areas are:

Academic

It is the most prominent area for the operation of institution plan. The plan will try to enrich the curricula and improve the instructional programmes. The immediate purpose may be to improve the school results both in the internal and external examinations. The efforts will be focused on reducing the wastage, stagnation, improving attendance, ensuring regularity in homework, assignments etc.

Co-curricular

The school plan will cover the areas like beautification of the campus, physical education, literary activities, inter-house competitions etc. The school environment will be made attractive and stimulating for the students through the plan proposals.

Maximum utilization of available resources

In many schools, available material and human resources remain unused and unharnessed for want of any specific plans and programmes. There are also schools which have surplus teachers who are not fitting into the school curriculum. In some schools, rare and useful equipments remain locked up in the almirahs. The planning would aim at utilizing the unutilized facilities so that the investment made in them does not go waste.

A good institution plan makes a thorough study of the physical and human resources available in the school and the community. Also they will see to it that these resources are put to a maximum use in the interest of the school and students.

School services

The school provides a large number of services. The plan has to make the best use of the available services like library, guidance service, clinical service, laboratory service etc. The services lacking in the school may have to be provided through yearly plans. The services like sanitation, drinking water, hygiene etc. need special attention.

Discipline

The plan will also be used as a medium of establishing and maintaining discipline in the institution. The specific causes of indiscipline in relation to the institution concerned will be discovered from the past experience and specific efforts will be made for their removal in the plan programmes.

Teaching-learning aids

This area relates to the supply of teacher’s guidebooks, reference books, library stock, maps, mathematical instruments, papers, boards, chalk pieces, charts, models, film strips, projectors, tape recorders etc. The plan should regularly enrich the material resources of the school and ensure that they are not stocked as show pieces only, but put to regular use.

Professional growth of teachers

The plan should also cover this area of professional growth and in-service training of each individual teacher. Adequate stress should be laid on the in-service training of each individual teacher according to his/her need. Orientation programmes of teachers, refresher courses, meetings etc. for the in-service education of the entire school faculty should be planned in order to improve their instructional work.

Scope of Institutional Planning

Planning must take the shape of an overall scheme for the improvement of the institution in respect of:

Time table and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities for pupils
Curricular and syllabus in each subject divided into monthly and weekly units and subunits.
Instructional materials, audio and other aids
Library
Building and equipment
Evaluation
All the school improvement projects.
Improving the school plan
Improvement of instruction
Community programmes for schools

Steps involved in Institutional Planning

Identifying the needs of the institution
Pooling together the resources of the institutions
Preparing a plan for action
Implementing the plan
Evaluating and taking the corrective actions

Step 1: Analysis of the present situation

Make an analysis of the present position. The staff will analyze the present situation with respect to the needs. The headmaster will constitute a planning council for this purpose. This council may be asked to prepare the blueprint of the plan which may be finalized later. The authorities will have to analyze the present situation. The Principal will hold a meeting and review whether:

The school building is spacious enough to cope with present needs
The equipment and furniture are adequate
The available staff is adequate
The existing institutional programmes requires reshuffling and change
The library and lab facilities are adequate
The examination system needs reform
The admission procedure needs any reform.
The institution needs additional facilities and provisions like play grounds, hostel, staff quarters, canteen, boundary wall etc.
The last years’ institutional plan should continue.

Step 2: Survey of the resources

Make a survey of resources. The principal and the staff of school should make a survey of the existing resources as well as the resources that can be made available. Facts and figures regarding student enrollment, staff, building, equipment, books, examination results etc. should be tabulated for ready reference. There are three categories of resources to be surveyed and examined:

Resources available in the school,
Resources easily available through the government, management and School Education Board,
Resources available in the community like public library, museum, health center, playground, gymnasium, swimming pool, assembly hall, auditorium, workshop, technical institutions, children’s park, local doctors, engineers, educationists and other useful persons residing in the locality.

The survey of the resources gives the institution an idea of the resources, their utilization in the past and their better utilization in the present situation. Places of educational, scientific, geographical, historical, social and general interest in the locality must be visited by the teachers and students. Doctors, retired teachers, military personnel may be requested to deliver lectures to the students and parent-teacher associations. Appeal may be made to well-to-do parents to help the school in various ways. Parent-teacher associations have always helped in school improvement in the form of providing conveyance to the students, adding to school accommodation, providing fans in classrooms, providing books to library etc.

Step 3: Improvement programmes

In the light of survey of the existing situation, survey of the felt needs and survey of resources available, the school may draw a priority-wise list of improvement programmes. Improvement programmes can be classified into short term and long term programmes.

Each improvement programme needs to be defined in terms of:

Utility for the institution
Financial implications if any
Action research should be done immediately.
Project concerning building
Project concerning Campus and equipments
Project concerning instructional materials
Projects concerning pupil welfare
Library projects etc.

The improvement programmes will take the form of school development programmes and action research activities. These programmes can be started immediately from the view of urgency of the problem. Each programme and action research investigation must have some broad objectives and some specific objectives. The objectives must be stated in clear terms. These programmes must further be resolved into specific tasks and each task must be elaborated in respect of the resources, time, procedure, output, utility and evaluation.

A schedule can be drawn up to fulfil the requirements of institutional planning which includes:

Name of the programme
Annual grant available
Objectives
Specific tasks
Teachers in charge
Sample involved
Time schedule
Methods and techniques
Conclusions
Evaluation
Follow-up

In this way, a school can build a task-oriented plan for actual execution and implementation to meet the actual needs and solve the actual problems of the school. The entire school population must become plan-mindedand all programmes for the year must be preplanned utilizing the existing material and human resources to the maximum.

Suggestions for school development programmes

Additional accommodation
Petty repairs
Electrification and sound system
Provision of drinking water facilities
Toilet, sewage, sanitary and drainage facilities
Playgrounds, lawns
Beautification of campus
Blackboards and illustrative aids
Co-operative store
Co-operative bank
Cleanliness campaign
School calendar
Scientific hobbies
Student’s self-government

Suggestive investigations for Action Research

Bad hand writing and spellings
Irregular homework
Bad computational skills
Truancy and indiscipline
Poor participation in games
Stagnation and wastage
Various techniques for improvement in learning
Improvement in human relations in school
Grammatical mistakes and their correction
Special programmes for slow learners and gifted

Step 4: Implementing the development programme

The staff will make a selection of the programmes that are to be undertaken during the enduring session and prepare full length outline of the same. After that the plans have to be executed according to the resources available and the procedures outlined. The execution must be done through the co-operation of all. The responsibilities must be shared between headmaster, teachers, students and members of the community. There will be division of labour according to the suitability and choice of the individuals.

Committees of the staff members will be formed to carry out various programmes under the plan. A time schedule for the progress of the plans will also be prepared to ensure time-bound completion.

Step 5: Evaluation of the plan

At the completion of the programme, the results must be assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. A schedule can be prepared:

Name of programme
Annual grant available
Objectives
Specific task
Period of completion
Teacher-in-charge

It will have to be seen whether the objectives envisaged in the beginning of the plan have been achieved or not. If achieved, to what extent it is achieved. Some of the unachieved or partially achieved objectives will overflow to the next institutional plan. Anything left undone will form the basis for follow-up and future plans.

The school community will have self-evaluation in respect of targets achieved, efficacy of procedures and difficulties experienced. It has to be done frequently leading to modifications to make the plan more practicable and useful.

The supervisors and subject experts at the district headquarters will evaluate the programmeatleast once in a year or more frequently if possible. The evaluation will be made in terms of the extent of contribution of creative ideas in planning, resourcefulness shown in implementation, the number of people involved, full and partial achievements and difficulties experienced.

At this stage of evaluation good work done by various individuals at different levels for successful completion of the plan should be recognized.

Merits of Institutional Planning

Helps in achieving educational objective
Helps in achieving institutional planning
Reduces future uncertainty
Facilitate control
Improves the infrastructure
Facilitate decision making
Improve standard of institution

Chapter: 14 School Management Committee (SMC)

School Management Committee (SMC)

School management committees or SMCs build a critical bridge between the community and the schools, playing the additional role of providing oversight in school to ensure all basic requirements of the school are being met as per the right to educational guide lines in 2009.

Parental involvement in children’s education is largely believed to lead to improved learning outcomes. The level of involvement can vary from providing a secure home for children, maintaining a healthy parent- teacher communication and parents volunteering to involve in the governance of the school.

The abbreviation SMC stands for School Management Committee. The RTE act, 2009 has come into force with effect from 1st April, 2010 in our country which is a landmark in the history of education. Efficient provisions regarding constitution and functions of SMCs have been given in section 21 and 22 of the right of children to free and compulsory education act 2009. SMC is formed to plan, monitor and implement schemes as per the right of children to free and compulsory education (RTE) Act of 2009.

SMC shall be constituted in every government and aided school and reconstituted every two years, according to the RTE act of 2009.SMC shall play important role for effective development of a school.

Roles and Functions of the SMC as envisaged under the RTE Act, 2009

The RTE Act, 2009 has come into force with effect from 1st April, 2010 in ourcountry which is a landmark in the history of education. The said Act assigns immenseimportance to School Management Committees as a part of decentralized structure to ensurethe effective and regular functioning of the schools and education center, and one in whichthe parents will have a preponderance. Essential provisions regarding constitution andfunctions of SMCs have been given in section 21 and 22 of the Right of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Act, 2009.

Section 21

A school, other than a school specified in sub-clause (IV)of clause (n) of section 2,shall constitute a School Management Committee consisting of the electedrepresentatives of local authority, parents or guardians of children admitted in suchschool and teachers:

Provided that at least three-fourth of members of such committee shall be parents orguardians:

Provided further that proportionate representation shall be given to parents orguardians of children belonging to disadvantaged group and weaker section;

Provided that fifty percent of members of such committee shall be women.

The School Management Committee shall perform certain functions, namely: -
a) Monitoring the working of the school;
b) Preparing and recommend school development plan;
c) Monitoring the utilization of the grants received from the appropriate

Government or local authority or any source; and

d) Performing such other functions as may be prescribed.

Section 22

Every School Management Committee constituted under sub-section (l) of section 21shall prepare a School Development Plan in such a manner as may be prescribed.
The School Development Plan so prepared under sub-section (1) shall be the basis forthe plans and grants to be made by the appropriate Government or local authority asthe case may be.

It is obvious that majority of SMC members are the parents/guardians of thosechildren who are studying in the school. Chairperson of the SMC shall also be a parent/guardian. Bank account of SMC is maintained by joint signature of chairperson and membersecretary (Headmaster). Representation of the socially backward parents and electedrepresentatives of Gram Panchayat in SMC shall play important role for effectivedevelopment of a school. SMC has many functions as enrolment, retention, completion ofelementary education with quality for all children residing in catchment area of school andpreparation of school development plan.

As per responsibility given in The RTE Act it ismandatory and important to aware SMC members regarding the roles and functions throughorientations/trainings. Unless the members of the SMC (Chairperson, member secretary, localrepresentative and other members) are aware of the main provisions of RTE, objectives,composition and their role and functions, they cannot contribute for effective development ofa school and to achieve objectives of RTE provisions regarding SMC.

When community and local bodies are empowered to function for the development ofElementary Education, much improvement could be seen in academic and non- academicareas. They are the ones who can assist the problems faced by schools. So, several studieshave been conducted on community involvement in the management of elementary schools.

Functions of School Management Committee

Monitor the working of the school
Monitor the enrollment and attendance of all children from the neighborhood
Prepare and recommend school development plan
Monitor the identification and enrollment of disabled children, and ensure that they are provided with facilities and materials till completion of elementary education
Monitor the implementation of Mid-Day Meal and other government school schemes
Monitor the maintenance of norms and standards prescribed in the schedule which would include classrooms, school facilities, teacher pupil ratios, etc.
Monitor the attendance and punctuality of teachers
Ensure 100% enrollment of children in the age group of 6-14 years

Structure of SMC

Parents from all sections of the society: RTE act suggest that 75% of the SMC must be composed of parents or guardians
Elected members of the local authority: It should include some elected members of the local committee
Teachers from the school: Teachers should be nominated by the headmaster since they act as liaison between parents and students
Local educationalists: SMC should have provisions to utilize expertise of local educationalists for effective functioning of school
Students from the school: SMC should have proper representation of students
50% of the members shall be women
As per the Act of Central Education Rights, School Management Committee should be formed and reorganized once in 2 years in all government schools except unaided institutions

Number of members in the Committee

(i) In a school with students below 750, total members can be 16 apart from the convener and joint convener.

(ii) In a school with more than 750 students, total members can be 20 apart from convener and joint convener.

(iii) 75% of the members in the committee should be the parents of the students or guardian in the absence of parents. Also it should include – members of Mother-Parent -Teacher Association, parents of selected students, parents or guardians of - students belonging to the weaker section of the society, students eligible for special consideration. Enough representation be given to the parents representing back ward sections and depressed category.

(iv) The rest of the 25% of the members should be from the sections given below.

(a) Ward or division member of local self govt from the location of the school

(b) A teacher selected from the school by them

(d) School leader

(v) For the execution of administrative affairs, a chairman or vice chairman should be elected from the parent – representatives. Head Master or teacher in charge would be the ex-officio member convener of the committee. In schools with higher secondary section, Principal would be the ex-officio member convener and HM, the joint convener.

(vi) Convener has the right to invite three experts at a time for seeking expert opinion regarding protection of children, health, nutrition, psychology, and administrative activities being undertaken by the committee.

(vii) The committee should meet two months once at the least. The minutes of the meet be recorded properly and decisions be taken based on the opinion of the majority. Also it should be displayed on the school notice board in such a way that even the public can notice it.

(viii) Assistant Educational Officer should confirm the formation of the committee, trainings imparted to the members and evaluate the activities as well.

Duties of the Committee

(a) Monitor the activities of the institution

(b) Preparation of School Development Plan and recommend for its implementation

(c) Oversee the distribution of financial aid available from state government, local self-government departments, or other agencies.

(d) Apart from these, the duties given below have to be done by the committee

(i)Simple creative discussions on rights of children under Right to Education Act, duties of the state govt, local self govt departments, parents etc. should be conducted with the people in the area where school is situated.

(ii)The punctuality maintained by the teachers in being present in school, meetings between parents or guardians and teachers to make them aware of the attendance, curricular and co-curricular abilities of the students, improvement in studies and other such details of the students should be confirmed.

(iii)Also ensure teachers are not assigned other duties except – census, disaster relief activities, local self-government or state government or parliament election,

(iv)Teachers are not handling private tuition or educations activities- should be ensured

(v)Monitor whether the expected improvement in learning as said by the Centre for Academic Activities is achieved. The absence of teachers and students be noted. Action be taken to fill leave vacancies for a period of less than a year from the empaneled list of teachers prepared by local self-government departments on daily wage basis.

(vi)School admission and continuous attendance of the children of that area should be ensured to avoid the complete ‘drop-out’ of children. Students who is absent for 15 days continuously should be included in the drop out register and steps be taken to rectify the factors leading to the drop out of the child and bring him/her back to school.

(vii)Monitoring be done in the above said matters and laws and standard specified in Kerala Education Act and Rules for the conduct of activities in all sections of the school.

(viii)Any deviation in rights of children especially mental or physical harassment, denying admission, any aids available free of cost being not given on time etc. be taken to the notice of the Local Self Government Departments.

(ix)Need based Action Plan be prepared

(x)Arrange additional coaching classes for children who need special care, and compensatory classes for children who gets late admission or who lag behind in studies. Also make it sure whether class PTA and Mother PTA etc. are conducted.

(xi)Physically disabled children’s admission, the facilities needed for them, their role in primary education and whether they complete their course of study – should be supervised.

(xii)Monitor the noon – meal programme

(xiii)Coordinate the particulars and the cooperation from the authorized centres, the public, and other agencies for the best means and resources to be provided to enable the curricular and co-curricular activities.

(xiv)Prepare an annual account statement of income and expenditure of the fund of the committee for school.

(xv)To execute the duties assigned as per this Act, any amount received by the committee should be with the joint account of the committee chairman and convener and it should be audited every year by a chartered accountant fixed by the committee. In the annual meet, the audit report along with the account should be produced. It should be counter signed by the committee chairman or the head chairman and the convener to be produced before the Assistant Educational officer within a month.

(xvi)Within two months after meeting such expenses or in two months in the financial year- which comes first, Utilization certificate of funds received by the School Management Committee must be submitted to the allotted centre of fund authority.

Preparation of School Development Plan

(1) In 2 months after the formation of School Management Committee, a School Development Plan should be prepared,

(2) It should be a 3-year plan comprising 3 separate annual sub plans.

(3) It should have the details given below –

(a) Estimate of class wise admission for each year.

(b) Basic amenities including building, laboratory, library, toilets, drinking water,wooden furniture, instruments, playground etc.

(c) The preparation of master plan should include the future needs of the school, student friendly, eco-friendly construction –concepts etc. An expert’s opinion or service can be availed of.

(d) As per the guidelines referred above in this list &the Kerala Education Act rules more physical needs of the basic resources and instruments, mainly laboratory, information and communication technology, library, sports and games be prepared.

(e) Expenses for special coaching facilities for the late admission students, separate evaluation of needs of each section on age basis, free text books, uniform, travel concessions, free accommodation etc. and any more needs to be satisfied under this Act including above said part (d) related financial needs.

f) As per the calculations done according to the law stated in this list, total number of teachers needed for classes 1-5 and 6-8, each subject teachers, part time teachers, head master etc.

School Development Plan should be counter signed by the School Management Committee chair person or vice chairperson and convener. Within one month after the approval of the committee, it should be submitted to the Assistant Educational Officer and Centre for Local Authorities.

Challenges of SMC

Quality of education and overall development of schools is one of the main challenges

before the School Management committees.

Capacity building of the SMC members is also one of the main challenges.
Non-participation of SMC members in making School development plan and execution

thereof is not as expected in the RTE Act, 2009.

Functional linkages of committees with Local bodies are very weak.
Improvement of teaching learning processes in the schools on the part of the SMCs is alsoweak.
Legal provisioning for community participation is weak.
Enrolment trend in Government upper primary schools shows continuous drop which is

one of the major challenge before the SMCs.

Suggestion for further improvement/strengthening of SMCs

Enable the schoolsystem to encourage the participation level of SMC members in their functioning and alsostrengthening the participation of community members in the smooth functioning of the schools.
The duration of the SMC is short and in this short duration of time, no system can aware any SMC member completely aware about theirroles and responsibilities as an effective executive member of the school managementcommittee.
Although there is a process of election for framing or constituting the SMCs but in someschools this process does not happen in case of members for the executive committee.Here the election is only held for the office of president only. So election process shouldbe adopted for electing every member.
Roles and responsibilities should be made clear to all the SMC members.
Some incentives should be given to the committee members for encouraging theireffective participation, first in the trainings of SMC and then in the management ofelementary education.
There should be effective convergence and collaboration with other SMCs at block anddistrict level.
There should be visits for the SMCs to other schools where the SMCs are doingexceptionally good so that they can learn from their experiences.
Management of the Mid-day Meal (MDM) scheme should be given completely to theschool management committees so that this scheme may be effectively implemented byreducing the burden of the teachers.
The construction work of school buildings, toilets, boundary walls and playgrounds etc.should also be given the SMCs in order to spare the teachers completely for the teachingand learning activities.
More grants and funds should be sanctioned as there are various activities at the schoollevel.
For more involvement of the community in general and School Management Committeein particular frequent supervision and inspection of schools should be done.
Teachers should be given training in order to encourage the community participation inthe school affairs.
More people should be involved in proper functioning of the school through mediacampaigns, poster campaigns and discussions through electronic and print media.
School management committees should focus on tracking every child’s progress andcontinuously monitor the school development.
SMC members should drive a wedge between attending meetings and the quality ofoutcomes in the school.
Attentionshould be given to both infrastructural facilities as well as towards the staff availability.
The SMC members should be provided some financial incentives or rewards. These rewards and incentives can be helpful in providing positive motivation to SMC membersand can boost the morale of these members and develop a feeling of belongingnessamong them.
The headmaster of the school who is also member secretary of the SMC is alreadyoverburdened with the curricular and co-curricular activities of the school.
Since as per guidelines periodic trainings are an important component of capacitybuilding of SMC members hence such trainings are very important for increasing theawareness of the members on procedures followed for formations, nominations andfunctions of SMCs

Chapter: 15 SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

School Development Planning … is an ongoing process that helps schools as complex communities to meet the dual challenge of enhancing quality and managing change. The School Plan … is the product of that process. It serves as a reference document that guides the activities of the school and facilitates monitoring and self-evaluation. The Desired Outcome … of process and product is the provision of an enhanced education service, relevant to pupils’ needs, through the promotion of high quality teaching and learning, the professional empowerment of teachers, and the effective management of innovation and change.

The School Development Plan (SDP) is a strategic plan for improvement. It should bring together, in a clear and simple way, the school priorities, the main measures it will take to raise standards, the resources dedicated to these, and the key outcomes and targets it intends to achieve.

The School Development Plan (SDP) is a strategic plan for improvement. It should bring together, in a clear and simple way, the school priorities, the main measures it will take to raise standards, the resources dedicated to these, and the key outcomes and targets it intends to achieve.

The SDP emphasises that school improvement is first and foremost the responsibility of the school. It is based on the premise that schools themselves are best placed to identify areas for improvement and to implement changes that bring about better outcomes for pupils.

School improvement is most likely to be sustained when a school establishes a culture of aspiration and a commitment to promoting regular and robust self-evaluation. Self-evaluation must be an integral part of the school development planning process with the resulting actions and targets captured in school development plans (SDPs).

What a School Development Plan is?

A school development plan is a three-year plan aimed at improving teaching and learning at the school
The plan shows the main things that the school wants to improve and how those improvements are to be achieved

As per Section 22 of RTE Act 2009, SMC need to prepare and share a School Development Plan (SDP) with government. SDP is prepared to ensure the quality of education. School Development Plan is a road map that establishes the changes that the school needs to improve student achievements and shows how and when these changes will be made. The SDP includes the problems, needs, goals, objectives, standard and targets, implementation plan, etc.

Main Features of School Development Plan

Estimates of class wise enrollment for each year
Details of existing infrastructure
Master plan for the school
Teacher requirements
Physical requirements of the school
Financial requirements over the three year period

What is School Development Planning?

A Process

School Development Planning is a process undertaken by the school communityto give direction to the work of the school in order to ensure that all pupils receivea quality education in terms of both holistic development and academicachievement.

The process is based on a number of presuppositions:

The quality of a school’s education provision is the product of a complexinteraction of factors, which must be planned for in a co-ordinated way.
As education is a partnership enterprise, quality planning should involve inputfrom all the partners in the school community.
The quality of a school’s education provision is rooted in the expertise andcommitment of the principal and teaching staff.

Therefore,

The key agents in the process are the principal and teachers, whosepartnership in planning is the cornerstone of effective school development.
A key focus of the process is on supporting and empowering the principaland teachers in their work by providing for their professional needs interms of working environment and professional development.

These presuppositions help to determine the characteristics of the schooldevelopment planning process.

The School Development Planning Process is:

◆1. Systematic

It involves a systematic approach to the planning work that is already being donein schools: it co-ordinates and integrates piecemeal planning activities into thecoherent structure of an overall plan.

◆2. Collaborative

It is essentially a collaborative process that draws the whole school communitytogether in shaping the school’s future. While it depends largely on thecollaboration of the principal and the teaching staff, it should also includeappropriate consultation with all key stakeholders in the school community: Patron/Trustees, Board of Management, support staff, parents, pupils, local

community, and the Department of Education and Science.

◆3. Ongoing

It is an ongoing process, rooted in a school culture of systematic self-review, inwhich policies and plans are continuously developed, implemented, evaluated andrevised in the light of the school’s fundamental aims and the changing needs of itscommunity.

◆4. Progressive

It is a cyclical process that yields cumulative and progressive results. Each planningcycle builds on the outcomes of the previous cycle.

◆5. Enhancing

School Development Planning is a means, not an end – a means of enhancing thequality of educational experience in the school through the successful managementof innovation and change. Accordingly, the process is sharply focused on theeducational needs and achievements of the pupils and concomitantly on theprofessional development and empowerment of the teachers.

Finally, as every school is unique, the operation of the planning process will varyconsiderably from school to school. The School Development Planning process isflexible. It is not a set of rules to be followed blindly but a framework forcollaborative creativity. Each school must adapt the framework to suit its ownparticular circumstances.

The Rationale for School Development Planning

The fundamental purpose of School Development Planning is to enable the schoolto achieve and maintain the highest possible level of effectiveness in meeting theeducational needs of its pupils in a culture that is characterized by change.

School Development Planning promotes:

◆1. School Effectiveness

Internationally, there is widespread acceptance among educationalists thatcollaborative School Development Planning is a powerful means of promotingschool effectiveness. It enables the school community to develop a clear vision ofwhat the school is about and where it is going, a shared sense of purpose, acommon set of goals, and consensus on the means of attaining them. It

constitutes the school as a learning organisation that focuses on meeting theprofessional needs of teachers in order to meet the educational needs of pupils.

◆2. School Improvement

School Development Planning is a continuous improvement strategy. It provides amechanism for systematic self-evaluation that enables the school community toreview its progress, identify priorities, and prepare plans for further improvement.

◆3. Quality Enhancement

School Development Planning directs the attention and energy of the schoolcommunity in a systematic way on the central task of the school: the provision ofa quality education that is appropriate to the abilities and needs of all its pupils. Itfocuses on enhancing the quality of teaching and learning through collaborativeaction.

◆4. Staff Development

School Development Planning enhances the professional role of teachers andpromotes their professional development. It helps to ensure that teachers:

Are empowered to contribute decisively to the development of the school
Are enabled to exercise a greater degree of ownership over the centralissues that influence their work, thereby enhancing their sense of being incontrol of events
Are offered opportunities to engage in collaborative policy-making,planning and teamwork and to participate in the leadership andmanagement of development work
Are involved in the identification of their own professional developmentneeds and the specification of provision to meet those needs
Are enabled to extend their professional skills
Are encouraged to reflect on and learn from their professional experiences
Are affirmed and supported in their work through the creation of an ethosof collegiality and co-operation

◆5. Partnership

School Development Planning promotes partnership in the school’s developmentby engaging the major parties in the school community – principal, teachers,parents, pupils, Board of Management, and trustees—in a collaborative dialoguefocused on identifying and responding to emerging educational needs.Participation in this dialogue fosters the partners’ commitment to and ownershipof school policy.

◆6. Effective Deployment of Available Resources

Formalised School Development Planning enables the school to specify resourcerequirements and to target available resources towards meeting priority needs.

◆7. Management of Change

School Development Planning helps the school community to manage changeeffectively by enabling it to control the pace and direction of internal change andto build a capacity to respond rapidly to new challenges.

◆8. Furtherance of Aims and Priorities of National Education System

School Development Planning provides a structure that enables the schoolcommunity to subscribe to the stated aims of the national education system and toincorporate national education priorities into the work of the school.

FRAMEWORK OF THE SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS

The basic framework is a planning cycle that revolves around a central core.

◆ The Core consists of the school’s mission, vision and fundamental aims.

◆ The Planning Cycle comprises four key operations: review, design, implementation and evaluation.

Basic Framework of School Development Planning Process

The School Development Planning process often begins with the Core:

The formulation of Mission, Vision and Aims. Some schools, however, find it more helpful to begin with the Review and to allow their understanding of their mission, vision and aims to become enriched and clarified through participation in the planning process, and in particular through reflection on the local, national and international context factors that will influence the shaping of the school’s future.

Structure of SDP

SDP usually includes the following:

The school background

It includes information like name of the school, enrollment strength, staff, and geographical area and other relevant information.

The school analysis

It says about the performance of school which also includes quality of education, strength and weakness of school.

The list of priorities

It describes the important areas that need attention.

The summarized three year plan

It says about targeted goals and plans that take more than 1 year to achieve.

The action plan

It is an action document that says about what needs to be done for the development during the coming year.

The monitoring and evaluation plan

It describes about how planning activities will be monitored and evaluated. It ensures plan are carried out, report on progress are made.

Chapters supposed to be there in School Development Plan

Broadly there would be Five Chapters in School Development Plan:

Chapter – One : General Information about School e.g. name of school, year of establishment, location of the school, distance from cluster, block office, District office, area of school neighbourhood, number of households, total population, children population in school neighbourhood, literacy of the people residing in school neighbourhood, etc.
Chapter – Two : Present Status of the school and school neighbourhood e.g. number of teachers available in the school, student enrolment, number of building blocks, toilets, separate girls’ toilet, drinking water connection, electricity connection, playground, number of classrooms available, condition of classrooms and other rooms, how much parents are involved in school activities by school, regularity and punctuality of teachers’ and students’, availability of teaching learning materials/equipment, games materials, number of out of school children, students’ performance,etc.
Chapter – Three : Analysis of Progress achieved in last year’s plan targets OR progress achieved as per the fund invested in the school, (grants received and utilized). This chapter also includes the list of activities conducted last year and the activity-wise expenditure incurred in conducting activities. List of assets created also need to be included here.
Chapter – Four : Identification of problems according to the present status of school given in “Chapter – Two”, listing of these problems identified, its prioritization and Devising action/steps for solution during this plan period. Chapter – Three may also indicates the problems while analyzing the progress achieved.
Chapter – Five : Estimation of cost of the Plan. The estimation and listing of activity-wise cost should be done on the basis of the list of activities prepared in Chapter – Four. Some of the activities can be done without investing money like improvement of teacher attendance, bringing out of school children in the school, etc. and the activities like household survey, construction of toilets, additional rooms, etc. require fund. The cost estimation should be done accordingly.

Chapter: 16 STAFF COUNCIL AND STUDENT COUNCIL

STAFF COUNCIL AND STUDENT COUNCIL

The entire programme in a school functions with complete cooperation of staff and students. Both staff and students should have their bodies formed to facilitate smooth functioning of the school.

STAFF COUNCIL

Staff council is a group of headmaster and all teachers in any educational institution constituted to discuss, plan and monitor all matters of academic interest and all other problems relating to the development of the institution and to recommend measures for improvement of the institution. The headmaster shall convince the meeting of the staff council at least once in every three months in an academic year. Headmaster will be the president and there will be staff secretary selected from the teachers.

Purpose of Staff Council

Facilitate communication between staff and College officials.
Foster a sense of community among our diverse population.
Collect and disseminate information pertinent to staff issues and to increase awareness of school policies.
Participate, assist, and advise in decision making processes that affect the staff’s relationship with the larger school community (e.g. nominate staff representatives to serve on institutional task forces and committees, when appropriate).
Present ideas that originate from the staff to the school principal.
Develop recommendations for new policies or changes in policies pertaining to staff.
Promote and advocate staff professionalism and support opportunities for leadership development.
Contribute to making the school’s educational community an efficient, fulfilling and attractive work environment.

Functions of the Staff Council

To help the headmaster to plan and implement all the academic activities of the council
To discuss problems of discipline and advise the headmaster on how to solve the problem
To advise the headmaster regarding action to be taken against pupils for misbehavior.
To provide information regarding problems relating to working conditions and advise the headmaster in that respect
To advise the management on steps to be taken for the development of the school
To assess academic work periodically
To plan important festivals and celebrations and other co-curricular activities
To support the teachers whenever they experience problems and difficulties

Activities of Staff Council

Distribution of workload of teachers
Organization of curricular and co-curricular activities
Evaluation of curricular and co-curricular activities
Celebration of functions
Preparation of school timetable
Discussion of day to day issues

STUDENT COUNCIL

Student council is a union of students either democratically nominated by the headmaster to participate in designated areas of school administration. It helps teachers and school administrators in conducting literary activities, cultural functions and sports, etc. It is the body to represent the entire students to share student ideas, interest, and student council exists at the elementary, middle and high school level.

In India, student councils have been introduced in almost all Private and Public Schools.Student councils in India may be elected, nominated or selected after interview (or written examination or both).

Functions of student council

The student council helps share students’ ideas, interests, and concerns with teachers and school principals. They often also help raise funds for school-wide activities, including social events, community projects, helping people in need and school reform. Most schools participate in food drives, fundraisers and parties. Many members learn skills that were an extension of their formal education.

Student councils operate in many forms. In elementary schools, there are typically one or two student representatives per classroom and one presiding set of officers. However, many secondary schools have one set of officers per grade level.

An example of the structure of an elementary student council may include a president, a vice president, secretary, treasurer, sergeant of arms, fundraising officer, historian, boys rep, and girls rep. These roles may be assigned or voted on, either within the student council or by the entire student body. They may also reflect descending grade-levels, with the president in the oldest grade, and so forth. Secondary school governments often have more independence and power than younger governments. Often a student government is overseen by a sponsor, which is usually a teacher at that particular school. Most junior or middle school student councils have a constitution of some sort and usually do not have a judicial branch. Compared to elementary school councils, junior high and high school councils generally have fewer people.

In some schools, a student council representative is assigned to each class. That person passes on requests, ideas and complaints from students in that class to the student council. In other schools, the elected Class Officers are automatically members of the student council.

Student councils usually do not have funding authority and generally must generate their operating funds through fundraisers. Some student councils have a budget from the school, along with responsibility for funding a variety of student activities within a school.

Why have a Student Council?

The Education Act, 1998 recognises that Student Councils are an increasingly common feature in postprimaryschools and have worked to the benefit of many schools. The Act seeks to extend the success ofthis model to other post-primary schools throughout the country.Students have a valuable contribution to make to the effectiveness of their school and their involvementin the operation of the school is itself a valuable part of the education process for the students.

A Student Council provides an opportunity for students to engage in a structured partnership with

teachers, parents and school managers in the operation of their school. Research indicates that StudentCouncils can improve academic standards and reduce dropout rates in schools. Student Councils cancreate a sense of ownership of the school and its activities among the student population.The establishment of a Student Council gives students an opportunity to acquire the sort ofcommunication, planning and organisational skills which will be of benefit to them in their future lives.

It enables students to take responsibility for projects, and to demonstrate that they can manage and

bring such projects to successful conclusion. Moreover, the contribution made by a Student Council tothe development of school policy in a number of areas can have significant benefits for students andthe school. School policies are far more likely to be successful where they are clearly understood andaccepted by all partners within the school community.

The Education Act recognises that students of a school will take the lead role in the establishment andoperation of a Student Council, although the Act also provides an important role for the Board ofManagement in supporting the establishment and ongoing development of the Student Council.

At the end of the day, a Student Council will thrive only if students themselves are committed to theconcept and to making it work.

The role of the Student Council

The main role of a Student Council as set out in the Education Act is "to promote the interests of theschool and the involvement of students in the affairs of the school, in co-operation with the board,parents and teachers".A Student Council will set its own objectives, which will vary from school to school. Some generalobjectives could include:

To enhance communication between students, management, staff and parents

To promote an environment conducive to educational and personal development

To promote friendship and respect among pupils

To support the management and staff in the development of the school

To represent the views of the students on matters of general concern to them

A Student Council will identify activities that it would like to be involved in organising, although thefinal decision on the activities of a Student Council should be agreed with school management.

Many schools that do not yet have a Student Council may already have a well-established class

captain, prefect or mentoring system. In some schools students play a valuable support role for school management for example by assistingin the running of the school shop and/or library or helping to maintain order in corridors betweenclasses and during breaks.

The Education Act provides that a Student Council shall act in co-operation with the Board of

Management, parents and teachers. A Student Council should not through its activities interfere with,or detract from, the authority of school management or the teaching staff of the school. It is thereforenot a function of a Student Council to discuss or comment on matters relating to the employment orprofessional affairs of the Principal, teachers and other staff of the school, or to become involved inany issues that fall within their professional competence.

The Student Council and the Principal

The role of the school Principal is of central importance in the establishment and operation of a

Student Council. In assisting the Board of Management in the development of school policy, and inworking with teachers and parents to implement it at day-to-day level, the Principal is centrally placed inall aspects of the school’s operations.

In the initial stages, the Principal, together with the other teachers, can assist in the development of aStudent Council in several ways, for example, by discussing with students the role of a Student Counciland the role of individual representatives on the Council, by facilitating the holding of elections and byadvising on an appropriate constitution or statement of objectives. As the Council develops, andbegins to expand its role, the Principal will assist in guiding the Council’s development, so as to allowfor a constructive and purposeful Council.

More generally, the Principal can promote a school culture which recognises the potentially valuableinput that students can make, through a Student Council, into the development of the school.

The Student Council and Teachers

Developing a spirit of partnership and co-operation between a Student Council and teachers has

benefits for both. The Student Council can play an important role in recognising and supporting thework of teachers. Similarly the interest and support of teachers will be of great value to a StudentCouncil, particularly during the early stages of its development.

It is generally desirable for a member of the teaching staff to attend meetings of the Council. The

support and guidance offered by a teacher will be very useful to a Council when planning its activities,and providing for a teacher to attend Council meetings will help to build a co-operative and goodworking relationship between students and staff of the school.

The Student Council and the Parents’ Association

The Parents’ Association can make a significant contribution to the development of a Student Council, byencouraging and supporting students in the establishment of a Council and by supporting the Council inits activities.

A Student Council may find it useful to meet with members of the Parents’ Association from time totime or to invite a parents’ representative to attend Council meetings or to assist it in particular

activities. This will help to ensure good communication between the Student Council and the Parents’Association.

Key functions of Student Councils

The functions and activities of a Student Council should support the aims and objectives of the

Council and promote the development of the school and the welfare of its students. In planning andundertaking activities during the course of the school year, the Council should:

promote the interest of students among the school administration, staff and parents
help to share the burden of teachers to maintain the discipline
Make teacher-pupil relation friendly
To participate in developing the school educational projects and to promote it to students
To promote and encourage the involvement of students in organizing the school activities
To consult students on any issue of importance
To inform students about any subject that concerns them
Helps to develop democratic values
Promotes personality development of students
To officially represent all the students in the school
work closely with school management, teachers and parents,
involve as many students as possible in the activities of the Council.

There is a wide range of activities of benefit to the school community which a Student Council maywish to undertake, some of which are:

Representing the views of the student body to the school management

This should be one of the fundamental aims of every Council. It involves talking and listening to thestudent body, considering their views and concerns, and discussing these with the school managementon behalf of the students.

Promoting good communications within the school

Improving communication within the school community is a shared responsibility and a Student

Council can contribute to this process. Making presentations at staff meetings to keep staff informed ofactivities, keeping a Student Council notice-board or organising a regular newsletter are just some waysthe Council can communicate with the students, school management and staff, and parents.

Supporting the educational development and progress of students

A Student Council can contribute to the learning environment for students in the school by, for

example, setting up study groups for students in exam classes or homework clubs, or organising

lunchtime activities such as language clubs.

Assisting with induction and/or mentoring for new first year students

Starting secondary school is a challenging new experience for 1st Year students. A mentoring

programme where senior students help new students to find their feet can help their integration intothe school community.

Contributing to the development of school policy

The Student Council can actively contribute to the development of school policy in a wide range ofareas such as bullying, uniform requirements, behaviour code and extra-curricular activities. TheCouncil could form sub-committees to consider individual policy issues, to consult with students, staffand parents on those issues and to represent the Council’s views on those issues to schoolmanagement.

Assisting in school sporting and cultural activities

Student Councils can assist in organising and developing sports and cultural activities within the

school, including, for example, sports days and drama or musical events.

Assisting with or organising fund-raising events for charity

Student Councils can organise events both within the school and involving the wider community, forthe purposes of raising money for designated charities.

Liaising with Student Councils in other schools

It may be useful for a Student Council to liase with Student Councils in other schools, particularly in theorganisation of sporting and cultural activities and when fund-raising for charity. An existing StudentCouncil could have a useful role in helping and advising a newly formed Student Council in anotherschool.

GUIDELINES FOR BOARDS OF MANAGEMENT ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND DISSOLUTION OF STUDENT COUNCILS

Establishing a Student Council

Where students in a school notify the Board of Management that they wish to establish a Student

Council, the Board of Management should provide them, in a timely manner, with a copy of the rules ithas drawn up in accordance with these guidelines.Where students have not yet taken the initiative to establish a Student Council, the Board ofManagement acting through the school Principal and teaching staff shall encourage, facilitate and assiststudents in doing so.

Nominations and Elections

The Board of Management, or the Principal acting on its behalf, should set a date for the election ofrepresentative(s) to the Student Council.

All students in each class or year group having a representative on the Student Council should be

entitled to stand for election to the Council. A Board of Management may, at its discretion, make provision for the Principal or relevant teacher toveto a nomination. As such a right should be exercised with caution and only in exceptional cases, theBoard of Management in its rules should clearly state the circumstances in which any veto may be used.

Nominations for election should be made within a reasonable period before the election as specified bythe Board.Voting may take place during class time, break or after school. The holding of elections during class timeis at the discretion of the Board of Management or Principal as the case may be, having regard to theviews of the staff of the school.

All voting should take place by secret ballot.The counting of votes should take place under the supervision of a member of the staff of the school ora representative of the Board of Management or a parent designated for this purpose. In the case of

junior cycle classes, provision may be made for senior cycle students to supervise the counting of votes.

First meeting

The Board of Management should provide in its rules for the convening, by the Principal or a

designated member of staff, of the first meeting of each newly formed Council. The first meeting of anewly formed Council should take place early in the school year or as soon as possible after theconclusion of the elections throughout the school. In general, where elections take place at the start ofthe school year, the first meeting of the Council should be held within 3-4 school weeks of the election.

Constitution

The Student Council may make rules governing its meetings and the business and conduct of its affairs,but it shall consult with the Board of Management before doing so. Such rules may include the drawingup of a Constitution. Where a Student Council does not already have a constitution in place, it shouldbe encouraged to draw one up.

Dissolution of a Student Council

The Board of Management rules will provide for the dissolution of a Student Council where the

Council’s term has expired or, in exceptional circumstances, before the expiry of its term. The rulesdrawn up by the Board should state clearly the grounds on which the Board may consider dissolvingthe Student Council before the expiry of its term of office. Dissolution should happen only in specifiedcircumstances and on grounds of a significantly serious nature, such as:

where a significant number of the Council members have been involved in a serious breach of theschool’s code of behaviour
where serious irregularities have occurred in the election of the Council
where the activities of the Council have endangered the welfare of staff or students of the school
where serious financial irregularities have occurred

Where a Board is considering the dissolution of the Council before the due date, the Board should seekthe views of the staff of the school and the Parents’ Association prior to making a decision. Adequatenotice should be given to the Council, and the reasons for the dissolution clearly explained. TheStudent Council should be given the opportunity to appeal the decision to the Board of Managementor patron, in accordance with established local appeals procedures.

Chapter: 17 TIMETABLE

TIMETABLE

A timetable is in fact the second clock of the school, on the face of which are shown, the hours of the day of school work, the kind of activity for each class, the number and length of periods, the interval, the morning assembly, time for games, library and recreation, teacher wise work allotment, etc.

Definitions of Timetable

In the words of H. G. Stead: “It is the timetable that supplies the framework within which the work of the school proceeds. It is the instrument through which the purpose of the school is to function”.
In the words of Edmonson: “The timetable is an outline of the day’s work which indicates:

Time of beginning and ending of school day;
Time of beginning and ending of each class period; activities period and homework period;

Subjects and activities offered;

Room in which class or activity is held; and
Time, length and number of intermissions.”

The school time-table is a methodical and pre-arranged scheme of studies and activities. It is an outline of the day’s work which indicates:

Time of beginning and ending of school day;
Time of beginning and ending of each class period, activities period and home work period;
Subjects and activities offered;
Days on which each class and each activity meetings are held;
Name of teacher-in-charge of each class or activity;
Room in which class or activity meets and
Time, length and month of intermissions.

Importance of Timetable

Timetable is a necessary instrument and document for the efficient working of a school. The main points of its importance are discussed here;

Imparts system to the school

Without a timetable, the functioning of a school will be unsystematic. There will be a confusion, chaos and clash all around. There will be no programme before the teachers and the students. Absence of a time table will make it a free for all affair. Time table assigns work, place and time for everything and for everybody.

Prevents wastage of time and energy

It makes proper distribution of time among the different activities at the school, instructional as well as non-instructional. It directs everybody’s energy and attention to one thing at a time. The time is proportionately allotted and no part of it remains vacant to be wasted. The distribution of energy is also made in such a manner that maximum benefit is drawn out of it.

Ensures due attention to every subject or activity

Every subject and activity get its due share in the total duration available. No area gets neglected and no area gets undue amount of time.The importance and nature of subjects and activities can be kept in mind while making the allocation of time and place.

Ensures smooth and orderly working of the school

As discussed above, it imparts system to the school. This system further ensures its smooth and orderly working. Everything is planned and notified in advance. The students know beforehand what they are going to read or do in different periods and also the teachers who will meet them. Likewise the teachers know their classes and come prepared with the lessons. There will be no scope for negligence of duty, duplication of effort and repetition of items and activities.

Ensures efficiency

The timetable places proper person at proper places at the proper time and in the proper

manner.There are no delays and no wastages.

Ensures equitable distribution of work among teachers

The timetable ensures equitable workload for the teachers. Any misdistribution can be detected and checked easily. No one can complain of too heavy work allotment and no one can enjoy too light allocation.

Ensures judicious allotment of work

The teachers are assigned only those subjects and activities in which they are fully equipped and interested.

Ensures regular and even progress

Timetable provides regular time for all the subjects and activities according to their importance and difficulty. It leads to regular and balanced progress. There is no laxity and imbalance of work.

Develops moral and ethical values

It helps everybody to acquire habits of regularity and punctuality, steadiness of purpose, orderliness, and sense of responsibility. It develops a methodical, purposeful and honest attitude towards work. This is the secret of success in education and life.

Helps in maintaining discipline

It keeps the student gainfully busy in desirable activities. Student finds no time to loiter about. They do not remain idle to think and act in the wrong directions. When everybody is kept busy, there is no problem of indiscipline to arise.

Helps in adjusting the work according to the needs of the pupils

The work is planned and adjusted according to the physiological and psychological needs of the pupil. The questions of freshness of mind, fatigue, monotony, motivation, interests are given due consideration at the time of constructing a time table.

Satisfies psychological considerations

Apart from satisfying the above mentioned needs of the pupil, the timetable gives a psychological orientation to the entire school programme. It stimulates the students and teachers from the opening till the closing time. It gives them satisfaction about the purpose of schooling. The time table ensures happiness and pleasure in learning. The changes from teacher to teacher, period to period, subject to subject, place to place, activity to activity are planned and adjusted in such a manner which brings motivation, relief, stimulation and urge to learn.

Necessitates advance planning

This puts the teacher and students on the way to advance planning and preparation for various process and activities.

Principles of a Good Timetable

The time table aims at achieving economy, convenience and uniformity. It is not an easy task to frame a good time table. A number of considerations have to be taken into account in its construction, therefore it is a very complex task. Certain principles are to be kept in view while framing a time table:

Type of school

There are various types of schools, like, elementary, secondary, rural, urban, boys, girls etc. in which the facilities and activities differ. There are also single shift and double shift schools. The time table will be framed in order to meet the typical needs and circumstances of the schools concerned. The same time table cannot be thrust upon all types of schools.

The double shift will call for shortening of the duration of school hours. Single teacher arrangement demands a special time table which may enable one teacher to keep four or five different classes occupied. In secondary schools, the length of the periods can be longer than in elementary schools. In model schools, more provision has to be made for games and other activities.

Departmental regulations

Usually, the State Department of Education issues direction for time table construction. It fixes the length of the school year, the duration of the school day, the total number of periods per day and the number of periods per week for each subject. Also, the time for the morning assembly, recess and games is also fixed. It is obligatory on the schools to obey these regulations and maintain uniformity in the outline of the school time table throughout the state.

Amount of time available

The allotment of time to different subjects and activities is to be done on the basis of the total time available. The State Department of Education fixes the school hours and the number of periods per day. Duration of each teaching period can be determined with the help of those regulations. The time for activities, games etc. also has to be set apart out of the prescribed duration.

Flexibility

The departmental regulations impose restrictions on the time table. They introduce elements of uniformity and rigidity. But the timetable should be flexible enough to suit the changing needs and requirements of the pupil’s environment, season and other internal school circumstances and latest trends of education. The time table should make it possible for pupils to choose subjects or activities according to their aptitudes and interests. This is however not very easy to do. It demands unlimited facilities in respect of funds, staff and accommodation.

At the same time, the practice of framing the time table first and then fitting in the students in that rigidly laid pattern may be convenient for the department, but is educationally unsound. There should be scope for the local initiative, innovations and adjsutments when the time table is formulated.

