PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH CONDUCT DISORDERS: A MULTIMODE REMEDIATION PROGRAMME WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO STROKES

Article by Anilakumari M.C., Research Scholar; Supported by Dr. Celine Pereira, Reader, SPS

If you touch me soft and gentle

If you look at me and smile at me

If you listen to me talk sometime, before you

I will grow, really grow.

Children will not grow normally without the touch of others. This is normally met in the everyday intimate transactions of dressing, bathing, powdering, etc that nurturing parents give their babies. Children, who are neglected, ignored, or for any reason do not experience enough touch, suffer mental and physical deterioration even to the point of death. As the child grow older the early primary hunger for actual physical touch is modified and becomes recognition hunger. Some children need a great deal of recognition to feel secure. This hunger can be felt anywhere at home, in the classroom or on the job.
School and peer factors become important in the early to middle school years in the development of Conduct Disorders. 40% of peer rejected children are aggressive and at high risk to develop antisocial behaviour in adolescence.
Conduct Disorders are characterized by a repetitive and persistent pattern of dissocial, aggressive or defiant conduct. Such behaviours include major violations of age-appropriate social expectations.

The two types of CD linked to age are
· Childhood onset conduct disorder-
· Adolescent Onset Conduct Disorder
Symptoms
· Physical attacks of others (peers and adults)
· Verbally abuse
· Destroys property
· Sets fires
· Cruel to animals
· Revengeful
· Breaks established rules
· Does not follow commands
· Argues
· Does the opposite of what is requested.

They exhibit behavioural deficits in moral, social and academic aspects also. Appears to have no conscience, lacks concern for the feelings of others.
In social behaviours :-
Has few friends
Lacks affection or bonding with others
Acts aggressively and impulsively
Does not act cooperatively
Poor communication
Does not know how to accept other peers and adults socially.
Children who have shown at least three of the above behaviours over 6 months should be evaluated for possible conduct disorder.
Conduct Disorder is common during childhood and adolescence. It is more prevalent in urban than rural settings. 6-15% of boys and 2-9% of girls under the age of 18 years have the disorder. It is common among boys than among girls.
Causes
Factors account for children’s anti-social behaviour and conduct disorder can be categorized into intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic factors are genetic
Extrinsic factors are
a. Parental factors
- Parents faulty child rearing practices
- Parental psychopathology
- Child abuse
- Alcoholism

b. Socio-cultural factors
- Socio economic deprivation
- Violence in the environment
- Media influence
c. Psychological factors
Children brought up in Chaotic negligent conditions generally become angry, disruptive, demanding and less tolerance for frustration.
Essential component of effective programmes for students with CD includes Strokes and Multimode Remedial Programme (MRP) in both school and non-school environment.
Multimode Remedial Programmes that use family and community resources to control CD. The four dimensions of MRP are
- Parent Management Training (PMT)
- Social –cognitive and Problem Solving skills Training
- School based interventions
- Community based interventions
Three modes of community based interventions are
Weekly consultations between mental health centre teachers and school administrators.
Weekly classroom meeting with children, teachers and special educators, social workers
Monthly sessions with parents of special attention needy students.
STROKES are “ any act recognizing another persons presence” - Such as a word, a look, a gesture, or any act that says, “I know that you are there” A smile, a nod, a word, a frown, a gesture-gradually and eventually replace some touch strokes. These will stimulate the brain.
The classifications of strokes are
· Verbal or non-verbal
· Positive or negative
· Conditional or unconditional
· Counterfeit strokes

Objectives

1. To check the symptoms of conduct disorder in primary school students.
2. To find out the effectiveness of Multimode Remedial Programme especially strokes on students with conduct disorder
3. To find out the attitude of parents and teachers towards the new approach and need for getting awareness.

Methodology

Survey cum experimental method is used for the study. The sample of study comprised of 23 primary school students with symptoms of conduct disorder. Their age ranged between 5-12 years. In addition to this 21 parents of these children were also selected as sample.
Tools and approaches used to collect the data were checklist, behavioural observations, informal interviews, strokes, and multimode remedial programme.
The checklist was used to find out the symptoms of CD and it consists of 7 segments such as
· Socially inappropriate behaviour
· Destructive
· Disrespectful of adult authority
· Physically aggressive or cruel
· Dishonest
· Drug and alcohol abuse
· Difficult at home

Discussion of Results

After the implementation of the strokes and multimode remedial programme the following improvements were observed.
1. Multimode remediation programmes that were used by family and community resources bring about best results in efforts to control conduct disorder behaviour.
· In PMT by redirecting interactional processes between the parent and the child, the appropriate behaviours improved in children
· Problem solving skill training helped to deal anger provoking situation and their impulsive behaviour
· Community based three modes of interventions to strengthening the ability of community to promote social behaviour were supported by parents, teachers and they strongly recommended it.
2. Parents opined that the awareness training helped them to educate the child and family about the behavioural problem and to identify and manage stressors

Conclusion

The Strokes and Multimode Remedial Programme helped in developing a healthy acceptance of the disorder without loss of self-esteem and to face the peer rejection. It also helped to reduce the stress on children as well as family environment and reduced feeling of helplessness and frustration. Thus

Children aren’t careless
But they are cared less.

