How to work together
How to work together
Summary of day 3 discussion
Areas and issues the network can work on
Activities
1. Conferences
2. Quarterly-half yearly newsletter
3. Teacher’s training
4. Resource center/group
5. Teacher Networks
6. Database of orgs and educational resources
7. Prodcution and dissemination of materials
8. Research and relevant study of methodologies
9. Analysis of present education system
10. Creating libraries and youth centers
11. Children’s melas
12. Workgroups for specific areas
13. Exchange visits
14. Email networks (more of work and less of net)
Tasks/Volunteers
Administration – More volunteers needed for admin group.
Methodologies documentation – Need input from all groups. Need volunteers for web resource center.
Training – Each group need to provide training area and commitment.
Activities that can be taken up for next year
1. Conferences – yearly conference. Next one in Tamilnadu, February 2004
2. Newsletter –
- Can start with conference proceedings,
- Minimum of 2 newsletters for this year.
- Right now in English, can be expanded later on to regional languages.
3. Build a web/printed data base of educational resources and organization
4. Teacher Training –
a. Each group commits to training, area, # teachers, how many times a year, and if they can provide a venue
b. Network as a whole tries to find the best use of the commitment. Within the commitment they can give preference to the kind of teachers they may want to train. They can give feedback of these training sessions at the next conference.
c. Aruna/Raghavan (from Anugriha) have volunteered to do this – If any group is conducting a workshop then Anugriha can inform all groups. Asha needs to update them with the new groups interested in knowing about workshops and training.
d. There needs to be space made within the network so that new groups that need training in more than one area may get trained by several groups at the same time. The time frame coordination for this can be taken care of by the administrative group.
5. Resource Centers –
a. A virtual resource center which has contributions from all the groups present here about their
methodologies, philosophies etc. This will also be made into a resource book or as conference
proceedings.
b. Network need not have a physical place, rather the participating groups can lend their places physically and centrally it can be coordinated virtually.
c. Few people involved with the network can give their contact address for the resource group.
6. Children Melas
7. Exchange visits
8. Email Network
Some thoughts on 5-year goals
Transcript of discussions
The following is a transcript of the discussions on the third day of the conference on how to take this idea of a network forward.
Jayashree - We had requested suggestion, comments about how we can work together from all of you. There were many questions we had asked, here we have summarized 2 of the questions - areas and issues the network should address, and the activities that the network could take up. For the question on whether we should network - out of 27 feedback forms, 26 felt networking is necessary. The areas and issues the network should address and the activities the network should address are listed below. Any more suggestions are welcome, especially if you have not given the how to work together form by last night. What would be good is if we all can come up with the short term activities/objectives as a group we could take up for the next one year and the next 5 years. The list of areas and issues we could take up as a network are as follows (as summarized from all the forms we got)
Areas/ issues
Quality and meaningful education for all with emphasis to less privileged
Educational methodologies
Learning materials
Community ownership of schools
Children’s forum
Sharing of ideas, problems, experiences, solutions
Government school reform
Policy level interventions
Alternative schools
Drop-outs, working children, child rights
Women’s education
Environmental awareness
Assessment of government and alternatives
Spread values of love peace and unity
School administration - budget for growth
Documentation, dissemination of new methodologies
Flexible pedagogy for diverse curriculum needs
Dialogue on issues like saffronisation, right to primary education
Joint campaigns, projects, studies
Bridging gap between less privileged and privileged
Prasanna - We have many groups working together. Form a resource group to form exchange ideas. Form a group, try and learn from every group and replicate their ideas in other places (if this does not affect copyrights etc).
Jayashree - Areas/issues is different and activities we could take up are two separate areas. We already have resource center under the activities. Lets come back to the areas/issues we can address.
Melli - Locally relevant curriculum could be another area. But this could come under the category of flexible pedagogy.
Aruna - Integrating the rural and the urban. A lot of things are being done for the underprivileged, which the privileged children are not getting. There needs to be outreach into the privileged section. Seems like a lot of quality of education is not going to the urban children.
Deepa - Quality education for all children.
Lalit - The emphasis on the underprivileged cannot go. That needs to be there.
Noella - At some point we need to prioritise. We also need to keep our scope in mind. If we say quality education for all then we are reaching out beyond our scope.
Radhika - The two should come together. For eg - the resource center could disseminate it into the privileged section. We do not have to produce it for the privileged schools, but make it accessible to them, since none of them are even aware of the kind of material coming out of places/groups like these here.
Jayashree - How much of effort should go in? that’s the question
Radhika - A center will help, since there will be accessibility and dissemination.
