Teacher Education in the 21st Century

Dr Rashmi Kumar is a Learning Specialist in STEM and works at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. She develops active learning and technology-driven learning programmes in STEM fields. She earned her bachelors in science and bachelors in education from the University of Delhi and taught science to middle- and high-school students in New Delhi. Thereafter, she earned a doctorate from University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education. She has been recognized as a STEM Educator by the NASA Endeavor Project. Her research, publications and presentations are primarily focused on teacher education, successful transitions from school to college, STEM-focused education and assessments, and learning technologies. Email: 21ct.ed@gmail.com Dr Subhash Chander is Assistant Professor at Central Institute of Education (Department of Education), University of Delhi. He was teacher-in-charge in the Department of Education, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi. His areas of research and teaching include science education, inclusive education and educational technology. He received his PhD on inclusive education from the Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi. He is Council Member of Educational Technology and Management Academy (ETMA). He is member of various committees in NCERT, CBSE, NCTE and NIOS, and the author of Teaching Science to Learners with Visual Impairment. Email: subhash3010delhi@gmail.com Dr Bharti Kaushik, Associate Professor, Department of Education of Groups with Special Needs (DEGSN), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), is postgraduate in physics and PhD in education from Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi. The title of her PhD thesis was Inclusive Education in Primary Schools:From Resistance to Reality. She joined Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhopal, in 2002 as an assistant professor. Her early duties involved teaching courses associated with inclusive education, CWSN and mental health to students pursuing bachelor in education (BEd) and master’s in education (MEd), as well as postgraduate diploma in guidance and counselling courses from RIE, Bhopal. During her tenure at RIE, Bhopal, she guided MEd dissertations and also acted as a university examiner for Bed students. Upon her transfer to Delhi, in DEGSN, she organized many orientation programmes for teacher educators on the issues and concerns associated with the education of children with special educational needs via distance learning by using the NCERT EDUSAT network and also face to face. She has acted as a resource person for various in-service training programmes organized by institutions such as National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, RIEs, Colleges of Teacher Education, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and District Institutes for Education and Training. She has presented papers in various national and international seminars and conferences. ‘Inclusive education in India: Assessing the systemic readiness!’, ‘Learner’s attainment reports at pre-primary level: An analysis from the perspective of inclusive education’, ‘Creating data based training needs profile of primary schools in inclusive education’ and ‘Participatory approach to in-service teacher training of “resource teachers” in India’ are some of her recent research-based publications in Indian and international journals. She has co-authored a book titled Teachers Creating Inclusive Classrooms: Issues and Challenges.Recently, she has prepared guidelines for making pre-service teacher education inclusive and developed a handbook for regular teachers suggesting strategies for including children with autism in the classrooms. Currently, she is working on making science classrooms and laboratories inclusive for children with visual impairment.

• Introduction - Rashmi Kumar THE NEW ESSENTIALS21st Century Learning Opportunities - Rashmi Kumar SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND PROFICIENCYICT for 21st Century Education - Subhash Chander Collaborating with Colleagues - Subhash Chander Communicating with Parents - Rashmi Kumar FOCUSED LEARNING IN DISCIPLINESLiteracy, Language, and Social Sciences - Achla Tandon and Geetanjali Kala Teaching and Learning in STEM - Rashmi Kumar WIDER COMMITMENTInclusive Education - Bharti Kaushik and Shruti Shankar Gaur Interdisciplinary Teaching - Bharti Kaushik and Shruti Shankar Gaur Developing Professional Identity of Teachers - Sheela Rajeshwari and Priyanka Varshney Closing Thoughts - Rashmi Kumar Index