Reference:

1. Bootzin, Richard R. et al. (1993). Abnormal Psychology (6th Ed.). New York: Mc Graw Hill, Inc.
2. Schickedanz, Judith A. et al. (1992). Understanding Children. California: Mayfield Publishing Company.
3. Bullock, Lyndal M. (1992). Exceptionalities in Children and Youth. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

LOCUS OF CONTROL AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Article by Suneethi, A.S. , Research Scholar, SPS

Introduction

Locus of Control is considered as an important aspect of personality. The concept was developed originally by Julian Rotter in 1950s. It has been viewed as an individual's perception about the underlying causes of events in his/her life.
Locus of Control refers to an individual's generalized expectations concerning where control over subsequent events resides; in other words, who or what is responsible for what happens. Julian Rotter's original (1966) Locus of Control formulation classified generalized beliefs concerning who or what influences things along a bipolar dimension from internal to external control: "Internal Control" is the term used to describe the belief that control of future outcomes resides primarily in oneself while "External Control" refers to the expectancy that control is outside of oneself, either in the hands of powerful other people or due to fate/chance. Hannah Levenson (1973) offered an alternative model. Whereas Rotter's conceptualization viewed Locus of Control as bidimensional (internal to external), Levenson's model asserts that there are three independent dimensions such as Internality, Chance, and Powerful Others. According to Levenson's model, one can endorse each of these dimensions of Locus of Control independently and at the same time. For example, A person might simultaneously believe that both oneself and powerful others influence outcomes, but that chance does not.

Objectives

1. To find out the level of Locus of Control among student teachers at secondary level
2. To find out whether there is any significant difference in the Locus of Control of student teachers with respect to gender and locale of institutions

Hypothesis

1. There is no significant difference in the Locus of Control of student teachers with respect to gender and locality of institution

Methodology

Normative survey method is used for this study. The sample consists of 200 (100 males and 100 females) B.Ed. Students. The student teachers were selected from different teacher education colleges of rural and urban area under University of Kerala and Mahatma Gandhi University.
Levenson’s Locus of Control Scale by Sanjay Vohra was used to collect data regarding Locus of Control. Other details were collected using Personal data Sheet.

Data Collection

The data were collected using the above described tools from different teacher education colleges. The tools were administered individually and the subjects were instructed to fill their views appropriately in the response sheet.

Analysis and Discussion

The data collected were tabulated and statistically analysed. The entire group was classified into different Locus of Control groups. Critical ratio is used to compare the Locus of Control based on gender and locale of institutions.

Among the 200 student teachers 22% have great, 32% have average and 46% have low Individual Locus of Control. In the case of Chance Control 46.5% shows great, 36.55% shows average and 17% shows low scores. Meanwhile among the total sample 52.5% have great, 35% have average and 12.55 have low Powerful Others Locus of Control.

The three dimensions of Locus of Control such as Individual, Chance and Powerful Others Control of student teachers differ significantly at 0.05 level of significance, with respect to gender.

There is no significant difference in the Individual, Chance and Powerful Others Locus of Control among student teachers with respect to locale of institutions.

Conclusion

The study shows that among the three dimensions of Locus of Control most of the student teachers show great Powerful Others Control, that is most of them are controled by other peoples who have control over them. The sample shows signifcant difference in different Locus of Controls with respect to gender but not with locale of institution.
References
Harre R. & Lamb R. (Ed.). (1983). The encyclopedic dictionary of psychology. Oxford: Blackwell Reference.
Woolfolk A. (2004). Educational psychology (9th ed.). Delhi: Pearson Education.
Biehler, F. R. & Snowman J. (1986). Psychology applied to teaching (6th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Neill, J. (2006, December 06). What is locus of control?. Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs%20.html
North Central Regional educational Laboratory. (n.d.). Locus of control Retrieved August 13, 2008, from http://www.ncerl.org/sdrs/areas/issues/ students/learning/ lr2locus.htm

SCIENCE INTEREST AND SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE : CORRELATION

Article by Jisha Baby, Bhagyalakshmy R, (Research Scholars), Supported by Dr. P.J. Jacob, Professor, SPS.

