“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” –

Albert Einstein

A Workshop on National Curriculum Framework (NCF) was conducted for teachers from Classes IV to IX on Monday, April 22, 2019. It was facilitated by Prof. Prakash Chandra Agarwal, Principal, Regional Institute of Education, Bhubaneswar.

Prof Agrawal discussed about areas of educational development as per various commissions of the Country. He also briefed on the educational efforts of India post-independence and spoke about the importance of NCF as well as its 5 guiding principles. He guided the participants to create a meaningful environment for students learning and focus on their critical thinking by incorporating questions which are more open-ended.

The facilitator advised the participants to encourage the students to ask more questions and award or appreciate them on the basis of questions asked. He spoke about encouraging students to reflect and critically think before asking a question and outlined the need for the paradigm shift from good answering to good questioning.

He stressed on more of hands-on activities for students and not solely focus on demonstration by teachers. He advised the participants to have flexibility in their method of teaching depending on the situation and shift from the rote method of teaching. Prof Agarwal also discussed about constructive theory to make learning joyful and interesting. The other areas discoursed were aesthetic sense of math, how to make science concept more interesting etc.

The National Curriculum Framework 2005 is one of the four National Curriculum Frameworks published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT in India. It aims at holistic approach in the treatment of learners’ development and learning and build a commitment to democratic values of equality, justice, freedom, concern for others’ wellbeing and feelings, secularism, respect for human dignity and rights through education.