1 Introduction
2 The study
3 Conclusions
Patrick Wiegand and Pankaj Jain
1.1 Context
Primary Education in Andhra Pradesh (AP) is provided by both Government and private schools. There are approximately 45 000 government and 3 500 recognised private primary schools in the state. In addition, approximately 5 000 and 2 200 respectively, in the two sectors also have primary classes. The total number of primary teachers in Government schools is approximately 170 000, while total enrolment in primary classes is estimated to be in the range of 7 million children. The state government's annual budget for primary education is approximately seven billion rupees. State literacy levels are estimated to be in the order of 55% for males and 33% for females.
Primary education is the responsibility of the State Government, and it meets the majority of the necessary expenses, but occasionally the Central Government provides support for specific projects. The Andhra Pradesh Primary Education Project (APPEP), funded by the UK Government was one such, that provided support, over 1991-96, for improving teacher competence, and building school infrastructure. From 1996 onward, a new initiative, the District Primary Education Project (DPEP), has been initiated in five districts of Andhra Pradesh. DPEP supports a variety of activities, including support for the activities of Teachers' Centres.
All primary school teachers enjoy the same hierarchical level, and the senior-most teacher in a school is designated as head teacher. The head teacher has no administrative power over other teachers, although he or she keeps records and reports on the attendance of the teachers and decides, in negotiation with them, the time table and class schedule. The AP state Government follows the national norm of providing a primary school within 3 km of every residential locality, and has established schools in most villages in the state. The lowest administrative unit in the state is a Mandel, which might include 20-30 villages. All the primary schools in a Mandel are under the administrative charge of a Mandel Education Officer (MEO). The control of primary education in AP has been entrusted to local elected bodies, known as District (or Mandel) Parishads, and hence the MEO exercises administrative power under the supervision of Mandel Parishad Officers. Within the Education department, all MEOs report to a District Education Officer (DEO). Although a DEO is typically supported by three or four Deputy Education Officers, the latter are responsible for supervising only secondary schools. There is thus no other hierarchical level in between DEO and MEOs. Given that a DEO may have 40-50 MEOs working under him, the effective control over their activities remains with the Mandel Parishad. Each district has a District Institute of Education Technology (DIET) that is responsible for teacher training and providing technical support for all educational activities. The Principal of a DIET is hierarchically at the same level as a DEO.
Andhra Pradesh has a total of 1 100 Mandels in its 23 districts. Five Regional Joint Directors look after education administration in all of 23 districts. At the State level, all activities related to primary education are directed by the Commissioner and Director (School Education), who is supported by four Joint Directors. These officers look after state-wide operations related to Non Formal Education, Vocational Education, Elementary Education, and Administration. There also exist State Project Directors for special state-wide educational programs, such as APPEP and DPEP, and the office of the Additional Commissioner (Examinations).
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is the premier technical and professional body at the state level. SCERT is responsible for designing the syllabus and text books, and supervising teacher training and activities at the DIETs. SCERT is often guided by the advice of its counterpart at the national level called NCERT. There also exist many other colleges and institutions, affiliated to various universities, that offer B. Ed. and M.Ed. education programmes.
Most rural primary schools typically have 2-3 teachers, though up to 5-6 teachers may be in post in some semi-urban or large rural schools. Most schools normally have classes up to standard five, irrespective of the number of teachers or students. In Government schools, the text books are supplied free of cost to all children, but they have to buy notebooks, other school material and school uniform. At present, there is no provision of a midday school meal for students.
1.2 Teacher training under APPEP
All teachers in recognised primary schools are required to have completed a one year certificate course at a DIET. Typically, each DIET runs this pre-service course for 150 students every year. Thirty per cent of the admissions to the DIET are now reserved for women candidates. Admission to the course is through an entrance test. The syllabuses for this course are broadly similar all over India, though each state has some variation. The course design and training materials for the course are developed by the SCERT. The curriculum for current pre-service teacher training program in AP was designed in 1986, but is likely to be revised soon.
The DIET also periodically runs in-service training programmes, mainly for resource teachers, who along with Mandel Education Officers and DIET staff then conduct in-service training for school teachers, at the Mandel level.
APPEP was a major initiative to improve the training of teachers and provide an ongoing mechanism for professional development. Under this program, a 12 day initial training module in six APPEP 'principles' was organised for all Government primary teachers. This programme was meant to train teachers in (i) providing teacher generated learning activities, (ii) promoting learning by doing, discovering and experimenting, (iii) developing individual group and whole class work, (iv) providing for individual differences, (v) using the local environment, and (vi) creating and interesting classroom by displaying children's work and organising it effectively. The initial 12 day training was followed by a 3 day refresher after a gap of around three months. Approximately 150, 000 teachers were covered in the state under this programme from 1991-96. The training was organised on a cascade model. For conducting teacher training, 3-4 resource teachers, called as Mandel Resource Persons (MRPs), were identified in each Mandel. MRPs and Mandel Education Officers were given a 12+ 3 day training course by DIET staff to prepare them for conducting the 12 day training package for teachers. DIET staff were given a training of 12+ 3+ 3 days by the APPEP State Resource Team to prepare them for training the MRPs and MEOs. Most members of State Resource Team were senior teacher trainers in the State and they were also sent to UK for a three month training in APPEP principles. The core 12 day module was identical in all such training programs. This approach was adopted in an attempt to ensure that the basic 12 day training module developed and administered by the State Resource Team to the DIET staff was transmitted to all the teachers with minimal transmission loss. This pattern was different from the typical practice of previous in-service training programmes, where the preparatory training of MRPs or DIET staff had been confined to 3-4 days in order to provide orientation in outline requirements, leaving them some discretion over the actual transaction of content.
