4 Models of MLE in Odisha and

Chhattishgarh
 Learning from praxis
• 1996- 2003 From Tribal Education
to Language Pedagogy
• 2—3- 2012 From language learning
to MLE
• 2012- 2018 From MLE to Thematic
Approach
 We learn by experience
• all learning are experiential
• Like conventional teaching of Math and
Langauge , it is not deductive
• It is experiential and inductive with freedom
of learning
• Deductive methods restrict the child in a
regimented classroom which is teacher centric
and
• Odisha : 1997-2001
• Initiating the learning
• Saora model : More Saora and less Odia
• Mother tongue
• Content from Saora folklore
• Text and exercise mtthods from Khusi Khusi
• Used both Saora and Odia for langauge
learning skill( Speaking/ listeinig/ reading and
writing)
 Teacher is in the center
• What ever we do it is the teachers in the school
they act.
• Unless they own the knowledge they disbelieve
it.
• Therefore many good modules and ieas fail
with out their approval.
• Teachers in Odisha serving in tribal areas were
first of all questioned their concepts , beliefs and
knowledge and attitude to connect with their
professionalism
 From Teacher Training to curriculum
development
Teachers undergone Rupantar – Transformative training
initiated culturally responsive curriculum,
They knew that cultural sensitive knowledge is the
foundation of curriculum
Langauge is not the end in it self , but a means to reach
an end, and that end is knowledge.
Knowledge is unfragmented in early grade and
emanates from the community
Children’s experience from the environment, if applied
in the school, helps better learning .
Collective knowledge is always strong in comparision to
individual writing for children.
 Curriculum
Taken 32 lessons from the socio- cultural
context of the Saora land scape.
Teachers from Saora and nontribal teachers
were the key persons
Ramakant , Minati were also new to this work .
It was the first experience for us to see how
national RPs are involved in bilingual
education in tribal language- Odia language.
 what did we do
• Teachers exposed to teacher training on
community knowledge, folklore, oral
tradition and material culture , socio- cultural
aspects were able to grasp the Saora
curriculum and prepared text book for class
Ramakant Agnihotri taught us how to
prepare a text book and lesson plan. His
theory was guided by the descriptive
grammar with a notion that grammar is
universal across the languages.
• Our stand was more cultural than grammatical. RA agreed to
include the collective knowledge of the community and did not
force to write individual stories for the primer.
• Rather the community stories, songs, and events were important.
• The reason is Ramakant told that children learn from their
cultural context .
• His teaching on universal grammar in Odia, Hindi, English ,
Saora and Telugu revealed the universality of language principles.
• His stand was that language principles are innate inbuilt in the text
made either by the teachers or by the community stories and songs.
• Therefore , connecting the experience of the children could be
more important in putting Saora elements in the text.
• He taught how to prepare a lesson with text and exercise. First in
Saora and then in Odia.
• But at the same time Ramakant gave instances of
sociolinguistics in training mentioning that
• Text ,context, meaning and comprehension is important and
therefore the linguistics competence pre-exists in the child
, and given a context , children discover her expereince
capabilities, and cognitive ability
• Thus while he taught the descriptive grammar to the
teachers spelling the universality of the principles ( rule
governed ) he was also aware of the communicative
competence of Dell Hymes and was repeatedly
emphasizing on context and meaning ., even situation.
( The door is open )
My vision of tribal education was mostly folkloristic ,
therefore based on community knowledge .
Believing in community knowledge and collective
memory , I saw that indiviual writings for the children
are artificial, where as community story is embedded
with social memory and cultural roots.
Later on I found that Vigotsky socio- cultural theory (
1930) subscribes the same idea. Both Vladimir
Propp and Vigotsky were contemporary . One was a
folklorist and another was a cultural psychologist.
The text were designed based on cognitive
theory. The text must have the scope of
developping the childrens mind with
inquisitiveness, imagination, memory,
challenges, reason , logic and creativity.
The text and exercises were measured with
such parameters.
Appropriate texts were collected from the
community and book was written.
