Mumbai Teachers Recognised For Bringing Learning Beyond the Textbook
Share
For some teachers, learning does not stop when the lesson ends. It can come from a question asked by a student, an activity in the classroom or even something they discover for themselves.
Eight teachers from schools across Mumbai have been recognised as Rangeet’s Teachers of the Month for August for their participation in the Social Emotional & Ecological Knowledge (SEEK)© curriculum and the SEEKer Community.
The recognition is part of an OmniActive Improving Lives Foundation initiative implemented with Rangeet, with support from Nirlon Ltd. and OmniActive Health Technologies.
The educators recognised this month are Kavita Gupta from MPS Ashish Talao CBSE, Chembur; Ankita Singh and Isha Solanki from Pupils Academy; Deepak Mahadev Gavde from Subhedar Ambedkar Vidyalaya; Sunita Vishwakarma from Bharat Mata Hindi School; Deepa Hati from Kurar Village Parekh Nagar No. 3; Anjali Chandrakant Zore from Motilal Nagar BMC Marathi 1; and Shilpa Madhav Gaikwad from Kurar Village BMC Marathi 3.
For many of them, the SEEK activities have turned into a two-way learning experience, where teachers find themselves discovering new things along with their students.
Deepak Mahadev Gavde, from Subhedar Ambedkar Vidyalaya, has already received the Teacher of the Month recognition once before, in March. During a SEEK activity about trees, he came across something he had not known earlier — that trees can communicate with one another.
“While using this app, not only the students but I, as a teacher, also got to learn many new things,” he said.
For Deepa Hati, from Kurar Village Parekh Nagar No. 3, an activity on the social life of trees changed the way she looked at something that is otherwise part of everyday life. It encouraged her to observe the trees around her more closely and ask questions alongside her students.
That sense of curiosity is also reflected in the experiences of the other teachers.
Kavita Gupta describes her students as “little explorers” and uses stories, games and activities to encourage them to learn by doing. At Pupils Academy, Ankita Singh found that SEEK activities often became learning opportunities for teachers as well as children, while Isha Solanki noticed students becoming more comfortable asking questions, thinking critically and looking for solutions.
For Sunita Vishwakarma of Bharat Mata Hindi School, the simplicity of the activities helps make new concepts easier and more enjoyable for students.
Anjali Chandrakant Zore sees each activity as another opportunity to learn, while Shilpa Madhav Gaikwad finds that stories can make difficult concepts easier for children to understand.
The experiences point to a simple idea: teachers do not always have to be the person with all the answers. Sometimes, they can discover alongside their students.
Simran Mulchandani, Co-founder and CEO, Rangeet, said the SEEKer Community was created to give teachers a space to learn from one another and feel supported in their work.
“Teachers play an enormous part in preparing children for their futures. It is a huge responsibility, and one that can sometimes leave a teacher feeling lonely, unsupported or under pressure,” she said.
According to Mulchandani, teachers across Mumbai, Pune, Pali and Uttarakhand are using the community to share classroom experiences, ideas and practices.
The SEEKer Community takes that learning beyond individual classrooms, allowing educators to exchange experiences and encourage one another. It is part of Rangeet’s Teachers First approach, which aims to give teachers space to remain curious, try new approaches and continue learning themselves.
For the eight teachers recognised this month, that idea seems to be playing out in a simple way — by making the classroom a place where both students and teachers can learn something new.
