primary school teachers the twists and turns of everyday practice

Version 20 Oct 08, edited final
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.....................................................................................................................2
I
WHY A STUDY ON TEACHERS?.............................................................................................5
This Booklet ..........................................................................................................................................7
II SHE BECOMES A TEACHER! ..................................................................................................9
How the school environment shapes teachers and vice-versa................................................11
Box 2. 1: What has changed in Rajasthan in the last 25 years? .......................................14
Box 2.2: When teachers get ‘attached’ in Kargil ..................................................................15
Box 2.3: Teachers on the run!.................................................................................................17
How formal monitoring and supervision systems affect teachers’ practice ........................17
How ground realities affect teachers’ perception of their role and objectives.....................22
Box 2.4: How the ABL process transformed a teacher .....................................................24
Box 2.5: HBCSE: What we do and how we do it ...............................................................26
Box 2.6: What HSTP was confronted with in 1972............................................................27
Summing up.......................................................................................................................................28
III WHAT IS ‘PARA’ ABOUT SOME TEACHERS? ...............................................................29
Ramesar’s story .............................................................................................................................29
What does Ramesar’s story tell us? ..........................................................................................30
Table 3.1: Number of para-teachers/contract teachers, selected states (2006-2007)..31
Jhumur’s story ...............................................................................................................................32
What implications does this have for teachers as a community? ...........................................33
An alternative model ...................................................................................................................34
Table 3.2: Training cycle in Shiksha Karmi Project...........................................................35
IV
BEFORE SHE BECAME A TEACHER….............................................................................37
Why choose to be a teacher? ...........................................................................................................38
Box 4.1: Why did I become a teacher? Some responses from Rajasthan ......................39
Who is eligible to become a teacher? ............................................................................................39
Table 4.1: Eligibility criteria for appointment as a school teacher.................................39
Kerala ..............................................................................................................................................40
Maharashtra...................................................................................................................................40
Rajasthan ........................................................................................................................................40
Academic qualifications ..............................................................................................................40
Box 4.2: Who is a teacher: A factual question or a conceptual question? ....................41
Pre-service teacher-training ............................................................................................................42
Teacher-training institutions ..........................................................................................................42
Table 4.2: Expansion in D. Ed institutions, Maharashtra ...............................................43
Table 4.3 Expansion of private teacher-training institutions in TN ..............................43
Table 4.4: Kerala teacher-training institutions ...................................................................43
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