Relative importance and difficulty of subjects

Each subject has to be provided time in the timetable according to its importance, which is determined by the social, economic and cultural considerations as well as by the future needs of the students. The relative difficulty of the subjects is also an important consideration. Important subjects must get more time. Difficult subjects should be placed when the students are fresh.

Welfare of teachers as well as students

The time table should inspire and provide for closer and proper relationship between teachers and students. The general interests of both the groups should be kept in view and accommodated.

Some period for recreation

There should be periods for recreation like play and games, physical exercises, radio listening and other activities intervening between periods of serious study. The games period should fall in between the periods of heavy strain. Similarly, a mini recess may also be provided in addition to the usual recess. It may be fixed after every two or three periods in the morning.

Sufficient place for activities; activities must find and an honorable place in the timetable
Suitable duration of period

Duration of period should suit the age of the pupils. Period of thirty-five minutes in summer and forty minutes in winter for higher secondary school and thirty minutes for primary school will be quit justifiable for sustaining interest.

Coordination of efforts

The timetable should permit adequate coordination of teachers. It should give free hand for adopting modern methods of teaching.

Providing the most appropriate work for each teacher

In allotting work to teachers, care should be taken that each teacher is assigned those subjects which he is best qualified to teach. The teacher should be assigned the activities in which they have experience and interest and is not required to teach a large number of varied subjects. Teaching load should be almost evenly distributed.

Interesting programmes

Interesting programmes in the beginning and towards the end of school hours motivate children and fill them with an incentive to work enthusiastically and effectively. Similarly, during week ends also some interesting activities should be provided.

Variety

The time table should introduce variety in the day’s work to break the effect of fatigue and monotony. This can be ensured by change of subject, change of room, change of teacher, change of posture and change in the nature of activity. The difficult and easy subjects should be alternated with one another. The same teacher should not remain in the class for more than one period at a time. The venue of instruction should also be changed frequently as possible. Subjects of practical nature should alternate with subjects of difficult theoretical nature.

Change of the work is the best form of rest for both pupils and teachers. Children should not be kept for too long at a stretch at the same subject or type of subject which are high in fatigue causing power. It will be better not to have the same subject for consecutive periods, excepting, however, the practical subjects as science, handwork, art etc.

Staff, equipment and building

The time table should ensure the best utilization of the resources of the school in respect of staff, equipment and building. It should not happen that a staff member is required to teach easy subjects in the morning and difficult subjects in the afternoon. Similarly, it should not happen that a particular room is lying vacant, whereas a class is sitting outside for want of accommodation. Also it should no happen that the science laboratory is idle for the whole day excepting the last two periods when a large number of students are crowded into it and they fail to do anything significant on account of shortage of space and equipment.

Provision for best room and equipment utilization

The number and size of classes and class rooms also affect the school timetable. In a school where two classes are held in the same room, the timetable should be drawn up in such a way that one class may do silent work and other may, at that time, be engaged in vocal work such as reading.

Avoiding incidence of fatigue

The main consideration in time table construction is the problem of fatigue among students. Fatigue is a physical matter, and its evidences are:

Weakening of attention and perception
Unreadiness and inaccuracy of judgement
Diminished power of insight
A loss of self-control
Diminishing work rate

Children are more easily fatigued than grown ups. It is for this reason that school day in their case should be shorter than in the case of college students. of the period should be kept as short as possible. As one gets easily tired in summer than in winter, the periods in summer should be shorter than in the winter.

Certain subjects are more fatiguing than others. They involve heavier mental exertion, strain and effort. The best periods for fatiguing subjects are the second and third periods in the morning, and second period after recess.

The fatigue principle is true for the days of the week also. Tuesday and Wednesday are considered to be the best days in which maximum work could be accomplished. Monday is only the warming up day when pupils still carry the Sunday holiday feeling and on Saturday they carry the feeling to enjoy the coming holiday.

Children get fatigued at certain school hours or certain days in a week. Following are some measures that tend to minimize fatigue:

The length of the period should decrease with the monotony and increase with the variety required in the lesson.
There should be alteration of intense and of easier talks, mental and of physical application, of study and recreation, singing, marching, or games should interrupt sedentary work for about one hour,

Variation to suit local condition

The hours of work and the duration of recess may be marginally adjusted to suit lical conditions. In a big school a short recess of 30 minutes may not even enable the students to drink water from the tap because of rush. The need of the particular locality should be taken into consideration while adjusting the working hour and duration of summer vacation.

A rural school may like to start its work a little late on account of long distances to be covered by the students. When students need to go to their homes for lunch in village areas, the duration of recess have to be increased. The arrival time for train may also be a consideration for a small adjustment in the opening time of the school.

Equalising class size

This consideration is necessitated when there are several divisions of the same class or when pupils are distributed into various original groups. The headmaster should see that these groups are of uniform size as far as possible.

Time for teacher’s conference

Sometimes time should be provided in the school time table for teacher’s conferences for joined planning in the interest of pupil needs.

Free periods for teachers

Free periods should be given to teachers so as to give them rest, enhance their efficiency, give them chance to refresh, enable them to attend to correction work and registration work. These free periods should be scattered all over the week. The language teachers need more free periods as they have to do a lot of correction work. The science and craft teachers, who have to make necessary preparations for practical work, should be kept free in the period immediately preceding the practical periods. On an average, a teacher should be provided two vacant periods each day.

Cooperative teaching

Provision for and opportunity for cooperative teaching in the integrated programmers should be made available if and when teachers want it. Cooperative teaching implies that two or more teachers and their classes during the lengthened period may work together for one or several days.

Fluid and dynamic

Time table should be fluid enough to allow variation within a broad frame whenever desired. So there should be a period of various lengths from thirty minutes to three hours, shorter period can prove useful for sectional meetings and assemblies, school recess, or even for revision lessons.

Continually revised

Time table should never be accepted as a fact as all times. It should be examined critically in the light of particular factors operating in the school.

different Types of Timetable

A good timetable must be complete in every way. For efficient working of the school, it is desirable to have different timetables for different purposes and activities. It indicates the type of curricular and co-curricular activities being carried out in the school at a particular time and place. It may also indicate under whose supervision and guidance those activities are being carried out. But a single time table may not convey the entire information satisfactorily.

Consolidated timetable

It is also known as general timetable or master timetable. It provides a complete picture of the entire school programme from day to day. It can be very useful to the headmaster who depends only on this timetable. This timetable is suitable for all types of supervisory responsibilities. It indicates the details of the work of individual teachers. Different sheets may be used for the days in a week, or they may be prepared in a comprehensive chart showing the programme of all the working days.

Class timetable

Every class should have its own timetable which should indicate the distribution of subjects with teachers and assignment of classrooms for each period. It is a picture of class wise programmes. It shows what a particular class or section will study in a particular period from a particular teacher at a particular place.

Teacher’s timetable

Teacher’s timetable in consolidated form is very useful, for the headmaster to carry out the supervisory duties. Every teacher may be provided with his/her own small strips containing all the subjects and classes he/she has to teach and the activities he/she has to look after. It should show the details of their academic and non-academic work.

Games timetable

It will show the allocation of time and place for games for each group or house, the games being played and the playground being utilized. For games cannot be organized based on section and classes.These are organized based on proficiency in games. Therefore, there is need and justification for timetable exclusively for games.

Co-curricular activities timetable

This will facilitate and systematize the organization of important co-curricular activities in a school. It will show the names of various activities, the names of teacher in charge, the place of meeting and duration, etc.

Homework timetable

In order to rationalize the load of homework, a timetable of these types will be very helpful. It will show the amount of homework, to be submitted by each student in his/her subject for the concerned class during a week. Thus the student will be saved from unnecessarily heavy burden of homework on certain occasions. It is also advisable to send a copy of homework time table to parents to secure their co-operation in this direction.

Vacant periods timetable

A special timetable showing the vacant periods of all the teachers may also be prepared. This is helpful in keeping their classes occupied by allotting work when a teacher happens to be on leave.

Chapter: 18 TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

The quality of education is determined by the kind of humans it produces. In education, where the shaping of person takes place, quality is a more holistic concept. Quality in education cannot be restricted to the supplier specification and even apparent customer satisfaction in terms of employability. There is the inner world of human life; quality in education includes processes that nurture the seeds of inner development.

The concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) was developed by an American, W. Edwards Deming, after World War II for improving the production quality of goods and services. The concept was not taken seriously by Americans until the Japanese, who adopted it in 1950 to resurrect their postwar business and industry, used it to dominate world markets by 1980. By then most U.S. manufacturers had finally accepted that the nineteenth century assembly line factory model was outdated for the modern global economic markets.

Total Quality Management can be defined as a continuous effort by the management as well as employees of a particular organization to ensure long term customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.

The concept of TQM was introduced by Professor W. Edwards Deming in the 1950’s, can be applied to almost every organization up to a certain level. Total Quality Management is an integrative strategy to lead the entire components of organization to enhance the quality of its product and service. Tuttle (1994) traced four stages of the development of TQM:

Awareness and early experiments
Blind following characterized by frenzied activity
Negative skepticism arising out of failures of over-enthusiasm in Stage 2
Stage of maturity with continuing momentum but well-informed adoption of activities

Whereas many countries are in the fourth stage, we in India are just beginning to realize the potential and are at the early stage of experimentation with TQM in education.

Total Quality Management is comprised of three components:

Total: Involving the entire organization or made up of the whole
Quality: Degree of excellence ofa product or service it provides
Management:The system of managing with steps like plan, organize, control, lead, staff, provisioning and the art of handling, controlling or directing.

Power and Panda (1995) argued ‘that an institution of high quality, efficiently and effectively meets its stated purposes or missions developed taking into account clients’ stated as well as implied needs’.

Chaffe and Tierney (1988) identified nine areas of sensitivity that provide a broad context within which to consider application of TQM. They are:

Find internal contradictions
Develop comparative awareness
Clarify the identity of the institution
Communicate
Act on multiple, changing forms
Treat every problem as if it has multiple solutions
Treat every solution as a fleeting solution
Look for consequences in unlikely places
Be aware of any solution that hurts people or undermines strong values

Applying TQM in education is a continuous search for quality at personal, group, institutional and societal levels. There are significant potentialities that TQM can offer to education. First, TQM offers a justification and a technique for the continuous search for quality and excellence. Second, it develops willingness and hence a culture for change; related to that institutions learn to be more flexible and responsive. Third, TQM makes qualitative shifts in decision-making: first on the location of decision-making by active participants irrespective of their levels in the hierarchy of the organization rather than concentrating at the top of the hierarchy, and second on decision-making based on facts.

The concept of TQM is applicable to academics. Many educators believe that the Deming’s concept of TQM provides guiding principles for needed educational reform. In his article, “The Quality Revolution in Education,” John Jay Bonstingl outlines the TQM principles he believes are most salient to education reform. He calls them the “Four Pillars of Total Quality Management.”

Principle #1: Synergistic Relationships

According to this principle, an organization must focus, first and foremost, on its suppliers and customers. In a TQM organization, everyone is both a customer and supplier; this confusing concept emphasizes “the systematic nature of the work in which all are involved”. In other words, teamwork and collaboration are essential. Traditionally, education has been prone to individual and departmental isolation. However, according to Bonstingl, this outdated practice no longer serves us: “When I close the classroom door, those kids are mine!” is a notion too narrow to survive in a world in which teamwork and collaboration result in high-quality benefits for the greatest number of people. The very application of the first pillar of TQM to education emphasizes the synergistic relationship between the “suppliers” and “customers”. The concept of synergy suggests that performance and production is enhanced by pooling the talent and experience of individuals.

In a classroom, teacher-student teams are the equivalent of industry’s front-line workers. The product of their successful work together is the development of the student’s capabilities, interests, and character. In one sense, the student is the teacher’s customer, as the recipient of educational services provided for the student’s growth and improvement. Viewed in this way, the teacher and the school are suppliers of effective learning tools, environments, and systems to the student, who is the school’s primary customer. The school is responsible for providing for the long-term educational welfare of students by teaching them how to learn and communicate in high-quality ways, how to access quality in their own work and in that of others, and how to invest in their own lifelong and life-wide learning processes by maximizing opportunities for growth in every aspect of daily life. In another sense, the student is also a worker, whose product is essentially his or her own continuous improvement and personal growth.

Principle #2: Continuous Improvement and Self Evaluation

The second pillar of TQM applied to education is the total dedication to continuous improvement, personally and collectively. Within a Total Quality school setting, administrators work collaboratively with their customers: teachers. Gone are the vestiges of “Scientific management” … whose watchwords were compliance, control and command. The foundations for this system were fear, intimidation, and an adversarial approach to problem-solving. Today it is in our best interest to encourage everyone’s potential by dedicating ourselves to the continual improvement of our own abilities and those of the people with whom we work and live. Total Quality is, essentially, a win-win approach which works to everyone’s ultimate advantage.

According to Deming, no human being should ever evaluate another human being. Therefore, TQM emphasizes self-evaluation as part of a continuous improvement process. In addition, this principle also laminates to the focusing on students’ strengths, individual learning styles, and different types of intelligences.

Principle #3: A System of Ongoing Process

The third pillar of TQM as applied in academics is the recognition of the organization as a system and the work done within the organization must be seen as an ongoing process. The primary implication of this principle is that individual students and teachers are less to blame for failure than the system in which they work. Quality speaks to working on the system, which must be examined to identify and eliminate the flawed processes that allow its participants to fail. Since systems are made up of processes, the improvements made in the quality of those processes largely determine the quality of the resulting product. In the new paradigm of learning, continual improvement of learning processes based on learning outcomes replaces the outdated “teach and test” mode.

Principle #4: Leadership

The fourth TQM principle applied to education is that the success of TQM is the responsibility of top management. The school teachers must establish the context in which students can best achieve their potential through the continuous improvement that results from teachers and students working together. Teachers who emphasize content area literacy and principle-centered teaching provide the leadership, framework, and tools necessary for continuous improvement in the learning process.

According to the practical evidences, the TQM principles help the schools in following clauses:

(a) Redefine the role, purpose and responsibilities of schools.
(b) Improve schools as a “way of life.”
(c) Plan comprehensive leadership training for educators at all levels.
(d) Create staff development that addresses the attitudes and beliefs of school staff.
(e) Use research and practice-based information to guide both policy and practice.
(f) Design comprehensive child-development initiatives that cut across a variety of agencies and institutions.

In order to achieve the above as opportunities to the academic scenario, in addition to patience, participatory management among well-trained and educated partners is crucial to the success of TQM in education; everyone involved must understand and believe in principles. Some personnel who are committed to the principles can facilitate success with TQM. Their vision and skills in leadership, management, interpersonal communication, problem solving and creative cooperation are important qualities for successful implementation of TQM.

Indicators of Quality in Education

The system of indicators of quality in education, as well as the quality criteria associated with the indicators, helps schools to point out the important areas of their own activities, their own advantages and disadvantages and development opportunities. The indicators are grouped into 7 areas with specific topics: The first is:

Curriculum

Structure of the curriculum (program/goals, tasks, focus on development of functional tasks, focus on student’s activities. Integration of programs within and between areas)
Courses and programs
Key competencies that students develop in the given school

Achievements (evaluated by external, independent agencies)

Achievement quality compared with set goals

Learning and teaching – teacher’s work

Student’s work and experience
Meeting the needs of the students
Monitoring and evaluating the work of students and teachers

Students’ support

Student’s personal, social and spiritual growth
Progress and achievement monitoring
Support in all aspects of learning, progress, student’s and teacher’s personal development

School ethos

School policy
School atmosphere and relations
Specific goals of each individual school
Orientation towards student’s, teacher’s and parent’s satisfaction

Resources

School resources
Teachers, professional associates, the principal; their education, teacher’s teamwork, co-operation; being open to innovation
Material resources and premises
Efficient human and material resources

Management, leadership and quality assurance

Approaches to leadership and management

TQM is a systematic program that indicates everyone and everything in the organization is involved in the enterprise of continuous improvement. Frazier (1997) stated quality management provides a connection between outcomes and the process by which outcomes are achieved. If the cause of failures in education is a problem in design, quality management may be regarded as an ideal systemic process for managing change in public education. TQM is used to describe two slightly different but related notions. The first is a philosophy of continuous improvement. The second related meaning uses TQM to describe the tools and techniques. TQM is both a mind-set and a set of practical activities- an attitude of mind as well as a method of promoting continuous improvement.

The hierarchy of quality concepts

As an approach, TQM represents a permanent shift in an institution’s focus away from short-term expediency to the long-term quality improvement. Herman and Herman (1994) stated three levels of application of quality management in education.

The first level is to the management process of a school, including strategic planning, recruiting and staff development, deploying resources, and alignment of what is taught, how it is taught, and how it is assessed.
The next level is teaching quality to students. Students are recognized as both customer and workers in the educational system. Administrators need to involve students in their own education by training them to evaluate the learning process and accept responsibility for their learning.

Two things are required for staff to produce quality.

First, staff needs a suitable environment in which to work. The environment that surrounds staff has a profound effect on their ability to do their job properly and effectively.
Second, encouragement and recognition of success and achievement should be deserved from leaders who can appreciate their achievement and coach them to greater success Edward 3rd, 2002).

Basic components of TQM

The management should be aware of current situation and needs to be committed towards TQM implementation.
Focus has to be given to society’s requirements and product or service expectation.
Involve employees in understanding the quality aspect and make them accountable.
Continuous improvement in the process is required.
Treat parents as your partners.
Develop tracking mechanism for process and improve it as per educational requirements.

Principles of Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management is an attempt to enhance the quality of both products and services through certain principles like:

Continuous improvement:

A major thrust of TQM is continual process improvement. Continual improvement drives an organization to be both analytical and creative in finding ways to become more competitive and more effective at meeting stakeholder expectation. Organization should continuously improve the culture of skills. For this the organization should give effective training and programme to make employee skilled once. Creative and innovation skill make the quality of a product which satisfy the customer and also helps to develop overall working efficiency of the organization. Continual improvement should be a permanent objective of the organization.

Leadership:

Leaders establish unity, purpose and direction of the organization. They should create and maintain the internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organizational objectives.

Use of teamwork:

Use of teamwork is the important part of TQM. It helps to solve problems of any part of the organization. Team cooperates between each other and one encourages another for making process. All members come together for taking decisions related to procedure and working method

Students/customer-focused:

Organization depends on their customers and therefore should understand current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements and strive to exceed level of quality.

Process centered:

A fundamental part of TQM is a focus on process. Thestep required to carry out the process are defined, and performance measures are continuously monitored in order to detect unexpected variations. A desired result is achieved more efficiently when related to sources and the activities are managed as process.

Integrated system:

Although an organization may consist of many different functional specialties it is the integrated processes interconnecting these functions that are the focus of TQM.

Involvement of entire aspect of educational institutions:

In TQM, all the employees of an organization have to participate for improving quality of product, services and the environment they work. Both staffs and the students should be encouraged continuously to join their hands together to contribute their maximum for achieving Total Quality enhancement in schools.

Strategic and systematic approach:

Identifying, understanding and managing a system of interrelated process for a given objective improves the organization effectiveness and efficiency. The process called strategic planning or strategic management, includes the formulation of strategic plan that integrates quality as a core component.

Fact based decision making:

Effective decisions are based on the analysis of data and information. TQM requires that an organization continually collect and analyses data in order to improve decision making accuracy, achieve consensus, and allow prediction based on past history.

Communication:

During times of organizational change as well as part of day to day operation, effective communications plays a large part in maintaining morale and in motivating employees at all levels. Communications involving strategies, method and timelines.

Mutually beneficial relationships:

A mutually beneficial relationship between management and employees enhances the ability of both to contribute maximum.

Need for Total Quality Management

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a methodology that facilitates adapting to todays

changing external environment.

It will have merits like:

Establishes a flexible design and infrastructure so as to enable the institution to fulfill changing societal demands
It facilitates bringing about change in an institution
Quality management helps organizations to reduce waste and stagnation
Quality management ensures increased quality and higher productivity of both products and services
Quality management helps maximum utilization of available resources
Creates awareness for the need and opportunity for improvement
Sets explicit goals for improvement
Provides appropriate training
Creates systematic organizational structure
Identifies and reports progress
Develops mutual respect and cooperation
Helps continuous evaluation and supervision
Ensures participation of all employees
Saves time and energy
Develop great relationship between teachers and students
Creates excellent placement opportunities
Ensures extensive and continuous improvement
Enhances relationship between management and faculty
Helps SWOT analysis and Quality audit

SCOPE OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN EDUCATION

With the changing patterns of education, course content, nature of learner and organizational structure, the concept of quality has become an inherent component of the educational process for its success. TQM in education is a timely concept, which must be clearly understood, adopted and implemented to cope up with the rising demands in the global scenario. So, it is evident that TQM has a wider scope in education. Let us see some of the areas:

Vision of an institution:

Vision of an institution provides them proper direction to meet their future challenges. As far as the concept of TQM is concerned, vision has a significant role to play in the quality enhancement of an educational system. An institution without quality vision cannot achieve their objectives effectively and efficiently

School Administration and management:

Administration is the policy formulation process and management is the implementation of the same. So, it is necessary to plan all he activities and programmes well in advance, in a very specific way to ensure the achievement of all objectives in time. It is very necessary to frame all these based on qualitative aspects, which provide maximum benefits to the students who are the real customers.

Curriculum:

As the curriculum is determined by the nation/state, there should be a national and state level monitoring committee to ensure that the curriculum is framed according to the demands and tastes of the learner. The quality should be maintained in each element of the curricular programme so that we can call it ‘Quality curriculum’.

Teaching-learning process:

Effective implementation of a curriculum is possible only by the effective transaction of it. It can be achieved only through a quality enabled teaching-learning process. It must be learner-centered, process oriented and a socially linked one, which will enrich the multiple skills of the learner and leads to their maximum satisfaction. The programmes like ICT-enabled teaching-learning, E-text books, E-classroom management etc, should be implemented in all institutions to ensure learner satisfaction.

Formation of ‘Quality Circles’:

As part of the teaching-learning process ‘Quality circles’ can be used. It refers to the learning by a small group of students who study the same subject. This group is voluntarily gathered on a regular basis, to discuss their subject related problems in a systematic way to find out solutions in co-operation with the teachers. TQM provides a systematic and clear-cut framework for the formation and implementation of ‘Quality Circles’.

Student Assessment:

TQM always warrants a result-oriented approach and each activity should be aimed to achieve its maximum result. The student assessment should be continuous and comprehensive throughout the programme. Various modern assessment strategies can be used to find out an individual’s development. The results should be statistically analysed and remedial measures should be suggested.

Human Resource Management:

TQM gives more focus to a quality based recruitment, selection, training and development, work allotment, employee utilization, performance appraisal and rewarding, assessment and rating. Scientific methods and systems should be used for all these and use of statistical techniques is also mandatory.

Financial management:

Quality of all components of a system always depends on the proper utilization of finance. This can be achieved by adequate budgeting, resource mobilization, development and optimization, utilization, accounting and auditing etc.

School infrastructure:

This is the foundation of all activities. It includes construction and maintenance of buildings, utilization of infrastructure, library, laboratory, hostel etc. While doing all these, quality must be a major component and optimum utilization of all these is very essential. Proper planning and management must be done for this.

Student services:

As per TQM, since students are the customer of an educational institution their satisfaction is to be ensured. So maximum services like guidance and counselling, sports and amenities, recreation facilities, incentives and scholarships and other co-curricular activities etc. should be given to students.

Stakeholder’s services:

Apart from parents, there are immediate neighborhood and community; local bodies such as panchayats, municipalities and corporations; higher authorities,other related departments, former students etc. who are the major stakeholders of an educational institution. As per TQM, an institution should create a proper linkage with all its stakeholders.

SWOT analysis

SWOT is an acronym or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By definition,

Strengths(S) and Weaknesses (W) are considered to be internal factors over which we have some measure of control and Opportunities (O) and Threats (T) are considered to be external factors over which we have essentially no control.

SWOT Analysis is the most renowned tool for audit and analysis of the overall strategic position of the organization and its environment. It is the foundation for evaluating the internal potential and limitations and the probable opportunities and threats from the external environment. It views all positive and negative factors inside and outside the organization that affect the success.

SWOT analysis or SWOT Matrix in education is a structured planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in an educational institution. SWOT analysis can be carried out for a product, place, industry or person. It involves specifying the objective of the educational venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favourable and unfavourable to achieving that objective.

A SWOT analysis for schools is a tool that can provide prompts to the management, the headmaster, teachers and staff involved in the analysis of what is effective and less effective in the school systems and procedures. Often it has been used in preparation for a plan of some form (that could be an audit, assessments, quality checks etc.). In fact, a SWOT can be used for any planning or analysis activity which could impact future finance, planning and management decisions of the school or establishment. It helps to carry out a more comprehensive analysis. An overview of the four factors (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) are:

Strengths:

Internal factors that are likely to have a positive effect on (or be an enabler to) achieving the school’s objectives. Strengths are the qualities that enable us to accomplish the organization’s mission. These are the basis on which continued success can be made and continued/sustained.

Weaknesses:

Internal factors that are likely to have a negative effect on (or be a barrier to) achieving the school’s objectives. Weaknesses are the qualities that prevent us from accomplishing our mission and achieving our full potential. These weaknesses deteriorate on the organizational success and growth. Weaknesses are the factors which do not meet the standards we feel they should meet.

Opportunities:

External factors that are likely to have a positive effect on achieving or exceeding the school’s objectives, or goals, not previously considered. Opportunities are presented by the environment within which our organization operates. These arise when an organization can take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and execute strategies that enable it to enhance quality. Organizations can gain competitive advantage by making use of opportunities.

Threats:

External factors and conditions that are likely to have a negative effect on achieving the school’s objectives, or making the objective redundant or unachievable. Threats arise when conditions in external environment threaten the reliability and profitability of the organization’s business. They compound the vulnerability when they relate to the weaknesses. Threats are uncontrollable. When a threat comes, stability and survival can be at stake.

Advantages of SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis helps in strategic planning as:

It is a source of information for strategic planning
Builds organization’s strengths
Reverse its weaknesses
Maximizes its response to opportunities
Overcomes organization’s threats
It helps in identifying core competencies of the organization
It helps in setting of objectives for strategic planning
It helps in knowing past, present and future so that by using past and current data, future plans can be chalked out.
It would allow achievable goals or objectives to be set for the organization.

Quality Audit

Quality audit is the process of systematic examination of a quality system carried out by an internal or external quality auditor or an audit team to determine its conformity with the requirements of a quality standard. It is an important part of organization’s quality management system. It is periodic, independent, documented examination and verification of activities, records, processes and other elements of a quality system (ISO 9000, NAAC accreditation). Any failure in their proper implementation may be published publicly and may lead to a revocation of quality certification.

Chapter: 19 ORGANIZING PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS

ORGANIZING PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION ACTIVITIES IN SCHOOLS

Physical education is one of the aspects of education. “Physical education is an integral part of the total education process and has its aim in the development of physically, mentally, emotionally and socially fit citizens through the medium of physical activities which have been selected with a view to realizing these outcomes”.

“Physical education is the sum of those experiences which come to the individual through movement.”

“Physical education is that field of education which deals with big muscle activities and their related responses.”

The old concept of physical education as mere drill or series of regulated exercises has been rejected. It includes all forms of physical activities and games which promote the development of the body and mind.

There had been a tendency in various schemes of physical education in the past to emphasize only the physical fitness value of physical education and ignore its educational value. The concept of physical education has been broadened, as it should contribute not only to physical fitness, but also to physical efficiency, mental alertness and the development of certain qualities like perseverance, team spirit, leadership, obedience to rules, moderation in victory and balance in defeat.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

According to Swami Vivekananda- “What India needs today is not the Bhagwat Gita, but the football field.”

Ryburn says - “We need in Indian education a general physical education- we need a conception of education in which physical education takes its rightful place, in which its vital importance is recognised.”

A properly directed physical education should result in health, happiness, efficiency and character.

In the words of Froebel- “If we wish to develop the whole being, we must exercise the whole human being”.

CONCEPT OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Physical education is a very wide concept and it is a vital part of the larger process of education. It is not correct to equate physical education with games and sports, gymnastics, mass drill, ‘yoga’, physical exercise, physical training and physical culture. None of these terms convey the correct concept and scope of physical education. Physical education encompasses all these programmes.

Dealing with the concept of physical education, the secondary Education commission report says, “Physical education is an indispensable part of all health programmes. Its various activities should be so planned as to develop the physical and mental health of the students, cultivate recreational interests and skills and promote the spirit of team work, sportsmanship and respect for others. Physical education is, therefore, much more than mere drill or a series of regulated exercises. It includes all forms of physical activities and games which promote the development of both the body and the mind.”

The Education commission points out that ‘There has been a tendency in recent government schemes of physical education to emphasize only the physical fitness value of physical education and ignore its educational value.’ The concept of physical education has been made broader, as it should contribute ‘not only to physical fitness but also to physical efficiency, mental alertness and the development of certain qualities- perseverance, team spirit, leadership, obedience to rules, moderation in victory and balance in defeat.’ The commission was aware of the hard realities which one encounters while preparing programmes of physical education in schools and colleges, therefore it suggested that the programmes ‘should take into account not only what is useful but also what is possible in view of limitations facilities, time and number of teacher.’ It also emphasized the need for re-examining and re-designing the programmes of physical education in the light of certain basic principles of child growth and development.

The term physical education includes activities like exercises, fitness as well as curative, games informal play, movement education, rhythm tic activities, sports and ‘yoga’; health oriented activities which help for the emotional, mental, physical, social and spiritual development of the individual, physical education is much more than building a healthy and strong body.

From the views expressed above it will be obvious that physical education is not only concerned with helping the child to grow and develop physically but also learning to fit in with his social environment and adjusting to life around, acquiring the capacity to be mentally alert to all environmental responses, expressing emotions without prejudice to others and otherwise reaching his maturity progressively.

Meaning and definitions of physical education

The word physical education comprises of two words Physical and Education. The plain dictionary meaning of physical is relating to body characteristics of a person such as physical strength, physical endurance, physical fitness, physical appearance or physical health. The word education means the systematic instruction or training or preparation for some particular task the two words combined together stands for the systematic instruction or training related to physical activities or programme of activities necessary for development and maintenance of human body of the development of physical powers r activities for cultivating physical skills. Physical education is a course that focuses on the developing physical fitness. Physical education is the education of man ‘in’ and ‘by’ means of physical activity. Physical education is the school subject by which children do physical exercises or take part in physical games and sports.

According to Charles A. Bucher, “physical education is an integral part of the total education process and has as its aim the development of physically, mentally, emotionally and socially fit citizens through the medium of physical activities which have been selected with a view to realizing these outcomes.”

According to C.C. Cowell, “physical education is the social process of change in the behaviour of the human organisms, originating primarily from the stimulus of social big-muscle-play and related activities.”

According to R.Cassidy, “Physical education is the sum of changes in the individual caused by experience which can bring in motor activity.”

According to H.C.Buck, “Physical education is that part of general education programme which is concerned with the growth, development and education of children through the medium of big muscle activities. It is education of the whole child by means of physical activities. It is education of the whole child by means of physical activities. Physical activities are the tools. They are so selected and conducted as to influence every aspect of child’s life, physically, mentally, emotionally and morally.”

Thus physical education means total growth and development through the medium of physical activities which lead to happy and useful life of an individual, as an adult member of his community.

Forms of Physical Education in Schools

A comprehensive programme of physical education is given below. It may be adjusted according to the needs, environment and levels of various schools.

In nursery Schools

In view of their peculiar situation and requirements, the following physical education activities will prove more suitable.

Rhythmic exercises like dancing, singing, acting and games. The delightful rhythm of such activities is a great source of pleasure to the youngsters.
Free Play Activities like walking, running, jumping, skipping, pushing, throwing, paddling, sliding, swinging, hammering, gardening etc.

Play activities like circle and line games, musical chairs race, hide and seek, touch me not, potato-race etc.

Learning of alphabet and numbers through music and play.

In Primary School

Certain activities are expected to be more suitable at this stage:

Dancing and dramatics including folk dancing, singing, skipping to music and dramatics, running, jumping, ball throwing and catching and other games.
Play and Organised games like kabaddi, kho-kho, volleyball, football, ring tennis, table tennis, scouting, girl guiding, rope jumping and other recreative games.

Gymnastics like tumbling and vaulting, drill and marching exercises, easy exercises on jumping, climbing and folk dancing. These will provide motor training as well as recreation.

Natural activities like running, jumping, climbing, throwing, boxing, balancing etc. These activities appeal to the natural urges of the children.
Corrective exercises are introduced for posture training and for correcting physical defects.
In Middle, High and Senior Secondary Schools

Certain activities will be more suitable:

Dance and music including folk dancing, classical dancing and gymnastic dancing. These activities prove useful for self-expression and neuro-muscular co-ordination.
Organised Games including major games like kabaddi, hockey, football, volleyball, kho-kho, basketball, cricket etc., dual games like badminton, table-tennis, ring tennis, etc., recreative games like relays, social games etc.

Sports and athletics including various types of field and track-events like running, jumping, throwing, cycling, swimming, riding, skating etc.

Physical culture games like weight lifting, wrestling, boxing, yogic exercises, and mass combatives based on attack and defence.
Camping and outdoor activities like hiking, picnics, excursions, mountaineering etc.
Rhythmic activities including rhythm games, folk dances, social dances, community singing etc.

Formal activities like marching, gymnastics, mass drill, mass P.T., etc.
Special activities like ceremonial parades, demonstrations, flag salutations, singing national anthem, practical projects etc.

Programme for Physical Education

Developmental Activities:Walking, running, throwing, jumping, climbing, balancing, weight training, yogic exercises etc.
Rhythmics:Rhythmic games, folk dances, singing games, social dances, community singing etc.

Games, Sports and Athletics:Games such as ‘kabaddi’, kho-kho, volleyball, football, hockey, basketball, cricket etc., which are known as major games. Tennis, table tennis, badminton etc. are dual games; and relay games; social games; group games etc. which are recreational games.

Sports:Cycling, riding, skating, shooting etc.
Athletics: Running, jumping, throwing, walking etc.
Formal Activities: Drill and marching, mass P.T. exercises etc.

Apparatus: Parallel bars, roman rings, beam, vaulting, ropes etc.
Combatives: Wrestling, boxing, lathi fight, dagger fight etc.

Aquatics: Swimming, diving and lifesaving etc.
Camping and Outdoor Activities: Hiking, cross country, camping, picnics, excursions, mountaineering etc.
Special Activities: Demonstrations, ceremonial parades, flag salutations, singing the national anthem etc.

Physical Education and Health Education

Education about health is health education, whereas education of the physique is called physical education. Physical education can be called one of the aspects of health education. Physical appearance, good physique and a sound body are the responsibility of physical education

Health education employs and develops the knowledge of rules of personal hygiene and ways of healthy living. Physical education develops physical health by employing the means of games, sports, gymnastics, folk dances, classical dances etc. J. B. Nash has remarked “Health and recreation are results while physical education activities are the means”. Both health and physical education aspire for a common goal, i.e. the development of the individual or that of a group.

Methods of Imparting Health Education

Some of the important ways and means of effectively imparting health education in schools are:

Healthy School Environment:

Any scheme of health education in schools must first of all ensure a healthy school environment and surroundings. If the school environment is clean and healthy, it is a befitting basic amenity towards health education. It is necessary to make classrooms, playgrounds, passages, laboratories, workshops, lawns etc. very attractive and conducive to health. There should be suitable arrangement of clean drinking water and place for taking mid-day meals. The provision of suitable urinals and lavatories also demands attention in the interest of sanitation and health. The conditions of work and work appliances should also be suitable for developing healthy habits and healthful living. Dustbins at every suitable corner is another requisite facility.

Health Book

Each student should be asked to maintain a health book. It will contain the health record of the student. Pictures illustrating important health rules, causes, prevention and remedies of various diseases may be pasted in it. An important health rule should be pasted on the top of every page. This book will provide to the authorities many clues for imparting health education to individuals and groups.

Safety First

The school has the responsibility for providing an environment that ensures safe living at school. It is necessary that safety is promoted in the classrooms, playgrounds, laboratories, workshops etc.

Lectures and Talks

The headmaster, teachers, school medical officer, local health authorities and the physical education instructor may deliver special lectures on various requisites of health and hygiene from time to time. After these talks students should be given opportunities to ask questions concerning these topics of health and hygiene to remove their doubts and to bring in their individual health problems. The impact of these lectures and talks on the students should also be evaluated from time to time.

Printed Material

The school can accumulate a lot of printed material on health and hygiene, such as books, booklets, charts, posters, pamphlets, leaflets etc. The health department, hospitals, red cross and other social welfare organizations can be contacted for relevant health literature. The teachers can themselves prepare charts, posters and leaflets on simple topics like food, exercise, personal cleanliness, healthy habits, prevention, diseases etc. The students can also be encouraged to prepare and display such materials.

Health Weeks

Health week may be celebrated in the school every year, in which special emphasis may be placed on personal hygiene, school cleanliness, community health etc. The students may engage in the thorough cleanliness of the school campus. They may also go to the village and do social service for its cleanliness. Various student committees may be formed regarding different aspects of personal cleanliness. Different committees may arrange competitions in their areas and award prizes to students having a better grasp of health education and its activities.

Health projects

Apart from health weeks, some specific health projects may also be undertaken by the school to promote health education. A campaign may be launched to combat dengue and reduce its incidence. The uneducated adults may be educated about personal hygiene. The eradication of mosquitoes can be another campaign Some exercise, drills, games and entertainments may also be introduced to serve some of the aspects of health education.

Health Clubs

Health clubs like other student clubs and societies can be organized in schools. These clubs can arrange debates, plays etc. on health matters in co-operation with Red Cross Society and Health Department. The members of these clubs should be duty bound to practice health rules in their daily lives.

Films and Film Strips

These are the latest devices for imparting health education. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and also the Public Relations departments prepare from time to time certain documentary films to acquaint the public with the causes, precautions and remedial measures of important diseases. These films also discouragebad habits like smoking, drinking, addiction, overeating, gambling etc. Importance of personal and social hygiene can be explained very effectively with the help of these films which have really done much service in making people health-minded. The films or film-strips on various aspects of health can be shown in the school from time to time. Film strips depicting various aspects of health can also be prepared in the school at a very low cost.

Radio

Radio talks are popular and effective medium for giving health education to the pupils and the public in general. Health rules, healthy habits, health standards, health requirements, health hazards etc. can be presented to the listeners through talks, poems, songs, plays etc. over the radio. The students not only get entertainment from radio programmes, but useful health instructions also.

Television

Television provides a much better device to telecast features on healthful living. It is a most potent instrument in raising the health standards of the community.

Educational Trips

Seeing is believing. Field trips provide actual learning situations for the pupils and they get a first-hand experience. Such trips can be organized to visit red cross, clinics, exhibitions, yoga centres, public health centres, water supply centres etc. After the visit there should be further discussion to clarify any doubt or to supplement the material.

Incidental Teaching

At the school stage there are always many opportunities of giving incidental health education to the students. There may be an incident of a communicable disease, the teacher has to educate the students to prevent against it. By frequent checking, personal cleanliness habits may be emphasized among the pupils.

PROGRAMME OF HEALTH

The school health education programme revolves around three aspects:

Health Instruction
Health Services and
Health Supervision
Health Instruction

It is one of the important responsibilities and functions of the school to ascertain that every student is made familiar with the need for maintaining excellent health. They need to know about their own physical health, what good health is, how to acquire good health, how to acquire good health, how to avoid illness and accidents, how to protect health of others, facts about sex, value of improved nutrition, value of exercise, recreation, rest, sleep, sanitation, regular elimination, cleanliness, safety etc.

Scope of Health Instruction

Health instruction would includes areas like:

Elementary knowledge of physiology and anatomy including those influences which are injurious to physical health as well as physiological system of the individual.
Hygiene and sanitation which includes:
Food, its importance and requirements, its characteristics and nutritive aspects, its source, its preparation and contamination, its digestion, its assimilation and its excretion.
Water and air, their importance, source, contamination etc.

Rest and sleep, their importance and manner.

Exercise, importance, manner and duration.
Work and play, recreational activities etc.
Dress and dwelling.

Healthful surroundings, home environment, lighting and ventilation.
Healthful habits like brushing, bathing, exercise, eating etc. Influence of bad habits like spitting, smoking, drinking, addiction etc.

Causes of diseases and our defences against them.
First aid and home nursing.
Special hygiene like domestic hygiene, sex hygiene, mental hygiene, community hygiene, industrial hygiene etc.
School Health Services

Besides imparting health instruction to the pupils, it is important for the school to provide practical health services.

Reasons for providing health services:

To enable the students to realize their educational aims.
To minimize the hazards of school attendance.

To organize school programmes according to individual capacities and needs.

To ensure normal and sound health among the pupils.

Agencies of Health Service

The school health service is looked after by the following agencies:

School Medical department
Dispensary

Red Cross Unit

Sports Department

Programme of Health Service

It consists of:

Medical inspection of pupils.
Records of medical inspection and health.

Information to parents about the physical health of the pupils.

Clinical treatment of needy students.
Vaccination
Special attention to the health conditions of the pupils eg. Posture, skin, ears, heart, lungs, eyes, chest, throat, nervous disorders etc.

History of special or chronic cases.
Follow-up of medical inspection.

First-aid
Mid-day meals and looking into the nutritional aspects
Attending to healthy and clean school conditions.

Health Supervision

The school authorities also have to supervise various health services regularly. It has to be ensured that the school functions under sound hygienic conditions. Important aspects which come under health supervision are:

The site of the school:

The school should be situated in a healthy, attractive, clean, congenial and pleasant environment. It should have a natural surrounding with a touch of beauty. It should be at a safe distance from unhealthy things. The site should be free from noise, dust, smoke, dampness and other unhygienic conditions.

The building:

The building as a whole, classrooms, playgrounds etc. should be clean, neat, spacious and beautiful to a reasonable extent. There should be arrangement for its annual white-washing and repairs.

Light and air:

There should be adequate light and ventilation. The sunlight should not enter the rooms directly during the summer. The purpose is to have maximum sunlight in winter and minimum sunlight in summer. There should be provision for both natural and artificial light and ventilation.

Furniture:

The furniture and seats should be comfortable for the students. There should be provision for its annual repairs and polishing.

Canteen:

Regular supervision of the school canteen is very important from the point of view of hygiene, cleanliness, nutrition and health.

Drinking water:

An adequate provision of fresh and clean drinking water has to be ensured.

Toilet:

This facility should not only be adequate, but its regular cleanliness and disinfection has to be ensured.

Sanitation and hygiene:

The plan of the entire school campus should be commensurate with the rules and requirements of sanitation and hygiene. Disinfectants should be regularly used at all places whenever necessary.

Dustbins:

Dustbins should be provided at suitable spots to help everyone keep the campus clean by throwing pieces of waste paper and such other materials in them.

Healthy postures:

Suitable postures of sitting, standing, reading, writing, walking, running, working and lying should be emphasized because they are a very essential part of any health education. A wrong posture is very dangerous from the health point of view and it may lead to deformities and stunted growth.

Games and exercises:

Games and exercises are essential if we want children to enjoy reasonably good health.

Mid-day meals:

Proper arrangement of nutritive mid-day meals should be made. The school should supplement and enrich the lunch of the students. A clean and comfortable seating arrangement should also be provided for the students to take their lunch.

School programme:

The school programme and time table should be so organized that it may not cause fatigue to the teachers and students. The school hours should be adjusted to the age-level of the students and seasonal changes.

Teacher’s role:

The teacher should have a proper emotional balance and a sense of humour to create and maintain a healthy classroom environment. They should respect every student’s individuality. Teacher should be fair, honest, impartial and free from prejudice.

Medical Examination:

In order to judge the level of health of students, there will be need for medical examination at regular intervals. Students have to be protected from infectious diseases and treated for ailments,if any.

Chapter: 20 Aims and objectives of physical education

Aims and objectives of physical education

In the educational process the statement of objectives is essential to give direction to the selection of instructional activities and methods of teaching. It is also the first step to be kept in view by the teacher for helping children effectively to grow and develop in desirable ways. This is also true of physical education. In the words of Mohiyuddin, “the object of physical education and training is to help in the production and maintenance of health in body and mind. The condition of modern civilization, involving crowded localities, sedentary occupation, increase of study and mental work, restricted opportunities for natural physical growth- all these require that children and young people should receive physical education, they must be encouraged to devote special attention for maintaining the health of the mind and the body.”

OBJECTIVES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION:

Development of well-built and strong bodies. Conservation of health.
To keep children fit and in trim form during school lie and ultimately make them into well-developed, full-fledged, wholesome personalities.

To develop in them the sense of personal hygiene, social hygiene. Mental hygiene, moral hygiene and sex hygiene.

Development of regular habits of exercise, cleanliness and play and of healthful living.
Development of personal qualities like, self-reliance, endurance, self-control, courage, initiative, steadiness of purpose and resourcefulness.
Development of social qualities like obedience, co-operation, fellowship, fairmindedness, selfless service, leadership, followership, sportsman spirit etc.

Development of character and personality and the whole man.

OBJECTIVES OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION

As suggested by American Educational Policies Commission. There are four objectives of physical education:

Self Realisation: The realisation of the self is achieved best through interaction of the self with the social group. Opportunities for this interaction are available in abundance in physical education. A student understands the basic facts concerning health and disease. He strives to improve the health of the community.
Human Relationship: The individual learns that his own healthcare affects others also. He/she understands that safety applies to protecting others as well as oneself. Also, physical education activities strengthen friendship, loyalty, fair play, tolerance, team spirit etc.
Economic Efficiency: Many persons decide upon a professional career in one of the areas of physical education. Apart from that, we can easily recognise the significance of physical education in matters of general occupational efficiency, stamina, hard work, endurance, speed and occupational adjustment.
Civic Responsibility: Social justice is indirectly related to providing equitable health services and recreational activities for every citizen.
Objective of physical education in primary stage (class I to V)

To develop in the student proper regular habits and attitudes to meet the needs of the body.
To train how to keep their hands feet, eyes, nose and hair clean.
To develop awareness and sensitivity towards the immediate environment and understand the inter-dependence between human and the environment.
To develop respect for physical work, dignity of labour and hard work.
To develop values such as cooperation, teamwork and tolerance.
To develop physical mental and emotional well-being through ‘yoga’ and games.
To develop an attitude of living in clean environment.
To be able to naturally accept failure and success.

Objective of physical education at the upper stage (class VI to VIII)

To enable the students to understand the meaning and importance of physical education
To enable the students, acquire healthy practices relating to exercise, rest, recreation, relaxation, posture, safety.
To develop skills in providing first-aid in athletic and other common childhoods injuries that occurs in the home, school and outside the home and school.
To develop organic fitness
To cultivate habits of engaging in appropriate exercises so that immediate and future health needs are met.
To develop neuromuscular skill and promote the ability to perform the work with ease and grace.
To develop spirit of self-sacrifice and tolerance.
To develop attitudes of cooperation, good sportsmanship and fair play.

Objective of physical education at the secondary stage (Class IX and X)

To bring overall awareness of values and inculcate among students the desired habits and attitudes towards physical fitness and to raise their physical fitness status.
To develop scientific point of view regarding physical education.
To identify personal, family and community physical fitness problems and acquire scientific knowledge and information to control these problems to stay physically fit.
To develop awareness regarding transfer of fundamental processes to physical activities to one’s choice.
To develop interest in exercise, sports and games for self-satisfaction and making it a part of life.
To develop an awareness of good postures and to strive for them.
To enable the students to develop an active and sturdy life.
To enable students to develop sense of responsibility and self-sacrifice.
To enable the students to practice socially behavioural patterns in an impressive manner.

Objective of physical educationfor Elementary Teachers Training

To enable the students to appreciate the need for physical education in the total curriculum.
To enable the students, identify common postural defects among the students and suggest remedial treatment.
To enable the students to provide First-Aid for minor accidents and injuries.
To enable the students to plan, organise and conduct activities and practices directly related to children’s games and sports.
To enable the students to organise various indigenous and modern games, combative, drill marching and calisthenics display.

