Train yourself for Academic Teaching

All the highlighted links are a must read for self-training.

Important documents by Teach for America

If you are interested in teaching, here are some excellent documents to get a basic understanding of some theories which a teacher should know:
Instructional Planning & Delivery (IPD)
Learning Theory (LT)

These documents are by "Teach for America", a global non-profit that works in the area of Education of Children. As per my knowledge, these are the best reading materials available for teachers. I have gone through a number of books and videos on the internet, but I have not found better reading material than this.

Please read these theories thoroughly from the two documents:
- Differentiated Instruction (IPD, Ch8, Part I)
- Bloom's Taxonomy (LT, Ch1, Part 1)
- Multiple Intelligences Theory (LT, Ch1, Part 2)
- Memory Theory (LT, Ch1, Part 2)

In fact, everything written in these documents makes a lot of sense. Also, it is important to understand the learning theory of Constructivism. Piaget's theories are also seen as an important read for teachers. You may find these on Wikipedia, youtube, or elsewhere.

Here are a few more documents of this category:
Secondary Literacy, 2010
Equity Within Reach
Diversity, Community, & Achievement
Classroom Management & Culture
Elementary Literacy

Some inspiring schools & other existing work

SoM's approach is focused on alternative schools instead of regular CBSE/ICSE schools. A study of IB curriculum and their approach to teaching will also be helpful.

There are two schools which are likely to have their imprints on the way the academic side of SoM works. These schools are:

- Neelbagh School
- Mirambika Free Progress School (New Delhi)

Neelbagh was an alternative school started by David Horsburg in 1972. It was a school for the poor, but the education principles and methods David applied in the school, do not change much according to the budget. David's ways were the most unique. He is seen as the pioneer of Activity Based Education in India.

This article on Neelbagh is also excellent and is a must read.

Also, please study these:
- Arvind Gupta's Youtube Videos
- Selected Books for Children
- Arvind Gupta's PDFs
- Spirituality on Mars Youtube Channel
- Spirituality on Mars Bookmarks

For reference, NCERT books can be downloaded for any class from here: https://ncert.nic.in/textbook.php

Project Based Learning (PBL)

PBL is SoM's favorite method of teaching children. It brings handson learning to children while circumventing rote learning.

In PBL, children need to think critically, and deeply, and put their brains to work to solve problems which are challenging enough for their age group.

Children will use Google Search, Youtube, and ChatGPT like tools in almost every class activity. It is different from a typical class model where teacher teaches and 20, 30, or 40 children are made to listen to her as the source of all knowledge. In PBL, teacher is more like a "guide" or "helper" who facilitates learning. She is not a know-it-all! She helps students to find solutions on their own from the best information sources available on the internet made available by top universities, governments, documentaries or media channels or on all kinds of websites on the internet, and then with that information they solve problems with their own critical and creative thinking.

To understand how PBL works is important. It is not how project work happens typically in Indian schools, or the way it happened when I was in school. In most Indian schools, projects are more like craft projects in which the student has to make something impressive on the chart and then present it. More than one's own problem-solving ability, parents' and shopkeeper's help is duly required. But, the PBL approach that we talk about is completely different.

An organization named Buck Institute of Education (BIE) has been doing excellent work in project-based Learning. It teaches schools and teachers how to implement Project Based Learning in schools. BIE is now known as PBL Works.

A book by Buck Institute of Education called "PBL Starter Kit" is an excellent book for understanding how projects should be designed to make them work inside the classroom.

In the AI era, such teaching strategies are likely to become more popular.

The following video by Buck Institute of Education (PBL Works) gives a very good idea about how PBL is likely to be implemented by SoM. There may be multiple approaches available for implementing PBL. SoM's approach is likely to be strongly inspired by this approach to PBL.

In PBL, a student or a group of students are given a problem statement as if they are a little experimentalist who have all the information sources (books, internet access, and teacher's help) and have to think critically to find a solution. In the process of constructing a solution, they may experiment with chemicals, understand Newton's laws, talk to the people related to the problem (ex: traffic police), write a letter to the Superintendent of Police, do a survey of the nearby shopkeepers, make a small web survey, build a small app, and so on. Every project is different and requires different skills which children gain while working on the project. They learn every topic through well-designed projects.

In addition to PBL Works, also study how Mirambika handles Project Based Learning. You can read NCERT's book on Mirambika.

This book may also be useful. In general, Edutopia has many videos and articles on PBL. They are generally quite good.

I recommend giving the most importance to the "PBL Starter Kit" book mentioned above. That is more complete and is not a difficult read.

Advantages of Project Based Learning

Activity based learning and project based learning have great advantages which can not be denied. I think CBSE schools tend to make children dull and make them passive learners. Project based learning feels more like real learning.

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RURAL EDUCATION

The challenges faced by rural schools is way different than the ones faced by children in urban areas. The exact situation is likely to depend on the region and financial situation of the people sending their kids to the school, but in general we can say that challenges in education in rural are about getting basic literacy skills, staying motivated to study, and clearing the board exams. I see english speaking also as a very important skill. All this is what I understand so far.

