Assam Year Book, 2013


Book Description




TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES


Book Description

Written in an easy-to-understand style, this text provides a thorough coverage of the essential topics related to the teaching of social studies in secondary and elementary schools. Reflecting on the theoretical knowledge and practical skills required to teach social studies in an effective manner, the text first introduces its readers to the various components, study material, scope and importance of social studies. It then teaches the formulation of instructional objectives in social studies, and brings out the principles of social studies curriculum as well as its relationship with other subjects of the school curriculum. The book focuses mainly on improving the methodological concepts of the social studies teacher, and in doing so, discusses various methods of teaching; evaluation and planning of lessons, units and courses; organization of social studies room and the equipment to be kept in it; utilization of community resources; and implementation of various co-curricular activities. It also examines certain innovative methods of teaching such as team-teaching, micro-teaching and individualized instruction. KEY FEATURES  Incorporates chapter outline at the beginning and chapter summary at the end of each chapter to help readers review the important topics.  Provides chapter-end questions for students to drill the topics discussed.  Discusses various topics with the help of a number of figures and tables that facilitates easy-understanding of the concepts. This book is suitable for a course on Teaching of Social Studies for the students of B.Ed. and M.A. (Education). It can also be used for the in-service teacher education programmes organized by the Central and State education boards.




Student Learning in South Asia: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Priorities


Book Description

For the past decade, most South Asian countries have directed their efforts towards achieving universal access to elementary education. While these investments have led to more children being retained in school, they have not translated into better learning outcomes. This report comprehensively analyzes the performance of South Asian educational systems in terms of student learning. It attempts to answer three questions: How well do education systems in South Asia perform? What determines student learning outcomes? What policy options are effective in improving learning outcomes, especially given increasing demand and competition for public resources? Because learning outcomes and skill acquisition in the region are low in both absolute and relative terms, schooling does not translate, as it should, into better life chances, including escape from poverty for many more. Nor does schooling contribute to higher productivity and economic growth, so that countries in the region find it difficult to accelerate economic and social development. Governments in the region now fully realize that they need to direct their attention toward improving quality so that students can aspire to fuller lives as both individuals and labor market participants. Merely spending time in school is not enough; students need to register a significant gain in both noncognitive and cognitive skills if countries in the region are to reap full returns on their investments and generate gains in employment, job creation, and productivity. To examine what policies hold promise for improving student learning, the report reviews evidence from large-scale national learning assessments and findings from impact evaluations being conducted in the region. It identifies the following strategic priorities for improving learning outcomes in South Asia: (1) Make learning outcomes the central goal of education policy; (2) Invest in early childhood nutrition; (3) Improve teacher effectiveness and accountability; (4) Provide additional support to disadvantaged children in early grades; (5) Use financing effectively; (6) Leverage the contribution of the non-state sector; and (7) Build learning assessment systems. Each of these policy options will need to be integrated within a larger agenda of inclusive economic growth and governance reform to be truly effective.




Getting the Right Teachers Into the Right Schools


Book Description

India's landmark Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (2009) guarantees education to all children aged 6-14 years. The Act mandates specific student-teacher ratios and emphasizes teacher quality. Writing this into legislation took seven years, but the seven years since has proven that ensuring effective teachers are recruited and placed in all schools in a time-bound manner is considerably more challenging. This report takes a detailed look at the complexity of the teacher management landscape in elementary and secondary schools in nine Indian states. On a daily basis, the administrative machinery of these states has to manage between 19,000 to nearly a million teachers in different types of schools and employment contracts, and cope with recruiting thousands more and distributing them equitably across schools. This report examines the following issues: official requirements for becoming a schoolteacher in India; policies and processes for teacher recruitment, deployment and transfers; salaries and benefits of teachers; professional growth of teachers; and grievance redressal mechanisms for teachers. For the first time in India, this report compares and contrasts stated policy with actual practice in teacher management in the country, using a combination of primary and secondary data. In so doing, the report reveals the hidden challenges and the nature of problems faced by administrators in attempting to build an effective teacher workforce which serves the needs of all of India's 200 million school children. The report examines states with varying characteristics, thus generating knowledge and evidence likely to be of interest to policy makers and practitioners in a wide range of contexts.




