Keep authoritarianism off classroom, teachers told

Experts want them to put students at ease, establish a bond

Schools today are robbing children of their self-respect. Students should be given the freedom they deserve in a classroom as only then will a teacher be able to bring out the best in them, said experts at the valedictory session of a workshop on ‘Teacher Professional Development’, organised in city.

The four-day event was organised by Andhra Pradesh State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in collaboration with Save the Children NGO.

“The purpose of the series of reforms introduced in the education sector will be defeated if they are not implemented properly,” said N. Upendra Reddy, a consultant on Education Reforms to the Department of School Education and former Head of the Department of Curriculum, Textbooks and Pupil Assessment Procedures, SCERT.

He said a lot of thought had gone into the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system introduced as part of reforms, to make education a participatory activity. “The idea is to take children off the rote model, enable them to think, analyse and use their creative streaks to come out with original ideas that would contribute to their overall development,” said Mr. Reddy.

T.V.S. Ramesh of the Council urged teachers to keep their authoritarianism off the classroom. “Try different methods to break the ice and establish a bond with the young learners, put them at ease and let them enjoy your teaching,” he told the 100-odd Teacher Educators and Pre-Service Teachers from the 13 District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs)

He said “the classroom must change. For that to happen, teachers should change. They should realise their social responsibility and ignite young minds.”

General Manager, Save the Children (South) Vikas Gora, called for the need to cater to the requirements of an inclusive classroom. Activity-based curriculum with play, art and craft integrated into it, he argued, would go a long way in developing a child.

A brochure ‘Reading Buddies’ designed to inculcate reading and learning process in children as value addition to the Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing (LSRW) and a charter of “Standards for Safe Schools” were released on the occasion.

M.S. Nagesh of Save the Children, Prasad of the Council and others participated.