Learning that accords flexibility of time and place has a distinct appeal, especially for the professionals entrenched in hectic daily routines and the demands of work-life balance. This holds true particularly for teachers who, given the rapid advances in pedagogy and technology, have to continually upskill and reskill themselves without putting their daily commitments on standby. 

To meet this need, STTAR Self-Paced Learning Courses For Teachers have been conceptualised and created by Saamarthya Teachers Training Academy of Research (STTAR), India’s premier teacher training institute. Officially launched during the STTAR Global School Education Conference a few weeks ago, the online courses can be taken by practising and aspiring teachers who wish to learn at their own convenient time, place, pace and comfort. A decent gamut of pedagogical practices is covered in these e-learning courses. 

Vinod Malhotra, chairman, Academic Council, STTAR, says, “STTAR is offering an interesting palette of e-learning courses to cover a broad range of pedagogical topics, from Phonics to Experiential Learning. All courses are backed by evidence-based research by academics and educators with decades of experience. The aim is to bring teachers up to speed with the finer nuances of latest pedagogical practices while also providing them complete flexibility of learning at their own chosen time and pace.”

STTAR Self-Paced Learning Courses can be accessed on https://online.sttar.in/.

The repertoire includes the much in-demand course on ‘Bloom’s Taxonomy’ to empower teachers with actionable strategies for facilitating cognitive development towards higher-order thinking in learners. The course is delivered by the vivacious educator, school leader and teacher training, Shalini Nambiar, who has an experience of 28 years in education. An exhaustive course on ‘Experiential Learning’ by education consultant Sarita Mathur is very pertinent to ensuring a shift from textbook learning towards hands-on learning for deeper knowledge retention and understanding. Furthermore, teachers will learn to establish a comprehensive classroom behavior management system through the course on ‘Effective Classroom Management and Behaviour’ by the education evangelist and teacher trainer, Charu Bajaj. 

Providing a thrust to professional teacher development for foundational years is the e-learning course on ‘Early Childhood Care and Education’ by a host of expert trainers led by Swati Popat Vats, the doyenne of ECCE who spearheads Podar Education Network and Early Childhood Association India (ECA). In her characteristic style and feisty delivery, Vats asserts all essential learnings and sensitive attitudes a teacher must acquire to be a competent early years’ educator.

These fundamentals are further bolstered by the standalone self-paced learning courses on ‘Phonics’, ‘Storytelling’, and ‘Developing Critical Thinking Curriculum for Pre-Primary’. If the course on ‘Phonics’ by the academic expert Kanika Ghai helps teachers master the international synthetic phonics techniques, ‘Art of Storytelling’ by the early years’ education expert Amrit Nagpal empowers them to leverage the power of stories to drastically improve student engagement, learning experiences and outcomes in pre-primary classrooms. The course on ‘Developing Critical Thinking Curriculum for Pre-Primary’ by the multiple award winning educator and school principal Poonam Kochitty equips teachers with the knowhow to create a curriculum to take learning beyond rote-memorisation and towards critical thinking.

“Each one of STTAR’s self-paced learning courses is presented by domain experts in an engaging manner. The structure of the courses allows teachers to revisit the lessons any number of times. They may revise thoroughly, clear doubts, and develop a deep understanding of a particular aspect of pedagogy. Complementary resource material is shared to consolidate their learning and the assessments are designed meticulously to evaluate their progress. Upon completion of a course, the teacher gets a highly-valued STTAR Certificate of Excellence,” says Sushma Raturi, Member Secretary, Academic Council, STTAR. 

Going forward, STTAR is planning to add more number of self-paced learning courses pertaining to new-age pedagogy to broaden the range of modules for teachers. 

Saamarthya Teachers Training Academy of Research (STTAR) is a pre-eminent teachers’ training academy in India with an expertise in developing latest pedagogical competencies in today’s educators. Founded in 2020, the academy has designed customized training modules to create a teaching and learning experience that matches global standards. The academy is transforming the education landscape with proficiency in four verticals: teacher training, curriculum designing, school enrichment programmes, and academic research.