ANIT ARORA
WHAT MAKES ME A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
I have focused on the changing concept and needs of education in the modern, globalized world. This is the age of Information, where all information, which has passed in the name of education so far, is available to everyone at the click of a mouse, or even a tap on a smartphone. On the other hand, the twenty-first century world is in constant flux – the past ten years have probably seen more changes than in previous several centuries. Latest technology, innovations and designs have become obsolete in a matter of a few years or months. Moreover, by all indications, the process is only going to accelerate further making it more and more demanding to survive and succeed.
Therefore, I have tried to inculcate the development of skills and quotients that would enable the denizens of this new world to cope with these changes, adapt, learn and develop new skills.The primary way to develop these skills and quotients in students is to gradually provide them greater freedom of experimentation and research, and encourage them to take up responsibilities for different projects, presentations, organization and management of various events, and so on.
I have taken care that this emphasis on skill development does not detract us from the goal of holistic development of each child as an individual. This involves an elaborate programme of identifying different kinds of learners, and providing for differential learning aids and activities for them at the stage of lesson planning itself. This is further assisted through a range of curricular and extracurricular activities.
One of the most important aspects of the twenty-first century world is technology. Soon, familiarity with, or a certain level of expertise in, technology is going to be an essential requirement for success in any walk of life. Therefore, I have taken particular care to inculcate technology in not just the curriculum but almost every aspect of the running of the school. My present school has a fully Wi-Fi campus where every student has access to a computer with internet. In addition, all school processes are streamlined through an ERP system, and all student records and progress reports are made available, to students and parents alike, on their smart phones – all this with a view to making every student as accustomed to technology as fish to water.
The way an organization is governed has a great impact on its output; in the case of a school, its students. Recognizing this, I have organized the whole school along democratic lines with full autonomy of functioning at every level. The school is divided into several segments, each looked after by a dedicated coordinator emerging from the existing staff on merit, and not imposed from outside, with responsibilities carefully delegated down the line. This has led to the students imperceptibly imbibing the democratic values where difference of opinion is not just tolerated but turned into a source of strength.
All said and done, the basis of the success of a school is the competence of its teachers. Therefore, I have put special emphasis on the professional development of teachers. My present school decides on a calendar of teachers’ workshops for the year in advance, besides encouraging them to go for additional qualifications and keep themselves up-to-date with the latest developments in their fields.
MY MISSION AS A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
Being a Progressive Principal shall amount to a worldwide recognition of my views on, as well as mission and vision of, education. With this, my voice would carry a far greater weight at global educational summits and forums, which I will use as platforms to disseminate my vision and mission, and raise debates, discussions and brainstorming sessions to devise concrete ways for its more effective implementation.
To be sure, the public school system caters only to a small segment of young learners from the higher echelons of the society. However, it is this segment that occupies crucial positions in governments, business and industry, and thus becomes the prime mover behind policies and programmes. Thus, with this coveted title, I shall be able to influence the future policy makers of the world who will, consciously or unconsciously, incorporate the values my vision aims at, into their decision making. Still, sooner or later, it will be essential to implement this vision down the social and economic ladders. This will necessitate interaction with education boards in India, and the worldwide. This coveted title will make them pay heed to my views on changing educational needs and, hopefully, incorporate them in their curricula.
LEARNING BY DOING
Hands-on projects have been an integral part of the curriculum at all levels in all my schools. All subjects, in all classes, involve project work undertaken by students individually as well as teams of students collectively. These projects may lead to several different types of outcomes – models, presentations, reports, and so on.
Expeditionary learning has been among some of the most successful initiatives I have taken. It combines several aspects of skill development: interdisciplinary learning, hands-on experience, practical exposure, community service and teamwork, to name a few.
One example is an expeditionary learning project, undertaken in my present school, on horticulture development through soil testing in the Doaba region of Punjab, titled Micronutrients in Horticulture: A Project-based Approach to Learning Science, Mathematics and English. It combined the learning of sciences, mathematics and English along with community service, besides being a fun-filled activity for the students. Experiential learning is not a stand-alone entity, but a part of all project-based learning as well as organization of, and participation in, all extra-curricular activities. All my efforts to implement these learning methods, therefore, have led to an immense amount of valuable experiential learning in all the schools I have served.
INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
Study of thematic units involving inter-disciplinary learning, though a novel and useful approach, has still not gained wide acceptance as a classroom teaching practice, because of the inherent risks of degenerating into a potpourri and causing polarity. Therefore, I have confined it to some select few units per class that require deeper understanding of the disciplines involved.
