Azim Premji Foundation: Teacher Preparation Dileep Ranjekar November 12,

India Education: Reality - Illustrative 1 out of 3 children in class 5 cannot read and write Schools -1.3 Mln -220 Mln children -6 Mln teachers -75 % unplanned multigrade teaching Literacy Levels: -65% (M – 76%, F – 54%) -Global literacy – 80% Girls and socially disadvantaged backgrounds are 20% behind on literacy and drop out ratios Only 10% schools have children learning as per expectations Only 39% children reach 10 th standard; of these 40% pass Quality of education: A serious concern! 2

100 Children Enroll in 1 st Standard 52 Children Reach 8 th Std 39 Children Reach 10 th Std 19 Pass 10th 12 Children pursue higher education 12% Efficiency of Education Funnel The Inefficient Funnel 3

Foundation Vision & Approach 4 Vision: Facilitate a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society Purpose Bring about a “societal change” Education as a key enabler, supported by related development areas, with both direct impact and a large positive multiplier Enablers Strive for a deep, at- scale and institutionalized impact on the quality of education in India Mission

The Approach 5 5 Network of partnerships and stakeholders Operational processes, including knowledge management People processes, structure and culture Stable and sustained funding/ resourcing Three-pronged approach to change University: ▪ Degrees ▪ Research ▪ In-service training 1 Field Resource Centres (state and district level) 2 Schools (own and affiliated) 3 Communi- cation & Engagement 5 “Talent and thought”: Creating new talent and thought, and transforming existing talent “Direct impact and institutions”: Creating scaled -up institutional structures to facilitate change on the field “Voice”: Creating demonstrable models, for replication and to act as pressure points for system change Five core initiatives or verticals Five robust cross- cutting enablers Deep, at-scale, institutionalized impact on the quality of education in India A Assessment & Develop- ment Centre (largely housed in University) 4 A Focus on allied development areas B C D E

6 Overview of 5-year ramp-up plan University Degree Programs ▪ Intake of 2500 students ▪ 350 faculty University Research Centre ▪ Nationally reputed for research in first 3 thrust areas ▪ Some international acknowledgement University Resource Centre ▪ 500,000 functionaries (incl through DRC) Field Resource Centres ▪ 8-10 State Resource Centers ▪ 50 District Resource Centers ▪ 8-10 districts with “holistic improvement” in progress; 75% coverage of these districts Schools ▪ 100+ own/adopted schools affiliated schools across 8-10 districts Advocacy ▪ Channels for communication identified and operational Accreditation Centre ▪ 2-3 state systems ▪ significant institutions (in 8-10 districts with depth) ▪ schools ▪ Framework in place

Our Hypothesis on Teacher Preparation 1.The teacher is at the heart of the education process 2.Vision, capability and motivation of the teacher will significantly impact teaching-learning processes/outcomes 3.Professionalization of teaching is a must 7

Change we would like to see 1.New teachers enter the profession with vision, competence & motivation – conducive to achieving the aims of education 2.Practising teachers find meaning in professional dev. programs 3.Paradigm shift in teacher preparation, development and support 8

A good and effective teacher 1.Knowledge and understanding of the subject 2.Pedagogical skills specific to the subject / kind of learners 3.Access/develop learner appropriate teaching learning resources 4.Sensitivity to and respect for learners 5.Vision and understanding of society, education and children 9

Issues with current teacher preparation 1.Absence of defined competencies for a good teacher 2.Outdated teacher education curriculum 3.Outdated / Ineffective teacher educators 4.Huge gap in the subject matter knowledge 5.Teacher education processes – antithetical to what educators preach 6.Lack of understanding of child and society 7.Absence of adequate combination of theory and practice 8.Rote memory based assessment 10

Systemic change in teacher education 1.Introduce teacher competency framework at policy level. To change a.Updation of theory (currently stop at Thorndike) b.Curriculum c.Teaching learning process for teacher education d.Significant component of practice, observation, socio-cultural contexts e.Assessment process f.Subject based pedagogy 2.Teacher selection process to assess competencies 3.Pre-empt corrupt practices in teacher selection owing to subjectivity 4.Competency based development and career practices 11

Fundamental challenges 1.Non-availability of teacher education faculty 2.Readiness of evaluation system to deal with new approaches 3.Readiness of Government and school system to receive “different teachers” 4.Availability of appropriate reading and reference material in Indian languages (14 languages, 400 sub languages, 1600 dialects) 12

A Dream of a Just, Equitable, Humane and Sustainable Society 13 Thank You