Work And Education

Position Paper Work and Education

Work means is an activity directed towards making or doing something . It also means making one’s work or capabilities or both available for someone else’s purposes for monetary or other forms of return.  These activities are related to producing food articles of daily use, looking after the physical & mental well being of people.

Work is an integral part of the curriculum. The Kothari commission 1964-66 Eshwari Bai Patel 1977 and National policy on Education 1986 suggested that important place should be given to work experience in the curriculum. Gandhiji expressed that knowledge should be gained through work experience only. Work implies a commitment to other members of the society as one is contributing one’s work and capabilities for fulfilling their need. Routine and repetitive activity carried on for the sake of production which the child does not like should be avoided. Work should help in the physical & psychological development of child.

Work is an arena for learning for children in home, school, society or at workplace . Children begin to absorb the concept of work as early as when they are of two years old. Children imitate their elders and like pretending to do work. Learning takes place only when work is involved. Work is the tool for learning. Montessori system integrates work concepts and skills from the beginning. Cuffing vegetables, cleaning the classroom, gardening and washing clothes are all the part of the learning cycle.

Introduction of work will enable children to learn values, basic scientific concepts, skills and creative expression. Children gain an identity through work and feel useful & productive as work adds meaning and brings with it membership to society & enable children to construct knowledge.

There is immense potential for utilizing the knowledge base of the vast production sections of the society as a powerful means for transforming the educational system. Through this work the skills of marginalized children can be turned into a source of their own dignity as well as a source of learning for other children and further decreasing the gap between the rich & the poor. Work helps to develop the personality & helps in the welfare of the society.

Work is of there types :
It is production, manufacture, service, production of articles, food production. It helps in recognizing the labour while production & inculcates dignity of labour.

• Integration of work in education gives identity and respect for their hard work. It also creates joyful environment & given satisfaction for the work done.
• There  are hurdles in learning as there is no relationship between work and the education in school. Students are not showing any interest in involving as the work education is not integrated in the curriculum.
• Work experience in schools should help in self learning and knowledge construction. At present the work experience that is taught in teacher education does not help in knowledge construction. Therefore work based learning methodology should be included in teacher education.
• Work is given at most importance in Indian society. In our society it is a common feature to extend co-operation in different situations. Working in a group helps to develop interpersonal relationship co-operation, tolerance and respect.
• Machines have taken place of man due to globalization. Therefore there is a loss of respect and identify towards work there after a gap is formed in human relationships.
• In this context there is a need to rethink about the integration of work in the curriculum.
• Work should be a focused item from preprimary stage to secondary stage in the syllabus. Work based pedagogy should be implemented. Learning experiences should be developed according to the level of the students while introducing in the curriculum.
• The learning experiences in the curriculum should reflect the local culture, tradition &different trades like agriculture, carpentry, tailoring, pottery etc. The learning experiences should be in such a way that the students may get involved in the work areas and attain knowledge.
• There is a need to develop the child physically, psychologically, socially, emotionally while participating in work.
• Integration of work & education should help in removing the discrimination of caste, class and gender and see that the children, learn to do all the work in the society.
• The learning experiences at the primary level should be of their needs. The learning experiences at the upper primary & High school should be useful in their daily life. There should provide an entry to vocational education for secondary level students.
• Peer education should be encouraged. The students who has excellent work skills should be allowed to share so the remaining students will learn. Teacher should facilitate the work, work as a medium of instruction.

Recommendations :

• Work education should be as a teaching strategy at the primary level. It should be integrated in the syllabus.
• The activities should reflect the nature of the lesson in the text book. The activities may be project work or activities that help to develop their creativity.
• Work education at secondary level is vocationalised education it means the activities related to work education should also be learnt with general education.
• At secondary level the students should learn the concepts by practically doing it for ex. while learning lessons like electricity, magnetism,  instruments, the related practical work like fuse wiring repairing of Radio, T.V., Computer and Cell phones should be taught. This will help to lay foundation for vocational education after school education.
• Material related to work and education should be provided to each school. Special room for work education should be constructed.
• Full time special instructors should be appointed at secondary level so that students are trained in the concepts of work education. The schools should utilize the services of Janasikshana samtha, Bala mahila Pragana DIET in the district and see that the work education is implemented in their schools properly . In co-laboration with these institutions in service training programmes should be conducted & monitoring should be taken up.
• Activity based curriculum should be developed by integrating work education at the primary & secondary school levels it means that lessons and work experience should not be different, knowledge should attained through work.
• Teachers should be prepared to implement the above curriculum. It can be achieved by giving inservice training.
• New technologies like fashion technology, computer training, wiring, cell phone repairing etc. can be introduced in the syllabus & the training programme on these subjects may be arranged with the co-laboration of Janasikhana samtha, Bala Mahila Praganam & work experience department of DIETs in the districts.
• In the teacher education syllabus as per the NCF 2005 recommendations the present work experience subject is to be changed as work and education.
• Teachers competencies should be develop through in-service training at primary stage.
  • Continuous training should be given to the subject teachers and work education instructors on modern technologies at upper primary & secondary level.
  • At primary stage work education should be included in the periods allotted to the subjects.
  • At upper primary stage two periods a week should be allotted for work education within the subjects.
  • At secondary stage two separate periods in a week should be allotted for work education.
  • As a part of work education the secondary level students should be allowed to participate in the social service activities. The curriculum should be developed in such a way.
• Local professional belonging to different trades should be invited to the school and see that their products are demonstrated (Ex. Pottery, Carpenter, Tailor, Mechanic etc). In the same way the students should be taken to different productive centers manufacturing centers as field visit. There should allowed to visit the persons who are service oriented (Nurses, doctors) in the group and collect the information, record it, and analyse it. Project work shall be given in these aspects so that the analyzing skills are developed.
• Monthly calendar should be prepared on the implementation of subject related work education and work experiences in schools.
• Competencies of expression skills, co-operation, team work, respect towards work, appreciation, observation, report writing, portfolios, seminar organization can be evaluated through work education. The progress of the  students can be evaluated by grading.
• Instructors belonging to different trades, teachers, subject experts and the trade professionals should be the members while framing the syllabus on work education.
• Work books should be developed & supplied to the teachers on class wise activities on work education.

Conclusion :
The school curriculum from the pre-primary to the secondary stages should be reconstructed for realizing the pedagogic potential of work as a pedagogic medium in knowledge acquisition, developing values and multiple-skills formation. As the child matures, there is a need for the curriculum to recognize the child’s need to be prepared for the world of work, and a work-centred pedagogy can be pursued with increasing complexity while increasing complexity while always being enriched with the required flexibility and contextuality. A set of work-related generic competencies (basic, interpersonal and systemic) could be pursued at all stages of education. This includes critical thinking, transfer of learning, creativity, communication skills, aesthetics, work motivation, work ethic of collaborative functioning, and entrepreneurship-collaborative functioning, and entrepreneurship-cum-social accountability. For this evaluation, parameters would also need to be redesigned. Without an effective and universal programme of work-centred education, it is unlikely that UEE ( and later Universal Secondary Education too) would ever succeed.