TEACHER TRAINING FOUNDATION – PROJECT SITE VISIT

Team From Asha – Ajay () and Namrita ()

Date : June 30, 2012 Saturday (School in progress )

Project Partners Represented By:
Nupur and Vinitha (WST Project team)

Program Discussed: Whole School Transformation (WST)

Nature of Visit: Announced and with Project Partner

Site: HBP School, Shivaji Nagar

About the School :

  • HBP is an old school (~100-150 years old) in the inner city neighbourhoods of Bangalore which are typically inhabited by lower income communities- example rickshaw drivers, wage laborers etc.
  • School has enrolled 400 students in 10 Grades starting from Grade 1
  • Each grade has a separate classroom – both physical as well as assigned students per grade
  • School has reasonably comfortable and clean environment including large ventilated class rooms, separate toilets for girls and boys, playground under development, administrative office, large hall for school activities
  • School is run by HBP Foundation. Key person operating the school is the head administrator , Mr Prabhakaran, who has been instrumental in the start of TTF program
  • The operating costs of the school is funded by fees (400 per month per student). This along with additional fees likely levied for any special activities creates a corpus of ~INR 1.5 Mn to 1.6 Mn.
  • Other form of in-kind funding for the school is volunteer teaching help from Each one teach one program which provides 3 teachers on a regular basis as well as 5 government funded teachers. There is also a HIPPO campus children library project adjoining the school funded by xxx.
  • There have also been some capital items funded by foundations as observed in the infrastructure
  • Teacher salaries are in the INR 3000-4000 range with some but not much variation to allow for experience- this implies 60-70% of the cost of running the school is teacher salary
  • There is total requirement for 21 teachers (by the school’s estimate) of which there is currently 18 teachers. There is no availability for teachers in subjects like maths and science given supply gap/ supply gap at this particular salary price point

Classroom Observations

  • Overall classroom environment/infra was reasonably good in terms of ventilation, cleanliness, a desk per child, writing boards for teachers etc. Some desks in some classes were more cramped than others but still each child had a seat.
  • Teacher confidence in classroom was good – example knowledge of maths concepts for grade X.
  • Certain TTF methodology was apparent in the classroom- example teacher and student commitment to follow ground rules of courtesy and discipline without use of physical punishment and with the use of positive reinforcement techniques. Further the teacher was making an attempt to be interactive
  • Teaching patterns could be based on rote as well though – as teachers in more advanced classes largely explain concepts with some but not much application of the theory embodied in delivery.

Teacher Interviews

  • We interviewed 4 teachers on the TTF programs
  • For all teachers, this was the first regular training program that they had gone through. Some had gone for offsite programs for a day or two on Yoga etc, but they were no on the ground continuous training
  • Teachers were appreciative of the TTF methods – example ground rules, activity based learning, referring to NCERT syllabus for more enriched curriculum/ exercise compared to state text books , encouraging child curiosity etc
  • Biggest challenge for teachers was to address “gap” in students, i.e. how do they keep to the learning needs of the students who were slower to catch the teaching

Parent Interviews

  • We interviewed a single parent who was from a muslim background and was sending her girl child to school – she was satisfied with the school

Headmaster and other school staff interview

  • Some discussion on teacher attrition and gap in supply given demand
  • Mentioned that they paid 1.5 lakh for program

Key takeways on the school and relationship with TTF

School staff and teachers acknowledged the efforts and expected results from the TTF program and were actively engaged with us throughout our visit

School is a good candidate for TTF intervention in that it does not struggle as much with basic issues like infrastructure

The School however is already seemingly at a threshold of quality which does apparently seem at a level better than what the expectations from a low-income school are to an observer. Example staff is experienced and somewhat fluent in English, teacher: student ratio is not as high, school is established for a long time etc. Thus a push in teaching quality while definitely in scope may not provide such a substantive jump that it impacts the learning outcomes by that much more. Example TTF staff rate teachers at the school with 7 / 8/ 9 marks out of 10 at our site visit which then makes an improvement that much more tighter .

TTF impact may get somewhat limited given some structural issues that the school faces – example non availability of teachers in key subjects/ grades ; 20-25% attrition of teachers from the school

Team From Asha – Susan Loucks() and Ramchandar Krishnamurhty ()

Date : June 30, 2012 Saturday (School in progress)

Project Partners Represented By:
Padma, Gazal

Program Discussed: Whole School Transformation (WST)

Nature of Visit: Announced and with Project Partner

Florida School:

General: The school has been expanding for some time and is now actively anticipating moving into college programs, especially for young women with parents who want to keep them close to home. The school has recently moved some of the primary classes into a new building and is continuing to complete other sections of the building. There is also a satellite campus, which is currently a significant area of work for the headmistress. The school is an English medium.

