INNOVATIONS: LARGE AND SMALL, RICH AND VARIED
The lost decade has seen a number of innovative efforts in all spheres of school education. Underlying these is a desire to evolve feasible as well as desirable models that may eventually grow into larger scale solutions. Many of these efforts have significant bearing on teacher education practices, especially those that can lend themselves to larger scale implementation. As will be seen from a select list of more recent efforts Wow, innovative efforts are under way in gov- ernmental as well as non-governmental organisations, and in different parts of the country.
Ekalavya, Madhya Pradesh Easily among the most important of innovative projects, the Primary Education Project of this organisation involved a group of resource persons-curriculum developers, teacher trainers and material developers--teaching for a year in the place of teachers in typical interior rural government primary schools, in order to understand the context in which teachers teach.
The teacher training programme evolved in tandem with curriculum and materials over a period of five years. This is a participative, organic and experiential programme, rooted in the nature of the actual conditions in which teachers have to function. After field testing in 25 schools for a further three years, the programme now covers over 104 schools. The teachers who were trained initially now comprise the majority of the trainers.
Digantar, Jaipur (Rajasthan) Starting as a rural school just outside Jaipur, this innovative project/programme views the multi-grade and multi-level learning situation as an advantage, and often has children from primary and secondary levels working together. In addition to developing materials, this organisation has worked on non-formal and alternative education, as well as on teacher training. A specific aspect of the work on alternative education is on ensuring the appropriate flexibility to adapt the learning situation to the context of the community for which it is meant, while preserving a strong element of academic rigour. This social orientation and academic rigour also inform the teacher training evolved by Digantar, which is running in various forms in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Rishi Valley Education Centre, Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh) A rural extension of the Rishi Valley school
offering support to nearby schools, this programme soon had to contend with the multigrade situation, in which a large number of teachers found themselves. The Rishi Valley team, therefore, evolved graded self-learning material which allows both the child and the teacher to monitor the progress of learning. However, they then successfully went on to train teachers in hundreds of schools to use this material to cater to their specific situation. At present, Rishi Valley has emerged as a major resource of educational effort, particularly, in multi-grade teaching in all parts of the country.
Lok Jumbish, Rajasthan This large scale programme (the words Lok Jumbish meaning 'people's movement') truly attempts to involve the community and establish decentralised resource groups and centres for teacher support. A special emphasis is on such structures of the block and cluster level. Training and constant upgradation of skills and knowledge base of the resource groups is an ongoing process. Teachers' attendance in training programmes is entirely voluntary (and is usually more than 85 per cent!).
M V Foundation, Andhra Pradesh An organisation active in the field of education of child workers, M V Foundation organises regular 'camps', where working children find a supportive, stimulating atmosphere in which they learn a surprisingly great amount in the short duration of three months. Though there are no monetary incentives for parents sending their children to the camps, the demand for these camps has grown dramatically, as also the number of volunteers or motivated teachers. A very high percentage of children who attend these camps acquire a minimum learning level as well as the motivation to go back to school. One of the key reasons for this success is the nature of the relationship established between teachers and children during the camp.
UP Basic Education Programme, Uttar Pradesh A large scale programme running in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh, this programme had to encounter the difficulties of training over a short duration. With help from national resource organisations such as the NCERT, the UPBEP evolved a training programme that was 'trainee friendly" used self-learning training material, and focussed initially on language learning, rather than on the whole gamut of the curriculum. By breaking down the training programme into manageable parts, the overall training process too became more practicable, ensuring optimisation of the efforts of both the trainer and the trainee.
DPEP, Assam A major problem confronting this north-eastern state was the absence of resource institutions and individuals. Hence, a serious effort was made to select trainees from among teachers who could then be trained to become trainers. This selection process was both rigorous (taking into account, for example, acceptability among fellow teachers, positive attitude, aptitude, etc.)
and transparent. In addition to specific training programmes, monthly meetings of teachers are used to provide inputs in keeping with the academic difficulties experienced by them. A key factor in this effort has been the creation of a feedback mechanism and a district level Academic Resource Group which responds rapidly to teachers' needs as they emerge.
DPEP, Kerala Overhauling its training programme from a lecture-dominated experience, the DPEP in Kerala has successfully made a turnaround to more participatory training methods. A significant aspect of this was that the master trainers had no central module or training package with them. Instead, each trainer had a 'My Own Training Manual'-a folder containing key questions on training, with space to be filled in by the master trainer during an orientation workshop, in light of the context in which she/he would be training teachers. Teacher response from the training programmes then conducted indicated that trainees found the training 'practical', so much so that they now wanted a 'different' kind of teachers' handbook. Feedback from teachers played a considerable role in the development of these new teachers' handbooks, Like the training manual, these handbooks too are 'personalisable'-in other words, they are complete only when the teacher fills in spaces left specifically for her/him to contextualise the handbook.
Centre for Learning Resources, Pune, Maharashtra Set up as a resource centre to support efforts in early and primary education, the Centre has resources for materials development and training of teachers, as well as supervisory staff. Especially rich in mathematics material for primary school, the Centre has recently developed material for the education of tribal children, a particularly difficult area of work.
Bihar Education Project, Bihar Following a review where training had been identified as a weak area, this project evolved an entirely new and extremely motivating training programme, focussing, especially, on social sensitisation of teachers.
A greater understanding of self and community is generated through experiential exercises and intensive, open discussions. Preliminary assessment has already recorded a significant decrease in absenteeism among teachers. A highly participatory exercise, this training often leads to teachers' ongoing inputs and support towards improvement in their pedagogical skills.
Math Learning Group, New Delhi Essentially, comprising interested academics from different disciplines who have teamed up with a number of willing teachers, this group
has been exploring ways in which mathematics can be made less 'frightening' as well as enjoyable and a rich learning experience. Teachers have, in addition to participating in academic discussions and training, been field testing methods in municipal schools, with documentation being undertaken to record outcomes.
Srujanika, Orissa This NGO has focussed on science learning, especially among rural children and has involved hundreds of teachers in various activities such as science fairs, bal melas (children's fairs), and events around phenomena, such as the recent solar eclipse. The effort is to generate both a scientific temper as well as for learning joyfully in such an exploratory fashion.
Shikshak Samakhya, Madhya Pradesh A Teacher Empowerment Project sponsored by UNICEF, Shikshak Samakhya encompasses teacher training, generating resources for the school, especially, through community participation, and administrative support. Teachers start with a one-day training, focussed on building motivation and providing guidance in the preparation of learning materials, followed by monthly sessions at the school cluster level. Each teacher receives Rs.500 from UNICFF as well as Rs.2,000 from the community (panchayat) funds towards improvement of school facilities. Local educational and administrative officials are also involved, so that red tape is reduced and attention is drawn towards teachers' problems. Thus, the programme works towards improving the school environment and teachers' morale, self esteem and the will to improve teaching.
Shiksha Karmi, Rajasthan Shiksha Karmi Project (SKP) aims at universalisation and qualitative improvement of primary education in remote and socio-economically backward villages in Rajasthan, with primary focus on girls. Identifying teacher absenteeism as a major obstacle in achieving the objective of UEE, the project substitutes local voluntary workers for regular primary school teachers. This project has achieved remarkable success in improving enrolment (300 per cent), attendance (58 per cent to 85 per cent) in the participation of girls and most importantly in mobilizing community participation.