The Chair Shares...As American philosopher Israel Scheffler said, “…they (the teachers) need to determine their own agency through a critical and continual evaluation of the purposes, the consequences, and the social context of their calling.” The pursuits and activities of the Department of Elementary Education are based on the philosophy of ‘Reflections-in- action’ which analyze and evaluate the ‘Knowing-in- action’ and help us examine our own perspectives and practice both reflectively and reflexively. The Department strived to live upto the position of the number one Education Department in the country ranked by India Today last year and witnessed a wide range of intellectual activities which were organised throughout the year.
The inter-college annual academic meet, titled SEHAR, was held in March 2019 on the theme, ‘Attainig Literacy Through Stories’. The keynote set the tone for the ensuing deliberations. He emphasized the need to focus on the relevance and meaning of identity in the present times and how it had become highly political in nature. The theme was explored through a variety of engrossing events that explored nuanced understandings of identity. SEHAR received encouraging participation from students of other colleges and was a stimulating experience for all those in attendance. The Department association organised several interesting events throughout the year. Significant among these were the lectures on ‘Science Education in Elementary Classes’ by Dr. T.V. Venkateshwaran and on Inclusive Education by Mr. Dana Cohen-Kalpan, a Graduate of Bates College, USA. Alumna from the batch of 2011 also spoke to students on career options in the field of Education. The third year students’ educational visit to the South Point School, Varanasi enabled them to connect theory with praxis and experience learning beyond the classroom. The much-awaited National Conference was organized in early March on ‘Innovations in Mathematics Education: Current Trends and Issues’. The two-day event was enthusiastically attended by over 100 Mathematics teacher educators, school teachers and students from various institutions who gained from the expertise and experience of distinguished speakers such as Prof. R Ramanujam, Prof. K Subramaniam and Prof. Amitabha Mukherjee among others. Several panel discussions and plenary talks were also organised as part of the conference.The participants also gained hands on experience through workshops on ‘Teaching and Learning through GeoGebra’ and shared their experiences of using technology and other innovations in their mathematics classrooms. The students of the Department kept the flag flying by excelling in sports and co-curricular activities. The Students’ Union- President Simran Jaiswal, Secretary- Saumya Sharma and Treasurer- Komal Malik worked tirelessly though the year along with their dedicated team of members and volunteers, to make each event a huge success. The Association incharges Dr. Jonaki Ghosh and Ms. Sujata Chatterjee efficiently steered the activities of the Department and ensured that the students could maximize their learning in the process. I thank them and acknowledge the tireless efforts of Ms. Priyanka Padhy and Ms. Shama Norien Major for diligently crafting the Department newsletter with the support of the student editors also titled SEHAR which was released on the Annual College Day. As the sun arose, the thirteenth issue of Sehar envisioned a bright dawn of critical inquiry, reflective thinking, knowledge sharing and experiential learning, unfolding the dreams, hopes and aspirations of our students and faculty. As educators, let’s seize the wonder and uniqueness of this new dawn and the incredible opportunities it brings forth to truly awake and touch the lives of people around us. -Deepika Papneja |
VisionThe Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) programme is a four-year integrated professional degree programme of Elementary Teacher Education. This is a bilingual programme, conceptualized by the Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary and Social Education (MACESE) of the Department of Education, University of Delhi. Launched in the academic year 1994-95, the programme is an attempt towards fulfilling the need for professionally qualified elementary school teachers.
Envisaged on the belief that quality elementary teacher education can bring much desired changes in the overall educational scenario, the programme is a grass root attempt to rejuvenate, transform and establish an organic link between a significant agency of socialization, that is, the school and the larger educational discourse. It aims at redefining the social function of the school teacher in the context of achieving universalization of Elementary Education besides focusing on developing a deep critical understanding of the curriculum and pedagogy in teachers, who are believed to perform a transformative role in school education. Following a truly multi-disciplinary approach, the curriculum of this programme amalgamates the undergraduate studies in various disciplines with the educational theories and pedagogical experience in a phased manner. The programme offers a unique combination of liberal and professional education, preparing students not only to become teachers, but also equips them with the necessary background to pursue higher education. The bilingual nature of the programme posits construction of knowledge as a free process beyond linguistic barriers. Heterogeneity in the student population as well as faculty contributes to the richness and vastness of the identities and experiences of the students and facilitates knowledge acquisition through dialogic reflection. |