The Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration, organized a 2-day workshop for teachers on Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Gender Responsive Pedagogy (GRP) in the conference hall of Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) School, Suja, on the 19th and 20th of July, 2024. A total of 38 teachers attended the workshop, including 18 from TCV Suja, 15 from TCV Chauntra, and 5 from TCV Gopalpur. The workshop was facilitated by Dr. Kalsang Wangdu, Education Specialist and Field Representative of Alinea International, and Mr. Tenzin Dorjee, Head of the Academic Section of the DOE.
Mr. Ngawang Thupten, Principal of the host school, TCV Suja, attended both the opening and closing programs of the workshop. In his opening remarks, he welcomed the facilitators and participants, introduced the facilitators, and wished everyone success in the workshop. Mr. Tenzin Dorjee provided a brief background on the workshop, noting that 127 teachers had participated in similar workshops over the past four years. He also mentioned that follow-ups of the workshops were conducted over the past couple of years with classroom observations of the participant teachers, providing constructive feedback to individual teachers based on these observations.
Before the closing program, the training evaluation form was filled in by all the participant teachers. During the closing program, some of the teachers shared their feedback, acknowledging the effort and effective delivery made by the two facilitators and offering valuable suggestions for the further improvement of future workshops. Principal Mr. Ngawang Thupten, in his closing remarks, thanked the training facilitators by offering traditional scarves and appreciated the supporting staff for the arrangements made for the successful organization of the workshop. He also encouraged the teachers to be open-minded regarding gender-responsive pedagogy and to try implementing some of the learnings in their classrooms. At the end, Mr. Tenzin Dorjee thanked the host school principal and supporting staff for the arrangements. He encouraged the teachers to implement their learnings in their classroom teaching to enhance student learning.
The workshop aimed to equip teachers with the what, why, and how of differentiated instruction, differentiated instructional strategies, and key characteristics and aspects of gender-responsive pedagogy. Over the 2-day workshop, the facilitators used various strategies, including a flipped classroom approach where participants completed pre-reading articles and collaborative assignments at home, followed by presentations and interactive activities during the workshop sessions. Participants also engaged in individual work, paired activities, and small group discussions, sharing their learnings during the sessions. The facilitators initiated discussions and responded to the participants’ queries and feedback.
The workshop was funded by Global Affairs Canada through Alinea International.