Lalit - The inspiration for these methods etc comes only from the needs of the less privileged. So the emphasis should remain on less privileged, but have a resource group/center from where whatever is produced is made accessible to the privileged schools. But inspiration comes when there are difficulties. People have been deprived for generations, denied access to knowledge of any kind for, parents have not studied.
Shanmuga - There is no debate here. Since Aruna and Raghavan also work in Arasavanangadu all the time.
Aruna - It’s a great compliment that there are a lot of things here in the last 3 days that are going to the section of people in the society who do not have anything. It should go there, but it should also go the children who appear privileged, but are not getting any of these things.
Jayashree - Priority to less privileged, but should be open to all.
Poonam - Somehow these groups get segregated. What about bridging the gap between the less privileged and the main stream schools, by extra curricular activities etc.
Prasanna - I have some reservations about alternative schools. There is no point putting up a beautiful building and model. It has to be replicable. So why don’t we get into the mainstream and create alternative mindset rather than alternative schools?
Lalit - Alternative mindset is a part of a process. Unless you break out of something first, you cannot create. One needs to have alternatives, and they will be replicated if they are good, relevant and will be copied in the mainstream also.
Activities
Jayashree - People have suggested many activities as follows
Several areas and issues do not have corresponding activities. So if people want to add on more activities, please do so.
Prasanna - Education watch - classification, measurement of what is being done by the network group, (not the government or alternatives). A group of people who monitor the work being done by the network.
Jayashree - This will come in the next stage. We make the group first, decide what to do and then think of evaluation. We have one year and 5 year goals specifically to evaluate and measure ourselves.
Conferences - once a year.
Newsletter
People had suggested many things that the newsletter could contain.
Basavaraju - If it is an all India level newsletter, then going for a newsletter in all regional languages may be difficult. We should start with English and then look at contributions coming in from various regional languages and then think about newsletters in various regional languages. One more question is who is the target of the newsletter? If it is for the organizations then they can get it in English and use it the way they want.
Prasanna - there is no need to crowd the newsletter space. There are newsletters like Jantar Mantar in Tamilnadu, Teacher in Karnataka brought out by BGVS. What we should do is ensure people read what is brought out and disseminate it further.
Anita - Teacher caters to the teachers in the Karnataka. So lets decide whom we want a newsletter for rather than deciding we want or don’t want a newsletter.
Basavaraju - A newsletter amongst the network organizations is needed. It can be in English.
Subba - Many issues that we are concerned with is not discussed in chakmak/teacher. Critical analysis is not there in the newsletter.
Lalit - As a group, why don’t we decide what are the activities that we as a group consider absolutely essential, then everything else will get clearer - whether we need it or not.
Noella - Maybe we could discuss a bit about the resource center, teachers training, research and analysis, documentation and dissemination of methodology, this is based on the discussions in the last 3 days.
Basavaraju - A newsletter with contributions from all these orgs, sharing amongst these organizations once in 6 months will be good.
Jayashree - Tulika has also offered to print it (after some discussion)
Basavaraju - Initially we can do it over email. And later print if needed
Jayashree- Many people are not over email. So maybe we should also print.
Resource Center
Lakshmi - Does the center need to be a physical place?
Jayashree - No, here we can have a virtual place. (There was some discussion on resource group)
Prasanna - Eg. Volunteers from AID + representative of each group can form a learn/buy material from the network organizations and this resource group can concentrate on training all the other organization in all the other issues.
Jayashree - Shouldn’t the training be given by the organization that produces the material itself? There are two groups - administration and training. This resource group is it a part of administration or training? If this group is a training group, then we also need to think about administrative group.
Lakshmi - The resource group should be more for the teacher training area, and the administrative group can be separate.
Jayashree - Training part is all the groups making material. So then who plays the administrative role?
Noella - Probably need to identify 4-5 people who would keep track of what different people are doing, and when someone has a question, email write/call this group and this group directs in the right direction. So in some sense they are networking. Training can happen with the individual groups.
Poonam - Also we should identify a resource person amongst ourselves from our own organization who would be the contact person for the expertise the organization has.
Xx - I think by default the administration would fall on Asha.
Jayashree- There are people within Asha who are willing to do this, but if there are other who would like to volunteer that will be good too.
Meenakshi - As a follow up of this conference, if we can have a book with contributions of our methods that will be good.
Lalit - Resource center and teacher training is the same.
Shanmuga - Clearly Asha has brought people together, so Asha cannot wash the hands off. Few Asha volunteers also need to be present in the admin. But since people here have also said that they need a network, then they also have a responsibility towards admin. Asha also has its own problems and baggage. Suggestion is that the admin group be formed here. Few of us from Asha will also be here.
Jayashree - Also from the aspect of ownership this is important. Asha should not be the only group pushing the administrative part. There are different components to the admin part, so if people can volunteer for various aspects of admin, that will be good.
