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Happenings at RIESI, Bengaluru

Course: Impact Study on the Achievement of Learners in English in Classes III and VII in Kerala on the Implementation of the Revised Curriculum, Syllabi and Textbooks under KCF 2007

Introduction: 
SSA, Kerala entrusted RIESI to investigate the English language achievement of learners in the classes III and VII. The study was titled as ‘Impact Study on the achievement of learners in English in Classes III and VII in Kerala on the implementation of the revised curriculum, syllabi and textbooks under KCF 2007. The study intends to triangulate teacher proficiency in terms of language and pedagogy, the objectives of the curriculum and learner achievement. It is designed to asses the achievement of learners in English in classes III and VII after the implementation of the revised textbooks.  It is expected to provide data for policy makers about key aspects of the system. The impact study is designed to describe the achievement of learners in English in Class III and 7 in all the BRC’s in Kerala. The study also intends to describe the beliefs and practices of teachers and teacher trainers in the state.
Sample Size:      Samples Collected from all the 14 Districts in Kerala

Objectives:

1. To assess the achievement of learners in English in classes III and VII after the implementation of the revised textbooks.
2. To provide information on the revised curriculum
3. To assess the potentials of teachers and trainers
4. To generate recommendations for policy making to improve educational quality and to create reliable baseline data for the future.
5. To suggest guidelines for effective teacher empowerment programmes
6. To identify key areas relating to OSS, teacher training, monitoring, etc.

Findings of the Study:

1. Achievement of Learners in class III and  VII
1. The study concludes that by and large in all the districts the achievement of learners in classes III and VII is fairly good. However, in a few BRC’s performance of the learners is found to be rather low. Detailed field level observation is necessary to find out the exact reasons behind the low achievement of class III and VII learners in these BRC’s.
2. The fairly high level of learner achievement among class III and class VII learners in about 65 to 70% of student population that came under the study indicates that the revised curriculum and the materials have enough potential to help the learners acquire English in a most natural way. Wherever classroom processes have been followed learners’ achievement is very high. It is also noted that wherever the classroom processes are not followed learners’ achievement is low.
3. The study also concludes that if the micro-processes are followed at the various stages of language transaction such as Interaction, reading, discourse construction, all the language skills will be developed among the learners in an integrated manner. This observation is substantiated by the quantitative data that 65% of learners have gained proficiency in the various language skills.
4. The study observes that children can spontaneously generate language responding to social issues as revealed from the analysis of student response sheets.
5. The analysis of portfolios and group products reveals that primary learners of English can use language creatively by way of constructing discourses such as descriptions, conversations, narratives and poems.
6. The study also finds that learners have developed creative and critical thinking skills as revealed through the analysis of response sheets, portfolios and group products.

1. Beliefs and Practices of Teachers
1. By and large, more than 75% of teachers have positive attitude to the curriculum. However, only 50% of the teachers have internalized the classroom processes and practices.
2. The problem areas for most of the teachers are: micro-processes of reading, editing, administering self assessment tools and maintaining the teaching manual.
3. In most of the cases a mismatch is found between teachers’ beliefs and practices. More than 50% of the teachers do not have proper understanding about classroom interaction, facilitating discourse construction, facilitating discussions, micro-processes of reading and editing and planning the lessons. However, they claim that they practice all these processes quite often.
4. In most of the group products the RIESI raters have found different types of errors implying that teachers do not facilitate editing in groups.

Recommendations:

• A sustained programme for teacher training may be chalked out by SSA/Department of Education to address the specific needs of English teachers of classes 1-4 and 5-8
• Training modules may be prepared to address both the proficiency of teachers and the pedagogy embedded in the English curriculum
• Graded supplementary reading materials may be prepared for the students of classes 1-7.
• Interactive multimedia learning materials may be prepared for the use in the classroom and the language laboratory (wherever such a facility exists).
• The findings of the impact study may be validated through observation of classroom process and interaction with students and teachers.
• The study has found that there is considerable transmission loss in the training process at the grass root level. Training at the BRC level is found to be ineffective as reported by the teachers. In addition to face to face training distance mode and teleconferencing mode of training should be given to the trainers as well as the teachers. Various structures like education department, SSA, SCERT, IT @school and RIESI can converge to undertake teacher training programmes including face to face, distance mode and teleconferencing modes.
• In order to meet the present challenges with regard to teacher training the State needs a pool of trained resource persons at the State, district and BRC levels. This resource pool can be used for teacher training, preparation of modules, monitoring, action research and material production.
• The study also has identified system-lethargy in the functioning of a few districts and BRCs of SSA structure in Kerala. SSA has to initiate action to revamp these structures.
• The study observes IT -enabled classroom transaction is not taking place in the classes. Though there are computers in most of the schools teachers are not using them because they have a sort of technophobia. This is to be addressed through IT-enabled training programmes. It should be used as an integral component of teacher training.

 



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