Best Practices

College strives to improve the quality continuously. While doing this, we try to adapt old good practices and add new ones for the benefit of our STs.
Year 2015-2016 has been a landmark year in the history of Teacher-Education, since much discussed two-year B.Ed. programme was implemented with lot of new components added to it. Since there is major thrust on the practical component with shadowing, co-teaching and them-teaching components included in it, PT schools had to be oriented to it. STs were to be in the PT schools almost for the period of six months for internship activity, we organised an orientation meeting of Principals / Head Masters and Supervisors of all PT schools to familiarise them with the structure of two-year B.Ed. programme and the role of PT schools in it.

* Various ways are adopted to enrich curricular content. This is done by organising educational visits, seminars, poster presentations etc.
As stated earlier many of our STs are from economically weaker sections. To enrich their educational experiences, visits are organised. Visits to places of historical importance like museum, forts or caves help in the development of our rich cultural heritage.
Visits to places of scientific importance, like Nehru Science Centre, open up a new perspective for them.
STs are actively involved in planning and execution of visits. This is meant to give them training for their future role as a teacher.
* Seminars and poster presentations, on topics from curriculum, makes them think about the issue in different perspective. It gives them a scope to express their creativity. It also helps in team spirit and presentation skills.
* Our STs are also trained for dramatization, role-play, PPT presentation. STs are also trained in making use of puppets and preparing educational games / quizzes for making lessons effective. This gives scope to their creativity as well as helps in catering to diverse needs of school students.
*Our college actively participates in curriculum framing every time, when B.Ed. programme is updated. This time too, when the curriculum was framed for two-year B.Ed. programme almost all the faculty members were part of core committees of syllabus revision for their respective courses. Our Principal was the convener for ‘Hindi Method’. Dr. Patil was the convener foe Marathi method and Mrs. Neela Kamat was the convener for the core paper of ‘Educational Management’. Once the syllabus was finalised and approved, we organised ‘Orientation’ programme for TEs of other B.Ed. colleges. The outcomes of the discussions were then mailed to all B.Ed. colleges.
This has given us a say in introducing new ideas in the revised curriculum, keeping in mind the inputs from STs.
* Cartography workshop is conducted for our Geography method students. We also conduct this workshop for school students on request. Cartography is a special and important skill in Geography. This workshop helps in developing concepts of directions, proportions, map reading. It also adds to the knowledge of location of various places and other geographical concepts like climatic conditions and their impact on human life.
* ‘Models of Teaching’ workshop is conducted to give better perspective of teaching- learning process to our STs. We as teachers need to cater to variety of student population. With a fast changing student profile, STs need to be equipped with a variety of methods and techniques of teaching for dealing with the given content and making it effective for their students. To achieve this objective, this workshop is conducted, before starting with PT lessons. Here along with theory inputs, demonstration lessons are given. STs are encouraged to ask questions and reflect. This encourages STs for creative approach to their PT lesson planning. This also equips them in occupying a ‘free period / proxy period’ in PT school on request from school authorities.
* We organise demonstration lessons of our alumni, method-wise, under ‘Peer teaching’. STs get a feel of what PT lesson is. STs are trained in ‘lesson observation’ through this. They feel free to ask questions to the alumnus to get their doubts clarified. It also motivates them toward PT lessons for giving best outputs.
* Workshop for ‘Co-teaching’ and ‘Theme teaching’ has helped them in developing better co-operation and co-ordination amongst themselves.
* Group discussions on sociological topics help them in keeping themselves updated on social issues and train them in reflecting and respecting others’ point of views.
* Each faculty member prepares notes for entire syllabus which is uploaded on our ‘e-portal’. STs can access this from anywhere. This helps them in revising the content, especially during examinations.
* Guest lectures are organised for giving additional inputs to STs. Here experts from the field or TEs from other institutions are invited. This helps in giving different perspective to their inputs.
* Guest lectures are also organised on topics of importance like legal procedures, banking practices, cancer awareness, personality development etc.
* Geography method students are trained in ‘Gallery-walk’ method. Science method students write a program and conduct a few lessons through ‘Program Learning’. This helps them in proper content analysis and in developing conceptual clarity.
