Learning Curve
A publication on primary school education.
Learning Curve is a magazine for primary school teachers, teacher educators, school heads, education department functionaries, parents and NGOs working in the field of education.
It is an ISSN- and RNI-assigned magazine in English that is also translated and published in two other languages, Hindi and Kannada, both in print and online.
The Learning Curve began as a newsletter in the early years of the University with the purpose of disseminating information about the ground realities of government schools in India and to share learnings among teacher educators, teachers and experts in the domain. It soon grew from its original, intended purpose to a larger and more comprehensive aim of becoming a definitive voice on primary school education in India, which it is today.
Published tri-annually in April, August and December every year, each issue of the Learning Curve is based on a topical theme or a fundamentally relevant issue in primary school education. It provides a platform for the expression of varied and thought-provoking opinions; presents stories of innovation; and encourages new, informed positions. The approach is a balance between an academic and a practitioner-oriented magazine. The themes are varied and topical: Early Childhood Education (ECE), Inclusive Education (IE), textbooks, Teaching-Learning Materials (TLMs), innovative government initiatives, educational policies, and classroom experiences. We constantly reach out to practitioners to understand their specific needs and challenges and provide them with resources in those.
The magazine is organised into three types of articles. The focus articles are conceptual writings on the chosen theme by experts in the field of primary education. These provide in-depth analysis and suggest policy shifts. The other category of articles includes reflective essays by practitioners, especially those in the non-governmental sector (NGOs), who are supporting educational interventions in various underserved parts of the country, especially to marginalised groups.
Finally, there are experiential pieces by our field members – our teachers and resource persons working with teachers – about their engagements with students in classrooms and outside. These discuss successes, best practices and challenges with concrete, relatable case studies and models.
Editorial team
The editorial team consists of members from the Foundation and the University who have a deep and extensive engagement with various aspects of primary school education.
- Prema Raghunath, Chief Editor
- Shefali Tripathi Mehta, Associate Editor
- Chandrika Muralidhar
- Nimrat Khandpur
- Shobha Lokanathan Kavoori
Advisors
- Hridaykant Dewan
- Sachin Mulay
- S Giridhar
- Sudheesh Venkatesh
- Umashankar Periodi
LC Live
In 2020, the Learning Curve began engaging with teachers on a live, online platform. Authors who write for the magazine, discuss their work with a live audience on every first Wednesday of a month. In this live interaction, readers of the magazine, teachers and practitioners from all over the country have the opportunity to ask experts questions on specific aspects of their work.
Write for us
If you are passionate about primary school education and wish to contribute to the Learning Curve, write to us on <learningcurve@apu.edu.in>.
Subscribe for free
To receive a free, print copy, email your postal address to <learningcurve@apu.edu.in>. Currently, this facility is available only to readers in India.
Find articles
Are you looking for articles on a specific subject or by a particular author? Search our Repository.
To access articles in Hindi and Kannada visit our repository https://anuvadasampada.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/
Recent Webinar | Popular Stories in the Science Classroom
Children possess a natural curiosity which is the essence of science and discovery. Using stories to introduce science concepts brings in the language of science for the right expression. The two together create a lasting love for science.
Venkata Naga Vinay Suram will speak to the LC Team about how popular stories can be used to harness the natural curiosity of children for scientific inquiry.
The discussion will be in English.
Read the article https://bit.ly/47UN19n
Download our latest issue now
Previous issues
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Magazine
Learning Curve Issue 16 | Storytelling as a Pedagogical Approach
We all know the pure pleasure of listening to stories as children and we have, in this issue, articles that demonstrate how storytelling can be used to great success in subjects as diverse as maths, physics, social studies and inclusion in schools everywhere – urban…
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Learning Curve Issue 15 | Nurturing Wellbeing in School — Part 2
Wellbeing is a complex concept and while a wellness-focused school culture is key, it also requires a very individualised focus. Children function at the level of emotions. Their wellbeing depends on how the school, teachers, other students, and the entire ecosystem make them feel. In…
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Magazine
Learning Curve Issue 14 | Nurturing Wellbeing in School — Part 1
This issue is about a term that is very much in the minds of educators today: Socio-emotional Learning (SEL), and which has become an integral part of learning and school life. Schools have ‘Happiness Curriculums’ to develop self-awareness, enable effective communication, and work collaboratively towards…
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Learning Curve Issue 13 | Education for Environmental Awareness
This issue of the Learning Curve tries to answer some hard questions about the present environmental crisis : who can we turn to make the changes required? How can we attempt to restore some of the lost balance? How can we make sure that this…
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Learning Curve Issue 12 | Working with Worksheets
In the list of new teaching methods that teachers quickly thought of for online classes during the pandemic, the worksheet emerged as a learning aid that is creative, and participative, making children want to use their minds more independently. This issue features articles that showcase…
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Learning Curve Issue 11 | Coping with Lost Time
When the life-altering COVID-19 first struck, teachers and students alike had to re-organise themselves; teachers in their pedagogical methodologies, students in their learning capabilities. Overnight, everyone went digital – smartphones, computers and TV screens became the printed page and everyone learned as they went along.…
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Magazine in English, Hindi, Kannada
