Summer at Doon Leadership School
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SUMMER AT DOON LEADERSHIP SCHOOL 1st June -15th June 2015 WELCOME FROM THE HEADMASTER I am truly delighted to welcome aspiring young men and women aged 14- 18 years (Grade 9-12) from all over India and across the globe to The Doon School’s Summer at Doon programme in June 2015. The Doon School has long been associated with innovative thinking and leadership and is passionate about being at the forefront of educational opportunity for its boys, and the Summer at Doon programme seeks to create a very special experience that will enable a wider student body of girls and boys to discover the essential qualities of leadership. The course will be taught by specialist staff from Aspire, in conjunction with the teaching community from The Doon School. The leadership course will be an adventure, and also promises to be a challenging and intellectually demanding environment which will enable students to meet and make like minded friends, and learn from each other, as well as from the adults leading Summer at Doon. We are very pleased to be working with Aspire to create a dynamic and thought provoking course that will ensure that students receive a profound understanding of what successful leadership is all about and what is required to demonstrate it in the twenty-first century in an increasingly globalized world. I join the school’s teaching community and Aspire in welcoming interesting and interested students to The Doon School’s leadership programme Summer at Doon 2015. Dr Peter McLaughlin ABOUT THE DOON SCHOOL The Doon School was India’s first genuine public school including Prime Minister and aims to be an institution of excellence, dedicated Rajiv Gandhi, many to producing leaders of the future. Founded in 1935 by chief ministers of Indian Satish Ranjan Das, The Doon School has had a long and states, ambassadors and distinguished history on India’s tradition-enriched soil. luminaries in the world The school offers CISCE and IB education to 500 boys of arts and letters such between the ages of 12 and 18 in a fully boarding as sculptor Anish Kapoor environment. Forty per cent of students, who come from and author and librettist every socio-economic background and from all Indian Vikram Seth. Doon is states, as well as Indian boys from outside the country, in membership of the receive scholarships or bursaries as part of the school’s International Division mission to attract exceptional boys irrespective of their of The Headmasters’ religion, caste or economic background. and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) as well Nestled in the Doon Valley with the magnificent Garhwal as the International Boys’ Himalayas to the north and the Sal-clothed Shivaliks School Coalition (IBSC) to the south, the school is set in a wooded campus and Round Square, and is comprising 70 acres of lush surroundings, which offers an IBO world school. an idyllic location for young people to live and learn. The curriculum is broad and provides plenty of intellectual The programme is challenge and creativity in addition to a strong sporting designed to discover what tradition and love of the arts. Leadership and social leadership is, identify responsibility are part of the school’s curriculum and the traits and attributes are embedded in its ethos. Pastoral care, guidance and that make a good leader support as well as committed teachers support the boys and explore the differing in and out of the classroom. Boys achieve first class styles of leadership academic results at ISC/ICSE and IB every year, and go required today and in the to top universities and colleges at home, including IITs future. Students will be and Delhi University, and abroad to Singapore and Hong taught and also study, Kong, to the Russell Group universities in the UK, to debate and discuss, think Canada and to Ivy League colleges and highly regarded and do, learn and be liberal arts and sciences colleges in the US. challenged, be inspired and come to appreciate Its founding Headmaster, Arthur Foot, was a master the key elements of the at Eton before taking up his post at Doon, so many programme listed below: of its traditions and its ethos are rooted in the British education system. Since its foundation, the school has had a disproportionate impact on India and has produced many distinguished alumni in all walks of life, THE PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH At the core of the course is the Socratic Dialogue, a powerful, transformative and specialized learning tool. Socratic Dialogues are text-based group discussions which use teacher-guided questions and probing discussion for disciplined reflection. It is both a form of inquiry and debate to stimulate critical thinking. Readings include, but are not limited to, select passages from Aristotle, Plato, Machiavelli, Gandhi, Mao, Tolstoy, J.R.D Tata, Veer Savarkar, Lee Kuan Yew, Naguib Mahfouz, Stiglitz, and others who actively shaped the world around them through their ideas and actions. This will be an invaluable preparation not only for leadership roles in the