Iri programme english is fun in chhattisgarh

2

IRI Programme “English is Fun” in Chhattisgarh [A Research on Impact of Interactive Radio Instruction Programme in Primary Schools of Chhattisgarh State]

BY:

VIJAY KUMAR RATRE

©Vijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-49

3 Dedicated to teachers and educators

who aspire to serve the humanity without any discrimination and intension, especially in the farthest regions of Chhattisgarh state…

Written, edited and compiled by: Vijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-400049

Year: 2007

For feedback: vijayratre@outlook.com, ratrevijay@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Information in this booklet has been compiled from authentic and professional sources. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in the booklet, it is possible that errors may still be included. The author/researcher do not claim for any perfection whatsoever as to their accuracy or suitability for a particular reference, term, acronym, or definition. © Copy-it-Right: This booklet is provided for personal use only: it can be reproduced, in any form and by any means, without permission from the author as long as you do not make money from it! However, copy it right! But maintain the quality, do it for the betterment of education and for the good of education system, and be sure not to exclude the authors’ name and the title of booklet.

4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my guide Mr.Jinna Sheik Saheb, State Coordinator of Education Development Center (EDC) Chhattisgarh unit for his continuous support in the research program. Mr.Jinna Sheik was always there to listen and to give his valuable advice. It is his personal efforts for getting me involved in the research topic related to Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programme in the first place. He taught me how to trace details and express my ideas while liaisoning with officials related with IRI and its execution. He showed me different ways to approach a research problem and the need to be persistent to accomplish any goal.

It was Mr.Jinna Sheik, who provided me details and assistance in gathering number of information and guiding me for this research work. I also wish to thank Executive officer from EDC Chhattisgarh who assisted me in compilation of date and their analysis for better output. He also provided me his support on IRI techniques and how to do a usability study, a skill that confirmed my intuition that Researchers need a drawing environment to access knowledge-based systems like Radio Class-room etc.

I wish extend my sincere thanks and gratitude towards Shri Deepak Dubey, Assistant Director from State Project Office of Rajive Gandhi Shiksha Mission, and to my advisor, Dr.M.Sudhish, Assistant Director from State Project Office of Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission – Chhattisgarh, who were most responsible for helping me out to choose this topic and provided me first hand support for collection of information and materials.

They have been a friend and mentor. I could not have finished this dissertation. They were always there to meet and talk about my ideas, to proofread and mark up my papers and chapters, and to ask me good questions to help me.

Moreover, I am extremely thankful to Education Development Center (EDC) Raipur office and PATH - Chhattisgarh and their district monitors who provided me with their fresh and first hand data for this study.

Besides my advisors, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: of Government College of Education- Raipur, Block Resource Center Coordinators and primary school teachers of Arang, Abhanpur, Kurud and Gurur, who supported me directly or indirectly in the completion of this paper. I wish to extend my gratefulness to all those who assisted me in getting typed the paper, its printing and biding, collection of data, comprehension etc. I thank them all and with best in their life.

Raipur, 18 February, 2007

-Vijay Kumar Ratre

5 == CONTENTS == Particulars Page No. Chapter 1 – Introduction 6 - 26 1.1 – History of Different Types of Radio Education 1.2 – School Broadcasting and Radio School 1.3 – Radio & Technology based education in India 1.4 - Chhattisgarh and EDC’s Innovative Project 1.5 – Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) and Chhattisgarh 1.6 – IRI Project Areas in Chhattisgarh 1.7 - What makes IRI different from other distance learning programmes?

1.8 - How is an IRI programme developed?

1.9 - Why use IRI? 1.10 - Programme Implementation 1.11 – Process of Developing IRI Programme Chapter 2 – Significance of the study 3.1 – Significance of the study.

3.2 - Educational Importance of the Study 3.3 - Problems and Elucidations 3.4 - Aims of the study 3.5 - Hypothesis 3.6 – Scope of study and its limitations 3.7 – Methodology of the study

27 - 36

Chapter 3 – Random Sample selection process 4.1 – Observation Instrument 4.2 – Observations Made 4.3 – Observation Schedules & Date 4.4 – Random Selection of Schools 4.5 - Response from Radio Station director

37 - 44

Chapter 4 – Statistical Implications & Results 45 - 57 5.1 – Overall Comparison of IRI & Non-IRI class-rooms 5.2 – Comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI on Different Rating Categories 5.3 – Comparisons of Class-room Ratings in Different Geographical blocks 5.4 – Concluding Observations 5.5 – Check-list samples Chapter 5 – Conclusion 6.1 – General Remarks & Recommendations 6.2 – Key Suggestions on IRI

58 - 63

6 CHAPTER - 1 - Introduction: This study of Interactive Radio Instruction or Interactive Radio Instruction would assist in appreciating and accessing the effectiveness and impact of radio as a tool for active learning inside and outside of the classroom with special focus to the primary school of Chhattisgarh state. It is a new concept for this region, thus have no accurate data or feedback from the people at large rather it has been used by a limited mass so as by school teachers in hundreds of school of this region. While impact of Interactive Radio Instruction is the main focus of this study, I wish to point certain experience and outcome that may be fruitful in getting better understanding of this method of quality teaching. However, IRI has been most widely used in developing countries with help of various government functionaries and departments.

The purpose of this research paper is to assess and analyze the pros and cons of experiential learning through Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI), its relationship to formal education, as well as its necessity and role in the primary education process. There have been number of efforts in the field of primary education and quality improvement by the ventures of national and international institutions and organisation. I have tried to study one such method being executed for our region, known as IRI, in our perspective, it impact and influence among the student-teacher mass. I may have not been accurate in putting forward these experiences and knowledge in writing and expression, but certainly have gained much of liveliness while interacting with students and teachers who regularly execute this ambitious method of teaching. Increasingly and interestingly, traditional teaching methods have given way to newer and more efficient ways, particularly within this era of computerization and high technology. Throughout this research paper, I shall be discussing specifically on IRI with some of other technology based modes as pertains to Distance Learning with particular emphasis on primary education.

Talking to our reference that over the past decade and in tandem with the “Education For All� declaration, there have been a number of great steps taken in improving literacy rates and education through information communication technologies (ICTs).

Building on these efforts, USAID/India, the EDC (Education Development Center) and resource partners developed a three year project to improve the reach and quality of primary school education in Chhattisgarh State. The Technology Tools for Teaching

7 and Training (T4) in Chhattisgarh project is now providing teachers with in-service training to improve content and methods, and multichannel instruction specifically in English using media like Radio.

“Education-through-Radio” is one such move towards the betterment of primary education in Chhattisgarh. This particular programme of having education through radio was administered for primary schools across the state of Chhattisgarh, from September 2005.

Information on these topics was collected through interviews and Formal Group Discussion from the teachers regarding training programmes related to innovations in primary education. Some of the teachers had undergone pre-service teacher training, and some of them had done either B.Ed. or taken a diploma in teaching, while most of them have done only their formal school education or had required university degree.

Earlier to DPEP, the teachers hardly had any in-service training; in the past thirteen years of the DPEP era, almost all the teachers have undergone a number of trainings – like orientation to new teachers, interactive film-based training, activity-based training, preparation of TLMs, Gender sensitization, Integrated Education of the Disabled (IED) and English teaching to mention a few. All the teachers say that they found the training very useful. In the training methodology also recently there was a sea change from lecture method to participatory approach; in the training, teachers were made to prepare models/TLMs, give a demonstration lesson and participate in group activities. The teachers feel that these training programmes have brought about a change in the teachers’ attitude towards teaching. Training programmes were good; but how far they are being implemented in the actual classroom is rather needs to be analysed.

Teachers feel the need for the training in English teaching as all of them did not get a chance, content enrichment and teaching the concepts through activities. They feel residential training at the district/State level would be effective; also they feel the training should be imparted just before the commencement of the academic year, so that the classes do not suffer. But there actually had been a little served in the name of English teaching or use of technology in primary education in our region.

HISTORY OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF RADIO EDUCATION Radio broadcasting, which began on a large scale in the 1920s, has proven to be a universally popular and adaptable from of mass communication. Across the globe, no other mass medium

8 has attained comparable levels of audience saturation and acceptance. Even in technologically advanced societies where television has become people’s primary source for news and entertainment, radio remains a vital source of information. It has retained such influence because of its credibility, portability, and relatively low production and distribution costs.

Although large nationally and internationally sponsored radio networks have existed for decades, radio remains a locally owned and operated institution in many societies. For this reason, community broadcasters are able to provide information and entertainment programs in listeners’ mother tongues and in ways that meet the needs of illiterate individuals as well as those with little or no formal education. By the same token, radio is still an essential tool for promoting literacy and basic education at the grassroots level. In developing nations, both public and private agencies rely on radio to disseminate news about agricultural, nutritional, health, and family planning innovations. The costs of such activities compare favourably with other methods traditionally used to increase public awareness.

Numerous radio education strategies have been developed in recent decades to address citizens’ demands for information, education, and entertainment. Such strategies have attempted, inter alia, to: 

Disseminate information and advice necessary for people’s survival and wellbeing (such as weather and crop conditions; and agricultural, health, nutritional, and family planning innovations; and radio forums in North America, South Asia, and West Africa);



Persuade people to adopt, alter, or discontinue specific behaviours (such as social marketing campaigns promoting the use of condoms as well as other means to contain the spread of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in Caribbean, African, and Southeast Asian nations; and “infotainment” and “edutainment” initiatives in the Philippines, Nigeria, and Mexico that incorporate family planning messages within hit songs, soap operas, and other popular radio formats);



Raise public consciousness and stimulate popular action in support of national, regional, and local development initiatives (such as social mobilization campaigns for literacy, family

9 planning, and rural health in Cuba, China, and Tanzania; and community/religious radio stations throughout Latin America and the Philippines); 

Expand access to education and training, both in and out of school (such as Australia’s Schools of the Air; radio schools in Latin America; and teacher training at a distance in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Nepal, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Dominican Republic);



Enrich the quality of schooling be providing teachers and students with learning experiences and resources the are not available at the local level (such as school broadcasting services in England and many other Commonwealth nations); and



Raise student achievement in specific academic subjects via broadcast lessons linked to other pedagogical innovations, including restructured curricula, teacher guides, and student worksheets (such as interactive radio instruction, or IRI, projects in Nicaragua, Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Lesotho, Venezuela, South Africa, and other countries).

Although such strategies have used radio in many different ways to achieve many different objectives, the success of such endeavours over the years has produced a convergent set of lessons for the future. One lesson may be summarized in a simple but frequently ignored maxim, which is to “Know your audience!”

Effective radio programs, i.e. those that attract and affect listeners in prescribed ways, generally are based on extensive target audience research. With an awareness of a particular audience’s knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and listening habits, program designers can develop programs that convey information in comprehensible, compelling, and culturally appropriate ways. Of course, preproduction research can never resolve all the questions and uncertainties program lanners may have concerning a target audience’s likely interests and motivations. For this reason, pretesting of messages, monitoring of local reception patterns, and measurement of program impacts are activities that correlate with effective development broadcasting.

