Can change the world
Little good things,
good thoughts,
good words,
good deeds,
Millions of little things together,
If you want to do something,do it from your heart
- Ashfaq, Teach For India student
TEACH INDIAFOR
When an individual can look around and see a connection between
the man that has too much bread and the man that has too little,
then it becomes his/her human obligation to take action. Teaching
was my way of taking action.
- Mariyam Farooq, Teach For America Alumna, Teach For All Staff
and Teach For India startup team
VISION
MISSION
To create a movement of leaders who will eliminate inequity in education
To match up to the lives of great souls like Gandhiji, Mother Teresa and
Martin Luther King Jr. and great statesmen like Nehru, Ambedkar and
Patel is a daunting aspiration and responsibility. I take cautious steps
every day towards meeting that grand vision. Words are easy. All of us
can find a moment of inspiration in which to say them. Living them in
action in every waking moment requires unbelievable amounts of
courage and sustained inspiration.
- Tarun Cherukuri, Teach For India Alumnus 2009
THEORY OF CHANGE
With a positive impact on both students and teachers, Teach For India's
concept is exemplary. Teaching students from underprivileged
backgrounds can be a life changing experience. What can be more
motivating than knowing you are playing a key role in transforming their
entire future?
- Anand Mahindra, Managing Director, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited
Short Term -
Teach For India kids on a different life path
Long Term -
Leaders working until ALL children attain an excellent education
Toshif started the year somewhere above a grade 1 level in Reading
Comprehension and now he's got 93% on a grade 4 paper, in class 4.
At the beginning of the year, he had problems managing his anger
and now most of his classmates describe him as passionate, helpful and
caring.
- Sanyukta Bafna, Teach For India Fellow 2011
My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are grayish blueish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.
- Shel Silverstein
Teach For India is not just about what you do; it is about who you are.
A JOURNEY OF SELF
Find your colours.
Know, understand and care about
the colours of those around you.
You cannot give what you don't have. Therefore at Teach For India, we
cannot teach our kids what we have not learnt ourselves, we cannot
drive self awareness in others If we are not striving towards it ourselves,
we cannot lead others if we do not know how to lead ourselves.
Anasuya Menon, Training Team
TEACH FOR INDIA'S MOST
IMPORTANT WORDS
CHILDA precious, loving bundle of potential.
I realize one of our biggest
strengths is that we are all on the
side of the child majority of
people we come across have
different agendas, but we should
uphold this one.
- Saurabh Taneja, Teach For India
Alumnus, 2009
FELLOWA teacher committed to doing what it takes to put every child on a different life path.
When I think of a TFI Fellow, I think of a young adult who envisions a
different India. A kinder, compassionate, more equitable India. A brave
leader who is working rigorously in the classroom to give 40 students access
to a new world that lifts them out of poverty. A believer who will seize
opportunities to partner with the community, invest stakeholders, and gain
as much knowledge as possible so that, one day, years from now, all children
in India will attain an excellent education.
- Jeet Patel, Recruitment Director
When I think of a Teach For India child, I think about a kid who is
constantly engaged in learning, be it inside or outside the class. I see him
or her exhibiting values, helping everyone around and expressing
gratitude. I want to see this kid always striving to get better - a better
student, a better human being and a better citizen.
- Shivani Gandhi, City Team, Hyderabad
ALUMNIA Teach For India graduate who works for an India where every
child attains an excellent education.
STAFF AS LEADERSA leader building a movement of leaders.
I hope that our
alumni will create
sustainable solutions
and initiatives to all
the problems and
obstacles that come
in the way of
providing excellent
education for all
students.
- Venil Ali, City Team,
Mumbai
I hope our alumni
have a multiplier
effect.
- Gayatri Lobo,
Strategy, Alumni and
Development Teams
I hope our alumni
embody our core
values, work
relentlessly for
children, foster co-
operation and
collective effort, and
are the strongest
advocates of our
movement.
- Saahil Sood, City
Team, Hyderabad A leader is best when
people barely know he
exists, when his work is
done, his aim fulfilled,
they will say: we did it
ourselves.
- Lao Tzu
Staff is the custodian of the vision,
mission and values of Teach For
India. They inspire and invest all the
stakeholders to become a part of
Teach For India and finally find their
puzzle piece and continue to be part
of the movement as alumni.
