– Saurabh Modi, Founder-Chairman, Neerja Modi School, Jaipur
Traditionally, teaching meant imparting knowledge and inculcating habits in children to enable smooth functioning of life and creation of a uniform society. Success through education meant that a child would excel consistently by achieving the uniform standards set for all. While this approach was effective and widely accepted, it seldom encouraged leaders and innovators. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the changemakers in our world, the CEOs, artists, and leaders emerged outside of this framework.
This prompts educators to relook at the philosophy of education. As per definition, “Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring knowledge, developing the power of reasoning or judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others for a mature life and for professions”. The world as we know is evolving at a faster pace than ever before, and education is expected to bridge the gap between humanity and technology. Today, the world is weaved together by a web of technology, thereby bringing together different cultures, races, thought processes, and genders. This difference in literal terms is what we call ‘Diversity’.
Society is increasingly becoming diverse and multicultural, making it pivotal for educators to incorporate culturally responsive instructions in the classroom – across levels. The diversity could be including students from different religions, economic statuses, personalities, gender identities, and language backgrounds. Inculcating sensitivity in young minds along with academic skills, cognitive thinking, and other soft skills should be an educator’s top priority. The awareness and sensitisation towards inclusion and diversity not only enables success for all students from different cultures and backgrounds but also encourages acceptance and prepares students to thrive in an exponentially diverse world. Schools, classmates, and teachers are as integral to the child’s development as their family.
Studies prove that humans absorb most of what they perceive in their early childhood. There are scientific methods to assess a child’s potential even before they join kindergarten, giving a detailed analysis of their natural learning style and attributes that are likely to make them more successful. ItIt is important for parents and educators to understand this before enforcing the traditional one-size-fits-all approach. This also benefits children’s mental health and confidence, and unleashes their ability to access their complete potential. Educators’ role is not limited to imparting knowledge anymore but to break barriers of any kind that hinders the learning and growth of individuals.
Neerja Modi School aspires to be a frontrunner in the new era of education where the ingenuity of the child is celebrated and innate skills and aptitude of students are nurtured. Thereby, not just enabling them to fit in but to respect others, lead and contribute significantly to their community. Our pedagogy is designed to not only boost the confidence of children but also to help develop their leadership and cognitive skills. The school offers counselling to provide guidance for students to tread through situations and complexities of the growing years, aiding them to become their true and complete selves.
This philosophy has yielded quick results; our students continue to conceptualise and execute impactful projects that are rooted in innovation and sensibilities to benefit social causes. NMS is known as an academically competitive school that also provides ample extra-curricular and co-curricular opportunities. Our students consistently top the CBSE, IGCSE, and IB board exams and have become world champions in innovative technologies. Our pupils have received admissions and scholarships from Ivy League Universities across the globe over the years.
Our students participate and excel in competitive sports and athletics, academic Olympiads, science research programs, national chess championship, extensive debates, and start-up competitions. Sports, visual and performing arts, as well as yoga are an integral part of every student’s life. Students get to interact with individuals from different walks of life and economic backgrounds, keeping them grounded, aware, and sensitive towards humanity and sustainability. The selfless conviction to give back and make a meaningful impact on the wider community is part of their student body’s DNA. Its students diligently engage with campus community service initiatives and reach out to several local NGOs, healthcare centres, and government schools.
NMS advocates the importance of holistic development of children, by promoting critical thinking and leadership skills and inculcating passion for continuous learning. We create thought leaders and innovators who excel in nationally and internationally acclaimed forums such as Nstart, Ndeavour-the Research programme, debates, ISDS selections, Intach Film awards, etc. We aspire to nurture global leaders with human values who are committed to build a better world. This means consistently and relentlessly reinventing the process of education – to create a better future for all.
Other articles by Saurabh Modi:
Honing leadership skills at schools
Enabling success through education
An educators Almanac to building resilience and managing crisis
