ABLE- CEMCA Trainer’s Meet
Dec 30, 2016, Gurgaon: After 9 ABLE-CEMCA Engage Me workshops had been conducted in the months of October, November and December 2016, in 9 different schools of Haryana, reaching out to over 1000 students and 20 IISD trainers, who received training, CEMCA organized a one day trainer’s meet at IISD, Gurgaon. This meet was the beginning of the next step of the ABLE intervention, wherein the trainers were encouraged to own up the activity and organize and conduct ABLE workshops in their schools and neighbouring ones and eventually get certified as ABLE- CEMCA trainer’s.
From the previous 9 workshops, 11 promising trainers were invited to attend this meet, and receive guidance for the next step of the intervention. The sessions of the day were conducted by Ms. Sanjogita Mishra, Programme Officer, CEMCA, along with ABLE-CEMCA trainer Ms. Anupriya Khare and Programme Coordinator Mr. Aman Vats.
The day began with general introductions, and the trainers were then asked to define and explain what their understanding of “Activity Based Learning” was. The trainers were asked to come up with the next step as they see fit, and how they would like to take the programme forward. After a small discussion, and guidelines were decided as to what the expectation would be from them, were they to become a part of the ABLE certification programme. With the completion of those steps under the guidance of ABLE-CEMCA trainer’s, they would be rewarded certification and be set to run the “Engage Me” workshops independently.
The second session of the day was about “Guidelines on Handling Budget”, and the trainers were asked to prepare a budget they thought was appropriate for a two day workshop, in their respective groups. This helped form an overall budget for the next step of the workshop, for when the trainers organize them in their own schools. The group broke off for lunch after this session.
Post lunch, the third session titled “Principles of Adult Learning” was conducted by Ms. Anupriya Khare, where she explained the seven principles of adult learning with the acronym PREPARE, which, if a teacher incorporates into their regular curriculum, they can use activity based learning on a day to day basis, and through preparation on their end, prepare the student for the world of employment.
The fourth session, called “Empathy for your Students” was a fun activity, where one of the trainers had to conduct a regular class, while the other trainers acted as students disengaged in the process of classroom learning. The teacher of the class had to go on teaching, and overcome all obstacles till they could engage the students. The motive of the exercise was that as teachers, their job is to capture the attention of the student. The trainer who was able to do that was taken as an example to explain the importance of empathy. The trainers realized through an experiential way that a disengaged student may not be controlled by arguments or punishments, but only through redirecting them and treating them as equals can they be urged to participate in the learning process.
The final session of the day was the award ceremony, where the trainers who had the “Engage Me” workshop held at their school previously were given a certificate to recognize their contribution in taking ABLE-CEMCA forward. Certificates were also awarded to ABLE-CEMCA trainers Aman Vats, Anupriya Khare, Meeta Sharma and Payal Chib, for successfully conducting the 9 workshops. The certificates were awarded by Nishant Kakkar, Regional Head, IISD and Ms. Sanjogita Mishra, Programme Officer, CEMCA.
The meet concluded with a feedback round where the trainers put their thoughts on paper as to if they would like to be a part of the certification process followed by a group photograph. The trainers are now set to organize and plan independent workshops in their own respective schools.
