SOUMYABRATA DHAR
WHAT MAKES ME A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
I believe in the philosophy that “Leaders don’t make followers, they make more leaders”. I encourage my teachers and students to become leaders by giving them responsibilities and trusting their abilities. I am of the opinion that for smooth running of the school, the head of the institution should be approachable and I believe that I am approachable to my staff, teachers, parents and the students come to my office and share their concerns without any hesitation. I try my best to resolve their issues and concerns at the earliest.
Since ours is a residential school, the cadets do not enjoy the luxury of being with their parents. So, I motivate my teachers to play a dual role of also being a parent to the cadets. I am also known as Prince-e-pal among students because I am not just an authority, but also a friend, philosopher and guide. I am open to new thoughts and ideas not just from teachers, but also from the students. Hence constructive feedback is always welcome. This makes the faculty and students to believe me in my idea of effective change.
The students and the teachers are encouraged to empower themselves. They are sent to attend workshops, exhibitions, and participate in competitions all over the country. To progress in the age of the millennials and to understand them well, I encourage my teachers to be tech savvy and update themselves according to the changes taking place. To help the cadets acquire knowledge and wisdom apart from the classroom teaching, we have a TED talk (videos) – a short, powerful video where experts share ideas about TECHNOLOGY, ENTERTAINMENT and DESIGN. I believe for an individual to function effectively, his mental health is as important as his physical well-being. Hence, I have taken an initiative to practice MEDITATION and MINDFULNESS exercises which help the students perform well in all the areas of their lives.
MY MISSION AS A PROGRESSIVE PRINCIPAL
Being a progressive principal will establish my views and philosophy in the environment. I would also strive to help other Schools to realize their aim. In education sector, results are intangible and takes time to surface. Being a progressive principal will give me an edge to establish my concepts in the environment, so as to benefit everyone in a larger perspective.
LEARNING BY DOING
I believe in the holistic development of a student and because of which I am of the opinion that students should be engaged in gaining and enhancing both theoretical knowledge and should be capable of applying it in their lives. Also, I believe that every child is a different being. Some learn quickly in the classrooms while others gain knowledge through experiences outside the classrooms. Also, few topics need to be taught by engaging students in projects and tasks outside the classrooms. Here are a few examples for the same:
- To help children understand the importance of cleanliness, a massive cleanliness drive was organized at the School on Gandhi Jayanti the 02 of Oct 2016. The cadets received a valuable lesson in cleanliness and personal hygiene. Since then, the cadets have taken the responsibility of engaging themselves in cleaning their dorms and the areas surrounding the dorms.
- Inspired by the concept of ‘Green Diwali’ and making their own effort at curtailing the noise and pollution that invariably mark the Diwali celebrations, the cadets of the school decided to make a difference this year to their celebrations – they visited two orphanages in the city which house around 65 and 44 orphaned children, mostly girls, and celebrated the festival spending some quality time with the kids and inmates and distributing sweets purchased from the money set aside for buying crackers. This initiative not just helped in curtailing the noise and the air pollution, but it also helped cadets to empathize with the children who stayed in orphanages.
- To help the students understand better about how a cadet is trained to become an officer, a contingent of 40 students of class XI was sent to the National Defence Academy, Pune, where an informative video on NDA was screened for them. They also got an opportunity to meet their seniors who further encouraged them to join the NDA.
INTEGRATED CURRICULUM
The students are given class projects based on interdisciplinary topics, so that they absorb the concepts of synergy of various subjects. In order to ingrain the idea, interdisciplinary discussions/ Symposiums on topics like History of Science & Maths, Relation of Geography and Biology etc are conducted. Faculty members are encouraged to attend interdisciplinary workshops, seminars, orientation courses. Brainstorming sessions are also conducted in the School.
INTEGRATION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP INTO EDUCATION THROUGH FACULTY
Since the main aim of a cadet in the School is to join the Armed Forces, this concept has not been touched.
