the magazine january 2014 issue

8/11/2019 The Magazine January 2014 Issue

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January 2014 - Issue 1 - KINDLE

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arnspire iscovernow dK leinJanuary 2014Volume 4 Issue 1Azim Premji Founda on Magazine

Azim PremjiFoundation

Teaching-LearningSpecial


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| KINDLE - Issue 1 - January 2014

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CONTENTS

JAN 2014 In focus04 Katha Vana Childrens Literature Festival - Shailaja Menon

Teaching Learning Special08 dgkuh] fdLls vkSj fk{k.k - 09 Drama Processes in classrooms - Abhishek Goswami

14 Initiating Learning the folk way - Umashankar Periodi16 Work-based education - Nazrul Haque18 Conflict resolution in the classroom - Afshan Mariam20 Learning with Farouq - Varun Rangarajan22 Reading a school - Kamala Mukunda

Research

24 From Staid to Savvy:

Technology as a Point of Entry

for Teacher Professional Development - Meera Gopi Chandran

District Profle28 Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh - Purusottam Singh Thakur

W e hope you enjoy this issue of Kindle. Do write to uswith your feedback and comments.We also invite you to contribute articles, as well assuggestions on themes or topics you would like us to carryin forthcoming issues.Please write in at: [email protected]

Content -Medha Sundar Design -Archana Unny


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EDITORIALEducation Systems will only be as good as its teachers

Educational change is very complex. It requires working on various aspects of education across various levels in thesystem and importantly, over long periods. While there are numerous factors that contribute to improving quality ofschools and learning levels of children, there is nothing more important and relevant than the quality of teachers andthe teaching - learning process in the classrooms. Most civilizations have had their respective education systems, like India had the gurukul system, much before thecurrent mass education system came into being. The one thing that has remained common to all sustainable forms offormal education that the world has seen is a teacher and a teaching-learning process engaged with the learner. There is no proven method of formal, o rganized learning that does not involve a teacher. The idea that human beings

need education and a formal teaching-learning process to be able to participate in the social-political-economic activities,combined with volumes of theory and research on child development point to the critical need for a teacher, a teaching-learning process, teaching learning materials and an environment conducive for learning. The instant the teacher starts her interaction with children in a classroom or wherever, teaching becomes not only ascience but also an art. The teaching-learning process now depends on the teachers ability to interest the children,sense their curiosity, be aware of their different learning skills, bring in the known and lived aspects from the childrenslife, use a language/tone/signs/etc. that are relevant, inclusive, embracing and give confidence to every child in thegroup and much more. This requires the coming together of the teachers ability to bring in her understanding of thetopic, understanding of the childs learning and development process, understanding of the dynamics in the classroombetween children, between teacher and child, between children and the materials, children and arrangements in theclassroom, the impact of the background and life of each child, every childs interest/attractions/distractions, theability to continuously assess and make course corrections, creating a warm, friendly atmosphere for each child andmore. Teaching-learning is a complex process and requires significant investment in teachers and a lot of commitment inreturn from them. The best education systems in the world have one common factor teaching is highly regarded asa profession and not just in a narrow sense of its nobility. And, it tends to be an aspirational job for bright youngsters.In the recent past, there have been suggestions about replacing teachers with technology. These suggestions, in thecontext of the complexity of the teaching-learning process, seem misplaced and at best a distraction for the moment.

This issue of Kindle is a collation of articles, reports and opinions on teaching-learning processes and we hope youenjoy reading them.

Ravi Sreedharan


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A zim Premji University hosted a 3-day ChildrensLiterature Festival, KathaVana, in Bangalore from12th -14th December, 2013). KathaVana aimed to generateawareness of and create visibility for the significant rolethat literature can play in the lives of children, and to initiatea dialogue amongst stakeholders on the development and

use of childrens literature in educational settings. The3-day event was bilingual in Kannada and English,and was held at the oldest organization for children inthe country, Makkala Koota, in Chamrajpet. It broughttogether children and adults, p ractitioners and academics,and government school and private school populations. Itis estimated that over 1,800 school children, 300 teachers,50-60 members of the general public, 35-40 resourcepeople, and 30-40 members of the organizing committeeparticipated in the festival over the three days. The school-based populations were drawn largely from governmentschools as well as low-fee paying private schools, with afew exceptions.

Rationale and BackgroundChildrens literature potentially plays a very significantrole in the lives of children, parents, educators andcommunities. Both in educational and non-educationalcontexts in our country today, language is largely usedfor instrumental purposes to gain degrees, jobs, conductbusiness in daily life, transact relationships, and so on.

The role played by literature in life, education and society and the question of how we can bring children into adeeper connection with literature is not consciouslythought about or dealt with, in mainstream society orconversations. Literature is deeply connected with thelived and imagined realities accessible to children, and itmakes available to them the collective knowledge abouthow individuals and communities define (and havedefined) themselves and their relationships with eachother, with nature, and more. It would be a clich tostate that children cant be expected to live lives that they

cant imagine; conversely, children need to be providedwith opportunities to examine the lives they currentlylive. Literature plays a crucial role as both a mirrorand a window to the worlds in which children live andare expected to take their place in its impact on theirdevelopment and education cannot be underestimated.

The emergence of contemporary childrens literature inIndia as a genre of significance to publishers, authorsand illustrators is promising, but much still needs to bedone both in terms of raising awareness about the roleof childrens literature in elementary education, as wellas to build forums for bringing stakeholders togetherto network, dialogue, and develop this domain intoa phase of maturity. Currently, there exists only oneannual Childrens Literature Festival in our country(Bookaroo, Delhi). This is a festival that largely targetsmiddle-class, English-speaking populations. There is norecurring festival in our country that is designed for moredisadvantaged populations, such as the ones that theAzim Premji Foundation wishes to address. If we wish tohave a truly educated citizenry in our country, we cannotafford to make literature the purview of the well-to-do,but must actively attempt to expose different segments ofthe population to good literature.

It is with this idea in mind that KathaVana was conceived

as potentially an annual, recurring event. The event wasdesigned as a festival rather than as a conferenceto emphasize that the core of this effort lies in bringingchildren and books together. The celebration of bothchildren and books was therefore a critical part of theplanned event. Around this core idea was woven theintent to generate a national network of theoreticians,practitioners and parents who could engage on a recurrentbasis around conversations related to this topic as appliedto diverse Indian contexts.

TALE OF TALES :

HIGHLIGHTS OFKATHAVANA, 2013

- Dr. Shailaja Menon

In focus


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Events at a Glance

Inaugural CeremonyThe festival started on December 12th with an inauguralceremony that was attended by over 600 governmentschool children, their teachers, and a few governmentschool functionaries. T. S. Nagabharana, an award-

winning director of childrens films in Kannada, deliveredthe inaugural address to the delight of the children, whowere thrilled to see a real (and well-known) film director inflesh and blood! Children from Kodati Schools Panchayatspun-a-yarn about what they believed KathaVana wasgoing to be about. Anurag Behar, Vice-Chancellor ofAzim Premji University, narrated an incomplete story tothe children, and invited them to use their imaginations tocomplete it. S. V. Manjunath of Azim Premji FoundationsKarnataka State Institute hosted the event, andUmashankar Periodi gave the vote of thanks. Excitement

and expectation were palpable in the atmosphere at theinaugural!

Panel DiscussionsKathaVana hosted two panel discussions this year. Thefirst one was in Kannada, and brought together criticsand practitioners around the topic, History of ChildrensLiterature in Kannada. Noted critic and SahityaAkademi winner, C. N. Ramachandran, facilitated richconversations and discussions amongst the panelists (H.S. Raghavendra Rao, Dr. L. G. Meera, O. L. NagabhushanaSwamy and Dr. Kashyap) and the audience.

The second panel discussion was in English, andwas facilitated by Umesh Malhotra, the founder ofHippocampus Learning Centres. The topic of thediscussion was, Why does Childrens LiteratureMatter?, and brought together panelists from diversebackgrounds Usha Mukunda (childrens librarian), AshaNemiah (childrens author), Deeya Nayar (senior editor atTulika books) and Dr. Shailaja Menon (faculty member at

Azim Premji University, working in the areas of language,literature and literacy education for young children).

