V oluntary Teachers’ Forums (VTFs)- Experience of a Journey

V oluntary Teachers’ Forums (VTFs)- Experience of a Journey Rathore, A. S. & Kumar, R. Rajasthan, Field Institution(s)

The genesis: • The genesis of the VTFs is rooted in the concerns of teacher community & organizational priorities • A joint initiative, a platform to the self-introspecting teachers • The central assumption • The first meeting of the Voluntary Teacher Forum took place on 30 July, 2009 at Malpura Block of Tonk.

The concept and the Processes • VTF is conceptualized as a self-help commune, a group, which undertakes responsibility for its own professional development. • This is an informal platform where teachers can meet up and converse on the experiences, problems, successes and triumphs they encounter in classrooms. • There is no absolute expert who can provide solutions and address the needs of the group. Instead every member should work together to seek collective solutions. • Here the problems encountered are not theoretical or hypothetical in nature, they are burning problems, which every practitioner wants to address to make their classroom processes more effective. • VTF is a flat democratic platform where there is no hierarchy between different participants. Everyone has the same stake over the issues.

The concept and the Processes… • The group decides when to meet, where to meet, what to discuss, and how to take the forum ahead. The forum functions based on the norms decided by the group. • There is no monetary benefit in the form of TA or DA. The teachers come on their own expenses and decide on a venue that is most comfortable for them. • The forum is organized on a day and date of the month that is most comfortable for the group ensuring that it does not interfere with their school timing. • While Foundation shares the concern and facilitate the process, in distant future the group must sustain itself even without the support of external group.

The Gr8 Debate – Is it a pure form of voluntarism?? As we progressed in 2010, there was a team wide debate that since initially we were facilitating the forums- Is it justifiable to place the forums in the true sense of voluntarism?

The Learning / Critical Attributes • Commitment and Belief • Ownership and Initiative • Resource Mobilization • Quality of Transactions • Escalation of issues in Residential Teacher Forums

The Challenges • Reach – Our reach is limited to 10-15% of the teachers of a block. • Regularity and Diverse Needs –The challenge is to meet the diverse needs of the group as each individual has its own problems and expectations. It is difficult to render to all demands yet keep the group vibrant and regular. • Capacity building of our team- In some blocks (Deoli and Toda), our forums are not yet very strong. This is more of a capacity building issue of our own members.

Table 1 – Teacher Participation in Voluntary Teacher Forums (Tonk)

Table 2 – Teacher Participation in Voluntary Teacher Forums (Sirohi)

Forward March!!Thank you for listening (voluntarily(to some degree)) 

V oluntary Teachers’ Forums (VTFs)- Experience of a Journey