Dear Friends,
Teaching is building inter-personal relationships and facilitating the process of Learning. Fear has no place in this.
Fear is an emotion that distorts reason, reduces mental capabilities and develops apathy, depression and leads to frustration. It also hampers learning and effects performance adversely.
Once we realize this, half the battle is won.
The relationship of a teacher and a student is that of a Guru and a disciple. It is based on mutual trust and faith. A teacher who believes in the innate goodness of all human beings, who believes in Fatherhood of God, who believes that every child has it in him and it is only the right kind of learning experiences, the right type of teaching strategies and the right form of environment that can draw out the latent talents of students; will never resort to any kind of practices that even come close to developing fear.
"To be in Love or to Doubt", says Othello.
The Process of Teaching -Learning is one where fear can be detrimental to the process and the personality development of both- the child and the teacher.
We need to create an open Classroom environment where asking questions becomes a habit, where committing mistakes is acceptable as it leads to learning, where every small success is celebrated, where every desirable response is reinforced and every undesirable response is ignored. Rules to be followed are decided upon after deliberation by students for the students, discipline is more a matter of self-discipline, social control is Modeled in the behavior of teachers, the systems are flexible to adapt to changed needs and conditions, the school environment is one that caters to emotional security and channelization and where confidence building measures are a routine activity.
Teachers have to be of this firm conviction and thoroughly mentored in Classroom behavior management techniques. The teachers need not be unduly friendly. Mutual respect has to replace authority. Discussion has to give way to one way communication and the number of activities in which students and teachers participate together, both inside the classroom and in the playfield, indoors and outdoors have to be in plenty.
Cheer up my friends, there is a vast store house of Research based information available on Managing Students. Read from the net: www.pivotaleducation.com/behaviour. You will find wonderful Tips of Behavior Management be Ellie Wood-Pivotal.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Discussion on Quality Education/Schools/Teachers?
Dear Friends,
Education has the function of transmission of culture, social control and social progress. It is always based on the philosophy of the people of a nation. In India, we follow the Philosophy of Scientific Humanism. Our Educational System is based on Macaulay's Minutes and hence it is an alien system transplanted in our Country. It has been surviving on a patchwork of recommendations from Commissions and Committees since 1942.
We had the Radhakrishnan Committee Report for improving University Education in 1942, then the Mudliar Committee in 1952-54, looking in depth at the Secondary Education and why it was divorced from the realities of life. Again we had a very Comprehensive Kothari Commission Report in 1964. The Indian Educationists regard it as their Bible in education. We followed it with the NPE-National Policy on Education after a Nation-wide debate and then for the first time we had a POA-Programme of Action- Goals were decided, Time-frames were set and every thing came to naught with a change in Govt. We have the latest Recommendations of CABE-the Central Advisory Board on Education and in Feb.2005, the NCF-National Curriculum Framework was decided, announced and implemented in a phased manner. I gave this historical background so that we have a clear perspective of what went wrong. We never had an indigenous system of Education. Experimentation, sudden changes and drastic reforms with changes in Govt's have left the Educational System in shambles. This is our first casualty. Let me honestly share with you, these Recommendations decorate the shelves in our Libraries and we only pay lip service to them.
Our schools which we regard as our ‘Temples of Learning’ got into the ‘Business of Education’ and soon made ‘Education their Business’. These Educational Institutions over a period of time lost their missionary zeal, their social character and ignored the stakeholders thus distancing themselves from those, whom it was meant to serve.
We do have a few Good schools here and there but that is just an Oasis in a huge desert. Schooling has become drudgery, routine, monotonous and there is no scope today for innovations, creativity. Status quo is being maintained rigidly and we find a lot of gimmickry in the name of Education. Our kids are being treated as guinea pigs for being experimented upon by quakes and novices.
Teaching has and never was an occupation in our country. Teachers are there more by chance rather than by choice. They are humiliated, exploited, blamed, used for every work and drilled into practices that are meaningless. Their Pre-Service Training is defective, there is a huge yawning gap between Theory and Practice and once appointed in a School, they are regimented and carried along. By the way, our Country happens to be perhaps the only country in the World where Heads of Institutions are appointed because of their experience as Teachers and there is neither a training before appointment as a pre-requisite, nor do we make a sincere attempt at Training them in Administration and Management of Schools after appointing them.