The aims of physical education are:

Development of physical well-being: This implies providing physical education to students for normal physical growth and development, in developing endurance and strength to do normal task of life as well as to meet the demand of the stress of life, without feeling undue strain and in maintaining and developing proper and sound functioning of organs and organic systems.
Development of motor qualities: Physical education aims at developing motor qualities such as endurance, strength, speed, coordinative abilities, flexibility and power, etc.
Development of neuro-muscular coordination: Neuro-muscular coordination is essential in order to accomplish a work gracefully. Such activities are developed only through physical exercise and that too at the younger age to a considerable extent.
Maintenance of health and fitness: physical activities aim at helping in a large measure to slow down the degenerative process.
Development of functional knowledge: Physical education aim at providing opportunities to acquire knowledge of first-aid and proper health procedures related to physical exercises.
Cultural pursuits: As observed by cozens and stempt, sports and physical activities belong to the ‘arts’ of humanity. Such activities have formed a basic part of all cultures, including all racial groups and historical ages, because they are as fundamental form of human experience as music, poetry wars, systems of government, plagues and famines, have come and gone in the long record of mankind, these fundamental things have always been present, in greater or lesser degree.
Sublimation of emotions: Gregarious instinct in the adolescent is very predominant. This expresses the desire of the growing boys to form groups. If no opportunity is provided to the students, they may form gangs. Physical activities enable them to work in appropriate groups.
Social and civic training aim: By participating in a variety of physical activities, students learn valuable lessons of cooperative and team work.
Vocational aim of physical education: physical education aims at developing skills which prepare students for a vocation.
Spiritual development aims of physical education: physical education being an integral part of the total educational processes, should help in the spiritual development of the student.
Aim of development of sentiment of Loyalty: physical education aims at developing the sense of loyalty among the students. Tournaments foster this sentiment.

Principles of Physical Education programme as Given by Indian Education Commission

Indian Education Commission (1964-66) recommended the introduction of physical education as a compulsory school subject and emphasized that a satisfactory programme should be developed on the basis of the following principles:

Interests and capacities: The physical education programme should be planned for desirable outcomes keeping in mind the interests and capacities of the participants.
Emphasis on traditional forms of play: The traditional forms of play and physical activities that have developed in our country should receive due emphasis in the programme.
Sense of personal worth and pride: The activities promoted should develop in each child a sense of personal worth and pride.
Sense of sharing responsibility: A sense of sharing responsibility in a spirit of democratic co-operation should grow from experience on playground and in the gymnasium.
Supplement other programmes: The programmes offered should supplement other programmes of education and not duplicate them.
Financial means: The programmes offered should be within our financial means.
Programmes for all: The physical education programme should reach and benefit all rather than a selected few.
Special coaching: Special instructions and coaching should be provided for students with talent and special aptitude.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION:

Physical education forms an important part of modern education. Almost every school can boast of a playground and one or two teams. In every modern school and colleges, after class work, students in various sports and games. The students generally take to all kinds of physical activities and show a great deal of interest in them.

Physical education is of special importance to students.

They are great sources of pleasure to them.
They build the body and refresh their mind.
They train the mind in many virtues.
They teach the players discipline and team spirit. In school sports, the players have to obey certain rules. They have to submit to the ruling of the referee or the umpire. Thus, they learn discipline and obedience.
Physical education creates in students ‘the sporting spirit’. The students learn to play fair and honourably and to keep the rules of the game.
They learn to be fair to their opponents.
They develop pluck and patience.
School sports teach them to take a defeat in a good spirit.
Physical education aims at bringing best in the students.
Physical education develops the alertness of mind.
Physical education provides knowledge about health and its hazards and communicable and non-communicable disease.
Through physical education human body can be developed in good proportion. The physical beauty also improves.
A good sports man is a good citizen. He knows how to adjust with others.
Physical education helps in developing and maintaining of good relations among human beings. It develops social traits, like cooperation, sympathy, loyalty, fraternity, courtesy and other traits of leadership.
Aggressiveness can be eliminated through physical activities. By participating physical activities, we can overcome stress tension and sensitiveness.
Physical education helps in creating discipline through games and sports.
Physical education provides a number of opportunities to enhance the power of tolerance.
Physical education enhances all essential traits required for development of the personality.
Physical education leads to happiness efficiency and character building.
Physical education helps the people to become fit to develop their spiritual and more forces. It increases the scope of human abilities and enriches the life of the individual and that of the society as a whole.

Contribution of Physical Education to General Education

True education of the intellect can come only through a proper exercise and training of the bodily organs, e.g. hands, feet, eyes, nose, etc. An intelligent use of the bodily organs in a child provides the best and the quickest way of developing his intellect. The proper and harmonious development of all the four- intellect, body, heart and soul- is needed to make a full man.

As the poet Kalidasa says, “The body is indeed the principal instrument of duty”. Physical education is instrumental in developing strength and stamina for the laborious and strenuous work in life. It works as a great educational force, providing opportunities for the wholesome satisfaction of inherent drives and urges of individuals and groups.

Through its well-organised programmes of cleanliness and orderliness, it develops aesthetic sense of children. It also centres around nutrition with attention to sufficient food and balanced diet, growth etc. It also concerns with rest and sleep in a very practical way. Often these programmes emphasize styles and postures suited to work, rest and sleep.

Physical education is a great factor in the mental hygiene of the students. It also makes contribution towards social hygiene. Children learn to play together in harmony, appreciating the rights of others and abiding by the rules prescribed for the activity. It inculcates a spirit of healthy rivalry and competition, sportsmanship, qualities of initiative, steadiness, firm resolve, confidence and poise, courage and perseverance in the face of odds.

It inculcates in them self-control and temperance by emphasising the harmful effects of drugs. It makes significant contributions to education for leisure and recreation. Through an intensive and systematic programme of physical education, the students are acquainted with physiology and human anatomy and all about the fundamental laws of physical growth and development.

Principles and suggestions for the Improvement of Physical Education in Schools

Various commissions, committees and Seminars on Education for Physical Education have made valuable suggestions for the improvement of physical education programmes in schools. A gist of these recommendations are:

Incentives in the form of credit for achievements in sports should be provided.
Health, power of endurance, physical well-being of young people should be developed by improvement in nutrition.
Planned coaching at all stages is essential. There is a vast talent potential in the country which should be exploited by intensive and planned coaching.
Sports and games should also be organised in rural areas and in co-operation with the community.
Sports festival should be organised and sports events encouraged on the occasion of fairs. Indigenous sports like Kabbadi and indigenous style of wrestling should be encouraged.
Physical education should be made a curricular subject in the school at all levels and should be on par with other subjects. Similarly, schools should provide a period for it in the timetable.
The programme of physical education and recreation should cater to the needs, interests and capacities of the pupils. It should promote normal growth and development, maintenance of health, acquisition of skills and desirable social attitudes and behaviour.
Playgrounds of adequate dimensions should be provided by schools. Where separate playgrounds cannot be made available for each educational institution, a common playground for a group of institutions should be created.
The physical education programme offered should supplement other programmes of education and not duplicate them.
The physical education programme should reach all rather than a selected few.
The traditional forms of play and physical activities that have developed in our own country should receive due emphasis in the programme.
Greater facilities should be provided in educational institutions in the form of funds, equipment and trained teachers.
For the supervision of physical education activities, qualified persons should be appointed as District Physical Education Officers.
Periodical refresher courses should be organised for in-service teachers of physical education and supervisors. Special coaching camps may also be arranged for them.
All teachers below the age of 40 should actively participate in games and physical education activities.
The existing facilities for the training of teachers of physical education should be expanded both in quantity and quality.
Full records of the student’s participation in these activities may be maintained and they should get credits for their achievements in these fields.
The physical education programmes should be within our financial means.
Special instruction and coaching should be provided to students with talent, special aptitude and exceptional skill.
Sports festivals should be frequently organised and sports and sports events encouraged on the occasion of fairs and other festivals.
There is a vast talent potential in the country which should be exploited by intensive and planned coaching.
Health, power of endurance, physical well-being, energy and stamina of young people should be developed by nutrition and suitable exercises.
Standard equipment should be manufactured in the country so as to be available at cheap rates to all.
The rules of amateurism laid down by the International Federations and the International Olympic Committee should be strictly followed in schools.
A sense of sharing responsibility in a spirit of democratic co-operation should grow from experience on the playground as well as the gymnasium.

Chapter: 21 HEALTH EDUCATION AND HEALTH INSTRUCTION

HEALTH EDUCATION AND HEALTH INSTRUCTION

Health is the greatest blessing of all. But it is a matter of regret that many of us do not know what it means. We know it only by its reverse as disease, ill-health and misery. Health is not just the absence of disease. No doctor can prescribe health, no government can ordain health by statute and no international agency can administer health. All that a community can do for a healthy life is to provide the means and services like, social conditions, public health measures, sanitation, better treatment of diseases etc., so as to enable individuals to lead a life of complete physical, mental and social well-being.

Meaning of Health

The word “health” has different meanings and interpretations for different people.

To a man on the street, health may mean that he is not sick.
A child may see it as washing his hands and feet or brushing his teeth.
To a young girl it may refer to the way she looks and the enjoyment she gets.
A teacher may opine a sound mind in a sound body.
Health according to psychologists is the product of the normal functioning of cells, organs and systems.
To a family physician health means constant supervisions and periodical examinations.
An unhealthy person considers health as the most priceless possession of all.

Therefore, it is difficult to describe health in a true manner. Historically, the term ‘health’ is derived from an old Anglo-Saxon word “HEALTH” meaning the condition of being safe and sound or whole.

Health Defined

We can define health as the quality resulting from the total functioning of the individual that empowers him to achieve a personality satisfying and socially useful life.

The World Health Organization defined health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

Health has been defined by the modern medical science as a state of the organism in which the biophysical, biochemical and structural aspects function satisfactorily and which enables him/her to adjust to the environment.

In a physiological sense, good health may be defined as a state of the perfect operation of all the bodily functions, freedom from bodily pains and also freedom from mental and physical discomfort.

According to J. F. William, “health is the quality of life that enables the individual to live most and serve best.”

Importance and Improvement of Individual, Family and Community Health

Health means complete physical, mental and social well-being. Normal physical health means that the whole body functions in such a way that a person is free of pain, discomfort and disease. Health also refers to a sound efficient mind and wholesome emotions. A healthy person has good relations with his family and associates.

The health of an individual depends on what he does, not on what he knows. Most of us are with a sound body and mind which must be maintained by healthy living and by practicing safe and sound health habits every day.

Knowledge of health and its constant purposeful application to everyday life should bring vigour, satisfaction and happiness. People can attain health by:

Practicing good health habits
Making health one of their goals for teaching and action and
Working in close co-operation with the health team in their area.

Factors affecting Health

The six major factors that affect a person’s health are heredity, environment, social habits, nutrition, professional health service and freedom from disease and accidents.

Heredity

The colour of the eyes, the shape of the nose, one’s stature and general body form etc. are inherited through the reproductive cells of parents. A few diseases are also hereditary. There are two genes in each cell for every inherited trait. This is why people are different.

Environment

The world we live consists of:

Factors and conditions such as soil, forests, rivers, plants, animals, insects, house, wells, ponds, trains, newspaper, books and countless other things, and
People and their behaviour as expressed by custom, habit, tradition, prejudice, superstition and institutions.

We are healthy, sick or disabled depending on our physical environment and on our health habits. Therefore, the combined efforts of the individual, community, government and the system of education are necessary to create a safe physical environment where individuals can work and live a healthy and happy life.

Social Habits

Our habits of eating, cleanliness, clothing, home remedies for illnesses and most of the thinking about health are the direct outcomes of the influence of parents, teachers, members of the family and trends. Many people believe that sickness is a curse that must be endured. People can be taught scientific truths about the cause and prevention of sickness.

Proper Nutrition

Eating a balanced diet is an essential life activity. A balanced diet provides the cells of the body the essential nutrients for:

Growth and repair
Regulation of body processes
To yield energy

The right kind of food, milk, eggs, vegetables, fruits, meat or fish, cereal and whole grain in proper balance provide the nutritional needs of the body.

Proper nutrition is a health problem in India. This is because of lack of food and a large proportion of our population is undernourished because the food eaten is not of proper quality and is not in proper balance. Much improvement should be made in the field of nutrition.

Professional Health Service

This essential factor contributing to effective living consists of adequate medical and dental care and health education. Health services range from preventive to curative measures including health guidance, periodic health examination, recording of health histories and clinical, surgical and hospital care. Health education should enable one to

Understand the role of professional services in effective living
Select competent health advisors
Discover how to secure continuous medical supervision and care and
Determine ways and means to pay for professional services.

Great strides in solving the nationwide problem of providing competent professional health services for the individual and the group can be made in the near future.

Freedom from Disease and Accident

This vital factor of health is no longer considered as total health, but as merely one aspect of health. Modern control of communicable disease is one of man’s greatest achievements and has done much to increase effective living and longevity. Several diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis, influenza and other general diseases, still remain to be completely eliminated and there is much yet to be accomplished in disease prevention and control.

The chronic degenerative diseases, heart disease, cancer and others are still unconquered. Examples of intelligent health practices which increase effective living include building resistance to disease through a balanced programme of physical activity, adequate sleep and rest, proper diet, scientifically proved immunizations, avoiding sources of infection, seeking prompt medical and dental care, including regular medical and dental examinations and taking plenty of time to recover when disease strikes.

Accidents in the home or in the highways and in industry constitute one of today’s major problems. Learning to live effectively, yet safely is a difficult art in present-day society.

There is a great opportunity for improvement, personally and in the community with respect to freedom from disease and accidents through better health education.

Qualities of a Healthy Person

A healthy person should havecertain qualities like:

Absence of physical and mental disease.
A busy, active and disciplined life, having full control on time.
Normal and balanced weight. A healthy person should be neither very thin nor very fat.
A healthy person should take a balanced diet, rich in all vitamins, particularly B and D. Calcium should also be taken in good quantity.
A healthy person should be away from tension of any sort.
A healthy person enjoys to live. For him living is a pleasure, not a burden.
A healthy person always feels young because age is not a physiological or psychological concern.
A healthy person should have a normal heart beat, proper elimination and happy disposition.
A healthy person should have a strong constitution.
A healthy person maintains a cheerful and positive attitude of mind.
A healthy person has sound sleep. Sound sleep indicates sound health. Sound sleep is refreshing and health giving.

CONCEPT OF HEALTH

Every living being is provided by nature, physical machinery to express itself, to live and perform its natural functions. Right from amoeba to the human organism, there is a physical body provided, and the complexity of the body increases as we go up from the lower organism to the higher one, human organism being the culmination. A human body also has innumerable organs and each organ has its special functions. The smooth functioning of each organism, in accordance with its specified tasks, is health.

According to an English term, health is a condition of being ‘safe and sound’. The dictionary meaning of health is ‘the state of being hale and sound in body, mind or soul, especially from physical disease or pain’. It is also defined as the state in which the mental and physical activities of the body are adjusted satisfactorily to the environment. To be in health means much more than freedom from disease and discomfort. It includes normal functioning of all parts of human organism, resulting in physical strength and vigour, mental stability and satisfaction with life.

In the word of J.F. Williams, “Health is the quality of life that enables the individual to live most and to serve best.” According to world health organisation, “health is a complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Health implies a sufficient reserve of physical strength, ability and endurance as well as equilibrium to meet the demands of everyday life.

Most people think that health is merely freedom from illness. But this is only a narrow concept of health. This narrow concept of health is responsible for general ill-health and misery. So a wider and comprehensive view is needed which may lead to positive health, with desirable growth and social values. This positive health goes beyond the mere elimination of illness includes help and guidance in the upbringing of children, especially in respect of nutrition, growth and development, immunity and maintenance, knowledge and care of body, mental hygiene, rest and movements, recreation and emotional satisfaction.

Health is, thus, the basis of life. It is not only important but also essential to make one’s life happy. As long as a person is not healthy, he cannot happy. He cannot serve his society. He will be a burden to himself and to the nation.

Meaning of Health Education

Health education is the integration of two terms “health” and “education”. Health denotes its content and education is the process. The process of education determines how learning takes place in the field of health. Thus health education implies education for health. It provides an educational field for the purpose of improving healthful living or effective living.

Health education implies healthy behaviour

“Health education”, as the term implies, is concerned with people and their behaviour. Healthy behaviour means what people understand, think, feel and do about their health. The overall purpose of health education is to bring aboutfavourable changes in health behaviour to improve living.

Health education is an applied science of healthful living

Health education may also be interpreted as the applied science of healthful living, since it draws much of its content from the health sciences such as anatomy, physiology, bacteriology, medicine and the applied sciences. It cannot be a pure science. Health education is not composed of all these sciences combined together. Rather it draws from them the purposeful applications that particularly pertain to more effective living. It is virtually concerned with educating people to live healthfully, to prevent disease and to take intelligent action when disease or defects occur.

Health education includes scientific knowledge to plan wholesome attitude

The subjects like education, psychology, educational psychology and sociology provide us knowledge about understanding methods and activities that assist the individual in changing his behaviour for more effective living in his environment. Health education is not something done for the individual. It is not memorising of health facts. Rather it is the provision of opportunities for individuals and groups to participate in experiences for healthful living. It includes scientific knowledge, wholesome attitude and practices, leading to improved health behaviour.

Health education is an art of living.

Health education is teaching students the art of living. It is a process, which affects changes in the health practices of students and in the knowledge and attitudes related to such changes.

Knowledge of Health is not Health Education

Health education does not imply taking the knowledge of health through the programme of health education. One must also practice it at all times. Our health depends on what we know.

Using scientific knowledge is Health Education

Using scientific knowledge to plan and act will bring maximum health to the individual, family and community.

Health education imparts principle of hygiene.

Health education is closely connected with the imparting of knowledge to the people about the principles of hygiene. The word ‘Hygiene’ has its root in the Greek word hyginos, which means, healthful. With the help of health education students are able to acquire and practise the knowledge of various principles of hygiene in their daily life.

Health Education Defined

According to Dr.Thomaswood: “Health education is the sum of experiences with favourable habits, attitudes and knowledge relating to individual, community and social health”.

Ruth Grout: “The translation of what is known about health into desirable individual and community behaviour patterns by means of the educational process.”

Scope of Health Education

A person’s health habits, attitudes and goals are the result of his learning and experiences. They are established first from what they are taught and what they see the family doing in home, then from imitating the habit of friends in the neighbourhood, in the school and at work. The child gains knowledge about health and hygiene from school. The scope of health education is very vast. It covers subjects like health protection programmes, remedial programme, promotion of health and hygiene, school health services, balanced diet, dental care, personal habits, mental health, knowledge about air, water, rest, exercise, recreation, sleep etc. Scope of health education includes:

Knowledge about growth and development.
Knowledge about good food items, and their contribution to the proper growth and development of the human body.
Knowledge about the significance of pure and clean water, fresh air, proper rest, physical exercise, recreation and sound sleep.
Knowledge about the causes of various diseases, ailments, injuries and arrangements for their prevention.
A knowledge about health standard of the people living in different countries of the world.
Avoidance of evil habits like smoking, drinking, taking drugs and their evil effects on health.
Abnormal conditions and their adverse effects on health. It also includes bad habits and their evil influences on the physical and mental health of the individual.
To impart mass-scale information about mental health, sex-hygiene in order to ensure healthy bodies and healthy minds.
To provide knowledge about different diseases, their prevention and control.
Knowledge about recreation, rest, sleep and exercise.

Guiding principles of Health Instruction

L. Anderson, in his book “School Health Practice”, has given some basic principles of health instruction. They are still recognized as fundamental to sound and effective health instruction:
Emphasis is on the positive side of health and not on the negative aspect. It means that the aim is to build up and maintain a high level of health in each child.
Health is an end to be gained and not an academic subject.
Instruction is directed to the well or normal child. Children, temporarily below par, will be benefited by the health practices, acquired by the whole class.
Throughout school life, health promotion should be one of the objectives of the whole school programme.
Learning experiences must be adapted to the physiological, psychological and social development of children.
Instructions must be based on the child’s interests, needs, abilities and backgrounds.
Learning results from experience and opportunities must be provided through participation, doing things and reacting to situations.
Problem solving provides the most effective learning situation but only when the problems are real and meaningful to the learners.
The objectives of any activity must be specified in terms of learner’s outcomes and must be recognised as personal goals by the child if learning is to effective.
Instructional activities must always be related to the actual experiences of the learners.
Learning experiences are most effective when the child sees the relationship to one experience to the whole experience.
Integrated learning is most effective, and only when it becomes unified, it will be lasting. Both fragmental learning and isolated facts, are ineffective and soon forgotten.
Repetition or drill is justified when the learning must be precise and is useful as a tool or skill.
Each child is unique who learns at their own rate and in their own way, and thus a variety of activities and materials is essential.
Accompanying incidental learning always takes place and teachers should be alert for opportunities to make each learning experience yield greater returns in learning.

Thus, it is clear that health instruction should be made as practical as possible. For this purpose, opportunities should be provided and availed of, in the school programme, in the neighbourhood and in outdoor activities, whereby pupils get new knowledge and imbibe good health habits.

Aim and objectives of health education and health instruction in schools

These are some of the main aims and objectives of health education in schools:

To provide information about health and hygiene – it aims at acquainting the pupils and the teachers with the functioning of the body, the rules of health and hygiene and the precautionary measures for warding off diseases. It is to be brought to notice of the pupils how bad habits, unhygienic ways of living, addiction to smoking and liquor and such unhealthy practices, result in evil consequences.
To maintain norms of good health - It helps the school authorities to keep certain norms or standards of health in the school. A number of programmes of physical health develop in the pupil’s adequate habits of hygienic living. The school authorities provide hygienic environment in the form of adequate ventilation, good sanitation and all-round cleanliness.
To take precautionary and preventive measures – Its aim is to take adequate precautions against contamination and spread of disease. So, good sanitary arrangements are made. Urinal and toilets are kept clean. Sweeping is done daily, and the room and the furniture are kept clean. Sweeping is done daily and the room and the furniture are kept neat and tidy. The eatables in the tuck-shop are saved from flies.
To take curative measures – Remedial action against diseases is also taken. A physic-medical check-up is made, deformities, disabilities and disease detected, and remedial measures suggested. A good number of pupils suffer from myopia. An eye-examination reveals the extent of short-sightedness. If glasses are not used in time, myopia will increase rapidly. Some people have bad teeth. If they suffer from pyorrhoea, immediate medical treatment is needed. Astigmatism, bronchitis, diphtheria, dyspepsia, epilepsy, hypermetropia, influenza, measles, mumps, stammering, tonsillitis, whooping cough and rickets are some common diseases of young children. It is the responsibility of the school to detect these and provide adequate medical treatment for their removal.
To develop and promote mental and emotional health – Mental and emotional health are also equally important, along with physical health, in the school health programmes, while physical health makes a pupil physically fit, mental and emotional health enables him to maintain an even temper and a happy disposition.
To develop a sense of civic responsibility among pupils – There is little sense of civic responsibility in our students. They generally fail in their duty to help their fellow students in particular and other persons in general. They do not come to the aid of others in time of need and alleviate their sufferings. So, one of the objectives of health education is to cultivate a sense of civic responsibility. Through health education pupil are made conscious of social crimes, like spitting anywhere, sneezing and coughing on the faces of others and not isolation themselves when suffering from infectious or contagious diseases. In short, health education aims at teaching pupils to accept and apply democratic principles, relating to health matters at home, in school and in the community. In this way, health education will contribute to the life of the community through the development of educated citizens, who know the advantages and necessity of supporting health measures, for the common good.

According to W.H.O Technical Report (1954), the objectives of health education are:

To ensure that health is valued as an asset in the community.
To equip the people with the skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable them to solve their health problems by their own actions and efforts, and
To promote the development and proper use of health services.

Objectives of Health Education at Different Stages of School Education

Primary Stage
To make students realize the value of health and its personal and social importance.
To inculcate healthy habits regarding personal hygiene food, clothing and posture
Secondary Stage
To help students know how they can save themselves from accidents and from the carriers of diseases, like flies, mosquitoes, rats, dirt, discharge as well as polluted air, water and food.
To help students understand the relationship between health education and physical education.
To make students realize the value of health and its personal and social importance.
To inculcate habits of healthy living regarding personal hygiene, food, clothing and posture.
Higher Secondary Stage
To give students sufficient knowledge and training in First Aid.
To emphasise on students the bad effects of smoking and taking alcohol.
To make students understand the causes of the pollution of air, water, soil and food as well as the ways and means of their prevention.
To help students understand the importance of physical training sports, games, yoga exercises as well as their relationship with health education programme.
To give students desirable knowledge about marriage, sex and population explosion.

Chapter: 22 IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH EDUCATION IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH EDUCATION IN A TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Sir William Temple once said “Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life which fade and are tasteless without it.” Importance of health is self-evident. It has been realised by all and at all times. We must have a well-shaped body capable of carrying out physical efforts in many directions. A man generally suffering from diseases, on the other hand, has imperfect metabolism and he/she becomes a burden on society. A healthy body has greater resistance to diseases. Therefore, health education occupies an important position in the teaching learning process.

The old saying ‘Healthy mind in a healthy body’, is absolutely correct. No one can achieve any considerable measure of success without sound health. A healthy man can do any great thing in life. When health is gone one is mentally and physically bankrupt. Therefore, it is the greatest folly of a country to neglect a programme of health education in the teacher education programme.

What makes a Successful Teacher?

Teaching is both a science and an art. It is a science in that careful planning of objectives, methods, contents, experiences and evaluation are required of the teacher. It is an art because the teacher needs fine qualities such as sensitivity to the needs, interest and progress of pupils, sympathetic personal relationship and skills in working with children and adults. The teacher should be a large personality, a great soul characterised by simplicity, sincerity, love, faith in eternal values and deeply conscious of human relationships.

The success of any health education programme depends upon the teacher. They have the responsibility for recognising needs, introducing new ideas, adapting old customs, encouraging co-operative participation, inspiring action and fostering desirable practices in pupils.

What is Teacher-Education?

Teacher-education refers to the total educative experiences which contribute to t employed to designate the programme of courses and other experiences offered by an educational institution for the announced purposes of preparing persons for teaching and other educational service. Such teacher education programmes are offered in colleges of education, district institutes, educational school complexes, colleges and universities.

The ultimate aim of teacher education is to prepare effective teachers. Teacher education is presumed to attempt to meet this challenge following certain assumptions. In the first place, it is assumed that there is an adequate concept of teaching. Secondly, it is assumed that this concept of teaching can be operationalized in terms of teaching behaviour pattern invariably related to desired educational outcomes. Thirdly, it is assumed that there are certain techniques of training available, through which the requisite teaching behaviour patterns can be developed in prospective teachers to effect the desired educational outcomes. Fourthly, it is assumed that once the teaching behaviour patterns are acquired by prospective teachers during the course of their training, these patterns are sustained and carried over to their assigned positions in the teaching profession till more efficient teaching behaviour patterns are discovered and mastered to effect the desired educational outcomes. Lastly, it is assumed that teacher-education institutions make plans and execute their programmes directed towards this end.

The teacher education programme can be of two types:

Pre-service training and
In-service training

Pre-service Training

A bachelor of Science, Arts or Commerce can be admitted to a College of Teacher Education in order to learn the art of teaching in different subjects. In this programme, the teacher should undergo a specific training in health service, health instruction and healthful school living. The teacher education programmes should equip the trainees with necessary knowledge about organization of health education programmes in a school. If the health programme is to be meaningful and stimulating to students, it must be organized well. After all, our real aim is that health experiences given in the school should lead to good health habits which may be carried over into adolescence and adult life. So, this programme needs very good organization, supervision and control. Although all school teachers have a basic responsibility to contribute to the health education of their students, the administrative responsibility of the total programme must be entrusted to a particular individual in the school. Once responsibility has been clearly defined, the organization of the total programme can be undertaken.

Importance of Health Education

In teacher-education programme, health education should be considered as an important subject. It should be taught on a compulsory basis. The student teachers should develop knowledge about human physiology. In this subject, they should learn that human body is like a machine. In a machine, there are different units. Each unit performs its own distinct functions, but they all do their work in full co-operation and co-ordination for producing the goods. In the human body also there are different units. All the different units perform their specified functions. They all lead to the good of the human body, provide energy to it and keep it healthy.

The units in the human body are known as systems. There are six major systems in the human body; namely the Digestive System, Respiratory System, Circulatory System, Excretory System, Nervous System and the Reproductive System. Each of these systems has a particular role in the human body.

There are a number of minute units also in the human body, called cells. When a group of cells perform uniform functions, it is called a tissue and when a group of tissues perform one particular function, it is known as an organ. When a group of organs are engaged in discharging a particular function, it is known as a system. Thus, we can say that cells make tissues, tissues make organs and organs make the system.

Health education is a study of human life and its processes. So it involves all its related problems, interests and needs. In fact, there is nothing which involves health in man’s social, emotional and physical life. Factors like emotional stability, sexual and social maturity, physical development, adjustment to strain and stress, illness and many other problems associated with personality development, all influence a person’s health. To define these problems, to examine them and to teach about them in an appropriate manner with achievement and ability, is a task which requires great knowledge and skill on the part of a teacher. Here, a teacher of health and physical education, besides being a specialist of his/her own field, is also required to possess knowledge of various social, physical and biological sciences, personnel qualities, skills, attitudes and professional efficiencies which he/she should receive from the colleges of teacher education.

Both the pre-service and in-service teacher trainees should develop knowledge about certain aspects of health education during the training period. For this the first stage is :

Planning

The teacher trainee should know how to plan the health and physical education programme for the whole year in advance. They should also learn how to plan all the physical and health programme activities, including those of the Annual Sports Day, Annual Medical Examination, Parents Day, social service camp as well as sub-divisional district and State tournaments in advance and place them before the school Health and Sports Committee for approval

Organizing

The pre-service and in-service teachers should learn how to organise the school plant, look after decoration and upkeep of the school campus, including playgrounds, check sanitary arrangements and conduct experiences in health education. They also have to organise social service camps, Girl’s guide and Boy Scout Camps and many other out-door co-curricular and recreational activities.

Guiding

The trainees should learn how to guide their students in their proper selection of physical activities, athletics and games, suited to their aptitudes and capacities. They have to guide them to remove their physical deformities, postural defects, mental illness and emotional immaturity.

They also have to give guidance to the backward and the slow learner. They have to guide and suggest remedial measures for the delinquent, abnormal and maladjusted children.

Supervising

The trainees should learn the art of supervising the total school health programmes, which include healthful school living, health services and health instructions. They are also to supervise the work and achievement of students in physical exercise, athletics, games, scouting, safety measures and first-aid, social service, cultural programmes and recreational activities.

Co-ordinating and Assisting

The trainees should learn to co-ordinate the school health programme with different teachers, health authorities, parents, voluntary health agencies etc.

Maintenance of Records

They should learn how to maintain the health records of all the students. Each student should possess a cumulative health record during his school stage, which should include his health history, health history of his family and symptoms and signs of health disturbances if any.

Evaluating

The teacher trainees should not only learn the art of teaching health education, but should also learn how to evaluate the achievements of the pupils from time to time and diagnose weaknesses.

Both physical and health education is important in teacher education colleges on certain grounds which are:

A teacher’s wellness gets reflected on the student’s wellness. Hence student teacher should be trained to keep good health habits to motivate students to improve and maintain their health, prevent disease and reduce risky behaviours.
Health education curricula and instruction help student teacher to acquire skills they will use to make healthy choices throughout their lifetime. This enables them to have good physical and mental health and makes them mentally and physically fit to their profession.
Healthy and teachers who are aware promote healthy behaviours and practices among students, who then imitate these behaviours into their own lifestyle and engage in more health-promoting activities. Whatever the teacher or role model does is easily adopted by the students.
Healthy teacher is a crucial component of a happy and progressive school. A healthy and stress-free workplace makes for satisfying and high performing teacher. Such a school teacher is more likely to be happy in their position of work and tend to stay longer. They display good attendance records and take fewer leaves, thus providing the stability and continued development which is very essential for educational success. Hence the prospective teachers should have provision for health education.
Stress management is an important problem that a teacher addresses in schools. Schools are dominated by female teachers who have to devote time and look after students in schools and back home in their own families. Hence, lifestyles leave employees with no time to look after themselves. Hence, the teacher should be equipped to address issues like lack of physical activity, stress management etc.
Health education prepares the student teacher to provide appropriate first aids for the student if any emergency arises.
It will give them knowledge and skill to organize physical and health related activities in schools.

ROLE OF TEACHERS IN HEALTH EDUCATION

Personal Cleanliness:

The daily inspection of the student’s cleanliness by the teacher in the morning is very helpful in enforcing personal cleanliness. A rapid survey may be made daily and cleanliness competitions may be introduced among the students.

Development of healthy habits:

Correct habits of breathing and feeding should be introduced among them. A good teacher also pays adequate attention to classroom habits like posture etc.

Physical exercises:

A variety of programmes of physical activities will be provided so that the students may choose suitable physical exercises for themselves.

Vaccinations and Inoculation:

The students should be regularly vaccinated and inoculated through the arrangements by the school.

Medical Inspection and follow-up work:

Regular and thorough medical examination should be arranged and its follow-up taken seriously.

Training in First-Aid:

The students should be given training in first-aid in terms of emergency.

Better Human Relations:

The children should be educated to do their best for the betterment of the health of their friends, relatives, neighbours and the whole community.

Special Methods of Teaching Health:

The school should arrange for special methods of teaching health in the form of health posters, health projects and health weeks, health books, films and film strips, excursions, health clubs, health counselling and follow-up, healthy environment, radio etc.

Importance of health education in teacher education programmes

The main aim of education is the development of all aspects of the child’s personality-physical, mental, emotional, intellectual and social. The aims of school education are to be realised by the teacher. They are associated with all school programmes and it is they who always mingles with the pupils.

Very few teachers may be interested in acquiring knowledge about health matters. They may not be aware of the importance of health education in schools. Thus, the teachers who are ignorant of the basic rules of health and the role of health in education, may become indifferent to the health of pupils and the role of health in education. The balanced development of pupils is not possible in the hands of such teachers. Such teachers may not be able to maintain even their own health. Thus, health education must form an integral part of teacher education programme.

Implementation of health education programmes depends upon the teacher. A teacher who possesses good health and is conscious of its role in education, will pursue health education programmesin the school with zeal and enthusiasm. The purposes of health education in teacher education programme may be:

Health Observation:

The teacher has constant contact with pupils in the classroom, in the play field, in the library, laboratory etc. They can easily detect defective health habits and postures of students. They can identify cases of defective health and suggest some remedial measures.

Providing healthy school environment:

The teacher can provide suitable environment in the school conducive to good health. They can pay special attention to personal hygiene, cleanliness, ventilation, physical exercise, inculcation of good health habits.

Prevention of communicable diseases:

The children come from various localities. They may contract some communicable disease and carry it to school. A teacher who knows about the prevention of such disease will adopt suitable preventive measures not only in the school but in the surrounding areas.

Food and nutrition:

Good health is not possible without suitable food and nutrition. A teacher can instruct children about the type of food they should take.

Health services:

A teacher can organise health service for minor ailments. They can arrange regular medical examination of children by competent doctors. Also, a teacher is expected to know the type of health services available.

Thus, health education in teacher education programme is of importance for the reasons like: To,

Acquire knowledge about physical and health education.
Develop awareness about health and fitness.
Develop the physical fitness and wellness.
To understand the prevention of life style diseases.
Understand the rules and regulations of sports and games.
Develop the skills in organizing the physical education programmes in schools.
Develop the activities required for organizing physical education meets and events.
Acquire knowledge about recreation, health and safety education.
Acquire knowledge about common communicable diseases.
Understand the nature of injuries and to provide first aid.
Understand the diet modification in the treatment of underweight and obesity.

Components of a Healthful Environment

A healthful school environment encompasses such factors as adequate space, proper lighting, heating and ventilation, good sanitation, correct seating, regular maintenance, safety counselling facilities, health services, recreational areas, eating places, rest rooms and living quarters. A healthful environment, however provides more than those physical characteristics. The”emotional climate” is also important if the student is to receive optimum benefits from attendance at school.

There are certain factors which influence the emotional climate of the school. They are:

The educational qualifications, personality characteristics and workload of faculty members;
The opportunities provided for student faculty conferences;
Teaching methods and classroom procedures employed by faculty members;
The number and demands of students and the ability of the teacher to carry this workload;
The attractiveness of the facilities;
The adequacy of recreational facilities;
The scheduling of time for recreational activities;
The nature and extent of school traditions.

STRATEGIES FOR IMPARTING HEALTH EDUCATION

There are some aspects of environment which make a significant contribution to healthful living in the school. They can be discussed under:

Environmental Sanitation

Environmental sanitation on the campus involves control of the drinking water and milk supply, the food in eating halls; restaurants; garbage disposal; water in the swimming pools; health protection of food handlers; housing; building maintenance and insect and rodent control.

Classroom, Library and Laboratory

A school student spends many hours in the classroom, library and laboratory. An ideal physical environment for learning is provided by a classroom or laboratory which is properly lighted to assure a minimum of eye fatigue, adequately heated and ventilated to promote physical and mental efficiency, correctly equipped with chairs and tables which fit the individual student and decorated with colours pleasing and soothing to the eye. The same characteristics are needed in the study rooms in the library, since it is imperative that this facility be conducive to good study habits.

Guidance and Counselling Services

A student may find it difficult to determine his/her vocational goal because he/she may not comprehend clearly the personal traits which are required to succeed in a specific vocation. The guidance and counselling services of a school should be established to help students in their future adjustment.

Hostel Facilities

Hostel is considered as the living quarters for the students. Such living quarters affect the health and efficiency of the students. For example, good lighting can decrease eye fatigue headaches, nervousness and irritability; bright, cheery surroundings have a definite psychological uplifting effect; proper heating and ventilation reduce the likelihood of contracting respiratory diseases such as colds, sinusitis and pneumonia; adequate space in living quarters prevents the spread of a number of communicable diseases; properly equipped and arranged quarters with intelligent use of appliances, prevent many home accidents.

The school authorities who are concerned with providing hostel facilities should give attention to the requirements of good housing in a hostel.

Providing Health Guidance Opportunities

To provide an environment for healthful living there must be provision for health guidance programme in schools. It is through the personal social relationships with students that the health education teacher will be able to co-operate with the student health service in observing, screening, referring and following up the student with a health problem. The adaptive or corrective programme, supervised by health service and physical education personnel on an individual need basis, serves as an important means of correcting remedial defects.

Health Services

In each school there must be provision for health services, because a school health service may function as a medical office, a student hospital or a student health service. Thus, the health needs of students can be fulfilled. To these health services organizations students will come with personal problems such as chronic fatigue and some such health problems. Thus, health services can provide opportunities for a healthful living.

Use of Teaching methods and Aids

Pupils will learn and understand more easily and effectively if the teaching is made interesting and enjoyable. The greater the variety of teaching methods and aids you can employ, the easier it will be to capture and hold the pupil’s attention. Concentrate on finding the best methods of presenting new knowledge and on involving pupils more actively in the learning process. Certain approaches have been found to be highly successful:

For communicating new ideas

Flannelgraphs
Models and demonstrations
Colour slides/filmstrips
Story-telling
Puppet plays
Play-acting
Posters and booklets
Songs and dances
Help from outside workers

For developing Understanding

Group discussion-presentation of conclusion to others
Making up stories, or inventing the end to a prepared but unfinished story
Making up plans to act with others
Inventing songs or dances to express ideas
Role-playing- taking on the roles of others in the community
Designing posters to express ideas
Conducting surveys- finding out what others do or feel about particular topics
Making puppet theatres and presenting puppet plays

It would be valuable for each child to have a record of all the work attempted, perhaps in the form of a booklet in which key information from each unit is summarized. The basic information can be supplemented by drawings, cut-out pictures, stories and anecdotes relating to the student’s own health and physical situations.

Chapter: 23 MENTAL, EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND SEX EDUCATION

MENTAL, EMOTIONAL HEALTH AND SEX EDUCATION

Mental Health

Mental health is health of the mind as physical health is health of the body. As physical health means harmony and co-operation of all organs of the body, mental health means harmonious functioning of the whole personality. In its broadest sense, mental health means the measures of a person’s ability to shape his/her environment and to adjust to life, with a reasonable amount of success, efficiency and happiness. Mentally healthy persons are generally good workers, good friends, good citizens and good parents. A healthy mind maintains an even temper, an alert intelligence, socially considerate behaviour and a happy disposition.

Dr. C. K. Bush defines mental health as “the ability to get along with oneself and with others and to be independent in most things, but at the same time, to realize how dependent we are on others in our present-day complicated society. A mentally healthy person can withstand adversity, without being depressed and can rise up and try again. He/she is not self-centered but is interested in others and helps others without expecting any reward”.

Importance of Mental Health

Physical health and mental health are closely related together. A healthy mind can only be found in a healthy body. Physical fitness is not an end in itself but only a means to promote the mental and moral health of the child. Good health is not merely a matter of the body alone but also of the mind and the spirit. It is, therefore, impossible to deal intelligently with all aspects of physical health without having sufficient knowledge of mental health.

“A healthy mind, no less than a vigorous physique, is a worthy end in itself, and it is an important means of contributing to the fulfilment of all other human wants and desires. Healthy mindedness is essential to productivity and enjoyment in nearly every wholesome enterprise and its cultivation is largely a matter of education”. This is the importance of mental health.

In the words of Thomas D. Wood, “The child’s mental health and balance are of the utmost importance in relation to the general health. The complexity and stresses of modern living make necessary consideration of their mental hygiene if they are to meet them successfully. This is now definitely an educational responsibility”.

It is of paramount importance to give due attention to the development of mental health of children. There are mental laws, principles and situations which help in the development of healthy minds of children. Any disregard to these may lead to mental disorders and conflict which ultimately may bring frustration, misery and unhappiness. Teachers in the school can play a major role in providing such an environment in which children develop healthy mental attitudes.

What constitutes a Healthy mind?

The characteristics of a healthy mind are:

Normal appetite
Calmness

Cheerful outlook

Good temper
Socially acceptable habits
Well regulated instincts

Healthy philosophy of life
Normal physical vitality

Receptivity to new ideas
Normal sex consciousness
Good temper

Energetic and strong will.

features of mental disorders

Undue anxiety
Easily embarrassed in the presence of others

Lack of courage

Undeveloped habits and will
Low intelligence
Irritability

Moodiness
Depressed and pessimistic outlook

Full of prejudice
Abnormal interest in sex
Bad temper

Factors on which Mental and Emotional Health Depends

Mental and emotional health depends on a number of factors. The major factors are:

Sublimation of instincts and emotions:

Instincts are natural urges or inborn tendencies in an animal to feel and behave towards a particular stimulus, in a characteristic manner. Instincts are primary movers and their function is mechanical, without intelligence and foresight. Emotions are intense feelings which stir up the whole organism. Every instinct of self-preservation gives rise to the emotion of fear while the instinct of food seeking, gives rise to the emotion of hunger and thirst. Thus, emotional factors are very important in the maintenance of good mental health or its breakdown. It is, Therefore, essential that instincts and emotions are controlled and sublimated. They must be right for the occasion.

Formation of good habits:

Habit is an acquired tendency to repeat an action or a movement. It is a reaction that gets fixed as a result of practice and repetition. All education is a continued process of the cultivation of certain habits, like the habits of thinking, feeling and action. It is the teacher’s function to encourage pupils in the formation of good habits and avoidance of bad ones. Good habits are of great value in matters of mental and emotional health. On the other hand, bad habits like stealing, gambling, drinking and telling lies, creates a lot of mental and emotional disturbance in the child’s mind.

Acquisition of strong and healthy sentiments:

Sentiment is an attitude or a feeling towards an object or a person. It is more or less a fixed type of feeling. Sentiments are acquired. They are not natural urges. They are the foundation of the character and personality of an individual. Broadly speaking, sentiments are only particular types of habits. But they have a great influence on the mental and emotional health of an individual. A weak sentiment may cause mental illness while a strong sentiment may be a factor of strong health.

Avoidance of mental conflict:

Conflict means a state of tension caused by a struggle between two opposing impulses. Tension in one’s mind may arise because of certain environment, social or economic conditions which may stand in the way of the strong desires and wishes. In that case, a feeling of discomfort and frustration is experienced by the individual, which is extremely painful. Therefore, such conflicts may be avoided as far as possible for maintaining mental equilibrium.

Proper adjustment:

Life is a continuous process of adjustment with one’s physical and social environments. As soon as home or society fails to satisfy any or some of the needs, the individual goes out of adjustment with it. Then, the individual is said to be ‘maladjusted’. Maladjustment causes conflict and a sense of frustration, which must be avoided under all circumstances, for maintaining good health.

Faith and confidence:

Another important factor of good mental and emotional health is confidence in one’s own self and in others. Such confidence and faith keep frustration far away from the individual and enable them to live fairly comfortable even in these upsetting and insecure times.

Besides these psychological factors, mental health also depends upon certain physical factors. The foremost among them are physical health, nutritious diet and rest.

Thus, mental health is primarily concerned with the sublimation of emotions and with the development of well-adjusted personalities. An individual’s ability to adjust to life and its problems, with a reasonable degree of satisfaction, success and happiness, is a definite function of health education. So, the teacher of health education should help children in adjustment to the inner and outer strains of life in a manner which is reasonably satisfactory both to the individual and to the society, in which they live.

It is a matter of great relief that our educationists have begun to realize the importance of mental health. ‘Feeling of insecurity’ and ‘feeling of inferiority’ are the two great enemies of mental health. A knowledge of mental hygiene helps us to kill these two evils. A psychological approach is needed for that. Our attempts should be to provide suitable emotional, physical and intellectual environment in which a child may have the ‘feeling of security’ and the ‘feeling of equality’. They should feel that their personality is respected and given a suitable place in the society.

Causes of Mental Illness or Maladjustment

These are the main causes of mental illness of school children:

Disturbed home environment: It may be due to unhappy married life of parents, emotional and drunkard parents and low moral or social standards of the family.
Poverty: When poor children met rich children in the school, they sometimes develop jealousy, worry and inferiority complex which lead to emotional disturbance.
Faulty methods of teaching: Faulty methods of teaching do not motivate students. Lessons become dull. Students begin to hate every process of education. Then, there is emotional tension in their mind which leads to mental illness.
Faulty emotional behavior of teachers: Some teachers themselves need emotional stability. Such emotionally unbalanced teachers are themselves a prey to inferiority complex, persistent worries and over-excited emotions. Innocent children may become mentally ill under such teachers.
Strict discipline: Some traditional schools impose strict discipline. Their students always suffer from fear and constant worry. They have no peace of mind and tranquility of emotions.
Defective physical conditions of the school: Schools with dark dingy classrooms and without any provision of extensive lawns and playgrounds bring fatigue and boredom to students. They are soon fed up with the school and its activities.
Lack of equipment: In some schools, there is lack of furniture and proper equipment. Then there is over-crowding of pupils. In such conditions, pupils cannot work peacefully. There is always frustration and mental tension.
Lack of educational and vocational guidance: Some schools insist on the mastery of academic subjects only without caring for the interests and aptitudes of students. This leads to frustration and emotional disturbance. No educational and vocational guidance is provided to students, at the junior, secondary, high and senior secondary stages. No aptitude tests are given. So the students are not advised to take up subjects and activities according to their mental inclination and interest.
Heavy curricular and home task as well as faulty examination system: These days there is heavy load of many subjects on the minds of students. Then different subject teachers assign too much home task in their respective subjects. So the students remain constantly worried. This leads to the curtailment of their leisure and freedom which adversely affects their personality. At the end of the school session, the annual examination system also has many faults. The success or failure of a pupil depends upon this single examination only. No credit is given to his social, aesthetic, cultural and physical achievements. This leads to frustration and emotional disturbance.

Measures to Secure Mental Health

Mental health means cheerfulness, well-regulated instincts and habits, normal sex consciousness, a healthy philosophy of life, good temper, calmness and optimistic outlook. The teacher should try to provide suitable emotional, physical and intellectual environment to his pupils in which they should feel that their individuality is respected and they are assigned a suitable and secure place.

Some measures which may be adopted to secure the mental health of pupils are:

Close Pupil-teacher Contacts

The teacher should carefully observe the child in and outside the school and should know the child and their home conditions. This will develop the feeling of ‘oneness’ in the mind of the child who feels that the teacher is interested in their welfare.

Favorable Home and School Environment

Unfavorable home and school environment leads to mental disorders. Parents should be guided to adopt good methods of upbringing. The child should be free from unsatisfactory relationships and strict discipline. Treatment by the parents should be just and impartial. Too much fondling may also lead to emotional maladjustment. The treatment of the teachers should be just and fair.

