| The need for professionally
trained cadres to serve the complex needs
of elementary education is being strongly
felt by all concerned within the education
sector. Existing teacher education programmes
have not been able to fill this basic requirement;
hence, the need for a well designed programme
that combines theory and practice.
In this context, the Trusts are supporting
a 'Collaborative Post-graduate Programme
in Education' at the Tata
Institute of Social Sciences (TISS),
which aims to make a major contribution
towards professionalising elementary education
through discipline building and providing
well trained professionals for the sector.
TISS is interested in deepening its engagement
with the field of elementary education.
Hence, it has made an institutional commitment
to a proposed postgraduate Masters programme
in Elementary Education. This programme
aims to strengthen the development of professionalism
in the sector by providing an opportunity
to study elementary education more intensively,
to develop knowledge and expertise relevant
to the Indian context and build awareness
of theory and field experiments.
The programme is housed in TISS and a degree
would be awarded by TISS in its capacity
as a deemed university. The programme is
of a collaborative nature; having evolved
through the intensive collaboration of six
leading academic institutions and field
based non-profit organisations that have
made significant contribution to the field
of elementary education.
Such collaboration aims to enable the programme
to retain its academic rigour and be responsive
to the needs and challenges of the field.
The programme would be offered in dual mode,
imparting instruction through three weeks
of contact classes per semester, followed
by distance learning for 15 weeks, taking
into account potential working students,
who may not be able to enrol in a full-time
residential programme.
The programme will comprise of ten courses,
including seven compulsory and three optional;
and a field attachment leading to a project
report, to be completed over a minimum of
two years. The optional courses are proposed
as a way to develop expertise and specialisation
in chosen areas of professional practice
or research. The faculty is drawn from collaborating
institutions, academic institutions, non-profit
organisations and from within TISS.
Some of the leading scholars in the field
are involved in the curriculum development
process. The programme is designed to have
an impact on the professional growth of
students, as well as on developing elementary
education as a discipline, especially pre-service
teacher education and curriculum development.
|
