Regd. No. 28935/76 ISSN 0970-9282 Revised Rates of NCERT Educational Journals (w.e.f. 1.1.2009) The Primary Title Single Annual Copy Subscription School Science ` 55.00 ` 220.00 A Quarterly Journal for Teacher Secondary Schools Indian Educational Review ` 50.00 ` 100.00 A Half-yearly Research Journal Volume XLI Number 4 October 2016 Journal of Indian Education ` 45.00 ` 180.00 A Quarterly Journal of Education भारतीय आधुनिक नश啍ा (配셈मानिक) ` 50.00 ` 200.00 (Bharatiya Aadhunik Shiksha) A Quarterly Journal in Hindi The Primary Teacher ` 65.00 ` 260.00 A Quarterly Journal for Primary Teachers ꥍाथनमक नश啍क (配셈मानिक) ` 65.00 ` 260.00 (Prathmik Shikshak) A Quarterly Journal in Hindi for Primary Teachers Subscriptions are invited from educationists, institutions, research scholars, teachers and students for the journals published by the NCERT. For further enquiries, please write to: Chief Business Manager, Publication Division National Council of Educational Research and Training Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110016 E-mail: [email protected], Phone: 011-26562708, Fax: 011-26851070 Cover 1 and 4.indd All Pages 27-01-2021 14:33:40 TO THE CONTRIBUTORS About the Journal The Primary Teacher is a quarterly journal brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi. The journal carries The Primary Teacher invites you to write articles, field notes articles and researches on educational policies and practices, and values and reports that impact elementary education. The focus may material that is useful for practitioners in contemporary times. The journal also be on issues and concerns that you are sensitive to, which provides a forum to teachers to share their experiences and concerns about the you feel should be shared with other teachers working at the schooling processes, curriculum textbooks, teaching-learning and assessment grassroot level. practices. The papers for publication are selected on the basis of comments ¾ Each article should be about 1500 to 3000 words. from two referees. The views expressed by individual authors are their own and ¾ do not necessarily reflect the policies of the NCERT or the views of the editor. Each article should have a short abstract in about 150 words. ¾ Use simple and non-technical language, keeping the clientele © 2020*. Copyright of the articles published in the journal will vest with in mind, who are primary teachers. the NCERT and requests for reproducing the material should be addressed ¾ The articles should have a friendly and communicative tone. to the Academic Editors. ¾ The articles must be sent in two copies, along with the soft copy (CD/e-mail). Advisory Board OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION ¾ The photographs and illustrations should be sent in JPEG DIVISION, NCERT Director, NCERT : Hrushikesh Senapaty format, having a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Head, DEE : Suniti Sanwal NCERT Campus Sri Aurobindo Marg The papers may be sent to: Head, Publication Division : Anup Kumar Rajput New Delhi 110016 Phone: 011-26562708 Academic Editor Editorial Board 108, 100 Feet Road The Primary Teacher Academic Editors : Anup Kumar Rajput Hosdakere Halli Extension G. B. Pant Building, NCERT Banashankari III Stage Varada M. Nikalje Sri Aurobindo Marg Bengaluru 560085 Phone: 080-26725740 Chief Editor : Shveta Uppal New Delhi – 110016 Navjivan Trust Building e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Navjivan Publication Team Ahmedabad 380014 Phone: 079-27541446 MY PAGE… CWC Campus Chief Production Officer : Arun Chitkara This column would contain your letters and feedback, where you Opp. Dhankal Bus Stop can put forward your responses, suggestions and expectations Chief Business Manager : Vipin Dewan Panihati The Primary (In charge) Kolkata 700114 Phone: 033-25530454 from the articles, papers and columns presented in Production Assistant : Sunil Kumar Teacher. You may have issues, concerns and doubts related CWC Complex to teaching–learning processes, classroom practices, syllabus, Maligaon Cover Guwahati 781021 Phone: 0361-2674869 textbooks, evaluation patterns, research pursuits, etc. These Amit Srivastava could also reflect the concerns of many others working in this area. Please feel free to raise these issues in this column. You could also ask specific questions that would have baffled you. Single Copy: ` 65.00 Annual Subscription: ` 260.00 Published by the Head, Publication Division, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016 and printed at Chandra Prabhu Offset Printing Works (P) Ltd., C-40, Sector-8, Noida 201 301 (UP). *Printed in December 2020 Cover 2 and 3.indd All Pages 27-01-2021 11:12:00 TO THE CONTRIBUTORS About the Journal The Primary Teacher is a quarterly journal brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi. The journal carries The Primary Teacher invites you to write articles, field notes articles and researches on educational policies and practices, and values and reports that impact elementary education. The focus may material that is useful for practitioners in contemporary