Sandhya Gatti, Founder Director, Teacher Ink & Skandamitra Open Learning Resource Centre
 

 

Could you provide an introduction of yourself to our audience?

 

I have always introduced myself as a teacher. But having journeyed through the education space for over three decades now, I have realised that I am learning and will always be a learner. It’s a stance I shall never forego. Having started at the age of 19 as a teacher, with a burning desire to change the world then, I now know that I have been the one who is changing, both within and without. The word ‘teacher’ is limited in many ways. I think I am an expanded, extended version of the term. I think I have grown into the roles of a teacher educator, facilitator of learning, edupreneur, thought leader, researcher, and a radical thinker who can shatter conventions surrounding what the meaning of life and education is and can be. And this has happened organically, gradually, as a process over a long period of time. When one is continuously dedicated to one’s purpose, one finds being drawn into the roles that manifest that purpose into ideas and reality. I think that is what has happened to me.

 

 


Could you tell us about your ventures and the range of services they offer?

 

There are two major areas of education I attempt to address through my work: professional development of teachers and creating an open learning environment for our children.

 

Teacher Ink is an initiative I started with the aim of helping teachers take charge of their own professional growth. While our educational policies reflect the change that is direly needed in the educational landscape, often teachers on the ground, who are the ones who can make this change happen, are unaware or unprepared. They lack new-age pedagogical skills required to translate those aspirations into actual teaching and learning material in their classrooms. The quality of teachers is a growing concern in our country. If we wish to help this generation of learners to deal with the world they will face as adults, teachers have to gain a thorough understanding of this invisible future and the skills that young people will require. This cannot happen without teachers and school leaders becoming learners and taking their role seriously as academicians and researchers themselves. Through Teacher Ink, we offer short- and long-term teacher preparation development courses covering all the aspects of teaching and learning and educational leadership. We have created a platform for teachers where they can network and share best practices. The platform also aims at changing the teacher image from ‘just a teacher’ to a ‘teacher professional.’ We also help people who wish to create new off-the-grid schools or learning spaces with ideas and alternate curriculum and school design.

 

The other very new initiative is Skandamitra Open Learning Resource Centre (SOLRC). In my years as an educator who has been part of all kinds of schools, I have seen a great number of children struggling in schools, not just academically but also socially and emotionally. Children are drawn into a race they have not signed up for and end up being marginalised and hurt (emotionally and psychologically) in schools either for being different or being non-achievers.

 

Skandamitra is based on the belief that true and meaningful learning can happen anywhere. We challenge the myth that academic excellence can be achieved only inside a school. Skandamitra places itself in the real world, and children learn in it. As the name suggests, we are a ‘resource centre’ for families who wish to homeschool their children or parents who have children struggling at school or want their children out of the rat race to pursue passions like sports or music or have children with learning difficulties.

 

We provide customised and personalised curriculum, facilitators, experts, experiences, books, materials, a community, and technological resources as required by the families that become members. It’s really a vibrant library, in that sense. We have created what we call ‘The Skandamitra Way of Learning’ that begins with inquiry and dialogue and culminates with reflective action. While children engage in real-world experiences and projects, we ensure that knowledge and skills are constructed through academic engagement with the community and the world around them. In this sense, academic achievement is not reduced to marks and percentages but acquired as a tool to understand the world and grow as a whole person. In fact, our learners are the ones who have an active voice in their own assessments. The best part is that Skandamitra offers training and coaching not only in math and language and other scholastic subjects but also in areas like filmmaking, photography, art, yoga, theatre, fashion design, carpentry, and many other interesting careers. Children may take up open school exams like the NIOS or Cambridge or any other board of their choice in their exam years. We already have proof of concept with learners who came to us with reading and writing challenges and are now going way beyond what is expected of learners their age.

 

Both these initiatives are in their nascent stages, and I would certainly need people interested in education to join hands with me. I would like to have SOLRCs in many places in the city and country.

 

 


What motivated you to become an entrepreneur, and how has your leadership style driven the success of your ventures?

 

I did not plan it. It just came about as a result of continuous work in the field, deep thinking about issues around education, countless conversations with like-minded people, and endless thinking about what can be done to change the way our young people experience education today. The people who have invested in Skandamitra and are running the place today are the students I taught when they were in school ages ago! It’s like coming full circle, really.


Teacher Ink was the result of a conversation between two friends. My business partner at Teacher Ink is my dearest friend, Susmita Shroff. We registered our initiative and then sat back. I think my line was, “Now let people really interested in teachers come to us.” And we waited. School owners who were part of a program that I taught were the ones who came to me first. And then on, we have worked with a countless number of teachers and leaders.