Introduction

Holistic Education is a philosophy of education based on the premise that each person finds identify, meaning and purpose in life through connections to the community, to the natural world, and to spiritual values such as compassion and peace. Holistic Education aims to call forth from people an intrinsic reverence for life and a passionate love of learning. According to J. Krishnamurthi “The highest function of education is to being about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with life as a whole”.
Spirituality is a science of values, the pivotal point on which depends the progress and survival of mankind. There is no totality of human experience in science as it includes only a part of human experience. Spirituality extends to supra- intellectual and other subtle planes of human consciousness as it denotes the pursuit of knowledge for the infinite and immutable, which is beyond the ephemeral world of duality.
Education is one of the important human activities, which help the developmental process of a country and the progress of a country today is decided to a great extent by the level of scientific knowledge it has acquired. Science has further enabled human beings to gain supremacy over nature. Science is considered as a symbol of culture and enlightment and as a synonym of progress.
Spiritual intelligence is the multiple ways of knowing and for the integration of the inner life of mind and spirit with the outer life of work in the world. There are 16 dimensions of spiritual intelligence namely virtious, vision and insight, commitment, Divinity, compassion, flexibility, Gratitude being holistic, intuition, self awareness, inquisitive, resilient, Mission and servant leader, value, field independent and inner peace and contentment. Both science and spirituality need to work together to understand total reality. Spirituality does not mean strict adherencee to religious principles. Once we begin to understand ourselves and others well through proper application of our intelligence and emotion we are living our lives according to spiritual principles. Thus we can easily say that spiritual Quotient (SQ) acts as a balance of IQ and EQ.
Science is the pursuit of truth and the acquisition of scientific knowledge is accompanied with the development of many scientific skills and capabilities. Science and many of its objectives are related to intelligence, emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence. Hence the investigators felt the need to conduct a correlation study of scientific interest and spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils, as they are the growing citizens of the country.
Hence the investigators conducted a study among higher secondary pupils to find out whether there is any relationship between scientific interest and spiritual intelligence.

Objectives of the Study

1. To compare the scientific interest of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.
2. To compare the level of spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.
3. To find out the relationship between scientific interest and spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.

Hypotheses

1. There will be significant difference in the level of scientific interest of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.
2. There will be significant difference in the level of spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.
3. There will be significant relationship between scientific interest and spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities group.

Methodology in brief

Normative survey method is adopted for the study. For the collection of data, stratified sampling techniques were used. Total sample consists of 120, 65 from science and 55 from humanities group of higher secondary pupils.
The tools used for data collection were The Kerala University science interest inventory by Nair and Jacob Thomas and spiritual intelligence scale by Singh and Kaur.
The tools were administered on the sample under standardized conditions and the data thus collected were analysed using appropriate statistical techniques, such as mean, standard deviation, computation of critical ratio and computation of Pearson’s product moment coefficient of correlation.

Analysis and Discussion

1. Comparison of scientific interest scores of higher secondary pupils
The scientific interest scores of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities groups were compared to find out whether the groups, differ significantly or not. The obtained critical ratio 2.61 is significant at 0.01 level. This shows that there is significant difference between the means of science interest scores of the pupils in science and humanities groups. Since the mean score of science group is greater than that of the humanities group, the former is superior to the latter in science interest.

2. Comparison of spiritual Intelligence Scores of higher secondary pupils

The spiritual intelligence scores of higher secondary pupils with respect to science and humanities groups were compared to find out whether the groups differ significantly or not. The details ratio 10.22 is significant at 0.01level. This shows that there is significant difference between the means of spiritual intelligence scores of the pupils in science and humanities group. Since the mean score of science group is greater than that of the humanities group, science group is superior in spiritual intelligence than the humanities group.

3. Relationship between science interest and spiritual intelligence for the total sample

The relationship between science interest and spiritual intelligence for the total sample was found out using the product moment method and co-efficient of co-relation was obtained. The co-efficient of correlation between science interest and spiritual intelligence for the total sample is 0.68, which is statistically significant at 0.01 level. The confidence interval at 0.01 level is from 0.631 to 0.729. The obtained r-value is positive indicating that both variables are positively correlated. So there exist a positive relationship between science interest and spiritual intelligence of higher secondary pupils.

Conclusion

The higher secondary pupils from the science group have greater scientific interest than those from humanities group. The spiritual intelligence is also in favour of pupils from science group compared to the humanities group. Also there is significant positive relationship between scientific interest and spiritual intelligence of Higher Secondary pupils

Educational implications

This study helps the educationists and curriculum planners to understand the necessary of spiritual intelligence and its application in the present curriculum.
As the perfect integration of spiritual intelligence in the curriculum will promote leadership behaviour, teachers should utilize the potentialities of students profitably by providing various opportunities in schools.
As spiritual intelligence is the ability to access higher meanings and values suggest measures to imbibe its application in the curriculum and also finds its importance in the science curriculum.
Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence with which we address and solve problems of meaning and value. So effective integration of SQ in the science curriculum will help student in developing their thinking skill and problem solving ability.

References

Berk, E.L. (2004). Child Development (6th ed.). Delhi: Pushpa Print Services India.
Sharma, R.C (1996). Modern Science Teaching. Delhi: Dhanpat Rai and Sons.
Singh & Kaur (2008). Development of Spiritual intelligence scale. Psycho- lingua, 38 (2), 143-146.
Vaughan, Frances (2002). What is spiritual Intelligence? Journal of Humanistic psychology, 42(2), 16-33.
Zohar. D & Marshall, I (2001). SQ –The Ultimate Intelligence. New York : Bloomsbury Publications.

21st CENTURY TEACHER: IN SEARCH OF NEW HORIZONS

Article by Pramod D., Research Scholar, SPS

“And what of teaching
Ah! There you have the worst paid and the best rewarded of all the vocations
Dare not enter it unless you love it.
For the vast majority of men and women
It has no promise of wealth and fame
But they to whom it is dear for its own sake are among the nobility of the mankind!
Here is a message for all of us to emulate!”

