A comparison of teaching methods: UNESCO guidelines

Below mentioned are guidelines suggested to follow by UNESCO to support learning environments specific to students with HIV & AIDS.

  1. Sensitize teachers and authority; familiarizing the educators with the environment to work in cooperation with the institutions governing bodies, communities, teachers, staff, and students to set norms and work towards protection to the learners.

When the volunteers physically attended to the students at Snehagram, after registering under the SPANDAN logs, they acquaint themselves with the strict do’s and don’ts from the 5 charts of rules and mannerisms that are provided to them.

  1. Introduce proper curriculum; develop school-based programs from research, involving educational experts, have trained educators facilitating learning, include formal and non-formal educational activities.

During the offline sessions held pre-pandemic, soft copies of their textbook were made from which the volunteers prepared condensed and readable handouts to provide to the children. However, due to the pandemic, a new curriculum was developed that could be followed via an online platform. As a result, the volunteers educated the students by sending them their respective videos once or twice a week and weekly meetings with the students were also facilitated to obtain feedback.

  1. Innovative and participatory methods; hold engaging activities that draw the attention of the learners such as sports, elocution, etc., peer education, source information within groups, hold integrated learning for group outcome.

During the physical sessions, any experiment that was taught was enacted by the volunteers or by the students themselves in order to gain more clarity. The sessions were usually held in small groups to encourage more students to participate.

  1. Provide support for children in distress; train educators in counselling and enable them to take part in peer engagement.

Although the educators are available as listeners to the students to vent, the volunteers are not authorized to counsel the students. Rather, they are skilled at empathizing with them and encouraging peer engagement, i.e., sharing their troubles with their fellow peers.

  1. S.T.O.P.; Provide security and structure, talk, teaching and training, organized play, participation.

In terms of security, Snehagram is extremely stern on maintaining the confidentiality of the matters shared by the students. With regards to “talk”, the volunteers offer their presence as listeners to the students. Concerning the “organized play”, the volunteers are given a structured format to follow. Lastly, in terms of “participation”, every effort is made to ensure that the maximum number of students participate in the activities. 

HIV & AIDS AND SUPPORTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS. UNESCO. (2008, March). https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196.


- Azra Anjum and Nikitha Dinesh 

CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

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