At Hubli: Teacher as person and as a professional

The Livewire Classrooms Workshop on February 26, 2011 “Teacher as person and as a professional”, helped teachers of Mallasajjan School in Dharwad understand themselves and their impact on their students.  35 participants including the Principal of the school  attended the workshop. The group had teachers who taught from Nursery to Grade X. The workshop started with the participants sharing their expectations that “it would not be boring or lengthy” and that they don't “want to be a mechanical teacher.” Surely they were not disappointed!

Using Quality Circle Time, participants were taken through different stages of structured discussion and within a few minutes the group opened up. Some of them were brave enough to ask for help from the group and some others were generous enough to offer. The group enjoyed each and every activity which was a part of the workshop. They all let out the child within during the Parachute activity in which they had to run across the circle when their numbers were called or make the action of rowing a boat. The teachers realized that we need to be sensitive enough to understand the students that we are dealing with and once that is done, learning and teaching becomes both easier and more fruitful.

The group discussed their top values in life, their own self-esteem, and how they are instrumental in building or marring the self-esteem of a child. They were also asked to delve into the impact that their own teachers had on them, and what impact they would want to leave on their students. They also realised that more than a routine and mechanical teacher they should practise being a reflective teacher, one who thinks about his or her actions and decisions carefully, to make learning more interesting and effective. The teachers took part actively in the discussion freely without being conscious of the language barrier. The workshop ended on a high note with the teachers wanting more!

Posted by Roopali Katti, Centre Coordinator, TTF Hubli