Andhra Pradesh has had few resources for supporting the in-service training of teachers. In the last decade, all in-service training has been conducted under some central government programme, for which the focus, as well as the training material, was drafted by NCERT. The views of NCERT are shaped by the general requirements of primary education throughout the country and not as per the specific needs of any particular state. In 1996-97, under a national programme (SOFT), all teachers were given a one week course to train them in the requirements of the so-called 'minimum learning levels' (MLL) stipulated as a part of national curriculum. Some attempt was made by SCERTs to adapt such programs and material to their current needs, but this remains limited in scope as a result of the inevitable time pressure. For example, SOPT was implemented as the first in-service program after APPEP, but the SCERT in AP was able to adapt national guidelines to only a limited extent in order to integrate the six APPEP principles into the SOPT training. The in-service arrangements for APPEP were an exception to the national pattern as this program was limited to Andhra Pradesh and the training was designed by the APPEP directorate.
APPEP supported large scale investment for upgrading the capability of resource people at different levels. This included the training of more than 150 people, mostly DIET staff and the State Resource Team, in UK universities for a 3 month period. It is, however, not very clear to what extent the APPEP approach has been integrated in non-APPEP training programs conducted by DIETs, such as the one year pre-service training of primary teachers.
1.3 Teachers' Centres and their role under APPEP
There is a tradition of Teacher Association Centres in India, initially conceived as forums for professional interaction. In time these became places where teachers mainly met to talk about conditions of service and Government circulars and policies. Teacher Association Centres thus became more like Teacher Union Centres, with trade union aspects dominating their activities.
A major element of the APPEP strategy was to establish Teachers' Centres (TC), that were to act as the forum for professional interaction among teachers. The TC was expected to provide space and opportunity for teachers to exchange experiences, develop materials and to enable the message of their initial APPEP training to be reinforced. 'Teachers' Centres act as platforms where the experiences of the teachers are shared amongst themselves, which helps them to grow professionally' (Gopal Krishnan, Teacher training strategy paper). Approximately 4800 Teachers' Centres were established under the programme, each catering for about 30 teachers. Teachers Centres were established as part of a larger primary school in a cluster of 7-13 schools, the head-teacher of which was designated as the Secretary. At least one teacher in this cluster would be an MRP, selected and trained for conducting the in-service training of teachers, but that person was not necessarily made the secretary. An assistant secretary was also chosen from among the teachers. This person was often an MRP. As such the Secretary or Asst. Secretary were to have no formal power; their role mainly being a facilitator in organizing TC meetings. It was originally conceived that the Mandel Education Officers would be present at most TC meetings, and a member of the DIET staff would attend at least 1-2 meetings at each TC every year. Towards this end, four members of staff at each DIET were specifically appointed for attending TC meetings. It was later recognised that the MEO's attendance at TC meeting was rarely feasible due to other responsibilities, and dedicated DIET staff participation at TC meetings has also been discontinued in the post-APPEP phase.
Under APPEP, approximately 1100 Teachers' Centre buildings were constructed, each comprising a large meeting room, and an adjoining small office room, fronted by a verandah. On days other than TC meetings, this room was used mostly as a staff room or class-room, and occasionally for hosting other meetings such as parent or Village Education Committee meetings. Where new construction did not occur, any one room in the school was used as the Teacher Centre. All the teacher centres were given an initial grant of Rs. 2000 to purchase various items such as lockable cupboard space and some teaching materials. Another Rs. 2000 were given every year to purchase consumables that could be used to make teaching aids. Each school was also given a grant of Rs. 500 per year for purchasing consumables. Teachers were also given a small amount to cover their travel expenses for attendance at meetings.
TC meetings were to be held six times a year. On the day of the meeting, all the teachers' schools remained closed, in order for the teachers to attend as part of their official duties. A standard schedule for the TC meeting was laid out under the program. The meeting was to start with the display of any new teaching aids that had been made by teachers after the previous meeting. Later in the morning, two teachers were to present a model lesson each on topics of their choice. The display of materials and the model lessons were to be commented upon by all teachers and written and oral feedback was to be submitted by each teacher. The afternoon session of each meeting was devoted to group work among the teachers, where they were to prepare sample lesson plans and some relevant teaching resources. For group work, teachers were divided into according to school subjects. Each meeting ended by selecting two teachers who would present model lessons at the next meeting. The selection of teachers was to be by rotation among all the schools and the lesson content chosen to cover all the primary subjects, but each individual session topic was the responsibility of the volunteer who was to teach it. In some meetings, a lecture was given by a teacher on a topic of common (general) interest. Although the school remained closed on the meeting day, students from one or two classes of the TC school were asked to be present in the morning so that the model demonstration lessons could be conducted in real class-like settings. The presentation of the model lesson, preparation of lesson plans and related teaching aids were all expected to demonstrate 'best practice' according to the six APPEP principles and thus continually reinforce the original training.
