Dear,

Greetings from news.desk

The reflections on a day well spent furnish us with joys more pleasing than ten thousand triumphs - Thomas Kempis

Festivities fill the air as the year draws to a close. Has it been a year of accomplishment or otherwise? I spend the last week of the year in quiet reflection of the year that has just passed, and the new year that is to come.

I make time in my schedule to be alone. I think about which people and what events inspired me this year, what got me fired up, and what did I do about it. Yes I do make some new year resolutions - just a few, just personal things. Mostly I make plans and set goals. I think about where I want to go, and where I want to be at the end of next year, what I want to get done and what I feel I should abandon.

Some questions, I feel, you, as an educator, could ponder on to reflect on the year gone by -

1. What is something I did this year that I think I will remember for the rest of my life?

2. What is something I accomplished this year that I am proud of?

3. What was the nicest thing someone in my class did this year?

4. What was the most challenging part of this year for me?

Reflection is the mirror into which we can be honest with ourselves, with our triumphs and defeats and continually strive to be truly outstanding educators. It is through this reflection that we can work towards a fresh start for the new year with our goals clearly in mind. So, take some time to reflect on this past year's successes and failures and apply those reflections during your planning process for the upcoming year.

In this edition we have

Our Guest editor, Ms. Manjit Batra - Principal, City Montessori Inter College writes ‘Education for life’.
Our Business Editor, Mr. Melwin Braggs with his views on 'Leadership Search- Head of School'.
I share my views on "School", "Teacher", "Learner" and "Curriculum" for the 21st Century.
Web links on the happenings in the education industry.
You could know more about Develop Schools' services, the itinerary of our associates for you to benefit from during their visit to your locations.
We conclude with unfurling the topic of our next issue. Send us your articles. If your entry is selected we will cover your article in our forthcoming newsletters.

I now invite you to read on and send us your feedback / suggestions. After all we improve when you assist us.

Feel free to FORWARD this newsletter to your Trustees / Managing committees / References.

It is difficult not to believe that the next year will be better than the old one! And this illusion is not wrong. Future is always good, no matter what happens. It will always give us what we need and what we want in secret. It will always bless us the with right gifts. Thus, in a deeper sense our belief in the New Year cannot deceive us - Kersti Bergroth

With greetings for a merry Christmas and a happy New Year,

Sincerely,

Rita Wilson

Chief Editor

Education for Life...

Our Guest Editor - Ms. Manjit Batra

Principal - City Montessori Inter College, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can

change the world. A school has to fulfill a purpose in the life of every student who walks through its portals. It

has to impact on the life of the student. This impact has to be at once positive and lasting. Guest Editor - Manjit B

We cannot prepare the future for our youth but we can certainly prepare our youth for the future. This is where caring parents, teachers and custodians of society need to get involved. It is without doubt important for children to get good academic training but the values parents teach their children are more important for real success.

There are two kinds of education - one that helps you make a living and one that makes your life. The real end of any education is to build character and help develop good citizens of tomorrow.

Education for life means more than an acquisition of facts, more than intellectual exposure to a vast number of untested concepts, and more than a pragmatic preparation for employment. It is an exalted call for change, based on deep insight into the potential of every human being. It teaches how to nurture creativity, wisdom, and intuition in each child, and how to tap his unexplored capabilities.

Education should prepare children for meeting life's challenges, and not only fit them for employment or for intellectual pursuits. The whole of life, beyond the years spent in school, is education. For if indeed, as most people deeply believe, life has purpose and meaning, then its goal must be to educate us ever-more fully to that meaning. And the true goal of the education we receive during our school years must be to help prepare us for that lifelong learning process.

"School", "Teacher", "Learner" and "Curriculum" for the 21st Century

- Rita Wilson, Chief Editor
(Ex Chief Executive and Secretary, ICSE)

How should education be structured to meet the needs of students in this 21st century world? How do we

now define "School", "Teacher" "Learner" and "Curriculum"?

Schools in the 21st century should be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to humanity, and questions that matter.

This is a dramatic departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centred, paper and pencil schooling. It means a new way of understanding the concept of "knowledge", a new definition of the "educated person". A new way of designing and delivering the curriculum is required.

Would the following new definitions for "School", "Teacher" and "Learner" be appropriate for the 21st century:

Schools - will go from 'buildings' to 'nerve centres', with walls that are porous and transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.

Teacher - From primary role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. The 21st century requires knowledge generation, not just information delivery, and schools need to create a "culture of inquiry".

Learner - In the past a learner was a young person who went to school, spent a specified amount of time in certain courses, received passing grades and graduated. Today we must see learners in a new context:

First - we must maintain student interest by helping them see how and what they are learning prepares them for life in the real world.

Second - we must instil curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong learning.

Third - we must be flexible in how we teach.

Fourth - we must excite learners to become even more resourceful so that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.

So what should schools look like, exactly? What should the curriculum look like? How will this 21st century curriculum be organized, and how will it impact the way we design and build schools, how we assess students, how we acquire and utilize the new technologies, and what does all this mean for us in an era of standardized testing and accountability?

Imagine a school in which the students - all of them - are so excited about school that they can hardly wait to get there. Imagine having little or no "discipline problems" because the students are so engaged in their studies that those problems disappear. Imagine having parents calling, sending notes, or coming up to the school to tell you about the dramatic changes they are witnessing in their children: newly found enthusiasm and excitement for school, a desire to work on projects, research and write after school and on weekends. Imagine your students making exponential growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, listening, researching, scientific explorations, math, multimedia skills and more!

It is possible. It has happened, and is happening, in schools across the world.

Leadership Search - Head of School

- Melwin Braggs
Business Editor

The search for a new Head of School often takes a long period. Once a decision has been made to conduct a

search for a new Head, the Board of Trustees must decide how to go about finding the ideal person for the

position.

In most independent schools, in order to ensure a thorough and smooth process, a search for the Head of School warrants forming a search committee and engagement of a search consultant or a professional recruiting firm. While every search is different, these are general considerations which often apply.

If the Board decides that a search committee is needed, the next steps are:

Identify key school constituents to form the search committee. The committee may comprise Board members, parents, faculty, and/or administrators who are willing to work collegially and have an open mind and a positive attitude.
The search committee chair should be a respected, strong representative of the spirit and community of the school, and have the time and commitment to coordinate the search.
After the committee is formed, it needs to decide if its members have the time and expertise to conduct a search on their own, or whether to retain a search firm. Although it is less costly to conduct a search alone, successful searches are demanding and time consuming and professional guidance can be very valuable. The fees charged by a search firm may seem high, but it should be taken as a long-term investment in the future of the school.

Summary of Characteristics of a good school leader

Six characteristics: being a visionary, believing that schools are for learning, valuing human resources, communicating and listening effectively, being proactive, and taking risks, are common to successful leaders of educational change.

21st century schools require a type of leadership that can promote the changes required to adequately prepare students for the world today and in the future. The foundation for high academic achievement and more productive schools and students is strong collaborative leadership.

The pivot of this leadership is the school principal. Effective school leaders empower, inspire and motivate others to work as a unified team towards a shared purpose -- student achievement. Thus, the skills and talents of the staff and other educational stakeholders are applied toward a common end -- student learning. Leaders of educational change respond to the human as well as the task aspects of their schools and districts. "Effective change requires skilled leadership that can integrate the soft human elements with hard business actions".

Choose the right leader and Develop Schools.