Medical Examination

There should be provision for medical examination in schools and remedial measures be adopted to safeguard the health of the child. Defective physique becomes a contributory factor of mental disorder. Cases requiring special treatment should be sent to child guidance clinics.

Intellectual Life of the School

Sound methods of teaching suited to the individual needs of the child should be adopted. Activity methods. E.g. Play way, Project Method, etc. should be encouraged. Audio-visual aids develop interest in the lesson. Special time and attention must be devoted to weak students.

Provision of Educational and Vocational Guidance Centres

Schools should start such centres. It is not necessary to appoint full time psychologists in schools. Trained teachers may be asked to undergo short educational and vocational guidance course and the work of guidance be entrusted to them. For especially difficult cases, intelligence, aptitude and personality tests may be conducted.

Provision of Co-Curricular Activities

Properly planned activities are very helpful in providing much needed and useful training in civic sense. Sublimation of instincts is also achieved.

Freedom and self-discipline

Unnecessary rules and regulations greatly upset the mental equilibrium of the child. A child who breathes in an atmosphere of freedom develops initiative and courage. Severe punishments result in mental agony.

Teacher’s Mental Hygiene and Dynamic Personality

The teachers should be mentally alert to develop mental alertness in the students. They should be painstaking, sympathetic, appreciative and trusting. They should not have any prejudice which may have an adverse effect on the emotional and intellectual conditions of children. They should always have higher ideals of life before them.

Social and cultural functions

Social and cultural functions like play, recreation, dancing, singing, acting, community-dinner and many such activities, not only give pleasure to students, but also saves them from developing inferiority or superiority complex and many other mental deformities. Such functions also help in developing self-confidence and self-control and save students from mental excitement.

Yogic practices

Yoga is now forming an important part of health and physical education. Such yogic practices help a lot in securing mental health.

Functions and Responsibilities of Teachers

The teacher has a very important role to play in the School Health Service programme. He/she comes into contact with the children so often that they are likely to be the first person to notice functional signs of diseases, which appears before physical signs.

The teacher should know the signs of different diseases, incubation period after exposure, the duration of communicability and the means of transmission. The teacher has the added responsibility of reflecting health teaching in a positive way. Both the physical and mental health of the teacher must be good, for both have a strong effect upon the developing personalities with whom the teacher comes in extended contact.

The health practices and attitudes acquired by the pupils, the quality of the human relationships and the ‘emotional climate’ that exists in the room are almost without exception reflections of the behavior and example of the teacher.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF SEX EDUCATION

Sex education scientifically imparted and rightly understood plays an important role in improving the quality of life. It has also a great bearing on understanding population dynamics. There is a need for soul searching on why sex education, in spite of its importance has by and large remained neglected at various stages of education.

Talking about sex is ordinarily considered something secretive, sinful, or not worthy of mention in sophisticated and so-called cultured society. People feel very much inhibited in talking about sex. But, without sex education people cannot live a happy and well-adjusted life because it has been noted that many marital, emotional and mental problems among human beings occur as a result of the misdirection and the wrong understanding of the sex urge.

Alva Myrdal has observed: “In general more wholesome attitudes towards sex questions will not be created until they are discussed openly and as a matter of fact phenomena”.

Children ask questions about sex as the subject fascinates them and it is our answer and the way we give them that plays an important part in forming their future attitude toward sex. Frank and honest response can help them to develop a healthy outlook.

Prof. UdayShankeris of the firm opinion, “Population education without sex education is ridiculous as the ‘how’ of population control cannot be answered without sex education. Sex education is no imposition; it concerns a vital matter in which children are interested. Interest in sex is instinctive and starts from early infancy. In pre-adolescent boys and girls, the sex drive is further. Enlightenment on sexual matter is to be given intelligently and pleasantly, but gradually and methodically. There cannot be any general rules as to the time and place or manner of imparting sex education. Through the teaching of general science, biology, physiology or hygiene, a good deal of physiological knowledge about sex differences and about animal and human reproduction, involving all the process of mating, fertilization, pregnancy or birth can be imparted”.

Meaning of Sex Education

Sex education may be defined as education for the protection, preservation, improvement and development of an ideal family, enjoying quality of life with an understanding of human reproduction as its integral and inseparate part, based on accepted ethical values regarding sex.

Aims and Objectives of Sex Education

In the publication ‘School Health Education’, Prof. H. F. Kilander has given certain aims and objectives of Sex and Family Life Education.

Developing normal and wholesome attitudes and ideals in relation to sex and family.
Developing desirable habits, behavior and conduct in accordance with such attitudes and ideals.
Acquiring knowledge and understanding of matters related to the physiology of human reproduction and related aspects of life.
Correcting and alleviating some of the common worries and misconceptions in the field of sexual adjustment.
Contributing to the emotional and social growth of the individual so that he/she can function adequately as a member of family, and eventually as a parent.

Agencies of Sex Education

The home and family
The church
The community and the society
The school

Role of Teachers and Parents in Sex Education

These are some of the suggestive guidelines and measures which should be adapted to provide sex education as it plays an important role in controlling population and ensuring quality of life. Simple questions of children are sometimes difficult to answer. When a child is very young, one can make up any number of stories to convince him, but young boys and girls are keen to seek answers in depth. They may investigate, adventure or explore to find out the answers. Sometimes they find them out in the wrong way.

In a growing child, there is development of the body about which they are confused, there is also growth of mind and awareness. Their quest for information needs to be addressed. Nothing is better than direct communication between parents and youngsters.

Parents and teachers should not be thrown off-guard by awkward questions. They should have the presence of mind and answer some questions in fun and some in utter seriousness so that the child gets a positive signal that though sex is a private thing there is nothing shameful about it. In this way children are able to confide in their teachers and parents and look upon them as friends, which in turn keeps the teachers and parents informed about children’s activities.

Guidelines for Imparting Sex Education in Schools

Oberteuffer has suggested some guidelines in his book ‘School Health Education’ for imparting sex education in schools.
Sex education include biological, moral, psychological and social aspects of sex because sex education involves the whole person and the whole life style.
Sex education is concerned with both facts and values.
While planning sex education, individual differences and the developmental needs of children should be kept in view.
Teachers who impart sex education should be carefully selected and properly prepared for this task.
Instructional methods for imparting sex education should be based on sound psychological principles.
Sex education should be a continuous process.
Correlation and integration approach should be followed in imparting sex education.
There should be a continuous evaluation.

Methods of Imparting Sex Education

Documentaries can be shown to teenagers in schools. If made properly, they can easily hold their attention.
Plays, seminars and workshops organized in school can also achieve this goal where the situations leading to problems can be dealt with.
Students can directly approach the teachers or counsellors to have their confusions cleared.
Students can be asked to write questions on a paper without revealing their identity so that shy students too can have answers. Teachers may be cautioned that they are likely to receive a few embarrassing, awkward and may be downright obscene questions or drawings which ought to be taken with an equanimity of mind and understanding. This may need discussion as to why some children do so. Over-suppressed, over-exposed or those children who are denied recognition by their parents of their sexual development may do these kinds of things and therefore are required to be reassured and gently pushed in the right direction.
Specially trained teachers, separately for girls and boys in the initial phase, or doctors can be called to give a few lectures to remove misconceptions and doubts.
Good books are best companions at all ages. They can serve the purpose of educating a curious mind where parents feel restricted in communicating with the child. This way parents also know that whatever a child is reading is healthy and beneficial for him/her.
Guidance from an elderly relative can also serve the very important role of a confidante to the teenager in the family.

Chapter: 24 PHYSICAL FITNESS AND WELLNESS

PHYSICAL FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Meaning of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is a relative term. Different people attach different meanings to physical fitness. For a doctor, physical fitness implies the proper functioning of the physiological systems. For the common man, it implies having a good physique.

Physical fitness is the basic requirement for most of the tasks to be undertaken by an individual in his daily life. Physical fitness is the capacity to carry out reasonably well, various forms of physical activities without being unduly tired. A physically fit individual is capable of withstanding fatigue for longer periods, better equipped to tolerate physical stress, more efficient circulatory and respiratory systems, more efficient and stronger heart and exhibits good mental alertness and absence of nervous tension.

Thus, physical fitness varies according to the nature of the task. Physical fitness in general terms means the capacity to do routine work without any exertion or fatigue. So physical fitness implies:

The possession of strength and endurance.
The capacity to do every day’s work effectively.
The capacity to engage in recreational pursuits.

Definitions of Physical Fitness

In the words of Charles A. Bucher, “if you are physically fit, your body systems functions efficiently. You have sufficient strength to engage in vigorous physical activity, you recover quickly from fatigue. You have reserves of strength, energy and stamina for emergencies.”

According to Dr. K. L. Anderson, “physical fitness is the ability for respiration and circulation to recover from a standard work load”.

In the words of Edward Bortz, “Physical fitness implies that the body systems are capable of carrying on their activities satisfactorily”.

Bruno Balle states, “Physical fitness depends on the bio-dynamic potential of an individual which is composed of his functional and metabolic potential”.

According to Clarke (1971), “Physical fitness is the ability to carry out daily task with vigor and alertness without undue fatigue and ample energy to enjoy leisure time pursuits and to meet unforeseen emergencies.”

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), physical fitness is defined as ‘the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigour and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies’.

Physical fitness is one’s richest possession. To be totally fit person one must also possess emotional maturity, high ethical standards and ability to get along with others.

PHYSICAL FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Fitness refers to the physical part. A fit person is supposed to have good stamina, strength and flexibility. He/she maintains the fitness by doing various kinds of exercises (indoor and outdoor, free hand or with weights, aerobic or anaerobic etc.). Wellness is a more general term encompassing the whole being which is the mind and soul in addition to the body. Wellness, in essence, covers all areas of health: mental health, emotional health, physical health, Spiritual health, social health, relationship health, and so on.

Importance of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is very important from various angles. Some of the major points are:

Enjoyment of a better life – With physical fitness one can enjoy a better life, better social status, more happiness and more satisfaction in life.
Efficiency for facing emergencies – It imparts endurance and efficiency for facing emergencies and stress situation in life.
Prevention of pre-mature aging – Physical fitness prolongs life, by preventing premature aging.
Development of personality – Physical fitness programme leads to proper development of all the physiological systems and the body posture. This develops one’s personality by providing grace, smartness and agility in different walks of life.
Prevention of minor ailments and diseases – The pressures and tensions of modern rapid life, generally cause depression, high blood pressure and even heart attack. But physically fit persons can avoid such common ailments, with their stamina and endurance power.
Better performance in games and sports- Physically fit persons can withstand the stress and strain of competitive activity, with their strength and energy. So they can give better performance in games and sports.

Mentioning the importance of physical fitness, Shri A. K. Pandya, formerly Director General of Sports Authority in India, says, “People the world over, have realised the importance of physically fit body, for a vigorous and purposeful life. Unless we have the sustaining physical fitness, the joy of living and the satisfaction of a complete life is lost.”

Thus, physical fitness is very important for all persons, whether in service or in business or athletes or players.

Elements of Physical Fitness

There are three important elements of physical fitness. These are:

Anatomical fitness
Physiological fitness
Psychological fitness
Anatomical fitness refers to a person’s body parts and structure. It includes the size and shape of the body and its suitability for performing a particular physical activity. For instance, a short statured person may not be a good smasher in volleyball or become a good high jumper as an athlete and a lean and thin person, a good weightlifter. Genetic imperfections in organs and tissues are responsible for weakness in a person’s structure and function. These limit their capacity for strength, endurance and skill.
Physiological fitness means that all physiological systems of the body, like nervous, circulatory, respiratory and digestive etc. function effectively and efficiently. It would lead to proper growth and development of various organs of the body. It would also build stamina, strength and capacity of different body parts for particular physical activities.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle also described the importance of physiological fitness by saying, “The body is the temple of the soul, and to reach harmony of body, mind and spirit, the body must be physically fit.”

Psychological fitness also plays an important role in the performance of an individual. Psychological factors like perception, emotional stability, motivation and intelligence are of great importance in determining one’s fitness level. Lack of motivation and any kind of tension will not let an individual to give their best performance. Thus, all efforts should be made to keep intact the psychological fitness of the performers.

Factors of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness of a person depends on several factors. All these factors play an important role in influencing the maintenance and development of physical fitness of an individual. The main factors are:

Environment

Environment is the surroundings in which a living thing grows and develops. Environment includes the earth, the air, the water and all factors which help or hurt a living being to grow. Here, we are concerned with school children and their environment in school, home and neighbourhood etc. Students spend most of their day time in school. So the school environment must be favourable for their physical growth and fitness. The school should possess adequate building, proper lighting, ventilation, safe drinking water, proper toilet and hand washing facilities, besides a spacious, smooth and level ground for drill and physical exercise. A healthy environment at home and in the neighbourhood where the students spend time after school hours greatly helps their physical fitness and development.

Nutritive Diet

Nutritive diet provides energy to the body for the movements of muscles and all its organs It helps in an individual’s growth and development and protects them from diseases. It is also very helpful in repairing the body’s worn out tissues. Since school children keep themselves busy in various types of physical activities, they must get nutritive balanced diet. Such a diet should contain carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, salts and vitamins in proper ratio. It means that for physical growth and fitness, school children should be given milk, milk products, fruits and sufficient quantity of vegetables, along with eggs, bread, rice and pulses.

Good hygiene and health habits

Another important factor of physical fitness is good hygiene and health habits of an individual. Its foundation is to be laid early in life. Therefore, awareness of the importance of good health habits must be developed among children from their very childhood.

Children should develop the habit of washing their hands clean, especially before and after their meals and after the use of lavatory. It is because the hands come in contact with disease germs more than any other part of the body. The children should also learn to keep their body clean, otherwise it becomes susceptible to infection. Health habits and hygiene cover the total lifestyle of an individual.

Avoidance of drugs and alcohol

For physical fitness, avoidance of harmful substances like alcohol, tobacco, drugs etc. is a must. Their intake adversely affects both the body and the mind. Even small consumption of alcohol affects the neuro-muscular system in the body. And its excessive use is most harmful to the person concerned. Similar is the case with smoking. Tobacco smoke contains certain very harmful chemicals which have a very bad effect on the person’s health. Regular smoking may cause lung cancer and cancer of mouth, tongue and throat. Drug addiction is far more harmful than drinking or smoking. It has a devastating effect on both the health and personality of drug addicts. So, the intake of all these harmful substances must be avoided for maintaining physical fitness.

Proper rest and sleep

Rest is very helpful in removing fatigue. Rest gives some time for relaxation to the part or system of the body that has been doing strenuous work. Rest may be brought about by lying down or sitting comfortably. Due to rest, the body organs get an opportunity to work properly at a normal speed. So rest is an important factor for physical fitness.

Sleep may be called rest for a longer time. During sleep, the body rests and a good deal of blood goes to the blood vessels. This makes the body fresh again for further physical exercises and activities. Thus, both rest and sleep are of great importance in maintaining physical fitness.

Freedom from tension

Tension is anxiety or worry of any type. It may be due to home conditions, social situations or vocational causes. Pressure of desired achievement in competitions may also be a cause of worry. Tension of any kind does not let an individual give his/her best performance. If tension is allowed to persist, it may have an adverse effect on the physical fitness of the person. So tension or stresses should be eliminated for maintaining physical fitness.

Regular exercise

Regular exercise keeps muscles, heart and lungs in good working order. There are a big number of exercises, but just three basic kinds of them are necessary for physical fitness. These are:

Aerobic exercises
Stretchers and

Stregtheners

Aerobic exercises are those which strengthen the heart and lungs. Muscles need oxygen and feed it into the blood. Heart pumps the blood through the arteries and veins of the circulatory system delivering oxygen to every muscle in the body. Blood also carries food to the muscles. In this way, every organ and tissue of the body receives a healthy supply of food and oxygen.

For strengthening heart and lungs, running, jogging, rope skipping, swimming, bicycling, football, basketball and hockey are all aerobic activities. Dancing and walking long distances are also aerobic exercises. An hour of brisk walking is as good to most persons as 15 minutes of jogging. So in physical fitness programme aerobic exercises should occupy a proper place. It will keep the heart and lungs in good condition. Exercises combined with dieting help a person get rid of excess fat.

Stretchers: Sitting for a long time at a desk or bench stiffens the neck and shoulder muscles. Similarly, long muscles in legs, back and both sides of the body, between the hips and armpits, tend to tighten-up when idle. Stretching exercises are very useful for removing stiffness. These exercises done regularly improve posture, muscle-tone and over-all fitness. Besides reducing muscle tension. Yogic exercises are best examples of good stretchers.

Some other popular stretching exercises are Bend and Sway. With feet apart and hands on hips, bend the body to the left. Then, bend the body back as far as possible. After that bend it to the right and then forward. Bend it to the left again and repeat. With these exercises, muscles will stretch on both sides of the body. From the same stretching position as discussed, sway from one side to the other. Extending the arms high above the head is also beneficial. In addition to this, raising or lowering of arms benefits the shoulders.

Strengtheners: There are many good exercises that build muscles. But, strengtheners put a different demand on muscles from stretchers. Another important principle is “the more slowly one moves, the greater the benefit”. A few examples of strengthening exercises are sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups etc.

Sit-up is an exercise in which there is an act of rising from lying on back position to a sitting position. It strengthens the back muscles. Push-up is an exercise on parallel bars, in which the body is supported by the bent arms and raised for strengthening them. In pull-up, the body is pulled up by means of an overhead bar, held by the hands, till the chin touches the bar. Pull-up strengthens the arms, shoulders, hands and wrists. All these exercises may be repeated till one is able to do them without pain.

Types and components of physical fitness

Physical fitness can be classified into two. They are health related physical fitness, skill related physical fitness and cosmetic fitness

Health related physical fitness(HRPF)

It is the power or capacity to live a full and efficient life that one is capable of being. It includes cardiovascular fitness, strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Skill related physical fitness (SRPF)

This consists of those components of physical fitness that have a relationship with enhanced performance in sports and motor skills. The components are commonly defined as speed, agility and co-ordination.

Cosmetic fitness

It deals with prevention and remediation of disease and illness leading to a better quality of life. It is simply working out for the purpose of ‘looking fit’.

Physical fitness comprises the 3s- stamina, strength and suppleness. One exercise can benefit more than one area. For instance, jogging can improve your stamina and suppleness at the same time. Most forms of sports, work, and recreational activities include elements of aerobic fitness. A range of physical activities thus ensures total fitness.

Stamina – stamina or endurance involves the ability to sustain physical activity for prolonged periods. Generally speaking, any activity which lasts more than 1 minute is considered aerobic. The term “aerobic” implies that the oxygen utilization by the body was the principle factor in accomplishing the task.

Strength – stronger muscles can mean either more powerful muscles that can do better jobs or muscles that will work longer before becoming exhausted.
Suppleness – our muscles are repeatedly shortened when they are used, especially when exercising. They need to be slowly and regularly stretched to counteract the repeated shortening. This stretching results in suppleness or flexibility- the ability to move joints and muscles trough their full range of motion.

Components of physical fitness

Some of the major components of physical fitness are

Muscular strength – muscular strength is the power that help us to lift and carry heavy objects. Without muscular strength, your body would be weak and unable to keep up with the demands placed upon it.
Muscular endurance – endurance is the ability of your muscles to perform contractions for extended periods of time. Rather than just lifting or carrying something for a few seconds, the muscles are used for minutes.
Cardiovascular endurance – Cardiovascular endurance is our body’s ability to keep up with exercise like running, jogging, swimming, cycling and anything that forces our cardiovascular system (lungs, heart, and blood vessels) to work for extended periods of time. The cooper run (running as far as possible in 12 minutes) is a test commonly used to assess cardiovascular endurance, but many trainers use the step test (stepping onto a platform for 5 minutes). Both are accurate measures for a subject’s cardiovascular endurance.
Flexibility – flexibility is one of the most important components of physical fitness, without flexibility, the muscles and joints would grow stiff and movement would be limited. Flexibility training ensures that your body can move through its entire range of motion without pain or stiffness. The sit and reach test (sitting on the floor and reaching towards your toes) is another good way to assess your flexibility. The more flexible you are, the closer you will come to touching your toes and beyond.
Speed – A skill related components of physical fitness that relate to the ability to perform a movement within a short period of time.
Co-ordination – A skill related components of physical fitness that relate to the ability to use the senses, such as right and hearing, together with body parts in performing motor tasks smoothly and accurately.
Body fat composition – Body fat composition refers to the amount of fat on your body. For example, a 100-pound person with a 25% body fat composition will have a lean body mass of 75 pounds. To qualify as fit: i) Men must have a body fat composition lower than 17 percent. ii) Women must have body fat composition lower than 24 percent.

The average man tends to have about 18 to 24 percent body fat, while the average woman has 25 to31 percent body fat.

Agility- Agility means the ability of an individual to change position in speed.

Factors Affecting Physical Fitness

Following factors play an important role in physical fitness of an individual:

Heredity
Proper diet
Regular Exercise
Observance of natural laws
Standard of living
Nature of work
Scientific way of training
Good postures
Proper rest and sleep.
Freedom from stress.
Humorous nature
Environment

Principles of Physical Fitness development

Principle pf warming up before undertaking exercises.
Principle of selection of right exercises.
Principle of regularity in exercises.
Principle of variety.
Principle of progression- exercises of low-intensity to high-intensity.
Principle of rest.
Principle of specificity of exercise.
Principle of selection of exercise on the basis of age and sex.
Principle of medical check-up.
Principle of overloading: Overloading is achieved through increase in intensity, frequency and duration. For instance, to achieve overload principle, distance runners gradually increase the time of exercise. As the load increases, the body acquires the capacity to bear that load and prepares for higher adaptation.

WELLNESS

The term wellness was first used by Halbert L. Dunn, who published a small booklet entitled ‘ High Level Wellness’ in 1965. According to Mickinley health Center, University of Illinois, wellness “is a state of optimal well-being that is oriented toward maximizing an individual’s potential. This is a lifelong process of moving towards enhancing your physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual and environmental well-being”.

The University of East Carolina defines wellness as “the integration of body, mind and spirit. Optimal wellness allows us to achieve our goals and find meaning and purpose in our lives. Wellness combines 7 dimensions of well-being into a quality way of living. Overall, wellness is the ability to live life to the fullest and to maximize personal potential in a variety of ways. Wellness involves continually learning and making changes to enhance your state of wellness. When we balance physical, intellectual, emotional, social, occupational, spiritual and environmental aspects of life, we achieve true wellness”.

According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary, wellness is “ A philosophy of life and personal hygiene that views health as not merely he absence of illness but the full realization of one’s physical and mental potential, as achieved through positive attitude, fitness training, a diet low in fat and high in fiber, and the avoidance of unhealthful practices (smoking, drug and alcohol abuse, over eating)”.

Wellness is a term that has become extremely popular in recent years. Some say it is a state of mind that is experienced as tranquillity; others define wellness as a luxury life style concept associated with fitness. Most people define wellness a s simply” being physically well” most of the time. All inclusive, the generally accepted definition of wellness is to stay in good condition physically, mentally and spiritually especially through healthy choices in those areas. It is having a balanced state of these parts of the psyche. This definition of wellness implies that wellness is a lifestyle choice. It defines wellness to include not just being healthy physically, but embraces a holistic concept of health that encompasses our whole being-body, mind and spirit.

Different areas of Wellness

There are several areas that individuals need to focus on to take responsibilities in creating a life of wellness. The most common areas are: Spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, interpersonal and environmental. Some additional areas that are not as popular as these are Financial Wellness and Occupational Wellness. All these areas are contributing factors in our healthcare.

Spiritual Wellness

It gives you principles to govern yourself, giving joy and purpose in life. This leads to the ability to love and forgive which is very healing.

Mental Wellness

It gives you opportunity to challenge your mind through continuing education through life,seeking new experiences and mastering new skills.

Emotional Wellness

It is being able to identify your thoughts and feelings and make conscious choices toward a positive emotional outlook. Very important to emotional wellness is the releasing of negative emotions. Negative emotions left unchecked cause physical imbalance leading to diseases.

Physical Wellness

It includes good nutritional practices, exercise and using natural means to heal the body.

Interpersonal Wellness

It is acquiring and upholding relationships. This adds to a happy home and community. Interpersonal wellness is a big factor in your physical and emotional health.

Environmental Wellness

It allows one to have a healthy environment free of toxins with clean natural resources available such as water.

Financial Wellness

It exercises self-discipline in managing your money wisely, meeting financial obligations, budgeting, setting goals and staying debt free. This eliminates your life of much stress.

Occupational Wellness

It looks at your level of happiness and fulfilment in the work you do for a living. Planning and moving towards goals to bring enjoyment in this area is important.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FITNESS AND WELLNESS

Fitness speaks about the cardiovascular capacity, strength and shape of a person’s body. The word fitness means the ability to perform physical activities. This includes discussions on the strength of your muscles, joints and ligaments; the state of your endurance; and the power in which your body is capable of moving. This does not mean health. A person who is fit may not necessarily be fit. “Health” covers a wide array of components which are usually under the umbrella word “wellness”. Wellness in essence, covers all areas of health, spiritual health, mental health, emotional health, physical health, spiritual health, social health, relationship health and so on. Basically, these are all the different components ain a person’s life that can affect their overall “well-being”.

When it comes to ‘fitness’, a person may be fit-be active, participate in sports, be able to lift weights, change the shape of their body, run, jump and increase their cardiovascular capacity-but this does not mean that the state of their body, or their overall “well-being” is in good health. Fitness type of activities can hugely benefit the well-being of the body. But, this is not the only factor that determines the over-all health- the “wellness_ of the person. “Wellness speaks about the over-all well-being of a person from body, mind and spirit.

Chapter: 25 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, EXERCISE, AND PHYSICAL FITNESS

"PHYSICAL ACTIVITY," "EXERCISE," AND "PHYSICAL FITNESS"

PHYSICAL FITNESS

In the words of Charles A. Bucher, “if you are physically fit, your body systems functions efficiently. You have sufficient strength to engage in vigorous physical activity, you recover quickly from fatigue. You have reserves of strength, energy and stamina for emergencies.” Physical fitness is one’s richest possession. To be totally fit person one must also possess emotional maturity, high ethical standards and ability to get along with others.

In contrast with physical activity, which is relatedto the movements that people perform, physicalfitness is a set of attributes that people have orachieve. Being physically fit has been defined as"the ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor andalertness, without undue fatigue and with ampleenergy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and to meet unforeseen emergencies". A number ofmeasurable components do contribute to physical fitness. The most frequently cited componentsfall into two groups: one related to health andthe other related to skills that pertain more to athletic ability.

The health-related components of physical fitnessare (a) cardiorespiratory endurance, (b) muscularendurance, (c) muscular strength, (d) body composition,and (e) flexibility.

Just as the amountof physical activity ranges from low to high, so doesthe level of physical fitness. Moreover, the levels ofthe five health-related components need not vary inconcert; for example, a person may be strong butlack flexibility.

Physical fitness is very important from various angles. Some of the major points are described below:

Enjoyment of a better life – With physical fitness one can enjoy a better life, better social status, more happiness and more satisfaction in life.
Efficiency for facing emergencies – It imparts endurance and efficiency for facing emergencies and stress situation in life.
Prevention of pre-mature aging – Physical fitness prolongs life, by preventing premature aging.
Development of personality – Physical fitness programme leads to proper development of all the physiological systems and the body posture. This develops one’s personality by providing grace, smartness and agility in different walks of life.
Prevention of minor ailments and diseases – The pressures and tensions of modern rapid life, generally cause depression, high blood pressure and even heart attack. But physically fit persons can avoid such common ailments, with their stamina and endurance power, can withstand the stress and strain of competitive activity, with their strength and energy. So they can give better performance in games and sports.

Physical Fitness Tests Based on Components

Different types of physical fitness tests can be used to understand the physical health. There are tests that focus on gauging your strength, stamina, flexibility and more. Tests can focus on one particular physical trait, a combination of two or several, and even your overall physical fitness. There are 5 of the most popular and commonly used physical fitness tests.

The Bruce Test

Designed to evaluate cardiovascular performance, the Bruce Test was designed as a clinical treadmill stress test. The purpose was to diagnose patients with suspected heart diseases, and the results would point to possible coronary problems. Today, this physical fitness test is also used to measure VO2 Max,or maximum oxygen intake among athletes. You begin on the treadmill at a manageable pace and incline. At certain levels, both incline and treadmill speed increases until your threshold is reached.

Illinois Agility

This test is also called the Illinois Agility Run. This physical fitness test was designed to determine agility. The running course is composed of cones lined up and a set running track that crisscrosses around the cones. This determines your capability to quickly turn in other directions while running at a high speed.

Harvard Step Test

This is also a test for cardiovascular function. This test can easily be administered at home. All you need is a 12-inch-high bench or box to stand on, and a stopwatch. For three minutes, simply step up and down the platform at a steady pace. The time how long it takes for your heart rate to normalize. The shorter the interval, the better your cardiovascular condition is. This physical fitness test is also known as the Cardiac Stress Test or Cardiovascular Endurance Test.

Beep Tests

This test is also commonly known as Shuttle Run. Some also refer to it as the Pacer Test or 20-meter Shuttle Run Test. To start this test, cones are placed 20 meters apart from each other. Then, run to and from each cone according to recorded beeps. A specialized Bleep Test CD may be required for this. The intervals between bleeps get shorter, thus requiring you to run faster. This physical fitness test is generally used to measure VO2 Max. It is also an indication of your endurance and aerobic energy.

Vertical Jump

This is another test that you can do at home with very minimal requirements. This is used to determine leg muscle strength. It is sometimes called the Vertical Leap or the Sargent Jump – named after American physical education pioneer, Dudley Sargent. To perform the test, you attempt to reach the highest point on a wall by jumping.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Physical activity fosters normal growth and development, can reduce the risk of various chronic diseases, and can make people feel better, function better, and sleep better. Some health benefits start immediately after activity, and even short bouts of physical activity are beneficial. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition outlines the amounts and types of physical activity needed to maintain or improve overall health and reduce the risk of chronic disease. It also highlights individual and community-level strategies that can make being physically active easier in the places where people live, learn, work, and play.

"Physical activity," "exercise," and "physicalfitness" are terms that describe different concepts.

However, they are often confused with one another,and the terms are sometimes usedinterchangeably.Physical activity is defined as any bodily movementproduced by skeletal muscles that results inenergy expenditure. The energy expenditure can bemeasured in kilocalories. Physical activity in dailylife can be categorized into occupational, sports,conditioning, household, or other activities. Exerciseis a subset ofphysical activity that is planned,structured, and repetitive and has as a final or anintermediate objective the improvement or maintenanceofphysicalfitness. Physicalfitness is a set ofattributes that are either health- or skill-related.The degree to which people have these attributescan be measured with specific tests.

Several elements of physical activity have beenidentified.Physical activity isdefined as any bodily movement produced byskeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure.The amount of energy required to accomplish anactivity can be measured in kilojoules (kJ) orkilocalories (kcal); 4.184 kJ is essentially equivalentto 1 kcal (1).

Expressed as a rate (kcal per unit time), theamount of energy expended by each person is a

continuous variable, ranging from low to high. Thetotal amount of caloric expenditure associated withphysical activity is determined by the amount ofmuscle mass producing bodily movements and theintensity, duration, and frequency of muscular contractions.

Everyone performs physical activity in order tosustain life; however, the amount is largely subjectto personal choice and may vary considerably fromperson to person as well as for a given person overtime.

Physical activity during monthly,seasonal, or yearly periods may also be examined to

establish the stability of physical activity for longertime periods.

Categories of physical activity.

Physical activity canbe categorized in a variety of ways. A commonlyused approach is tosegment physical activity on thebasis of the identifiable portions of daily life duringwhich the activity occurs. The simplest categorizationidentifies the physical activity that occurs while

sleeping, at work, and at leisure. A simple formulacan be used to express the caloric contributionof each category to the total energy expenditure dueto physical activity:

kcalsieep+ kcaloccupation+ kcalleisure = kcaltotai daily physical activity

The caloric contribution of each category to thetotal energy expenditure due to physical activity isabove basal metabolic rate and does not include theeffect of diet-induced thermogenesis (which is theenergy expenditure above the metabolic rate in the resting state). The energy expenditure due tophysical activity during sleep would, of course, besmall.

Meaning and Concept

Physical activity is defined s any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that result in energy expenditure. Examples include doing housework, carrying buckets or laundry, walking upstairs. Physical activity is positively correlated with overall fitness of an individual. The energy expenditure can be measured in kilocalories. Physical activity can range between light, moderate and vigorous types of activity. For example, doing the household chore of washing dishes would be considered a light physical activity, whereas scrubbing the floor on your hand and knees with a hearty effort would be a vigorous activity.

Exercise is any improvement that is planned and done purposely to maintain or improve physical fitness. Examples of this type of movement include running, yoga, spinning and cycling. Performing regular exercise can improve aerobic capacity, muscle strength and bone strength and exercise is also positively correlated with overall fitness of an individual.

Exercise is the key to sound health. Sound health aids physical fitness. Therefore, we must take regular exercise in order to keep fit and healthy. Exercise provides adequate quantity of oxygen and enables different organs of human body to function properly. It promotes the circulation of blood to all parts of the body. Some points may be noted in this connection:

Exercise develops muscular systems in body.
Muscles can also be kept in tone.
Toxic products are eliminated from the bloodstream.
Exercise peps up metabolism.
Exercise is a brain stimulant.
Exercise keeps the nervous system in order.
Exercise helps in the proper functioning of the organs in human body. It also makes them strong.
Exercise brings joy to man.
Exercise is a natural thing for man and helps in the fullest development of man’s personality.

But, an important thing to remember is that exercise should be done in the open air and regularly. There should be no break in doing exercises. Proper care should be taken to perform only graduated exercise. It should be started with a minimum practice, and then slowly increased. It should not be done to the extent that one becomes tired or fatigued. Moreover, consideration of age should always be kept in mind while doing exercise. We should do exercise for our own sake in order to keep our body in perfect condition. Every man/woman must be a judge of how much exercise he/she needs. There cannot be any hard and fast rules to regulate it. But it is better one plays some outdoor game regularly, for a game gives both physical exercise and pleasure.

RELAXATION

Rest and relaxation is another way to keep our body in perfect order. There should always be reasonable limits to the amount of work one does. Relaxation means ceasing to make any effort or doing any activity. Absence of activity helps in the relaxation of muscles. It is a natural process in man, just as breathing is. But relaxation should not be confused with sitting idle. On the other hand, it means loosening the drive-chain on human mechanism. Relaxation helps us to know the method of preserving our energy. It prepares man for more effective activity. Relaxation keeps a man ever young and energetic.

How to Relax

Body’s slant position is the best way to relax. The body should be made to lie in a slanting position with head lower than the feet with the spine straightened and the back flattened in this position. All sorts of accumulated congestion in the bloodstream and tissues is released thereby. There is more free circulation and flow of blood in the body. Every organ in the body gets rest in this way.

Stomach-lift

Another way to relax effectively is the stomach-lift. When the body is in slanted position, the stomach-lift can be done by drawing the stomach in and, then after sometime, by drawing it out. This process may be repeated a number of times. It enhances longevity of life.

Avoiding Addiction to Smoking and Alcohol

Excessive smoking hinders digestion and respiration. Nicotine deposited by cigarettes has an ill-effect on one’s appetite. Smoking irritates the lungs and the throat. It causes irregularity of heart-beat, enhances pulse rate and increases blood pressure. Excessive smoking may also bring an attack of angina. It also leads to insufficient sleep and even nervousness. Therefore, excessive smoking should be avoided.

Alcohol consumes vitamin B, because it is a carbohydrate. So, when a person takes alcohol, the metabolic process that ensues take away vitamin B from the body and thus causes deficiency of this vitamin The body is thus weakened. Addiction to other intoxicants such as opium is also very harmful to health. So, we should avoid it at any cost. Similarly, sleeping pills are also bad for health.

EXERCISE AND SAFE HEART RATE

A linear relationship exists between intensity and heart rate. As exercise intensity increases, so does the heart rate. Exercise directly affects the activity, function and health of your heart. In the short term, our heart rate increases in proportion to our level of exertion as you exercise. Regular aerobic exercise strengthens our heart over time. As our cardiovascular fitness improves, the level of heart rate increase necessary during strenuous physical activity diminishes.

Maximum Heart Rate

Maximum heart rate (MHR) is the highest heart rate cardiovascular system can effectively cope with during physical activity. A simple way to calculate MHR is to subtract one’s age from 220. However, certain medications and physical factors can cause the MHR to be higher or lower.

Intensity Level and Heart Rate

During low intensity exercises, the heart beats well below its maximum rate. As exercise intensity increases, the heart rate moves closer to its maximum rate.Low-intensity exercises raise the heart rate to 40 to 50 percent of an individual’s MHR. Moderate-intensity exercises increases the heart rate to 50 to 70 percent of the MHR, while vigorous-intensity exercises elevate the heart rate to 70 to 80 percent of the MHR.

Target Heart Rate Zone

The target heart rate zone is the optimum level to exercise and reap the maximum cardiovascular and weight-loss benefits without overworking the heart. To determine your target heart rate, you need to know your MHR and the intensity level of your workout.

It is recommended that you exercise within 55 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes to get the best results from aerobic exercise. The MHR (roughly calculated as 220 minus your age) is the upper limit of what your cardiovascular system can handle during physical activity.

The basic way to calculate your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you're 45 years old, subtract 45 from 220 to get a maximumheart rate of 175. This is the maximum number of times your heart should beat per minute during exercise.

Basal Metabolic Rate

BMR is the minimum caloric requirement to sustain life at rest in a day. It is the amount of calorie required to maintain life at rest per day. It is the energy required for functioning the vital organs like heart, lungs, liver, kidney, skin etc. BMR is calculated by oxygen uptake. It is an indirect method of assessing the BMR through oxygen consumption. BMR is determined by genetic and environment factors.

Factors determining BMR are:

Age
Body weight
Surface area of the body
Posture
Heredity
Sex
Activity
Body temperature
Fat percentage
Diet
Mental conditions

Calculating BMR

There are two methods for calculating the Basal Metabolic Rate. They are indirect calorimetry and equation method.

Indirect Calorimetry

This is the accurate method of calculating the BMR. A specially designed laboratory is used for assessing the oxygen intake of the individuals for calculating the BMR.

Equation method

This is the formula method for calculating the BMR. Values of height, weight, age and sex of the individual have to be taken for assessing the BMR. Separate formulae are used for men and women.

EXERCISE

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, including increasing growth and development, preventing aging, strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, and also enjoyment. Frequent and regular exercise boosts the immune system and helps prevent several diseases. It may also help prevent stress and depression, increase quality of sleep and help promote or maintin positive self-esteem, improve mental health, maintain steady digestion. Physical exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult obesity. Aside from the health advantages,these benefits may include different social rewards for staying active while enjoying the environment of one’s culture. Many individuals choose to exercise publicly outdoors where they can congregate in groups, socialize and appreciate life.

The term "exercise" has been used interchangeably with "physical activity”, and, in fact, both

have a number of common elements. For example, both physical activity and exerciseinvolve any bodily movement produced byskeletal muscles that expends energy, are measuredby kilocalories ranging continuously from low tohigh, and are positively correlated with physical

fitness as the intensity, duration, and frequency ofmovements increase. Exercise, however, is not

synonymous with physical activity: it is a subcategoryof physical activity. Exercise is physical activitythat is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposivein the sense that improvement or maintenanceof one or more components of physicalfitness is an objective.

Exercise, then, is a subset of physical activity andmay constitute all or part of each category of dailyactivity except sleep. However, it is more likely tobe an important part of some categories of physical activity than of others. For example, virtuallyall conditioning and many sports activities areperformed to improve or maintain components ofphysical fitness. In such instances they are planned,structured, and, more often than not, repetitive.Activities such as occupational, household, andmany daily tasks are typically performed in themost efficient manner possible. These physical activitiesare done with little regard to physical fitnessand are often structured with conservation ofenergy expenditure as a goal.

Principles of exercise

There are certain fundamental principles regarding exercise. One should be aware of these basic concepts in order to maximize the effectiveness of the exercise programme. The personalized programme should be designed to reflect these principles in such a manner that the goals can be accomplished.

These are some basic principles of exercise, and knowing them may help to set up and manipulate different components of the workout.

Frequency

Adequate frequency of exercise should be ensured as per the requirement. ( 3 to 4 days for health related physical fitness, 4 to 6 days for managing diseases and performance related physical fitness).

Intensity

Intensity of the workout may be as per the specific goal. (60% - 85% for health related physical fitness and 75%-100% for performance related physical fitness).

Volume (duration)

Duration of the programme may be fixed as per the requirement. (30-60 minutes for health related physical fitness and 60 minutes and above for performance related physical fitness).

Load

Load should be increased progressively. (Staircase method).

Maintenance and continuity

To maintain physical fitness, continuity is very essential.

Personalized training

Personal differences like age, sex, ailments etc. have to be taken into consideration.

Climate

Workout should be planned as per the climatic conditions.

Technical expertise

Physical exercises should be practiced under the supervision of a professional expert.

Chapter: 26 HYPOKINETIC DISEASES- Part 1

HYPOKINETIC DISEASES- Part 1

A disease brought on, at least in part, by sufficient movement and exercise. Hypokinesis has been identified as an independent risk factor for the origin and progression of several widespread chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and lower back pain.

Obesity

Obesity means having too much body fat. It is not the same as being overweight, which means weighing too much. A person may be overweight from extra muscle or water, as well as from having too much fat. Both terms mean that a person’s weight is higher than what is thought to be healthy for his or her height.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more. BMI is a calculation that takes a person’s weight and height into account. However, BMI does have some limitations. According to the centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Factors such as age, sex, ethnicity, muscle mass can influence the relationship between BMI and body fat, muscle, or bone mass, nor does it provide any indication of the distribution of fat among individuals.” Despite these limitations, BMI continues to be widely used as an indicator of excess weight.

BMI provides a most useful population-level measure of overweight and obesity as it is the same for both sexes and for all ages of adults. However, it should be considered a rough guide because it may not correspond to the same degree of fatness in different individuals.

Causes of obesity

Obesity is generally caused by eating too much and moving too little. If you consume high amounts of energy, particularly fat and sugar but don’t burn off the energy through exercise and physical activity, much of the surplus energy will be stored by the body as fat.

Genetics – a person is more likely to develop obesity id one or both parents are obese. Genetics also affect hormones involved in fat regulation. For example, one genetic cause of obesity is leptin deficiency. Leptin is a hormone produced in fat cells and also in the placenta. Leptin controls weight by signalling the brain to eat less when body fat stores are too high. If, for some reason, the brain to eat less, this control is lost, and obesity occurs. The role of leptin replacement as a treatment for obesity occurs. The role of leptin replacement as a treatment for obesity is currently being explored.
Overeating – Overeating leads to weight gain, especially if the diet is high in fat. Foods high in fat or sugar (for example, fast food, fried food, and sweets) have high energy density (food that have a lot of calories in a small amount of food). Epidemiologic studies have shown that diets high in fat contribute to weight gain.
A diet high in simple carbohydrates - The role of carbohydrate in weight gain is not clear carbohydrate increase blood glucose levels, which in turn stimulate insulin release blood glucose levels, which in turn stimulate insulin release by the pancreas, and insulin promotes the growth of fat tissue and can cause weight gain. Some scientists believe that simple carbohydrates (sugars, fructose, desserts, soft drinks, beer, wine, etc.) contribute to weight gain because they are more rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream than complex carbohydrates (pasta, brown rice, grains, vegetables, raw fruits, etc.) and thus cause a more pronounced insulin release after meals than complex carbohydrates. This higher insulin release, some scientists believe, contributes to weight gain.
Frequency of eating – The relationship between frequency of eating and weight is somewhat controversial. There are many reports of overweight people eating less often that people with normal weight. Scientists have observed that people who eat small meals four or five times daily, have lower cholesterol levels and lower and or more stable blood sugar levels than people who eat less frequently (two or three large meals daily). One possible explanations that small frequent meals produce stable insulin levels, whereas large meals cause large spikes of insulin levels, whereas large meals cause large spikes of insulin after meals.
Physical inactivity – sedentary people burn fewer calories than people who are active. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) showed that physical inactivity was strongly correlated with weight gain in both sexes.
Medications – Medication associated with weight gain include certain antidepressants (medications used in treating depression), anticonvulsants (medication used in controlling seizures such as carbamazepine (Tegretol, Tegretol XR, Equetro, carbatrol) and valproate (Depacon, Depakene), some diabetes medications (medications used in lowering blood sugar such as insulin sulfonylureas, and thiazolidinediones), certain hormones such as oral contraceptives, and most corticosteroids such as prednisone. Weight gain may also be seen with some high blood pressure medications and antihistamines. The reason for the weight gain with the medications differs for each medication with your physician rather than discontinuing the medication, as this could have serious effects.
Physiological factors – for some people, emotions influence eating habits. Many people eat excessively in response to emotions such as boredoms, sadness, stress, or anger. While most overweight people, about have no more psychological disturbance than normal weight people, about 30% of the people who seek treatment for serious weight problems have difficulties with binge eating. Diseases such as hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome, and Cushing’s syndrome are also contributors to obesity.
Social issues – A link between social issues and obesity has been established. Lack of money to purchase healthy foods or lack of safe places to walk or exercise can increase the risk of obesity.

Signs and test of obesity

The health care provider will perform a physical exam and ask questions about your medical history, eating habits, and exercise routine. The two most common ways to assess your weight and measure health risks related to your weight are:

Body mass index (BMI)
Waist circumference

BMI is calculated using height and weight. You and your health care provider can use your BMI to estimate how much body fat you have. Waist measurement is another way to estimate how much body fat you have. Extra weight around your middle or stomach area increases your risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and strike. People with “apple shaped” bodies also have an increased risk for these diseases. Skin fold measurements may be taken to check your body fat percentage. Blood test may be done to look for third or hormone problems that could lead to weight gain. However these tests are usually normal.

Commonly suggested treatment for obesity

Changing your lifestyle: An active lifestyle and plenty of exercise, along with healthy eating, is the safest way to lose weight. Even modest weight loss can improve your health you will need a lot of support from family and friends. When dieting your main goal should be to earn new, healthy ways of eating and make them a part of your daily routine. Many people find it hard to change their eating habits and behaviours. You may have practiced some habits for so long that you may not even know they are unhealthy, or you do them without thinking. You need to be motivated to make lifestyle changes. Make the behaviour change part of your life over the long term. Know that it takes time to make and keep a change in your lifestyle.

Work with your health care provider and dietician to set realistic, safe daily calorie counts that help you lose weight while staying healthy. Remember that if you drop pounds slowly and steadily, you are more likely to keep them off.

Medication and herbal remedies: You may see ads for supplements and herbal remedies that claim they will help you lose weight. Many of these claims are not true. Some of these supplements can have serious side effects. Talk to your health care provider before using them. You can discuss weight loss drugs with your doctor. Most people lose betwe5 and 10 pounds by taking these drugs. Most people also regain the weight when they stop taking the medicine, unless they have made lasting lifestyle changes.
Surgery: Bariatric surgery can reduce the risk of disease in people with severe obesity. These risks include Arthritis, Diabetes, Heart disease, High blood pressure, sleep apnea, some cancers, and stroke. Surgery may help people who have been very obese for 5 years or more and have not lost weight from their treatments, such as diet exercise, or medicine. Surgery alone is not the answer for weight loss. It can train you to eat less, but you still have to do much of the work. You must be committed to diet and exercise after surgery. Talk t your doctor to learn of this is a good option for you.

DIABETES

Diabetes often referred to by doctors as diabetes mellitus, describes a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose (blood sugar), either because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body’s cells do not respond properly, to insulin, or both. Patientswith high blood sugar will typically experience polyuria (frequent urination), they will become increasingly thirsty (polydipsia) and hungry (polyphagia).

There are three types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes: the body does not produce insulin. Some people may refer to this type as insulin-dependent diabetes, juvenile diabetes, or early onset diabetes, people usually develop type 1diabetes before their 40th year, often in early adulthood or teenage years.
Type 2 diabetes: the body does not produce enough insulin for proper function, or the cells in the body do not react to insulin (insulin resistance).
Gestational diabetes : this type affects females during pregnancy. Some women have very high levels of glucose in their blood, and their bodies are unable to produce enough insulin to transport all the glucose into their cells, resulting in progressively rising levels of glucose.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, for which there is no known cure except in very specific situations. Management concentrates on keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal, without causing low blood sugar. This can usually be accomplished with a healthy diet, exercise, weight loss, and use of appropriate medications (insulin in the case of type 1 diabetes; oral medications, as well as possibly insulin, in type 2 diabetes).