For these reasons, so far I believe that complete reliance on project based learning or any of activity based learning may not be best for rural schools. My current view is that rural children will benefit more if the school is based on CBSE (English medium). Benefits of CBSE in a rural setting:
- CBSE schools have a much higher chance of getting government funding. Government may not fund an alternative school with a custom curriculum.
- It is easier for students to shift to other schools. Also, children from other schools moving to a SoM school will be able to settle in a SoM school more easily.
- CBSE schools are also easier to manage with less funding because it is easier to get teachers in nearby areas with lesser need for teacher training.
- CBSE schools are more easily acceptable by parents and society.
- Rural communities pose a lot of challenges: children are more aggressive, and parents are much less motivated and supportive. More educated teachers from urban areas will be more difficult to get for alternative teaching.

Because of the presence of such difficulties, it may be easier and more stable to run a regular CBSE school in rural areas. In semi-rural areas, an alternative school approach might work.

Learning from existing NGOs (Non-Profits)

There are many NGOs in India that focus on educating rural children. They work on different models.

One common model is the one followed by an organization named World Vision. They push people to donate and they use the donations to fund the education of rural children studying in schools. I think, such NGOs are not doing any innovation in how academic education should be given to children. I think they fund children studying in regular schools.

But there are a few NGOs that are applying their minds and efforts to improve the education of children. They have devised new ways to improve education in rural India. One such NGO is Pratham Foundation. Another one is Teach for India.

We need to study both of them.

Pratham Foundation & ASER

Pratham is one of the biggest NGOs in India working for child education. They seem to be doing good, down-to-earth, and sincere work to help children at a large scale. I highly recommend studying everything they are doing. Please study their website thoroughly. Study all their activities and projects.

One of their important projects is the ASER survey. Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) is the most important survey in India to assess the situation of education of children all over India. It is a famous and reliable survey. Even the Indian government relies on it to understand the education situation and often refers to it in their documents. They have found that a good majority of 5th class students in India can not read Class 2 text. This is called 'achievement gap'.

Achievement Gap

The achievement gap is the disparity in educational outcomes between students from rural areas and their urban counterparts. For example, a class 5 student studying in a rural area may not be able to study simple English text given in class 2 text books, but a typical class 2 student in an urban area may be able to read the same. This also applies to basic arithmetic skills. Achievement gap is a major problem in rural education.

Closing Achievement Gap

Both, Pratham Foundation and Teach for India have devised great ways to teach basic literacy skills to students of primary classes.

Pratham's way to close Achievement Gap

Teach for All & Teach for India

Teach for India's methods for teaching and closing Achievement Gap are the most innovative and seemingly effective. Their ways of fixing education problems are quite interesting and innovative.

Teach for India is part of a global movement named Teach for All. Many national level organizations are working under Teach for All, namely Teach for America, Teach for India, Teach for Nepal, and so on.

According to Wikipedia, Teach For All is a global network of 61 independent, locally led and funded partner organizations whose stated shared mission is to "expand educational opportunity around the world by increasing and accelerating the impact of social enterprises that are cultivating the leadership necessary for change."

Teach for All network. Each dot represents a nationwide organization, like Teach for India.

Teach for All was founded by Wendy Kopp and Brett Wigdortz. At first, Wendy Kopp founded Teach for America and many years later she started Teach for All.

The teaching methods and strategies used by 'Teach for America' to solve the education problems of the underprivileged in America are quite similar to the challenges in other areas of the world, like India. Wikipedia says:

Teach For All partner organizations recruit outstanding graduates and professionals from a range of academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and communities and to work throughout their lives to ensure more students are able to fulfil their potential. Teach For All network partners provide participants with ongoing training and support throughout their initial two-year commitments, and foster the development of alumni as leaders for educational change.

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The important book

Teach for America wrote an excellent book: "Teaching as Leadership". This book explains the whole strategy used by Teach for America in solving education problems in underprivileged populations of America. From what I understand, Teach for India follows a similar strategy in India. It seems to be quite good and effective. I highly recommend this book. It is one of the best books I have found so far on rural education and on how a teacher should handle a classroom.

Indian Education System - THE GOOD PARTS

I want to write elaborately about this topic. I am working on this section. I want to talk about the excellent work that has happened in the field of education in India in the past many decades.

Arvind Gupta Website

To understand what I am saying, please spend hours or days or months on https://www.arvindguptatoys.com

Many classics are available here in English, Hindi, and other languages for free PDF downloads. Open the website and find (ctrl+f) the word "classic" to find the best books.

This is among the best content on this website as per my understanding.

Simple & Fun Children Books

I used to rely heavily on Amazon/Flipkart for children books. Eventually, I noticed that Amazon does not have a good collection of books from Indian publishers, especially hindi books. Many-many great Indian books are available on some of the websites of Indian publishers. Here are some good Indian publishers of children books in Hindi, English and other languages:

https://storyweaver.org.in

This is an excellent website for free online reading and has legal content. I think almost all Pratham books and other books are available here for free for online reading or PDF download.

Start here: https://storyweaver.org.in/en/stories?query=&sort=Most%20Liked

https://prathambooks.org

Large collection of excellent books by Pratham Foundation for ordering the hardcopy.