CLEP-2 Phase Webinar 1st Day Live Seminar Reading Material. Reading material of webinar-1. This is the Reading Material of Day-1 Webinar on On "Revisiting learning from CLEPAdapting to the change in curriculum" by Dr Shoba K.N., Asst. Prof., Dept. of English, Anna University, Chennai.
Objectives
REVISITING LEARNINGS FROM CLEP
The trainings done through the Comprehensive Learning Enhancement Program, constituting the first phase of teacher-training sessions for the teachers of Andhra Pradesh. It involved moving towards a paradigm shift in primary education and aimed at making all students of Andhra Pradesh access global standards of education.
Topics Covered
According to Tomlinson (2000) “For many teachers, curriculum has become a prescribed set of academic standards, instructional pacing has become a race against a clock to cover the standards, and the sole goal of teaching has been reduced to raising student test scores on a single test.” Curriculum can be defined as the selection and structure of the Goals, Content, Sequence,
Procedures, Assessment of a program or a course.
Syllabus can be defined as the planned structure outlining of Specific objectives, Requirements, Readings, Assessments, Scheduled assignments of a particular course.
Andhra Pradesh is a state that has become a model for the rest of India in terms of English Medium Instruction for the primary school children from I-VI in all government schools.
Though children from all sections of society have been brought to schools, the greatest challenge is that the field of education in Andhra Pradesh faces is how to provide quality education to all. On the basis of NEP (National Educational Policy) infrastructure development and teacher training programmes were widely carried out. Along with this there were attempts to make the curriculum child centred, activity based and process oriented, thereby making it contemporary. This leads to the realization that knowledge has to be constructed in the class rooms. Thus, activities have been initiated that posit the child at the centre of the educational process.
Changes occur every minute in all fields of life. The latest findings and practical experiences in pedagogy and Educational Psychology have enabled the development of learning materials and the transaction of learning experiences in a better way. These are aimed at the overall improvement of learners. 'It must be ensured that children who have different socio-economic backgrounds and different physical, psychological and cognitive abilities can learn and achieve success at school to overcome the limitations that develop from differences in gender, cast, language and physical disabilities, policies and projects will not alone serve; instead there is a need to select and design suitable teaching methods and learning objectives right from childhood' (NCF).
Thus, as pointed out by NCF, the perspective should be to adopt minute as well as scientific strategies to provide desired outcome to children from all sections of society.This can be achieved only if curriculum revisions are carried out periodically and the system is always is kept active. The existing curriculum is revised on the basis of this vision by imbibing the experiences, findings and research of those who constantly intervene in the field of education. The scientific approach of proceeding from 'what is good' to 'what is better' is adopted here.
Several innovative ideas were presented in the field of education during the last five years. With the implementation of Right to Education Act -2009, quality education has eventually become the right of the child. The curriculum for schools has to be raised to an international education standard to implement such a right based comprehensive school development vision. During curriculum revision it is essential to consider the rules concerning curriculum and assessment in the RTE.
Whenever a text book is revised it must be totally different in design, structure and intention. The basic premises on which the new curriculum and the text books were developed include the following:
a. Children's literature:
CLEP-2 Phase Webinar 1st Day Live Seminar Reading Material
Reading Materials for Session 1Objectives
- Move forward to the next level of training programme
- Redesign our learning from face-to-face to online interactions
- Recollect our reflective learnings from CLEP
REVISITING LEARNINGS FROM CLEP
The trainings done through the Comprehensive Learning Enhancement Program, constituting the first phase of teacher-training sessions for the teachers of Andhra Pradesh. It involved moving towards a paradigm shift in primary education and aimed at making all students of Andhra Pradesh access global standards of education.