For example, in physical education (PE), the teacher concerned is helped by the biology and physics teachers in teaching thematic units involving these subjects. Nonetheless, the project based learning does involve interdisciplinary learning centred around a thematic unit. For example, in my present school, the project mentioned earlier had Plant Nutrients in Soil as the central theme. The team of teachers that conducted the project consisted of the teachers of biology, chemistry, mathematics and English, and the learning outcome involved well defined goals in each of the subjects. It would be worthwhile here to have a little more detailed look at this project. So, the abstract of the project is given below.
Science, Mathematics and English form the core of learning in schools. However, sometimes the teaching of these subjects remain compartmentalized and confined to classrooms, without making the students realize their interdisciplinary links and their integrated implementation to holistically execute projects. Realizing this limitation in teaching of these subjects, CIS Dasuya undertook this project with the following objectives:
- Taking the study of Science, Mathematics and English out of the classroom.
- Making students realize how these subjects are connected to their own immediate real world phenomena, and how they can be used to execute developmental projects.
- Improving their skills in designing and carrying out projects, mathematically analyze the statistical findings and provide opportunity to use English in a variety of real world situations.
- Carrying out a micronutrient analysis of the soils of the orchards in and around the town of Dasuya and making recommendations to the growers for improvement in the quantity and quality of their yield, demonstrating the generalizability of the project to all parts of India and agro-based economies of South Asia.
The project chalked out the correct micronutrient requirements of the orchards in and around Dasuya, established the process of analysis in other parts of India and South Asia, and, at the same time, exposed students to experiential learning, mathematical procedures and statistical analysis, and use of English in different kinds of situations with different people.
However, at the junior level, where we enjoy greater freedom of curriculum development, I have implemented this approach to a greater extent. In my present school, I have set up a dedicated e-lab for the purpose. The team of teachers involved in teaching a particular theme, for example, river, conducts research and jointly prepares the learning material, which is then delivered, as per the objectives of the lesson, by the team.
INTEGRATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTO EDUCATION THROUGH FACULTY
Enterprise in education is about taking an enterprising approach to teaching and learning. Enterprise encourages all young learners to learn and develop in a way that meets their needs and develops skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work. In this regard, my faculty is constantly oriented, through regular workshops, towards incorporating these skills in their lesson delivery.
Some of the approaches adopted are: We promote positive attitude through our morning assemblies held separately for three wings, making the content age appropriate. The content includes awareness of the world in political, economic and other aspects, critical and instant thinking through extempore speeches and debates, confidence and public speaking skills through a range of activities like role play and presentations. This also helps students develop the skills of problem solving, risk evaluation and decision making with the ability to transfer these skills to different contexts, including the world of work. Learners are also made familiar with entrepreneurial skills through visits to a variety of firms in the vicinity, for projects. These projects often involve a study of different entrepreneurial aspects, like finances and human resources.
In addition, providing education, being part of the service industry, is itself an enterprise. Therefore, I organize my faculty and support staff on clear entrepreneurial lines. This involves organization of the faculty on clear hierarchical basis. Each level has its delegated responsibilities with complete autonomy of functioning in its domain. The whole process is streamlined through the use of technology. The ERP system and various ways of communication and information sharing available on the public domain, like emails and document sharing systems, are part of this.
The satisfaction of the key stakeholders is an essential part of any enterprise. Therefore, I lay special emphasis on including parents at various levels in the process of imparting education. In this effort, we even organize “back to class” programmes for parents where they are made familiar with the modern teaching methodology, so that they could be able to help their wards from the right perspective.
It will be relevant here to note that these efforts have led my present school to a tremendously high level of achievement as an enterprise. It has been conferred with the Award for the Most Influential Brand in Education in India by White Swan, with its Chairman, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Vasal, getting the Award for the Most Influential Brand Leader in Education in India.
PROBLEM SOLVING & CRITICAL THINKING AMIDST THE FACULTY
Problem solving and critical thinking skills, in order to be imparted to the students, have first to be inculcated in the faculty. The exhaustive coverage of the programme of professional development of teachers is meant to serve this end. The programme includes a comprehensive sweep of skills through regular workshops where teams of teachers are often required to work on different projects. This brings out their critical thinking and problem solving skills to the fore.