Professional Development WorkshopsThe festival also hosted three different professionaldevelopment workshops for teachers, librarians andAzim Premji Foundation staff. The first of these was aday-long workshop on Setting Up and Using LibrariesEffectively. This workshop was facilitated by UshaMukunda (Centre for Learning, Magadi) in Kannadaand English. The second workshop was a half-day event

conducted by Sujata Noronha (Bookworm, Goa) onSelecting Books and Conducting Effective Read-Alouds.The final workshop was facilitated by librarians, staff,and children from Hippocampus Learning Centres. Thisworkshop was an experience Sharing event on SettingUp and Using Low Cost Libraries in the Hippocampusnetworks. Each of the three workshops was designed in

a highly interactive manner, and generated a great dealof engagement and interaction from the participants.They were also designed to be largely non-overlappingin content, despite addressing a similar set of issues.Participants engaged in these workshops with a high levelof enthusiasm and interest, and the overall feedback on allthree workshops has been very positive indicating thatthere is a real space and need for o ffering such workshopson a recurring basis.

Meet the Author/Meet the Illustrator Events

Children and adults had an opportunity to meet andinteract with seven different authors/illustrators ofchildrens books over the three days. Each of the authors/illustrators designed activities in Kannada/English toengage children such as, storytelling, or quizzes/gamesbased on the books they had written or illustrated, etc.The intent of these events was to give children first-handexposure to potential role-models who had helped createinteresting books for them. Events were conducted in boththe languages of the festival.

Activity Centres for ChildrenKathaVana offered a range of activity centres for children from the all-day book-based activity centre (run byBookworm, Goa), to a puppet-show and workshop(Umashankar Periodi and Shashidhar Adappa), tostorytelling sessions (by Kathalaya, Bangalore). Theactivity centres were nerve-centres of the festival, andhummed and teemed with hundreds of children andadults at any given point of time!

Theatre, Films and More!The festival also hosted several performance-basedevents. Chinnari Muttha, the award-winning childrensfilm in Kannada (directed by T. S. Nagabharana) wasscreened at the festival. Tharikitta Kala Kammata hostedan energetic session on forms of indigenous storytellingthat had several hundred children chanting, singing andresponding in chorus! The grand finale of the festival wasan inspired theatre-based performance by Bangalore LittleTheatre Tales of Tenali Rama.

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Teaching learning Special


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DRAMAPR OC ESSES I NCLASSROOMS:

A POTENTSCAFFOLDING

STRATEGY FORTEACHING-LEARNING

- Abhishek Goswami

D rama processes are often seen as secondary tostandard pedagogy, and not central to the teaching-learning expected in a classroom. However, there is meritin teachers and teacher educators giving it more attentionand placing it at the heart of the zone of proximaldevelopment of children.

In general, the terms zone of proximal development andscaffolding are not addressed with examples of dramaand art processes. However, being a practitioner of dramain education and in parallel, a reader of learning anddevelopmental theories for children, I am juxtaposing theideas of scaffolding and zone of proximal developmentwith drama processes in the classroom, to establish theirpositive relation.

Scaffolding and zone of proximal developmentScaffolding is a well-defined and well-known metaphorwidely used in education and teaching to describe theguidance, collaboration and support provided by teachersto lead children to new learning. As the metaphor implies,

scaffolding is a temporary construct which can be put up,taken down, reinforced and strengthened or dismantledpiece by piece once it is no longer needed, that is, aschildren develop the understanding of a desired conceptand skill, enabling them to be increasingly competent,confident and independent.

Zone of proximal development refers to an area oflearning in which a more knowledgeable other assists thelearner in developing higher levels of learning. The role ofmore knowledgeable others decreases as learners developnecessary skills or understanding of some concepts. Hence,zone of proximal development is the distance between theactual development level as determined by independentproblem-solving and the level of potential developmentthrough problem-solving under the guidance of adults ormore capable peers. In the process of learning for theirown development, children go through three major stages: Stage one: They are not capable of understanding

some concepts or acquiring certain skills. Stage two: They start understanding and acquiring


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certain skills with the help of more knowledgeableothers or peers.

Stage three: They start understanding some conceptsand acquiring certain skills independently.

Every function in the childs cultural development appearsat two levels first, between people, and then, within

the child. This applies equally to voluntary attention, tological memory, and to the formation of concepts. Thus thereciprocation in teaching-learning plays a very importantrole in the learning and socio-cultural development ofchildren. Reciprocation is used to improve a studentsability to learn from experience/text through the practiceof four skills: summarizing, clarifying, questioning, andpredicting.

So, when we posit drama processes as a potent strategyfor scaffolding in learning, which should be placed by

teachers and teacher educators at the heart of the zone ofproximal development of children, then there is a needto understand what type of drama is being referred to.Why we are considering drama as a pedagogic processrather than as a product? And how does it fulfil thedevelopmental needs of children in the light of the aimsof education?

Different viewpoints of drama practicesprevailing in schoolsIn modern education, across the globe, diverserecommendations prevail on drama in schools and it ispracticed from different perspectives. Each practice has itsown valid justification which comes from varied cultural,philosophical, sociological, psychological or politicalperspectives. But there are chiefly two kinds of practicesto consider:

Exhibition-centric practices of drama in schoolsConventionalists and traditionalists believe that dramain schools should be taken up as a discipline/subject; it

should be introduced and practiced with children as animportant art form (theatre) which is deeply rooted inany culture and children should be prepared to preserveit as heritage. They believe that the experience of makingand performing drama for an external audience as an artform encompasses learning about life.

Pedagogy-centric practices of drama in schoolsThere are dissenters who believe that drama in schoolshould be taken up in practice as a pedagogical meansand all teachers should be qualitatively trained to apply

it in their classroom situation with their respective subjectarea. They argue that the nature of drama processescompulsorily consist of a child-centred and constructivisteducational approach which addresses the developmentalneeds of children in alignment with contemporary aims ofeducation. They believe that since education is an ongoingprocess and not a product, drama should be utilized as

a pedagogic wheel as it is a powerful process to makechildren reach from one stage of learning to another.

The difference between exhibition-centricdrama practices and pedagogy-centric dramapractices

Exhibition-centric practices of

drama

Pedagogy-centric practices of

drama

Focusses on product; on

delivering a polished

performance that meets certain

standards.

Focusses on the pleasure in

the process of learning, in

creativity and discovery for its

own sake.

Focusses on children who

have special acting talents and

skills as well as interest in the

performance or profession.

Follows the principal of the

actor in everyone and the urge

to express, be known, seen, and

heard.

Emphasizes performer

expertise as much as, or more

than, the design, direction, and

the theme of the play.

Emphasizes drama as one of

the ways to explore the content

being studied; the content may

or may not be theatrical in

nature.Stresses established standards

that must be met and will be

judged.

Stresses individual and group

affinity for, and connection to

aspects of the content that are

to be explored.

The whole group watches and a

few actors perform.

Emphasizes and ensures

participation of each and every

member.

There is sharing on form of

performance/presentation and

techniques and tricks of the

medium.

There is sharing of insight

and questions. Focus is on

investigation of the content/

issue from many dimensions

by playing roles in different

situations constructed for

learning.

Follows the conventional

structures of performance:

scene, dialogue, start, middle,

and end.

Drama component is

concentrated on optimum

possibility of exploration of

content via character, place and

intentions.


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Exhibition-centric practices of

drama

Pedagogy-centric practices of

drama

Line-by-line accuracy is

important as is set blocking and

movement.

Is improvisatory in nature.

Fosters attitudes of highest

possible excellence.

Fosters an experimental

attitude in which mistakes,

failures, and exercises thatdont work are viewed as

resources for learning.

Trains career professionals in

strong theatre skills.

Intended to build participants

as good social beings.

May start with brainstorming. Employs brainstorming criteria.

Develops skilful, responsive,

strong, flexible bodies and

voices.

Develops a person as a whole;

one who understands human

relationships and is sensitive

and respectful to everyone.

Trains artists as unique,

irreplaceable individuals.

Values working as a group

and group processes.Inner life focus is largely

invisible and centres on the

demand of the witness and the

sub-text.

Inner life is often articulated

and made public.

Teaches being private in

public.

Teaches being present in

public.

To examine drama processes in the classroom as a potentscaffolding strategy, we will focus on pedagogy-centricpractices of drama.

