CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND OF THE FRAMEWORK: This curricular framework represents an effort to strengthen quality in elementary teacher education while building on the best practices contained in previous frameworks. Some of the important characteristics of this framework are presented below.
1. This framework organizes curriculum by including the following three components:
Content: This component is the subject matter of the curriculum, the goals and objectives for children’s learning.
Processes: This component is the pedagogy of learning, how teachers teach, and the ways in which children achieve the goals and objectives of the curriculum.
Context: This component is the setting, the environment in which learning takes place.
This curriculum provides an opportunity for student teachers how to integrate and implement these three components in classroom settings
2. This framework emphasizes the emerging perspectives within education and other disciplines of knowledge and creates spaces for the perspective building of student teachers.
3. This framework construes education of elementary school children in continuum and establishes organic linkages with the early childhood teacher education and secondary teacher education programmes.
4. This framework construes elementary teacher education in three sub-stages:
i) Early Elementary Teacher Education
ii) Middle Elementary Teacher Education, and
iii) Upper Elementary Teacher Education.
The Elementary stage of education, unlike all other stages, is exceptional in terms of its composition, since it contains within it three sub stages of child development i.e. the early childhood which corresponds to the early primary grades; the middle childhood i.e. the middle primary stage and the late childhood, which links to the upper primary stage. Although all these sub-stages are along a developmental continuum, the characteristics of children within each of these stages vary in terms of what they can learn, how they learn, and what interests them. It is important therefore for an elementary teacher to be sensitized to these stage wise differences, since these have specific implications for designing curriculum and classroom practice in a more age appropriate and contextualized manner.
This curriculum therefore offers educators a vision of what an age- appropriate program looks like and also provides a framework to them for making decisions about how to achieve that vision. This framework believes that a curriculum designed on the basis of the developmental stages of children would be able to enable teachers to bring in more child-centered and developmentally appropriate practices into the elementary classrooms leading to meaningful quality education at this foundation stage for all children. Recognizing the importance of addressing stage specific process of growth and development of children, this curriculum creates three pedagogic structures and teaching practice arrangements to address the different needs and abilities of children. It introduces distinct curricular approaches for addressing the educational needs of children of the following three sub-stages.
I. Children in Early-Elementary Grades I & II
During these early grades, children are generally still in what is known as the upper end of the early childhood phase. They are in a period of transition from percepts’ bound thinking to concept based thinking and reasoning, through concrete activities and experiences. Logical thinking is emerging but more in relation to concrete experiences. Play and activity therefore still serve as very potent modes of reaching out to children and scaffolding their learning. The need to be autonomous and to learn and proudly demonstrate their learning and win appreciation is high. They are at a stage when their potential for learning languages is significant, and they can learn without pressure provided they are immersed in an enriched language environment.
Children by age 7 and 8 are still very young and need personal care, affection and protection and expect a teacher to be like a surrogate parent. Physically their bones and muscles are still developing and sitting for a long duration at any one activity is uncomfortable for them and also not conducive to their relatively short attention span. Their gender identity begins to emerge, and unlike the younger child, children between ages five and eight, begin to broaden their peer context, and engage in cooperative play and in games with rules and form enduring friendships. Social comparison is heightened at this time, and taking other people's perspective begins to play a role in how children relate to people, including peers.
In accordance with these characteristics, the teaching-learning process for this sub stage should have a balanced mix of structured and free play activities, the content of which should be of interest and meaning for children. While the structured activities are directed towards specific and planned learning objectives, free play activities like art, dramatization, constructive play and devising their own games with rules foster creativity and critical thinking in children. Classrooms with activity corners and open ended play and learning materials, with shorter and more varied and interesting learning activities, and a balance of indoor/ outdoor and whole and small group activities, facilitated by an interactive teacher are some hall marks of a stimulating developmentally appropriate learning environment for this age group.
