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Teacher
Training Workshop
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Ms. Anju Seghal conduction an
ELT Workshop |
It is true that –
Success of the educational process depends on the quality, commitment
and expertise of the teachers. This dependence is further enhanced due
to the growing as well as changing needs of the children and the
frequent changes in curriculum and teaching methodology. Therefore, the
training of teachers themselves becomes critical.
Keeping all this in mind and as an ongoing process and school policy, a
wide range of exhaustive workshops focusing on various issues were
organized from 07 May 2007 to 09 May 2007.
The workshops were conducted by experts from the fields of Management,
Art, English language, Theatre and Lateral Thinking. They helped in
widening the thinking process and broadening of the quality and ability
of the teachers through efficient systematic training.
The workshops were helpful as they led to richness of mind, developing
creativity, helped in understanding the factors that govern children’s
response and behaviour to various situations. The teachers were also
provided an insight into the new career opportunities so that they could
counsel students regarding career choices.
Learning is an ongoing process and so the journey shall continue.
Interview with Mr. Prithvishwar
Sen Que. What do you think
is the importance of Team Management in today’s world? How can it be
done?
Ans. It is very important for the students to understand “Team
Management”. Experts from the management field must undertake
coaching and conduct workshops for the students and the faculty to
empower them with knowledge.
Que.2 What are the advantages of Team Work?
Ans. The most important advantage of team Work is the successful
implementation of goals. Decisions are reached unanimously. A good
team has a higher degree of accuracy and willingness to take risks.
Que. How are the objectives and goals defined for a successful
team?
Ans. (a) Make an activity plan. (b) Make an Evaluation plan.
Team Work brings financial benefits from improved efficiency,
quality and productivity. The cross fertilization of ideas from the
team also promotes creativity.
Que. What are the soft benefits of Team Work?
Ans. Firstly, Lower stress levels from a sense of planning, support
and solidarity and secondly, considerable amount of stress is also
reduced from a better sense of role play.
Que. What are the some of the characteristics of an Effective
Team?
Ans. (a) Information must be shared amongst the team member.
(b) There must be honesty.
(c) There are lesser conflicts and relationships are healthy.
Que. What are the responsibilities of a Team Leader?
Ans. (a) To understand the Team members as individuals.
(b) To assist and support individuals.
(c) To give respect and praise to individuals and appreciate good
work.
Que. Today’s teenager is highly stressed. How can they overcome
this?
Ans. They are not necessarily stressed. There is a change in the
life style. It is more of the perception of the parents that is
static. It is for them to keep pace with the dynamics of the
situation and understand the teenagers and their psychology.
Que. How to inculcate – honesty and integrity as essential
features of a team?
Ans. In India the positive potential of Team Work is not
institutionalized in all spheres of activity. May be one of the
things is to appreciate and adopt this as a method towards
Innovation, creativity and growth.
Encourage youngsters to travel and broaden their mindset. In a
Global Economy this is imperative for economic growth.
We still have a long way to go. There is disparity of-wealth,
education, women’s empowerment and imbalanced economic growth.
Que. Any message for the youth:
Ans. They must strive to achieve a balance between work and play
– focus towards achievement – live life holistically – enjoy a
little bit of everything like sports and recreation along with hard
work.
Que. Your motto:
Ans. My motto is: “Working Together as a team means Winning
together as a team”.
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Mrs. Sushma Behl
Previously she was the Head of Art and
Culture for India (Policies and Programs) at the British Council.
Presently she is freelancing as an Art Consultant and Adviser to
Times of India and old world Habitat, New Delhi.
Her views ………………..
Q. How did you get into this field?
Mrs. Behl: Initially, I was a teacher first like you but then I went
to Britain on a scholarship. I always had a keen interest in theatre
and culture. Soon one thing led to another and I became an Art
facilitator, producer, curator etc.
Q. How important do you think Art or creativity is in a
common man’s life?
Mrs. Behl: Very, very important in everyone’s life. In India,
Art and culture is not for the elite it’s a form of life. Even in
villages in India you can see Art and creativity in every thing they
do. It over whelms you with its simplicity. For all different levels
of ‘life’ and society it has a different value. It not only gives
joy; it is also a stress buster.
Q. To what extent do you think contemporary Art in India,
is influenced by Indian Folk Art and the European Renaissance.
Mrs. Behl: Contemporary Art in India is more influenced by
Indian Folk Art. Of course, with artists now easily traveling
abroad, easy access and exposure to western culture one finds its
influence but by and large the Indian style, colour, form is still
dominant.
Q. In what ways, do you think art and creativity workshops
are helpful?
Mrs. Behl: I think they are helpful not because they teach new
things but they help us to focus on the points which are relevant /
pertinent but had been obscured by the constraint of time and
syllabi. It is not intended to change the basic teaching methodology
but to bring about a change in the mind set. To clear the volumes of
routine and habit and think afresh.
Q. What are your experiences of the workshop at NMS?
Mrs. Behl: It’s been a good experience. I found the teachers
very motivated and open–minded and rankly I had expected so. They
are very interactive and forth coming, and I’m highly impressed with
what they reproduced at the end of the workshop.