Successful programs provide information that audiences perceive to be of value to their daily lives and circumstances. Depending on their aims, e.g., information dissemination, attitude change, or behaviour change, program sponsors also may be required to

10 provide supplementary incentives and resources, without which listeners may be unwilling or unable to act upon broadcast appeals alone. Experience suggests that listeners will become frustrated, cynical, and eventually inattentive if they are unable to obtain the resources needed to implement and sustain recommended changes at the local level. For this reason, radio must be considered as but one component of an effective development communication program.

For the reasons outlined above, multi-channel communication systems have been favoured over single channel ones in recent years. However, such systems tend to be more difficult and expensive to design, and evaluate, especially when coordination among a variety of development sectors or media organizations is required. Management problems are compounded when, in addition to overseeing the design and delivery of messages, broadcasters try to link their programs to the demands and expectations of development workers in the field.

With respect to education, both in and out of school, radio has proven to be an effective development tool in a wide variety of settings. It has not been the panacea many of its early champions envisioned, however. In fact, throughout most of its history and in most of its applications, radio has been assigned only a secondary role in the classroom. Three distinct uses of radio for primary education are highlighted in the following sections.

Schools Broadcasting and Radio Schools The British Broadcasting Service, or BBC, inaugurated its original schools broadcasting service in 1924. It provided only a few hours of programming per week and its use was dependent on the voluntary participation of school headmasters and teachers. The broadcasts complemented the work of local classroom teachers and were designed to introduce students to the world beyond their classrooms.

This was accomplished through storytelling, dramatizations, interviews, and other stimuli. Adaptations of this pioneering approach to radio education have been made throughout the British Commonwealth and in many other nations. Schools broadcasting is found in countries where television and other electronic media are not widely available. However, such services have never borne-nor have they been expected to bear-the major burden of instruction. By the same token, they have rarely, if ever, been closely associated with or held accountable for the achievement of specific learning objectives.

11 The goal of extending primary education to the isolated rural child and to small numbers of such children organized into listening groups was first achieved by another form of radio education begun in Australia in 1951. Schools of the Air initially could be considered a means of correspondence education or a form of home schooling augmented by regular radio contacts between distant teachers and students. Key to this model’s success was careful planning and organization. Printed worksheets in support of radio lessons were considered essential, enabling children to see the words they heard on the radio and to review illustrations of concepts they were being presented. Typically, children completed written exercises during or immediately after each broadcast; then parents checked their work to ensure that adequate learning had occurred. In this way, vital feedback loops were maintained between students and teachers and between teachers and parents.

Adaptations of Australia’s pioneering model of radio education have been tried in many nations over the past half-century. Radio, and more recently television, has appealed to policymakers concerned about the poor quality of primary and secondary schools.

Lessons have been produced and transmitted with the intent of improving students’ academic achievement; unfortunately, such efforts have not been successful in most cases. They have failed to achieve the benefits anticipated by their sponsors for a variety of reasons, including; (1) vague and unrealistic program objectives; (2) design flaws stemming from ignorance of the target audiences’ (students and teachers) abilities and expectations; (3) reception difficulties due to faulty transmission and erratic power supplies; (4) scheduling conflicts; (5) receiver breakdowns and lack of repair facilities; (6) insufficient feedback; and, perhaps most significantly, (7) lack of support structures within schools or other community institutions to reinforce the broadcast lessons.

Radio & Technology Based Education in India: Attempts have been made to use Information Communication & technology in education in India refers back to the year 1937, immediately after the establishment of All India Radio. From the 1970s, the foundational assumptions and guiding principals of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have cantered around the use if satellite and communications technologies for educational purposes. Nevertheless, there is wide consensus that these pioneering efforts never really fulfilled their promise in the Indian context, for a variety of regulatory and institutional-cultural

12 reasons. At the same time, India spectacular IT revolution has afforded new opportunities to use computers and digital networks for primary, secondary and vocational education and training. To some extent, then, we may look forward to a series of newer forms of media, networks, and communicative possibilities, which now afford greater opportunities for multichannel and interactive learning across the country. Various researches were made and studies were done friom ICT departments of various private and public institutions including computation and interactive learning based technologies time and again.

The adjacent map (Figure – 01) shows the distribution of radiobased initiatives across India. More than a half of all projects fall in the peninsular India, with strong concentrations ion the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Eastern and Northeastern regions continue to lag behind the rest of India. The sparse distribution of these initiatives is indicative of strict governmental control, content creation, and implementation functions in such a centralised fashion. The major centralised effort in Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) was initiated widely or state-wide for the state of Karnataka in August 2003 by the efforts of Education Development Center (EDC) that was financially supported by USAID in joint aegis with State government of Karnataka with the cooperative agreement with Government of India. Starting with Karnataka with IRI programme for Mathematics and Science, these efforts were also extended to the state of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in the year 2004-05. The IRI programme designed for Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand was for primary students of class 1 &2 for English subject, where the then state governments had declared to adopt basic English for primary sections. Further more these efforts on IRI and radio based teaching have been expanded to the state of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2005-06 with the initiative from Madhya Pradesh Rajya Shiksha Kendra.

13 (Figure– 01) Map showing All India Distribution of Radio Education.

Chhattisgarh and EDC’s Innovative Project: The T4 initiative, supported by USAID (United States Agency for International Development) & funded through the dot-EDU project, endeavors to improve the quality of education in the states like Chhattisgarh. During the last quarters of the year 2003 and first quarters of the year 2004, the Representatives from EDC had frequent visits to Chhattisgarh to plan the activities in the state.

14 They visited the officials, AIR persons, teacher educators, NGOs, SSA functionaries, School teachers, Community leaders to identify the need areas where a mutual sort of support is required.

With the formation of Chhattisgarh as a separate state in the year 2000, Govt. of Chhattisgarh took a major decision by introducing English from Class I. This decision was welcomed by everyone. But there was a need to implement this decision successfully in all schools. The state Govt. finally agreed to plan the activities to improve the quality of the teaching of English in the state. The EDC proposed to introduce the “Interactive Radio Instruction” (IRI) Programme. It was also decided that the Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) Programmes shall be produced for introductory English, in collaboration with the State Government & local NGOs for use at the primary school level. At the primary level these began with broadcasts in selected schools of selected blocks of Raipur, Kanker & Bastar districts, wherefore after the successful completion of the project, it was further expanded to the other regions of Chhattisgarh.

Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) and Chhattisgarh: In 1974 Stanford University’s Institute for Mathematical Studies in the Social Sciences, with financial support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), launched the Radio Mathematics project in Nicaragua. Members of Nicaragua’s Ministry of Education were determined to avoid the pedagogical and logistical problems that had undermined previous attempts to teach primary school mathematics by radio. The team adopted a robust curriculum development approach derived from programmed learning principles and techniques. The model incorporated extensive protesting as well as other forms of formative evaluation.

Unlike other radio projects, Nicaragua’s broadcast lessons were designed to provide most children’s day-to-day math instruction. Interaction between students and the radio instructors was encouraged by providing time within the broadcast lessons for the children to make oral, written, and physical responses such as raising and clapping hands. Over time, the project’s leaders allotted more time for such responses, sensing that they were instrumental in holding the young students attention and reinforcing their learning.

Classroom teachers were responsible for preparing students to receive & listen the radio lessons and for following up on lessons.

15 Teachers received printed guides, which provided instructions and examples of how concepts presented in the radio lessons could be reinforced locally. As the project grew, so were the roles and responsibilities of classroom teachers enlarged. Although the radio lessons had been designed originally to overcome the teachers’ deficiencies, it was discovered early on that teacher enthusiasm for the project contributed significantly to student learning. For this reason, teachers were encouraged to intervene directly when students had difficulty comprehending the radio lessons.

Rapid and focused feedback was another innovation introduced by the Radio Mathematics project, normally instructional media projects rely on a lengthy strategy of development, pilot testing, and revision to validate new curricula. In fact, such a strategy was used initially in African regions i.e. Nicaragua, to help establish the radio lessons’ basic content. Once daily broadcasting began, however, the researchers realized that they could not rely on such an approach to detect or correct weaknesses I their instructional system. It simply was too cumbersome and required too much time. Eventually, researchers developed rapid assessment procedures for obtaining student performance data. Such procedures were linked to a flexible production schedule, thereby permitting feedback from the field to be used much more quickly than it had been in the past. In this way, learning problems were detected early enough for midcourse corrections to be made in the course of a semester.

In February 1978, the Radio Mathematics project entered its fourth year. At that time, students enrolled in pilot classes (Grades 1 through 4) were preparing to receive their math instruction by radio. The project was suspended, however, when political unrest intensified and school calendars were suspended for days or weeks at a time. Although radio math broadcasts never resumed following the end of hostilities, the project’s initial success created a powerful legacy, so much so that in the intervening years a number of nations have imported Nicaragua’s radio math lessons for regular use in their own primary schools. Others have adapted the project’s IRI model, including its innovative program development and evaluation techniques. Still others have expanded the original IRI model, using it to meet a variety of needs, including adult education. The nature, success, and lessons learned from such experiences are discussed in the remainder of this report.

There is no doubt that in recent years the Radio has carved out various niches that were traditionally the purview of newspapers.

16 Overall, I would state that the primary contrast between the two is that the Radio has made it easier for those who are familiar with utilizing the Radio, to learn specific aspects or areas which the traditional newspaper or writing of a text would otherwise be concerned with in a holistic way.

Radio is not a new-generation technology for most of the learners as it has existed in developing countries for a long time. It is primarily being used to entertain, capture attention, hold interest, and sometimes persuade the masses. Thus radio is used for two broad purposes: transmission of factual information and entertainment.

In the early 90s some international development agencies started using radio (broadcasting) to educate the public for their socioeconomic and educational development, particularly catering to the needs of those residing in rural and remote areas.

Radio broadcast had been used by the various distance education institutions in undivided Madhya Pradesh state (as Chhattisgarh state got its separate identity in year 2000) for the last four decades. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) made a humble beginning of broadcasting radio programs for its students in 1990 through select radio stations. The service remained a one-way communication until May 3, 1998 when for the first time since its inception in 1985 IGNOU launched its interactive radio counseling (IRC) pilot project from All India Radio (AIR) station, Bhopal. Onehour interactive sessions for its students enrolled in the Bachelor Preparatory Programme (BPP) and Management Studies Programme (MS) residing in and around Bhopal city (the capital of Madhya Pradesh) was started twice a month, i.e. on every second and fourth Sunday.

The initiative to start the IRI Programme was taken by EDC Bangalore in close association with Rajeev Gandhi Shiksha Mission Chhattisgarh in the year 2004. After making a base line survey of the selected regions in Chhattisgarh, a programme outline was chalked out by the end of March 2004. This process also led to the selection was script writers from the region and formation of Master Plans for the preparing the IRI programmes for Chhattisgarh.

