Administrator's Corner
IS YOUR SCHOOL’S STRATEGIC FOCUS ALIGNED
WITH THE DEMANDS OF THE DIGITAL AGE?
BY MURAD MIRZA
T
he word ‘Disruptive’ has
come to signify the kind of
transformative change that
uproots existing norms of
competitiveness and forges a path
of its own by rewriting the ‘rule book’
while relegating complacent schools
to the annals of history. It’s the kind
of trailblazing that is majestic in nature
and game-changing in practice.
However, schools that are built upon
such innovations are also highly
susceptible to becoming like the ones
they replaced, as accelerated growth
and unbridled expansion come into
focus, especially, after the ‘aura’ of
being a ‘start-up school’ disappears.
Consequently, it is imperative that the
strategic focus of progressive schools
is in congruence with the demands
of the Digital Age to remain relevant
18 |
Jan - Feb 2019
|
|
and competitive while maintaining
an effective buffer against disruptive
influences/competitors.
There are five strategic imperatives for
schools to stay relevant and competitive
in the Digital Age, i.e., Humanistic,
Functional, Architectural, Business
and Technology. It is designed in the
form of a self-reflection that creates a
framework for an honest self-appraisal
of a school’s strengths and weaknesses
to further strengthen the positive
traits and to enable timely corrective/
preventive actions for overcoming any
shortcomings. Let’s discuss each of
the five strategic imperatives with their
constituent elements, below:
Humanistic
The Humanistic aspect focuses on all
Class Time
areas pertaining to the management
of human talent that creates a win-win
situation for both the employee and
the employer during the lifecycle of the
employment relationship. It calls for
cognizance of the fact that educators’
voices are being increasingly muffled
under the euphoria induced by the
increasing encroachment of seemingly
user-friendly technology in the
school, especially, AI-enabled, that is
serving as a ‘relationship buffer’ for
the senior management, enamoured
with an obsessive focus on student
performance.
Short-sighted schools often implement
talent management practices that are
designed for ‘risk accommodation’
against ‘talent flight’ instead of ‘risk
mitigation’ that caters to ‘talent