The Curriculum is lengthy, concept ridden and encourages rote-learning. The teachers take great pains in covering the content and Examination is the End. All possible means are adopted to get through these exams and hence we have malpractices, depressions, suicides, disappointment and yet a few excel and we forget the rest and bask in the glory of the achievements of the few.
Finally, Quality in Education is a misnomer. We are unaware of its true meaning and in spite of some Schools having started Quality Circles; we are not a Quality conscious community of people.For me Quality would mean meeting requirements. It is that Zero Error state where you are aware of PONK. Quality in Education is nowadays- a misnomer and we are paying the price for not maintaining or even aspiring for Quality
Education has the function of transmission of culture, social control and social progress. It is always based on the philosophy of the people of a nation. In India, we follow the Philosophy of Scientific Humanism. Our Educational System is based on Macaulay's Minutes and hence it is an alien system transplanted in our Country. It has been surviving on a patchwork of recommendations from Commissions and Committees since 1942.
We had the Radhakrishnan Committee Report for improving University Education in 1942, then the Mudliar Committee in 1952-54, looking in depth at the Secondary Education and why it was divorced from the realities of life. Again we had a very Comprehensive Kothari Commission Report in 1964. The Indian Educationists regard it as their Bible in education. We followed it with the NPE-National Policy on Education after a Nation-wide debate and then for the first time we had a POA-Programme of Action- Goals were decided, Time-frames were set and every thing came to naught with a change in Govt. We have the latest Recommendations of CABE-the Central Advisory Board on Education and in Feb.2005, the NCF-National Curriculum Framework was decided, announced and implemented in a phased manner. I gave this historical background so that we have a clear perspective of what went wrong. We never had an indigenous system of Education. Experimentation, sudden changes and drastic reforms with changes in Govt's have left the Educational System in shambles. This is our first casualty. Let me honestly share with you, these Recommendations decorate the shelves in our Libraries and we only pay lip service to them.
Our schools which we regard as our ‘Temples of Learning’ got into the ‘Business of Education’ and soon made ‘Education their Business’. These Educational Institutions over a period of time lost their missionary zeal, their social character and ignored the stakeholders thus distancing themselves from those, whom it was meant to serve.
We do have a few Good schools here and there but that is just an Oasis in a huge desert. Schooling has become drudgery, routine, monotonous and there is no scope today for innovations, creativity. Status quo is being maintained rigidly and we find a lot of gimmickry in the name of Education. Our kids are being treated as guinea pigs for being experimented upon by quakes and novices.
Teaching has and never was an occupation in our country. Teachers are there more by chance rather than by choice. They are humiliated, exploited, blamed, used for every work and drilled into practices that are meaningless. Their Pre-Service Training is defective, there is a huge yawning gap between Theory and Practice and once appointed in a School, they are regimented and carried along. By the way, our Country happens to be perhaps the only country in the World where Heads of Institutions are appointed because of their experience as Teachers and there is neither a training before appointment as a pre-requisite, nor do we make a sincere attempt at Training them in Administration and Management of Schools after appointing them.
The Curriculum is lengthy, concept ridden and encourages rote-learning. The teachers take great pains in covering the content and Examination is the End. All possible means are adopted to get through these exams and hence we have malpractices, depressions, suicides, disappointment and yet a few excel and we forget the rest and bask in the glory of the achievements of the few.
Finally, Quality in Education is a misnomer. We are unaware of its true meaning and in spite of some Schools having started Quality Circles; we are not a Quality conscious community of people.For me Quality would mean meeting requirements. It is that Zero Error state where you are aware of PONK. Quality in Education is nowadays- a misnomer and we are paying the price for not maintaining or even aspiring for Quality
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dear Friends,
As an Educator engaged in teaching since1965 and as a Teacher-Educator & Administrator since 1977; it has been my earnest endeavour to improve my teaching, to grow professionally and to share what I had learnt with others. I have lost count of the number of Seminars, Extension Lectures and Workshops that I attended for the purpose.
After 1980 I had the opportunity of organising these Workshops for Pre-Service and In-Service teachers. I experimented with different approaches to training of teachers, including the Diagnostic Remedial Approach in Training Teachers in Skills of Teaching.
I owe a lot to the experts from NCERT, IGNOU, CBSE, UGC and other Agencies; with whom I interacted, learnt a lot (if I did not learn more, the fault was mine and not of the experts) and tried to put it into practise.
