Instituto Sri Sathya Sai Brings Self-Confidence To Their Students

Monica Marin

School Administrator

Institution type: A non-profit organization with the mandate to develop spiritual values.

Country: Mexico

About:

A non-profit organization with the mandate to develop the spiritual part of humankind through a Human Values Education program. The institute trains teachers, pedagogues, and social workers to teach the youngest learners to build their character and flourish as complete human beings with overall qualities. Also, the institution is in charge of publishing manuals, books and articles related to this topic. And finally, we have two model schools in México that take to real life how a Human Values Education program impacts all the aspects of daily life.

Please describe your role; what do you do?

I'm in charge of the administrative aspects for our schools, such as payroll, salary reviews, hiring, finance status, accounting, tax payments, social security. Additionally, I look for academic partnerships to enhance our students learning environment.

What were your main challenges before using FAME?

We had an internal audit last year to analyze our school's performance. The outcome reflected that there were two main topics that we needed to focus on: English language and Science.

Our schools should improve the teaching of both subjects to create opportunities for our graduates, so they can continue their learning journey at high school and university to have access to better jobs.

What was the motivation to use FAME?

First, we looked at it as an exciting project for the junior high. We were starting back then, the courses looked attractive for our students, who could give them notions about drawing and spaces, but after the internal audit we had, we realized that we could use the platform to leverage English language and Science subjects.

What criteria did you use when deciding to become a FAME partner?

The platform is straightforward to use, and that we could include students in our rural areas regardless of their location. The courses are short duration (microlearning) with deep and straightforward content and very well-explained, giving our students a sense of progression.

How has the experience been of being part of our FAME Partner Network?

We have always communicated with the FAME staff and are aware that the course library keeps expanding. Once the Science, Math and English courses were released, we were delighted. FAME is a product that we use daily, it's a platform that continuously grows, and every new update happily surprises us.

How has FAME helped you to address your challenges?

We were very concerned about getting better in Sciences and English courses as a second language. So, we trained our English teachers and hired a Science expert to teach in junior high, and we looked at FAME as a partner in which we could find support for our institution in these two subjects.

Once the Science, Math and English courses were released, we were delighted

How has FAME impacted your success?

Today, we see our junior high students transitioning from their English class to their Digital Art class with ease. For instance, in their English classes, they listen and speak in English, an hour later, they switch subjects with their Digital Art teacher to a new topic about spheres and 2D or 3D stuff in English! It's a joyful experience to watch them grow and learn.

When the students switch from one class to the next, they probably do not realize they are in a completely different headspace. Please consider that our schools are not bilingual, and our children come from impoverished families with a low level of education.

For their parents to see that their children speak English, understand the human figure and its dimensions is a wow effect! In addition, parents are pleasantly surprised that their children are so bright in these subjects because most parents do not understand these subjects themselves as adults.

How do you measure the value FAME provides?

We value our students' self-confidence. To see how our boys and girls can express themselves through a combination of Art, Mathematics, and Science in English without any hesitation or embarrassment is the most outstanding achievement!

This is a big step for our school, students, and their future lives.

In poverty, the lack of self-confidence is a way of living, the feeling of "I do not deserve this or I'm not worthy of that" happens every day. However, when these young boys and girls express a mathematic problem, offer the solution to such problem and can explain to their teacher the difference between a sphere and a circle in English (foreign language), this is a big step, for our school, for them, and their future lives!

What do you love about your job? Your company?

I love the opportunity to see how education -the right one- impacts people's lives. You can give students more options that will enhance their lives and those around them. We are sure that our students will decide the best future for themselves and their families.

I'm happy we chose FAME to supplement our students' education. In the past few days, we have been talking to other schools in our region with similar conditions as our school, and they are very interested and willing to pilot FAME with us for their students.

I'm confident that this kind of education that is modular, integrated, easy to use, with a global concept of non-frontiers, will give students a larger vision of the world to make better decisions for their future.