Topics Covered
- Welcoming English Medium Instruction.www.apteachers.in
- Let's get started
- English- the global gateway
- English for empowerment
- English as a cultural bridge
- Unlearn, learn and relearn
- Proficiency level checkpoint
- Listening to the language
- Conversational skills Read to comprehend
- Writing to express
Addressing Common Challenges
- Identifying challenges of EMI
- Increasing exposure to the language
- The sounds of English
- Knowing words and their forms
- Importance of updating oneself
- Verb forms and subject-verb agreement
- Prepositions
- Articles and adjectives
- Instructions and questions
- Spellings
- English outside the classroom
- Teaching Maths lessons in English
- Teaching EVS lessons in English
- Teaching English lessons
- Continuous Professional Development (CPD).www.apteachers.in
Demonstrations, Reflection and Continuous Assessments
ADAPTING TO THE CHANGE IN CURRICULUM
Introduction:- Schools across the nation have begun revising instructional programs in an effort to meet society's demands for the 21st century.
- Determining what these needs are, how to address them, and how to revise established curriculum are huge and responsible tasks.
- Designing the curriculum which would also upgrade the established instructional program and improve classroom instruction.
- Curriculum change is social, cultural and glocal.
Procedures, Assessment of a program or a course.
Syllabus can be defined as the planned structure outlining of Specific objectives, Requirements, Readings, Assessments, Scheduled assignments of a particular course.
Andhra Pradesh is a state that has become a model for the rest of India in terms of English Medium Instruction for the primary school children from I-VI in all government schools.
Though children from all sections of society have been brought to schools, the greatest challenge is that the field of education in Andhra Pradesh faces is how to provide quality education to all. On the basis of NEP (National Educational Policy) infrastructure development and teacher training programmes were widely carried out. Along with this there were attempts to make the curriculum child centred, activity based and process oriented, thereby making it contemporary. This leads to the realization that knowledge has to be constructed in the class rooms. Thus, activities have been initiated that posit the child at the centre of the educational process.
Changes occur every minute in all fields of life. The latest findings and practical experiences in pedagogy and Educational Psychology have enabled the development of learning materials and the transaction of learning experiences in a better way. These are aimed at the overall improvement of learners. 'It must be ensured that children who have different socio-economic backgrounds and different physical, psychological and cognitive abilities can learn and achieve success at school to overcome the limitations that develop from differences in gender, cast, language and physical disabilities, policies and projects will not alone serve; instead there is a need to select and design suitable teaching methods and learning objectives right from childhood' (NCF).
Thus, as pointed out by NCF, the perspective should be to adopt minute as well as scientific strategies to provide desired outcome to children from all sections of society.This can be achieved only if curriculum revisions are carried out periodically and the system is always is kept active. The existing curriculum is revised on the basis of this vision by imbibing the experiences, findings and research of those who constantly intervene in the field of education. The scientific approach of proceeding from 'what is good' to 'what is better' is adopted here.
Several innovative ideas were presented in the field of education during the last five years. With the implementation of Right to Education Act -2009, quality education has eventually become the right of the child. The curriculum for schools has to be raised to an international education standard to implement such a right based comprehensive school development vision. During curriculum revision it is essential to consider the rules concerning curriculum and assessment in the RTE.
Whenever a text book is revised it must be totally different in design, structure and intention. The basic premises on which the new curriculum and the text books were developed include the following:
a. Children's literature:
- The new text books give great importance to children's literature. Authentic pieces of children's literature, adapted versions of well-known stories and stories developed by text book writers are included. These stories and songs/poems that can be sung in chorus are the main texts. Based on their reading learners are asked to engage in certain language activities so as to apply their knowledge of English. The meaning making process of the texts given has to be done in such a way that every learner gets a chance to listen, speak, read and write in the target language. www.apteachers.in
b. Pictures as Texts:
The illustrations used in the text books are treated as texts. The multi-coloured pictures will generate interest to the students. Teachers are expected to use these pictures for meaningful interaction with the learners. Reading comprehension can also be tested using these pictures.
c. Interaction Questions:
Questions for interactions for learners are given, mainly to serve five purposes:
The illustrations used in the text books are treated as texts. The multi-coloured pictures will generate interest to the students. Teachers are expected to use these pictures for meaningful interaction with the learners. Reading comprehension can also be tested using these pictures.
c. Interaction Questions:
Questions for interactions for learners are given, mainly to serve five purposes:
- to read pictures,
- to elicit the text,
- to connect the text with the learner's own experiences,
- to predict what is going to happen next,
- to promote critical thinking.
