2

1st International Training on

School Psychology at SSA, Puducherry

Justice David Annoussamy Prof. Mamota Das

Panch. Ramalingam, Coosje Griffiths, Australia, E. Vallavan, Director of School Education,

M. Ramadass, Director of Studies, Pondicherry University, Bill Pfohl, USA,and Peter Farrell, UK

The Indian School Psychology Association (InSPA) in

collaboration with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) organized a

five day International training programme on School Psychology

from 28th January to 01st February, 2012 at the Department of

Education, Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Centenary Educational

Complex, Puducherry. International School Psychologists

Prof. Peter T. Farrell, Manchester University, United Kingdom,

Prof. Bill Pfohl, Western Kentucky University, USA and Ms.

Coosje Griffiths, Area Manager, Student Services, Australia

conducted the training programme in collaboration with our

Indian School Psychologists. Justice David Annoussamy, Prof.

G.P. Thakur, New Delhi, Dr. Panch.Ramalingam of Pondicherry

University,Dr. Mamota Das, Dr. M.K. Kumarasen Raja,

Prof. D. Sambandhan of Pondicherry University,

Dr. S. Suresh, Dr. P. Jeyachandran, Chennai were the Indian

Resource Persons. The main purpose of the training

programme was to professionally train the Principals/

headmasters to meet the challenges of the school environment.

Fifty school Principals and Head Masters of Union Territory of

Puducherry and 10 school psychologists from all over the

country participated in the training programme.

Training Objectives

1. To understand the role of school psychologists with

emphasis on preventive work as well as clinical skills

2. To understand the teaching-learning process in school

education and policies of State and Central Governments of

India

3. To develop skills in constructing and conducting various

psychological and educational assessments in school

setting

4. To understand and respect individual differences in various

socio-cultural contexts

5. To understand the competencies of a school psychologist

6. To gain insight on the strategies, programmes and

processes of mental health and well-being of children

7. To understand the roles of school psychologists in prevention

(an International Perspective)

It was originally planned for six days, however the first day

programme was cancelled due to sudden demise of Shri M.O.H.

Farook, Former Chief Minister of Puducherry and presently the

Governor of Kerala and was observed as State mourning day.

Technical Sessions

The training programme started on 28th January 2012.

Shri R. Parthasarathy, State Project Director, SSA, Puducherry

welcomed the resource persons and delegates. Prof. G.P.

Thakur, President, InSPA presided, Dr. Panch. Ramalingam

3

presented the scope of the programme. Prof. Bill Pfohl,

Professor of School Psychology, Western Kentucky University,

USA and Past President, ISPA conducted the first session on

“Effective Leader as School Psychologist”. The second session

was handled by Dr. N.K. Kumaresan Raja, Annamalai University

on Indian Education System. The third and fourth sessions

were conducted by Dr. Panch. Ramalingam on “School

Psychology in Indian Context and Psychological Assessment

Techniques”.

On the second day, the first session was handled by

Prof. D. Sambandhan, Professor of International Studies of

Pondicherry University on “Indian Socio Economic influence

on School Education”. The second session was devoted to

group discussion and Dr. S.Suresh, Annamalai University

coordinated the session. Third and fourth sessions were project

work and case analysis.

After the initial training on Indian school education system,

third day sessions were conducted by the International experts

on topics such as: 'Professional Ethics and Crisis Management'

by Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA; 'Introducing School Psychology

Services in India' by Prof. Peter Farrell, UK; 'Competency

Framework of School Psychologists and Effective teaching and

learning' by Mrs. Coosje Griffiths, Australia.

On the fourth day, the first session was conducted by

Justice David Annoussamy on “Impact of Right to Education

Act”; second session on “Teaching and Learning Process in

Schools” by Prof. Mamota Das, Educationist. The third session

was conducted on “Positive School Psychology Practices,

Suicide prevention, Risk management and Critical incident

response” by Mrs. Coosje Griffiths. Prof. Peter Farrell, UK dealt

on the topic “Overview of ISPA standards and Code of Ethics”

in the last session.

On the final day of the programme, the first session was

conducted by Prof. P. Jeyachandran, President, Vijaya mental

Health services, Chennai on “Identifying mental health problems

among children”; Prof. G.P. Thakur handled the second session

on “Mental Health and student counselling”. The third was an

interactive session on School Psychology.

Apart from this, the trainees were given insights and skills

related to the types and methods of assessment of students,

class room and individual intervention and also on consultation

with parents, teachers and school management.

Shri. E. Vallavan, Director of School Education,

Puducherry presided over the valedictory session. In his

presidential remarks, he said action will be initiated to appoint

School Psychologists in the Union Territory of Puducherry so

as to cover cluster of schools at the first stage.

Prof. M. Ramadass, Director of Studies, Educational

Innovations, and Rural Reconstruction, Pondicherry University,

Puducherry delivered valedictory address and distributed

certificates to the participants. In his valedictory address he

emphasised the role of School Psychologists and the necessity

of training programmes for the school educational

administrators. He said that in the multi faceted challenging

society, each and every school must have a school psychologist

to cater to the needs of the children. He highlighted the nature

and scope of school education in India and Union territory of

InSPA Governing Council

President

Prof. G.P. Thakur, New Delhi

Vice-Presidents

Prof. B. Mukhopadhyay, Chennai

Dr. V. Muthu, Puducherry

Secretary

Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Puducherry

Joint Secretaries

Dr. S. Renukadevi, Chennai, Dr. R.J. Solomon, Mumbai

Treasurer

Dr. B. Rangaiah, Puducherry

From the Editor's Desk...

We deem it a great privilege to bring out this quartely 'InSPA

Newsletter', a private communicatative channel among members.

The prime aim is to propagate the activities of the Association

such as conferences, training programmes, publication of books,

news and views etc.

We welcome you as a friendly advisor to give suggestions if

any, to improve the newletter so as to reach across the nation

and abroad

. Yours

Dr. Suneetha J. Hangal, Editor. Email:suneetha.j.hanagal@gmail.com

4

International Training

Puducherry. He also said that the School Psychology Services

in schools would create effective schooling system in Puducherry

and would go a long way in moulding the character rather than

just improving the memory of the students. India needs more

than 1.3 million School Psychologists to cater to the needs of

the school requirements. The Puducherry SSA is thought of

this novel venture to introduce school psychologists in schools

and thereby helping the school administration for effective

teaching - learning process.

The five day International training programme created a

mile stone in the Indian school education system.

Outcome of the Training Programme

n Created awareness on School Psychology among school

administrators

n Promoted collaboration between school psychologists and

school administrators leading to enhanced competence for

their work

n Promoted communication between professionals and school

administrators focused on the improvement of safe and

friendly schooling and the mental health of children at school

environment

n Promoted the use of sound psychological principles in the

context of education in the Union territory of Puducherry,

taking into account international and national development

n Developed awareness regarding the national and international

standards for training psychologists who work in the

educational systems

n Promoted awareness on the wellbeing of children and the

rights of children

n Created awareness about implications of the Right to

Education Act .

General Suggestions

n Needs more training on School Psychology Services

n Practical training could be included

n Similar training programmes can be conducted regularly

once in a year or two

n One or two practical sessions may be arranged with students

counselling

n Practical sessions on psychological guidance to the students

n More visual and interactive sessions may be arranged

n The training programme may be conducted during school

vacation

n Need more theory based skill oriented training on School

Psychology

n Refresher courses may be arranged at least once in a year

to the Heads of schools/institutions

n Duration of the international training on School Psychology

may be increased to 10 days instead of 5 days

n School Psychology training programme may also be

arranged to all school teachers

n Need more technical sessions on case analysis

n One or two training programme can be arranged in regional

language (Tamil)

n School Psychology training programme may be arranged

for newly appointed teachers.

Recommendations based on the Peer Group Interaction

The training programme was very useful to understand

the basic concept of School Psychology services available in

various countries and the ways and means of introducing these

services to Indian School System

o Invariably all the participants recommended that School

Psychology services must be introduced in all schools of

the Union Territory of Puducherry

o In order to initiate the School Psychology services, cluster

of schools could be arranged zone wise to appoint Trained

School Psychologists

o At the beginning, it can be introduced in 10 clusters of

schools with 10 school psychologists under the direct

supervision of SSA for effective implementation and

monitoring

o The Indian School Psychology Association (InSPA) should

prepare a framework of School Psychology services to the

Union Territory of Puducherry in consultation with SSA,

Puducherry and submit the report to the Government of

Puducherry and Central Government at the earliest

o The list of national level experts and International consultants

may be prepared for conducting the future training

programmes.

o The hand book of School Psychology services may be

prepared by the InSPA and supplied to all schools and

educational institutions

o In order to effectively implement the School Psychology

services, necessary resources could be generated

o Specific skill-based one day workshop on School

Psychology may be arranged for the teachers

o Two or three day training programme may be conducted

with the help of national level experts as the basic course

to create awareness among teachers on School

Psychology services

o Two or three day training programme may be arranged with

the help of International experts as advance courses to

understand international perspective on School Psychology

o The School Psychology training programmes may also be

conducted in regional languages

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International Training

o The School Psychology awareness programmes may be

conducted to all parents and teachers.

