Dr. Shelly Bhutani
Stake your Claim as to why You should be accorded the Privileged Title of Being a Progressive Principal of India for the Year 2018?
I STAKE CLAIM because:
I create the schools in which our children deserve, it’s probably not necessary to devise specific policies and practices for every occasion. Rather, these will follow logically from a few core principles that we devise together.
1. I believe that learning should be organized around problems, projects, and (students’)questions — not around lists of facts or skills, or separate disciplines.
2. My thinking is messy; deep thinking is really messy. Therefore beware prescriptive standards and outcomes that are too specific and orderly.
3. My primary criterion for what we do in schools: How will this affect kids’interest in the topic (and their excitement about learning more generally)?
4. If students are “off task,” the problem may be with the task, not with the kids.
My thoughts :
1. In outstanding classrooms, teachers do more listening than talking, and students do more talking than listening. Terrific teachers often have teeth marks on their tongues.
2. Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions.
3. When we aren’t sure how to solve a problem relating to curriculum, pedagogy, or classroom conflict, the best response is often to ask the kids.
4. The more focused we are on kids’ “behaviors,” the more we end up missing the kids themselves — along with the needs, motives, and reasons that underlie their actions.
5. If students are rewarded or praised for doing something (e.g., reading, solving problems, being kind), they’ll likely lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward.
6. The more that students are led to focus on how well they’re doing in school, the less engaged they’ll tend to be with what they’re doing in school.
7. All learning can be assessed, but the most important kinds of learning are very difficult to measure — and the quality of that learning may diminish if we try to reduce it to numbers.
8. Standardized tests assess the proficiency that matter least. Such tests serve mostly to make unimpressive forms of instruction appear successful.
In what all ways shall you use this coveted title to further your personal Mission & Vision of Education?
” EMPOWERING INDIVIDUALS FOR LASTING PEACE FROM INNER CHANGE TO GLOBAL CHANGE”
MISSION : When each and every person is committed to the principle of the dignity and sanctity of life, then and there the causes for eliminating misery from the face of the earth are created.
“This pragmatic approach towards ensuring universal respect for human dignity is oriented to the ideal of a world in which no one is left behind, when we strive to avoid judging a person’s worth or potential on the basis of present appearance and instead focus on the inherent dignity of each individual.
How have you facilitatedLearning by Doing – Hands-on Projects, Expeditionary Learning, Experiential Learningat the Schools principled by you?
Learner Experience
Classroom-School Experience – Of course we focus on the design of learning in the classroom, but we need to think of a school as an opportunity to develop people, not just students. What opportunities do students have for leadership within their classroom? What opportunities do students have outside of their classroom? What do students see on the walls in the building? Does it reflect them or something else? Do students have opportunities to lead the school and have more ownership in the culture? Many of my best experiences in school were not in the classroom. A lot of those experiences help shape our kids in the future.
Personalization of Learning
Do we know our students and do we tap into their strengths and passions, or focus only on where they need to grow? Knowing our students and tapping into their desires, helps develop their resiliency. Is school about fitting students into a box, or adjusting to the needs of the learners in front of you?
Assessment
How we assess often leads the teaching, not the other way around. Student-led conferences, rethinking report cards, meaningful portfolios, are conversations that we all need to have if we are going to change the way we look at school. Self-assessment is also a skill we need to develop in our students so that they are not dependent on someone else to tell them where they need to grow. Where and how we assess, shapes a lot of the learning experiences in our schools.
In what all ways have you been Championing Integrated Curriculum Focused on Thematic Units by synergising the inter-disciplinary expertise of your faculty members?
What exactly is integrated curriculum? In its simplest conception, it is about making connections. What kind of connections? Across disciplines? To real life? Are the connections skill-based or knowledge-based?
Defining integrated curriculum has been a topic of discussion since the turn of the 20th century. Over the last hundred years, theorists offered three basic categories for interdisciplinary work; they defined the categories similarly, although the categories often had different names.
1. The Multidisciplinary Approach
2. Intradisciplinary Approach
3.Fusion
4. Learning Centers/Parallel Disciplines
5.Service Learning
How have you Planned & Steered through the Integration of Entrepreneurship into Education through your Faculty?
Entrepreneurial education and training to support growth and business creation; removing existing administrative barriers and supporting entrepreneurs in crucial phases of the business lifecycle;reigniting the culture of entrepreneurship in country and nurturing the new generation of entrepreneurs.
My concern with the plan stemmed from the fact that we have seen incredible progress in areas of international development as a result of innovation, social entrepreneurship and good policy.
How have you laid Strong Emphasis on Problem Solving & Critical Thinking amidst the Faculty of Schools you have served?