However, problem solving ability is developed only while dealing with real world problems in real time. The layered organization of my faculty entrusting responsibilities to as many teachers as possible in the roles like Academic Coordinators, Activity Coordinators and Heads of Departments with full autonomy, provides them with the exact situations where they can develop and use this ability. I honour their autonomy to the fullest extent and never take decisions concerning their fields without taking them into confidence.
As a natural corollary, then, abilities like critical thinking and problem solving are imperceptibly transmitted into students through their close contact with teachers. One particular innovation that I would like to point out here is Overnight Study Camps. These camps are held from time to time during the weekends. During these, students whether boarders or day scholars stay on the campus along with their teachers, through the weekend. They stay together, study together, play together and hold activities together. This develops a close bond between the teacher and the taught that facilitates transmission of values and abilities.
GROUP WORK AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMIDST THE FACULTY
Group work, or teamwork, has been the ethos of the work culture in every school I have led. I firmly believe that no meaningful education can be imparted unless the faculty is welded together as a team, shares the vision and mission of the school, and is equally passionate to accomplish it. In my present school, for example, teams are constituted for every task, like Awards Day functions. Responsibilities are clearly laid down among the team members and the team leaders constantly coordinate the process to the successful accomplishment of goals. After successful completion of every such task, each team member, along with the team leaders, gets recognition, praise and incentives. What is more important, almost every teacher is involved in one activity or another, depending on their orientation and inclination. Thus, the whole faculty is welded into one strong team that has taken the school to an unprecedented level of achievement.
It would not be out of context here to note that, in just about a decade, my present school has established itself among the top schools of the country – included among top 35 day-boarding schools of India by Education World, top 20 international schools of India by Brainfeed, and conferred with numerous awards and recognitions. Today, the whole faculty feels proud of these achievements and shares the commitment to impart the best possible education to the students of this rural area.
One particularly important area essential for team motivation is work life balance. In all the schools I have led, I have provided channels for socializing, through team get-togethers, collective trips and celebration of all important occasions to all team members, along with their families. In addition, unique opportunities for socializing are created for residential teachers as well as students in the form of organization of Boarders’ Activities. These activities take several shapes, ranging from the academic, like debates and declamations, to more celebratory in nature, like musical nights as well as sports. In addition to benefiting the residential students, these activities become occasions for the residential teachers, who participate along with their families, to develop social skills.
UNDERSTANDING & ACTION BASED LEARNING
Rote learning automatically becomes futile and of no use when acquiring knowledge becomes secondary and development of skills assumes prime importance. As I have constantly emphasized development of crucial skills as the future requirements, rote learning has always remained out of focus in my schools. Project based learning, researching, problem solving and thematic learning are all part of the process to promote understanding and action based learning. To cite the example of my students’ project on soil nutrients and horticulture, it almost impalpably enabled the understanding of so many areas of science, mathematics and English that could never have been understood in the classroom. In addition, it stimulated the students’ learning faculties by stimulating their natural curiosity.
Another method promoted by me to facilitate understanding is the introduction of peer classes. In these classes, high achievers of a class take up the task of teaching selected areas of the curriculum to small groups of students from their own class. First of all, this compels the students taking classes to enhance their understanding by a more careful study of the topic. At the same time, it promotes understanding among the students being taught, by making them feel freer than they usually are in their regular classes. This encourages them to ask questions which they would probably never have asked, and this stimulates the whole learning environment.
Differentiation in lesson planning and delivery is another way in which I encourage my teachers to promote understanding among the slow learners. Differentiation involves carefully designed ways of teaching that either enable the teachers to cater to the students according to their differing abilities or allow the slow learners to benefit from the better understanding on the part of the high achievers. But most importantly, I cultivate an environment where making errors is not looked down upon. Students are allowed to make errors and then correct them in a non-threatening environment.
COLLABORATIVE & COOPERATIVE LEARNING PROJECTS FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
Collaborative and cooperative learning projects form an integral part of the workshops for professional development of teachers. In a workshop for English teachers, for example, the teachers were asked to open any page from the given books, note down the keywords from that page, and develop plays from them through an elaborate process of imagining situations and writing dialogues. Even occasions like the Teachers’ Day are turned into opportunities to promote collaborative learning through innovative games.
On the Teachers’ Day, the teachers are required to sit on tables chosen through lots. This immediately breaks the tendency to form groups with familiar faces and brings teachers from different sections, who might hitherto have never known each other, together. Then, these groups of teachers are required to collaborate for innovatively chosen projects, like role play or presentation, which of course involves a lot of fun. Moreover, no task in the schools I lead is an individual responsibility. All tasks are taken up by groups of teachers which always promotes collaborative and cooperative learning.
