I wanted to teach the students the therapeutic techniques and the focus was on learning the technical terms and understanding the concepts. The students were in no mood for any serious study and wanted me to teach them through hangman. It was in class that I had to immediately think of a way to proceed and go about the lesson. I must say that it turned out to be the most interesting class which we all enjoyed.
Every time I wanted to introduce a term I called two students randomly and gave them the word and briefly explained the meaning so that they knew how to create an image of the word. The class was divided into 5 groups and 4 groups had 5 members and the last group had 4 members. The two students discussed how to portray the word on the board. What was surprising was that the students learnt faster and remained involved through out the class. The drawings or the images helped them to pick up the new words and learn their usage. Of course some explanation was required every now and then but the students thought much more than they usually do. What I also realized was that every student got an opportunity to participate.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Hi all,
I was under the impression that the 20 hour on-line course could be spread according to our time availability. But talking to Deepthy and then Bhagya told me that this course has to be completed by 31st October. There is hardly any time. I haven't found any such completion date on the course pages. Now I'll really have to fast about it.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
CASW
22nd Aug 2009.
I took a piece of a student’s work for the CASW discussion meeting. Ms Raji, Ms Sumi, Archana, Aparajita, Bhagya, Deepthi and myself were present.
The material I took was a short printed question paper, and a loose sheet of paper with the student’s answers (calculations and rough work) on it. This was from class 9-C.
The background: Students were taught various concepts since the beginning of this year. Practice of solving problems was done in class as well as at home. The piece of work was a kind of review. It was to be done independently by them, in class during a single block. This was to be assessed as class work. The criteria were neat writing of steps/calculations leading to the correct answers, and a reasonable amount of work for the 40 minutes or so.
The key question was – was this strategy successful for assessing understanding of concepts taught over a period of time? And did it help students work in an uninterrupted fashion for about 40-45 minutes. The output from this particular student as well as from most of the class was positive. As this was not a ‘test’, the students worked without the fear factor. The sample work showed steps written out clearly with the correct answers. This particular student till now did not bother to write steps. Some calculations were shown in a haphazard way in his notebook; the answers had to be found out by the teacher.
After all the discussions were over, it was felt that one would need a considerable chunk of time to prepare such material. I too would have found it difficult if my day was too full of teaching classes. The practice of assessing class work this way was felt useful.
I took a piece of a student’s work for the CASW discussion meeting. Ms Raji, Ms Sumi, Archana, Aparajita, Bhagya, Deepthi and myself were present.
The material I took was a short printed question paper, and a loose sheet of paper with the student’s answers (calculations and rough work) on it. This was from class 9-C.
The background: Students were taught various concepts since the beginning of this year. Practice of solving problems was done in class as well as at home. The piece of work was a kind of review. It was to be done independently by them, in class during a single block. This was to be assessed as class work. The criteria were neat writing of steps/calculations leading to the correct answers, and a reasonable amount of work for the 40 minutes or so.
The key question was – was this strategy successful for assessing understanding of concepts taught over a period of time? And did it help students work in an uninterrupted fashion for about 40-45 minutes. The output from this particular student as well as from most of the class was positive. As this was not a ‘test’, the students worked without the fear factor. The sample work showed steps written out clearly with the correct answers. This particular student till now did not bother to write steps. Some calculations were shown in a haphazard way in his notebook; the answers had to be found out by the teacher.
After all the discussions were over, it was felt that one would need a considerable chunk of time to prepare such material. I too would have found it difficult if my day was too full of teaching classes. The practice of assessing class work this way was felt useful.
Monday, August 31, 2009
My CASW
My CASW
Last weekend’s CASW, my first, proved to be rather interesting and inspiring. It was interesting to note whether or not people perceived what you did, your notions behind a certain plan, a certain scheme of thought for a lesson, and it was inspiring to hear their views, encouraging thoughts about what you were doing.
The Collaborative analysis took part rather systematically. It helped that I kept the question aiding discussion ready and printed so that the CASW panel had a copy to refer too. Though I am a Drama teacher mainly, my CASW presentation and question concerned a process that I explored in a particular class. The main question was “Whether bringing children into a circle time process aided the development of a feeling of community among them.” I had a small note printed just below in a few bullet points stating the present context in which a process to aid community spirit was being pursued.
My theorist of choice and the process that I was presenting were connected in their intent of study. Do processes of circle time enable a sense of belonging in a classroom of children from various backgrounds? I approached the following question from the Abraham Maslow slant of the hierarchy of needs. The process I was perusing in the classroom was if addressing issues of wellness and well-being in fact helped children become self directed in their learning process. The present problem question addressed two processes in particular.
My presentation with pictures and a small talk running along helped present the concept of guided visualization and the process around a mandala in the classroom. I was able to talk about the guided visualization and what the process entailed while my computer sideshow displayed the images taken during the classroom session. I was able to talk a little more in detail about the mandala making process that brought together smaller groups of children. The time – 15 minutes not only provided me the space to talk about the process but also briefly the role of silence and the continued sharing process after the mandala making.