* Every year we organise ‘Gokhale week’. Intercollegiate and inter-school competitions are organised under this. This serves many purposes – it is training for our STs in Event Management as each and every ST is involved in this. It helps them in developing skills of planning, broacher preparation, drafting, communicating to Heads of institutions and judges, budgeting, hospitality, accounts maintenance and reflecting. They develop an eye for each and every minute detail for making programme successful.
Under this ‘Spell Bee’ competition helps them develop English language ability and vocabulary. ‘Research Quiz’ was organised for research scholars. This was intended to create interest for research. This helped in refreshing knowledge of research methodology among the participants. It also helped in developing interest in research for our STs. Spell Bee and Research Quiz were inter university quizzes. Science method students organise either ‘Science Quiz’, which is for organised for school students. Our STs prepare the quiz themselves. This helps in developing content mastery in Science. This also gives them practice in accurate framing of questions, framing of questions of different difficulty levels based on the objectives of cognitive domain. Other competition is that of ‘Science Teaching Aids’, which is meant for B.Ed. STs of various B.Ed. colleges. There are various categories made in this, life charts / posters, models – stationary / working, computer assisted TAs. Preparation of a rubric is a topic in theory course VI of Assessment. Our STs prepare rubrics for each type. This is then given to judges for evaluating TAs. This gives them practice of analyzing various tasks for preparing rubrics. Inter-collegiate ‘Folk Music’ and ‘Folk Dance’ are organised for helping them develop pride in our rich cultural heritage at the same time respect for cultures different from their own.
For these competitions certificates are given to participants as well as to winners. These are designed by our own STs. They get an opportunity to express their creativity.
Planning and organising ‘Gokhale Week’ gives opportunity to our STs for better networking with peers from other institutions.
* Throughout the year various days like Teachers’ Day, Balika Din, Constitution Day, Independence Day, Republic Day, birth and death anniversaries of great personalities, Aids Awareness Day, International Women’s Day, National Science Day, Hindi Bhasha Divas, Marathi Bhasha Divas, etc. are organised to make our STs enlightened, humane and continuous learners.
* STs are given exposure to environmental issues through Trail Blazer activity. In addition to environmental issues, STs also get exposure to various educational games and creative activities. They implement these activities in their PT schools.
* Inducing research culture in the college: All the faculty members are encouraged to do Ph.D.s as well as to take major / minor research projects. Our ‘Research Cell’ organises pre-Ph.D. courses, which are open for Ph.D. scholars from other centres. This gives scope for enhanced networking and exchange of ideas for better research output.
* Presentations are organised for Ph.D. scholars, prior to submission of their synopses, by inviting external experts and other Ph.D. scholars. This gives good inputs and varied perspectives towards looking at the problem under consideration. It also adds to confidence for Ph.D. viva.
* N-list E-resources subscribed by our college are made available to research scholars for facilitating their research work.
* We organise ‘Peer Enrichment Lecture Series’, as an extension activity. This is organised keeping in mind requirements of TEs from other colleges, especially those which are recently started. TEs from these colleges are juniors in the field and face difficulties on content to be taught or for research and other activities. They approach our college with suggestions of themes for ‘Peer Enrichment Lecture Series’. Based on this, we plan lecture / workshop to provide support in their professional work.
Under ‘Peer Enrichment Lecture Series’ we have conducted workshops on topics like ‘Tool Preparation’ and on ‘Data Analysis – qualitative and quantitative techniques’.
On demand from TEs from other colleges, we organised a workshop on ‘Test- preparation’, which is an important aspect of assessment which teachers need to plan and carry out throughout their career.
*Library is fully automated for easy access. STs are provided with facilities like wi-fi connection as well as reprography.
* Computer lab with net facility helps our STs in developing skills of data accessing and selection. This helps them in planning PT lessons as well as in theory preparation. This is important for us as many of our STs come from areas where net connectivity is difficult. Many of them have no computer facility available at home.
* Some of our STs are weak in communication in English. To help them overcome fear and develop mastery over language, we have ‘Language Laboratory’, which our STs make use of for improving language skills.
