The Infinity School is kindled from the belief that every child has an infinite potential which can be harnessed to create infinite possibilities for them. The school follows an evidence-based approach to learning by drawing references from the latest research in the field of education, says Harinder Chhabra, Director, The Infinity School, Greater Noida, in an interview with Elets News Network (ENN).
To manage with the rapidly evolving world, students must be responsive to change and receptive to new ideas, how does The Infinity School maintain such environment for its students?
In a rapidly changing world, existing knowledge becomes obsolete at a fast pace. With the rising impact of technology in our lives, job related skills too have started becoming obsolete within a couple of generations. To deal with this, we need to develop students in such a way that they are equipped and efficient at learning any time in their life.
“Learning To Learn” is the motto which The Infinity School lives by. This approach requires to focus on development of a strong character in students that includes development of grit, perseverance, self-belief and a growth mindset. Our school curriculum and pedagogy revolves around developing these character traits in our children apart from keeping them curious, engaged, creative, happy and compassionate.
All of this is achieved through a carefully chosen set of team members who can bring to life this vision of a school that really want to be child centric. Our very small student-teacher ratio also enables individual focus on every child allowing them to connect with every child and work with them at an individual level.
What are the best practices followed by the The Infinity School in its curriculum to nurture lifelong learners?
Our curriculum and pedagogical approach have dedicated space and time for developing reading, comprehension and thinking skills as well as character building through a leveled reading program, a structured professional sports program and including robotics and an award winning, internationally patented cognitive thinking program as part of the curriculum and not just clubs.
“Technology is a great enabler in the learning process. It has positively impacted the administrative work of teachers, helped them in customizing learning interventions for their children and also improved the ability of children to explore inside and outside the classroom.”
Our classrooms are named Thinkrooms where thinking, questioning, discussing and sharing is the norm. We believe in facilitating learning though inquiry, discovery and discussion rather than just teaching. The processes of equipping our students with independent and structured thinking skills; creative and critical thinking skills; comprehension and communication skills; reasoning, research and analytical skills; self-management; and socio-emotional skills are weaved into our curriculum and pedagogy.
Though the entire duration of schooling is important for a student, we believe that the pre-primary and primary years play the most important part in shaping them and thus we have ensured a maximum student-teacher ratio of 15:1 till Grade five that will allow teachers the time to provide structured individual feedback and a personalized growth path to every child. Learning happens in a continuum and thus our report cards are called Progress and Plan Reports that not just provide a child’s current status of learning. They tell you the starting point too and thus the progress made so far. It also gives a plan of action against each of the areas of concern in discussion with the child.
There are so many other things we are doing differently to ensure that we provide high quality personalised education to our students to help them chart out their unique path in life.
How growing use of technology in education sector is improving the teaching-learning practices, assessment methodologies and the learning outcomes?
Technology is a great enabler in the learning process. It has positively impacted the administrative work of teachers, helped them in customising learning interventions for their children and also improved the ability of children to explore inside and outside the classroom. Analysis of online assessments give them a lot of insight into the learning process and therefore helps in strengthening it.
Adaptive learning technology also enables the teachers to personalise the learning intervention for students of all abilities and all learning levels. Use of technology in school also brings students in sync with the real world and they are better prepared for the challenges of post school years.
What measures are adopted by The Infinity School for active engagement of parents along with teachers for holistic learning amongst its students?
The approach school has adopted requires us to in-house our teacher training. The school hired a curriculum and training professional even before the principal was hired. The focus on continuous development of our staff is our topmost agenda and will always remain there. The route school has taken to child centricity passes through employee centricity.
In the approach the school has taken, mindset development of parents is not just to be worked on but to be made one of the topmost priorities. School and home environments, value systems and learning approaches need to be in sync with each other and at the school we keep parents engaged in this process by conducting sessions for them on various aspects of learning and parenting at regular intervals. We encourage parents to attend all workshops that we organize for them.
What is The Infinity School’s mission and vision to ensure growth and development of every student?
The purpose of school is to facilitate every child in discovering their own purpose in life. The school’s low student-teacher ratio, use of technology to customize learning interventions, personalized feedback and individual progress plans make us very child centric with a goal to help every child succeed.
