Teaching Aids
By Gandhali Cheoolkar (Co-founder – Mind Mosaic)
Various tools used to make teaching interesting and effective are called teaching aids. A teaching aid can be a single picture or it can be a series of flashcards. A teaching aid can be as small as a bead or as big as the sky itself.
Teaching aids are of various kinds. Some are audio aids, some are visual aids some are audio and visual both. Posters, flash cards, charts are examples of visual teaching aids. Audio cassettes, recordings, story narrations are examples of audio aids. Where as, movie clippings, power point presentations etc. are examples of audio visual aids. A combination of an audio and a visual aid is usually beneficial as compared to only audio or only visual aid.
Teaching aids make concepts easy to understand. They provide children with 1st hand experience, which makes learning easier. An effective teaching aid holds audience attention for a longer period of time. Teaching aids make learning interesting. A concept or a topic can be taught effectively with the help of different teaching aids.
Use of wooden teaching aids can be traced back in period of Maria Montessori. Manipulative toys, building blocks, are some examples of the traditional wooden teaching aids. Charts, bulletin boards, flip charts, etc. are also commonly used. In this techno-savy world the nature of teaching aids is also changing. Now different audio-visual aids such as power point presentations, online math games, online activities etc are used effectively in many international schools.
A good teaching aid can not substitute a good teacher. A good teaching aid provides support to a good teacher to deliver lessons effectively.With change in educational systems and introduction to new teaching methodologies, modern teaching aids have taken the place of traditional teaching aids. But the need and importance of teaching aids is still considered important by educationists.
Holistic Curriculum
Curriculum is an instructional plan of skills, lessons, and objectives on a particular subject designed for the students. Teachers execute this plan in schools, colleges or universities. Curriculum development is the process through which we can design our own curriculum according to our requirement.
Earlier we followed the syllabus or curriculum set by the government. But now by the gift of modern science and technology we have come up with new teaching methods and technique.
As students don’t like monotonous lectures, to make it more interesting we need to improve our teaching methods. Gradually, we have started modifying the curriculum to make it students friendly. A topic when taught with the help of an activity, some experiments, or using attractive teaching aids, will definitely be more enjoyable to the learners. It will also assist them to understand the concept easily. Keeping this in mind, Many schools or educational institutes have started developing their own curriculum .They appoint a team to set their own curriculum, they are called Curriculum developer. Curriculum developers take the existing syllabus and develop their own curriculum based on it. They use their knowledge and creativity to enhance the syllabi and make it more appealing and motivating.
A good curriculum developer should be creative, well versed with his/her subjects, having teaching experience, well acquainted with new methods of teaching. Curriculum developers are selecting topic from the existing syllabus to design the new curriculum. They gather information, fun fact, games and activities related to the topic. They write the content in easy, application based language and in a presentable manner by using their innovative ideas and creative skills
Lesson plans are activity based and fun. They are explained in play way methods which help the learner to understand the concept and memorize the topic easily. As they need to practice what they have learnt in the lesson, to fulfill that requirement, class worksheets and home worksheets are designed.
Difficult topics can be explained with the help of pictorial representations or some graphic organizers easily. Some software games, Lamination charts, flash cards, PowerPoint presentation, jig-saw puzzles etc. are used as teaching aids to make the lessons more interesting and the students are able to apply their knowledge. A curriculum planned by the curriculum developer should be age appropriate, conducive to learning.
Beginnings and Beyond
By Kreena Furia (ECCE Diploma -Course Co-ordinator)
As we are aware, that by 2015 all children must have access to complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality. This universally subscribed goal can only be achieved if children can have access to motivated and knowledgeable teachers.
Being in the field of Teacher Education, I keep myself updated with the subject and the current issues related to it.
I believe that early year’s education plays a very important role in a child’s life. It augments the holistic development of the children. Therefore, it is an absolute must to have trained teachers to facilitate each child’s development.
My main motive behind writing this article is to stress on the importance of good teachers as well as effectiveness training programmes.
Teachers act as the main pillars of a sound and developing society. Apart from parents, they are the main source of educating children. They impart knowledge and inculcate values in children, prepare them for future and for working life and are main contributors to good education
I strongly believe that, for our nation’s development, the need of qualified teachers has increasingly been realized and therefore greater emphasis should be laid on training programmes.
The diploma programmes in early childhood care and education are gaining popularity as various Indian states have made it mandatory to have an authentic eligibility for appointment of teachers.
Being an early childhood trainer, I feel that a diploma in ECCE helps the teachers in complete understanding of child development and early childhood curriculum. Thus, it enables them to understand each aspect of development i.e. social, emotional, intellectual and lingual.
