Events

The Institute for Career Studies (ICS-International) and S. P. Jain Center of Management (SPJCM), Singapore organized a “Global Leadership Conclave for School Principals – Leading Schools in 21st Century” from November 22nd to 24th, 2007 at its “Center for Executive Education” in Singapore.

The objective of the Conclave was “Optimising perceptive and visionary leadership in education for responding to the challenges of the 21st century”

Dr. Amrita Dass, Director, ICS-International and Professor Debashis Chatterjee, Dean, Center for Leadership, SPJCM, co-chaired the event, which was attended by thirty six distinguished Principals of renowned schools from the Middle East, South Asia and the ASEAN region.

The Conclave Participants

As a pre-Conclave exercise, ICS-International conducted a survey amongst students of participating schools for an understanding of their vision of a “Dream School”. The analysis of the survey was an “eye-opener” for the delegates and was an invaluable input for the Conclave agenda.

“Quality of Education” emerged as the most valuable feature of their “Dream School”, followed by “Reputation” and “Personality Development”. Topping the list of their preferred learning styles was “Visual Movies”- the most influential media to capture their attention today! The others were “Visual Charts”, “Props” and “Group Discussions”. “Self-study” was preferred to the “Chalk and Board” method and “Textbook” oriented teaching was the least preferred approach. This then is a clear indicator that students today prefer new, innovative, practical and application based teaching.

The survey also revealed that an “Ideal Teacher” is one who opens the channels of communication with the students; is a guide and mentor, understanding, approachable, impartial, encouraging and introduces new and innovative ways of teaching. Almost 56% of the total students surveyed agreed that ICT education is very important and helpful in making the learning process interesting and easy.

The Conclave was inaugurated by Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. A gifted diplomat, student of history and philosophy, provocative writer and an intuitive thinker, he is listed as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world. In his Keynote address, “The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East”, Prof. Mahbubani spoke at length on the “Seven Pillars of Development” – Free Market Economy, Science and Technology Advancement, Pragmatism, Meritocracy, Rule of Law, Peace and Education. His address had a profound impact on the gathering of school leaders by providing a perspective and focus to mould leaders of tomorrow.

Prof.Kishore Mahbubani delivering the Keynote address
Prof. Debashis Chatterjee and Dr. Amrita Dass are sitting on the podium

The Conclave took-off with the “Café Conversation” facilitated by Dr. Dass and Mrs. Jyotsna Brar, Principal of Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun. A unique module of the event wherein an informal café like atmosphere, a dialogue was initiated amongst the delegates on issues like; “The Principal’s Role in Shaping the Ethos of a School”, Attributes of a Global Citizen and a Global Leader” and “Emergent Societal and Environmental Concerns that Schools should address”. This was one of the high points of the Conclave as it led to the sharing of the “best practices” and the emergence of some “next practices” like giving the students an active voice in all school matters from policy to implementation.

Café Conversation in Progress

The interactive sessions on “Discover your Leadership Signature”, “New Mindsets for Leadership” and “The Other 95%: Life Beyond the Curriculum” conducted by Leadership Guru, Prof. Debashis Chatterjee were as always inspirational and thought provoking for the delegates. He mesmerized his audience to introspect deeply. As one of the school leaders noted that these sessions have led to the realization that “We can become better leaders, but more importantly we can become better human beings. This is just the beginning”.
The Conclave was also witness to many absorbing presentations and discussions, notable were; “The 21st Century Principals: Learners, Knowledge Creators and Entrepreneurs” by Mr. Ranjit Dass, Principal, Nath Valley School, Aurangabad, “Many Peaks of Excellence – School of the Future” by Ms. Belinda Charles, President, Academy of Principals, Singapore, “Public and Private Sector Alliances for School Improvement and Leadership: It takes a Village to Raise a Child” by Abhrajit Bhattacharjee, EMC-Singapore, “Implementing ICT in Schools” by Mr. Jamshed Wadia, Intel Asia-Pacific, “e-Learning” by Mr. Vincent Gomez, Global Indian International School, Singapore and “Research Insights on e-Learning / e-Leadership” by Ms. Theng Yin Leng, NTU, Singapore.