To obtain a sense of the application of pedagogy-centricpractices of drama in the classroom, we will take theexample of the design and execution of a half-day workshopwhich addressed the issue of fear prevailing in children.The design of this half-day workshop was based on a fewprior observations of the grade VI children studying in agovernment school in rural Rajasthan. In this particular

school, children belonging to different social strata studytogether. The majority are from the so-called lower one,which determines the undemocratic relationship betweenteacher-student and student-student. Though the numberof children from the so-called upper social strata is less, itplays a major role in pushing other children into a cultureof silence and hesitation. Apart from the undemocraticrelationship between the teacher and children from theso-called lower social strata, it was also observed thatwhen the teacher played an authoritarian role with thechildren from higher social strata, they too became silent

and hesitant to physicalize or verbalize their thoughts andemotions.

The workshop design began with the assumption thatevery child in the classroom is a victim of the cultureof silence; hence many latent and unresolved fears arehabituated by them, which affect their openness to learnnew things. Therefore, fear was chosen as the subject toaddress with children via drama processes. The super-objective of this workshop was to provide an open and safeplatform to children where they can express their latentand unresolved fears and discover multiple solutions toovercome them on their own, with the help of their peers.

How Drama Processes can be placed as Scaffolding Strategy atthe Zone of Proximal Development of Children


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Activities designed to achieve learning aimsthrough Drama Processes

Snake gameSnake game is a game invented by children themselves;its an extension of the touch-and-count and chain gameplayed by children across the world, popularly known in

India as Pakdampakdai or Ek Pakad Das. In the Snakegame, a person mutually chosen by the group initiates thegame by crawling as a snake to catch the others. Whoeveris touched by the snake also becomes a snake and startscatching others now there are two snakes to catchothers. The game proceeds like this and a time comeswhen everyone in the group becomes a snake. Playingthis particular game was planned with the objective ofcreating a safe environment for children and breakingtheir physical and emotional barriers.

Trust fallThis is a trust-building game often conducted as a groupexercise in which a person deliberately allows themselvesto fall, relying on the other members of the group to catchthem before falling to the ground. There are many variantsof the trust fall. For instance, in one type, the group standsin a circle, with one person in the middle with arms foldedagainst his chest and falls in various directions, beingpushed by the group back to a standing position beforefalling again. In exhibition-centric practices of drama,this game is mainly used to build mutual trust amongthe group of actors but in pedagogy-centric practices ofdrama it becomes a way to improve social support withingroups, including group contract, supportive physicalcontact, and so on.

Frozen pictureFrozen picture is a device of pedagogy-centric practices ofdrama in which participants are asked to hold a momentof life through freeze-frame; the scene is frozen, as ina photograph or video frame. The exercise preferably

creates a space for the individual or group to recreatesome moment of tension, conflict or crisis from real life.Sometime, the group can be asked to tell a story througha series of prepared still-images. This can also be aneffective method for students who are less inclined toimprovise dialogue. The still images can also be broughtto life through improvisation. Freeze-frames and still

images can be usefully combined with Thought Tracking,Forum Theatre, or Flashbacks and Flash Forwards.

Role replacementRole replacement is a device of pedagogy-centric practiceof drama usually applied to seek multiple solutions viareplacement of roles in the situations/problems whichare raised through frozen picture or improvisation by agroup. As an extension of the situation/problem posed bya group, the audience is asked to replace some characterfrom the situation and attempt a humane solution to the

problem. In this way, the spectator in the process doesnot merely remain a passive audience but also participatesas a spect-actor in order to find the solution with action.

Cornerstones of Planning Drama ProcessesIt is important at this point, to share the cornerstones ofpedagogy-centric practices of drama which determinedthe session plan of the workshop and the placement ofthese drama games/exercises in a certain chronology.

The practice recognizes that learning takes place mosteffectively when it is contextualized.

Learning through dramatic play is part of the innatedisposition of children.

Learners with a sense of ownership about theirlearning have a greater commitment to it and gainmore as a result.

Humans use drama to symbolically represent lifeexperiences and comment on them.

Principles of Planning Pedagogy-centric

practices of DramaEvery teacher follows some basic principles to inplanning a lesson to make children learn something new,and further, uses some strategies to achieve this on thebasis of the current status of the childs learning and thedesired level of learning. Similarly on the basis of thesecornerstones, a drama-in-education facilitator also followssome basic principles of designing a session or workshop these principles are derived from various constructivistlearning theories and the nature of the drama activities.These principles include:


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A. Learning area/theme: This refers to the humanexperience with which a facilitator wishes to engage thestudents and the specific aspect of that is to be the focus.For example, in the design of the one-day workshop inquestion, the facilitator chose to work on fear and wantedchildren to become aware about their fear and seekmultiple solutions to overcome it, with their peers.

B. Context: This refers to the particular fictionalcircumstances which are to be created by the facilitator inorder to explore the learning area/theme. In the exampleof the one-day workshop, the facilitator created the contextthrough different drama games, especially the trust fall.The games lead the children to express and share theirfears through drawing and through small/large groupsharing.

C. Roles: A role is the character with a specific attitude

in a particular situation that a student will play in thedrama. In the one-day workshop, the facilitator createda platform for children to play the role of their owncharacters in a fearful situation shared by them.

D. Frame: This is the viewpoint which a role will have inorder to create tension in the drama. For e.g., holding thefearful moment.

E. Sign: This refers to the artefacts, personal items, sounds,images, documents, and so on, which one will need tobring significance to the events of drama.

F. Strategies: Is the way or the combinations of ways ofworking which a facilitator can use for his/her objectives.For example, in the design of the one-day workshop, thefacilitator started the session with the Snake game to getthe children to open up, which then led organically tothe Trust Fall game where they realized their fear andexpressed it first through drawings and then shared itwith the group. This was followed by Frozen Picture to

hold the moment of fear they expressed, and ended withRole Replacement so as to seek multiple solutions to thesituation of fear by the spect-actor.

What emerged as a result of the workshop?Since the workshop dealt with the fears of children

and was intended to make them express them and seekmultiple solutions to overcome them with the help of peersthrough a safe fictional space, the result of it is not easilyquantifiable. However, the responses and participationof the children provide appropriate indicators of theirlearning:

It was fun for those who were lost in routine. The children broke the culture of silence at least forthe day. As the subject and the way of dealing with itwas close to their nature, it had an emotional connectwith them.

They broke the physical and emotional barriers amongthem.

They stood together, held each others hands tightly,at least for the day.

They broke the routine of spending the day in differentgroups determined by their social strata.

They demonstrated care and a sense of trust towardseach other by letting oneself go confidently andholding others.

They expressed their small and large fears from afear of cockroaches and mice, to fear of domesticfights, to fear of terrorism. Fears were also related toexaminations, homework, teachers, parents, and soon.

They shared feelings and emotions with each other tillthe level of catharsis.

They helped each other, suggested multiple solutionsto overcome fear on ones own by replacing roles.

They identified their own fears and empathized withothers.

There is immense potential to explore to what extent, thesedramatic strategies, if employed in pedagogy to explorecertain curricular area like in the half-day workshop can help in the scaffolding of motives behind educatingchildren, and further, also help in the larger aims ofeducation which is dreaming of establishing a society free

from all fears, a society which is just, equitable, humaneand sustainable.

The author works at Azim Premji Foundation


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I come from a potters family who later took toagriculture. We were small farmers cultivating paddyin our small piece of land in one of the backward villagesof South Canara. When we were young kids, our parentswould take us along with them to the field. We too wantedto accompany our parents to the field since it was the mostinteresting thing in our life those days.

By the time I was in high school I knew all the basic worksof agriculture. Looking back I am amazed at the way wewere initiated into agriculture work. As soon as babiescan be carried out, we are taken to the field during theharvest season. Small children are made to sit on the bundsand observe the work in the field. I feel the children growby listening to these songs sung by the men and women.Many of these folk forms are story-telling forms. They arevery simple, repetitive, and have a lovable rhythm.