If you ask me about my ‘leadership style,’ then it would be hard to answer. Personally, I believe leadership is an attitude. Leading is not about being on top. It is about listening to what is happening around you, being aware, and giving others a chance to voice what they think and feel. Of course, there are times when you have to be the ‘leader,’ but even that need not be loud, if you see what I mean. We don’t have to beat a drum about it. It is more about allowing people to come to believe that you have what it takes to earn or deserve that title. It is also about letting your team believe they are leaders themselves and providing them the space and opportunities to be one. This means allowing people to try out their ideas, even when you feel it might not work.

 

I am not sure if I can define success conventionally. In financial terms, maybe teachers of the world don’t really succeed. But it is an aspiration that the ventures I have started allow everybody involved to taste success and prosperity. But the real success we have achieved is that we are known for quality, sincerity, and the authenticity of our purpose that shows when we engage with teachers, schools, and people we team with.

 

 


Could you share us your professional journey, highlighting significant milestones and achievements?

 

It has been a long journey, and I think I need another lifetime to do all that I have in mind. Trying to change the landscape of education is a tricky purpose. Every individual is free to interpret what education means to them. So, to work around it for collective social impact is also a very personal endeavour. But we also meet fellow travellers, and some share our insights, if not goals, and then we choose to work with them. I was a simple teacher of English language and Social Sciences to all age groups of children before moving into teacher education. I have designed a teacher preparation course that is accredited by a university and over a hundred training modules covering various aspects of teaching, learning, and educational leadership. 

 

I believe a great way of helping more children is to work with a great number of teachers. I have placed more importance on learning than experience. I take up courses, self-study using the internet, and I grab opportunities that help me learn and grow. I am currently pursuing my Professional Doctorate and looking at developing a conversation-based model for teacher professional development. I think once I do that, it will be a big milestone for me. But otherwise, every single day is a milestone. I count my milestones with teachers coming back to me and sharing how some of the things they learnt in my sessions changed their classroom environments or when children at SOLRC amaze me with what they have managed to accomplish.

 

 


Could you highlight some of the notable projects that your ventures have successfully completed?

 

I have started projects, and they are all work-in-progress. I wonder when I will ‘complete’ things. Education is a field where there’s nothing called ‘completion.’ I have initiated Teacher Ink and Teacher Intersect (a membership-based platform for teachers to network), Skandamitra Open Learning Resource Centre and I think they are really great ideas. As a professional, I have designed curriculum and have written a lot of articles on different aspects of education. I work with individuals who wish to rewrite the narrative of how learning may be envisioned through their school or educational projects.

 

I have two big ideas now—creating an academy for teacher excellence and writing a book compiling my reflections. For the first one, I am looking for individuals/groups who can join hands with me. For the second, I have to sit down at my desk. Fingers crossed!

 

 


What are your areas of expertise, and how have these skills contributed to your success?

 

One of my greatest strengths is clarity in thinking and my ability to communicate this thinking with others. The modules I design are research-based, well thought through, and presented in a hands-on manner for teachers to experience direct takeaways. As a learner, I have been able to master pedagogical skills, and that has really helped me to demonstrate this mastery in both training sessions as well as with teaching children. I also question a lot. Asking good questions about content, working processes, or everyday things allows my team or my audience to think better and reflect or draw insights.

 

 


How do you stay informed about industry trends and innovations, and what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

 

I do read a great deal. I keep myself updated about what is happening in the world and try to relate my content with them while training or teaching. As mentioned earlier, I take up interesting courses or just self-explore a topic that I might have heard about for the first time. I like road trips and travelling as well. It is a great way of experiencing yourself and seeing what is happening in other learning spaces. I organize a program called Teacher Travelogue at Teacher Ink. Here we take groups of teachers to unconventional learning spaces in India and around the world. It is a massive learning experience to see how people have shattered glass ceilings with amazing education ideas and great inspiration for me and the teachers who travel with me.

 

For ideas… hmm… I really don’t think I’m qualified to give them. I think one has to follow what one loves to do most, hang in there when things are down, and allow good things to happen. In my case, this is all I know and can do. So, I engage in it with every fibre of my being. Everything else is a consequence of that engagement. But I know that I have a long way to go yet.

 

Sandhya Gatti

sandhyagatti@gmail.com

7406534875 / 9538570222

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