Raghavan - If we can list out the tasks and people can volunteer for it, that will be good.
Tulika - We have a resource section for parents and teachers with books and this place can be used as a resource center.
Reshma - A physical resource center may be necessary just from the point that not everyone can rely on a virtual resource center, but may need a place to call up and find out information etc.
Anita - The admin/contact address could be one or more of the people who are working on the admin/training aspect. People who take up the task of following up queries given their address.
Shanmuga - We can have a email and postal address on the web. Many of the groups here are moving towards becoming a resource center. Zonally, we can have physical spaces of AERC, goodbooks and one of their addresses can be the postal address too. Network need not have a physical place, rather the participating groups can lend their places physically and centrally it can be coordinated virtually.
Summary - Resource center
1. A virtual resource center which has contributions from all the groups present here about their methodologies, philosophies etc. This will also be made into a resource book or as conference proceedings.
2. Network need not have a physical place, rather the participating groups can lend their places physically and centrally it can be coordinated virtually.
3. Few people involved with the network can give their contact address for the resource group.
Teacher Training, Outreach and dissemination
Noella - We have done in service and pre-service training. Since we are currently involved with the material production itself, we may not be able to commit all the time, but where we can help we will.
Shashi - It could be zonal training. Tamilnadu could be one zone or maybe even break the states into smaller districts, since it is difficult for people to travel too far.
Jayashree - How should trainings be organized and the language issues?
Basavaraju - Need to find out who the target audience the trainings is for?
Chitra Akka - Groups Asha works with or knows of can be the groups who can have training. We can also recruit teachers from the public, call for training programs, who can then go take training from all the network organizations and then they can become teachers in these schools.
Sandya - Its only after a few years of experience of teaching in the system that one realizes something missing. Though some may be enthusiastic, but by and large people are more enthusiastic.
Lakshmi - Newer people are certainly enthusiastic. They can be called for by local advertisements. Get in new trainees and then they can go for teacher jobs.
Lalit - People won’t come without some assurance of a future. This training program would need to be recognized first and only then can it attract people interested in getting trained.
Subba - No two organizations here are the same. Each of us are doing things differently. We can learn from each other. There is no need for a single module. Instead of calling it training, we could call it exposure. Teachers from different groups can come together and learn and also involve government teachers. Build up many varieties of resources. Critical evaluation of the exchange/training programs is also necessary.
Prasanna - Asha, AID volunteers can get trained and become trainers to train new teachers.
Reshma - I don’t agree with this, since to become a trainer, one needs some years of experience, an understanding of ground realities, which many of us don’t have.
Each organization can give a write up on what each group can provide and what their expertise is, so that the information can be put together. Orgs requiring training can write to the admin group in the area they need and then get the training. Also information about training being provided by other groups that the network organizations knows can also be documented.
Shanmuga - People from the organizations present here now need to provide a leading role for the network functioning, instead of Asha being expected to do this/that. Also first the groups present here need to commend and also critically evaluating each others work. Then the training needs to be provided groups Asha/AID works with. And then reach out to the government schools. There is also a need for certain amount of planning for trainings and feedback.
Reshma - On chitra Akka’s point - How does each group ensure that the quality of the training is retained and the training is not diluted?
Lakshmi - Exposure to people and material is important for training.
Shanmuga - In terms of structure for teachers training, each group commits to training, area, number of teachers, how many times a year, venue, etc. Network as a whole tries to find the best use of the commitment. Within the commitment they can give preference to the kind of teachers they may want to train. They can give feedback of these training sessions at the next conference.
Jayashree - Everybody in the network does 2 things. Provide info about your commitment and training you can provide and keep a look out for groups who can use the training.
Shanmuga - Admin group would be responsible for culling the information and ensure that the training/commitment is used.
Jayashree- At the same time each group of the network can watch out for groups that need training. So that this does not fall on just 2-3 people.
Aruna/Raghavan - Volunteer to do this - If any group is conducting a workshop then we can inform all groups. Asha needs to update us with the new groups. We offer AVK facilities for 50 groups, weekend training, by any Asha groups, for Asha groups twice a week.
Jayashree - Request each of you to provide information on what you can train on.
Anita - When you are giving information on you commitment please provide info on number of teacher, area of training, number of times a year and if you would offer your venue.
Shashi - Have a learning center in Chennai. Offer the venue. Can also provide training. We can bring in the correct resource person. And the group that needs training just needs to tell us.
Jayashree - We also need people for the admin part. We assume that each group in the network can provide training. We don’t want only Asha and aid doing admin part.
Research and relevant study of education methodologies
External perspective on methodologies. Go out and find newer methodologies beyond the current groups and include them in this current forum.