Learning Curve Issue 10 | Play as Learning
The articles in this issue are broadly based on the two aspects of play in learning – the innumerable lessons that are learnt from play – teamwork, strategy, inclusion, respect, sharing, handling fights, settling arguments, addressing bullying, and second, how play can be used as…
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Learning Curve Issue 9 | Education for Citizenship
A lot of thought has been applied by individuals, teachers and organisations across the country to give the principles of responsible citizenship and shape in the minds of our children. All the articles in this issue show how dedicated have been the attempts to use…
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Learning Curve Issue 8 | The School and Society
COVID-19 made it clearer than ever that the school does not and cannot be looked at in isolation from society. In this issue, there are articles that show not only teachers supporting children’s learning during the closure, but also how parents overwhelmingly supported teachers to…
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Learning Curve Issue 7 | Every Child Can Learn — Part 2
This issue proves that children can, and do, learn, provided they get the encouragement, support, respect and dignity that is due to them during the process and after. The response got for the topic was so overwhelming that it led to the creation of a…
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Learning Curve Issue 6 | Every Child Can Learn — Part 1
Children are, first and foremost, individuals and so it follows that their developmental patterns are influenced by environmental conditions. With even twins differing in their abilities and milestones, it is near impossible to predict at what rate a child will learn. Thus children enter school…
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Learning Curve Issue 5 | Perspectives on Teaching Children with Disabilities
In this issue, we have a wide range of articles from writers who have looked at children with disabilities in a variety of ways- but through the same lens: inclusion. There are articles tracing the history of different organizations which have worked for several years…
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Learning Curve Issue 4 | Learning Outside the Classroom
It is certainly a platitude to say that learning can happen everywhere and at all times, at the most unexpected places and moments in our lives. However, that said, we also recognise that the school is a very valuable place of learning: formally and systematically…
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Learning Curve Issue 3 | Textbooks
This issue focusses on Textbooks and their significance in learning, how they are created, the ways they have been used and how they can be improved upon. The articles are based on classroom experience and as such are relevant and universal. Much thought has gone…
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Learning Curve Issue 2 | Teaching Learning Materials and Aids
Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs) and Aids, which form the focus of this issue of Learning Curve, an indispensable part of a teacher’s bag of tricks, is a generic term that describes any material that supports and buttresses teachers’ efforts in getting a class of diverse…
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Magazine
Learning Curve Issue 1 | Innovative Government Initiatives in Education
Education initiatives are part of governments all across the globe, guided by a much-deliberated system of principles influencing decisions that are aimed at achieving pre-determined outcomes, which, in turn, are perceived to be beneficial to a particular country’s goals. Much thought goes on behind creating…
Note: RNI certification in August 2018 mandated the recalibration of issue numbers
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Learning Curve Issue 29
It is different for each one of us which is why when people reminisce about their school, opinions can differ about the same subject or teacher. The teacher, for her part, also has unique relationships with the class she goes to. It is a dynamic,…
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Learning Curve Issue 28
What happens within the classroom has the power to change lives — for the better or for the worse. We ourselves know from our own school experiences of transactions which empowered or disabled or left us unmoved, according to the atmosphere in the classroom. This…
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Learning Curve Issue 27
Education policies have resulted in several enduring legacies in keeping with the ever-changing society, as well as its political manifestos. Because of the dynamic nature of society in general, and the speed with which the world changes, bringing with it changes vis-a-vis every aspect of…
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Learning Curve Issue 26
The teacher is central to the teaching — learning process, whatever a school’s policies, whether private or public, whatever board it has chosen to adopt. The teacher is an essential component of the success of the process. This being the case it is essential to…
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Learning Curve Issue 25
The theme of public education is one that affects every society across the globe. All over, there has been fundamental dissatisfaction with the systems, though the idea itself is intimately linked with a democratic society: one in which the individual is taught her place in…
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Learning Curve Issue 24
The starting point of this Issue is Mahatma Gandhi’s Nai Talim which he envisaged over many years and made available in 1937. Children learn by making and doing, and it is by relating these two to the larger context that the understanding of the whole…
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Learning Curve Issue 23
Learning Curve decided to devote this issue to Inclusive Education as a theme. In this issue, readers will find articles on literature for children particularly emphasizing inclusion, on gender stereotyping and an article on RTE and inclusion in schooling, among others. The issue also has…
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Learning Curve Issue 22
This issue of the Learning Curve focuses on one of the most important periods in any individual’s life — early childhood. Whatever differences there may be on any other aspect of education, this is one area on which everyone agrees: that the years between birth…
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Learning Curve Issue 21
