23 Dec 2013|Noida | Amity University Campus, Sector-125 Noida
“Education in Schools should be connected with the reality outside the schools”, stresses Ms. Eija Kimonen, University of Eastern Finland while delivering a lecture at Amity Institute of Education, AUUP
Amity Institute of Education, Amity University organized a Guest Lecture on “Transforming Teachers' -Work for Global Schools” by Ms. Eija Kimonen, University of Eastern Finland and Mr. Raimo Nevalainen, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland at Amity University Campus, Sector- 125, Noida.
Dr. Alka Muddgal -Officiating Head, Amity Institute of Education, Amity University welcomed the distinguished speakers and introduced them and their research work that they have been carrying on in the area of teachers’ education.
Ms. Eija Kimonen, University of Eastern Finland and Mr. Raimo Nevalainen, University of Jyvaskyla have authored a book titled “Transforming Teachers’ Work Globally- In Search of a Better Way for Schools and Their Communities” for which the authors have done extensive research of the pedagogy followed in America, China, Russia and India.
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Eija Kimonen, University of Eastern Finland said that teachers should be trained for society; they have a potential to change the society and make it a better place to live. She opined that teaching should be connected with outdoor oriented education which aims to construct a bridge between education and real life. She shared that the focus in outdoor oriented teaching is on articulation, internalization and changing the essence of reality. She advised the budding teachers to think globally and act locally and teach their pupils the same. She shared that across the globe there is a strong support for Cognitive Constructivist Theories of Learning over teacher centric instructional methods. Cognitive Constructivist Theories of Learning propose that Learning is an active process and students must be given opportunities to construct knowledge through their own experiences, thereby, expanding their conceptual and experiential knowledge.
Referring to the book “Transforming Teachers’ Work Globally- In Search of a Better Way for Schools and Their Communities”, Ms. Eija said that teachers’ work in a changing school culture and are pivotal in initiating new practices in ordinary school life. Teachers are crucial for successful change in the school and for the advancement of the school’s socio-cultural processes.
She highlighted that the book is divided into three parts. The first part focuses on contexts for transformation in teachers’ work in United States and Europe, as well as in China, India, and Japan, the second on case studies documenting the changing nature of teachers’ work, and the third on comparison of the trends and issues previously presented in other parts.
Also, present during the occasion was Prof. Shakuntala Nagpal- Retired Professor, NCERT who has contributed to the Indian context in the book.
The lecture was followed by an interactive Question and Answer session wherein the budding teachers of Amity Institute of Education posed a volley of questions to the Guest Speakers.