05 tadoba schools report _ feb march 2013

7/30/2019 05 Tadoba Schools Report _ Feb March 2013

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1maoKalaa T/sT, pauNao

February March 2013

Project:Improvement in quality of education through social science subjects and language in two ElementarySchools in Tadoba buffer zone villages

Overview:February 27

thSchool visits: Villoda and Katwal schools

28th Teachers exposure visit to Anand Niketan School, Sevagram

March 31th Students excursion to Ajayab Ghar, Raman Science Centre and

Maharajbaug, Nagpur

Objectives:1. To design and conduct training programs with teachers for improving education methodology2. To work with students and teachers to find and document the history and geography of the

villages in their own area and link it to the mainstream, known history-geography taught in

schools

3. To work with students, teachers and parents (including community) to study linguistic patterns inthe area and increase parents participation in learning teaching process

4.

To study biodiversity of the area and design the ways of conservation of forest and wild life5. To document the history and cultural patterns of the area, which can contribute to the

preservation of Adivasi culture

Mekhla Report


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2maoKalaa T/sT, pauNao

February

SCHOOL VISITS27

thFebruary, Wednesday Villoda and Katwal schools

This was mainly a preparatory visit to plan for the upcoming exposure visits of teachers (Anand Niketan,Sevagram) and students (Nagpur). The children had expected that they will be taken to Bhadravati orChandrapur at most. Nagpur seemed like an unbelievable dream to them and they were most thrilled.

This being our last visit to the schools this academic year, we got our post-project testing questionnairefilled up from students of Class VI and VII. This time, it seemed like they knew a bit more about theirown surroundings.

We also told them to write letters to us or draw something for us and they responded mostenthusiastically. Even the younger students from Class I to IV wrote and drew pictures for us. Thechildrens expression in letters and drawings were indeed a wonderful, unsaid farewell for us at the endof the project.

TEACHERS EXPOSURE VISIT TO ANAND NIKETAN SCHOOL,SEVAGRAM28th February, Thursday Sevagram

Teachers from Villoda and Katwal schools came to Sevagram and firsttook a tour of the Gandhi Ashram. They listened attentively to one of theold residents of the Ashram, as she talked about Gandhiji and his work.Then they took a tour of the school to see the daily functioning andvarious activities undertaken in the school, observe ongoing classes andteaching methodologies of the teachers there.

Then they interacted with Ms. Sushma Sharma, the Principal of AnandNiketan School and discussed their issues- specific problems of teachersand the education system in general. Ms. Sharma talked very positivelyabout the moral responsibility and importance of their profession as

teachers. She also tried to give some practical solutions to issuesconfronting the teachers, many of which were common to her school too.

The idea behind this exposure visit was that the teachers would actuallysee a school like Anand Niketan functioning based on Nai Taleem and seea model of work-based education in practice. The visit was aimed atwidening their horizons and showing them that inspite of a number ofconstraints, such an education model can work excellently with childrenfrom similar backgrounds as their own students in Katwal and Villoda.


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3maoKalaa T/sT, pauNaoOBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

None of the children had ever heard of the planetarium at RamanScience Centre in Nagpur. But in Katwal, some children knew ofC.V. Raman! They said they had read his name in some chart inschool. It is amazing what children absorb and learn even insubstandard situations.

Most of the teachers did not take serious interest in their exposureto Anand Niketan. They used their interaction with Ms. Sushma

Sharma mainly as a forum to complain about their problems. They even said that people like us, whocome from Pune have influence in some circles should solve theirproblems! They are very lacking inmotivation and take no pride in their own work.Having said this, the environment they are in is really demotivating. One or two of them, who reallywant to do something are mentally and politically side-lined, even derided. On a daily basis, this cantotally sap their drive.

We observed that 2 teachers from Villoda were really interested in the teaching methodologies atAnand Niketan and seriously observed ongoingclasses. But the rest of the teachers didnt even bother

seeing the whole school. They did not ask any questions about pedagogy. Their main questions were: Doyou complete the syllabus? Is this a private school? The rest of the time they just sat around and waitedfor lunch. One of the teachers had even asked if he could get something to eat, as soon as they arrived!

Ms. Sushma Sharma really talked passionately to the teachersabout not becoming servants to the system but being self-motivated and doing as much as they can for the good of thechildren. She said that she had great faith in government schoolteachers to bring about a change. She also explained the neo-imperialist politics in the education system through RTE andSSA.