The dictionary defines the word “enable” as, to make able, to give power, means or ability; to make competent, authorise, to make possible or easy. The word “enabling” when used as an indicator in school education can be defined as a comprehensive, multi-faceted series of…
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Learning Curve Issue 20
In this issue, we have a range of articles recounting personal experiences of teaching with the goal of inclusive learning rather than a random attempt at throwing information at a mixed ability group, only some of whom could lick the system with others falling by…
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Learning Curve Issue 19
This issue of Learning Curve focuses on ‘Innovative teaching-learning practices’ — recipes that have been tried and tested and found to be efficacious, not methods recommended by textbooks. They are practical and completely doable in the most ordinary circumstances, as most classrooms in India find…
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Learning Curve Issue 18
The latest issue of Learning Curve focuses on ‘arts in school education’. The burthen of the collective message of this issue is: in the life of our children, Art is as essential as any other subject. Art sharpens perceptions of the world around us, it…
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Learning Curve Issue 17
This issue of Learning Curve focuses on ‘sports in education’ which explores topics ranging from the interpersonal and collaborative influences that sports have on children to the skills it develops, from the harsh realities about why people don’t take up sporting careers to the challenges…
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Learning Curve Issue 16
This issue of Learning Curve centres attention on the subject of ‘school leadership’. It defines the construct and scope of educational leadership, ruminates on whether a school leader ought to be an academician or an administrator, reflects on the challenges of school leadership and explores…
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Learning Curve Issue 15
This issue of Learning Curve deliberates on the the purpose of social science in society, what the National Curriculum Framework says about the subject, the many moral conflicts while teaching it, pedagogic dilemmas, and a look at social science education across the world. The effort…
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Learning Curve Issue 14
This issue of Learning Curve is cantered on the subject of Mathematics. While one article discusses the very nature of Mathematics, the other traces the history of the subject; similarly while one describes the pedagogy of the subject the other shares insights and the practical…
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Learning Curve Issue 13
This issue of Learning Curve is devoted to the theme of language learning. In it, students, teachers, field practitioners and academicians talk about what language means to them, its multiple benefits and the issues and challenges associated with its learning.
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Learning Curve Issue 12
In this issue of the Learning Curve, practising scientists, professors, school teachers and innovators ruminate on the methods and merits of science education. A range of topics from ‘why teach science’ to ‘how to make science fun for children’ to ‘how to encourage children to…
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Learning Curve Issue 11
In this issue of the Learning Curve, read about how the Educational Development Index is calculated and what constitutes an effective education system. Krishna Kumar’s book ‘The Political Agenda of Education’, a comprehensive account of the goals of the Indian Education system under British rule…
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Learning Curve Issue 10
In this issue of the Learning Curve, the pros and cons of the voucher system are discussed and the value of arts in the school curriculum is elaborated upon. The book ‘Escape from Childhood’, in which author John Holt advocates for a broader definition of…
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Learning Curve Issue 9
In this issue of the Learning Curve, the importance of community participation in education is explored and we read about Bindooben, a highly remarkable teacher in Gujarat. Paulo Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, in which the author delineates the incredible potency of education as a…
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Learning Curve Issue 8
In this issue of the Learning Curve, we explore the various obstacles standing in the way of equity in the Indian Education system. Factors responsible for low access to schooling of disadvantaged groups like the Scheduled castes and the minorities are discussed.
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Learning Curve Issue 7
In this issue of the Learning Curve, Jean Dreze talks about the beneficial aspects of the Mid-day Meal Scheme and the Spastics Society of Karnataka elaborates on the accommodations and modifications required to integrate children with special needs into mainstream schools.
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Learning Curve Issue 6
In this issue of the Learning Curve, updates of the Foundation’s programs and research studies are detailed in some length. An article on School Development Planning explores the benefits of training head teachers in devising plans for their schools.
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Learning Curve Issue 5
In this issue of the Learning Curve, the tricky exercise of measuring learning is addressed by experts in the field and the much neglected area of Mathematics Education Research is discussed for its utility in diagnosing the difficulties students face in assimilating Mathematics.
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Learning Curve Issue 4
In this issue of the Learning Curve, teacher absence in India, one of the Education system’s most insistent problems, is discussed and observations from Chinese Mathematics Classrooms are documented for their potential to serve as lessons for India.
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Learning Curve Issue 3
In this issue of the Learning Curve, the utility of researches in the development sector is discussed along with the outcomes of two such research studies, namely, ‘Factors differentiating the successful schools from others in the Learning Guarantee Program’ and ‘Impact of Computer Aided Learning…
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Learning Curve Issue 1
The first issue of Learning Curve introduces the reader to the Foundation’s Accelerated Learning Program, the Learning Guarantee Program and the Computer Assisted Learning Centres.