Management: The director has a background in commerce and business and these skills and interests manifest themselves in his managerial approach.

The school has a policy of placing new students in a class that matches their skill level as opposed to their chronological age, although they will also accommodate parent concerns. Graduates from the school (both female and male) have gone on to work in a range of professional careers. The school is able to provide some scholarships and educational counselling for the graduating class.

Education: Some of the educational challenges include:

  • Large class size relative to class space
  • Adjoining classrooms with few barriers to noise or other distractions
  • Teachers with little training in classroom management or pedagogy
  • Families with little educational attainment - unable to support children’s learning

Learning appears to be largely by rote. There is no special education program or systematic identification of students with barriers to learning.

TSA Program: Asha Volunteers spoke with the director, the headmistress, to one relatively new teacher, as well as speaking briefly with the 5th standard. All the adults were positive about the program and its impacts. The Director initially questioned the content (in the first workshops) but since then has felt that the teachers are gaining important skills (the headmistress named lesson planning as a key take-away, and they also mentioned learning more about visual displays like bulletin boards). The headmistress reported that there is accountability for incorporating the material into teaching, and all felt that the lessons from the program were being implemented in the classroom.

There was unanimous interest in continuing the program for another year.

(Idon’t have written down the areas where they want more support).

Al-Azhar Foundation School

General: The school is partnered with the Humane Touch foundation and receives financial support as a part of Ramadan charitable giving from individuals in Bangalore. The school gives the immediate impression of having a solid resource base (spacious, well-maintained facilities) and professional management. The school is an Urdu medium until the 6th (?) standard, when it switches to English.

Management: New nursery students are admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. Parents must demonstrate financial need. That class (about 40) continues through, with no additional students being admitted (administration feels it is too difficult for those without the Urdu instruction to step in and keep pace with the others). With natural attrition, the graduating class generally numbers around 20.

Financial aid is available for many students, most of whom are the first generation of literates in their families. There are school fees and book fees, however, which help parents feel invested in the education.

The Director credits her strong personality and perseverance (and willingness to present a slightly more conservative appearance) as keys to success with the mosque leadership – a relationship that has at times been thorny. The administrative triumvirate (not quite the right term, as they are all female) is clearly committed to the students and their learning experience.

Education: Some of the barriers to education are the same as the Florida school, including:

  • Teachers with little training in classroom management or pedagogy
  • Families with little educational attainment - unable to support children’s learning
  • Lack of institutionalized special ed or ability to work with different learning styles

Parents are reportedly often less interested in their children getting high marks, but are strongly drawn to the school’s reputation for creating well-behaved, respectful, and self-disciplined students. It does not appear that controlled behaviour comes at the cost of creative learning – students were able to easily and thoughtfully engage with the volunteers.

TSA program: Volunteers had conversations with the Director, headmistress, the collective group of teachers, a group of 4 parents, and briefly spoke with students in the 6th standard.

All were appreciative of the impacts of the TSA program and desired to continue the relationship. The administration is aligned with facilitative learning and interested in incorporating these ideas more completely into their system. They are appreciative of TSA’s support and expertise in this area. Teachers specifically expressed an interest in:

  • following up the workshops with a demonstration of the techniques in the classroom
  • learning more about how to work with particular behaviour challenges (demotivated learners, disruptive behaviour, etc.)

(Following notes from Ram):

It was interesting to note that Florida school was English medium-instruction from grade 1 while Al-Azhar is Urdu medium-instruction from grade 1 to 5 (or 4) and English medium for higher grades. Through our interaction I felt that Al-Azhar school children were actually more comfortable talking (even talking in English).

The focus of teacher training from TTF seems to be on broad pedagogical techniques (like creating lesson plans and classroom management). I think it makes sense to have such exchanges initially (for a year or two) to build relationship with the schools and the teachers and slowly move into Pedagogical Content Knowledge ( Briefly, PCK is an intersection of ideas on pedagogy and content.

For e.g. it is not enough to educate teachers in understanding fractions and educate them in general pedagogical techniques like lesson plans. Teacher Education should prepare teachers to teach fractions in specific. This would definitely need general pedagogical skills but would need some specific to the content area.For e.g. what are the common misconceptions children carry with them about fractions. What are better assessment techniques for fractions etc.