A session in progress

In the concluding session, Dr. Dass spoke on “Developing a Vision for Sustainable Schools”. The participants were given an exercise on developing a “New Value Curve” wherein they could introspect and decide on the key factors/elements that required be eliminated and reduced, at the same time think of what required to be raised (in intensity) and created (new ideas) for realizing their vision of a vibrant “sustainable” school.

The motivational valedictory speech by Mr. Deepak Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, Citibank- Global Wealth Management International, highlighted the unimaginable impact school Principals can have on developing global leaders. Thereafter, he gave the participants certificates and mementos.

The Valedictory Session: Mr. Deepak Sharma giving away certificates to the participants

All in all, the Conclave was successful in achieving its objective of initiating a dialogue amongst the school leaders for sharing their vision, strategy, innovations, successes, concerns and challenges which enriched their knowledge and perspective for the effective and sustainable leadership of ICT driven, socially and environmentally responsible schools. The school leaders were able to map the connections between leadership, students, school community, society and environment. The event also facilitated the identification of strategies to mould their students into global citizens, who are ready to take leadership positions in this millennium’s technologically focused and digitally synchronized society.

Last but not the least, the delegates were able to redefine and fine-tune their leadership styles for effectively managing leadership challenges of the millennium in schools of the future.

NIIT-Ltd. sponsored eleven participants and the State Bank of India, Lucknow office together with its Singapore office sponsored a part of the Conclave budget for the cause of Educational Leadership.

Conclave Participants Feedback

“My whole ‘mindset’ has changed”!

Ms. Bilquis Dada
Director
Chittagong Grammar School
Chittagong (Bangladesh)

“I came back with my energies recharged and the founts of my knowledge replenished.”

“The problem with most of the conferences I’ve attended thus far is communication. There is too much of communication and we are left befuddled. But not so with this Conclave. It made us listen to the voice in our hearts instead of the voices in our head; instead of leaving us in an ocean of knowledge it just increased the shoreline of our wonder and curiosity. The rest as they say is up to us!”

Ms. Jayshree Periwal
Principal
Step By Step High School
Jaipur (India)

“I think we need to transform at our cores – have a total shift in paradigm; shed the cloaks of our egos [as Ranjit suggested] and embrace change in a way that will metamorphose us out of our ‘default modes’ and help us move from this hierarchy to more egalitarian metaphors. The conference provided us with some tools on how to do that – most importantly, I feel, it helped us to reflect on who we are. We can become better leaders, but more importantly we can become better human beings. This is just the beginning.”

“I had a great time! I thank you all for an enriching experience.”

“The wonderful ideas generated in the conference have got my mind buzzing and I hope to hang on to this buzz to help move things forward. Would love to continue the dialogue.”

“Really one of the best conferences I have attended. Thanks for having me.”

Ms. Shereen M. Ispahani
Chief Executive Officer
Chittagong Grammar School
Chittagong (Bangladesh)

“It was an exhilarating experience for me…….. I wish I have more interaction with you in the near future.”

Ms. Sunita Sen
Principal
Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan Kolkata (India)

“Any opportunity to meet and interact with people from one’s own field is an enriching experience. Especially if they come from different places and different back grounds. Almost all the participating principals came from good schools and with wide and rich experience. It was a pleasure and privilege to be a part of such a Conclave.”

“Organizing a major event like this is never easy.”

“Please accept my congratulations and gratitude for taking this initiative.”

Mr. Aziz Akhtar
Executive Principal
Our Own Indian School
Dubai (UAE)

“The whole experience was most enriching. The ICS and S.P. Jain partnership turned out to be extremely effective. All the modules- without exception – were of value and the congregation of so many school heads was in itself rewarding for us all. Needless to say your planning and organisation were impeccable. May be you could start planning another one with representatives from the other continents as well-not excluding the eighth one!”

“Well, you will be happy to know that I have shared many of the Conclave lessons with our students and will give a full presentation to my colleagues on 20th December. Meanwhile our senior students have been actively involved in syllabus revision. In fact their proposals were discussed by our Biology teacher at a meeting called by the CISCE at Noida. So that is putting into practice one of the Conclave principles- give students a greater voice.(Some of them impressed us all at Assembly when they spoke impromptu on topics(chosen by them) as varied as Deep Brain Stimulation, Parallel Universes and The Fourth Dimension).”

Mrs. Devi Kar
Principal
Modern High School For Girls
Kolkata( India)