The clarification process that ensued basically brought in questions of the context in which the process was installed. Why was it important for me and the class to work on circle time activities ? What were the kind of situations in the classroom that I was trying to address? Other questions were of the guided visualization and the kinds of visualizations that we had been using in class. What also were the processes that were done post the guided visualization? What were the children’s reaction to the process. This discussion led to sharing of facts of some children in the class choosing to work in isolation or with smaller group of friends. My thoughts loomed around those children who left comments on the chat in our online community asking for, calling for someone to speak to because they did not have anyone to speak to. I shared that sometimes children did not have a space to just vent out, speak out without the fear of being judged about things that happened to them beyond the classroom, and also shared that sometimes what happened beyond there also affected the classroom processes. Just knowing that they could talk about it, after creting something in silence sometimes helps them feel belonged. While the process was not a way of penetrating into their family space, it allowed for some skills to deal with things that happened around them.
Post writing down their views about my presentation, the sharing process ensued and the later discussion which I was able to listen to. Most of the teachers on the panel felt that the processes of guided visualization and mandala which were followed by small group discussions were actually helping the process of building a feeling of community. They shared that the process of education can also help in creating the feeling of belonging ness – and that it was very heartening that the initiative was also taken. They agreed that the school system could not really penetrate into the house system of the children but skills of dealing with situations were crucial, Most of the teachers were able to see that the process I had presented was essentially still in its nascent stages and that it was a long term process that one was dealing with. Some even shared the desire to come and view these sessions.
They shared this information formally with me, with one teacher adding that such sessions could also be video documented.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The first CASW session was held on 22, August’09.Apart from me it consisted of 5 other participants who were Mrs. Sumi Waran, Mrs. Raji Nair, Mr. Shibnath Chakraborty, Ms. Archana Joseph, and Ms. Bhagyalakshmi. We started the session at 8:45am.
We took a few minutes less than one hour to complete my session. It was definitely an enriching experience to be a part of the sessions and receive feedback on my work. Ms. Sumi Waran was the facilitator for my session. Before I started the presentation she pointed out in detail the manner in which the session would proceed and the purpose of the session. I had chosen a standard eleven student’s piece of work. The topic of the student’s assignment was an essay on the” Nature Verses Nurture Study”. It was the first assignment of the student in standard eleven. The objective of the assignment was to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to enable me to understand the ability of each student. I was also concerned to know what method I should adopt thereafter to help the students learn better. The assignment was given to the students’ right after completing the introductory unit in psychology. The aim was to see whether they are able to follow the discussions in the class and write an essay using the books available to them. Clear guidelines to write the answer had been provided to the students and the books they could refer to. All the participants were provided with a copy of the student’s work. The piece of work I had used reflected the hard work the student had put in. She not only understood my expectations well but had also extended herself through further reading and reference work. The work was randomly chosen.
My key questions for the session were as follows:
- Was it too early for me to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to decide eventually how to work with the students and what teaching method would suit their need?
- How far did the guidelines or the framework for the essay provided to the students help them?
I was looking for both warm and cool feedback from the participants to identify what strategies to hold on to and what to discard in future that would enhance the teaching and learning process. I took 12 minutes to present the student’s work during which time I explained to the group the topic and nature of the assignment, my objectives of setting the assignment, the outline I had provided to write the essay and the books they could use to work on the assignment. I also informed the participants that I had not requested the students to do any extra reference work as it was their first assignment and I didn’t want it to become too demanding for them.
Right after my presentation a few clarifying questions were asked like how much time did the students get to complete the assignment and why had I not graded the student’s work but gave a qualitative feedback to the child. I answered their queries by saying that the students got 3 days to finish their work. My intention was to gauge the ability of the child first before starting with any testing. At the end of the clarifying session I heard them discuss the issues raised during the presentation. I used this time to note down their comments and reflected up on them.
My reflection included the following thoughts:
The participants thought it was certainly the ideal time to assess the student’s comprehending and writing skills. They thought it’s an effective method to know the potential of the child right at the beginning rather than delaying it as it could impede the teaching and learning process. I too shared the same feeling. Besides they also pointed out that the answer key was a great idea since the students were just introduced to the subject and were oblivious to the writing style required to perform well. One participant brought to my notice that it was fair enough to just give a qualitative feedback since a grade or quantitative analysis could be discouraging in the beginning of the year. I too realized from the comment that in case of a bad piece of work a poor grade would de-motivate the child from putting in any effort in future. The fact that no boundaries were set on the students in terms of extra reading seemed to be a good idea for the first assignment. Though the participants felt that the guidelines were extremely useful to the student, I personally felt that more samples of students work would have helped the participants to tell me if the outline of the assignment worked well for the class in general. The participants felt that the specific piece of work indicated well that my guidelines to the students were clear and helpful and that prior reading of the students work was not required as the guidelines gave enough idea about the nature of the assignment.