The teacher should have the freedom, once trained, to devise his/her teaching learning sequence and activities and experiences to accomplish the overall educational objectives at this stage. Being the foundation stage , the focus needs to be on designing the curriculum for all round development of the child, with a focus on early literacy and numeracy, leading to interest and ability to read and write with meaning and comprehension and develop understanding of mathematical concepts. Understanding of the natural and social environment needs to form an integral part of language and mathematics curriculum by locating it thematically in spaces that are contextually familiar to children and have meaning for them. Enabling children to experience the environment to the extent possible, whether physical, biological, social, or cultural, should be the teacher’s priority rather than teaching from a text book.
The language used and teaching content should be gender sensitive. Teaching methods should be activity based, including stories, songs, language games, problem solving, art and role play activities using dialogic teaching -learning methods. The language and learning content for children should be gender sensitive and not perpetuate any gender stereotypes. There should be no formal assessment. The teachers’ own observations of the child should form the assessment that is shared with the child’s guardians. The progress card of the child should be of a formative nature and should make qualitative observations on the child’s strengths and areas needing support; his/her interests, abilities, skills, status of health and other aspects of the child.
II. Children in Middle Elementary Grades III,IV & V
Recent theorists have recognized the importance of middle childhood for the development of cognitive skills, personality, motivation, and inter-personal relationships. During middle childhood children learn the values of their societies. Thus, the primary developmental task of middle childhood could be called integration, both in terms of development within the individual and of the individual within the social context.
Physical and cognitive development in middle childhood is slow and steady. Children in this stage are building upon skills gained in early childhood and preparing for the next phase of their cognitive development. Children's reasoning is still very rule based as they are learning skills and forming hypotheses although not yet at an abstract level.. While they are cognitively more mature now than previously, children in this stage still require concrete, hands-on learning activities. Middle childhood is a time when children are more likely to gain enthusiasm for learning and for work and sense of achievement can become a motivating factor as they work toward building competence and self-esteem. Physically they are stronger and the focus along with outdoor activities is on fine motor skill development. Therefore they focus more on how things work rather than why they work.
Middle childhood is also a time when children develop competence in interpersonal and social relationships. Gender identity gets stabilized and children have a growing peer orientation; yet they are strongly influenced by their family. The social skills learned through peer and family relationships, and children's increasing ability to participate in meaningful interpersonal communication, provide a necessary foundation for the challenges of adolescence. Best friends are important at this age, and the skills gained in these relationships may provide the building blocks for healthy adult relationships.
For Classes III to V, the teaching-learning process may be more structured, but should still continue to maintain a balance of free and structured activities though increasing in complexity. Activity based teaching is still important to enable conceptual understanding at a concrete level. Enabling children to move towards becoming more autonomous and confident learners through self learning exercises, encouraging team work and cooperative learning in groups, identifying and nurturing individual strengths and attributes while supporting the weak aspects; fostering leadership are all important features of a developmentally appropriate classroom practice. The assessment should aim at gaining greater insight into various aspects of the child’s learning: language comprehension, reading ability, articulation, ability to work with hands and in groups, skills of observation, classification, drawing, and the other skills which constitute learning at this stage. Classroom arrangement needs to be interactive and flexible which allows easy interaction among children and with the teacher and not in the traditional teacher centered mode. (NCF-2005)
III. Children in Upper Elementary Grades VI, VII & VIII
Pre-adolescents are in the process of establishing their own identity, increasing their independence from their parents and other adults and increasing their dependence on their peer group. They are more able to understand the natural facts surrounding them and the human feelings. During this period most children will begin a rapid phase of transition from childhood to adolescence. Although some children will begin the changes of puberty before age 9, most will begin the process of rapid growth and physical change in the years between 9 and 12. For some children, noticeable changes do not begin to occur until age 13 or in rare cases until age 14 or later. On average, girls will begin puberty at age 10 or 11 and boys will begin at age 11 or 12. There are a number of noticeable physical signs that a boy or girl has begun puberty. Overall physical growth will accelerate with some boys and girls growing several inches taller per year. The biological aspects of puberty, while certainly profound, tell only half the story. The emotional/psychological aspects of puberty (many of which are linked to biological maturation: e.g. increases in testosterone) are equally significant, particularly as they relate to sexuality. As they go through puberty, it is typical for young people to develop a heightened, at times seemingly obsessive, preoccupation with their physical appearance. Anxiety over physical appearance can lead to feelings of inadequacy. Relationships with peers are also likely to change. Whereas, in the years leading up to puberty, there is a tendency for children to interact mostly with same sex peers, as youth approach the teen years they begin to increase social interaction with the opposite sex.
