The first workshop on IT for Teaching was held on 27 August 2011 at VMFT for the members of the Teacher Resource Centre.  Shri. N.T.Nair, Chief Editor, Executive Knowledge Lines inaugurated the programme.  Dr. K. Soman, Director, VMFT  welcomed and Dr.C.G.Sukumaran Nair  and Mr.A.Suhair addressed the participants . 16 High School Teachers from various schools in Trivandrum and Kollam Districts received hands-on training in computers supported by theory class.

From the inaugural address at the Workshop on Information technology for teaching held at  VMFT on 27^th August 2011

The program will be structured as follows:

• 6 monthly workshops of 3 ½ hours duration once a month, from August 2011 to January 2012
• Each workshop will consist of
  • 2  hours of training by the Resource Persons
  • 1 hour of application and practice on computers
  • ½   hour of review of teachers’ work and peer discussion

Teachers will be able to work on specific tasks for their classrooms, including preparing presentations; lesson plans; identifying materials from the internet; designing projects etc. The first workshop in the series is planned from 10  am -1.30 pm on Saturday, 27th August 2011.The programme is free for TRC members. TRC membership can be availed by paying a nominal fee of Rs.100.  For more details and registration, contact 0471-2304051 or trcvmft@gmail.com .

The project’s approach to teacher professional development was new in Kerala. State governments in India regularly organize teacher training programs for government school teachers, particularly when syllabi are revised and new textbooks introduced. The Kerala school syllabus is undergoing a major revision and teachers regularly attend cluster level workshops and training sessions to enhance their knowledge.

A new approach

The new approach was based on lessons from research in India:  that effective professional development for teachers must be focused on what they have to teach, deepen their understanding of the theoretical basis for new teaching strategies, provide opportunities to practice what they have learnt, encourage them to reflect on their own teaching, to use resources independently, to provide feedback and to be mentored.

Three inter-linked modalities were adopted:

(i)            A partnership with selected schools: Each year, about 10 schools were selected, and Head Masters nominated teachers from Mathematics and English (subjects identified as priority by HMs) to attend 50 hours of training spread over several months. The program included centre-based training, followed up with continuing support in the school/or , and follow-up centre-based training.  HMs were also expected to follow up on how teachers improved teaching practice in the classroom

(ii)           Week-long professional development programs:  Under this modality, individual teachers (Maths and English) from different schools registered for the 35 hour program, which was delivered in one week during the summer holidays.

(iii)          Teacher Resource Centre: A TRC was established at the VMFT, to create a storehouse of educational materials, teaching aids and reference materials which teachers could consult to prepare for lessons, projects, assessments etc. The TRC would also organize workshops / seminars on specific topics, such as IT training, or project-based learning.

The specific objectives were to enable teachers to improve their mastery of subject content, their  pedagogical skills and their knowledge of adolescent learning  and thereby improve their teaching practice and student achievement. Teachers were also familiarized with new technologies and new resource materials. As part of the needs assessment done to develop the content, teachers strongly expressed the need to focus the program on the Kerala syllabus and specific topics/ lessons that they found difficult.  Teachers from government, aided and unaided schools were eligible to participate.

Challenges

The challenges were many. The first obstacle was the self-perception of teachers. Many did not view themselves as professionals, in the same way as engineers or doctors are viewed.  Many could not explain the specific professional knowledge that distinguishes a high school physics teacher from a person who works as a physicist. The second was that many teachers simply do not have the tools or skills to develop themselves as professionals. In a needs assessment survey done for an earlier pilot project, no teacher reported reading any additional materials related to their subject (other than the textbook), using any reference materials (such as encyclopaedias, resource books), using the internet or any computer technology etc.

Teachers are currently bombarded with new terms such as “activity-based learning” “ child-centred approaches”, “problem-solving approaches”, but they lack a deep understanding of what needs to change in their practice (and why). And they often lack the confidence to speak openly about what they do not understand.

The first year of the project was a learning year. Activities were focused on developing the partnership with schools, a new concept for schools and teachers.  The active involvement of HMs in facilitating and following up on teachers’ professional development is rare, especially in government and aided schools – this is often left to the centralized teacher training programs which are the same for all schools and teachers. Further, the content of the training did not focus on the issues and materials of direct relevance to teachers.

