How Bangalore International School Prepares Students to Face the Real World

Albert Einstein famously said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” The best way to foster one’s imagination is through art education, which encourages creativity, innovation, thinking outside the box, and even interpersonal skills, which are crucial in the world outside school.

Education is often considered only from an academic perspective and is just equated to gaining theoretical knowledge and how well students can retain the same and score the highest grades at the end of their school year. But there is more to it than the knowledge found in their textbooks that often leads to developing students’ information retention skills. Education has to be an amalgamation of many things that, in the long run, will equip the students with an array of skills. This is where art education comes into importance. This kind of education focuses on instilling knowledge through various fields such as music, theatre, dance, and visual arts.

Bangalore International School has always encouraged art education in their students over the past many years with their rich performing arts curriculum. The board has recognized the importance and implemented a holistic teaching model that focused on more than the core academics, thus improving the student outcomes. Interestingly, the subjects that focus on performing arts are included in the students’ daily schedule rather than posing them as extracurricular activities outside the schedule.

Like the conventional educational subjects, art also requires regular practice and cannot just be crammed as theories into the students’ minds. This is why the students at BIS are constantly encouraged to read develop literary skills, which later translates into engaging pieces of written work & poetry. The institution has also introduced India’s only inter-school poetry slam when young students have been encouraged and given a platform to display how they could move the world with their words. They are also given the right inspirations and examples of poetry. Actress Kalki Koechlin was featured in the 2018 BIS Slam and delivered a heart-rendering piece on the expectations and realities named – Fairy Tale.

We come from a country that can boast a diverse culture spanning various art forms, and it is important to expose students to this rich heritage of theirs. This is why Bangalore International School has a rich culture of arts, dance, music, theatre, and wellness. The school conducts an annual MADD Fest, where the students can showcase their diverse talents on this multiple-day event. Besides that, the school encouraged & fostered the dance troupe Alibis, who have performed across Bangalore and were also given the opportunity to participate in international competitions where they successfully moved to the finals. In addition to that, BIS also encourages the students’ competitive spirit through their inter-school performing arts fest BIS XANADU.

In encouraging students’ art talents, the school has managed to address the many needs of students pertaining to their emotional, social, ethical, and academic development through an integrated learning format. Through this, the students of BIS learn and understand the impact they leave in the community through their actions. The teachers at BIS offer activities and projects that help develop critical thinking and other skills. Teaching art also brings about better academic performance while promoting collaboration and group learning, which is essential as we are supposed to function together as a society.

BIS doesn’t just instill these rich values in their students but also provides them with an opportunity to develop their artistic talents. The students who have crossed middle school can also adopt any form of art subject as a part of their core academics, should they be interested in doing so. Thus, allowing them to delve into the opportunities these talents could have from a professional career-specific standpoint.

The school has also adopted the Round Square approach, which involves character education and experiential learning surrounding themes such as International Understanding, Democracy, Environmental Stewardship, Adventure, Leadership, and Service. The students are given exposure by encouraging participation in Regional Conference, Model United Nations conferences, and much more. Thus, students are guided to become well-rounded, knowledgeable, responsible, principled, and confident global citizens.
 

Students are also encouraged to participate in activities like the, thus becoming informed, responsible, conscientious, and confident global citizens.

Over time, BIS has perfectly managed to focus on both art and core academics in its curriculum. In addition, they have also successfully followed a holistic teaching model that involves integrated learning formats and community interaction. This form of imbibing knowledge into their students has led to them graduating with a strong sense of self, a sharper grasp of academics, an improved sense of emotional and mental well-being, superior problem-solving skills, and much more.