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Teaching, like most other things, has undergone a serious transformation to keep itself functioning and relevant in this pandemic-induced world.
So as the Kool Kanya Community celebrates Teacher’s day this year, we spoke to a few teachers on the community. Here’s what they had to say about how teaching, they think, is going to change post COVID-19.
Teachers On The Kool Kanya Community Speak
Supriya Glory: The Challenges Of Teaching Online
“I actually used to play a lot of teacher-teacher as a kid. All of us must have. Most of my family members are teachers. I was a teacher too. All through 2014 to 2017.
I started out with International Montessori and NTT teacher training 2014 -2015. I taught the Kindergarten and Montessori kids for 2 years in 2015-17. An enlightening experience. I learnt so many things.
Post COVID-19 lots of things are online. Teachers who are intimidated by technology now have to take the bull by its horns. For many who are proficient at planning and teaching in the traditional classroom, planning for an online setting requires some re-learning. But more than anything, online classrooms have brought up the issues of classroom management.
If teachers thought they had enough trouble keeping their classrooms in order earlier, that is nothing compared to the woes of remote classrooms. It is very sad to hear long-term educators asking for help with managing students online.The critics of online teaching often argue on the overwhelmed emphasis of online teaching on cognitive development and leftover its undue focus on the socio-emotional development of children.
Also, they argue that online teaching promotes the ‘banking system of education’ which is the deposition of knowledge-based instructions in children’s minds. In education, we know something called 3-H that is Head-on, Hand-on, and Heart-on. Due to the intrinsic limitation of online teaching, it finds difficult to meet these arguments. However, teachers may use ‘group-based tasks’ and encourage ‘collaborative learning’ to develop students’ social-emotional skills in virtual settings.
These are strange times. We are all at home, including kids. Preschools are shut and it is now on us to ensure that they are getting the mental, physical and emotional stimulation that they need. And more importantly it is our responsibility to ensure that the stress of these times doesn’t affect them, that we turn this time into a period of wonder and curiosity and learning and love and connection.”
Baktha Nandhini Sundar: How Upskilling Can Help Sustain Your Teaching Career
“Many of us may had a habit of teaching to the walls in our childhood days, pretending to have a stick in our hand like our teachers do. I too had experienced it!
But my inspiration to make teaching as my passion started from my college days. As an engineering student, we used to enjoy during our classes and prepare for exams at the last minute. So during the last month preparation, I used to teach my friends the subjects I felt confident in. They couldn’t understand certain concepts unless I explained it contextually, using real life examples.
And that’s how I found my own way of teaching using real time and daily life concepts.
It would be a very heartwarming feeling when someone would say, “You are the reason I was able to score this much!”
Currently, during this pandemic many of us have faced financial problems. It has also affected my family. But my passion helped me to overcome this instability. I have learned the Japanese language and decided to effectively utilise this newfound skill.
I have begun teaching Japanese and presently, I am teaching 2 kids (a 9 year old and a 12 year old) and trying to live life peacefully.”
Community Members’ On How They Think Teaching Is Going To Transform
Anuradha Aul: Our Teachers Are Our Light Bearers
“We wouldn’t have been where we are, if we didn’t have good teachers. Post COVID-19 everyone has realised that we need to carry on. As they say, ‘the show must go on’.
So, the pandemic is a big jolt to human kind. It has thrown everyone out of their comfort zone and forced us to think about how to move forward. Teachers in this extreme environment are contributing and continuing what they’re best at: teaching, inspiring, and encouraging. At the same time, being more patient and understanding.
The pandemic has also given all the teachers a new opportunity to be more technology savvy, as they’re conducting all the classes online, wonderfully. It has probably reduced their face to face interactions with students, yet made them more approachable for students and parents because of Whatsapp School and Class Groups. Seeing the brighter side of things is what we’re taught. And, our teachers are our light bearers. More power to them!”
Shilpa Karra: The Pandemic Has Made Everyone A Student
“I have been someone who has cherished the love of her teachers. I have been a favourite always for the wrong reasons though. Was never a study oriented student, was always a pain in the ass, was always up to some mischief or the other and yet have managed to be the darling of all my teachers.
That being said, I also have varied opinions of how our education system puts the onus on teachers alone, discounting the interests of a candidate or even for that matter the curriculum that we have ben following in shaping the life and career of a student.
I believe that learning is an ongoing process which includes a lot of unlearning, relearning and upskilling and can’t be restricted to school or college itself. Rather than talking about how teaching has changed during COVID-19, I would want to talk about how learning has changed.
Everyone now is open to think about what they want to learn with the situation being uncertain. Yes, if we just think of the school and college children then it has a downside to it. But look at the brighter side. I, and so many others like me get to learn and teach so much with a platform like this. I would never have done that if it hadn’t been for COVID-19.
This is definitely a welcome change for everyone who wants to keep learning and working on improving their skills to the next level irrespective of whether it is a student or a teacher. In fact it wouldn’t be exaggeration if I said that this pandemic has made teachers out of students and students out of teachers.”
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