The interview explores English language teachers’ perceptions and practices of ELT curricula, materials and pedagogy in private and public schools including commentary from a teacher educator and researcher. It leaves us to ponder many genuine facets left unaddressed in the curriculum and materials development in our context. The conversation highlights significant issues regarding the curriculum development process, specifically the exclusion of teachers and communities from this process. It captures practitioners’ concerns about using a single textbook across all schools in the country. The thought-provoking conversation also opens up possibilities of doing things in a better way.
The audience of the interview are policymakers, curriculum planners, pre/in-service English language teachers, and researchers.
Facilitated by Binod Duwadi, the speakers are Anju Chimariya, Ram Krishan Puri, Umesh Saud and Jeevan Karki. Here are their bios:-
Anju Kumari Chimariya: Mrs. Chimariya holds M Ed. in English education. She has been teaching English in a foreign language context for a long. Now she is a secondary English teacher at Shree Ratna Rajya Secondary School, Nagarjun 7.
Ram Krishan Puri: Mr Puri is an M.Phil. Research Scholar at Kathmandu University School of Education. He has been teaching English in a foreign language setting for a long and now he is an English Language Teacher at Thulo Chaur Secondary School, Jwalamukhi-2, Dhading. His research interests include applied linguistics and curriculum planning and policy.
Umesh Saud: Mr. Saud has earned an M.Phil. in English. He is the head of the English Department at DAV school, Jawalakhel. He has also been working as a sub-editor for The Himalayan Times since 2017. His research interests revolve around literature and human rights, and curriculum design and implementation.
Jeevan Karki: Mr. Karki is a multilingual educator and scholar. He has worked across diverse K-12 and higher education and non-profit settings as an educator and teacher educator. Now, he is a doctoral student and teacher educator at the teacher education department, at Michigan State University, USA. He is interested in contributing to multilingual students’ language and literacy development through research, advocacy, and intervention. His scholarly interests revolve around the representation of students’ languages, cultures and knowledge across curriculum and instruction for meaningful, relevant, and equitable educational opportunities.
Binod Duwadi: Mr. Duwadi has earned an M.Phil. research degree from Kathmandu University School of Education, Nepal. He has been working as a visiting faculty at Kathmandu University for three years. He works as a reviewer for research journals at home and abroad. His areas of research interest include applied linguistics, critical pedagogy and innovative teaching practice in large classes.
Questions covered in the interview
- How often do educators refer to curricula when planning or teaching English language courses?
- What do the practitioners think of the provision of sending the same sets of textbooks from the centre to all schools at 753 local levels?
- Are textbooks desirable, compulsory, or neither to educators?
- What about the relevance of the prescribed texts/knowledge in the centralized textbooks?
- Our curriculum is based on communicative language teaching and a functional approach to language. How often do educators find themselves applying these principles? What other approaches, methods, and strategies do they use in their context?
- What are the takeaways for curriculum planners, educators, and universities to envision decentralized curricula and materials?
