Three Indian Teachers With A Different Teaching Approach

 

"If you read the biography of any great man, you will always notice two things: His mother's contribution in his progress and his teacher's contribution to his growth and development."                          

- Narendra Modi

A teacher is not just the person who manages to get a class of fifty to focus on one chapter, but the person who shares feedback helping students to realise their potential. When teachers take a different approach to teaching by making the most of what a PC has to offer - the impact of a teacher is amplified, as seen by these three teachers

1. Arvind Gupta

"India has sent most of its children to school by opening more schools and increasing enrollment. But the quality of learning leaves much to be desired. Activity-based learning through play with materials like matchsticks and straws allows children to intuitively grasp the science behind the toy." - Arvind Gupta, via TED

By setting up a regularly updated YouTube channel and website to share activity ideas with the world, Arvind Gupta ensures that children can connect scientific theory to real life with hands-on experiments using materials easily available at home - a major feat for a country where rote learning is the norm.^[1]

2. Roshni Mukherjee

"The motto was to provide free education while maintaining good quality. I knew the Internet has a solution to everything. An online platform was the best option to reach people." - Roshni Mukherjee, via YourStory

Roshni Mukherjee's Exam Fear is a free virtual school covering the sciences and English across multiple boards with videos, a feature that allows students to ask questions to get doubts cleared, as well as notes and online tests. The best part is that new questions appear every time a student takes the same test, covering all possible questions.

3. Sugata Mitra

"In nine months, a group of children left alone with a computer - in any language - would reach the same standard as an office secretary in the West." - Sugata Mitra via TED

A child loves to learn and discover new things and when given the right tools, real progress can be made. Sugata Mitra's Hole in the Wall venture placed PCs in slums for groups of students to self-learn at their own pace without any supervision from teachers, resulting in an increase in confidence and genuine interest in studies for the students as they were personally involved in the process.

These are just three teachers with a different PC-enabled teaching approach - there are a lot more of you out there! Here's wishing every one of you Happy Teacher's Day.