However it may be noted that the need of English at the primary level was the major focus in introducing the IRI programmes here.

The state government in its part also provided space for construction of a Digital Audio Recording Studio at the premises of SCERT. EDC on its part started a state project office at Raipur in February 2004 and appointed staff for office supports. The Chhattisgarh government further deputed one of its personnel from

17 Education Department as state coordinator in April 2004, to look after the bilateral needs of the project.

The IRI Pilot Project areas in Chhattisgarh: With assistance from RGSM, three project areas were identified namely; Abhanpur development block in Raipur district, Kanker block in Kanker district and Kondagaon block in Bastar district.

There were 100 schools each selected in these three blocks for testing the IRI programmes, where EDC had also procured RadioTwo-in-One sets before the initiation of the broadcast of IRI programmes from All India Radio of Raipur and Jagdalpur. The teachers of the schools which were brought under the IRI project, underwent a training for the smooth conduct of the programme during July 2004. However there was positive response from the teachers who took this project as there own and worked hard for learning and transferring the concepts to their students through Radio. (see Figure – 02)

18 Figure – 02: Map of Chhattisgarh showing IRI Project initiatives.

19 WHAT IS IRI AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION IRI, a methodology developed to turn a typically one-way technology into a tool for active learning inside and outside of the classroom, continues to be an attractive educational strategy in developing countries twenty-five years after it was first used. The original model for teaching mathematics through IRI was created in Nicaragua by a team from Stanford University in collaboration with Nicaraguan educators during the early 1970s. The team sought to combine the low cost and broad reach of the radio medium and a clear understanding of how people learn. Since that time, at least twenty countries around the world have developed IRI programs for a variety of subjects, audiences, and learning environments. Many of these programs have been sustained for ten years or more. The methodology has been expanded and adapted to different levels of math, science, health, English, Spanish, Portuguese, environmental education, early childhood development, and adult basic education for learners of all ages. In each case, the series has been designed by local specialists specifically to capture the interest of the learner and to meet learning objectives in the country. Twenty-five years later, interest in IRI does not appear to be waning.

IRI may be described as interactive lessons in which an external teaching element, delivered by a distant teacher through the medium of radio or audiocassette, is carefully integrated with classroom activities carried out by the classroom teacher and learners. Within this structure, the distant teacher carries the main weight of the teaching, and directs learning activities (such as exercises, answers to questions, songs, and practical tasks) that take place during carefully timed pauses in the audio script. The classroom teacher’s role is often to facilitate the lesson, give individual assistance to learners, and provide follow-up support after the audio component is finished. In some programs, such as those for language instruction, the classroom teacher’s role is expanded to include periods of teaching.

WHAT MAKES IRI DIFFERENT LEARNING PROGRAMS?

FROM

OTHER

DISTANCE

IRI is distinct from most other forms of distance education in that its primary goal has been to improve educational quality.

Unlike many distance learning programs that are primarily designed to address access issues, IRI was first used as a classroom tool to counteract low levels of teacher training, poor achievement among learners, and limited resources. While IRI has demonstrated that is

20 can be used to expand access and increase equity in both formal and non-formal educational settings (see Chapter 3), it retains an emphasis on quality improvement through a development strategy and methodology that require active learning, attention to pedagogy, and formative evaluation as an integral part of its design.

A second distinguishing feature of the IRI methodology is its requirement that learners react to question prompts and exercises through verbal and physical responses to radio characters. It also frequently includes group work and physical and intellectual activities while the program is on the air. For both the teacher and student, the lesson becomes an immediate, hands-on, and experiential guide. Short pauses are provided throughout the lessons-after questions and during exercises-to ensure that students have adequate time to think and respond. Interaction is also encouraged between teachers and learners as they work together to conduct short experiments, do activities, and solve problems using local resources and imaginative situations and stories.

The pedagogy of IRI is more deliberate than active learning alone. IRI series guide participants through a progression of activities related to measurable learning objectives. Educational content is organized and distributed across lessons so that learning builds upon previous knowledge and new learners can more easily construct and understanding of the subject being taught. Activities and problems are first modeled by radio characters so that teachers and learners have an idea of the process they are undertaking and of the skills and support that may be required. All these elements are knit together through story lines, music, characterization, and other attributes available through the audio medium.

IRI programs are tailored specifically to particular audiences and situations. An important aspect of the design, therefore, is the reliance on audience research, participation, and formative evaluation to ensure that the lessons are engaging and relevant and that learners can achieve the educational objectives. Preparing an IRI series, program planners change the format, activities, and pauses in each program with each cycle of feedback and observation.

Instruction by radio is interactive when students actually interact with radio characters who “teach� subjects such as mathematics, science, or language. During a twenty-to-thirty

21 minute broadcast, children may interact as many as one hundred times with the radio instructors. The radio lessons are divided into several segments, and in a daily lesson new material may be introduced in one segment, while previously introduced material may be reinforced through new exercises. Short stories, songs, physical exercises, and games are used, as well as regular interactive dialogue. Lessons are designed to be upbeat, challenging, and happy episodes for the student. The common elements of all IRI programs are systemic instructional design, rigorous formative evaluation, and a learner-centred orientation that aims to build delight in learning.

HOW IS AN IRI PROGRAM DEVELOPED? Once a specific need for quality enhancement in a particular system has been identified, and the decision made to employ IRI, the program has two phases: the development phase and the sustained implementation phase. The development phase involves planning, scriptwriting, radio production, and piloting of the programs. Investment during this period requires financing a development staff of scriptwriters, radio technicians, actors, musicians, producers, trainers, evaluators, and management personnel; purchase of rental of radio production facilities; purchase of production supplies; purchase and distribution of radios to schools and tapes to radio stations; printing and distribution of trial materials; staff and teacher training; transportation and per diems for promoters, trainers, and evaluators; transmission time for radio broadcasts; and often, purchase of technical expertise.

Funs from development agencies such as USAID, United Nations agencies, or one of the development banks are often sought to cover most developmental costs. International assistance is usually extended for an initial period, during which the IRI program is developed, piloted, or tested, and becomes operational in a substantial number of classrooms. During this phase, the effectiveness of the program is tested, in terms of learning gains as well as teacher acceptance and support. Increasingly, the initiative for beginning an IRI project is being taken by the country itself, and external assistance, either technical or financial, may be sought only after development has started, e.g., the Venezuela project (see Chapter 3) The sustained implementation phase depends on commitment from governments, donor agencies, teachers, and students. This

22 commitment in turn depends on a number of policy and design factors that will be discussed in Chapter 6.

WHY USE IRI? IRI can be used as an alternative instructional methodology when: 

Subjects or topics are not taught by conventional methods (use of media as the sole means of instruction);



Subjects or topics are not currently taught well, or students require reinforcement or remedial instruction (use of media to improve quality);



Subjects or topics are studied by only a small number of students, and larger textbook development and teacher education programs cannot be justified (use of media as a last resort);



There are not enough teachers for a subject or topic (use of media to increase access); or



There is a need to reinforce direct instruction by providing practice to the student, or motivation to persevere, in a mix of media and conventional instruction (use of media to enhance learning).

The actual class-room execution of IRI is contained in the above set of conditions, but over the years this perception has changed to the point where teachers recognize IRI as a valuable tool in itself, providing inputs that are both unique and effective in capturing and holding learner interest.

23

Students enjoying an IRI programme in Primary School Kurra near Rajim of Raipur District (Photo EDC Raipur)

- Programme Implementation For the successful implementation of the programme, following things have to be kept in mind:  The demand for the programme should be generated from the beneficiaries.  Each programme should be made keeping in mind the taste & interest of the audience.  There must be a provision for the time-to-time live interactions with the target group. At least one phone-in programme every month should be broadcast.  To motivate the students & teachers, some programme should be recorded with the help of teachers & students of the schools performing well. They should deliver some programmes based on the lessons they learned through our radio programmes.  In order to make the programme popular, there should be sufficient publicity campaigns.  As the programmes are developed focusing the needs & requirements of the beginners learning English in the form of

24 soap opera, one should not consider the dates & occasions.

Special programmes can be developed focusing on the special occasions like Deepavali, Teachers Day & Independence Day without breaking the sequence of the programme.  Each script should be thoroughly checked & the formative evaluation of each programme should be done to remove the mistakes.  The teachers as well as students need adequate motivation to use the opportunity created by interactive radio programme.

They have to set proper learning environment.

Establishing an environment conducive to learning will facilitate the exchange of ideas and views. IRI sessions are not aimed at teaching, as “real” teaching is taken care of by the learning text.

The IRI is aimed at engaging the students in meaningful discussion on the topic, creating critical thinking among them, and equipping them with skills to solve their academic problems systematically.

Therefore, their active involvement in the learning process is a prerequisite for the optimum utilization of IRI sessions.

They need to be informed as to what they are going to learn, why the topic is important for them and its link with other topics in the course, and the prerequisites needed to learn the topic.

The resource persons should guide students in their learning. This type of environment can be created by personalizing the entire process of sharing information to allow the students to feel a part of IRI. Creative resource persons can motivate the students to use the materials in their day-to-day situations. The topics for discussion should be selected in consultation with students, local resource persons, and the faculty of the school concerned.

The role of the scriptwriter, the radio teacher & the actual classroom teacher is crucial for the sessions of IRI. They should appear as friends, managers, and directors of students’ learning.

This implies that the resource persons should possess skills and competences in the following areas:  Teaching through the audio medium (with full awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the medium);  Organizing different activities, academic counselling whereby the communication flows from the students to the resource persons;  Principles of and practices in adult learning & Child psychology  Teaching through innovative methods of interactive learning.

25 The success of the IRI sessions also depends on the quality of learning experiences based on local conditions, context, and cases.

The students expect that the Script writer & the resource persons will give a local touch to the content being discussed by giving examples and illustrations from the activities of daily life.

The reach of IRI should be made available to disadvantaged groups such as poor and physically and visually challenged people who try to take advantage of the aural medium to add to their knowledge.

Different methods and strategies need to be used to bring liveliness and spontaneity to IRI sessions. the sessions should be organized in a relaxed atmosphere. Humor, if pedagogically valuable, can be added to make students comfortable in terms of thinking, feeling, laughing, listening, and learning.

As learning from interactive radio is a new experience and relatively unfamiliar to most of the students, they need to develop learning techniques that are different from those for learning from print or teacher-based learning.

There is a need for systematic monitoring and evaluation of each element of the IRI service. All the personnel involved in planning, designing, implementing, and evaluating should receive constructive feedback on a regular basis and at each stage of IRI, which can be translated into action. Research needs to be made an integral part of the system, providing two-way communication to all the stakeholders.

