(Teacher Enhancement Programme)
New Era is striving incessantly to bring progressive educational concepts to its classrooms. New Era Public School reopened on 20th July to empower its teachers with a series of workshops. Learning never stops even for teachers.
In her inaugural address, Mrs. Chopra emphasized the need for self improvement. The skills of teaching and learning become redundant with the passing of time. Individuals can only survive the tough competition in the modern world through continuous improvement and growth.
The four day long seminar was attended by the teachers of all New Era Institutions. The eminent speakers were invited from all quarters to influence and hone the teaching skills of the modern teacher.
Day 1
The Teacher Enhancement Programme commenced with a lecture by Prof. M.M.Pant, former Vice Chancellor of IGNOU and a faculty member of IIT Kanpur, who spoke about the ‘Current Challenges in Education and how to cope with them’.
Prof. Pant enlightened the teachers about how the curriculum has become insignificant as there is limitless expanse of information which the students can access without much effort. In the present scenario, the students require information processing skills rather than the methodology where the student listens and the teacher tells.
He also stated that we need to make a shift from individual excellence to collaborative excellence. The possibility of achieving our goals is brighter if team work and collective thinking is encouraged.
In the second session Dr. Ashwani Chopra, Founder, Ashlok Hospital, spoke about ‘Spirituality in the Classroom’. Learning can only be meaningful if it is for self rather than for marks. An individual learns nothing from his successes. Failures are stepping stones to success. Dr. Ashwani Chopra had a short session of meditation with the teachers and dwelled on holistic healing to promote physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.
Day 2
Mr. Rohit Kumar of Family Vision explored the possibility of creating students who are self confident and motivated. A positive self concept and intrinsic motivation can help the students win the race of life. To achieve this, a teacher must ‘Walk the Talk’ and accept, approve and appreciate her students. According to Mr. Rohit Kumar, the illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
Day 3
Dr. Roma Kumar, a practising clinical psychologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital spoke about ’Physical Challenges in Adolescence and its Emotional Fall outs.’ The teenagers deal with extreme mental pressure due to the parental pressure for academic performance. Also, they are passing through a phase where they have to undergo physical changes. Parental support and a healthy school environment can provide solutions to problems which arise during adolescence.
Dr. Deepak Raheja, a psychiatrist, psychotherapist and consultant to many diplomatic missions and media houses including CNN, IBN, NDTV, Hindustan Times, Times of India etc emphasized the teacher’s role in recognizing a maladaptive child and providing corrective measures in the form of better communication and personal attention.
Day 4
In the morning session, Mr. Arjun Thakran, the CEO and MD of Pallavan Learning Systems spoke about the relevance and importance of CCE. He propagated the implementation of the CCE pattern. CBSE has a mammoth task ahead in terms of maintaining uniformity, objectivity and authenticity in all the 11000 schools under it.
The objective of the seminar was to equip and empower the teachers about the current issues, trends and practices in school education. It aimed to endow the teachers with valuable insights into students’ behaviour patterns and to help them become more alert towards the changing needs of society resulting in more mature and understanding teachers who will deliver their best to the students.