General English for All Competitive Examinations


Book Description

English is globally recognized language for cross-border business communication. As a dominant business language, fluency and expertise in the language can help you build great opportunities of professional growth. The paper of English language usually contains Questions relating to Grammatical Concepts, Word Power and Compositional English in almost all competitive examinations like Bank PO, Bank Clerical, CDS, NDA, Railways, etc. The book of General English includes over 600 Practice Exercises and 10,000 Words & Sentences Structures for all Competitive exams divided in 32 chapters. Each chapter comprehensively contains short synopsis, detailed description of important rules and enough practice exercises. Almost all types of objective questions and previous years’ questions that appear in Competitive examinations have been compiled together to help the candidates in understanding the rationale behind the answers. Table of ContentSpotting the Errors, Phrase Substitution and Sentence Improvement, Ordering of Sentences , Ordering of Words/Rearranging the Sentence, Cloze Test/Passages, Choosing Appropriate Words, Double Blanks in a Sentence, Related Pair of Words, Synonyms/Antonyms, Idioms and Phrases, Homonyms, Phrasal Verbs, Comprehension, Tense, Forms of Verbs, Modals, Subject-Verb Agreement, Non-Finites, Noun, Pronoun, Articles, Preposition, Conjunction, Adjectives and Determiners, Adverbs, Question Tags, Conditionals, Un-English and Superfluous Expressions Reported Speech (Direct- Indirect Narrations), Active-Passive...




Ready to Learn


Book Description

Countries that have sustained rapid growth over decades have typically had a strong public commitment to expanding education as well as to improving learning outcomes. South Asian countries have made considerable progress in expanding access to primary and secondary schooling, with countries having achieved near-universal enrollment of the primary-school-age cohort (ages 6†“11), except for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Secondary enrollment shows an upward trend as well. Beyond school, many more people have access to skilling opportunities and higher education today. Although governments have consistently pursued policies to expand access, a prominent feature of the region has been the role played by nonstate actors—private nonprofit and forprofit entities—in expanding access at every level of education. Though learning levels remain low, countries in the region have shown a strong commitment to improving learning. All countries in South Asia have taken the first step, which is to assess learning outcomes regularly. Since 2010, there has been a rapid increase in the number of large-scale student learning assessments conducted in the region. But to use the findings of these assessments to improve schooling, countries must build their capacity to design assessments and analyze and use findings to inform policy.




The Culture of Education


Book Description

In a masterly commentary on the possibilities of education, Bruner reveals how education can usher children into their culture, though it often fails to do so. Bruner looks past the issue of achieving individual competence to the question of how education equips individuals to participate in the culture on which life and livelihood depend.




Myanmar’s Education Reforms


Book Description

This book reviews the state of education in Myanmar over the past decade and a half as the country is undergoing profound albeit incomplete transformation. Set within the context of Myanmar’s peace process and the wider reforms since 2012, Marie Lall’s analysis of education policy and practice serves as a case study on how the reform programme has evolved. Drawing on over 15 years of field research carried out across Myanmar, the book offers a cohesive inquiry into government and non-government education sectors, the reform process, and how the transition has played out across schools, universities and wider society. It casts scrutiny on changes in basic education, the alternative monastic education, higher education and teacher education, and engages with issues of ethnic education and the debate on the role of language and the local curriculum as part of the peace process. In so doing, it gives voice to those most affected by the changing landscape of Myanmar’s education and wider reform process: the students and parents of all ethnic backgrounds, teachers, teacher trainees and university staff that are rarely heard.




Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications


Book Description

As with any industry, the education sector goes through frequent changes due to modern technological advancements. It is every educator’s duty to keep up with these shifting requirements and alter their teaching style to best fit the needs of their classroom. Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Education: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications explores the current state of pre-service teacher programs as well as continuing education initiatives for in-service educators. It also emphasizes the growing role of technology in teacher skill development and training as well as key pedagogical developments and methods. Highlighting a range of topics such as teacher preparation programs, teaching standards, and fieldwork and practicum experiences, this multi-volume book is designed for pre-service teachers, teacher educators, researchers, professionals, and academics in the education field.