National Creativity Olympiad-The New Beginning

So we have concluded what we have started, on a successful note. National Creative Olympiad had its share of response and success stretching from the 1st round to the conclusive 2nd round which was held in the premises of IIT Delhi.

We witnessed the Enthusiasm, Energy and Excitement of 500 plus students on the day of our final round. NCO final round had started from 8.30 in the morning and it was indeed a chilly morning wrapped with fog. But students who were quite excited to be in IIT Delhi, A place where they aspire to be in their future, didn’t let fog, the cold breeze or the dipping temperature to lower their spirit. There were students, teachers and parents wrapped in sweaters and every winter cloth you can find, raring to prove that they are here to be a valuable part of an innovation in education and Olympiads.

1st half of the final round was the activity round through which a student’s Achievement motivation was judged. Sheer enthusiasm of students in section one of round 2 suggested that learning can be fun if it is processed according to the needs of the learner. Section two was solution based consisting of 60 multiple choice questions with subjective questions which helped us to analyse the Creative Thinking of a student of a particular class strata.

The Award Ceremony for the NCO was held  on 29-Dec-11 in IIT Delhi itself during 3rd International Conference. We have decided to honor students at this stage so as to encourage them and motivate them for further conquest in future.

After months of preparation, sleepless nights and weeks of brainstorming for the question paper and results, NCO 2011 has come to its conclusion.

We are grateful for every person who had contributed to complete this extravaganza without any hiccups. We are also thankful to every associated School, Teachers, Students and Parents, who believed in us and NCO. Hope to see you next year in NCO 2012 commencing on 14th September 2012.

Creativity

Education in India can be seen as a cognitive panorama where different space are bound together to create a purposeful result. Indian education holds the historical roots from Nalanda university, which is the oldest university in world, and its still flourishing with the faces of IIT’s and  IIM’s. Our society always had its share of attention on Education which is clearly visible by the system created by ancient India rulers or the reforms introduced in British raj and by the education rights created after independence era.

Our three phases of education i.e Primary Secondary and Higher Education are all reformed and supported by the national policies for educational development. Whether it’s Right to Education or District Education Realization Program or the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, all have created tremendous impact and extended the reach of education since independence.

In midst of all the reforms, policies and acts we have missed something i.e induction of innovation and creativity in our student stratum. Education system has modified itself into more of a target education rather then achievement education. We are educated in such a way that value of scores and grades have been increased and thought of intellectualism, Innovation and Creativity is lost in due course. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence includes: 

1. Spastic
2. Linguistic
3. Logical
4. Bodily-Kinesthetic
5. Musical intelligence
6. Interpersonal
7. Intrapersonal
8. Naturalistic

However we judge a student on two criteria only i.e. Linguistic and Mathematical. While we are focusing on ‘Intelligent’ student’s and are busy in categorising student’s on the basis of  traditional learn,write and number method,what we have failed to realize is the true potential of a student.

There is no doubt that Creativity is the most important human resource of all, without Creativity there would be no progress and we would be forever repeating the same pattern. National Creativity Olympiad is a step to realize the new dimension of a student i.e implication of creativity in education. NCO helps in identifying the child’s talent by rewarding the creativity of a student. NCO promotes creativity and logical based thinking rather then textbook based education. NCO breaks the barrier of categorizing a student on the basis of numbers which has led to appraisal of few and negligence to many.

WHY CREATIVITY

Unlike other Olympiads, NCO is based on the concept of future in education i.e. Creative and Achievement Motivation. India is the third largest country in higher education after china and United States, the irony is that we are still stuck with rote learning in our primary and secondary education. NCO will create a perfect assessment for the student which helps in initiating creative problem solving technique. NCO will not only motivate the child by identifying the strength but also provide remedies for the weak areas by providing a detailed analysis over the performance of a student.  

As said by Benjamin Franklin, "Well done is better then well said", therefore NCO is a beginning towards nurturing innovative and creative thinking.  Yet Olympiads have taken the same text book route which is not useful in practical life, how many times we have used Pythagoras Theorem in practical life or the Newton’s law of inertia but we can create the possibility of creating a new avenue for the student where he/she is able to apply knowledge in practical usage.

As the researchers suggest, success depends on:

1. Hard work
2. Problem solving skills
3. Teamwork
4. Communication
5. Leadership

We believe that there is a very clear correlation between these factors and success in life. NCO will sensitize the students as well as the teachers, the importance of these factors and also provides with the resources to develop creative thinking and enhance achievement motivation. The primary object of NCO is to empower the child and nurture the competitive spirit to make an achiever of the child. We believe, once we overcome the traditonal thinking, we can get on with creating the future.

www.creativeolympiad.com

National Creativity Olympiad

We believe that every child is born talented, that every child is creative and that every child is an achiever. That our education processes often fail to identify the child’s talent, leave alone nurture it, is a failure of the system and not the child. This is perhaps due to the obsession of the educational system with linguistic and mathematical abilities and an assessment process that often seems to label children with rote memories as intelligent and others as not.