Teacher is the pivot in any educational system. But this pivot is more or less neglected in research studies. If we thoroughly go through the researches or studies conducted under the faculty of education, we can see that these studies are clustered around the methods and strategies used in the Secondary and higher secondary level. Studies in Elementary education follow these two. A little work is done with regard to Teacher Education or rather about the aspect Teacher.
We know that Teacher Education is an integral part of the Educational process. It is the teachers who are the makers of tomorrow. The Quality of the citizens of tomorrow depends upon the quality of teachers of today. Nowadays the Quantity of teachers has increased but the Quality has not improved. In fact the quality of seems to be deteriorating. The teacher of today is not able to cope with the requirements of the modern fast paced technological materialistic world, where the brain rules over the heart.

The Roles a Teacher is expected to play

From ancient times we know that a Teacher is expected to play the roles of a parent substitute, leader, friend, philosopher, guide, gardener, stage setter etc. With the advent of new methods a teacher is also expected to play the following roles,
Teacher as a Social Servant
Teaching is a profession, which is less attractive in terms of economic inputs but it has a large social value based on unconditional social commitment. Here the role of a teacher is that of a committed social servant.
Teacher as a Human Resource manager
Management aims at deriving maximum benefits from the given inputs. The scarce means and resources have to be carefully deployed and utilized for improving teaching practices. Human resource is the most valuable resource available in any country and it is for the teacher to manage and utilize human resources so that maximum output can be obtained.
The personnel who have to manage the system i.e. the teacher need also be properly educated on the market forces that encroach on the human resources in education namely cost effectiveness, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness etc.
Teachers as entrepreneurs: ‘Edupreneurs’
Another role that a teacher is expected to play is that of resource mobilisers. This role demands a lot of enterprise from the teachers. The only resources available to the teachers may be meagre contingency amounts for meeting the costs of chalk and dusters. Maintenance of infrastructure is often erratic; in any case there are often fewer classrooms than the student strength calls for. Mobilisation of resources from the community may sometimes act as a spur for social participation in school activities, or participation in school activities may lead to resource mobilisation. Involvement of the community in resource mobilisation also influences the quality of the utilisation of resources. Since the teacher mobilizes the resources including financial resources needed for the functioning of the school he can be called an entrepreneur or rather ‘Edupreneurs’
Teachers as Researchers
In recent educational practice, there has been a strong move towards empowering practitioners to undertake research. This move has received its impetus from various forms of action and participatory research, which encourage an active action-reflection role for teachers. Ultimately it is the teachers who have the cutting edge of educational practice, and such research, apart from addressing problems that are relevant and of concern to teachers, also adds a ‘researcher dimension’ to the conception of a good teacher.
Teachers as Change agents
The teachers who have evolved novel practices which have worked for them have, in a sense, countered the constraints posed by their specific socio-economic and classroom situations
Teacher as a Reflective Practitioner
Teaching is an art, which puts into practice what the scientific pedagogic theories have to say. Thus the teacher is a practitioner. Now the emphasis is also given on reflection or reflective practice, which analyses the path traversed by the teacher in achieving his objectives. Schon encourages professionals to think, ponder and reflect about past, present and future actions as a means of designing productive, problem solving strategies. The principles of Meta cognition and Meta analysis are followed in this context.
Teacher as a Technologist
A multitude of technological advancements have taken place in the past few decades. It is for the teacher to bring these developments to classroom practice. In India EDUSAT, the satellite exclusively meant for educational practices has started functioning. Online tutoring and web- based learning have been accepted as creative methods for extracting optimal output in students. So it is inevitable for a teacher to accept the role of a technologist or technological analyzer.
Teacher as a Mentor
Mentoring refers to the one to one supervision cum guidance given to an amateur practitioner by a mature experienced person of the same field. Mentor can be considered as a living working model for the ‘mentored’. Due to the rapid expansion in the field of technology, the world has become faster and narrower: the mind has become still narrower with no space to give vent to negative emotions and thoughts. In such a scenario, the teacher suits the role of a mentor, acts as a counselor, works as an effective instructor and gives valuable suggestions for the students to move forward.
Now let us deal with certain concepts related to Teacher where stress on educational researches will enhance the educational process

Teacher Accountability

This refers to the responsibility of the teacher or the answerability of the teacher to the society at large, which expects a lot from him. Efforts to create a quality teaching force include new approaches to accountability, designed and implemented through teacher leadership and the participation of large numbers of teachers.
Accountability for quality refers to the adhering to standards set by the practitioner himself or by any external agency.
The new approaches to accountability emphasize early intervention, peer review, and recognition of exemplary teachers who serve as mentors or lead teachers

Characteristics of Promising Teacher Accountability Programs
Promising teacher preparation and certification efforts to eliminate incompetent teaching and to assure proper assignment and support of teachers.
Teachers initiate and play major roles in the design and implementation of peer review systems.
Intervention (Supervision) occurs early and quickly to deal with burned out or incompetent teachers and provides mentoring and resources for improvement to occur.
Accountability policies emphasize that responsibility for a quality teaching force must be shared and must include recognition for accomplishments

