Applications for a place on the 2012 Tara.Ed Teacher Tours will open on April 2, 2012. Check out the Events page to see the dates of the Teacher Tours.

Tara.Ed is also launching the Long-Term Volunteer program in which exceptional education students and teachers will be placed in partner schools and organisations on a long-term basis to address identified skills shortages or lead projects within their area of expertise in both the school and wider community – stay tuned for more information!

An outstanding athlete, with a brilliant academic record, Jennifer was named one of Australia’s 100 Brightest Young Minds in 2007. Several years ago she went to India as a World Vision Youth Ambassador and teacher. There were no classrooms and Jennifer found herself sitting under a tree with 48 children and no resources. Then and there she resolved to return to India to improve the plight of some of the world’s most impoverished people. At just 21 she started Tara.Ed, an innovative non-government organisation promoting sustainable quality education in rural India by training teachers. It works as a partner organisation, with both Indian and Australian schools and teachers working together. Since 2007, Tara.Ed has reached out to 86 teachers and 1,340 school children. Her aim is to influence the prospects of 20,000 children, 200 teachers and 20 schools across two continents by 2020. Jennifer knows what it means to set her sights high. As a graduate from Macquarie University with first class Honours and an elite sportswoman in judo, representing Australia internationally, she is accustomed to applying hard work to her considerable talents. Through Tara.Ed, Jennifer’s determination is certainly paying off for thousands of Indian children.

For more information see the Australian of The Year site

Congratulations Jennifer!

Congratulations Jen!

Check out this website for more information: NSW Finalist – Jennifer Star

*

The September 2011 Tara.Ed Teacher Tour is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-India Council, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

I honestly don’t think, actually I know, this blog entry won’t do what I am experiencing justice but I am hoping it will give you some insight into how I am being changed not only as a person but as a future teacher. The team and I arrived in India on the 8th of September around 1am after travelling for roughly 12 hours. The exhaustion I was feeling was overrode with excitement the moment I stepped outside of the airports four walls. The air was thick and moist after the rain but filled with smells I had never smelt before and trust me they were not all good.

After an hour drive through Bangalore we arrived at our accommodation. Over the 2 days we were in Bangalore we experienced authentic India with a “Bull Temple” visit, market shopping and of course some Indian cuisine. Don’t get me started on the food… I have told the girls before I don’t do hot food well but after this trip I think I will have an acquired taste for spices. Although I think if Jen could input a little comment here it would be something like “You haven’t tasted hot”, which scares me!

As our time in Bangalore came to an end we packed our belongings and headed for the train station for an overnight ride to Belgaum followed by a jeep ride to Ajra. As I write this blog, I am at the school in Ajra on the second floor of the Jesuit house which is where we are staying. Every morning I hear hymns being sung by the children and bells rung to gather the children. It is by far one of the most exciting experiences of my life thus far.

Although exciting, it’s not all fun and games. I have travelled to developing countries before and experienced numerous cultures but I am inclined to say none like India. Ajra is a small village and living within this area is not as easy as I had imagined. I assumed since I had lived in Uganda for 2 months I would almost be accustomed to seeing sights such as poor living conditions but I was wrong. I don’t think I will ever be accustomed to it and I hope it stays that way – I hope it will always shock me to my core because the day it doesn’t is the day I stopped caring about them.

All that aside, I came to India to grow as a teacher and offer what I can to the teachers already here. I have already seen, even after 3 days, that this Tara.Ed experience is certainly one which is mutually beneficial to the participant and the host. I am learning more than I am contributing!

Yesterday I took my first class ever and it was… interesting to say the least. After much evaluation, I was able to identify so much about what I would do differently and can already feel the stretch when it comes to lesson planning. Class management, with 48 children in my class is now my first priority! I took my first English class this morning incorporating what I had learnt from the previous lesson and it was actually somewhat of a success. I think I can say proudly, I have taught my first successful lesson with at least 95% of the class engaged and on task. Although it was an improvement, I know there is still much to learn in my journey to becoming a teacher!

I sometimes need to remind myself where I am because as the day passes by I forget I am actually in a rural village in India, teaching a class of 48 children. I’m not quite sure an experience like this could ever be replicated in Australia so I am so thankful to have had this opportunity to learn and grow not only as a teacher but a person. There is honestly never a dull moment here.

…After school today, the girls and I are all going Saree shopping so…The adventure continues!!

The September 2011 Tara.Ed Teacher Tour is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-India Council, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Lets meet the team!

Hi! My name is Irene Amiradaki and I pretty much love life : ) I’m 21 years of age and currently studying primary teaching at Macquarie university. Personally, I have chosen to study teaching because I believe children hold the potential to change our world and I want to be apart of that process. I want to enable every child I come across to be the best they possible can be in all areas of life. I have a passion and desire to make a difference in this world and so love to be involved with volunteer programs particularly in third world countries. I have spent sometime volunteering at an orphanage in Uganda but never had the opportunity to participate in a program like Tara Ed. I haven’t completed any formal teaching practicals so I am so excited/nervous (more so nervous!) to be thrown into a rich experience like teaching in India!! I don’t quite know what to expect yet but know it’s certainly going to change my life in more ways than i can imagine and significantly shape me as a teacher. Let the journey begin!!

