SCHOOLS are entrusted with the responsibility of helping students develop their skills to meet the challenges ahead. Skills broadly refer to critical thinking, creativity, communication, and the like. Skills for the future are mostly geared towards developing higher-order thinking so students can become independent and lifelong learners, with curiosity to explore, ability to innovate, and willingness to bring about positive change. Within these parameters is a human side to education — where students’ propensity to respond to what they are taught is closely linked to their affinity with the environment.

Studies show that students benefit from learning when they feel valued by their teachers and peers. Their willingness to contribute in class stems from positive interactions. Globally, as schools work on student and teacher well-being, this phenomenon has become embedded in the school culture. Schools operate as communities, an extension of family, where academic goals are intertwined with shared commitment to goals and values, where there is acceptance of different perspectives. The cue that children get in such an environment is: ‘I matter’. Children with a deep sense of belonging at school know that they will be protected........

© Dawn