SHARING AN INSPIRING AND EVENTFUL JOURNEY OF MRS ANUBHA SRIVASTAVA, - A PASSIONATE EDUCATIONIST, EDULEADER AND PRINCIPAL OF DELHI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL EDGE, DWARKA SECTOR 18, DELHI.
The journey of life so far is a journey of stories, a different one at each stage. Stories narrated to me by my father and other elders in the family translated to limitless reading of storybooks in adolescence and there-after, a quest to read and explore more into domains of science, environment, philosophies and history. The journey continues till date and the story unfolding gracefully.
A childhood splashed with love
I was the first born of my generation in our maternal family and since the time I can remember, I have been the universal “didi” or the elder sister to my younger brothers and cousins, as also their friends. To protect, care and cradle the younger children around me became my first natural instinct. I would narrate to them stories the way I imbibed the stories. The teacher in me, I believe, was born then
My father was into a transferable job. The postings were so frequent that fear of change never got rooted. I have changed school almost every year with his postings. Those sugar factory postings in some interior countryside, with education in schools not known to most, the means were limited, yet the opportunities to see life in all its hues and experiential learning was immense. Those days taught life lessons on identity, roots and charms of new city and places that filled the heart with wonder and awe, but also contributed to learning of finding happiness in small things. I won’t be wrong if I say I felt like a Princess back then because small things bring happiness and contentment. I do not remember what I learnt in school in terms of subjects like English, Mathematics or Sciences, but I remember learning to mingle with friends, expressing myself, enjoying rehearsals for functions and sports day. The only fear that lingered was of school rules and the consequent punishment that you might get if you don’t follow the rules. I could not afford to miss any cocurricular participation and a chance to open to the world of many credits There were numerous awards and certificates from those participations in elocutions, debates, recitations, dances, singing, dramatics, student Council positions and many more. The rewards from those awards keep greeting me and reminding me that life is never short of sending you opportunities and how well you utilize them is all upto you. Today, we call it life skills and the impact of those skills is something which keeps impressing me till date as these participations nurture you deeply and gets you ready to feel and challenge life.
The Crucial Stream Choice
My intellectual skills and choices are shaped by my immediate environment. I kept changing schools and colleges with my father’s posting and graduated from Aligarh. As a kindergarten child, I used to visit Plant Tissue Culture lab in the Botany Department of Delhi University where my maternal aunt was pursuing her PhD. So, when I had to choose between Masters in Pantnagar University and an MBA, there was an obvious choice basis from an underlying fondness for plant sciences. We had not known what career counselling is. The most learned elders in the family used to be our most reliable counsellors who knew the world as well and also our instinctive inclinations. By that time, my maternal Aunt and uncle from Botany dept were Scientists in CSIR institute and their approval for Pantnagar gave wings to my dreams. Dreams are something no one can take away from you even when you get older, so dreaming is one thing I have never left.
Dreams that shaped a newer tomorrow
I took up teaching internship alongside my post grad studies. The love for tissue culture lab resurged back in Pantnagar with my dissertation on medicinal plants. After completing my post graduation from Pantnagar University, with a dissertation on medicinal plants in collaboration with a CSIR lab, I qualified NET in my first attempt, all geared up to join research in plant molecular biology & biotechnology. That’s when the life skills of adaptation were realized by me. Time greeted me with a choice between a research career with ICAR or teaching . Having married into a family of 6 young boys and girls other than me and my husband, brought back the “Universal didi” days. The teacher in me was alive again, grooming their bachelor free energies to a structured home. I was intrinsically drawn to my childhood love for teaching. My extended family is basically an academic family with all close relatives from profiles like professors, teachers, principals, scientists and they have been my idols marking an indelible signature on my aspirations. I got an offer to join as a science teacher in Police Modern School on leave vacancy. There has been no looking back since then.