Her stand was that there is enough space for reinterpretation inthe educational policies today and teachers have the full right touse innovative teaching methodologies to reach out to children.This may have given the teachers a new perspective to their rolein the education system.

The teachers complained that their duties outside school and sudden government directives eat up manyschool days, making it difficult for them to cover the entire syllabus. She responded by saying that in theworst case scenario, even if half of the 220 working days are lost in all this, it is possible to teach well forat least 100 days a year, as demonstrated by the Sugar schools (Sakhar Shala) started for children ofnomadic communities. What is most important is the will to make the most of the situation and impartknowledge to children. At the moment, even the bare minimum is lacking. In any case, according to anew GR issued, teachers will no longer be deputed for non-academic work. So they no longer have this

excuse.

We hope this visit will contribute in some way to inspire teachers to do their job. basically: Teach.


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4maoKalaa T/sT, pauNaoMarch

STUDENTS EDUCATIONAL TRIP, NAGPUR31th March, Sunday

AJAYAB GHAR

The much awaited trip began with the Nagpur Museum, Ajayab Ghar. The 71 students from Class VIand VII from Chandrapurs buffer zone schools who filed into the museum had never seen any historicalartefacts from their own heritage. Here at Ajayab Ghar, they got to see a wide variety indeed: stuffedanimal and bird specimen, sculptures, stone and copper plate inscriptions from ancient and medievalIndia, especially of dynasties that reigned in Vidarbha, a section on the Indus valley civilisation, glimpsesof Maratha and colonial history as well as some excellent modern paintings from the last century. The

coordinator of the Museum was also kind enough to talk to the children about the museum and thesignificance of all its exhibits.

Though a short tour, we feel that this was a good beginning to generate interest and curiosity in childrenabout history and art. Even for the teachers, this was their first time here and they looked at the displayswith great interest.

RAMAN SCIENCE CENTRE

The best part about the Raman Science Centre is that every visitor here can be an active participant inexperiencing and learning science concepts. We reached here in time for a 3D film show, followed bythe planetarium show. It was quite significant that after seeing relics of their local history, the children

were now getting a glimpse at Earth and the wider cosmos.

Post lunch, the children thoroughly enjoyed seeing, touching, feeling and even running through some ofthe interesting games and demonstrations in the scientific gallery - Virtual Reality, ones weight ondifferent planets, radio waves, a tornado, corridor of mirrors, and the Invention gallery, among many


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5maoKalaa T/sT, pauNaoothers. Though they may not have understood the complicated science behind all the experiences, suchthings are instrumental in generating curiosity and wonder about the universe.

Added attractions at the Raman Science Centre were the Jurassic park and the large garden with morescience based games.

MAHARAJBAUG

Now that they were in Nagpur, how could the children miss the famous Maharajbaug Zoo? Just beforethey left to go back home, they had a quick tour of Maharajbaug and were very happy to see all the liveanimals. We also got them to write out the days experiences and what they liked, found special in theday.

As they got back into the bus to head home, their sparkling eyes and flushed faces told us that the aimof making the students trip and this whole years work unique, enjoyable and enriching had beensuccessful - both, for the children and us.


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6maoKalaa T/sT, pauNaoIN CONCLUSION

The exposures in February and March were in keeping with 2 of our objectives:

1. To design and conduct training programs with teachers for improving education methodology2. To work with students and teachers to find and document the history and geography of the

villages in their own area and link it to the mainstream, known history-geography taught in

schools

Though a long way from meeting all our expectations, we feel that in this 1 year, we were successfullyable to begin a dialogue with teachers about better teaching methodologies and with children aboutasking questions and connecting with their own surroundings.

The list of problems in our education system is long and depressing indeed. But with consistent effort, adent can be made in the so called hopeless government schooling system too. We did come acrosssome rare teachers, who give us enough hope to continue working and trying to bring about positivechange within the system. In fact, it is such teachers who really need support, to stay motivated andcontinue their good work in such difficult circumstances. If the higher authorities can be convinced togive these good teachers leadership opportunities, the schools can be transformed into vibrant learning

centres for the entire village.

Another aspect for interventions is teachers trainings, which can be excellent ground to provide theright pedagogical inputs and motivation for teachers.

We feel, the lacunae are not in terms of infrastructure or resources, but in terms of the right attitude,confidence and morale among teachers, who are undoubtedly the key change makers / breakers in thesystem.

05 tadoba schools report _ feb march 2013

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