UditVani, Jamshedpur: Stress relief from laughter ? It’s no joke.
When it comes to relieving stress, more giggles and guffaws are just what the assistant professor of Loyola College , Chennai Dr. J M Arul Kamaraj suggested to the teachers here.
Taking time out from his busy schedule the assistant professor of the prestigious Loyola College of Chennai, who is here in Jamshedpur on a four-day visit conducting orientation program for school teachers told the Udit Vani Digital that laughter is an important component which helps in controlling stress and improving efficiency of teachers.
With 19 years of teaching and research experience in higher education he has several qualifications under his belt including a PhD , Master of Social Work, MA ( Labour Management) and MBA ( in HRM).
A certified laughter teacher and a therapist from the Laughter Yoga University, Bangalore Kamaraj says, ” Incorporating laughter therapy techniques can foster a more positive and engaging learning environment, improving student stress, fostering collaboration, and ultimately enhancing teaching effectiveness.”
He went on to say that laughter is a stress buster and that this been scientifically proven.
The orientation programme conducted by the dynamic and learned professor comprises four parts – the last one being strategies to control job stress – wherein he demonstrates the participants laughter yoga, laughter dance, laughter meditation.
A rollicking laugh fires up and then cools down one’s stress response, and it can increase and then decrease heart rate and blood pressure. The result – it provides a good relaxation and improves one’s effectiveness.
The assistant professor also emphasised on the 21st century life skills in this digital era. It includes creativity, critical thinking, growth mindset and AI ( Artificial Intelligence) for effective teaching and learning processes.
During the interaction, the assistant professor of the reputed Chennai-based Loyola College also gave a word of advise for teaching fraternity –understanding the psychology and behavior of students.
He also referred to Gen Alpha ie , Generation Alpha which is the first generation to experience remote classrooms, streaming services and portable digital devices from early childhood.
Gen Alfa is the term used to describe the generation of children born between 2012 and 2025.
” Such children have the capacity to understand things faster , they have specific skills of understanding new technology and learning things better visually, ” he explained.
Kamaraj, an expert in training teachers with vast experience had also been to Jamshedpur last year conducting a study tour for a group of 46- students of the Loyola College.
He was in all praise for educational institutions here. ” Usually we go to bigger cities like Delhi and Mumbai for the study tour. But, last time we decided to explore a smaller place like Jamshedpur in Jharkhand where we got a positive feeling about education, academics and industry . The educational institutions having tribal and SC students were doing extremely good. We had a great experience as to how organisation in such small places are working in a systematic manner for achieving sustainable development, ” said Dr. Kamaraj.
Orientation Program For Teachers
The expert assistant professor conducted orientation programme for teachers in as many as three schools including Loyola School Bistupur and the new Loyola School’s Telco branch which within its short span is doing extremely good in academics and other co- curricular activities.
The format of the orientation programme in the form of a workshop was same across all the schools.
The topic for the orientation program was “Teacher Competency Development : The Key to Student Empowerment.”
Orientation Program at Loyola School, Telco
The program held yesterday was compered by Ranjita Kaur. The program started with a prayer by senior coordinator Reshma Rodrigues, followed by a prayer song by Saurabh and his team of teachers.
During the program, the school administrator Father Gerry and principal Charanjit Ohson welcomed the guests and presented them with bouquets.
The principal also took time to introduce all the new teachers. Thereafter, the keynote speaker, Dr. J.M. Arul Kamaraj and wife Nithya Kamaraj addressed the session.
Addressing the teaching faculty with laughter yoga therapy, Dr. Arul Kamaraj guided the teachers on inspiring pedagogy practices and the latest ways of student empowerment.
The highlights of the orientation session were – Inauguration and Ice Breaking, Enhancing Academic Skills, promoting 21st century life skills for academics, promoting 21st century life skills for teachers, promoting emotional education, understanding students’ attitude and behaviour, strategies to deal with teacher’s job stress, and brainstorming through group activities and music therapy to improve the training methodology.
The whole day sessions were full of audio-visual presentation and group discussion, individual activities, presentation, tool task and audio-visual assessment, quiz activity and laughter therapy were used.
“Every teacher must be competent, bringing out always the best from within, talking care about the students and creating trust among them, ” said Dr Kamaraj.
He also went in to say that teacher needs to do self-analysis without waiting for the management to do the process.
“This enables a teacher to strengthen his or her thinking and creatively add more skills to the ones resume, ” he added.
He enlightened the teachers on the latest technologies, classroom management strategies and ways to make teaching more effective.
His sessions inspired all the teachers present to improve their teaching style and contribute to the all-round development of students.
उदित वाणी 
टेलीग्राम पर भी उपलब्ध है। यहां क्लिक करके आप सब्सक्राइब कर सकते हैं।