Shanmuga - There needs to be a clear mechanism for feedback in the teacher training program. This can be considered as research and relevant study. Rather than writing papers, we should have a survey on how useful it was.
It should be an ongoing process, this is what was relevant, this is what was used as it is, this is what needed to be adapted, so then the methodology gets more refined according to this feedback. This should be the responsibility of each individual group that provides training. But this should be open and transparent to all the groups in the network for reading or going through.
What about critiquing of the groups work, since each group works in the niche, some felt that there is not enough critique of each groups work? What type of a critique and what type of a process can be? ( not necessary, decided to move on)
Teacher Networks
This can again be the responsibility of the individual groups.
Database of orgs and resources
Already discussed, virtual resource center on the web.
Production of material
This could be an individual activity. But the dissemination could be a group activity and the network can be involved in this through the teacher training activity. Whenever there is teacher training, dissemination of appropriate material happens.
Deepa - There are many groups that are running schools, many working with the government, some working on enrollment and some like us who concentrate on producing material in areas that all groups may not be able to produce material on. The network can play a part by requesting such groups to develop material for areas that groups need material for. Put people who need material in touch with groups who can make/adapt existing material.
Either groups tell admin that they have this skill or the network feels that this is important enough that there are workshops for preparing material in areas like math, science etc.
One more suggestion for teacher training - There needs to be space made within the network so that new groups that need training in more than one area may get trained by several groups at the same time. The time frame coordination for this can be taken care of by the administrative group.
Children Melas
In general if people are organizing melas then groups let the network known. Can be done by individual groups.
Basavaraju - Network can organize one mela, where children from all groups can participate. This could be similar to the conference.
Lalit - Have exchange visits between different groups.
Centralised mela is more difficult to organize. This can again be taken up individual groups. Each group can inform the admin the requirements for the exchange program can be made available for other groups to contact this group.
Children melas can also spread the message of love, peace and unity.
Deepa - Localised melas are possible. Each groups organizes localized melas and children from that area attend it. A central mela may not be feasible, since for eg. I will not be able to bring children from Bombay all the way to another state. I would be more comfortable to know what children’s mela would exactly be.
Basavaraju - Every year central melas can be organized, where a specified number of children come from each group, exchange ideas etc, stay with each other.
Exchange visits need to be for at least a few months. But this may not be possible for children going to regular schools.
Subba - We have been participating here for the last 3 days. The melas need not be a huge one where 1000 children come. The number can be limited to 100, where meaningful exchange can occur. The children from participating groups can exchange ideas. Discussion on topics, demonstration of skills, cultural shows etc. Children can pick up ideas and skills from each other. Beyond 100, it is difficult to have any meaningful exchange. They can communicate without language barrier also if it is a zonal.
How do we limit the number of children? - here we have restricted the number of groups. So we could do something similar for groups.
Ravi - Individual groups can organize melas in their local areas where government school children and others can participate and they learn what this group has done this way there can be a small force for the local schools to adapt the techniques in their schools.
Subba and Basavaraju - to come up with a proposal for children’s mela and this can be discussed later on.
Many of the other areas/issues that people listed did not have corresponding activities. So do we want to think of any more activities for the network that we can discuss?
Noella - We need to see how we get along for this year to really think if we can pitch in for policy level intervention. It’s important, but before that we need to evaluate our functioning for a year.
How do we work for the next one year?
Activities that we can take up for the next one year
5 Year Goals - It’s too early. We can revisit after a year.
Training - how much can we do in one year. The reason for putting training in one year is so that we get started with training and not just do admin work.
Some thoughts on 5-year goals
What about few comments on where we could go in the next 5 years?
How can the network work with government schools?
As individual groups it may be possible.
Sindu - There are already groups working at the state, national level on policy level. This group is very small to create a pressure group. But we can work with such a network if we agree with what that larger network is working on.
This network can be a part of the larger network. Can also act as a support group.
One way to work with government schools is to have a 5 year goal as regular teacher training to government school teachers.
People wanting to work on policy level issues, keep track of what is happening in the educational context in the country and update the group and then we can decide on how and whether we need to work at the policy level.
Are we limiting this network to this many organizations only?
The network should make a conscious effort to expand and get more groups to join the network.
Children club for activities, so that bridging the gap between the less privileged and privileged is reduced.
So we should also try to think of how we can reach into the privileged section.
(Where and When ? Next Conference . Mauritius J)
Preferable to have it in some other state. So that we can invite government officials of different states.
Aruna and Raghavan volunteer to have it at their place.
Too many conferences in Dec/Jan, so it is a stretch to attend the conferences. November may be a bit early. Feb/March. February - unanimous. Watch for any other conferences before deciding the days of the conference.