The best opportunity came my way when I joined Darshan Education Foundation- Delhi and had first hand experiences of training teachers on Activity-Based Teaching, Classroom Management through DA Agreements, Buddy System, Key-Priority Areas, Practice and Review Techniques and Scores of other Topics.
I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Madam Suzanne Lauber, Director, DEF; who became my Role-Model of a Teacher Educator/Trainer. We also had opportunities of interacting with dozens and dozens of Experts from India and Abroad and from them we had Sessions on Memory, Study Skills, Time Management, Team Building, Leadership, School Administration, Systems Management, Quality Circles, Value Education Models, Non- Violent Communication, etc.
During the last 20 years, I have conducted Workshops for thousands of teachers across the country. It has been a privilege to interact with teachers at Srinagar, Jammu, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Gwalior, Aligarh, Hathras, Rohtak, Sampla, Hissar, Ambala, Ludhiana, Kolkatta, Kaithal, Pune, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Datia and Delhi.
In the process, I have met teachers and Principals of the reputed and prestigious Public Schools of Delhi and of other cities, of Air Force Public Schools, of Kendriya Vidyalaya, of Residential Schools and also of Schools trying to establish their identity in the community.
What I have observed and experienced is, that although the Teachers and Principals show a lot of enthusiasm, are willing to learn, participate actively, deliberate and contribute during the workshop; although their Feedback is very encouraging; but what really is transferred to actual classroom situations is not even a fraction of what the teachers were trained in and for.
This is appalling! An in depth study and discussion with Principals revealed that these workshops were an eye-wash and each School had an ulterior motive behind the conduct of the Workshops. Most often the workshop was organised to publicise the School through press and Media. Sometimes the Principal organised these workshops to prove to the Management that he was on the job of Professional Growth of Teachers and in most of these workshops, he was the one who was not a participant. Workshops were being used for Image Building, Publicity, for inviting authorities from the State Administration, Boards etc; and even for providing an opportunity to the Publishers to talk about their publications and how their Text-Books were better than those of other Publishers.
As a result there has been a Mushroom growth of so-called Experts in various areas and the Quality of Workshops conducted desires a lot. The teachers are on the receiving end. Workshops are held on Holidays, Sundays and during Vacations. The Workshops are dull and boring. These are far from the realities of classroom practices and situations. Most of them are Lectures or presentations. There is hardly any activity which the teachers could take up when they return to schools. Managements are least bothered about professional growth of teachers. No one bothers to keep the teachers abreast of the latest in the field of teaching-learning.
What again is disturbing is that the teachers and Schools seem to act on herd mentality and suddenly experts spring up from nowhere to conduct workshops on: Blue Print of a Question Paper, Parenting, Counselling, De -stressing, Motivation, Teaching without Burden and now the HOTS Questioning. It looks as if one school is trying to outdo the other. The Focus is lost. No one seems to remember the Objective behind the Workshop. Customised workshops or Need-Based Workshops are not possible in the absence of a seasoned Expert teacher trainer. Question and Answer sessions have been forgotten. A lot of precious time is wasted in introductions, reception, report about the achievements of the school, a few words by the Chief Guest, a vote of thanks at the end, which usually is a summary of what the person has understood at the workshop rather than what the Expert tried to convey. The poor expert has no other alternative but to cut on the activities for Hands-on -Learning and deliver a talk and thus we have been talking at the teachers.
Some Board Members have asked me occasionally as to how the workshop is going to benefit the School, or how have the Workshops conducted so far benefited the teachers. This is obvious since their is a dichotomy between what the teachers learn at the Workshops and what they are required to do at the School.
In such a situation how do we expect sound Educational, Pedagogical and Psychological practices in our schools. We come across a plethora of teaching techniques and many are not even able to justify these or speak of their relevance. What is going on in the name of teaching is..........TRASH! A good practice here and another there are an oasis in a desert of dead habit.
Kindly give me the benefit of your opinion and advice to remedy the situation. If I am wrong in my assessment of the situation, please correct me and let me have your experiences.
With Hope
Prof. B. L. Handoo
As an Educator engaged in teaching since1965 and as a Teacher-Educator & Administrator since 1977; it has been my earnest endeavour to improve my teaching, to grow professionally and to share what I had learnt with others. I have lost count of the number of Seminars, Extension Lectures and Workshops that I attended for the purpose.
