Chennai Professional Development Program

On Tuesday, January 22nd we began the first Professional Development Program with state level leaders in Chennai.  Our hosts were the Tamil Nadu Elementary Teachers' Federation.  We had the opportunity to meet their leadership and work in their new building.

We worked with 20 participants from 7 states.  Many of the participants travelled between 10-20 hours by train or bus to attend the program.  The participants were excellent – it quickly became apparent that  they were there to learn and it took us very little time to build a connection with them and engage in many professional conversations.

This is the first time either Laurel or I have had the opportunity to facilitate in our bare feet!  No one wore shoes in the board room and it didn't take long for Laurel and I to follow suit!!  We enjoyed the cool marble floors on our very warm feet!  When in Chennai . . .

On day one we discussed the role of teachers as leaders of change.  The participants gave many examples of the work they are doing to bring about change in their professional organization, their communities and in the lives of their students.  In the afternoon, Dr. Singh presented a session on constructivism and we worked together to help bring the concept to life for the participants.  Constructivism is a foundational element in their curriculum and the participants, just like teachers in Saskatchewan, are working to understand and implement this philosophy of learning into their practice.

On day two, we spent the entire day discussing differentiated instruction.  Like all teachers, our participants work with a broad range of students and expressed a strong desire to consider ways to improve the learning of all students.  This was a heavy day with discussions covering learning styles, multiple intelligences (faciliated by Dr. Singh), and opportunities for practical applications of the concepts.  The teachers worked very hard and made significant strides in their understanding and creative applications of differentiated instructional strategies.

Somewhere between the night of day two and the start of day three, Laurel managed to kill the laptop.  It was alive when it went into her room and very dead when it came out.  Lord only knows the suffering it must have endured!!

So, day three started with many, many discussions of how to solve our problem.  While Laurel was trying to float the facilitation boat, Ian was on a trip to the market to either repair our laptop or purchase a new one.  Of course, in my absence, Laurel was coaching the group to believe I had either gone shopping or to the beach.  Many people were looking for sand on my toes when I returned.  Also during my absence, a crew of men showed up with a rented laptop and data projector.  At one point, there were 5 men trying to connect the equipment, which wasn't working.  The ladies had a good chuckle . . .

How many men does it take to . . . ?

Computer shopping India style.  In Canada, we need approximately two acres of space to sell computers.  You get no help, you self serve, you pay, you leave – 15 minutes.  In Chennai, we auto-rickshawed to a tiny street crammed with electronics stores.  We entered a large building with a dark hallway, also crammed with electronics stores, and entered a shop about the size of a bedroom.  It was overflowing with gear, people and staff.  We first tried to resurrect the computer – no luck – but we did discover the data was safe – Kerri will be happy!!  After that it was time to pick a new computer.  After I settled on a model and a price, some staff person disappeared to go find it.  I have no idea where they went.  About 15 minutes later (we'd already been there 20 minutes) the laptop appeared.  Then it was payment time – copying of my driver's licence, going behind the counter to enter my pin, multiple copies of paperwork, papers to stamp and the initial setup of the computer.  So, all told about an hour and a half.

It was then back to the the hall to load some software and rejoin Laurel.  I left at 11:00 and rejoined her at 2:30 – yikes!!

We finished the day and then dragged our tails back to the hotel.

Our final day was spent discussing action research and their leadership roles when they return to their states.

The minister for elementary education came to bring greetings to the participants and to express his support for the work of AIPTF and the Professional Development Program.

Eswaran, the Minister, Dr. Singh

We had many engaging professional discussions with the teachers ranging from assessment and accountability to the status of the teaching profession in India and Canada.  It is interesting to see that they are facing the same issues and having the same professional discussions as teachers in Saskatchewan.  The participants were wonderful, generous people and fine teachers!!  Following closing ceremonies we headed back to our hotel and enjoyed a fine dinner of local fish to celebrate the end of our time in Chennai.

Today, we returned to Delhi to prepared for our second week of PDP training.