District Institutes of Education and Training - Teacher Education

District Institutes of Education and Training: A Comparative Study in Three Indian States
V We are not supposed to make them write during the first three months.
We have to only do songs and stories and all that but I make them write.
SS Do you have any timetable or periods?
V No, for the first 3 months we are not supposed to teach anything. So we
must do only songs, stories and all that. Usually till 1:00 p.m. I make
them do that and from 1:00 to 1:30 I get them to write.
SS So how do you get them to write? Do you write on the board?
V No, we cannot write on the board. If the supervisors come and see …
because we are not supposed to. But if we wait till August it will become
too late (24.7.00).
Aware that if found doing this by the inspector she might be punished, Veena did
not use the blackboard but taught numbers and letters mainly by writing them on
the children’s slates. Children were encouraged to participate in a conspiracy with
the teacher, should the inspector visit (a possibility of which they made aware at
the very beginning of the first school year):
V If saheb [the inspector] comes then quickly turn your slates over,
otherwise he will ask me “this is not in the course then why are you
teaching?” (2.8.00)
According to the curriculum design, the emphasis while teaching literacy should
follow the sequence of listening, speaking, reading and then writing. Veena
however believed that learning to write is the first step and that once writing is
mastered, reading and recognition of letters will soon follow. Although when
initially asked, she said she would draw pictures on the board as in the textbook
and combine these with presentation of letters, she later said she would write
letters on the board and ask children to repeat them over and over again – a more
accurate reflection on her practice that was borne out through the observations.
Veena focused first on writing accompanied by reading aloud what is being
written. Initially this was through a process of her writing a symbol on the slate
for the child to trace over, and by guiding his or her hand where necessary. She
would also often rule up a slate into columns, completing one column herself and
asking the child to fill in the others. After the initial three months when use of the
blackboard became legitimate, she would write the symbol on it for children to
copy. Once the copying had been done, each child would come to show her
the slate, and she usually judged the marks on it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ without
much attempt to identify reasons for errors. Sequences such as the following were
very common:
[Muno has come to show the teacher his slate]
V writes ma on it.
26 DFID