‘March’ing Women: Amarjyoti & Reema Share Teaching Methods & Tools That Make Them Successful Educators Of 20+ Yrs

The advent of women in a professional workspace has brought modern civilization to its right path. The next step is to promote the professional and personal bond between women peers at such workplaces so that they collaborate and lead each other to new heights.

Interestingly, we've examples of women operating at different levels of hierarchy collaborating and cooperating with each other to bring order to their collective vision. This March, ScooNews brings to you the narratives of female teachers who’ve used ‘Peer Learning/Collaboration’ to achieve success in the field of education. With this, we hope to inspire thousands of women educators to seek a she-partner at their workplace, who can complete them professionally and also keep the spirit of friendship alive.

AMARJYOTI GOHIL & REEMA GANGULY

About two decades ago, Ms Amarjyoti Gohil returned to India to give old, traditional teaching ways a makeover in a pre-primary school setting. It was then that she came across Ms Reema Ganguly, who applied as a pre-primary teacher in one of her then newly-established schools. Today, their professional relationship has extended to a beautiful friendship that has witnessed Ms Ganguly head an entire school named Amarjyoti Saraswati International Pre-primary School, Gujarat. Let’s learn more about their bond:

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How long have you been in the teaching field?

Reema Ganguly: This year, I completed 22 years in the field and interestingly, it was during these initial days only that I came in contact with Amarjyoti mam. I even remember the exact date – 3rd Oct 1998.

Amarjyoti Gohil: Wow, Reema! For me, it’s been 27 years now and I remember Reema coming for demo as a teacher of pre-primary about 22 years back. 

Let’s remember your initial days of working together.

Reema Ganguly: We both started our learning experience from pre-primary level. Amarjyoti mam came to India with a vision to educate the teachers here and I was one of the fortunate ones who got the opportunity to work with her.

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Amarjyoti Gohil: With this view, I opened a pre-primary school in Bhavnagar, Gujarat. Gradually, it extended up to 12th STD of all three boards ICSE, CBSE, GSEB. It was only one school back then and Reema joined it as a pre-primary teacher. I can tell that her potential grew and became even better as she helped me with my schools’ management. I always had faith in her and step by step, have witnessed her evolution in all these years. From Coordinator to Vice Principal, today she is heading the entire pre-primary section of more than 700 students very efficiently.

Reema Ganguly: I don’t remember her treating me like an employee ever. She’s so warm and considers me family. In fact, whenever I face any personal obstruction, she acts as my support-system and helps me overcome it.

Which valuable teaching methods/practices helped you get better as Educators and make these schools a success?

Amarjyoti Gohil: I came from London where the teaching methods were activity-based, unlike in India. I remember both of us sitting together and brainstorming on various teaching methods that could be implemented in our schools. We also visited many educational institutes together in India and abroad (London, USA, Mauritius, Macau, Germany, and Italy) to get a better insight. Talking particularly of the teaching practices, we zeroed in on – Playway method of teaching, Implementation of print letters in writing, No formal assessment, No competitions & only stage performances, etc.  

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Reema, what benefits did you experience because of the guidance received?

Reema Ganguly: While I accompanied mam to various conferences and seminars in and out of India, she guided me on how to travel abroad, how to represent oneself in public, how to face the media, how to keep calm during crisis and how to deal with people.

Under her guidance, I have been awarded various titles like Best Teacher Award, Archarya Shiromani Award, APJ Abdul Kalam Shiksha Ratan Award, Ideal Principal Award and many more. The popularity which I enjoy today is only because of her constant support.

Do you use any online teaching tools (apps, etc.) to support the teachers in your schools? 

Reema Ganguly: Yes, we use MICM app to support our teachers. We also use online teaching tools provided by Extramarks. Apart from this, we take help of OUP and Popkorn’s online teaching tools.

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How often do you discuss the student-teacher insights in your workplace?

Amarjyoti Gohil: The most important student-teacher insights we usually talk about are: 

• Teacher’s enthusiasm, feedback, and constant knowledge are key to student’s motivation, learning, and engagement. 
• A positive and supportive student-teacher relationship changes the student’s attitude towards school. 
• Being an educator is a challenging job and it is never complete without struggles. 
• We should make students our priority. 
• Every day is a new lesson to learn and grow. 
• The teacher should respect diversity and hence, differentiate the instructions.
• The teacher should be able to connect with the students.