The dynamics of the learning system

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!

Teaching vs home-making: A fine balance?

Indira Vijaysimha
Why do most women opt for teaching as a career? Is it because it gives them the flexibility to perform their other roles as homemakers and caregivers while also doing a respectable job? This element of constraint accounts for the fact that many women would have taken up other career choices but ended up in the teaching sector. To empower women teachers and to bring equitable status, it is important that the teachers’ roles, their lives, their perception, their problems and voices are understood and heard. Only when women teachers are empowered , can education play a transformative role.

Stand up to the bully!

Chintan Girish Modi

Did you know of a bully as a child? Chances are you didn’t. But your child who is going to school today probably does. Bullying is becoming more and more common in schools even in India and after a couple of fatal bullying incidents a lot of schools are waking up to this fact. Schools are putting policies in place to prevent and discourage bullying. Teacher Plus interviews three schools to see what schools are doing to tackle this problem.

After school: text to tech

Divya Choudary
After tuition classes and coaching centres, we now have after-school learning centres that use contemporary digital technology to make the teaching-learning less hierarchical and more student-centric. These centres aim to foster inquiry, reasoning and keep students and teachers engaged in the learning process. This article takes a look at what happens at these learning centres.

Looking into – and beyond – lesson plans

Gopal Midha
What are lesson plans? Why are they important? Read a brief history on lesson plans and their importance. Also find guidelines on how you can develop your own effective lesson plans.

One big jumble!

Kanchi Kohli
Where does the problem of environmental degradation lie? The land mass around us is fast diminishing, water wars are already agenda items of heated political debates and the world has warmed up to the idea of climate change. For each one of us, locating the problem of environmental crisis is crucial. Kanchi Kohli helps to give us an understanding of the issues at hand.

At home in school

Teaching in a residential school–how different is it from teaching in a day school? What kind of spirit and attitude should teachers who teach in residential schools have? Are teachers who live on campus more stressed or satisfied at the end of a day? We set out to find answers to these questions and more.

Opening minds by opening hearts

Do teachers have a larger role to play in the classroom other than just teaching the subject? Can they find the time to talk to students about biases and differences? Prejudices, stereotypes, images of the ‘other’ run deep. There is no easy escape. There is, however, a constant need to question, evaluate, and challenge the status quo. This article highlights a few such interventions and appeals for an education that also has heart apart from intellect.

Are teachers allowed an ego?

Every individual has an ego. Teachers do too. But more than any other professional, teachers, in particular, have to ensure that their egos don’t get in the way of their work because the consequences could be disastrous.