primary school teachers the twists and turns of everyday practice

Version 20 Oct 08, edited final
At the policy level, when we looked at literature on teacher development we found
that almost every conceivable issue had been covered. Every successive committee
and commission starts off by paying homage to the holistic approach of the 1968
Kothari Commission. The history of recommendations since then is reiterated and
analysed. Other important milestones are invoked—Challenge of Education
Document of 1985, the National Policy of 1986, the insightful analysis of the
Chhattopadhayay Commission of 1983, Yashpal Committee of 1993 on ‘learning
without burden’ and, most recently, the focus group papers and the National
Curriculum Framework (NCF) of 2005. Almost all this material is easily available
and accessible on the Internet; clearly a lot of effort has gone into compiling and
uploading it.
Yet, when we go beyond policy documents and commission reports, the twists and
turns of everyday practice leave one wondering why there is so much talk and so
little action.
In preparation for writing this booklet we travelled to five states (Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra, Kerala, West Bengal and Rajasthan) that differ widely on a range of
indicators, whether economic, social, political, or educational. We read the
substantial body of literature now available on different aspects of teachers’ lives and
work, and we also drew extensively upon our past professional experience. We
talked to teacher educators and administrators at the state and district levels, met
with teachers and teacher union leaders, tried to engage in a dialogue with elected
representatives at the village level and spoke to researchers and educationists. Our
initial set of questions was simple:
• Who are teacher candidates, and how are they trained to become teachers?
• Once appointed, what is expected of teachers? How do they view their
professional objectives and set about achieving them?
• How is everyday practice in schools influenced by the relationship between the
teacher and the education system as it manifests itself on the ground?
This booklet is the result of our exploration. It is neither an academic text nor a
chronological account of teacher education policies; nor a comprehensive review of
everything you always wanted to know about teachers in India. It is an attempt to
describe the context in which teachers teach and to identify and analyse some of the
key factors that shape their practice, while also looking at innovative strategies and
initiatives in both the government and the non-government sector that have tried to
address the issues identified. A final chapter summarises the conclusions we arrived
at and pulls together the suggestions of people we met on how we might move
forward. Finally, we include a reference annexure to enable readers to readily refer
to the policies and programmes that are mentioned. This does not purport to be an
exhaustive chronology of policies and programmes on teacher development in India,
but is an attempt to collate available information for ready reference. An extensive
bibliography is included for additional reference.
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