Education is the foundation of civilization and teachers are the pillars of it. What makes educators stand apart from other professionals in the world is their exquisiteness in going beyond teaching to mold students into successful professionals. One such phenomenal persona is Shilpa Solanki, who has dedicated her life to her students and crafted an exclusive podium ‘The Harmony Tree’ for hewing the early years of students’ education. Currently positioned as the Founder Principal & Director of The Harmony Tree Preschool & Learning Centre, she is leading her team to design academic and non-academic programs and and oversees day to day operations and organizational processes. She has extensively researched and worked on Curriculum development for Early years to Middle school, and has extensive experience in working with Pre-Primary between 1 to six years - Parent Toddlers, Playgroup, Nursery, and Kindergarten 1 and 2. Owing to her decades-long expertise in this arena, she has developed and implemented innovative teaching and learning practices across the functionalities of The Harmony Tree in the early years of education. Shilpa’s dream was to create a small happy school that celebrates differences, provides opportunities and space for each child to learn in different ways and learn different skills, and The Harmony Tree turns this dream into a reality and envisions a space and a program that is meaningfully and mindfully crafted.

Below is an excerpt from Shilpa’s interaction with the Women Entrepreneur magazine.

As an educational leader, what is it that makes you stand apart from the others?

At an administrative leadership level, my expertise lies in teacher capacity building and relationship management skills. I believe that just like children, if teachers or your staff are given the right means/resources they will live up to their potential. So, my expertise would be to effectively manage and nurture my team of teachers, meanwhile building strong and positive relationships within the school. To add to it, if your relationships and culture are positive, then the outcome of the work that you do will be positive. The other important thing about my leadership would be about staying true to my values and beliefs in all contexts and leading authentically. Authentic leadership is when you practice what you preach and it is an important criterion as a leader. It builds trust in the community that you're leading, whether it's parents, students, or teachers.

Our effort is to build and sustain a centre on sound pedagogical practices. Hence we have developed a robust and comprehensive child-centric curriculum for our students. This curriculum brings innovative practices to our teaching and learning on an everyday basis, makes learning more meaningful, and helps to shape young minds.

"We want the parents to understand that providing an unhurried and nurturing environment in the early years, helps boost children's confidence building, self-esteem, and cognitive skills"

What is it that inspired you to venture into the education segment?

I have always been natural with children, and, therefore becoming a teacher was the topmost choice from the very beginning of my career. After completing my education, I pursued my career in this field and it was a natural choice because it fits my temperament. However, soon, I realized that the early years of education are often considered a neglected sector here in India. As per my range of experiences, I was sure that if children are given the right experience at that time, it will create positivity towards learning that can last for a lifetime. After realizing the importance of nurturing process at the initial stage of education in a purposeful way, I wanted to do something of my own, and this led to the inception of The Harmony Tree.

Throw some light on the challenges you encounter with daily tasks and how do you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges for a standalone preschool setup is losing students before they complete the preschool cycle. They move toward big schools because most parents have the insecurity or fear that their kids might not get admission later. Especially in big cities, this problem is quite persistent. To mitigate these challenges, we ensure that we have a very highquality program, where parents see value in sticking to the program and completing the entire course because they know that it helps their children in the long run. The other challenge is to bring the parents on board and educate the parents’ community on the importance of why early childhood centre is far more beneficial for young students than putting them into big schools too early. We want the parents to understand that providing an unhurried and nurturing environment in the early years, helps boost children's confidence building, selfesteem, and cognitive skills. Apart from that, we will try to be top of our game, in terms of bringing in innovative practices, being abreast with what's happening in the early education sector, and being aware of the sound practices that help us with these early years.

What would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

One of the most common questions that I have always come across for working women is ‘can they work after marriage.  I have always strongly believed that every person across the nation is a national human resource, and if 50 percent of that national human resource is not contributing to the nation's progress and development, then we're not optimizing that human potential. So, I feel that women should contribute to the nation’s development in whatever form they do. I would advise them to use their education and expertise to be part of the nation’s development. Do not limit your potential under the pressure of circumstances and environment because you can write your own destiny.

Shilpa Solanki, Founder Principal & Director, The Harmony Tree

Starting her professional journey as a preschool teacher in 1995, Shilpa has voyaged a long way to be recognized as one of the most prolific stalwarts of the Indian education arena. Shilpa has completed her B. Ed, Masters of Arts (M.A.), and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Pune University. Along with a Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (CIDTT), she holds a Certificate in the teaching of English (C.T.E.) from IGNOU and a Trained Teachers Certificate (T.T.C.) from St. Mary’s Junior College of Education, Pune