As far as constructing a strategy collaboratively was concerned it was unanimously agreed upon that there seemed to be no significant problem as such requiring a solution. However what I gathered from the discussion also was that students should be gradually taught to work independently and they should not become dependent on guidelines always which I too agree as it could be detrimental to their higher order thinking skills.
The session enabled me to objectively assess my teaching style. It made me mindful of the strategies that are helping me and what modifications I have to bring from time to time to crater to the student’s needs and to enable them to improve their performance. I think the CASW session is a useful platform for a teacher to discuss his or her concerns. The feedbacks are reinforcing and insightful. What’s most benefiting is that one gets to enhance his/her skills as a teacher and work towards professional growth. Also the sharing of the kind of work one is doing with students creates a feeling of responsibility which for me is an essential factor to put in more effort. The participants enjoyed getting educated on the topic of my student’s assignment. They found it intriguing and wanted to know more about it. The discussions brought to light many ideas that we all felt would be useful to us as teachers.
The first CASW session was held on 22, August’09.Apart from me it consisted of 5 other participants who were Mrs. Sumi Waran, Mrs. Raji Nair, Mr. Shibnath Chakraborty, Ms. Archana Joseph, and Ms. Bhagyalakshmi. We started the session at 8:45am.
We took a few minutes less than one hour to complete my session. It was definitely an enriching experience to be a part of the sessions and receive feedback on my work. Ms. Sumi Waran was the facilitator for my session. Before I started the presentation she pointed out in detail the manner in which the session would proceed and the purpose of the session. I had chosen a standard eleven student’s piece of work. The topic of the student’s assignment was an essay on the” Nature Verses Nurture Study”. It was the first assignment of the student in standard eleven. The objective of the assignment was to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to enable me to understand the ability of each student. I was also concerned to know what method I should adopt thereafter to help the students learn better. The assignment was given to the students’ right after completing the introductory unit in psychology. The aim was to see whether they are able to follow the discussions in the class and write an essay using the books available to them. Clear guidelines to write the answer had been provided to the students and the books they could refer to. All the participants were provided with a copy of the student’s work. The piece of work I had used reflected the hard work the student had put in. She not only understood my expectations well but had also extended herself through further reading and reference work. The work was randomly chosen.
My key questions for the session were as follows:
- Was it too early for me to assess the students comprehending and writing skills to decide eventually how to work with the students and what teaching method would suit their need?
- How far did the guidelines or the framework for the essay provided to the students help them?
I was looking for both warm and cool feedback from the participants to identify what strategies to hold on to and what to discard in future that would enhance the teaching and learning process. I took 12 minutes to present the student’s work during which time I explained to the group the topic and nature of the assignment, my objectives of setting the assignment, the outline I had provided to write the essay and the books they could use to work on the assignment. I also informed the participants that I had not requested the students to do any extra reference work as it was their first assignment and I didn’t want it to become too demanding for them.
Right after my presentation a few clarifying questions were asked like how much time did the students get to complete the assignment and why had I not graded the student’s work but gave a qualitative feedback to the child. I answered their queries by saying that the students got 3 days to finish their work. My intention was to gauge the ability of the child first before starting with any testing. At the end of the clarifying session I heard them discuss the issues raised during the presentation. I used this time to note down their comments and reflected up on them.
My reflection included the following thoughts:
The participants thought it was certainly the ideal time to assess the student’s comprehending and writing skills. They thought it’s an effective method to know the potential of the child right at the beginning rather than delaying it as it could impede the teaching and learning process. I too shared the same feeling. Besides they also pointed out that the answer key was a great idea since the students were just introduced to the subject and were oblivious to the writing style required to perform well. One participant brought to my notice that it was fair enough to just give a qualitative feedback since a grade or quantitative analysis could be discouraging in the beginning of the year. I too realized from the comment that in case of a bad piece of work a poor grade would de-motivate the child from putting in any effort in future. The fact that no boundaries were set on the students in terms of extra reading seemed to be a good idea for the first assignment. Though the participants felt that the guidelines were extremely useful to the student, I personally felt that more samples of students work would have helped the participants to tell me if the outline of the assignment worked well for the class in general. The participants felt that the specific piece of work indicated well that my guidelines to the students were clear and helpful and that prior reading of the students work was not required as the guidelines gave enough idea about the nature of the assignment.
As far as constructing a strategy collaboratively was concerned it was unanimously agreed upon that there seemed to be no significant problem as such requiring a solution. However what I gathered from the discussion also was that students should be gradually taught to work independently and they should not become dependent on guidelines always which I too agree as it could be detrimental to their higher order thinking skills.
