“Believe in Yourself. Believe You are the Best. You are the Future Mentors. As a teacher, You don’t realise how important you are. You are not the Guru. At times, You are the God.”Captain AJ Singh, (Former Chairman IPSC & Executive Director, Pinegrove School and the Chief Guest of the Closing Ceremony)
On the pleasant morning of
November 19, 2022 four teachers, Ms. Deepika Ojha, Ms. Nupur Goyal , Ms. Perminder Meena and Ms Sandhya Mudgal left for LK Singhania Education Centre, Gotan to attend two days IPSC Teachers’ Conclave.On the first day, the Chief Guest of the Opening Ceremony, Prof. Sameer Khandekar, HoD, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT, Kanpur, spoke on the collective responsibility that lies on the shoulders of both teachers and professors. According to him, with us all lies the role of educating future generations. So, the first thing that we have to ask is, are we doing it the right way? And more importantly, are we doing enough? He felt that it is important to understand the CHANGING LANDSCAPE. We must EMPOWER and not DICTATE our students.
An awakening session on ‘Cyber Security’ was conducted by cyber security expert Mr. Rakshit Tandon. The session focused on major concerns related to kids experimenting with internet and about their over-consumption of digital diet. He stressed on the importance of digital literacy for both parents and teachers. If they are literate, they can direct their kids about safe browsing and and consuming the relevant content. He focused on keeping devices safe from various cyber-attacks, keeping a track of the types of games kids are playing these days and the cases that are being reported about the random in-app purchases accidentally or intentionally made by the kids that let the parents into a lot of financial trouble. He emphasized about the importance of a healthy social media policy that every school should have and how cyber counselling can help in handling these young minds.
The second session on Career Guidance by Mrs Shilpa Singh was quite interesting. According to her, there is no dearth of careers and today’s student is smart to choose his/her passion. The role of the mentor is to just encourage and motivate the child.
The cultural evening was spent in the beautiful green lawns of host school, wherein teachers from different states performed and showcased their talent.
On November 20, 2022, the first session was on ‘Metamorphosis: The Secret of Change’ by Ms. V. Parameshwari and Ms Ekta Anand. They emphasised on the importance of change, resistance to change, one’s mindset and finally how to implement change in one’s life successfully.
Next important and extremely captivating session was on POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) by Mrs Nisha Jain. The important takeaway from this session was not to interfere and not to become the evidence in case of a complaint from a student. In case of any complaint, the speaker insisted that a written complaint is taken from the student, and parents are involved.
The third session of the day stole everyone’s heart and at the end of the session their hearts rejoiced and eyes became moist. Mrs. Neera Singh, the Principal of Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur, spoke on ‘The Unmaking and Making of a Boundless Vocation called Teaching; and the Role of a Teacher’. She stressed on the emotional labour that a teacher, especially a residential school teacher undergoes. According to Mrs Neera Singh, teachers can create ‘defining moments’ in the life of a student. She was of the firm belief that teachers can never be obsolete and they can make a sea change in a student’s life. The session encouraged teachers to maintain a healthy work life balance.
The fourth session on ‘Experiential Learning’ by Anju Mehta talked of the various methods that teachers can adopt and make their teaching-learning a fun exercise. She stressed on bringing humour, meditation and some ‘out-of -the-box’ activities in the classrooms. It was an interactive session and teachers were thoroughly engrossed in the session. They even demonstrated a few topics in Science and History.
The Chief Guest of the Closing Ceremony, Captain AJ Singh, Executive Director, Pinegrove School, Dharampur, HP, reiterated the need of such teacher training platforms. He said, “All schools need to focus on Teacher Training for Growth and Development, Aiming to reduce Low-Will and Low- Skill”. He spoke on 9Cs of Leadership: content, communication, confidence, creativity, character, courage, common sense, compassion, care.
Rightly said, “Time flies when you’re having fun”. The two days’ IPSC Teachers’ Conclave was thoroughly an enriching experience.