As we are aware, that by 2015 all children must have access to complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality. This universally subscribed goal can only be achieved if children can have access to motivated and knowledgeable teachers.
Being in the field of Teacher Education, I keep myself updated with the subject and the current issues related to it.
I believe that early year’s education plays a very important role in a child’s life. It augments the holistic development of the children. Therefore, it is an absolute must to have trained teachers to facilitate each child’s development.
My main motive behind writing this article is to stress on the importance of good teachers as well as effectiveness training programmes.
Teachers act as the main pillars of a sound and developing society. Apart from parents, they are the main source of educating children. They impart knowledge and inculcate values in children, prepare them for future and for working life and are main contributors to good education
I strongly believe that, for our nation’s development, the need of qualified teachers has increasingly been realized and therefore greater emphasis should be laid on training programmes.
The diploma programmes in early childhood care and education are gaining popularity as various Indian states have made it mandatory to have an authentic eligibility for appointment of teachers.
Being an early childhood trainer, I feel that a diploma in ECCE helps the teachers in complete understanding of child development and early childhood curriculum. Thus, it enables them to understand each aspect of development i.e. social, emotional, intellectual and lingual.
Role of Counselling and Family
By Arundhati Kane (Founder,Director – Mind Mosaic)
Family is an integral part of the society. The family consists of people belonging to different age groups who care and support each other. Today, most of the families are becoming nuclear families and the concept of joint families is slowly diminishing. The family members are more involved in their own life giving little time towards the family. The young children in the family go through stress due to their studies, the adolescents are stressed in finding their own identity and the adults have their own work pressures and are responsible for the welfare of their family. Today, with more time being spent in competing with each other for a better position in life, it takes a toll on these relationships and also gives us little time for ourselves.
The mental health and well being of the family requires our attention. As family forms the basic unit of our society, A Healthy family makes a Healthy Society. Today, we want to live a more productive and content life for which we need to use our skills to our optimum level. Many children make it through their academic life without any stress or academic difficulties. This is due to the child’s strong coping skills and the support he gets from the people around. Unfortunately, it is not the same for all the children. It is estimated that nearly one in five children and adolescents will have an emotional or a behavioural problem at some time during their youth regardless of their socio – economic status.
The children face fierce competition in school and are pressurized by the parents and the teachers to excel, which affects the child. Parents can give little time to the children as they are facing their own problems at work and hence we hear of more number of children committing suicides. Also, the adolescents are in the search of their own identity and are influenced by their peers at this age, which sometimes makes them obstinate and rebellious. The adolescents do not want to listen to their parents and seek to make their own mistakes and learn from them where as parents of the young children expect a lot from the child and pressurizes the child. The child cannot cope with this pressure and hence lacks in self – confidence, which makes it difficult for him to communicate with his parents. Lack of communication in a family can create a lot of misunderstanding and creates a void among the relationships where parents cannot relate with the children and the children do not want to understand their parents point of view. Also the husband and wife cannot adjust to each other as a couple and have very little time to give towards their marriage, which leads to divorce. The number of divorces are also increasing and marriage is slowly losing its meaning of a sacred institution.
During situations like these counselling plays a significant role in building a bridge between these empty relationships. It is a helping relationship, which caters to someone seeking for help and it an artful application of scientifically derived psychological techniques for the purpose of changing human behaviour. The counselor should be a good communicator as he plays a significant role in helping the client express their feelings. In counselling, not only the verbal communication but also the non-verbal communication is given importance. The gestures, body language, the signs that the client uses help the counselor to get a better understanding of the client.
Counselor uses role – plays, group counselling or individual counselling based on the kind of problem the client is facing. In role-plays, the client plays a specific role, which is instructed by the counselor. This gives the client an insight into the problem and how it can be solved through communication. Also group counselling is conducted where people having similar problem express and share their problems. This helps the individual to understand that other people also go through the same kind of problems. The client can be given individual counselling, which is more intensive and is done on personal basis. A combination of therapies can also be used to help the individual cope with his problems. Therapies such as Rationale emotive therapy and Behavior modification are used where as play therapy is used with children as they can express themselves through toys and games.
Counselling enhances the individual’s skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, interpersonal skills and communicating effectively. The person is able to recognize and access the factors that influence attitudes and behavior such as peer pressure, values and the media.
The person is able to resolve the problem which cause mental stress by not only expressing his opinions and desires, but also his fears and needs. Counseling helps the individual in keeping good relations with the family members, which are an important source of support.
