KATHASHALA

We see the Katha School initiative [started in 1990] as an exciting and innovative programme for children who belong to families living in Bhumiheen, Navjivan and Jawahar Camps in Govindpuri, New Delhi . Students learn through peer learning, projects, self-designed and directed work that includes activism and community work, how to make the process of learning a lifelong companion. They will also learn to use a computer as a friend for life, as a means for peer learning, and for economic and social advancement - seeing the whole field of IT as one which demolishes class structures and rewards true merit - which fosters the participation of a whole community in the building of a classless, merit-based civil society.

KathaShala has always striven to be new thinking in the education of children from nonliterate families; and we hope we'll continue to be innovative and present to the moment. While the effort in Katha over the last twelve years has always been to ensure a quality in our education so that it is good, relevant and fun, We hope the new curriculum we have here is not just for children from "underserved" communities but for all children who would like to grow up with a good sense of the C9s -- of curiosity, creativity and critical thinking; competence, confidence and commitment; compassion, contentment and cooperation -- true knowledge for a responsible, responsive adult and citizen.

Challenge 2010 for Katha Khazana is met by the aspirations and excitements planned in the Hamara Gaon Initiative, as also in our new school curriculum. For our children will be, hopefully, creating, along with our community of men, women and children, a leadership they can be proud of!

Katha Public School is a name we adopted recently so that it brings to the community a feeling of what we are trying to do. This is an important part of KATHASHALA. The other components being

Katha Student Support Centre.

Katha School Of Entrepreneurship

Kites

Iccha

Kala Nivas

Katha Josh!

Shakti Khazana

Hamara Gaon. (Please See Other Papers For Description Of Vision, Objectives And Work Planned.)

Sach  Social Action for Change is a component that rewards teachers for the ir community activism. Set up more than a decade ago, this has encouraged our teachers to think of the others in the large community we serve.

The Katha Curriculum builds these key elements into every session:

Fun

Learning made relevant and as something for everyday life

Personal achievement and growth for every learner

Growth and energized spaces for community activism and revitalization.

These elements will go on tandem with three other elements which reiterate Katha's philosophy of education:

Lifelong learning skills, entrepreneurship and overall development that come from Katha's 9Cs - creativity, critical thinking, cooperative learning, competence - and LIFE skills

Citizenship - the ability to put service above self, to be passionate about work and to have an inner imperative to excel.

Scholastic learning towards a formal school leaving certificate which will be computer-assisted in relevant and sustainable ways.

THE METHODOLOGY -

•  Classes will be conducted in two sessions that will be based on traditional subject learning, leadership training and purna siksha activities.

•  All sessions will be either designed and administered as individual learning; peer leaning; or teacher-assisted learning.

•  All learning will happen in clusters, with students always willing to see and actively build cooperative learning spaces.

•  Project/30-30 sessions will be outcomes-based and goal-oriented. Each such session will have a lesson plan/objective that every child can achieve. The duration of a class session will vary depending on how the students (along with her/his SAM maybe/teacher?) would like to construct this.

•  Kala Nivas is curricular (not co- or extra-curricular). Hence all activities must have, as far as possible, a Kala Nivas planned activity.

•  The curriculum centres on the Me/We ideology of Katha. It integrates the three essential knowledge spaces for every child at Katha - traditional learning, leadership training and the purna siksha activities.

•  Content is developed by the teacher in active collaboration with TAQeED mentors and volunteers and with students. It is easy to learn and designed for classroom-to-community/real life situations, keeping in mind the difference in the knowledge and skill levels of the learners in the group. And learning will be put to practical uses whenever possible, keeping Katha's Relevant Education Curriculum in mind. The curriculum is based on the design by Geeta Dharmarajan, but every teacher has, as is the practice in Katha, the freedom to change, adapt, adopt, crate anew, where she/he feels a lacunae or feels restrained in some way or the other. We hope to have the help of various students and academics in designing the content and the teacher training curriculum and programmes, as also the evaluation systems during the course of the year

•  Pedagogy follows the Katha T/L Toolkit. It fosters creative and innovative practices in the classroom, and is built on our own experience of working in this community over the last twelve years.

•  Preparation time for teachers is religiously safeguarded, on a daily basis. Here, time is being kept for all teachers to research, read, think/introspect and build their own skills, expertise, knowledge bases. The Faculty Club and TAQeED supplement all self-learning/research the teachers do. We hope to build a skills evaluation system as part of the curriculum.

•  Teacher training is given much importance in Katha and every teacher has to undergo at least three sessions each year. Capacity building is part of the daily agenda - through the Faculty Club activities everyday, in between the morning and afternoon sessions. Teachers will be helped to gain IT skills and learn to surf and use IT to help them become and stay excellent teachers who are fun, surprising and essential.

•  Evaluation. Continuous and specific. Is based on the guidelines given at the end of this paper, but teachers are asked to come in with their ideas on how to make this continuous evaluation answer the needs of effective learning.

•  Affordability . Katha does not believe in giving anything free to people, so that the true value of the learning is kept always in mind, and maximum benefit is derived from the learning exercise, thus leading to lifelong learning. However, KITES will be affordable. (Rs 100 per pupil per month. Graded freeships available.)

•  There will be three semesters/year - July-October(taking the many holidays into consideration); November-January; February - April. May is annual vacation time. June is for AATISH and in-service teacher training.

•  Every students will learn computer and life skills needed for entry into ITIs/colleges or the entrepreneurial/business world. 

THE KATHA SKILLS ASSESSMENT:

Projects use all/as many as possible of the skills gained over a trimester, at each cluster. Projects provide learners with an opportunity to apply what they have learned and gives them the pleasure of being assessed on what they bring to the table, not on a percentile basis.

Learners are given points for every different task that they complete during the project. The evaluation schedule is given to them to help them earn points.

Learners cannot pass or fail in a project. They earn points for tasks required of them. The teacher will guide her through the various steps and sees that the student gets a good understanding. The journey is as important as the end, especially in a project.

We hope very few learners will earn low points during these projects because they know exactly what will be required of them and know in advance whether or not they have earned the points.

GRADING

 In Katha, the evaluation criteria will be weighted in the proportions given below:

•  Classroom Performance 20%

•  Project work 20%

•  Final Evaluation 20%

•  Viva Voce 20%

•  Participation 10%

•  Attendance 10%

PEER TRAINING:

we believe peer learning is important. Hopefully, Katha will provide training for student peer leaders (SPLs; also called SAMs) in various topics. This could be planned as a 4-hour training session and will be run one afternoon a month during the first second Saturday of each semester And once more during the second month. We hope teachers/TLs will be able to develop -

The Katha peer session plan: Layout and design.

The Katha peer learning methodology and how to use it in the classroom for maximum effectiveness.

Saturday training provides teachers with additional skills and methodology that will enable them to present the next set of Peer Sessions. Space will provided for clearing doubts and questions. We are hoping people from Sishya will guide these peer learning sessions.

The training programme can also serve as a workshop for problem solving and an opportunity for SAMs to share their experiences and achievements with one another.