SPRINGDALES SCHOOL DHAULA KUAN pulsated with innovative and thought provoking ideas as erudite speakers from varied walks of life shared their novel perspectives during the Winter Staff Seminar entitled “Today’s Classroom- Mirroring the World of the Future” on January 9th and 10th, 2019.

Welcoming the staff members of all three units, Guest Speakers and Resource persons, Dr. Jyoti Bose, Director, Springdales Schools drew our attention to the fact that our classrooms are where the future of our world is carved and enlightened the audience on the necessity of going beyond the curriculum to teach the student.

 Delivering the Keynote Address, Mrs Ameeta Mulla Wattal, Principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road, reiterated the need to sensitize our young generation to the dystopian world around us and the coping mechanisms that schools need to teach students. She further emphasized that Artificial Intelligence can never be at par with intuitive thinking.

 Ms. Vinita Uppal, OBE, Director, The British School, focused attention on the fact that future belongs to those who can unlearn and relearn and the key attributes for a teacher are to make children reflect, contemplate and communicate effectively.

A gamut of hands on sessions were conducted by the senior staff for different levels which inspired the teaching fraternity to reinvent their approach towards teaching. In her presentation titled “Differential Approach to Teaching Environmental Studies in an Inclusive Classroom”, Mrs. Goldy Malhotra, Former Principal, Modern School, Vasant Vihar advised the educationists to employ differential approach to encourage peer learning in an inclusive classroom. Dr. Asha Singh, former Professor ,Lady Irwin College, Delhi University conducted a session on “Theatre – A Pedagogical tool for Classroom Instruction in the Early Years” suggesting to introduce innovative theatre strategies while Prof. Dhruv Raina, Professor, History of Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University threw light on the history and need for integrating various disciplines through a lively session on “The Rise of Interdisciplinary : Redrawing the Boundaries between Disciples”. Ms. Sumanjeet Kaur, Educational Consultant conducted a session on “Building STEM Skills for the Future on a Sound Mathematical Foundation” through which she highlighted the importance of equipping our students with STEM Skills. In an interactive panel discussion on the topic “The Key Aspects of Sustainability”, Mr. Aporajito Bose, Diversity Manager, Springdales Schools discussed the ways and means of inculcating the values needed in early years for sustainability.                      

An engaging panel discussion on the topic “Is Technology in Class the Answer ?” chaired by Prof. Manik Verma, Principal Researcher ,Microsoft Research India Adjunct & Professor of Computer Science , IIT Delhi and Mr. Rajib Bose, Senior Managing Consultant, Digital Strategy ,IBM India brought out the imperative need to focus on giving students the skills to use technology as a tool to engage them and enhance learning. Mr. Aporajito Bose, Diversity Manager, Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan, rightly compared the internet to an ocean, both being vast, unexplored and dangerous territories requiring safety precautions in his interactive session “Cyber Security, the Modern Internet age.”

The seminar culminated on a musical note with Ms. Saneyee Purandare Bhattacharjee, renowned Hindustan Classical Vocalist presenting “A Bouquet of Memories”.