Successes and Limitations

The second year (2010) marked a turn around in the school partnership program. Learning from experience, VMFT with inputs from SRTT, changed the content of the program. High quality Resource Persons made a critical difference to the quality of the program and the interactions with teachers. Teachers were given an orientation course in using basic computer skills. Additional reading materials were provided and teachers were encouraged to use self-evaluation forms.  Unlike the first year, attendance was very high in all the sessions.  There were three follow-up visits to the schools.

This led to the successful holding of the week long professional development programs in May 2011. Both the Mathematics and English programs were oversubscribed. Teachers who had participated in the school partnership program recommended the summer program to their colleagues. As a result, many teachers became members of the Teacher Resource Centre.

Although the project set up a rigorous monitoring and evaluation framework, which allowed adjustments to take place in the content of the program, the implementation period was too short to observe any impact on classroom teaching.  Many teachers and HMs are still reluctant to introduce observation of classroom teaching, by peers, as an integral part of professional development. The project did not envisage or finance testing of students. As a result, the project team had to rely on self-reported feedback by teachers and HMs on what they had learnt and/or implemented.

This is the first in a series of articles on this Project. VMFT will continue to publish further articles on this.

What is amazing is that China managed a transition from the communist command economy to a mixed economy.   All the other communist countries failed.  Gorbachov launched glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).  The Soviet Union collapsed.   China had acquired military technology from the earlier collaboration with the Soviet Union.  It was Deng Tsiao Ping who started the changes in China.  He realised that they needed to do the economic restructuring first, before liberalisation.  Oddly, it was the Americans (who held a doctrinaire aversion to socialism and communism), who went there first with their capital, to set up factories in China.   The Chinese managed it so successfully that soon everyone was after investing in China.   Now nothing can be produced in the world unless it is made in China !  When Apple made the iphone, it had to be assembled in China.  Many businesses have to shift to China just to survive.  And China is today America’s creditor.China has also shown great pragmatism in managing Hong Kong.  Hong Kong was a colony of the British and it was a financial centre.  Hong Kong is semi-independent, has its own legal system, passport, and currency and they are English speaking.  Had the Chinese imposed their rules by force, there would have been a flight of capital and manpower, and it would have created an international crisis.

In China, there is a remarkable desire to improve that permeates down to common people.  I flew on Dragon Air, from Hong Kong to Shanghai.  I was given a questionnaire to fill on the in-flight service.  I noticed I was among those singled out – later I saw that they solicit the impression of foreigners.  The questionnaire had the answers in categories of 1 to 5 (very satisfied to totally dissatisfied).  At the immigration in Shanghai airport, I noticed there was an electronic counter with the same 5 categories (very satisfied to totally dissatisfied).  By pressing the button, I could appraise the immigration officer !  Not only that, everywhere one gets the impression that based on this appraisal, action is taken.  It is not a show.  People are expected to perform.

The best example of this earnestness to improve was in the hotel I stayed.  As I arrived late at night, the restaurants were closed, and so I ordered burger and chips, from the in-room service.   A boy, smartly dressed in black suit brought it up, beaming and bowing.  After delivering, he wanted me to fill a form rating his service. When I asked him to leave it, he looked so disappointed that I decided to fill it and give his appraisal straight away !  In some Indian hotels where I have stayed, the bell boy brings the bags and hangs on obstinately waiting for a monetary tip.  The cutlet and chips were heavy and inedible – I concluded the Chinese were not familiar with these western food items.  But the next day, after I returned from work, I got a call at 8 PM from the manager of the in-room service, asking about the food of the previous night.  I told her that the cutlet was too thick (5 cm), it was heavy, and the chips were inedible because of too much salt.  She apologised profusely, and said she would strike it off my bill; then she offered to replace it with anything of my choice free. I declined, as I said I was not hungry.  But she was persistent. She said she would bring some chocolates as an apology.   I agreed, and the manager came with a box of expensive chocolates.  She then requested me to write down what was wrong with the burger and chips.  I explained the cutlet should be no more than 2 cm thick, not 5 cm thick, and the chips should have less salt.  She took the note away, and I have no doubt they will implement it.  They want to learn ! I have not seen this attitude to learning anywhere else.  I felt not only well disposed to the hotel, but to China.