Suggestions for further training on School Psychology

There were suggestions to conduct training on the following issues

for school administrators, counsellors/psychologists and school

teachers:

1. School Administrators

n Interpersonal skills and effective school administration

n Crisis intervention

n Dealing with mass media and threats

n Safe and friendly schooling

n School Psychology Services

2. Counsellors/Psychologists

n Stress and trauma coping strategies

n Forming of crisis intervention teams

n Implementing group crisis interventions after critical incidents

n Psycho-education for local support systems

n Dealing with mass media and threats

n Support school management in crises

3. School teachers

n Identification of learning disabilities

n Emotional intelligence

n Professional ethics and informed consent

n Stress management

n Basic counselling techniques

n Study skill techniques

n Inclusive education

n Integral Psychology

In conclusion, this training programme is first of its kind and

the participants of the training programme on School Psychology

have opined that the programme was found to be very effective,

useful, inspiring, and has contributed for better knowledge, skills

and techniques. Hence, there was more demand to conduct

such training programmes on School Psychology for

educationists, educational administrators, school counsellors and

teachers.

Prof. M. Ramadass, Director of Studies, Pondicherry University delivering valedictory address

Indian School Psychology Association & SSA, Puducherry

Workshop on School Psychology for Elementary School Teachers

08 – 10 March, 2012

Workshop on School Psychology for High School Teachers

15 – 17 March, 2012For further details and Registration:

The State Project Director, SSA

Department of Education, Govt of Puducherry, Puducherry - 605 005

Email: inspaindia@gmail.com

6

Genesis

The universal free and compulsory education was achievedfor the first time in history by the end of the 19th century in someadvanced European countries. The idea to extend it to allcountries found its expression in article 26 of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights of 1948. It is to be noted that, thesaid article 26 takes care to make clear that education shall bedirected to the full development of the human personality.

That proclamation was followed by the International Covenanton Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights ratified by India on 10th

April 1979, through which nations bound themselves to ensure:

n Free compulsory primary education

n Secondary education accessible to all

n Equitable access to higher education

n Basic education to individuals who could not completeprimary education.

Article 1(a) of UNESCO’s Recommendation concerningeducation for international understanding, cooperation andinternational peace and education relating to human rights andfundamental freedoms dated 19 November 1974, defines"education as the entire process of social life by means of whichindividuals and social groups learn to develop consciously andfor the benefit of the national and international communities, thewhole of their personal capabilities, attitudes and knowledge".

In internal law the first legal document in respect of the rightto education is the Constitution of 1950 which mentions the rightto education in article 41 among the directive principles for thegovernment

The Supreme Court has declared as early as 1993, the rightto free education as a fundamental right contained in the right tolife, life being construed not as mere physiological life but a fulllife allowing complete blossoming of the individual.

Subsequently the Parliament through the 86th Constitutionalamendment of 2002 inserted article 21A making the right toeducation a fundamental right. To give effect to that constitutionalprovision the Right to education Act was passed in 2009. It cameinto effect from 1st April 2010. In order to implement that Act,States have notified rules in 2011, based on the model rulesprovided by the Union government.

Main provisions of the Act and Rules

1. To ensure compulsory admission, attendance andcompletion of elementary education by every child in the age ofsix to fourteen years.

2. To achieve the all round development of the child

3. The medium of instruction to be, as far as practicable, inthe child’s mother tongue. The phrase “as far as practicable”needs clarification. That does not mean that it is facultative andthat the school may choose English as the medium. As per thedeclared policy of the government any school in India shouldhave as the medium the official language of the State where theschool is situate. If in any area of the State there are a fewchildren having a different mother tongue, the school will have tostrive to offer them education in that medium, provided that thenumber of such students justifies it and that the school is able toenlist the service of a competent teacher.

4. Every child should have a school within 1 km for primaryschool stage and 3 km for middle school stage of the elementaryeducation. If no school is available within the distance prescribed,transport facility has to be provided.

5. Private schools to reserve 25% of seats to childrenbelonging to weaker section or disadvantaged groups-thegovernment to bear the resulting cost. Those children should notto be segregated from the rest in the classroom.

A child belonging to weaker section is one whose parentshave annual income below the limit specified by the appropriategovernment.

A child belonging to a disadvantage group is the one belongingto a scheduled caste, a scheduled tribe and another backwardclass to be specified by the appropriate government.

6. No capitation fee shall be collected at the time of admissionto school.

7. No interview of the child or of the parent for admission forthe purpose of selection. No screening procedure of any kind;admission to be made on random basis.

8. When school admits children at pre-primary stage, theabove rules of admission will apply.

9. No child shall be held back or expelled until the completionof elementary education.

10. No teacher shall engage himself in private tuition or privateteaching activity.

11. No teacher shall be deployed to other works exceptdecennial population census, disaster relief duties, and electionduties.

12. Right of weak pupils to receive special education in orderto become at par with others.

13. On the completion of the elementary education, acertificate will be issued without any examination. It shall containthe Pupil Cumulative Record and specify achievements of thepupil in areas beyond the prescribed course of study and mayinclude music, dance, literature, sports etc.

14. State and local bodies accountable for the implementationof the Act.

15. The additional funds required will be met to the extent of68% by the Union government.

16. The national Commission for the Protection of childrights—an autonomous body set up in 2007- shall monitor theimplementation of the Act together with similar commissions tobe set up by the States.

The implications of the Right to Education Act, 2009David Annoussamy

7

Right to Education

17. It is agreed in principle to extend free compulsory educationto the kindergarten and to the high school. The Act stipulatesalready that free Pre-school education may be provided. In myopinion, this has to be made compulsory immediately fordisadvantaged groups and weaker sections. This is the greatestand real service which could be rendered to them.

The Act is pregnant with many hopes, its implementationwill face many hurdles. It is too early to outline fully the impactthe Act would make. But one may already gauge to some extentthe implications of the Act.

School Mapping

The Act introduces the concept of neighbourhood school.The initial step would therefore be school mapping. The area orlimits to be catered by the neighbourhood school shall have tobe determined by the government, so that every child has aschool within the distance prescribed (1km for primary stageand 3km for middle stage) . More than one school within thatarea in densely populated urban area would be possible. Thuslow age children will not have to travel a long distance to reachthe school. This will alleviate indirectly traffic problems incongested towns.

Once the mapping has been completed the existing schoolswill have to be placed on the map. For each area, the localauthority has to indentify the neighbourhood school where childrenof the area can be admitted and make such information knownto each habitation. The neighbourhood school will have to admitall children of the area and parents have to seek admission inthat school only and not in another one. This will not be to thetaste of parents who have now each a school of their predilection.This will be also resisted by selective schools. Officers of theEducation department will have tough time in persuading parentsand preventing the concerned schools from resorting tomalpractices to circumvent the law. If the standard of educationof the neighbourhood school is reasonably satisfactory, attemptsto avoid it will be less. Therefore the authorities will have also totake steps to ensure that a satisfactory standard is maintainedin all schools.

It should not be impossible to achieve the desired standardin Maths and other subjects except English language. In respectof that language there could be special classes for advancedlearning for the benefit of pupils fit for the purpose. Parents maysupplement school teaching by providing their children booksand audio visual aids in English language.

Then the local authority will have to identify all children of thearea. In each area where more classrooms than necessary existnow, the concerned schools may use the surplus classroomsby opening a high school section. Areas not having correspondingschools will have to be provided with one.

Now 20% of the population have no schooling at all, withgreat variations from State to State. Urban and semi urban childrenare almost all in school. But the chunk of rural, tribal and slumpopulation has to be brought within the net. This arrangementwill have to be completed within three years. This is going to bea Herculean task for some States.

Once this is accomplished, one should bear in mind thatadmitting children to school is one thing and that providing real

education is altogether another thing. As early as in 1964, Chagla,the then Union education minister described the issue at stakein the following terms :

“Our constitution fathers did not intend that we just set uphovels , put students there, give untrained teachers, give thembad textbooks, no playground, and say we have complied witharticle 41 and primary education is expanding…They meant thatreal education should be given to our children between the ageof 6 to 14.”

Heterogeneous Classes

The fact of admitting all children of an area with their differentbackground may result in composite classrooms unlike in theexisting exclusivist schools. There will be disadvantaged children,late comers, returning drop outs. There will be over-nourishedchildren as well as hungry children. There will children witheducated parents as well as children with illiterate parents. Therewill be children with full parental support as well as children notat all interested in the education of their children. Educationistsare of the opinion that heterogeneous school population whenproperly managed may lead to better development of all children.But for that purpose new classroom techniques are called for.

However children who are psychologically abnormal will haveto be sent as soon as possible to special schools; keeping themalong with others will not be in their interest.

Though all kinds of children have to be kept together till theend of V th standard, grouping on the basis of aptitudes is anacademic necessity from class VI. Such an arrangement ispossible under the Act, only segregation on the basis of socialbackground is prohibited. From class VI the matter taught shouldcorrespond to the aspirations and aptitudes of children. Otherwisethere will be resistance, indiscipline, causing hardship to theteacher and jeopardising academic results of the whole class.At that stage there is no use attempting teaching any matter notacceptable to pupils; that will generate juvenile delinquency as itis observed in countries implementing blindly compulsoryeducation up to the age of 14. There should be more than astream from class VI or a large choice of subjects. It is presumedthat the curriculum to be framed by the academic authorities willtake care of this necessity.

