ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATOR

DESCRIPTION

The Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project is looking for a highly-motivated and passionate individual to fill an opening for the Academic Administrator position. The Academic Administrator oversees our volunteer teacher program and carries out mentoring, professional development, and curriculum building duties at Shanti Bhavan, our English-medium progressive boarding school in rural India. The Academic Administrator works with the local Indian and US team in order to support resident volunteers in their teaching duties and build a robust teaching program for the betterment of Shanti Bhavan students.

Start Date: June 2022.

End Date: Must be willing to commit until mid-December 2022, with the possibility of extension until April 2023.

Location: Baliganapalli, TN, INDIA

ABOUT THE INSTITUTION

Shanti Bhavan has been in existence for nearly 25 years, and the organization has been profiled in The New York Times, the Charlie Rose Show, Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat, the Discovery Channel, ABC News and Glamour Magazine’s “Get Schooled” series. In 2017, the four-part Netflix Original Documentary series, Daughters of Destiny, featured Shanti Bhavan.

Shanti Bhavan serves children of the lowest caste—all of the children in the program hail from socio-economically depressed areas of India, mostly from the “Untouchable” or “Dalit” communities. The mission of Shanti Bhavan is to empower children from India’s lowest socioeconomic class to break the cycle of generational poverty through education, leadership, and compassion. Each child is provided full tuition and room and board while they attend the school. Shanti Bhavan means “haven of peace” and the school truly is a “haven” for students aged pre-K-12th grade. They are provided with a world-class education in a safe and nurturing environment.

Covid-19 Policy: Shanti Bhavan is a closed residential school located in a rural area. Administrative Managers live on campus where the staff is vaccinated and everyone who wishes to enter the school is confined for 7 days before access is allowed. Off-campus travel is highly limited.

REQUIREMENTS

Applicants should possess the following:

1. A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, Master’s in Education preferred
2. Minimum 3 years teaching experience
3. English fluency
4. Professional written and verbal communication skills
5. Ability to observe and provide feedback to volunteer teachers with a wide variety of teaching experience
6. Exceptional mentorship skills to support volunteer teachers with individualized meetings and goals for growth, both in lesson planning and behavior management
7. Capacity to serve as a supportive and professional mentor to children
8. Ability to communicate effectively with local staff, ensuring that teaching practices and curricula are aligned across subjects and grade levels, and consistent with Indian standardized testing requirements
9. Ability to oversee the development of class materials, maintain an archive of past materials, and systematize access to curriculum change over time
10. Comfort in leading weekly professional development sessions to promote a robust and joyful teaching culture
11. Detail-oriented focus
12. Flexibility to adapt to changing situations and expectations and relay those adjustments to other team members
13. Superior ability to handle stress and set boundaries both personally and professionally
14. Ability to maintain a highly-motivated, persevering, and achievement-oriented attitude
15. Ability to work under minimal supervision while remaining abreast of the vision of the school
16. Competency with Microsoft Office, Google Docs and other office software/tools
17. Proof of complete COVID-19 vaccination

BENEFITS OF THE ACADEMIC ADMINISTRATOR POSITION

• All expenses are paid for, including roundtrip airfare/transportation, room and board on campus, and visa fees.
• The position includes a salary equivalent to Indian local standards.
• Not only is this an opportunity to travel and be fully immersed in a wonderful and vibrant culture, it is a rare opportunity to make a personal contribution to better the lives of students who have the opportunity to uplift their families from poverty

Please submit a cover letter and a resume to Leonor Quartin at leonor@shantibhavanchildren.org