After 1980 I had the opportunity of organising these Workshops for Pre-Service and In-Service teachers. I experimented with different approaches to training of teachers, including the Diagnostic Remedial Approach in Training Teachers in Skills of Teaching.
I owe a lot to the experts from NCERT, IGNOU, CBSE, UGC and other Agencies; with whom I interacted, learnt a lot (if I did not learn more, the fault was mine and not of the experts) and tried to put it into practise.
The best opportunity came my way when I joined Darshan Education Foundation- Delhi and had first hand experiences of training teachers on Activity-Based Teaching, Classroom Management through DA Agreements, Buddy System, Key-Priority Areas, Practice and Review Techniques and Scores of other Topics.
I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Madam Suzanne Lauber, Director, DEF; who became my Role-Model of a Teacher Educator/Trainer. We also had opportunities of interacting with dozens and dozens of Experts from India and Abroad and from them we had Sessions on Memory, Study Skills, Time Management, Team Building, Leadership, School Administration, Systems Management, Quality Circles, Value Education Models, Non- Violent Communication, etc.
During the last 20 years, I have conducted Workshops for thousands of teachers across the country. It has been a privilege to interact with teachers at Srinagar, Jammu, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Gwalior, Aligarh, Hathras, Rohtak, Sampla, Hissar, Ambala, Ludhiana, Kolkatta, Kaithal, Pune, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Datia and Delhi.
In the process, I have met teachers and Principals of the reputed and prestigious Public Schools of Delhi and of other cities, of Air Force Public Schools, of Kendriya Vidyalaya, of Residential Schools and also of Schools trying to establish their identity in the community.
What I have observed and experienced is, that although the Teachers and Principals show a lot of enthusiasm, are willing to learn, participate actively, deliberate and contribute during the workshop; although their Feedback is very encouraging; but what really is transferred to actual classroom situations is not even a fraction of what the teachers were trained in and for.
This is appalling! An in depth study and discussion with Principals revealed that these workshops were an eye-wash and each School had an ulterior motive behind the conduct of the Workshops. Most often the workshop was organised to publicise the School through press and Media. Sometimes the Principal organised these workshops to prove to the Management that he was on the job of Professional Growth of Teachers and in most of these workshops, he was the one who was not a participant. Workshops were being used for Image Building, Publicity, for inviting authorities from the State Administration, Boards etc; and even for providing an opportunity to the Publishers to talk about their publications and how their Text-Books were better than those of other Publishers.
As a result there has been a Mushroom growth of so-called Experts in various areas and the Quality of Workshops conducted desires a lot. The teachers are on the receiving end. Workshops are held on Holidays, Sundays and during Vacations. The Workshops are dull and boring. These are far from the realities of classroom practices and situations. Most of them are Lectures or presentations. There is hardly any activity which the teachers could take up when they return to schools. Managements are least bothered about professional growth of teachers. No one bothers to keep the teachers abreast of the latest in the field of teaching-learning.
What again is disturbing is that the teachers and Schools seem to act on herd mentality and suddenly experts spring up from nowhere to conduct workshops on: Blue Print of a Question Paper, Parenting, Counselling, De -stressing, Motivation, Teaching without Burden and now the HOTS Questioning. It looks as if one school is trying to outdo the other. The Focus is lost. No one seems to remember the Objective behind the Workshop. Customised workshops or Need-Based Workshops are not possible in the absence of a seasoned Expert teacher trainer. Question and Answer sessions have been forgotten. A lot of precious time is wasted in introductions, reception, report about the achievements of the school, a few words by the Chief Guest, a vote of thanks at the end, which usually is a summary of what the person has understood at the workshop rather than what the Expert tried to convey. The poor expert has no other alternative but to cut on the activities for Hands-on -Learning and deliver a talk and thus we have been talking at the teachers.
Some Board Members have asked me occasionally as to how the workshop is going to benefit the School, or how have the Workshops conducted so far benefited the teachers. This is obvious since their is a dichotomy between what the teachers learn at the Workshops and what they are required to do at the School.
In such a situation how do we expect sound Educational, Pedagogical and Psychological practices in our schools. We come across a plethora of teaching techniques and many are not even able to justify these or speak of their relevance. What is going on in the name of teaching is..........TRASH! A good practice here and another there are an oasis in a desert of dead habit.
