Interview #18: For the Joy of Sharing

Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee

An Interview with Venkataraman L.N.
Adaptive Instruction

March 30, 2023

Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee is committed to drive the compelling and much needed shift from a one-size-fits-all education system based on the industrial factory model of productivity to a creative, innovative, personalized, happy and fulfilling form of education.With a purposeful career in the education space spanning over more than 20 years, Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee has dedicated her life towards promotion of child-centric and activity-oriented education. A passionate educationist and a global thought leader with a background of setting up and leading new age K- 12 schools, Dr. Mukherjee had been the Founder Principal of Adamas World School and STEM World School, the first STEM school in West Bengal.

Under her inspiring leadership, STEM World School has been ranked and awarded as the 2nd best International Day School in West Bengal by Education World. Dr. Mukherjee has also held senior academic and administrative positions in some of the reputed colleges of West Bengal. She ardently believes that the purpose of meaningful education is to develop lifelong learners, creative thinkers and responsible global citizens who are confidently equipped to face the challenges of an uncertain and constantly unfolding future. All through her career in education, Dr. Mukherjee had actively contributed to and spearheaded the process of creating a personalized, engaging and stress-free curriculum for learners of all age groups.

She is also the Ambassador of Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Club, UK, Educational Ambassador from India for International Organization of Educators and Researchers Inc., Philippines, International Ambassador and Country Director for Global Literary Temple (GLT) Nigeria, Women Reform Organization (WRO) Nigeria, Fondation Lance d’Afrique Burundi, Peace Ambassador for India for Global Peace Foundation, Dubai (UAE), Global Ambassador of Global Research Foundation, Director of Red SororidadPacto Entre Ellas, Peru and the Indian Envoy for World Women Organization.

As a person who thrives on intrinsic motivation to touch, impact, inspire and create tangible difference in the people’s lives through the transformative and ennobling power of education, Dr. Mukherjee is an extremely passionate and purpose – driven academician who has been relentlessly working in the education sector for more than past two decades to nurture the creative and innovative genius and the unique talents and capabilities in the young learners. She believes that her primary responsibility is to help enable the young learners to evolve into more confident, competent, dynamic and authentic versions of themselves who are holistically equipped to address the constantly emerging global complexities of the 21st century VUCA world.

Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee’s Story

The beauty of nature lies in diversity and this is governed by the difference in time. The difference in speed, in growth, in speech, in color and so on. Everything as a set of systems within and as manifestations of expressions as beings in function and structure are based on the seed called time. Time is among the causative forces of sound and hence the various differences also have respectively a unique vibration. This is all pervasive across the universe. In fact sound is said to be the cause of the creation of this universe in vedic system. A unique set of seed-sounds lead to the creation of Sanskrit grammar and language. All of this richness comes from that difference in time at the core called the pace. We all are born with some differences in our pace (in our discriminative power, learning power etc.) and thus it is no wonder that as children, our ability to learn is at a different pace for each of us. Any education system that excludes these differences and adopts a uniform code, arrests the harmonious development of creativity in each child – the power of richness we all are potent with.

Prof. (Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee, a passionate educator is keenly driven by the philosophy to let children learn at their own pace. She is a powerful speaker with deep insights to revolutionize the education system for the betterment of society and mankind. It is a great honour to feature her wisdom through this article. Looking forward to hear more from her over a video interview in the near future.

By Venkat
Adaptive Instruction

Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee’s Profile Summary

Position	Associate Dean of School of Liberal Arts and Culture Studies at Adamas University, India Director of School of Education at Adamas University, India Chairperson of Departmental Student Grievance Redressal Committee for School of Education Vice Chairperson of Faculty Council of School of Education Member of University Board of Research, University Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) Member of University Internal Committee for Students with Disabilities Senior Administrative Officer of University Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) Various other national and international academic associations Global Ambassador for various international organizations
Expertise	Internationally acclaimed inspirational Speaker in Leadership and Education Industry
Education	Ph.D, M.A, B.Ed,

“Education is something which touches the lives of people around us. This has been the driving force behind everything I have done.”
Prof. (Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee

Prof.(Dr.) Shauli Mukherjee’s Wisdom in Threes

Describe yourself in three words

Unstoppable
Purposeful
Passionate

Define life in three words

Enigmatic
Meaningful
Significant

Three things which have been your greatest source of inspiration

I am a conscious and ardent believer of the concept of IKIGAI – the reason for being. In terms of my professional career as an academician, there had been a conscious and fortunate intersection between what I was good at and what I loved doing.
I am a person who has actually turned her passion into her profession and through her profession has actually found her IKIGAI – the sole reason for being.
When there’s a culmination of passion and purpose, one tends to work with an elevated sense of conviction and commitment and there’s absolutely no need for any external stimulus to keep him/her motivated or inspired since both inspiration and motivation are intrinsic for a person who is purpose driven.

Three challenges you faced in life

I believe that almost all potential and great opportunities in life often come disguised as challenges and obstacles.
Though there have been numerous challenges in my professional journey, especially since I had been committed to bring about a visible and tangible difference in people’s mind set concerning the real essence of education which was definitely not an easy task
I had never viewed those obstacles as stumbling blocks in my life, rather I have considered them as essential stepping stones which had helped enable me to evolve into a better, stronger and more confident version of myself.

Three ideas to build resilience to face challenges

Resilience is not something that one is born with. It is rather a muscle that needs to be nurtured and nourished systematically in order to be exercised.
As parents and educators, we need to teach our children not to avoid painful feelings, instead to feel them and move through them.
In fact, dealing with physical discomfort like heat, cold, fatigue, thirst etc all help to build our resilience.

Three essential things needed to achieve success

A clear sense of purpose
Inordinate yearning to achieve the much desired goal
Uncompromising conviction about one’s own self can surely lead one to SUCCESS

Top three practices and habits you would advise to young students

There is absolutely no dearth of talents, capabilities and potentialities in us. We should remember that the world doesn’t care and is not changed a bit by how much we know, rather it definitely gets impacted by what we decide to do with what we know.
We need to ask ourselves what is that one problem/ issue that we would like to solve which would create a real difference in the lives of the people around us. The answer to this question would help us to ascertain the purpose of our lives.
We must try to create a greater purpose for all that we do and stand for. Our purpose will eventually act as a strong magnet to pull people towards our vision. Our purpose will ultimately decide our destination. We need to follow our passion, believe in ourselves and continue to dream big – and then even the sky is not the limit for any one of us.

Dr. Shauli Mukherjee’s Key Awards and Recognition

World Peace Award
Distinguished Global Leadership Award
National Quality Excellence Award
Gem of India Award
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Award
National Education Leadership Award
World Peace Award
Among India’s Top 50 Women Leaders in the Education Industry
Among Top 20 Revolutionary Education Leaders
Among Top 99 Women Achievers of India in 2021
Among the Top 50 Most Courageous Women in Business, Leadership and Entertainment in 2022