Nisha Nancy Edelquin: Enabling Children To Be Their Own Architects Of Life
Nisha Nancy Edelquin
Academic Director & Management Trustee
The influential educationist is also a Certified Neuro-Linguistic Programmer and Six Sigma Expert with a keen interest in quality & excellence. She is an active member of the Early Childhood Association, Association Montessori International, Association for Early Childhood Education and Development, and Reggio Emilia Foundation. Nisha is an ambitious and industrious Edupreneur with a flair for innovative education and purposeful learning. Let's hear it from her.
What are the key aspects of i2 Global School? What technology have you introduced to improve your students' learning experiences?
We at i2 Global School want to bring the best out of our children. As an institution, we believe that there are different types of learners and every child is unique in their ability, hence, we focus on identifying their interests, learning styles, inherent talents, and career path and how they want to go about it. We believe in creative learning and not an instructional based learning our educational methodology has taken a massive shift from 3R's (reading, writing & arithmetic)to 4C's(i.e.creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking) which is considered as the most important aspects of 21st-century learning.
Technology in Education and massive use in learning is something which is debatable yet it's something which is unavoidable. At i2 Global, we always believe in the Digital Advancement and want our young learners to be a Digital literates at the same time we do not support Technology invading an individual, thereby we integrate technology during the classroom activities and during the study and propagate an idea of No screetime after School hours.
Our Programmes ensure our students learn how to think critically and ethically as they harness technology in their learning.
This Generation Kids are digital savvy and more inclined towards technology development. Digital
Literacy is something which we believe is must for the children to be up to date in the competitive world. We inculcate different kinds of technology into our student's curriculum Such as ICT, coding, AI, and more. Our classrooms are also digitized with Smart boards to teach the concept and make the child understand the same.
Our Virtual learning program is one of the best gifts that we could give our children during unprecedented times. We also introduced a Hybrid learning model, where the children take the leverage of accessing both Online and Offline classes based on the challenges.
How are you leveraging the best of emerging education opportunities for the growth of the school?
Education industry is something which has to be constantly updated but the irony is that the traditional schooling system has not been changed or updated in the last 30 years. Schools, particularly New age institutions like us, cannot stay passive to ICT to compete and strive in the Technological Era. We have introduced new trends such as Tinkering, blended learning, Hybrid Schooling and more to make children more adaptive to growing needs of the future workforce.
Our school is committed to providing students with the best education possible and we are always looking for ways to improve our programs. We are constantly exploring new educational opportunities and technologies to make sure our students are getting the most out of their education. We are also always looking for ways to make our school more accessible to students from all walks of life.
What methods did you develop as the Academic Director to cope with the challenges the pandemic presented?
Even before the pandemic, i2 Global School focused on including technology in education practices. This idea became stronger after the pandemic with the rise of complete technology-based learning. Virtual Learning is one of the things which we have focussed on during the challenging pandemic phase and we were the first runner to adopt online schooling on the very next day of the pandemic. It was a live & interactive session where our children felt comfortable and enjoyed learning.
We have seen exponential growth in them and therefore, we have continued with the online sessions for those who face the challenges of getting quality education. Our test prep (JEE/NEET) segment has grown leaps and bounds during the pandemic, where we were able to produce greater results even though the childrens were away from the schools and direct coaching classes. Our virtual classes are 100 percent live & 99 percent interactive with a very small teacher student ratio and personalized coaching based on the student requirement.
Our Virtual learning program is one of the best gifts that we could give our children during unprecedented times. We also introduced a Hybrid learning model, where the children take the leverage of accessing both Online and Offline classes based on the challenges.
We want our people to unlearn their traditional ways and relearn the new ways that a child can explore and enjoy at the same time
How are you leveraging the best of emerging education opportunities for the growth of the school?
Education industry is something which has to be constantly updated but the irony is that the traditional schooling system has not been changed or updated in the last 30 years. Schools, particularly New age institutions like us, cannot stay passive to ICT to compete and strive in the Technological Era. We have introduced new trends such as Tinkering, blended learning, Hybrid Schooling and more to make children more adaptive to growing needs of the future workforce.
Our school is committed to providing students with the best education possible and we are always looking for ways to improve our programs. We are constantly exploring new educational opportunities and technologies to make sure our students are getting the most out of their education. We are also always looking for ways to make our school more accessible to students from all walks of life.
What methods did you develop as the Academic Director to cope with the challenges the pandemic presented?
Even before the pandemic, i2 Global School focused on including technology in education practices. This idea became stronger after the pandemic with the rise of complete technology-based learning. Virtual Learning is one of the things which we have focussed on during the challenging pandemic phase and we were the first runner to adopt online schooling on the very next day of the pandemic. It was a live & interactive session where our children felt comfortable and enjoyed learning.