Process of developing IRI Programmes As you are now going to train the teachers who are going to implement the IRI programmes in schools, they must know the details of the process of developing radio programmes. IRI programmes are developed through the following process: ďƒ˜ Audience Research: To know the likes & dislikes of audience, nature, suitable timings, sound, music & many other issues required to make the programme effective. ďƒ˜ Designing Master Plan: How to move from one lesson to another, what topics or materials to be added, grading & guidelines for script writers, these all matters are put together and supplied to script writers so that there comes a script well chained with prepared master plan. A master plan also can be traced as an out-line for writing for something.

26  Script Writing: It is Very technical, time consuming, lot of imagination required for radio scripts, knowledge of content as well as pedagogy.

Script Writing is done with the help from experts who have the knowledge of pedagogy and learning capacity along with teachers’ skills. They write radio scripts.  Production: Production of these programmes are done in digital audio studio, by experts, right tone & pronunciation is required, time taking, technical expertise required. It takes  Formative Evaluation: In some selected sample schools, by evaluators, detailed & minute observation & patience is required, suggestions for improvements, duration of pauses, difficulty level of students or teachers etc.  Corrections & Incorporations: As per the suggestions given by formative evaluators, corrections are made in the scripts & they are revised. As per revision, sections are rerecorded in the studio.  Training of teachers & supervisors: To conduct the IRI classes, teachers training & the training of monitoring authorities is required.  Setting logistics for receiving radio programes: Each school which has to receive the IRI programmes, need to have one radio set, some TLM, teachers’ handbook & yes, active children.  Final production & broadcast of the programme: After making changes in the script, it is given to the All India Radio for broadcast. Schools or anyone in the catchment area can receive the programme & listen to it.

27 CHAPTER - 2 - Significance of the study Even though IRI has obtained a huge popularity in its initial stage, radio instruction, in particular, has clearly not received the attention it deserves. Indeed, if there is any one failure of IRI it has been the inability of its proponents to develop or sustain a sufficiently broad base of support among developing countries with special emphasis on Chhattisgarh region. This is a great pity. Our hope and effort is that the examples provided by various educational programmes of where and how IRI has worked for development of skill among the teacher-mass and also to the students of primary schools across this region. Radio has generated an enthusiasm for the promotion of potential and the particular methods that make it function effectively as an instructional and educational tool. There is no more cost-effective medium than radio for reaching learners inside and out-side of classrooms in remote areas. Chhattisgarh has diverse regions and learning capabilities in its various aspects in different districts.

Radio is clearly not a substitute for teachers in schools but is a concrete support for the promotion of quality education.. If schools or community learning centers can afford technological mediums like Radio, computers, televisions, there would certainly be some positive impact of the same. However, in much of the world, computers and televisions are not going to become available anytime soon-especially in more remote sites. Thus, radio continues to offer the best of medium of instruction and has acquired much of fame. Moreover, recent advances in the development of low-cost, windup radios and digital radio transmission to large populations promise to bring even more attractive and affordable options for using radio in remote sites in the coming years.

I believe this study would provide a balanced account of the successes and failures of the international experience with IRI in special reference to Chhattisgarh and also be a useful document for future studies. This would also become a research to enable referral forms for any individual to synthesize his or her outlook towards this ambitious programme. I would not simply add on to avoiding easy generalizations, as it situates the unfolding of events in the richness of local context. Rather, readers are reminded throughout of the need for a long-range vision toward matters of implementation, ownership, and institutionalization during the length and breadth of complex processes of educational reform and innovation in this paper. With such considerations in mind, I hope

28 that readers would find this study a useful addition to the literature on the development of education in developing regions like Chhattisgarh, and prove to be a part in enhancing the quality of Education therewith.

- Teachers’ Knowledge of Technology The teachers know about the use of radio. They have used radio in their home. So there will be no problem in using the radio in classrooms. They are also familiar with the use of TV. Some of the teachers are familiar with the computers due the availability in Headstart centres but they are not aware of using it in the classrooms. Most of them are interested in learning the skills of using computers.

- Teachers’ Perception of Technology in Education Most of them view technology as a friend & supporter in facilitating their classroom work. They are ever ready to welcome new technology & innovation in education.

- Teachers’ other Responsibilities/Activities Teachers spend their summer vacations in getting different types of training programmes at the block level. They do some enrolment drives & mobilization campaigns in the beginning of the session. They perform all routine school tasks like conducting assembly, marking attendance, framing time table, question paper setting, planning and organizing examinations, enrolment of children, tabulation and disbursement of incentives to children etc.

They have to spend a lot of time in monitoring of the cooking of the Mid Day Meal & its distribution. They regards it as one of the greatest hurdle in their routine teaching tasks but they treat as the best motivator for children to retain in schools.

The non-teaching tasks, the government teachers have to perform is the biggest hurdle in their routine school related works.

They are engaged in census, election to cattle count, tendu leaves collection & different sorts of surveys like BPL, health & so on.

- Willingness for undergoing Training Almost all the teachers are willing to undergo different types of training. They are interested in learning how to make their classes joyful & activity based. They don’t want to undergo routine, traditional lecture based training. Some of them want that training should be organized during summer & others want that they should be trained only during the school hours.

29 Most of the teachers prefer on the spot training instead of going for a long distance to receive training. They want that new & innovative things should be taught or delivered to them during the training programmes.

- Innovative Ways of Teaching The teachers are interested in doing innovations but they are not exposed to different types of innovations being done by the teachers. They use acting, telling stories, excursion to nearby places, developing low & no cost teaching aids etc.

In most of the schools, one can find the pocket board with lots of flash cards. The teachers developed these pocket boards during the training under Shikshak Samakhya. Most of the teachers are using the available teaching aids; some are using story telling, role play, group work and play way method; and also the materials like charts, flash cards, pictures and models procured from the funds they receive under Teachers’ Grant from SSA. - Familiarity with Group Activities Teachers are familiar with different types of group activities.

They are exposed to do these types of activities during their teachers training sessions conducted in DIETs & Block Resource Centres. The Education Guarantee Scheme School’s Gurujis are better exposed to this system. Being the single teacher school, they use the multi-level approach & form groups according to the level & pace of students. Co-Operative learning is also very common in schools. Different indoor & outdoor games are also played in groups.

- Technology in Testing and Evaluation Teachers have been exposed to different innovative methods for evaluation & testing of students. Instead of one-time yearly exams, the teachers are now taking regular monthly unit tests.

They also use assessment in place of evaluation in early classes i.e.

1 & 2.

The EGS Gurujis are trained to keep the record of each child in learners’ record & they plan their lesson & write it in Teacher Planner. The Cluster Resource Centers are proposed to be given the Cyclostyle machine & the schools can take regular tests after getting the question paper cyclostyled from these Resource Centers. In this way, technology can assist in taking the tests & evaluation of children.

Teachers are also tested during the need-based teacher training programmes. On the basis of their problem areas thus

30 identified, they are given the training & remedial sessions. This trend of testing the teachers has percolated inside them & they have started taking regular test of their students as well & plan their lessons on the basis of their need areas.

- About Teaching of English: Although most of the teachers lack proper training for teaching English, there has been a great enthusiasm felt among them for learning this language. There are teachers who have been teaching English from past 10-12 years but mostly at primary levels. Most of the teachers engaged in teaching English have studied the language only up to school levels but manage the fundamentals while explaining the concepts. They also feel that the training given to them for teaching English is not sufficient and the period of training be extended as per the needs of the programmes and the matters that are taught to students, specially in the field of grammar and formation of sentences for children in the perspective of day-to-day happening of their school atmosphere. The main problem that they face in teaching English is the accurate and correct pronunciation of the English words, fluency in reading and writing as well as in explaining the things.

Children like stories, poems, narrations and small sentences while learning English. The teachers also take help of pictures, textbooks, cards and such other teaching aids while teaching the subject. They also feel that the knowledge of mother tongue is much more essential in teaching and explaining English to children, even up to 50 percent as obtained from the field visits made to different schools of the selected blocks of Chhattisgarh. They feel that lessons related to local culture, games and sports, food habits of people, places of importance, things related to national integration, patriotism and improving vocabulary, are required through the Radio Programme for teaching English.

The teaching of English would be facilitated if the matters related to their socio-cultural circumstances were included in the teaching resources. The things should also be translated to Hindi or to the mother tongue of the region that might smoothen the process of teaching the subject in better and result-oriented manner. The teaching of English could also be enhanced and made easier if proper training is provided to the teachers time to time by upgrading their standard of knowledge and adopting various methods for children to learn the topic easily in play way manner.

Other than these, the teacher as well as the students should improve an eagerness to learn the language and have a thirst for the same. The teaching or learning of English should never be taken

31 something, as imposition rather should be felt as the need of the hour. They should also be provided with all the needed articles like dictionary, textbook, workbook and with the routine training on the trends of subject that need to be upgraded for better teaching of English.

- Community Members’ Opinion: The Field Investigators met some of the community members. They have a good opinion about the school. They were well aware of the needs & requirements of the schools. Some demanded the playground facility, some were of the opinion that they need some additional classrooms for the schools & some were worried about the toilet facilities.

They were satisfied with the result the school is giving & the performance of the teachers. They think that even after so many problems, the teachers are doing their duty sincerely. They have certain complaints about those teachers who don’t reside in the local village.

They say that though the children in these schools belong to poor families, they are well mannered & do all efforts to achieve good marks. When we talked about the strengths of the school, they pointed out the discipline, results, cooperation of parents etc.

While pointing to the weaknesses, they told about the need of toilet, drinking water facility, play ground, plantation & the power connection.

For the quality improvement in their schools, they require regular academic support, timely availability of textbooks & other materials, immediate actions on the basis of their complaints, limiting the non-teaching tasks to be performed by the teachers etc.

The community can support the school in terms of both physical & financial level. The Panchayat will give priority to school related activities.

There are a few means of recreation in the locality. They enjoy the natural beauty, local theatre, video, TV & a garden. They also enjoy visiting local haats, i.e. market. Local cultural programmes are also arranged during some festivals or special occasions.

32 People in the village watch TV. They have the cable connections in some places. Radio listening is also there but it is rare. Nowadays, after the introduction of Vividh Bharati, it is again becoming popular. They mostly listen to different songs & Chhattisgarhi programmes. They also listen to the programmes related to their work & agriculture. Children enjoy watching cartoon films, Cinema & songs etc. They also like watching cricket.

- Educational Importance of study While collecting information on various topics related to IRI I have come to determinate myself the below mentioned educational importance of this study:  It would assess the school infrastructure facilities available in schools and its regular use in terms of technology based education.  It would find out the prevailing teaching-learning processes in our classrooms, with reference to that of conventional teaching and use of technology thereupon.  It would provide an idea of the needs, interests, likes and dislikes of the students and teachers to obtain the support as Radio a teaching tool.  It would ascertain the opinion of the listeners on the timings, duration & other qualitative aspects of the programme, while learning the foreign language like ‘English’ as a second language in school age.  It would present background information for the successful implementation of IRI Programmes.  It would strengthen the structure of using Radio as a teaching tool based on the feedback received from various primary and secondary sources.  It would also ascertain the department and organisation working for the betterment of education and quality improvement, to get a clear picture of so as to what to adopt in whish sense.

