Aruna Jyothi Vakkalanka

Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Teacher Professional development
  • Assessments – continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE)Working with Adolescence
  • Special Needs
  • Early Childhood Education

Biography

Aruna Jyothi started her career in education as a school teacher. She comes with many years of teaching experience – has taught in 2 of the Krishnamurti Foundation Schools, The School – KFI, Chennai and Rishi Valley School, Madanapalle and in International schools such as Pathways World School, G.D. Goenka World School and Indus International School, Hyderabad. She also served as a school counselor over the years for the emotional and behavior needs of students.

Apart from teaching subjects in the regular classes, she has taught in the mixed age group classes as well (vertical grouping/​MGML). She has worked with children across age groups – taught language, Psychology and a course titled Theory of Knowledge (of the International Baccalaureate curriculum), worked actively with adolescents and related issues. She also served as the Head of Department of Counseling and Special Needs at Indus International School, Hyderabad. Other than that, she also coordinated the CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) program of the IB Curriculum, set up an activity center for slow learners and came up with a policy for children with special needs for the school.

Apart from teaching in schools, Aruna has been a volunteer at the VHS hospital, Taramani, Chennai in the Epilepsy department, and SNEHA (a center for slow learners). She also worked as a consultant for I discovery organization for implementation of the XSEED curriculum.

Prior to her moving to the Azim Premji University, Aruna was part of the schools’ central team of the Azim Premji Foundation that set up the first 6 Azim Premji Schools. She worked extensively in teacher professional development, assessment (CCE), early childhood education, special education and in areas related to adolescence in all the six schools and also in its curriculum development.

Courses