Chandigarh : To improvise teaching methodology and tailor it to suit contemporary classroom schooling, an ‘Early Childhood Education’ workshop was organized by the Delhi Public School Amritsar. The three day workshop, for primary teachers of Delhi Public schools, North Zone comprised of interactive sessions with several resource persons.
The event commenced with an apt beginning to the workshop with a short play “The jungle school for everyone”. The play emphasized the uniqueness of each child, as a storehouse of talent that needs to be recognized, groomed and channelized in a positive direction. A soulful recitation of Shabad -a prayer by the school choir ushered the start of the sessions.
The Host school’s Principal Mrs Sangeeta Singh, while extending a floral welcome to the delegates said – “These workshops are knowledge pools about new technologies as well as psychological management of students for optimum results. Such workshops achieve two goals, one is improvement and increase in knowledge of the teachers themselves and secondly, they enable teachers to deliver such knowledge effectively to students and guide parents.”
Mrs. Navneen Bawa, Dean – Academic Affairs and HoD- English Department, Khalsa College Amritsar as chief guest delivered the keynote address wherein she stated- “Teaching today has become one of the most challenging jobs. To meet the surging demands of the profession, a teacher has to be competent and motivated at all times, hence inspirational seminar have become the need of the hour”.
Three imminent resource persons from Delhi including Mrs. Sharda Manocha Deputy Director HRD center, Ms. Gargi Sengupta, Prof. Renu Gulati addressed the workshop. The gems of suggestions were collected by over 40 teachers from prestigious schools in North Zone who attended it. These included teachers from Bathinda, Dhuri, Patiala, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Khanna, Kathua, Katra, Jammu, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Mohali, Udhampur, Rajouri, Amritsar Ferozepur, and Jalandhar.
It was interesting to note about ‘ice breaking activities’ for young children besides handling, classroom organization, supervision, mathematical fun. It was stressed that yoga and outdoor activities were useful for better learning and retention. Teachers learnt about brain storming sessions and hands on activities that could be tailored for students. In addition, sessions took place on developing language skills among students, curriculum preparation, skill development, handling behavior problems, impact of theatre, puppetry and storytelling in modern learning, besides linking home and school. It also touched topics of discipline as a bridge to success, and the best way to instill discipline and values in children, was not by force, but through ‘example’.
Other resource persons included Richa Khosla, Sandeep Kaur, Sonia Singh, Amardeep Kaur, Priya Vig, Damanpreet Kaur and Narender Kaur. The workshop also added to facilitate professional growth of teachers.