The initial work starts with driving away the crows,sparrows and other birds that come to feed on the paddyfield. Then there is the work of helping the elders withfeeding water in to the fields, especially when we growvegetables; directing the flow of water to different rowsand also throwing water to plants which are far from therow. This amounts to playing with water, splashing itall over, and is a lot of fun. The initiation into ploughingstarts very early. In summer while we prepare the fieldfor the monsoon crop, there is this p rocess where the mudis leveled with the help of a huge wooden plank with aweight on it that is pulled by the bullocks. For weighton the plank, people use stone. Sometimes instead of thestone they ask children to sit on the plank. The men standon the plank, directing the bullocks, and the children sit inbetween their legs. This is very exciting for children andthey really enjoy it; they like to volunteer to do this.

The next step is very important. The children are asked tomind the bullocks till the elders eat their food. The foodis brought to the field and they eat it there itself. This

minding of the bullocks slowly leads to the ploughingthe initial trail for a few rows in front of the elders. Thus,without their knowledge and without coaxing, childrenget in to agricultural activities. These initial activities inagriculture are essentially lots of small activities which areinteresting for children; they slowly graduate by leadingfrom simple to more complex activities. Within no time,

the children are already engaged in doing the basics inagriculture.

My mother would finish her work in the field and comerunning home to roll beedis since that was the only sourceof income for her to send us to school. We learnt rollingbeedis quite early, even before getting in to high school.The process of initiating children into beedi rolling isfascinating. First they ask the very young children to justkeep the rolled beedies in order, just that. And then theyare asked to keep a heap in a line. Later they are asked to

keep this heap of 25 beedis each.

The next set of activities is also fascinating. The childrenare asked to cut the tendu leaves with a small, rectangulartin sheet. There is some water to be sprinkled on this andkept for two or three hours for processing. After this, theyare asked to tie the thread at the end of the beedi. I cantell you that all of us feel like we have accomplished somestage in beedi rolling when asked to tie the thread! Fromhere on, children move very fast towards rolling beedis.

I can share with you the way potter children are initiatedinto pottery. Very young children are looked after by theelders in the family and they do a lot of activities whiletaking care of these children. One such activity is thebeating of the pots into different shapes. The children liearound and listen to this rhythmic beating. They growwith this sound and these visuals. Every time the pottersfamily goes to get the mud, the children accompanythem there; they help by providing water or keeping thevaluable things safe. Children are seriously involved in

INI TIATIN G L EAR NIN G

THE FOLK WAY - Umashankar Periodi


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the process of cleaning the mud. Children like to playwith mud and they are asked to help in preparing the clay this process needs a lot of stamping and kneading of themud; this is fun for children. Throwing on the wheel issomething they learn last.

But before that, children are allowed to play in the clay andprepare a lot of their toys. They make all sorts of things plates, balls, kitchen utensils, animals, birds; all sorts ofthings are imagined and made by the children. The mostimportant thing is that while firing the pots, the parentsallow the children to include their toys in the firing. Boththe children and parents wait for the firing process to becomplete with equal anxiety and uncertainty. The firstlesson of what withstands the firing is acquired very earlyby the children.

I feel there is a lot for us to learn from the folk culture oninitiating people into learning.

It is real and in the context : There is no mockery here.Whatever happens is real and very important. I think the

feeling that children get from this is that they are partof this important event. What better mechanism can wethink of for a child to develop its self-esteem?

The child is a contributor: Here the activity of the child isan important element in the overall scheme of things. Thatpiece of work has to be done and if the child does not doit, somebody else will have to. It gives the child the feelingthat it is contributing. This is what builds our personalityand our self-image.

The activities for children are graded: A close examinationof these childrens activities will tell us that it is graded.Everyone around knows what should be given to a 2-yearold child and what shouldnt. How it works in the villageis quite remarkable. When some parents give a child somework that does not match his/her age, there are definitelypeople around who object. Some of the activities areguided by adults, some take place with the adult aroundwith minimum intervention, and some at a later stage areindependent. When the whole community is aware of theprocess, it is easy to educate the next generation.

From simple to complex: All the activities meant forchildren are designed in such a way that they move fromsimple to complex. Also, the initial activities have no risk,and slowly they move towards more risk.

The atmosphere is child-friendly: The most importantthing is this child-friendly atmosphere. There is veryless scolding; mistakes are never blown up. They knowvery well that they have to keep the child and mistakesare bound to happen when the child attempts something.

Accepting mistakes as a natural process of learning is verymuch in the environment. When we look at this processclosely we can understand the importance of a child-friendly atmosphere and the no retention policy very well.

I feel that folk culture has invested a lot in initiatingchildren into learning. The question is, are we ready tolearn from it?



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I had made an interesting visit to an Ashram school inNandurbar district of Maharashtra. Ashram schools inthis area are quite different from the regular schools weknow and work with. Some of these schools are in suchremote locations that we had to travel 2-3 hours from thenearest village marketplace to reach them; one can see hillsand hills all around and only a few houses here and there.

The children in these schools come from faraway villages where their parents are either busy working in their fieldsor have migrated elsewhere to work as daily labourers.A teacher was sharing, how, once shy and reluctantstudents have become quite imaginative and innovativenow as they have learnt to use their hands and mind.Recently the school was working on a rain water harvestproject in their campus and they had to dig a round pit.The teachers and workers were wondering how to makea perfect circle. Suddenly, one student showed how it canbe done easily. He stood in the center and took the handsof a school mate and made him run around him, and lo, aperfect shape was formed! The surprised teachers askedhim where he got the idea from. And the class IX boy said:from the compass they use in the class.

Ashram schools follow the regular state board syllabusand the teachers come with the required governmentqualifications, as in any other school. BAIF is anorganization working for sustainable development inrural India. In 2009, BAIF conducted a baseline study

with a view to have a profile of a few of the schools,students and teachers, with respect to their core areasof intervention. According to this baseline study, moststudents were shy and had a moderate capacity fordecision-making. They were comfortable in groups;however, the level of their confidence was considerablylow. Though almost all of them had agricultural land backhome, and considered agriculture as a basic element oftheir life, they were hardly aware of modern eco-friendlyand productive techniques of farming. For them, modernagriculture was equated with machines. They knew

neither about techniques of vermicomposting nor hadexact guidelines for horticulture, floriculture and herbalfarming. A significant number of students were unawareof appropriate methods of water purification. Scabies andlice were not even considered as health issues by them. Asreported in the baseline study, students from the plainspartially knew about civil institutions which are supposed

to facilitate various processes at the community as wellas individual level. However, students from hilly areaswere rarely familiar with these institutions and their role.Significant lack of information about career options wasobserved among students in the baseline study.

The findings were quite disturbing. So, BAIF started theShikshan-MITTRA programme; in Nandurbar district,there are 48 schools where the intervention has beencarried out. The programme aims at equipping tribal boysand girls with information and skills in appropriate, eco-friendly agricultural technology, health, social awareness,and environment. The focus is consciously on introducingskills in agriculture because most of the tribal children(more than 90%) are from families which earn their livingeither through agricultural activities or through activitiesrelated to agriculture. Students are given practicalexposure through field-work in agricultural activitieswhich include kitchen garden, vermicomposting, flowergarden, herbal garden, nursery and horticulture, andforest plantation. Demonstration of economically viable,

eco-friendly technologies in watering the plants is alsogiven. Critical health problems like rampantly prevalentcontagious diseases are treated. Students are providedwith health education on how to prevent such contagiousas well as waterborne diseases. The focus is on translatingthis theoretical education into behavioural patterns byproviding things like nail-cutters, forming students groupsto monitor the health habits. Along with these, exposurevisits to civil institutions are also arranged to create socialawareness. Other inputs to make the students aware oftheir social environment and develop skills for effectively

TOWARDS A PRODUCTIVE

WORK-BASED

EDUCATION - Nazrul Haque


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dealing with that environment are given through campsand project work.

The above examples raise a serious question: is the teaching-learning process in our schools (mostly academic readingand writing inside classrooms) adequate and suitable forthe whole of India? What kind of skills and knowledgesets does our schooling provide? Are they helping peopleto manage their lives in a better manner in both citiesand villages? It is true that people do have aspirations andthey expect education to fulfil them. But, it seems that ourentire educational orientation is in one direction only toaspire for an urban, industrial and consumerist society.I am not getting in to the philosophical debate on why itis not proper or might not sustain for long. However, foreducation to be truly meaningful, it should not only caterto the urban aspirations of rural people, but must also

provide opportunities for people who want to live andwork in their own region in a more sustainable manner.It is possible to use existing curriculum and textbooksto satisfy peoples urban aspirations as well as to impartcapabilities for rural development. This possibility has tobe converted into a reality.

