Vision and Mission:
Language Research Lab envisions creating joyful, accelerated learning classrooms by bridging the gap between research and academics through action research.
Strategy:
The approach is to design a foundational literacy kit for the English language (Joyful English). It is envisioned to package world-class research in language acquisition. The goal is to do this in a way that can be easily implemented in a rural Indian setting, where English is a foreign language.
Initiatives
Our lab is dedicated to creating a joyful and engaging way for students to learn English. We combine insights from different fields like Educational Neuroscience, Psychology, Language Acquisition, and Frameworks to make learning a natural experience for children. Through our action research, we’ve been able to bridge the gap between theory and practice and have seen amazing results. We have observed a 10x acceleration in their learning.
The lab is working with partner schools like Isai Ambalam school in Auroville, Pondicherry, Alankuppam Govt Primary School Pondicherry, and Mothers Rural School in Gaddipalli, Telangana, to accelerate childrens language skills using a natural and joyful approach. However, to implement this approach on a larger scale, improvements are needed in areas like classroom curriculum, assessments, teacher training, and parental support.
To address these challenges, the Language Research Lab uses a Four-Pronged Approach that involves interdisciplinary research, Whole Brain Curriculum Development (Joyful English Foundational Literacy Kit), Natural Approach Teacher Training, and Outreach (Scaling). The lab’s constant focus is to create a shift from the current language explanation to create an experience of the language for the kids.
Approach
At Language Research Lab, we follow a systematic approach to bridge the gap between research and classroom implementation. We start by identifying the classroom challenges and provide solutions based on our experience and standards, while simultaneously referring to the latest research developments. By aligning our solutions with research insights and our outcomes, we ensure that we are on the right path.
Our approach involves conducting Action Research to develop a draft version of the content for internal usage. We observe the participation and outcomes in children and incorporate necessary enhancements based on feedback from teachers. The research adds confidence, conceptual clarity, breadth and depth, and precision to our intuitive Action Research experience.
Once the content is developed in a proper book format, it will be shared with teachers in training sessions and curriculum for language skill development. It is important to note that our content is not merely derived from our ideas, but rather from the children’s responses, which guide the content and process. Through this approach, we ensure that the content is effective, and efficient, and contributes to the latest research in the field.
Project updates
Thanks to Wipro funding, we can carry out our work even more effectively than in the past few years. We plan to continue our research and implementation in parallel, to stabilize our work in the next one to two years. By the end of which, we expect to have sufficient proven outcomes in a few schools, would have established teacher training practices, and a solid framework that addresses most of the gaps. This will enable us to scale our approach to a wider audience with confidence in the third year.
While simultaneously performing all the activities needed, our priority during the first year is to attain organisational stability, in the second year to stabilize the program, and in the third year to scale the program.
Challenges and Learnings
We have encountered several challenges in our journey, and the foremost is to convincing school management to adopt our approach has been difficult, as they do not have enough time to spare in classrooms and experience/see the benefits first-hand. We are working on ways to convey our classroom experiences and outcomes in a language comprehensible to them.
Organizational development challenges: Over the last year, we have focused on developing our organization to take our solutions to a wider audience in a sustainable way. We started with very little knowledge, but with expert guidance, we completed several registrations, including Not-for- Profit registration, 12A, 80G, CSR-1, and Darpan Registrations in 5 months. Our next challenge is achieving financial stability in the long run and establishing a workspace and culture that promotes productivity and growth. We are exploring various options, such as working with consultants, volunteers, or full-time employees, online and offline modes, etc.
Other challenges: We initially struggled to find integral solutions for challenges faced in the classroom. we have also faced challenges in training teachers and closing gaps in program orientation. However, with the help of research knowledge and experience, we have made enough progress in addressing these challenges and gained the capacity to address future challenges. We are also looking at capacity building which is specific to our needs. Since the area of work is very specialized and interdisciplinary, it is difficult to find offline training exactly fitting our needs. But recent interactions with experts have given us some hope to overcome them shortly.
Plans for the next 1-3 years
1st Year: Focus on organization development and teacher training. In the first year, the focus will be on establishing a strong organizational structure that can support the program's growth and expansion. This will involve hiring additional staff, developing policies and procedures, and creating a sustainable funding model, and infrastructure to conduct Teacher Training.
Additionally, the first year will be dedicated to enhancing teacher training programs to ensure that teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively implement the program. This may involve developing new training modules, creating a mentorship program, and establishing ongoing professional development opportunities. Additionally, teacher training programs should be refined and scaled to ensure that they are effective and sustainable. 2nd Year: Developing a stable program (teacher training and curriculum).
