Dr. Vasanthi Thiagarajan
Founder Principal & Correspondent,
Sishya School, Hosur
With over 4 decades of teaching-learning and administrative experience, Dr. Vasanthi Thiagarajan is the Founder Principal and Correspondent of Sishya School, Hosur.
With a Doctorate in Education, Dr. Vasanthi is passionate about teaching as well as training. She has worked with Dr. Howard Gardner on Multiple Intelligences in Harvard University in 2008. She is also an Accredited Trainer in Differentiated Instruction for Harvard University’s Online Program and has trained over 70 Principals on DI across the globe.
Recently, Dr. Vasanthi completed the course on Teaching Students to Ask Their Own Questions through the Harvard Graduate School of Education Online Programs. She is a CBSE Master Trainer on many topics including – ASL, classroom management, life skills, gender sensitivity, application of Bloom’s Taxonomy, storytelling as a pedagogical tool and lot more.
Dr. Vasanthi is a member of the panel appointed by CBSE for the design of the Holistic Progress Card as envisaged by the NEP and a core member of the CBSE team that has designed the Schools Quality Assessment and Assurance (SQAA) manual and a Master Trainer in the same. She is also an active member of Manodarpan, an initiative by the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
Dr. Vasanthi is the recipient of many awards, the notable one being the National Award to Teachers in 2012, by the Government of India. She was also honoured by the Ministry of Education, Government of Singapore in January 2014 as Outstanding Educator in Residence.
At the International level, Dr. Vasanthi has received the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in 2011 for a 4-month action-based research program in the University of Maryland, College Park, USA.
1.     What role does teacher training play, in prepping teachers to be better facilitators?
It is a well-established fact that training, especially continuous professional development (CPD), is absolutely essential for a teacher. Here, the experience in teaching or lack of experience is not the issue, it is the question of being updated with latest trends in the field of education…specifically pedagogical practices. Teachers cannot afford to look insignificant in the class where the learners are way ahead in learning trends and latest technology usage.
2.     In today’s world, it is increasingly becoming difficult to identify competent teachers. What are the benchmarks to recognise good teachers?
My four decades in this field has taught me a valuable lesson, or rather insight, that recognising good teachers at first sight is quite a challenge. When I interview and try to identify competent teachers, some things I look out for are:
The passion in the teacher with regards to his/her subject. This is revealed when the teacher speaks about his/her favourite topic.
The vision that the teacher has for the students /learners.
The humility to accept that there are many more areas to learn and master that are way beyond the degrees accumulated.
Looking beyond examinations and focusing on the students becoming lifelong learners and contributors to society.
3.     What is the objective of ‘uniform teacher training’ given to teachers from diverse institutions and faculties? Does it serve the purpose?
Uniformity is required to ensure there is a process or set of procedures to be followed in the Teaching Learning transactions. Teachers must then be oriented how to work within and even beyond that framework using their creativity when they deliver their content.
Every individual is unique, so teachers must be given space to explore and expand so that they feel comfortable when they transact the curriculum with learners.
4.     In the world where knowledge and skills are fast-changing, how far and how much do top-down training programs help? Does teacher training act as a trigger for self-learning?
I would say both approaches matter. The leader must demonstrate the traits of being a continuous learner by upgrading one’s own skills first. Then transacting those skills with teachers in the school would look more credible. Teachers would always look up to such inspirational models who are leading the transformation in their schools.
The most important outcome of ‘top down’ demonstration of being a continuous learner is that it triggers in the teachers the desire to explore avenues of learning on their own, which in turn leads to sharing with their colleagues. A fascinating network of learning can then be seen in such institutions where everyone, including students, are continuous learners!
5.     There is a general feeling that most teachers attend teacher training programs because of top-down compulsion and not out of self-motivation. How does a trainer handle this situation?Â
To me, as a trainer who has handled over 5000 plus teachers so far, what matters is not the background with which the learner has come to my training. Whether they were compelled or came out of a desire of self-pursuit, I plan my sessions with a lot of personal takeaways that go beyond the topic. ‘Those who came to scoff, remained to pray’.
6.     Your message to teachers…
We are very fortunate that in this ‘janma’ we have been ‘asked’ to don the mantle of a mentor! We must take advantage of this unique role given and ensure that we deliver nothing but our best. Our transactions and interactions with the next gen will certainly go a very long way in embedding positive and noble thoughts in our students who ultimately need to take this great nation forward! We are the chosen few. Let us take pride in belonging to that unique ‘niche’ which is the exclusive domain of the chosen few.