Category: Editorial

Imagining an education for all

Usha Raman
The right to education is a fundamental right. But is education accessible to all? In 75 years of being a republic, how far have we come in bringing education to every section of the society?

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How neighbourly are schools?

Usha Raman
Schools affect the lives of the young and the future of the society. Here, children learn about the world; do they also learn about their surroundings? In today’s world are schools islands of sorts – unaffected by their surroundings? Or, do they interact and mingle with their neighbourhoods?

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Agreeing to disagree

Usha Raman
Debates and discussions are an integral part of a successful democracy. However, in real life debates are shouting matches and in schools they are performances acted out by the students. Can our classrooms become spaces where different points of view can co-exist and conversations be healthy?

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The classroom as a model for the world

Usha Raman
Teachers are human beings like the rest of us – they will have their ups and downs in how they deal with students. But, can they – during the school hours – create a safe and happy learning space for children?

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Staying au courant

Usha Raman
As teachers we have to stay on top of things — our subject, pedagogies, policies, work culture. We also have to understand and learn about our students, their mindsets, behaviour patterns. Every minute new knowledge is being generated, so no matter how much we try and catch up, there is always more to learn. How do teachers stay up-to-date?

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A bit of spring cleaning for the mind?

Usha Raman
As humans can we be free from biases? How deep are these biases? How well do we know our biases? With experience do these biases taper off or is it the other way around? As teachers, how do these biases play in our classrooms?

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New beginnings

Usha Raman
The new academic year has just begun. As we welcome the new and say goodbye to the old, let us not lose sight of our responsibilities towards our students, to the future. At Teacher Plus too we have bid farewell to a couple of our colleagues and welcomed new people on the team even as we continue learning and sharing.

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A matter of our times

Usha Raman
History as a school subject is a pedagogic challenge. More often than not, it always comes under pressure of nation-building more than other subjects. The role of history in arousing an interest in the past and respect for it and also imparting the means to study it usually gets sidelined. As the constant revisions of our school textbooks suggest, history is very much a matter of our times.

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Being polite to being nice

Usha Raman
Are being polite and helpful no longer valued? It is almost as if we are conditioned to expect rudeness all the time, so much so that little acts of kindness take us by surprise. We need societies that are more considerate and pleasant to live in and clearly moral science classes are not the way to build them. So how do we build polite and nice societies?

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We need more than lip service

Usha Raman
How can teachers be given their due? While rewards and awards do exist, the profession as such is not considered valuable or important as compared to say, medicine or engineering. The best way would be to get society to acknowledge that this is a keystone profession, one without which other professions cannot grow.

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