2nd Year: Developing a stable program (teacher training and curriculum)
During the second year, the focus will be on developing a stable program that includes both teacher training and curriculum development. This program will be based on best practices in language acquisition and incorporate the latest research in the field. The program should also be adaptable and scalable to ensure that it can be implemented in a variety of classroom contexts. This will involve piloting and refining the program in partner schools to ensure its effectiveness before expanding to additional schools.
3rd Year: Program scaling The focus will be on scaling the program to reach a wider audience. This includes expanding the organizational capability to handle the scaling. It will also involve developing a marketing and outreach strategy, identifying potential new partner schools, and securing funding to support program expansion. Additionally, ongoing program evaluation and improvement will be a key focus to ensure that the program is meeting its goals and delivering the desired outcomes.
Wipro Foundation is the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) entity of Wipro Limited. Going back over two decades, we focus on social initiatives in the domains of Education, Primary Healthcare, Ecology, Disaster Response, and Cities & Public Spaces.
Sachin Bansal heads finance function for Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting in India and South Asia.
He moved to Wipro Consumer Care in 2022 and prior to that was the head of finance of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN). He joined WIN in 2007 and over the last 15 years has essayed several roles including Plant Finance, India Hydraulic Business Finance, Global Operations Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions.
A qualified Chartered Accountant and a Black Belt in Six Sigma, Sachin has led several successful initiatives to streamline and strengthen the Finance function. As part of the leadership team of WIN, he played a pivotal role in driving profitable growth with improved focus on ROCE, Productivity and Cost Optimization.
Isaac George has held several positions at Wipro across Sales & Marketing, Consulting, and IT Operations for over two decades. Since 2014, he has been leading People Function and Employee Relations at Wipro Infrastructure Engineering. Isaac also heads the group’s social initiatives efforts and works towards creating an inclusive environment for Persons with Disabilities.
Samir Gadgil is the Head HR for the Chief Growth Office and all Corporate Functions at Wipro. He is also Wipro Cares’ Pune Location Head.
Previously, Samir has worked as Head – HR for Digital Operations & Platforms and managed multiple initiatives under HR and People Supply Chain Functions, including Talent Acquisition, Talent Transformation, Workforce Management, Facilities & Transport.
A seasoned professional, Samir has also served as the Global Head- Compensation, and Benefits at Wipro and worked with best-in-class Manufacturing, Consulting, Financial, and IT Service Companies in a career spanning over two decades.
Narayan P S is the Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives at Wipro Ltd. He is also the Managing Trustee at Wipro Foundation, the social initiatives arm of Wipro Ltd. He has been instrumental in the creation of Wipro’s sustainability initiative and has stewarded it since its inception in early 2008. Wipro’s sustainability charter is built on the core principle that business and social purpose must reinforce each other in addressing several key challenges around ecology and the environment, education, and communities.
In addition, Narayan is Visiting Faculty at the Azim Premji University where he teaches ‘Ecology and Development’ in the MA ( Development) program. He is also a Visiting Faculty at Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar. Narayan also conducts learning sessions regularly on Sustainability at IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore.
Narayan’s interests center around (i) the broad interplay between Ecology, Economics, and Humanities (ii) the role of the business sector as a change agent in sustainable development (iii) Sustainability in Education, and (iv) Sustainable and Inclusive Cities.
Prior to the current role, Narayan was the Global Head of Information Systems for Wipro’s IT business, when he was chosen as one of CIO’s global 25 Ones to Watch.
A graduate in Electrical Engineering with a post-graduation in Management, Narayan has more than twenty-seven years of cross-disciplinary experience in Business Development, Enterprise Systems, and Corporate Sustainability. He is also involved in sustainability advocacy as a member of several industry forums on sustainability. He is currently the Chairman of the CII-GBC Greenco forum for Bangalore.
Vikrant has recently joined to lead the human resources function for Wipro Enterprises which includes Wipro Infrastructure Engineering (WIN) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting businesses.
Vikrant comes with 25 years of diverse global leadership experience in Strategic Talent Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, Organization Design, Cultural Transformation & Change Management, D&I, and Leadership Coaching & Development across Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Technology industries. Besides Human Resources, Vikrant has also led roles across Finance & Audit.
With a career spanning L&T, GE Healthcare, Nike, Accenture, HCL, and Harman International, Vikrant has a distinguished track record and is an alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune.
Aparna C. Iyer is Wipro’s Chief Financial Officer.