The session enabled me to objectively assess my teaching style. It made me mindful of the strategies that are helping me and what modifications I have to bring from time to time to crater to the student’s needs and to enable them to improve their performance. I think the CASW session is a useful platform for a teacher to discuss his or her concerns. The feedbacks are reinforcing and insightful. What’s most benefiting is that one gets to enhance his/her skills as a teacher and work towards professional growth. Also the sharing of the kind of work one is doing with students creates a feeling of responsibility which for me is an essential factor to put in more effort. The participants enjoyed getting educated on the topic of my student’s assignment. They found it intriguing and wanted to know more about it. The discussions brought to light many ideas that we all felt would be useful to us as teachers.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Our first CASW session
Well, the first CASW session was certainly a learning experience. One thing that I realized was how important it was for the key question to be framed carefully. Only then would the discussion go in the direction planned and answer the question one has.
Giving the samples of student work to the participants beforehand would also have been much better than handing them out in the session itself. I found that it wasn't very practical for the participants to read the student work (especially as it happened to be a fairly long one) and address questions on it as well during the session.
The student work I'd chosen was one of the best pieces of work in class. Though this was a suggestion given in the tuning protocol handout, one of the participants felt that there could have been a sample of work from the bottom end of the class too. I agree, as only if you have a sample from a weaker student as well, would it give a clear picture of student performance. This would also have given greater scope for discussion to the participants when answering my key questions.
I really liked Mr. Shibu's question - 'Did the poet mean all this?' I think it's going to come in handy in all my literature classes because sometimes, you do not know what exactly the poet means and at other times, you see more meaning in the poem than even the poet had intended. Recently, I've been consciously pointing it out to the students that any interpretation of a piece of literature would be acceptable as long as it was supported by the text and the argument was logical. A good piece of analytical writing, I guess, is a combination of free thinking and clear, precise expression.
Giving the samples of student work to the participants beforehand would also have been much better than handing them out in the session itself. I found that it wasn't very practical for the participants to read the student work (especially as it happened to be a fairly long one) and address questions on it as well during the session.
The student work I'd chosen was one of the best pieces of work in class. Though this was a suggestion given in the tuning protocol handout, one of the participants felt that there could have been a sample of work from the bottom end of the class too. I agree, as only if you have a sample from a weaker student as well, would it give a clear picture of student performance. This would also have given greater scope for discussion to the participants when answering my key questions.
I really liked Mr. Shibu's question - 'Did the poet mean all this?' I think it's going to come in handy in all my literature classes because sometimes, you do not know what exactly the poet means and at other times, you see more meaning in the poem than even the poet had intended. Recently, I've been consciously pointing it out to the students that any interpretation of a piece of literature would be acceptable as long as it was supported by the text and the argument was logical. A good piece of analytical writing, I guess, is a combination of free thinking and clear, precise expression.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Hi Everyone!
I suppose the first decisive moment in my career as a teacher would be when I joined the B Ed. course. At that time I was still undecided about teaching as a career. I knew that I would like it but what I was concerned about was if I could sustain the interest I had in teaching.
Once I started teaching, I discovered that I not only liked it, but also enjoyed it, especially for its unpredictability – for no two days have ever been the same!
The next turning point came, now that I look back, when I joined a school to teach middle school students. Had I been asked then which classes I preferred to teach, I would have opted for high school. As it happens, there was no vacancy in high school and so I began teaching pre-teens for the first time and discovered what a completely different equation I could have with them. Their spontaneity and candidness is something I found refreshing.
Since then I’ve taught in a number of schools, each very different from the previous in terms of syllabi, functioning, and even size – ranging from a school with 350 students to a school with 350 teachers! Each stint has been a learning experience and I don’t see any possibility of my losing interest in teaching. Of course, there are the good days and the bad days, but each set of children that starts a new year is a group of distinctly different individuals. They respond differently and you respond differently. And it’s never the same old year.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
timeline on teaching practice
Hi all,
I would like to share how the context of my teaching influenced my profession.
In the initial period of my career I had worked as a Secretary handling all secretarial functions and finance in a company. I would like to share my outdoor experience as an instructor and how I switched over to teach young tiny tots. I had to adapt a varied scale on content and contextualize to different learning skills.
It all started in 1995 where I joined my husband’s company as an outdoor instructor where the curriculum/content had to be taught practically. There were hardly any handouts/ lectures/ worksheets. It was challenging to transmit my own understanding to teenagers who use to register their names for camps with their own mindset i.e., as fun & adventurous trip. I taught them bird watching, trekking, outdoor ethics & soft skills (pot painting, tie &dye) etc. I realized that kids learn better with practical teaching. I decided that I would help my son with the same and started creating worksheets on LAR/MAT/ARTS and saw amazing changes and joy of learning.
My son’s teacher’s appreciation influenced me to teach in a traditional school. Initially there was limited chance to contextualize practically as I was teaching in a traditional school. However, I made my way to experiment new methods as I slipped into creating worksheets for slow learners which turned out be very effective learning. I had hands on classroom and outdoor experience, which helped me a lot when I flew to US where I taught back packing, planning the ration/clothing etc. It was a more challenging role, as most kids registered their name to the course to upgrade their graduation as they found it was cheaper than joining tuitions. Most kids were addicted to drug, depressed and had ADD kids basically teen members of 18 to 20 years of age.