Anuja Kishore, HR Team
A DIFFERENT LIFE PATHReversing the statistics for our children through academic achievement,
values and mindsets, and exposure and access.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIPThe kind of leadership that ensures every child across India
attains an excellent education.
I hope that my children never forget where they came from,
who they are today and what they want to be tomorrow. I
want them to not just use the voice we equip them with but to
use it judiciously and hope that this trickles down to a better
tomorrow where they empower their children with what they
have learnt to equip them to make informed decisions.
- Animesh Priya, Teach For India Fellow 2011
Transformational teaching fundamentally changes students' life
outcomes and equips them with opportunity, equity, and choice.
It's leadership that does whatever it takes to ensure our students
reach that vision - and thus their full potential.
- Sandeep Rai, City Team, Pune
What constitutes a different life path is unique to each child we
work with. I think it is about addressing a need/gap - which for
some children might be vision, for others academics, for others
confidence, for others parental support. To me it means working
to support a child to change whatever is holding them back from
reaching their full potential.
- Anna Schofield, City Team, Delhi
Transformational leadership to me is the ability to envision a never
before imagined future and enabling a team to accomplish it by
getting them to perform at levels they never believed they were
capable of.
- Sidharth Agarwal, City Team, Pune
THANK YOUEvery day, we have so much to be thankful for.
We must balance the urgency of our mission with being gentle on ourselves,
each other, and Teach For India.
In a gentle way, you can shake the world
Gandhiji
I think for me gratitude is about finding and appreciating joy in
smallest of things in the people, places and things around me and
saying thank you for those smallest of things, recognizing the joy
and happiness they bring to me and others.
- Emma Francis, City Team, Delhi
ANDWe believe most things are not or, but and.
When you have the choice of not doing something or doing something,
go ahead and do it.
I think of all the kids we work
with and all the kids we want
to reach. I think of all the
people behind the scenes,
working passionately, making
tough decisions, working
against odds every single day
to make amazing things
happen for all our kids. I think
of the joy in small things and
it means that I know we are
on the path of getting to one
day all children.
- Shrutika JhadavONE TEAM. ONE MISSION While we value our individual opinions, we know that only our collective
impact will take us to our mission.
BE GENTLE
I HOPE YOU DANCE
Today, I asked students to
write down what comes to
their mind when they hear the
word 'hero.' There were the
obvious Salman Khan and
Sharukh Khan answers and
then there was Toshif's
answer. He said, "When I hear
the word hero it reminds me
of teachers because they help
children everyday, all the time
and a hero's job is also to help
people."
- Sanyukta Bafna, Teach For
India Fellow, 2011
Noun. A toy consisting of vanes of coloured paper or plastic pinned to a stick
so that they revolve when blown on.
TEACH FOR INDIA'S SYMBOLS
THE FIRKI
Round and round
My Firki spins
Its colours run and run
And show me with great certainty
A movement has begun
Noun. A problem or enigma that tests the ingenuity of the solver.
To solve educational inequity, we need effective, strong leadership in each
piece of this puzzle AND we need for our leaders to work together to solve
educational inequity.
THE PUZZLE OF EDUCATIONAL INEQUITY
TEACH FOR INDIA'S
CORE VALUESWhen I help someone when nobody is looking at me like Didi or
my parents. I help because it is a good thing and a kind thing to
do.
- Mubashera, Teach For India student
- Nitin, Teach For India
student
We think about our area of work and what each core value looks like for
us, and for Teach For India. We know that our journey of leadership is a
journey of learning, and living our core values.
As I walked into class today, Samreen, all of 8,
comes up to me and gives me a small little
packet. In her broken English she tells me that
since I write with chalk on the board every
day my hands get dirty and so she has got me
these plastic gloves to prevent that from
happening. How could I not oblige? At the
cost of looking stupid, I walked through school
all day wearing a plastic glove!
Zafar Bhatri, Teach For India Fellow, 2012
Every time we love, we receive. Love is my spiritual practice. If you love all, you can
effortlessly serve all. I try to practice love in every moment. I try to love myself first
and then I try to love everyone I meet. I believe small is beautiful. As Mother Teresa
said, "we can do no great things; only small things with great love." So if love is in
the center, everything will naturally come together.
- Jayesh bhai
To me it means to help
someone till he or she
gets success.
