The Raos have a three-part strategy. First, they have developed a comprehensive curriculum that is appropriate for children at all grade levels. It not only gives them the freedom to learn at their own pace but also incorporates material that is pertinent to their everyday lives. Second, they have… Read more
The Raos have a three-part strategy. First, they have developed a comprehensive curriculum that is appropriate for children at all grade levels. It not only gives them the freedom to learn at their own pace but also incorporates material that is pertinent to their everyday lives. Second, they have established satellite schools to implement their curriculum. Third, they are currently establishing a network of teachers and others involved in children's learning to form an educational advocacy group.
Their curriculum centers around carefully designed "study cards" and "work cards" supported by a pictorial "achievement ladder" in three subjects: language, mathematics, and environmental studies. The ingenuity of the Raos' design of this educational kit is that children from different grades (one to five) and different learning speeds can use the same materials.
Each grade has well-defined milestones, which typically involve five types of activities: introduction of fresh concepts; reinforcement of concepts; periodic evaluation of the child's understanding of the concepts (administered by himself or a peer group, and recorded by the teacher); remedial activity to shore up the child's grasp (if needed); and enhancing understanding of the concept (if needed).After analyzing the current situation for rural multigrade, multilevel education, Rama and Padmanabha realized that all existing methods of education had forgotten to incorporate play into children's education. In the beginning of the year, students set out with their teachers for a "village survey" to collect information. They note everything from nature's living things, to housing, people's eating habits, agriculture, transportation, health, festivals, and much more. They categorize this information and systematically display their new knowledge around the classroom. Teachers use this in their lessons throughout the year. The children study in small groups according to learning pace. Self and peer evaluations recorded by the teacher take the place of exams. This method of individualized learning has proved to be quite effective. After finishing the course of study (equivalent to class five) many students appear for the entrance examination for class six. Nearly all have passed and continued their studies in regular government or private schools. The Raos' main campus provides residential accommodation and special classes to those students who take up the seventh standard state exam to continue higher studies.
While working with single teacher primary schools in rural India, Rama and Padmanabha saw demoralized students and passive communities that found no meaning in the existing schools. In an attempt to turn this situation around, the Raos gradually initiated 18 satellite schools in and around Rishi Valley, Madanapally. These are currently reaching out to more than 700 children. The satellite schools are conceived and conducted on the principles of community involvement in the educational process. The village provides the land, and community participation extends to landscaping the school grounds and cultivating trees and plants. Because of this involvement, there is a sense of pride and ownership of the school among villagers. Each satellite school has the potential to serve as a resource center for the village as well as a catalyst for constructive change.
Rama and Padmanabha attracted village youth to impart basic training for becoming teachers in the rural schools. They train them to understand the pedagogical situation of the community, the physical organization of the school, the responsibilities of teachers to their students, and the content of the teaching material. Satellite schools also function as resource centers for nearby government schools. Each resource center conducts hands-on refresher courses for teachers and trains them how to design and produce new teaching materials. This continual exchange of ideas and methods fosters a sense of participation and encourages the renewal and refinement of the educational process.
The Raos are very particular that spreading the methodology is not just handing over ready-made things. They build capacity in the community by training their teachers to develop new material on their own. Although difficult and time-consuming, the process gives the community ownership of the education process and yields outstanding results. The methodology has been refined in the course of innovative trainings conducted in various parts of India, particularly those aimed to equip government schoolteachers and teacher trainers.
Currently, the Raos are establishing networks among educators and practitioners addressing multigrade learning to develop a policy and advocacy group. With pronounced recognition and support by the state government, the Raos are engaged in raising resources to run the satellite schools more effectively. The project has reached a level where trainees are now empowered to impart the methods of using the Raos' multigrade and multilevel approach.
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