HSNC University Mumbai
Bombay Teachers’ Training College
Re-accredited 'A' Grade By NAAC.
Our Vision: To Emerge as a Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education
| Cultural Kaleidoscope Festival of Lights: A Celebration |
November 10, 2020 |
The practice was initiated in this context from 2005 – 2006. The institution has designed a Model of Cultural Education. An orientation seminar is conducted about the importance of Cultural Education and the components of the CCRT gifted Cultural Kit. Students are familiarized with various activities that can be presented like dance, music, narrative art forms, drama, puppetry, etc.
The students are then divided into four or five groups and one cultural region is allotted to each group. The students prepare a cultural presentation on the particular region of India, based on their own research and with the help of the items in the CCRT Cultural Kit.
The practice has developed an understanding and appreciation of the philosophy, aesthetics and beauty inherent in Indian Art and Culture among the student teachers, school children and even the faculty members. The student teachers have made effective use of CCRT Kit and created awareness among Secondary School students about our rich heritage.
The practice has also given student teachers an opportunity for team work and led to a constructivist approach and experiential learning. . The activity has its roots in respecting cultural diversity which also forms the basis of inclusive education.
Education to be effective and result-oriented has to be culture based. It must take into account the cognitive, emotional and spiritual needs of the student. It is vital for an individual to excel not only intellectually, but also socially, physically, and emotionally. This can only be achieved by linking education with culture, which is the focus of this best practice.
Dr. Rajeev I. Jha, Faculty, has undergone a 17-day ‘Orientation Programme for Teacher Educators’ in Cultural Education at Udaipur in 2005, organized by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), New Delhi, an organization under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Government of India. In December 2009, Dr. Rajeev I. Jha attended a 4-day follow-up Refresher Course on “An Integrated Approach to Education” at Hyderabad, organized by CCRT.
Dr. Maisha Tyagi, Faculty, has also undergone a ‘Orientation Programme for Teacher Educators’ in Cultural Education organized by the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), New Delhi, an organization under the aegis of Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
Following the initial training programme in 2005 and the next training undergone by Dr Tyagi, the institution had been gifted a Cultural Kit by the CCRT. We wished to put the kit and the training received to good use. As a result, we were heavily inspired to initiate a Cultural Education Programme in the college.
The practice was initiated in this context from 2005 – 2006.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the institution has designed a Model of Cultural Education. An orientation seminar is conducted by Dr. Rajeev I. Jha about the importance of Cultural Education and the components of CCRT gifted Cultural Kit. They are familiarized with various activities that can be presented like dance, music, narrative art forms, drama, puppetry, etc. The students are then divided into four or five groups and one cultural region is allotted to each group. The students then prepare a cultural presentation on the particular region of India, based on their own research and with the help of the items in the CCRT Cultural Kit. Thus, this process of preparing for the presentation or observing the presentation of other groups is a learning experience for them.
Based on the initial feedback that we got from the student teachers, this practice was modified a bit. It was decided that instead of having the presentations in the college, we could have the presentations in the practice-teaching schools with school children as the audience. Hence, now the different school groups present a “Cultural Kaleidoscope” as part of their internship activities. This has proved very successful and many of the schools appreciated the student teachers’ efforts. The students also gain invaluable experience in the schools.
The institute appreciates the performances of student teachers at the Annual Function by giving an award of ‘Best Performance in Cultural Activities’ in recognition of the outstanding work done by him/her during the academic year.
It was difficult to monitor the use of the CCRT Cultural Kit by the batch of 100 B.Ed. student teachers. The student teachers go to 9 or 10 practice-teaching schools and it was not possible for all of them to use the whole kit at the same time. Hence, the kit was divided for optimum sharing and utilization. The Cultural Secretary of the Students’ Council and the School Group Leaders look after the allocation, rotation and maintenance of the Kit components. A record is also maintained for the same.
The practice has developed an understanding and appreciation of the philosophy, aesthetics and beauty inherent in Indian Art and Culture among the student teachers, school children and even the faculty members.
The student teachers have explored methodologies for incorporating a Cultural Component in Curriculum. They have made effective use of CCRT Kit and created awareness among Secondary School students about our rich Indian Cultural Heritage.
The practice has also given student teachers an experience of team work as the activity requires a lot of cooperation and team effort.
The activity has its roots in respecting cultural diversity which also forms the basis of inclusive education. The practice has also led to a constructivist approach and experiential learning.
The institution has received several letters of appreciation from the practice teaching schools for the Cultural Kaleidoscope presentations by our student teachers.
The Cultural Kaleidoscope has also had an indirect but major impact on History teaching practice undertaken by the History method group students. The students make a serious attempt to incorporate these ideas into their lesson plans. The students have often borrowed ideas from the presentations and have actually used the Cultural Kit components as instructional aids in the classroom.
The cultural component is also correlated with other subjects besides History, and students have incorporated the Core Element of India’s common Cultural Heritage into Science, Mathematics, Geography and Language lessons in interesting ways. For example, Indian Architecture has been correlated with Geometry lessons and regional culture has been integrated with Geography lessons.
Many of the substitution lessons taken by students in the schools are lessons about cultural education. Each school group always has in their possession some component of the CCRT Kit and these have proved very popular with the classes that the student teachers engage.
It is evident that the impact of the practice has gone beyond the activity itself.
CCRT Cultural Kit is essential (19 Picture Packages, 9 Audio Cassettes, Audio Player, 2 VHS Video Cassettes, 868 Slides, Slide Projector, Booklets on Songs in National Languages and Symbols); other aids such as computer, LCD Projector, Internet, Sound System, Television, DVD player etc would enhance the presentation.