PROBLEM SOLVING & CRITICAL THINKING AMIDST THE FACULTY
The main aim of the school is to prepare the cadets to join the National Defence Academy. This requires the cadets to have excellent problem solving and critical thinking ability. Hence, to help the cadets achieve these skills, they are given situations and students are expected to collaborate with their teams and plan to solve the given problems. Also, to help them have a comprehensive knowledge about the current affairs, extempore are conducted everyday during the Morning Assembly and four students are supposed to speak on the given topic for minimum five minutes.
GROUP WORK AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SKILLS AMIDST THE FACULTY
Every day I have a meeting with teachers of one particular subject. During the meeting, we have discussions regarding the methodologies used, portion/syllabus covered. The teachers get individual attention which further makes them comfortable to share their concerns related to their subjects/class or a particular student. A conference is held once a week where all the teachers along with the principal exchange ideas, discuss about the different teaching strategies that are required to adopt and implement. Workshops on topics such as mindfulness, how to identify stress in children, importance of self-care, integrated learning , working with students have been conducted at regular intervals. In order to keep the teaching faculty abreast of the latest development in the field of education, several of the teachers are sent for in-service training to premier teacher-training institutes. Staff- club/parties are organized once in a month where the teachers along with their families meet and celebrate together. This strengthens the relationships among teachers and further builds a conducive atmosphere for the teachers to work. Out-Bound Training (OBTs) are organized at the outskirts of Belgaum where teachers not just get time to relax , but they also have fun learning the various social skills.
UNDERSTANDING & ACTION BASED LEARNING
After a teacher has completed a particular topic, seminars are conducted and the students need to come prepared to the classroom with the given topic. This not only helps in the evaluation of the students but it also fosters confidence in them. Group Discussions are also organized on a particular topic which helps the students to critically analyze the topics dealt in the classrooms. Mock parliaments are planned and discussions are made on the current issues. To get a practical exposure about how manufacturing industries work, students were taken to industrial sites. Language lab has been established for the students so that they can have a better understanding about sounds of vowels and consonants. Various hobby clubs are formed such as Photography Club, Music Club, Nature Club, Drama Club, Chess Club and Painting Club. Trained professionals guide the cadets in their respective areas of interest.
COLLABORATIVE & COOPERATIVE LEARNING PROJECTS FOR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
Every month a teacher gives a presentation about the various new/creative techniques that can be applied while teaching. Teachers also have presentations about skill development and personality development on regular basis. This forum provides a platform for teachers to exchange their ideas and enhance their own bank of knowledge. Teachers are also divided into groups and are given topics to present. Presentations happen in the form of seminars, role plays and poster presentation depending on the topic and subject given to them.
EDUCATION ACCENTUATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDING DEMOCRACY
“Character is the highest virtue” and our school strongly believes this. Hence we strive to reach out to the star of perfection through an earnest academic pursuit for ‘excellence’ and our efforts bloom into ‘service’ through our creative and empathetic involvement in the society to transform it. We also provide a nurturing platform for the students’ holistic development to make effective contribution to the society in a dynamic environment. To help students express dissent and their views on various issues related to the school, every Monday we have an open forum, a platform where students speak, put across their views, asks questions to the authorities and the Principal along with the teachers address the concerns and grievances of the students, objectively.
DESIGN & DELIVERY OF A LEARNING ECOSYSTEM WHEREBY HIGHLY PERSONALIZED LEARNING ACCOUNTING IS DONE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONAL GOALS
The main aim of my school is to provide a nurturing platform for the students’ holistic development. Hence a highly personalized learning accounting is done for individual’s personal goals by processing the feedback given by the various in-charges. For example, the concerned subject teachers give feedback about the student’s performance in a particular subject. Followed by the Sports in-charge who gives the feedback related to sports played by the student. Similarly, Medical in-charge and the Psychologist give feedback about the physical well being and the strengths and weaknesses (without violating the counselling ethics) of the student. A comprehensive report is then made and the student is further called in for counselling if required.
