Pearson’s Teacher Education and Leadership Academy and Access-School, an ed-tech start-up launching India’s first hybrid-flexible learning ecosystem hosted a two-part online event series from September 28 to October 2, 2020. Day 1 commenced with a webinar and panel discussion on the topic ‘Expanding the Teacher’s horizon: The Future for Educators’. Days 2 and 3 focussed on developing teachers’ skills in teaching online through two professional teacher training sessions with an international trainer. More than 200 school educators, leaders, teachers and trainers took part in the event.

The honourable speakers included Dr G Balasubramanian – Former Director (Academics), CBSE; Seshni Naicker – Director, Teacher Education and Leadership Academy Pearson; Manju Gupta – Principal, Kothari International School. The webinar delved in detail on the present challenges and opportunities for educators as well as on future skills required to stay relevant; trends and changes that are taking place globally in the education industry; and the new landscape for schools and teachers.

Dr. G. Balasubramanian said, “Education in India has been waiting for disruption for a long time. While the industrial revolution scaled to 4.0 generation, the education sector largely remained at 2.0. This long overdue disruption received impetus from the new NEP 2020; naysayers have accepted the reality and value of technology in education during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Seshni Naicker – Director, Teacher Education and Learning Academy, Pearson talked about preparing teachers for educating learners of the future. She emphasised that irrespective of technology and acquisition of digital skills, teachers would always be the heart and soul of teaching. These essentials skills of empathy, cooperation, confidence, growth which are the skills of the future would come from the teachers as models.

Manju Gupta – Principal, Kothari International School said, “A Change in mindset and attitude of a teacher is a must, and a necessity in order to stay relevant to the needs of the students. Human education must be more emphasised in today’s schools. We need to remember that education is for growth and development of a learner, not for competition. I look forward to a tomorrow where the teacher connects with the child and not the book.”

Amit Mathur Co-Founder, Access-School set the tone for the future with these insights – “Basis the pan India survey we conducted last year, three critical areas in the Indian Education System that require focus are Accessibility, Adaptability and Flexibility. We at Access-School leverage technology to cater to these 3 areas and create a HyFlex school which offers blended learning opportunities for students.”

At the end of first part of the online event series, an open panel session was held, moderated by Ruvneet Bains, Chief Learning Officer, Access-School These panelists included Kaadambari Muttoo – ex-teacher The British School, Ex-Director Academics for GEMS India, Author; Neerja Bhasin – Innovative Science Teacher, Ex-Systems & Design Analyst and Shoma Lahiri – English Teacher and Cambridge Coordinator, Ex-The Shri Ram School.

This event series ended on October 2 with online teaching pedagogy training sessions for teachers by Sarah White, International Teacher Trainer with Pearson Teacher Education and Leadership Academy (TELA).