 It would also provide a structured status of IRI programme and its effective implementation for promotion of English language.

- Problems and elucidations While making number of efforts for the study for this topic, there also would arise certain issues. I have chalked out some of the major issues and problems here that may come across in various terms.

33  Teachers’ Competency and Scope for Improvement: How competent is the teacher subject-wise? Does the teacher have enough opportunity and time for subject enrichment for example English Language and teaching, even if he/she is motivated to learn? Is there proper access to content and information related to pedagogy?  Teacher-Student Ratio: What is the teacher-student ratio? Is it the ideal situation? What about one teacher handling more than one class in a classroom at the same time? Do teachers handle all subjects for each class?  Operational Issues: Are the schools ready to accommodate the new program (radio/TV) in the existing school hours making necessary changes in the timetable?

Will it disturb the scheduled periods? What are the possible operational issues like power problem, maintenance, use or misuse and monitoring?  Teachers’ Knowledge of Technology: Does the teacher have basic computer/ technology knowledge? If so, what kind of training has he/she gone through? If not, is he/she ready to learn?  Teachers’ Perception of Technology in Education: Is the teacher open to "invasion" of new technology? How do the teachers view “technology” - as an intruder, as a support or a friend, as master, as servant, as educator, etc?  Teachers’ other Responsibilities/Activities: What are the teachers’ other activities/responsibilities in the school and what is the time and effort spent on these non-teaching assignments in a day?  Willingness for undergoing Training: How approachable is the teacher? Can we pull out a teacher from school for training purpose? What about training during non-school hours?  Innovative Ways of Teaching: Is the teacher using any innovative ways for teaching? Is she using only black board, or pictures, charts, flash cards, models or any other teaching aids?  Familiarity with Group Activities: How familiar is the teacher with group activities? Has she ever been exposed to such methods?  Seating Arrangement: Does the classroom have adequate sitting facility for students? What is the arrangement for the seating of children?

34  Lighting and Ventilation of the Classrooms: Does the classroom have adequate light and ventilation? What is the colour of the classroom walls?  Adequacy of Classrooms: Are there adequate rooms for all the classes?

 Technology in Testing and Evaluation: Does technology have an impact on testing and evaluation of students to the extent of reducing their anxiety related to tests and exams?

- Aims of the study By taking this study I had a very thorough notion of the quality education and its impartment in our school. However the main aims of the study are be as follows:  To assess the school infrastructure facilities available in schools for the improvement of quality in education and teaching.  To find out the prevailing teaching-learning processes in our classrooms and its better utilisation.  To get an idea of the needs, interests, likes and dislikes of the students and teachers for grasping a foreign language like English from primary levels.  To ascertain the opinion of the listeners/ beneficiaries on the timings, duration & other qualitative aspects of the programme, about the broadcast from All India Radio for schools during school timings.  To get the background information for the successful implementation of IRI Programmes.

- Hypothesis

-

There would be an easy process and method of teachinglearning English.

Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) would assist the teachers to improve teaching skills.

There will be a significant difference between conventional teaching method and this innovation method.

IRI will bring out a clear idea for the adaptation and execution of innovations in the field of primary education IRI would also be a guide for the teachers/ mentors of this region for smooth and proper conduct of IRI programme.

This study will improve and enhance teachers’ understanding of quality education and inclusion of various teaching methods in our classrooms.

35 - Scope of study and its limitations I have tried to work upon the scope of this study so as to what areas and periphery to cover and have reached to the conclusion that study related to IRI programme and level of learning in primary schools would provide me with the better understanding and also entertain the thirst of preparing for some research papers.

Thus keeping in mind all these queries I have taken the topic and stated working upon the same. I shall try my best to keep the track with the topic selected and also abide by its limitations. I shall try my best to satisfy the needs on my guide and also the outcome of this study, for the betterment of the system and people at large.

- Methodology of the study Tool Development: Various tools, viz., school information schedule, questionnaire for teacher-based experiences, questionnaire for teaching & learning environment , and points for focused group discussion with children or students, semi-structured teachers’ interview schedule, school visit form. & Questionnaire to the Station Director, All India Radio were used for the audience research. The tools will be developed in close association with Education Development Center and Rajiv Gandhi Shiksha Mission Chhattisgarh.

Data Collection: The data collection will be made from the investigation and feedback from various schools randomly selected as per sample. .four Field Investigators visited the schools in January, 2004 and collected the requisite data.

Data on teaching-learning environment and teacher-based experiences will be collected through departmental assistance and teachers’ support.

36

IRI Methodology in class-room being executed by the teacher. (Sketch by EDC Raipur)

37 CHAPTER – 3 - Random Sample selection process The Sample Schools for this study will be taken from various districts and its blocks where the Interactive Radio Instruction programme has been introduced or launched. These districts will be from 16 districts of our Chhattisgarh state. Total of twenty primary schools each may be taken as the sample for the study, and the selection will purely be on random basis. These may be based on the criterion that there should be representation of all the following categories of schools in the sample for carrying out the study:  Tribal, Rural & Urban Setting  Large & Small size as per the enrolment  Co-education & girls School  Residential & Non-residential school  Single teacher and multi teacher schools  Schools equipped with advanced technologies and schools without them.

Observation instruments: The classroom observations reported in this Research paper was based on the observations made directly in the classrooms.

Classroom observation indicated that it did appear to capture important aspects of classroom activities. However, the evaluation tool proved to be difficult for teachers. I too had a difficult time grasping the difference between IRI and non-IRI time.

While there is little difference in terms of cost in implementation, that a) ensures a greater level of consistency among evaluators; b) is more relevant to the Indian context; c) is easier to complete within the same amount of time and d) Measures both short and long-term impacts.

As an observer I become better versed with the questionnaire, the project might be able to slightly increase the total numbers of schools evaluated.

The classroom questionnaire instrument (a copy of which is appended to this report) consists of 34 rating items that are divided into four categories of observations. Observers are asked to make ratings on the following aspects of teaching and classroom climate:  Teacher (Participation in IRI, Managerial skill, Concern, Ability)  Classroom Climate (Freedom, Motivation)

38  Handbook (Availability, Usefulness)  Teaching Learning Materials  Assessment All of the categories of rating listed above are assessed with multiple items with the exception of the handbook availability which was assessed by a single item.

Observations made: The observations were conducted at 80 schools spread over 4 geographical blocks of Raipur, Dhamtari and Durg districts. The blocks were:    

Abhanpur (Raipur) Arang (Raipur) Kurud (Dhamtari) Gurur (Durg)

Dates of observations: 

Questionnaire observations were conducted in the period October to November 2006.

Random selection of Schools: Given are names of the schools randomly selected for collection of feedback and data on IRI from Abhanpur and Arang block of Raipur, Gurur block of Durg and Kurud block of Dhamtari districts.

39

SN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

List of Schools for Feedback on IRI Name of School visited Primary School Singarbhata Vidhya Mandir Pipraod Primary School Kurra Primary School Nawagaona Primary School Jaondi Primary School Rampur Primary School Uperwara Primary School Nimora Primary School Tuta Primary School Khatti Primary School Girls Abhanpur Basti Primary School Boys Khorpa Girls Primary School Khorpa Primary School Thakurdev Uperwara Primary School Gatapara Primary School Gondpara Boys Primary School Black Kaloni Primary School Dewarbhata Primary School Dadarjhori Primary School Manikchovri Primary School Chaprid Primary SchoolBoys Palod Primary School Riko Primary School Boys Khaoli Primary School Tekari Primary School Chataona Primary School Baktara Primary School Banrasi Primary School Nardaha Primary School Bhatapara Gullu Primary School Bhatapara Lakhaoli Primary School Girls Farfaod Primary School Bhansoj Primary School Chandkhuri Primary School Koransi Primary School Amsena Primary School Bhaisa Primary School Badgaon Primary School Khapri Primary School Jaraod Primary School Dadhari Primary School Kosami Primary School Boys Gurur Primary School Kanvar Primary School Mudgahan

Block Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Abhanpur Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Arang Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur

40 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Primary School Narbada Primary School Kanharpuri Primary School Usarwara Primary School Purur Primary School Bharrigaon Primary School Bheja Primary School Pikaripara Primary School Kinargondi Primary School Dotopar Primary School Bohardih Primary School Tilkhairi Primary School Anandpur Primary School Ghoghopuri Primary School Bhulan-Dabari Primary School Bhaismundi Primary School Gobara Primary School Sidharikhurd Primary School Umarda Primary School Charra Primary School Bakli Primary School Nari Primary School Kokadi (Nari) Primary School Pachpedi Primary School Bhakara Primary School Kodebode Primary School Jugdehi Primary School Silaoti Primary School Bhatagaon Primary School Charota Primary School Birejhar Girls Primary School Madeli N.Girls Primary School Kurud Primary School Tarragondi Primary School Banagar Primary School Chataod

Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Gurur Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud Kurud

In order to make a judgment about whether schools were exhibiting classroom characteristics that warranted the judgment that they were quality schools it was decided that a school would have to achieve a 75% standard. That is, if a school received 75% of the possible rating points and above, the school was judged to have attained a level of quality on the particular characteristic being rated. If the school attained an overall rating of 75% of the possible rating points summed across all of the categories of observation, it was judged to be a quality school. Given that the 75% or rating point standard is somewhat arbitrary (and a very stringent standard) the results will also be reported using two other

41 standards. The percentage of schools achieving a level of 60% of possible ratings and 70% of possible ratings will be reported to provide a better indication of how schools performed on the rating scales.

I R I SCHOOL The IRI School Logo, stating the execution of programme in schools

- Response from Radio Station Directors: This response has been obtained from the investigators of All India Radio, Raipur Station for the purpose of the IRI programme broadcast. Mr.NK Patro and Dr.Pradeep Sao, of AIR Raipur have expressed their views for the IRI programme on the below mentioned points. Raipur Radio Station has the radial distance of 70 kilometres as the private coverage area and 100 kilometres as the secondary coverage area. Some of the significant points mentioned by the above AIR officials are mentioned belowQ: How large is the audience in the coverage area of your radio station?

A: The radial distance of Raipur Radio Station in 70 kilometres as its primary coverage area that also reaches out 100 kilometres of secondary coverage area.

42 Q: Where is your audience? In each part of your coverage area, what percentage of the population are members of your audience?

A: This station covers almost 156.2 lakhs of people as its audience as per the census survey made in the year 2001. The station has popular coverage in the whole of region. The station has distance coverage from Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, Dhamtari, Kawardha and parts of Raigarh & Kanker.

Q: How does your audience come to know about different programmes- what time of day, what day of week, etc?

A: The daily broadcast details are given in newspaper and are also summarized regularly at the beginning of the broadcast at morning for about five minutes.

Q: Are there any special programme for children? Which are they?

What are their special features?

A: There are two programmes for children, Kislay at 8:30 on Sunday of half-an-hour duration and Bal-Vatika on Sunday at 9:15 with 15 minutes duration. These programmes are meant for children and their intellectual, cultural and social enhancement.

