‘Be a Teacher’. It was an apt title indeed for yet another virtual offering of Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth (CVV) to the practising as well as aspiring educators—an informative panel discussion seeking to redefine who a teacher is and what she can do within and beyond the four walls of a classroom.
Intended for aspiring teachers, Mathematicians or Litterateurs, mainly 12th standard students about to embark upon their professional journeys, the webinar held on 20 June, introduced various career paths in the three fields of English, Mathematics and Education, especially after the successful completion of a 4-year Integrated Teacher Education programme from CVV. The panellists were the faculty of Education at the University. The discussion was driven by Dr. Ajaykumar K., Dr. Sandhya Shankar and Dr. Saurabh Singanapalli and moderated by Ms. Neethu S Kumar.
Through a series of questions posed to each panellist, the session took the future teachers through the essential qualifications for a teacher, the varied teacher education programmes on offer in India, and the future of such programmes in light of the New Education Policy (2019). The panellists elaborated upon the option of Integrated Teacher Education Programmes, set to be the norm by 2030 and highlighted its unique features through a presentation of the two such innovative programmes that CVV offers—the B.A.B.Ed. English Literature programme and B.Sc.B.Ed. Mathematics programme.
The following discussion focused on the many career paths open to those after completion of these or similar programmes in English, Mathematics or Education. In addition to the obvious choices of teaching as well as pursuing further studies in Education or the chosen discipline, the speakers presented the aspirants with an array of exciting, unusual opportunities, illustrated with examples from their own fascinating careers while following the road less travelled.
The webinar came to a close with a Q&A session, which further nudged open the door to the world of possibilities, for an aspiring teacher and a man or woman of words or numbers.
