W:
www.ie-today.co.uk
like Hebron, with its roots in the missionary school movement, which is an immediate fi x with teachers who can hit the ground running but are going to be eye-wateringly expensive? Or do they grow their own? By that I mean, develop the staff they have into teachers with the critical thinking and rigour familiar to those of us who work in or around independent schools in the UK. It may take a while and be
initially expensive but there is a potential longevity which will ultimately bear fruit. This is the route which Doon is taking and this year it began running an iPGCE
“THE INDIA OF THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IS A COMMERCIALLY MINDED ANIMAL WITH MONEY TO SPEND”
bet er to listen to what people want than try to tell them what you think they need. The word I hear more than anything is partnership. Indian schools know that teaching methodology doesn’t stand still. While the Indian curriculum certainly doesn’t lack rigour, it is struggling to breed the kind of critical thinkers which can drive an already booming economy further forward. The quick-fi x solution was to introduce UK
and USA curriculums into schools off ering an all-you-can-eat-buff et approach to study, but for many schools this has stumbled when staff ed by teachers unfamiliar with the courses and lacking in confi dence in how to deliver subjects which favour opinion and judgement over cold, hard fact. So they have two options. Do they import teachers who will be able to teach the way you want them to,
course in partnership with the University of London’s Institute of Education. There has been remarkably lit le fanfare over this in India and that is understandable. The Eton of India does not wish to inform their adoring public that their teaching standards are not already sublime but it does demonstrate a creative approach to a problem. For the schools who are willing to share their
CPD programmes with others, there is considerable potential in India. A combination of face-to-face conferences and webinars could prove to be an interesting alternative to the pan-Asian model of building your own outpost much beloved of Dulwich and Harrow. In doing so, you don’t just build a client base in India you build a brand. And that, I think we’ll all agree, is when things could get really interesting. iE
Ted Underwood is schools’ director at Oak Tree International W:
www.oaktree-international.com E:
underwood@oaktree-international.com
ABOVE: The Doon School porch LEFT: Downtown Coimbatore
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