Cenbosec - Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 51,  No. 3, July - September 2012

Transforming Pedagogy - Heard & Unheard

Content

• From the Chairman
• Feedback Forum
• Articles
• Teachers' Voices – Heard and Unheard - Mrs. Chhaya Khanna
• Teachers' Voices – Heard and Unheard - Rajiv Kumar Sharma
• Teachers' Voices – Heard and Unheard - Smt. C. Rama Devi
• Teachers' Voices – Heard and Unheard - Mrs. Anita Garg
• Listen to the Voice Inside You... (Teachers' Voices-Heard and Unheard) - Dinesh Jindal
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Mrs. Rooma Pathak
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Ms. Margaret. S
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Gopy Nath Chaubey
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Lalit Krishan Trivedi
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Mrs. Arti Chopra
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Rashmi Sharma
• Teachers’ Voices - Heard and Unheard - Dr. DharamVeer Singh
• What Principals say…
• What Teachers say…
• What Others say…
• News from Schools
• Green Page
• Health and Wellness Clubs
• Sahodaya Updates
• Sports Arena
• Academic Updates
• Best Practices
• News from Administration
• Circular

As students we marvelled at the idea of our teacher marking a `good’ in our notebooks or appreciating us  in front of our classmates or for that matter asking us to clean the blackboard or monitor the class. These were  the small gestures which would make us feel special and made our day. These were not sporadic incidents but  suggest the respect and influence a teacher had on a student’s mind. It is not that a lot has changed since then,  but the ways of interaction are evolving, with the changing teacher learner equation.

The 21st Century teacher is not a mere `instructor’ or `giver’, but a `facilitator’. The teachers have more open  discussions and at times, develop a close emotional attachment with their students. Even today, we come across  students devoted to their teachers and willing to fulfil all the responsibilities conferred upon them, unflinchingly. This  has been the most enduring of all relationships and continues to reign supreme, albeit with certain changes.

Teachers may not be policy makers or political leaders, but they face issues that are fundamental to human development. While serving their communities every day, they become deeply connected to the intellectual, emotional and physical well-being of students and families. It is therefore only natural for teachers’ voices to be heard. The educational policy of every nation emphasizes that the quality of education can be achieved only when teachers are professionally satisfied, motivated, committed and are willing to perform for the benefit of the learners, community and society.

The various capacity building, training and advocacy programmes have been introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) over the years. These measures are crucial to enhance the effectiveness and quality of the teaching-learning process in our classrooms and further strengthen the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme. The aim of these training programmes is to enable to hear the teachers’ voices so that  they can play a more varied roles of curriculum designer, developer/adapter of instructional materials and facilitator  of curriculum transaction in classrooms. They get an opportunity to become resourceful idea generators, mentors  of peer teachers and appraisers of performances by students in an objective way.

The CBSE is striving to bring about a balance between the teacher-learner paradigms so that no voices  remain unheard. In order to support the integration of Values Education across major subjects in all the classes  (vide circular no. Acad -22/2012), the Values Education Kit (VEK) was launched on 1 November 2012 by Dr. M.M.  Pallam Raju, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development and Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Honourable Minister of  State, MHRD, Govt. of India in the presence of Shri Pradeep Kumar, Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), Shri  Ashok Thakur, Secretary (Higher Education), Shri Amit Khare, Central Vigilance Officer (CVO), MHRD and Shri  R. Bhattacharya, Secretary, School Education & Literacy (SE&L). The first orientation workshop to train Master  Trainers in Values Education, consisting of Principals and Heads of Institutions was held on 20 December 2012.  The VEK will serve as a model for providing Values Education, while at the same time allowing for variations  by those schools using it.

The Honourable HRM Dr. M. M. Pallam Raju also launched the Waves of Change programme under the  National School Sanitation Initiative on 28 November 2012 and conferred the First National School Sanitation  Awards to the top 156 schools that had come forward to get their online school sanitation rating

This year the Central Vigilance Commission had declared the “Transparency in Public Procurement” theme  for the Vigilance Awareness Week for the year 2012. It was observed from 29 October to 3 November 2012.  An advisory to schools in this regard was issued (Vide Circular no. - Acad - 84/2012) and they were directed to  organize suitably themed activities.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, has declared 11 November as the  National Education Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, an eminent  educationist, a great freedom fighter and the first Education Minister of India.

To celebrate this day CBSE introduced Joy of Giving as the theme for this year. The concluding event was  held in Delhi on 20 November 2012.

The country would be celebrating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12 January 2013.  The CBSE has decided to commemorate the event in the affiliated schools. The directives have been issued and  to take the celebrations further, a new category of awards has been initiated for schools, teachers and students.  The schools that have been an active part of these activities will be awarded the title: Vivekananda School of  Excellence 2013.

The surveys and research world over have shown that the class size, shortage of teacher aides, pressure to  meet predetermined curricular schedules and lack of parental support are the main deterrents faced by teachers  and the voices are raised world over, where many are heard, and some go unheard.

The examination reforms have revealed that, while teachers play a huge role in a student’s success, national  policies and what goes on in the larger society also impact what happens in the classroom and how they are  translated into a meaningful education system.

The National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education by the National Council for Teacher Education  (NCTE), New Delhi has also suggested - ‘Giving teachers a space to develop and hear their own voices is of utmost  importance.

Courtesy : Central Board of Secondary Education