Last night, we had our second meeting of the docs–Dr. Polineni, Dr. John, and Dr. Me–to iron out some details for training Dr. P.’s teachers in India.  It was a very positive and fruitful meeting and we are all feeling good about the upcoming trainings.

At our first group meeting several months ago, Dr. P. told John and me that the schools in India (with only a handful of exceptions) have been teaching by memorization since the 1980s.  The basic method of instruction is for the teachers to write the lesson material on the board and for the students to copy that material, memorize it, and spit it back word-for-word on the test.  The graduates of this instructional method, Dr. P. said, are about 90 percent what he called “technicians”–people who can follow the steps that result in a product.  Classroom discussion, questioning, and elaboration are not part of the curriculum, and creative and innovative thinking are not taught or fostered.

What Dr. P. wants John and me to do is guide the instructors in his school to develop an interactive teaching style that will foster creative thinking.  One of my graduate textbooks by K. Patricia Cross includes the observation that “Teaching without learning is just talking.”  If the teachers in Dr. P.’s school are just talking, John and I have some serious training to do.  We choose to accept this mission.

The major results of last night’s meeting are:  We will be leaving for India February 9; I have scheduled my necessary inoculations for next week Tuesday; Dr. P. is going to reserve our airline tickets; and Dr. P. is checking on what we need for multiple-entry visas, since we will be doing follow-up trainings several months apart.  John and I, meanwhile, continue to prepare our training materials.

This is all starting to feel very real and I’m getting very excited.  Nine weeks to India and counting.  What an adventure!