Help 28,000 Indian Children Get Quality Education

Institute (summer training) was a rollercoaster journey through which I have learned so many things, most importantly, I have learned about new and innovative methods of teaching, different ways of building classroom culture, and how to teach different subjects in fun and creative ways. Also, I have discovered that a teacher's role is to make the students learn about the subject and to be there for them more than a teacher, to build a relationship with them where they can trust you and share everything, which will eventually help them to grow into better individuals. 

I have also learned how important it is to make students aware of themselves, others, and the country and, with time, grow on each scale in terms of being aware and taking steps to make a difference. Education is about making students grow as leaders where they can lead others with themselves. This helped me set my classroom values and mindsets: to be a better individual by helping others, trusting each other, and showing courage. 

My vision for my classroom is "Support every student to be an Independent learner".

Some of the initiatives taken by me to build classroom culture are Learning circles where students learn about others and can inculcate some good values and appreciate every student who shows courage and answers in class. I have also done a Be the change project with them where they not only identified any problem in their School that all students face but also found a solution for the same and implemented that, which will help them lead others. 

Some challenges I face are behavior management, parental investment, Education loss due to COVID, etc. I plan to overcome these challenges by first building a classroom culture that can help me to manage their behavior and by doing community visits which will allow me to know the student's context, like where they're coming from and how much their parents are invested. Also, I have thought of some activities that will help them realize their role in their child's education. 

My Program manager, and learning circle support me to grow. I believe am part of the community of practice where I get support for my classroom. There is a space called 'office hours' where I get help to strengthen my lesson planning. My program manager observes my classroom, after which she gives a debrief where she tells me what's going well in my classroom and what could be better.

Educational inequity is far more complex than I assumed it was; it is the unequal distribution of academic resources, including but not limited to; school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, books, and technologies to socially excluded communities. These communities tend to be historically disadvantaged and oppressed. Individuals belonging to these marginalized groups are often denied access to schools with adequate resources. Inequality leads to significant differences in these individuals' educational success or efficiency and ultimately suppresses social and economic mobility. Some prenotions I had were about the low parental investment in a say that parents do not want their child to get educated. Still, through my experience, I learned that the reality is the opposite. Since the parents are uneducated, they know the value of education. Hence, they want their child to get educated and help them improve their living conditions. Also, the infrastructure would be a problem in government schools. Still, to my surprise, government school infrastructure was far better than any other low-income private school.

My overall experience is outstanding. I am learning so many new things, and I am growing as a person and as a teacher. Also, I feel happy and content that I can help our society. I derive my motivation from these children and my passion for teaching. To be able to get up every morning and pay back to the community is something that keeps me motivated.  

Anchal Jain

Cohort of 2022

Viramni public school

Teach For India Delhi