KPM Model School: Sri Atmananda Memorial School

The KPM model school, Sri Atmananda Memorial School in Kerala, India, has children from four and one-half years (kindergarten) to seventeen years of age (twelfth standard). The school, which is non-sectarian and has children from varied socio-economic and religious backgrounds, started in 1987 with a single kindergarten class, and a class was added each subsequent year. The first class graduated in 2001. The qualities of the graduates – such as self-confidence, valuing others and enthusiasm for learning - provide proof of the success of the KPM Approach to Children.
 
It is through the experience of the KPM Approach to Children in action that one can begin to understand the power of its impact which is personal to each individual. The teachers experience the joy and happiness of the children when learning takes place through their interests. This happiness is based on the relationship between the teacher and the child. The basic trust that forms between the teachers and children in the KPM model school is not founded on, “You should listen to me; I know what is good for you,” but on, “I hear what you're saying; I know and understand you.” Though the teacher does have a sense of what is good for the child, the teacher always begins from the acknowledgement, recognition, and valuing of that individual child, starting from wherever the child actually is. In the KPM model school, the children themselves become the engines of their own learning.

By browsing the links under this ‘KPM Model School’ section, you can find out about the practical application of the Approach in the school. For an illustration of how teachers in the model school introduce the curriculum and provide for the integrated personal, social and academic development of the children in the school, you may also view the attached ‘Curriculum Project’ document: