The Riverside School, Ahmedabad

The Riverside School is located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was established by Kiran Bir Sethi in 2001. With a capacity of 390 students (student to teacher ratio of 6:1) it is a small school on the banks of the Sabarmati River. The school has developed an in-house curriculum up to the 7th standard. Grades 8th – 12th follow the IGCSE curriculum. It is also a research center for school education. In the past 11 years, the school has experimented with the latest learning models and has established itself as a pioneer in the field of education.

The Founder

Kiran Bir Sethi, graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad after which she established her own design firm. Her interest in education began to form when she observed the kind of education her son was being provided. She noticed that the word ‘choice’ did not exist in his vocabulary. Every time he deviated from the textbook or tried to take charge of his own learning, his teachers would punish him. She also realized that the same was true of most students in India. The figures she discovered were: in India 200 million children go to school, only 18 million graduate college and over 90% of these leave college with NO significant professional skills.

Using her background as a designer, Kiran focussed on identifying the right problem before developing her solution. ! Today, poor student performance is often blamed on laziness and lack of interest in students or apathetic teachers. These are however, only symptoms of a much deeper problem – an uninspired and irrelevant pedagogy and curriculum. Kiran integrated her knowledge of the design thinking process into creating an educational experience that was embedded in common sense.

The Both/And Approach

Recognizing that success in the 21st century is as dependent on skill as on knowledge/ content if not more, Riverside School has adopted the both/and approach to education. In other words, not only must students care about quadratic equations, biological and chemical processes, and poetry, but also about democracy, child abuse, human rights and other problems in their community. And over the past 11 years the school has demonstrated that this approach does not hinder academic performance, but actually enhances it! When students engage with their community, demonstrate empathy and feel good about themselves, they also do well academically!

Through research and rigorous experimentation, the school has developed a ‘Citizenship Curriculum’. The curriculum expects the students to actively engage with the communities around them since grade 3. It is not an extra-curricular activity but an integral part of the curriculum. Despite the time spent on self-directed community projects the students of Riverside have out-performed the top 10 schools of India in English, Math and Science in the national ASSET assessment.

It is no longer just about being the best at math or science or even the strongest or fastest, it is becoming increasingly important to recognize our children for attitudes such as empathy, collaboration, adaptability and skills such as teamwork, problem solving, digital literacy and design thinking.

School Architecture

Starting with eleven students and one modified-bungalow-turned-school in 2001, Riverside is today an example of a creatively designed space that is not designed for students but with students. By design, every space at the school is multi-purpose.

For example:

1. For the youngest children, the bathrooms are placed IN the classroom because that is what they are used to at home – an easy access to the bathroom whenever required. Their classrooms have small plastic chairs and low tables that can easily be moved around and even carried out to the yard if the students so desire.

2. When moving from the modified-bungalow to a real school building, Kiran often sent her little children to meet with the architect and contractor to tell them what they wanted their learning space to look like. The popular multi-functional Gazebo is the product of student input! The Gazebo serves as a cool hang-out during lunch, a nice space to display school work or host an art exhibition or even a nice venue to hold a class in.

The Key-Stage Structure

The school is divided into three Key Stages (KS) based on age-based learning styles and preferences.

KS 1- Aware (Kindergarten - Grade 2) - The focus of this key-stage is to make children ‘Aware’ of their surroundings – the people, the places, the events and objects- and allow them to develop frameworks to understand this complexity!

KS 2 - Enable (Grade 3 - Grade 7) - The focus of this key stage is to ‘Enable’ the children to move between experiences, draw conclusions and make connections.

KS 3 - Empower (Grade 8 - Grade 12) - At this stage, students are considered as mature learners. The focus is to ‘Empower’ the children to now use their skills and competencies to solve problems and lead the change they wish to see in the world

The Three Rs

Rigor, Relevance and Relationships form the foundation of all learning at the school.

Rigour involves developing mastery in a subject/ skill i.e. doing it enough times to do it well -repeating a good practice till it becomes a natural part of behaviour.

Relevance involves being able to articulate “why I do what I do”. It encourages students and teachers to place a value behind every choice.

Relationships form the third pillar of the value system at the Riverside School. The focus on good relationship-building among and between students, teachers, parents, support staff, the learning spaces and the wider community helps all stakeholders appreciate the multiplicity of perspectives and make well-rounded, informed choices!

For example:

The Human Pyramid (Grade 6)(2011 - 2012):

Relevance: Grade 6 decided in February this year that as a class what they lacked the most was the ability to collaborate and work as a team. They identified the ‘Human Pyramid’ as an appropriate activity that would allow them to work together and reflect on the process as well.

Rigor: The class worked consistently for a week, learning to trust each other and work together and support each other to build a successful human pyramid. They invited two expert police physical trainers to guide them. They fell often, literally, but helped each other to get back up!

Relationships: The class relationships improved significantly of course. The grade 6 also performed the human pyramid at the opening ceremony of the Sports Day and set the tone of ‘collaborative sportsmanship’ for the rest of the event! They shared their learning with a wide audience that included the rest of the school and their parents. They also enjoyed working with their experts from the Police Department!

Riverside Beacons of Learning

1. Language Beacon (Interact with the world)

2. Logical / Mathematical Beacon (Develop number sense)

3. Scientific Thinking Beacon (Observe and Interpret data)

4. Creativity Beacon (Nurture curiosity and habits of mind)

5. Craftsmanship Beacon (Hone skill into craft)

6. Inter Personal / Intra Personal Beacon (Develop healthy identity and appreciation of others )

Awards

1. Gujarat's Best Day School by Education World ^[1]
2. All India Winner in two categories: Parental Involvement and Individual Attention

Initiatives

1. Through aProCh (a Protagonist in every Child) the school has taken design to the city of Ahmedabad, making it the first child-friendly city of India. This initiative has now spread to different cities in Gujarat.
2. Through Design for Change, Riverside has taken design thinking to the world. This initiative of the Riverside School has spread to over 35 countries across the world.

References

External links

• Riverside School website

Coordinates: 23°05′10″N 72°36′23″E / 23.0860°N 72.6065°E / 23.0860; 72.6065