New Education Policy 2020 has played a significant role in the developmentof educationsystem in India which focuses on the holistic and enjoyable learning of the learners. These recommendations of the NEP 2020 have resulted in a paradigm shift in education. In the present scenario, the role of heterogeneity in classrooms with context to NEP 2020 cannot be neglected and it is also true that different stakeholders of education are attempting to cater heterogeneity in classrooms. In an attempt to understand the concept of holistic and enjoyable learning and its implication in the classroom, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training, Delhi took the initiative to organize one week Faculty Development Programme on the topic “National Education Policy 2020 – Holistic and Enjoyable Learning in the Presence of Heterogeneity” from 3rdAugust’ to 10th August’ 2022 at Google Meet Application.
As we know that faculty development has been defined as a wide range of activities that institution applies to support faculty member’s roles. Faculty vitality is the main ingredient to enhance professional education and competence. Enriching the faculty vitality in key domains of teaching, assessing, research, professionalism and administration is perceived to improve the educational environment significantly and enhances academic performance of the learners. The Faculty Development Programme (FDP) has been considered as a standalone educational pedagogy in fostering knowledge and professional skills of the faculty. To keep all these points in mind, following objectives were framed according to the selected topic.
Topics were discussed in one week with different sub themes which were as follow:
Keynote Address and Technical session 1: Reforms in Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment in the development ofHolistic learning in the light of NEP 2020
The first day of the program started with the inaugural session, where Dr. ShikhaRanjan, Associate Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training welcomed everyone. Ms. Shikha Sharma, Assistant Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training prelude with the schedule of the one weekFaculty Development Programme and welcomed guest speakers of the day Prof. Yukti Sharma, Assistant professor, C.I.E, University of Delhi and Dr. S K Bhatia, Former Associate Professor, CIE, University of Delhi.
Keynote address was given by Dr. S K Bhatia where he talked about various factors affecting learner’s holistic development.He believed that teacherscompleting her/his B.Ed. from regular institute or college with proper training can help learners develop holistically.He suggested that the idea of Holistic learning of the learners belonging to diverse nature need to be redefined as learners holistic development is not only the responsibility of teachers but also of the environment and society. He discussed that all pillars can work together in order to develop learner holistically.
He also expressed his views on enjoyable learning with the help of various life experiences he highlighted the idea of using games and art to give learners the exposure of experiential and enjoyable learning.
Technical session-1 was chaired by Prof.Yukti Sharma who discussed the concept of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment with respect to NEP 2020. She first talked about the role of teachers in inculcating knowledge among learners.She presented her idea saying that a teacher should allow learners to explore more and more by themselves.Teacher should then channelize child’s experiences to sharpen his/her existing knowledge and skills. She believed that besides changes in curriculum, self-exposurecan bring the change which we want to see in the learner to develop them holistically.She banished the idea of rote learning and emphasized on experiential learning such as multi-disciplinary approach and integrative thinking. She highlighted the term Education and explained it as the overall personality of the learner.The emphasis is also given on the holistic learning, as Holistic development focuses on the overall development of the child, she focused on the idea of experiential learning and talked about how teacher’s attitude towards the child is important in order to uplift child in all domains of education and she believed that teacher’s kind and caring behavior can truly help learners to shine.
After technical session one there were four paper presentations on the theme which were as follows:
Open house discussion was hosted by Ms. Garima, Assistant Professor where participants enthusiastically asked their queries and answered by the resource person Prof. Yukti Sharma and in the last programme was ended with the vote of thanks given by Dr.AanchalRana, Associate Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training.
On the second day salutation was given by Ms. Shruti Singh, Assistant Professor, GIAST as she warmly welcomed the resource person for the day, Prof. Yukti Sharma, C.I.E, University of Delhi, Prof. Sonia Jindal, Principal, GIAST, presenters and participants.
