First Sentence

"Note from the Author This book is about a process of transformation that started ten years ago in two schools in Mumbai. Just where does one begin to place on record a series of events that span a decade ? The more I delved into the events the more intriguing it appeared. Each interaction provided a different pattern in the kaleidoscope. If the events were to be documented which ones should I select as significant and illustrative? Every aspect was linked inextricably with others and to elaborate on one meant detailing the others as well. Each event then proved to have multiple angles --- the management perspective, the teachers viewpoint, the students’ experiences, the parents’ expectations apart from the academic objective. The more I mulled over it the more I became clear that perhaps what was required was to see the programme through the eyes of its key characters. Each perspective then became the substance of a chapter. I also recognised that what needed to be documented was the process of change, not its product. What had been launched was a process of transformation and in the transformation often what is forgotten is the process. It was necessary for the schools themselves to pause and reflect upon where they began, where they had reached and how they got there. Perhaps each individual institution attempting change would require to undergo its own process rather than replicate the model. A series of interviews, focus group meetings, classroom observations, academic meetings, file reports, records and anecdotes from the teachers form the basis of the material presented in this document. It is hoped that the perspective presented is sufficiently broad-based for any reader interested in education. Sucharita Narayanan Documentation Specialist School Improvement Programme, Aga Khan Education Service, India [ sucharita4@yahoo.com ]"