I played a role as a mother/sister/friend to most kids and helped them come out of their problem to some extent. All they required was a good listener and to be affectionate where it involved building a strong student teacher rapport all along.
No sooner I discovered that they became fond of me. I decided to spend quality time and conveyed the message informally during evacuation/free time.
Back home in 2006, I worked as program leader for three months in Coorg and Tons in Uttar kashi, which basically involved practical learning, most aditi kids had registered to Coorg camp.
In Gurgaon in 2007, I got an opportunity to work as a mentor in a pre-school where in I actually got my hands on experience in multiple intelligence. Since it was mine as well as the school’s first year, I experimented on articulating/creating worksheets/making bulletin boards, record observation, planning lessons, reports, feedback on the lesson and also it was the first time I taught yoga to children like asana, calming their minds, working with emotions (social/personal) to rest their varied mindsets. This was the place where I recognized this kind of teaching, which resulted in effective learning. The school always eyeballed on my class room/kids. I got very good recognition by one and all
I have cashed on to good skills and learnt better in Gurgaon and during induction- as to how to cater to varied learning skills, I am enthusiastic to learn and practice as the years pass by and be one of the best mentor and supporter to the students to mould themselves confidently and reach their mile stone.
Sunitha Ravikumar
I would like to share how the context of my teaching influenced my profession.
In the initial period of my career I had worked as a Secretary handling all secretarial functions and finance in a company. I would like to share my outdoor experience as an instructor and how I switched over to teach young tiny tots. I had to adapt a varied scale on content and contextualize to different learning skills.
It all started in 1995 where I joined my husband’s company as an outdoor instructor where the curriculum/content had to be taught practically. There were hardly any handouts/ lectures/ worksheets. It was challenging to transmit my own understanding to teenagers who use to register their names for camps with their own mindset i.e., as fun & adventurous trip. I taught them bird watching, trekking, outdoor ethics & soft skills (pot painting, tie &dye) etc. I realized that kids learn better with practical teaching. I decided that I would help my son with the same and started creating worksheets on LAR/MAT/ARTS and saw amazing changes and joy of learning.
My son’s teacher’s appreciation influenced me to teach in a traditional school. Initially there was limited chance to contextualize practically as I was teaching in a traditional school. However, I made my way to experiment new methods as I slipped into creating worksheets for slow learners which turned out be very effective learning. I had hands on classroom and outdoor experience, which helped me a lot when I flew to US where I taught back packing, planning the ration/clothing etc. It was a more challenging role, as most kids registered their name to the course to upgrade their graduation as they found it was cheaper than joining tuitions. Most kids were addicted to drug, depressed and had ADD kids basically teen members of 18 to 20 years of age.
I played a role as a mother/sister/friend to most kids and helped them come out of their problem to some extent. All they required was a good listener and to be affectionate where it involved building a strong student teacher rapport all along.
No sooner I discovered that they became fond of me. I decided to spend quality time and conveyed the message informally during evacuation/free time.
Back home in 2006, I worked as program leader for three months in Coorg and Tons in Uttar kashi, which basically involved practical learning, most aditi kids had registered to Coorg camp.
In Gurgaon in 2007, I got an opportunity to work as a mentor in a pre-school where in I actually got my hands on experience in multiple intelligence. Since it was mine as well as the school’s first year, I experimented on articulating/creating worksheets/making bulletin boards, record observation, planning lessons, reports, feedback on the lesson and also it was the first time I taught yoga to children like asana, calming their minds, working with emotions (social/personal) to rest their varied mindsets. This was the place where I recognized this kind of teaching, which resulted in effective learning. The school always eyeballed on my class room/kids. I got very good recognition by one and all
I have cashed on to good skills and learnt better in Gurgaon and during induction- as to how to cater to varied learning skills, I am enthusiastic to learn and practice as the years pass by and be one of the best mentor and supporter to the students to mould themselves confidently and reach their mile stone.
Sunitha Ravikumar
Looking Back
Contextual Changes in my Teaching and Learning practice.2000 - 2002
It had been nearly 3 years since I had begun working with children in a non formal school called Jeevana Kaushalya Paatashala. Children called it JKP and our team of teachers called it the Pre Vocational Programme. It was a programmed that aimed at connecting children who were found on the streets, loitering, of working, back to the world of education. Children came into the space in scores and we always found it a challenge “engage” them. Everything about the learning process was developed by us - curriculum, content, materials, etc.
My job there was not just one of being a teacher (which I realised by then that I enjoyed) but also one of a social worker. I travelled into the bi lanes of Gurappanpalya, Arasu Colony, Vinayaka Nagar, Gottigere and other slums of Bangalore, identifying places where children worked, locating their homes and talking to their parents about sending them to school – formal or non formal; or it involved us debating with owners of printing presses, bus body building units, loom owners and trying to pull children out of work places.
During the day I worked as a teacher with nearly 40 children in my classroom, and during the evenings I met parents, heads of masjids, and other local leaders trying to understand what we could do collectively to retain children in schools. The main focus for me in that role as a teacher was to see
a. What / how we could teach at school to see that children stayed connected to learning.
b. How did the role of the traditional teacher have to change in order to be responsible for such a consequence?
c. Who are the stake holders in this process?
d. What was quality of education defined?