Teacher Empowerment
Teacher Empowerment refers to the enrichment of the personality of the teacher with methods strategies and techniques both at the pedagogic level and at the psychological level. Teacher enrichment is another synonym for teacher empowerment.
Empowerment of teachers not only facilitates improvement of school education by preparing competent, committed and professionally well qualified teachers who can meet the demand of the system, but also functions as a bridge between schooling and higher education. Empowerment aims to meet twin demands: (a) challenges of the education system including higher education, and (b) the ever-changing demands of the social system. The role of teacher education as a process of nation building is universally recognised. Its objective is man-making and producing enlightened citizens. But teacher education in India, because of its history and also due to various factors beyond its control, has by and large been confined to school education only.
Empowered teachers are expected to assume leadership and share the leadership with others, establish and maintain trusting relationships, maintain honest and open communications with others and maintain high expectations for themselves and others.
Teacher Efficacy as a concept can also be viewed under this point of view.

Teacher Professionalism
A profession is defined as the sincerity and integrity combined with commitment and obligation towards the job pursued. An effective teacher professional should proceed from protection to emancipation; from separation to integration; from exclusion to incorporation; from restriction to expansion and from emotionality to knowledge in order to improve the quality of education.
According to Gall & Vojtek (1994) there are six methods in Professional Teacher Development for Quality assurance. They are
1. Expert presentation 2. Skill training 3. Action Research
4 . Organisation development 5. Change process 6.Clinical Supervision

Haavio, a Finnish educator identified three key characteristics of the good teacher.
Pedagogical discretion- the ability to use the most appropriate teaching for each individual -
Pedagogical love – the caring instinct, i.e. the desire to help, protect and support
Vocational awareness- it seizes the teacher’s personality in such a way that he is ready to do his utmost for it and finds in it internal gratification and the purpose of his life
The aforesaid concepts and roles are all important yet neglected aspects in research studies. It is high time that such concepts be tested in suitable surroundings so that yielding results are achieved.

References
1. Schon, D. (1995). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Aldershot, England: Arena.
2. Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Boston. Heath
3. Mahony, Pat & Hextall, Ian (2000). Reconstructing Teaching. London: Routledge
4. Srivastava, Anand P (1985). Acquiring Excellence at college. New Delhi: Hindustan
5. Day, Christopher (2004). A passion for Teaching. London Routledge
6. http://www.ncte.in.org/curriculumframework/curriculum.htm
7. http://www.teachersnetwork.org/TNPI/research/change/clink.htm

8.http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba285.html

DISTANCE EDUCATION : QUALITY CONCERNS

Article by Lekshmi S., Research Scholar; supported by Dr.Minikutty A., Reader, SPS

Introduction

India is a vast country with more than 100 billion people. Her people and their favourite institutions are separated by great distances, often obstructing the mainstream style of education. The emergence of distance learning as a significant component of education in society has become a source of opportunities for a sizeable segment of our people.
‘Distance education is a form of education in which the students of universities and institutes of higher learning do not attend regular classes or lectures, but instead study teaching material especially prepared for this purpose by professors and their staffs together with experts in distance education and interact indirectly with members of the teaching staff by means of technical media for the guidance and control of learning.
While distance education has been in existence for several years, it still faces some quality challenges. This paper examines some of the relevant factors that affect the quality of distance education. Each one is briefly discussed below.

Faculty

The faculty’s composition & qualifications are essential components for creating high-quality distance learning programmes. Inadequate faculty selection adversely affects distance education programmes. Faculty is the key to a successful distance education programme. Administrators must understand what motivates and inhibits faculty distance education participation in order to maximize efforts (Schifter, 2002).
Gaining faculty commitment is vital to successful implication of a program. It often is helpful to begin with the involvement & development of a small cadre of faculty who are highly respected by their peers. These early-entry faculty then can become resources to assist the development of additional faculty. Issues that have been noted as barriers to faculty participation include insufficient training, lack of applicability towards promotion and tenure, lack of release time, insufficient instructional and administrative support, minimal monetary compensation, and an expanded teaching load (Clark, 1993., Dillon & Walsh, 1992., Koontz, 1989., Olcott, 1993 & Wolcott, 1993)
Faculty members must be efficient enough to perform their roles as – content experts, learning process design expert and process implementation manager.

Learners

Due to the nature of the distance education process, students need to take considerable responsibility in managing their own learning.
Distance learners must
1. Assume greater responsibility of their learning
2. Take more initiative in asking questions and obtaining help
3. Be flexible
4. Be prepared to deal with technical difficulties
To be a successful distance learner, one must stress time managements and discipline. The students must know what is expected of them and direct their efforts in a purposeful manner toward the attainment of learning goals.