1.4 Post APPEP developments
The Government of Andhra Pradesh gave a commitment that it would continue to support TC meetings beyond the end of APPEP in the form of annual grant of Rs. 2000 (c£36) towards the purchase of consumables for preparing teaching materials. The DPEP program has also decided to continue all existing TCs, strengthening them and adding more. As a result, not only was each TC to be given an annual grant of Rs. 2000, but each individual teacher was also to be given Rs. 500 per year towards the purchase of teaching material. In addition, each school was given Rs. 2000 annually to improve its facilities. During 1996-2001, DPEP was being implemented in five districts with ODA support, and it was planned that the remaining districts in A.P. would be covered under DPEP with financial support from World Bank and UNDP/UNICEF.
Under DPEP, a further mechanism for teacher support is being established, that of the Mandel Resource Centre at which is to be based two permanent Mandel Resource Persons. These, along with the MEO, will be responsible for conducting Mandel level training and providing class-room support. It is expected that MRPs, unlike the MEO, will be able to attend all TC meetings.
2.1 Visits and methodology
Patrick Wiegand (PW) and Pankaj Jain (PJ) visited Andhra Pradesh on two occasions of two weeks each in 1997-8, after holding planning discussions earlier in Leeds. PW and PJ undertook a shared programme in September 1997 to establish common methodologies and procedures and then undertook separate visits in December 1997 (PJ) and January 1998 (PW) in order to enlarge the possible range of observations.
We held meetings with the director of DPEP and DIET staff at Hyderabad and visited project staff, TCs and schools in Warangal, Karimnagar, Kurnool and Vizianagaram districts.
The limitations of this study should be noted. Time available was too short for a thorough investigation. Our visits to schools and teachers' centres were generally accompanied by education officials and by members of the Village Education Committee. Interviewing was often more public than we would have wished and it was rarely possible to conduct interviews privately. This must have influenced our interviewees' responses but we cannot say to what degree. We worked through the medium of interpreters and could not always rely on precision in translation. We did not select the schools or centres we visited and cannot rely on the representativeness of our sample of centres, schools or teachers. Teachers had had ample notice of our visit in many instances and so the teaching we saw had presumably been specially planned. We suspected that in some cases a previously learned model lesson had been rehearsed for our benefit out of the normal teaching sequence. This may be less problematic in a teaching culture which tends to regard individual lessons as separate units, but this in itself is a factor mitigating against learning as a continuing process, building on prior knowledge.
Nevertheless, we did see, between us, all or part of some 60 lessons and spoke individually or in small groups to approximately 150 teachers.
2.2 Physical condition of schools and TCs
Of the 30 or so schools that we visited, only three had an adequate number of class-rooms to accommodate each of the primary classes independently. In other cases, either more than one class shared the same room or classes were held in the open air or on the verandha. There was no furniture in the classes and children generally sat on the bare floor, which had no matting. The physical separation between children was often of the order of only one foot and the gap between rows barely provided enough space to keep a school bag, which was usually used to support notebook or slate. In some classes, a chair and a table for the teacher was provided. Given the limitations of space, children were sometimes sent home when rain prevented lessons taking place outdoors.
Most schools did not have electric lighting or fan in the classrooms. In a few cases, there was a fan and light connection in a room used by teachers as and office but, because the electricity bill had not been paid (there were no funds for electricity in the school budget) the supply was cut off in many cases. Most schools did not have any toilet facilities, either for boys or girls (and in some cases, for teachers), and the drinking water too was not available in a large majority of schools.
School classrooms
Classrooms in Andhra Pradesh are generally crowded. Children usually sit on the floor and there is little space for school books. Class sizes are large and there is a shortage of classrooms. Classes that must be taught outdoors are cancelled in rainy weather.
The teachers' centres we saw were constructed from brick or concrete and roughcast rendered. The floors were stone or tile and the interior wall plaster was generally sound. Although headteachers reported other parts of the school building where the roof leaked, the rooms used for the teachers' centre were waterproof. Windows were open air, barred with shutters. Overall, the condition of the building or room used was generally satisfactory. Where a school classroom was used it was generally the largest school room and in the best condition. Only one teachers' centre we visited provided staff toilets. Of those centres that had access to electricity supply, only three were still connected. There had apparently been no provision for payment of the electricity bills. All centres had water, obtained via a borewell.
One centre reported theft of all the materials provided by APPEP. There appeared to be no contingency fond to replace materials lost or stolen.
The centres we saw provided accommodation for 25-30 teachers. Although a few centres had wooden benches, most meetings were conducted with the teachers sitting on a large mat or rug on the floor.
The teachers' centres served up to 5 schools, the most distant of which was 8km. Teachers made the journey by bus or cycle or on foot. The longest reported journey was 1.5 hours but most teachers seemed to be able to get to the centre in half to three quarters of and hour. In theory teachers are reimbursed for their travel costs although there had been discontinuity in this arrangement which appeared to account for irregularity of some meetings.