For technical session two, Prof. Yukti Sharma, C.I.E, University of Delhi, enlighten knowledge on the theme “Reforms in Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment in the development of enjoyable learning in light of NEP 2020”.
The second day of the Faculty development programme began with much excitement and enthusiasm to learn new concepts after a great learning experience of Day 1. The session commenced with a quick recapitulation of the previous day’s presentation by resource person Prof. Yukti Sharma, C.I.E, University of Delhi.
The Technical Session started with a quick review of the previous day session by Prof. Yukti Sharma, C.I.E, and University of Delhi. She started taking this session, explained in detail the original meaning of enjoyable learning.She took an interactive session by making sure that all the participants interact and expected active participation from the presenters as well as participants.The way she linked enjoyable learning with heterogeneity was outstanding. She put more focus on the overall idea of flexible timings and was speaking in favor of the same as flexibility in timings can definitely make girl students feel comfortable when it comes to attending school. She emphasized on the idea of exposure and giving students the platform not only in the class but also outside the class. She further stated that learning should not be restricted in the four walls of the class and how excursions can be done to give children the enough exposure to enhance their skills. She also talked about the idea of using toys, art and nature in teaching Mathematics and Science.She believed that this advancement can make learning enjoyable. She talked about language and said that no language should be prejudiced and child should have the freedom to choose language on his own. Child’s efforts in expressing his emotions and understanding the subject no matter which language is used should be appreciated by the teacher. She opposed the idea of rote learning and concluded by saying that learner has potential to learn by themselves. Only opportunities are needed to be given which would really help one to polish his/her skills and give him/her the experience of enjoyable learning.
There were two presentations of the technical session which are as follows:
Session ends with the discussion and queries of the participants were resolved by the speaker. Vote of thanks was given by Dr. AanchalRana, Assistant Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training.
The third day of the FDP was initiated with the warm welcome and Salutation session by Ms. Shikha Sharma, Assistant Professor, GIAST and was Preluded by Dr. AanchalRana, Assistant Professor, GIAST.
Throughout the session, she gave various examples where teacher can take the initiative where heterogeneity can be addressed in proper way. She concluded the session by highlighting the importance of using various strategies to inculcate heterogeneity in classroom. She also highlighted the role of teacher educators also.
For the technical session there were three paper presentations which were as follows:
The session was ended with discussion where participants enthusiastically asked their queries and shared their experiences. Vote of thanks was given by Ms. NupurSoni, Associate Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training.
The Day four was initiated with the warm welcome and Salutation session by Ms. Garima, Assistant Professor, GIAST and was Preluded by Ms. Shalu, Assistant Professor, GIAST.
The sub theme of the fourth day was “Role of Teacher Educators in providing Holistic & Enjoyable learning in the presence of heterogeneity” which was discussed by Dr. Amit Ahuja, Assistant Professor, University School of Education, GGSIPU. He initiated thediscussion by giving importance to the role of teacher educators.He begin the session by discussing various examples to illustrate the role of teacher educators in education system. He also mentioned that first teachers themselves have to understand the meaning of heterogeneity and holistic development. He also discussed the role of using multilingualism that can be used as a tool to communicate with heterogeneous learners and also understanding their needs.
He explained that when we are talking about the enjoyable learning, it is important to understand the learner and his/her needs. These needs should be fulfilled and taken care by teachers in classroom. According to him, previous experiences help in understanding of concepts of a learner. He emphasized the practical utilization of knowledge and skills that learners have acquired and space should be provided to them so that they can reflect on their experiences and evaluate them. He also explained the role ofteacher that being a guide, he/she should help learners to think in a certain way and construct their own knowledge.
For technical session four, there were three paper presentations which were as follows:
The session ended with open house discussion and vote of thanks was given by Ms. Geetanjali, Assistant Professor, Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training.