Teachers are expected to ask more interaction questions for meaningful communication with the learners.
d. Multimedia:
- Short films, cartoons, stories, concepts in Telugu, English, Mathematics and EVS are shown to learners to give comprehensive and nearer to realistic experiences in the classroom.
- Games and activities are introduced in the text books to make the students to understand the concepts clearly and make them participative in the class room transactions. Working and playing in small groups promote interest, interaction, togetherness and team spirit among learners.
f. Grammar in Context:
The knowledge of grammar is essential for the learners when they write in English. Language elements are used in meaningful contexts. The new text books are designed in such way to help the learners to apply their knowledge of grammar in real life situations when they speak or write.
g. Workbooks:
The knowledge of grammar is essential for the learners when they write in English. Language elements are used in meaningful contexts. The new text books are designed in such way to help the learners to apply their knowledge of grammar in real life situations when they speak or write.
g. Workbooks:
- Workbooks are introduced in a revolutionary way to help the students to reinforce their learning, to practice the content and also to reduce the burden of notebooks. They also act as assessment tools for teachers.
h. Need Based Vocabulary:
- Developing concept maps and word webs of related words have been included in the new textbooks instead teaching them directly.
- A handbook for teachers is provided to assist the teacher to transact in English Medium easily in their classroom without any fear, ambiguity and boost their confidence.
- Lively and simple projects that can be undertaken by young learners easily are given in the textbooks. Undertaking such projects with the guidance of teachers will create interest and enhance the confidence of the learners. Students classify and analyse the information in groups and these promotes language skills and team spirit.www.apteachers.in
- Learner assessment is a continuous process and an integral part of learning.Teachers must assess the learners at each stage of learning process by informal interactions, reading of the text, associating pictures with the text, language activities and interactive questions etc.
- A child is born with natural abilities to learn from its surroundings. The formal education the child gets from school should open up possibilities to look at the world from a new prospective to understand, interact and evaluate it. The child must be able toconfront problematic situations through problem solving.
- Activity based
- Process related
- Environment based
- Suitable to achieve learning objectives.
Strategies to adapt the new curriculum
Teachers should understand that
Role of teachers in Adapting to the new curriculum
- An important form of professional development that promotes buy-in between stakeholders
- Builds understanding of key features of learning and teaching, and improves student learning
- Select an instructional model that guides the adaptation of materials and that also guides teaching
- Target lessons for deep enhancement where students can make sense of phenomena, data, or ideas
- Follow a backward design approach to adaptation with teams of teachers working innsmall collaborative groups.
Role of teachers in Adapting to the new curriculum
- Teachers' voices and involvement are essential for developing and adapting curricula and adjusting learning experiences and formative assessments to create educational success (Owings & Kaplan, 2001).
- Appropriate curricula allow teachers to create lessons that empower students to be successful learners. (Tomlinson, 2000).
- Effective learning occurs when teachers "learn to view curriculum as a decision making process in which their own creativity and talents can be used" (Nieto, 2002)
- As explained, teachers demonstrate the ability to make professional decisions about curriculum in the process of constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing curriculum.
- This process is never to "tear down”, but to expose weaknesses, discover ways to address weaknesses, and then, through critical analysis, make decisions about the best ways to fill the weakness. - Ladson- Billings (2006)
- Instruction should build on students' knowledge and experiences as well as present opportunities for students to make connections between school and community based knowledge sources.
- create learning environments where instruction does not consist of drills, but projects, dramatic presentations, storytelling, and encouraging teachers to seize teachable moments when students have real purpose for learning.
References
- Glatthorm, A. (1987). Curriculum renewal. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
- Jelinek, J. (Ed.). (1978). Improving the human condition: A curriculur response to critical responses. Washington, D.C.: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
- Nieto, S. (2002). Language, culture and teaching: Critical Perspectives for a new century. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