In area thinly populated there may not be sufficient number ofpupils in each class. Then the same teacher may have to dealwith pupils from class I to V. Mutual education which was ourtraditional system may be revived. It is to be remembered thatthe British who have noticed that system working successfullyin our country, implanted it in England and used it systematicallywhich allowed them to spread education rapidly with affordablecost, which in turn gave them a lead over other Europeancountries.

The very notion of graded class system requires rethinking. Itis to be noted that the class system inherited from England is ofa very recent origin in the history of humanity. It originated in the16th century in Europe. It was universally adopted on account ofthe better productivity of teachers.

Assessment

The act prohibits the expulsion of pupils for low performance.The holding back of pupils is also forbidden. That does not mean

8

Right to Education

that pupils are to be promoted mechanically to the next class,even if they are found to be wanting. The underlying idea is thatall children should be taught suitably and made able to follow thenext class course. For the purpose of ensuring that a pupil canproceed to the next class, one need not pay attention to hisperformance on subjects other than the 3Rs.

Those who remain weak in the three Rs will require the benefitof extra periods in those subjects. Special coaching is to beprovided in classes held in the premises of the school or in saferesidential facilities by the teachers working in the school orpreferably by teachers especially appointed to that effect. If apupil at the end of his elementary education course at the age of14 is not able to read fluently, he should be given a chance topursue his schooling and finish learning how to read.

As far as assessment is concerned Churchill complainedrightly that his teachers were interested in fathoming what he didnot know instead of testing about what he knew. Some teachersin fact enjoy asking vicious and trap questions. It is to beremembered that most pupils express much less than what theyknow. Possession of knowledge is different from the ability toexpress it. The task of the teacher would be rather to fathomwhat the pupil knows. However little the acquisition of the pupil,that much ought to be acknowledged in order to provide confidenceto the pupil and encourage him to deploy more efforts.

The assessment has to take place throughout the schoolyear so that there is no room for luck. To make the task ofvaluation easy and non-time consuming for the teacher and toprevent it eating up time meant for teaching purpose, electronicdevices could be pressed into service. Pupils should also betrained in self evaluation, by correcting themselves their mistakeswith reference io the model answers provided, whenever possible.The ideal solution would be to test the pupil only when he asksto be tested in order to move forward. This is already in practiceat the end of the academic career when a student presents histhesis only when he has completed it.

Pupils are to be kept always successful, once the failurecomplex settles in, nothing can be expected from them. Thecore test should be on the minimum required, there may beadditional facultative questions for bright pupils. The aim assignedto each pupil should not be to do better than others but to dobetter than oneself previously. The high performance for othershas to be only a source of emulation and not lead to dejection.

There should be no general rating of pupils, grading shouldbe only subject wise. Each one may be good in one thing. If apupil is found to be continuously low performing in all subjects,including arts and crafts, music, sports, he should be sent to apsychologist or a physician to find out the problem and thesolution.

Parents, school administrators and even pupils are all verymuch interested by the assessment. So no progress in methodsof teaching will see the light of the day as long as the mode ofassessment is not modified suitably. It is by this last step thatone has to start any viable improvement in teaching. The teacherhimself has much to learn from the results of assessment; itwould enable him to assess his teaching and his framing thequestion paper. The art of examination (docimology) has to make

great progress. It is amazing that no training is imparted toteachers in this respect

There will be no final examination at the end of VIII class. Thecertificate of completion of course will instead be issued by eachschool. It is therefore necessary to establish a system of regularevaluation of schools in order to ensure that the required standardis maintained.

Need for a New Pedagogy

Knowledge cannot be compulsorily imparted, the teacher hasrather to create in children the compulsion to learn. One has tokeep in mind the difference between instruction and education.Instruction means literally putting something inside with the helpof a trowel; education means literally leading a person form oneplace to another. The implication of the change of name of thedepartment from public instruction to education has to be fullyrealised.

It is universally recognised that there is a fall in standard onaccount of the rapid expansion of education already realised. Ifthe same teaching methods are followed, there is a risk of furtherdeterioration when more first generation learners are admittedinto schools. This is the time to pause and examine the validityof the usual teaching methods conceived to cater for parentallysupported pupils.

One has first to recognise that there are different types ofintelligence and that all children could succeed if all those typesof intelligence are offered opportunity to thrive. For education tobecome truly inclusive, the teaching approach has therefore tochange. The introduction to new concepts can no longer bestraightaway abstract. Previous visualisation, manipulation willbe needed for certain types of intelligence. Within the broadframework of the curriculum, the teacher will have to build upvarious activities taking into account the aspirations of the pupilsand with the help of their suggestions.

Pupils should never have the feeling of saturation. Care shouldbe taken not to burden them and to not exhaust them. Themain preoccupation of the teacher is to keep alive the naturaldesire to learn and to activate it when it shows signs of fading.Teachers should not forget that education is a lifelong process.What is essential is to teach how to learn.

Pupils have to be given tips for how to learn lessons and dohomework quickly and effectively. There is a course inmethodology at the fag end of the academic career for preparinga thesis, but tips to learn are required at every stage of educationright from the start. No work should be assigned to pupils that hecannot do by himself. The rest has to be done under the guidanceof the teacher.

Pupils have to be trained early in the art of silent reading.They have to learn how to read slowly and accurately and how toread quickly and pick up the essential. When that art is mastered,they may become scholars by themselves.

Contribution of Other Partners

The school has to keep close link with parents. They have tobe advised to listen with interest what their child has learnt inschool. If they do not have a level of instruction equal to that oftheir child they need not have an inferiority complex; they knowmuch more through their experience of life. They should be made

9

to understand that they have a role to play in the education ortheir children. At no cost they should lose their authority whichis essential for the normal psychological development of children.Some parents may be pressed into service to interact with pupilsand communicate to them their special knowledge or know how.

Some educated parents will be tempted to be scornful of thenew education. They will claim that they at that stage they couldrecite such things, make such calculation etc… and concludehastily that the new education is lower in standard. They have tobe told that some items of old syllabus have become irrelevant,that they have been purposely given up, that priorities are nowdifferent, that education imparted has to be assessed withreference to new aims.

Some other parents, especially fathers, may remainstubbornly indifferent to the education of their children. In suchcase mothers have to be attracted to substitute them. After aperiod of hesitation, if they are made to understand what is atstake, they will prove very cooperative. They have mainly to ensurethat their children attend school regularly.

School administration, right from the rank of director ofeducation to the headmasters of schools, should become fullyaware about the new aims and make them their own. They shouldanticipate all the hurdles and objections and get ready withsatisfactory solutions. They have to understand the implicationsof heterogeneous classes and the needs of the first generationlearners; they have to provide continuous guidance to teachersand to assess their work as per the new norms. They should bemade to realise that their task does not stop with merely bringingall children into the school but they have the duty to see thatthey are imparted education worth the name. By their indifferenceto the new kind of education they may delay the yield of results.By their active leadership they could accelerate the process.

School Infrastructure

Each school should have a vast hall or an open ground for thewhole school population to assemble, for projection of films andfor physical education. This will be a great challenge for schoolsrun by the government or local authorities in densely populatedurban areas without much open space available. But the challengehas to be met if new ways of teaching for the new brand of schoolpopulation is to be crowned with success. Suitable propertiesadjacent to schools may have to be forcibly acquired. It will provevery delicate for the District Education Officer to refuse recognitionto private schools for lack of play ground if government schoolsare found wanting in that respect.

The class room furniture will have to be changed to allowteam work, group discussions, mutual education, separateteaching for different groups. The school has to be equipped witha good library for use by teachers and pupils. A school museumwith a collection of things to be shown to pupils for easy and fullunderstanding of certain matters can be constituted by teacherswith the help of pupils and parents.

A large gamut of audio visual aids like films, videos, internaltelevision have to be made available to schools; they will help allpupils grasp difficult notions and relieve teachers to that extent.Possibility to use the store of information of Edusat should beprovided. The budget of schools in respect of teaching equipment

and materials is now absolutely inadequate. It has to bedetermined by an authoritative committee and the fundsearmarked for the purpose should not be diverted to other ends.Schools may also be allowed to receive donations of equipment;such donations without any quid pro quo are not prohibited bythe Act. The school management committee may evolveguidelines for the purpose.

Selection of Teachers

For selection to training schools, the minimum qualificationrequired is the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate. Theentrance test should ensure the full possession of the minimumof knowledge of academic subjects. There should be no need towaste time to teach them the same in the training school. Sotraining schools may concentrate on the acquisition of skills inthe art of teaching to the new type of school population. Traineesmay be taught during their preparation of teaching assignmentshow to improve their own knowledge and to bring it up to the levelrequired on the topic in hand.

