In this episode Prof Kapil Muni Tiwary shares the story of how he got the opportunity to study in the University of Pennsylvania, one of the top universities of the US, in the mid sixties for his PhD in Linguistics. It throws some light on the political changes that were taking place in Bihar inContinue reading “Conversations with Prof Kapil Muni Tiwary 7”
Category Archives: Education
Wikipedia: what, why & how?
Source: Wikimedia Commons Wikipedia & me “Why don’t you try your hand at Wikipedia”, my teacher asked me in 2009. Wikipedia was 8 years old then. It had already raced ahead of its print counterparts like Encyclopedia Britannica or Americana in terms of volume and popularity. I was only a user of this knowledge platform,Continue reading “Wikipedia: what, why & how?”
Humour in the classroom
You might all wonder who is this guy and what is he up to? Is he here to teach and preach on Humour in the Classroom or is he going to create some humour in this classroom too? Let me assure you that I shall keep my own teaching or even preaching to the minimum.Continue reading “Humour in the classroom”
Divasvapna: episode 1
Gijubhai’s Divasvapna is the story of a teacher who succeeds in making innovative experiments in the classroom. In the true spirit of the book’s title the teacher daydreams of igniting a fire for learning in the students. And he works hard to turn the dream into reality. His one year journey in the classroom wasContinue reading “Divasvapna: episode 1”
Pottery on the fringe
Most students living in the school hostels would go home during the Diwali holidays. But it was customary for the small group that stayed back to visit the house of Nazeeb Khan, a potter in village Gilpatti near Bathinda, Punjab. The purpose was not just to buy earthen diyas, but also to behold the processContinue reading “Pottery on the fringe”
Teaching Justice
Justice is no less challenging to teach in the classroom. An interesting way to begin is to have a role play of the dialogue that Socrates had had with a group of young people on Justice. They ask him, Why should we be just when people who tell lies, twist rules, avoid paying taxes areContinue reading “Teaching Justice”
Teaching Equality
Equality and Freedom are like two estranged sisters. A parent like Democracy finds it difficult to maintain a balance between the two. Very often one grows at the cost of another.
Teaching Freedom
Teaching an abstract idea is always daunting in a classroom. I have experienced this year after year. Two years back something similar happened when I took the assignment to teach Political theory to the students of Grade XI. The topic was Freedom.
Security Council at 75
Security Council is the most powerful UN body with 5 permanent members and 10 non-permanent members who are elected from different regions after every two years. And we all know that it is the permanent members who call the shots with the power of veto. Various attempts have been made to reform the Security CouncilContinue reading “Security Council at 75”
The need of logical thinking in schools
There was a time when there were no books. #Knowledge and #skills were transferred orally from generation to generation. You didn’t need to verify and examine knowledge so much. You just had to accept what your elders had told you. The jobs and professions were limited. Then came the print industry and along with them, #books. Information, knowledge could beContinue reading “The need of logical thinking in schools”