Everyone is born a leader. It is only the willingness to be accountable to a larger crowd for any further decision or action, which makes a leader different from others. We as educationists, have the mammoth responsibility of drawing a line between what is a positive power of influence and what is negative. It is at the school level that a change can be brought about. In this scenario, it becomes imperative that our pedagogy should groom our youth to handle the changes on a global level. Successful schools must do and go through a systematic process of investigation, consultation, planning and evaluation of the school curriculum. This month, Mentor features Dr. Prasanna Bhaskar – Principal and Director of Ideal English School, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, on the cover. Life has changed, and so has the nature of leadership. One aspect of leadership that has not changed, however, is the quality of inspiration. A leader needs to inspire people. To be an inspiration, however, is not an easy task. It requires qualities of the head and the heart well beyond the ordinary. A truly inspiring leader creates more leaders – to recognise the potential in someone and help that person to actualise it, is one of the greatest gifts that a leader can give to the world. While it is beyond doubt that teachers and school leaders commit themselves to give their all to encourage and aid students in achieving their full potential, it is, however, also a fact that teachers and leaders often work in extremely challenging circumstances. While working for the students, we should not ignore the fact that the teachers and school leaders too, need a healthy environment and support for their mental well-being.
Today, innovation in learning is the need of the hour! Humans, as a species, are always evolving and therefore, education systems must too! Though innovative practices make education more relevant and meaningful, it is imperative to note that children today are a lot more sensitive to the world around them, therefore, our education system needs to be upgraded to the needs of our children and focus on life skill/ability development rather than enhancing the Intelligence Quotient. We need to train our children to think, analyse, problem-solve, resolve conflicts, work in groups, apply their knowledge, and collaborate in their quest to learn.
Furthermore, digitised teaching methods are not going to replace the traditional face-to-face teaching processes completely, but no doubt, to meet the present demand, to satisfy the modern-networked society, teachers and technology collaboration must be introduced so that at least teaching becomes of hybrid nature. However, if these techniques are implemented without proper planning and thought, they become open-ended and difficult to sustain. In essence, school is the first place where every child is and should be provided with the quality of education that is at par with the requirements for his/her complete development, irrespective of the differences in background, religion, gender, etc. This, in fact, is the first step towards providing equal opportunities to all beings of god.