TRC News
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

During this quarter, TRC successfully completed three training sessions in different parts of the country. The TRC team conducted a 5-day training of trainers at the Government College for Elementary Teachers at Kot Lakhpat in Lahore. The Early Childhood Education (ECE) training was arranged by the Directorate of Staff Development (DSD) and focused on ECE in light of the National Curriculum. On request from the Baluchistan Education Project (BEP) TRC staff conducted another two training of master trainers. One was an 8-day training on the National ECE Curriculum and the other was a 6-day training on education management and leadership skills.

Back in Karachi, the TRC teamed up with Little Art to organise the 6th Karachi International Children’s Film Festival. TRC has been helping organize this festival since its inception and the event has become an annual event on school calendars. The number of children and school staff attending the KICFF continues to grow each year and this year a record-breaking 8000 school children and teachers attended the festival.

TRC’s ECE team was invited to attend the CACHE (Council for Awards in Care, Health and Education, UK) Conference in Dubai. CACHE is endorsing TRC’s Early Childhood Education and Development Programme (English).

The first semester of the ECEDP also came to a close this quarter. Three courses were taught during this period. This is the 11th cohort of the ECE programme, and the teachers who are enrolled in the ECEDP (English) of the programme will become the first ones to receive the CACHE Certificate.

TRC also revived the ECEDP (Urdu) this year. Not only was the Urdu programme offered again after a 5 year gap, but the 17 teachers enrolled in the programme were also given scholarships that were supported by the corporate sector.

TRC continued with its workshop programme this quarter and 9 multi-school workshops and 2 talk sessions were held between October and December 2016. A school evaluation was also conducted during this time period. Throughout the quarter TRC was invited to attend various school events, seminars and conferences. TRC staff represented the organization at the AKU-EB Principals’ Conference and at the ‘The Liberal Arts Confront Globalization’ lecture. Our staff was invited to judge school competitions, concerts and debates. TRC staff also gave a presentation on the organisation at a consultative policy session on ‘Early Childhood Development in Sindh: Opportunities and Challenges’ organized by ECDN-P.

This has been a busy and promising quarter for TRC with significant progress in our outreach activities and internal organisational development.

TRC Trending…

TRC is on Facebook! This is where we share ideas, tips and news with our online teaching community. It is a space to learn new ideas, share experiences and stay informed about all the latest happenings at TRC.

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Workshops
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre
Dates: 29th, 30th & 31st March 2017 | Time: 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

This Workshop has been rescheduled

For a growing number of educators, the role that schools play in encouraging or stifling the search for understanding is far more important than questions regarding achievement as measured by test scores. This workshop will focus on ways that will enable teachers to empower children to ask their own questions, seek their own answers and challenge them to understand the complex world around them.

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Workshops
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Dear All,

Research has proven that stress leads to psychological factors such as negative emotions, which impact our health. Individuals are vulnerable to stress and they all respond to it in different ways. Some are more vulnerable than others and susceptible to changes in health-related behaviors. During this two-hour interactive session, you will be involved in discussions research findings, which will help you understand the importance of managing stress.

The main objectives of the interactive talk session are to:
• understand cognitive restructuring to reduce the negativity of one’s interpretation of experience
• identify behavioral tips and assertive skills to deal with pressures of environment

The details of the talk session are as follows:

Date: Tuesday 28 March 2017

Timings: 10:00 am to 12:00 noon

Venue: Teachers’ Resource Centre

Who should attend? All Teachers, School Heads and anyone who is interested

Speaker’s Profile: Ms. Tania Waqas is a clinical psychologist and a counselor. She is currently teaching Psychology to speech therapists and is conducting a diploma course in Developmental Psychology and Psycho Pathology at Ziauddin College of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. She also works at Centre of Inclusive Care and does family counseling. She delivers motivational speeches at various educational and vocational institutes to enable people to deal with their emotions and stressors more effectively.

Charges: Rs. 2000

Last date for registration with payment: 15 March 2017

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TRC News
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Dear Readers,

Please check out our new Opinion Poll on whether schools should punish students, and cast your vote by the end of February 2017. As you know …

your opinion counts

Our December 2016 poll was about whether junk food should be allowed to serve in the school canteen:

Schools canteens should not serve junk food. It is ironic that schools teach junk food is bad, but continue to serve it in canteens.

