Overview: Educational Process
Translating the educational philosophy and intent of the school to the educational process can be a challenge. However there are some fundamental truths in education that we would all agree with.
Fear cannot be the basis of learning. Neither can competition and comparison. A little more subtle but equally crucial fact is that reward and punishment do not bring about learning. So what is the right approach?
We would wish to convey a sense of the richness and vastness of the world as well as the freshness of each day and of the life around us.
We would help the child to have quietness and a meditative quality.
We would see to it that the child is in an environment of nurturing, care and love.
We would wish to convey a sense of freedom to every child and make him understand the responsibility that goes with it.
We feel that all aspects of a child’s growth are valuable and not just one area.
It is essential that all children should have skills. These can complement each other in a sense of co-operation. However if acquiring skills is done with the ambition of worldly success, then it is empty and limiting. There are two kinds of skills that we will nurture. One which we and the parents feel the child should have. The other is what the children wish to have.
Teacher- assisted self learning for all the basic skills ensures that each child progresses at the pace that is right for him/her. It also creates a sense of responsibility for one's own learning from an early age.
Vertical groups instead of the traditional class make for healthier peer dynamics as well as take away comparison in the mind of the student as well as the teacher. Every child has the right to master basic academic skills without being compared to an average in terms of age or skills.
Group activities and nonacademic activities will form an important part of the curriculum. Each child will be encouraged to take up projects of his or her interest to allow for the growth of confidence in one's own interest and skills and not in an external measure such as exam results.
Dialogue is an essential part of the educational process both between teachers and students and between parents and teachers. This will permeate to dialogues between students themselves and with their parents.
Excursions will form an important part of the curriculum not only for cultural exposure but also to bring about a deep relationship with rivers, mountains, forests and the sea. Contact with nature brings about a sensitivity which is not measurable but which is of immense benefit psychologically.
Working with one's hands and mind in doing art, craft and other practical activities is an essential part of the curriculum. These are the times when the brain’s continual chatter seems to slow down. Music, both vocal and instrumental will be nurtured individually and in groups. Time to be alone and quiet will be part of one's daily life.
Physical fitness, taking care of the body and eating healthy food will be a priority at the school. Therefore dance, sports and games, walks and treks find an important place in the educational process.
Caring for the campus by doing the physical chores oneself brings about an awareness of physical labour which many children take for granted.
An academic programme of the highest order is provided by the teachers. But it must be kept in mind that each child will perform at the pace and capacity which she is ready for. Pressure to perform can have serious effects on the psychological growth of a child. The urge to discover, the ability to work hard, the capacity to question – these are the milestones on a child’s educational journey. A child will appear for qualifying examinations when he/she is ready academically as well as emotionally. Student friendly and flexible exams such as University of Cambridge boards will be chosen. This will happen between the ages of 15 and 17.