Availability and utilization of instructional resources

Appropriate instructional technologies and related support should be available and used by faculty and students. They should receive adequate training in the use of technology. When on-campus resources cannot be duplicated for distance education programme, comparable access should be provided through inter-library loans, electronic delivery systems, agreement with other libraries etc. The emphasis should be on student use of the technology and the resultant availability and quality of leaning resources. The most up-to-date technology may not be the most suitable or cost-effective option. Consideration should be given to equipment compatibility with anticipated receiver sites to minimize cost and ensure successful connection. Inorder to assure quality of open and distance learning materials, the following points have to be considered.
1 Recruitment of high-quality staff for materials creation.
2 Training of staff
3 Incorporation of substantial face-to-face student contact within staff duties.
4 Striving to retain staff so that they become experienced
5 Working in well-established teams.
6 Teams permitted plenty of thinking –time to re-draft and refine materials.
7 Teams working to a student-centred set of design principles, which are frequently reappraised.

Design of learning experiences

The design of learning experience will greatly influence the quality of distance education programme. Institutions must articulate clearly what is to be taught (e.g., content) and how content will be delivered to students (e.g. Pedagogy and technologies). Educators should design learning experience to take advantage of various modalities that best fit with the learning objectives and with student leaning styles. Adapting all learning goals to a fixed technology or delivering traditional lecture presentation over technology-based media are likely to produce disappointing results

Student-faculty and student-student interaction

A quality distance learning program may include a mix of interactions, including one-to-one tutorial meetings/workshops and residential programmes, plus a variety of interactive sessions utilizing a range of technologies (e.g. video /satellite conferences, internet, email, etc.)

Assessment method

The choice of assessment methodologies is a significant factor affecting the quality of distance education. Assessment choices should support intended learning outcomes, but they also should be consistent with desired learning approaches. (e.g. individuals vs. group-based learning and integrated vs. isolated subject approaches.) Assessment policy should set out the need for formative assessment of students (e.g. application level projects and assignments). It should also supply summative assessment through formal examination or testing, to measure the attainment of knowledge and skills at specific points in the program. Decisions on timing of assessment should be made with a view to encouraging student progression and program completion.

Availability of funds

A primary concern for both distance learning institutions and students is availability of funds. When technology is used, costs increase substantially for both the students and institution. Universities must consider the staff training costs and initial costs as well as the continuing costs of installing, maintaining, using and upgrading technology to support distance services.

Organisational commitment

To be successful, distance education requires considerable organizational commitments. The institution should establish policies and infrastructure (including processes for continuous improvement) for distance leaning initiatives to achieve and maintain high-quality. Institutions introducing distance leaning should recognize that this could shift the focus of its efforts from traditional concern for teaching to a broader conception of effective institutional methods.
All these factors affect the quality of distance education.

Conclusion

Although distance education is not new, it has not received respect in the academic community because of the quality problems in distance education. The dramatic growth of the adult learner population is making distance education an increasingly popular choice of learning techniques. Close scrutiny into the above mentioned facts will help overcome problems in enhancing the quality of distance education programmes.

References
Baggaley, J.(2007). Distance education technologies: An Asian perspective. Distance Education, 28(2), 125-132.
Clark, T. (1993). Attitudes of higher education faculty toward distance education: A national survey. The American journal of distance education, 7(2), 19-33.
Dillon, C.L;&Walsh, S.M. (1992). The neglected resource in distance education. The American journal of distance education, 3(6), 5-21.
Glennie, J.(2006). Trends and issues in distance education: international perspectives.Review of Higher Education, 30(1), 73-76.
Keegan, D.(1996). Foundation of Distance Education. New York: Routledge.
Koontz, F.R. (1989). Critical barriers to the adoption of instructional television in higher education. Educational technology,29 (4), 45-49.
Lockwood, F.(1995). Open and distance learning today. New York: Routledge.
Mathew, J.I., Wallus, H.,& Thomas, W.F. (2000). Effectiveness of using learner – centred principles on student retention in distance education courses in rural schools , Distance education, 29 (3), 211-232.
Schifter, C.(2002). Perception differences about participating in distance education. Online journal of distance learning administration, 5(1).
Singh, U.K., & Sudarshan, K.N.(1996). Distance education. New Delhi: DPH.
Wolcott, L.(1993). Faculty planning for distance teaching. The American journal distance education, 7(1), 26-36.

CHILD-DRIVEN LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR EFFECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION: A POWERFUL TOOL FOR CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING

Article by Sheeba Krishnan, Research Scholar

“Human welfare in the future is very much linked
with ICT research or advancement
in Science and Technology”.