Most assessment processes become a motivational tool for a few and disempowering for the rest. It is well established that people in general and children in particular repeat the behavior that is rewarded. Unfortunately, this labeling result in a select few children being rewarded and the majority of the children feel ignored and often rejected. Also, once so labeled, it is the select few who then receive teachers’ love, affection and attention, see their names in the scrolls of honor and receive trophies and medals.

Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence suggests eight independent intelligences, we tend to test only two- linguistic and mathematical intelligence. In fact, a skill (not intelligence), that of rote learning overshadows all others in typical assessments and Olympiads.

Why Creativity Olympiad

We believe that the purpose of assessment is to motivate a child and not to discourage them is to identify strengths not weakness and suggest remedial action not denial. We believe that achievement motivation and creativity are key drivers of success and we believe that there is little correlation between the performance of a child in cogent disciplines and success in life.

This Olympiad is designed to assess a child’s creative abilities and his/her achievement motivation. We believe that this Olympiad will unearth hidden talents and encourage children who may have felt discouraged, to participate in the learning process more willingly and meaningfully with a renewed sense of self-belief and self-confidence. This assessment would naturally lead to the child’s inclination to improve upon the same and search for resources in that direction. Given an appropriate environment this will lead to enhanced creativity and achievement motivation.

The Outcome

The Olympiad will assess the creativity quotient of ahe child and his/her level of achievement motivation. By participating in this Olympiad, the child shall get sensitized to the importance of these factors and their role in shaping one’s future. This will also sensitize the teachers to foster these competencies in the child. Once so oriented, the child shall seek out resources to develop creative thinking and enhance achievement motivation. Edward De Beno and David Mc Clleland have conclusively proved that both creativity and achievement motivation can be significantly enhanced by appropriate interventions. The starting point clearly is an assessment. This is the primary objectives of this Olympiad – one, to sensitize the child and two, to appeal to his /her competitive spirit to make an achiever of the child.

www.creativeolympiad.com

Peer Relationship Part - 3 : Solutions

There is an answer to every question likewise there is a solution to every problem. Peer problem can cause havoc in social life and can result in deflection in numerous fields but it can be tackled with the help of parents, teachers and peers. Some of the Helping strategies as suggested by various studies are –

Social Skills training

Students whose behavior tends to social rejection often need to learn new interpersonal skills. These skills does not require special curriculum or training but can be developed through constant interaction with parents, teacher and even peers. These skills include learning importance of team effort, nurturing leadership qualities and mutual contribution.

Intervention for Related Problems-

Peer problems generally tend to create serious academic problems and results in overall disturbance in the academic journey of a student. These students need intensive academic intervention so as to minimize potential adverse effects on the student’s academic and peer relation. Positive intervention from parents can act as effective support system for a student.

Non Threatening Social Experience-

Large groups can be threatening to students who lack self confidence. Shy students may therefore benefit from opportunities to interact in small groups. Parents can help by inviting class mates and friends over for special activities. Students can be encouraged to develop outside interest like music or art which provides natural basis of interaction with other students and provides a boost to the self confidence to the student.

Co-operative Classroom Projects-

Classroom activities can foster peer acceptance of students who are trying to improve their social reputation. Role played by school and teachers are also as crucial as the roles played by the parents as the teacher is the role model for the student. Classroom projects help the student to interact in large groups and also provide a platform for them to get acquainted with the peers.

Beyond intervention for specific peer problem, there are several general strategies that may help a student to maintain a healthy outlook on their own social lives. Peer relationships are important contributors to the quality of both student’s current lives and future development. Parents have to be more conscious towards their approach towards the social development of the children. Showing respect for children social needs, getting contented with friends and creating social option without any pressure and high expectation can really show positive result in the social outlook of a student.

We cannot ignore the impact of serious problem which co relates with the academic capability of a student. A student requires intervention and support in academic as well as social aspect of life. We can achieve a better prospect out of a student performance by providing the desired support system. Parents and Teachers are the important pillars in the life of a student and these aspects can also create difference in Students life.

Peer Relationship Part - 2 : Factors

Peer groups are informal primary groups who share a similar or equal stature and who are usually of same age group, tended to interact and work within the social aggregate. Peer groups can be diverse in some areas like race, creed, culture or religion.

Factor contributing the Peer problems can vary according to the student and his/her environment. Peer problems can contribute to -

Social behavior:

Social behavior has become a problem in the way of mutual peer relation when children behave aggressively or disruptive manner and hence is rejected by their peer. Each type of ineffective social behavior can be caused due to lack of knowledge about effective in traction in society. Children who lack this knowledge turn out to anxious and fearful in maintaining social relationship in effective manner.

