BODH - Teacher Development

Stakeholder Development Teacher Development Communities & PRI Development	Teacher Development Teacher training/professional development constitutes a key area of work at Bodh. The teacher is seen a critical agent who facilitates children’s learning, mobilises communities and also engages in analysing and enhancing his/her work. Bodh’s teacher development efforts are aimed at facilitating such awareness and action for its own teachers and also for other likeminded organisations. It seeks to incorporate training based inputs along with supportive mechanisms that provide a conducive environment for the teachers’ professional growth. Teacher Development Framework Bodh has evolved a comprehensive teacher development framework. Of course, this is modified based on specific requirements and contexts. Broadly, the key aspects covered are: o Community participation (understanding community contexts, processes of participation, facilitation required for concretising community participation in effective school management) o Holistic understanding of education • Educational philosophy and psychology (understanding underlying philosophical aspects; understanding psychological aspects of development, education and the processes of learning) • Subject areas (understanding pedagogical principles, teaching learning processes including materials that can be used, interrelations between subjects, continuing relevance in life) • Special focus on Arts (importance of arts in holistic development, building conducive environment, further nuances) o Conducive school environment (translating values such as democracy, secularism, participation, group cohesion, self-discipline and non discrimination into practice) o Enhancing self reflection (analysing classroom experiences and also community engagement, facilitating discussion among peers, exploring pedagogical aspects, utilising tools such as experience diaries) Internal Teacher Development Processes The teacher development process at Bodh has evolved with time. It has provided grounds for experimentation and innovation. These learnings have been utilised in designing teacher development trainings (both short and long term) for external agencies. Pre-service An extensive induction process marks the first step. Here, the focus is on helping the participants to explore their own perceptions about children, education and communities. Related theoretical inputs are provided. The new teachers are also placed in bodhshalas (community schools) where they can observe and also put what they have learnt into practice. This induction process covers three to six months. In-service There are regular meetings at the school level. Teachers also come together at various weekly and monthly workshops. These are conducted by the internal academic support teams and others. The emphasis is on sharing of experiences, planning their work for the month ahead and also revising/updating their knowledge on specific academic aspects, use of Teaching Learning Materials etc. A significant event is the annual workshop held in June focusing on academic enrichment. The emphasis is on reflecting on classroom experiences and seeing what worked and what didn’t. There is a special focus on identifying and discussing specific aspects that children found difficult to understand. These and other such aspects are explored for all subjects at all levels. Experiences are shared and a draft academic plan for the coming year is also made. Co-ordinators, academic support teams and other functionaries are involved in follow ups as well as providing support on an ongoing basis. Specific, need based requirements are also met. Exposure visits to other organisations/institutions are also organised. Supporting Government Teachers’ Capacity Building Bodh is working with government teachers in its various rural and urban programmes. Periodic workshops are conducted with government teachers for perspective building and academic enrichment. Support is also provided for planning classroom activities and facilitating engagement with the local communities. Various other joint initiatives are undertaken to assist teachers in ensuring universal coverage and quality education. Bodh has also placed its teachers in select government schools across rural blocks of Alwar and the urban slums in Jaipur. These teachers provide direct onsite support to their government counterparts. All this has been possible through the active support of the state Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and education department and the local self government bodies. External Teacher Development Offerings Bodh has been involved in trainings of teachers linked to other agencies/institutions for almost a decade. Based on the needs and previous experiences, the following options are offered. -Short term orientations/trainings (upto two weeks) These orientations/trainings are provided for teachers associated with government/non government agencies. The framework and content is decided based on the specific requirements. However, there is an emphasis on providing exposure to the critical aspects outlined in Bodh’s teacher development framework. -Long term (over a project period and/or in a larger organisational development context) Possibilities include providing support in developing and implementing capacity building plan for teachers and other functionaries. This could be seen in a larger context where Bodh can provide support in building education programmes for specific contexts. Here, aspects such as need assessment and the resultant project planning processes, supportive inputs in other related processes (such as liaisoning with state government) etc could also come in. Such long term support and partnerships have been initiated with NGOs such as Nidan (Bihar), Nabha Foundation (Punjab), Aadi (New Delhi) and Dil Se (New Delhi). These partnerships provide new learning opportunities for Bodh as well. Teacher Fellowship Programme Bodh initiated a Teacher Fellowship Programme in 2005. The programme is currently being reviewed and refined by a group of academic experts, Bodh and likeminded partners.