Teachers' Centres in Andhra Pradesh
Teachers' meetings are generally held in one of the better school classrooms. Some centres have benches but for most meetings teachers sit on the floor.
2.3 Teachers' centre resources
The teachers' centre are generally open when the school is open, i.e. usually 6 days per week. As all school times are roughly the same it would not be convenient for a teacher from another school to visit and look at or borrow materials at a centre and there is no mechanism whereby travel cost can be reimbursed other than for the official teachers' meetings. One school kept a log of teacher-made items borrowed. We saw no evidence of any teacher books available for borrowing. Materials are ordered by the secretary and/or assistant secretary with in most cases the approval of the teachers. As and illustration of how far the money might go, an A2 sheet of card costs approx. 2Rs and a similar sized sheet of thermacol (polystyrene) costs about 4Rs. There are no catalogues to order from and materials are either bought in the nearest town (cheaper but with added transport costs) or locally (expensive). The sums involved are small and there is not an established culture of ordering supplies.
We saw no books other than sets of school books which were either used by the teachers' centre school (although we observed very few lessons where texts were actually in use) or which were awaiting collection by nearby schools. There were no books for teachers, method or higher level texts. Each teachers' centre meeting room had a plain blackboard in reasonable condition. We saw the beginnings of some useful wall decoration, for example, telegu letters on a boundary wall, some maps of India or the locality. In a few classrooms there were improving slogans on the wall. One centre had a colour television and VCR. Most materials held at the teachers' centres were made by teachers at their meetings.
Exhibit 3 illustrates a typical range of materials produced. These appear to be characterised by their sameness. Many were modelled on content derived from a seminal training course. The lack of variety was perhaps disappointing in that we were relatively quickly able to predict what we would find in schools and centres and reflects the prescriptive nature of the curriculum. For example, every school we visited had a teacher-made polystyrene heart and lungs visual aid.
Teacher-produced materials
Teacher-produced materials include wallcharts, polystyrene models and a few interactive displays.
Only one school had any artwork on display simply for its aesthetic appeal. This was in the form of cut-out friezes from tissue paper. Some Teachers' Centres had commercially made wallcharts. Some medical charts were also observed but these were usually pitched at a level a considerable way beyond the capacity of the children to understand the text. Occasional world maps were to be seen and a very large number of pictures of India's national heroes. 'Low cost. No cost' materials formed one of the most pervasive elements of teachers' centre culture. This slogan was much in evidence at meetings and in discussions with teachers and the materials we saw reflected this philosophy. For example neoprene tubing was used to represent blood vessels in biological models and rubber offcuts from sandals were used in various ways to produce number aids.
There was quite a lot of evidence of classroom learning materials using natural materials. Tamarind seeds, sweet corn kernels, pebbles, etc. were used to trace the outline shapes of letters and numbers. Modelling clay was made from local soil. Some tactile charts showing materials for clothes had been constructed and fruits and vegetables were used for sorting and classifying. The teachers centre room also served as a store for children's work. This deteriorates rapidly in the hot damp climate. Gestetner duplicators had been supplied in some cases but these appeared to have received very little use. In many cases centres still had the original paper allocation, often by now in a poor condition.
Use of natural materials in the classroom.
Natural materials are used for sorting and classifying. Seeds and pebbles are used for tracing the outline of letters in telegu.
2.4 Teachers' centre meetings
The basic principle of teacher training under APPEP is: 'that in-service training is a continuous or ongoing process, rather than a single intervention or a series of one-off interventions. The end-point is the establishment of teachers' centres at which they discuss problems, seek solutions, learn from each other and from resource persons such as Mandal Education Officers, Strong teachers (MRPs), staff from DIETs etc.' (Gopal Krishnan, Teacher training strategy paper)
Under both APPEP and DPEP, it was conceived that each TC would hold six meetings every year. Our review suggested that till 1994, such meetings were held regularly. It has been reported that due to administrative difficulties, the channelization of annual grant of Rs. 2000 was disrupted during the last two years of APPEP in 1995-96. Due to budgetary constraints, it was also difficult for the Government to process the claims of teachers for expenses incurred to attend TC meetings. As a result, TC meetings were not held regularly in 1995-96, but have been resumed in 1997 with the resumption of support under DPEP. Most teachers travelled by bus and on foot. The furthest journey was 8km and the longest 1.5 hours.
The attendance of Government primary teachers at TC meetings has been fairly regular. The teachers of recognized private primary school are also required to attend TC meetings, but their attendance is rare and representational, mostly to satisfy the MEO, who has inspectorial power over them. Attendance at TC meeting is officially mandated for Government teachers, with the school formally closed on the day of TC meeting. An absence from these meetings has to be, therefore, officially recorded. We however noted some cases of absence, and also an administrative arrangement that could contribute to teachers' absence. The dates of TC meetings are typically decided by the MEO, who informs the TC secretary about it. Since the TC secretary has limited support and there are no telephone/telecommunication links with the schools, the information about the TC meeting date sometime does not reach all the schools. This contributes to teachers' absence from TC meetings. Still, the attendance at TC meetings was in the range of around 90%.
Our review also revealed that record of TC meetings were regularly maintained. The minutes of TC meetings suggested that the laid down schedule of day long TC meeting, comprising of model lessons, material display, lesson plan preparation and teaching material preparation, was followed.
Exhibit illustrates a model lesson at a teachers' centre meeting. This was probably the best lesson we observed, the only one with any spark of originality. It used local materials, had its starting point in the local environment, made use of group work and activity based learning.
'The Coconut tree'. A Teachers' Centre model lesson.
The children sang a song they knew about going to the forest and collecting coconuts. Then the teacher took the children outside and asked them to identify about a dozen different plants and trees (each at different stages of growth and including a dead stump). The last was a coconut tree. How high did they think it was? A boy climbed the tree with one end of a tape and they measured its height. Back in the classroom teacher and children read about the characteristics of coconut trees such as where they grow and what they are used for. Complex words from the textbook in Telegu were then compared with their simple, everyday counterparts by matching cards.
The teacher's key question was: 'What can we do with the coconut tree?' In groups children used parts of the tree to: make mats (using the green leaves), rope (using the fibres), sweepers (using dead leaves) and food (by collecting milk and grating the flesh with a grinder). The teacher then expanded on each of these by questioning children about the properties of each of the products, e.g. children described the rope they had made and its properties and uses (it was strong and could be used to tie a bucket to get water from the well). Learning was consolidated by completing a structured summary sheet after which they were required to produce some independent free writing.
After the demonstration lessons, teachers were invited to stand up and give their evaluation of the lesson they had observed. Notes were also written by teachers on the lesson and these were collected by the secretary. No structure was provided for observations and there was no clear indication of what happened to the reports or how the information they contained could be used by participants. The observations made by teachers were generally bland ('the lesson was enjoyable'). In many of our discussions with teachers, few teachers could go beyond a concrete level of lesson analysis that (e.g.) the lesson used no cost/low cost materials.
Teachers views about the usefulness of the centre meetings were generally positive. When asked, they all said they found the meetings helpful although very few could give an example of something they had learned at the meeting that they hadn't hitherto known. Those that did provide an example referred only to the topic in a general way. This may have been because they were too shy or anxious to tell us what they really thought about the meetings or that they are unused to critical reflection. At the end of one meeting some of the women teachers eventually became confident enough to state vigorously that they thought the APPEP principles required too much work and that they only rarely taught in this way. Nevertheless, motivation at meetings appeared generally high. At two separate TC meetings one teacher sang a song about DPEP he had composed and the others joined in the choruses.
Teachers could only say that the TC was of help in a very general way. We found few examples of teachers independently developing principles derived from the TC meetings although several examples of individual lessons replicated or illustrations copied. Teachers' views about the centres were generally positive. When asked, all the teachers we spoke to said they found the meetings helpful although very few could give an example of something they had learned at a recent meeting that they hadn't hitherto known. This may have been because they were too shy or anxious to tell us what they really thought about the meetings or that they are unused to critical reflection.
TC meetings appeared not to have been effective at the level of planning in a time frame longer than one lesson. We found no examples of school staffs working together outside of TC meetings to create materials appropriate to their own situation. It seems to us that mechanisms enabling schools to become self sustaining centres of innovative practice are under-considered.
The role of those providing support to participating teachers needs further consideration. The assistant secretary is elected by the group and in many cases seems more professionally knowledgeable, committed or at least better placed to conduct the meeting than the secretary who is the head (i.e. simply the longest serving teacher) of the host school. MEOs and BRCs showed little sign of active intervention or guidance at the meetings we attended. We suspect that without skilled intervention TC meetings are unlikely to develop professional skill further. We identify an important role for BRCs and MEOs as catalysts to professional development. They need fully to understand the project principles and have a deeper level of understanding than the teachers. Their access to a small discretionary sum to pump prime good local initiatives may be a helpful strategy but this could be set with other difficulties.
2.5 Tracer activities in schools
2.5.1 Providing teacher generated learning activities
At the time of our visits, teachers were grappling with the classroom implications of the Minimum Learning Levels (MLLs). These are primarily expressed in terms of subject content whereas the APPEP 'principles' are characteristics of pedagogy. In theory the two should (and could) mesh together in a complementary way. In practice we found they were perceived as two separate peaks to be scaled. Of the two, the MLLs appeared to be seen as the higher priority. Consequently we were aware of a pre-occupation with content, transmitted in a rather routine and traditional way. This effect was compounded by the definition of MLLs as outline statements which were not greatly added to by teachers. For example we observed a number of lessons dealing with tools people use and local services (such as the post office). The lesson typically consisted of teachers asking children to say what tools were used by several common occupations and perhaps sort or match cards with tools and occupations. It seemed unbelievable to us that the children concerned did not already know which tools matched each occupation and thus the lesson became self-serving rather than deepening the children's understanding of the world. In relation to the Post Office, children might for example have placed first and second class letters, aerograms, telegrams, phone calls, etc. on a graph showing axes representing time and cost in order to determine the nature of the relationship between these two variables and how it could be represented graphically. Instead they simply learned that there were a number of possibilities of communication. In many cases the lessons appeared designed for the teacher's benefit (e.g. smooth organisation, simple steps, tasks that don't involve interruptive questioning) rather than the children's. Again, this characteristic of much education is not confined to the situation in AP.
