‘NEP 2020 is not just a document but also a mission for educators’

There are times when landmark decisions or policies instil a renewed wave of zeal and momentum into flailing spirits. In the field of education, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been one such policy document that promises to take the Indian education system to glorious heights.

It is a futuristic, forward looking and an exhaustive document including all the revolutionary pedagogical innovations. In my opinion, the NEP 2020 is not just a document but a mission for educators. The thrust of NEP 2020 is the child-centred and student-driven education that fosters creativity, global citizenship and character building.

So far, the mindset of teachers and also of the parents perceive only one type of intelligence that expects children to sit quietly behind a desk and indulge in passive learning. This mindset needs to change and the NEP is committed to spearhead this shift in thought process.

Indeed, for sustainable societies to exist, we need loads of different intelligences to survive. It is the leader’s arduous task to allow flexibility and freedom to teachers to experiment with classroom pedagogies so that the students frame their own problems, work collaboratively to arrive at tangible solutions, reflect and improvise the solution for welfare of human kind.

One big idea about the implementation of NEP 2020 is teacher empowerment. A teacher is the oxygen of the education system and the implementation of NEP 2020 will require the teachers to shift their role from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side”. Need-based, continuous and comprehensive professional development programme on pedagogical innovations catering to multiple intelligences of heterogeneous group of students has to be planned by the school. The leader of the school has a pivotal role to not only organise the professional development programme but also to look for the extent of implementation, challenges faced and remediation needed for greater effectiveness.

Experimental teaching, art and sports integration and storytelling pedagogy have to be embedded in various trans-disciplinary lesson plans that have to be brought on paper in the Annual Pedagogical Plan.

While classroom pedagogy flips to allow greater voice to students, transformation in assessment becomes highly desirable. Training teachers in providing varied platforms for assessments of the same concept would be the need of the hour. Teacher training in rubric designing and data analysis is required.

Ongoing training in use of ICT tools including AR and VR is mandatory. With the blooming of technology, the teachers will not become obsolete but definitely the teachers who use technology will outshine those who don’t use it.

I would like to suggest the following three initiatives to help teachers realise their potential to maximum through constructive feedback, analysis and a plan for growth.

• Students’ feedback on teachers’ efficacy: The practice of collecting & analysing feedback on teachers by students can help the teachers strategise their instructional methodology and pace. The feedback or the feed forward, as I would like to call it, will help the teachers reflect and improve learning outcome. It’s time we generate the Teacher Report Card.
• Peer partnering of teachers: A staff member can be attached to any other member of team either by the institution or as a personal choice who will become a partner on this trajectory of progress. One can share goals, receive constructive feedback and honest reviews from the partner and contribute towards each other’s growth and evolution. In the present scenario, pairing a tech-savvy teacher with another teacher with less expertise in handling tech tools may work well.
• Journaling the journey: The teachers can identify their strengthens and weakness, can place themselves in the talent matrix, can define their individual development plan and can work to achieve goals set for themselves with the support of school and peers.

In this sojourn to scale the heights of excellence, the leadership role of the principal has unprecedented influence. The principal can inspire through example, guide with constructive feedback and engage the faculty through trainings to actualise the implementation of the NEP. It is with the empowered and inspired staff that positive and conducive ecosystem can be created for our learners, our future.

Geeta Gangwani, principal, Bal Bharati Public School, Rohini. The views expressed are personal.