K12 Revolution in the Indian Education Ecosystem

The World today is evolving at a furious pace. Every year new technology is made and the obsolete is made redundant, new ideas surface and challenge former absolutes, new possibilities emerge destroying prior limitations.

Hence, we need global citizens who are capable of not just dealing with this massive rate of change, but are able to direct its flow, who possess the knowledge, belief and skills to be a constructive and productive part of this change.

And, how will we do that? How will we empower them to deal with this change? Then, to direct its flow?

Firstly, to learn to deal with constant rapid change, one must be adaptable. Students will have to be made to realize that adaptability is essential to their growth. And, how are they to learn adaptability? It can only be possible when one is always learning, so that one is always prepared with a mind-set and a skill-set for a newer challenge, a tougher task.

To prepare them for adaptability, they must develop a love for learning.

This is where the K-12 revolution is significant, since, it focuses on the education system becoming learning centric. It pushes students to a greater understanding of themselves and the world through constant assignments and tasks. It drives them to think for themselves, arrive at solutions and voice opinions and ideas. The goal of this kind of education is that the student engages with their learning, that learning be something that has personal significance for them, that learning becomes a process as well as the objective.

I believe that this K12 revolution must be combined with a strong value-based education to answer the question of creating individuals who can direct the flow of constant change.

I, personally, believe that every individual must have Nine Attitudes that form the basis of their character: Reverence, Responsibility, Fairness, Empathy, Courage, Perseverance, Resilience, Collaboration, and Initiative-taking.

It is important that these values be incorporated into the education system, along with the workings of the K12 system in order to raise stellar humans of the future. Educators must believe with certainty that we are shaping future leaders: people who will go on to impact not just their own lives, but much larger spheres of society and community.

During sports activities, we can make sure that the focus is on inculcating the values of collaboration, fairness, perseverance, resilience. We can empower them with the responsibility of taking decisions, both in sports and classrooms and stress upon them the significance of continued rigor and a belief in their own capacity. Students can visit government schools to teach languages or visit old age homes and villages to make them more empathetic towards people and society, and through the sense of responsibility that comes from working for others, they will acquire a reverence for those that strive selflessly around them on a daily basis. Students, on special occasions, can give parents an insight into the teaching methodology of the school. This will empower them with the values of courage and initiative taking. Assemblies on important days such as Independence Day, Women’s day, can reaffirm values of dedication and pride for country and humanity.

The students of today must go on to become deep-rooted, value based leaders of tomorrow with the right attitude. Their years in school must train them to venture out of their comfort zone, again and again.

Since we believe that these students and their actions will resonate on a large scale, we should ensure that our students are of the finest mettle, impacting all those around them in the most positive of ways.

This article has been authored by Vandana Arora, Principal, Nahar International School