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Interview with Mr. Sukesh Arora
Q. How did you get into the world of theatre?
Ans. I have done my masters in Physical Theatre from UK. For 2 years
I worked with children in Africa and then returned to India where I
started working with children through TIE (Theatre in Education) &
joined a company TAG for a while. Then I began working freelance
with school children.
Two years back I founded my own theatre company called “Yellow
Cats”.
Q. How would you describe the work profile of your theatre
company?
Ans. We organize workshops for developing social skills like how to
deal with oneself, other developmental issues & theatre among school
children. We work not only with reputed schools but with many
government schools for children who have never done or seen any
theatre performance in their life.
Q. How do you manage organizing theatre workshops across
India?
Ans. We usually work with schools in Delhi.
In Delhi, for the last 3 years we’ve been associated with about 8
schools where we developed drama curriculum. Every week once or
twice classes were held to help students deal with day to day
problems and develop their inherent potential abilities.
Q. How far do you think such “Social Skill Workshops” are
effective?
Ans. The basic philosophy of such workshops is to develop a feeling
of sharing. They also give an opportunity to students & teachers to
take out time for themselves. They are effective in helping
participants explore their talents and channelise their energy.
Q. What kind of theatre works do you take?
Ans. We very rarely take up adaptation of plays or scripts.
We devise our own script or play through an interactive session with
the students. We might pick up an old story line like a
Shakespearean play and write our own dialogues and characters.
Sometimes children come up with their own script.
Q. Any memorable performance?
Ans. We did a Hindi play called “Laghu Mahabharta” patronized by the
Ministry of Culture. We presented the play in a number of govt.
schools to inculcate a sense of heritage.
Q. What do you mainly emphasize on in your workshops?
Ans. a) We concentrate on “Children working together”.
In today’s world, with so much competition around children have lost
trust in each other. In my workshop they learn to work in groups and
cooperate. They often reveal their fears and begin to overcome them.
b) We also deal with developmental issues across various age groups,
like bullying kids, parental pressure, sibling rivalry.
I do not believe in the concept of personality development for
children. It Is a negative concept. It is a negation of their
inherent potential & creates a feeling of inferiority &
competitiveness among kids.
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Interview with Ms. Sudipta
Q. How did you get into this particular area of education?
Ans. Around 15 years back, I joined an organization run by Ereh
Won. This was inspired by Edward De Bano, who has done a lot of work
on lateral thinking.
Q. What was the next step?
Ans. After that, I attended and participated in many workshops
School sessions were organized on creative education. I always felt
that education should be a learning experience and should be fun.
Q. On which special areas do you work in these workshops?
Ans. I stress on being imaginative. I believe skills can be
developed, creativity can be cultivated. I have worked with around
80 schools and NGO’s. I have held workshops in developing
communicative skills. I do exercises which increase self motivation
and self-conceptive skills.
Q. Who do you work with in these workshops?
Ans. I work with students, teachers and corporates. I freelance.
At all times it is an excellent teaching and learning experience for
all of us.
Q. How did you find coming to our school?
Ans. It was great fun. The school is beautiful, has a great
ambience. Teachers have been fun to work with. They are not bogged
down with the syllabus.
Q. What other areas do you concentrate on in these workshops?
Ans. I talk about integration of Art in education. A combination
of history and music, geography and dance. All this make learning
fun and creates an interest for the subject in the students.
I do language building exercises and learning skills through poetry.
Q. Besides this what are your interests?
Ans. Oh, I am an avid reader. I finish a book a day. I would
recommend “100 ways to improve self concepts in the class” by Jack
Kenfield to all teachers.
Teachers have to be motivated. The basic objectives, I keep in mind
while conducting the workshops are:-
1. Look at yourself and the students.
2. Keep in mind the pattern of thinking of the students.
3. Two or three teaching – learning techniques.
4. Education should be less stressful for children.
5. Teaching should be more fun and always the kid’s point of view
should be kept in mind.
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Interview with Ms. Kavita Nayar
Q. When did your foray into the art
world begin?
Ans. I have been using various art media to express myself since
1979.
Q. What inspired you to come into this line?
Ans. When I was fourteen years old, my painting had been one of the
short-listed potentials for the Nehru Award which included a trip to
Moscow. I didn’t win the award, but looking back today, I can say
that was the trigger that pushed me into this line.
Q. Did you receive any formal training in art?
Ans. I trained first at Shantiniketan, where I received my Bachelor
of Fine Arts Degree. After a hiatus of 7- 8 years, I did my Master
of Fine Arts from College of Arts, New Delhi.
Q. Why did you choose to do workshops with school teachers?
Ans. Although I usually take work shops for Art professionals,
this time I did a workshop with school teachers in order to
contribute in my own way towards bringing creativity in teaching
methodology.
Q. And would you say that the workshop was successful?
Ans. From the enthusiastic feed-back that I got from the
teachers, I’d say a 100% yes!
Q. How do you think art can help students directly in their work,
whatever may be the stream?
Ans. Art is a vital tool for any student who wants to develop
the three fundamental skills to do well in any stream – observation,
visualization and personal interpretation.
Q. Any final thoughts that you would like to share about
developing creativity in children?
Ans. I would say that if a teacher taught one lesson less and
spent a little time helping children develop lateral thinking skills
instead, we would be seeing a nation of increasingly original
thinkers.
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