Attention is also paid to other health problems that may accelerate the negative effects of diabetes. These include smoking, elevated cholesterol levels, obesity, high blood pressure, and lack of regular exercise. Specialized footwear is widely used to reduce the risk of ulceration, or re-ulceration, in at-risk diabetic feet.

Common diabetes symptoms include

Frequent urination
Intense thirst and hunger
Weight gain
Unusual weight loss
Fatigue
Cuts and bruises that do not heal
Male sexual dysfunction
Numbness and tingling in hands and feet.

Complications faced for diabetic patients are as listed

Eye complications: glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and some others.
Foot Complications: neuropathy, ulcers, and sometimes gangrene which may require that the foot be amputated.
Skin complications: people with diabetes are most susceptible to skin infections and skin disorders.
Heart problems: such as ischemic heart disease, when the blood supply to the heart muscle is diminished
Hypertension: common in people with diabetes, which can raise the risk of kidney disease, eye problems, heart attack and stroke
Mental health: uncontrolled diabetes raises the risk of suffering from depression, anxiety and some other mental disorders
Hearing loss- diabetes patients have higher risk of developing hearing problems
Gum disease: there is a much higher prevalence of gum disease among diabetes patients
Gastro paresis: the muscles of the stomach stop working properly
Ketoacidosis: a combination of ketosis and acidosis; accumulation of ketone bodies and acidity in the blood
Neuropathy: diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage which can lead to several different problems.
HHNS (Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic Syndrome: blood glucose levels shoot up too high, and there are no ketones present in the blood or urine. It is an emergency condition
Nephropathy: uncontrolled blood pressure can lead to kidney disease
PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease): Symptoms may include pain in the leg, tingling and sometimes problems walking properly
Stroke: if blood pressure, cholesterol; levels, and blood glucose levels are not controlled, the risk of stroke increases significantly
Erectile dysfunction: male impotence
Infections: people with badly controlled diabetes are much more susceptible to infections.
Healing of wounds: cuts and lesions take much longer to heal

Methods to control sugar level for a diabetic patient

Make diabetes meal plan with help from your health care team
Choose foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, transfat, sugar, and salt.
Eat foods with more fiber, such as whole grain cereals, breads, crackers, rice or pasta
Choose foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, bread and cereals, and low-fat or skimmed milk and cheese
Drink water instead of juice and regular soda.
Do regular exercise and workout

These patients can also face different health problems such as

Heart disease
Stroke
Kidney disease
Eye problems
Dental disease
Nerve damage
poor problem

HYPERTENSION

Hypertension is another name for high blood pressure. Medical guidelines define hypertension as a blood pressure higher than 140 over 90 millimeters of mercury (mmHg). It can severely impact quality of life and it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and death. High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.

Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is 120 over 80 mm of mercury (mmHg).

A number of risk factors increase the chances of having hypertension.

Age: hypertension is more common in people aged over 60 years. With age, blood pressure can increase steadily as the arteries become stiffer and narrower due to plaque build-up
Ethnicity: some ethnic groups are more prone to hypertension.
Size and weight: being overweight or obese is a key risk factor.
Sex: the lifetime risk is the same for males and females, but men are more prone to hypertension at a younger age, while rates tend to be higher rate in women at older ages.
Existing health conditions: cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and high cholesterol levels are predictors for hypertension, especially as people get older.

Other contributing factors include:

Physical inactivity
A salt-rich diet associated with processed and fatty foods
Low potassium in the diet
Alcohol and tobacco use
Certain disease and medications
Family history of high blood pressure and poorly managed stress also contribute.

There are two types of high blood pressure.

Primary (essential) hypertension

For most adults, there’s no identifiable cause of high blood pressure. This type of high blood pressure, called primary (essential) hypertension, tends to develop gradually over many years. Primary hypertension can result from multiple factors, including blood plasma volume and activity of the hormones that regulate of blood volume and pressure. It is also influenced by environmental factors, such as stress and lack of exercise.

Secondary hypertension

Some people have high blood pressure caused by an underlying condition. This type of high blood pressure, called secondary hypertension, tends to appear suddenly and cause higher blood pressure than does primary hypertension. Secondary hypertension has specific causes and is a complication of another problem.

It can result from:

Diabetes, due to both kidney problems and nerve damage
Kidney disease
Pheochromocytoma, a rare cancer of adrenal gland
Cushing syndrome, which can be caused bycorticosteroid drugs
Congenital adrenal hyperplasia, disorder of the cortisol-secreting adrenal glands
Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid gland
Hyperparathyroidism, which affects calcium and phosphorous levels
Pregnancy
Sleep disorder
Obesity
Chronic kidney disease (CKD)
Adrenal gland tumors
Certain medications, such as birth control pills, cold remedies, decongestants, over-the-counter pain relievers nd some prescription drugs
Illegal drugs, such as cocaine and amphetamines
Alcohol abuse or chronic alcohol use

Diagnosis of hypertension

Diagnosis of hypertension is made by measuring blood pressure over last 3 clinic visits using the upper-arm cuff device called a sphygmomanometer. The doctor will take a history and perform a physical examination before diagnosing hypertension. Some additional tests can help identify the cause of high blood pressure and determine any complications.

Tests may include:

Urine tests
Kidney ultrasound imaging
Blood tests
Electrocardiogram (ECG) and an echocardiograph

Measures to prevent hypertension

Adult over 18 should have their blood pressure checked regularly
Lifestyle changes may help control your blood pressure
Follow your health care provider’s recommendations to modify, treat, control possible causes of high blood pressure.

METHODS TO REDUCE HYPERTENSION

Changing your diet

Try healthier, non-meat proteins.

There are many things that are not meat that contain protein. Legumes, seeds and nuts have great nutrients in them and should be added to your diet. They have plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and phytochemicals as well as proteins. This is because these foods have high calorie content and should always be consumed in moderation. Try including walnuts, peas, beans, almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, lentils and black beans into recipes and meals to get the vital nutrients they have on them.

Reduce sodium intake

The first choice for reducing blood pressure is always lifestyle changes. One major cause of hypertension is too much sodium in your diet. Doctors typically recommend that those with hypertension limit their sodium intake to less than 1500 to 2000mg per day. Many processes foods, including most canned soups, contain high levels of sodium. Even processes foods that don’t taste salty may have significantly more salt than is healthy. Don’t add table salt to food. Ask your doctor if a salt-substitute can be used. These often contain potassium chloride.

Eat more whole grains

Choose whole grain instead of refined grains such as white bread, rice, pasta,

Consume lean protein
Increase vegetable and fruit intake

Vegetables and fruit are integral to any heart healthy diet. The natural vitamins and minerals help combat weight gain, boost your immunity and keep blood pressure low. Squash, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, artichokes and carrots are good examples of vegetables that are high in fiber, potassium and magnesium. Use fruits such as pineapples, mangoes, bananas, blueberries, pomegranates and strawberries both as a natural treat and a substitute for refined, sugary sweets that you crave.

Limit sugary treats

Refined sugars found in sugary sweets work against the healthy portions of the diet. They can gain weight and mess with blood pressure.

Avoid alcoholic and caffeinated beverages. Beverages with caffeine and alcohol should not be consumed when you suffer from hypertension. Caffeine causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, especially in high doses. Try to have less than 400 mg per day of caffeine.

Changing Lifestyle

Exercise more

Exercise of all kinds can help to control hypertension. Start working out for at least 30 minutes a day with aerobic exercise such as walking, jogging or swimming.

Reduce your stress

Stress, anxiety and depression can increase hypertension. Learn to manage and cope with sress to improve your emotional and physical health.

Quit smoking

Smoking is one of the most common and avoidable contributing factors to cardiovascular death. The added chemicals in cigarettes cause increase in heart rate and vessel constriction, which transiently increased blood pressure.

Using medication

Maintaining a healthy weight
Getting enough physical activity

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Infectious diseases is that which can be transmitted from one person to another. It is caused by germs which are carried by various media from person to person. The germs invade a healthy individual and multiply rapidly. At the outset the body does resist. If it succeeds, the germs are destroyed. If it is overpowered, the person falls a victim to the disease. The person’s power of resistance is known as natural immunity. They can protect themselves from infection through acquired immunity obtained from inoculation etc.

Some important infectious diseases are cholera, cough and cold, influenza and flu, whooping cough, eczema, typhoid, small pox, chicken pox, malaria, measles, mumps and tuberculosis

Their spread takes place in many ways. The infection is carried through air, water and food, direct contact and insect bite. It spreads when people go on coughing, sneezing without covering their mouth, drink contaminated water, eat the food exposed to flies and other insects, use common towel after bath, live in unhealthy surroundings and come into close contact with the diseased persons.

Prevention of Infectious Diseases

Some steps can be helpful in the prevention of infectious diseases. They are:

Notification: The health authorities should be informed immediately when any case of infectious disease is noticed anywhere. The authorities in turn should inform the public or the students as soon as an epidemic is noticed.
Isolation: The patients suffering from infectious diseases should be immediately separated from others.
Quarantine: The neighbours and relatives of the patient and all those persons who have come into contact with them should also be isolated for a specific length of time.
Disinfection and Preventive measures: Disinfectants are the agents that destroy germs. Heat and sunlight are natural disinfectants. Some of the chemical disinfectants are Dettol, phenyl, potassium permanganate, sulphur dioxide, iodine etc.
Promoting Personal Cleanliness: General cleanliness is essential to ward off infection in many cases.
Education: People should be educated about the infectious diseases-how they spread, how to prevent them and what steps should be taken to control their spread. There are three distinct stages in every disease caused by germs:

The incubation stage
The acute stage and
Convalescene

The patients and others should be made to understand in what way they should face the disease in different stages.

Chapter: 27 Second part of Hypokinetic diseases

Second part of Hypokinetic diseases

OSTEOPOROSIS

Osteoporosis is a condition of fragile bone with an increased susceptibility to fracture. Osteoporosis weakens bone and increases risk of bones breaking. Bone mass decreases after 35 years of age, and bone loss occurs more rapidly in women after menopause. Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by a decrease in the density of bone, decreasing its strength and resulting in fragile bones. Osteoporosis literally leads to abnormally absorbent bone that is compressible, like a sponge. This disorder of the skeleton weakens the bone and results in frequent fractures in the bones. Osteopenia, by definition, is a condition of bone that is slightly less dense than normal bone but not to the degree of bone in osteoporosis.

Normal bone is composed of protein, collagen, and calcium, all of which give bone its strength. Bones that are affected by osteoporosis can break (fracture) with relatively minor injury that normally would not cause a bone to fracture. The fracture can be either in the form of cracking or collapsing. The spine, hips, ribs, and wrists are common areas of bone fractures from osteoporosis although osteoporosis-related fractures can occur in almost any skeletal bone.

Key risk for osteoporosis include genetics, lack of exercise, lack of calcium and vitamin D, personal history of fractures as an adult, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, history of rheumatoid arthritis, low body weight, and family history of osteoporosis.

A person is often not aware about osteoporosis until a fracture occurs. But there are occasionally symptoms of the disorder. They include:

Backache
A gradual loss of height and an accompanying stooped posture
Fracture of the spine, wrist, or hip

The following are osteoporosis treatment and prevention measures for optimal health of the bone:

Lifestyle changes, including quitting cigarette smoking, limiting excessive alcohol intake, exercising regularly, and consuming a balanced diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D
Medications that stop bone loss and increase bone strength, such as alendronate (Fosamax), risedronate (actonel), raloxifene(Elivista), ibadronate (Boniva), calcitonin (Calcimar), zoledronate (Reclast), and denosumab (prolia)
Medications that increase bone formation such as teriparatide (Forteo)
Adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D are important foundations for maintaining bone density and strength.
Estrogen hormone therapy after menopause has been shown to prevent bone loss, increase bone density, and prevent bone fractures.

Lifestyle prevention of osteoporosis is in many aspects the inverse of the potentially modifiable risk factors. As tobacco smoking and high alcohol intake have been linked with osteoporosis, smoking cessation and moderation of alcohol intake are commonly recommended as ways to help prevent it. The diet must ensure optimal calcium intake and measuring vitamin D levels is recommended, and to take specific supplements of necessary. Vitamin K deficiency is also a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. Weight-bearing endurance exercise and/or exercises to strengthen muscles improve bone strength in those with osteoporosis. Aerobics, weight bearing, and resistance exercises all maintain or increase bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women.

CORONARY HEART DISEASE

Coronary artery disease (CAD), also known as ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a group of disease that includes: stable angina, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. It is within the groups of cardiovascular disease of which it is the most common type. A common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Occasionally it may feel like heartburn. Usually symptoms occur with exercise or emotional stress, last less than a few minutes, and get better with rest. Shortness of breath may also occur and sometimes no symptoms are present. The first sign is occasionally a heart attack. Other complications include heart failure or an irregular heartbeat.

Risk factors for coronary heart disease:

Smoking
High blood pressure
High blood cholesterol
Diabetes
Being physically inactive
Depression
Being overweight or obese
Family history of heart disease
Ethnic background
Sex- men are more likely to develop CHD at an earlier age than women.
Age- the order you are the more likely you are to develop CHD

How does coronary artery disease develop?

From a young age, plaque can start to go into your blood vessel walls. As you get older, the plaque builds up. That inflames the walls and raises the risk of blood clots and heart attacks. The plaque makes the inner walls of your blood vessels sticky. Then, other things, like inflammatory cells, lipoproteins, and calcium, travel your bloodstream and mix with the plaque. As more of these inflammatory cells join in, along with cholesterol, the plaque increases, both pushing the artery walls outward and growing inward. That makes the vessels narrower. Eventually, an arrowed coronary artery may develop new blood vessels that go around the blockage to get blood to the heart. However, if you are pushing yourself or stressed, the new arteries may not be able to bring enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

In some cases, when plaque ruptures, blood clot may block blood supply to the heart muscle. This causes a heart attack. If a blood vessel to the brain is blocked, usually from a blood clot, and ischemic stroke can happen. If a blood vessel within the brain bursts, most likely as a result of uncontrolled hypertension (high blood pressure), a hemorrhagic stroke can result. Studies have found that taking low-dose aspirin each day may help prevent heart attacks and strokes in people who are 50 or older and at risk for heart disease.

Diagnose coronary heart disease

A number of tests may help with diagnoses including

Electrocardiogram
Cardiac stress testing
Coronary computed tomographic angiography
Coronary angiogram

Prevention is by eating a healthy diet, regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. Sometimes medication for diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure is also used.

BACKPAIN

Back pain is the pain felt in the low or upper back. Degree of back pain may be acute, sub-acute, or chronic depending on the duration. The pain may be characterized as a dull ache, shooting or piercing pain, or a burning sensation. Causes of pain in the low and upper back include conditions affecting the bony spine, discs between the vertebrae, ligaments around the spine and discs, spinal inflammation, spinal cord nerves, muscles, internal organs of the pelvis, chest, and abdomen, tumours, and the skin. The pain may radiate into the arms and hands as well as the legs or feet, and may include paresthesia weakness or numbness in the legs and arms. The pain may originate from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or such as the gallbladder and pancreases may also cause referred pain in the back. The causes for back pain are Muscle or ligaments strain, Bulging or ruptured disks, Arthritis, Skeletal irregularities, Osteoporosis. There are tons of treatments aimed at alleviating back pain: yoga, massage, and acupuncture, medications like antidepressants, muscle relaxants etc., exercise and diet. The back is a complex structure made up of 33 vertebrae, over30 muscles, numerous ligaments, multiple joints, and inter-vertebral disc.

Types and its causes:

Muscular strains: the most common cause of back pain is due to muscular strains. This happens when an unexpected force, twist, or pull is applied to one or d=several of the muscles in the back. As a result, several tears occur in the muscle. These muscular tears cause pain felt in the back.
Ligamentous sprains: this occurs when the ligaments of the back are stretched beyond their means.
Spinal stenosis: it occurs more commonly in people over 50 years old. The term refers to a narrowing of the spinal canal. Spinal stenosis has many causes including thickened ligaments along the spinal canal, bony spurs, and enlarged joint cartilage from arthritic changes.
Osteoporosis: this occurs especially in women. It is a disease characterized by progressive loss of bone density. This results in thinning of bone tissue making one more susceptible to fractures, or broken bones. The bones of the spine are especially affected in this disorder. Injury from falls, lifting of heavy objects, or even the force of sneezing can result in painful vertebral compression fractures.
Fibromyalgia: it is a rheumatic condition characterized by widespread soft tissue pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and the presence of evenly distributed areas of tenderness. A history of at least three months of widespread pain and tenderness in eleven or more of the eighteen designated tender point sites is required in diagnosing this disorder.

Symptoms

The large nerve roots in the low back that o to the legs may be irritated
The smaller nerves that supply the low back may be irritated
The large paired lower back muscles (erector spine) may be strained
The bones, ligaments or joints may be damaged
An inter vertebral disc may be degenerating

Prevention

Bend knees and keep back straight. Don’t bend at waist.
Keep the object close. The farther away one holds it from body, the more it stresses back.
Never hold an item higher than armpit or lower than knees.
Don’t move something that weighs more than 20%of one’s body weight.
Don’t pivot, twist, or turn while lifting. Point feet at the items we are lifting and face it as we pick it up. Change direction with feet, nor waist.

The role of exercise in the prevention, management and treatment of Hypokinetic diseases:

Exercise reduces the risk of hypokinetic diseases by preventing or delaying the onset of manifestation of the signs and symptoms in individual
Regular exercise improves the physical fitness of individual thereby improving the body immunity to hypokinetic diseases.
Exercise helps to increase energy expenditure, especially for individuals who expended relatively moderate levels of energy.
Research shows that exercise also helps avoid illnesses such as obesity, stroke, specific cancers, non-insulin – dependent diabetes, osteoporosis, and obstructive pulmonary diseases
Exercise reduces the risk of dying prematurely
Exercise reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure
Exercise control weight
Exercise build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints
Exercise helps older adults become stronger and better able to move without falling
Exercise promotes psychological well-being
Exercise helps in the management and treatment of individuals whose movement patterns are disturbed by stroke or any other hypokinetic diseases during rehabilitation and therapeutic stages.

Chapter: 28 POSTURES- Part 1

POSTURES- Part 1

Posture means the position and carriage of the limbs and the body as a whole. There is no single good posture. It is dynamic and varies with every activity, sitting, running, swimming or sleeping.

It does not confirm to rigid standards of body positions. It is not necessary that we may always stand in a certain position or sit firmly in a chair or sleep like a log in order to have a good posture. On the other hand, the secret of good posture is a frequent change of positions. Remaining in one position for a long time is fatiguing and tiring. It is, therefore, that we must consciously try to achieve good posture.

Posture is more than a mere physical condition. Good posture is that in which the body is held without any sense of effort, with its weight, equally distributed over both the legs and feet so as to produce least fatigue. It is also a reflection of moods and emotions. It indicates the attitudes not only of the body, but also of the mind.

Posture involves the manner of sitting, standing, walking, sleeping etc. Wrong posture affects health, physical efficiency, mental attitude and appearance of the individual. A teacher can do much in the classroom and playground to prevent bad postural habits of children. Dr. Mosher says, “As a result of poor postures, constipation, diarrhoea, flatulence, disturbance of the circulation, nervous irritability, fatigue which lessens the efficiency of the individual and often makes life a burden.”

Good posture makes it possible for the ligaments and muscles to maintain positions of the body which are conducive to efficient movement. The efficiency and health of our body depend upon a balance of its various opposing forces. When we keep a natural or working posture, we are said to have a good posture. When the balance is altered by disease, faulty habits or accident, we are said to have bad or poor posture.

Good posture is largely an individual matter. It is impossible to standardize the human body, because no two persons have the same physique. Certain structures of our body may differ from those of other people because of hereditary factors. That means, each physique has its own posture standard.

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD POSTURE

Posture means an individual/child balancing his/her body specifically. Proper posture is that in which the child does not feel any effort in balancing his body weight or both the feet with equilibrium. In the proper posture, the trunk of the body that is spine is parallel to the head and neck like a perpendicular line. All parts of the body work harmoniously. The normal child does not feel any kind of fatigue or strain, when he/she is improper postural position. Proper postures result in good appearance, efficiency in movement, ‘physical fitness’ and ‘alertness’. We can hardly ignore the seriousness of poor postures. They adversely affect health, physical efficiency, mental attitude and appearance of an individual. Most of our diseases are the outcome of poor postures. A teacher can do much in the classroom work and physical instruction period to prevent bad postural habits in the students. As a result of poor postures says, Dr.Mosher, “constipation diarrhoea, flatulence, disturbance of the circulation, nervous irritability and most marked of all fatigue out of proportion to the effort expanded, lessen the efficiency of the individual and often male life a burden.”

Portrays a better, more confident image. Good posture will boost self-confidence.
Breathing becomes easier and deeper.
Improves concentration and mental performance.
Improves circulation and digestion.
Makes you look slimmer and younger.
Improves memory and learning.
Helps your muscles and joints. Good posture helps us keep bones and joints in correct alignment so that our muscles are used correctly, decreasing the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in degenerative arthritis and joint pain.
It also reduces the stress and ligaments holding the spinal joints together, minimizing the likelihood of injury. A good posture allows muscles to work more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy and, therefore, preventing muscle fatigue. It also helps prevent muscle strain, overuse disorders, and even back and muscular pain.
Changes your frame of mind. Posture also affects your frame of mind and your frame of mind can affect your posture.
Healthy spine. Correct posture is a simple but very important way to keep the many intricate structures in the back and spine healthy. Back support is especially important for people who spend many hours sitting in an office chair or standing throughout the day.

Values of Good Posture

The values of good posture may be related to a pupil’s appearance, movement, efficiency and physical fitness. These values are:

Appearance: Everyone tries to appear as attractive as possible. Great efforts are made by all men and women to appear attractive in their neighbourhood, in educational institutions, in social gatherings and everywhere. For this purpose, large sums of money are spent on clothing, on keeping in latest style and on cosmetics etc. No doubt, all these
Movement efficiency: In sports, the body posture of a player is vital in the performance of their function. They have to stand, run and bend their body in a particular position while playing a game or participating in athletic sports. It is, therefore, that in standing, walking or running, a person will be more effective, graceful and co-ordinated if they possess good posture. The player’s good posture will keep the body in equilibrium, each organ in place and each set of muscles doing its own specific job. All this facilitates efficient movement of the body.
Physical fitness: Posture is also very valuable for physical fitness. The basic components of physical fitness are muscular strength, muscular endurance and circulatory endurance. Muscular strength is the maximum strength applied to a singular muscular contraction. Muscular endurance is the ability to continue muscular exertions. Circulatory endurance involves moderate contraction of large muscles for a long period of time. Poor posture impairs the proper functioning of internal organs, nerves and blood vessels and thus, reduces a pupil’s physical fitness. Therefore, good posture makes its contribution in providing physical fitness to pupils.
Hygienic value: the erect, straight and vibrant body has its organs properly suspended so that bodily functions are more complete and perfect.
Spiritual value: With the physical upliftment, the spirit is uplifted.
Economic value: Good posture speaks of the spirit within the body. Seeking a job depends on the way we hold our body. Alertness portrays the way we sit and stand.

Important Postural Positions

There are mainly four important postural positions: They are:

Sitting posture
Standing posture
Walking posture
Lying posture
Sitting Posture

There are three different sitting positions:

Simple sitting
While reading
While writing

Simple sitting

Simple good sitting means a body well placed symmetrically on the pelvis, hip as far back in the chair as possible; head, shoulders and hips in a line with spinal column erect with its natural curves. Legs should rest vertically on the feet, thighs horizontal, both feet flat resting on the ground. Both hands should be comfortable, resting on the thighs. The head must be so placed as to give relief to the neck muscle in the front and at the back.

Generally, children develop a 5degree curve in the vertebral column which puts undue pressure upon the internal organs. It is a wrong sitting position.

Reading posture

For reading purposes, the sitting posture should be same as already explained. In addition to that, the child must sit erect and hold the book at an angle of 45 degree to the horizontal and at a distance of 12 inches for the eyes. Both hands should rest on the table in front and both feet on the foot-rest.

If the book is held nearer, it may strain the eyes or result in myopia or short sight. Wrong sitting position can also cause contracted chest, stretched muscles at the back, shallow respiration and sometimes the abdominal muscles also get congested. Sometimes children sit using the edge of the chair and by putting body weight on the pelvis-at the end of the spine. This posture causes early fatigue, shallow respiration and poor digestion.

Writing posture

For best writing posture the children must use chair and writing table or some improvised material that can be converted as table and stool. For writing, the child should sit squarely on the seat, body erect and balanced, thighs horizontal, legs vertical, feet flat on the floor. Height of the table should be adopted to the height of the child. It will be appreciated if the top surface of the table is with a slight slope.

Some children use the slanting style while writing. They bend their head towards left side and raise the right shoulder, the spine is curved to the left, the writing paper is help towards right side of the body. This posture is very tiring and causes muscular and nervous strain and early fatigue.

Standing Posture:

There are two styles of standing postures. One is standing for a short time and second is standing for a long time. For short period standing, the best way is to hold the body in a way with proper alignment of its parts. Body weight is equally distributed over both the legs and feet. Feet are slightly apart in a parallel line. This position cannot be maintained for a long period as both the legs get tired simultaneously.

For long standing position, the best way is to put one foot ahead of the other, in a balancing position or one leg can be shifted to the left or right side. The main body weight remains on one leg and other leg acts a s balancing leg. The weight is transferred, giving rest to both the legs turn by turn alternately.

Walking Posture:

Good walking reflects the personality of a person. Very slow walks with uneven pace and dropped neck indicates some inferiority complex in the person. Similarly, walking with stiff neck, looking upward, chest out, indicates some superiority complex.

The best walking posture is that in which the foot in action is placed on the ground with the line of direction, parallel to the line of movement. The toes should point forward. Wrong walking can cause early fatigue to the leg and foot muscles or pain in the legs and feet.

Lying posture:

Very little study has been done on the lying posture. The child should sleep by taking a pillow of normal height, with legs and arms freely stretched out. Sleeping on left side should be avoided as it obstructs breathing.

Advantages of correct postures

Physical appearance
Graceful & efficient movements
Physical fitness
Less chances of injuries
Prevention from diseases
Improves confidence
Sports performance
Joint mobility
Longevity

Characteristics of Good Postures

A good posture implies that body is held without any sort of effort, with its weight, equally distributed over both the legs and feet so as to produce least fatigue.
A good posture keeps equilibrium among all parts of the body.
A posture is dynamic and it varies with every activity.
It is not necessary that we may always stand in a certain position or sit firmly in a chair in order to have a good posture.
The secret of good posture is a frequent change of positions.
Remaining in one posture for a long time is fatigue-causing.
Posture is more than a mere physical condition.
A posture reflects the emotions and moods of an individual.
A posture indicates the attitudes of both body and mind.
A good posture makes it possible for the alignments and muscles to maintain position of the body which are conducive to efficient movement.
Good posture keeps us in natural state or in working conditions.
Good posture is largely an individual matter of common sense.
Certain postures may be inherited.
Postures can be modified through training.

Bad effects of wrong postures

Some of the bad effects of wrong postures are given below:

Interference in the normal working of digestion, respiration and blood circulation.
Defective physical development, such as crooked bodies, drooping bodies, round shoulders, poor build, devoid of charm etc.
Bad effect on eye sight due to excessive strain.
Poor physical efficiency and laziness.
Poor hand writing because of wrong handling of the pen and paper.
Undesirable traits like shabbiness, poor impression, timidness, lack of courage etc.

Causes of poor postures

Congenital postural deformities: these deformities are present at the time of birth of the child, like club foot, dislocation of the hips, hypoplasia etc. Other types of deformities are acquired due to so many reasons. They cause disfigurement of the body.
From diseases: Various diseases are responsible for the bad posture of the child, like inflammation of the bones, rickets, tuberculosis, paralysis etc. These diseases may cause knock knee, developing undue curvature of the spine etc.
Weakness of the muscle and bones which may be due to poor diet and lack of exercise.
Weakness of senses: Weak eye-sight or hard of hearing or impartial hearing also causes physical deformity. A child has to twist his/her body to adjust to the voice, and to see things clearly.
Fashion: Due to fashion many persons adopt a specific style of holding the body or put on very tight clothes or shoes, which hinder the activity of the body. One cannot even breathe properly and has to twist the body to feel easy.
Improper furniture: Unsuitable size of the chair and table or insufficient furniture also causes deformities.
Long sitting: If the students are compelled to sit for long hours, without any change in body positions, it is responsible for bad postures.
Insufficient sleep: Lack of sleep or sleeplessness also cause bad posture. It may develop drooped neck or curvature of the spine.
Wrong punishments: Long standing, holding ears or raising arms upwards for a long time are responsible for bad postures.
Wrong exercise: Unsupervised wrong exercises also cause bad posture.
Improper time-table: If all straining periods of a class are arranged one after the other, it may cause bad posture.
Lack of information regarding correct posture. Students are unaware what posture is good or how to sit and stand. So they may allow the spine to sag, the abdomen to stretch out or shoulders to become round.
Defective shape and size of desks and benches compelling the students to stretch or cramp their bodies.
Wrong reading and writing positions.
Fatigue: Due to fatigued body the child becomes lethargic and adopts wrong posture in sitting and standing.
Physical weakness: Physically weak children get tired very quickly. They cannot sit for long hours in school. Under compulsion, they have to sit by adopting wrong postures.
Defective postures of teachers and other adults.
Accident or injury: Injury can also cause physical deformity like one leg long, one short.
Over-work: More mental work or physical work causes fatigue. The body gets tired after a specific time and needs rest. So continuous over-work will lead to wrong postures as the person will change many postural positions to lessen tiredness and to finish the work. Sometimes these positions cause wrong postures.
Heavy load: Carrying heavy load on one shoulder or on the upper back results into round shoulders or one shoulder high and another low.
Unhygienic school conditions: over-crowded classrooms, insufficient air or bad lighting arrangements can also cause bad postures.
Lack of proper diet or mal nourishment may cause deformities like rickets, narrowing of the pelvis, the pigeon chest etc.
Insufficient sleep
Obesity
Bad habits
Neck pain, Lower back pain,Headache
Eye-strain. Defective vision or hearing and illegible blackboard writing by the teacher.
Digestive problem

Correction of Bad Postures or Preventive Measures

Childhood is the best time to improve bad postures. Every attention should be paid on the postural aspect of the child’s personality. Some measures should be adopted for this like:

As has already been stressed, it is one of the important functions of the school that it must provide knowledge of good posture to its pupils. The class teacher must understand it and transmit it to the pupils. Individual instruction in correct posture may also be given to certain pupils with faulty posture habits, to achieve best results. Instructions before full-length mirror can be most effective because, in that case, the pupil can see as well as feel the correct position.
For congenital deformities the students should be directed to go to orthopedic hospitals only. Teacher himself should never try to correct such cases.
Practice of remedial or corrective exercises should be given to the students individually according to their physical needs.
Children should be allowed to carry heavy loads of bags. Drawers or almirahs can be provided in the school to keep books.
Students should be shown the correct body mechanics. A ‘posture sense’ should also be developed in the mind of the students.
Every possible source of fatigue and strained attention must be investigated and corrected. Eg. Deafness, eye strain etc.
Remove the causes of:
Faulty occupational practice
Faulty sitting accommodation
Faulty shoes and clothes
Knowledge about nutrition should be given. Cheap nutrients should also be suggested. It will be appreciable if provision for mid-day meals is made by the school authorities.
Continuously long sittings and long periods should be avoided. Short intervals of activity should be introduced.
It is appreciated if the school has subject-wise classrooms. It also helps in the change of posture and long sittings.
Front seats should be provided to the students who suffer from weakness of senses like short sight or hard of hearing.
Teachers should not give wrong punishment or too much of punishment which is injurious o health.

Chapter: 29 POSTURES- Part II

POSTURES- Part II

Correct Postures in Various Situations

Good and correct postures can be described as:

Sitting Posture:

In correct sitting posture, various organs of the body and the body as a whole are balanced; the legs may be crossed; the hips are properly and comfortably placed at the seat; the head, shoulder and the hips are in a straight vertical line; and the vertebral column is perfectly vertical.

Standing Posture:

In correct standing posture, the body weight should equally fall on both the legs; the whole body should be vertical and erect; the heels should rest evenly on the flat floor; the two arms should rest on the thighs in a straight line; the head and the body should not bend forward; the body should not bend on one of its sides; and the body as a whole should be balanced.

Reading Posture:

While reading, the book should not be placed very close to the eyes, it should be at least 12 inches away; and the hand holding the book should form an angle of 45 degrees with the eyes.

Writing Posture:

While writing, the position of the table or desk should be very close to the body; the body should be in an upright position and not bent over the book; the legs should rest on the ground; the book should be at a distance of 12 inches from the eyes; the paper should be placed parallel to the edge of the desk, and the pen should be held in between the thumb and two fingers.

Walking Posture:

While walking, the body as a whole should be erect and upright; the eyes should look straight at an angle of 90 degrees; the arms should swing alternately along with steps preferably up to an angle of 90 degrees with the body; the heels should touch the ground first and then the middle portion and the toes; and one should take steps of normal dimension.

General Remedial Measures for Proper Postures

The students should be asked to take regular exercise to strengthen muscles.
Suitable furniture should be provided.
Good postural habits should be developed.
Stools should be provided for smaller children so that they may sit without reclining against the chair.
Suitable corrective postural exercises should be recommended to the students.
Students having defective eye-sight and hearing should be seated on the front benches.
Rooms should be suitably ventilated.
Bold type books should be selected.
Help of school medical officer should be sought.
Time table should be so arranged that students do not feel the impact of fatigue.
Cause of students’ tension should be removed.
Sufficient sitting space should be provided to the students.
Nutritious and balanced mid-day meals should be provided to students.
Proper arrangement for sufficient light should be made in the classroom.
Teachers should check wrong postures of the students.
Small children should not be engaged too much in drill.

COMMON POSTURAL DEFECTS

For want of knowledge in correct postural habit of standing, sitting and reading, students adopt faulty postures. As a result, their backbone bends, the chest becomes like a pigeon chest, the shoulders turn drooping, feet becomes flat, vision turns defective and many other deformities appear in the body.

The faulty postural habits of the students develop due to home and school conditions. Let us discuss them in detail.

Home Conditions

When the home conditions become poor, children do not get proper nourishing and balanced diet. As a result, the bones and muscles of such children get weak. They feel tired within a short period of time.
Wrong postural habits among the children develop for want of fresh air, sufficient light, rest and sleep.
Wrong postural habits are also caused due to the type of dress children use in modern times.
Many children adopt faulty postures as a fashion and convert their natural postures to artificial ones.
For want of proper physical exercises and practice of developing dirty habits children develop faulty postural habits.

School Conditions

Most of the schools provide desks and chairs with uniform size and shape. As a result students having different physical standards fail to sit comfortably. Thus, wrong postural habit of reading and writing develops among the students.
For want of proper supervision in schools in respect of fatigue and recreation, students develop in them faulty habits.
Most of us overlook the faulty postural habits of the students, and they develop these habits.
Usually students carry their school bags on their shoulders. This habit influences posture.
Some postural defects arise when the students are continuously engaged in some work and tire their brain. Therefore, they like to change their body position simply to be relaxed.

Sometimes, we teachers are at fault. A teacher whose writing on the board is illegible causes children to adjust themselves. Similarly, a teacher who has developed wrong postures, sets an example for children to copy and imitate them.

Common postural deformities

Postural deformities imply not having proper alignment of body parts. They are exaggerated curvatures of spine. An individual who has postural deformities cannot perform his work efficiently. It is of utmost importance that various deformities are detected at an early age, and proper steps taken at right time to prevent the deformity. Some of the common deformities are,

Round shoulders – Round shoulders are the result of poor postures in work, faulty furniture and wrong habits of sitting and standing. It is associated with forward displacement of the shoulders.

Causes - by wearing very tight clothes, sitting on improper furniture, lack of proper exercise especially of shoulders

Hollow back or Lordosis - It is a more severe degree of round shoulders and an exaggerated forward curve in the lumbar region producing a stoop in the upper part of the body, prominent abdomen and a slouching gait.

Lordosis causes the back to bend in either direction. Curvature also appears in the waist region. The shoulder bones in the back also seem to be bending towards the sides. Hips also protrude out. When an individual suffers from lordosis, they experience pain in their back and works like a lame person.

Causes – causes for lordosis may be an early symptom for tuberculosis of the spine or hip disease or malnutrition with poor muscles. Persons having underdeveloped legs, diseases of bone joints, dislocation of hips or infantile paralysis exhibit lordosis. Even faulty standing posture results in this disease. Those who have the habit of standing on one leg suffer from this disease.

To get rid of this problem, a child should be made to stand in the correct posture. There must be provision for special exercises to cure this disease. Attempts must be made to provide proper treatment on the advice of the physician.

Kyphosis or round upper back –It is the exaggeration of the normal dorsal backward curve of the spine resulting slouching attitude, flat or depressed chest, protruding abdomen and drooped head.

Causes – causes for kyphosis are weak muscles, long illness, malnutrition, deficient ventilation, over-crowded places, weak eyesight, and wrong furniture. Rickets also cause kyphosis.

Scoliosis or lateral curvature of the spine – This generally shows curvature to the left side. The spine forms a long curve. The chest is prominent on the left side while the back is prominent on the right side due to rotation of the spine in the thoracic region. The right hip is or prominent than the left due to a displacement of the trunk to the left side.

Scoliosis is of two types

Structural Scoliosis: Structural scoliosis is lateral spinal deviation due to rickets, osteomalacia and polio.
Functional Scoliosis: Functional scoliosis is caused by poor walking, standing or sitting posture. There is a c-shaped lateral side curve which is generally common or s-shaped combined curve with right lumbar curvature.

Causes – it is due to carrying heavy load on shoulder. Unhealthy alcohol conditions like inadequate lightning arrangements, unsuitable desks, partial deafness or wrong standing postures, are also its causes.

Treatment

Scoliosis is generally a structural deformity and it should be treated only by an orthopaedic surgeon.

Exercises are of no use unless they are functional and the person tries to correct himself habitually. The teacher should help the children to change their poor habit patterns of postures. Besides corrective exercises, relaxation, development of correct habit pattern and well balanced diet should not be ignored.

Flat back – It refers to a spine which has no dorsal and lumbar curves. It predisposes towards a flat chest, drooping shoulders and loss of flexibility.
Flat foot – In a normal foot there are two curves or arches one longitudinal and the other transverse, in between the big toe and the little toe and the body weight is borne by the heel and outer side of the foot and the ball of the big toe. In flat foot both the arches are missing. The foot muscles and ligaments supporting the bony arch become weak and the arch flattens down.

Causes – putting on heavy shoes, long standing position without rest, jumping on harder surface also sometimes result in breaking or loosening of the ligaments of the bony arch or injury and overweight, may also be some of its causes.

Treatment

Special shoes- such as raising the inner side of the soles and heels, to throw body weight on to the other side of the feet will help.
Remedial exercises to strengthen the muscles, which keep up the arch, will help.

Walking on outer sides of the feet is good.

Long standings should be avoided.
In case of pain in feet, give complete rest.

Knock-knee – In knock-knee when the child stands, the knees join together and the feet parallel. There is a big gap between the ankles varying directly with the degree of deformity.

Causes: Rickets, deficiency of vitamin D and calcium in the diet, prolonged standing, flat foot, obesity, heavy body weight and some long illnesses can cause it.

Treatment:

Use of cod-liver oil in the diet will help in removing the deficiency of vitamin D.
Treatment for flat foot should be given.

Avoid prolonged standings.

Horse riding is the best exercise.
Wearing of walking irons will help.
Massage by physiotherapist will also help.

Remedial Measures

In order to correct the defective postures of the students, we must first ensure a balanced diet for them. They may be asked to take regular exercise to strengthen their muscles and bones. Fresh air, rest and sleep should also be ensured. Overwork should be avoided and excessive fatigue should not be allowed to happen. Good postural habits should be inculcated in them by paying proper attention to them while they are sitting, standing, walking, reading or writing. Their vision and hearing should be examined and students with defective eyesight and hearing should be seated in the front row.

Along with mass drill, march past and yogasanas, suitable corrective exercises should be recommended for the needed children. There should be suitable uniform or dress for all. Books used should be of bold type and classrooms should be spacious and well ventilated. Stools should be provided for smaller children so that they may learn to sit without reclining against the back of the chair. The suitability of furniture should be ensured.

Suggested Physical Exercises for Improving Postural Defects

There are numerous exercises for improving postural defects. The problem is that of appropriate selection. At the slightest sign of pain, inflammation, swelling or unusual fatigue, the exercises should be discontinued until the causes have been determined and medical advice obtained, for continuing or changing the exercises.

Some exercises are suggested by A.S. Daniels and E.A. Davies for improving certain postural deformities:

For improving the head and neck position
Sitting with head and neck erect. Then turn head and neck to right and left, turn by turn, touching chin to clavicle.
Standing with back to wall, touching with buttocks, shoulders and back of head. Then raise chest, flatten lower back, pull in the abdomen and press the back of the head against the wall. Hold this position for a few seconds and then repeat.
Lying on back, arms stretched sideways and palms down. Then raise chest, arching upper back. Support weight on back of head, arms and hips. Hold the position for a few seconds and repeat.
Standing position with sand bag/pitcher balanced on top of head. Then walk with the weight balanced on the head.
For improving round upper back and kyphosis
Lying on back with knees drawn up and feet flat on the floor and hands at sides. The move arms up horizontally, even with shoulders, palms up. Then move arms along floor, to position over head. Hold for a few seconds and repeat.
Prone lying, hands on hips. The raise head and trunk (with chin in) several inches from floor. Down and repeat.
Sitting position, neck firm and fingers laced behind head. Then stretch trunk, neck, head and elbows upwards, keeping back straight and trunk erect.
Sitting with a wand held in horizontal position over head, hands well spead. Then lower and raise wand behind head and shoulders, with head and trunk quite erect.
For improving kypholordosis
Prone lying, hands under abdomen. Then keep hips and shoulders down, press hands up on abdomen and raise lower back.
Lying on back, knees drawn up, arms over head with elbows bent. Then separate knees, touching soles of feet together. While exhaling, draw knees towards chest, keeping hips on floor. Down and repeat.
Prone lying, hands clasped behind lower back. Then press elbows together, drawing shoulder blades together, pushing hands towards the feet.
For improving Lordosis (hollow back)
Stride standing position. Then trunk flexion, grasping left ankle with both hands and pulling trunk downwards for three counts. Repeat to opposite side.
Sitting position, knees extended and feet spread. Then reach forward, grasping ankles, pull trunk forward, relaxed bounce for three counts. This exercise may also be gone through with feet together, instead of spreading.
Sitting position, knees extended, feet together and hands at sides. Then bend forward, touching fingers to toes, hold three counts. Relax and repeat.
For strengthening the abdominal wall
Lying on back, knees bent and feet flat on floor. Then contract the abdominal muscles and relax.
Lying on back, with hands placed behind head. Then flex knees and side heels along floor until they touch buttocks. Keep back flat. Return and repeat.
Lying on back, legs extended, feet together and hands at sides. Then raise legs so that the heels are just above the floor. Spread feet well apart, bring feet together, lower to floor. Relax and repeat.
For improving scoliosis (curvature of the spine)
Prone lying, right arm upward, left arm at side. Then move right arm in an arc towards the left over head, press down with left hand and slide left hip up.
Prone lying right arm extended forward, left arm at side. Partner holds feet firmly to floor. Then extend the trunk, the right arm pushed forward and the left arm pushed backward. Hold three counts, relax and repeat.
Standing feet a few inches apart. Then raise left heel and left hip. Extend right arm in an arc overhead to the left. Press left hand against ribs on left side.
For improving the feet
Sitting position, with knees fixed, feet together and flat on the floor. Then place hands on floor behind the back. Raise inner border of feet, keeping toes and heels on floor.
Standing position, with toes turned in. Then rise on balls on feet, shifting weight to outside of each feet. Hold position and then return heels to floor.
Walking, walk about distances, with heels raised and weight on outer borders of the balls of feet.
Sitting, Sit with legs extended. Then cross the left-leg over the right one with toes fixed. Foot circling, in and up, out and down. Alternate movements for each foot.

Chapter: 30 FOOD AND NUTRITION

FOOD AND NUTRITION

MEANING OF FOOD AND NUTRITION

Food is a more basic need of man than shelter and clothing. Food is a most inevitable part of our existence. Human body cannot exist without food. After air and water, food is the utmost important thing for survival. Throughout human existence food has also been used, as an expression of love, friendship and social acceptance. Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrate, fat, proteins, vitamins or minerals. Food is a substance which after ingestion (intake of food), digestion (complex substance in food is broken down to simpler complexes) and absorption (nutrients move into the blood after digestion) is capable being utilized by the body for its various functions. Food is a mixture of substances that can be safely ingested. The constituents of food are necessary for:

Energy yielding by carbohydrates and fats
Body building using proteins and minerals

Protection

Regulation of waste, roughage (dietary fiber) etc.

Nutrition is a science that studies the relationship between diet and health.The diet of an organism is what it eats, which is largely determined by the availability and palatability of foods. For humans, a healthy diet includes preparation of food and storage methods that preserve nutrients from oxidation, heat or leaching, and that reduce risk of foodborne illness.

In humans, an unhealthy diet can cause deficiency-related diseases such as blindness, anemia, scurvy, preterm birth, stillbirth and cretinism, or nutrient excess health-threatening conditions such as obesity etc. i.e. nutrition is a science that interprets the interaction of nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion.

Nutrition also focuses on how disease conditions and problems can be prevented or lessened with a healthy diet. In addition nutrition involves identifying how certain diseases, conditions or problems may be caused by dietary factors, such as poor diet (under nutrition), food allergies, metabolic diseases, etc.

DEFINITION OF FOOD AND NUTRITION

“Food can be defined as anything solid or liquid which swallowed, digested and assimilated in the body keeps it well”

“food can be defined as any substance that people or aanimals eat or drink or that plants absorb inorder to maintain life and growth”

“Science and human medicine defines nutrition as the science or practice of consuming and utilizing foods”

NEED FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION

Need and Importance of Nutrition:

Body depends on food for its growth, maintenance and health. Food acts as its fuel and provides energy. It makes use of the consumed energy, keeps the body temperature and invigorates the mind and nervous system. Both the quantity and quality of the food are important for the body.

As the old tissues are broken, consumed or spent in work through the process of katabolism, food replaces the same through the process of anabolism. Combination of these two processes goes on continuously in the human body and the combined process is known as metabolism.

The quantity of food needed daily by a child or adult varies according to the nature of occupation, general health and the rate of metabolism. Both over-eating and under-eating are harmful. Therefore, there is need for knowing the exact amount of nutrition needed by a person or his balanced diet. Lack of proper nutrition or balanced diet is called malnutrition. In India, malnutrition is a common problem with most of the children and adults.

Food is essential for our bodies to:

develop, replace and repair cells and tissues
produce energy to keep warm, move and work
carryout chemical processes such as digestion of food
protect against, resist and fight infection ad recover from sickness

Nutrition is essential for our bodies to:

improve immunity
decreased susceptibility to diseases
better physical and mental development
improved productivity

NUTRITIONAL BALANCE

Being in a nutritional balance means that you consume just the right amount of calories, macronutrients and micronutrients from your diet. In an optimal nutritional state, all of your nutritional needs are met without exceeding your caloric needs. Maintaining a stable healthy weights, having low blood cholesterol and healthy blood pressure levels are just a few signs of being nutritionally balanced. If you notice sudden gain or lack of energy, it may be time for you to adjust your diet.

Some of the calories you consume support your basal metabolic rate or BMR. These calories are recovered for basic body functions, such as breathing, digestion and central nervous system function. When you diet is nutritionally balanced you have enough calories to support you BMR and enough left over to meet your daily activities. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of the total calories you consume go toward your BMR, says the National Institute Of health office of science education. If you normally consume around 1800 calories per day, more than 1000 of these calories are needed just to keep your body running.

Nutritional balance is the consumption of right amount of calories, micronutrients and macronutrients. In an optimal nutritional state, nutritional needs are met without exceeding caloric needs. Maintaining a stable healthy weight, having low blood cholesterol and healthy blood pressure levels are few signs of being nutritionally balanced.