A notable exception was the use made by teachers in a group of schools meeting at a TC of masks (Exhibit 6).
Using masks in teaching and learning.
S.P. Renukabai, a teacher at Penchikalupadu primary school, near Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, India, had a brilliant idea. If she made masks from cardboard and string the children in her class could use them to perform short plays about animals. Writing the plays themselves would teach the children more about the habits of the animals, what they ate, how they lived and how people use them. S.P. Renukabai's school is a Teachers' Centre. On one day every month a group of 25 teachers from 6 primary schools come to share their ideas and develop classroom materials. S.P. Renukabai taught a model lesson for the other teachers in which the children used masks. Soon all the schools in the cluster had taken up the idea, adapting it to suit their needs.
2.5.2 Promoting learning by doing, discovering and experimenting
Most teaching we observed relied heavily on a formula consisting of teacher talk with recall questions and an oral 'complete the gaps' technique. We had the impression that teaching was pitched at too low a level and that the function of many lessons was to supply definitions of in some way codify knowledge and understanding the children already possessed.
Some lessons contained pseudo or quasi activity. This was often in the form of demonstration to others. For example in a lesson on the senses the teacher demonstrated tasting salt and sugar, smelling naphthalene balls, feeling knocking and pinching etc.
These simple experiments might easily have been adapted for the children to undertake themselves and could be regarded as a lost opportunity for interactive learning. In another lesson, children observed the effect of water pressure on jets of water issuing from a tin pierced with several holes at different heights. The teacher conducted the experiment, there was no questioning or problem solving required by the children. They observed passively and made a copy of a drawing of the experiment.
We saw some evidence of practical work but only one instance of practical work taking place (that described in the coconut tree lesson above). Several children in some classes had made models outside school and brought these in to class. One child for example, the son of a carpenter, had made at home wooden examples of the tools described in a recent lesson.
Tools and materials available for practical work were very limited.
Feedback was generally positive and generous but we suspected that only the most able children were questioned in our presence and perhaps as a rule. In all cases the children were extremely attentive and in many cases showed boundless patience with their teachers.
2.5.3 Developing individual group and whole class work
The basic approach to teaching was almost universally whole class yet groups were established for at least part of the lesson for approximately half of the lessons we observed. A common pattern however was for the teacher to arrange children in heterogeneous groups in order to complete a question or exercise provided on a sheet of card. In most instances, the child who received the card completed the answer or recorded what was required whilst the other children observed. There was no or little interaction. When challenged with the observation that this method of teaching was more expensive (the cost of the card) and involved less intellectual processing by the class (only the group representatives did the work) the teachers almost all responded that these were APPEP principles, without showing any evidence of understanding the underlying rationale for group activity.
Group work.
We saw much evidence of group work and yet in most cases the activities would have been more effective if the class had been organised for whole class teaching.
Although group (leader) s reported the results of 'group work', in plenary session we saw no instances of reformulation of problems, revisiting tasks at greater depth or levels of understanding. Progression from simple one word completion exercise to answering in sentences was however well established in the ordering of group tasks.
Some teachers involved individual pupils in the lesson in a way similar to 'contestants' in a game show. For example, one boy sorted number chips in ascending order as the others watched. Although limited in the amount of interactivity it involves, this seemed a fairly effective strategy.
Understanding was often consolidated by the teacher writing definitions and examples on the board which the children copied into their notebooks. For example, 'In ascending order, numbers get bigger.. '.etc.
The whole class teaching we observed was sometimes extremely effective with teachers maintaining the attention of children for long periods of time with few materials or aids other than their own voice and a blackboard. We saw many teachers working with large classes with few resources. As resource provision will not significantly increase in the foreseeable future it seems to us that more could be done to build on the skills that teachers already have under present circumstances, as well as to develop new skills for resource-based teaching.
A substantial issue for many teachers is the failure to have a satisfactory strategy for dealing with multigrade classes. The only way of dealing with the situation for many teachers is to teach one class whilst the children in the other sit passively to one side of the room.
2.5.4 Providing for individual differences
Questions were targeted at individual children but it was difficult to assess whether the questions were consciously adapted to pupil differences. There were records kept of children's attainment. These were generally based on test performance in each subject and recorded on a sheet which was sent termly to parents. The testing however was coarse grained. Few or no records were kept of children's individual progress or learning difficulties. Teachers were able to identify skilled learners but not characterise the nature of individual's learning difficulties. As the children receive no systematic eye or hearing tests it seemed likely to us that there would be several children in each class who may have (at least minor) visual or hearing impairments that had not been recognised.
We saw no explicit instances of differentiated activities for children of different levels of ability or experience.
2.5.5 Using the local environment
Although there was use of local materials in many classes as substitutes for apparatus (for example beans and seeds used as counters), we found very few instances indeed of the materials being displayed for their own scientific investigation. There were no nature tables, collections of rocks or seeds, berries, leaves, fruits, minibeasts, etc. We found the typical explanation that these materials rapidly decay in the hot and wet climate unconvincing.
