A few days back, I attended a workshop organized by ‘The Infinity School’ in association with our favorite platform ‘Momspresso’. The agenda of the workshop was – “To make mums aware about Thinking Skills: The most sought after skills of the future”.
About The Infinity School
The Infinity School based in Greater Noida West is a new school of thought with a strong belief that it’s possible to develop the fundamental capabilities of a child, with appropriate scaffolding and building the right foundation with values, grit, and a growth mindset. The school has thoughtfully aligned the infrastructure, facilities, thinking curriculum, faculty and co-curricular activities with the motto ‘Learning to Learn’. The school is led by Mr. Harinder Chhabra (IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus).
The whole event was divided into three major points of discussion:
- Why develop thinking skills in kids?
- Why do schools need to act mostly as a learning zone and less as a performance zone?
- What to look for while choosing the right school for kids?
So, I would like to give a brief insight into this thoughtful session conducted by ‘The Infinity School’. The school really makes a parent think whether today’s traditional schooling is fully equipped with the right tools and methods to make the young ones ready for the challenging future real work environment. Is what is written in the books enough for teaching the kids to solve the real world problems? Why should they really be taught ‘how to think’ instead of ‘what to think’? Why teaching logical reasoning and analytical skills is important from the beginning only? Why creative thinking and critical thinking is important for children? This session was led by ‘Mr. Harinder Chhabra’ and, I second every word of his, for he very well highlighted the gap that our current education system has. According to him, traditional education, which is content-based and not thinking-based, falls short of developing the knowledge required to thrive amidst unimaginable changes in the future. The rapidly changing digital society calls for a deeper learning that emphasises more on mastering modern skills with consistent efforts and practice—skills like collaboration, creativity, analytical reasoning, critical thinking, cognitive flexibility, etc., which are developed through emotional, social and self-learning, and ensure a child’s success in the evolving digital economy, also called the fourth industrial revolution.
The next key point of discussion was the right parameter to evaluate a child based on his/her different skills and abilities. In the present education system, every child is evaluated on the basis of his performance in the exams. How much marks he/she scores decides if he/she is good enough. What is lacking in this evaluation system is the overall evaluation of an individual. Each child is good in something or the other; mostly depends on his/her inclination towards one particular area. A child may be good at maths but not necessary in language; a child may be good in sports but not in academics. What is important is a teacher should bring out the best in each child and encourage him/her towards it. What is equally important is focus should be given on “learning” by doing things. In the words of Ms. Upasana Bhattacharya (Head – Curriculum Design & Training at The Infinity School), this approach can be applied flexibly across different scenarios and contexts, such as—
· Setting the right goals that support innovation with introspection
· Creating more choices for learning and opportunities for healthy competition
· Offering the freedom to experiment while remaining accountable
· Evaluating progress against appropriate performance indicators and personal standard
· Supporting multiple ideas and achievements, rather than rewarding a single winner
All of this discussion ultimately made all of us reach a common question – “How to choose the right school for the young children?” It was an open-ended discussion and all of us gave some common answers, which include – a school with great infrastructure and security, number of extra-curricular activities that a school provides and some more answers like this. But according to Ms. Sangeeta Kapoor (Principal, The Infinity School), it’s extremely crucial for parents to focus on the fundamental criteria for selection, which is, choosing a school that facilitates the discovery and fulfilment of their child’s purpose in life through continuous learning so that young ones emerge as thought leaders as well as responsible citizens of the society—a logical conclusion was drawn by her, in the closing note for the day.
The workshop ended on a good note and after all this serious discussion around education, us mom bloggers chit-chatted over a scrumptious lunch arranged by the Team Infinity and after a while, bid adieu with some great insights and memories.
Note: To know more about the school, or their philosophy, you may visit their website: www.theinfinityschool.org. You can also get in touch with them at info@theinfinityschool.org or +91-81-30-60-7900.
This article was originally published by me here.