Aparna joined Wipro in 2003 and over the years has held several finance roles, including Internal Audit, Business Finance, Finance Planning and Analysis, Corporate Treasury, and Investor Relations (IR).
Most recently, Aparna was Senior Vice President and CFO of Wipro FullStride Cloud, leading finance operations for one Wipro’s fastest growing global business lines.
Prior to taking over as CFO of Wipro FullStride Cloud, Aparna was the Corporate Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations for Wipro Limited. As a part of that role, she was responsible for building and executing forex risk management framework, investment of surplus cash, working capital management, customer credit risk evaluation, driving capital allocation decisions, managing balance sheet exposure as well as investor and analyst relationships.
As the Head of Treasury & IR, Aparna devised Wipro’s forex strategy, aiding the operating margin performance of the company, and driving improved predictability.
Aparna is a Chartered Accountant (CA) and was a gold medalist of the CA 2002 batch.
Saurabh Govil is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Wipro, and a member of the Management Team. He leads all Wipro’s HR functions, including talent acquisition, talent engagement, and learning and development programs.
Saurabh has been a HR practitioner for over two decades, and has worked with organizations like ITC and GE. Since joining Wipro in May, 2009, he has been instrumental in transforming the organization. His work with people, processes, and organizational structure over the last three years has contributed significantly to Wipro’s growth, improving operations and introducing many new initiatives.
Saurabh is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur where he completed his master’s in human resources. He is on the advisory board of SHRM India. Saurabh has been a regular speaker at NASSCOM’s HR summit. He also contributes to NHRDN’s journal as an author.
Anurag Behar is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Wipro Limited & Vice-Chancellor, Azim Premji University.
Anurag is a member of the Committee that has developed India’s National Education Policy (2019), the first comprehensive education policy for the country, since 1986. He has been deeply engaged with efforts to improve education in India, for the past seventeen years.
He has been a vocal advocate for the critical importance of public systems, in particular the public education system. His many years in business have given him an insider’s view of both the possibilities and limits of markets. For the past few years, he has also been engaged with environmental and ecological issues. He writes widely, including a fortnightly column for the national newspapers Mint & Hindustan, and other publications.
Anurag has earlier played leadership roles in business. As the CEO of Wipro Infrastructure Engineering, he led the business from being No. 20 in the world to being the No. 1 in 5 years. He has also been responsible for many corporate functions for Wipro including Brand, Quality, and Innovation. He continues to provide oversight to the social and ecological initiatives of the Wipro Group, as its Chief Sustainability Officer. He is a member of Wipro’s Group Executive Council.
Anurag has served on various boards including that of Wipro GE Healthcare Ltd, The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences, and of the TERI University. He serves on many government & sector councils, such as MHRD’s EQUIP, the National Mission on Teachers and Teacher Education, the Government of India implementation committee for the Justice Verma Commission, Karnataka Knowledge Commission, and with the CII’s National Climate Change Council.
He has an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and a BE in Electrical & Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy. Both institutions have honored him with their Distinguished Alumnus award. He was elected as a ‘Young Global Leader’, by the World Economic Forum in 2008. He enjoys long-distance running.
Narayan P S is the Global Head of Sustainability and Social Initiatives at Wipro Ltd. He is also the Managing Trustee at Wipro Foundation, the social initiatives arm of Wipro Ltd. He has been instrumental in the creation of Wipro’s sustainability initiative and has stewarded it since its inception in early 2008. Wipro’s sustainability charter is built on the core principle that business and social purpose must reinforce each other in addressing several key challenges around ecology and the environment, education, and communities.
In addition, Narayan is Visiting Faculty at the Azim Premji University where he teaches ‘Ecology and Development’ in the MA ( Development) program. He is also a Visiting Faculty at Xavier School of Sustainability, Xavier University, Bhubaneswar. Narayan also conducts learning sessions regularly on Sustainability at IIM Bangalore and IIM Indore.
Narayan’s interests center around (i) the broad interplay between Ecology, Economics, and Humanities (ii) the role of the business sector as a change agent in sustainable development (iii) Sustainability in Education, and (iv) Sustainable and Inclusive Cities.
Prior to the current role, Narayan was the Global Head of Information Systems for Wipro’s IT business, when he was chosen as one of CIO’s global 25 Ones to Watch.
A graduate in Electrical Engineering with a post-graduation in Management, Narayan has more than twenty-seven years of cross-disciplinary experience in Business Development, Enterprise Systems, and Corporate Sustainability. He is also involved in sustainability advocacy as a member of several industry forums on sustainability. He is currently the Chairman of the CII-GBC Greenco forum for Bangalore.
