Know Your Teacher: ‘Plan your lessons & enjoy teaching’, says this educator

She has been a teacher for 36 years and joined Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg, in 1990. After completing her master’s in English and BEd, she decided to take up teaching as a profession. She has been in the teaching profession for the last 36 years and began her career at St Joseph’s Convent in Jalandhar, where she taught for two years before joining Apeejay. Meet Alka Rai, who teaches classes X-XII.

“As a teacher, one encourages students to think independently and shape their minds. So, one should be sure in the first place that they are meant for this profession. One needs to be a good listener so that the students know that you, as a teacher, respect their thought processes. The teacher should know their students concerning their needs and interests and plan lessons properly. But above all, enjoy while you teach,” Rai advised.

Excerpts from an interview.

How did you get interested in teaching?

I had excellent teachers of English back in my school at St Joseph’s Convent and also in college. I was impressed with the way they taught this language, and subconsciously, I decided I wanted to be like them. So, I pursued my degree and took up the teaching profession. But as time passed and I saw the impact I had upon my students, I started loving my profession even more. When students come back and tell me that they love the subject because of me, I don’t want to be anywhere else but here.

How do you manage work-life balance?

I don’t think it is difficult. One has to learn to plan and also discuss it with their family. Plan family time on Sundays. After work, spend time with children. If there are important moments in your life, discuss these moments with the principal and take time off. Make it a ritual to eat dinner together, discuss, and take suggestions. Once the family is involved, this balance can be handled.

Why is there so much stress on experiential learning today?

Experiential refers to something that an individual experiences themselves. It is not just received teaching where we pass our exams by memorising. In experiential learning, teachers create opportunities for students to participate in real-life activities that they will remember forever. For example, opening a bank account. It can be taught sitting in class and making the children write steps, which may be confusing. On the other hand, the students can be taken for a visit to a bank and given firsthand experience that they will never forget.

There was a time when scoring a 60 in English was considered amazing. What has changed?

In those times, it was all about answering long questions, and there was also a compulsory deduction. Now, with the change in paper patterns, it is about answering in points. Even the marking is done differently today, and a good student, whose concepts are clear, can score good marks.

How do you ensure that your teaching is inclusive and meets the needs of all your students?

For an inclusive environment, I make it a point to understand every student’s uniqueness, and then arrangements are made. Sometimes group study is done where children with different IQs sit together and have discussions. As a result, interchanging ideas widens their social skills. All students can’t be assessed similarly, so changes are made to make everyone comfortable.

What do you think are the most important skills that students need to develop to succeed in the 21st century?

The major skill they need to develop is group management—how to manage a team and work with people having different thought processes as a team. Apart from this, technological literacy is a must. One should have good communication skills as well. One should have logical, critical, and creative thinking skills too because in the coming times, one needs to stand out in the crowd to succeed.

How do you collaborate with other teachers and professionals to support student learning?

No single teacher can have all the resources to bring about a change in a student. For this, we need to share our knowledge with other teachers. We should observe each other in practice. We can also use external experts or professionals to challenge our values, beliefs, and practices. In the end, we should review how it affects student learning collaboratively.

How do you encourage creativity and innovation in your students?

The New Education Policy 2020 gives a lot of importance to innovation and creativity. I prefer asking a lot of questions from students while conducting a lesson. Then they are supposed to find their answers with reasons. So, every student will come up with different logic, helping them to be creative in their way. Teamwork or collaborative learning is done in class, which facilitates innovation. By discussing ideas and problem-solving as a team, students are more likely to be creative and innovative.