Journey through the teaching Career
I have taught across all levels in school and college right from kindergarten, to senior secondary and college which included BTech courses in NSIT Dwarka. and taught courses for MSc and PhD students in Pantnagar. It is always the first step that is crucial, once taken, the second step happens on default mode. The kindergarten teaching taught me how to be patient and childlike. My not so young students at NSIT taught me how to open a social media account and explore the limitless sea on the internet. Be it the days of teaching Phd scholars or a school goer child, teaching has been a two way process of learning and experiencing knowledge at the same time .
The more you work, the more you learn
My longest tenure has been in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi. I value my days at Chinmaya as the most precious learning. I encompassed a wider area of administration and teaching tasks, and doing them I learnt a lot. I was the Head of three departments : Science, Biotechnology and Computer Science andnd those were probably the most productive days. Along with the responsibility of three departments, I also handled the school website, school’s alumni coordination, was member of exam department and House In-charge. The experiences as an Examiner and Asst. Head Examiner for CBSE paper checking for Biology and Biotechnology during the teaching tenure has given deeper understanding of paper setting and assessment modalities of the board. There have been various associations with reputed organizations (like PUSA Institute, JNU, Genetics Dept Delhi University to name a few) for subject enrichment of students. Those days I got no time to socialize in school or otherwise. And the source of energy then were the liveliest classes with energetic bunch of students. I didn’t work for rewards. I worked for sheer pleasure of enjoying what I was doing. Exploring newer ways to teach, trying them out in classes, making students love the subject and not cram the concepts, taking them out to teach infields, DU labs and interschool platforms. Involving them in my Alumni and website tasks with credited certifications; reading basics before handling Computer department; interacting with all departments and all levels in school as the website coordinator, are just few of the nuggets from Chinmaya days.
Values for Life
When I recall Chinmaya, the concept of Value teaching is unique to the institution. As teachers, we all went through an advance Vedanta course. The blended approach of lecture, arts, music, sports was extended not just to students but to faculty as well. There were regular discourses from spiritual Gurus of the Chinmaya Mission. The discourses were not restricted to philosophy alone. I have attended one of the most beautiful sessions on Music, Dance and Dramatics in meditative ways. Chinmaya Mission’s profound insight in the philosophy of Bhagwad Geeta is remarkable and Chinmayananda’s commentary is a wonderful resource to understand the deeper aspect of Vedanta learning is incredible. Each value is also a life philosophy in essence. During my course on Advance Vedanta, I simultaneously read parallel philosophies of different religions. Every philosophy talks of respecting humans and environment. Every philosophy talks of the ethical ways of being. The returns of the discourses have been priceless. The subconscious imbibes a lot that pleases our senses. Values are an integral part of our being. If not for values, the world would be a ruthless war zone. I have always highlighted the values in my teaching of science subjects. Those discourses had a lot of anecdotes that I could relate to in my day to day life and teachings. I was reminded of my childhood and the storytime with my father. My father is retired for almost two decades now, and whenever I get time, I still request him for one more story. The stories we love best, do live in us forever. And with those stories lives the values flowing in the themes and narratives. I believe the stories of my childhood made what I am today.
.
The Administrative Road
I got an opportunity to join a K-12 school as a Vice Principal in the year 2015. I was at a pinnacle of my satisfied teaching career and in deep love with my students. I did not aspire to switch to admin role, yet the spirit to explore the unknown excited me. Destiny calling, as they say, and I accepted the offer. By 2017, I was leading a strength of 2000 students and 100 faculty members in East Point School New Delhi as a Principal. Mrs Amita Gupta, the founder Principal of that school was the Chairperson and my Motherly Mentor. Of all the lessons that I have learned under her nurturing, the one that I find most fundamental is to take care of each and every person in the school. She taught me how to groom the staff to become motivated and independent learners.She demonstrated every lesson and then gave me freedom to do my bit. I may not always remember loads of seminars and workshops attended by me where eminent resource persons shared their significant journeys. But I imbibed each practical experience that was smoothly released to me in a gradual manner. Lesson learnt – “Leadership is empowering the team”.
