Govt school teachers in Karnataka form collective

BENGALURU: To prevent lack of preparedness for unforeseen circumstances like those brought about by the Covid pandemic, a group of government school teachers got together and continue to brainstorm ways to improve education for their students.Teachers, under a collective called Shikshana Ilake, have tried to address issues brought about by digital education, especially lack of attention.

Taking advantage of online platforms and prevalence of tech in education, the teachers help each other brainstorm ideas, train each other on better methods and also use crowdfunding to help organise workshops and seminars to make learning interesting for students. “We started with an intent to integrate all government school teachers, share all necessary information to teachers across the state, keep connected with all  teachers and work together for the betterment of the education system,” said Prabu Gowda, a government teacher and community head for Shikshana Ilake.

“We wanted to get government school teachers familiar with the latest online teaching methods and motivate students to attend classes with more interest. We focused on keeping classes interactive, regularly talking to students, asking them questions, showcasing informatory videos related to classroom topics and giving interesting assignments to students,” Gowda said.

Even after the pandemic, the teachers still see the benefits of tech in schools, especially when used properly. Apart from interacting with teachers from across the country, they also make use of crowdfunding to organise workshops and seminars for students, which would have been impossible previously due to lack of funds. The community had, in particular, made use of an India-made social media app, Kutumb, which allowed them to gather funds.

The teachers also noticed that the use of videos in teaching helped peak the interest of students when it came to learning, combating the issue of lack of attention. “There were a lot of hits and misses initially. We have also been able to get experts to conduct workshops and organise training sessions for teachers to better engage with students and also improve their own skills in terms of new teaching methods,” Gowda said.