So what is the difference between the Chinese and Indians ?  The former PM of Singapore, Lee Yuan Kew, is a perceptive observer of China, India, the west and Japan.  He says Chinese culture is structured on Confucianist ideals, which despite the communist rule, underpins the society.  Confucius was a philosopher who had a big impact on their way of life.  There is the concept of filial piety (son obeys the father, the community obeys the local leaders, and they obey the supreme rulers).  Kew says that the Japanese, Koreans, also have the same culture and temperament; he adds that the Vietnamese do as well.    Whereas Indians, despite having a family culture, are more individualistic and indeed argumentative.   Further, Kew is of the opinion that British style democracy is not suitable for underdeveloped multicultural Asian societies.  In such societies, Kew notes people do not vote for policies; they vote for community allegiances, and so leaders will find ways to stay in power without delivering, by playing on community allegiances which can be turned into community antagonisms.  Kew has developed Singapore into a modern developed state by authoritarian means.  Lee Yuan Kew notes that India and China are the historical civilisations of Asia, and during the 18^th century, when the Mughal dynasty ruled India, and the Qing dynasty ruled China, together India and China accounted for 60% of the world’s GDP.  Lee holds that this century will see the restoration of India and China to their historical positions.  One cannot be confident about India, but China is already there.

The Chinese have managed to get the best out of the communists and the capitalists !  The land is 100% owned by the state.  Everybody has a lease, everybody is a tenant.  In India, one person can buy several plots of land.  Not possible in China !  The state can clear a village if need be to build an airport; or give the land to a business for a small sum and get a surplus.  This part is Soviet style.

The state has built a huge surplus by keeping the worker’s wages low.  Then they increased the surplus by keeping the value of the currency low to facilitate exports.  They kept low lending rates for businesses, and kept the price of infrastructure and industrial raw materials very low. Hence, the state accumulated massive surpluses.  They also engaged with the west and allowed foreign direct investment.

All this could have led to massive corruption.  The party members could have transferred this surplus to Swiss banks.   It is said that Indians have the largest amount of illegal money in Swiss banks.  This is where the difference is between the Chinese and Indians. The Chinese government which was accumulating this surplus has invested 50% of GDP in new infrastructure.  No other country in history has done that.  They have built up such a surplus (dollar reserve), that they lent out that money to Americans.  It fueled American consumption (they are steeped in debt but consuming !), and the Chinese companies get the orders.  The Chinese worked and exported more, created further surpluses, lent it back to the US, invested it again in their infrastructure and production. Thus, a giant arises in front of our eyes.

In India, the negatives are apparent at a glance.  Are there any negatives in China ?  If it was purely a materialist comparison, as noted, China is so far ahead of India that we cannot hope to catch up.   But as Christ said, man does not live by bread alone.  Hence, consider these.  All the young engineers I met in China are the single child of parents.  Having more than one child means you lose your job and also state benefits.  In India, that is unthinkable.   The only way you can have two children in China is if you have a twin !  During the Cultural Revolution, one Chinese friend told me, the state forcibly relocated populations of whole villages to homogenise society.   It is like forcibly taking villagers from Kerala and locating them in Kashmir, and vice versa.  Again, that would be unthinkable in India.

Indians witnessed the pathetic staging of the Commonwealth Games.  It was riddled in delays, corruption and incompetence.  Yet, the Indian politicians and media proclaimed it will upstage the Beijing Olympics.  The Indians talk, the Chinese do !

The main objectives of the project are:

• To provide opportunities for the professional development of teachers, to improve their mastery of subject content, pedagogical skills and the learning needs of children and adolescents, and thereby improve classroom teaching practice and student achievement.
• To introduce teachers and schools to new technologies available for teaching.
• To create a storehouse of educational materials and teaching aids, reference materials that can be used by schools and teachers to improve their teaching, with support provided by resource persons.

The project has four main components:

1. Partnership with selected schools (around 18 in total) to plan and implement programs for teacher development in two subjects.
2. Teachers’ professional development content enrichment courses at VMFT Resource Centre.
3. Establishing a professional Teacher Resource Centre at VMFT.
4. Fellowship to M.Ed. students.

The subjects chosen for in-school teacher development and the content enrichment courses are English and Mathematics after conducting a survey among the teachers.

The Teacher Resource Centre, a major outcome of the project, will continue to be maintained by VMFT after the project ends. The TRC will work to improve the quality of secondary school education throughout Kerala, through exposure of educators to international trends in secondary education and pedagogy, use of technology and application of research findings to classroom teaching. The TRC will assist schools with textual and electronic/web-based teaching-learning materials, training programs, workshops and support for developing school resource centres.