KidZee Preschool
UX Research | Dec 2019 - July 2020
I worked as a research associate with Aishwarya Jare on her graduation thesis. The initial brief was to improve the systems and services at Kidzee Preschool, Hinjewadi. The scope was later narrowed down to the development of teachers. The project uses systems thinking, human-centred design and co-design methodologies and processes to arrive at insights that are addressed by design responses. I assisted Aishwarya in primary research, synthesis of the research, copywriting.
Kidzee Preschool Hinjewadi, Pune started 7 years ago. It is a franchise by Zeelearn Education. Over the years the preschool has established itself as a trustworthy and quality preschool.
Despite the success of the preschool, the admin wondered if they were preparing their children in the best way possible to enter the world of schooling. They were aware of all the systemic challenges the school faced: ineffective communication with parents, lack of good feedback and grievance channels for admin and staff, ineffective assessment rubric, unmotivated teachers, disinterested parents, etc. This had an effect on the students' learning too.
A flow chart describing the final intervention for the project. The teachers toolkit is divided into four deliverables: Journal and Planner, Web application, Woork sheet and group activities, collboration, daily routines and discussions.
This multipronged intervention engages with Planning, Reflection, Evolution, Growth Plan and Personal and Professional Development of the teachers.
A chart explaining the three focus areas that we narrowed down on to develop our intervention.
Sensitisation
Sensitisation is an attempt to make oneself or others aware of and responsive to certain ideas, events, situations, or phenomenon.
Often matters regarding learning disabilities are swept under the rug by the parents due to the stigma attached with mental health. In these situations, teachers who are unaware find themselves at a dead end.
Importance to cognitive intelligence or IQ.
On one hand, a child is unable to progress academically, on the other hand the parents are very hostile to the idea of something being “wrong” with their child.
However, if sensitised about subjects like slow learning and disabilities, teachers can switch strategies to accommodate all types of learners and communicate with parents empathetically.”
Systemic hurdles
A lot of challenges faced by the teachers are caused due to the confining structure prescribed by KidZee.
The organisation focuses on creating marketable academic results, rather than a holistic development of the children. As a result the teachers are always in a race to finish the syllabus, piling so much information onto the child that she is unable to absorb.
The teachers feel frustrated because they see that the children have a hard time coping up, but the parents also expect their children to be well versed in subjects, sometimes too advanced for the child.
This pressure from every side ends up demotivating the teachers, who then just do the bare minimum to achieve the expected results. The students undergo very superficial learning and this cycle propagates further.
Final theme: Personal Development
A lot of challenges faced by the teachers are caused due to the confining structure prescribed by KidZee.
The organisation focuses on creating marketable academic results, rather than a holistic development of the children. As a result the teachers are always in a race to finish the syllabus, piling so much information onto the child that she is unable to absorb. The teachers feel frustrated because they see that the children have a hard time coping up, but the parents also expect their children to be well versed in subjects, sometimes too advanced for the child. This pressure from every side ends up demotivating the teachers, who then just do the bare minimum to achieve the expected results. The students undergo very superficial learning and this cycle propagates further.
The preschool provided a very open-ended brief. The goal was to figure out and prioritize problem areas after understanding how the system at school worked and identifying gaps.
After carefully studying the culture and delving deep into the world of Early Childhood Education, interventions in the form of Toolkits for Admin and Teachers were designed.
I created developmental worksheets for the teachers based on CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). These worksheets became a part of the Teacher's Journal.
A mockup of the teacher journal. The cover page of the journal reads:
“Teacher’s journal”
“Name:” Space to enter the teacher’s name”
“Class:” Space to enter the teacher’s class”
Beneath that an illustration of three teachers eating food together. The border at the bottom of the cover pafe reads “Better Together”
To read the entire report, send me an email.