2.5.6 Creating an interesting classroom by displaying children's work and organising it effectively
Children's work was generally displayed in the TC room in TC schools and in non TC schools one room was often used as a repository for children's work and other illustrative material as well as small supplies of equipment including maths apparatus and science equipment. There were displays of teacher made charts and posters in some classrooms as well as children's work but in almost every case these were placed at a height well above the children. They were generally mounted on strings and difficult to see or read.
Common examples of displays included polystyrene models of vital organs and body parts, transport, mathematical aids such as number lines, number chips, painted stones and animals. There were some examples of commercially produced 'moral story picture charts', wall maps of India and the world, anatomical diagrams, drawings of national heroes and former heads of state. Only a very few schools had display in every classroom. In some cases the rationale for the means of illustration appeared to have been lost. For example, the visual potential of thermocol had been demonstrated by DIET staff as capable of being shaped to give a 3D representation of human organs (kidneys, lungs, etc.). Several teachers had created displays, however, in which the outline only of the organs had been cut, giving right angled edges to the 3D shape. This seemed at best to underutilise the medium's potential and, at worst, create a misleading impression of the true shape of the subject matter.
Children's work where displayed was sometimes bundled together making it difficult or impossible to see. There were in any case few opportunities for children to spend time in or out of scheduled time to look at these materials. We saw almost no instances of interactive materials. For example, there were several maps of India and the locality but no available lengths of string that could act as a scale and be used to answer questions such as 'Is it farther from X to Y or from X to Z?' Almost none of the displays were labelled interrogatively (e.g. 'How many legs does a beetle have?') and their potential was thus limited to passive illustration. Where there was potential for interactivity (e.g. an advent calendar type of chart and a rotating letter wheel for constructing words) these appeared only to have been used in an illustrative way by the teachers who had made them and not by the children for their independent use.
Display of work.
Display and storage or work varied from the ordered to chaotic. Much display was placed at a level too high for children to read.
The class-rooms typically had a black-board set at a height that was suited for teacher's writing on it in a standing posture. Given that the children sat on the floor, they had to continually keep the chin up/look up to see what was written on the board. There are apparently no regular eye sight tests and we did not see children using spectacles. There are likely therefore to be children who cannot adequately read text written on the board.
3.1 Evidence of beneficial effects of TCs
The TCs do provide an opportunity for professional interchange (as well as an opportunity to cast scepticism on project aims) in a situation where schools are physically remote. The value of enabling teachers to informally match their understandings, attitudes and skills against those of others in the area is difficult to assess or measure. We believe nevertheless, that the meetings are an important prerequisite for the development of a professional culture. The way that culture is shaped, however, depends on the nature of project steering interventions as well as the development of self-steering strategies by teachers in their TC groupings.
Meetings appear to be structured in the way recommended by the project and records are kept of teacher attendance and activities undertaken. All the centres are accessible to the teachers and the accommodation is adequate for the sizes of the groups, although there is shortage or absence of furniture. The teachers appear generally to be prepared to make the most of the limited facilities. We saw several examples of high levels of teacher motivation or attempts to sustain motivation. For example, at one teachers' meeting, a teacher sang a song he had composed about the project and its aims. Its purpose appeared to be to raise morale and create group identity. This appeared strange to an outsider but was well received by the teachers present.
Model lessons are taught at the teachers' centres to real children although the classroom situation is rather artificial and, because space for the observers is needed, the classes tend to be small and biddable. Nevertheless, there is value in the sense of realism achieved despite it being inevitable that (especially if he/she is from another school) the teacher will not know the characteristics of individuals the class. This is an interesting practical difficulty for a project which included amongst its intentions the recognition of, and sensitivity to, individual differences.
Attendance rates at TC meetings appear to be high, although it could be said that this is one of the few occasions when teacher non-attendance is highly visible.
In some cases (for example, the lessons using masks) we observed transfer of APPEP principles through the TCs to the classroom. Example of original teacher-led innovation were however rare. More common was repetition of 'validated' lessons and materials which had originated in the initial training programme. It may be, however, that this cloning stage is a necessary confidence-building precursor to deeper professional understanding and innovative practice.
Class teaching may be said to be a little less dull as a result of the teaching strategies devised or discussed at TC meetings. There are materials on at least some classroom walls and always in at least one schoolroom, although the extent to which that 'storage' room is used by the children is not clear and they have limited opportunity to access the materials outside lesson time. Materials are generally too high for children to see properly, or interact with, and many classrooms remain bare and unattractive.
There is, though, a positive response from the community, an awareness that something is happening for the better, especially in the schools that act as TCs. The community is also aware of professional debate being conducted and, as such debate held within village schools is effectively open to the public, many local people with a stake in the school have the opportunity to become better informed.
3.2 Evidence of weak or no influence of TCs
Model lessons were taught and observed during TC meetings but there is little or no guidance on strategic observation. Teacher comments on what they had observed were mostly unfocused and long winded. Neither were the lessons considered in context (e.g. how the lesson developed an idea that had been taught in the previous lesson). Observing teaching is an acquired skill and even experienced teachers may need support in doing it. In model lessons, failure to address individual children's needs is almost inevitable since the teacher will not know them individually. This is an issue that could usefully be addressed by, perhaps, teachers discussing in detail the characteristics of individual learners, based on what the children did during the model lesson. We saw no discussion of the pupil products (e.g. what they wrote or said) from any of the demonstration lessons and virtually no reference to textbooks.