EDUCATION ACCENTUATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDING DEMOCRACY
I think the statement here needs to be qualified by replacing “education” with “enlightened education”. After all, several groups of people showing socially irresponsible behaviour are highly educated in terms of qualifications. But, yes I completely agree that enlightened education accentuates social responsibility and safeguards democracy. I have deployed this belief in action through several methods whereby dissent and difference of opinion is expressed boldly. As for students, opportunities to express different opinions occur during Students’ Council meetings, debates and simulated MUN.
One example is the MUN held last year in one of our sister concerns where my students expressed differing opinions on several issues ranging from surgical strikes recently conducted by the Indian Army to GST. Teachers have the opportunity to express dissent in departmental and coordinators’ meetings. However, once a decision is taken and agreed to by them, they are required to implement it in totality without any reservation. This is the basis of the functioning of democracy where dissenters must accept an enlightened decision taken after proper debate and dialogue.
DESIGN & DELIVERY OF A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM WHEREBY HIGHLY PERSONALIZED LEARNING ACCOUNTING IS DONE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONAL GOALS
An ecosystem implies an organization of interdependent components that function in tandem with each other and where neglect or damage in any one component affects the functioning of the entire organization. A learning community is essentially an ecosystem where teachers, learners and the support staff work in tandem to achieve certain well defined goals. Therefore, it is essential to keep a tab on the learning taking place at the individual level. And, as neglect in any one component can affect the functioning of the entire system, it is important to personalize and individualize the learning accounting for each teacher. All school audits, therefore, carefully track each teacher’s learning goals and their achievement in a specified period of time. If the goal is not accomplished within that specified period of time, the concerned teacher is provided with individual support at the level of the heads of departments, coordinators, and of course me. It is this learning ecosystem that has made possible the numerous achievements of the school accomplished in a very short span of time, as mentioned above.
INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS INTO THE DAILY CURRICULUM
In the higher classes, as the academic excellence becomes more and more important, community service cannot be made part of the daily curriculum. However, it does become more and more integrated with the curriculum as we go down to lower classes – middle, primary, kindergarten. It is amazing to see how enthusiastic students are about these activities. In my present school, I have taken the initiative of working, in association with the Red Cross Society, for social service in the marginalised sections in surrounding areas. As part of the initiative, students regularly donate their old books to be used to educate the children of these sections. The middle and secondary level students regularly undertake projects on cleanliness and hygiene, environment improvement, and so on, as part of their formative assessment. Besides, thematic learning projects, like our project on horticultural improvement through soil testing, are designed to be integrated with the needs of the local community.
Students of higher classes too have their share in social service. Thus, during the floods that devastated Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir a few years ago, they contributed to the relief efforts by sending food and other essential requirements to the victims. It was in recognition of our efforts in community service that our Chairman, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Vasal, received the Governor’s Award from the then Governor of Punjab. He was further honoured by the then President of India by being invited to attend the General Session of the Red Cross Society at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
FUTURISTIC SELECTION OF SUBJECT CONTENT
Having been a career counsellor myself, skills required to thrive in the future society has been an area of personal interest to me. Besides, my background as a computer engineer has enabled me to understand this process of change better as the basis of the process is formed by computer science and information technology. Whichever school I come to lead, in the very beginning I engrave this fact of the fast changing world in the minds of my faculty as well as students through workshops, meetings, assemblies, and any other opportunity that presents itself. Once, the learning community of the school realizes this fact, it becomes easier both to develop content in different subjects and to change teaching methodology to make it more skill oriented, rather than seeking knowledge or information.
Seeking knowledge, in fact, becomes the second nature of students who have all modern technological infrastructure available at the school to research and find out whatever knowledge they are seeking. Teaching, then, essentially becomes what it should be – the process of facilitating development of skills, rather than cramming students’ already turbulent adolescent minds with irrelevant facts. With a view to develop new content, I have set up an e-lab in the junior section of my school where we enjoy freedom to develop our curricula (at higher levels, we have to follow the curricula of the education boards we are affiliated to). Teachers, individually as well as in teams, conduct researches in the e-lab and develop content to be delivered in the classrooms, making it more relevant to the local context. However, I believe that, with the increasing globalization, the boundaries among local, regional and global will vanish sooner rather than later. Therefore, the emphasis on content is always on integrating the local with the global, and ultimately promoting the skills that will be required by the globalized world of the future.
