Portal:Teacher Education/Selected Article

Stories they tell about languages
Prof Ramakant Agnihotri This is article on languages and impact on teaching-learning in today's Hindu. The article discusses the "purity" of language and dangers in making assumptions about parent language, preserving and teaching a "standard" pure language. Of particular interest is the discussion on the role of Sanskrit. The article also makes recommendations about how to structure learning processes that can build linguistic sense in children, during the initial years of schooling (many others have written about the absorbent mind for language in the early years of a child's life).The article can be accessed here.

Prof Ramakant Agnihotri also headed the NCF curriculum committee on teaching of Indian languages.

The Parrot's Training
Rabindranath Tagore This short story written by the great poet talks about how a kind tried to school a parrot. Stuffed with teachings and in a cage, the parrot dies. The parallels can be drawn to an education system where education has become equated with facts and children are made to learn and memorize facts that are out of context here. To read the entire article click.