TIIE-EL-Teacher

Topic: Teachers cluster meeting

Strategies for Teaching Language using Language Lab Stories*

Notes:

The intention is to provide a brief overview of the Language Lab resources. It is advisable to keep the presentation duration flexible as per attendees' availability

Topic: Teacher's workshop at Ejipura

To create an opportunity for teachers of the schools to interact with one another and build a teachers' community of learning for sharing and exchanging ideas and resources conducted a teachers' workshop which included 7 teachers from the project schools. The observations and findings from the baseline and case studies were presented and discussed with the teachers who also shared their experiences in the classroom and strategies they have been using.

Initially teachers look over the case studies which we had prepared, each case study belongs to one of the schools. After reading the case study, teachers actively participate in the discussion,

One of the teachers shared her thoughts on their work, "At first, I used to scold them, saying that if you live in Karnataka, you should know Kannada, but then I started supporting them and explaining differently why it is important - instead of forcing students to speak in Kannada, try to convince them that using more Kannada when speaking will help them to learn better and request them to try to avoid home languages like Tamil, Telugu, Bhojpuri, Urdu unless their medium of instruction. No matter how much we teach in school, if a child is having difficulty, he or she may have learning disabilities. Children will learn better if you care about them, which she turned into a teaching policy.

They learn a subject well when their teachers show them love and affection, and this encourages students to speak up and share their opinions without holding back. Ask them to reattempt if the answer is inaccurate, so they can correct it. Giving them stars or smiley faces for correct responses encourages them to participate in the activity and start to learn. Children always want to know why we are sad when we express it.

A few examples from their classroom:

1. A girl in class 7 named Krishnaveni speaks Tamil at home, and her parents are daily wageworkers. For various reasons, Krishnaveni's parents have decided to relocate the family to their hometown in Tamil Nadu. She is upset about this because it may cause her to drop out of school and become child labour. Unfortunately, her family changed their minds and decided to stay here. Krishnaveni was overjoyed as a result of this, and she enjoys it by giving sweets to their loved ones at school by mentioning her mother's birthday.

2. One student has not attended fifth grade the entire year, came in only sixth. I advised him to just attend class and not worry about studying. You don't need to write; just sit in class, eat well, and drink milk. However, he began writing, reading, and developing an interest in studies. He now writes so much on his own and waiting for me to correct his book.

If we force children to read and write, they will not learn anything. However, if we give them some time to read and write on their own while observing their friends, they will learn something through their interest.

3. Riya and Rani in class 6 moved to Bangalore after the COVID lockdown; they don't know much Kannada but are involved in learning activities and are eager to learn.

4. The child has three siblings who have moved from Nepal. She had no knowledge of Kannada when she was in fourth grade. She had learned a lot by the time she was in seventh grade.

FGD Discussion :

FGD consist set of questions about teacher’s beliefs about students learning and Kalika chetharike materials distributed by the government.

About KC :

• In KC for one learning outcome 3 to 4 activities given and that too different levels.
• KC Not meant for students but for teachers more work, students can't do it on their own. There is no fixed syllabus that this much has to be completed in some period based on mentioned learning outcomes.
• Students of class 7th missed class 5 and 6, but now they want to learn and have build academic competencies of all the 3 classes. Students not undergone any text exercises of previous classes may have difficulty to understand activities based on learning outcomes and specially activities of class 7 has very challenging.
• In language those who have acquired competencies in primary, able to build stories, etc. but others find it very difficult. Teacher itself struggling to find answer for KC material by referring all classes text.
• Some chapters are removed from text but their activities given in the KC (8th removed a chapter from 7th but given in KC) and Can’t give proper practice for reading.
• In class 1 to 3 Nali-kali program extremely difficult for teachers to create learning space based on KC.
• In old method we used to have a structure, teach a lesson and do it in one flow, now unrelated activities are there, students not understand the relations between content in the text and activities.
• If teachers told what competency to be taught and given freedom on what and how to do. Definitely we reach out all children's and make children to learn.
• Parents are complaining about no h/w given for their child, but they don’t care about student's learning abilities.  
• Would be better if KC ends, including too many administrative tasks, sometime not finding time to do classroom transactions.
• Hard copy of KC materials came late, nobody told how to do classroom transactions during that time, we struggled to taking print out of KC worksheets and give handout to the children and depended on soft copy of materials which shared by teachers in the mobile.  

About Training:

• Teachers not undergone any training(s) on strategies for teaching diverse learners after COVID time, previously teachers could choose topics. Interest based and attended some training. 
• 2 day KC training mainly focussed on what is the structuring (outline) of KC not on how to conduct activities or take it into the classroom.  
• Initially some teachers wrote daily journal and notes of lesson, but department person’s not interested in seeing what we’ve written. Some CRPs have no patience only cross-check the documents they want by sitting in the office and not interact with children in class to know about whether learning outcomes achieved or not or KC materials is benefited for children or not any all.
• Nobody wants to know our challenges and what is going on in the class. They just want us to do what they say and want us to record and report. They should come to our classes and see instead of just visiting the office

Challenges faced by students in classroom :

• Students in 5th struggling with language - when some inspection happens they are more bothered about language than children's learning. e.g. they know numbers in English but not Kannada. (5th maths. ECO asked numbers written on the board. Boy couldn't; identify 3-digit numbers. Came to office room and scolded me. After 2 days I wrote 3-digit numbers on board, he couldn’t tell in Kannada, but told in English.)
• 70% of children don't eat any breakfast. Even whatever they get to eat is not nutritious. No calcium, etc. That is why even mental development of the child is affected
• Have started Kannada from basics. They are struggling 

Challenges faced by Teachers :

• Nobody wants to know our challenges and what is going on in the class. They just want us to do what they say and want us to record and report. They should come to our classes and see instead of just visiting the office
• Teachers have to do KC as well as refer textbooks. We do it for different levels, but it is difficult to track and then when the inspection happens we get asked why students are not at grade level
• Utilizing time is challenging. 12 Lessons in a subject and 6 to be completed by SA1 and remaining for SA2. But for one learning outcome 4 to 5 different activities we have to be discussed with children's.
• Teachers had to figure out how to manage KC and conduct the activities. Some students are able to write and incorporate it, but others copy from that.
• Students forgetting concepts soon, need more effort to reaching out students. Not actively participated in theory based activities and if experiments done, students not able to share observations easily.
• Issues at home, No parents support and  a lot of students from single parent (single mother) families.

Suggestions :

   • Would be effective to provide materials related to each lesson, instead of only worksheets. For e.g. we got Maths kits from Akshara foundation which we found very useful for group work with children

   • Different students learn differently and have different interest, so we should teach like that and should be provided with materials that will help for that.

   • Good training needed – About classroom strategies, preparations for teaching aids, digital literacy

   • Infrastructure – computer lab, science lab, Library, ground

   • Individual teacher for each subject including Physical education.

   • Teachers must share certain competencies, and they can discuss this (exponents and indexes) or hold demonstration sessions.

Topic: Teachers feedback

    Questions / points for discussions: