Kuwait Chapter organised a workshop in Social Science on 14th October 2017 under the aegis The Council of CBSE affiliated schools in the Gulf. The resource person was Mrs Asha Sharma (Principal, ILOA).
Mr T. Prem Kumar, Principal of IES and Convenor of Kuwait Chapter inaugurated the work shop as the chief guest for the day.
The workshop commenced with a prayer in English followed by the traditional lamp lighting ceremony. Mr. T. Prem Kumar expressed his happiness on initiating the usage of in house resources. It was like a dream come true for him as he could tap the resource persons from Chapter itself. He confirmed his faith in the abilities of Mrs. Asha Sharma who has spent a life time in the field of education.
This one-day workshop brought together teachers from 16 CBSE schools teaching Social Science. Mrs Asha Sharma then took over and provided valuable information to make Social Science a more interesting and engrossing subject for students as well as for teachers.
She talked about the four types of learners i.e., auditory, visual, spatial and kinaesthetic. She explained various ways to introduce a lesson more effectively. She also provided various tricks and tips to enable students to understand the facts and memorise them easily.
The main highlights of the workshop were:
Ø Due to the heterogeneous composition of our classes, we need to lay importance to the introductory part of our lessons, which could be done through a variety of means, e.g., a picture, video, Map, a story, flip classroom sessions etc.
Ø New ways to help students in memorising were discussed like mind mapping.
Ø Films and documentaries on various periods of Indian history can be useful aids
Ø History should not be taught as a dead record of the past and should be used as a tool to learn from past achievements and failures
Ø Historical facts should also be updated when necessary.
Ø The student should be given freedom of thought in analysing history from different approaches.
Ø The three levels of instruction were highlighted as a pyramid, with memory on the top, understanding in the middle and reflective level at the base.
Ø SWOT analysis…..teachers need to develop the communication skills of students as well as collaboration amongst them.
Ø The students should be sensitised towards history to create and sustain their interest.
Designing short writing assignment to deepen students’ understanding of course concepts and materials and to help them practice writing skills (such as summary, analysis, and comparison)
Ø The design of the Question Papers was discussed in detail and teachers were advised to make thought provoking, reflective and application oriented questions along with direct questions.
The workshop gathered inputs and suggestions from the participants on topics such as curriculum, teaching methodology, and development of the 21st century skills, value-oriented education and activities associated with, making the subject matter more interesting.