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Madhura Rajvanshi, an English trainer from Phaltan, makes use of artwork, storytelling and music to make studying English enjoyable for her college students. She has obtained the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Educating Program for Worldwide Academics.
Madhura Rajvanshi grew up in Phaltan, a small city in Maharashtra. After finishing her BSc in Botany in Pune, she returned to her hometown to seek out her calling in life. Like many, what she studied didn’t significantly curiosity her. Again dwelling, she joined the varsity she studied in, Kamala Nimbkar Balbhavan, as she liked working with youngsters.
In 2008, a possibility introduced itself which might eternally change the trajectory of the 38-year-old’s life. After the English trainer give up, Dr Maxine Berntsen, founding father of the varsity, requested Madhura if she want to train. The latter agreed, and the remainder, as they are saying, is historical past.
As she loved the work, she additionally geared up herself with a proper diploma in elementary schooling from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. For the previous 15 years, she has been engaged on making English schooling accessible and enjoyable for college kids within the Marathi medium faculty.
Now, Madhura has been chosen for the celebrated Fulbright Scholarship for the yr 2023-24, and obtained the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Educating Program for Worldwide Academics (Fulbright DAI) from america authorities. She is the one trainer from rural India to be chosen for the scholarship this yr.
“I need to construct a programme for lecturers in rural Marathi-medium colleges in Maharashtra on how one can make English lecture rooms attention-grabbing. I additionally want to study on how one can organise studying areas for college kids of their lecture rooms,” she says.
Specializing in self-expression
When Madhura began educating at Kamala Nimbkar Balbhavan, a Marathi medium personal faculty, she realised that the textbooks and supplies accessible weren’t attention-grabbing to college students. She discovered the textbooks to be advanced and began engaged on methods to make it vigorous and attention-grabbing.
One of many largest challenges in relation to English, even for lecturers who aren’t very proficient in it, she says, is concern of the language.
“One of many issues we do at our faculty is to simply accept the kid’s mom tongue. We encourage them to put in writing in no matter language they really feel comfy in as expression is necessary. As soon as they’re comfy with expressing themselves, studying English too, is now not an issue. I work on making youngsters face their fears,” Madhura tells The Higher India.
Utilizing artwork, storytelling and music within the classroom, she makes studying English enjoyable. She sings and raps with the scholars, thereby eradicating concern from the equation, and she or he encourages them to put in writing.
Madhura says that college students get a whole lot of house for self-expression in a stress-free ambiance.
“We be sure that the scholars are having a ball. Training shouldn’t be a burden or activity for youngsters. Now we have college students from all walks of life and we work collectively to impart classes in humanity,” provides the educator.
The college is a part of the Pragat Shikshan Sanstha (instructional establishment), the place Madhura is a trustee. By way of this enterprise, she conducts outreach packages at anganwadis and authorities zilla parishad colleges, specializing in early childhood schooling.
Whereas working with different lecturers from rural Maharashtra, Madhura discovered that English lecturers had been discovering it troublesome to show and weren’t comfy with the textbooks given by the federal government. On the lookout for methods to assist these lecturers, she heard of the Fulbright scholarship.
Yearly, 60 to 70 educators from 17 nations, together with India are chosen for the Fulbright DAI, as per the Fulbright India web site. Madhura will get a possibility to check at an American college from August to December 2024, the place she will co-teach, audit some programs there and observe the educating strategies.
She needs to extend the high quality of educating at colleges like hers in order that they are often on par with English medium colleges.
Programmes just like the Fulbright scholarship, she says, assist widen your horizons and contribute in a significant strategy to your colleges.
Should you want to know extra concerning the scholarship, test right here.
Edited by Padmashree Pande
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