Electronic technology has dramatically penetrated into every area of society, and every aspect of our social and cultural lives. Most significant are the changes brought in our children by the technological revolution. Our children have been raised in a world of instant access to knowledge, a world where vivid images supplement information formerly presented solely through text.
Although technology has revolutionised our Indian Culture, it has been slow to have much impact on education. Teacher educators have been rushing to catch up with technology and to adjust the process of teaching, which has remained mostly the same for the past 100 years. This has caused an estrangement of schools from society and from the children in it, specifically because the way people are delivered information and absorb that information has changed greatly with the huge increase in the use of technology in society. How do we educate the “new child”, raised in a world of instant information, where interactive technologies have led them to believe they can act on the world with the press of a button. Students need to learn how to learn independently to deal with this explosion of knowledge. In the future much learning is likely to be through independent learning. A solution to this is to create a guiding philosophy that dictates changes in the curriculum and uses technology as effective pieces of those changes. This new philosophy would be based on constructivist theories of learning.
Constructivism emphasises the careful study of the processes by which children create and develop their ideas. Its educational applications lie in creating curricula that match children’s understanding, fostering further growth and development of the mind. Two specific features of constructivist philosophy include the following. The first is the notions that play and experimentation is valuable forms of learning. Play involves the consideration of novel combinations of ideas, and the hypothetical outcomes of imagined situations and events. It is a form of mental exploration in which children create, reflect on, and work out their understanding. Actual experimentation, the manipulation and testing of ideas provides children with direct, concrete feedback about the accuracy of their ideas as they work them out. Both play and exploration are self structured and self-motivated process of learning. The focus of constructivism, then, is the child as a self-governed creator of knowledge. Based on this, the educational practices are designed to facilitate children’s learning by nurturing their own, active cognitive abilities. To accomplish this end, a supportive environment, one in which they can create their own ideas, both individually and collaboratively must be provided. The term “child-driven learning environment” (CDLE) have been chosen to describe this new model of education.
Two key features of CDLEs are the changed relationship between teacher and student, and the provision of a resource-rich, activity-based curriculum for learning. A CDLE operates according to an egalitarian, cooperative structure where the ideas and interests of the children drive the learning process.

New CDLE classroom

The Visual Language Laboratory (VLL) developed and implemented by Erik F Strommen and Bruce Lincoln is a course in programming using a typical HyperCard environment that is meant to embody the CDLE model. Rather than lead the children through a teacher-directed, step-by-step introduction to Hyper Card procedures, the class is organised around student-oriented projects that utilise the Hyper Card system as an expressive medium. The focus is on single complex projects. First requiring the children to conceive and execute an entire program by the end of the course presents them with a rich, open-ended, self-directed task in which they can explore the various procedures and how they interact, rather than simply learn them in isolation from one another, in a rote fashion. Second, the emphasis on an end-product grounds child in a meaningful task, in which an initial idea is seen to undergo changes as if it is turned into an actual product.The class, is organized as a four-step process namely

• Exploration
• Conceptualisation
• Production
• Post-production

Exploration
During this period, the children are introduced to the system, and allowed to explore various pre-existing HyperCard programmes, so that they become familiar with the capabilities of the programming language.
Conceptualisation
In this the children devise a “story board” or “flow chart” of their own proposed programme.
Production
In this step, the children assemble the materials needed for their project and make a first attempt at developing the actual programme. This step often involves children spending time outside the classroom, either composing the text to be included in the programme or assembling the images and sound content that will be used. This initial programme and all previous versions to date are submitted to the educator for evaluation at this point.
Post-production
During this period, students modify the design and scripting of their projects in response to feedback from the educator and other students, in order to address problems encountered in the design process. Finishing touches such as full sound tracks and special effects are added at the end of this period. The final product, and all previous versions, is submitted to the teacher. The class culminates in a public presentation of the completed projects, to which parents, educators and students are invited.
In Visual Language Laboratory, two new types of assessment are possible. The first is assessment of children’s learning processes as they are occurring. Video taped records of student interactions as they work, reveals their grasp of the course material, as well as their ability to communicate it to others. The types of errors children perform, and how they correct them, are a rich source of information about children’s understanding. A second new form of assessment is the evaluation of a portfolio that shows the evolution of a child’s work as it is created, rather than of a single completed work or a set of isolated exercises. In VLL, children provide the educator with complete records of their progress in creating their programmes. These record are both printed and on disk. These different versions of the children’s projects, collected over time, allow the educator to follow the development of subsequent versions of the programme and evaluate the student’s progress in learning and applying different HyperCard procedures. Such records document the student’s progress in learning, and allow the educator to identify areas where individual students may require tutoring in specific procedures.

Conclusion

Technology has effectively revolutionized our society. An unexpected byproduct of this revolution has been the emergence of a generation of children weaned on multi dimensional, interactive media sources. If we are to give these children the education necessary to succeed in our technologically intense, global future a new form of educational practice, one that builds on children’s native learning abilities and technological competence, must replace our existing methods. The theoretical foundation for such changes exists, and the time to implement them is now. Our schools still remain in the past, while our children have been born in the future. The result is a mismatch between learner and educator. Only by revising educational practice in light of how our culture has changed can we close this gap, and reunite our schools with our children and the rest of our society.

References
1. Garvey, C.(1977).Play. Cambridge : Harvard university press
2. Rysavy, S.D.M., & Sales, G.C. (1991). Cooperative learning in computer-based instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, 39, (71-79)

EDUCATING FOR WOMENS' RIGHTS

Article by Liza Mathew K, Research Scholar, SPS

Education plays a pivotal role in bringing up an individual as a worthy member of the global community.Responsible and democratic social living demand from an individual not only an awareness of his own rights and duties but also a respect for other’s rights. Education, which plays a vital role in moulding the world, has an important role to play in the protection and promotion of these rights. Since the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields, the protection and preservation of their rights is of utmost importance. The broad goals of education specify that education should help students to develop tolerance and respect for the ideas, beliefs and rights of others.