BALANCED DIET

“Balanced diet may be defined as the diet consisting of a variety of different types of food and providing adequate amounts of the nutrients necessary for good health”

A balanced diet is one which provides all the nutrients in required amounts and proper proportions. The quantities of foods needed to meet the nutrient requirements vary with age, gender it is important to have age, gender, physical activities and physiological status. A balanced diet should provide around 60-70%of total calories from carbo hydrates, preferebly starch, about 10-12% from protein and 20-25% from fat.

Balanced diet can easily be achieved through a blend of 5 basic food groups. the five basic food groups are:

cereal grains and products
pulses and legumes
milk, meet,egg,and their products.
fruits and vegetables
fats and sugars

A healthy, balanced diet is important for brain development and function. while getting the right nutrients is important for your brain at any age, it is critical for infants and children who are still forming their brain and nervous system. the website NHS choices notes that it has not yet been determined if diet affectes intelligence, but memory and brain functions are affected by diet. a daily diet can contain xcess of unhealthy fats, and sugars can impair brain development and functions.

Characteristics of a balanced diet

The food articles containing proteins and minerals are contained in the diet in adequate amount.
The materials providing energy are present in the diet in adequate amount
Presence of preventive nutrition is necessary for a balanced diet
This varies with age of each individual
This varies according to sex of each individual
This varies according to the climate of the place
This varies according the occupation of each individual

Principles of Diet Planning

Diet planning implies the use of right foods, at the right time, in the right manner and in right quantity. It is true that in a family there are individual differences regarding food habits. Yet there are broad principles which must be observed in planning. These are:

Principle of nourishment.
Principle of selection of food item from broad categories.
Principle of age, i.e., diet for an infant will be different from that of a child.
Principles of sex which implies that there may be slight variations for afew food items according to sex requirements.
Principle of occupation, meaning that number of calories depends on the type of work involved, i.e., light work, heavy work and intellectual work.
Principle of flexibility, which means that diet is determined by climatic and seasonal factors.
Principle of economy, meaning thereby that inexpensive food-items can also give the same amount of calories as given by expensive food items. Efforts should be made to tap alternative sources of food items. Better food can be had at low costs.
Principle of regularity in taking diet.

Nutrition Education

Health and nutrition are related to each other. Nutrition is the science of nourishing the body. Food in general terms is used to describe the nutritive material, solid or liquid, taken into human body. It gives energy, protection from diseases and helps in the metabolic activities of the body. Nutriion refers to various processes, concerned with digestion and assimilation of food in body.

Nutrition education plays a vital role, as far as the health of students is concerned. Nutrition education helps the students to understand the necessity of nutrition in the development of quality of life. Nutrition is defined as the process of assimilating food and all processes of growth, maintenance and repair of the living body which depends upon the intake of food. “ Good nutrition is the basic component of health. It is of prime importance in the attainment of normal growth and development and in the maintenance of health throughout life. Life cannot exist without food and it is for this reason that every living organization strives its utmost to obtain its food requirements. The health of a person depends on the type and quality of food stuffs he/she chooses to eat. The role of nutrition is in the promotion of health and prevention of disease. Nutrition provides the energy for work by an individual. The resistance power of the body is directly influenced by the foodstuffs.

Nutrients

The components of food which fulfill all the basic functions are known as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins and are collectively known as nutrients. They are present in most foods and in different amounts. These proteins form the chief substance of our muscles and organs and is an important body building material. Fats, carbohydrates and proteins constitute the fuels that are burnt inside the body and supply energy. Their burning also helps in maintaining body temperature. Minerals form the chief building materials of structures like bones and teeth. Vitamins are necessary to regulate the proper utilization and assimilation of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and minerals by the body to attain proper growth and also to prevent certain diseases. Besides these, water which forms nearly two-third of our body weight is also a necessary food element. Since it is an important constituent of body tissues, water also acts as a vehicle to transport the other nutrients.

Proteins

Proteins are important constituents of plan and animal cells. There is no known life without them. Muscles need protein for good growth and function.Proteinshelp in the formation of new tissues for replacing the old ones spent in work. They help growth in young children, produce digestive juices and resist diseases. They are needed in the healing of wounds and the formation of blood. They are important in the production of antibodies which fight agains disease causing bacteria. The tissues which cement one part of the body with another and keep them in place are made of proteins. Even the bones, teeth, hair and nails require certain amounts of proteins. Enzymes and hormones are composed of proteins. Proteins also supply energy, but they are costly items for being used as fuel. When the body runs short of proteins, the blood becomes too thin and the muscles in turn flabby. Children stop growing. Protein shortage also leads to edema, liver troubles and decreased tone in muscles.

There are different kinds of proteins, but all of them are needed for the body. All proteins are made up of a number of nutrients called, “Amino-acids”. Twenty two amino-acids are so far known to be present in food. Ten of these are essential for human life and growth. Therefore, they are called essential or indispensible amino acids. The rest are not so important for life but are necessary for building the body. They are called ‘non-essential or dispensible’ amino acids. Depending on the time and amount of amino-acids present, the different proteins are classified as ‘first class or complete’, ‘second class or partially complete’ and ‘third class or incomplete’ proteins.

The complete proteins are absolutely necessary for maintaining life and promoting growth. They are found in animal foods, pulses and some nuts. The partially complete proteins can maintain life, but not promote growth. Most of the protein in the vegetable kingdom belong to this group. The third class proteins can neither maintain life nor promote growth, but are useful as building blocks in the tissues. Zein, a protein of maize and gelation belongs to this group.

The good quality proteins are generally found in milk, eggs, meat, fish, soyabean, groundnuts, proteins are obtained from meat of all kinds, poultry and eggs, fish, milk and milk products. Vegetable proteins are derived from pulses, grams, legumes, seeds, nuts, yeasts, cereal and vegetables.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The combination of these three elements to form either sugar or starches provides a primary source of fuel for the body. Carbohydrates are chiefly of plant origin.

Carbohydrates are necessary for producing heat and energy to be utilised in work. They are usually available in the form of starch, which when taken is changed to sugar and later on into glucose. They are found in rice, wheat, bajra, ragi and other millets, oatmeals sugar, milk, potatoes and fruits, dals of red gram, black gram, green gram, masur and bengal gram, green peas, tapioca, banan, groundnut, cashewnut, walnut etc.

Fats

Fats produce heat in the body and energy for muscles. They protect against heat and cold. Vegetarian fat is found in butter, ghee, mustard oil, coconut oil etc. Non-vegetarian fat is found in eggs, meat and fish. Fats are the most concentrated form of energy giving foods. They are not soluble in water. All fats have the same fuel value. Being concentrated fules, fats reduce the total bulk of food in the meal. They are stored in the body to be used as reserve in time of need and emergency such as starvation and sickness. Fats act as padding material and give protection against injuries to the vital organs. As insulating material, fats guard the body from effects of exposure to cold and heat. Fats give roundness, beauty, shape and contour to the body. Fats lend staying power, that is, satisfaction to apetite for a longer period because they are digested and absorbed slowly. Fats are solvents for vitamins A, D, E and K.; they add to the taste and f;avour of the diet.

Mineral

There are about thirty minerals present in the human body. Out of these, some are regarded as absolutely essential for the proper functioning of the body.

These mineral salts include iron, manganese, copper, cobalt, zinc, phisphorous, calcium, iodine, sulphur, sodium chloride, magnesium and phosphate. All the mineral elements are parts of the structure composition of the body and regulate several physiological processes. They activise digestion, balance acids and alkalies, strengthen muscles and bones and help in general development. Lack of calcium results in weak bones. calcium is found in milk, green vegetables, orange and fish. Lack of iron causes anaemia.Iron is found in meat, egg, spinach and carrot. Lack of iodine causes goitre. Iodine is found in water and vegetables. Magnesium and phosphate are needed for bones and teeth. These are found in milk, cheese, meat and eggs. Sulphur helps in formation of brain, nails, hair and helps in the digestion of food also. It is found in eggs,mpulses, cabbage, spinach and radish.

Water

Water is very important since several body processes are being carried out in a fluid medium. Seventy percent of the total weight of the body is water. Body gets water from the fluid, food and as a by-product of the oxidation of food-stuffs in the body. Water is excreted from the body through the kidneys, intestines, lungs and the skin. In normal persons, there is a balance between the intake and off-take of water. That balance is one of the factors which control and maintain body temperature.

Water is an important part of the digestive fluids. It helps in the absorption of digested foods and their distribution in the body and utilization of body temperature. A person should take six to eight glasses of water daily.

Vitamins

Vitamins are known as life giving matter. They help in the proper growth of the body, in resisting diseases, facilitating the digestive system and toning the nervous system. They are named as A,B,C,D, E and K. Vitamin A is needed for eyes, lungs, intestines and skin. It increases apetite and builds resistence against diseases. It is found in milk, vegetables, eggs, fish and tomatoes. Vitamin B, which is of 15 different types is the most important of all the vitamins and is needed for all the systems of the body. It is found in eggs, fruits, vegetables and pulses. The deficiency in vitamin C causes the disease scurvy. It is found in uncooked food, and is totally missing in tinned food. Vitamin D is needed for the development of bones and teeth. Its defieciency causes rickets. It is found in milk, vegetables, butter, cream and egg yoke. Its defiency can be made good by sunlight also. Vitamin E relates to reproduction and Vitamin K to coagulation of blood. They are found abundantly in vegetables.

Malnutrition

Meaning: Malnutrition means insufficient and unwholesome feeding. When a person does not eat the right food or does not eat enough, he/she is said to be undernourished. In our country, a large number of people are unable to get proper diet. They are ill-fed,ill-clothed and ill-housed. They are unable to give proper diet to their children with the result that they are malnourished. This affects their physical and mental health.

Causes of Malnutrition

There are a number of causes of malnutrition, such as:

Food of poor quality and quantity is the main cause. Malnutrition is caused when a person does not get proper food according to his age and nature of work.
Due to poverty, parents cannot afford proper nourishment for their children
Unhealthy physical surroundings and insanitary conditions inside and outside school is another cause. The children do not get fresh air, sunlight and likeable surroundings.
Meals taken irregularly and untimely may cause indigestion.
Some children are otherwise unhealthy. They do not benefit even from the most nutritive food. This may be due to lack of appetite, indigestion, constipation or any other cause.
If the child remains over-burdened, worried and upset due to any reason, and does not get adequate rest or sleep, malnutrition will be caused in spite of good nutrition.
The adulteration of the eatables is another reason why even the costly food articles obtained from the market do not provide expected nutrition.

Symptoms of malnutrition

The main symptoms of malnutrition are of two types- physical and mental. The physical conditions are laziness, dry hair, loose skin, depresses eyes and pale face, below normal weight, drowsiness, extreme weakness, fatigue and exhaustion, attack of diseases like rickets and beriberi, bad postures, unable to stand the strain of drill or sports in the sun, charmless and sorrowful face.

The mental conditions are lack of concentration, irritability, unenthusiastic, gloomy nature, forgetfulness, slow comprehension and maladjustment.

Deficiencies and Problems of Malnutrition among Children

Failure of the child to grow or gain weight.
Slowness in talking, thinking or walking.
Thin arms and legs.
Swollen bellies.
lack of energy.
Swelling of face, feet and hands.
Often marks or sores on the skin.
Thinning or loss of hair or loss of its color or shine.
Dryness of eyes and sometimes blindness.
Night blindness.

Diseases Especially Infections Caused by Malnutrition or Poor Nutrition

Poor nutriton weakens the ability of the body to resist the following diseases:

Poorly nourished children are much more prone to severe diarrhoea and also to die from it than children who are well nourished.
Measles are especially dangerous in children who are mlnourished.
Tuberculosis is more common and gets worse more rapidly in those who are undernourished.
Minor problems like the common cold are often worse and last longer in children who are poorly nourished.

Prevention of Malnutrition Among Children

In solving the problems of undernourishment and malnutrition, it is necessary to eliminate the causes leading to it. Malnutrition can be prevented and treated by giving children enough body-building and protective foods like milk, beans, lentils, fruits, vegetables, egg, meat and fish.

Some of the measures for checking malnutrition are:

Maintaining a balanced diet, concentrating on high-calorie food.
Using inexpensive but nutritional food items and getting good food at low cost.
Regular mealtimes.
Well prepared and attractively served foods.
Adding light snacks between meals and at bed time.
Making mealtime environment calm, cheerful and encouraging.
Supplimenting school meals.
Imparting knowledge of personal hygiene and health.
Stress on the importance of balanced, well-cooked and tasy food.
Medical examination of each student at least once a year.

CALORIFIC VALUES

“calorific value may be defined as the amount of heat released by a unit weight or unit volume of substance during complete combustion.”

The energy containted in a fuel or food, determined by measuring the heat produced by the complete combustion of a specified quantity of it. this is now usually expressed in joules per kilogram.our body uses calories from food for walking, thinking, breathing, and other important functions. A calorie is a metric unit of energy. The energy value of food stuffs is expressed in calories. Caloric value is determined by the presence of un-oxidised atoms of carbon and hydrogen. However a person’s specific daily calorie intake can vary depending on their age, gender and physical activity level. Men generally need more calories than women and people who exercise need more calories than people who don’t. Some of the food and the corresponding calories are given below:

Item	Quantity	Calorific value(approx.)
Egg(boiled/poached)	1	80
Bread slice	1	45
Bread slice with butter	1	90
chapatti	1	60
Puri	1	75
Idli	1	100
Cooked rice	1 cup	120
Sāmbhar	1 cup	150

CALORIC REQUIREMENTS AND ENERGY EXPENDITURE

Energy expenditure is the amount of energy (or calories) that a person needs to carry out a physical function such as breathig, circulating blood, digesting food or physical movements. your total daily energy expenditure(TDEE) is the total number of calories you can burn each day. to prevent weight gain, energy intake or calory intake must be balanced with energy expenditure.

TDEE can vary from person to person depending on body size, gender,genetics,body composition,and activity level. the total energy expenditure for a small sedentary women may be 1800 calories or less per day.but, TDEE for a large men may be 2000 calories or more.

High calorie food requires more energy expenditure to be burned off, while low calorie food offers less energy. On an average, healthy people need 2000 calories per day. Daily caloric requirements also depend upon age, weight and activity level. The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories need daily to maintain weight. Daily calorie expenditure is the number of calories one burns daily.

A regular supply of dietary energy is essential for life, and is required to fuel many different body processes. These include keeping the heart beating and organs functioning, maintenance of body temperature, muscle contraction and growth.

Things to be Avoided in Diet

Too much greasy food, hot spices and coffee: These things can cause stomach ulcers and other problems of the digestive tract.
Too much sugar and sweets: These spoil the appetite, rot the teeth, can cause heart problems and may be part of the cause of intestinal cancer.
Too much use of salt: Consumption of excess salt is not good for anyone. People with high blood pressure, certain heart problems or swollen feet should use little or no salt.
Alcohol: Alcohol causes or makes worse diseases of the liver, stomach and nerves. It also causes emotional and social problems.
Smoking: It can cause chronic (long-term) coughing or lung cancer and other problems. Smoking is especially bad for people with lung diseases like tuberculosis, asthma and bronchitis.
Stomach ulcers and diabetes: These ailments require special diet.

Chapter: 31 FIRST AID

FIRST AID

What does this symbol mean…?

Although commonly associated with first aid, the symbol of a red cross is an official protective symbol of the Red Cross. The internationally accepted symbol for first aid is the white cross on a green background as shown.

MEANING OF FIRST AID

First aid is the assistance given to any person suffering a sudden illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery.it includes initial intervention in a serious condition prior to professional medical help being available, such as performing CPR while awaiting an ambulance, as well as the complete treatment of minor conditions, such as applying a plaster to a cut. First aid is generally performed by a layperson, with many people trained in providing basic levels of first aid, and others willing to do so from acquired knowledge.

First aid is the immediate care of an injured or suddenly sick person. It is the care a person applies as soon as possible after an accident or sudden illness. This prompt care and attention prior to the arrival of the ambulance can sometimes mean the difference between life and death, or between a full or partial recovery.

There are many situations which may require first aid and many countries have legislation, regulation or guidance which specifies a minimum level of first aid provision in certain circumstances. This can include specific training or equipment available in the workplace such as an automated external defibrillator) the provision of specialist first aid cover at public gatherings or mandatory first aid training within schools. First aid however does not necessarily require any particular equipment or prior knowledge and can involve improvisation with materials available at the time, often by untrained persons

DEFINITION OF FIRST AID

“First aid is the emergency care or treatment given to an ill or injured person before regular medical aid can be obtained”

“First aid is the provision of immediate care to a victim with an injury or illness usually affected by a layperson and performed within a limited skill range”

“First aid or emergency care that is given to an injured or sick person prior to treatment by medically trained personal”

“First aid is the help given to a sick or injured person until full medical treatment is available”

Originator of the First Aid:

The originator of First-aid was Esmarch (1823-1908). He was born in Schleswing Holstein; became a distinguished surgeon and was appointed Surgeon General in the German Army on the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. The triangular bandage was invented in 1831 by Dr. Mayor of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Origin of the Term:

The term ‘First-Aid’ was adopted officially in England for the first time in 1879 by the St. john Ambulance Association. The expression “First-Aider” was not coined till 1894 and was intended to designate “any person who has received a certificate from an authorized association that he9or she) is qualified to render first hand aid.”

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF FIRST AID

If an accident happens at the work place, you cannot be a helpless witness, since simply standing by can potentially worsens the situation. This is why it’s important to have at least a basic knowledge of first aid.
First aid is the initial assistance given to a victim of injury or illness.
Providing quick medical treatment until professional assistance arrives.
It affords people with ability to provide help during various emergency situations
First aid helps ensure that the right methods of administering medical assistance are provided.
Knowledge in first aid also benefits the individuals themselves.

AIMS OF FIRST AID

The main aims of first aid are to:

Preserve life- this includes the life of casualty, bystander and rescuer.
Protect the casualty from further harm- ensure the scene is safe.
Provide pain relief- this could include the use of ice packs or simply applying a sling.
Prevent the injury or illness from becoming worse-ensure the treatment you provide does not make the condition worse.
Provide reassurance- To reassure the victim and make him/her as comfortable as possible.
Promote recovery- Provide appropriate emergency medical care to facilitate his/her easy recovery.
Proper treatment- To assess and treat the casualty in the correct order of priority.
Provide comfort- Place casualties in a comfortable position.

SCOPE OF FIRST AID

The Diagnosis:The first aider should examine the causality to know the details of injuries and their nature. This is known as diagnosis. The first-aider must know how the accident or sudden injury has occurred. This information can be obtained from the victim if he/she is in a position to do so or from a witness or witnesses. This is known as the ‘history of the case’.

The next step in diagnosis is to observe the ‘symptoms’ like faintness, pain, shivering or thirst.

Treatment: The diagnosis will give him an idea of treatment to be given until the doctor takes charge. With a view to prevent the condition from becoming worse, special attention should be paid to cases of severe bleeding, failure of breathing, unconsciousness and shock etc.
Disposal: After rendering first-aid, the doctor should be called in to examine the casualty or victim. The next step is to send the causality to his house or to be hospital as the case may be in a suitable atmosphere. The members of the family of the victim or his relatives should also be informed at once. In any case, immediate treatment is a must.

IMPORTANCE OF FIRST AID TRAINING

Knowledge of first aid promotes a healthy, secure and a safer environment, and instils confidence among people, their families, colleagues and associates. Basic first aid knowledge is very helpful in dealing with trauma situations. Not just the medical help they provide, but the confidence they exhibit is very helpful during casualties. Being trained to provide first aid is useful to oneself and society for various reasons like:

It affords people with the ability to provide help during various emergency situation:

If someone swallows harmful substances or suffers health-related issues like a heart-attack, or, if a natural disaster occurs, a person knowledgeable in first aid becomes very helpful. They become an invaluable support not only to the victims, but also to professional emergency responders amd medical practitioners.

First aid helps ensure that the right methods of administering medical assistance are provided:

Knowing how to help a person is just as important in emergency situations. It only takes six minutes for the human brain to expire due to lack of oxygen. Knowledge in first aid helps to provide appropriate medical care.

Knowledge in first aid also benefits the individuals themselves:

Whether the emergency affects themselves directly, or involves people they live and work with, knowledge in first aid prepare an individual to deal with an emergency in a given time and place.

Knowledge in first aid helps ensure safety of both injured and involved:

Dealing with emergency without proper knowledge in first-aid may lead to make the situation more badly and it may also cause further casualties. Knowledge in first aid helps to prevent the injury or illness from becoming worse. A trained person will provide temporary treatment which will keep the condition of the victim from deteriorating, till professional help arrives.

It does more than help save lives:

It is true that having first aid training undoubtedly saves lives. That’s not all: giving appropriate first aid immediately can help to reduce a person’s recovery time and make the difference between the patient having a temporary and long term disability.

Increases safety:

The basis of first aid training is “prevention”. It is always better to be safe than to be sorry. Knowledge of first aid promotes a sense of safety and well-being amongst people, prompting them to be alert and safe in the surroundings they dwell in. Awareness and desire to be accident free keeps you more safe and secure, reducing the number of casualties and accidents.

Helps relieve pain:

Some injuries require a very simple solution like applying ice pack or a quick rub. A ride to the emergency room is not necessary. In such cases, calling a trained person in first aid is more reliable. They can help reduce the pain by performing simple procedures and can help relieve pain temporarily.

Makes people more secure:

Knowing that you can save your own life when required, or that of the people you know or those in trauma during some emergency helps you relax more and be more secure. The sense of security promotes a healthy and a more confident atmosphere around you and people around you would feel more secure.The presence of such people provides reassurance to others in the situation.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF FIRST AID

The general principles of first aid are:

Remove the cause of injury or the patient from the cause as early as possible. He/she should then render such help that may prevent further injury.
First aid should be confined to essentials only.
Restoration of respiration and circulation.
Immobilization of simple and compound fractures and dislocations.
Assurance of getting well quickly to the victim and moral boosting.
The bleeding should be stopped immediately irrespective of other injury.
Keep the patient warm by wrapping him/her in clothes rugs or blankets and sheets as the cause may be.
Remove the clothes of the patient only when essential such removal of clothes must not cause pain or discomfort to the patient. He/she should very softly study the ankle and then undo the laces of shoes and cut off the socks if needed.
The wound should be covered at once with a clean dressing. In case of a fracture the injured limb should be supported and placed in natural position as far as possible with splints and bandages.
Make immediate proper arrangements to a hospital or a qualified doctor are the vicinity.it should however be remembered that the first aider need not to be a doctor. So he should never take upon himself the duties and responsibilities of a doctor. His responsibilities are over as soon as proper medical aid is available.
The injured should be given as much rest as possible and his body should be kept in a restful position.
In case of fracture the broken part should be saved from movement till proper medical aid is available.
Offer warm milk or tea if the patient is in senses he may be given a cup of warm milk or tea.
Full knowledge of anatomy is essential for giving first aid. The first aider must have complete knowledge of anatomy or physiology.it will enable him to render proper first aid to the injured.
Immediate arrest of haemorrhage.

ABC PRINCIPLES

ABC and its variations are initial mnemonics for essential steps used by both medical professional and lay persons (such as first aiders) when dealing with a patient.in its original form it stands for Airway, Breathing and Circulation. The protocol was originally developed as a memory aid for rescuer performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the most widely known initial is in the care of the unconscious or unresponsive patient, although it is also used as a reminder of the priorities for assessment and treatment of patients in many acute medical and trauma situations, from first aid to hospital medical treatment.

Airway:

The airway of an unconscious person may be narrowed or blocked, making breathing difficult or impossible. This happens when the tongue drops back and blocks the throat. While providing first aid, act quickly to open the airway.

Breathing:

Check for breathing by placing your head near the person’s nose and mouth. Feel for breath on your cheek or moisture on the back of your hand. If a person has just stopped breathing, use mouth to mouth ventilation. Make sure the airway is open and head tilted back. Pinch the nostrils together, take a deep breath and blow into the mouth, firmly sealing your lips around the mouth so air is not lost. You should see the chest rise. Remove your lips and let the chest fall. Continue this, giving about ten breaths every minute until help arrives or breathing begins.

Circulation

Check for circulation (to see if the heart is still beating) by feeling for the Adam’s apple(lump on the wind pipe) with two fingers. Slide the fingers to the side of the windpipe and feel for the pulse. If the heart has stopped beating use chest compression to try to restart the heart. Place your hand flat just above the point where the ribs meet the breastbone. Bring the other hand on top of it and lock the fingers together. With your arms straight, press down firmly on the breastbone, pushing it down 4-5cm. Release the pressure and repeat the compressions at a rate of about about 80 per minute. If the person is also not breathing, alternate 15 compressions with two breaths until help arrives.

WHO IS A FIRST AIDER

First aider can be someone in an organization who has been trained to give immediate medical assistance given to anyone who is suffering a sudden illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent condition from worsening, or to promote recovery.

QUALITIES OF THE FIRST AIDER

The following are the qualities that a trained first aider should possess:

Promptand quick: -As soon as an accident or injury takes place the first aider should be prompt and quick to render help to the victim without delay.
Calm and controlled: - He/she should be calm and controlled sort man because he has to take immediate action without any fuss or panic.
Wise and intelligent: -He/she should be intelligent and wise enough to decide what immediate treatment is essential even before a complete diagnosis especially in cade of serious injuries and severe bleeding.
Resourceful: For providing immediate relief to the victim of the accident, the first-aider should utilize all the available resources that they can think of.
Sympathy: The first-aider should display an attitude of helplessness and consideration to the victim so that the victim feels comfortable.
Sweet: The first aider should say sweet words to the victim.
Skillful and tactful: The first-aider should be skillful to provide first aid and should be tactful to control the crowd which usually gathers around the victim and causes undue delay in providing immediate help.

CONCEPT OF A FIRST AID BOX

“A first aid box is a bag or case containing basic medical supplies that are designed to be used on someone who is injured or who suddenly becomes ill”

It is the duty of the school to keep a first aid box under the charge of a teacher qualified in first aid.

THINGS TO BE KEPT IN A FIRST AID BOX

The first aid box should contain the following equipment’s and medicines to enable the first aider to render effective timely appropriate aid:

A box of twelve 100×100 mm sterile dressing, individually wrapped, for cleaning and covering wounds.
Roll of gauze bandage 50mm, for bandaging sterile dressing over wound, etc.
At least three roller bandage 75mm×5m
Two wooden splints
Safety pins
Pads of various size
Two rolls of adhesive tape.25mm×50mm wide
Medicine(eye) dropper
Rectal thermometer
Sharp knife
Hot-water bottle
Ice bag
Match box
Scissors
Tourniquet
Spoon

SCHOOL CLINIC AND MEDICAL SERVICE

Every school should set up a school dispensary to look after the health of pupils, to arrange for medical examination of the pupils from time to time, to guide the pupils to adopt preventive measures against various diseases and to provide treatment of minor ailments. A group of schools in a place may combine and set up a dispensary under the charge of a qualified medical officer.

In case any teacher finds a student not keeping well, they should send him/her to the dispensary and ensure that treatment at the clinic is satisfactorily carried out. There should be a fulltime dispenser in the school dispensary who may be able to take care of the cases in the absence of the medical officer. A regular supply of essential medicines should be maintained in the dispensary. The students should be advised not to hesitate but report in the dispensary if they feel any trouble. The dispensary should maintain the record of the medical examinations of the students held from time to time. The services of the school dispensary should be available to the public in times of emergency.

School Medical Service

An efficient school medical service is regarded as essential in any good school. In India the provision is very important in view of absence of health consciousness among the masses, poverty of the masses, non-availability of balanced diet to the growing children, unhygienic conditions all around and non-availability of medical facilities in the countryside.

Health Service Agencies

The health service in the schools can be provided through the co-operation of various agencies like, Physical Education department. Red Cross Unit, School Dispensary and School Medical Officer, Local Public Hospitals and Local Private Practitioners.

Programme of Medical service

This programme will consist of medical inspection of the students after regular intervals, maintenance of records of these medical inspections, sending reports of the student’s health to their guardians, clinical treatment of students suffering from ailments, follow-up programme of occasional medical inspections, recording of history of chronic cases, provision of mid-day meals, ensuring regular physical exercise for the students, attending to sanitation and hygienic conditions in the school and keeping the school campus healthy and clean.

CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION (CPR)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)is a lifesaving technique useful in many emergencies, including heart attack or near drowning, in which someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped. CPR is an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest. CPR alone is unlikely to restart the heart. Its main purpose is to restore partial flow of oxygenated blood to the brain and heart.

CPR is a combination of:

Rescue breathing, which provides oxygen to a person’s lungs
Chest compressions, which keep the person’s blood circulating.

CPR: Cardio(Heart), Pulmonary (Lungs), Resuscitation (Revival)

CPR dramatically increases the casualty’s chancs of survival and without oxygen, the brain can survive about 5 minutes before permanent damage sets in.

CAUSES OF CPR

In adults, major reasons that heartbeat and breathing stop include:

drug overdose
excessive bleeding
heart disease
infection in the blood stream(sepsis)
injuries and accidents
near-drowning
stroke

SYMPTOMS OF CPR

No breathing or difficulty in breathing(gasping)
No pulse
Unconsciousness

STEPS IN CPR

Check the scene of the person
Call for assistance

Open the airway

Check the breathing
Push hard, push fast
Deliver rescue breaths

Continue CPR steps

ADMINISTERING CPR

Steps for hands-only CPR:

Survey the scene
Check the person for responsiveness
Contact their heart with an automated external defibrillator(CPR)
Position your hand on their chest
Begin compression
Continue compressions

Steps for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation:

Perform hands-only CPR
Open their airway
Give rescue breath
Alternate rescue breathing with chest compressions.

Chapter: 32 FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS

FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS

Children spend most of their time indulging in various types of activities, both constructive and destructive. Therefore, it is natural for them to meet with accidents while playing, running or jumping in the school campus or in the playground. While handling chemicals, gas, glass articles and acids in science laboratories, they may also meet with accidents. Due to climatic changes they may shiver, faint and swoon. In this situation, immediate help should be provided to the affected children, before actual medical treatment. Besides this, one may not contact a doctor at all places and all moments. Therefore, in between accident and proper medical treatment, some effective treatment in an emergency situation is technically known as first-aid.

First aid is the immediate care given to victims of accidents before trained medical workers arrive. Its goal is to stop and, if possible, reverse harm. It involves rapid and simple measures such as clearing the air passageway, applying pressure to bleeding wounds or dousing chemical burns to eyes or skin.

SHOCK

Shock is that feeble condition of nervous system which is the result of sudden accident. Electric shocks are very common.

Symptoms of shock

Weakness after fainting especially on standing up.
Vomiting sensation
Cold damp skin
Too much sweating even in cold weather
Severe thirst
Restlessness, mental confusion or loss of consciousness
Weak rapid pulse (more than 100 per minute)

Treatment of shock

Have the pupil lie down with his/her feet higher than his head. If the shock is due to a head injury, do not raise the feet. Make them sit propped up (half sitting position against a pillow).
If the pupil feels cold, cover him/her with a blanket.

If the pupil is conscious, give them warm water or other lukewarm drinks. If the shock is due to injury (accidents, stab wounds) then do not give anything to drink. Get medical help fast.

If the pupil is in pain, give aspirin or any other pain medicine.
Keep calm and reassure the pupil.

ELECTRIC SHOCK

Electricity can enter the body from any live point of contact. It then seeks its way through tissues and out of the body along the easiest conduction paths open to it. Water is a good conductor. Wet skin offers danger when in touch with electricity. Most metals are good conductors too, and should be properly insulated on electrical apparatus. Current which is given an opportunity to reach earth will take it; the electrocuted man is at the highest risk if 9 himself is earthed. He might be standing directly on the ground wearing footwear which offers little insulation. A really perilous situation is when one is touching live terminals while the feet are on a metal substance leading directly to the ground, like a bath or water pipes.

EFFECTS OF ELECTRICITY

Electricity can burn, its point of entry into the body show charring of the skin. The surface area may look deceptively small and innocuous but beneath it, the current could have fanned out, damaging muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Even the smallest mark on the skin merits medical advice.
Electricity can send muscles into spasm. This could tear muscle fibers and, in particularly severe cases, cause fracture of bones to which strong muscles are attached. Sometimes the muscles of finger which have inadvertently grasped a live object (electric appliance) contract firmly around it. The victim cannot let go and remains in contact. However , the violent muscle spasms throw the body some distance, with the risk of fractures
Electricity can kill.

FIRST AID

Disconnect the victim from the current at once (switch off the current or pull on the plug or its insulated cord to free it from the socket).
If the patient has stopped breathing use artificial respiration.
Check for other injuries and treat them (fracture, wound, dislocation etc.).
Keep on watching your patient.

BURNS and SCALDS

Meaning of ‘burn’: When the body is burnt with something hot or a flame, it is called ‘burn’.

Meaning of Scalds: ‘Scald’ implies burning with steam, hot liquid matter like ghee, milk,oil and water etc.

Burns are a major cause of accidental death among children. They are caused by extremes of temperature (hot and cold), friction, chemicals or radiation. Scalds are burns caused by wet heat such as steam or hot liquids, Electricity is another possible cause of burns.

Burns and scalds are serious because, as the skin is broken, they allow infection to enter the body. Superficial burns affect only the surface layers of the skin-the skin will become red soon after the burn. Deep burns go through the layers of the skin, and the skin may be grey and charred. There are three primary types of burns: first-, second-, and third-degree. Each degree is based on the severity of damage to the skin, with first-degree being the most minor and third-degree being the most severe. Damage includes:

First degree burns: red, non-blistered skin
Second-degree burns: blisters and some thickening of the skin
Third-degree burns: widespread thickness with a white, leathery appearance

TREATMENTS FOR A BURN INCLUDE:

You should contact a doctor or hospital if the burn or scald:

Covers an area more than one centimeter (1/2 in) in diameter
is deeper than the surface of the skin
Has been caused by an electrical current
Is anywhere on a baby.

Blisters-small bubbles of fluid-may form under the skin after a burn. These are caused by body fluid leaking into the burnt area under the surface of the skin and during healing, new skin will form under the surface of skin will form under the blister. You should never break the blister on purpose, as this will increase the risk of infection.

For All Burns

Stop Burning Immediately

Put out fire or stop the person's contact with hot liquid, steam, or other material.
Help the person "stop, drop, and roll" to smother flames.
Remove contact material from the person.
Remove hot or burned clothing. If clothing sticks to skin, cut or tear around it.

Remove Constrictive Clothing Immediately

Take off jewellery, belts, and tight clothing. Burns can swell quickly.

Then take the following steps:

For First-Degree Burns (Affecting Top Layer of Skin)

Cool Burn

Hold burned skin under cool (not cold) running water or immerse in cool water until pain subsides.
Use compresses if running water isn’t available.

Protect Burn

Cover with sterile, non-adhesive bandage or clean cloth.
Do not apply butter or ointments, which can cause infection.

Treat Pain

Give over-the-counter pain reliever such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), acetaminophen (Tylenol), or naproxen (Aleve).

4.When to See a Doctor

Seek medical help if:

You see signs of infection, like increased pain, redness, swelling, fever, or oozing.
The person needs tetanus or booster shot, depending on date of last injection. Tetanus booster should be given every 10 years.
The burn blister is larger than two inches or oozes.
Redness and pain last more than a few hours if Pain worsens.

Follow Up

The doctor will examine the burn and may prescribe antibiotics and pain medication.

For Second-Degree Burns (Affecting Top 2 Layers of Skin)

Cool Burn

Immerse in cool water for 10 or 15 minutes.
Use compresses if running water isn’t available. Don’t apply ice.
It can lower body temperature and cause further pain and damage.
Don’t break blisters or apply butter or ointments, which can cause infection.

Protect Burn
Prevent Shock

Cover loosely with sterile, non-stick bandage and secure in place with gauze or tape.

Unless the person has a head, neck, or leg injury, or it would cause discomfort:

Lay the person flat. Elevate feet about 12 inches.
Elevate burn area above heart level, if possible.
Cover the person with coat or blanket.

4.Consult a Doctor

The doctor can test burn severity, prescribe antibiotics and pain medications, and administer a tetanus shot, if needed.

For Third-Degree Burns

Call ambulance service
Protect Burn Area

Cover loosely with sterile, non-stick bandage or, for large areas, a sheet or other material that that won’t leave lint in wound.
Separate burned toes and fingers with dry, sterile dressings.
Do not soak burn in water or apply ointments or butter, which can cause infection.

Prevent Shock

Unless the person has a head, neck, or leg injury or it would cause discomfort:

Lay the person flat.
Elevate feet about 12 inches.
Elevate burn area above heart level, if possible.
Cover the person with coat or blanket.
For an airway burn, do not place pillow under the person's head when the person is lying down.
This can close the airway.
Have a person with a facial burn sit up.
Check pulse and breathing to monitor for shock until emergency help arrives.

See a Doctor

Doctors will give oxygen and fluid, if needed, and treat the burn.

DROWNING

Drowning is defined as respiratory impairment from being in or under a liquid. In a drowning emergency, the sooner the victim is removed from the water and first aid is administered, the greater the opportunity the victim has for surviving.

The focus of the first aid for a drowning victim in the water is to get oxygen into the lungs. depending upon the circumstances, if there is concerned that a neck injury is a possibility care should be taken to minimize movement of the neck.

Drowning causes asphyxia either by water flooding the lungs or by causing the throat to go into spasm, there by blocking the airway. quick action can save the victims life and your priority is to get air into his lungs as fast as possible, if necessary even if you are still in the water. But take care you do not put your life in danger; unless you are a strong and experienced swimmer, you should not attempt a rescue from deep water or where there is a strong current.

In artificial respiration some steps may be taken:

Place the person on his/her abdomen.
Bend the elbows and place one hand on top of the other.
Turn the face to one side and place cheek on their hands.

Position of First-aid operator

Face the patient and kneel down with one knee on each side and close to the person’s head.
Place your hands on the person’s back with tips of thumbs, touching and fingers spreadout.
Draw arms upward and towards you. Lift the elbow just enough to feel resistance at the person’s shoulders.
Keep your elbows straight as you rock backward.
Lower the subject’s arm to the ground. This completes the cycle.

The chest expands when the arms are lifted. Repeat the full cycle 12 times per minute at a steady, regular, uniform rate. Persons have been known to revive after one hours application of artificial respiration.

First aid for drowning

Assessing in the situation

Determine whether the person is drowning. active drowning victims are conscious but are struggling and unable to call for help.
Shout for help.
Decide which rescue method to use.
Proceed with the rescue.

Performing a reaching assist

Lie faced down on the edge of the pool or dock.
Locate the shepherds crook there is a long metal pole with a hook on the end that can be used either as a handle for the victim to grab, or as a device to wrap around the victim in the event that the victim is unable to hold onto it himself.
Stand slightly away from the deck.
make sure the hook is not near the person’s neck, since this could lead to injury.
You will feel a sharp tug when the person finds the crook.
Pull the person to safety.

Performing a throwing assist

Find a floating aid. (a ring buoy, life jacket floating cushion etc.)
Throw the floating aid.

Performing a swimming rescue

Be sure of your swimming abilities. victims are often thrashing and panicking which can make it hazardous to perform a swimming rescue.
Drive in with the aid. do not attempt a swimming rescue without a buoy on hand.
Swim to the victim.
Swim back to shore

Caring for the victim after the rescue.

As if the person’s ABC – airway, breathing and circulation.
start CPR
give breaths if the person is still not breathing. only give breaths if you are trained in CPR. begin by tilting the head back and lifting the person’s chin. pinch the nose, cover the victims mouth with yours, and give one or two seconds breath. watch to make sure the chest is rising. follow two breaths with thirty chest compressions.
Determine whether the person is drowning. active drowning victims are conscious but are struggling and unable to call for help.
Shout for help.
Decide which rescue method to use.
Proceed with the rescue.

Additional Instructions

Start artificial respiration as soon as the person is removed from the water.
Put the head a little lower than the body to allow fluid to flow out of the mouth more easily.
Keep the head extended so that the neck will be straight. If the head falls forward or if the chin falls on the chest, the air passages may be cut-off.
Remove false teeth and see that the tongue is not blocking air passages.
Keep the person warm.
Have a second or third first-aid operator available so that each person will work in turns of 10-20 minutes each. Maintain the rhythm when changing operators.
Keep crowd away from the apparently drowned person.

FIRE

When a person’s clothes are on fire, they must not run for help. Running causes, a draught which will only increase the flames. They should lie down and roll on the ground, wrapping themselves, if possible, with a blanket, or any thick cloth to put out the flames. Also, this will prevent the flames from reaching the face. Standing up will only let the flames rise up to the face just as when you hold a struck match downwards, it burns with a bigger flame. After the flames are put out fetch water to put out the smouldering fire, treat for shock and burns.

BLEEDING NOSE

In case of a bleeding nose, the patient should be seated in a draught of air, in front of a door or open window, with the head tilted back and the arms raised above the head. They should be asked to breathe through the mouth. Any tight clothing around the neck and chest should be loosened. An ice-pack or cold compress should be applied over the nose and on the spine at the level of the collar. The feet should be placed in hot water. The injured person should be warned not to blow his nose.

HEALTH HAZARDS OF SCHOOL STUDENTS

In modern society health is considered both an individual and group responsibility. This basic principle must be in operation if the quality of life is to be improved. The school is one segment of the society where this health principle is brought clearly into focus. There are certain problems operating today which obstruct the development of healthful living in the school environment. These problems are technically known as health hazards.

No doubt, technological developments today have improved the quality and standard of life. But, they have created a number of health hazards in the form of accident, risk or danger. Population explosion has further increased such health accidents, health problems and difficulties, health danger, health risk etc. These health hazards are both manmade and environmental in nature. While we can observe some of these hazards without much difficulty there are others which we cannot. The teachers and the parents can provide necessary instructions to the school going children to protect themselves from the day to day health hazards. Modern health hazards are usually created mainly from certain situations like:

Environment
Technological development
Population explosion
Adulteration
Explosives
Dampness

Environment:

The environmental problems like air pollution, water pollution, pollution of environment by noise etc. create health hazards. Air pollution takes place due to decomposition of things, smoke from charcoal and from chimneys of factories, exhaust fumes from vehicles, industrial wastes, wastes from carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, lead compounds etc. Because of this we get fresh air for want of which we suffer from many diseases. This may affect the fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products. In order to get rid of this problem of health hazards, we should try to establish industries far away from residential areas and there must be provision for disposal of waste, excreta and dead material.

Besides air pollution, water pollution also affects our environment and is a threat to our health. We can get rid of this problem by supplying pure water to the students in school.

Noise pollution also has a direct bad influence on the nervous system of human beings. It affects the peaceful school atmosphere. Since it is a manmade problem; it should be controlled by state administrators.

Technological Development:

Scientific and technological advancements have created heaven on earth. Even then, due to the increase of factories, transport and communication, nuclear energy etc. there is pollution in environment situations. These situations create health hazard both for the people and school students. Attempts must be made to control these problems.

Population explosion:

In a country like India, population explosion is much more. Therefore, people fail to maintain good health and quality of life. Due to poverty, people suffer from diseases. A good number of people are undernourished and malnourished. This is a great health hazard for the school students.

Adulteration:

People today face difficulties in getting pure food. Adulteration is a very common practice in our social life. Spices, milk, ghee, confectionaries, medicines are all getting adulterated. As a result it creates health hazards among people and the students.

Explosives:

In our country when we celebrate some festivals like Dussahara, Diwali etc. we use explosives like fireworks which are responsible for the pollution of atmosphere. They are very injurious to health and create health hazards for the students.

Dampness:

There are some localities having narrow streets. Sunlight never reach these places. There are also places without proper drainage system. People who live in these damp places suffer from many fatal diseases.

Steps to Minimize the Health Hazards of School Students

These steps should be taken to minimize the health hazards:

The government should take remedial measures to make the country free from environmental pollution. Big industries should be placed far away from residential areas.
Steps must be taken to impart population education so as to control population explosion. Family Welfare Boards may also be established to orient the people towards family life and sex education.
School buildings should be constructed in open places where students can get free air. Steps must be taken to make the school free from noise pollution.
Healthy living conditions should be provided to the people of our country. They should not be allowed to live in old and ill-planned house.
In city areas, slums and dirty colonies should not be allowed to exist, because they are not fit for human living.
Attempts must be made to make the people aware of the problems of health hazards, and their effects on our health.
The government of the country should take much care to protect air and water pollution.
The people of our country should be encouraged to plant trees so as to protect the environment. School students should actively participate in this programme of plantation.
Drainage system in city areas should be improved.
The government must take active steps to check the adulteration of food stuffs.
In case of minor health hazards, there must be a provision for first-aid in every school. Clinical help must be taken when students face major health hazards.

Chapter: 33 FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE IN VARIOUS SITIUATIONS –PART 2 ACCIDENTS

FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE IN VARIOUS SITIUATIONS –PART 2

ACCIDENTS

An accident, also known as unintentional injury, is an undesirable,incidental , an unplanned event that could have been prevented has circumstances leading up to the accidents been recognised , and acted upon , prior to its occurrence .

When approaching an accident scene, it is really important to ensure your own safety. Quickly assess the nature of the wreckage and be aware of possible injuries as a result. Your initial priority is quickly checking if casualties are responsive. If there is no response, check if they are breathing. If they are unresponsive and breathing, ensure they are in a position where they are leaning forward. Only remove an unconscious person from a vehicle if there is an immediate danger to their life from fire, flood and explosion. It is very difficult to remove an unconscious person from a vehicle and there is a major danger that you could worsen their injuries and injure yourself in the process.

TREATING A PERSON MET WITH ACCIDENT

Steps needed while caring for accidents are:

Check yourself first.
Check the other person(s) for injuries.
Look for signs of breathing.
Call for help
check for obstructions in the persons mouth and throat.
perform life saving techniques (CPR-cardio pulmonary resuscitation or EAR-external airresuscitation)
ways to help him or her in grave situations: if there is bleeding from the, mouth or the patient is vomiting, turn the person to his /her side. this will avoid any chances of the person choking. place the persons arm that is under him straight out and the arm closest to you across the chest.
deal with open wounds. if there is an extensive wound, try to control the bleeding using pressure to the area using a cloth. press down with your palms rather than your fingertips.
always suspect spinal injuries. if the person’s neck is in an awkward position or the person is unconscious, do not move the patient. get help immediately.
keep the person warm. (t-shirt, blanket etc.)
avoid feeding the person.

POISONING

Poisoning is a condition or a process in which an organism becomes harmed severely (poisoned) by a toxic substance or venom of an animal.

Acute poisoning is exposure to a poison on one occasion or during a short period of time. Symptoms develop in close relation to the degree of exposure. Absorption of a poison is necessary for systemic poisoning (that is, in the blood throughout the body). In contrast, substances that destroy tissue but do not absorb, such as lye, are classified as corrosives rather than poisons. Furthermore, many common household medications are not labelled with skull and crossbones, although they can cause severe illness or even death. In the medical sense, toxicity and poisoning can be caused by less dangerous substances than those legally classified as a poison. Toxicology is the study and practice of the symptoms, mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of poisoning.

Chronic poisoning is long-term repeated or continuous exposure to a poison where symptoms do not occur immediately or after each exposure. The patient gradually becomes ill, or becomes ill after a long latent period. Chronic poisoning most commonly occurs following exposure to poisons that are biomagnified, such as mercury, gadolinium, and lead.

Contact or absorption of poisons can cause rapid death or impairment. Agents that act on the nervous system can paralyze in seconds or less, and include both biologically derived neurotoxins and so-called nerve gases, which may be synthesized for warfare or industry.

Inhaled or ingested cyanide, used as a method of execution in gas chambers, almost instantly starves the body of energy by inhibiting the enzymes in mitochondria that make ATP. Intravenous injection of an unnaturally high concentration of potassium chloride, such as in the execution of prisoners in parts of the United States, quickly stops the heart by eliminating the cell potential necessary for muscle contraction.

FIRSTAID FOR POISONING

poison was swallowed

call emergency services or a poison control hotline immediately
Clear the person’s airway (wrap a clean towel around your hand, open the person’s mouth and remove traces of substance using the towel)
Check the person’s breathing and pulse (if you don’t feel breath or a pulse, administer CPR immediately)
Keep the person comfortable. (Loosen the belt and other tight Clothing. Remove jewellery and other constrictive items.)

