"Supreme mission for a leader is to grow more leaders": Shiv Nadar School Faridabad's Director Principal Anju Wal
Congratulations on your win. Tell us what you think helped you win this award.
It is most definitely a privilege and an honour to receive the International School Leader of the Year, Asia Award from Pearson.
I believe that authentic and good work has a way of shining through. The cornerstone of my leadership is being democratic and distributive.
I have been vested with this unique opportunity to build a school with a team of believers from the ground up. My team is exceptional. The resonance and work ethic I have fostered in my growing and evolving team of educators may have unlocked this recognition.
To be a leader in a space as dynamic as education, what qualities does one need?
A leader, by definition, leads. Yet good leaders know that they also follow. They know how to be invisible, guide and encourage, and let teams take centre stage when the moment arises.
The most supreme mission for a leader is to grow more leaders. It is to build in their team attributes of confidence, competency and capacity to take the torch forward and be the best version of themselves.
Moreover, as a leader, one must have the patience to let things be on a slow burn so that people can grow at their own pace, create an opportunity to evolve and develop and create an eco-system of consistent and deep learning.
There must be autonomy and agency to express views, feelings and divergent opinions in teams. Mistakes need to be embraced, and these should transform into defining learning moments.
Leaders drive change and learn on the go. They create the momentum to embrace the new-age strategic changes in the teaching-learning design and role model the dynamic changes they want to see in their teams. They get their hands dirty. They keep connected with their team and create a culture of care and accountability.
Building connections with parents is a crucial part of their core responsibility — it’s vital to build partnerships with parents and create a safe and secure space for the emotional, physical and mental wellbeing of all teachers and children in their care.
This is a lot of hard work, but nothing great can be achieved without believing in the rigour and tenacity of tireless work.
Tell us about the edge that Shiv Nadar School offers to students.
The bedrock of Shiv Nadar School is its core values. Values of openness and transparency, pursuit of excellence, integrity, respect, compassion, lifelong learning, sense of purpose, and responsibility drive the engine of our beliefs and actions.
We entered the education space just about 12 years ago. The mission was to break the glass ceiling and have the highest standards of the finest education children experience.
Our mission is to see our students develop into ethical, happy, authentic and purposeful global citizens. We foster creativity in children and harness the power they have within them.
Our job is to nurture and create the environment for children to discover their potential and find themselves in their journey through school. Academic learning is significant, but it’s not the only important thing in a child’s education.
We focus on the child’s cognitive, affective, physical and character development with balance and equitability.
Shiv Nadar School has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable practices, and its efforts have been recognised and lauded by many. The school has been committed to water conservation, which is evident through various initiatives, including the installation of advanced water purification systems and regular quality checks.
Additionally, the school educates students on water conservation through workshops and innovative projects. One such community outreach project we have undertaken is the Shiv Nadar School Forest project.
The project is one of our initiatives to sensitise and engage the students and our community in sustainable practices of conserving the environment.
Adjacent to the North Block of Shiv Nadar School Faridabad, there used to be a 6,900 square metre marshland that was being utilised as a sewage dumpsite. This public wasteland has now been transformed into a thriving green space, with 8,000 native species of evergreen trees planted in the past year.
In the near future, the industrial city of Faridabad will have a self-sustaining mini forest with a water body to attract native Fauna and Flora and a walkers’ path to nourish the lungs of the community.
Do tell us more about the awards.
The Pearson International School Teacher Awards are believed to be prestigious and highly rated worldwide. They recognise and celebrate outstanding educators shaping the future of education.
Receiving such an award is a great affirmation and acknowledgement. But we move on from there and continue our journey, shifting the goalposts and creating new frontiers in international schools across the field of knowledge and consciousness.
The awards honour and celebrate exceptional educators in international schools worldwide, with nominations coming from educators, leaders, parents, and students.
