Responsive Teaching ( Innovative Experiments)

Quality education for all is the cherished goal. Each child is to learn to its potential. It is possible only if teaching is responsive to individual needs. Effective teachers try to understand learning problems in the classroom and help children to overcome these. This book presents innovative experiments of a teacher whose reflections on practice resulted in new ways of responding to learning difficulties in the classroom. It documents how children were brought out in the class-room, how they were trained in questioning, how they were stimulated to creativity, how they were motivated for independent learning, and how heads of schools were trained for institutionalising change in educational practice. An inspiring reading for teachers, heads, of school and teacher educators.

Dr. N.K. Jangira, Professor and Head, Department of Teacher Education at the National Council of Educational Research and Training is an eminent educationist in his own right. His contribution to teaching and teacher training is recognised globally. Besides holding a number of positions in the Indian education system, he provides consultancy to Unesco, Unicef, WHO and the World Bank. His association with research, development and training assignments in developed and developing countries in USA, UK, Japan, Belgium, France, Lao PDR, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Vietnam, Maldive, Nepal and Afghanistan has enriched his repertoire of experience.

Recently, he completed major research projects on School Effectiveness and Training Needs and Motivation of Primary School Teachers. His major works are : Effective Teacher Training: Cooperative Learning Approach, Effective Teaching : Child-Centred Approach, Core Teaching Skills Microteaching Approach, Technology of Classroom Questioning, Mastery Learning, Special Education Scenario in Britan and India. He has published over 80 papers in different journals in India and abroad.

Quality teaching in schools as a drive to provide basic education to all is to be in sharp focus in the nineties. Teaching is to be a pleasant experience besides ensuring reasonable level of learning and achievement. It can be pleasant only if all children experience success in the classroom. Each has a chance to actively participate in the learning process. This is the key to retain children in schools with a meaningful purpose. Such teaching has a fair chance to hold children in the school and plug the hole in primary school enrolment.

Children can experience success in the classroom if teaching is responsive to their diverse needs and interests. They have the opportunity to explore, reflect, express, share and create. Classroom trust stimulates them to take initiative in the learning process. They have the opportunity to choose from a variety of learning activities. They have the back up support to tackle their learning difficulties. Teaching is responsive to individual needs • despite diversity and constraints in the classroom. This responsiveness is the key to teaching effectiveness.

The book provides experience in the use of responsive teaching. The two conceptual chapters explain the concept of responsive teaching and evolve a framework for experimentation and innovation in the classroom. The subsequent seven chapters describe innovative experiments to tackle learning difficulties and stimulating creativity. The descriptive style without any research jargons makes the presentations practice oriented. Any teacher can easily use, modify and custom design the innovative approach after reading it.

The book is the outcome of a cooperative enterprise. A number of pupils and scores of teachers have been a part of the innovative experiments described here. Intellectual support from colleagues and administrative support from managers encouraged me in my reflective action research based professional refinement. Helping ordinary pupils in ordinary classrooms with limited resources has been all along an exciting experience. I express my sense of appreciation for all those who actively participated in this endeavour and inspired me in my search for responsive teaching. I will feel amply rewarded if reading stimulates teachers to experiment and innovate in discovering ways to responsive teaching in their classrooms.

**Contents and Sample Pages**