These programmes are listened by about 10 percent of the total children in the region.

Q: What type of educational programmes do you broadcast? What is their popularity level?

A: We broadcast a programme in the name of ‘Anugoonj’, that covers the Educational development activities of the region along with giving due information on topics related to general awareness.

These programmes are equally popular in the region. It is broadcast daily in the evening 6.15 to 6.35. Different days & subjects are given to different radio station. These radio stations develop the programmes with the help of Education Department.

Q: What is the time of broadcast for children and what is the duration?

A: The programmes for children are broadcast at 8:30 am to 9:00 am on Sunday for half-an-hour. These programmes are mostly live & children only participate in the programme. Earlier school education related programme- “ Chhetriya Prasaran” was broadcast at about 1.30 in the afternoon.

Q: What time slots do you consider as the most suitable one and listened to by maximum number of audience?

43 A: The actual time slot is 6 to 8 am when almost 53 percent of people listen to radio. The ratio differs in different times of the day.

Time Slot 6 to 8 am 8 to 10 am 10 am to 12 noon 12 to 2 pm 4 to 2 pm 6 to 8 pm 8 to 10 pm

% of Audience/ Listeners 53 % 48 % 3% 34 % 39 % 29 % 33 %

Q: What time do you consider best for the educational broadcast for primary school children? What should be the ideal duration?

A: The best time for the broadcast of programme related to children would be evening after 6 pm. The duration of the programme should be of half-an-hour (30 minutes). But if the programmes are to be broadcast & listened to in school itself then the ideal time for the broadcast is from afternoon 12.00 before the distribution of the Mid-Day Meals.

Q: What were the famous characters in your serials or different programmes? Why were they famous? Give some characteristics of these characters.

A: We haven’t yet developed this type of Soap Opera from our Radio Station for Children. But this is a good idea & the characters should be lively, related to their life situations, very near to them.

They should speak & express their own feelings & have the local touch & flavour.

Q: What are your suggestions for the use of radio in improving English language in our schools? What methods & approaches should be adopted while writing the script for the programme?

A: Use of radio is exceptional and far-reaching, not only in the field of improving English at the school level, but also to convey the progressive message to the grass-root and village level. Radio has been used to improve Hindi as a language and its grammatical aspects. The same may be used for English also. Our target audience (villagers) have a belief that whatever is being said on Radio is always correct and authentic. This belief may be used as the main tool while producing English lessons for Radio.

The scripts should be simple and catchy. It should start with basic knowledge and should be interesting. It should not be

44 monotonous so as to avoid boredom. There should not also be the frequent repetition of but could be made at appropriate places and levels. However the repeating could also help the children in understanding the things explained on radio thus the scripts should also consist the repetition of certain items whiting the limits of the lesson. The playful approach and interactive methods are the most important aspect for writing good educational scripts.

A good scripts or the radio programme should have these heads to consider upon; as good components, background sound, voice-modulations, formats with dramatic, narrative, interactive, musical and poetic approaches, so as to give a simple and clear understanding to learners or the to the listeners.

Students learning with Radio based activities in one of the IRI English lessons at Government Primary School Gatapar in Abhanpur of Raipur District (Photo by EDC Raipur)

45 CHAPTER - 4 - Statistical implications and results Overall Comparison of IRI and Non-IRI Classrooms: The results presented in this chapter show the rating performance on the classroom questionnaire and observation. As mentioned above, the target criterion for a quality school was 75% or more of the possible rating points.

Again, however, data will also be presented showing the percent of schools that would be judged quality schools if the criterion was set at 60% and at 70% of possible rating points. The first graph below shows the percent of schools that attained quality ratings in IRI and Non-IRI classes. The ratings depicted in the graph are average of percent possible points attained over the 4 rating categories of Teacher, Classroom Climate, Teaching Learning Materials and Assessment. There were several types of ratings that were left out of the quality calculation as it relates to comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI classrooms because they were quite specific to IRI. These types were: Teacher Participation in IRI, and Handbook Availability and Usefulness.

The graph shows that over 50% of observed classrooms reached the quality level of 75% or greater of positive classroom ratings in the classrooms, over 60% of the classrooms were judged to be quality classrooms if the criterion was 70%, and over 80% of the classrooms would be judged quality if the criterion was 60%.

The ratings for Non-IRI classrooms are somewhat lower than those for IRI classrooms except in the circumstance where the quality rating was set at 60%, in which case IRI and Non-IRI classrooms attained similar levels of quality.

Abhanpur

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Arang Kurud Gurur

IRI Class

Non IRI Class

Comparisons of IRI and Non-IRI Classes on Different Rating Categories: The next set of analyses examines the question of what proportion of observed classrooms attained the quality rating level of 75% in

46 each of the rating categories. This data is presented in the Table below which shows the proportion of classrooms attaining a rating of 75% or more of the possible points in each of the four major categories of evaluation, and for sub-categories of evaluation in situations where a major category is divided into sub-categories.

The Table also shows the proportion of classrooms that would be judged quality classrooms if the criterion for quality was set at 60% and 70% of possible ratings.

As was the case with the classroom observation data, a relevant question to ask is whether ratings for a particular school in an IRI classroom were similar at all to ratings in a Non-IRI classroom.

Again, this question was addressed by correlating IRI ratings with Non-IRI ratings. The correlation statistic was r = .575, p < .001.

The questionnaire correlation for IRI and Non-IRI ratings was not as high as it was for the observation data, but nonetheless it was substantial and indicates that schools that received a high IRI rating also tended to receive a high Non-IRI rating.

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 60, 70%, and 75% of Possible Rating Points or Greater in Each Rating Category Category

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 60% Level 90

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 70% Level 90

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 75% Level 65

93 82 83

85 48 65

78 35 54

Freedom

60

48

38

Motivation

70

50

40

Availability Usefulness

70 88

35 65

35 56

Teaching Learning Materials

48

43

35

Assessment

85

62

35

Teacher

Classroom Climate

Handbook

Sub-Category

Participation in IRI Managerial Concern Ability

47 The next set of analyses repeated the analysis immediately above with Non-IRI classrooms. The data in the Table below shows these ratings.

Not surprisingly, ratings for attributes that are fairly specific to IRI classrooms such as teacher participation in IRI and aspects of handbook use were relatively low in the Non-IRI classrooms.

There were some differences though that were noteworthy and deserve further examination. Teachers in IRI classrooms received substantially higher managerial ratings that teachers in Non-IRI classrooms. This is suggestive of different behaviours in the two settings and may be indicative of more positive teaching performance in the IRI setting. Finally, the rating for assessment in the Non-IRI setting is very low and may suggest some difficulty with the assessment rating in the Non-IRI setting.

Proportion of Non-IRI Classrooms Attaining 60, 70%, and 75% of Possible Rating Points or Greater in Each Rating Category Category

Teacher

Classroom Climate Handbook Teaching Learning Materials Assessment

SubCategory

Participation in IRI Managerial Concern Ability Freedom Motivation Availability Usefulness

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 60% Level 9

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 70% Level 9

Proportion of IRI Classrooms Attaining 75% Level 7

64 60 79 60

25 45 60 58

16 35 55 45

70 8 10 70

45 4 8 55

40 4 5 46

35

6

4

Comparisons of Classroom Ratings in Different Geographical Blocks: The final comparison is an examination of the IRI and Non-IRI questionnaire ratings in each of the geographical blocks. The graphs to follow show those ratings. The first graph shows the mean ratings for the IRI classrooms and as can be seen in the

48 graph schools in Abhanpur receive the highest overall ratings and schools in Kurud receive the lowest overall ratings.

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Abhanpur Arang Kurud Gurur

IRI Class

The final graph shows the same data as the one above except it depicts the ratings for Non-IRI classrooms in each of the geographical blocks. The general pattern of performance for the blocks is similar to the pattern in the IRI classrooms though there is a tendency for the ratings to be more similar to one another than they were in the IRI classrooms.

Concluding Observations This is the first evaluation year where an attempt has been made to identify â&#x20AC;&#x153;qualityâ&#x20AC;? schools. The identification of quality involves setting a point above, which schools are assumed to meet a quality standard and below which they have failed to meet the standard. It should be emphasized that identifying the quality point is inherently subjective and an argument could be made that the 75% standard set in this report is too high. This writer believes that it is unlikely that many would argue that the standard is too low.

The identification of quality presented in the report is best viewed as a baseline against which future evaluations can be compared.

The results presented in the report also provide information that may be useful in the future for improving school performance. The observation and questionnaire data for individual schools will be reported to the dot-EDU central office that that information can be used to develop improvement plans for schools that appear to be experiencing difficulties. The identification of those difficulties may also be useful in making overall improvements in the training received by schools that are new to the program.

49 III Appendix A CHECK LIST School

Block

Date of visit

Name of the Teacher

Class/Subject observed

IRI /Non IRI

S.N. 01 02 03 04

Items Participation in IRI Orientation Prog Receipt of Teachers Handbook on IRI Usefulness of the Handbook for as guideline for conducting IRI programme What aspect of the handbook was useful for transacting IRI in the classroom

05

Maintenance of records on IRI programme

06

Arranging the class for IRI Programme Seating Arrangements for a class Seating Arrangements Ability among the teacher to plan for IRI as per the requirement of the handbook

07 08 09

10

11 12 13 14

Teacher could transact the content as per the handbook Whether pre broadcast activities were carried out Usefulness of Pre broadcast Preparation of TLM by the teacher TLMS used

Response No, Yes Not received, In time, Well in advance Not useful, Useful for some extent, extremely useful Objectives, Pre broadcast, during broadcast, Post broadcast Not maintained, Not satisfactory, Satisfactory No, Yes Not adequate, Adequacy Rigid, flexible No, Yes,

No , Not completely, Completely No, Yes, No, Yes Not done, Done Used TLM already available, developed and used, used both available and prepared

Scoring 1,2 1,2,3 1,2,3 Each gets a score of one..

