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Greetings
and Welcome
to the February issue of news.desk
As
most of our students are in or
headed towards exams, there is a
tense sense of expectation among
all the stake holders in a
school- will my child do well,
will my new teaching approach
bear fruit, will the students of
my school shine. Our thought on
this is-let it be, we are not to
burden our next generation with
our expectations. Let them go
out and decide their own
boundaries, measure themselves
against parameters they set.
History proves that each
generation has moved ahead
compared to the previous
generation. If you can pride
yourselves in giving them roots,
assist them now to develop wings
- let them fly.
As
for us exams they come every
year and so does February; there
is no way to avoid it. Talking
about February, the second month
of the year, what is unique
about it. Well a lot-It is a
month with the least number of
days in it. And so if you have
planned a 30 day cyclical
activity you will fall short of
one day even in a leap year.
Shouldn't we treat every month
if not everyday, as different?
Strange, why I am bringing such
a common fact to your notice?
Because we miss noticing some
common facts because they are
common and also take some people
around us we regularly meet for
granted. For me one such 'common
person', a close friend- an
eminent educationist Mrs. Dolly
Edulbehram (associated with
schools in west India) left
her earthly abode some time
back. I was sorry that I had
taken it for granted that she
will always be there whenever I
wanted to see her. I am humbled
and have learnt to treat every
relationship as important and
every month planned for the
number of days it has.
We
also near the season of annual
budgets - the national budget,
rail budget, organizational
budgets: a keen sense of
expectation builds in the
economy. We hope we see some
additional focus on the
education sector; hope this
year it all assists to Develop
Schools
In
this edition:
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We
welcome our Guest editor,
Mrs. K. S. Jamali -
Principal Beacon High who writes on
"Inclusion - Learning
and growing together"
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Our
Chief Editor, Rita Wilson with
her views on
"One of biggest
challenges facing
education today"
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I
share my views on "School
positioning: get it right
the first time"
-
Web
links on the happenings in the
education industry
-
You
could know more about
services offered by
Develop Schools, the
itinerary of our
associates for you to
benefit from during their
visit to your locations
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.
Sincerely,
Melwin
Braggs
Business
Editor
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Inclusion
- Learning and growing together!
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Our Guest
Editor,
Mrs. K. S. Jamali
Principal
Beacon High
 "If
every child matters, every child
has the right to a good start in
life. If every child matters,
every child has the right to be
included". Education is a
fundamental right of all
children and in order to provide
'education to all' we must
incorporate children with
special needs into regular
schools.
To
achieve successful inclusion,
schools should recognize the
diverse needs of the children,
adapt to different styles and
rhythms of teaching and provide
quality education through the
appropriate use of resources.
Achieving inclusion goes beyond
making a decision to run a
workshop, put in a ramp or offer
diversity training to staff. It
requires a shift in the
attitudes of all the
stakeholders as well as the
development of policies and
practices that reinforce
inclusive behaviour. Everyone in
the school - students,
educators, administrators,
support staff and parents - must
share the responsibility and
simultaneously feel that they
belong, realize their potential,
and contribute to the life of
the school.
At
no time does inclusion require
the classroom curriculum or the
academic expectations to be
watered down. On the contrary,
inclusion enhances learning for
students, both with and without
special needs. The advantages
are many and for the most part
obvious given that the child
with special needs will be
living in a world with regular
people, with regular needs and
aspirations. Hence, an inclusive
setup infuses him with a sense
of belonging and provides a
diverse and stimulating
environment to grow and learn.
It enables him to develop
friendships and provides an
opportunity to be educated with
same age peers.
Inclusion
also benefits regular students
greatly. They develop an
appreciation for differences and
understand that everyone has
unique abilities. Very
importantly it develops feelings
of empowerment and the ability
to make a difference.
Creating
an inclusive school is critical
because our schools act as
mirrors of the larger community.
There is a great opportunity to
teach students, early in their
development as citizens, about
the importance and value of
inclusion. It also provides an
opportunity for parents to learn
through their children about the
importance of belonging,
acceptance and community.
It
is with this in mind that Beacon
High has adopted the policy of
admitting students with special
needs into the mainstream and
provide them with support
services and an education based
on their strengths and needs. A
resource team comprising of
professional educators and
specialists ensure a holistic
approach to the all round
development of the children. We
endeavour to provide a 'Beacon'
of hope to those children who
are different and yet need to be
given the opportunities to be
treated with the same dignity as
everyone else.
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School
positioning: Get it right the first
time
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Melwin
Braggs, Business Editor
Talk
to most school leadership and they
don't want to be bothered with
creating a brand. They just want
results and don't see the need to
create a brand. For most the brand
is a logo to print on postcards,
email campaigns or build a website.