The National Curricular Framework (NCF-2005) says that,productive work would need to find a place at the centre ofthe curriculum in order to act as a powerful corrective to thebookish, information-oriented and generally unchallenging

character of school education and, in turn, help relate the latterto the life needs of the child.

There are two aspects to such work; it functions both as (a)as a crucial pedagogic tool, and, (b) as a livelihood option.Both are closely related to life and human existence. Toquote the NCF again,Work involves interaction with materials or other people(mostly both), thus creating a deeper comprehension andincreased practical knowledge of natural substances and socialrelationships. All this is in addition to the usual physical skillsinvolved in learning a trade that may be turned into a means ofearning a livelihood. The aspects of work mentioned here drawattention to the meaning-making and knowledge-constructiondimension of work. This is the pedagogic function that work can play in the curriculum.

In this, it takes a cue from Gandhis Nai Talim ideal:Our education has got to be revolutionized. The brain must beeducated through the hand. If I were a poet, I could write poetryon the possibilities of the five fingers. Why should you think that

the mind is everything and the hands and feet nothing? Thosewho do not train their hands, who go through the ordinary rutof education, lack music in their life. All their faculties are nottrained.-Mahatma Gandhi, Discussion with Teacher Trainees,Harijan , 18 February, 1939.

It seems that a diversified curriculum with multiple entryand exit points after Class VIII, and a diversity of content,will be better suited for different agro-climatic regions ofour country. The teaching-learning process will involvehands-on activity as well as necessary social engagementsand both will be a major pedagogic tool right fromClass I onwards. This work or productive work willinclude various topics of natural resource management,environment, renewable energy, health, etc. The activitieswould tend to become productive as some of these

would be of direct use to the students, their family, andthe community. Further down the line, from Class IXonwards, this curriculum will lead to relevant vocationalcourses as an option for the students based on theirinterests. This integration of academic and vocationalskills will take care of the problem of stigmatization ofvocation education in India one reason why variousinterventions to make people skilled have failed. Sucha vocational education system might also, hopefully,accommodate diverse needs and livelihood patterns inour society and will not be limited to only automobile,

construction, retail and security services.

It need not even be mentioned that such an idea ofwork-based education for our children is not so easyto implement. It would involve basic changes in manyaspects of the structure syllabus contents, teachinglearning, the school routine, assessment, recognition ofdiverse qualifications in our teachers, the involvementof the community in the whole schooling process andnot merely through the piecemeal School ManagementCommittee model, and so on. However, the time hascome to start thinking about it. We are living in difficulttimes marked by inequality, violence, exploitation anddeprivation and if we are fine with that, then educationis all right and serving its purpose. We need to look for achange, if we want to see a better society. And this is a two-way process. That is Nai Talim or new education. Someof us call it work and education.

The author works at Azim Premji University


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Ateacher stands facing the board, teaching herstudents; suddenly, she hears Gita yelling at Vinod

for taking her book away. Vinod fights back saying itis his. The yelling turns into a hair-pulling and eraser-throwing match. The children sit around and giggle, whilethe teacher runs to pull them apart.

Situations like these occur on a daily basis in everyclassroom. Following such situations, the teacher mightsend the children out of the class, ask each other toapologize or give them a warning about disrupting the

class again the adult intervenes, tells them what not todo and continues with the class. The students go back towhat they were doing, feeling guilty or angry for what hadhappened. Along with this, the children were shown thata disagreement was unnecessary and ought to be avoided.

Conflicts arise at every age and in every sphere. They takeon different shapes and sizes but they are unavoidable. Ina democratic country, where the voice of every individualis to be heard and respected, conflicts are an important andnecessary part of the process. Every individual will bring

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

IN THE CLASSROOM- Afshan Mariam


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in his or her own worldview, and this diversity often bringsin disagreement. Conflicts can provide important contextsto explore the diversity in human interaction. Everyindividual has his or her own expression of the world;diversity brings forth new and interesting perspectives.Conflicts can expose the person to more perspectives,allow for deeper exploration and create a platform forchange to occur. However, all of this depends on how onedeals with a conflict. When we see a conflict as a source oflearning, as a situation one can gain knowledge from, thenthe style in which we deal with conflicts will change wewont attempt to brush them under the carpet or walkaway from them. We will not engage in acts that suppressthe opinion of another. Instead, we will look at them withpatience and examine them critically, with an awarenessthat something invaluable can be gained through this.

Through this lens, what could be an alternative way for ateacher to manage conflicts that occur within a classroom?How can a teacher guide his or her students to understandconflicts in an open manner that can nurture acceptance,respect and compassion towards another individual?How does one make a conflict an empowering situation?

The situation may be similar to the one described earlier;however, a teacher can adopt some practices and attitudesto resolve it meaningfully.

In the event of a conflict between children, firstly, onemust ensure that the children are out of harms reach.Next, maintaining a calm attitude when addressingthem is important, since one is playing the role of amediator. Preferably, the entire class can be present whenthis discussion takes place, since much can be learnedvicariously.

Every child must be allowed to voice his or her side of thestory those involved directly as well as those involvedindirectly, such as the child sitting next to them or awitness to the event. Further, it should be communicatedto the children that they would all get their turn, and onechild should speak at a time.

Once the story has been shared, one must encourage thechildren to reflect on their actions in relation to others. Itis equally important for them reflect on their own internalbarometers for positive and negative consequences howdid hitting Gita make you feel? Do you think this was thebest action if you wanted something from her?

Once reflected upon, the children can be asked what mightbe a better option in the same situation, an alternativeaction/reaction. They can be asked to elaborate upontheir reasons for selecting the alternative: Why would thisoption work better? What does it do? What will happen ifthis suggestion was put into place? From the suggestionsthat are given, the children can be asked to arrive at aconsensus on which one will be the best.

It is useful to speak to children about respecting othersand encouraging actions that do not harm another. Givingmeaningful positive remarks to the children who speakthe truth or suggest alternatives will encourage them.

The teacher can rephrase the sentences such that theresponsibility for the actions and their resolution rests onthe children for example, You believe that asking Gita

for the book will be better.

When communicating with children, the body languageone possesses is important. When talking to them,maintaining eye contact and meeting them at theireye level either by leaning or offering them a seat willcommunicate a sense of equality and respect.

The teacher is a guide in the process, and ought toprovide an accepting and warm atmosphere. And theprocess should be guided such that the responsibility for

improvement rests on the children. Adequate support is tobe provided for the children in the situation, encouragingthem to reflect, respond and react. This will allow childrento feel empowered and build their own internal system ofworking. This will also encourage a sense of autonomyand self-confidence among the children.

Instead of issuing directives or prohibitions to children, orreprimanding and punishing them, having a dialogue canbe very constructive and positive. In the long term, thiscan be a very empowering process for the children. Thechildren learn to resolve conflicts by themselves, knowingthat empathy and open communication are the key toworking in harmony with others.


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You would not have been able to differentiate theboy from a little chimney sweep dirty, wearingtorn clothes, covered from head to toe with black grimeattributed to hours of cleaning and greasing trucks andvans, and the difficult-to-miss matted hair. The boy wassupposedly 16 years of age though he looked much youngerthan that. His hands moved deftly as he unscrewed thebolts, repaired the punctured tyre, and put it back again.For someone who was used to dealing with much heaviervehicles like trucks and vans, the job of repairing my car

tyre was almost like a break from work.

As I stood looking at him and the other boys working withthe efficiency and solemnity of robots, I couldnt help butask, What is your name?FarouqDo you go to school?No.Have you ever been to one?No.Would you like to study?He looked up this time quizzically.For free, I hastened to add.No. I dont have the time. he was very clear. I left theplace soon after but his image and the conditions in whichhe worked had bookmarked themselves in my head.

I met him again, after a couple of weeks and spoke tohim for longer, trying to bring him out of his shell. Aftera series of questions, it seemed like he wanted to learnthe English language. But when asked if I could teach him

that, he still didnt flinch from his stance.

No. I dont have the time.

I went again, after a month; this time he relaxed his gripon his opinion and that was the moment I was waiting for.Before he knew it, I was in a small room near the mechanicshop, along with 30 gas cylinders, a couple of cycles, atable, two run-down chairs, alphabet books, and Farouq.