*We have LCD facility and White Board facility installed in our class rooms to make our STs more techno savy.
* National level seminars and conferences are organised on variety of topics for sharing of ideas. Our STs are encouraged to write and present papers. This helps in developing habit of additional reading, referencing and selecting appropriate relevant information, essential to become an effective teacher.
* We follow ‘open-door policy’ for our STs. They can approach Principal or any of the faculty members with their difficulties – educational or personal, for guidance.
* Inter-library loan is organised for our STs, Faculty and Ph.D. Scholars. Library is the soul of any educational institution and it opens up world to the reader. We believe in making more access available to readers. Our Librarian has developed good networking with other libraries, not only of B.Ed. colleges but with other professional colleges and degree colleges. This makes wider access possible.
Through this we also cater to DSM students. Library is open to any reader on daily basis by paying nominal fees of Rs. 20/- per day.
* We provide the facility of Webliography- list of websites to our readers. It is prepared as per the new syllabus which is uploaded on the College and Library Website. This facilitates referencing of newly included topics in the syllabus.
* Faculty members have facility of N-list, where, user-id and password are provided for accessing information on net.
* Book-bank facility is made available to STs from economically weaker background.
* ‘New arrivals’ are informed to faculty members and STs through e-mails.
* STs are provided with handouts for PT activity guidance.
* Talent Search is conducted for our STs. According to their interests, they are encouraged to represent out college in various inter-college and inter-state competitions. Talent Search activity is conducted at the beginning of the academic year, as soon as the new batch is admitted. This is an ‘ice-breaking’ activity. It helps STs to overcome their inhibitions and develop confidence. It reduces stage-fright, which the first step for becoming an effective teacher.
* Needy STs are helped in getting various scholarships given by Social Welfare Department, Government of Maharashtra.
* We have bi-annual ‘GESCER e-newsletter’, which is posted on our website. This facilitates networking and communication.
* Our alumni are our strength. They help us in variety of ways – i) they are our resource for demonstration lessons as well as for guest lectures. ii) They help us in judging various competitions held in college. iii) They especially help us for placement of our STs in schools / colleges where they are working.
* Our Librarian and faculty members conduct workshops for our STs on ‘CV writing’ and ‘How to face an interview’. These prove to be a great help for our STs. At the time of interview, they also need to give a demonstration lessons. STs plan the lessons and then approach Method Masters for improvement.
* We have signed Memorandum of Understanding with the organisation called CALYXPOD. They prepare a database of vacancies as well as candidates and help in getting the right match. This will help our STs in getting wider scope of employment.
* To cope up with fast changing world we need many added skills to be successful professionally as well as in personal life. Realising this, we conduct various workshops for our STs by inviting experts from respective fields. These include ‘Life-skills Workshop’, ‘Yoga Workshop’, ‘Workshop on Self-Defense’ etc. Considering changing profile of school students, we equip our STs in counseling skills through ‘Counseling Skills workshop’.
* Our college is ISO certified (ISO 9001:2008). This helps in maintaining administrative processes in place. (Structures and processes charts are prepared for smooth functioning, which are attached at the end of this Annexure).
* Our accounts are regularly audited by the auditor appointed by our parent Society. Accounts are also audited by government authorities.
* There is optimum utilisation of infrastructural as well as human resources amongst all sister institutions housed in the premises.
* Bio-metric Attendance is maintained for STs, faculty members and administrative staff.
* Anna Poorna Yojana: This has been implemented in the college, under Extension Work Activities. All STs are made to participate in this. STs in a group of two plan for food item, purchase, costing and sell of the food items. This is implemented on Saturdays. This helps in developing various skills in STs. During Gokhale week celebrations too, our STs had arranged Anna Poorna stalls. This helped participants as well as judges in getting good home-made food at reasonable cost.
* Our college organises visits to places like old age home and rural padas (hamlet) to familiarise STs with social realities. Community work activity is carried out in an orphanage school, where STs get insights about variety of learners and their requirements.
When we reflect on what we offer to our STs, we realise sky is the limit. This gives us motivation to do something new, different and better for the next batch.