LIFELONG LEARNING AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF FACULTY MEMBERS
Learning is a lifelong process and, at least theoretically, this is understood by all modern teachers. It is the practice of lifelong learning which is often marred by a stubborn inertia, especially among the teachers trained in the old school. So, the real challenge before a principal is to break this inertia and enable the quest for learning to acquire a momentum of its own, whether among students or among teachers. Therefore, the continuous professional development programme in the schools I lead is carefully prepared to include programmes that combine learning with fun. It is amazing to see how teachers are transformed into children whom they teach in their classes; only, learning in case of teachers is essentially refining, finding new dimensions, growing, and inculcating this lifelong quest in their students.
Social interaction is promoted among the teachers in my school through regular get-togethers and trips that involve their families as well. The programme of conducting new activities for the boarding students is a particularly popular form of social interaction for the residential teachers. These activities, while learning, involve the residential teachers and students and, while performing, include the teachers’ families as well. Both the boarding students and the residential teachers, being away from their homes or hometowns, develop a unique kind of bonding among them, making the campus an extended family. I, being myself part of this extended family, do really feel the fine social processes taking place and the resulting social skills developing in the students and teachers.
FACULTY ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OF THEIR INNOVATIVE PROJECTS & PRODUCTIONS
Innovation, the watchword for progress in any field today, is an integral component of lesson planning itself in my schools. The format for lesson planning includes a section on innovation where teachers think of, lay down the details of, and implement innovation in their lesson delivery. It would be apt here to cite one example from one of the schools I have led. On my suggestion and including their own inputs, the English teachers in the entry level classes of the Middle, Secondary and Senior Secondary sections, i.e., Grade 6, Grade 9 and Grade 11, refrained from studying textbooks for the first few weeks of the session. Instead, the classes were divided into groups. The groups were then asked to write a short play and given some ideas. For the next few days in the English lessons in these classes, an intensive activity of group discussion, in English of course, took place. Next, the scripts were prepared by each student in a group and then finalized by them. Finally, the groups performed their plays in the classes, which were video recorded by the teachers, and in the first Parent Teacher Meet of the session, their parents watched the plays performed by their wards with amusement and pride.
The activity brought forth several benefits:
- Speaking and listening skills improved as the students were required to speak strictly in English
- Reading skills and vocabulary improved as the students carried out intensive readings for ideas on the plays
- Writing skills improved as each student was required to write their own script first, which were then integrated by the groups themselves.
- Skills like out-of-the-box thinking and traits like confidence saw tremendous boost.
- A very stimulating environment was created in the classes for the regular study of curriculum.
Moreover, regular teacher appraisal process includes an assessment of the innovative practices adopted. The practices are then inevitably transmitted to the students who carry out their own innovations in assemblies, extra-curricular activities and so on.
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY TO FACULTY EMPOWERMENT
I have very strong convictions regarding faculty empowerment. I firmly believe in delegation of responsibilities with enough autonomy to fulfill those responsibilities. It is not without reason that I have repeatedly emphasized democratic organization of the entire faculty with full autonomy at each level. Now this is the time to elaborate how this culture of participative democratic functioning is cultivated in the schools I lead, using the example of my present school.
I have ensured that no external authority is imposed on the faculty by appointing functionaries, such as Coordinators or Heads of Department, from outside. Instead, all functionaries have been chosen from the existing faculty and the basis of selection is the level of dedication and commitment shown to the school’s vision and mission. Moreover, the level of dedication and commitment of an existing faculty member is not judged by me from an ivory tower; such decisions are always based on consultation with, and unanimity among, the existing functionaries.
It is the faculty thus empowered that takes up almost the entire functioning of the school ranging from teaching in their classes to collaborating with the parents on various issues regarding a child, and all related responsibilities which the process entails. In fact, the faculty in my present school has reached the level of empowerment where I am hardly concerned with the day-to-day activities of the school, my role having been confined to facilitating various processes and initiatives.
The third aspect of faculty empowerment in my school is the non-threatening environment created for the faculty members. Lesson observation or teacher appraisal here is completely harmonious with the only aim of improvement. Moreover, if any faculty member faces any problems in any area, the school policy is always to support them in eradicating the problem, rather than creating any kind of environment where they could feel insecure