The final selection at the entrance stage should be based ona personality test. The trainee should not have any visible infirmity.He should have an outgoing personality, love for children, desireto teach, and proneness to dedication to work. The selectionboard should consist mostly of psychologists trained to conductall the above tests.

It is also noticed that most of the trainees come now fromurban milieu. When they are sent to work in rural or tribal areas,they do not like working in that milieu and strive to get a transfer;they absent themselves frequently and have no inclination toconcentrate on their work. On the other side rural and tribal peoplehave precious values like the respect for the earth, the trees, theliving creatures and a sensorial understanding of the universewhich have to be preserved. Urban teachers unconsciously thrusttheir urban outlook on pupils. There is thus a danger orunwarranted Europeanisation of the rural India, which remainedunaffected by colonial rule. It is therefore necessary to assessthe number of teachers required for rural and tribal areas andadmit corresponding number of candidates from those areas.

Training of Teachers

The required new pedagogy assigns a new role to the teacher.A new brand of teachers has to be shaped. Training course wasso far devised as an academic course and not as a professionalone. The acquisition of bookish knowledge of methods will nothelp. Trainees will not be able to translate into practice theprinciples they are taught unless they are shown the principlesat work. Though they may pass in the written tests on methodsthey will not be able to put into practice those novel methods;they will be prone to apply the methods used by their ownteachers. The existing curriculum of training schools andassessment of trainees has to be entirely revamped.

What is important to impart is the ability to organise classroom activities in a heterogeneous class. Therefore each trainingschool would require an attached pilot elementary school whereresourceful teachers desirous and able to apply new methodsare deployed. They will have to be guided by the staff of thetraining school whose duty will be not only to lecture on principlesbut to imagine all tricks necessary to implement them as well.

Right to Education

10

An appeal to promote

School Psychology

Chennai school student stabs teacher to death

CHENNAI: A Class IX student of a Chennai school stabbedhis teacher to death in a classroom on Thursday morning.Police quoted the 15-year-old boy (TOI is withholding his identityas he is a minor) was under pressure after the teacherrepeatedly sent adverse remarks to his parents.

Shock and fear gripped St Mary’s Anglo-Indian HigherSecondary School on Armenian Street in Parrys, a middle-class neighbourhood, as the student, repeatedly stabbed hisHindi teacher Uma Maheshwari.

The recent news about the murder of Class IX Teacherby her own student, during the class hour, inside the schoolpremises, is according to me, the first indicator of the imminentneed for School Psychologists in India, especially in a Statelike Tamil Nadu, where school children per se are treated as“Race Horses.” It appears as if the investments of parents aresomething like “Betting” on the winning horses and the tenderminds are subjected to enormous pressure!! The reason forthe murder is cited as “Teacher was complaining about theboy’s poor performance to the parents, and she was recordingthe poor academic performance in the Diary of the Boy”!

I feel, this is a prelude to the forthcoming bigger disasterwhich is the result of mindless consumerism, reckless cinemaand satellite entertainment and above all the erosion of familyvalues.

In my opinion, the Indian School Psychology Association(InSPA), should effectively bank upon this mishap proactivelyto engage in Policy Advocacy with the Minister of SchoolEducation, MHRD, Government of India and with theGovernment of States through the InSPA branches spread allover.

I foresee a huge scope for School Psychologists, especiallyin Urban India though the rural issues are equally bad, theyare not perverse to this extent of a student murdering histeacher!

Sincerely, N.K. Kumaresan Raja

This news item and the anguish expressed by the

learned colleague may kindle a lamp in schools so that

the Indian teachers as well as students be reoriented

towards interpersonal relationship skills. This tragic

incident shows the high stress experienced by the

teachers, students and parents who are caught in vicious

circle of cutthroat competitions and quenchless thirst

for success. The InSPA is conducting training as well

as awareness programmes among teachers, teacher

educators and school administrators about the School

Psychology.

-Editor

Right to Education

Trainees will have to cross three phases: first, observation inthe pilot school; second, part time trial under the supervision ofthe staff of the training school and third, full time charge of theclass for two weeks during which their ability to manage theclassroom activities is to be assessed. This should be the crucialtest to become entitled to be a teacher.

The Teacher Eligibility Test which is contemplated now on allIndia basis is disappointing. It will not be conducive to thesuccess of the scheme in contemplation. It consists of thefollowing papers: child psychology and pedagogy, language I,Language II, Maths, Environmental studies. No test on the actualability to teach, to organise and supervise class room activities.A certification of professional ability should necessarily be basedmostly on practical performance. It is not so in TET

Another worrisome feature of the TET is the possibility ofconcession for SC, ST, OBCs. How to allow our children to beentrusted to sub standard teachers? Is there any such concessionto become a surgeon? Will not the very fact of announcement ofconcession induce those candidates not to take full advantageof the training and to do their best? Concession at the time ofadmission to the training course is justified; disadvantagedcandidates may also be given special attention during training.There should not be any concession at the time of finalcertification of ability. That is an ill placed favour.

It will take much time to find suitably trained teachers for theremaining population to be admitted into school. It is estimatedthat five lacks of additional teachers would be required. Till thenit will be preferable to put the same teacher in charge of twoclasses one in the morning and another one in the afternoon,each class having the teaching limited to the 3Rrs for half a day.That will be better than to entrust children to untrained teachers.The latter may do more harm than good, especially to slowlearning pupils.

The existing teachers who are accustomed to homogeneousschool population consisting of children from upper and middleclasses would require in service training to acquire the new skillsrequired to deal with the new kind of pupils. This has to be takencare of as early as possible.

Concluding Remarks

Though the Act has already become enforceable the fullimplementation of the right to education if pursued earnestly willtake about 20 years for yielding fully its fruits. It is likely to bringout a sea change in the society.

Many more geniuses who now cannot blossom will be atwork. The society will become economically more prosperous.The universal suffrage will become more relevant. The civil societywill grow stronger. Social differences between citizens will godown. Some forms of religious practices will become obsolete.Some traditions will fade away. There will be more litigation.White collar offences will increase. And so many other unforeseenresults, good and bad, will see the light of the day.

Teachers, political leaders and school administrators havethe mission of taking care that the identity of India and its agelong fundamental values are not lost in the process. That woulddepend much on the formulation and implementation of thecurriculum and the syllabus.

11

The Pondicherry Psychology Association,

Puducherry, in collaboration with Indian Academy of

Applied Psychology, Indian School Psychology

Association and Sri Aravindar Engineering College were

jointly organised 14th National Conference on School

Psychology on 27th and 28th January, 2012.

Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Secretary, InSPA welcomed,

Prof. B. Mukhopadhyay, President, PPA presented the

scope and objectives of the Conference, Prof. G.P. Thakur,

President, InSPA presided. Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA

inaugurated the conference and distributed awards. Prof.

Peter Farrell, UK delivered keynote address, Prof. S.

Mohan, Director, NITTTR, Chennai and Ms. Coosje

Griffiths, Australia delivered special address. Shri. K.

Nithyanandham, Chairman, Sri Aravindar Engineering

College graced the occasion. Dr. V. Suresh, Secretary,

PPA proposed a vote of thanks. The following awards for

2011 have been distributed at the inaugural session:

1. IAAP-PPA BEST PSYCHOLOGIST AWARD 2011

(Cash award of Rs.5000/- and citation) given to

Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Reader, UGC-Academic Staff

College, Pondicherry University, Puducherry for his

contribution in the field of applied psychology.

2. IAAP-PPA BEST EDUCATIONIST AWARD 2011

(Cash award of Rs.5000/- and citation) given to

Dr. N. Manoharan, Professor and Director of Planning,

Development and International Relations, Anna University

of Technology Madurai, Madurai for his contribution to

education.

3. Prof. A. Gnanam Best Teacher Award 2011 (Cash

award of Rs.1000/- and citation) given to Prof.

D. Brahadeeswaran, Prof. and Head, Department of Policy

Planning and Educational Research, National Institute

of Technical Teachers' Training and Research, Chennai.

4. Prof. B. Viswanatham Best Book Award 2011

(Cash award Rs.500/- and Citation) each for the best

book of the year given to Mr. Ganesh Chella, Chennai

and Dr. Sadique Razaque, Head, Department of

Psychology, Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag,

Jharkhand.

5. Psychometric Educational Services Award 2011

(Cash Award Rs.1000/- and Citation) given to Dr. P.A.

Baby Shari, Reader, Department of Psychology, Calicut

University, Calicut, Kerala.

Technical Sessions

The two days conference constituted six technical

sessions, in the each session eight papers were

presented. The Chairman/ Chairperson of the sessions

are as follows:

Technical session I – Dr. P. J. Charumathi, JBAS,

Chennai

Technical session II - Dr. R. Subasree, RGNIYD,

Sriperumbudur

Technical session III – Dr. C. Jayan, Calicut University,

Calicut

Technical session IV – Dr. Baby Shari, P.A. Calicut

University, Calicut

Technical session V – Dr. Rumki Gupta, ISI, Kolkata

Technical session VI – Dr. G. Kulanthaivel, NITTTR,

Chennai

Valedictory Session: Shri. K. Laksminarayanan,

MLA, Former Minister for Education, Puducherry,

inaugurated the conference and delivered valedictory

address. Prof. G.P. Thakur delivered presidential address.

