Beyond the Call of Duty
Dr. Sunita Bedse's work as a teacher of multi-grade learners has eased up ever since she has started teaching them Math the TPIF way!
Dr. Sunita Bedse, a school teacher for 16 years, has an unusual level of calling towards her work... as well as what you might say is an unusual level of calling to do as a Zilla Parishad teacher. Getting errant children to come to school is one of her many duties! Luckily, she’s had to do much less of this since she took part in the Teacher Pages Innovator Fellowship or TPIF.
Originally from Mumbai, Dr Bedse has two Diplomas, two Bachelor’s degrees, a Master’s and a Doctorate Degree in subjects like teaching, school management and Marathi, almost all earned after she got married.
For the love of teaching
The TPIF programme is privileged to lend a hand to teachers like the quietly courageous Dr. Bedse.
Today she teaches at the government primary school at Waghivali village and has to travel from Kalyan to Murbad and then take another bus further inland. Dr. Bedse has been one of three primary school teachers for over a decade at this village of 200 houses.
“When I first became a Zilla Parishad teacher, I was appointed to a village called Jadai,'' she recalls. ''It was two kilometres beyond the State Transport bus route. I would get off the bus, climb a hill and then descend to the village.'' The road was narrow and unfrequented. Thick trees and shrubs covered the hilly terrain. ''I was often afraid while walking to Jadai from the last bus stop, but I had opted to become a ZP teacher because I wanted to help improve the lives of Adivasi children...”
Two classes in one
Many pairs of curious eyes turn to Sunita Teacher, as they call her, as they pick up the thread of lessons from the previous day. She communicates with the children of grade two and grade four — both batches share her classroom — without once raising her voice. The ambience in the classroom is intimate and alive, more like a family space than the crowded, competitive classrooms of city schools.
“We know each child, his or her family and circumstances,” she says. If a child falls ill in school, the teacher might take him or her to the doctor. If a child has not bathed, the teacher might even give him a bath and dress him in a clean set of clothes. If he has not eaten, his teachers feed him. “When a child finishes secondary school in our care and goes to a private institution (as many do), no one pays much attention to his or her needs. This worries us...”
The Fellowship impact
On a good day, responsibilities at her own home (Dr. Bedse is a mother of two), the long, dusty commute to Waghivali, and her work at the school, keep her very busy. Has the Fellowship training helped to lighten the teaching load?
In her subtle way Dr Bedse says, ''very much.'' ''Before TPIF, I would go exactly according to the syllabus and constantly worry that the children wouldn’t be able to understand if I veered away from it. I would keep explaining and instructing, but at TPIF I was urged to give the children a chance to figure it out for themselves. Give them the tools, my TPIF coach said. They will think, understand and then ready the answer. Now I say to my students, how shall we do this? Think! And the children think it out. A couple of kids understand quicker than the rest. They share their findings, we discuss these, and gradually all the children understand the concept.''
There is an additional, heartwarming benefit: children who were lagging have begun to catch up. Vedant is a slow learner. But through Dr. Bedse’s new approach to Math, he has begun to understand concepts. ''It still takes him time, but he gets it,'' she smiles.
The runaway boy
His cousin, 9-year-old Pavan, would not come to school until the end of the third grade. Dr. Bedse would go looking for him every day — at his house, in the fields, or wait on the road to interrupt joy rides that his father would be give him on his motorcycle — and lure him to the classroom with a toffee and promises to never scold him! But ever since Dr. Bedse began implementing the TPIF lesson plans which involved using games to facilitate Math learning, Pavan comes to class on his own.