At the upper primary stage, Social Studies need to draw its content from History, geography, political science and economics. History should take into account developments in different parts of India, with sections on events or developments in other parts of the world. Geography can help develop a balanced perspective related to issues concerning the environment, resources and development at different levels, from local to global. In Political Science, students should be introduced to the formation and functioning of governments at local, state, and central levels and the democratic processes of participation. The economics component should enable students to observe economic institutions like the family, the market and the state. (NCF-2005).In the light of this, it is necessary to design stage specific instructional processes and teaching-learning strategies and activities suitable to different stages of childhood and child development stages and prepare student-teachers accordingly.
5. This framework emphasizes the importance of conceptual blending of theoretical understanding available in several cognate disciplines. However the knowledge base in teacher education does not comprise only an admixture of concepts and principles from other disciplines, but a distinct ̳gestalt ‘emerging from the ̳conceptual blending’, making it sufficiently specified. It further emphasizes the importance of an integrated and correlated approach to the teaching of concepts in teacher education. (NCF-2005 & NCFTE-2009).
6. This framework proposes to introduce a course on “Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)”, which is globally emerging as an area of high priority in view of recent neuroscience research which has established that 90 percent of the brain’s growth occurs by the time the child is 5 years old and this growth is influenced not only by the nutritional and health of the child, but also the psycho social experiences the child is exposed to during these years. With large numbers of first generation learners coming into the school system now from homes with less than adequate learning environments, the schools are globally facing an early learning crisis so that many children are going up the school ladder without learning basics of reading, writing and mathematics. A significant factor identified is that children are coming in directly into school with inadequate school readiness experiences which can provide them the required conceptual and language base. Research has now demonstrated that sound ECCE experiences at age appropriate levels can effectively narrow this equity gap.
ECCE which was earlier covering children up to six years in age, is now being globally defined as education and care of children from birth to eight years, thus including the first two to three years of primary schooling also within this stage. The rationale for this is that (a) as per Child Development theory, the 6 to 8 year olds are more akin in their developmental characteristics and interests to younger children and have similar needs. As a result, the ECCE play and activity based methodology has been observed to be most appropriate for them as well. (b)Integrating preschool and early primary years as a common stage or a unit thus helps in maintaining continuity in the learning process for the child, allows for flexible and individually paced learning of basics and facilitates a smooth transition to formal learning. The early childhood education stage thus includes within it two sub-stages i.e. the pre-primary stage (3 to 6 years) and early primary stage or Grades 1 and 2 (6-8 years).
7. This framework highlights the importance of empowering student- teachers in how to integrate technology in education. Learning is a continuous process. ICT today has provided easy access to learning and learning resources through tools like computers, laptops and tablets, mobile phones, internet, etc. and their varied applications. Children learn with or without teacher/mentor. However, machines cannot replace teachers, particularly at the tender age of the learner development. Teacher is needed to facilitate and guide learning, growth and development of the child. But teacher needs to be empowered for performing this task in such a complex and fluid situation when everyday newer technologies and ICT applications are added.
Teacher should know and have capacity of using these ICTs. They provide teacher, access to the unlimited open educational resources, all over the world, for better learning. But our teachers are not trained in accessing and using ICTs in varied learning settings. It is therefore necessary to induct a course on how to integrate ICT in pedagogical practices in the program-preparing teachers for facilitating learning. Such a course will empower the teachers to select and use the various available and accessible alternative ICTs and resources in to teaching-learning processes for facilitation of effective learning.
8. This framework designs content-based-pedagogy courses by drawing disciplinary substance from different school subjects. Since the criteria for identifying the content at the primary stage are relevance, meaningfulness and interest to the child, it is felt desirable to create space for the content that provide opportunities to deal with the real and concrete world of the children, rather than a formal abstract world.
