As Swami Vivekananda once said,“It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved”. India being the largest democratic society of the world, where diversity rules across regions & states and where every region has varied socio-economic levels & age groups, initiatives and efforts to bridge the gender gap towards trained literacy is slowly being filled by capable women leaders such as Nowsheen Bashir. Redefining herself as an educator of tomorrow in this fast-paced and dynamic world, Nowsheen Bashir puts her best step forward everyday to bring in a positive change to the society, and a healthy outlook to the education community.
Catalyzing the Educational Revolution
Having started her role as an educator 20 years ago, Nowsheen Bashir is that personality who believes in evolving along with the changing trends of the world and reinvents herself to better serve the schools she has been a vital part of. Currently, operating as the Vice-Principal of Doon International School, Srinagar, she fulfills her responsibilities and tasks as her own, since she believes running an educational institution can’t be a one man’s show, and everyone has to be put in their best. Also, always making it sure that she surrounds herself with great teachers who are motivated and willing to try new educational strategies; supporting the ambitions of teachers, she holds all her staff members to high expectations, providing momentum and direction not just for the teachers but for the students as well, creating inclusive and a safe learning environment.
“I keep in consideration the fact of the matter that it takes time to make meaningful improvements and that vision does not happen overnight; true transformation takes time, and thus, I truly believe in combined, integrated and collective work over time”, shares Nowsheen Bashir, telling us what today’s educational institute needs and demands, and how she streamlines all the processes at Doon. Through the conversation with her we also learnt that apart from holding an important position at DIS, she also involves herself in assessments and remediation of teachers, class supervisions and assigning staff duties, mentoring, maintenance and upgradation of school curriculum, along with developing and implementing policies and procedures, and maintain healthy relationships with parents and community. Additionally, she also guides the school with regards to organizing activities and crisis management, implementing modern teaching methods like: VAK (Visual, Audio & Kinesthetic teaching), Collaborative, Spaced, Flipped, Crossover learning and so on.
Finding the Silver Lining in The Darkest of Clouds
Not having dealt with a crisis situation like the current pandemic earlier, it was a new, yet learning experience for Nowsheen Bashir, as she along with the whole unit of Doon International School had to overcome the hurdles which came along – real quick and had to get adjusted to the new-norms. “With an evident reigning uncertainty among institutions and confusion regarding remote/distance teaching and learning, I knew I had to make critical decisions and the belief that ‘failure can be the best teacher’, encouraged me to take risks, not putting education and the health of the students at stake”, added Ms. Nowsheen, regarding her contributions towards Doon during the ongoing pandemic. Continuing the above statement, she stated – “We started off with parental-teacher correspondence along with a framework where learning wasn’t compromised”. Moreover, ensuring quality over quantity always, Nowsheen Bashir introduced a flexible yet productive curriculum, and resources were made easier for the teachers as well as students. It was also made sure that each and every student could avail the online medium of instruction and learning, and fortunately all these efforts permeated through the institution and the student achievement reached new heights, despite the medium of teaching being different and brand-new.
A person with various accolades and achievements credited to her name, Nowsheen Bashir has B.Sc and M.Sc degrees, and a B.Ed from Kashmir University. Also, a completely outgoing personality who learns from teaching and displaying her prowess in the field of Genetics, she has attended various seminars and annual conferences, among which, A global view on School Education, Spectrum of Education, Istanbul – Turkey (16-17 April, 2016), XVIIth Annual Conference on Human Genetics at Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Facets of Biotechnology Vel’s college of Arts and Science, Chennai, Conference of School Principals, 2015 at Jodhamal Public School, Jammu, “Preparing leaders for the future learning Society” at India Habitat Center, Lodhi road, New Delhi (28-30 January,2019) are a few. All in all, in a grand scheme of things, we are sure that her contributions to the learning community is through her effective collaboration efforts. Also, by serving the society as that entity that empowers teachers and cultivates strong leadership skills, Ms. Nowsheen is slowly working towards creating such an environment at Doon, where educators are able to experiment, innovate and lead, towards continuous improvement in the learning community, where she believes she is clearly articulating her visions and goals to her colleagues or staff, thereby proving beneficial for the community, at large.
