Don Bosco Schools Meet

Mr. Conrad Saldanha the resource person

On Saturday, 19th June 2010, the secondary staff of four of the Don Bosco Schools of the city met at Don Bosco Matunga for the first time. For an entire year, representatives of the four schools had been meeting to plan and implement the syllabus and how we as a Don Bosco Organization could come together for better planning and programming. The Supervisors and the Faculty Department Heads had been meeting to set the syllabus for the same so that the various unit test could be coordinated and a common paper given to the four schools.

Teacher from the four Don Bosco schools of the city in Mumbai

This morning, Fr. Crispino D'Souza together with Fr. Bosco D'Mello arranged to have Mr. Conrad Saldanha, ex-Vice President of the Times of India to facilitate and conduct a workshop. Fr. Crispino gave the introductions and Mr. Saldanha took the group of about a hundred teachers straight into the workshop with a brief input on three kinds of thinking viz. Magical thinking; Heroic thinking; Resigned thinking and Cynical thinking. The first two kinds of thinking are more on the positive while the last two are more negative.

During one of the workshop sessions

Another group during the workshop discussions

The teachers were indeed very involved in the discussions

After the tea break from 11.20 am Mr. Saldanha took the teachers through another exercise which made them think about their situation as teachers in relationship with their pupils, surroundings and the like. He put before them four questions for this workshop:
1. What are the elements in a Don Bosco school that you would like to promote or enhance?
2. What are the elements in a Don Bosco school that you would like to decrease?
3. What are the elements in a Don Bosco school that you would like to eliminate?
4. What are the elements in a Don Bosco school that you would like new?

The teachers had a lively  discussion in groups and came up with a number of suggestions some which seemed practical and some not practical. The important thing about the discussion was to get all of them geared towards thinking about the elements that were important and that would help benefit the young and the school.

After lunch the teachers went into their various faculties to sit and plan for the future with inputs that were given by various resource persons.

Tea was served at 4.30 pm after which all said their good-byes and departed making a new circle of friends among the teachers of the Don Bosco Schools.