What should teachers look forward to in a training program? Part-1

1988- I was invited to conduct a training program for the teachers of a chain of schools under a Management and the program was being held at a hill station near Nainital. After the initial inauguration, I was scheduled to take three sessions during the day – one focusing on curriculum, the second addressing pedagogy and the third relating to assessment. As a resource person I was fully aware that it was a challenging task to sustain the attention of the teachers during the entire day. I had planned for multiple strategies to deal with this challenge. Soon after the inaugural session was over, during the tea break I overheard two senior teachers talking to each other. One of them said “What is going to happen? Nothing. The system will remain the same thing. We are going to listen to the same old concepts what we heard in our B Ed programs. We all know.” The other responded with a smile and said, “We have no option but to attend whether we learn anything or not.”

The conversation indeed disturbed me and provoked me to handle the program in an entirely different manner. Well, at the end of the show the same teachers came to me stating that ‘this was an awesome program. We never expected this.” I just smiled. I was happy that they were the reason for provoking me to think differently.

Here are a few suggestions:

Often it so happens that the teachers have had some painful experiences, some disappointments, some disagreements with the Resource persons in their earlier programs. These tend to remain green in their memories and they have every expectation that the same things would happen in every program. This is another facet of their ‘learned helplessness.’ Reaching out to a program with an open mind, with possibilities for further learning, opportunities for growth is important. Pre-conceived negative sentiments tend to create an iron curtain between the individual and their learning.

On a few occasions, trainees tend to think that the Resource persons may not deliver what they need, because the RPs are young, they have lesser experience than themselves, they have not got exposed to the systems as others. There could be other reasons too. This mindset is primitive and self-destructive. Though years of experience may add value to the RPs delivery, there is no guarantee that it would always be so. A number of young resource persons come with energy, aspiration, creativity, newer perceptions, more impactful solutions to problems and solutions. They have effective communication strategies and can hold the attention for a longer time. They are willing to engage with the participant more intensely. Hence any effort to underrate them may not be a correct approach.

I have personally seen that a number of teachers attend the training programs because they have been directed or instructed by the Management or the Head of the institutions. They consider their attendance as an obligation to their institution. These approaches show self-denial to growth and show poverty of a positive approach to life. They should thank the stars for this opportunity and consider this a gift or a blessing to be a part of the learning opportunity.

A few teachers who have higher qualifications, who have received encomiums or awards for their work, who are in some middle level leadership positions tend to exhibit an air of arrogance. Their experience, the position they hold, and a self-awarded title of superiority bestows them to a status which is just mythical and suspicious. They tend to interfere, disprove, discredit the Resource person rather than communicate a disagreement. Sometimes, institutional rivalries or differing profile of the institutions provoke the trainees to put the resource persons in tight spots. “This will not work in our schools,” “We are already implementing,” “we have better practices” and similar statements during the programs create an iron wall between them and the possibilities for learning. Oftentimes their body language during the program exhibits their static mental profile. One needs to remember that there is a lot of learning opportunity from others, however big or small they are. “Learning” is a process, and one can isolate the process from the people, if necessary.