Bokaro: What happens when teachers leave their familiar blackboards behind and become students themselves ? At Sree Ayyappa Public School, nearly 190 staff members spent Saturday doing just that – confronting stress, trying new learning techniques and rethinking what a modern classroom can look like.
A day when teachers became learners
The school turned its professional development programme into something more than a routine training exercise on Saturday, with two parallel sessions focusing on stress management and activity-based learning.
The invisible weight teachers carry
For around 100 staff members, the first stop was a Lecture Theatre, where clinical practitioner Souhaya Lakshmi Dutt led a four-hour session on stress management.
Dutt, an associate member of the WHO Global Clinical Practitioners Network and the Clinical Psychologists Society of India, drew on more than a decade of experience working with professionals in schools, colleges and corporate organisations to explore a problem that often remains invisible behind a teacher’s smile – workplace stress.
Learning to pause before the pressure takes over
The session focused on recognising the warning signs of stress, maintaining emotional balance, building resilience and finding a healthier work-life balance. The message was simple: before teachers can inspire young minds, they also need the space and skills to look after their own emotional well-being.
Meanwhile, another classroom was coming alive
While one group explored the pressures of professional life, another 90 staff members gathered at the Co-Scholastic Hall for a very different experiment – learning how to make students active participants rather than passive listeners.
From blackboard to hands-on learning
Educator, teacher trainer and editor Anurima Roy led the activity-based learning workshop. With more than 24 years of experience in education and publishing, Roy has worked with international publishing houses such as Hachette and Bloomsbury.
A recipient of the UK Top 50 Rising Star Award, she used practical demonstrations and innovative approaches to show teachers how lessons can be transformed into experiences.
When curiosity enters the classroom
The workshop encouraged teachers to rethink conventional teaching through activities that promote curiosity, creativity, collaboration and experiential learning. The idea was to make the classroom a place where students do not simply wait for answers but participate in discovering them.
Teachers had another reason to smile
The school’s faculty also received recognition from the Rotary Clubs of Bokaro and Chas on Teachers’ Day. Rita Kumari and Nazir Ahmad were among 34 educators felicitated by the Rotary Club of Bokaro. Ram Dulari was honoured by the Rotary Club of Chas at a ceremony attended by Bokaro MLA Sweta Singh.
The honours added another dimension to a day centred on recognising the people who spend much of their working lives shaping young minds.
Management: learning cannot stop with the students
Chairman P. Rajagopal, vice-chairmen Saseendran Karat and Mohanan R. Nair, general secretary E.S. Suseelan, treasurer Balachandran and board members Suresh Kumar K.A. and Dr Suresh Babu congratulated the resource persons, participants and honoured teachers.
They stressed that continuous professional development, emotional well-being and innovative teaching practices are integral to educational excellence.
A challenge to take learning back to class
Director Dr S.S. Mahapatra described faculty development programmes as a cornerstone of institutional progress and encouraged teachers to turn the day’s lessons into meaningful classroom experiences.
The principal’s message
Principal P. Shailaja Jayakumar thanked the resource persons and participants, saying such knowledge-sharing sessions could strengthen teachers’ confidence, creativity and commitment while helping create a more progressive, stress-free and student-centred environment.
And then came the real test
The workshops ended, the chairs were pushed back and the teachers returned to their familiar classrooms. But this time, they carried something more than notebooks and training certificates – new ideas on managing the pressures of teaching and new ways of making students curious enough to ask, explore and learn.