From then, there was no turning back. The lad is actually

dedicated; he would finish all the homework given tohim, practice writing his name over and over, and tryto be regular for all his classes. Given his long workinghours 7 AM to 10 PM, Monday to Saturday, and half-day working on Sundays it was amazing that he eventurned up for his classes at around 9:30 PM on weeknights(it helped that his friends would constantly urge him toleave the shop and go study, and would cover his workfor him). Many a time, he would stay up till midnight tofinish his homework.

I am used to helping children on the streets read Englishby transliterating the letters in their mother tongue, butFarouqs was a very unique case. His mother tongue isBhojpuri, and he couldnt read in any language Hindior Kannada so that made teaching him English doublydifficult.

This difficulty soon led me to collaborate with family,friends, and experts in the field, thereby making thisa group effort rather than an individual one. Weexperimented with different techniques like using sightwords, using English words from his daily life that hedoes know of (tyre, puncture, grease, medical shop,etc.), applying alphabet books, charts, and exercises inphonemic awareness. He lacked fine motor skills holdinga pencil and making those small curves and straight linesrequired to form letters and so we helped him worksolely on that aspect. We threw everything at him fromtracing papers to worksheets to nursery rhymes on theEnglish alphabet. Within a few weeks, he was able to write

his name in English, identify a few letters, and also namea few words starting with certain letters. He was also ableto say some basic introductory sentences in English, likewhat his name was, how old he was, and so on.

There are a quite a few challenges that we work aroundconstantly. First and foremost is the nature of his work child labourers in a tyre shop in a place that has one suchshop in every other kilometre of the road (most of thememployee Bihari boys) hardly get the choice of refusinga job that comes their way. This leads to erratic work

LEARNING

WITH FAROUQ- Varun Rangarajan

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timings and hence, a lot of missed classes. Then there is thechallenge of him trying to do his homework without anysupport (most of the boys there are illiterate and the adultsdont care much). All this results in learning very slowlyand even this gets forgotten soon if there is a considerablebreak between classes, either due to my work travel orbecause of spikes in his working hours. Moreover, Farouqis a reticent chap that makes it very difficult to get him to

express if he has understood a particular concept well orif he is just reciting from memory.

And I realised how much patience one needs to have inorder to teach children for long stretches of time. Thereare times when he absolutely frustrates me by missingthe simplest of things but then I immediately think of hiscontext, his life, his tough job, and the fact that he evenmakes time for studying; my frustrations melt away andI start afresh.

What invariably happens with such engagements is thatyou start understanding the context of the person, his life journey, ambitions in life and so on. Given this background,I constantly wonder if all this education we try to forceon him makes sense or not. This drives us to constantlykeep his realities in mind and connect whatever we teachhim to them, while all the time oriented to ensuring thathe turns out to be a responsible and contributing memberof society.

So, along with English, we started teaching himMathematics and working on his logical thinking abilities.Simple addition or subtraction seemed to come naturallyto him. Since he dealt with money in his shop, his mentalarithmetic was good especially when the problemswere worded in terms of money. We also played withsome puzzles and mechanical build-and-play kits tostave off boredom during dull hours at work and yet dosomething creative the boys there actually managed tomake wonderful aeroplane models using the kit. Therewere days when I would throw some logical reasoning

questions that would make the boys (the adults too joinedin the fun at times) argue endlessly as they tried to answerthose. The idea was to keep their brains engaged and helpthem in the process of thinking logically.

I then started helping him understand finance a bit theimportance of saving money, the pitfalls of chit fundinvestments (he is currently invested in a particular chitfund in Bihar that I believe is a potential scam) andalso on getting his government identity card done. Thisinvolved getting his birth certificate made in his birth

place and though this is still not done, we have plans ofusing that to obtain a PAN card and then enrol him in adriving course so that he would get his drivers licensetoo.

Though by and large people like to think that such workis thankless, and I believe it too to an extent, it is therelationships built that keep me going. His is a well-known

name in my family. I invite him for get-togethers at home,casual dinners, and so on. My three-year old ensures Idont forget Farouqs book when I go to meet him. Mywife packs a dabba for him whenever she makes a tastytreat at home. And to my surprise, he greeted me with chai and biscuits one day and this hospitality continues to thisday despite my protests.

There is a never a dull moment in the shop. There wouldbe banter by the men on how Farouq is going to getmarried in April and how his wife will give him a tough

time. There was a time when they narrated the story ofhow a thief was caught and walloped for stealing tyresfrom the trucks that were parked in the shop. Then therewas this 14-year old brought from Bihar who escaped, andlater when he was found, refused to identify any of thesepeople. A boy got his finger cut off due to a workplaceaccident, Farouq himself has been hit by a car and had hishead bandaged for a month, and the shop owner got intoa bike accident and had a bad injury to his leg. But theseboys are tough they laugh all this off and bounce backin minutes. I do pray and hope that my pleas to them towear helmets, to focus on the road when crossing it, areheeded though the smirks they wore on their faces when Igave advice suggested otherwise. We often pass off thesechildren as people who know nothing and are illiterate,but they go through such learning experiences when theyare young some of which most of us would never gothrough in our entire lifetimes.

He is improving all the time, slowly yet steadily. We havegraduated from the point where he changed my car tyres

when required, to him teaching me how to change themon my own. He recently told me of how he has partneredwith a cousin to open a tyre shop near Ayodhya and howhe included my name too as part of the shops name.Thankless work? It is hard to beat the highs one gets fromsuch experiences. The journey is long and hard. But everypassing mile of learning together brings satisfaction, evenas it continues to teach us both.


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READINGA SCHOOL

C an one infer, from a schools practices and policies,the beliefs upon which it rests? Beliefs about howchildren learn, the role of memory, the nature of motivationand intelligence, the significance of emotion in learning,and the challenges of adolescence these make up theframework on which a school builds itself. Timetables,syllabi, and curricula are all the result of our ideas aboutchildren and learning. Schools that do not have a traditionof actively exploring these fundamental issues may notsee themselves as having strong ideas about them, butthen to adopt practices absentmindedly may be worse

than believing strongly in them! I believe one can make areading of a school along all these important dimensions,one that would be pretty good even if not perfectlyaccurate.

Understanding and memoryDoes the school expect uniformity in response, or does itencourage students own expressions of understanding?When do the teachers consider something right orwrong? To expect reproduced answers is to do a greatinjustice to the power and capability of human memory.Memory is not designed to be a literal or exact replicator;its strength and beauty lie in the ability to extract meaningout of experience, to create a gist of what has beenpresented, and to integrate new information with priorknowledge. There are no limits to the extent and richnessof this integration of old with new. So, are the teachersinterested in judging how well a student has understoodsomething? Understanding is also at risk when we try tocover heavy syllabi, trying to stuff a lot of information intoan absorbent mind. Does the school curriculum sacrifice

depth for breadth in learning?

MotivationDoes the school believe that rewards and punishments arerequired to motivate students to learn and work? There isno doubt that these tactics (and that is what they are) willget results of a sort. Using carrots and sticks will turnchildren into donkeys that do what we want them to. Onthe other hand, if the teachers believe there is an innercuriosity, a drive to learn that can be triggered undercertain conditions, both within the student and in her

environment, then they will make efforts to engage theirstudents interest. This can be a tricky thing, however.A teacher may feel that students will only be motivatedwhen they are having fun. Unfortunately, that principlewill not take him very far; students simply have a lot ofcontent and skills to master at school. A large proportionof it will eventually involve repetitive or hard work; thereis no magic p ill to get through your average twelve yearsof schooling without having to face resistance! So, doesthe school acknowledge the power of resistance withouttrying to gloss over it with gimmicks?

Some schools believe that the only way to lastinglymotivate students is to give them near-complete freedomand choice. This can be a tricky thing, too. A lot ofpsychological research has focused on the dubious benefitsof offering choice to people: does it really increase intrinsicmotivation; does it really make us happier? The answerseems to be no, and there is a lot of intelligent debate outthere on the deleterious effects of excessive choice on ourpsychological state, as well as on the environment. But letus focus on the findings in educational research, whichcan be summarized this way: the effects of choice on learningare mediated by interest. When we give students a choiceof activity, it allows them to select what interests them.Choice per se is not what brings about motivation. It is asubtle point, but if, for whatever reasons, a school doesnot want to be a Summerhill, it must believe in payingclose attention to students interests and capacities. Assignstudents a piece of work that is designed to meet theirgoals and interests, and they are as intrinsically motivatedas if they were to freely choose the same thing.

