Schools want to nurture well-rounded students by developing not just academic knowledge but also physical, social, emotional and other abilities. But this is a huge challenge given the many constraints; limited time, fixed syllabus, and resources available to name just a few.
Dharohar aims to support schools in this aim; we look for areas which are hard for schools to cater to, and design our programme to bridge these gaps. Two core ideas sit under every programme; first– helping students become independent and enthusiastic learners and second – giving students exposure to working professionals who can be role models.
Khoj1, our first programme, builds scientific thinking – our volunteers bring small interactive, investigations which students explore to discover scientific principles they are learning in class. As they do this, they learn to think like a scientist using our LATTU framework2. This allows them to understand more complex science more easily. Schools can focus on the content of their subject, and we support by strengthening specific thinking skills.
We adapt our programmes to the needs of schools and the time they are able to give us. In the COVID-19 lockdown, for example, we built a programme that focused on empathy and expression3 so kids could connect at a scary time. We ran online sessions exploring art from all around the world. Both students and schools enjoyed these workshops and found them helpful.
