St. JOSEPH'S HIGH SCHOOL - VILE PARLE: TEACHERS' ORIENTATION PROGRAM
June 25, 2012: At the invitation of Sr. Eliza Joseph, Principal of St. Joseph's High School, Vile Parle, the AVEC Team organized a day's Value Orientation Program for fifty one teachers. The theme for the Value Orientation Program was: "Managing By Values". Fr. Glenford Lowe, Director of AVEC and Mr. Rochwyn Fernandes, AVEC Coordinator organized the three hour program.
Mr. Rochwyn started the session with a Prayer Song "Go Light Your World". It was an invitation at the very outset, to make a difference in the World around. Mr. Fernandes, then took the teachers through a fantasy meditation that helped them to calm down and refocus on the program ahead. He then briefed the teachers about the various objectives and activities of AVEC through a brief PowerPoint presentation. He then introduced Fr. Glenn to the participants.
Fr. Lowe started by challenging the teachers to set their perspectives right from the start. "What you see is what you get," he kept repeating over and over again. Perspective changes lead to procedural changes. He also took the teachers through a list of 'perspective movements' and to let go of unnecessary assumptions that blur our vision and vocation as Educators of the young.
Through a variety of creative and down-to-earth examples, Fr. Lowe brought home the point that our words create our world. He invited the teachers to plot the graph of their personal values and institutional values and to check out one's level of alignment. The significance of one's life is determined by the level of the alignment of values.
In the final session, using the 'Hall-Tonna Value Map', the participants were once again able to check out their level of Value consciousness and to their perception to the world and their response to it. The teachers found this whole exercise very fruitful and a good indicator to determine where one stands in relation to one's values. Through a small creative puzzle, the teachers also understood the importance of giving everyone their rightful space within the school community.
The following words of appreciation were found in the AVEC log book by some of the participants:
"This session was very innovative, interesting and inspiring. We have learnt many values which we can instill in our children. We appreciate Fr. Glenn and his associate for giving us such a wonderful talk. We wish them good luck and God bless them both" - Lily Pitale
"The session was definitely a very meaningful one, where each one of us rediscovered ourselves. The values are known to us but it is a need in the present situation in which our children need to be taught so that they can lead a balanced life between values imparted by us and values taught by the Mass Media. Last, but not the least, as Shiv Khera says, "Winners don't do different things, they do thing differently. We surely will be winners" - Zarine
"The session made us think and realize our purpose and our vocation: we are here at teachers for the students and hence we have to think with our heads and feel with our hearts. The Values introduced us to the importance of Values and without it our lives would be meaningless. Lastly, we can make our lives and the lives of our students significant, when we ourselves imbibe these values and our students see them in us. Thank you and God bless you." - Queenie D'Souza
