Background on the movement:
Teach For India is currently in its second year. Our first batch of 87 Fellows, who come from diverse college and corporate backgrounds, are already teaching in low-income schools in Mumbai and Pune where they are placed for 2 years as full-time class teachers. They are being transformed to become life-long leaders across sectors in the pursuit of educational equity. Our recruitment campaign to find 150 Fellows for 2010 batch of Fellows is currently in full swing. We have been travelling across the nation and have made close to 100 college and corporate presentations already in order to attract the most outstanding college graduates and young professionals to apply to the 2010 Teach For India Fellowship. Close to 6000 people have started the form online, and our upcoming application deadlines are November 22nd and January 10th.
Teach For India Fellows
The Teach For India Fellowship is probably the most challenging and transformational experience of a Fellow’s life. As teachers in classrooms, Fellows have multiple opportunities to confront and tackle challenges, motivate diverse stakeholders to work hard toward a shared vision, create and adjust plans to move further towards their goals and gain the confidence they need to succeed.
Role of Teach For India Fellows
Every Teach For India Fellow has two main responsibilities, through which he/she learns leadership skills in a hands-on, results-driven environment.
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Classroom Instructional Leadership
Fellows are full-time teachers in English-medium government or low-income private schools for two consecutive academic years.Fellows are expected to lead students in their classrooms toward academic achievement that defies traditional expectations. Fellows foster this achievement by getting to know their students in and out of the classroom; creating instructional plans to match the whole class’ and individual student’s needs; delivering instruction in an engaging manner; working with other teachers, administrators and community members to build skills and obtain resources for the classroom; and administering and analyzing assessments to ensure that students are progressing towards their academic goals.
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School Transformation/Leadership Project
In addition to teaching, Fellows implement a transformational project in the school and/or students’ community.Fellows choose to tackle one primary challenge to students’ achievement (after discussions with school communities and leaders) and create innovative and sustainable solutions to this problem. To carry out this project effectively, Fellows research and plan the project; amass resources necessary to implement the project; invest students, families, teachers, administrators and/or community members to help implement the project; and troubleshoot the project in its execution phase.
By designing, implementing and managing a small-scale, sustainable project within the school community, Fellows build upon their leadership and project management skills. These leadership and management skills are transferable and Fellows can utilize the lessons learned through this project in other work they do after the duration of the Fellowship. Through this project, Fellows also develop a deep understanding of the many barriers to achievement and the complex problems associated with achieving equity in education. This experience shapes and guides the methods through which Fellows tackle educational inequity in the country, both in the short term and long term.
Profile of Teach For India Fellows, Batch of 2009
Below is an indicative profile of our Fellows. We are continuing to build momentum at top colleges and corporations across India and are certain that our next batch of Fellows will add to the diversity at Teach For India.
Age range: 20 to 35 years
Background:
Educational Institutions that our Fellows attended:
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Amity University
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BITS Pilani
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Fergusson College, Pune
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Georgetown University, USA
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Hindu College, Delhi
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IIT Bombay
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IIT Delhi
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KJ Somaiya Institute of Management, Mumbai
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Mudra Institute of Advertising
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Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies
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Nelson Mandela Center for Peace and Confict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia
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New York University
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Sophia’s College, Mumbai
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Sreeram College of Commerce
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St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai
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St. Stephen’s College, Delhi
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Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD)
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Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune
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University Department of Applied Psychology, University of Mumbai
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University of Warwick
Companies our Fellows have worked with:
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Accenture
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Aditya Birla Group- Idea Cellular
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Ashoka Foundation
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Axis Bank
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Bharat Petroleum
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Britannia Industries
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CII
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Citibank
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Ernst & Young
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Godrej Indsutries
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Hewlett Packard
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Hindustan Unilever
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ICICI
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JP Morgan Chase
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JSW Foundation
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Larsen and Toubro
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Mahindra and Mahindra
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Mastek Ltd.
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Religare Finvest Ltd.
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Tata Consultancy Services
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Tata Power
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Thermax
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