Empowering Future Educators: Pragya Teacher Training in Tamil Nadu

 Vision Empower (VE) conducted a two-day Pragya Teacher Training at the Government College of Education, Pudukottai, Tamilnadu on 4th & 5th January 2024.

The teacher training aimed to empower 115 B.Ed and M.Ed students with teaching methodologies and resources used in teaching STEM & CT concepts to children with visual impairment.

The training began with an introduction to Vision Empower by the VE team, highlighting the organisation’s goals and mission. Post that, the students were split into two groups for the next sessions. 

The training focused on VE’s VICT (Computational Thinking for Visually Impaired) intervention which uses the Ludic Design for Accessibility (LDA) play-way approach to instill computational thinking and numeracy skills among students with visual impairment. 

The sessions covered ‘What and Why CT’ and ‘About Project VICT’ with both the groups. The participants also thoroughly enjoyed playing the VICT Games like Sudoku, Bingo, Number Pyramid, Vedic Square, etc. Through the hands-on experience with playing games like Sudoku and Bingo, the participants learned how play can significantly boost students’ critical thinking skills.

A significant aspect of the training also revolved around Subodha, VE’s accessible Learning Management System (LMS). Subodha is designed to provide convenience for teachers, allowing them to easily access and select the necessary materials related to the topics they teach. The B.Ed & M. Ed students were given hands-on training on Subodha after the VICT sessions on Day 2.

The participants also engaged themselves in group discussions and activities related to understanding and mock teaching STEM concepts from Subodha. 

The training ended with the distribution of certificates to all the participants. A surprising twist happened when the students were asked if they’d like to teach in special schools. At the start of the training, the same question was asked and only two participants said yes, but by the end of the Pragya Teacher Training, more than 90% raised their hands!

 As these future teachers step into their teaching roles, the impact of this training will certainly create ripples in the world of inclusive education.