In 2020, I joined Delhi International school Edge as a founder Principal. The first step was not an easy one for me. And when I joined, the world was greeted by an unprecedented pandemic. The team relentlessly worked to achieve recognition and affiliation for the school , for which we were in office through a significantly largefraction of lockdown. Session 2020-21 was a challenging period to address the sudden online mode along with herculean paperwork for putting the school through DoE and CBSE requirements. No task is ever achieved alone. I had the support of a caring management and a doting team of teachers as well as admin staff. The past year has been a session loaded with endless learning. Learning newer platforms to deliver online classes, planning and reinventing pedagogy to suit to online mode, exploring novel ways to connect with students, staff and parents, in a nutshell, embracing the digital world in all possible ways. We have also learned to be humble, to look around us with high levels of empathy, to hold each other’s hand no matter we walk slow or race up. The journey has just begun, and the very beginning says, let there be no pause to learning.
The quest for learning is eternal.
Currently,I am a research scholar pursuing my PhD from IIT Delhi in the field of education. My research focuses on the little stories that I carried from my experiences and the walls were broken from story time at night to a full fledged research work that can help enhance the life of children in terms of ethical upbringing from classrooms. Nothing more than stories can do justice to the collection of anecdotes that bring out the nuances of helping children imbibe the life skills, and values and the experiential lessons that stay with them much beyond the formulas of Maths and concepts of science. An ignited learner is a happy learner. And the ignition can happen with the magic of Enid Blyton or Panchtantra or Grandpa’s wonderfully unique story sessions. We all have so many stories in us.
Awards and Recognitions are never stronger than the inner voice
· Best teacher
· Mentioned at CBSE national level Science Competition
· Award for 100% result for 5 consecutive years
· Award for highest subject average in AISSCE for 5 consecutive years
· Green School Award for 5 consecutive years by Ministry of Environment
· 1st Position at National Level in Adobe Creativity Challenge .
· Jury’s Choice Award for best school by BW
· Lead Collaborator School for CBSE’s Hubs of Learning
· Contributor in development of Biology Practical Kit by NCERT
To all the children and parents who are reading this, I would like to highlight, I do not come from an English-speaking family, nor I belong to a metro city. I was groomed with values from my family and enriched by love for books. I did not aspire very high, but gave my 100% to all I did. I never restricted to the task alone or the curriculum alone but explored a lot beyond. I never stopped questioning and I have not stopped till I found answers to my questions. I have never wanted to be like someone because I have enjoyed being my unique self, and I am proud of myself. If you ask me today, my future desire is to be sitting midst a huge crowd of little children narrating stories to them and exploring the world of teaching and enhancing teaching methods that can become a torch bearer in igniting the little minds to touch stars.
Each individual has a unique growth pattern. Love and respect yourself as much as loving and respecting every other person. Listen to what the elders share, they know the world and their words carry wisdom of years. Pay attention to your immediate environment, it shapes your habits and your tomorrow. Never run away from any work, the experience will always make you richer. Last but not the least, embrace the greens. Plants have immense healing and meditative powers. If you have a green thumb, prosperity will follow you.
Life grows when fertilized with rich nutrients.
Mrs. Anubha Srivastava
Principal
Delhi International School Edge (DIS Edge)
Sector - 18, Dwarka, Delhi
#mrsAnubhaSrivastava #Principal #DelhiInternationalSchoolEdge #DwarkaSector18 #Delhi #Educationist #DISEgde #Educator #Eduleader #MyK12Story #K12Journey #EduLeaders #Educators #Journey #Educationists #School #Principal #University #Director #Management #Teacher #Tutor #EdTech #EdTechStartup #EducationEcosystem #SchoolEcoSystem #K12Community #Edupreneur #Message #EducationCounsellor #K12Story #Message #K12Story #schoolleaders #schools #education #principalsschool #success #leader #educationalleadership #inspirationalpost #K12Interviews #students #K12Schools #K12Awards #K12Events #K12Education #inspiring #motivational #Career #Parents #LatestSchoolNews #K12News
コメント