How Context Matters
I set out to explore just how context matters when school principals are faced with decisions. I wanted to understand not only how principals’ social networks mattered, but also how cognitive context mattered — how they thought about or framed their problems.
I must investigated two different ways in which principals might frame a pressing problem: as political, having to do with influence or power, or as strategic, having to do with performance and resources, wanted to see whether that framing had an effect on the kinds of people they chose to go to for help.
I found that when people frame their problems politically, they are more likely to turn to advisors they think are trustworthy and have influence. But when they frame problems as being strategic, they are more likely to turn to people they think are accessible and have resources.
The Takeaway
What does all this mean in terms of helping principals solve problems? “If people have persistent patterns in how they see problems, then they have a tendency to choose certain kinds of people, irrespective of whether that’s what the problem actually is or those are the people they actually need,” says Bridwell-Mitchell. “You can imagine that people might be thinking about the problem in the wrong way and choosing the wrong people and not ending up with the solutions they need.”
“It really gives us an incentive to invest in what people often call shared decision making or shared leadership,” “What this is saying is, you need people to help you think carefully about these problems, so you can make sure you’re conceptualizing them in ways that will get you to the right people for help.”
What has been your personal contribution in terms of accentuating Group Work and Development of Social Skills amidst the Faculty of Schools you have led?
I as School principals exercise significant influence on teacher professional development.
Identify four areas where school principal have the opportunity to have a substantial impact on teacher learning.
These include:
1. the principal as an instructional leader and learner;
2. the creation of a learning environment;
3. direct involvement in the design, delivery and content of professional development; and
4. the assessment of professional development outcomes.
In which all ways have you been able to Thwart Rote Knowledge andIntroduced Understanding & Action based Learning?
1. Deliver the information that the learner needs to know, and in a way that assists them to learn it.
2. Allow the learner to apply that information, and in ways that reflect how it could be applied in a real situation.
3. Give feedback to the learner about what they are doing that is correct, and what is incorrect, and (perhaps most importantly!) what makes it correct or incorrect.
4. Guide the learner through a reflection on their learning.
Have you been able to Introduce Collaborative & Cooperative Learning Projects for Faculty Development? If Yes, Do Elaborate.
Collaborative learning is based on the view that knowledge is a social construct. Collaborative activities are most often based on four principles:
The learner or student is the primary focus of instruction.
Interaction and “doing” are of primary importance
Working in groups is an important mode of learning.
Structured approaches to developing solutions to real-world problems should be incorporated into learning.
To what extent do you believe that Education accentuates Social Responsibility and Safeguards Democracy as in Expressing dissent & Difference of opinion boldly without fear of retribution.Have you been able to deploy this belief in action. Please Elaborate.
Education is needed for forming the minds, hearts, and hands of the next generation who will have to cope with and transform the ecological, social, and economic issues of today, issues that transcend political boundaries, cultural constructs, and economic realities?
Have you been able to design & deliver a Learning Ecosystem wherebyHighly Personalized Learning Accounting is done for each Individual’s Personal Goals?
Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits that humans freely gain from the natural environment and from properly-functioning ecosystems.
We have not design so far but we are in process to design the ecosystem with provisioning services , regulating & cultural services for everyone.
Have you been able to experiment with Integration of Community Service and Service Learning Projects into the Daily Curriculum?If Yes, to what extent and in which all ways.
Yes we have done this in many ways :
We have committed as – A-player executive, a good parent, an attentive spouse, and a healthy person with time for community engagement and hobbies.
Stop juggling and start integrating.
Begin with a clear view of what we want from — and can contribute to — each domain of our life (work, home, community, and self).
Carefully consider the people who matter most to us and the expectations we have of one another. Then experiment with some minor changes and see how they affect all four domains over a short period.
To what extent have you been able to contribute/influence theSelection of Subject Content by looking forward to Ask what Skills will be needed in Future Society – Local, Regional, National, Global?
Selection of subjects always be done with the proper help of expertise & different collaborations always be taken from different heads of different department.
As a Progressive Principal What Emphasis do you lay on the Lifelong Learning and Social Skills of your Faculty Members?In what all ways to you steward this?
To transform them in a positive approach with our future division.
Do you Follow an Assessment Regime for your Faculty Members whereby they are Evaluated out of their Innovative Projects & Productions?
Yes we always be follow
What’s your personal philosophy when it comes to Faculty Empowerment?
They should always to create more leaders in their life.
As CHANAKYA SAID “I AM THANKFUL TO THOSE WHO LEFT ME BECAUSE THEY TAUGHT ME I CAN DO IT ALONE. ” .
NAMASKAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!