INTEGRATION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS INTO THE DAILY CURRICULUM
To teach our children empathy and to help them acquire a sense of social responsibility, we celebrate most of the religious festivals by visiting orphanages and make donations which further help the lesser privileged children. Last Diwali, our students visited two orphanages in the city which house around 65 and 44 orphaned children, mostly girls, and celebrated the festival spending some quality time with the kids and inmates and distributing sweets purchased from the money set aside for buying crackers. Also, the cadets of our school have made a generous donation of Rs 14,344/- to NEED BASE INDIA, a Bangalore based NGO which works in the field of education and rehabilitation of the marginalized children.
FUTURISTIC SELECTION OF SUBJECT CONTENT
At Rashtriya Military School, our main aim is to make officers out of cadets. And for this, our cadets have regular visits to the National Defence Academy, Pune where they get to interact with officers and their seniors (who were previously studying at RMS) who help them understand the nuances and the requirements to join the Defence services. When the students return, they give their feedback and we call in trained professionals to help our cadets in skill development (logical reasoning and critical thinking) which makes it easy for them to crack the SSB and thereby join the prestigious armed forces and become assets of our nation by contributing and rendering their services not just at the local level, but also at regional and national level.
LIFELONG LEARNING AND SOCIAL SKILLS OF FACULTY MEMBERS
I believe that the role of a teacher in a student’s life is as important as that of the parents’ and sometimes even more. And since ours is a residential school, the involvement of the teachers in the students’ life is comparatively more due to which there are a higher chances of teachers experiencing a burnout. To avoid such situations, we train our teachers to be socially and emotionally competent. This is done by conducting workshops by the School Counselor and other trained professional at regular intervals, where explicit training is done to develop empathy, compassion, gratitude, respectful and healthy communication.
I also believe that the growth of the school depends not just on its students, but also on the teachers. Hence our teachers are motivated to enhance their skills by all possible resources available. So, in order to keep the teaching faculty abreast of the latest development in the field of education, several of the teachers are sent for in-service training to premier teacher-training institutes. These include:
- 05 teachers of various subjects attended ‘CBSE Capacity Building Programme’ conducted by the CBSE Chennai at Jain Heritage School, Belgaum on 25 & 26 Apr 2016.
- The School librarian attended a workshop on ‘School Libraries in Digital Age’ at Jain Heritage School Belgaum on 12 & 13 May 2016.
- Hindi teachers attended a workshop on ‘Methodology of Teaching Hindi’ organized by the Army Welfare Educational Society, New Delhi from 07 to 11 Nov 2016.
- Hindi teachers attended a workshop on Hindi organized by the Dept of Official Language Hindi Teaching Scheme, Belgaum centre in collaboration with Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation on 17 Nov 2016.
FACULTY ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION OF THEIR INNOVATIVE PROJECTS & PRODUCTIONS
The teachers are evaluated at regular intervals which helps them to understand the expectation of the school as well as the areas of development. Evaluation is done by observing their lessons during class hours. They are intensively evaluated on the techniques and strategies used for teaching, their ability to involve the students in classroom discussions, etc. Also, appreciation boards for teachers are put up where the best teacher gets words of appreciation from the staff and the students. This boosts the teachers’ interest and confidence to do better.
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY TO FACULTY EMPOWERMENT
I believe that in order to have a conducive learning atmosphere, it is important to empower the faculty. When the teachers are at their best, they give their best. Empowering the faculty leads to positive results. The teachers are encouraged to explore opportunities to share their strengths and are also motivated to work on their weakness. I believe that teachers should be empowered both professionally and personally. Being professionally empowered makes them competitive and effective as teachers and they pass on these characteristics to their students. While empowering teachers personally motivates them to take care of their well being as physical and mental well being is as important as being intellectually sound.