A collection of people that
achieves much more than
the sum of their parts
through collaborating,
supporting and
complementing each
other.
- Tomos Davies, Operations
Size of team
doesn't matter.
We work together
and help everyone
because in team
we work as one.
- Akhil, Teach For India student
When the Indian cricket team
wins, India wins as a team.
- Ashfaq, Teach For India student
It means when
I am writing a
test and I am
scared because
I don't know
one answer
and then the student in front
knows and I cansee the answer
in his paper but I don't copy
because that is wrong.
That is integrity.
- Ovez, Teach For India student
I feel that your actions
should be true like your
words.
- Nitin, Teach For India
student
Have the courage to
follow your heart and
intuition. They somehow
already know what you
truly want to become.
Everything else is
secondary.
- Steve Jobs
Respect means I invite open
feedback and have faith in
myself to reflect and learn. It also
means I will take care of my
needs and respect my body, my
mind and relationships that
matter.
Humility is internalising my
favourite three lines:
Your stay on this earth is short
Your role dispensable
and your impact inconsequential
- Anu Aga, Teach For India
Chairperson, Teach For India Board
Come first in
class but don't
talk about it so
much. Help
others also do
their best.
- Masuma, Teach For India
student
Respecting
someone in
front and behind
that person
same way is
respect .
- Aman, Teach For India student
Making paper
planes with
the same
paper even
though
your first
plane has
crashed. Problem is with the
way you made the
plane not with the paper, no,
Didi?
- Gulam Ali, Teach For India
student
Resourcefulness is getting
Shaheen to say no to Kate,
taking money from Sid to give
it to Somika, getting praised
for it by Jeet, often confusing
if not convincing others with
fancy jargon like book
balancing, CPF, budget etc.
and still managing to show
less spending to Anu and
Deepak and saving enough for
Gayatri's next year kitty
Dimple Gujral, Finance and
Admin Team
I'm not going through life with a safety net anymore. I'm a part of a bigger plan
that involves millions of little children and 45 of my own. I'm part of an
extraordinary team filled with people from all over the world who believe that
inequality can and WILL be demolished.
- Sharanya Ramesh, Teach For India Fellow 2012
If you want to do
something, do it from
your heart
- Ashfaq, Teach For India
student
- Aman, Teach For India
student
A person who never gives
up and he always tries his
best to change the world
I know that when I grow up I can be
who ever Iwant to be like a magician or
a doctor or a circus-walla.
Sense of possibility for me is having the
power to dream big and then taking the
responsibility to make it a reality.
- Romana Shaikh, Training Team- Sana, Teach For India student
When didi writes 'good' in my book, I want her to write
'excellent' next time, so I work hard even though my work
is good.
- Naved, Teach For India student
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are
powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens
us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does
not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children
do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not
just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we
unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated
from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others
- Marianne Williamson
A space to breathe and hear my instincts. A time to balance the
outer voices with my inner voice. A chance to make sense of what
has been, as well as to feel the energy of my questions and
convictions about what is to come.
- Emily Dew, City Team, Pune
Thinking
deeply for
something
great
- Ashfaq, Teach For India student
When we think
about what we
did bad or
good and how
we can
improve
- Ume Habiba, Teach For India
student
In 2015-16, we will:
1. Recruit, select and matriculate 1000 Fellows with the
potential to become leaders who will work relentlessly
to eliminate educational inequity.
2. Place every child that Teach For India works directly
with on a different life path through a focus on rigorous
academic growth, values and mindsets, exposure and
access.
3. Inspire, network and catalyze 2500 alumni who are at
the forefront of the educational reform movement,
working across sectors to ensure every child attains an
excellent education.
4. Generate national focus around the educational crisis
in India, the importance of educational equity and the
role that every person has to play in solving it.
5. Build Teach For India into a great, enduring institution
that has the talent, passion and resources needed to
reach our vision.
2016 BIG GOALS
Teach For India is not your
average work place. Its got a
buzz about it, a constant sense of
excitement and energy that
keeps everyone and everything
going faster. The best thing
about it? The freedom. You have
the freedom to make thing
happens. Have an idea that you
believe in? Small or big, its up to
you to make it come to life.
When a place pushes you to
think bigger and do more, when
the people around you are
young, excited and determined,
that's when you start discovering
what you're really capable of.
- Ayesha Dubash,Communications
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