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Teacher Recognition Program
A
program to identify exemplary teaching-learning practices of the
teachers of the Government Primary and Upper Primary Schools of Tonk
and Sirohi districts of Rajasthan, India
Background
The
teacher is one of the most important influencers of the process of
learning. The primacy and agency of a teacher is central to all efforts
and initiatives in education. In India, though the general quality of
education needs significant improvement, it is a reality that in
pockets, certain better practices, in teaching and teacher efforts, do
exist. There are a significant number of teachers in Government Schools
who are doing fine work that is worth the effort of understanding and
sharing with the rest of the teaching fraternity. These teachers need
to be recognized and felicitated publicly and their practices need
widespread dissemination.
In the current scenario, both at the national and state levels,
multiple forms of teacher recognition programs exist – some invite
applications, others, nominations; some award cash prizes and some,
merit certificates. Like countless other good efforts, the existing
teacher recognition programs are also fraught with many issues like
transparency, fairness, popularity, and acceptance. Some of the
limitations are also associated to a non-possession of a long term
vision and a lack of documentation and dissemination. A majority of
them are single-event initiatives with limited forward linkages.
Concept
The need to have district level teacher recognition programs stemmed
from the above reasons and teachers’ own opinions on existing teacher
recognition programs.
The objectives of the district level teacher conference were:
- To publicly recognize ingenuous efforts of a teacher or a group of teachers
- To develop a database of best practices and disseminate them for the edification of the larger teaching fraternity
A marked distinction of this process was to give preference to the
practices and processes adopted by the teacher that has helped them
better their existing classroom/school realities instead of venerating
practices in ideal circumstances. Another major objective of this
program was the hope that the recognition of better practicing teachers
would motivate and encourage other teachers to strive for a similar
level of excellence.
Themes for identification of better practices
The teachers were expected to present a synopsis of their efforts in
the classroom/school. The broader areas in which papers were invited
were in:-
- Teaching-learning and Classroom Management:
Effective teaching learning methods and techniques
adopted by the teacher in the class which has enhanced understanding
and achievement of children. Practices adopted by the teacher to track
the learning levels of the individual child or a group of children.
This includes classroom management techniques which resulted in more
participation, inclusion of students in the classroom processes and
novel ways used in managing and handling teaching-learning in a Multigrade Multilevel classroom.
- School leadership and management:
School leadership is defined as the interplay between
the school head teacher, the school staff and the School Development
and Management Committee. This involves the leadership exhibited by
teachers in areas like planning, delegating, mobilizing support from
staff, students and community for a better functioning of the school.
- Assessment reforms:
Assessment processes adapted to identify the learning
needs of the child and to improve learning achievement of the child -
this includes assessment used in everyday classroom process, designing
diagnostic tools, children portfolios, designing assessment tools, etc.
The conferences to felicitate the winning teachers of Tonk and Sirohi
took place in March and May, 2010. Click here to read the full report.
Snapshots
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