The Rights of Women

The term Women’s Rights typically refers to freedom inherently possessed by women and girls of all ages, which may be institutionalised or ignored and/or illegitimately suppressed by law or custom in a particular society. These rights of women are grouped together and differentiated from broader notions of human rights because they often differ from the freedom inherently possessed by or recognised for men and boys.Millions of women throughout the world today live in conditions of adject deprivation of and attacks against their fundamental human rights for no other reason than that they are women.Violence and discrimination against woman are global epidemics.

History of Womens Rights

Women have been trying for a very long time to gain the same status and rights as men. Though ideals of emancipation can be traced back to the Renaissance period, women’s fight for their rights gained considerable momentum from the eighteenth century onwards. The most decisive and irreversible transformation in the status of women came in the 19th century when girls and women gained access to education at all levels. Political right for women, especially the right to vote was another important milestone. It was New Zealand that first granted women the right to vote, in 1893, followed by Australia in 1902, Finland in 1906 and Norway in 1913.
The Charter of the United Nations, which reaffirms “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women” was the first international instrument to define equal rights for men and women in precise terms. The first major step taken by U.N. to ensure genuine equality between men and women was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. In 1952, the UN General Assembly adopted the recommendations of the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, the main purpose of which was to ensure equality of political rights between women and men in accordance with the provisions of the charter of the U.N. and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Declaration of Elimination of Discrimination against Women in 1967 marked an important stage in the combat against all forms of discrimination against women. The declaration can be regarded as the first attempt to codify the norms governing the elimination of discrimination against women in all areas. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1979, The World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna, Austria, in 1993 and The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 1993 are the other major landmarks.

Role of Education

If women are to be equal partners with men, in every aspect of life and development, now is the time to recognize the human dignity and worth of the girl child and to ensure the full enjoyment of her human rights and fundamental freedom. Empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic and cultural advancement in the world. Educational institutions are one of the most appropriate places to expand the education for Women’s Rights and female dignity. It promotes experience in thinking critically about the issues and their application in particular case of the denial of rights. The global social epidemic of violence and discrimination against women can be curbed only through massive awareness programmes. Therefore teachers and educators have a significant role in generating popular awareness on Women’s Rights.
Inequality between women and men and discrimination against women must not only be redressed through legislative measures but also by raising public awareness, in order to overcome traditional attitudes and prejudices inherited from the past. That is why human rights education plays a leading role in promoting universal respect for the rights of all – women and men. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms (UDHR,Article 26).
The advancement of women and the achievement of equality between women and men are a matter of human rights and a condition for social justice and should not be seen in isolation as a women’s issue. They are the only way to build a sustainable, just and developed society. Empowerment of women and equality between women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic, cultural and environmental security among all peoples. Creation of an educational and social environment, in which women and men, girls and boys, are treated equally and encouraged to achieve their full potential, respecting their freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, and where educational resources promote non-stereotyped images of women and men, would be effective in the elimination of the causes of bias against women and inequalities between women and men.

References

Antony, M.J.(1996).Women’s Rights. New Delhi: Hind Pocket Books Pvt. Ltd.
Indiresan,Jaya.(2002).Education for Women’s Empowerment. New Delhi: Konark Publishers Pvt.Ltd.
Konek, Carol, Wolfe. (1994). Women and Careers: Issues and Challenges. New Delhi : Sage Publications,.
Madhavamenon, N.R. (2001). Human Rights 2001. Bangalore : Vigil India Movement.
Panda,Pranati.(2004).Human rights education in schools:perspective and challenges.Journal of Indian Education,29 (2), 53-65.
Patel,Vibhuti.(2004).Women’s rights at the work place.Vikasini, 19(2), 8-10.
Symonides,Janusz & Vladimir, Volodin .(1999). Human rights of women:A Collection of International and Regional Normative Instruments, Paris :United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
United Nations Organisation. (2000).Retrieved ,February 21,2007,from http://www.udhr.org/ UN/default.htm
United Nations Organisation. (1999).Retrieved, February 21,2007,from http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu /globalcenter /whr.html
United Nations Organisation. (2000). Retrieved ,February 21,2007,from http://www.un.org/ womenwatch /daw/cedaw/history.htm

Blog of the School of Pedagogical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam

This is the official blog of the Researchers - Full time and Part Time- of the School of Pedagogical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.
This blog expects to create a 'sense of inquiry' in the minds of all those who are directly or indirectly associated with the field of 'Education'.
This is just a humble beginning inspired by the vision of Dr. A. Sudharma (Professor), the Director of the School of Pedagogical Sciences, the Faculty Members - Dr. P.J. Jacob (Dean, Faculty of Education and Syndicate Member, M.G University), Dr. T.V. Thulaseedharan, (Reader), Dr. Celine Pereira (Reader), Dr. Jaya Jaise (Reader), Dr. A. Minikutty (Reader), Dr. P. Jayasree (Reader), Dr. Sajna Jaleel (Lecturer); Mr Anil Kumar (Librarian and other non teaching staff.
All the Researchers of the Department have played an active part in putting this idea into action.

We hope to receive inputs to improve this blog.

Regards
Pramod D
Research Student SPS