Prof. Mamota Das and Prof. D. Sambandhan delivered

special address. Dr. T. Arun welcomed and Mr. V. Sendhil,

Treasurer, PPA proposed vote of thanks.

14th National Conference on School Psychology

12

Coosje Griffiths

Area Manager, Student Services

Western Australia

Prof. Bill Pfohl

Professor of School Psychology

Western Kentucky University, USA

With the aim of introducing School Psychology Training

in India, International School Psychologists

Prof. Peter T. Farrell, Manchester University, United

Kingdom, Prof. Bill Pfohl, Western Kentucky University,

USA and Ms. Coosje Griffiths, Area Manager, Student

Services, Australia have been invited to conduct various

programmes in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. The ultimate

aim of their visit was to conduct the training programme on

School Psychology to the 50 school principals /

headmasters of the Union Territory of Puducherry and 10

school counsellors. Apart from this, they participated in the

14th National Conference on School Psychology held at Sri

Aravindar Engineering College, Sedarapet, Tamil Nadu on

27th January, 2012 and also had a meeting with Sri.P

Rajavelu, the Hon’ble Minister for Welfare, Puducherry. On

28th January, 2012 the ISPA team participated in the

International seminar on School Psychology at Raja Desingh

College of Education, Gingee and around 185 teachers and

students had actively participated in the seminar. Next day,

they took part in the International Seminar of School

Psychology at Sri Renugambal College of Education, Polur

and this seminar was attended by 300 teachers and students.

Reflections

The inauguration of the Institute of School Psychology

was held on 31st January 2012 at Tamil Sangam, Puducherry.

Dr. V. Muthu, President, Tamil Sangam welcomed the

esteemed guests from abroad. Shri. P. Rajavelu, Hon’ble

Minister for Welfare inaugurated the Institute. Dr. Anjana

Thakur, Deputy Secretary, UGC, New Delhi graced the

occasion by lighting the Kuthuvilakku. The team also visited

Manimegalai Govt. Higher Secondary School, Puducherry.

On 1st and 2nd February, 2012 the team participated in

the International training programme on “Safe and Friendly

Schooling” at Achariya International School, Villianur and

around 235 teachers and students were present at the event.

On 2nd February, 2012. Prof. Peter Farrell visited the National

Institute of Multiple Disabilities (NIPMED), Chennai and

Department of Psychology, Madras University, Chennai.

On 3rd February, 2012 Prof. Bill and Ms. Coosje visited

Sri Anandharangapillai Special School for Blind, Deaf and

Dump, Pillaichavady and Kolping High School, Kalapet. Then

they left for NITTTR, Chennai.

Thus the visit of ISPA team was quite eventful and useful

much to the expectations of the InSPA team.

Purposeful Visit to India

13

This Newsletter contains full accounts of the International

Training Workshop on School Psychology together with details

of the other seminars that took place in the Puducherry and

Tamil Nadu area in the last week of January and first week of

February this year. As the invited international resource persons

who took part in these events, we felt it would be appropriate

to add our reflections and memories of the workshop and

seminars.

All three of us were honoured to be invited to contribute

to these seminars and the workshop. It was a privilege for us

to visit India again to experience the incredibly friendly welcome,

to enjoy the hospitality and to work with such a large number

of enthusiastic participants. To be welcomed so enthusiastically

and with genuine warmth was a new experience for us all. We

cannot thank the organisers, in particular Dr Panch

Ramalingam, highly enough. He was always on hand to advise

us about transport arrangements, programme changes and he

also responded positively to our requests. Dr Ramalingam is

blessed with incredible amounts of energy and enthusiasm

which is infectious and an inspiration to us all.

Indeed it was Dr.Ramalingam’s energy and commitment

that led to the workshop being proposed in the first place. He

organised the programme, collated the materials that were

included in the resource material for the workshop participants,

and invited an impressive array of speakers from within India

whose contributions complemented our own.

From our perspective we take away a whole host of

memories. These include: -

1 The enthusiastic reception from the students at Raja

Desingh College of Education, Gingee, Sri Renugambal College

of Education, Polur and Achariya College of Education, Villianur.

They seemed delighted to hear from international speakers

and were extremely appreciative, many seeking our autographs!

This was an entirely new experience for us.

2 The intelligent and thoughtful contributions we received

from the participants at the Training Workshop. All were

extremely keen to learn about School Psychology and the

potential role that school psychologists could play in supporting

pupils, teachers and parents. Their comments in the final group

discussion indicated to us that they had learned a great deal

from the workshop and were determined to develop the school

psychology profession as soon as possible.

3 The genuine interest in, and appreciation for, the need

to develop School Psychology that we received from the various

government ministers and related dignitaries whom we met

during the course of our visit. All were delighted that we were

able to take part in the seminars and workshop. All seemed

pleased to take time out to meet with us and to hear about our

work. This commitment to take School Psychology forward

will be crucial for the success of this enterprise.

4 The warm welcome we received from the staff and

students at the four schools that we visited. Unfortunately

our schedule was extremely tight and we did not have as

much time as we would have liked to spend interacting with

staff and students at these two schools. But all were delighted

to welcome us and we were impressed with the quality of

work that we observed from the students.

Finally we were delighted to hear that, as a direct result

of the training workshop, the Puducherry government has

tentatively agreed to appoint 10 school psychologists each

of whom will work in 10 schools. This is a major step forward

and reflects the support that Dr. Ramalingam and his

colleagues have obtained for the development of school

psychology services. Inevitably there will be teething problems

in establishing this new service. But we were happy to give it

our full support while stressing the need for the newly appointed

school psychologists to have supervision and for them to

receive continuing training.

Hon'ble Minister for Welfare Shri. P. Rajavelu warmly

welcomes Prof. Peter Farrell, Mrs.Coosje Griffiths and

Prof. Bill Pfohl

Welcome to InSPA New Members

(up to 31.03.2012)

134/2012 Ms. Diana Manoshi, Bangalore

135/2012 Ms. V. Padmavathy, Madurai

136/2012 Ms. Upasana Saraf, Mumbai

137/2012 Mr. A. Ramachandran, Polur

INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ON SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY

REFLECTIONS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL RESOURCE PERSONS

Peter Farrell, Coosje Griffiths and Bill Pfohl

14

INTERNATIONAL TRAINING ON SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGYVIEWS OF THE PARTICIPANTS

I take this opportunity to express the salient features of

this International Training Programme on School Psychology.

I do wish to make a special mention at the outset that

the government of Puducherry in general and the Directorate

of school Education in particular had initiated and has been

initiating several laudable moves towards enabling teachers

and heads of institutions all these years in equipping

themselves in the areas of guidance and counselling through

systematic training programmes conducted by the State

Training Centre of the Directorate of School Education

Puducherry as well by the Regional Institute of Education-

Mysore - an apex training body in South India under NCERT

catering to the psychological and Mental Health needs of

children in every institution in Puducherry.

While the areas of Guidance and Counselling have been

attended to very well and applied at the level of institutions

catering to the needs of the children, the concept of School

Psychology and the necessity of the school psychologist being

housed at every institution in isolation or in cluster is of course

a new approach towards the psychological wellbeing and

mental health of children. As such, this programme,

international in stature has created awareness and has thrown

enough light focussing our attention on this area.

It is understood from the training programme that India

with the largest student population that too with the advent of

the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

2009, is expected to give more importance and impetus to the

psycho-pedagogic and mental health needs of students. Thus

this programme with Indian and foreign trainers has dealt in

depth with various topics of importance pertaining to School

Psychology and school psychologists.

It is understood from the training programme that India

with the largest student population that too with the advent of

the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act

2009, is expected to give more importance and impetus to the

psycho-pedagogic and mental health needs of students. Thus

this programme with Indian and foreign trainers has dealt in

depth with various topics of importance pertaining to school

psychology and school psychologists.

We are thus indeed, very grateful to our very respected

Director of School Education and InSPA for having enabled us

to have an insight and exposure to this area of study and

application at school level. This in the long way enable us to

satisfy the socio-psychological and psycho-pedagogic needs

and aspirations of children in a formal setting which will

ultimately lead to healthy growth and development of the

individual, the society and the Nation at large.

Dr. A.MICHAEL BENNO

Principal,

VOC Govt. Higher Secondary School, Puducherry.

Reflections on the InSPA Training Programme

The programme started with self introduction of the

participants on 27th Jan 2012 and Programme Coordinator

presented the process of collaboration with ISPA that took place

during the International Conference at Vellore VIT. The main

highlight of this training was international trainers with

professional credentials and great experience in School

Psychology. It was an immense opportunity for the participants

to be part of this training as it provided right direction in this

emerging field. The programme was a great initiative in

motivating the educationalists to have School Psychologists

as part of their system.

The Principals, Vice Principals and Head Masters along

with core group members discussed the current status and

emerging issues in the school set up. And based on the

deliberations and presentations of each group, there is a felt

need for having a school psychologist in each school to promote

our Indian youth holistically.

