Learning Theories and Practice

In Whole Education, the focus was on the changing context of education and changing role of teachers to cater to needs of 21st century learners. It dealt with the need for a school vision and mission statement. I watched a video ‘Do schools kill creativity’ which exposed the stark truth about most traditional schools today and urged me to think of the need to wake up and ‘be the change’. It also explained how the education today was reforming instead of transforming. I was also introduced to the idea of mind maps in this context.

In Learning Theories and Practice ( LTP), I was introduced to educational psychology. I also learnt about few theories on why child behaviour. The instructor used a good mix of tools like video clips, presentations, discussions etc which made the classes interesting and engaging.

I also read Educational leadership by Merry M. Merryfield during the course of the week. It discusses global educators and how those educators prepare students for global age. One thing I found interesting in the article was development of learning environment by mixing various cultures.

Teacher Education

Since the 1980s, great emphasis has been laid on enriching teacher training program. To seek admission at the University, high grades are required by a student teacher. In order to be a subject teacher, one has to secure the highest rank at their masters’ level in their discipline or a Master’s Degree in Education to be a class teacher. The teacher training program is a systemic program as there are regular sitting with the supervisors, many lesson observations and continuous discussion and feedback.

On the other hand in India initiatives of the GOI like Movement to Educate All ,2002 , DPEP ,1993 and Fundamental Right, 2001(Goldman, Kumar and Liu, 2008) has led to an increase in the enrollment rates at the primary level (Kingdon 2007). This emphasized the need for the availability of qualified teachers. But due to the diluted standards depicted in the NPE and by Chattopadhyaya Commission, 1984 concerns (NCERT 2005). This could be inferred from, ‘Because from the mid 1990s, several states began using low-cost untrained teachers’ known variously as Shiksha karmis, Shiksha mitras, Vidya Volunteers, etc. By 2002, about 220,000 such para teachers had been appointed and by 2004, their number had risen to about 500,000’ (Kingdon 2007).

According to the National Council for Teachers Education (NCTE) in India, the eligibility criterion to seek admission to a Teachers’ training program is a mere 45% (NCTE 2006). Teachers’ education program can be undertaken depending upon the stage a prospective teacher wants to teach. Bachelor’s of Elementary Education for elementary level, Graduate and Bachelor’s of Education (B.Ed.) for secondary level (NCTE 2011), master’s along with a B.Ed. for Senior Secondary (NCTE 2001)