• I agree. Children are usually not fully aware of how harmful junk food is. Most children do not think of health and will buy junk food from the canteen when hungry. (72%, 42 Votes)

• I disagree. Children should be allowed to eat whatever they enjoy. If the school canteen does not serve junk food, children will bring it from home. (28%, 16 Votes)

Result:
The overwhelming majority of respondents (72%) believe schools should not serve junk food as most children are not likely to think of health and will eat the junk food that is available in the canteen when hungry. A little over a quarter of the respondents (28%) believe children will eat junk regardless of whether it is served at the school canteen or not.

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TRC News
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Dear Readers,

Please check out our new Opinion Poll on serving junk food in the school canteen, and cast your vote by the end of December 2016. As you know …

your opinion counts

Our November 2016 poll was about whether children should be allowed to choose where to sit in the classroom::

Students should have say in where they want to sit in the classroom, as this helps them develop a sense of responsibility and trains them to take decisions.

• I agree. Children should take decisions by themselves. When we allow children to decide where to sit, it improves their decision-making skills and helps develop confidence. (87%, 41 Votes)

• I disagree. If children decide where to sit, they will end up sitting next to friends, start chatting and get distracted. Students cannot take such decisions. (13%, 6 Votes)

Result:
The overwhelming majority of respondents (87%) felt that letting children take decisions such as where to sit in the classroom, improves decision-making skills and helps build their confidence. The remaining 13% of respondents believe that students should not be taking decisions, such as where to sit in the classroom, because doing so will mean that they sit next to friends and get distracted during class.

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Workshops
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre
Dates: 6th, 7th & 8th March 2017 | Time: 2:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

One of the educational challenges faced in schools today is that a good number of children fail to develop their capacity for learning, understanding, and creating to the fullest. Research studies show that a student’s underlying belief that he/she is not good at school makes it difficult to be successful in the learning process. This workshop will focus on why children fail in our schools and will explore ways to make children’s education more meaningful to enable them to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

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TRC News
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Many new initiatives began during the quarter including partnerships with Indus Resource Center, BRAC and Azat Foundation. TRC continues to strengthen it’s ties with the Government of Punjab to further the ECE training agenda and is all set to undertake teachers and school heads’ training in Baluchistan under the Global Partnership for Education project in collaboration with the Balochistan Government.

TRC is proud to welcome government teachers in the ECE professional development programme. This was made possible through generous financial support by the corporate organisations and individuals. For the first time in five years, the programme will run both in English and Urdu with 34 teachers enrolled. We are all set to get our first international accreditation by CACHE, a UK based accreditation body. The international endorsement will enable the teachers to benefit if they chose to work outside Pakistan.

TRC Trending…

TRC is on Facebook! This is where we share ideas, tips and news with our online teaching community. It is a space to learn new ideas, share experiences and stay informed about all the latest happenings at TRC.

Read More
TRC News
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Dear Readers,

Please check out our new Opinion Poll on whether children should be allowed to choose where to sit in the classroom, and cast your vote by the end of November 2016. As you know …

your opinion counts

Our October 2016 poll was on whether handwriting should be graded:

Handwriting should not be graded because in an age when students are using computers and tablets, it has become irrelevant.

• I agree. Students should be graded on their capability, not on handwriting. Handwriting is a small part of education. Capability and hard work are more important qualities. (75%, 44 Votes)

• I disagree. Handwriting is an important tool for class work and homework and should be graded. It is also linked to reading and spelling in the early years. (25%, 15 Votes)

Result:
The majority of the respondents felt that handwriting has become irrelevant because students are using computers and tablets to communicate. Three-quarters of the respondents felt that students should be graded on their capability and the work that they put in, rather than on their handwriting. Only a quarter of the respondents believed that handwriting should be graded.

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Ilm o Amal
Written by Teachers' Resource Centre

Role-play is a simple, but effective tool for active learning in the classroom and can help students go beyond just learning facts about different subjects. In this month’s Ilm o Amal, we explore how role-play can motivate children and trigger their interest in different subjects.

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