The second session dealt exclusively with the economics and use of textbooks and was flagged off by Ms. Abha Sahgal, Principal Sanskriti School who chaired this session. The first speaker was Prof Janaki Rajan, Jamia Millia University. She put the economics of publishing textbooks into perspective by pointing out that roughly 90% are in the hands of state governments and only 10% with NCERT and private publishers. She gave the audience a taste of her experiences as Director SCERT and the difficulties, many of them bureaucratic, they faced in creating new textbooks in a very limited timeframe. The experience clearly showed that the dialogue was all about money and size, she said, not the academic content, though the endeavours were successful. A very important lesson learnt was that texts which were carefully crafted got the best student response, and that 'children who are poor can appreciate the best of research'.
Speaking for publishers was Ms Sajili Shirodkar of Madhubun Books, who discussed the factors in play when a textbook is under consideration by a school. Since many textbooks are similar in content, the relationship between the publisher and the school's decision-maker is pivotal. At times the criteria for selection may be the amount of teacher support that is available in a book.
|
Ultimately, if we wish to move away from the mechanical use of a textbook or rote-learning, teacher-training is the key, she said. Mr Shaman Marya, a first-year student of Philosophy at St Stephens College, felt strongly that a textbook could make or break a subject for the student. He questioned why the great Indian academic systems were not part of the curriculum, and said that rote learning can never be fully cast out, even while the spirit of inquiry is promoted in school.
Dr Sarada Balagopalan of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies opened the third session by introducing the eminent speakers.
Ms Rashmi Paliwal, representing the Eklavya Foundation, whose signal work with creation of textbooks for rural communities was acknowledged by many speakers, was the first speaker for this session. She placed paramount emphasis on the teaching/learning being transacted in the classroom.
|
Ms Paliwal said that Eklavya's success could be attributed in part to its motivational writing style; text was based on real-life experiences, and the narrative provided 'guided space for the learner to reflect'. The student is hence part of the text, and the teacher involved as a facilitator of discussion. She went on to discuss the assessment that needs to go hand-in-hand with learning. She advocated open-book exams after teaching students the skills of referencing, as one aspect of the assessment process. The most successful chapters according to Ms Paliwal, were the ones where the text was 'vivid, gripping and substantial' validating the notion that big ideas can be retained, even if chapters are longer, if the transaction is good.
The other foundation represented at the Conference was the Azim Premji Foundation. Mr Dilip Ranjekar, CEO, and Ms Aanchal Chanal of the APF gave some details of their activities, specifically in partnering the Government of Rajasthan by developing materials for Grades 1-8 in all subjects. On investigation, the APF had realised that school textbooks were inadequate, facts were incorrect, concepts did not link, and vocabulary was anything but age-appropriate. They had hence decided that developing workbooks was the most effective way to proceed. To this end they sent 55 people to Rajasthan and developed these workbooks in six months. The APF has recently begun action research for the Governments of Uttarakhand and Haryana.
Ms Suchismita Srinivas of Educational Initiatives spoke specifically about the focal activities of EI on assessment. EI has been conducting ASSET, a diagnostic test, which is currently being taken by 4 lakh students in India and the Gulf. She also spoke candidly about the difficulties encountered in standardising assessment in India. With regard to textbooks, her opinion was that a textbook cannot be effective if the teacher isn't hence teacher support materials are essential. Some support programmes are needed to flesh out text, and recommended use of the computer to supplement the textbook through clips. In addition, adaptive logic programmes can really help students learn at their own pace. Essentially, she recommended that overemphasis on textbooks should be reduced.
BACK
It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot, irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.