We have seen exponential growth in them and therefore, we have continued with the online sessions for those who face the challenges of getting quality education. Our test prep (JEE/NEET) segment has grown leaps and bounds during the pandemic, where we were able to produce greater results even though the childrens were away from the schools and direct coaching classes. Our virtual classes are 100 percent live & 99 percent interactive with a very small teacher student ratio and personalized coaching based on the student requirement.
What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes?
We believe in the concept of unlearning and relearning, children are becoming smarter than adults,careers are becoming challenging and competition are becoming crazy, we need to keep ourselves updated to cater to the intellectual needs of the Gen Zs. So, we want our people to unlearn their conventional ways and relearn the new ways that a child can understand and enjoy at the same time.
What is your leadership approach?
My role as the Academic Director of i2 Global School is to provide a proper framework for the 360-degree development of children in terms of their academic, social, emotional, psychological, and cognitive development. I give mentorship to the children & Educators and prepare them to become lifelong learners.
Being the Director, it is not my only job to direct things. It is the joint effort that helps us to ensure that things are going as per the vision of the school. Here, we do not believe in ideas, we believe in execution and I am an active part of that execution team. I get down into the field and check on how things are going, how teachers & management team is taking it forward, and directly evaluate the outcome of each and every student of our school.
What are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Being an institution we dont believe in the lavish outlook of the premises nor the glossy look of the building, we want to provide a world class learning experience for our children, with all required infrastructure. Our childrens are not merely trained for exams, our childrens are trained for life. We majorly concentrate on the life skills which are going to be carried on throughout their life. Digital literacy is something which is considered as an important life skill, as we are moving forward in the technological era.
Our Goal is to create global citizens for the technological era while not compromising on the Rich Indian Values. Our Holistic approaches like 360 degree profiling, understanding the child's real need and inborn talents through our specialized tools are creating an idea for our educators and parents to lay a foundation for our children to focus on their futuristic goals. We believe every child is unique and everyone has their own learning needs. We are also building a robust platform to understand children's interest, learning styles and nurture their inborn talents based on the Multiple intelligences theory of the famous American Psychologist Howard Gardner. This Platform will not only be useful for our i2Gians, it'll be available online for all the Parents & educators to understand the learning needs of their children.
Nisha Nancy Edelquin, Academic Director & Managing Trustee, i2 Global School
Nisha is serving the education fraternity as an academic Director of i2 Global School and Managing Trustee of Mind valley Charitable and Educational Trust. She has represented i2 Global and has been awarded by various independent bodies like Education World, Scoo News and Times of India for the Best Innovation in Curriculum, and the Best school in Chennai.
Hobbies:Creative Writing
Favorite Book: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
We believe in the concept of unlearning and relearning, children are becoming smarter than adults,careers are becoming challenging and competition are becoming crazy, we need to keep ourselves updated to cater to the intellectual needs of the Gen Zs. So, we want our people to unlearn their conventional ways and relearn the new ways that a child can understand and enjoy at the same time.
What is your leadership approach?
My role as the Academic Director of i2 Global School is to provide a proper framework for the 360-degree development of children in terms of their academic, social, emotional, psychological, and cognitive development. I give mentorship to the children & Educators and prepare them to become lifelong learners.
Being the Director, it is not my only job to direct things. It is the joint effort that helps us to ensure that things are going as per the vision of the school. Here, we do not believe in ideas, we believe in execution and I am an active part of that execution team. I get down into the field and check on how things are going, how teachers & management team is taking it forward, and directly evaluate the outcome of each and every student of our school.
What are the goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
Being an institution we dont believe in the lavish outlook of the premises nor the glossy look of the building, we want to provide a world class learning experience for our children, with all required infrastructure. Our childrens are not merely trained for exams, our childrens are trained for life. We majorly concentrate on the life skills which are going to be carried on throughout their life. Digital literacy is something which is considered as an important life skill, as we are moving forward in the technological era.
Our Goal is to create global citizens for the technological era while not compromising on the Rich Indian Values. Our Holistic approaches like 360 degree profiling, understanding the child's real need and inborn talents through our specialized tools are creating an idea for our educators and parents to lay a foundation for our children to focus on their futuristic goals. We believe every child is unique and everyone has their own learning needs. We are also building a robust platform to understand children's interest, learning styles and nurture their inborn talents based on the Multiple intelligences theory of the famous American Psychologist Howard Gardner. This Platform will not only be useful for our i2Gians, it'll be available online for all the Parents & educators to understand the learning needs of their children.
Nisha Nancy Edelquin, Academic Director & Managing Trustee, i2 Global School
Nisha is serving the education fraternity as an academic Director of i2 Global School and Managing Trustee of Mind valley Charitable and Educational Trust. She has represented i2 Global and has been awarded by various independent bodies like Education World, Scoo News and Times of India for the Best Innovation in Curriculum, and the Best school in Chennai.
Hobbies:Creative Writing
Favorite Book: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman