Report of one day National Seminar of IPDA India

Report of one day National Seminar of IPDA India held at Modern Education College, Shimla

27 November 2018

Theme : “Interdisciplinary Approach for Professional Development in Teaching”

Background

Educationalist Dylan Williams said “Every Teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better”. Professional development highlights the need for educators to grow individually and provide opportunities to be a better teacher. It helps a teacher to face all the challenges throughout their careers so to prepare high quality work force. So, it is very important to focus on the professional development of teachers. In education, the term professional development may be used in reference to a wide variety of specialized training, advanced professional learning intended to help the teachers more efficient. Interdisciplinary Approach is one of the newly developed approaches that are now commonly used in a wide spectrum, which means the use of methods of one discipline to another. With the help of these techniques teachers of different disciplines can collaborate and support each other and they can improve the quality of teaching as well. And this is how the theme of the seminar “Interdisciplinary Approach for Professional Development in Teaching” was chosen after a focussed deliberation. Three sub themes were decided for the seminar. These are:

Pedagogical Strategies in Teaching Learning
Multimedia and Professionalism in Teaching
Blending of contemporary Teaching Learning

The Seminar

The Oozing boundless beauty, green valley Annadale, Shimla provided a perfect, satisfying experience of being amongst scholars of various places around for National Seminar on the topic of “Interdisciplinary Approach for Professional Development in Teaching” organized by IPDA( India ) under the able guidance of Dr. Balwant Singh, Chairperson, IPDA India and Principal, Partap College of Eduaction Ludhiana. Dr. Chaman Lal Banga, Assistant Professor, Department of Eduaction, ICDEOL, HPU Shimla and co-vice Chair, IPDA, India was the coordinator of the seminar. Dr. J.S.Rana, Chairman, Modern Education College, Shimla was the convener of the seminar. The venue of this gathering was Modern Education College, Annadale, Shimla in the state of Himachal Pradesh in Northern India.

Inaugural Session

The day began with cheerful faces greeting the delegates. Dr. Chaman Lal Banga welcomed the esteemed guests and also announced the theme of the seminar. He introduced the keynote speaker Dr. Balwant Singh, chair, IPDA India. He also introduce Dr. Manpreet Kaur, Vice Principal, Partap College of Educaiton, Ludhiana, Dr. Nain Singh, Prof. and Chief Warden, Himachal Pradesh University Shimla, Dr. Sunil Deshta, Prof. and Chairman, Dept. of Laws, Dr. Tilak Raj Bhardwaj, Associate Prof.,SCERT, Solan H.P., Shri Jagat Sharma, Govt. S.S.S.Hallan, Distt Sirmour (H.P) and Dr. Ranbir Kingra, Principal, Fateh Group of Institutions, Rampura Distt., Bhatinda the resource persons of the seminar.

Keynote Address

Dr. Manpreet Kaur, Secretary, IPDA India presented the history of IPDA India. She gave her input about IPDA and also shared her valuable thoughts regarding the seminar. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Balwant Singh. He emphasized on the changing roles and functions of schools, teachers and suggested that teachers should be trained on Information and Communication Technology for their professional development. He gave importance on the use of improved, evaluative, collaborative and accountable framework of teaching. He said that Interdisciplinary Approach is one of the new solutions of theoretical and practical problems of Education. Chief guest Dr. Sikander Kumar, Honourable Vice- Chancellor, Himachal Pradesh, Shimla highly appreciated the keynote presented by Dr. Balwant Singh and said that this type of seminars should also be arranged at the University level. He encouraged all the teachers to have active membership of IPDA, so that they can attend different activities and seminars arranged by IPDA for their professional development.

Techincal Session

The delegates presented their research papers on various sub themes of the seminar. Eminent resource persons shared their views regarding the papers presented in the seminar and gave their valuable inputs. The session was followed by lunch, rich with the traditional recipes to give the delegates a taste of the local flavours.

Valedictory Session

In the Valedictory session Chief guest Professor Kulwant Singh Pathania, Director (ICDEOL), Himachal Pradesh University; Shimla shared his views on the Professional development of the teachers and its utilization in the academic field. He emphasized on the point of collaborative performance of the teachers to develop their professional excellence. The session was followed by colorful cultural programme performed by the students of Modern Education College. At the end the vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. J.S.Rana, Chairman, Modern Education College, Annadale, Shimala.