Another motivational belief you can see in a schoolsfunctioning is in its planned use of competition. Again,the widespread belief is that competition brings outexcellence; that without it, we would all slip into lazymediocrity. Actually, as the psychological fraternityhas been shouting from the rooftops for a few decadesnow, this is simply not true. A competition can yielddramatic, immediate results for a minority of students.But this blinds us to the rest of the picture; there arecosts to competitive structures relational, self-esteem

- Kamala Mukunda


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and yes, even motivational costs. Competitive evaluationemphasizes outcomes and performance over the act oflearning itself. It creates the motivation to do better thanothers, rather than the motivation to push the limits ofones own learning. Worst of all, competition createslosers.

EmotionsIs emotion acknowledged as relevant to the learningprocess, or does the school generally ignore studentsemotions? Students are flooded with emotions throughouttheir school years fear in science class, boredom inhistory class, insecurity about friendship, shame overperceived inability, dread of disapproval or humiliation.If the schools policy is to sidestep all this and focus onthe important stuff, students have very little chanceof experiencing true well-being. Nurturing maturity inyoung people does not require that they be protected fromall harmful emotions, and experience only joy day afterday, but it does require that adults help children processwhat they are feeling. So, is there time set aside for suchexploration?

IntelligenceIs intelligence seen as something more or less fixed,or worse, is it linked to performance in science andmathematics? The intelligence-is-fixed view is deeplyheld, and the only way I know to successfully challengeit, is for a school to look at intelligence as the aim of its

education. If the teachers define intelligence in terms of awide spread of adaptive and elegant behaviours, then thecurriculum will reflect their attempts to nurture these instudents. But if it is defined as something you have eithergot or not, one will only see intelligence being measuredand used as a tool for categorizing students!

There is an interesting sequel to this. A school mightswing the other way, adopting the maxim that anyonecan do anythingif only they try hard enough, and ifwe can create the right conditions. There is a problem innot recognizing that there are individual differences andprofiles of abilities among students. This is especiallydangerous if it blinds us to a genuine learning difficultyor need. Learning difficulties are turning out to be moreprevalent than we thought, and well-conducted researchshows that the earlier a child is given appropriate support,the better. However, there is a deep hesitation to label achild with a particular disability. Will the label create animage, will it limit her progress, will it reduce her self-esteem, is it right to classify children as normal and

abnormal our fears are many. I believe it takes humilityand maturity for a school to be able to navigate throughthis particular minefield. Prevailing attitudes in societymake things very difficult; nevertheless, is the schooldeveloping an understanding that can give strength andperspective to the child and her parents?

Adolescence How does the school view the years of puberty? Is thererecognition of the varied abilities emerging in this agegroup, and of their immense potential? Aspects of a highschool curriculum such as greater physical and cognitivechallenges, opportunities for dialogue with adults asequals, encouraging initiative and autonomy, exposure toabstract and alternative ideas, would all be good signs.On the other hand, does the school seem afraid of itsteenagers? One can see this in policies of many kinds, suchas dress codes and segregated stairways. Our worry thatteenagers can get into trouble is probably justified, buthow does a school respond to this concern? Brain researchis revealing the unique stage of life that adolescencerepresents, and a school needs to have an open, learningstance towards these findings and what they teach us. Forexample, impulsive behaviour in an adolescent does notcarry the same weight as impulsive behaviour in an adult.

ChildhoodFinally, does the school seem to adhere to a single, particular model of childhood and learning? Such schools

actually have many strengths, mainly because theirteachers are truly enthusiastic, even passionate, abouttheir work. A teacher doesnt stray randomly into a schoolwith a clearly stated philosophy; there has to be fairlystrong identification with the idea. And here lies the risk.Passion can turn into ideology, and into the tendency tofollow prescribed methods somewhat unquestioningly.Yet the truth of any model, however intuitively appealing,cannot be known with certainty, and so there will alwaysbe situations and students for which it will not be ideal.For example, current research does not support the idea ofspecific stages during childhood when specific things must be or should not be done. So, can the school acknowledgethat a position is just a position, and are they open todiscussion?

Kamala Mukunda is a PhD in Educational Psychology.Since 1995 she has been associated with Centre for Learning,

a teacher-run school outside Bangalore. She is the authorof What Did You Ask at School Today?, published by

HarperCollins, India in 2009.


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FROM STAID TO SAVVY:TECHNOLOGY AS A

POINT OF ENTRY FORTEACHER PROFESSIONALDEVELOPMENT 1

1 This article is based on a paper that was presented at the Comparative Education Society of India (CESI) 2012 Annual InternationalConference, Oct 10-12, University of Jammu, India.

2 I would like to express my thanks to Santhosh S, my co researcher, Manjunatha M and Suneetha P, my eld coordinators for theirsupport.

- Meera Gopi Chandran 2 , Research Centre, Azim Premji University

Intr oductionAs we enter the compound of the government upper

primary school in Ramanagara, we are greeted by theusual bevy of little boys and girls milling around theschool just before the morning bell. We exchange a fewcheerful good mornings with them before the teachercomes in and leads us into the office. She carefully takesout the laptop that she has taken home over the weekendand gingerly navigates the keys to show us the digitalcontent that she has decided to use with her students ofclass 5 that morning. It is evident that she has come a longway in her ease with this ubiquitous symbol of technologysince we began working with her on a research projecta year and a half ago. It has taken a lot of perseveranceon her part to achieve a minimum level of mastery oversomething that many of us give little thought to. Thesimple act of moving the cursor over the screen anddouble clicking on the program icon was a significantachievement for this teacher as it was for her peers. Theywere introduced to the laptop through the research, titledWhole Class Technology, a design experiment in TeacherProfessional Development which is being conducted in 12

schools across Bangalore, Ramanagara and Kolar districtswith math and science teachers of grades 5 through 7. Theimportant point to be noted here is that use of technologyis not one of the objectives of the research. It has merelyserved as a means to study the process of integration ofdigital technology to support student learning in a wholeclass situation. As with any research, this one too has

yielded some unintended results but thankfully these are

not undesirable ones.

Failure of Technology in EducationAt this point, it may be useful to rewind a little to tracethe history of education technology in the country andelsewhere in order to provide the rationale for thisresearch. It is now well-documented that technologyhas failed to bring about the transformation of teachinglearning in the classrooms that it was purported to, not just in contexts plagued by poor infrastructure but even inresource-rich contexts. Popular notions about the efficacyof learner-centred classrooms in enhancing studentlearning outcomes played an important role in definingthe kind of technology that was employed in schools. Themost prevalent model was (and continues to be) the one-to-one model where the student is in direct interface withthe computer and the learning content is also designedfor self learning. In this model, while learning throughtechnology remains the focus, learning of technologyalso happens as a by-product. Documentation of theComputer Aided Learning Programme in various parts

of the country (APF 2008) highlighted the many issuesin the programme ranging from issues of teacher apathy,curricular and pedagogic issues, and the ubiquitousinfrastructural issues.

The bulk of blame for this failure of technology is pinnedon to the teacher who is seen as resisting or unwilling to

Research


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adapt to the change that is sought to be achieved as teachersas they are in fact in a position of unintended power toaccept or reject an innovation. Research however findsthat teachers are likely to reject an innovation, if they arenot sufficiently convinced about the utility of the same.Despite this, the appeal of the potential of technologyin providing quality education continues unabated. Atthe national level, the recent policy document on ICT inschool education clearly recognises the importance of therole of technology in education making it a critical issuefor educational research to engage with.

Whole Class TechnologyThe approach of the whole class technology researchrests on the twin premises that a) technology is all aboutaddressing the issue of integration head on and makingit the goal of teacher development instead of assumingthat it will somehow be achieved once the teacher issufficiently trained in the use of technology, and b) teacherdevelopment is framed not simplistically as promoting

learner-centred pedagogy over teacher-centred andinstead as promoting quality of teaching and studentengagement, enabled by stimulating and interactiveclassroom environments.

