Be positive

The Saksham Values Lab is a specially designed, in-school space dedicated to inculcation of values and character building for students.

The Sarvodaya National Public School in Bengaluru has just opened the world’s first value lab, designed to instil positive values in school children.

Every week, students step into the Saksham Values Lab and enter an alternative world of self-reflection and collaborative learning. Saksham is designed as a colourful, fun, interactive and visually stimulating space that challenges students to explore positive attitudes, mindsets and choices. Students are also given projects and tasks that will help them take transformative action outside of school, and even in their own homes.

The lab has many exciting design elements. The Core Values Wheel, for instance, encourages students to use values such as empathy, respect and honesty as tools for daily success. The Interactive Wall is a space where children have to write their concerns, questions, confessions, apologies or feedback, either anonymously or otherwise.

There is also a design wall called Whispering Pipes, a series of colour-coordinated pipes that can be used by the educator to give individual and confidential feedback to children, who derive great excitement from using the pipes as communication devices. Other elements in the lab include the Values Meter, a snapshot of each grade in the school and the values they have put into practice, including integrity, empathy, and courage.

The Lotus Blackboard is an excellent mind-mapping device and reflects the school’s focus on spirituality. In contrast, the walls have designs of cities from around the world, encouraging the children to have strong roots but to look at possibilities beyond their ambit.

Outcome

“We have noticed that the school’s value education translates directly to the children’s behaviour at home and at school, with parents and teachers reporting significantly less agitation and increased cooperation among classmates,” says the school’s principal, Harini Ariga.

The lab also has a storytelling corner designed in the form of a large open book. The values educator, Deepthi Shiva, sparks many discussions around stories, and students can add different elements to the stories, including drawing, role playing and puppetry.

“There is a lot of movement, freedom and conversation,” says Deepthi. “Children make some wonderful discoveries, including how to deal with peer pressure and to develop the courage to make the right choice, even if it means standing alone.”

The Values Lab can also be used for personal counselling, brainstorming and teacher training sessions. The lab is the brainchild of Val-Ed Initiatives, a youth-led educational venture that delivers value-based learning programmes to children across schools. “Our next plan is to make Saksham a tech-enabled lab, so that students can access value labs in other schools,” said Mayank Solanki, Founder of Val-Ed.

The lab underpins what Harvard Graduate School of Education professor David Deming says will be a crucial future skill — empathy. Even Google’s internal research envisions leaders of the future as people who can empower teams and bring about inclusion.

The author is a freelance writer.