MIND-BOX

Information is worthless if it is not accompanied by the ability to process it. There is so much raw information in the world today and spending school years merely memorizing random snippets of it seems an incredible waste of precious childhood years. While collecting information & skills in their heads may seem a great way of learning for some, the majority of students need to learn how to interpret the world around them, solve problems, think critically, creatively and independently, communicate effectively, take initiative and execute tasks responsibly. Therefore, at Buddhi we follow a multidimensional approach to educating children and young individuals that will enable them to successfully live and contribute in a fast changing, dynamic world of the future.

INTELLIGENCE:

At Buddhi we facilitate the development of a child’s intelligence through a multi-pronged approach. Focus of development is on the following aspects of a child’s intelligence.

Perception, which means the ability to understand or comprehend, is a cognitive process that allows people to translate sensory impressions into a coherent and unified view of the world around them. Since it involves working with all senses, at Buddhi there is a great emphasis on active learning. This provides opportunities for children to enhance their perception, engaging in activities designed to stimulate and use all senses.

The early childhood years of preschool and early primary stages see the maximum focus in this area.

Critical thinking(reasoning) in essence is the ability to think for oneself by weighing evidence and facts. The result is to come up with one’s own thoughts and opinions, without undue influence from anything or anyone else. Critical thinking involves abilities such as enquiry, reasoning, analytical thinking and creative thinking. Reasoning involves forming conclusions, inferences, or judgments by a process of logic. Enquiry enables the learner to ask questions, to think about the right question to ask, and to plan more questions based on the answers received. Analytical thinking involves the abstract separation of a whole into its constituent parts in order to study the parts and their relations. Creative thinking is a way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective that often suggests unorthodox solutions (which may look unsettling at first). Buddhi’s curriculum places a great emphasis on the thinking aspect of a growing mind and teachers focus on developing and assessing students’ thinking abilities as described above in all their lessons and activities. Over the years in school, the student is encouraged to explore areas of interest, academic or otherwise, and attain the thinking competence that she is capable of. This process does not rely on competition and comparison rather through dialogue which is a central feature of the life in the school.

The middle childhood years of primary and lower secondary stages see a greater focus in this area.

Learning Style is an individual’s mode of gaining knowledge. People take in and process information in different ways. A learning style is the method a person uses to learn. By knowing a student’s learning style, Buddhi teachers can use teaching methods that maximize student learning. There are many different learning styles. Buddhi teachers determine these by looking at how a student’s personality influences the way they receive and process information, how they interact with classmates and adults and the type of learning environment and methods they prefer. Students in turn can recognize their individual learning styles to find what study methods, environment, and activities help them learn best.

This focus is maintained throughout the schooling years of an individual at Buddhi.

LEARNING:

At Buddhi we believe that a good foundation of well developed intelligence in an individual results in superior abilities in acquiring knowledge, skills and social conduct.

Knowledge is information and understanding acquired through experience or education. It is the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. At Buddhi there is an equal emphasis on both aspects of knowledge, that is, both modes of learning, theoretical and practical, are used to effectively complement each other and an appropriate balance of the two is implemented. This approach along with a modern and international curriculum and the student’s innate intelligence results in maximizing knowledge in an individual.

Skills is the ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carry out complex activities or job functions, or in the application of knowledge to practical purposes. At Buddhi the emphasis is on building students’ skills in learning which involve technical skills such as reading, writing, computing, researching, communicating and studying and also in art & physical areas. Without these an individual would be unable to effectively acquire knowledge. Another key skill that Buddhi teachers focus on is building work skills in their students which allow them to effective apply what they have learnt to practical purposes. For example students engage themselves in project work, practical demonstrations, producing work items and specific school duties and tasks.

Conduct is the manner in which a person behaves, especially on a particular occasion or in a particular context. At Buddhi we believe that good conduct or behaviour requires a good foundation in emotional well being, belonging and contribution. There is a strong emphasis on encouraging the individual to acquire the set of abilities to interact positively and work effectively with others. In the early years our curriculum places a strong emphasis on the emotional development of children which in turn helps them develop a sense of belonging to their environment and begin to contribute constructively. They learn to care for others, feel happy and safe and learn to be good friends. They also develop self-confidence and do as well as possible in their work. As students progress to later stages in intermediate and secondary years, they further learn to read social situations, manage their emotions and solve problems collaboratively. Buddhi teachers work closely with students helping them continuously in understanding their social environment, emotions and problems, thereby setting them well on their way to functioning successfully as adults.

Personality:

We believe that the future will demand a dynamic personality in individuals, and the foundation for developing the dispositions for this must be laid in childhood. We also believe that education should be about empowering students to adapt and innovate in an ever changing world. At Buddhi we are committed to nurturing two key qualities we believe are necessary for developing a vibrant disposition – creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.

Creativity is the ability to imagine or invent something new. It is the ability to generate new ideas by combining, changing, or reapplying existing ideas. Some creative ideas are astonishing and brilliant, while others are just simple, good, practical ideas that no one seems to have thought of yet.

Creativity is also an attitude: the ability to accept change and newness, a willingness to play with ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it. We are socialized into accepting only a small number of permitted or normal things, like chocolate-covered strawberries, for example. The creative person realizes that there are other possibilities, like peanut butter and banana sandwiches, or chocolate-covered prunes.

Creativity is also a process: Creative people work hard and continually to improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their works. The creative person knows that there is always room for improvement.

At Buddhi we recognize the importance of developing and preserving the creative instincts of our children. We believe that everyone has substantial creative ability. Just look at how creative children are. We also understand the risks a curriculum based formal education poses to the development of creative abilities in an individual. We believe that often all that’s needed to be creative is to make a commitment to creativity and to take the time for it. We therefore emphasize this focus through our Arts education program and also encourage it in problem solving and other hand-on-activities within the curriculum.

Entrepreneurial Spirit is evident in people who are highly energetic and creative, who are self learners and self-confident, have high levels of self-esteem and are futuristic in their outlook as they seek to incessantly find and solve problems, take risks and learn from failures (theirs and others). They thrive on change and have a natural predisposition to showing initiative and willingly accept personal responsibility for tasks and projects, which they execute independently. They harness all available resources within their scope in order to achieve success on their own terms.

At Buddhi, we value these qualities highly and nurture and encourage them in students through our open environment that is active, varied, challenging and supports independent learning and task behaviour.