Usha Raman
With the dark clouds of Covid 19 still hanging over us, life seems to have come to a full stop. Each day brings with it several demands and expectations and people cope in the only way they know – by taking things one at a time. Even so, our thoughts never seem to leave us, and we try and plan for a future that we cannot see. In all this however, there are opportunities to rethink and reimagine, and schooling and education top the list. Teachers’ Day is just that opportunity for teachers to acknowledge and celebrate their own small victories.
Category: Editorial
Finding new ways to learn
Usha Raman
The past few months have been tough on everybody but more so on teachers. While online teaching has shown that learning needn’t stop, it has not really been the ideal solution either. With little time to adapt to a new mode of teaching, teachers are also battling new problems that online teaching brings–whether it is the lack of social interaction among their students or internet accessibility. And yet there is always something new to learn. There is always hope even in despair.
New and unfamiliar
Usha Raman
The new academic year has begun on a totally different note – online classes, reduced syllabi and of course, new students meeting their teachers for the first time online. How has the experience been both for teachers and students? It is important that teachers share their experiences about what works, what doesn’t, what frustrates, what gives joy – with their peers as well as those in the teaching fraternity.
Reinventing math
S Sundaram It was in early January that Teacher Plus asked me if I would be interested in guest-editing a special issue on math to be published in June 2020. I said yes immediately almost without thinking. Only a few Read More …
Amid the uncertainty…
Usha Raman
In the past few months the world has changed like we never imagined it would. Everybody is trying to understand and adapt to this new reality. Some of us are comfortable in our homes but many others are dying on the roads. Elite schools have managed to put temporary education systems in place while the less fortunate schools are struggling. And even while each of us tries to grapple with this ‘new normal’, Teacher Plus brings you its second mathematics special issue. Some things must carry on.
Learning from COVID-19
Usha Raman
It’s been a strange few weeks. As the panic around the new virus known as COVID-19 spread across the globe after having brought China to a virtual standstill, most institutions of learning in the country – schools, colleges, universities – decided to suspend face-to-face classes and let children stay home.
Calm the butterflies
Usha Raman
Anxiety is in the air. With exams round the corner one can see worried students, parents, teachers and schools. But anxiety brings with it stress and associated concerns. It is time that we started dealing with this anxiety differently and also showed our students and other stakeholders how they can be more positive and a little less stressed around this time every year.
Understanding diverse contexts
Usha Raman
How can children be exposed to diverse contexts so that they can understand the complexity of the world — people, places and culture? How can they understand that politics shapes our world just as much as science, technology and economics? For this the classroom can be a safe space to know and accept the different ways of being. Inside the class, they have the opportunity to ask questions freely and also have a teacher to explain what it all means.
Caring for the carers
Usha Raman
We all agree that teaching is a strenuous job and while we identify several reasons for this, we never look at care giving as a possible cause that leads to teacher stress and burn out. Of all her different roles and responsibilities, care giving takes a lot from the teacher, both mentally and physically and this is why the school should build a system to care for and support their teachers.
The teacher at work
Usha Raman
This Special issue, curated by one of our long-time contributors, Neeraja Raghavan, is the outcome of an idea to get teachers to reflect on the contextualization of their lessons. The articles that we received reflect the level of detail and the diversity of the teachers’ lived experiences. If one teacher brought alive ancient cities in ruins through a contemporary experience, another showed how to develop English textbooks from the children’s own experience. In other words, ‘indigenous pedagogy’ is really all around us.