Max: 4 1,2,3

1,2 1,2 1,2 1,2

1,2,3

1,2 1,2, 1,2 1,2,3

Score Awarded

50 15

Variety of TLMs

16

Appropriateness of TLM for a given lesson

17 18

Opportunity to develop learning materials by students Materials used by

19

Confidence in using TLMs

20

Teacher exhibits concern for students cognitive needs Freedom for children to explore and experiment

21 22

23 24 25 26

27

Opportunity for children to do things themselves and learn Makes provision for Individual and group work during the lesson Encourages students to share the material during group work Encourage students to respond to questions Teacher attempts to integrate students experiences while teaching Classroom Environment for teaching â&#x20AC;&#x201C;learning

28

Interaction in the class between Tr-stu-Tr

29

Variety in classroom activities (Songs, games) Ability to follow Radio instruction

30

No, to some extent, lot of Variety Not appropriate, some what appropriate, Very appropriate No, Yes

1,2 1,2,3

1,2

Use by Tr.only, use by students, use by students and teachers Not confident, somewhat, fully confident No, to some extent, most of the time No, to some extent, most of the time No, to some extent, most of the time No, to some extent, most of the time No, to some extent, most of the time Unable, able to some extent and fully able No, to some extent, most of the time Not cordial, somewhat cordial, Very cordial No interaction, Not Sufficient, Sufficient No, Not Sufficient, Sufficient

1,2,3

Unable, able to some extent, fully able

1,2,3

1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3

1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3

1,2,3 1,2,3 1,2,3

51 31

Variety in questions

32

Distribution of questions among students

33

Asking questions to assess understanding of students in different segments of lesson Ability to reformulate questions when students are not able to understand

34

No, to some extent, lot of Variety Unable, able to some extent and fully able No, to some extent, most of the time

1,2,3

Unable, able to some extent , fully able

1,2,3

1,2,3 1,2,3

Note:  Visit the school on the stipulated date (BRC could inform the dates of your visit)  Have discussion with Head Teacher and Teacher regarding the purpose of your visit  Observe 2 IRI and 2 Non-IRI classes (it could be one teacher /two teachers  If two teachers, then some information such as training etc to be colleted from both the teachers

52 Categorization of Items Category

Sub category

Teacher

Participation in IRI 1,12 Managerial 6,7,8,11 Concern 20,26 Ability 23,28,29,30,31,32 SUB TOTAL Freedom 21,22 Motivation 24,25,27 SUB TOTAL Availability 2 Usefulness 3,4,9,10 SUB TOTAL

Classroom Climate Hand Book

Teaching Learning Materials Assessment

Item Numbers

No of Items 2 4 2 6 14 2 3 5 1 4 5

13,14,15,16,17,18,19

7

5,33,34

3

53 MONITORING FORMAT FOR FIELD TESTING

'kkyk Hkze.k izfrosnu & NRrhlx<+ jkT; 'kkyk dk uke % xzke @clkgV % fodkl[kaM dk uke % iz/kkuikBd dk uke@izHkkjh f”k{kd % f'k{kdksa dh dqy la[;k % 'kkyk yxus dk le; %

ladqy dk uke % ftyk dk uke % iq:"k % 'kkyk Hkze.k dh frfFk %

efgyk %

A. 'kkyk okrkoj.k vkbZ-vkj-vkbZ- ds lanHkZ esa %

1- D;k d{kk esa dk;Zdze pyk;k tkrk gS \ 2- jsfM;ks dk j[k&j[kko ;fn ugha] rks D;ksa \

Yes: Done

No: Not done

;fn dksbZ fVIi.kh gks \ B. iath;u &

3- d{kk esa dqy ukekafdr Nk=ksa dh la[;k &

Class

Gender

Class - I

Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys

Class - II

;fn dksbZ fVIi.kh gks \

Class – III Class – IV

SC

ST

OBC

GEN

TOTAL

Girls Boys

Class - V

girls

C. mifLFkfr &

4- d{kk esa mifLFkfr dqy Nk= &

Class Class - I Class - II

;fn dksbZ fVIi.kh gks \

Class – III Class – IV Class - V

iz/kku ikBd ds gLrk{kj

Boys

Girls

Total

54 D. d{kk dh ifjfLFkfr &

5- D;k IRI d{kk esa f”k{kd mifLFkfr Fks \ ;fn ugha] dkj.k nhft,A

Yes

NO

6- D;k f”k{kd IRI dk;Zdez ds fy, rS;kj Fks ¼lkexzh] miyC/k lalk/ku ;k jsfM;ks dh gkyr½ ;fn ugha] dkj.k nhft,A

Yes

dqN :i esa

Yes

NO

8- D;k IRI dk;Zdze ds nkSjku f”k{kd us Nk=ksa dks lewg ;k tksM+ksa esa foHkkftr fd;k \ ;fn ugha] dkj.k nhft,A

Yes

NO

9- dk;Zdze esa Nk=ksa dh Hkkxhnkjh dk Lrj D;k Fkk \

10%

10- D;k d{kk esa f”k{k.k lkexzh dk mi;ksx fd;k x;k \ 11- D;k f”k{kd }kjk dk;Z iqfLrdk dk mi;ksx fd;k x;k\ ;fn ugha] rks D;ksa \

Yes

7- D;k f”k{kd jsfM;ks dk;Zdze gsrq nh xbZ ekxZnf”kZdk dk mi;ksx dj jgs Fks \ ;fn ugha] rks D;ks \

NO

E. IRI dk;Zdze ds nkSjku d{kkxr xfrfof/k &

25%

50 %

75%

dqN :i esa dqN :i esa

Yes

95 % NO NO

F. d{kk dh lkekU; ifjfLFkfr ¼tc IRI Yes 12- D;k f”k{kd us IRI dk;Zdze dh lekfIr ij mlesa funsZf”kr izlkj.k ds mijkar dh tkus okyh xfrfof/k;ksa dk lapkyu fd;k \ ;fn ugha] dkj.k crk;sAa 13- D;k f”k{k.k }kjk cuk,a x;s lewgksa esa lHkh Nk=ksa dh Hkkxhnkjh jgh \ Yes ;fn ugha] rks dkj.k crk;saA

14- D;k Nk= dk;Zdze lekfIr ds mijkar yxkrkj ppkZ ,oa vkilh laokn djrs jgs \

dqN :i esa NO

Yes

NO

G. leqnkf;d lgHkkfxrk &

15- D;k 'kkyk fodkl lfefr@tu Hkkxhnkjh lfefr ds lnL; IRI Yes dk;Zdze ds ckjs esa ifjfpr gSa \ 16- D;k 'kkyk fodkl lfefr@ tu Hkkxhnkjh lfefr ds lnL;ksa us Yes IRI dk;Zdze lquk gS \ 17- IRI dk;Zdze dks lewnk; dh vksj ls fdl izdkj dk lg;ksx izkIr gqvk gS \ H.

NO

NO NO

55

18- miyfC/k] ;fn dksbZ gks \ I. vU; lq>ko &

19- vU; lkekU; lq>ko

dk;Zdze dh ekWfuVfjax NRrhlx<+ jkT; & f”k{kdksa gsrq iz”ukoyh Yes No D;k lHkh IRI ikBksa dk lapkyu fd;k x;k \ ;fn ugh arks D;ks \ dqN :i esa No D;k nSfud d{kkxr f”k{k.k esa IRI dk;Zdze iwjd dk dk;Z djrk Yes gS \ Yes No D;k nh xbZ f”k{kd ekxZnf”kZdk mi;ksxh gS \ ;fn ugha] rks D;ksa \ IRI

1.

2.

3.

4.

D;k IRI dk;Zdze dh xfrfof/k;ksa dk lapkyu fd;k x;k\ ;fn ugha] rks D;ksa \

Yes

No

5.

6.

D;k vkius IRI dk izf”k{k.k fy;k gS \ D;k vki IRI dk;Zdze esa crk;s x;s lk/kuksa dk iz;ksx djrs gSa \ ;fn ugha] rks D;ksa \

Yes Yes

No No

7.

D;k Nk= IRI dk;Zdze esa fn;s tk jgs fun lgHkkfxrk fuHkkrs gS \ D;k vki izlkj.k mijkar djk;h tkus okyh xfrfof/k;ksa dk lapkyu djrs gS \ D;k vki Nk=ksa dks IRI dk;Zdze ij vk/kkfjr x`g dk;Z nsrs gSa \ D;k vki viuh lkekU; d{kk esa IRI esa iz;qDr fof/k;ksa dk iz;ksx djrs gS \ D;k vkids vuqifLFkfr esa vU; f”k{kd IRI dk;Zdze dk lapkyu djrs gSa \ D;k vkidks jsfM;ks ikBksa ds izHkkoh lapkyu gsrq leqnk; dh vksj ls dksbZ lg;ksx izkIr gqvk \ ;fn gka] rks mYys[k djsa &

Yes

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

dqN :i esa

Yes

No

Yes Yes

No

dqN :i esa

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

No

56 13.

IRI dk;Zdze ij fopkj O;Dr djsa &

14.

vU; lq>ko] ;fn dksbZ gks & IRI

1.

2.

3.

4.

dk;Zdze dh ekWfuVfjax NRrhlx<+ jkT; & Nk=ksa gsrq iz”ukoyh ¼pkj ls N% Nk=ksa ds lewg ls fuEukafdr izfrmRrj izkIr djsa½

D;k vki jsfM;ks ikB lqurs gS \ D;k jsfM;ks ikBksa ds nkSjku f”k{kd d{kk esa mifLFkr Fks\ D;k jsfM;ks ikB jkspd ;k et+ns kj gSa \ jsfM;ks ikB ds pfj=ksa ;k dykdkjksa ds uke crkbZ;s &

D;k jsfM;ks ikB esa crkbZ xbZ xfrfof/k;ksa dk lapkyu fd;k x;k \ D;k vki fl;ku ;k rqylh }kjk fn;s x;s funsZ” kksa ds vuqlkj xfrfof/k;ksa esa Hkkx ysrs gSa \ 7. jsfM;ks ikB lekIr gksus ds ckn vki xfrfof/k dks tkjh j[krs gSa \ 8.

D;k vki jsfM;ks ikB esa crk;s x;s lq>koksa dks viukrs gS\ 9.

D;k vki fl;ku vkSj rqylh }kjk eaxkbZ xbZ lkexzh ysdj vkrs gS \ 10. D;k vkids ekrk firk@vfHkHkkod jsfM;ks ikBksa dks lqurs gSa \ 11. vki jsfM;ks ikBksa dks D;ksa ilan djrs gS \ 5 6.

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

dk;Zdze dh ekWfuVfjax NRrhlx<+ jkT; & 'kkyk fodkl lfefr@tu Hkkxhnkjh lfefr ds lnL;ksa gsrq iz'ukoyh ¼nks ;k nks ls vf/kd lnL;ksa ls fuEukafdr izfrmRrj izkIr djsa½ mRrjnkrk dk uke & IRI

1.

D;k vki ijLij jsfM;ks laokn dk;Zdze ds ckjs esa tkurs gSa \

Yes

No

2.

D;k vkius bu jsfM;ks dk;Zdzeksa dks lquk gS \

Yes

No

3.

;fn gka] rks D;k ;g jsfM;ks ikB :fpdj gS \

Yes

No

4 5.

D;k vkids xkao dh 'kkyk dk jsfM;ks lsV pkyw gkyr esa gS \ Yes ;fn ugha] rks D;k vkius dksbZ vU; oSdfYid O;oLFkk cukbZ gS \

No

6.

f'k{kdksa ds vHkko esa 'kkyk fodkl lfefr@tu Hkkxhnkjh lfefr us 'kkyk esa D;k

57 iq[rk@oSdfYid O;oLFkk dh gS \ 7.

8.

9.