There is a need for collaborative effort and commitment to

bring this training into functional reality. As part of InSPA and

Professional psychologist I, personally wish to state that we

all professionals need to commit ourselves for this common

cause to make this initiative a grand success as it is going to

result in nation building at large.

Dr. R. Subasree

Lecturer, School of Counselling,

Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development,

Sriperumbudur, Chennai

Reflections

ViewsRespected sir,

The programme was well organized, informative and useful to

needy children as well parents and community dwellers. The

venue was perfect. The trainers were internationally reputed.

This was first training of such type in India and I am lucky that

I attended. Our stay arrangement and transportation facility

was fine. The InSPA team was very dedicated. As I was from

Nepal such a far away place, I never felt as far from my place.

Thanks a lot to Dr. Panch. Ramalingam and his team for such

a marvelous job. - Binod Kumar Deo,

Assistant Professor (Psychology),

Dept. of psychiatry, B.P.Koirala Institute of Health

Sciences, Dharan, Nepal

15

International Training on School Psychology:

Safe and Friendly Schooling

01 - 02 February, 2012

The International training on “School Psychology -

Safe and Friendly Schooling” was conducted by the

Achariya College of Education on 1st and 2nd of February

2012. At the inaugural session Prof. Mamota Das,

Principal, Achariya College of Education, welcomed the

resource persons and participants. Dr. J. Arawindhan,

Chairman, Achariya Group of Educational Institutions

presided over the function. In his presidential address he

said this was first of its kind to train our teachers at the

school level with international standard and hoped that

this programme would certainly help teachers to

implement the strategies in our schooling system so as to

help the children. Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Secretary,

InSPA presented the scope of the training programme.

Prof. Bill Pfohl, Professor of School Psychology,

Western Kentucky University, USA inaugurated the training

programme and conducted two technical sessions on

"Crisis management and effective leadership of school

teachers". Keynote address of the training programme

was given by Mrs. Coosje Griffiths, Area Manager, Student

Services, Western Australia, Australia. Prof. Peter T.

Farrell, Professor of Education, Manchester University,

UK delivered special address highlighting the importance

of the training programme on School Psychology in India.

During the inaugural session Prof. Bill Pfohl

presented School Psychology Services award to

Dr. J. Arawindhan. Prof. G.P. Thakur, President, InSPA

felicitated the occasion. Mr. Rajkumar proposed vote of

thanks.

Prof. Bill Pfohl and Ms. Coosje Griffiths conducted

four technical sessions. In addition to the technical

sessions, Prof. P. Jeyachandran delivered a special lecture

on "Mental health perspectives of school children". Around

235 teachers and teacher education students participated

in the two day international training.

On the second day, the participants interacted with

the experts based on the technical sessions. The

participants expressed their immense benefits derived

from the two day deliberations on friendly and safe

schooling with special reference to Indian school system.

During the concluding session, Prof. Mamota Das,

Principal, Achariya College of Education presided and

presented mementos to the International experts. While

sharing their experiences with the experts, the participants

mentioned that the programme was inspiring and at the

same time challenging. They also expressed the

thoughtful efforts of their chief mentor Dr.J.Arawindhan.

Prof. Bill Pfohl presenting School Psychology Services

Award to Dr. J. Arawindhan

16

International Seminar on

School Psychology at Gingee

The Indian School Psychology Association in

collaboration with Raja Desingh College of Education,

Gingee organised one day International Seminar on

School Psychology on 28th January 2012. Shri Gingee

Babu, Chairman, Raja Desingh College of Education,

Gingee welcomed the delegates and resource persons

of the seminar. Scope of the seminar was presented by

Dr. A.M. Sekar, Principal, Raja Desingh College of

Education, Gingee.

Prof. Peter Farell, Manchester University, United

Kingdom in his inaugural address said that School

Psychology is part of the Education programmes offered

by the Indian education curriculum. The teacher

educators must know the role of School Psychologists so

as to work together. He expressed that teachers, parents

and school administration should coordinate with School

Psychologists for effective school education. Prof. Peter

also appreciated that School Psychology is flourishing in

India and has tremendous scope and this seminar would

help the teacher educators to understand the effective

role of School Psychologists in school system.

Prof. G.P.Thakur, President, Indian School

Psychology Association delivered the presidential

address. In his address he said that the teachers and

educators are the pillars of the nation and highly

appreciated the initiatives taken by Shri. Gingee Babu,

Chairman, Raja Desingh College of Education, Gingee in

promoting School Psychology in India.

Mrs. Coosje Griffiths, Executive Secretary, ISPA,

Australia made a special address. She noted that the

School Psychologists are helping the teachers, parents,

and school administration to take care of the children.She

lauded the traditional welcome given to them and

expressed her high appreciation of the Indian value

system.The concurrent sessions were initiated by Mrs.

Coosje Griffiths and Prof. Peter Farell.

Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA was the Chief Guest of the

valedictory session and he highlighted the role of ISPA

and the initiatives taken by the ISPA in collaboration with

InSPA to promote School Psychology in India. There were

200 teachers and teacher education students at the one

day seminar.

17

Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA distributing School Psychology

Services Award to Shri A. Ramachandran, Chairman,

Sri Renugambal College of Education, Polur.

The Indian School Psychology Association in

collaboration with Sri Renugambal College of Education,

Polur organised a one day International Seminar on

School Psychology on 29 th January 2012. Shri A.

Ramachandran, Chairman, Sri Renugambal College of

Education, Polur welcomed the delegates and resource

persons of the seminar. Scope and objectives of the

seminar was presented by Dr. Panch. Ramalingam,

Secretary, InSPA.

The seminar was inaugurated by Prof. Peter Farell,

Manchester University, United Kingdom. In his address

he appreciated the initiatives taken by the InSPA to

promote School Psychology in India. The Presidential

remarks were given by Prof. G.P.Thakur, President, Indian

School Psychology Association. He said Sri Renugambal

College is pioneering the efforts of introducing School

Psychology services in their educational institutions. Mrs.

Coosje Griffiths, Executive Secretary, ISPA, Australia

delivered a special address. She said India is having rich

potential to promote School Psychology. This is right time

to promote School Psychology in every corner of the

country. Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA delivered keynote address

and presented the School Psychology Services award

to Shri. A. Ramachandran for his contribution in promoting

School Psychology services in India. Prof. Bill said that

the International School Psychology Association will

extend its guidance and support to promote School

Psychology services in India. Thereby the first training

programme was strated in Puducherry to the school

principals of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Dr. Shankar

Sekar, Principal, Sri Renugambal College of Education,

Polur proposed the vote of thanks.

There were three concurrent sessions: The session

on "Friendly and Safe Schooling" was initiated by

Mrs. Coosje Griffiths and Dr. N.K. Kumaresan Raja chaired

the session. Prof. Peter Farrell conducted the second

concurrent session on "Introducing School Psychology in

India" and the session was chaired by Dr. Panch.

Ramalingam; The third concurrent session was conducted

by Prof. Bill Pfohl on "School Psychology and Role of

Teacher Educators" and it was chaired by Dr. A.M. Sekar,

Principal, Raja Desingh College of Education, Gingee.

Post lunch sessions were conducted by Prof. Borislav

Slavchov, President, Association of Young Psychologists

in Bulgaria. Ms. Evi Lazarova, International Secretary,

Association of Young Psychologists, Bulgaria, and

Dr.T.Arun, InSPA, Puducherry, conducted the technical

Session on "Student Counselling".

At the Valedictory session of the seminar,

Prof. D. Sambandhan, Former Dean, School of Social

Sciences and International Studies, Pondicherry

University, addressed the gathering and distributed the

certificates. On the same occasion Dr. N.K. Kumaresan

Raja, Annamalai University delivered a special address.

More than 300 delegates participated in the one day

International seminar on School Psychology. The

delegates expressed thier happiness for attending the

School Psychology seminar.

Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA conducting the technical session

Prof. Bill Pfohl, Prof. Peter Farrell and Dr. Panch. Ramalingam

International Seminar on

School Psychology at Polur

18

Indian Institute of School Psychology

Training and Research (IISPTR)

The Indian Institute of School Psychology Training

and Research (IISPTR) was inaugurated by Hon'ble

Minister for Welfare, Puducherry Shri. P Rajavelu. In his

inaugural address he stressed that there is a pertinent

need to take care of the disabled children to join in the

main stream. The Government of Puducherry is taking

several measures to educate all the children. The

International experts Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA, Prof. Peter

Farrell, UK and Ms. Coosje Griffiths, Australia expressed

their concern to train teachers on School Psychology

services so as to create safe and friendly schooling

environment in all the schools in India, more so in the

Union Territory of Puducherry. The first training was

conducted for the school principals and headmasters of

the Union Territory of Puducherry in January 2012.

Dr. V. Muthu, President, Tamil Sangam, Puducherry

welcomed the dignitaries. Dr. Archana Thakur, Deputy

Secretary, UGC, New Delhi lit the Kuthuvillaku in

commemoration of inaugurating the Institute. Prof. G.P.

Thakur, President, InSPA and Director, IISPTR presented

the scope and functional arrangements of the Institute.

