40. Some trainee observations to Ponder Over

These are   some observations  made by the trainees of my college (2011-12 batch) after their first and second spell of Practice Teaching. Its worth  pondering over !

 *  In a school in the city, there were children from Juvenile Homes. Some  of them had a  criminal record and were  prone to violence! The trainees did not really know  how to tackle them.

* In another school  a particular trainee was asked “ Do you consume beer”? It appeared that the students consumed  beer regularly!

* Some trainees reported   that Constructivist practice did not work in  the Social Science class and they  found that lecturing method was more suitable in the secondary class!

*In  a  particular school there was  an unexpected announcement that part  of the four floor school building has caught  fire. All the students were directed to rush out immediately. Within seconds , a trainee who was teaching in the third floor dashed to the ground floor.  In fact, he was the first to reach the ground floor!  Only on reaching the ground floor did he realize that it is was  a ‘Mock  Fire Escape  Training’ planned by the Fire and Rescue Service. The trainee had no idea, that what he was expected to do, was to get the students to fall in line and move  along with them quickly to the ground floor!

*Some trainees stated  that during Practice Teaching, they realized that a mastery of the subject they teach is essential to teach effectively.

* A  teacher candidate, who  till joining the BEd course was  teaching at  the Primary Level realized that  at the Secondary Level to teach  a single period one ought to prepare a lot unlike at  the Primary level.

* In  a particular school, instead of distributing sweets on their birthday,  the students are expected to plant a tree in the school campus.

* The Supervising teacher of a leading school in the city reprimanded the trainees for giving home assignments!

* The Supervising teacher of a particular school was extremely cooperative and did handover his Laptop to the trainees to  prepare  materials for teaching the students!

* During the thirty day Second Spell of Practice Teaching,  six days were wasted owing to general Strike followed by  suspension of classes!

*In some schools, there were children in Standard VIII and IX   who did not know  the  English or Hindi alphabet.

*A particular trainee affirmed that they  all  had  engaged in  Practice Teaching    with the seriousness it deserves and did not as  a teacher educator  had warned, turn the  Teaching Practice in to a ‘Cheating Practice’!

* A trainee who was assigned a Girls’ school in the city  to teach, observed  that, many students were  attracted to the male trainees. And once,  it so happened that  a male worker employed  by the school  had ignored  some girls and did not smile at them. This hurt the feeling of  some children!

* A particular  trainee, quite naively  confessed that some of the students they taught were  really smart. It so happened  that a  student had asked  the trainee whether  he  had a Facebook  and  the trainee  quite innocently replied “ I’m afraid I don’t have one ...perhaps  you could look  for it in the  School Library”!

Now... do we really  train our trainees  properly ?  Any comments??