Teachers

It Should’nt Hurt to be a Child

When we talk about child abuse a picture of a severely hurt crying child comes to our mind. But this is not always the case. Sometimes the abuse is well hidden and carried out for years never to be discovered. We need to watch out for this worst kind of social evil which exists among us and try to intervene and help whenever possible. Awareness about child abuse is very important.

Child abuse takes place very often because children are vulnerable. Children are vulnerable due to two reasons.
1) They are small and physically incapable of defending themselves
2) Psychologically they are ingrained that they should be good to elders and obey them and also that elders are always right.

In normal course an adult tries to protect the child. But sometimes due to some psychological or emotional abnormality an adult may resort to abuse the child. Abuse of children can be classified into 3 categories.
1) Verbal abuse
2) Physical abuse
3) Sexual abuse

Verbal abuse: – The child is ridiculed and emotionally hurt by using words which are not to be said. Usually this abuse is carried on in the name of disciplining children. Some times we find a perfect target in a child to vent out our prejudices; frustration, anger etc. It is sometimes carried on with actual bad intentions where a person may actually hate the child for some reason. Verbal abuse can be done by anybody like mother, father, aunt, neighbour, teacher etc.

The emotional impact of verbal abuse is quite strong and at times it leaves emotional trauma to the level of sexual abuse.

Physical abuse : – This is usually carried on by the people who believe in capital punishment (again in the name of discipline). Physical abuse only gets momentary unwilling compliance from children. Constant physical abuse can push the child to become more stubborn and obstinate.

Sexual Abuse : This is very dreaded word because verbal and physical abuse do not cause as much emotional trauma as sexual abuse.
According to survey 40-70%girls are victims of sexual abuse in India.
A large number of molesters are respected elders like uncles cousins etc.

Molesters can be in relationship like.
1) Male abuser to male child
2) Male abuser to female child
3) Female abuser to female child
4) Female abuser to male child

Of all these, the male abuser to female child incidents are highest and it leaves maximum emotional trauma. It leaves long term effect on the individuality of the child. She may grow up fearing men, hating touch, avoiding happiness, etc. sometimes they may feel they are sinners and indulge in self punishment too.
In female abuser to male child the child is always involved in some play and so doesn’t realize he has been abused because there is no pain and no force involved. He doesn’t even know he is doing something wrong at times. But when the realization comes he may enter into the guilt feeling that he was too sex oriented because he enjoyed sex very early in life. That will make him conscious of his feeling of sex. And even normal tendencies may cause guilt that he is different from others.

How to protect a child.

1) Communication:- Talk to the child about where she/he has been. Who they played with. How they played. But make effort not to make the communication interrogative.
2) Teach vocabulary:- teach them how to say what they have to. Increase vocabulary as they grow up.
3) Discuss potential abusers
4) Be aware of movements. Keep track of as to where the child is spending his/her time. Who they were with, what they did etc.
5) Build self esteem:- a child with low self esteem becomes a potential victim.
6) Remove loneliness. The lonely child is also more vulnerable.
7) Tell how to protect. Encourage to shout and scream when someone tried to harm her/him. Assure them that they will be protected and not blamed for doing so.

Possible behavior pattern of abused child.

Showing too much maturity for age
Withdrawal from peer group, becoming a loner
Lack of usual activities
Using very adult like words
Showing undue fear of places, situations, people etc
Self punishment
Guilt feeling

Many a time the abuser will be clever enough to instill the feeling of guilt and fear in the child. He/she may convince the child that they are too equally responsible for what happened. They were willing and happy because they never protested etc.

Please protect the innocent children from the trauma whenever you can.. it our duty to protect the children and their right to be safe and protected…

by Shilpa Garg

Teachers Then	Teachers Now
Ah! There you have the worst paid and the best rewarded of vocations. Do not enter it unless you love it. For the vast majority of men and women it has no promise of wealth and fame, but they to whom it is dear for its own sake are among the nobility of mankind. Henry Von Dyke	It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference. Tom Brokaw
What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches. Karl Menninger	Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition. Jacques Barzun
The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. Author Unknown	We expect teachers to handle teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and the failings of the family. Then we expect them to educate our children. John Sculley
To learn and never be filled, is wisdom; to teach and never be weary, is love. Anonymous	Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important. Bill Gates
More important than the curriculum is the question of the methods of teaching and the spirit in which the teaching is given. Bertrand Russell	The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn. Cicero
The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth. Dan Rather	We think too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning. John Carolus S. J.
A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money. Anonymous	Modern cynics and skeptics… see no harm in paying those to whom they entrust the minds of their children a smaller wage than is paid to those to whom they entrust the care of their plumbing. John F. Kennedy
Every truth has four corners: as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three. Confucius	Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty. Albert Einstein
Life is no brief candle for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. George Bernard Shaw	I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized. Dr. Haim Ginott
The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind. Kahlil Gibran	If kids come to us [educators / teachers] from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important. Barbara Colorose
A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank…but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child. Forest Witchcraft	A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. Horace Mann
We think of the effective teachers we have had over the years with a sense of recognition, but those who have touched our humanity we remember with a deep sense of gratitude. Author Unknown	Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. John Gardner
Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honour than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensure a good life. Aristotle.	We should not teach children the sciences but give them a taste for them. Jean Jacques Rousseau
It’s blood, sweat, sometimes tears. Bob Hayes	Most people are willing to pay more to be amused than to be educated. R.C. Savage
The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. Author Unknown	For many students, their teachers may be the only adult with whom they have a meaningful conversation all day. Vickie Gill
Teaching is not just a job. It is a human service, and it must be thought of as a mission. Dr. Ralph Tyler	It’s good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good, too, to make sure you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy. George Horace Lorimer
An understanding heart is everything in a teacher, and cannot be esteemed highly enough. One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feeling. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child. Carl Jung	I have been maturing as a teacher. New experiences bring new sensitivities and flexibility. Howard Lester
Your Master Teacher knows all you need to learn, the perfect timing for your learning it, and the ideal way of teaching it to you. You don’t create a Master Teacher — that’s already been done. You discover your Master Teacher. Peter Mcwilliams	It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it. Jacob Bronowski

Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems

Assessment of student learning is undergoing profound change at the same time reforms are taking place in learning goals and content standards, curriculum, instruction, the education of teachers, and the relationships among parents, communities, schools, government, and business. These Principles provide a vision of how to transform assessment systems and practices as part of wider school reform, with a particular focus on improving classroom assessment while ensuring large-scale assessment also supports learning. To best serve learning, assessment must be integrated with curriculum and instruction.

High quality assessment must rest on strong educational foundations. These foundations include organizing schools to meet the learning needs of all their students, understanding how students learn, establishing high standards for student learning, and providing equitable and adequate opportunity to learn.

The Principles reflect an “ideal”–what the National Forum on Assessment believes is the best that assessment can be and do. We understand that they will not be implemented immediately or with great ease. We do firmly hold, however, that education systems must move toward meeting these principles if assessment is to play a positive role in improving education for all students.

Principle 1: The Primary Purpose of Assessment is to Improve Student Learning

Assessment systems, including classroom and large-scale assessment, are organized around the primary purpose of improving student learning. Assessment systems provide useful information about whether students have reached important learning goals and about the progress of each student. They employ practices and methods that are consistent with learning goals, curriculum, instruction, and current knowledge of how students learn. Classroom assessment that is integrated with curriculum and instruction is the primary means of assessment. Educators assess student learning through such methods as structured and informal observations and interviews, projects and tasks, tests, performances and exhibitions, audio and videotapes, experiments, portfolios, and journals. Multiple-choice methods and assessments intended to rank order or compare students, if used, are a limited part of the assessment system. The educational consequences of assessment are evaluated to ensure that the effects are beneficial.

Principle 2: Assessment for Other Purposes Supports Student Learning

Assessment systems report on and certify student learning and provide information for school improvement and accountability by using practices that support important learning. Teachers, schools and education systems make important decisions, such as high school graduation, on the basis of information gathered over time, not a single assessment. Information for accountability and improvement comes from regular, continuing work and assessment of students in schools and from large-scale assessments. Accountability assessments use sampling procedures. Rigorous technical standards for assessment are developed and used to ensure high quality assessments and to monitor the actual educational consequences of assessment use.

Principle 3: Assessment Systems Are Fair to All Students

Assessment systems, including instruments, policies, practices and uses, are fair to all students. Assessment systems ensure that all students receive fair treatment in order not to limit students’ present and future opportunities. They allow for multiple methods to assess student progress and for multiple but equivalent ways for students to express knowledge and understanding. Assessments are unbiased and reflect a student’s actual knowledge. They are created or appropriately adapted and accommodations are made to meet the specific needs of particular populations, such as English language learners and students with disabilities. Educators provide students with instruction in the assessment methods that are used. Bias review committees study and approve each large-scale assessment.

Principle 4: Professional Collaboration and Development Support Assessment

Knowledgeable and fair educators are essential for high quality assessment. Assessment systems depend on educators who understand the full range of assessment purposes, use appropriately a variety of suitable methods, work collaboratively, and engage in ongoing professional development to improve their capability as assessors. Schools of education prepare teachers and other educators well for assessing a diverse student population. Educators determine and participate in professional development and work together to improve their craft. Their competence is strengthened by groups of teachers scoring student work at the district or state levels. Schools, districts, and states provide needed resources for professional development.

Principle 5: The Broad Community Participates in Assessment Development

Assessment systems draw on the community’s knowledge and ensure support by including parents, community members, and students, together with educators and professionals with particular expertise, in the development of the system. Discussion of assessment purposes and methods involves a wide range of people interested in education. Parents, students, and members of the public join a variety of experts, teachers, and other educators in shaping the assessment system.

Principle 6: Communication about Assessment is Regular and Clear<

Educators, schools, districts, and states clearly and regularly discuss assessment system practices and student and program progress with students, families, and the community. Educators and institutions communicate, in ordinary language, the purposes, methods, and results of assessment. They focus reporting on what students know and are able to do, what they need to learn to do, and what will be done to facilitate improvement. They report achievement data in terms of agreed-upon learning goals. Translations are provided as needed. Examples of assessments and student work are made available to parents and the community so they know what high quality performance and local students’ work looks like. Assessment results are reported together with contextual information such as education programs, social data, resource availability, and other student outcomes.

Principle 7: Assessment Systems Are Regularly Reviewed and Improved

Assessment systems are regularly reviewed and improved to ensure that the systems are educationally beneficial to all students. Assessment systems must evolve and improve. Even well-designed systems must adapt to changing conditions and increased knowledge. Reviews are the basis for making decisions to alter all or part of the assessment system. Reviewers include stakeholders in the education system and independent expert analysts. A cost-benefit analysis of the system focuses on the effects of assessment on learning. These Principles, including “Foundations,” provide the basis for evaluating the system.