Practice Teaching Schedule of B.T.C.

PRACTICE TEACHING WORK

TEACHING PRACTICE FOR STUDENT TEACHERS OF B.ED/D.El.Ed. PROGRAMME –INTRODUCTION TO INTERNSHIPS “WE CAN, WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE CHOOSE, SUCCESSFULLY TEACH ALL CHILDREN WHOSE SCHOOLING IS OF INTEREST TO US. WHETHER OR NOT WE DO IT MUST FINALLY DEPEND ON HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVEN’T SO FAR.” The dream….hire experienced new employees who already have the knowledge and skill to “hit the ground running.” But this dream conflicts with reality. How can organizations meet the needs of today and prepare the workforce of the future? One solution is to develop a quality internship program. An effective teacher training programme can be ensured when both the School and the INSITUTE(department of teacher’s training) work in tandem. In the INSTITUTE, student teachers are acknowledged with theoretical concept of the educational psychology, management of classroom, Teacher taught relationship and various philosophies dealing with education. Teaching practice is a time when all these learned concepts have to be applied successfully in real life situation. Our Institute, before deputing student teachers for teaching practice to different nearby schools, they are equipped with different teaching skills in microteaching session, extending over a week followed by demonstration lessons, given by lecturers to make students teachers understand the integration of various skill & styles in a 35-40 minutes period. Later on all the student teachers are made to give one criticism lesson of 35 minutes in their respective method subjects. Feedback by teachers and their classmate are provided for blocking the loopholes. After that student teacher departure from Institute is ensured to cover 40 lessons (20 in each method subjects).

There are various areas which induce anxiety and cause concern to student teachers. Some of these are as follows:

