I am Krishna Prasad Chalise. I am a teacher at Naya Kiran Secondary School in Bharatpur, Ward 11. I have been teaching English, Moral Studies and Science to grade one to six. I have been a teacher for the last 20 years. 

Within Continuous Professional Development Training, I have received various training. Some of them are in-service training for 10 months, 15 days training provided by NELTA, TPD training from the Nepal Government and so on. I have also attended three conferences organized by NELTA.

Currently, I have been involved with Teacher Activity Groups (TAG) organized by the British Council. TAG is a learning and discussion forum for teachers where teachers share the problems they face while teaching in the classroom. After implementing an action plan in the classroom, we teachers have experienced the growth in the learning outcome of our students.

As for takeaways for today’s session, I highlight the need for increased usage of simple language in the classroom. Nepali language can also be used if difficult to make students understand the proper context. Having said that, while teaching English, if the students are facing difficulties understanding the context, teacher can use Nepali, local language, gestures pictures to help the student understand and learn.

Each TAG technique I learn, I pass out the mechanism to other teachers in my school as well. I also consult with our head teacher on how we can further implement the action plan in our classroom. Sometimes the plan fails due to various reasons like the variation in the students learning capacity, a high number of students in the class, small classrooms and so on. In such a situation, I along with other teachers and head teachers discuss and work accordingly and positive outcome is happening in a gradual process in my school. 

I believe facilitators of TAG should visit the classroom at least once in a while, observe and provide feedback accordingly. This will keep school community motivated and the facilitators can also see the practice and outcome by their own eyes as some participating teachers may be exaggerating during the session.

I am glad that I am a part of TAG in Chitwan. This is helping me to continuously learn and try out new things in my classroom which is helping students to learn in an interesting way.

TAGs are peer-led support groups which teachers can join as part of their professional development. They have been established in British Council projects in India, Jordan, Palestine and now in Nepal. In English and Education projects, TAGs often focus on teachers helping each other practice their English skills and sharing new teaching ideas and techniques. TAG encourages teachers to take responsibility for their own learning, connecting it directly to the issues they face in the classroom. TAG facilitators, who is also a teacher from the same area, trained by the British Council, do not take the lead in a training role, but enable focused discussion, sharing of experience and collaborative learning.
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