Teachers are as diverse as the students they teach – organized and methodical, creative and experimental, traditionalist and the nonconformist. But they are all eternal learners!

And to all, we wish a very Happy Teachers Day!

Here are some books, by teachers for (all types of) teachers that discuss teaching and learning from an Indian perspective.

What Did You Ask At School Today: A Handbook on Child Learning, (book 1 and 2), Kamala V. Mukunda

A lot of research has been done on the science and psychology of learning. Terms such as learning styles, brain development, nature vs. nurture, assessments, affective factors, multiple intelligences, memory and memorization, child-centered learning etc. and ‘conclusions’ derived from ‘scientific research’ are commonly thrown at teachers and educators. These books attempt to review all scientific research on learning and brain development, ask questions about their relevance and demystify the misconceptions that popular ‘conclusions’ seem to propagate, all while considering the Indian school system and its complexities.

Letters from a Forest School, Chittaranjan Das, Translated by Diptiranjan Pattanaik

Chittaranjan Das ran an experimental school in the middle of a forest at Champatimunda, Orrissa in the 1950s. The school’s philosophy, approach and challenges were described through letters that he wrote to a newspaper. You would think we have achieved a lot since the 1950s, but the critique of traditional education system that these letters present is an eerily accurate prophesy. The letters not only present a cohesive philosophy of what education should be, but gives glimpses of some methods and tools that were used at the school.

Divaswapna, Gijubhai Badheka

Gijubhai, a lawyer by profession, turned to education while bring up his two children. Deeply influenced by Montessori philosophy, he eventually started an experimental school (Dakshinamurti) in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Divaswapna presents a summary of his experiments in teaching, written in a simple, journal-like style. There are enough practical activity ideas here for any enthusiastic teacher who wants to make learning meaningful. My favourite is the approach he used to help students distinguish between nouns and adjectives and using spontaneous improves as an assessment tool. The book has been translated in more than 11 languages.

Wanted Back-bencher & Last-ranker Teacher, Kavita Bhupta Ghosh

One aspect of teaching that most teachers struggle with is handling disruptive behaviour and managing the classroom. This book introduces the reader to research-based strategies to enable collaborative classrooms, tackle high-risk behaviour and enlist parental support to deal with teenagers through studies in teenage brain development. If you rather prefer fiction, then this is the book for you. Roma, a novice teacher learns to handle her disruptive class of 10^th graders and manages to bring the class around through research-based practices.