TC meetings appeared not to have been effective at the level of planning in a time frame longer than one lesson. Neither do teachers appear to have been empowered to develop or create solutions to pedagogic problems locally in their own schools.
There is some evidence of transfer of APPEP principles to the classroom but this is at the level of superficial technique rather than understanding of underlying theory. This misunderstanding manifests itself in. for example, the inappropriate use of card as a medium for recording information when notebooks would be more suitable and the use of group arrangements when it is whole class teaching that is actually taking place. We see this as a product of a training mechanism which did not appropriately differentiate the training needs at different levels in the cascade hierarchy. The TCs are, in many ways, potentially powerful means of developing a professional culture but we saw many instances of teachers sharing their ignorance and uncertainty rather than being guided towards higher order professional skills. The single greatest change teachers themselves would make to the arrangements is having access to authoritative expertise. There are few opportunities during the tightly structured meetings for teachers to have informal discussions or to exchange concerns at their own level.
We saw much evidence of teachers 'thinking in slogans', especially the more concrete slogans. 'Low cost No cost' is by far the most popular. Teachers centre meetings that we observed appeared to do little to replace this with deeper reflective thinking. There is a parallel here with the main focus of much teaching we observed in schools of teaching definitions to children.
Lesson planning at the TCs seems to take place at the level of process with no real discussion of what learning involves. Model lessons seem considered to be those which are neat and tidy from the teacher's point of view. Children complete low level tasks in simple incremental steps irrespective of the match between these and their own entry point to the matter to be learned. This characteristic of much educational practice is of course not unique to AP.
There is a persistent pattern of teacher misunderstanding of the purpose of group work and the use of card materials. There is very little interaction between children in groups so that less learning takes place for more money when children watch one member of the group complete the task on a piece of card that could have been written on the blackboard for all children to complete in their notebooks. Where there is the potential for interaction to occur, the tasks provided are insufficiently challenging and involve too little opportunity for practice or repetition. Even when children are arranged in groups they are generally still taught as a whole class. In the worst cases this involves them being inappropriately sited to read the board. These characteristics of teaching are of course well known within this imported pedagogical model.
There is little recognition of individual differences in learning and not much diagnosis or correction of errors. Teachers have few strategies for dealing with children who do not understand on the first explanation other than holding an extra (infrequent) 'remedial' lesson.
We suggest that misunderstandings are likely to continue to persist whilst there is no clear intervention role for the newly created Block Resource Co-ordinators (BRCs). There appears to be an urgent need at many TCs for sensitive and intelligent interpretation of project principles in the light of local circumstances and the skill levels of participating teachers. Training for key staff who could make appropriate interventions in TC meetings has been the same as for the teachers themselves. This makes it almost impossible to promote more reflective thinking. Although further training for BRCs is envisaged this key point seems not to have been internalised by those responsible for teacher training.
It is envisaged that BRCs will visit schools to follow up TC programmes and provide further advice and guidance but the logistics of numbers makes it doubtful if it can be achieved, especially as they will also have administrative and monitoring functions.
Initial meetings under APPEP were held regularly but there was substantial evidence of meetings lapsing as a result of breaks in the continuity of funding teacher expenses. These were modest but appear to have been critical. APPEP finished September 1996 and it appears unlikely that teacher centre meetings have continued in those districts where DPEP has not followed.
We observed little difference between non APPEP trained teachers and, say, the bottom third of the trained teachers.
There are many teachers in the education system who are completely untrained. These are employed by the Village Education Committees to enhance the local teaching provision in their school. These teachers do not participate in the TC meetings and there appears to be no mechanism for bringing them in or paying their transport costs. This would be a low cost way of ensuring at least some professional development for these teachers who seem likely to continue within the system during the present funding difficulty. It would clearly be better if all teachers were properly trained but as an interim measure this may contribute to better performance.
In one district a teacher has been appointed to be responsible for a newsletter but there has been little consideration of its potential for improving teacher skills, or of providing a continuous flow of resource materials that could form part of the agenda for TC meetings. This relatively inexpensive means of supporting teachers seems unlikely to have the effect it could, particularly as there appear to be in place inadequate mechanisms for delivery, updating addressee lists, obtaining feedback on its usefulness or even a consideration of target readership.
The limitations of the TC strategy within the overall project framework must also be noted. The TC budget represents only Rs 2000 per 30 teachers per year (the annual salary of these 30 teachers is likely to be around Rs. 1, 500, 000), that too with various administrative problems in resource flow. However, it can be argued that TCs appear to be a cost effective intervention for a limited purpose, while making impact on the class is a bigger and separate issue. TCs appear to have been quite effective in progressing at a superficial level the APPEP message as delivered during the training. In this sense, the TCs are effective for the purpose for which these were set out.
3.3 Summary
The Andhra Pradesh TCs are likely to be more effective if they:
· Provide structured guidance on model lesson observation, including the evidence of children's learning· Further define and set out in writing the roles of the secretary and assistant secretary.
· Further define and set out in writing the roles of the MEOs and BRCs in relation to TC meeting intervention and involvement.
· Are conducted under the guidance of colleagues with training in further professional development and leadership skills.