Counselling increases the self-awareness of an individual, that means recognizing our selves and able to analyze our strengths and weaknesses. This is useful for effective communication and interpersonal relations. The counselor empathizes with the clients by understanding and accepting the person for who he is but not approving his behavior, which is of concern. The counselor makes the person cope with stress and the emotions by helping him to relax and channelize their emotions like anger or sorrow into something constructive. When the individual is helped on his personal level, it helps him build relationships properly and hence reduces the rift caused in the family or at work. Therefore, the way a family is the fundamental unit of all societies; similarly the individual is a fundamental unit of the family – welfare of the individual helps in Welfare of the family. As we are not able to give time in making our relationships work, counselling gives us the time, support and direction to realize and improve on them.
Family is an integral part of the society. The family consists of people belonging to different age groups who care and support each other. Today, most of the families are becoming nuclear families and the concept of joint families is slowly diminishing. The family members are more involved in their own life giving little time towards the family. The young children in the family go through stress due to their studies, the adolescents are stressed in finding their own identity and the adults have their own work pressures and are responsible for the welfare of their family. Today, with more time being spent in competing with each other for a better position in life, it takes a toll on these relationships and also gives us little time for ourselves.
The mental health and well being of the family requires our attention. As family forms the basic unit of our society, A Healthy family makes a Healthy Society. Today, we want to live a more productive and content life for which we need to use our skills to our optimum level. Many children make it through their academic life without any stress or academic difficulties. This is due to the child’s strong coping skills and the support he gets from the people around. Unfortunately, it is not the same for all the children. It is estimated that nearly one in five children and adolescents will have an emotional or a behavioural problem at some time during their youth regardless of their socio – economic status.
The children face fierce competition in school and are pressurized by the parents and the teachers to excel, which affects the child. Parents can give little time to the children as they are facing their own problems at work and hence we hear of more number of children committing suicides. Also, the adolescents are in the search of their own identity and are influenced by their peers at this age, which sometimes makes them obstinate and rebellious. The adolescents do not want to listen to their parents and seek to make their own mistakes and learn from them where as parents of the young children expect a lot from the child and pressurizes the child. The child cannot cope with this pressure and hence lacks in self – confidence, which makes it difficult for him to communicate with his parents. Lack of communication in a family can create a lot of misunderstanding and creates a void among the relationships where parents cannot relate with the children and the children do not want to understand their parents point of view. Also the husband and wife cannot adjust to each other as a couple and have very little time to give towards their marriage, which leads to divorce. The number of divorces are also increasing and marriage is slowly losing its meaning of a sacred institution.
During situations like these counselling plays a significant role in building a bridge between these empty relationships. It is a helping relationship, which caters to someone seeking for help and it an artful application of scientifically derived psychological techniques for the purpose of changing human behaviour. The counselor should be a good communicator as he plays a significant role in helping the client express their feelings. In counselling, not only the verbal communication but also the non-verbal communication is given importance. The gestures, body language, the signs that the client uses help the counselor to get a better understanding of the client.
Counselor uses role – plays, group counselling or individual counselling based on the kind of problem the client is facing. In role-plays, the client plays a specific role, which is instructed by the counselor. This gives the client an insight into the problem and how it can be solved through communication. Also group counselling is conducted where people having similar problem express and share their problems. This helps the individual to understand that other people also go through the same kind of problems. The client can be given individual counselling, which is more intensive and is done on personal basis. A combination of therapies can also be used to help the individual cope with his problems. Therapies such as Rationale emotive therapy and Behavior modification are used where as play therapy is used with children as they can express themselves through toys and games.
Counselling enhances the individual’s skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, interpersonal skills and communicating effectively. The person is able to recognize and access the factors that influence attitudes and behavior such as peer pressure, values and the media.
The person is able to resolve the problem which cause mental stress by not only expressing his opinions and desires, but also his fears and needs. Counseling helps the individual in keeping good relations with the family members, which are an important source of support.
Counselling increases the self-awareness of an individual, that means recognizing our selves and able to analyze our strengths and weaknesses. This is useful for effective communication and interpersonal relations. The counselor empathizes with the clients by understanding and accepting the person for who he is but not approving his behavior, which is of concern. The counselor makes the person cope with stress and the emotions by helping him to relax and channelize their emotions like anger or sorrow into something constructive. When the individual is helped on his personal level, it helps him build relationships properly and hence reduces the rift caused in the family or at work. Therefore, the way a family is the fundamental unit of all societies; similarly the individual is a fundamental unit of the family – welfare of the individual helps in Welfare of the family. As we are not able to give time in making our relationships work, counselling gives us the time, support and direction to realize and improve on them.
