Education workshop for teachers throws light on unconventional teaching tools

Source: The Hindu
It was a fun filled affair for five-days when teachers turned students attending lectures and trying their hands on various activities. In a skill training workshop conducted by PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal, a constituent of NCERT, in collaboration with Mahatma Montessori Matriculation HSS, Madurai, over 40 teachers from various cities of South India participated and underwent teaching guidance.

“The objective of the workshop was to lend practical experience to ‘Socially Useful Productive Work' (SUPW) teachers on making classes interesting and more resourceful for students,” shared Prof.Saurabh Prakash, from the institute.

During the module, Mahatma School teachers conducted presentations, mock classes and training sessions exhibiting innovative teaching systems they follow. Gaining some basic insights from here, later the SUPW teachers are expected to implement the same in ‘Kendriya Vidyalayas' and ‘Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas'.

“School dropout rate in our country is still very high and only some skill-based training will fetch jobs for the students. Vocational skills apart from text book knowledge are necessary,” added, Mr. Saurabh, who was particularly impressed by some unique interesting teaching tools at Mahatma School, which allows students to apply creativity and inculcates individuality.

Primary section doesn't follow text books except for English, Tamil and Mathematics. Instead of prescribed syllabus, a way of practical knowledge is imparted covering a broader spectrum of subjects.

“Our teachers come up with interesting patterns and syllabus to integrate subjects like science, social studies and English. We link lessons and introduce art and crafts to make even boring sessions interesting, so that students find learning fun,” explained Ms. Vijaya Sundar, Principal of the K.K. Nagar campus.

The school also practices the concept of ‘no bags day' for all classes on Saturdays when the students are exposed to activities ranging from cookery, embroidery, fine arts, craft-from-waste besides discussions, debates, symposiums and presentations. Mushroom and vermin culture and tree clubs are the other activities introduced to develop environmental inclination.

Likewise, dry science subjects and mathematical theories are made lively through animations, figures and pictorial illustrations.

“Teaching is almost like brewing a recipe for the students to relish. We got to learn many such guidelines here and would also implement similar ones in our schools” vowed a teacher from Hyderabad. As rightly said, knowledge is beyond text books and education should equip a person for lifetime rather just for the sake of scores.