Whole Class Technology (WCT) employed in this researchis an alternative approach that capitalises on the potentialof technology in classrooms while minimising thecurricular/pedagogic and infrastructural issues typical tosuch efforts. WCT can be defined as any form of technologythat is used in a classroom in a one-to-many model which

is distinct from the one-toone model described earlier.Interactive whiteboards to be found in many resource richcontexts are also an example of the onetomany model.The WCT in this research study refers to a specific kind ofset-up that consists of hardware and software components.The hardware includes a laptop and LED projector witha battery backup. This component is integral to theresearch and its outcomes. The software component at thispoint of time consists of two specific sets of readymadedigital content based on specific concepts mapped to thecurriculum. The format of the content animated videosthat typically explain abstract hard to teach concepts inmath and science is deliberately designed to suit theone- tomany model where the teacher is required toplay the central role in transacting the content in a mannerthat she deems appropriate.

Discussion: Emerging FrameworkThe goal of the research study is to develop a nuancedunderstanding of teacher development in technologyintegration through a design experiment. The researchemploys a participatory/collaborative approach to teacherdevelopment that underscores one of the key premisesof the research, namely, the centrality of the role of theteacher, and departs from the conventional data-gatheringand knowledge-delivery mode. The approach accordsprimacy to the teachers voice and their practical theoriesabout their individual context, setting, and pedagogicalbeliefs while setting in motion a process of individual and

collective reflection to improve practice.


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Technology as a point of entryThe first construct and possibly one that is central tothe framework is the very positioning of the technology(WCT) not as a goal of teacher development but as a pointof entry. This is a significant departure from most efforts in

the area of teacher development in technology integrationwhose main goal is the effective use of the technology andfocus on equipping teachers with necessary skills thatwill help them achieve this goal. This exemplifies a ratherunrealistic view of teachers as technicians and can leadto teachers becoming stuck with non academic, technicalissues which can be extremely frustrating. This researchhas deliberately avoided the teachers-as-techniciansapproach and instead focused clearly on the content andpedagogic aspects. Teachers were encouraged to think ofthe content and pedagogic requirements of their classroom

and then consider the gaps which the technology can beused to fill rather than use the available technology as thestarting point.

This has significant implications as it not just alleviatesthe stress of intimidation that technology evokes butalso entices teachers to view it as a symbol of change,offers them a licence to experiment. Teachers noted thatalthough they were nervous about technical glitchesmarring their class, use of the technology was never a goaland they viewed it as a tool that would add value to theteaching-learning-process. It could be seen that, armedwith the new technology, the self-image of the schoolteacher undergoes a subtle but significant shift from

someone who is unnoticed and isolated in the confinesof ones classroom to someone capable of learning andadopting a new practice. No less significant is the effectof the shift in students view of teachers from outdated tosavvy and the newfound confidence perhaps provides anincentive to relook at ones own practice as well.

Foregrounding content pedagogyThe second construct emerges from recognition of a largeunmet need of teachers for a certain kind of support andprofessional development. As previously indicated, mostteacher development approaches leave specific subject/content areas unaddressed assuming teacher competencyin these. Research has shown that relearning conceptsfrom the pedagogic perspective is a critical and ongoingrequirement for teachers. By focusing largely on subject/content areas and pedagogic issues thereof, the researchaddresses one of the major needs of the teachers it workswith, a need that teachers are often loath to admit to.Teachers in the research study have noted that the short

duration format of the digital content is useful as arefresher of the concept for themselves. They are able togain a new understanding of the already familiar contentand a fresh perspective on teaching it in new ways. Thiscontent pedagogic approach to teacher developmentunderscores the teachers role as professionals who areconstantly redefining the curriculum rather than merelytransacting it.


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Build on current practiceThe third construct is the approach to teacher developmentthat, unlike many others, deliberately avoids makinglearner-centred pedagogy a necessary condition. Thistoo has important implications for the research as thestarting point of engagement with teachers is based onnot questioning but validating their current practice.Teachers who have been part of any teacher developmenteffort are accustomed to having their beliefs on teachinglearning challenged and being advised to adopt childcentred practices. As some researchers have noted, whilecomfortable metaphors such as child-centred learningand teacher-as-facilitator are invoked, the actual role ofthe teacher remains largely unclear. Teachers often feelinvalidated even as they struggle to understand andtranslate these abstract claims into actual practice. Whileit is not disputed that student engagement is essential toimproved learning, what is problematic is the analogousrelationship that is being assumed between a teacher-ledclass and poor teaching-learning processes. Therefore, the

attempt here is to not make that assumption and instead,work with the teacher to help her to build on, improveand enhance her current practices.

Autonomy and reflective practiceAs stated at the outset, the technology is predicated on thecentrality of the teacher. The teachers choice and decisionmaking are also critical components of the process oftechnology integration. At every juncture the teachersautonomy in deciding the suitability of the content, theneed to use the given technology, the manner in which it

is to be employed in the classroom is stressed. Reflectiongoes hand in hand with the emerging understanding oftheir autonomy. Teachers enthusiasm to view and reflecton the video recordings of their own classroom andkeenness to have them viewed by others for feedback isan indication of their professional growth.

Learning communityThe teacher in the classroom is more often than not isolatedfrom the outside world. What the teacher does withinthe confines of the classroom remains largely knownonly to the teacher, and with little or no recognition theteacher could and often does get by with no more than theminimum of required effort. Enabling teachers to becomepart of a larger learning community is an importantelement of the entire framework which the online supportcommunity provides. The importance of the validationthat derives from having a peer or a content expert view

their work and comment upon it cannot be overstated.

The research efforts are currently focussed on developingthe above constructs, exploring the interrelationshipsbetween them for a more robust and holistic frameworkto be developed. The methodology of design experimentallows for a systemic approach and building on theseearly insights through series of observation and validationto achieve the goal of a more nuanced understanding ofthe phenomenon of teacher development in technologyintegration.

The author works at Azim Premji University


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DISTRICT PROFILE

DHAMTARI - Purusottam Singh Thakur

District Overview The state of Chhattisgarh is divided into 27 districts. Dhamtari is a district located in central Chhattisgarh. It is saidthat its name comes from Dharam-tarai ( Dhamma + Tarai). Dhamtari was officially formed as a district on 6th July,1998. Prior to that, it was part of Raipur district. Dhamtari is 78kilometers away from Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.

The total area of the district is 2,029 km. It is approximately 317meters (1,040 feet) above sea level. The district shares its boundary

with 6 districts of Chhattisgarh Kondagaon, Kanker, Balod, Durg,Raipur and Gariaband and Nabrangpur district of Odisha in thesouth-east.

Administration: Dhamtari district is divided into 4 development blocks

Dhamtari, Kurud, Magarlod and Nagri There are 3 Assembly Constituencies: Dhamtari, Kurud and

Sihawa. It falls between two Lok Sabha constituencies i.e. Kanker &

Mahasamund

The people of the Dhamtari region had contributed actively in thefreedom struggle of the nation. The farmers of Kandel, a village nearDhamtari town had strongly protested the imposition of irrigationtax by the British administration and the villagers had successfullymobilized the neighboring villagers to join their movement ofSatyagraha. Dhamtari was also known as one of the main centersfor the Christian missionaries of central India.

Mahanadi River the lifeline of Chhattisgarh is the principal river of this district. Dhamataris lands are fertile thanks

to the river and its tributaries Sendur, Pairy, Sondur, Joan, Kharun and Shivnath. The largest dam of Chhattisgarh,Ravishankar Sagar, which is popularly known as Gangrel dam, lies about 11 km from the district capital. The damirrigates almost 57000 hectares in the state. It is also the main source that supplies drinking water to the capital cityRaipur and the Bhilai Steel Plant. The dam also has 10MW hydro-electric power plant. Dhamtari district has Asias firstever siphon dam which was built in the year 1914 at Madamsilli. Sondhur and Dudhawa dams are the two other majorirrigation projects existing in the State. The fertile plain land is being used for paddy cultivation and thus the district isfamous for rice production. There are 140 rice mills in the district.

The town is regarded as one of business centres of Chhattisgarh. Historically, its location was significant for trade.Dhamtari is in the lower part of the plains and thus is the gateway to Bastar region. Forest produce and rice are themain trades which attract traders around the country.

District Profle

8/11/2019 The Magazine January 2014 Issu

the magazine january 2014 issue

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