A teacher can have all the content and pedagogy there is, but the focus should be on creating a bond with the child in the classroom and a need to promote free thinking and interaction, said Ramji Raghavan, founder and chairman of the Agastya International Foundation, Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh.
He was speaking on ‘transformational teaching’ at the 14th annual function of the Kuruvila Jacob Initiative for promoting excellence in school education here on Thursday.
“There are five behavioural shifts that need to be brought into the classrooms, which include getting students to shift to asking why, instead of saying yes, from passive learning to exploring concepts, from fear to confidence, and from being restricted to the textbook to being hands-on and practical. There needs to be more to-and fro between teachers and students in the classroom,” he said.
Stating that teachers need to have a personal vision, Mr. Ramji further stressed on how they should have energy and enthusiasm, as well as be ready to constantly learn and be self-aware. “We realised that there was a paucity of curiosity in India as the school system was suppressing it and modelled the Agastya Foundation as a place that would foster creativity, ” he said.
Certificates distributed
Certificates were distributed to teachers, management representatives and principals who had completed programmes as a part of the Kuruvila Jacob Initiative. Speaking at the event, S. Viji, chairman of Sundaram Finance, said that initially, while starting the initiative, it was decided to sustain the programme for five years. “It has been 13 years now and the journey so far has been exciting with the constant support of the schools and all the resource persons we work with,” he said.
N. Murali, co-chairman of Kasturi & Sons Ltd., and G. Shanker and V. K. Chandrakumar, members of the Kuruvila Jacob Committee, were also present at the event.