I cannot say that the answers or even the questions were clear to us. The onus of the community in ensuring retention of children in learning processes became clearer with time.
In the meantime, I also developed curriculum (functional literature and Math) and supportive learning material for the children in school who wanted to learn but felt ashamed to do so because of their age, their learning level or their socio economic background and got into trouble either with police or because of substance abuse.
One question came back over and over again to me a thousand times if not a million – What were we doing? Why were we doing what we were doing? It was not that our organization did not answer these by means of vision or mission statements; I felt this was something that I had to answer for myself. We were dealing with children who wanted to learn. Every time I felt that a process sank deep into quick sand, I felt the compelling urge to go back to the basics and answer these questions. Some of the questions we asked over and over again were concerning community.
What was the role of the larger community?
Did the community we were working in relate to what we were teaching in our schools?
What could we do to see that parents understood the programme and sent the children to school, and ensured their retention?
Why was I even teaching what I was teaching?
I felt that as teachers/ educators, the process of reflection had to be inbuilt into the process of planning and executing.
These questions, addressed by my team and me, came back to me over and over again at the beginning of 2002, when I got involved with a learning centre focusing on self directed learning. Only this time, we were questioning teaching and learning as well. We could no longer deny that our teaching processes were not ok, and that we could retain children in schools through them. Out of school children were our main indicators. They knew the truth that something was not working, their own realities demanded that they take on stronger decisions and some left immediately as they joined the schools. I appreciated this process of reflection that the developmental organisation was doing as this meant that we looked at ever thing that was detrimental to the promises we had made and the vision that we had. I elucidate about this in detail because it was this year that brought in several new changes in my own understanding of teaching and learning and have since then become the foundation for what I have done.
The change in the way we looked at ourselves as teachers and at the learning groups of children (and later adults) came from a series of discussions and reading sessions that our own team started in 2002. This process introduced us to books of Miles Horton and Paulo Freire “We make the road by Walking” – conversation on Education and Social Change; or papers on Adult Education by Malcolm Knowles and Stephen Brookfield. I also remember papers like “A Nation at Risk”, books, papers and interviews by Howard Gardner. It did not matter that we were not reading about how children learn per se, our understanding of learning it self and the role of the community did let us see things differently. The benefit of letting self direction participate in learning became clear – it was not easy to practice but none the less it set the basis of all our work.
Presently, I sit down with my notes from 2002 trying to see some things that helped me change my way of looking at teaching and learning. I can see a lot of highlighted material, but some of the things that stand out for me are a couple of quotes and fast scribbles in my notebooks. I remember these notes particularly well for what they meant to me. There were cornerstones and guided me in my work at the centre. They are more postulates than just quotes. I would like to share them with you all.
1. Practice of learning is a great emancipator
2. The practice of education dignifies and respects people and their experience ( why not with children)
3. Miles Horton’s words “. . . you have to start (processes) from where people are, because their growth is going to be from there, not from some abstraction or where you are or someone else is” – this is the toughest for me at times since I see that I tell people what I think, but I have seen processes work really well when I pay attention to what the children are telling me, verbally and non verbally.
4. This statement by Miles Horton, resonated with my experience in the learning centre at Gurappanpalya, and I come back to this as and when needed – There is no such thing as just being a coordinator or a facilitator, as if you don’t know anything. What the hell are you around for, if you don’t know anything?‘We Make the Road by Walking’ (Horton and Freire, 1990, pg 154)
They may seem simple, but are to me very hard to practice since they penetrate into our basic value systems. This does not mean they are only theory – I have seen them work very well, but to keep coming to it is something of a task. However I don’t intend to stop.
It had been nearly 3 years since I had begun working with children in a non formal school called Jeevana Kaushalya Paatashala. Children called it JKP and our team of teachers called it the Pre Vocational Programme. It was a programmed that aimed at connecting children who were found on the streets, loitering, of working, back to the world of education. Children came into the space in scores and we always found it a challenge “engage” them. Everything about the learning process was developed by us - curriculum, content, materials, etc.
My job there was not just one of being a teacher (which I realised by then that I enjoyed) but also one of a social worker. I travelled into the bi lanes of Gurappanpalya, Arasu Colony, Vinayaka Nagar, Gottigere and other slums of Bangalore, identifying places where children worked, locating their homes and talking to their parents about sending them to school – formal or non formal; or it involved us debating with owners of printing presses, bus body building units, loom owners and trying to pull children out of work places.
During the day I worked as a teacher with nearly 40 children in my classroom, and during the evenings I met parents, heads of masjids, and other local leaders trying to understand what we could do collectively to retain children in schools. The main focus for me in that role as a teacher was to see
a. What / how we could teach at school to see that children stayed connected to learning.
b. How did the role of the traditional teacher have to change in order to be responsible for such a consequence?
c. Who are the stake holders in this process?
d. What was quality of education defined?