He said that the Institute will conduct regular training

programmes all over the country based on the needs of

the educational institutions. The short term training for

school teachers will be held during May - June 2012.The

Institute will also take care of the research activities in

collaboration with International School Psychology

Association (ISPA). The prime requirement of the training

resource will be drawn from the ISPA and effectively

conduct the training programmes.

Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Secretary, InSPA felicitated

and stressed the need of training institute to conduct

regular training programmes. Dr. R. Subasree, and

Dr. N.K. Kumaresan Raja also felicitated.

Prof. Bill Pfohl, USA, Prof. Peter Farrell, UK and

Ms. Coosje Griffiths, Australia delivered special address.

They promised to extend their support to conduct regular

training activities through IISPTR. Mrs. Malathi Rajavelu

graced the occasion.

19

The Indian School Psychology Association(www.inspa.info), an affiliate of International School PsychologyAssociation (www.ispaweb.org), is a voluntary non-profitorganization founded in 2009. The primary aim of the Associationis to develop and promote School Psychology in India, value-based education and training to meet the needs of society andparticularly to elevate the poor from poverty through schooleducation in India and abroad. InSPA is primarily a professionalorganisation, taking into account the genuine day to day needof school environment in India. Hence teaching, training,research, and practice are the major concerns of the InSPA.This is first of its kind in Kerala to provide training in SchoolPsychology by inviting internationally reputed trainers. Thetraining modules include acquisition of skills in SchoolPsychology, lectures and interaction, demonstration and roleplay, skill practice and material preparation, practice workshopwith primary and secondary school children, assignments andtests. The training modules have been prepared by theInternational School Psychologists keeping in mind the Indiancontexts. The InSPA is taking lead to train the SchoolPsychology professionals to cater to the needs of the IndianSchools.

Module I: School Psychology:Past, Present and Future

Module II: Role of school psychologists, Overview of ISPA standards and Code of Ethics

Module III:School Psychology: Assessment techniques

Module IV:Safe and Friendly Schooling

Module V: Mental health issues and challenges

Eligibility: Graduates with Psychology as a subject ofstudy. Teachers with B.Ed/M.Ed., Post graduate students whoare pursuing Psychology/ Education are also eligible toparticipate in the training programme

Registration: Registered participants are requested toreport at the office of Department of Psychology, CalicutUniversity, Calicut, Kerala on 23.11.2012 at 9.00am

Venue: Department of Psychology, Calicut University,Calicut, Kerala

Course Fee: Rs.3000/- per participants. Course feeshould be sent by means of demand draft payable atPondicherry and in favour of Indian School PsychologyAssociation (InSPA) The course fee includes simpleaccommodation for seven days, lunch and tea/coffee duringthe training programme, course kit, and course material, InSPANewsletter, and a group photo.

Accommodation: will be arranged on request.

Last date for registration: 31st May, 2012

Training Experts

Prof. Peter T. Farrell, United Kingdom

He is the Sarah Fielden Professor of Special Needs andEducational Psychology in the School of Education, Universityof Manchester, England and Former President of theInternational School Psychology Association. He is also aFellow of the British Psychological Society. He has extensiveexperience as a trainer of school psychologists in the UnitedKingdom and has worked with psychologists in sevencountries in relation to the development of psychologicalservices. Throughout his career he has worked closely withthe British Psychological Society on issues related to thedevelopment of psychological services in United Kingdom andthorough his links with the International School PsychologyAssociation and the European Federation of ProfessionalPsychologists Association, he has been influential in helpingto shape the development of psychological services in differentcountries.

Prof. G.P. Thakur, New Delhi

Prof. G.P. THAKUR, of Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith,Varanasi has three decades of experience in teaching, researchand administration. He was the Head, Department ofPsychology; Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Scienceand Technology and Director, Career planning and CounsellingCentre. Presently, he is the President of Indian SchoolPsychology Association, New Delhi.

Prof. P. Jeyachandran, Chennai

He is trained in India and abroad. Professor of Mental Healthand Psychology, President, Vijay Human Services, Chennai.He is the member, Rehabilitation Council of India, New Delhi.He is an expert in the area of mental health and learningdisabilities of children.

Dr. Panch. Ramalingam, Puducherry

He is Reader at the UGC - Academic Staff College of thePondicherry University, Puducherry, India. He has triple Postgraduate degrees (Psychology, Education and PoliticalScience) to his credit and has M. Phil. and Ph.D. in EducationalCounselling Psychology from Annamalai University. Hisresearch areas are mainly Teacher education, Mental health,Educational and Counselling Psychology, Career Counselling,Integral Education, Yoga and Indian Psychology.

Contact:

Dr. Baby Shari, P.A. (Mob: 09846839369)InSPA State Convenor, KeralaDepartment of Psychology,Calicut University, Kerala.- 673 635.Email: inspaindia@gmail.com

Visit us:www.inspa.info

International Training on School Psychology in Calicut, Kerala

(23rd – 25th November, 2012)

20

Welcome to Calicut

2nd InSPA National Conference (22-24 November, 2012)

Dr.M.Abdul Salam

Vice chancellor

CONFERENCE THEME

School Psychology: Mental Health Challenges

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Peter T. Farrell, PhD: He is the Sarah Fielden

Professor of Special Needs and Educational Psychology in

the School of Education, University of Manchester, England

and Former President of the International School Psychology

Association.

Prof. P. Jeyachandran: He is Professor of Mental Health

and Psychology, President, Vijay Human Services, Member,

Rehabilitation Council of India.

Prof. Vikram Patel: He is a Professor of International

Mental Health and Welcome Trust Senior Clinical Research

Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

(UK),He is a co-founder of Sangath, a Goa (India) based NGO.

Proposals for symposium, workshops, individual paper,

and poster presentations are invited. Today, school communities

are challenged with many psycho-socio issues of children from

different ethnicities, races, languages, religions, abilities, and

disabilities. The School Psychology should be promoted in

India to cater to the needs of the parents, teachers, school

administration and policy makers.

Papers: The purpose of a paper presentation is to present

research findings and innovative practices.

(20 minutes for each paper, including questions from

participants). Papers should report on recent developments in

applied educational or school psychology in relation to the

theme of the conference.

Posters: The purpose is to offer a visual display of

presentation, in an attractive way, on a given poster space.

Presenters should also offer additional information (leaflets, or

brochures) to take away.

Symposia: A symposium permits discussion of a main

topic from various points of view. A co-ordinator is responsible

for inviting presenters to speak (Format: one co-ordinator and

two or more invited presenters, with 20 minutes each for

presentation).

Workshops: The purpose of workshop is to enable a

practitioner, researcher, or other educational professional to

present specific new techniques, methods and tools for

psychologists from a practical point of view in relation to the

conference theme (Format: 60 to 120 minutes, involving

interactive and co-operative activities and discussions among

a limited number of participants. In some instances, the

participants may need to register in advance).

Submission of Papers: Delegates are requested to

submit their abstracts/ papers following APA style (refer website:

www.jiaap.in for writing a research paper) on any of the listed

sub themes. To ensure a consistent high quality of all the

presentations, participants are requested to submit the abstract

for 100-200 words and full text less than 5000 words well in

advance 30th March, 2012 and not later than 04th June, 2012.

Abstract and full paper should be sent by email

(inspacalicut@gmail.com) or hard copy with CD in MS-Word

format only.

Registration Fee:

1 Out station InSPA Members Rs.2,000

2 Outstation Non members Rs.3,000

3 Outstation Student InSPA Members Rs.1,500

4 Outstation Student Non Members Rs.2,000

5 Local InSPA Members Rs.1,000

6 Local Non Members Rs.1,500

7 Accompanying Person Rs.1,500

No TA/DA will be paid to the participant delegates.

However, simple accommodation will be provided on first-come-

first-served basis.

For more information Contact:

LOC Chair: Dr. Baby Shari (Mob: 09846839369)

Department of Psychology,

Calicut University, Kerala.- 673 635.

Organizing Secretary: Prof. C. Jayan

Department of Psychology,

Calicut University, Kerala.- 673 635.

Mob: 09446405056

For Accomodation, Contact:

Mr. Ameen Abdulla: 08547571960

For InSPA Membership information, kindly feel free to

Contact:

Indian School Psychology Association (InSPA) (Regd),

#17, 14th Street, Krishna Nagar,

Puducherry - 605 008, India. Ph: 0413-2212476

website: www.inspa.info

Email: inspaindia@gmail.com

21

To Know your State: KeralaDr. P. Bhaskaran Nair, Pondicherry Central University

Kerala

When in the 1950s, the Central Advisory Board of

Education and in the early 1960s, the Chief Ministers’

Conference recommended to implement the three

language formula all over India, Kerala was the first state

to act upon the suggestion by imbibing its spirit and

perhaps the only state which continues that tradition by

giving more importance to the foreign language (English)

and the non-south Indian language (Hindi) than its mother

tongue (Malayalam) in the whole curricula ranging from

primary to university level. This statement alone would

suffice as a testimonial to the framework and spirit of

education in Kerala. While the rest of India was burning

with language related issues and politicized linguistic

fundamentalism, Kerala has in its curricula three

languages apart from Malayalam as first language: Tamil,

Kannada and English. Besides, each learner from Middle

School through undergraduate course has to opt for one

language from a long list: Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic, French,

Kannada, Tamil and so on.

