The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : In quest of new teaching, learning methods

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In quest of new teaching, learning methods

Staff Reporter

11 teachers selected for TEA programme await trip to the United States

Photo: S.R.RAGHUNATHAN

Gearing up: The group of teachers selected from south India for the TEA programme listening to alumna Sunita Biswas (right) at the orientation programme in Chennai on Friday. —

CHENNAI: They seem as excited as students awaiting an excursion.

A group of 11 teachers selected for the Teaching Excellence and Achievement (TEA) programme administered by the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF), are eagerly looking forward to their upcoming trip to the United States.

In store

A lot of interesting exchange of ideas and learning is in store, they told The Hindu on the sidelines of an orientation programme here on Friday.

The teachers were from schools in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

City teachers participating in the programme were Sarada Narendranath of Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, D. Vimala Angelina of Alpha Matriculation, Swapna Nair of DAV Boys School, Lakshmi Ravindran of Lady Andal, Devika Raman and Mahalakshmi Ramjee of Padma Seshadri and Pramila Achamma Sriram of Green Valley Matriculation.

On what they seek to do on the trip, Ms. Narendranath says she would look for new teaching and learning methods. “On my return, I am hoping to implement some of those practices in our school, depending on how suitable they are to our context.”

While K. Rugmini Menon of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Palakkad, wants to find out about how technology is integrated to classroom teaching, Chaganti Suryakumari from Johnson Grammar School in Hyderabad says she would share information about “incredible India” with counterparts there.

The teachers are also keen on picking up tips on pedagogy. “I want to observe the nuances in their teaching methodology,” says Rao Vinoda of Carmel High School, Bangalore. P.T. Sreekumar, who teaches political science at K.K.M. Higher Secondary School, Palakkad, wants to see if there are lessons on bridging the gap between the teacher and students. “In Kerala, there is an attempt to work on the idea of social constructivism in education. I want to compare the models.”

The teachers are also sure that they would have novel ideas to give. Ms.Raman says, “I want to tell them how we blend theatre arts and music with our curriculum. I’ll have a lot to learn from their structures, too.”

Ms. Sriram wants to come back and be able to motivate her students even more. “Our school caters for children from very modest backgrounds. I want to make learning more exciting for them.”

The teachers, who have been selected after many rounds of testing and interviews, will spend nearly six weeks in different universities in the States, where they will interact with counterparts from 20 countries, according to Sarina Paranjape, USIEF’s Indian programme officer.

Sunita Biswas, a TEA alumna, who is now implementing some of the ideas from her trip in her school in Kolkata, shared her experiences.

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