TEACHING ALL CHILDREN

Structure
1 Introduction
2 Objectives
3 Need for Education
4 Education Scenario at Primary Level
5 Teaching : Functions and Objectives
6 Child Development

1 INTRODUCTION
One of the major challenges which visionaries in India faced after Independence was
the overwhelming task of educating its population to be gainfully productive and
responsible citizens of the country. Educational concerns shifted from educating the
privileged to educating the masses. In this context the Constitution of India in Article
14 of Directive Principles of State Policy made a provision for free education to all
children up to the age of 14 years.
Half a century later we are still striving for our cherished dream – achievement of
Universalization of Elementary Education. Rapid increase in population and the
country’s limited resources are the two major factors behind this. However, continuous
striving in this direction has led to more than 66% success in children’s enrolment.
Still a large number of children are out of school. Their retention in school till they
complete primary education and variation in the quality of education imparted are
major concern areas at present.
2 OBJECTIVES
After going through the unit you will be able to:

flexible and adopt/experiment with new methods more easily. It has been indicated
that an average increase of one year of primary schooling can substantially increase
the productivity. Hence expenditure on education is seen as an investment in the
future. Besides, it also facilitates the transfer of culture and value of society to its
future citizens.
In India, Education is the collaborative responsibility of Central and State governments.
Education Policy is formed at the national level and its implementation is the
responsibility of State governments. Thereby, the perception and implementation may
vary at various levels, i.e. state/district and schools.


4 EDUCATION SCENARIO AT PRIMARY LEVEL
Education at primary level has special significance as they are the foundation years
for subsequent learning. Major thrust areas at this stage are:
i) Universal access and enrolment
ii) Universal retention of children up to 14 years of age and
iii) Substantial improvement in the quality of education to enable all children to
achieve the essential level of learning.

Needs for Universalization of Elementary Education are contextual. In some states
like Kerala children enrolment is already hundred percent; what they need is the
focus on quality and achievement. But in other states like: AndharaPradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and West Bengal, enrolment is still a major
problem. In states where enrolment has increased, low attendance and high dropout
rate continues to be a problem.
To address these problems, local area planning with disaggregated targets and
decentralized planning and management have become essential. Plans prepared at
local level after intensive interaction with local agencies, teachers and NGOs give
them a feeling of ownership and also reflect ground level realities.
National surveys (NCERT, 1970 & 1994) have reported low levels of attainment by
children in language and Mathematics at school level exams. This is a matter of
concern as Learning – its retention and application in life matters more than
Enrolment. Diversity in attainment were observed within and across the states in
terms of financial status, gender, tribal and caste affiliation. This called for — expanding
access to education and reducing variation in educational attainment. For this
preparation, motivation and deployment of teachers along with finance, quality of
instructional material and development of managerial and institutional capacity were
focused on under District Primary Education Project.
Learning at school level is the outcome of interaction among child, school and home.
Researchers have indicated that what goes on in the classroom is important for
student achievement. Teachers’ positive expectations from students affect their
performance. In a way Man may be made better not as a consequence of education
but during the process of it (Coleridge).

5 TEACHING : FUNCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
Extensive research on human brain and mental processes have demonstrated that the
human brain possess vast potential for developing a large number of mental abilities
as a result of interaction with varied social environment. None of the mental processes
are natural functions of the brain. This implies that children need to be provided a
variety of experiences to develop their mental processes.
Teaching is an educational communication. It is purposive in nature. This aims at
imparting knowledge, skills, standards and values of society through subject matter
taught at the school level. The motive behind is to facilitate children’s development
and nurture socially desirable qualities and characteristics. Your role as a teacher is
to provide a variety of experiences to your students so as to enable them to understand
the subject matter and demonstrate their impact in observable behaviour.
Activity methods stimulate their thinking and build their interests. However, activity
needs to be purposive in nature and also appropriate for the concerned level. It may
or may not involve physical activity but makes definite use of mental skills for
example, solving a puzzle; writing one’s experiences.
A good activity
– ensures participation of every child;
– leads to active thinking on the part of children; and
– challenges them to practise and apply knowledge and skills in various ways across many situations.
Objectives of Teaching
What are you aiming to do with your knowledge of various strategies of teaching and
the content matter in hand? Whatever your answer may be the fact is that your aim
is to make children learn. Let us elaborate this a little. There are four pillars of learning :-

i) Learning to know
ii) Learning to do
iii) Learning to live together
iv) Learning to be

Learning to Know
In an era where knowledge is increasing at a very fast pace it is neither possible nor
practical to impart huge amounts of it to the learner. It is important for the children
to acquire knowledge but more important is to acquire basic skills of learning to be
able to learn on their own. This would include the skills of literacy, numeracy,
problem-solving, critical thinking and some basic knowledge to be able to find/seek/
access and understand relevant information, critically examine it and be able to apply
it meaningfully in day-to-day situation.


Learning to Do
Another aspect is knowledge of the world of work. The skills and right attitude for
being able to put learning into actual practice is very important. This involves being
able to learn by doing, being able to work effectively with their hands and by using simple tools along with developing a sense of work ethics. This infuses in them a
sense of confidence and independence.


Learning to Live Together

This has implications for the child and his/her social environment. To play his/her
role as a good citizen the child needs to know besides his/her rights his duties
towards his/her family, school, community (friends, neighbours and others) and
mankind in general. The child should be aware of his/her own culture, social situations
strengths and limitations. He/she should have the capacity to willingly accept, appreciate
and tolerate differences and adjust and learn from them. Learning should enable
children to live, work and play with others as a member of group/team or community.
Learning to be He/she should have the ability and confidence to apply his/her mind and take
independent decisions in simple situations and show respect and concern for others
and for the environment. Creative and imaginative self-expressions, appreciation of
their own culture and traditions along with beauty in environment are some other
qualities. The teacher is required to give special attention to this aspect.

6 CHILD DEVELOPMENT
School and home both play a decisive role in the development of child’s personality.
The experiences and opportunities to which he/she is exposed in the formative years
have a far reaching impact on child’s behaviour. The process of teaching is concerned
with the development of the child. This development can be studied from the different
aspects of his/her personality like Physical, Cognitive, Emotional, Moral, Social, etc.
A) Physical Development
Young children are physically very active. When a child is physically active he/she
is also mentally active and emotionally involved in it. A healthy mind in a healthy
body is an old saying and it has survived the test of time. Good motor development
is important for his/her social and emotional development. It enables a child to
participate efficiently in a number of activities providing joy and satisfaction and
makes him/her confident, independent and active. Proficiency in motor skills also
makes him/her socially useful.
Finer movements like grasping, catching, writing, using tools require involvement of
smaller muscle groups. The school entry stage is generally the time for developing
these movements. This is the period when the urge to be physically active is at its
peak and muscle development is taking place at a fast rate. The teacher’s role becomes
important at this stage.
Suggested Activities
Games and sports would provide opportunities for running, skipping, jumping,
throwing, grasping etc., dance, physical exercises, yogasanas etc. are good for physical
development and development of rhythmic movements.

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