Differentness:

Students are rejected from their peer when they are found to dissimilar from the group they meant to associate with. This can be due to sex, ethnicity, differently able or newcomer in the class. All are subjected to stern rejection when they are unfit in the peer group.

Family problem:

Even family problems can have disastrous effect on a student ability to maintain a healthy relationship within its peer group. As we know the effect of peer relationship helps in forming a better social behavior, Family problem can result in a negative outcome. Family problem like parental alcoholism, divorce or parental relationship problem can adversely affect the social behavior of the student. Student may act out feeling of anger in its peer group hence eliciting rejection from peers in process.

Peer Relationship Part 1

A child has to play various roles within his or her life span,easy as it seems but we all know how difficult it is to tackle and experience all those situations.Like a newly shaped vessel, student is dependent and correlates it’s life and attributes with the society,situation and surroundings. Nowadays students are already burdened with ongoing competitive world, all this in hand and they have to balance other situations also. One of the newly recognized issues is the impact of peer relationship in the life and character building of a student.

Peer Relationship is commonly defined as social relationships with an informal primary group who share similar or equal status and who are usually of the same age group, tended to interact and work within the social aggregate. Peer Relationship and Friendship can be misunderstood as similar entity, but they are entirely different aspect of a student learning phase. Peer Relationship is based on social interaction within a social group whereas friendship is based on mutual respect, appreciation and liking. Approach of both the emotions is different in terms of construction and contribution in development. Peer Relationship is associated with the feeling of belonging and behavioral issues, whereas, friendship relates to the feeling of social adjustment. However both Peer Relationship and friendship similarly provides the student with self-esteem and improved psychological adjustment. Despite what parent thinks, making friend is a considerable task and Peer Relationship is termed as a milestone.

Peer Relationship diversifies in scope nature and impact within the growing and learning phase of a student. It may not be a critical issue but the impact can not be neglected.In the early phase of life a child may not be able to distinguish between Peer Relation and Friendship. Students are most likely to realize the importance of Peer acceptance as they grow into early adolescents. It deepens with the mean time when student is able to distinguish it from Friendship. In present scenario when students are already burdened with increasing competition, changing exam patterns, struggle to be a part of extra curricular activities also, Peer Acceptance can be a morale boost.Research indicates that older youth interacts with peers more frequently and longer then the younger youth,both in and out of school.Better Peer Relationship transforms a student into a generous and reasonable human being as student is concerned with peers also.

Maintaining Peer Relationship is important for the reason being young people who have difficulty in maintaining and developing Peer Relationship are more likely to (1) Engage in aggressive behavior, (2) Report low academic achievement and high unemployment later in life, (3) Exhibit higher degrees of loneliness and depression, these points are distincted by renowned psychologists after years of practice and research. Peer Relationship can contribute in reforming Self-Esteem and also helps in building Self Image. It involves social competence which directly relates to the various qualities like Leadership, Team Effort and Positive Outlook in a student. Peer Relationship has a significant influence on psychological and social adjustments for group individuals.Peer groups provide perspective outside of individual’s viewpoints. Peer viewpoint helps in influence the knowledge of socio and psycho norms for an individual.

14th April - P2CConnect Day

Once upon a time, and they lived happily ever after, these are the eye catching phrases of a fairy tale.In real life also we want the same for us, in the beginning and In the End. However no one dares to dream to go beyond the stereotypical regulations as the problem we face is reality. Whoever dreams or a vision for the future takes the responsibility and enjoys the success.

We wish you a happy P2CConnect Day and hope for many more successful years to come. A long journey from seed to sapling, sapling to plant and soon this plant will be a tree. With the dedication towards mutual growth and towards the service will surely provide the outcome we desired. Stepping into another year also means increase in responsibilities and also demands to be intense in our cause of providing the best service.

Once upon a time P2Cconnect was a Dream, Vision, Opinion, Thought or whatever we want to conclude .It was worked upon and started on 14^th April 2008, with just one thought “Bigger and Better”. It’s been 3 years and we are on the righteous path of growth. It actually started when the vision was shared among many eyes that we are here as a Revolution in the education sector and yes we will grow and will grow all together. The dream was turned to reality when Me turned to We “A Team”. The basic purpose for P2C was to establish itself in context of its name “Parent To Child Connect”. More or less in the backdrop we do enlighten those hopes and acknowledge those hard work due to which we are here and will go ahead. As we all are aware of the fact that writing success story was never a piece of cake, it never was and it never will be. So we worked hard and are working hard towards a common goal “Success”. And still working hard to be the best cause You Do Big If You Dream Big.