In this context NCFTE-2009 emphasizes, “It is important to engage prospective teachers with the conceptual knowledge they have gained through general education. Most teacher education courses focus exclusively on the methodology of teaching individual school subjects. It is assumed that the teacher trainees have the subjectcontent knowledge, which they would draw upon when required. Hence, teacher education curricula do not engage teacher trainees with subject-content. However, if we want to prepare teachers to present subject-content in developmentally appropriate ways and with critical perspectives it is essential that several theoretical concepts learnt during general education in school and college be revisited and reconstructed. This course also aims to engage student teachers with epistemological and ideological assumptions about knowledge, learner and learning; their implications for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment in school education”. Learning from NCFTE-2009, this curriculum designs content-based pedagogy courses in some selected school subjects like environmental science, science, social studies, mathematics and languages.
9. This framework supports a variety of content-appropriate teaching methods that engage students actively in the learning process. Some of them include, writing projects, debates, simulations, role playing, dramatizations, and cooperative learning are encouraged, as is the use of technology to supplement reading and classroom activities and to enrich the teaching of school subjects. Video resources such as video programs and laser discs, computer software, OERs and newly emerging forms of educational technology can provide invaluable resources for the teaching of school subjects.
10. This framework encourages the development of civic and democratic values as an integral element of good citizenship. Space is created for students to learn the kind of behavior that is necessary for the functioning of a democratic society. Whenever possible, opportunities would be available for participation and for reflection on the responsibilities of citizens in a free society.
11. This framework incorporates a multicultural and multilingual perspective across the courses of the curriculum. It enables teachers to recognize that the history of community, state, region, nation, and world must reflect the experiences of men and women and of different racial, religious, caste and ethnic groups. India has always been a nation of many different cultural groups. The experiences of all these groups are to be integrated at every grade level in the curriculum. The framework embodies the understanding that the national identity, the national heritage, and the national creed are pluralistic and that our national history is the complex story of many peoples and one nation, and of an unfinished struggle to realize the ideals of the Indian Constitution.(NCF-2005)
12. This framework supports the study and discussion
of the fundamental principles embodied in the Constitution of India. Whether studying Indian history or world history, students should be aware of the presence or absence of the rights
of the individual, the rights of minorities, the right of the citizen to participate in government, the right to speak or publish freely without governmental coercion, the right to freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, the right to form trade unions, and other basic democratic rights.
13. This framework incorporates the following key competences:
1. Communication in the mother tongue
2. Communication in English language.
3. Mathematical competence
4. Basic competences in science and technology
5. Digital competence
6. Learning to learn
7. Social and civic competences
8. Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
9. Cultural awareness and expression
14. This framework underlines the importance of continuous and sustained engagement with student teachers and systematic organization of curricular process and activities.
15. This framework provides an opportunity for student teachers to learn how to design holistic learning environment by involving parents, community and civil society organizations. The quality of the environment has a very important impact on learning. Children’s success is deeply affected by the quality of the environment. Schools create the best possible physical, psychological and social environment for the development of learning and teaching. A favorable learning environment is interactive, stimulating and secure, reflecting the diverse identities and needs of children. It is flexible and evolves according to the changing themes and child’s development.
16. This framework proposes that critical thinking skills be integrated and critical pedagogical practices be included in all the curricular transaction processes of the elementary teacher education programme.
Opportunities be created for student teachers to learn to detect bias in print and visual media; recognize illogical thinking; guard against propaganda; avoid stereotyping of group members; to reach conclusions based on solid evidence; and to think critically, creatively, and rationally.
17. This framework emphasizes on the importance of continuous and comprehensive assessment and evaluation. It is essential that all those involved in elementary education have a good knowledge of the development of skills, competences and attitudes as well as how to achieve learning outcomes. Relevant information and judgments concerning children’s development are used to guide future planning. Observation, assessment and evaluation provide feedback, which helps children; parents and teachers know how the children are developing, what they are able to do and where they go next.
