Fostering a better learning environment

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind,” wrote Kahlil Gibran, a famous artist, poet, and writer. This quote perhaps best describes the project that RV Educational Consortium (RVCE) works in with Tech Mahindra Foundation as a knowledge partner to provide quality support to teachers in low-income schools across Bengaluru.

Around four years ago, Tech Mahindra signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to provide training to government school teachers and build the overall capacity and quality of education delivered in the schools they work with. However, before they implemented the training programme, they undertook a need-based analysis in 2014 to better understand what the schools needed and where they needed support. Once this base was established, they rolled out the programme in the following academic year (2015-2016). “This is a one of a kind programme that focuses on the improvement of the school in a holistic manner,” says Mythili Ramchand, director, RVCE.

While framing the training programme, RVCE noticed that the teachers in the BBMP schools did not participate in any teacher development programmes at all and the learning levels of the students were poor. Hence, they decided to concentrate on teacher empowerment and improving learning levels. While the first focuses on providing the necessary teacher development programme, the latter focuses on strengthening the students’ literacy levels. Currently, they work with four BBMP schools in Chinnayanpalya, Lakkasandra, Tasker Town and Jogupalya. Why only four? “This allows us to focus on providing a well-rounded programme that emphasises on quality,”elaborates Mythili.

The initiative has identified various ways to help education become better and more effective in these schools. In this light, they developed an integrated project approach to improve the students’ literacy levels. This focused on enabling the students learn their lessons in a more practical and engaging way. “We knew from prior experience that children will enjoy learning more if it is done in an integrated approach quite naturally,” shares Mythili. It has been implemented with different techniques in each school. Facilitators appointed by RVCE help implement the project. This has trickled into the classrooms as well. For instance, in one school, teachers have a dedicated wall for new words that the students have learnt each week.  

To ensure optimal learning levels, teachers needed to be trained in the latest teaching methods. This was necessary to enable teachers plan their lessons better. “In the first year, we had the teachers come over to the RVCE campus once a week. Students were kept engaged with help from Tech Mahindra when the teachers were away,” explains Mythili. These sessions focused on building the teachers’ knowledge and enable them to use various teaching tools. They were also exposed them to current teaching methodologies. The first two hours are spent on building perspectives. Then, they are divided into groups depending on the subject they taught. This became difficult as some teachers were teaching multiple subjects since the subject sessions happened concurrently.

They had also noticed that not all teachers participated in the sessions equally. Hence, they made it a monthly subject-based session for the following year. To make it more effective, RVCE asked the teachers to focus on a subject they felt comfortable with. This worked and got the teachers to participate in a more meaningful manner. While many were reluctant initially about the sessions’ relevance, they slowly warmed up once they began seeing the results. “The sessions were helpful and enabled me to make the students more engaged in classes,” says a teacher from the Jogupalya school.

RVCE aim to work with these schools for a period of four years, as they believe this is the amount of time that it takes for the curriculum to take shape and become stable enough for the teachers to continue without their support.