Teacher Training Theory & Practice

8/14/2019 Teacher Training Theory & Practice

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Teacher Training: Theory & Practice.

As an Educator engaged in teaching since1965 and as a Teacher-Educator & Administrator since 1977; it has been my earnestendeavour to improve my teaching, to grow professionally and toshare what I had learnt with others. I have lost count of the

number of Seminars, Extension Lectures and Workshops that Iattended for the purpose.

After 1980 I had the opportunity of organising these Workshopsfor Pre-Service and In-Service teachers. I experimented withdifferent approaches to training of teachers, including theDiagnostic Remedial Approach in Training Teachers in Skills ofTeaching.

I owe a lot to the experts from NCERT, IGNOU, CBSE, UGC andother Agencies; with whom I interacted, learnt a lot (if I did notlearn more, the fault was mine and not of the experts) and triedto put it into practise.The best opportunity came my way when I joined DarshanEducation Foundation- Delhi and had first hand experiences oftraining teachers on Activity-Based Teaching, ClassroomManagement through DA Agreements, Buddy System, Key-Priority Areas, Practice and Review Techniques and Scores ofother Topics.

I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Madam Suzanne Lauber,Director, DEF; who became my Role-Model of a TeacherEducator/Trainer. We also had opportunities of interacting withdozens and dozens of Experts from India and Abroad and fromthem we had Sessions on Memory, Study Skills, TimeManagement, Team Building, Leadership, School Administration,Systems Management, Quality Circles, Value Education Models,Non- Violent Communication, etc.

During the last 20 years, I have conducted Workshops forthousands of teachers across the country. It has been a privilegeto interact with teachers at Srinagar, Jammu, Jaipur, Ajmer,Udaipur, Gwalior, Aligarh, Hathras, Rohtak, Sampla,Hissar, Ambala, Ludhiana, Kolkatta, Kaithal, Pune, Varanasi,Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Datia and Delhi.


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In the process, I have met teachers and Principals of thereputed and prestigious Public Schools of Delhi and of othercities, of Air Force Public Schools, of Kendriya Vidyalaya, ofResidential Schools and also of Schools trying to establish theiridentity in the community.

What I have observed and experienced is, that although theTeachers and Principals show a lot of enthusiasm, are willing tolearn, participate actively, deliberate and contribute during theworkshop; although their Feedback is very encouraging; butwhat really is transferred to actual classroom situations is noteven a fraction of what the teachers were trained in and for.

This is appalling! An in depth study and discussion with Principals

revealed that these workshops were an eye-wash and eachSchool had an ulterior motive behind the conduct of theWorkshops. Most often the workshop was organised to publicisethe School through press and Media. Sometimes the Principalorganised these workshops to prove to the Management that hewas on the job of Professional Growth of Teachers and in most ofthese workshops, he was the one who was not a participant.Workshops were being used for Image Building, Publicity, forinviting authorities from the State Administration, Boards etc;and even for providing an opportunity to the Publishers to talk

about their publications and how their Text-Books were betterthan those of other Publishers.As a result there has been a Mushroom growth of so-called

Experts in various areas and the Quality of Workshops conducteddesires a lot. The teachers are on the receiving end. Workshopsare held on Holidays, Sundays and during Vacations. TheWorkshops are dull and boring. These are far from the realities ofclassroom practices and situations. Most of them are Lectures orpresentations. There is hardly any activity which the teachers

could take up when they return to schools. Managements areleast bothered about professional growth of teachers. No onebothers to keep the teachers abreast of the latest in the field ofteaching-learning.

What again is disturbing is that the teachers and Schools seem toact on herd mentality and suddenly experts spring up from


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nowhere to conduct workshops on: Blue Print of a QuestionPaper, Parenting, Counselling, De -stressing, Motivation,Teaching without Burden and now the HOTS Questioning. It looksas if one school is trying to outdo the other. The Focus is lost. Noone seems to remember the Objective behind the Workshop.Customised workshops or Need-Based Workshops are not

possible in the absence of a seasoned Expert teacher trainer.Question and Answer sessions have been forgotten. A lot ofprecious time is wasted in introductions, reception, report aboutthe achievements of the school, a few words by the Chief Guest,a vote of thanks at the end, which usually is a summary of whatthe person has understood at the workshop rather than what theExpert tried to convey. The poor expert has no other alternativebut to cut on the activities for Hands-on -Learning and deliver atalk and thus we have been talking at the teachers.

Some Board Members have asked me occasionally as to how theworkshop is going to benefit the School, or how have theWorkshops conducted so far benefited the teachers. This isobvious since their is a dichotomy between what the teacherslearn at the Workshops and what they are required to do at theSchool.In such a situation how do we expect sound Educational,Pedagogical and Psychological practices in our schools? We come

across a plethora of teaching techniques and many are not evenable to justify these or speak of their relevance. What is going onin the name of teaching is..........TRASH! A good practice hereand another there are an oasis in a desert of dead habit.Kindly give me the benefit of your opinion and advice to remedythe situation. If I am wrong in my assessment of the situation,please correct me and let me have your experiences.With Hope

Prof. B. L. HandooManaging DirectorIndira Educational Consultancy Services.Cell:09810890998, 09313706527.Visit:- www.iecs-india.com
http://www.iecs-india.com/http://www.iecs-india.com/

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Teacher Training Theory & Practice