When the poison was inhaled

Call for emergency help
Leave the toxic area immediately
Check the person’s breathing and pulse (administer CPR immediately)
Have the person lie down on his side so that he won’t choke in case of vomiting
Cushion the person’s head with pillow
Remove the constrictive clothing and jewellery

When the poison came into contact with the skin or eyes

Call the poison control centre
Remove the traces of the substance
Flush the area with lukewarm water
For poisoning by swallowing check and monitor the person’s airway, breathing and pulse

HEART ATTACK

Myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to a part of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Often it occurs in the centre or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat, or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often have atypical symptoms than men. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock, or cardiac arrest.

Symptoms

Common heart attack signs and symptoms include:

Pressure, tightness, pain, or a squeezing or aching sensation in your chest or arms that may spread to your neck, jaw or back
Nausea, indigestion, heartburn or abdominal pain
Shortness of breath
Cold sweat
Fatigue
Light headedness or sudden dizziness, fainting

Not all people who have heart attacks have the same symptoms or have the same severity of symptoms. Some people have mild pain; others have more severe pain. Some people have no symptoms; for others, the first sign may be sudden cardiac arrest. However, the more signs and symptoms you have, the greater the likelihood you're having a heart attack.

Some heart attacks strike suddenly, but many people have warning signs and symptoms hours, days or weeks in advance. The earliest warning might be recurrent chest pain or pressure (angina) that's triggered by exertion and relieved by rest. Angina is caused by a temporary decrease in blood flow to the heart.

CAUSES OF HEART ATTACK

A heart attack occurs when one or more of your coronary arteries become blocked. Over time, a coronary artery can narrow from the build-up of various substances, including cholesterol (atherosclerosis). This condition, known as coronary artery disease, causes most heart attacks.

During a heart attack, one of these plaques can rupture and spill cholesterol and other substances into the bloodstream. A blood clot forms at the site of the rupture. If large enough, the clot can block the flow of blood through the coronary artery, starving the heart muscle of oxygen and nutrients (ischemia).

You might have a complete blockage or partial. A complete blockage means you've had an ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). A partial blockage means you've had a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Diagnostic steps and treatment might be different depending on which you've had.

Another cause of a heart attack is a spasm of a coronary artery that shuts down blood flow to part of the heart muscle. Using tobacco and illicit drugs, such as cocaine, can cause a life-threatening spasm.

FIRST AID FOR THE PERSON SUFFERING FROM HEART ATTACK

Never neglect a person with chest pain
Recognise the symptoms for heart attack
Call emergency services
Administrate CPR
Make the person sit in a slightly reclined position
Move the person to a more ventilated area
Ask the person to cough
Seek immediate medical attention
Should receive medical attention in an hour

Risk factors

Certain factors contribute to the unwanted build-up of fatty deposits (atherosclerosis) that narrows arteries throughout your body. You can improve or eliminate many of these risk factors to reduce your chances of having a first or another heart attack.

Heart attack risk factors include:

Age. Men age 45 or older and women age 55 or older are more likely to have a heart attack than are younger men and women.
Tobacco. This includes smoking and long-term exposure to second hand smoke.
High blood pressure. Over time, high blood pressure can damage arteries that feed your heart. High blood pressure that occurs with other conditions, such as obesity, high cholesterol or diabetes, increases your risk even more.
High blood cholesterol or triglyceride levels. A high level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol) is most likely to narrow arteries. A high level of triglycerides, a type of blood fat related to your diet, also ups your risk of heart attack. However, a high level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) lowers your risk of heart attack.
Obesity. Obesity is associated with high blood cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure and diabetes. Losing just 10 percent of your body weight can lower this risk, however.
Diabetes. Not producing enough of a hormone secreted by your pancreas (insulin) or not responding to insulin properly causes your body's blood sugar levels to rise, increasing your risk of heart attack.
Metabolic syndrome. This occurs when you have obesity, high blood pressure and high blood sugar. Having metabolic syndrome makes you twice as likely to develop heart disease than if you don't have it.
Family history of heart attack. If your siblings, parents or grandparents have had early heart attacks (by age 55 for male relatives and by age 65 for female relatives), you might be at increased risk.
Lack of physical activity. Being inactive contributes to high blood cholesterol levels and obesity. People who exercise regularly have better cardiovascular fitness, including lower high blood pressure.
Stress. You might respond to stress in ways that can increase your risk of a heart attack.
Illicit drug use. Using stimulant drugs, such as cocaine or amphetamines, can trigger a spasm of your coronary arteries that can cause a heart attack.
A history of preeclampsia. This condition causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and increases the lifetime risk of heart disease.
An autoimmune condition. Having a condition such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus can increase your risk of heart attack.

Prevention

It's never too late to take steps to prevent a heart attack even if you've already had one. Here are ways to prevent a heart attack.

Medications. Taking medications can reduce your risk of a subsequent heart attack and help your damaged heart function better. Continue to take what your doctor prescribes, and ask your doctor how often you need to be monitored.
Lifestyle factors. You know the drill: Maintain a healthy weight with a heart-healthy diet, don't smoke, exercise regularly, manage stress and control conditions that can lead to heart attack, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

EPILEPSY

Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders characterized by epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures are episodes that can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking. These episodes can result in physical injuries, including occasionally broken bones. In epilepsy, seizures tend to recur and, as a rule, have no immediate underlying cause. Isolated seizures that are provoked by a specific cause such as poisoning are not deemed to represent epilepsy. People with epilepsy may be treated differently in various areas of the world and experience varying degrees of social stigma due to their condition.

CAUSES OF EPILEPSY

Epilepsy can have both genetic and acquired causes, with interaction of these factors in many cases. Established acquired causes include serious brain trauma, stroke, tumours and problems in the brain as a result of a previous infection. In about 60% of cases the cause is unknown. Epilepsies caused by genetic, congenital, or developmental conditions are more common among younger people, while brain tumours and strokes are more likely in older people.

Seizures may also occur as a consequence of other health problems; if they occur right around a specific cause, such as a stroke, head injury, toxic ingestion or metabolic problem, they are known as acute symptomatic seizures and are in the broader classification of seizure-related disorders rather than epilepsy itself.

Genetics

Genetics is believed to be involved in the majority of cases, either directly or indirectly. Some epilepsies are due to a single gene defect (1–2%); most are due to the interaction of multiple genes and environmental factors. Each of the single gene defects is rare, with more than 200 in all described. Most genes involved affect ion channels, either directly or indirectly. These include genes for ion channels themselves, enzymes, GABA, and G protein-coupled receptors.

In identical twins, if one is affected there is a 50–60% chance that the other will also be affected. In non-identical twins the risk is 15%. These risks are greater in those with generalized rather than focal seizures. If both twins are affected, most of the time they have the same epileptic syndrome (70–90%).Other close relatives of a person with epilepsy have a risk five times that of the general population. Between 1 and 10% of those with Down syndrome and 90% of those with Angel man syndrome have epilepsy.

Acquired

Epilepsy may occur as a result of a number of other conditions including tumours, strokes, head trauma, previous infections of the central nervous system, genetic abnormalities, and as a result of brain damage around the time of birth. Of those with brain tumours, almost 30% have epilepsy, making them the cause of about 4% of cases. The risk is greatest for tumours in the temporal lobe and those that grow slowly. Other mass lesions such as cerebral cavernous malformations and arteriovenous malformations have risks as high as 40–60%.of those who have had a stroke, 2–4% develop epilepsy. In the United Kingdom strokes account for 15% of cases and it is believed to be the cause in 30% of the elderly. Between 6 and 20% of epilepsy is believed to be due to head trauma. Mild brain injury increases the risk about two-fold while severe brain injury increases the risk seven-fold.

SYMPTOMS OF EPILEPSY

Symptoms include:

Alterations to sense of taste, smell, sight, hearing, or touch.
Dizziness
Tingling and twitching of limbs
Staring blankly
Un responsiveness
Performing repetitive movements

FIRST AID FOR EPILEPSY

Stay calm.
Look around- is the person in a dangerous place? If not, don't move them. Move objects like furniture away from them.
Note the timethe seizure starts.
Stay with them. If they don't collapse but seem blank or confused, gently guide them away from any danger. Speak quietly and calmly.
Cushion their headwith something soft if they have collapsed to the ground.
Don't hold them down.
Don't put anything in their mouth.
Check the time again. If a seizure doesn't stop after 5 minutes, call for an ambulance.
After the seizure has stopped, gently put them into the recovery position and check that their breathing is returning to normal. Gently check their mouth to see that nothing is blocking their airway such as food or false teeth. If their breathing sounds difficult after the seizure has stopped, call for an ambulance.
Stay with them until they are fully recovered.

Chapter: 34 FIRST AID FOR COMMON INJURIES

FIRST AID FOR COMMON INJURIES

HEAD INJURIES

A head injury is any sort of injury to your brain, skull, or scalp. This can range from a mild bump or bruise to a traumatic brain injury. Common head injuries include concussions, skull fractures, and scalp wounds. The consequences and treatments vary greatly, depending on what caused your head injury and how severe it is.

Head injuries may be either closed or open. A closed head injury is any injury that doesn’t break your skull. An open (penetrating) head injury is one in which something breaks your scalp and skull and enters your brain.

It can be hard to assess how serious a head injury is just by looking. Some minor head injuries bleed a lot, while some major injuries don’t bleed at all. It’s important to treat all head injuries seriously and get them assessed by a doctor.

CAUSES OF HEAD INJURIES

In general, head injuries can be divided into two categories based on what causes them. They can either be head injuries due to blows to the head or head injuries due to shaking.

Head injuries caused by shaking are most common in infants and small children, but they can occur any time you experience violent shaking.

Head injuries caused by a blow to the head are usually associated with:

motor vehicle accidents
falls
physical assaults
sports-related accidents

In most cases, your skull will protect your brain from serious harm. However, injuries severe enough to cause head injury can also be associated with injuries to the spine.

TYPES OF HEAD INJURIES

Hematoma

A hematoma is a collection, or clotting, of blood outside the blood vessels. It can be very serious if a hematoma occurs in the brain. The clotting can lead to pressure building up inside your skull. This can cause you to lose consciousness or result in permanent brain damage.

Haemorrhage

A haemorrhage is uncontrolled bleeding. There can be bleeding in the space around your brain, called subarachnoid haemorrhage, or bleeding within your brain tissue, called intracerebral haemorrhage.

Subarachnoid haemorrhages often cause headaches and vomiting. The severity of intracerebral haemorrhages depends on how much bleeding there is, but over time any amount of blood can cause pressure build-up.

Concussion

A concussion occurs when the impact on the head is severe enough to cause brain injury. It’s thought to be the result of the brain hitting against the hard walls of your skull or the forces of sudden acceleration and deceleration. Generally speaking, the loss of function associated with a concussion is temporary. However, repeated concussions can eventually lead to permanent damage.

Skull fracture

Unlike most bones in your body, your skull doesn’t have bone marrow. This makes the skull very strong and difficult to break. A broken skull is unable to absorb the impact of a blow, making it more likely that there’ll also be damage to your brain.

Diffuse axonal injury

A diffuse axonal injury (sheer injury) is an injury to the brain that doesn’t cause bleeding but does damage the brain cells. The damage to the brain cells results in them not being able to function. It can also result in swelling, causing more damage. Though it isn’t as outwardly visible as other forms of brain injury, a diffuse axonal injury is one of the most dangerous types of head injuries. It can lead to permanent brain damage and even death.

SYMPTOMS OF HEAD INJURIES

Your head has more blood vessels than any other part of your body, so bleeding on the surface of your brain or within your brain is a serious concern in head injuries. However, not all head injuries cause bleeding.

It’s important to be aware of other symptoms to watch out for. Many symptoms of serious brain injury won’t appear right away. You should always continue to monitor your symptoms for several days after you injure your head.

Common symptoms of a minor head injury include:

a headache
light-headedness
a spinning sensation
mild confusion
nausea
temporary ringing in the ears

The symptoms of a severe head injury include many of the symptoms of minor head injuries. They can also include:

a loss of consciousness
seizures
vomiting
balance or coordination problems
serious disorientation
an inability to focus the eyes
abnormal eye movements
a loss of muscle control
a persistent or worsening headache
memory loss
changes in mood
leaking of clear fluid from the ear or the nose

For adults

Severe head or facial bleeding
Bleeding or fluid leakage from the nose or ears
Severe headache
Change in level of consciousness for more than a few seconds
Black-and-blue discoloration below the eyes or behind the ears
Cessation of breathing
Confusion
Loss of balance
Weakness or an inability to use an arm or leg
Unequal pupil size
Slurred speech
Seizures

For children

Persistent crying
Refusal to eat
Bulging in the soft spot on the front of the head (infants)
Repeated vomiting

If severe head trauma occurs

Keep the person still. Until medical help arrives, keep the injured person lying down and quiet, with the head and shoulders slightly elevated. Don't move the person unless necessary, and avoid moving the person's neck. If the person is wearing a helmet, don't remove it.
Stop any bleeding. Apply firm pressure to the wound with sterile gauze or a clean cloth. But don't apply direct pressure to the wound if you suspect a skull fracture.
Watch for changes in breathing and alertness. If the person shows no signs of circulation no breathing, coughing or movement begin CPR.

First Aid for Head Injury

Check the person’s airway, breathing and circulation. If necessary, begin rescue breathing and CPR.
If the person’s breathing and heart rate are normal, but the person is unconscious, treat as if there is a spinal injury. Stabilize the neck and head by placing your hands on both sides of the person’s head. Keep the head in line with the spine and prevent movement. Wait for medical help.
Stop any bleeding by firmly pressing a clean cloth on the wound. If the injury is serious, be careful not to move the person’s head. If blood soaks through the cloth, do not remove it. Place another cloth over the first one.
If you suspect a skull fracture, do not apply direct pressure to the bleeding site, and do not remove any debris from the wound. Cover the wound with sterile gauze dressing
If the person is vomiting, to prevent choking, roll the person’s head neck and body as one unit onto their side. This still protects the spine, which you must always assume is injured in the case of a head injury. Children often vomit once after a head injury. This may not be a problem, but call a doctor for further guidance.
Apply ice packs to swollen areas.

Follow these precautions

Do not wash a head wound that is deep or bleeding a lot.
Do not remove any object sticking out of a wound.
Do not move the person unless absolutely necessary.
Do not shake the person if he or she seems dazed.
Do not remove a helmet if you suspect a serious head injury.
Do not pick up a fallen child with any sign of head injury.
Do not drink alcohol within 48 hours of a serious head injury.

WOUNDS or OPEN INJURIES

There are many types of wounds that can damage the skin including abrasions, lacerations, rupture injuries, punctures, and penetrating wounds. many wounds are superficial requiring local first aid including cleansing and dressing. Some wounds are deeper and need medical attention to prevent infection and loss of function due to damage to underlying structures like bone, muscle, tendon, arteries and nerves. There are four main types of wounds and each one requires a different type of treatment. They are:

Abrasions are caused by scraping the skin, as from falling on a street. In such cases, wash the area with soap and warm water to remove all dirt on the surface. Then cover it carefully with sterilized dressing and bandage.
Incised wounds are deep cuts, such as made by broken glass, razor blade or sharp knife. Blood comes out freely from such wounds. In such cases, bandage the area firmly and take the patient to a doctor as early as possible.
Lacerated wounds are torn wounds made by blunt instruments or explosions. They are of a serious nature because there is a danger of infection. In such cases, the patient should be removed to the hospital emergency ward for treatment.
Punctured wounds are caused by narrow, pointed instruments like nails, needles, thorns or bullets. In such cases, wounds must be cleaned immediately and alcohol be rubbed over the surrounding area. After this, a firm pressure should be applied and the patient be taken to a doctor.

It should always be remembered that whenever the skin is broken, there is always the danger of infection. So care should be taken not to touch the wound with the tips of fingers or without anything else that may carry germs. Immediately after cleaning the wound and the area around, antiseptic solution may be applied if needed, and the patient be taken to a qualified doctor without delay, if the injury is serious.

FIRST AID FOR DIFFERENT WOUNDS

Clean the wound with soap and clean running tap water.
Apply continuous firm, direct pressure to wound until bleeding stops.
Once the bleeding stops, apply antibiotic ointment, cover with dressing.
If blood soaks through the bandage, place another bandage over the first and keep applying pressure
Raise the injured body part to slow bleeding
When bleeding stops, cover the wound with a new clean bandage

SPRAIN

A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as articular ligament, articular Laura, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.A sprain, also known as a torn ligament, is damage to one or more ligaments in a joint, often caused by trauma or the joint being taken beyond its functional range of motion. The severity of sprain ranges from a minor injury which resolves in a few days to a major rupture of one or more ligaments requiring surgical fixation and a period of immobilization. Sprains can occur in any joint but are most common in the ankle and wrist.

TREATMENT FOR SPRAIN

For most minor Sprains you probably can start initial injury treatment your self:

The first modality for a sprain can be remembered using the acronym RICE. The treatment of sprains depends on the extent of injury and the joint involved. Medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can relieve pain. Topical NSAIDs appear to be as good as those taken by mouth.

Rest: The sprain should be rested. No additional force should be applied on site of the sprain. In case of, for example, a sprained ankle, walking should be kept to a minimum.
Ice: Ice should be applied immediately to the sprain to reduce swelling and pain. It can be applied for 10–15 minutes at a time (longer application of ice may cause damage instead of healing), 3-4 times a day. Ice can be combined with a wrapping to minimize swelling and provide support.
Compression: Dressings, bandages, or ace-wraps should be used to immobilize the sprain and provide support. When wrapping the injury, more pressure should be applied at the far end of the injury and decrease in the direction of the heart; the reason for this is that it more easily causes unnecessary fluid to be flushed back up the blood stream in order to be recycled. Compression should not cut off the circulation of the limb.
Elevation: Keeping the sprained joint elevated (in relation to the rest of the body) will also help minimize swelling.

Ice and compression (cold compression therapy) will not completely stop swelling and pain, but will help to minimize them as the sprain begins to heal itself. Careful management of swelling is critical to the healing process as additional fluid may pool in the sprained area.

STRAIN

A strain can occur as a result of improper body mechanics with any activity, lifting heavy objects that can induce mechanical trauma or injury. A strain (also known colloquially as a pulled muscle or torn muscle) is an acute or chronic soft tissue injury that occurs to a muscle, tendon, or both (contractile components). The equivalent injury to a ligament is a sprain.Generally, the muscle or tendon overstretches and is placed under more physical stress than it can exert. The most common body location for strains to occur is in the foot, leg or back.

SYMPTOMS OF STRAIN

Typical signs and symptoms of a strain include:

Pain
Functional loss of the involved structure
Muscle weakness, contusion, and localized inflammation.
A strain can range from mild annoyance to very painful, depending on the extent of injury

FIRST AID FOR STRAINS

The first-line treatment for a muscular strain in the acute phase include five steps commonly known as P.R.I.C.E.

Protection: Apply soft padding to minimize impact with objects.
Rest: Rest is necessary to accelerate healing and reduce the potential for re-injury.
Ice: Apply ice to induce vasoconstriction, which will reduce blood flow to the site of injury. Never ice for more than 20 minutes at a time.
Compression: Wrap the strained area with a soft-wrapped bandage to reduce further diapedesis and promote lymphatic drainage.
Elevation: Keep the strained area as close to the level of the heart as is possible in order to promote venous blood return to the systemic circulation.

Immediate treatment is usually an adjunctive therapy of NSAID(Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and Cold compression therapy. Controlling the inflammation is critical to the healing process. Cold compression therapy acts to reduce swelling and pain by reducing leukocyte extravasation into the injured area.

It is recommended that the person injured should consult a medical provider if the injury is accompanied by severe pain, if the limb cannot be used, or if there is noticeable tenderness over an isolated spot. These can be signs of a broken or fractured bone, a sprain, or a complete muscle tear.

SNAKE BITE

When a poisonous snake strikes a person, it injects venom into the body that may cause death in a very short time. There are many varieties of poisonous snakes in India, namely, the Cobra, Viper, Coral snake and Krait. It is reported that many people die from snake bite. Snakes usually strike in self-defence and they generally strike the foot or leg or hands or arms. Snakes are more prevalent during the monsoon season in gardens. As a preventive measure, people usually carry a long stick and strikes it against stones as he/she walks along to give the snakes a walking.

The symptoms of snake bite are: pain is immediate, severe swelling occurs rapidly and two puncture points made by the fangs are clearly seen. In some cases, there is only one puncture.

As the poison is absorbed there is great weakness, shortness of breath, faintness, rapid pulse, nausea and vomiting, unconsciousness, collapse and bleeding. Emergency and first-aid for a victim of snake-bite is as follows:

Send for a doctor or medically trained person. Immediate action is needed to save the person’s life.

Reassure the patient.
Tie the band firmly around the limb just above the bite to keep the poison from spreading. The veins will ‘standout’ on the skin. Release the band every two hours long enough for the skin to return to normal colour.
Wash the area to remove any venom that may be on the skin and cleanse the area for the next step.
Sterilize a knife blade or other blade by heating it over a flame until it is red. Allow the blade to cool.
Make a cross-cut incision (1” long, ½ deep) through each fang mark.
Allow the cuts to bleed freely.
Apply suction. Every village first-aid kit should have a suction cup for this purpose. In case a cup is not available, suction may be carried out by the mouth. The tongue and lips of the person who sucks the venom out should be free of cuts, fever sores and other abrasions.
Antivenom is given by the doctor and is available in dry form (not needing refrigeration and should be available in every dispensary, health centre and doctor’s office)
Keep the patient warm.
Give the patient hot sweetened tea. Scientifically proven treatment for snake bite is blood transfusion, shock treatment and antivenom injection.

SUNSTROKE

Sunstroke is caused due to long exposure to the hot sun without due protection. The patient becomes livid and the skin hot and dry. The pulse becomes full and pounding and the temperature of the body is raised. Sunstroke can be fatal. It is common in many hot countries, including India.

Treatment

The patient should at once be removed to a cool, shady place where there is free circulation of air. Tight clothing should be loosened and they should be stripped to the waist. They must be fanned vigorously. An ice bag should be applied to the head and spine till the body temperature comes to normal (98.4degree F). The body should be sponged with cold water. The patient may be given Epson salts in a tumbler of cold water where they regain consciousness. Then they should be placed under medical care.

Chapter: 35 FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE-Part 3

FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE-Part 3

DEALING WITH UNCONSCIOUSNESS

If you find your child unconscious or semi-conscious, your priority must be to keep the airway open and to keep checking whether they are becoming more deeply unconscious. Open your child’s airway and check the breathing. If necessary, complete the ABC priorities.

Once the child is breathing, check for signs of seriousinjury and control any serious bleeding. Place the child in recovery position. This keeps the airway open and let’s vomit or saliva drain from the mouth without blocking the airway.

Unconsciousness can develop gradually or suddenly, from injury or illness. Common causes include head injury; lack of blood supply to the brain, lack of oxygen in the lungs, for example from electrical injury, or a blocked airway, poisoning, diabetes, heat stroke or hypothermia; or epilepsy.

Checking for Response

Your child may pass through various levels of confusion before becoming unconscious and again while regaining consciousness. Watch them constantly, noting any changes in their state of awareness as this will help the doctor decide on treatment. See if they respond to your voice or to a painful sensation, such as pinch. If the child recovers consciousness, reassure the child and get a doctor.

If you suspect a fracture, support the fracture, but don’t pull the child into the recovery position. Continue to check breathing, pulse and level of response every ten minutes. Never leave the child alone while they are unconscious or give the child anything by mouth. Anyone who has lost consciousness even for a short time, must be seen by a doctor.

CHOKING

Choking occurs when the airway is partially or totally blocked. It can be caused by food going down the “wrong way”, that is down the windpipe rather than the food passage. The obstruction must be removed quickly, so breathing is restored. Symptoms include blueness of the face; the child will be unable to speak or breathe, and unconsciousness may develop.

Remove anything in the child’s mouth with your fingers and get them to cough the obstruction out.
If this is unsuccessful, make them bend over so their head is lower than the chest (do this in whatever position you find your child, whether standing or sitting). Slap them firmly between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand; repeat four times.
If the object has not moved, try abdominal thrust.
Check inside the mouth again. If you can see the obstruction, hook it out with your fingers.
If your child is still choking, repeat back slaps and abdominal thrusts, upto four times each.
The child may begin breathing at any stage; when the child breathes, sit them up and give sips of water.

For an unconscious choking child

Choking will lead to unconsciousness if the obstruction is not quickly removed. If this happens, you will have to carry out mouth-to-mouth ventilation to try to get air past the blockage and into your child’s lungs.

Turn the child on the back, open the airway and start mouth-to-mouth ventilation.
If this doesn’t work, turn them on the side, facing you. Supporting them against your thigh, with their head back, do four back slaps.
Look to see if the object has been dislodged and hook it out with your finger.
If it has not been dislodged, try mouth-to-mouth ventilation again and repeat the above steps. Continue this procedure.
If you succeed in dislodging the object, place the child in the recovery position.

Abdominal Thrust

This technique can be used if back slaps have failed to dislodge an obstruction. However, it can damage internal organs, so use only after treatment for choking has failed.

Stand behind the child. Clench your fist and place it, thumb inwards, over the child’s stomach between breastbone and tummy button. Grasp your fist with the other hand.
Pull both hands towards you with a quick inward and upward movement. Repeat up to four times. The obstruction may shoot into or out of the child’s mouth. Get medical help.

CONVULSIONS

These are fits and are most common in children under 5. They can be caused by a very high temperature, a bad tummy upset, a fright or a temper tantrum, or epilepsy. Convulsions look frightening, but are not dangerous. Symptoms include high fever with a very hot forehead; stiffened body and arched back; twitching muscles; rolling eyes or a squint; face may look blue if holding their breath; froth may appear in mouth.

Loosen any tight clothing and make sure they have plenty of fresh air.
Clear a space around them if the convulsions are severe and wipe away any froth.
Cool the child by removing any bedding and sponging them down with tepid water. Take care not to let her get too cold.
When the convulsions stop, place them in recovery position and put a light blanket over them.

DEHYDRATION

Dehydration is the result of an abnormally high loss of salt and water from the body. This can happen as the result of a severe attack of diarrhoea or vomiting or because of heavy sweating. To avoid dehydration, give children plenty to drink and keep them cool in hot weather. Dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion.

HEAT EXHAUSTION

Symptoms include cramp-like pains and headache; feeling exhausted but restless; dizziness and nausea; pale, moist skin; shallow, fast breathing; rapid, weak pulse.

Lay your child down in a cool place. If the child is conscious, give them sips of cold water.
If they are sweating a lot, has cramps, diarrhoea or vomiting, make sure they keep drinking as much as possible.
If they become unconscious, open the airway and check breathing. Complete ABC priorities if necessary and get medical help.

FOREIGN BODIES

These are small objects that enter the body through a wound or an opening such as the eye, ear or mouth. A foreign body in a wound may sometimes be plugging the wound and preventing blood loss. Children often swallow small items, such as coins or beads, or push them up their noses or into their ears.

In the Eye

Bits of dust or grit, eyelashes or insects are the foreign bodies most commonly found in the eye. They usually stick to the outer surface of the upper eyelid, making the eye painful, watery and red. However, they can be fairly easily removed. Never try and remove anything that is on the coloured part of the eye or stuck in the eyeball. If the child has such an injury, cover their eye with a sterile eye pad and take them straight to hospital.

Try and stop the child from rubbing the eye.
Make them sit in a chair facing the light and lean them back slightly. Wash your hands.
Stand behind them, with their head resting against you. Use your thumb and index finger to gently separate the lids and look into their eye. Ask them to look from side to side and up and down so you can see all the eye.
If you can see the foreign body, try and wash it out by pouring cold water over the eye.
If this doesn’t work or there is no water, use a damp swab or corner of a clean handkerchief or tissue to lift the body off.
If you think the foreign body is on the upper lid, try and get the child to look down. Holding the lashes of the upper lid, pull the lid down and out over the lower lid.

In the Ear

This is the most common in young children, who have a tendency to put small objects into their ears. The child will have a pain in the ear and hearing on that side may also be affected. Sometimes an insect may fly into the child’s ears and they may also feel vibrations. Never poke anything in the child’s ear. You could very easily push the insect or object in even deeper, causing damage to the eardrum.

Reassure the child as much as you can.
If you know it is an insect in the ear, sit the child down or lay them down on their side with the affected ear uppermost. Gently pour tepid water into the ear; the insect should float out.
If the child has pushed something into the ear, try tilting the head so that the affected ear is facing downward; the foreign body may then just drop out without any further problem.
If you cannot remove the foreign body easily, take the child straight to hospital.

In the Nose

This is most likely to happen with very young children, who will often try putting things, such as beads, pebbles or marbles, up their noses. If the object is smooth, it may simply become stuck, but a sharp object could damage the delicate tissues in the nose. If something does get lodged, your child may have a swollen nose and difficulty in breathing through the nose; there may also be a discharge.

Keep the child as calm as possible and, if they are old enough to understand, tell them to breathe through the mouth. Stop them from rubbing the nose.
Don’t try and remove the object yourself as you could push it further in. Get the child to a hospital as quickly as you can.

SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODIES

Small children often swallow objects like coins, buttons, pieces of toys or pins. If the object is small and smooth, there is not much cause for concern- it is unlikely to cause choking or damage to the intestines as it passes through your child’s body. Sharp objects, however, can cause internal injuries. Don’t let the child run with pens or pencils in the mouth or play with the closures used on plastic bags.

If the object has become lodged in the child’s throat, the child may be choking- treat this as a matter of urgency.
Reassure your child.
Unless you are certain that the swallowed object is unlikely to cause any internal damage, get the child to hospital as quickly as you can. Don’t give them anything to eat or drink.

HEAT STROKE

This happens when the body is unable to control its temperature by sweating, and can occur in hot, humid whether when there is no wind. Symptoms include restlessness; headache and dizziness, flushed, hot, dry skin; fast, strong pulse; and a temperature of 40 ℃ or more. The child may also lose consciousness rapidly.

Lay the child down in the coolest place possible and take off the clothes.
Cold them down with cold or tepid water.
Fan the body by hand or with an electric fan. Continue to fan and sponge until temperature falls to 38℃ (101ºF).
Cover with a dry sheet and get medical help urgently.

HYPOTHERMIA

Hypothermia results when the body temperature drops below 35℃ (95ºF). Small babies are particularly at risk from hypothermia. It can also be caused by lengthy immersion in cold water or by not being dressed warmly enough in cold weather. Other symptoms include cold, pale, dry skin; shivering; clumsy movements and slurred speech; gradual unconsciousness.

It is best to rewarm someone with hypothermia at the speed at which they cooled down, that is you should quickly rewarm a child rescued after falling in the water and gradually rewarm a baby who has become chilled overnight.

Replace any wet clothing with dry andput the child in a previously warmed bed.
Place a covered hot water bottle in the child’s left armpit or over the breastbone. Do not put hot water bottles on other parts of the body.
Give them hot drinks and high energy food like chocolate.
Get medical attention urgently.

DISLOCATION

A dislocation occurs when a bone slips out of a joint. For example, the top of your arm bone fits into a joint at your shoulder. When it slips or pops out of that joint, you have a dislocated shoulder. You can dislocate almost any joint in your body, including your knee, hip, ankle, or shoulder.

Since a dislocation means your bone is no longer where it should be, you should treat it as an emergency and seek medical attention as soon as possible. An untreated dislocation could cause damage to your ligaments, nerves, or blood vessels.

A joint may be dislocated, if it is

Swollen
Bruised or red
Painful
Difficult to move
Out of place

CAUSES OF DISLOCATION

Dislocations typically result when a joint experiences an unexpected or unbalanced impact. This might happen if you fall or experience a harsh hit to the affected area. After a joint dislocates, it’s more likely to dislocate again in the future.

SYMPTOMS OF DISLOCATION

Some of the other symptoms associated with dislocated joints include:

loss of motion
pain during movement
numbness around the area
tingling feeling

FIRST AID FOR DISLOCATION

Leave the joint alone . attempting to move or jamb a dislocated bone back in can damage blood vessels, muscles, ligaments and nerves.
Apply an ice pack. Ice can ease swelling and pain in and around the joint.
Use ibuprofen or acetaminophen for pain

FRACTURE

A bone fracture is a medical condition in which there is a partial or complete break in the continuity of the bone. In more severe cases, the bone may be broken into several pieces. A bone fracture may be the result of high force impact or stress, or a minimal trauma injury as a result of certain medical conditions that weaken the bones, such as osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone cancer, or ontogenesis, where the fracture is then properly termed a pathologic fracture.

A bone may be broken inside the skin (simple fracture) or the broken bone may break through the skin (compound fracture). A compound fracture is more dangerous because there is danger of infection through the wound.

Symptoms

All symptoms are not present in all bone fractures. However, some of the symptoms are:

Pain and tenderness at the point of fracture.
Inability to move or use the injured part normally.
Swelling at the point of fracture.
Irregular shape at the broken point. This symptom will not appear when there is only a crack in the bone.
Tenderness
There may be signs of shock also.

Improper handling of a simple fracture may result in the puncture of a blood vessel or a compound fracture.

TYPES OF FRACTURE

There is a range of fracture types, including:

Avulsion fracture - a muscle or ligament pulls on the bone, fracturing it.
Comminute fracture - the bone is shattered into many pieces.
Compression (crush) fracture - generally occurs in the spongy bone in the spine. For example, the front portion of a vertebra in the spine may collapse due to osteoporosis.
Fracture dislocation - a joint becomes dislocated, and one of the bones of the joint has a fracture.
Hairline fracture - a partial fracture of the bone. Sometimes this type of fracture is harder to detect with routine x-rays.
Impacted fracture - when the bone is fractured, one fragment of bone goes into another.
Intra articular fracture - where the break extends into the surface of a joint
Longitudinal fracture - the break is along the length of the bone.
Oblique fracture - a fracture that is diagonal to a bone's long axis.
Spiral fracture - a fracture where at least one part of the bone has been twisted.
Stress fracture - more common among athletes. A bone breaks because of repeated stresses and strains.
Transverse fracture - a straight break right across a bone.

TREATMENT FOR FRACTURE

Stop any bleeding (apply pressure or medicine): Apply pressure on the wound with a sterile bandage, a clean cloth or a clean piece of clothing.
Immobilise the injured area: Don’t try to realign the bone or push a bone that is sticking out back in. If you have been trained in how to splint and professional help isn’t readily available, apply a splint to the area above and below the fracture sites. Padding the splints can help reduce discomfort.
Apply ice pack to limit swelling and relieve pain: Don’t apply ice directly to the skin. Wrap the ice in a towel, piece of cloth or some other material.
Keep the fractured part above the body level.
Treat for shock: If the person feels faint or is breathing in short, rapid breath, lay the person down with the head slightly lower than the trunk, and, if possible, elevate the legs.

Simple Fracture Treatment

Get a doctor or other professionally trained person
Prevent further damage. Do not move the injured part
Apply a splint to the injured part. If you are in doubt about the part being broken, splint the part before moving the patient.
Look after the patient. Keep them warm or apply some shade if the sun is very hot, give a drink of hot tea, keep them lying down.
Remove clothing or cut them off if necessary, but do not move the patient until the splint has been applied.

First Aid of a Compound Fracture Treatment

Send for doctor or other professionally trained person. There may be bleeding from the wound when the bones break through skin.
Hold a cloth over a flame to kill the germs and press the cloth gently but firmly over the bleeding point.
Splint the part. Use traction method.
Treat the patient for shock.

As soon as the patient recovers from the shock you should help them to the nearest hospital, health centre or dispensary.

Chapter: 36 YOGA EDUCATION

YOGA EDUCATION

Yoga is the science which emerged some long back years. Now a days the importance of this science increased all over the world. Let’s go through the outskirts of the yogic science.

INTRODUCTION TO YOGA

Every one desires good health and it is the ultimate objective for utmost happiness in the life. Good habits are the essential factors for maintaining good health and each and every one has to follow good health practices in their routine life. In fact, many health disorders are quite common to all. In case of major health problems, precautionary measures are plenty. Some people control their diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, acidity, asthma, rheumatism etc. by taking medicine's regularly. But such practice does not in any way completely eliminate the health disorder. On the other hand, it leads to several other adverse health problems. The continuous, systematic and regular practice of yoga is an effective tool to maintain good health and also has an effect to eliminate all the dreadful diseases from the human body.

Though yoga has such a potential power which adds more health, more vigour still most people have lack of knowledge of systematic practice of yoga. Most of them perform yogic exercises for a short period and as and when health improves, they discontinue the yoga practice. For this reason, the effective result of yogic practices cannot be determined perfectly. Many scientists, doctors, psychologists etc. all over the world are extensively studying the beneficial aspects of yoga which give us encouraging results of positive health through yoga before knowing what is yoga one has to be aware that, yogic practices not only give positive health, but also help to develop concentration and strengthen the immune system.

MEANING OF YOGA

Sage Pathanjali, the author of an ancient book ‘yoga sastra’ explains yoga as a method of controlling the mind. Some scholars regard yoga as an attempt of uniting oneself with the Supreme Spirit i.e. ‘Paramatma’ or God. Yoga is also described as a way of life for the harmonious development of the body, mind and soul.

Very often, yoga is misunderstood and thought of in terms of certain exercises or asanas (postures) for training the body. This is a very narrow concept or meaning of Yoga. It is not a physical act or exercise only. It is much more.

the term 'yoga' which is derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj” meaning “union” or to “join”. Yoga is a type of exercise in which you move your body into various position so in order to become more fit or flexible to improve your breathing and to relax your mind.

DEFINITIONS OF YOGA

According to Pathanjali, yoga is chithavruthiNirodha.

According to Aurobindo, Yoga is a way or method through which internal and external facilities of man meets in totality and changes occur and by which may achieve goal or feel his existence and may become the part of him.

Main Features of Yoga

The most important feature of Yoga is that it deals with the entire person, not a part of the person like other types of exercises.
Yoga helps the practitioner to gradually progress at the intellectual, physical, moral and spiritual levels.
Yoga is a system of physical, mental and spiritual culture to develop every human faculty so that every individual can lead a healthy, happy and long life. It provides eternal bliss.
Yoga can be practiced by all, irrespective of Faith, age group, sex and wealth.
Yoga is based on ethical and moral codes which are common to humanity.
Yoga ideals helps in self-improvement process.
Yoga consists not only of physical postures (Asanas) – Control of the internal organs through ‘Kriyas’ and ‘bandas’ and breath control (pranayama) but also mental, intellectual and spirit discipline.

Stages of Yoga or Eightfold Path of Discipline

The secret of yoga lies in the fact that it deals with ‘whole man’, and not with just one of his/her aspects. It is concerned with growth-physical, mental, moral and spiritual. It develops forces that are already within us. Beginning with improved health and added physical well-being, it works up slowly through the mental and spiritual. The transition is so gradual that we may not even be aware of it until we realize that a change is us has already taken place. It is concerned with the control over the body, the senses and the mind. It does not want to kill the body; on the other hand; it recommends its perfection. A sound mind needs a sound body. Sensual attachment and passions distract the body as well as the mind. They must be conquered. To conquer them, yoga recommends the eight-fold path.

According to Sage Patanjali, these are the eight stages of Yoga:

‘Yama’: This refers to the moral discipline of the individual and it includes the practices of “brahmacharya” (celibacy), non-stealing, and non-receiving of gifts.Yama means abstention. It is the control of the body, mind and speech. It includes five vows:

Ahimsa: Ahimsa or non-violence is the absolute absence of any form of injury to any living being.
Satya: truth or Satya is to be exact both in mind and speech. i.e. to speak things as they are and to remember them exactly as they are seen, heard or imagined.
Astaya:Astaya or non-stealing includes both not taking or not stealing another’s property and not having even a desire for it.
Brahmacharya: Brahmacharya or celibacy is the control of attachment in the enjoyment of the senses, especially those of sex.
Aparigrah:Aparigrah or non-covetousness requires one not to accept or collect unnecessary things.

All the mentioned yamas are necessary for the concentration of the citta.

‘Niyama’: It means self-purification by practicing cleanliness, contentment, studying scriptures and surrendering oneself to God.Niyama is self-culture and includes internal and external purification of an individual. It includes five elements:

Sauch: Sauch or cleanliness includes external cleaning through bath and pure diet etc. as well as internal cleaning through sympathy, friendliness, happiness and detachment.
Santos: Santos or contentment means satisfaction in whatever is attained by sufficient and suitable efforts.
Tapa: Tapa or penance includes practice of tolerance of the cold and heat. It requires various types of hard practices.
Swadhyaya:Swadhyaya or study of religious scriptures is very useful for spiritual advancement. Hence it si a necessary principle of good conduct in yoga.
IswarPranidhan: The fifth niyama in yoga is IswarPranidhan or to remember God and to surrender oneself to him. This helps the aspirant in the practice of yoga.

‘Asana’: This implies practicing certain body-postures for acquiring health and developing steadfastness of mind. ‘Asanas’ (exercises or postures) have been developed over the centuries and they help in strengthening every muscle, nerve and gland of the body.

Steady and comfortable posture is known as Asana. It helps in the concentration of citta and in the control of the mind. Yoga has prescribed various types of postures like Padma, Veer, Bhadra, Sirsa, Garuda and Mayura.

These postures are very helpful in controlling the mind as well as other vital elements in the body. They also help in removing the sufferings due to cold and heat. As a matter of fact, posture is nothing, but the control of the body. It also keeps the body free from diseases and makes it strong. By it, one can control the different external and internal organs in the body. Thus, yoga philosophers had the valuable insight to realise that mental control requires discipline of the body as well.

‘Pranayama’: It is the practice of controlling breath for strengthening the respiratory system, purifying blood and soothing the mind. It deals with regulation of inhalation, retention and exhalation of breath. There are three main steps of pranayama:

Puraka: The first step in pranayama is puraka or inhaling. i.e. to take in as much air as possible.
Kumbhak: After the maximum amount of air is taken in, the second stage in pranayam is kumbhak or to retain it for half of the time taken for inhaling.
Recaka: The third stage in pranayama is Recaka or to gradually exhale this air in almost the same time as taken in inhaling.

The time taken in all these stages of pranayama is gradually increases so that in due course the aspirant may control his breath, thus helping in the concentration of the citta.

‘Pratyahara’: This is an attempt to free the mind from the domination or control of senses. Consists in withdrawing the senses from their objects. The introversion of the different sense organs by restraining them from their object is known as pratyahara. By practising this, the aspirant can keep his/her mind undisturbed by worldly objects even while they live in this world. The practice of pratyahara requires very strong determination and repression of the senses.

The five stages of yoga that were discussed are known as external means. The remaining three stages are known as internal means. The first five are merely preparatory to the next three which are directly concerned with yoga. The latter three are;

‘Dharana’: This is concentration on a single object or point.Dharana refers to fixing the mind on the object of meditation like the top of the nose or the mid-point of the eyebrows or the lotus of the heart or the image of the deity. This is the beginning stage of Samadhi.
‘Dhyana’: It refers to the concentration on the all-pervading ‘Divinity’ through practice. When the knowledge of an object of concentration is continued in a process, it is known a s dyana. This requires clear knowledge of the object. In dyana, in the beginning, the aspirant knows only the different parts or forms of the object and only gradually realises the whole of it. Thus, by dyana, the aspirant has the real knowledge of the object, along with discipline of citta through meditation.
‘Samadhi’: This is the last stage of Yoga. In this stage, the yogi merges himself with the Divine Spirit, although he is alert and conscious. Samadhi means concentration. At this stage, the mind of the yogi is completely absorbed in the object of meditation. This is the culmination and the goal to which all the seven stages discussed are only preparing steps. The stage of absolute identity, when the process of concentration and the object become one and identical, negating the differences between the subject and the object is known as samadhi. In this stage, there is no separate cognition of the subject or the process of concentration, and the citta attains the form of the object. Thus, in this stage the subject and the objet as well as the process of concentration becomes one.

Four Yogic Paths for God Realization:

There are four paths to suit people of four kinds of temperament. They all lead to the same goal, the attainment of ultimate reality. Roads are different, but the destination is the same. The four paths that are indicated for the achievement of this ultimate truth, from the different stand-points, the man of action, the man of devotion, the mystic man and the philosopher or the man of reason, are respectively termed karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Raja yoga and Jana yoga.

The four paths are not antagonistic to one another, but on the other hand, they are complementary. They only indicate that the different methods of the Hindu religion are in harmony with each other. Religion must educate and develop the whole man, his/her heart, intellectual (head) and hand.Then only will they reach perfection. One sided development is no commendable. Karma yoga removes mala, purifies the mind and develops the hand. Bhakti yoga destroys Vikshepa and develops the heart. Raja yoga steadies the mind and makes it one-pointed. Jnana yoga removes the veil of ignorance, (Avarana) develops will and reason and brings in knowledge of the self. Therefore, one should practice the four yogas.

As already discussed, the term yoga refers to the union between Jivatma and Paramatma (individual soul and supreme soul). The science that teaches the way of acquiring this knowledge is called yoga Shastra. Hatha yoga concerns with physical body and control of breath. Raja yoga deals with the mind. Raja yoga and Hatha yoga are necessary counterparts of each other. No one can become a perfect yogi without a knowledge of the practices of both. Raja yoga begins where properly practised Hatha yoga ends.

HISTORY OF YOGA

Yoga's history has many places of obscurity and uncertainty due to its oral transmission of sacred texts and the secretive nature of its teachings. The early writings on yoga were transcribed on fragile palm leaves that were easily damaged, destroyed or lost. The development of yoga can be traced back to over 5000 up to 10000 years old . yoga's long rich history can be divided into four main periods of innovation, practice and development.

Pre-classical yoga

the beginnings of yoga were developed by the indus-saraswati civilization in northern India over 5000 years ago. The word yoga was first mentioned in the oldest sacred texts, the rig Veda. The Vedas were a collection of texts containing songs, mantras and rituals to be used by Brahmans, the Vedic priests. Yoga was slowly refined and developed by the Brahmans and Rishis (mystic seers) who documented their practices and beliefs in the Upanishads, a huge work containing over 200 scriptures. The most renowned of the Yogic scriptures is the Bhagavad-Gita, composed around 500 B.C.E. The Upanishads took the idea of ritual sacrifice from the Vedas and internalized it, teaching the sacrifice of the ego through self-knowledge, action (karma yoga) and wisdom (jnana yoga).

Classical Yoga
In the pre-classical stage, yoga was a mishmash of various ideas, beliefs and techniques that often conflicted and contradicted each other. The Classical period is defined by Patanjali’s Yoga-Sutras, the first systematic presentation of yoga. Written sometime in the second century, this text describes the path of Raja Yoga, often called "classical yoga". Patanjali organized the practice of yoga into an "eight limbed path" containing the steps and stages towards obtaining Samadhi or enlightenment. Patanjali is often considered the father of yoga and his Yoga-Sutras still strongly influence most styles of modern yoga.

Post-Classical Yoga
A few centuries after Patanjali, yoga masters created a system of practices designed to rejuvenate the body and prolong life. They rejected the teachings of the ancient Vedas and embraced the physical body as the means to achieve enlightenment. They developed Tantra Yoga, with radical techniques to cleanse the body and mind to break the knots that bind us to our physical existence. This exploration of these physical-spiritual connections and body centered practices led to the creation of what we primarily think of yoga in the West: Hatha Yoga.

Modern Period

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, yoga masters began to travel to the West, attracting attention and followers. This began at the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago, when Swami Vivekananda wowed the attendees with his lectures on yoga and the universality of the world’s religions. In the 1920s and 30s, Hatha Yoga was strongly promoted in India with the work of T. Krishnamacharya, Swami Sivananda and other yogis practicing Hatha Yoga. Krishnamacharya opened the first Hatha Yoga school in Mysore in 1924 and in 1936 Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society on the banks of the holy Ganges River. Krishnamacharya produced three students that would continue his legacy and increase the popularity of Hatha Yoga: B.K.S. Iyengar, T.K.V. Desikachar and PattabhiJois. Sivananda was a prolific author, writing over 200 books on yoga, and established nine ashrams and numerous yoga centers located around the world.

The importation of yoga to the West still continued at a trickle until Indra Devi opened her yoga studio in Hollywood in 1947. Since then, many more western and Indian teachers have become
pioneers, popularizing hatha yoga and gaining millions of followers. Hatha Yoga now has many different schools or styles, all emphasizing the many different aspects of the practice.

TYPES OF YOGA

Over the long history of yoga, different schools have emerged, and there are numerous examples of subdivisions and synthesis. It is common to speak of each form of yoga as a ”path” to enlightenment. Thus, yoga may include love and devotion (as in bhakti yoga), selfless work (as in karma yoga), wisdom of existence (as in jnana yoga), or an eight-limbed system of disciplines emphasizing meditation (as in Raja yoga).These practices occupy a continuum from the religious to the scientific. They need not be mutually exclusive. (A person who follows the path of selfless work might also cultivate some knowledge and devotion. ) some people (particularly in western culture) pursue yoga as exercise divorced from spiritual practice.

Other types of yoga include Mantra yoga, kundalini yoga, iyengar yoga, kriya yoga, integral yoga, nitya yoga, maha yoga, purna yoga, anahata yoga, tantra yoga, tibetan yoga etc. It is often helpful to check the teacher and lineage to be sure how these terms are being used. Another name for Raja yoga (“royal yoga”) is asthanga yoga (Eight-limbed yoga), but this should not be confused with the asthangavinyasa yoga developed by Sri. Keep. PattabhiJois which is a specific style of Hatha yoga practice.

Yoga isn’t necessarily a ‘one-size-fits-all’ practice, either. Different types of yoga might be best for different people. “A 20-year-old and a 70-year-old probably don’t need the same things,”. “Someone who is hyper-mobile and flexible doesn’t need the same thing as someone who’s muscular and stiff .”

The 9 Types of yoga

Hatha Yoga

It’s all about the basics in these slower moving classes that require you to hold each pose for a few breaths. In many studios, hatha classes are considered a gentler form of yoga. However, the Sanskrit term “hatha” actually refers to any yoga that teaches physical postures. “It’s a practice of the body, a physical practice that balances these two energies. So, in reality, it is all hatha yoga,”.

Best for: Beginners. Because of its slower pace, hatha is a great class if you’re just starting your yoga practice.

Vinyasa Yoga

Get your flow on in this dynamic practice that links movement and breath together in a dance-like way. In most classes, you won’t linger long in each pose and the pace can be quick, so be prepared for your heartrate to rise. Teachers will often pump music, matching the beats to the sequences of the poses.

Best for:HIIT( High-Intensity Interval Training) lovers. Intense exercisers might enjoy Vinyasa because of its faster pace. Runners and endurance athletes are also drawn to Vinyasa class because of the continuous movement.

Ashtanga Yoga

If you’re looking for a challenging yet orderly approach to yoga, try Ashtanga. Consisting of six series of specifically sequenced yoga poses, you’ll flow and breathe through each pose to build internal heat. The catch is that you’ll perform the same poses in the exact same order in each class. Some studios will have a teacher calling out the poses, while Mysore style classes (a subset of Ashtanga) require you to perform the series on your own. (But don’t worry, there will always be a teacher in the room to offer assistance if you need it.)

Best for: Type-A folks. If you’re a perfectionist, you’ll like Ashtanga’s routine and strict guidelines.

Kundalini Yoga

Yet, this physically and mentally challenging practice looks very different from your typical yoga class. You’ll perform kriyas - repetitive physical exercises coupled with intense breath work — while also chanting, singing and meditating. The goal? To break through your internal barriers, releasing the untapped energy residing within you and bringing you a higher level of self-awareness.

Best for: People looking for a spiritual practice. Those who are seeking something more than a workout may enjoy Kundalini due to its emphasis on the internal aspects of yoga, including breath work, meditation and spiritual energy.

Health Needs of the Child and Yoga

The role of yoga for the health needs of a child are:

Need for concentration on studies: Yoga improves the power of concentration of the students in studies.
Need for improvement in memory: Yoga contributes to the improvement in memory.
Need for improving grasping power: Yoga is very helpful in the improvement of the grasping power of the child.
Need for sharp brain: Yoga helps in sharpening the brain power of the child.
Need for keeping the body trim and attractive: Yoga helps in removing fat. It keeps the weight normal.
Need for keeping the body in proper proportion: Yoga enables the child to develop the body in a balanced way.
Need for upkeep of the ductless glands: Yoga makes the ductless glands secrete their vital juices in proper quantities.
Need for cleanliness of the body and mind: Yoga renders great help in developing purity of the body and mind of the child.
Need for keeping body organs healthy: Yoga keeps body organs healthy.

Chapter: 37 BENEFITS OF YOGA

BENEFITS OF YOGA

Improves your flexibility

Improved flexibility is one of the first and most obvious benefits of yoga. During your first class, you probably won't be able to touch your toes, never mind do a backbend. But if you stick with it, you'll notice a gradual loosening, and eventually, seemingly impossible poses will become possible. You'll also probably notice that aches and pains start to disappear. That's no coincidence. Tight hips can strain the knee joint due to improper alignment of the thigh and shinbones. Tight hamstrings can lead to a flattening of the lumbar spine, which can cause back pain. And inflexibility in muscles and connective tissue, such as fascia and ligaments, can cause poor posture.

Builds muscle strength

Strong muscles do more than look good. They also protect us from conditions like arthritis and back pain, and help prevent falls in elderly people. And when you build strength through yoga, you balance it with flexibility. If you just went to the gym and lifted weights, you might build strength at the expense of flexibility.

Perfects your posture

Your head is like a bowling ball—big, round, and heavy. When it's balanced directly over an erect spine, it takes much less work for your neck and back muscles to support it. Move it several inches forward, however, and you start to strain those muscles. Hold up that forward-leaning bowling ball for eight or 12 hours a day and it's no wonder you're tired. And fatigue might not be your only problem. Poor posture can cause back, neck, and other muscle and joint problems. As you slump, your body may compensate by flattening the normal inward curves in your neck and lower back. This can cause pain and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

4. Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown

Each time you practice yoga, you take your joints through their full range of motion. This can help prevent degenerative arthritis or mitigate disability by "squeezing and soaking" areas of cartilage that normally aren't used. Joint cartilage is like a sponge; it receives fresh nutrients only when its fluid is squeezed out and a new supply can be soaked up. Without proper sustenance, neglected areas of cartilage can eventually wear out, exposing the underlying bone like worn-out brake pads.

Protects your spine

Spinal disk the shock absorbers between the vertebrae that can herniate and compress nerves crave movement. That's the only way they get their nutrients. If you've got a well-balanced asana practice with plenty of backbends, forward bends, and twists, you'll help keep your disks supple.

6. Betters your bone health

It's well documented that weight-bearing exercise strengthens bones and helps ward off osteoporosis. Many postures in yoga require that you lift your own weight. And some, like Downward- and Upward-Facing Dog, help strengthen the arm bones, which are particularly vulnerable to osteoporotic fractures. In an unpublished study conducted at California State University, Los Angeles, yoga practice increased bone density in the vertebrae. Yoga's ability to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol (see Number 11) may help keep calcium in the bones.

Increases your blood flow

Yoga gets your blood flowing. More specifically, the relaxation exercises you learn in yoga can help your circulation, especially in your hands and feet. Yoga also gets more oxygen to your cells, which function better as a result. Twisting poses are thought to wring out venous blood from internal organs and allow oxygenated blood to flow in once the twist is released. Inverted poses, such as Headstand, Handstand, and Shoulder stand, encourage venous blood from the legs and pelvis to flow back to the heart, where it can be pumped to the lungs to be freshly oxygenated. This can help if you have swelling in your legs from heart or kidney problems. Yoga also boosts levels of haemoglobin and red blood cells, which carry oxygen to the tissues. And it thins the blood by making platelets less sticky and by cutting the level of clot-promoting proteins in the blood. This can lead to a decrease in heart attacks and strokes since blood clots are often the cause of these killers.

Drains your lymph and boosts immunity

When you contract and stretch muscles, move organs around, and come in and out of yoga postures, you increase the drainage of lymph (some viscous fluid rich in immune cells). This helps the lymphatic system fight infection, destroy cancerous cells, and dispose of the toxic waste products of cellular functioning.

Ups your heart rate

When you regularly get your heart rate into the aerobic range, you lower your risk of heart attack and can relieve depression. While not all yoga is aerobic, if you do it vigorously or take flow or Ashtanga classes, it can boost your heart rate into the aerobic range. But even yoga exercises that don't get your heart rate up that high can improve cardiovascular conditioning. Studies have found that yoga practice lowers the resting heart rate, increases endurance, and can improve your maximum uptake of oxygen during exercise all reflections of improved aerobic conditioning. One study found that subjects who were taught only pranayama could do more exercise with less oxygen.

Regulates your adrenal glands

Yoga lowers cortisol levels. If that doesn't sound like much, consider this. Normally, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol in response to an acute crisis, which temporarily boosts immune function. If your cortisol levels stay high even after the crisis, they can compromise the immune system. Temporary boosts of cortisol help with long-term memory, but chronically high levels undermine memory and may lead to permanent changes in the brain. Additionally, excessive cortisol has been linked with major depression, osteoporosis (it extracts calcium and other minerals from bones and interferes with the laying down of new bone), high blood pressure, and insulin resistance. In rats, high cortisol levels lead to what researchers call "food-seeking behaviour" (the kind that drives you to eat when you're upset, angry, or stressed). The body takes those extra calories and distributes them as fat in the abdomen, contributing to weight gain and the risk of diabetes and heart attack.

Founds a healthy lifestyle

Move more, eat less that's the adage of many a dieter. Yoga can help on both fronts. A regular practice gets you moving and burns calories, and the spiritual and emotional dimensions of your practice may encourage you to address any eating and weight problems on a deeper level. Yoga may also inspire you to become a more conscious eater.

Lowers blood sugar

Yoga lowers blood sugar and LDL ("bad") cholesterol and boosts HDL ("good") cholesterol. In people with diabetes, yoga has been found to lower blood sugar in several ways: by lowering cortisol and adrenaline levels, encouraging weight loss, and improving sensitivity to the effects of insulin. Get your blood sugar levels down, and you decrease your risk of diabetic complications such as heart attack, kidney failure, and blindness.

Helps you focus

An important component of yoga is focusing on the present. Studies have found that regular yoga practice improves coordination, reaction time, memory, and even IQ scores. People who practice Transcendental Meditation demonstrate the ability to solve problems and acquire and recall information better—probably because they're less distracted by their thoughts, which can play over and over like an endless tape loop.

Relaxes your system

Yoga encourages you to relax, slow your breath, and focus on the present, shifting the balance from the sympathetic nervous system (or the fight-or-flight response) to the parasympathetic nervous system. The latter is calming and restorative; it lowers breathing and heart rates, decreases blood pressure, and increases blood flow to the intestines and reproductive organs—comprising what Herbert Benson, M.D., calls the relaxation response.

Improves your balance

Regularly practicing yoga increases proprioception (the ability to feel what your body is doing and where it is in space) and improves balance. People with bad posture or dysfunctional movement patterns usually have poor proprioception, which has been linked to knee problems and back pain. Better balance could mean fewer falls. For the elderly, this translates into more independence and delayed admission to a nursing home or never entering one at all. For the rest of us, postures like Tree Pose can make us feel less wobbly on and off the mat.

Maintains your nervous system

Some advanced yogis can control their bodies in extraordinary ways, many of which are mediated by the nervous system. Scientists have monitored yogis who could induce unusual heart rhythms, generate specific brain-wave patterns, and, using a meditation technique, raise the temperature of their hands by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. If they can use yoga to do that, perhaps you could learn to improve blood flow to your pelvis if you're trying to get pregnant or induce relaxation when you're having trouble falling asleep.

Releases tension in your limbs

Do you ever notice yourself holding the telephone or a steering wheel with a death grip or scrunching your face when staring at a computer screen? These unconscious habits can lead to chronic tension, muscle fatigue, and soreness in the wrists, arms, shoulders, neck, and face, which can increase stress and worsen your mood. As you practice yoga, you begin to notice where you hold tension: It might be in your tongue, your eyes, or the muscles of your face and neck. If you simply tune in, you may be able to release some tension in the tongue and eyes. With bigger muscles like the quadriceps, trapezius, and buttocks, it may take years of practice to learn how to relax them.

Helps you sleep deeper

Stimulation is good, but too much of it taxes the nervous system. Yoga can provide relief from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Restorative asana, yoga nidra (a form of guided relaxation), Savasana, pranayama, and meditation encourage pratyahara, a turning inward of the senses, which provides downtime for the nervous system. Another by-product of a regular yoga practice, studies suggest, is better sleep—which means you'll be less tired and stressed and less likely to have accidents.

Boosts your immune system functionality

Asana and pranayama probably improve immune function, but, so far, meditation has the strongest scientific support in this area. It appears to have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the immune system, boosting it when needed (for example, raising antibody levels in response to a vaccine) and lowering it when needed (for instance, mitigating an inappropriately aggressive immune function in an autoimmune disease like psoriasis).

Gives your lungs room to breathe

Yogis tend to take fewer breaths of greater volume, which is both calming and more efficient. A 1998 study published in The Lancet taught a yogic technique known as "complete breathing" to people with lung problems due to congestive heart failure. After one month, their average respiratory rate decreased from 13.4 breaths per minute to 7

Gives you peace of mind

Yoga quells the fluctuations of the mind, according to Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. In other words, it slows down the mental loops of frustration, regret, anger, fear, and desire that can cause stress. And since stress is implicated in so many health problems from migraines and insomnia to lupus, MS, eczema, high blood pressure, and heart attacks.if you learn to quiet your mind, you'll be likely to live longer and healthier.

Increases your self-esteem

Many of us suffer from chronic low self-esteem. If you handle this negatively—take drugs, overeat, work too hard, sleep around—you may pay the price in poorer health physically, mentally, and spiritually. If you take a positive approach and practice yoga, you'll sense, initially in brief glimpses and later in more sustained views, that you're worthwhile or, as yogic philosophy teaches, that you are a manifestation of the Divine. If you practice regularly with an intention of self-examination and betterment—not just as a substitute for an aerobics class—you can access a different side of yourself. You'll experience feelings of gratitude, empathy, and forgiveness, as well as a sense that you are part of something bigger. While better health is not the goal of spirituality, it's often a by-product, as documented by repeated scientific studies.

Eases your pain

Yoga can ease your pain. According to several studies, asana, meditation, or a combination of the two, reduced pain in people with arthritis, back pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other chronic conditions. When you relieve your pain, your mood improves, you're more inclined to be active, and you don't need as much medication.

Gives you inner strength

Yoga can help you make changes in your life. In fact, that might be its greatest strength. Tapas, the Sanskrit word for "heat," is the fire, the discipline that fuels yoga practice and that regular practice builds. The tapas you develop can be extended to the rest of your life to overcome inertia and change dysfunctional habits. You may find that without making a particular effort to change things, you start to eat better, exercise more, or finally quit smoking after years of failed attempts.

Connects you with guidance

Good yoga teachers can do wonders for your health. Exceptional ones do more than guide you through the postures. They can adjust your posture, gauge when you should go deeper in poses or back off, deliver hard truths with compassion, help you relax, and enhance and personalize your practice. A respectful relationship with a teacher goes a long way toward promoting your health.

Helps keep you drug free

If your medicine cabinet looks like a pharmacy, maybe it's time to try yoga. Studies of people with asthma, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes (formerly called adult-onset diabetes), and obsessive-compulsive disorder have shown that yoga helped them lower their dosage of medications and sometimes get off them entirely. The benefits of taking fewer drugs? You'll spend less money, and you're less likely to suffer side effects and risk dangerous drug interactions.

Builds awareness for transformation

Yoga and meditation build awareness. And the more aware you are, the easier it is to break free of destructive emotions like anger. Studies suggest that chronic anger and hostility are as strongly linked to heart attacks as are smoking, diabetes, and elevated cholesterol. Yoga appears to reduce anger by increasing feelings of compassion and interconnection and by calming the nervous system and the mind. It also increases your ability to step back from the drama of your own life, to remain steady in the face of bad news or unsettling events. You can still react quickly when you need to-and there's evidence that yoga speeds reaction time-but you can take that split second to choose a more thoughtful approach, reducing suffering for yourself and others.

Benefits your relationships

Love may not conquer all, but it certainly can aid in healing. Cultivating the emotional support of friends, family, and community has been demonstrated repeatedly to improve health and healing. A regular yoga practice helps develop friendliness, compassion, and greater equanimity. Along with yogic philosophy's emphasis on avoiding harm to others, telling the truth, and taking only what you need, this may improve many of your relationships.

Uses sounds to soothe your sinuses

The basics of yoga—asana, pranayama, and meditation—all work to improve your health, but there's more in the yoga toolbox. Consider chanting. It tends to prolong exhalation, which shifts the balance toward the parasympathetic nervous system. When done in a group, chanting can be a particularly powerful physical and emotional experience.

Guides your body's healing in your mind's eye

If you contemplate an image in your mind's eye, as you do in yoga nidra and other practices, you can effect change in your body. Several studies have found that guided imagery reduced postoperative pain, decreased the frequency of headaches, and improved the quality of life for people with cancer and HIV.

Keeps allergies and viruses at bay

Kriyas, or cleansing practices, are another element of yoga. They include everything from rapid breathing exercises to elaborate internal cleansings of the intestines. Jalaneti, which entails a gentle lavage of the nasal passages with salt water, removes pollen and viruses from the nose, keeps mucus from building up, and helps drains the sinuses.

Helps you serve others

Karma yoga (service to others) is integral to yogic philosophy. And while you may not be inclined to serve others, your health might improve if you do. A study at the University of Michigan found that older people who volunteered a little less than an hour per week were three times as likely to be alive seven years later. Serving others can give meaning to your life, and your problems may not seem so daunting when you see what other people are dealing with.

Encourages self-care

In much of conventional medicine, most patients are passive recipients of care. In yoga, it's what you do for yourself that matters. Yoga gives you the tools to help you change, and you might start to feel better the first time you try practicing. You may also notice that the more you commit to practice, the more you benefit. This results in three things: You get involved in your own care, you discover that your involvement gives you the power to effect change, and seeing that you can effect change gives you hope. And hope itself can be healing.

Supports your connective tissue

As you read all the ways yoga improves your health, you probably noticed a lot of overlap. That's because they're intensely interwoven. Change your posture and you change the way you breathe. Change your breathing and you change your nervous system. This is one of the great lessons of yoga: Everything is connected—your hipbone to your anklebone, you to your community, your community to the world. This interconnection is vital to understanding yoga. This holistic system simultaneously taps into many mechanisms that have additive and even multiplicative effects. This synergy may be the most important way of all that yoga heals.

GUIDE LINES FOR YOGIC PRACTICES

Before the practice

Sauca means cleanliness - an important prerequisite for Yogic practice. It includes cleanliness of surroundings, body and mind.
Yogic practice should be performed in a calm and quiet atmosphere with a relaxed body and mind
Yogic practice should be done on an empty stomach or light stomach. Consume small amount of honey in lukewarm water if you feel weak.
Bladder and bowels should be empty before starting Yogic practices
A mattress, Yoga mat, or folded blanket should be used for the practice.
Light and comfortable cotton clothes are preferred to facilitate easy movement of the body.
Yoga should not be performed in state of exhaustion, illness, in a hurry or in acute stress conditions.
In case of chronic disease/ pain/ cardiac problems, a physician or a Yoga therapist should be consulted prior to performing Yogic practices.
Yoga experts should be consulted before doing Yogic practices during pregnancy and menstruation.

During the practice

Practice sessions should start with a prayer or invocation as it creates a conducive environment to relax the mind.
Yogic practices shall be performed slowly, in a relaxed manner, with awareness of the body and breath.
Do not hold the breath unless it is specially mentioned to do so during the practice.
Breathing should be always through the nostrils unless instructed otherwise.
Do not hold body tightly, or jerk the body at any point of time.
Perform the practices according to your own capacity.
It takes some time to get good results, so persistent and regular practice is very essential.
There are contra-indications/ limitations for each Yoga practice and such contra-indications should always be kept in mind.
Yoga session should end with meditation/ deep silence / Shanti paṭha.

After practice

Bath may be taken only after 20-30 minutes of practice
Food may be consumed only after 20-30 minutes of practice.

Can Yoga Cure Diseases?

Yoga cannot cure anything. The healing work is done by nature. Yoga exercises can only help to remove impurities and obstructions, so that nature may be given a chance to accomplish her task successfully. The idea that physical ailments of men and women cannot be cured by physical exercises is very ancient in our country and authorities of medicine in ancient India like Chakracharya and Sasruta prescribed particular exercises suitable for various disorders. Describing his treatment for diabetes, Charaka says that the disease is caused by want of exercise. According to him, it could be cured by prescribing to the patient physical exercises of various types suitable to his/her constitution, by rubbing their body with various substances prescribed in the texts, by massaging the limbs in a scientific manner, by plunge and shower baths, by sponging and spraying, by the application of pastes etc.

Chapter: 38 CONCEPT OF ASANA

CONCEPT OF ASANA

In yoga, an asana is a posture in which a practitioner sits. Asanas are also performed as physical exercise where they are sometimes referred to as "yoga postures" or "yoga positions”. Some asanas are performed just for health purposes. Asanas do promote good health, although in different ways compared to physical exercises, "placing the physical body in positions that cultivate also awareness, relaxation and concentration".Through the practice of yoga asanas one puts the body into positions that are not often practiced in modern, everyday life and thus helps to maintain long term range of motion as we age.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ASANAS

Asana originally meant a sitting position. The word asana in Sanskrit does appear in many contexts denoting a static physical position, although traditional usage is specific to the practice of yoga. Traditional usage defines asana as both singular and plural. In English, plural for asana is defined as asanas.

In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali defines "asana" as "to be seated in a position that is firm, but relaxed".

Patanjali mentions the ability to sit for extended periods as one of the eight limbs of his system, known as Ashtanga yoga.

IMPORTANCE OF ASANA

Asanas are beneficial for the muscles, joints, cardiovascular system, nervous system and lymphatic system as well as the mind psyche and chakras (energy centres). Asanas are said to be important because:

Flexibility of spine is increased.
The joints become more mobile.
Muscles are relaxed, toned and receive a plenty supply of blood,
Organ and glandular activity is stimulated and regulated
Lymphatic system and metabolism is stimulated.
Immune system is strengthened
Circulation and blood pressure are stimulated.
The nervous system is calmed and strengthened
Skin become clear and fresh

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GYMNASTICS AND YOGA

In contrast to gymnastic exercises, Asanas are practiced slowly to enable mental focus and a conscious understanding of the movement. The number of exercises practised is not important, but rather the quality of performance. Before, after and between the exercises, a period of conscious physical and mental relaxation should be included.

The objective of the Asanas is not the conversion of bottled-up energy or tension into movement, rather it is to harmonise the body and mind by consciously observing the physical and mental process as each movement or relaxation is practiced. The body does not become tired or exhausted through the Asanas. On the contrary, with energy recharged, one feels rested and refreshed.

Yogasanas

Importance of Yogasanas

In the modern society Yogasanas have acquired an importance, which has a two-fold character. They are not only a set of all round physical exercises, but a preparatory stage for the practice of yoga. Once we start the yoga practice, their influence will soon become apparent in our everyday life. We will begin to enjoy better health, sound sleep, a keen mind and a more cheerful disposition. Our body will gradually acquire a pleasant lightness and suppleness, our mind will become more calm and our tensions diminish. We will also notice an improvement in our figure, posture, vision and general appearance, for we will start looking younger and feeling more alive. Its secret lies in the fact that it deals with the entire man, not just one of its aspects.

Some Important Yogasanas:

Padmasana:

The term padmasana means Lotus. An individual who demonstrates this Asana appears like Lotus. Hence, this asana is known as padmasana. Some people name it as kamalasana. Kamala means Padma. It is considered as the best Asana for contemplation.

In padmasana, there are certain variations also:

Ardha-Padmasana
Virasana
Parvatasana (Mountain Pose)
Samasana (Equal Pose)
Karmukasana
UtthitaPadmasana
Sidhasana:

In the order of importance, Siddhasana comes next to padmasana. An individual can acquire siddhis (power) in different fields, if one develops mastery over this Siddhasana. In the vedic and post-vedic India, many Siddhas (perfect yogins) practiced this asana. Therefore, this asana is popularly known as Siddhasana.

Guptasana (Hidden Pose)

In this asana, the person concerned should place the left heel over the organ of generation. The right heel is also placed over the external organ of generation. The two ankles are in close contact. The right toes are thrust inside the hollow between the left thigh and left calf muscles. The left toes are covered by the right leg. In this asana, the demonstrator hides well the organs of generation. That is why, this asana is known a sGuptasana.

Vajrasana (Adamantine pose)

The demonstrator keeps the left heel below the organs of generation. The right heel is placed over the organ. Vajra means adamantine. Hence this is called vajrasana.

Persons who sit in this asana have a steady, firm pose. Tey cannot be easily shaken. The knees are rendered very hard. The Danda becomes very firm and strong. This particular asana resembles the Namaz pose of the Muslims.

Advantages of Vajrasana:

If an individual sits in this asana for about half an hour immediately after food, the food will be digested well. The nerves and muscles of the legs and thighs can be strengthened. Gradually myalgia in the knees,legs, toes and thighs will disappear. Flatulence can be removed. The stomach of the person concerned starts working vigorously.

Some variations of Vajrasana are:

Kurmasana (Tortoise Pose)
ArdhaKurmasana
Uttara Kurmasana
Mandukasana(Frog Pose)
Sirshasana

5.Mayurasana

In Sanskrit, Mayura means peacock. The demonstrator of this asana appears to be a peacock which has spread out the bundle of feathers at its back. To exhibit this asana, the demonstrator should possess good physical strength.

Technique of Mayurasana:

The demonstrator should kneel on the ground and squat on the toes. Then they should raise the heels up and join the two forearms together. They should place the palms of the two hands on the ground after joining the two forearms together. The two little fingers must be in close opposition or juxtaposition. The thumbs should touch the ground and project towards the feet.

At this stage, the demonstrator has got steady and firm forearms for supporting the whole body in the ensuing elevation of the trunk and legs. Then, they should bring down the abdomen slowly against the conjoined elbows. They should support the body upon the elbows that are pressed now against the navel or umbilicus. This is the first stage of Mayurasana..Then,they should stretch their legs and raise the feet straight on a level, with the head, parallel to the ground. This is the second stage of this asana.

Persons having good physical strength can perform this asana for 2 to 3 minutes. But others can perform it for 5 to 20 seconds only.

Advantages of Mayurasana:

Mayurasana is considered as a wonderful asana for improving digestion. It destroys the effects of wholesome diet. This asana cures diseases like dyspepsia and diseases of the stomach like Gulma(chronic gastritis) and reduces splenic and liver enlargement by increasing the intra-abdominal pressure. It develops appetite and removes all diseases caused by an excess of wind, bile or phlegm, cures diabetes, haemorrhoids and gives strength to the muscles of the arms. In minimum time, this asana gives maximum physical exercises.

Sarvangasana

Since all angas or parts of the body are engaged when this asana is performed, this Asana is called Sarvangasana. This is a serious Asana and gives wonderful benefits to the person who regularly practices this Asana.

Techniques of Sarvangasana:

The demonstrator has to spread thick blanket on the floor and practise this Asana on the blanket. They have to lie on the blanket quite flat at the outset and slowly raise their legs. Then, they have to lift the trunk, hips and legs quite vertically. They have to support the back with two hands one on each side. They should rest the elbow on the ground and press the chin against the chest and form a chin-lock firmly. They should allow the back shoulder portion and neck to touch the ground closely. They should not allow the body to shake or move to and fro. Then keep the legs straight. After the asana is over, bring down the legs very slowly with elegance and not with ay jerks.This asana should be performed very gracefully. When the asana is performed,the whole weight of the body is thrown on the shoulders. The demonstrator actually stands on the shoulders with the help and support of the elbows. They have to concentrate on the thyroid gland which lies on the front lower part of the neck. They should retain the breath a s long as they can perfrom with comfort and slowly exhale through the nose.

Advantages of Sarvangasana:

One of the important advantages of this asana is that the thyroid gland which plays an important part in the metabolism, growth, nutrition and structure is properly nourished.It is said that healthy thyroid means healthy function of the circulatory, respiratory, alimentary, genito-urinary and nervous systems of the body. The thyroid operates in conjunction with other ductless glands, pitituary, pineal in the brain, suprarenal above the kidneys, liver, spleen and testes. If this thyroid is diseased, all other glands suffer.

This asana help to supply a large quantity of blood to the spinal roots of nerves. It also helps to centralise the blood in the spinal column. It helps to keep the spine quite elastic. Elasticity of the spine means everlasting youth.

This asana also helps to retain celibacy or brahmacharya. It removes sterility and diseases of womb. Women can safely practise this asana.

Sarvangasana has the advantages of removing dyspepsia, constipation and other gastro-intestinal disorders of a chronic nature. For such advantages, one should perform this asana daily twice morning and evening.

Dhanurasana

In this Asana, the demonstrator appears like a bow (Dhanu). The stretched arms and forelegs form the string of a bow. It bends the spine backwards and supplements Bhujangasana. This asana is a combination of Bhujangasana and Salabhasana with the addition of catching the ankles with the hands. Bhujangasana, Salabhasana and Dhanurasana form a valuable combination. These three asanas always function together.

The Technique of the Asana:

At the outset, the demonstrator should lie on the chest with the face downwards. Then, should release all muscles and should keep the arms at the sides. The, should gently fold the legs at the back and raise hands backwards. After this pose, catch hold of the ankles with the hands and raise chest and keep the arms and forelegs quite straight and stiff. Thus, a nice convex arch is formed. If the demonstrator desires to stretch the legs, they can raise chest-up. They should dexterously manipulate. They have to retain the breath in a mid way and exhale slowly. They should continue this practice for five to six times. The demonstrator can retain this pose as long as they can keep it comfortably.

Dhanurasana gives a good massage to the abdominal region as the whole body rests on the abdomen. One has to practise this Asana only when the stomach is empty.

Advantages of this Asana:

Dhanurasana works as a good medicine in chronic constipation dyspepsia and sluggishness of liver. It is also helpful in curing hunchback, rheumatism of legs, knee joints and hands. This Asana is very helpful to the persons who suffer from gastrointestinal diseases.

Some Important Instructions to be followed in Yogasanas:

Oneshould practise different asanas in a well-ventillated clean room where ther is free movement of fresh air. The floor must be even.
One can practise Asanas on the sandy bed of rivers, sea-shores and open-airy places.
Morning time is considered as the best time for practising asanas. One should perform asanas on empty stomach or at least three hours after food.
One should spread a blanket on the floor and practise the asanas over the blanket. A pillow or four-folded blanket should be used while performing Sirshasana.
The demonstrator should not use spectacles while performing asanas. They may be broken or may injure the eyes.
A beginner should start with minimum time for performing asanas. They should gradually increase the period. One should do asanas as long as one can keep up the posture comfortably.
In order to realise maximum benefits of asanas, one should practise regularly.
To practice asanas, one should have patience and perseverance, earnestness and sincerity.
One should not change the asanas. Adhere to one set tenaciously. Change of one set of asanas to another set may not give better results.
One should be steady while performing asanas.
When a particular asana is not suitable to an individual, they can select some other asana.
Persons who practice shirshasana should take some light snacks or juice after the asana is over.
One should avoid unnecessary worries.
One should observe moderation in eating, drinking, sleeping and all other activities.
One should observe celibacy to get the benefits of asanas.
Without Yana, Niyama, Viveka and Vairagya, one cannot enjoy the advantages of asanas.
To be efficient in different asanas, one should have faith and confidence, interest and attention.

IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES FOR THE PRACTICE OF ASANA

Asanas are always performed in coordination with the breath:

Movements that expand the chest and abdominal cavity, are always connected with the inhalation

Movements that narrow the chest and abdominal cavity, are always connected with the exhalation

In the initial stages of practice, the Asanas are performed once or twice without holding, so that the movement of the body and the breath are synchronised. In this way it is clearly established with which movement to inhale or exhale. This type of practice calms the nervous system, stimulates the glands, increases the capacity of the breath and frees one from physical and mental stress. The mind becomes relaxed, calm and clear.
Only after this preliminary practice should an Asana be held for a longer time, breathing normally. During practice, concentration is directed to the specific part of the body on which the exercise is working. The breath consciousness is also directed to this region of the body.
After practicing a posture, a counter pose or equalising posture is carried out. For example, when one part of the body is flexed or contracted, then in the following Asana it is extended or stretched.

Surya Namaskar

Suryanamaskar means prayer to the Sun. Sun being the most effulgent and life giving force it forms the visible representation of the invisible Almighty God. It is very difficult on the part of all individuals to think of the transcendant supreme absolute without the help of some concrete object or idea. For such individuals, the sun forms the best object for worship and meditation. Suryanamaskar is a technique which prepares the foundation for the all-round culture of the body, mind and spirit.

Prayer to the sun or Surya-namaskar consists of twelve postures or stages. One posture smoothly and graciously flows into the next pose. While performing surya-namaskar, one should not undergo undue strain. They should be aware of the inner mood with which suryanamaskar is done. These are the twelve postures of suryanamaskar.

Several yoga postures are combined in suryanamaskar, with rhythmic breathing, rapid movement and sunbathing and prayerful contemplation of the Divine power that the sun represents. The demonstrator has to practise this suryanamaskar facing the morning sun, bathing his whole body in the life giving rays of the sun.

PRANAYAMA

Pranayama is the conscious and deliberate control and regulation of the breath (Prana means breath, ayam means to control, to regulate). With each breath we absorb not only oxygen, but also Prana. Prana is cosmic energy, the power in the Universe that creates, preserves and changes. It is the basic element of life and consciousness. Prana is also found in food, therefore it is very important to have a healthy and wholesome vegetarian diet.

The conscious guidance of Prana in the body gives rise to an increase in vitality, physical detoxification and improved immunity, as well as the attainment of inner peace, relaxation and mental clarity.

In mythology it is said that the length of a person's life is predetermined by the number of breaths. The Yogi tries to “conserve time” and lengthen life by slowing down the breath .

STEPS FOR DOING PRANAYAMA

Firstly, we need to make the lungs to expand and contract. So that we start breathing more. Hence we do Surya namaskars, or any dynamic practices or Yoga postures first. So that our breathing increases, also we start breathing from abdomen like kid.
Followed by that we do following practices:
1. Kapalbhaati - (Throwing out the air) - We throw out all the bad air outside. In this the focus is on exhaling. From the stomach we push to throw out the air.
2. Bhastrika - This is the to increase the intake of breath. In this we inhale and exhale together. People with high BP should not do this. Face should be completely relaxed. If you need to pull very hard using facial expression you are doing incorrect.
3. AnulomVilon or NaadiShodhan - this is one of the most important practise. In this you breath from one nostril closing the other nostril and exhale from other nostril. And then inhale from other nostril and exhale from the first nostril. This bring out balance between left and right nostril. It should be done as slow as possible. It will regulate the pranas.
4. Bhramhari - Honey bee sound. In this you close your ears with thumb and make sound of honey bee sound with eyes closed. This will further regulate the pranas. Just listen the subtle vibrations of the sound.
5. Shavasana - Lie down for 5 to 10 minutes, to relax and rejuvenate. To further calm down the Pranas and bring it to normal.

Effects of Pranayama

Physical Effects

Preservation of the body’s health
Purification of the blood
Improvement in the absorption of oxygen
Strengthening the lungs and heart
Regulation of blood pressure
Regulation of the nervous system
Supporting the healing process and healing therapies
Increasing resistance to infection

Mental Effects

Elimination of stress, nervousness and depression
Quietening of thoughts and emotions
Inner balance
Release of energy blockages

Spiritual Effects

Deepening of meditation
Awakening and purification of the Chakras (energy centres)
Expansion of consciousness

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT YOGA

Yoga is just for flexible people.

You can fill in the blank. I've heard it all. "I'm not flexible enough. I'm not thin enough. I'm not young enough." Yoga accepts you wherever you are. There are no rules, no expectations, and no judgments. Anyone (and I mean Anyone!) can benefit from the practice of yoga as long as she or he is patient and approaches the practice with an open mind.

Yoga is easy, gentle stretching.

There's a great deal of value in gentle yoga, but there are many styles and schools of yoga that are incredibly physically challenging. It takes strength, stamina, and flexibility. There's a class out there that will meet your needs–whether you're a dancer, triathlete, or tired grandma.

The purpose of yoga is physical fitness.

A lot of people put yoga in the same category as a Zumba class because of its health benefits. But one of the reasons that asana practice is so great for you is that it mixes awareness and concentration with movement. In other words, yoga is a moving meditation! That's SO different from other fitness classes!

It conflicts with my religion.

It's true that in some yoga studios, you might see a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva and hear some chanting. The first time I went to a studio like this, I was surprised. It seemed so foreign and different from anything I'd ever seen. I think of the Hindu references as tradition passed down from teacher to teacher, not a religious practice. No one has ever pushed any religion on me during a yoga class.

There is a wrong conception that yoga should be practiced only through some guru or yoga master.

No doubt the guidance from yoga teacher will be helpful for easy practice of yogic exercise, but one can practice through gaining knowledge from the readily available books, video cassettes and other available materials.

Chapter: 39 YOGA AND STRESS MANAGEMNT

YOGA AND STRESS MANAGEMNT

WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat. When you feel threatened your nervous system responds by realizing a flood of stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol which rouse the body for emergency action. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quicken and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, enhance your focus. This is known as the “fight or flight” or mobilization stress response and is your body’s way of protecting you . When stress is within your comfort zone, it can help you to stay focused, energetic and alert. In emergency situations stress can save your life-giving you extra strength to defend your self. Stress also help you to rise to meet challenges.

EFFECTS OF CHRONIC STRESS

Musculoskeletal

When the body is stressed, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to stress the body's way of guarding against injury and pain.

With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once, and then release their tension when the stress passes. chronic causes the muscles in the body to be in a more or less constant state of guardedness. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders. For example, both tension-type headache and migraine headache are associated with chronic muscle tension in the area of the shoulders, neck and head.

Respiratory System

Stress can make you breathe harder. That's not a problem for most people, but for those with asthma or a lung disease such as emphysema, getting the oxygen you need to breathe easier can be difficult.

And some studies show that an acute stress such as the death of a loved one can actually trigger asthma attacks, in which the airway between the nose and the lungs constricts.

In addition, stress can cause the rapid breathing or hyperventilation that can bring on a panic attack in someone prone to panic attacks.

Cardio Vascular

The heart and blood vessels comprise the two elements of the cardiovascular system that work together in providing nourishment and oxygen to the organs of the body. The activity of these two elements is also coordinated in the body's response to stress. Acute stress - stress that is momentary or short-term such as meeting deadlines, being stuck in traffic or suddenly slamming on the brakes to avoid an accident - causes an increase in heart rate and stronger contractions of the heart muscle, with the stress hormones - adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol - acting as messengers for these effects. In addition, the blood vessels that direct blood to the large muscles and the heart dilate, thereby increasing the amount of blood pumped to these parts of the body and elevating blood pressure.

Endocrine Gland

When the body is stressed, the hypothalamus signals the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary gland and the process is started to produce epinephrine and cortisol, sometimes called the "stress hormones."

5. Adrenal Glands (near kidneys)

Stress signals from the hypothalamus cause the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and the adrenal medulla to produce epinephrine. This starts the process that gives your body the energy to run from danger.

6. Liver

When cortisol and epinephrine are released, the liver produces more glucose, a blood sugar that would give you the energy for "fight or flight" in an emergency. For most of you, if you don't use all of that extra energy, the body is able to reabsorb the blood sugar, even if you're stressed again and again. But for some people, especially people vulnerable to Type 2 diabetes that extra blood sugar can mean diabetes. Who's vulnerable? The obese and races more inclined to diabetes, such as Native Americans.

Studies show that if you learn how to manage stress, you can control your blood sugar level, sometimes nearly as much as with medication.

Gastrointestinal

Oesophagus

When you're stressed, you may eat much more or much less than you usually do. If you eat more or different foods, or increase your use of alcohol or tobacco, you can experience heartburn or acid reflux. Stress or exhaustion can also increase the severity of heartburn pain.

Stomach

When you're stressed, your brain becomes more alert to sensations in your stomach. Your stomach can react with "butterflies" or even nausea or pain. You may vomit if the stress is severe enough. And, if the stress becomes chronic, you may develop ulcers or severe stomach pain even without ulcers.

Bowel

Stress can affect digestion, and what nutrients your intestines absorb. It can also affect how fast food moves through your body. You may find that you have either diarrhoea or constipation.

Nervous System

The nervous system has several divisions: the central division involving the brain and spinal cord and the peripheral division consisting of the autonomic and somatic nervous systems. The autonomic nervous system (ANS) has a direct role in physical response to stress and is divided into the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).

When the body is stressed, the SNS generates what is known as the "fight or flight" response. The body shifts all of its energy resources toward fighting off a life threat, or fleeing from an enemy. The SNS signals the adrenal glands to release hormones called adrenalin and cortisol. These hormones cause the heart to beat faster, respiration rate to increase, blood vessels in the arms and legs to dilate, digestive process to change and glucose levels (sugar energy) in the bloodstream to increase to deal with the emergency.

The SNS response is fairly sudden in order to prepare the body to respond to an emergency situation or acute stress, short term stressors. Once the crisis is over, the body usually returns to the pre-emergency, unstressed state.

Male Reproductive System

The male reproductive system is influenced by the nervous system. The parasympathetic part of the nervous system causes relaxation whereas the sympathetic part causes arousal. In the male anatomy, the autonomic nervous system, also known as the fight or flight response, produces testosterone and activates the sympathetic nervous system which creates arousal.

Stress causes the body to release the hormone cortisol, which is produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is important to blood pressure regulation and the normal functioning of several body systems including cardiovascular, circulatory and male reproduction. Excess amounts of cortisol can affect the normal biochemical functioning of the male reproductive system.

Female Reproductive System

Menstruation

Stress may affect menstruation among adolescent girls and women in several ways. For example, high levels of stress may be associated with absent or irregular menstrual cycles, more painful periods and changes in the length of cycles.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

Stress may make premenstrual symptoms worse or more difficult to cope with and pre-menses symptoms may be stressful for many women. These symptoms include cramping, fluid retention and bloating, negative mood (feeling irritable and "blue") and mood swings.

Menopause

As menopause approaches, hormone levels fluctuate rapidly. These changes are associated with anxiety, mood swings and feelings of distress. Thus menopause can be a stressor in and of itself. Some of the physical changes associated with menopause, especially hot flashes, can be difficult to cope with. Furthermore, emotional distress may cause the physical symptoms to be worse. For example, women who are more anxious may experience an increased number of hot flashes and/or more severe or intense hot flashes.

Sexual Desire

Women juggle personal, family, professional, financial and a broad range of other demands across their life span. Stress, distraction, fatigue, etc., may reduce sexual desire - especially when women are simultaneously caring for young children or other ill family members, coping with chronic medical problems, feeling depressed, experiencing relationship difficulties or abuse, dealing with work problems, etc.

Cognitive Symptoms

Memory problems, inability to concentrate, poor judgement, seeing only the negative, anxious or rising thoughts, constant worrying etc affects the individual under stress

Emotional Symptoms

Depression or general unhappiness, anxiety and agitation, moodiness, irritability, or anger, feeling overwhelmed, loneliness and isolation, and other mental or emotional health problems.

Physical Symptoms

Aches and pains, diarrhea or constipation, nausea, dizziness, chest pain, rapid heart rate, loss of sex drive, frequent colds and flu

Behavioral Symptoms

Eating more or less, sleeping too much or too little, withdrawing from others, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, using alcohol or cigarette or drug to relax, nervous habits, nail biting.

YOGA AND STRESS MANAGEMENT

In today's era of globalization where there is a lot of competition, innovation and change, executives in all organizations cannot avoid tension, stress and anxiety in their day-to-day work. Only hardworking, disciplined, punctual and mentally alert executives can survive the work pressures and strike a balance between work life and personal life. They are exposed to stress and tension for long periods which may manifest in the form of many ailments like hypertension, high/low blood pressure, insomnia, depression, backaches, migraine, spondylitis, etc. This in turn results in overall decrease in the executive’s efficiency and productivity; consequently, there is a deterioration of human capital in the organization. Yoga is the answer for healing stress among working men and women. This all-in-one formula acts as a soothing agent for the burned-out Indian corporate and is fast growing on the popularity charts. It serves as reviver of mind, body and soul. The techniques of yoga comprise of physical postures (asanas), breath expansion and enhancement (pranayama), relaxation and meditation techniques (dhyaan), coupled with philosophy of simple and natural lifestyle management. It enhances energy of the person and develops a positive attitude. It has been attested by many as a complete all-in-one holistic formula for stress management.

Some of the benefits through yoga for stress management include:

Unification of body, mind and spirit

Our mind will be United through a combination of strengthening exercises, deep breathing and relaxation techniques.

Better sleep

As with any form of exercise, you will be able to sleep better by practicing yoga. This will allow you to wake up with both your body and your mind feeling more refreshed.

Healing powers

Decreasing your stress levels, increasing positive blood flow, providing better support for your immune system, you are enabling your body to be better equipped to heal itself.

Weight loss

The yoga postures helps to develop and tone the muscles throughout your entire body.

More energy

Yoga postures improve the oxygen in your blood flow resulting a calming effect on your mind.

Better concentration

Yoga postures and relaxing are for both your body and your mind . less stress and enhanced blood flow will help with concentration, focus and clarity.

Resilience

In conjunction with heading powers and more energy, the consistent practice yoga helps to build strength and resilience.

Empowerment

Yoga gives you the feeling of empowerment because it allows you to decipher the real from the imaginary, stress is sometimes caused by incorrect perceived scenario and circumstances.

Relaxation response

The meditation that is involved with yoga creates the alpha waves which in turn lead to the relaxation response. Whenever this psychological response occurs, you breath slower, your heart rate will be lowered and your blood pressure will normalize.

MEDITATION

We come across various types of people in the society, and their reactions, responses, behavior, attitudes and approaches are different from each other. The reason for the abnormal behavior of mankind is due to the lack of control over the mind, lack of thinking power, lack of awareness and lack of unity. Hence, there is a need to develop human mind so that we can develop peace and harmony among all the people of the society. The meditation or Dhyana serves as a powerful weapon to eliminate all such unpleasant things in the society and helps to live peacefully and happily.

The values of meditation that we hear from various religious leaders and organizations claim that meditation provides concentration of mind, health and happiness. The basic concept of meditation is to control the mind. When the mind is controlled, one can restrain from bad thinking and it helps to control the soul. When the body and mind are controlled, one can attain the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, that is the highest stage of meditation (Dhyana). In this stage one can realize truth and perfection.

The Several Benefits of Meditation

Meditation helps to annihilate the mind and helps to provide liveliness to the body and mind.
The restlessness of mind gives scope for mental agitation, anxiety and anger. The systematic practice of meditation helps to reduce anxiety, fear and anger.
Controlling of mind reduces the depression of mind. We come across many young students and youths who have high ambitions in their life, get depressed when their ambitions are not materialized. In such events they will become psychologically disturbed and lose all hopes in their lives. By controlling the mind through meditation, one can get rid of such depression.
Meditation provides systematic thinking and judging capacity and helps to develop the personality of the individual. The practice of meditation helps to reduce all tensions and provides sensitivity of mind to think and judge properly in tough situations.
Meditation helps to provide concentration, which ultimately increases the memory power of the mind. We have seen many students who have shown dull performance in their academic pursuits. In such cases, meditation provides mental effectiveness and application of intelligence.
From various medical studies it is found that mental stress and anxiety is the main cause of deteriorating health. Nowadays, the common health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, bronchial asthma, nervous disorders and many other diseases are aggravated by stress. Systematic practice of meditation and control of mind can reduce these problems gradually.
Psychological disorders which are quite common among all types of people, more particularly women are entangled with several stresses and strains. Because of such stress and strain we are witnessing high rate of suicide in youth. This is due to lack of control over the mind. The practice of meditation helps to deter all the depression and provides self-confidence to face the tough situation.
We have seen an increasing number of alcoholics and drug addicts everywhere. This is mainly due to lack of control over the mind. When the person who gets depressed wants to opt for instant pleasure in order to forget depression and mental tension, they start consuming alcohol, drugs, smoking etc. Meditation not only helps to provide control of the mind, but also helps to resist from such bad habits.
Relaxation is the main concept of meditation. The systematic and continuous practice of meditation helps to provide mental and physical peace so that one can experience utmost relaxation.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 09.08.2020

Nächste Seite

Seite 1 /