18. This framework emphasizes the importance of sensitizing student-teachers in understanding diversity, differential classroom spaces and gender. Respecting the diversity of children and promoting gender equality are key elements of the Elementary Education Curriculum. This means special support for children whose development, growth and learning have been affected by illness, disability, reduced functional ability, psychological problems or exceptional talent. In early education the school has a crucial role in timely recognition of learning difficulties. In this context it is important to work closely with the parents to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the child, to plan measures and actions needed to be taken. This framework stress the need for extending steps of support for differentiated teaching and learning within the class; teaching and learning in small groups simultaneously in the class, and teaching and learning out of the class in small groups or individually.
19. This framework addresses the complex relationship that exists between diversity, inequity, and education. It aims to sensitize students to the diversity of life experiences and learning needs of different kinds of children. Children with special needs, those from marginalized communities as well as girls have been traditionally excluded from education. Inclusive education, as understood today, must give a place to all children, while specifically addressing the above. This becomes even more significant in the light of the Right to Education Act 2009. While critically looking at our education through this lens, this course also tries to explore certain possibilities by addressing the nature of inclusive education as well as the sensibilities and skills that it demands from the teacher.
20. This framework emphasizes the need to promote inclusive education which is increasingly being felt important all over the world to integrate children with disabilities, at all levels of education as equal partners, to prepare them for normal development, and to enable them to face life with courage and confidence. The teachers are largely inadequately prepared to address such challenges in the classroom, and hence, fail to understand their needs and facilitate learning for them. Same can be said about the children who come from socially and economically deprived backgrounds, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minority and other communities, girls and children with diverse learning needs. There is a dire need to equip the teachers to overcome their biases in this regard and to develop professional capacities to address these challenges.
21. This framework strongly believes that development of positive gender perspective is important to address widespread discrimination and injustice at all levels in society. It requires not only a pedagogic approach but also a linkage between theory and real life situations to promote respect for women and reach gender equity. Another major concern is an increasing violence and polarization, both within children and between them, being caused primarily by increasing stress in society. The classroom teaching can play a crucial role by constructing and endorsing values and life skills in students to prepare them for meeting the demands and challenges of everyday living and by promoting values of peace based on equal respect of self and others. Similarly, to meet the ecological crisis, promoted by extremely commercialized and competitive lifestyles, teachers and children need to be educated to change their consumption patterns and the way they look at natural resources. Thus, an engagement with emerging educational perspectives will enable teachers to contextualize education and evolve desired curriculum, subject- content and pedagogy, and can become catalysts of change both at individual and institutional level.
22. This framework would enable student teachers to express the values, virtues and expectations of successful professionals challenging learners to fulfill their potential and enjoy learning secure a strong subject knowledge and critical appreciation of the curriculum and pedagogy across the relevant Key Stages plan, teach and reflect upon successful teaching and learning strategies and their impact on pupil progress
anticipate and respond to the different learning, motivation and personal abilities and needs of individuals, groups and classes develop effective classroom management techniques which promote good behavior assess the progress pupils make and the ways in which this can be enriched establish an understanding of a range of whole-school issues, the values and assumptions that underpin them, and their application to school and classroom practice meet the professional requirements for conduct and practice as set out by the NCTE.
23. The school-based activities are designed to enable the student-teachers to connect theory to practice and to help them acquire a perspective regarding the aims of education within which their previously acquired knowledge and practices can be systematized and structured to enable them to teach effectively. During the school-internship the student-teacher is expected to observe classroom teaching of mentors/ peers, to get insights into student behavior, instructional practices, student learning, learning environments and classroom management. The student-teacher is expected to critically reflect and discuss these practices and engage in activities like maintenance of records and registers, preparation of lesson and unit plans using different artifacts and technology, classroom management, activities related to school- community- parent interface, and reflections on self development and professionalization of teaching practice.
The other component of school-based activities to be carried out during internship is delivering the lessons/units of pedagogic courses in the first and second year as specified.
The activities undertaken during the internship period will be presented in Portfolios and Reflective Journals. The student-teachers are expected to record their experiences, observations and conclusions regarding all the activities undertaken. The entries of Reflective Journals will be analytical answering ‘what’ is new and different from their previous understandings, ‘why’ certain observations made by them with regard to instruction, classroom management, PTAs, etc., are different / same and ‘how’ these observations might lead to a criticism and change in their practice. The students will be assessed on the basis of entries made in Portfolios and Reflective Journals.
