The last two years, as COVID-19 hit the world, the notion of a classroom and the role of a teacher transformed like never before.
Teachers learned to negotiate virtual classrooms with all their attendant problems. Now, switching back to physical classrooms, after a gap of two years, has not been easy either.
This Teachers’ Day, The Hindu spoke to teachers across various schools in Bengaluru, who are taking the extra mile to make learning easy for their students post the pandemic.
Classroom mood
This year, as students came back to schools, the greatest challenge was to bring them back into the “classroom mood.” Across classes, the issue of adaptability manifested in different ways. From separation anxiety, reduced academic abilities, digital addiction to, what one teacher called, “classroom snacking”, they had to patiently deal with different issues.
Teachers learned to negotiate virtual classrooms with all their attendant problems. Now, switching back to physical classrooms, after a gap of two years, has not been easy either.
| Photo Credit: file photo
“Bringing them back to the classroom setting was very difficult. There was a lot of fighting and complaining and discipline had taken a big hit. But the only way to deal with them is by working out solutions at their level. The students want all learning to be playful now,” said Lakshmi, who teaches Hindi at Vasavi Vidyanikethan School.
Another teacher at the same school, Nalini Rajesh, said that the expectations of parents have gone up and teachers have had to pay special heed to their concerns. “As they observed that children were falling a little behind in academics, they wanted us to give more homework and tests.” The teachers have also rolled out a “bag and book-free” out-bound language development programme to strengthen basic skills.
Pleasure of interaction
Despite the challenges, all the teachers said that the pleasure of teaching lies in getting to interact with students in real classrooms.
“Two-way communication makes teaching easier, although online classes taught teachers a lot and got us equipped with technology,” said Kalai Rajan, head of school as well as mathematics teacher at Knowledgeum Academy. He said that he involves students more in the teaching now. “I get them to do research and present them in groups.”
Mr. Kalai also spoke about how he sensitises his students to the usage of the Internet and conveys the same message to parents. He said that he asks the students to use social media and technology in limited windows for their own benefits, but also reminds them that when they use it for academic purposes, that should be their only focus and that they should not get distracted.
Gowri Mirlay Achanta, history teacher at St Joseph’s Boys High School, said teachers also faced problems like exhaustion of standing for longer durations, speaking loudly to address bigger classes.
“We are delighted to be back in class, but are quite often exhausted having been out of touch with regular classes for two years.”
Among students, as they returned to physical classes, the gap between emotional and physical maturity was quite glaring, she pointed out. “Lack of focus among students, restlessness and feeling sleepy in class were prominent issues we had to tackle in June but have reduced greatly as the term advanced,” Ms. Gowri said.
Bridging gap
Similar accounts were also recorded in several government schools across the State. The teachers are battling issues like disinterest in educational activities, learning backwardness, mobile phone addiction, and irregularity.
“We have successfully conducted counselling sessions to ensure that students attend classes regularly. We are also creating awareness among parents to send their children to school. We are conducting ‘Kalika Chetarike’ programme for all the students to recover the learning gap. But, it has been quite challenging to bring our students back on track,” said Mala, vice-principal at Karnataka Public School, Basavanagudi.
(With additional inputs by Jayanth R.)
