Introduction
Education needs to focus on all-round development and it is best obtained through experience. Education is effective when it is transacted through work and craft and not only through books and abstraction. For true character-building education, the focus needs to be on values, ethics and ideal citizenship. Education needs to be based on non-violence. All forms of violence and exclusion in schools needs to be rooted out. Focus is also needed on culture, arts, music, dance sports and games which are the basis for the development of creativity, imagination and peaceful living with harmony. Educational planning needs to be undertaken with rural Indian masses in mind. Community is a part of every school and the community’s engagement in terms of owning and managing of schools needs to be focused and promoted. With these ideas to improve the quality of education, some of the global issues and citizenship values need to be integrated in the School and Teacher Education Curriculum viz., climate change, global warming, water crisis, value crisis, swachhta, clean energies, land degradation and erosion of soil fertility, gender equity, inequity and inclusive growth to develop sensitivity and critical consciousness on the issues, among the students.
The primary aim of this book is to promote Gandhiji’s ideas on Experiential Learning, Nai Talim, Work Education and Community Engagement, and mainstreaming them in School Education and Teacher Education Curriculum & Pedagogy. Curriculum Exercises for D.El.Ed and Class wise lessons/activities and assessment items from Pre-primary to Class – XII are principal inputs. This book is a product of intensive workshop based interactions and consultations with Departments of Education in Universities in India, NCERT, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs) in June, July and August 2018 in Hyderabad and Delhi. The book will achieve its goal if concepts of Nai Talim, Work Experience, Experiential Learning and Community Engagement are integrated in the Curriculum and Pedagogy of both Teacher Education and School Education.
Teachers need to be oriented on the transaction of proposed lessons, activities and assessment to integrate in the regular in-service teacher training programmes under “Samagra Siksha Abhiyan”. The proposed lessons focusing on Work Education, Experiential Learning with appropriate activities/projects linking education to life could be incorporated in the regular text books and assessment practices from pre-primary to Class XII.
We hope the ideas in this book are useful in initiating, enhancing and implementing Experiential Learning, Nai Talim, Work Education and Community Engagement at the Teacher Education level and School level in all the schools across all States/UTs. The book is a great tribute to Gandhiji and Nai Talim.