D;k vkidh lfefr dh cSBd esa jsfM;ks dk;Zdze ij ppkZ dh tkrh gS \ D;k lfefr us jsfM;ks dk;Zdze esa iz;qDr lk/kuksa dh izkfIr esa viuk lg;ksx fn;k gS \ ;fn gka] rks fdl :i esa &

Yes

No

Yes

No

58 CHAPTER – 5 CONCLUSIONS IRI has helped improve educational quality in both remote and urban areas of Chhattisgarh for teaching English as a second language; students scored higher percentage on a standardized test than students in conventional classes and conventional method of teaching.

The ‘English Is Fun’ series in Chhattisgarh has taken IRI to primary schools in many disadvantaged scheduled tribes of various districts. Findings from independent evaluations show that the greatest learning gain differentials were demonstrated in rural schools where infrastructural resources such as buildings, instructional materials, and skilled or even unskilled teachers were historically weakest.

Closer examination of some of these findings reveals even stronger evidence for learning gains attributable to IRI. Students have shown progressively greater increases in achievement over time. The teachers of Abhanpur, for example, discovered that the improved performance of Chhattisgarh students correlates to the number of programs received. The achievement of students who received fewer than 30 ‘English Is Fun’ lessons improved 7 percent; for those who received between thirty-four and sixty-six lessons, achievement improved by 13 percent; and for students who received more than seventy programs, achievement improved by 24 percent.

- Teachers’ professional development Frequent visits to the schools provide numerous indications that IRI offers significant professional development possibilities for teachers, too. In Abhanpur, Radio English teachers appreciate the opportunity to learn science along with their students because “it has been handled in a way that does not embarrass them in front of their colleagues and students.” In Abhanpur block, ‘English Is Fun’ teachers are being offered many new strategies for effective language teaching and are finding a range of benefits.

Even without such support structures, IRI can influence teachers in many other positive ways. In an IRI lesson, the classroom teacher shares authority with the radio teacher who

59 executes the lesson. Both teachers guide and facilitate instruction, but neither dominates. By artfully modelling behaviours and attitudes for the classroom teacher, the radio characters offer teachers a means of discovering new ideas and teaching methods.

For example, to help teachers apply constructivist learning theory, a model radio teacher can demonstrate enthusiasm for students’ diverse solutions to the English phonetics problem. The radio teacher can also admit an error or lack of information in a broadcast and promise answers during the next broadcast. For example, if a radio English teaching experiment does not work according to the plan, the radio instructor might say, “I wonder why. Let’s test this a few more times off-air and get back with you during the next broadcast.” Hearing such an “apology,” the classroom teacher, who otherwise might be so intimidated by the prospect of emulating the radio teacher’s skills (or of admitting that a lesson did not unfold entirely as planned), may be encouraged to continue working and learning from the program.

- Adult learners Primary school students and teachers are not IRI’s only audience. In villages of Gurur and Abhanpur blocks, adults do listen to this radio lessons and have improved their learning. It is also significant that at all levels, Basic Education for All students showed lower attrition rates than did students in traditional classrooms.

Increased retention and the closing of gender gaps are two indicators of the positive impact of IRI at the systemic level.

- IMPACT OF IRI IRI summative evaluations of early childhood development programs in Chhattisgarh done under the guidance of Dr.Mike Royer of University of USA also show impressive results. In a external study in Chhattisgarh, where the learning environment and caregiver knowledge were compared in per- and post-testing, the environment and caregiver post mean scores were an average 45 percent higher in the experimental groups than in the control groups for both eastern and western regions.

In Chhattisgarh, a controlled study using the Abbreviated Child Development Scale (an evaluation tool created by EDC Bangalore that includes in-indicators of physical growth, care, language, and cognition), found that IRI programs had an effect on overall child development – and not merely on education or cognition, Moreover, the results showed that the effect of IRI upon

60 high-risk children is greater than it is on other children. The use of IRI over four months decreased the number of children who fell into the high-risk category by 7 percent.

- GENERAL REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS IRI is frequently regarded as a vehicle for improving the quality of educational inputs, however, perhaps IRI’s greatest strength lies in its effects on systemic problems such as equity, access, internal efficiency, and cost effectiveness. There is considerable evidence showing that IRI can help address all these conditions.

1. Equity - One of the most common and intractable problems in some countries is the disparity between the performance levels of rural and urban students, Because IRI promotes greater standardization of quality via solid instructional design and broad low-cost dissemination, it is well suited to help address such problems. IRI has also narrowed gender gaps. As in the case cited above from different schools of Chhattisgarh, girls performance has matched or exceeded that of boys in Chhattisgarh’s Radio Instruction Programme as “English Is Fun”.

2. Access - IRI has successfully brought educational opportunities to learners who might otherwise have had few or none. Since 2003, the IRI project in India has helped isolated rural children with no access to formal schools achieve scores in mathematics, science and language tests that are equal to or greater than those of children in government schools.

3. Internal efficiency - One indicator of an educational system’s internal efficiency is the average number of years it takes for a learner to complete the education cycle. To make the system more efficient, educations system planners need to be concerned about getting children to attend school, promoting them on time, and graduating them out. If IRI can help retain learners in schools, it will contribute to increased systemic efficiency. Chhattisgarh’s Education for All project better known as “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan” (SSA) showed that IRI can reduce attrition among community learners too. There are strong indications that IRI is doing this at the primary school level as well.

The implication of these and similar observations is that IRI students are more motivated to come to school and that attendance is more consistent. Studies show that when children come to school

61 and participate in IRI programs, they consistently perform at higher levels than their peers in conventional classes. They are thus more likely to succeed in their course work and move more smoothly through the educational system.

Finally, it is well known that competence in a widely spoken international language such as English, Spanish, or French can be critical to studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; remaining in school and achieving academic success. As IRI has been utilized very effectively for foreign language instruction, it may offer an excellent means of increasing student retention and assisting their long-term academic achievement.

4. Cost effectiveness - IRI projects can follow a number of paths; thus their costs may very widely. For example, in market-oriented environments where there is more competitive pressure from commercial publishers, some projects can produce their print materials with four-color illustrations. Where there are concerns to optimize teacher development, projects have instituted modular systems of professional support. The various possible levels of such support for teachers in such projects have varying costs at different implementation scales.

While actual costs vary, cost effectiveness studies comparing various types of interventions (IRI vs. textbooks vs. IRI and textbooks together) to effect-size measurements have revealed that IRI is a comparatively affordable solution. In fact, IRI can be much less expensive than other options while producing greater effect sizes. Moreover, when IRI projects go to scale, the economic advantages can be substantial. With large audiences it costs little to add another radio student.

It may be noted that there is a very useful teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; guide (Shikshak Margadarshika) on Teaching English through radio prepared and distributed to primary school teachers across the state of Chhattisgarh that provides hand-on information and assistance to IRI teachers. It also denoted difficult areas in three major portions as Objective of Lessons, Pre-broadcast preparations and activities, activities and guidance along with instructions during the broadcast and finally the post-broadcast activities and instructions. Teachers feel happy about the guide provided that certainly helps them out in pouring out better through radio teaching. The book also contains first hand knowledge on IRI and its related aspects and areas to render best of execution in the class-room.

62

Lesson Objectives Today, students will learn to: Greet each other with “Good morning” “How are you?”

TEACHER'S WORKBOOK: LESSON 3 Teaching Aids

Teacher’s workbook

Introduce themselves using “My name is” and “What is your name?”

Leannew vocabulary words for animals and actions (see Vocab section below) Count numbers 1 through 5

During the Broadcast You will be asked to assist in the following: Drill activity where the radio gives directions to start with one child and then repeat the activity with each child in the class Songs Good Morning, My name is, Stand up/Sit down, Numbers, Goodbye  Vocabulary: Explain to students in mother tongue as per cues in segment for sound words Count, sing and do the actions along with the children

Before the Broadcast To prepare the children for the radio lesson you can: Review the main characters Tulsi, Siyan, Raju and Chanda with the students. Remind the students that they should pay attention to the radio characters and their instructions Ensure that you have some teaching aids to show the children the different animals Review yesterday's activities by: a)Wishing the class 'good morning' and asking them 'how are you'. b) Asking 2-3 students “What's your name” and helping them answer “My name is” Asking the class to “stand up” and “sit down”

After Broadcast

You will review the lesson by: Asking girls and then boys to count from 1-5 Singing the Good Morning song with the students  Asking the students which activity they liked best, and then doing the activity with them

You will need to explain the following words in local language:

Vocabulary

Good morning How are you How do you do My name is What's your name Stand up Sit down Goodbye dog bird cat goat cock.

A book view of ‘Shikshak Margadarshika’ for IRI English programme

63 - Key Suggestions on IRI  Teachers across the state teaching in primary schools should be given a proper training and information on handling an IRI class.

Also they should be made acquainted with the process and aspects of IRI class to enhance their knowledge as well as of their students.  The state office of RGSM – Chhattisgarh should also issue a circular or guidelines for the next academic year before the initiation of Radio programme to each school focusing the radio programmes timings and giving clear orders for its proper execution.  It is seen that IRI programmes are much more popular in rural regions across the state, and there is a lack of interest seen among the teachers of urban regions towards this programme.

Thus some effective measures need to be taken to tackle this issue.  The training planned in the regard of IRI programme should be done at the cluster or block level so that actual things and information is passed on to field among actual executors.  The State office either of EDC or even of RGSM Chhattisgarh should take some effective measures to promote the teachers and block officials who really strive hard to bring something positive out of this IRI programmes and do some special tasks.

This promotion may not be in terms of finance but may be of moral boost/ support to them so that much better results are obtained.

 A close review of the whole programme implementation/

execution should be done through some external agencies to know the actual results from the fields and schools. Like wise a wider pre-test and a post-test should be made on the actual gain & learning of the students on IRI, as it was adopted for this research paper of mine.

64  BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Education and Technology Technical Notes Series, Vol 4, Number 1-1999.

2. Institutionalizing Radio Science in Papua New Guinea: A Response to Teacher Demand for Interactive Radio InstructionLearntech Case study series No.2, By Michael Olsson, April 1994, Washington DC. 3. Writing for Interactive Radio Instruction – by Michael Laflin, June 1994, LarnTech publishers, Washington DC. 4. Happy Leaning – A guide to best practices for achieving the potential of children, UNICEF – 2003.

5. Audience Research Report for Chhattisgarh IRI programme – EDC Bangalore 2004.

6. Paraspar Radio Samvaad Karyakram, Shikshak Margdarshika, Chhattisgarh Government, Box printers Bhopal – 2005.

7. Report on dot-EDU India Project for Chhattisgarh 2005, By Dr.James Mike Royer- Washington DC. 8. Paraspar Radio Samvaad Karyakram, Gunvatta Sudhar Prashikshan Pustika, EDC Chhattisgarh/ Jharkhand 2005.

______________________________________________

65

ŠVijay Kumar Ratre, Mumbai-400049 For feedback: vijayratre@outlook.com, ratrevijay@gmail.com