Technical Session 5: “Role of Society in providing holistic and enjoyable learning in the presence of Heterogeneity”
The Day five of the Faculty Development Program was initiated with the warm welcome and Salutation session by Ms. Shalu, Assistant Professor, GIAST and was Preluded by Ms. Priyanka, Assistant Professor, GIAST as a token of respect and welcoming gesture.
Dr. ShubhashChander, Assistant professor, CIE, University of Delhi was the keynote speaker of the day and enlightened us with his words of wisdom on the topic of the day. He very explicitly explained the aspects that are covered under holistic learning. He pointed out that the theory of holistic learning perceives each human entity as a system of interacting dimensions, and all of them are needed to be catered by the education system. It is imperative to perceive things in terms of patterns, connections and relationships of all working together and influencing each other at any given point of time, rather then looking at them as mere individuals, government, schools, community and curriculum.
He discussed briefly the functions of learning, participation and presence of leadership, different policies and practices of a school culture, wherein every stakeholder holds respects for the different cultural identities.
He gave a few points such as (1) celebration of diversity (2) setting clear, achievable and measurable learning outcomes (3) differentiated teaching leaning (4) use of multisensory and multi-modal approaches of teaching (5) ensuring appropriate place and space for the voices of the learners (6) inclusive assessment methods and techniques and so on, that could assure quality in teaching learning system.
Furthermore, he also emphasized on the place and role of socialization, social integration, social placement and social and cultural innovations in a formal education setup especially at school level. According to his vision a school should arrange for learning opportunities that are based outside schools so that the opportunities of active learner participation and collaboration between society and school can take place.
The session was then followed by presentations on the topic and there were three paper presentations which were as follows:
The session was ended with open house discussion and the Gratitude was given by Ms. Praveen Dabas, Assistant Professor,Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training.
The culmination day of the Faculty Development Programme was marked by shedding light on potential strategies that could be taken into account by all engaged in the field of education and the Nobel profession of teaching. The program started with the salutation session by Dr. AanchalRana, Assistant Professor,Gitarattan Institute of Advanced Studies and Training, followed by welcoming and preluding session by Ms. Shruti Singh, Assistant Professor, GIAST.
The keynote speaker of the day was Dr. Dayal Sandhu, Assistant Professor, JamiaMilliaIslamia University, Delhi. She had pointed that attitude of the individual matters a lot. We all might perceive similar situation but our perspective and attitude towards it matters a lot and creates a difference. And in order to keep moving in the right direction and to yield good results one needs to have a positive attitude and this positive attitude can help one attaining in significant improvement of skills. And hence is the attitude of an individual plays a critical role in learning.
In her words it is imperative for teachers to retain positivity of thoughts and attitude, stay away from distractions in the process of learning and encourage students to share their problems and teach them that every problem has a solution. As teacher one must always keep in mind that way, they conduct themselves in various peculiar situations sets a model for the learners as the same is transacted to students.
She has shared a number of ways of encouraging a positive and conducive environment in classrooms. As a teacher one should utilized child-to-child learning approach, cooperative learning and help students to build good terms and relations with other students, by encouraging positive thinking.
The session was further extended by the presentations, there were three presentations which were as follows:
Dr. ShikhaRanjan concluded the last day of the Faculty Development Programme by giving a valedictory speech and thanked all the dignitaries, participants, presenters, resource persons for their invaluable support and enlightenment in the sessions. The overall gist of all the days was summarized to give a recap of all the fruitful learnings throughout the program. And the Faculty Development Program for session 2022-2023 held in light of National Education Policy 2020, and it was observed that it proved to be enriching, insightful and engaging for the participants through the feedbacks of the participants and presenters.
Video links Day 1 - https://youtu.be/ZaSAnAUNo28 Day 2 - https://youtu.be/EgkpWcI0lOY Day 3 - https://youtu.be/DipO-egq8_o Day 4 - https://youtu.be/MYENQSns6xo Day 5 - https://youtu.be/PgrBIGiv3CE Day 6 - https://youtu.be/UbKlgiQlQ6c |
