Samita Basu
WHAT MAKES ME A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
“Teaching is the most powerful weapon to change the world”, this quote by Nelson Mandela always inspires me to better myself in this service of teaching. I believe that learning is not limited to the books or restrained to the chalk and talk method. The holistic development of the child is what we should strive to attain. Value education, development of analytical and critical thinking and teaching life skills is the need of the hour. A principal should be able to design and implement this education system with her team and give the country a well developed citizen. I try to work in this line of thought as a Progressive Principal.
MY MISSION AS A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
“The future of the world is in my classroom today”, this is my personal mission. My mission is translated everyday with the activities and teaching methodology implemented in the school. By dint of being bestowed with the title of Progressive Principal of India, it shall give confidence to the parent fraternity that their ward is in competent hands and would be ready to face the challenges of life once he steps into the world. Being a Progressive Principal will also be my yardstick to continuously develop my learning process and keep up with the new advancements and methodologies of teaching.
LEARNING BY DOING
The schools which I have been a part of have transformed classroom teaching into activity oriented teaching. I have guided the teachers and students to host the prestigious CBSE Science Exhibition in the school where the students had direct contact with DRDO, ISRO and Archeological Department of India. I have implemented multiple intelligence in the Pre-Primary to primary level in classroom after being trained by Howard Gardener. The teachers are all trained by me and the activities conducted are all in accordance with the Theory of Multiple Intelligence.
INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
The schools I have been a part of in the last 5 years, have implemented month wise theme for teaching. In Pre-Primary, concept teaching revolves around the central theme and every month there is a project day where the parents are invited to witness the students talk about this. In Primary, teaching is integrated based on concepts and there are excellent activity based programs like Math Genie, Lingo Lab, Rashtriya Bhasha Vikas, Manner Magic on a everyday life. These activities are mapped with the subjects.
PROBLEM SOLVING & CRITICAL THINKING AMIDST THE FACULTY
Problem solving and critical thinking is not treated as a separate entity. The curriculum planning, teaching and assessment imbibes these two aspects. Regular classes for students are conducted by trained experts on Vedic mathematics, reasoning and aptitude each week.
GROUP WORK AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMIDST THE FACULTY
Student Council Members, House System is very active in my school. Teachers are always teamed up to do any set of activities.
UNDERSTANDING & ACTION BASED LEARNING
Students are not just given any assignment to learn. It is ensured that the teachers demonstrate what they are teaching. For example, Primary students are taught multiplication using the Napier’s Scale and Abacus. Addition table is used in every classroom. Students think, analyse, comprehend and then learn.
EDUCATION ACCENTUATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDING DEMOCRACY
Education gives a structured framework to the ideas we have in our mind. It empowers an individual to lend voice to their thought process. Here teachers and students brainstorm before any new ideas are implemented. I strongly believe in group work and if the teachers and students have the freedom to express their ideas, then there is a positive resonance in the campus.
DESIGN & DELIVERY OF A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM WHEREBY HIGHLY PERSONALIZED LEARNING ACCOUNTING IS DONE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONAL GOALS
Each child has a personal scholastic and co-scholastic record maintained by the teacher. The parents are always updated about the academic and behavioral skills of their ward. Each child sets his own target for a given time frame and they try to attain it.
INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS INTO THE DAILY CURRICULUM
In my present school, we have a SMART Living Program for the high school which is a program to develop social awareness and the right way to live. The Theme is changed every months and students are involved in conducting rallies, debates, poster making to name a few. The various themes we covered since last academic year are : 1. Swasth Bharat 2. Safety in driving 3. Natural Resource Protection 4. Eat Healthy, live healthy 5. Brain Drain 6. Empowering India.
FUTURISTIC SELECTION OF SUBJECT CONTENT
I have been able to influence the curriculum designing to a great extent. I have worked as a curriculum architect for many schools and have trained and designed content from Pre-Primary to Std V. Life skills, value education and soft skills are a part of the curriculum for the students in my school.
LIFELONG LEARNING AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF FACULTY MEMBERS
In the school we have a Soft Skill Department, and all teachers are trained at regular intervals by a guest expert in any one area. I have personally trained my teachers on Emotional Quotient, Classroom Etiquette, Anger Management to name a few. I can train teachers because I am a Teacher Trainer and also have done my education in Psychology and Personnel Management. Having a team of good communicators is the need of the hour.
FACULTY ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OF THEIR INNOVATIVE PROJECTS & PRODUCTIONS
A structured system of Teacher’s Appraisal is done every two months in the academic area. Teachers are all in charge of one activity based on their area of expertise like NASA Projects, MUN, CBSE competitions, Olympiad competitions, to name a few. The teachers are appraised based on the involvement and performance of the students in these activities.
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY TO FACULTY EMPOWERMENT
“Behind me is infinite power, before me is endless possibility and around me is endless possibility”, this is what all the team members in the organisation believes in. As their team leader I give my teachers the required exposure to better themselves by organising workshops, training and also peer group brainstorming. Each teacher is given the responsibility and power to be in charge of their own class or subject, and only because they have the freedom to take up the responsibility, they are accountable to the power bestowed on them.