Hi,
What is the underlying assumption when digital learning infrastructure is set up inside the government school classroom? That teacher will walk in and immediately start using it as if they were naturally aligned to do it.
But this never happens. Why?
“The issue is that the teachers are today viewed just as resources. There is almost no recognition of the wisdom they carry from years of teaching, managing classrooms, and understanding children. Today, teachers are not consulted for the solutions that are created for them. They are simply told – this is what you need to do, and this is how you should do it.” These words are from Mainak Roy, co-founder of Simple Education Foundation.
We discussed this aspect and much more about teacher empowerment in our latest Podcast episode under our series, “Digital Learning is not Hardware Procurement”.
Please watch the episode here:
I have known Mainak for several years now and truly admire the depth of his work with government school teachers and the education ecosystem. His work on training the teachers, empowering them and inspiring them to bring about learning improvements with the students is worth studying.
For me, the success of a smart classroom lies in understanding the psychology of the teachers and then making them an equal stakeholder in the set up, training, support and usage. A smart classroom set up needs to make the teacher empowered, feel more enabled and enriched. The teachers need to understand it like a tool which significantly enhances their ability and power to improve engagement, outcomes and future of their students.
Our collaboration with Simple Education Foundation where we have set up Smart Classrooms in some of the government schools where Mainak and his team work has brought in exceptional usage and outcomes. This is because the team at SEF has made these Smart Classrooms a natural extension of the teachers.
Mainak’s perspective resonated deeply with me because we’ve witnessed the same reality across thousands of classrooms. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this conversation and, more importantly, on the larger question of teacher empowerment.