I cannot say that the answers or even the questions were clear to us. The onus of the community in ensuring retention of children in learning processes became clearer with time.
In the meantime, I also developed curriculum (functional literature and Math) and supportive learning material for the children in school who wanted to learn but felt ashamed to do so because of their age, their learning level or their socio economic background and got into trouble either with police or because of substance abuse.
One question came back over and over again to me a thousand times if not a million – What were we doing? Why were we doing what we were doing? It was not that our organization did not answer these by means of vision or mission statements; I felt this was something that I had to answer for myself. We were dealing with children who wanted to learn. Every time I felt that a process sank deep into quick sand, I felt the compelling urge to go back to the basics and answer these questions. Some of the questions we asked over and over again were concerning community.
What was the role of the larger community?
Did the community we were working in relate to what we were teaching in our schools?
What could we do to see that parents understood the programme and sent the children to school, and ensured their retention?
Why was I even teaching what I was teaching?
I felt that as teachers/ educators, the process of reflection had to be inbuilt into the process of planning and executing.
These questions, addressed by my team and me, came back to me over and over again at the beginning of 2002, when I got involved with a learning centre focusing on self directed learning. Only this time, we were questioning teaching and learning as well. We could no longer deny that our teaching processes were not ok, and that we could retain children in schools through them. Out of school children were our main indicators. They knew the truth that something was not working, their own realities demanded that they take on stronger decisions and some left immediately as they joined the schools. I appreciated this process of reflection that the developmental organisation was doing as this meant that we looked at ever thing that was detrimental to the promises we had made and the vision that we had. I elucidate about this in detail because it was this year that brought in several new changes in my own understanding of teaching and learning and have since then become the foundation for what I have done.
The change in the way we looked at ourselves as teachers and at the learning groups of children (and later adults) came from a series of discussions and reading sessions that our own team started in 2002. This process introduced us to books of Miles Horton and Paulo Freire “We make the road by Walking” – conversation on Education and Social Change; or papers on Adult Education by Malcolm Knowles and Stephen Brookfield. I also remember papers like “A Nation at Risk”, books, papers and interviews by Howard Gardner. It did not matter that we were not reading about how children learn per se, our understanding of learning it self and the role of the community did let us see things differently. The benefit of letting self direction participate in learning became clear – it was not easy to practice but none the less it set the basis of all our work.
Presently, I sit down with my notes from 2002 trying to see some things that helped me change my way of looking at teaching and learning. I can see a lot of highlighted material, but some of the things that stand out for me are a couple of quotes and fast scribbles in my notebooks. I remember these notes particularly well for what they meant to me. There were cornerstones and guided me in my work at the centre. They are more postulates than just quotes. I would like to share them with you all.
1. Practice of learning is a great emancipator
2. The practice of education dignifies and respects people and their experience ( why not with children)
3. Miles Horton’s words “. . . you have to start (processes) from where people are, because their growth is going to be from there, not from some abstraction or where you are or someone else is” – this is the toughest for me at times since I see that I tell people what I think, but I have seen processes work really well when I pay attention to what the children are telling me, verbally and non verbally.
4. This statement by Miles Horton, resonated with my experience in the learning centre at Gurappanpalya, and I come back to this as and when needed – There is no such thing as just being a coordinator or a facilitator, as if you don’t know anything. What the hell are you around for, if you don’t know anything?‘We Make the Road by Walking’ (Horton and Freire, 1990, pg 154)
They may seem simple, but are to me very hard to practice since they penetrate into our basic value systems. This does not mean they are only theory – I have seen them work very well, but to keep coming to it is something of a task. However I don’t intend to stop.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Time line of my teaching practice
I have one and a half years of teaching experience during which time I have gained some insight on teaching strategies and methodologies. The context of my teaching has changed over the period of my practice and some of the areas that I would like to discuss are: Teaching methodology, Teacher-student relationship, focusing on different learning styles and Clarity of instructions.
The teacher-student relationship is another area where I have tried to bring significant change in my approach towards them. Teaching becomes more meaningful and easier after the teacher and student reach a certain level of rapport. Since the students were already used to my predecessors teaching method and had developed a fondness for her it was again a challenge for me to win their approval. Since I had to prepare them for the final exam that was soon approaching, the only thing I thought of doing was to make the lessons interesting. This way they not only got involved in class but they started opening up. Of course their have been days of vehement in acceptance of my point of view and on few occasions my attempt to make the class interesting has been a failure. Though I had been cast down at times, I decided to remain focused. Gradually with time a better understanding developed between us. Since then it’s been a joyful ride with them. Therefore a healthy teacher-student relationship is one of the blueprints for successful teaching. Here again I know that I need to break the mould to suit the attitude and mind set of diverse groups of students.
