‘I need to attend to some urgent work’ said the teacher and instructed the students to carry on with their lessons.
‘I’d be back in half an hour’ she said hurrying off to get the work done. The teacher managed to finish her work in about 20 min and rushed back to the class only to get the shock of her life !! Something which probably she had not witnessed in her long teaching career.
All the kids were religiously following the class activities and guiding each other in case there was amiss. The reason for the shock probably was the perception we have about the discipline which kids show in the absence of teacher.
By the way, did I tell you that these were students of Grade 1??
Also, did i tell you that the school is Waldorf Education-based where the kids are given the freedom n flexibility to do what they want and are not forced into something?
And did I tell you that it was an outdoor class, where actually if the kids would have just whiled away the time, the teacher wouldn’t have known?
In the context of all this, it was indeed a remarkable act of students. This happened in my daughter’s school. She is in nursery and gets hyper if even jokingly I say that I wont be sending her to the school. The school has some magical powers, I think.
You can read more about this school here. The kids in the photograph are those wonderful first graders.
Little kids in perfect discipline under zero supervision. Class running perfectly fine in auto-pilot mode. This simply amazes me.
When I am thinking of discipline, it’s meaning is not limited to pure discipline, but it also includes integrity and being prudent and responsible.So for convenience sake, let me refer this combination as DISCIPLINE +
The kids showed nothing but Discipline +
Discipline+ is not limited to students or during schooling years. It is an attitude if developed, can prove useful at every stage of life.
When I joined my organisation (11 years ago), I was surprised to see such a flexible and open work culture. Supervisor-subordinates-strict rules and order; this was my image about an office. Its only now that I am realising many companies follow such culture. And from my own experience I can say, it’s one of the best cultures to work in, provided you have Discipline+
I remember my boss had told me “Freedom comes with additional bondage”. I didn’t understand the full meaning then, as I do now.
Freedom + Discipline+ = Achieve great heights
Freedom – Discipline+ = ??? Probably depends on luck
And this Discipline+ is not limited to work as well. Your health, your finance, your behavior towards society, nature etc.everywhere you need Discipline+
Discipline+ cannot be claimed. The behaviour and the output shows it all. More than for others, you need it to answer your own self.
If you are accused of being “Discipline+ “, would you be convicted or acquitted?
Simply me 