Author Archives: Teachers' Resource Centre

The TRC team went to Thatta to conduct a 15- hour workshop for 26 pre-primary and primary teachers of the Model Tarbiat School from 26-28 December 2006.

Titled “Bachay Kaisay Seekhtay Hain”, the 3-day workshop covered numerous aspects of learning, child growth and development.

Issues faced by teachers while developing classroom activities related to the learning content were also the subject of discussions. The group, supportyed by TRC trainers, developed strategies for preparing an active learning environment where children could engage in active, hands on and exploratory activities.

The teachers consisted of Primary and Katchi teachers. Varied tips and suggestions were provided accordingly.

“Ohhh! It has direct relevance to the class,” said a teacher, as soon as the TV was switched off at the end of the screening of 12 Angry Men, on Nov 25, at the TRC premises. The film, a black and white, small-screen, 1957 production, shot in just 21 days, held everyone’s attention, despite 89 of it’s 92-minute length being shot in one room and around one table.

Attended by a lively group, 12 angry Men led to discussions covering prejudice, bias, generation gap and more. The tea-break also found people discussing the merits of acting, direction, and photography in this powerful film.

Schools that participated in this session are considering a special showing of ‘Cheaters‘ with teachers, some teenage students, and parents because of some of the issues raised in the film.

With everyone at schools busy with exams and preparations over the next few weeks, followed by holidays, it was decided to hold the next Film Club session in January.

Meanwhile, don’t forget that one of Karachi’s most awaited annual events, the KaraFilm Festival, is running from Dec 7th to Dec 17th. To those of you who attend, we request keeping our Film Club in mind and sending us suggestions for any films that suit our purpose.

Approximately 200, 3-5 year old children come to the ECE Centre six days a week to get a head start to learning. The teachers, trained by TRC implement the National ECE Curriculum, designed by TRC and adopted by the Ministry of Education in 2002.

On 14 November 2006, Osama Qadri visited the ECE Centre, which had been chosen as a venue for raising awareness about polio. He was totally amazed … “How is all this happening?” he asked. The children were engaged in various learning areas: the Home Corner, the Math Corner, the Science Corner and the Art Corner. He was so impressed as children responded to his questions about what they were doing, but for them it was “all in a day’s work.”

Mr. Qadri inaugurated the polio eradiction scheme by giving polio drops to the children. Before he left, he offered to have the building white washed and to send two reams of paper every month for the children to paint on. We hope he keeps his promise!

The TRC Film Club session on Saturday, November 4, was held at the PECHS Girls’ High School. The school had specifically requested a showing of Cheaters, the film that had launched these activities. Around 40 teachers were present.

The direct relevance of the film’s subject matter – something that all teachers have encountered (and some confess to having engaged in) – and the presence of a group of teachers who were familiar with each other made the post-viewing session highly interactive. Among the issues that came up during diiscussions were the question of examinations and grading, alternative forms of assessment, competition and its place in schools & society, and the role of the parents in molding the character of the child.

It is certain that many of the issues will continue to be discussed for days in the common room and beyond.

Please contact us for details if you wish to have a special showing at your school.

Hope to see many of you on November 25th, for 12 Angry Men.

The Chairperson of The Education Committee (Primary) C.D.G.K, Ms. Shameem Akhtar, has been an enthusiastic supporter of TRC’s ECE programme.

To widen understanding she arranged a session of  “An overview of ECE” for ADO’s and DOE in her office. ECE resource material prepared by TRC was placed on display during the sessions.

Participants acknowledged the efforts and importance made in the field of early childhood education and were keen to promote it in their schools and towns.

As a result of this session, conducted by the TRC, further requests were made for conducting the ECE-NC 50 hour trainings in their towns. The committee chairperson requested TRC for further training of at least 200 ECE teachers in implementing the Early Childhood Education National Curriculum (ECE-NC).

TRC is currently organizing funds to carry out this training by August 2007.

Funded by the AKF-USAID RCC project, TRC introduced ECE to 60 more government and local body schools (43 girlsâ?? schools and 17 boy’s schools) in Karachi. These are located in the low-income areas of the following Towns: Korangi, Shah Faisal, Saddar, Liaquatabad, North Karachi and Malir.

ECE Workshops for Public Sector Heads: To begin with two concurrent 10-hour ECE orientation workshops for heads and supervisors were held on the 15th and 16th of September 2006. For most of the 60 participants this was their very first workshop. The workshop aimed to help them understand the need, philosophy and significance of ECE, to enhance their leadership skills and enable them to support the ECE teachers in their schools. Our practice has always been to get the heads and supervisors “on board” before training the teachers. Based on teachers’ feedback this is a useful strategy; they find that their heads are more supportive when they have received training first.

The heads appreciated the understanding they went away with about an active learning classroom; now they won’t be disconcerted when children are moving about and talking during class time! They learnt about leadership, how to support ECE teachers, became aware of their own skills, where their strengths are and the areas they need to work on and develop.  They enjoyed some of the poems we sang with them especially “channa kis ney boya.”

ECE Workshops for Public Sector Teachers: Following the workshop for heads, two concurrent workshops were held for teachers from September 18th – 28th. Over the ten days (50 hours) the teachers learnt all about active learning, setting up the learning environment, observation and assessment, and more … all that a beginning teacher needs to know. Using a hands-on approach, TRC walked them through the National ECE Curriculum, to enable them to begin implementation when they returned to their classrooms. The teachers were excited by their new learning and keen to go back and take the ECE class.

TRC conducted an eight hour workshop for the ECE teachers of Links Pre-School as requested by them. This workshop on Child Development was conducted on the 9th and 10th of August 2006, at the Links pre-primary school building with 15 pre-primary teachers in attendance.

The workshop was designed to help teachers understand the complexities of child development, through stimulating activities and informal discussions. They also explored how the knowledge of child development is helpful in designing teaching strategies that promote holistic development. The interactive method of conducting the workshop, coupled with the participants’ enthusiasm, resulted in two days of very enjoyable learning.

TRC and SPELT, with corresponding aims, were closely associated
in the early years of their establishment: 1986-1990. Over time, we lost touch, as both organisations grew and diversified their activities and programmes. We renewed this ‘collaboration’ last year in 2005, and agreed to promote each otherâ??s work whenever possible and to share resource persons too.

It was in the spirit of this collaboration, that TRC staff attended the SPELT Conference planning meetings, and a TRC staff member conducted a session on Urdu ki Tadrees mayà Ashiaey Imdaadi ka Iste’maal at their September 2006 Education Conference.

A request was received from Chiniot Islamia School for a language workshop. TRC conducted a workshop titled ‘Fluency Activities in the Language Classroom’ at the school premises. Mr. Mohsin Tejani, a language resource person, conducted this workshop for 25 teachers on 12th and 15th August 2006.

The workshop helped participants understand the interactive approach to language teaching and identified the difference between spoken and written language. The issues faced in managing a language classroom were also addressed. Strategies for developing fluency for learners of various levels were designed and shared through group work.