Teachers Feedback on INFORIA

Il & FS Education (IETS) works with teachers all over India. IETS also brings out this monthly
online magazine - INFORIA that puts together a variety of materials representing the latest and
evergreen ideas and practices for thought leaders in education. We share INFORIA with our
teachers.

The primary objective of sharing INFORIA with teachers is to impact their own understanding
and their educational practices. In this issue we include the feedback of teacher of The Shafiq
memorial School, Delhi and the Maruti Project in Gurgaon, Manesar and Rohtak. The feedback
was received from over 45 teachers across 19 schools in these places.

A brief overview:

Going by the feedback from Shafiq memorial School, most of the teachers loved the article
Danger School. They thought it was highly relevant and stressed that indeed, as the article says,
'...Choices play an important role in the school..." and social inequalities in the school
environment are a major challenge. However, a lot of teachers were of the opinion that education
is a positive driver of upward social mobility. Another aspect that a teacher noted was that some
of the items in INFORIA covered ideas and spaces which teacher tends to 'ignore or forget'.

The feedback of teachers from Gurgaon, Manesar and Rohtak regions covered various domains.
Some teachers were of the opinion that SummerHill is an exceptional concept, and really
enhances student learning. Additionally, they felt like the article on 10th Class Board exams did
address the issue in its entirely. While most of them think it is an essential step into education,
they also think that the pressure that comes with the board exams is regretful. They also thought
that board exams are necessary to track student learning and ability. Motivation is the key to
most of the teachers. They also felt that parental involvement is paramount and support has to be
both ways from teachers and parents.

Another item that was well received was John Holts iconic book How Children Fail, where
teachers understood and reminisced about how children behave during class and how failure can
perhaps be a stepping stone in learning. The video Kabi pass Kabi fail scored with the teachers
on capturing the gamut of feelings that come with board exams for students. Teachers also
appreciated the videos. They were not just learning enrichments but also served as answers to a
lot of their queries regarding helping and counseling children in the school sphere.

A majority of the teachers value INFORIA and it' content and want to be connected with it. They
found it extremely valuable to their class and their own well-being.

Some example of responses to previous issue of INFORIA:

Puneet Rathour from Sarhaul School, Gurgaon after viewing the film Summer Hill
expressed her thoughts in the following words, The best thing is that they have equal
voting rights in all matters of school governance.
Another movie Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail was enjoyed by Pushpa from GMS Baskushla
Meenakshi from GSS Baliana and they were provoked to think. Deepika from GMS
Khoh voiced her thoughts in the following words, I found the video really interesting
I think board exam should not be abolished. They should be conducted. Instead of
 abolishing, we should decrease the pressure of board exams and that can be done only, if
we start making the base strong in class.
The article 10th Boards: Essential or Unnecessary Burden? elicited a number of
responses from the teachers.
Neha Magon from GMS Dhana responded to the article by asking a pertinent question,
Before arriving at any conclusion we have to have some knowhow of the end result we
all are seeking. Is it merely the passing of examination or are we enabling the student to
be a better human being and to face the life challenges head on?
In addition Preeti, Priya from GGMS Kasen, Nancy, Deepika, Savita from GSSS
Baliana, Atul Kumar from Gurugram, Shalu, Kavita from GHS Mulahera, Pooja
from GSSS Dundahera and Himanshi from GPS Sarhaul responded to the article by
saying that exams though essential should be conducted in a manner which does not
cause stress and anxiety.
Deepti from GPS Carterpuri summed up her views in the following words, Pressure,
Tension, Question framing and policy decisions are the main causes of this burden.
A number of teachers also expressed interest in the article Regulation in Education
Sector,. Nikhil Yadav from GSSS Dundahera wrote, Education is only to get good
scores. Not any extra knowledge. Even teachers and parents put pressure on students to
get maximum marks. Students are judged on the basis of their scores, not knowledge.
Neha from GSSS Kasan, Priyanka from GHS Mulahera showed interest in the article
on Effectiveness of guided imagery in reducing examination anxiety among secondary
school students in South India, but Priyanka felt that though the article was good it was
a little too long.
Anjali, Emmon and Radhika from The Shafiq Memorial School enjoyed reading
Danger School. In the words of Emmon, Its an amazing book as it uses sarcasm to
talk about our existing schools and our education system as a whole. It also criticizes our
now highly commercialized and mechanized schooling system through meaningful and
powerful images/cartoons.

The teachers of Schools under the Maruti project in Gurugram, Manesar , Rohtak and the
Shafiq memorial School felt that Inforia was really helping them and the articles were of
great interest . To quote a few:

Inforia helped us a lot to improve the teaching methodology and to handle the students
situations. Every student has his own ability to understand, we have to raise his ability. Rakhi
and Pooja from GMS Dhana.

On going through the INFORIA published by IL&FS I found it very interesting encouraging
and beneficial, in general, and as a teacher in class, in particular. Radhika, Shafiq Memorial
School.