 Teacher support materials
Teachers hand book with Odia translation
Session plan of 32 lessons
Language training module
Teachers self learning materials ( 1 known
stories)
Picture word Book ( 300 Key cultural words in
Saora and Odia )
• Followed by Saora another six tribal languages were
adopted and class I text materials were prepared.
• Due to lack of training , barring Saora, other tribal primers
were not used in the schools.
• What we learnt :
• The mainstream education never allow the alternative
education in the name of mainstreaming. Perhaps the
people trained in the 1966-68 commission report are
conservative and people of post 1980- are progressive. To
induce a new idea is not so easy.
• Besides, Tribal nontribal dichotomy is prevailing and
tribal are historically considered as others and the
mainstream people as self.
 MLE in Odisha
• After a set back during 2001- 2005 It again
started in 2006 with new ideas and
governmen support.
• In July 2006 Government of Odisha declared
10 langauges to be taught in 1000 schools. 200
teachers from 10 langauges were selected and
were trained on TT and CD in tribal langauges.
• The approach is well known Two Track. One is
BICS and other is CALPS
 Strength
Child Census 2005
Tracking every child and her mother tongue (
child wise/school wise / teacher wise ,
Political will
State executive will and support from GOI
NRPS support
Teachers from the community language
speakers
long term plan ( class I to class V : six years
cumulative progression
 Cultural calendar
• Annual seasonal calendar
• Cultural themes
• Community knowledge as the items of
curricular theme
• from cultural knowledge to curricular
knowledge
• from curricular theme to classroom lessons
• Each theme contains BICS and CALPS
 BICS and CALPS
• BICS and CALPS were adopted by the SIL,
and therefore the story track ( orality and
understanding , listening and speaking , story
reading , guessed reading etc ) were
grouped in BICS – as a part of socio – cultural
knowledge. The Big Book, Small Book ,
Listening stories and Experience stry story
chart were used in this track.So it was called
Story track.
 CALPS (Literacy Track)
• Alphabet – word – sentence)
• Alphabet chart
• Alphabet Book
• Number chart
• Number Book
• Yuktakshar Book
• Primer to teach words and alphabets putting the
letter in the beginning, middle and in the end of
the word ( adya madhya and anta)
Cultural themes
 Theme web:
There are 30 theme webs for 30 weeks
Two major theme webs for a week:
1. Language and EVs theme web which also
covers health/ physical education, moral
education, games and sports, songs and dance
etc.
2.Mathematic theme web

22
 methods and techniques of language
learning
• Sound teacher Training
• Resource Book for class I
• Resource Book for class II
• Language attitude
• Language rights
• Language pedagogy
• Revitalization of community langauge
• Mother tongue education
• Second language learning
 MLE Odisha study by NCERT
• NCERT studied 100 MLE schools and 100 other
chools and found that
• In MLE schools
• children are fluent
• Children are regular in school
• active ly engaged in classroom
• Teachers respected the children's language
• Reduced dropout and enhanced achievement
• Community school linkage improved
• Children’sself image respected
 Chhattishgarh
• Adopted 100 RTE schools in 2014-15
• 2014-15 Teacher training ( 462) teachers
• 2015-16 : Adoption of class I and II early grade
learning in language and mathadopting story
track .
• From Big book to literacy
• from math story to math
• Class III - V thematic approach using community
knowledge in language math and EVS
 Academic enrichment
• 30 weeks – 30 stories
• A story contains many themes, many characters ,
nmany events ,plave and timem
• A story opens the horizon of identical knowledge
and experience of the child
• Hild find her own self in the story lllikes and
dislikes the character
• Story leads to create interest among the children to
learn language skill and knowledge – more over
context, conprehension , meaning making,analysis ,
intepret , apply , develop fuluency in seaking ,
reading and writing.
 Teachers need
Why do you teach language
what is language learning
How do you teach language ?
What are the input you give in learning
What are the outcome?
What is pedagogy ?
what is quality in education
Removing the make beliefs
on language learning