If this is the picture of the education we get from a

language perspective, social sciences present yet another

facet of the curricula. Even today when many of the State

Board curricula follow the ‘Made in Britain’ brand of history

– history of emperors, and conquerors – the colonized

version of history text books were discarded by the Kerala

SCERT decades ago, giving historical studies a new face

– the face of humanism. The learners in the primary

schools in Kerala very well know that history and culture

are not the contributions made by royal dynasties and

their courtiers, but by the poor artisans, farmers and the

working class.

Lessons in the Kerala syllabi give more prominence

to the spread of scientific thinking and thereby eradicating

religion-sponsored superstitions from the mind and lives

of people. Science studies at any level in Kerala curricula

aim not at teaching theories and principles in isolation,

but transacting those principles as embedded in day to

day activities and the hundreds of mundane chores of

daily life. Be it the traditional subjects like Mathematics or

the recently introduced subjects like Anthropology,

Gandhian Studies, Communicative English, Social Work,

Computer Science, Business studies, the overall aim is

to produce ‘a whole man’ and not a living bundle of

information. It is this humanistic face of education that

makes this education pattern of Kerala as a model for

successive Education Commissions appointed by various

central educational agencies such as NCERT, AICTE and

NCTE, and the recommendations made in general by

MHRD.

What are the factors that make the Kerala education

system distinct from the rest of India? This question

inevitably takes us about five centuries back i.e., in 1498

when the first westerner Vasco de Gama landed on the

shore of Kappad near the historical city of Kozhikode

(anglicized Calicut). Ever since, traders, scholars,

missionaries and later tourists have been flowing into the

tiny, thin, ribbon- like stretch of land which lies on the

coast of the Arabian Sea. The way the first foreign

Portuguese trader and successive Dutch and British

traders were welcomed and received by the kings and

people of Kerala, went on through centuries. As a result,

Christian missionaries from Germany and other western

countries and cultures too were assimilated and

accommodated by the ever-tolerant Kerala culture. The

result was that each guest—whether the colonizer or the

missionary—contributed greatly to the education in

Kerala.

Secondly, the great reform movements in Kerala

which was pioneered by organized labour movements and

peasants which strongly supported by political parties

called for a different type of education for Kerala. In the

1920s to 1940s, whenever there were atrocities on the

nationalist movement and whenever a national trader was

imprisoned by the British regime, many of the classrooms

in schools and colleges remained empty, as the inmates

22

(teachers as well as students) boycotted classes to join

protest marches. Even today, in the remote villages of

Kerala one can see libraries, reading rooms, arts and

sports clubs named after not only the pioneers of the

nationalist movement like Gandhiji and Nehru, but the less

known leaders like Mahadev Desai, social reformers like

Vinoba Bhave and great writers like Kalidasa and Tagore

– though all of them lived far away from Kerala. One major

hallmark of Kerala education is the inculcation of the ‘One

India’ spirit through education. The students of Kerala have

ever been more conscious of the rest of India than those

in any other states of the nation.

A third feature of the Kerala curricula is the strict

adherence to secularism in its true spirit. Never has it

allowed to creep in any statement in its textbooks which

either promoted the dogma of any particular religion (major

or minor), nor did it allow to hurt the sentiment of any

religious or communal group either. This secular nature

of education in Kerala is the result of its centuries-old

coexistence with all the migrant cultural and ethnic groups.

Education in Kerala is not just higher order literacy alone.

The strong, self-felt motivation of the learners

triggered by the special socio-cultural-economic features

of Kerala is yet another factor which contributes to the

uniqueness of the education system in Kerala. That is to

say, as educationalists identify two broad categories of

motivation, namely integrative and instrumental, the Kerala

learners from the very beginning, are consciously driven

by the latter, that is instrumental motivation. ‘Survival of

the fittest’ seems to be the motto that sub-consciously

leads the students in Kerala, because they are very well

aware of the rude facts such as overpopulation and

unemployment. Getting admission to the next stage in

education has always been a tough task for the learner,

and as a result, thousands of learners are pursuing higher

education outside Kerala, especially in the neighbouring

states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Puducherry. This is

more relevant in the case of professional education.

A strong sense of democracy serves as a base to

education in Kerala. It has been continuously addressing

the social issues which always have been trying to make

inroads into community life. Whether DPEP or SSA, at

the core of curriculum revision, there always used to be

the concept of issue-based curriculum, and naturally

political parties and religious groups have been vigilant

in the process of curriculum making. Issues related to

social justice, gender equity, ecology, nationalism and so

on have always found a core position in the curricula.

Decades ago, representatives from various walks of life

have been part of curriculums planning. They include

political leaders or representatives, trade union leaders,

medical practitioners (especially neurologists and

pediatricians), lawyers, anthropologists, economists,

Gandhian social workers, and so on, apart from scholars

in the respective fields and educationists.

Above all, the higher percentage of literacy itself is

a factor which contributes to the uniqueness of education

system in Kerala. Kerala’s achievements in the field of

general and higher education can be traced back to high

percentage of literacy. Free and universal education up

to Class XII, low dropout rate at the school leaving level,

easy access to educational institutions, gender equality

in educational opportunities – all these factors together

have forced the Central Commissions to cite Kerala’s

progress as a role model to other states. In these respects,

Kerala has not only been a source of emulation to other

states, but it is also a benchmark to other developing,

and even developed countries.

It may be an astonishing fact, at least to some

educators that more than one-third of the state’s revenue

is spent on education. This spending along with the huge

proportion spent on public health form a healthy foundation

to Kerala’s social life. Yet another interesting fact is that

one-fifth of the population is student community. Education

sector is one of the biggest employers in the state, where

there is hardly any large scale industry either in the public

or private sector. The teaching community constitutes

about 18 per cent of the employment in the organized

sector, and teachers form more than half of the total

number of workers in registered factories. The highly

subsidized fees and the equally subsidized transport fares

to student community together with the proximity of

educational institutions including colleges have enhanced

physical access to education to all sectors. In addition,

the politics of Kerala has always been aiming at the well -

being of the socially and economically weaker sections

and as a result, the gap between the haves and have-

nots is not as wide as in the rest of India. A strong political

awareness cutting across religions, castes and classes

has strongly contributed to a different approach from the

taxpayer towards education.

The geo-physical aspect of the state too contributes

to a better educational pattern. While travelling along and

across Kerala, a first time visitor is likely to notice, rather

surprisingly that the border lines between the urban and

the rural regions get rather blurred, one may not be able

to perceive where a town ends and a village begins. In

other words, there is no remote village as such in the

To Know your State: Kerala

23

state as we do refer to the rest of India. All villages do

have the necessary living conditions such as drinking

water, health care, banking, commerce and so on. The

interesting fact is that these types of living conditions are

the results of mass education and at the same time these

physical conditions, in turn provide better education too.

Therefore, we can perceive it as a circular movement.

Only quality education can give birth to a healthy

community; only a society which nurtures healthy

principles of life can promote quality education too.

This article may be lopsided in its estimate if it does

not mention the pitfalls in education in Kerala. First of all,

education in Kerala cannot be called cost-effective, in the

sense that though about 35% of the state revenue is being

spent on education, proportionate output has not been

generated out of it in terms of quality education. While

accepting the terms and conditions of the Central

Government sponsored, subsidized economic packages

provided through schemes such as DPEP and SSA, the

state had to surrender many of its urgent demands to

meet the norms of conformity across the nation.

Perhaps the worst challenge that education in

Kerala faces is from the private sector which is dominated

by religions and communal groups and their splinter

organizations which enforce high pressure on the policy

making. Certain clauses in the Constitution related to

linguistic and religious minorities have been unfortunately

misinterpreted and misused in the education sector. As a

result, quality in education as in other parts of India is

forced to seek compromise, especially in the sector of

higher education and professional education.

[The author was a member of the State Higher

Secondary Curriculum Committee and a member of the

Primary& Secondary Sub Committee(English)]

34th ISPA International Conference9 - 13 July, 2012, McGill University,

Montreal, Canada

Theme:

Helping the World’s Children Realize their Dreams

Contact: Ms. Suzette Goguen (LOC Chair),

McGill UniversityDepartment of Educational and Counselling Psychology

3700 McTavish Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1Y2

Telephone: 514 398-3450

Fax: 514 398-6968 • Cell.: 450 230-6015

ISPA New Central Office:International School Psychology Association (ISPA)

Leidseplein 5, 1017 PR Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Phone: +31–20 623 36 77,

Fax:+31– 20 625 59 79

Golden Jubilee Year47th National and 16th International

Conference of the IAAP15 - 17 June, 2012

Theme: Applied Psychology in Transforming Education

and Management Sciences in the Context of Globalization

at

Toc H Institute of Engineering and Technology

Arakunnam, Ernakulam, Kerala

For further details please contact:

Prof. Dr.V. Job Kuruvilla, Director, TIST

Email: iaaptist2012@gmail.com

To Know your State: Kerala

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