Kindly give me the benefit of your opinion and advice to remedy the situation. If I am wrong in my assessment of the situation, please correct me and let me have your experiences.
With Hope
Prof. B. L. Handoo
Managing Director
Indira Educational Consultancy Services.
Cell:09810890998, 09313706527.
Visit:- www.iecs-india.com
Monday, March 10, 2008
SAVE OUR CHILDREN
How is it that our 3yr & 4yr old kids are subjected to Formal paper pencil Tests and Interviews at the time of Admissions by the School Authorities? All this is camouflaged under the name INTERACTION. It is a SHAME!
I recall having interviewed most of the Principals, Heads & Teachers and let me honestly admit that they never made the Grades, but we had no choice since they were able to express themselves better in comparison to others.
How many of these Heads & Teachers have read about Cognitive Psychology, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, De Bono, Gardener, Mel Levine and others? Are they aware of Multi sensory Teaching, Sensory Training, Multiple Intelligences, Six Hats, SMART ,Play-way, Bloom's Taxonomy, Teaching to Think, Learning Styles, Brain-hemispheric preferences, Intervention Techniques etc?
How dare the Schools Interview kids against all norms of decency, respect for the talent & integrity of a child and Childhood and in utter disregard to the decisions of Courts, the Ganguly Committee Report and even the Recommendations of Prof. Yashpal in his "Learning without Burden".
I was flabbergasted to overhear a self styled Counsellor in a School telling a mother of a 4yr child that she will have to put in a lot of effort in preparing her child during the Summer Break, since all Kids in the Nursery in their School had already finished writing the Big & Small Letters of the English Alphabet. She did not say that the kids had learnt all this, nor did she say that they had succeeded in damaging the finer muscles and the sensibilities of each child and so lovingly (callously) robbed them of their childhood.
Since I regard Schools as "Temples of Learning", I didn't butt in or say a word but as I drove back home, I decided to fight this battle. I was reminded of the words of Browning;’” I have ever been a fighter, One fight more, The Last & the Best".
Please join me in this Fight against the Mafia of School Managements, their Puppet head Principals and their unethical practises of Interviewing small kids and admitting them after garnering huge sums; misguiding and exploiting teachers, damaging children, following traditional outdated techniques of teaching and assessment and misrepresenting Academic Performance as talent & excellence in Education.
How long can it continue? Are we dumb cowards to see it, bear it and let our future generation be harmed irreparably? I want you to join and then we can wage a war for the sake of our children.
It is a SHAME!
I recall having interviewed most of the Principals, Heads & Teachers and let me honestly admit that they never made the Grades, but we had no choice since they were able to express themselves better in comparison to others.
How many of these Heads & Teachers have read about Cognitive Psychology, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, De Bono, Gardener, Mel Levine and others? Are they aware of Multi sensory Teaching, Sensory Training, Multiple Intelligences, Six Hats, SMART ,Play-way, Bloom's Taxonomy, Teaching to Think, Learning Styles, Brain-hemispheric preferences, Intervention Techniques etc?
How dare the Schools Interview kids against all norms of decency, respect for the talent & integrity of a child and Childhood and in utter disregard to the decisions of Courts, the Ganguly Committee Report and even the Recommendations of Prof. Yashpal in his "Learning without Burden".
I was flabbergasted to overhear a self styled Counsellor in a School telling a mother of a 4yr child that she will have to put in a lot of effort in preparing her child during the Summer Break, since all Kids in the Nursery in their School had already finished writing the Big & Small Letters of the English Alphabet. She did not say that the kids had learnt all this, nor did she say that they had succeeded in damaging the finer muscles and the sensibilities of each child and so lovingly (callously) robbed them of their childhood.
Since I regard Schools as "Temples of Learning", I didn't butt in or say a word but as I drove back home, I decided to fight this battle. I was reminded of the words of Browning;’” I have ever been a fighter, One fight more, The Last & the Best".
Please join me in this Fight against the Mafia of School Managements, their Puppet head Principals and their unethical practises of Interviewing small kids and admitting them after garnering huge sums; misguiding and exploiting teachers, damaging children, following traditional outdated techniques of teaching and assessment and misrepresenting Academic Performance as talent & excellence in Education.
How long can it continue? Are we dumb cowards to see it, bear it and let our future generation be harmed irreparably? I want you to join and then we can wage a war for the sake of our children.
It is a SHAME!
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