Divya Choudary

It has been some time now since the introduction of ICT in education. But with the rapid progress that technology is making, have our schools and teachers adapted? How effectively do schools use the Internet in the classroom, for the teachers, and with the parents? With increasing online crimes do schools make it their responsibility to teach their students cyber safety?

Devika Nadig
The role of a school principal has changed dramatically over the last few decades. From being an academic head, a principal is now more of an administrative head. Are principals equipped to take on this double burden? With several schools going the corporate way, there is much emphasis on trivialities leaving principals with hardly any time to concentrate on academic exercises.

Amit Kapoor

They say stories are all around us. But then can all text and information that we come across be considered stories? And how do you tell an audience a story? How do you make your stories work and help the audience come to the conclusion that you want them to after listening to the story?

Phyllis Farias
Conflict situations abound in the school, in the classroom, among teachers, and between parents and teachers and within ourselves. How can we negotiate all these differences peacefully? Can children be taught that compromise is the most effective way to end conflicts? These are some of the questions raised by our writers in this month’s cover story.

Rohit Dhankar

Constructivism is a pedagogy that is gaining in popularity among educationists and practionists of today. But constructivism as defined and explained by theorists does not take into consideration the practice of the pedagogy or keep in mind the ground realities. This is quite evident in the way constructivism is defined as the theory of practice in the NCF 2005 document. In this article the author analyses constructivism as mentioned in NCF 2005 and tells us why while what the document says is worthwhile it cannot be taken as the complete truth.

Aditi and Ratnesh

This issue of Teacher Plus, to mark Teacher’s Day on September 5, stands apart for being different in its approach to the content published and hence the title, Ulta Pulta. Conceived in the spirit of inviting a school/community of teachers to take up the challenge of creating one issue of the magazine, the articles here give us a glimpse into the learning and teaching journey of teachers, parents and children.

Meeta Sengupta
“When children teach each other, they learn better.” I remember hearing this from a teacher in a simple school …

For this anniversary issue, Teacher Plus asked its contributors to share one ‘Big Idea’ that could transform education, an idea that could be implemented, or an idea that teachers have lived with for long but have not seen it take shape. So, here we offer 25 ideas, big and small, which can be put to work in your own spaces.

Dyuti Basu
Geography is concerned with aything and everything that is related to the Earth and people. It is a very vibrant and exciting subject. But in schools it ends up being dry and boring. Geography needs to be redeemed in schools and for that teachers have to show students how the subject is interwoven with all other disciplines and our lives.

Santhosh Padmanabhan
Why is physical education not seen as a priority area by most school managements? Why is it viewed as a luxury and a wasteful exercise that does not add value to a child’s mental development? A schooling system that sees sports and physical activity as an integral part of the classroom and the life of its students and staff creates a healthy community that learns joyfully. Our cover theme this time explores the idea of how the pursuit of sport can impart some of the greatest life lessons that there are to learn and calls for integrating sports into the curriculum.

Kanupriya Jhunjhunwala

When a person joins the teaching profession, is he/she ever given a job description? Apart from a vague mention of the responsibilities the school expects from the new teacher, there is nothing concrete said or written. Does the state have rules and guidelines about the teachers in its schools? Are there stipulated work hours for teachers? What is a teacher actually meant to do and what does he/she end up doing in the course of his/her work as a teacher?

Simran Luthra and Mounik Shankar Lahiri
Are schools assuming a more corporate-like structure with teachers taking on newer roles and responsibilities? Why is this so and is this a way to create more opportunities for teachers to complement classroom pedagogy? Is this an ‘additional’ responsibility or is there huge value in being inspired from these corporate-like practices?

Divya Choudary

Once upon a time education was considered a service but today it is a business like any other; started to make a profit. With more and more schools opening up, marketing them to parents and kids is becoming necessary. With many schools concentrating on the razzle-dazzle, is the quality of education taking a beating?

Vandana Aggarwal
School uniforms or dress codes remain the preferred manner of clothing in many nations around the world, many of which base their school system on the Western model. Different countries and communities have different approaches to uniforms. The uniform as it is worn today has seen a lot of change over the centuries. What remains constant is that it was present then and it is present now and it is still following its primary principle which is to promote team spirit, discipline and equality among all students. A look at the history of uniforms.

Hriday Ranjan

In the era of technology in education, how relevant are textbooks? As against the visual graphics of the multimedia, can the textbook still hold its own? How much have the textbooks changed and how dependent are we on them now? Find the answers in this times cover story.

Rohit Dhankar

Can reflective practice be taught to student teachers? How can this be done? One way would be to ensure that teacher educators are also reflective practitioners who have a clear idea of reflective practice. Another pre-requisite would be to have a curriculum and pedagogy that is suitable to develop reflection and mastery over the practice.

Over the years, education has undergone a lot of transformation. Today it is more open, allows for a more varied …

Mini Krishnan

Is there a place for religion in schools? How will children benefit if introduced and explained fairly in classrooms? The ideal way to go about it would be to focus on peace education. But without value education, there can be no peace, so they have to be integrated into mainstream classroom study. Children need a space to express their emotions and talk about things that trouble them.

Jayanthi Narayan

What is inclusive education? Who are the stakeholders involved? What is the status of inclusive education in India and what do we need to do? Find answers to these questions in this times cover story.

A subject that is fun and exciting,chemistry combines colour, sound and smells. It is the study of reactions, of the relationship between structure and properties. Knowing the properties, you can infer the structure and knowing the structure, you can infer the properties. This is what teachers must try and convey to students.

Maya Menon
My mother and her much-older siblings walked long distances every day in the hot sun or pouring rain to …

Sangeeta Menon
A school is more than just a space for learning and teaching is more than just delivering a prescribed syllabus. Education is all about nurturing the child’s sense of self which several alternative schools are doing in their small and imaginative ways. Will the Right to Education Act take away their right to exist because they do not fulfill the norms laid down within its framework? Will these alternative schools be forced to shut down by the end of this month if they do not comply with the provisions of the RTE Act? Some of the concerns raised by these schools are genuine and need to be heard if there truly has to be reform in education. These individuals and groups wanting to bring in fresh perspectives into education must be given their space.

Ketaki Chowkhani

In India, sexuality education has been restricted to a couple of chapters in the biology textbook. Whether the school or the home, people have been happy to scratch the surface of this important subject and not traverse beyond. It is necessary that schools and homes become progressive and comfortable environments where children can find answers to all their questions without fear and hesitation.

Gopal Midha
What is practice? What is the magic change that it can bring about? How can it be rescued from turning into a dull and meaningless chore? What do students think about it? Our cover story tries to answer some of these questions and suggests ways in which practice tasks can be restructured.

Kamala Krishnaswamy and Ruchi Vaidya
Food or ‘annam’ is the basic necessity of life and existence and ‘annam’ is “aham”. We …

Simran Luthra and Mounik Shankar Lahiri

Democracy in /and education have long been buzzwords in any discourse in education. But to what extent have these concepts been understood? This article tries to demystify these concepts and touches upon why democratic education is desirable, what hinders democratic practices in education and what teachers and educators can do to practice democratic education.

Chintan Girish Modi

When a child fails, to a large extent he ends up getting blamed for the failure. Sometimes fingers are pointed at the teacher. An already upset child is labelled ‘lazy’, ‘dumb’, ‘stupid’ and we succeed in demoralizing the child. Instead have we ever asked, ‘Why is the child not interested?’, ‘How differently can I teach to create an interest?’, ‘How can I encourage my child and commend him for what he can do?’ As parents, teachers, and schools who have an interest in the child we have to take equal responsibility and help a child overcome his failure.

Sheela Ramakrishnan

As teachers, many of us have often wanted to take time out for ourselves, to indulge in some quiet time, to pull back from the children whom we teach and just think about where we are heading. In our journey as educators, this ‘me time ‘ becomes essential, not only to recharge our batteries but also to become better professionals. Our cover story this month is about how teachers have managed to go on a voyage of self- discovery and personal growth.

Sangeetha Sriram and Manasi Karthik
More and more parents are taking the courageous decision of not sending their kids to school and instead finding learning spaces in their own homes and surroundings for their kids. Why are parents choosing to walk this bold new path? Find the answers in this times cover story.

Ninad Jagdish

System Dynamics is a method of study that has been used for over two decades in schools in the US, Germany and other Scandinavian countries. This method can be useful in a country like India where there are several issues around learner-centric education. The current article touches just the surface of what system dynamics is and how it can be used in schools, but it gives a taste of just what might be in store!