A National Consultative Workshop and Seminar on Community Engagement in Teacher Education Curriculum was held during 25th- 27th July 2018 organised by Department of Education and Education Technology, University of Hyderabad (UoH) In collaboration with Mahatma Gandhi National Council of Rural Education (Formerly National Council of Rural Institutes) at the Conference Hall, School of Social Sciences. This has been sponsored by ICSSR-SRC, Hyderabad and MGNCRE.
The participants included an eclectic mix of 23 policymakers, administrators, Deans, Heads of departments, members of faculty from Departments/Schools of Education of Central, State and State Headquarters Universities as well as national-level institutes dealing with Educational Planning, Training and Research, including NCERT and SCERT. They included professors, associate professors and professors from States and Union Territories across the country. Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice-Chancellor, UoH was the Chief Guest. The other guests were Prof K Venkat Rao, Dean, School of Social Sciences, UoH; Prof M Channa Basavaiah, OU (ICSSR – SRC); Pradip Chittabhushan Dasgupta, Mantri at Akhil BharatiyaNai Talim Samiti, Sevagram, Wardha and President of the Majhihira National Basic Educational Institution, Purulia district, West Bengal; Dr W.G. Prasanna Kumar Chairman, MGNCRE; Prof.G. Bhuvaneswara Lakshmi HoD DOEET, UoH. Dr.T.Sumalini was the Director for the National Consultative Workshop and Seminar.
Specific outcomes targeted at the workshop:
• Understand Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Nai Talim as well as comparable pedagogic methods like Work Education, Experiential learning and Community Engagement
• List strategies that can be adopted to familiarise D Ed/B Ed/M Ed/MA Education students with Nai Talim, Work Education, Experiential learning and Community Engagement
• List strategies that can be adopted for Community Engagement of students at Pre-school, Primary 1-5, Secondary 6-8, 9-10 and 11-12 levels in Nai Talim, Work Education and Experiential learning
• Analyze existing gaps and work out action plans that can be implemented in all schools of education.
• Appreciate the importance of properly incorporating productive work education skills in the curriculum for teacher education
Prof. Appa Rao Podile, Vice Chancellor of University of Hyderabad, referred to the transformation that has taken place over the years and underscored the fact that today the challenge for teachers is to be relevant. He asked the gathering: “Are we going to vanish? With e-learning and technology, are teachers going to be redundant?”
Referring to trends in education, education technology and e-learning process, Prof. Appa Rao said it is important to know how a teacher’s role is perceived by students; for, students don’t like to be in class. He called for efforts to empower teachers by enriching knowledge in them. Teachers should have knowledge to the extent that they should know even what is not there in the textbook or available on the net. They need to be unique as sources of knowledge. “This is the challenge for teachers,”
By-Dr.T. Sumalini, Assistant Professor, Department of Education and Education Technology