future, but also for university and college studies at top institutions in India and worldwide. Socratic dialogues will enable the students to expand their horizons across multiple academic disciplines, and learn through the lenses of history, geography, philosophy and economics. This learning approach will be a departure from many students and will provide them with a unique, intellectually stimulating and creative approach to understanding what leadership is and how it can been seen historically, as well as in the present and how it could be practised in the future. How to apply to the Admissions Criteria Summer at Doon Interested candidates are required to provide the following: programme? A completed application form obtainable from the 1. Register and apply by website: www.doonschool.com/summer.doon/ email or in hard copy leadership, or by email from The Doon School 2. Course offer is made by • A short personal essay the School • A reference from a teacher 3. Payment Payment once acceptance has been acknowledged. 4. Place confirmed The course cost is Rupees 125,000. This is inclusive 5. You come to The Doon of everything apart from pocket money and transport School for the Summer to and from school. at Doon experience! LEADERSHIP CASE STUDIES Who are Aspire? Students explore case studies to analyse and reach Aspire are an industry conclusions based on facts, conflicting goals and promoted social values, and their impact on people and societies. We enterprise offering have developed our own, as well as drawn on relevant embedded education political and business case studies from institutions such for schools, colleges, as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Oxford and Cambridge. and universities, and Leadership case studies can also be enriched from the employability and student’s own experiences in their schools, friendship life skills courses groups and interests that require an understanding of and programmes. what leadership is and how it can have a profound effect Programmes offered to the positive, and to the negative where it is poor or, to schools are aimed perhaps worse, non-existent. Leadership is a taught part at enhancing creativity, of The Doon School’s curriculum and the school’s faculty and developing are experienced in teaching the practical and theoretical leadership and life aspects of the curriculum. skills. Their school programmes are based on experiential learning, “train-the-trainer” services, technology- enabled blended delivery and best international curricular practices. Aspire was incorporated in July 2007, is one of India’s leading education services firms delivering on-campus education to over 30,000 students on more than 40 campuses in 22 Indian states. Learn more about Aspire at www.aspireindia.org THE PERFORMING ARTS Music and Drama programmes are used to explore creativity and self-expression by giving students opportunities to develop ideas, and script, practise and perform them. In addition to supporting spatial learning and temporal reasoning in young adults, the programme is designed to give students an opportunity to collaborate, influence and lead. Students will have the chance to be taught by experienced teachers from the school and to perform in the Rose Bowl amphitheatre and/or indoor theatre spaces. COMMUNICATION The curriculum offers participants opportunities to understand the impact of (and to practise) influential writing, speaking, presentation skills and non-verbal cues (e.g., body language). It uses compelling speeches from well-known leaders to ensure that participants are able to internalise both substance and style. Soft skills help students to deal with, and positively manage, diverse environments, dissent, challenging situations and people. What they say: ...I was surprised by myself and my abilities. I was surprised by how little I can survive on and learnt how to use my resources properly... Prakriti Singh , Jamshedpur The service project was an eye-opener for our children.I personally would like to thank the programme coordinators for showing them this side of life. A few days back, when she saw the picture of the completed bottle house she felt so proud and happy. Their hard work under the sun has not gone to waste and the objective of providing housing to the underprivileged has been finally achieved. A sense of achievement and confidence could be felt. Parent of Ojasvi Khanna THE OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE The programme makes use of Dehradun’s proximity to a rich and diverse natural environment. Outdoor activity provides an appreciation for natural beauty and its forces. This is based on short, age-appropriate activities such as trekking and camping in the outdoors – inspiring planning, endurance, leadership and team work, as well as enhancing participants’ awareness of the environment and the challenges we human beings pose to it. GUEST LECTURES A variety of guest lecturers will speak to and interact with the boys and girls on the programme, including NGO leaders, politicians, writers, journalists, business leaders, artists and innovators from many walks of life.