Brands are for big companies with
big marketing budgets and time to
spend on non-revenue generating
activities they reason.
As
we work with schools, on their marketing
strategies, the same question comes up. Do
I really need a brand? Absolutely!
To get great marketing results, you must
define your brand and establish your
brand value and positioning statement.
Why
Brand?
Your
brand is a proxy for the value your
school presents to people or businesses
who choose to work with you. Think about
brands you know like the best
residential school in the North or the
school churning out the most brilliant
minds down south. Just the names of
these organizations immediately bring to
mind certain characteristics. A parent
chooses to send his ward to a school
simply based on the qualities associated
with its brand.
Positioning
Your Brand
A
positioning statement answers some
basic-yet important-questions:
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Who
is your target audience, and what
are their needs?
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Who
are your competitors?
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What
is your key/unique benefit or
differentiator over
competitors?
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Why
should anyone believe you can
deliver the benefits?
Imagine
brand TATA and what comes to your mind.
A successful school is no different.
Putting the brand at the heart of your
marketing and communication makes a huge
difference. And this isn't just about a
logo - it is about everything the
school, does, says, feels, sounds and
smells like. More importantly it is
about what your audience understands you
to be - your reputation. And branding is
reputation management.
To
use a construction analogy, your brand
is the firm foundation upon which all
your marketing and communication
activity should be built. Get it right
and everything will be much stronger.
Get it wrong and there is a danger of
everything ultimately collapsing.
I
have experienced instances where a
request for the development of the
brand, often described as a new logo, is
almost secondary on a web site brief and
developers are invited to pitch. Also
where print designers or photographers
are invited to discuss a new prospectus
and develop a new brand, or again, logo,
almost as an afterthought.
This
is rather like inviting a kitchen
specialist or interior designer to help
you design and build your dream house.
Yes the kitchen specialist has a role to
play subsequently but first get your
brand and the positioning right. Use the
assistance of experts. This undoubtedly
will go a long way and assist you to Develop
Schools.
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One
of biggest challenges facing
education today
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Rita Wilson, Chief
Editor
(Ex-chief
executive and Secretary, ICSE)
"Plants
are shaped by cultivation and humans
by education."
Education,
as we are all aware, is vital to the
human resources development and
empowerment in all stages of the
growth of a nation.
Mahatma
Gandhi once said that education not
only moulds the new generation, but
reflects a society's fundamental
assumptions about itself and the
individuals which compose it. The
famous philosopher-scientist,
Einstein, while discussing the need
for education, projected the
following fundamentals:
a.
To educate the individual as a free
individual; to understand and use
critical thinking skills. 
b.
To educate the individual as a part
of society - virtually all our
knowledge, all our physical needs
are taken care of by others in our
society. Thus, we have a
responsibility to give back to
society.
c.
Through education, knowledge must
continually be renewed by ceaseless
effort, if it is not to be lost. It
resembles a statue of marble which
stands in the desert and is
continually threatened with burial
by the shifting sand. The hands of
service must ever be at work, in
order that the marble continue to
shine.
I
think one of the biggest challenges
facing our education system today is
the narrow focus of the curriculum.
Students who do not excel in
traditional academic courses
(English, Mathematics, and Science)
feel disconnected in school and
continue to underperform. Education
is as much about preparing the next
generation of citizens and leaders
as it is about training students for
future careers. When we focus only
on how students are performing in
English, mathematics and science, we
lose out on developing other skills
that students need, to be successful
in the real world. We spend very
little time focusing on real-world
skills such as creative problem
solving, cooperation, communication,
and leadership. However, the role of
institutions becomes more
challenging in the modern world with
innovations and technological
developments
An
important question for the educator
today is what in his contact with
the students brings about learning -
is it the material; the methods of
presentation used; the motivation of
the learners; or the conditions
under which the contact takes place?
Not
everyone is good at the core
academic subjects. Some are good in
music, art, drama, or history. These
skills are no less important in our
world. After all, with the
challenges that our society faces
today, it is going to take experts
from all fields of study to find
lasting solutions. Our education
system should reflect the society we
are striving towards. If we desire a
nation of people with a variety of
backgrounds and viewpoints, we
should foster that same diversity of
thought in the minds of our
children. Our narrow focus on
mathematics, science, and English
limits a student's ability to
flourish and become a well-rounded
person, which is essentially the
true purpose of education. While
achievement in the traditional
academic fields is incredibly
important, students need to know
that it is not the only way to make
a meaningful contribution to
society.
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