LESSON PLANNING writing the lesson formally and then proceeding in the classroom accordingly bothers much to student teachers. On paper planning fails to match proceeding in the classroom for first few days. Things that are put down on paper do not always match up with realities of the classroom. Children of the class either know more of less than what has been prepared by student teachers. This is enough to make student teachers nervous as they have to mentally readjust or re plan their written lesson developing questions are not answered as anticipated by student teacher sometimes intentionally or unemotionally by classroom children. b. CLASS ROOM MANAGEMENT Maintaining discipline in the classroom and dealing tactfully with the pupils who misbehave pose a challenge to student teacher. In some of the schools visited by student teachers impish behaviour of children cause disturbance in the class and impedes effective classroom management. Another factor which plays a crucial role in classroom management is acceptance by the taught. The classroom management becomes difficult if student teachers are not able to strike a chord with children, or if the topic to be taught by them is already covered in the class. In most of the schools, student teachers are asked to take the same topics which have been already covered by their teachers. Because of this children lose the interest. Classroom control has to be effective when teaching aids are shown or an activity is conducted by student teacher. Student teachers with low confidence level find difficult to manage 50-60 students in the class.
HEAVY WORK LOAD Teaching is multitasking. Student teachers have to spare time for activities like preparing lesson plan and teaching aids, assessment of work given by them as home work in the class. Some of the students teachers have reported of sleepless nights during Teaching Practice, as they to prepare lesson plans and teaching aids for three/four periods next morning. Some of the student teachers who are not able to take the mental stress often think to the extent of giving up training. Mental and emotional stress is also felt when not very favourable comments are written on their record books by teacher supervisor or by their own lecturer. Preparing chart and models also consume a lot of time of student teachers. Science students can get some help from school laboratory but for others, it is like a heavy home task every day.
TIME TABLE OF SCHOOL Uneven distribution of classes among student teachers causes worry. Trainees who have language as their method subject are able to get more classes while students with History, Civics or Geography get only 2-3 per week. Usually schools give classes to student teachers according to their convenience and depending on number of teachers on level. Most of the schools are not very willing to disturb their schedule according to need of student teachers. Usually VI, VII, VIII classes are provided to them for Teaching practice. Some school authorities do not prefer more experimental ways of teaching in the classes. Higher classes like IX and X are not given presuming that time of school students would be wasted. Student teachers have to complete 40 lesson plan (20 in each method subject) so their focus remains on completion of task rather than on reflecting on classroom activities. Some student teachers have to teach same topic in different sections of same class, so in-spite of taking two different classes, the number of lesson plan covered remains one.
EVALUATION BY SUPERVISOR/TEACHER This is a Major issue which causes discomfort to student teachers also called „evalution anxiety‟. This refers to anxiety induced by being observed by one‟s lecturer or teacher of school acting as supervisor. Main cause of anxiety for student teacher was to being observed, evaluated and assessed. Student teachers often complain that they forgot the content matter and feel nervous when teacher sits at the end of classroom and observes. The behaviour of student teacher changes, comfort level becomes low and they find themselves in artificial situation where their main consideration remains to get good remarks in record files. Pressure of doing things correctly and managing classroom activities properly make them tense and apprehensive while teaching. Some of the students teachers are able to overcome this within a day or two but for others it acts as a barrier to gain full confidence.
LESS PREPARATORY TIME BEFORE TEACHING PRACTICE The teaching practice is a vital aspect of teacher training programme. It serves as an opportunity to be exposed to the realities of teaching and performance of professional activities. Before onset of teaching practice session, if less preparatory time is provided to student teachers, it may lead to difficulty in translating theoretical ideas in practical shape due to lack of time to reflect & improve.
GAINS THROUGH TEACHING PRACTICE The positive side of this whole exercise of Teaching Practice is that it gives sense of accomplishment to students teachers. They learn to take responsibility, gain confidence and improve upon their classroom management skills. Above all the communication skills gets improved. Most of students‟ teachers report that after teaching practice they feel lot more confident in speaking before gathering than before. Teaching practice should act as a firm base for student teachers to develop a disposition for effective teaching. The teachers training programme is not about giving theoretical knowledge of various theories of teaching learning or skill used in the classroom teaching only; rather this should serve as worthwhile experience in making of an inspiring teacher.
COCERNS OF TEACHING PRACTICE Some major concerns which have been observed in the teaching practice are as follow:
It has been observed that during teaching practice more emphasis remains on use of various teaching skills rather than on integrated impact of teaching.
The pressure on student teachers to cope with teaching practice can sometimes act as a barrier to their development. The main focus of student teachers remains on finishing the task of 40 lesson plans and maintaining proper written records rather than on developing deep understanding and skills needed for their professional development.
Innovative methods are not adopted by student teachers in the classrooms. Most of them cover the lesson on dotted lines. They adopt usual ways of introducing the lesson by using questioning skills, interact a little in between, use the conventional teaching aids (like charts & models) and in the end ask few evaluator questions followed by home task. Some student‟s teacher‟s start teaching in practice schools as instructed by supervisors and not as they have learnt due to difference of opinion between the two. The trainees accept the suggestions as that is the way supervisors (teachers from schools) want their students to be taught.
As far as effective classrooms management and discipline are concerned, student teachers fail to understand that a silence in the class is not a signal of remarkable teaching rather for a lively classroom proceedings, a healthy interaction between teachers and taught is must. Questioning skills learnt by them during microteaching sessions becomes effective only when it is a two way process-from teacher to taught and vice versa.

TEACHING PRACTICES SCHOOLS-

The nearest schools identified by us for our teacher students to sent them for compulsory internship/practice after completion of theory parts of each semester/year are as under:-

TEACHING SCHOOLS

Name of the schools	Location	Level	Total students in school	Distance from TEI in K.M.
K.P.S. Inter College, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1200	4
Soordas Brij Rani Inter College, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1000	4.5
Krishna Bal Shishu Vidhya Mandir, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Primary	1250	4
Krishna Bal Vidhya Mandir, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1220	4.5
Seth Syam Lal Inter College, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1300	3.5
Govt. Primary School, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Primary	500	4
Genda Lal Inter College, Artoni, Agra.	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1600	3
K.R. Inter College, Runakuta, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1200	4
Shree Ram Adrash Inter College, Panwari, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1500	3
Agra Public School, Artoni, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	2000	3
Bal Mukund Ram Chandra Bazari, Inter College, Panwari, Agra	Rural	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1100	3
Nagla Sohan Lal Junior High School, Panwari, Agra	Rural	Junior High School	900	3.5
Shree Ram Chandra Inter College, Sikandra, Agra	Urban	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	790	4
Narayani Inter College, Sikandra, Agra	Urban	Hr.Sec./Sec/JH/Primary	1380	4