Today I am more confident, contented and passionate about teaching. I have picked up a few good skills. I hope to keep up my spirit and energy and inculcate appropriate qualities to be a successful and satisfied teacher.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
teaching practice
I have taught grade 1 for 10 years. Each year was a new learning experience to me and the children. The bulletin boards were different. The methodology kept improving. Now after the first session I have more consciously looking into the content and context of the topic.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Change context over time
Hi all,
Some thoughts on how the context of my teaching has changed over the period of my practice.
The very first few classes I had to take were completely without any preparation. I just held forth banking on limited knowledge of the subject. There were skeptical faces, but after the 45 mins or so, the students felt that I might be able to teach after all. Then later on of course there was much preparation, referring books, discussing with colleagues/friends. I created work-sheets which served me well during the classes.
I have found over the years that students listened better to teachers if they showed compassion, were attentive to their problems and were related to them at different levels; eg. playing games with them, laughing, joking, participating along with them in dramas, music etc. So it has been my endevour to cultivate this multi-level relation as far as my talents, interests allowed me.
In this school, it has been more of a straight jacket demanour than work at another school previously. My personal feeling is that when a teacher is allowed almost limitless freedom in his/her work, the quality of teaching is far richer and deeper than that is possible with rules and regulations and other such fetters around. But I also understand institutional limitations.
So to have quality time inside the class I have tried to relate to students outside class!
Some thoughts on how the context of my teaching has changed over the period of my practice.
The very first few classes I had to take were completely without any preparation. I just held forth banking on limited knowledge of the subject. There were skeptical faces, but after the 45 mins or so, the students felt that I might be able to teach after all. Then later on of course there was much preparation, referring books, discussing with colleagues/friends. I created work-sheets which served me well during the classes.
I have found over the years that students listened better to teachers if they showed compassion, were attentive to their problems and were related to them at different levels; eg. playing games with them, laughing, joking, participating along with them in dramas, music etc. So it has been my endevour to cultivate this multi-level relation as far as my talents, interests allowed me.
In this school, it has been more of a straight jacket demanour than work at another school previously. My personal feeling is that when a teacher is allowed almost limitless freedom in his/her work, the quality of teaching is far richer and deeper than that is possible with rules and regulations and other such fetters around. But I also understand institutional limitations.
So to have quality time inside the class I have tried to relate to students outside class!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Teaching practice according to the context
Hi PPSE buddies,
I would love to share with you how the varied experiences in my teaching profession changed the context of my teaching.
It all began in 1998 when I felt very deeply about the children I met at Ashankura BEL Special School. It was a chance encounter as I had no idea I was to meet and work with them. That was the turning point in my life, wherein I joined special education.
I worked as a special educator in two different schools with varied cultural and economic backgrounds.
Here’s where I learnt the importance of context in relation to content. The planning of curriculum to these students had to be done very carefully taking into consideration the age, abilities and their needs. This helped me to closely monitor the process of learning and its outcome.
For example my students in Kingstree Senior High School were in the age group of 18 years and above, here I had to have a curriculum which comprised of academics and work based learning programs going hand in hand. As the students were graduating they had to have the experiences relating to work to earn their livelihood along with academics. Here I am expressing the context in a larger frame.
Again in Aditi the context is entirely different. As students whom I am dealing with are preparing more in academics wherein they are facing challenges and need intervention.
Again keeping in mind their necessities I am planning my teaching accordingly.
I am certain that I will be learning more in adapting my teaching practices contextually as
the years go by.
Rehana Nasser
I would love to share with you how the varied experiences in my teaching profession changed the context of my teaching.
It all began in 1998 when I felt very deeply about the children I met at Ashankura BEL Special School. It was a chance encounter as I had no idea I was to meet and work with them. That was the turning point in my life, wherein I joined special education.
I worked as a special educator in two different schools with varied cultural and economic backgrounds.
Here’s where I learnt the importance of context in relation to content. The planning of curriculum to these students had to be done very carefully taking into consideration the age, abilities and their needs. This helped me to closely monitor the process of learning and its outcome.
For example my students in Kingstree Senior High School were in the age group of 18 years and above, here I had to have a curriculum which comprised of academics and work based learning programs going hand in hand. As the students were graduating they had to have the experiences relating to work to earn their livelihood along with academics. Here I am expressing the context in a larger frame.
Again in Aditi the context is entirely different. As students whom I am dealing with are preparing more in academics wherein they are facing challenges and need intervention.
Again keeping in mind their necessities I am planning my teaching accordingly.
I am certain that I will be learning more in adapting my teaching practices contextually as
the years go by.
Rehana Nasser
Friday, January 9, 2009
Love a good cartoon # 2
The examiner asks all the students this questionfor the sake of 'just' selection
" Climb the tree."
Always love a cartoon with my tea!
Calvin and Hobbes are timeless and insightful, never once hesitating to throw light on life, school and education!
Hi new PPSE-ites
Lovely to work with all eight of you!
Hope this blog space provides you a platform to talk to each other - personally and professionally!
Have fun!
Tara
Hope this blog space provides you a platform to talk to each other - personally and professionally!
Have fun!
Tara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)