times. The journal also be on issues and concerns that you are sensitive to, which provides a forum to teachers to share their experiences and concerns about the you feel should be shared with other teachers working at the schooling processes, curriculum textbooks, teaching-learning and assessment grassroot level. practices. The papers for publication are selected on the basis of comments ¾ Each article should be about 1500 to 3000 words. from two referees. The views expressed by individual authors are their own and ¾ do not necessarily reflect the policies of the NCERT or the views of the editor. Each article should have a short abstract in about 150 words. ¾ Use simple and non-technical language, keeping the clientele © 2020*. Copyright of the articles published in the journal will vest with in mind, who are primary teachers. the NCERT and requests for reproducing the material should be addressed ¾ The articles should have a friendly and communicative tone. to the Academic Editors. ¾ The articles must be sent in two copies, along with the soft copy (CD/e-mail). Advisory Board OFFICES OF THE PUBLICATION ¾ The photographs and illustrations should be sent in JPEG DIVISION, NCERT Director, NCERT : Hrushikesh Senapaty format, having a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Head, DEE : Suniti Sanwal NCERT Campus Sri Aurobindo Marg The papers may be sent to: Head, Publication Division : Anup Kumar Rajput New Delhi 110016 Phone: 011-26562708 Academic Editor Editorial Board 108, 100 Feet Road The Primary Teacher Academic Editors : Anup Kumar Rajput Hosdakere Halli Extension G. B. Pant Building, NCERT Banashankari III Stage Varada M. Nikalje Sri Aurobindo Marg Bengaluru 560085 Phone: 080-26725740 Chief Editor : Shveta Uppal New Delhi – 110016 Navjivan Trust Building e-mail: [email protected] P.O. Navjivan Publication Team Ahmedabad 380014 Phone: 079-27541446 MY PAGE… CWC Campus Chief Production Officer : Arun Chitkara This column would contain your letters and feedback, where you Opp. Dhankal Bus Stop can put forward your responses, suggestions and expectations Chief Business Manager : Vipin Dewan Panihati The Primary (In charge) Kolkata 700114 Phone: 033-25530454 from the articles, papers and columns presented in Production Assistant : Sunil Kumar Teacher. You may have issues, concerns and doubts related CWC Complex to teaching–learning processes, classroom practices, syllabus, Maligaon Cover Guwahati 781021 Phone: 0361-2674869 textbooks, evaluation patterns, research pursuits, etc. These Amit Srivastava could also reflect the concerns of many others working in this area. Please feel free to raise these issues in this column. You could also ask specific questions that would have baffled you. Single Copy: ` 65.00 Annual Subscription: ` 260.00 Published by the Head, Publication Division, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016 and printed at Chandra Prabhu Offset Printing Works (P) Ltd., C-40, Sector-8, Noida 201 301 (UP). *Printed in December 2020 Cover 2 and 3.indd All Pages 27-01-2021 11:12:00 ISSN 0970-9282 THE PRIMARY TEACHER VOLUME XLI NUMBER 4 OCTOBER 2016 CONTENTS Editorial 3 ISSUES AND POLICY PERSPECTIVE 1. Educational Exclusion of Children of Vijitha Rajan 5 Distress Migrants in India 2. The Nurturance of a Scientist Vandana Kerur 14 3. The Constructivist Approach and Chitra Singh 18 the Panchatantra 4. Raindrops — English Language Learning Kit Varada Nikalje 24 5. Experiencing the Sublime — The Contributions Gouri Srivastava 31 of Akka Mahadevi 6. Primary Students’ Mastery on Minimum Gobind Singh Gure 36 Learning Competencies in Cognitive Areas based on Gender 7. Writing for the Ears! Ajit Horo 44 BOOK REVIEW Nuggets — Reflections on Language Education Sandhya Rani Sahoo 50 by Varada M. Nikalje DID YOU KNOW Snakes and Ladders since Ancient Times Satya Bhushan 53 MY PAGE Training the Untrained In–service Teachers — A personal account Shanon Dias 55 Prelims.indd 1 27-01-2021 11:07:56 Prelims.indd 2 27-01-2021 11:07:57 EDITORIAL Pedagogic practices in recent times focus on the creation of a stress-free atmosphere, conducive to learning and facilitating children to find meaning in everyday experiences. The National Curriculum Framework (NCF)–2005 states that education should enable a child to draw connections between ideas, people and things, and relate them to the world around. This issue of The Primary Teacher focuses on contemporary issues in elementary education. The first paper by Vijitha Rajan examines some important aspects of educational exclusion of children of migrant workers in India. For the children of migrant labourers, particularly, seasonal and short-term migrants in distress, schooling is still a distant dream. A new theoretical and policy discourse that embodies children’s everyday experiences of migration and education in larger politics of exclusion is presented in this paper. In the second paper titled ‘The Nurturance of a Scientist’, Vandana Kerur shares some memorable incidents from the life of Thomas Edison and highlights how his mother played an important role in his life.