****My name is Georgia Brown and I am 22 years old. I am studying a BA Dip Ed in primary school education at Macquarie University. When I am not at uni, I work as a part time carer at a busy before and after school care centre in Hornsby, where I get the opportunity to work with primary school aged children and get involved with the programming of the centre.
My decision to apply to be a part of the September 2011 edition of the Tara.Ed teacher tour was a fairly easy one. Needless to say when I was notified that I had been chosen to take this journey with the rest of the Tara.Ed team, I was ecstatic! I am a keen traveller, and there is forever somewhere new I am dreaming of visiting. I have been interested in visiting India since I left school, since I had heard a lot about it from a great-aunt who spent time living there. More so, to be given the opportunity to be so hands-on in a primary school in India is something that I’d never thought I would be lucky enough to experience. I cannot wait to learn from the teachers and students at Rosary English School in Ajra, as well as sharing my own skills and knowledge with them.

My name is Tracey Leung and currently I am in my final year of my B. Arts/B Education degree (primary). I consider myself to be a proactive and motivated student, which comes from my desire to learn new things, meet new people and gain new experiences. One of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had at University include being the President of AIESEC, a global student leadership organisation at Macquarie University. My role essentially opened up endless opportunities for me develop personal and professional skills, allowing me to manage a team, facilitate in leadership conferences, liaise with other student members around the world, and to travel to different universities around Australia, where I have been able to meet the most amazing friends and inspirational people. Being part of this experience led me to better understand myself and this realisation led me to pursue something I have always been passionate about, and that is to become teacher.

I enjoy spending time with family and friends, I love playing sports (particularly tennis, Oz tag and soccer) and I consider myself an extremely competitive person in sport. More recently, I’ve developing a love for travel, although I can only say that I’ve been out of Australia a handful of times. I intend to see more of the world whilst teaching in years to come, to gain more exciting and memorable experiences. I imagine that the Tara.Ed teaching tour will be one of them.

Hello! My Name is Emma Nile and I am in my final year of a B.Psych with Education, and will be doing my honours year in 2012. This will be my second Tara.Ed Teacher Tour, as I was a participant in 2010, and taught at both the Ajra and Watangi Schools. This year my role will be to mentor and support the new Tara.Ed team as they make impact in India!

The September 2011 Tara.Ed Teacher Tour is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-India Council, which is part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

To the outsider, India is a colourful, chaotic place… but on the inside – in the pastel pink-walled and Ganesh-adorned homes of those that came to know us, along the streets dotted with grazing buffalo, sweet shops and uniformed school children, and on the playground of over a hundred enthusiastic students learning new songs to sing – India means more, and now means so much to me.

I won’t lie; I did find it difficult sometimes, and often sought relief in small comforts (chocolate soymilk and my iPod quickly became my go-to source for “home”). But, the things I found the hardest I’d learnt to adapt to by the end, all those things you take for granted back home… like drinking the tap water after brushing your teeth, or switching on a light to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Living in a rural Indian village reminded me of what’s important: the people you share the experience with, from the kind man from downstairs who delivered our drinking water each time we ran out (his name was Ashok, and he made delicious samosas!) to the elderly woman that helped us cross a busy street in a nearby town by guiding us through the streams of traffic. Eating with your hand (no plural intended!) became a luxury for the Westerners normally constrained by cutlery, and the “chai ladies” gave new meaning to morning/afternoon tea.

The children we taught were a pleasure, even when we were met with challenges in the classroom; language barriers, pedagogical difference (for someone who values creativity more than the typical by-the-book “intelligence”, I felt a little out of my comfort zone every time the kids turned to rote-and-drill for answers), and time constraints meant that the lessons we had were limited, but we all tried to pour as much energy into teaching as we could. I can speak for everyone when I say that I wish we could have had an extra week, to do more, to see more, to learn more.

After three weeks, we’d already invested ourselves so much into the teachers, the students, the school… it was hard saying goodbye. I hope that I was able to show my teachers – and students – a new way of learning within the lessons I prepared, one that gave the learner a voice and put questions above answers.

I know the kids (and the rest of the girls!) often saw me as “that Drama teacher who liked to play games” but I think that’s one of the best ways to learn, to play: to explore, and experiment, and learn by doing and not just seeing… because that’s what happened when we all ventured out into Kesnand village and its surrounds, we didn’t just see… we mastered the squat toilet and one-handed chapatti tear (that took some practice!), walked to school in our sarees (bindis, bangles and teaching resources included) and built beautiful friendships along the way. It’s already been a few days now since returning home, and I’m still singing “Oh, India… oh my India, I love you, oh my India.”

Meet the Team:

My name is Zoë, and I am 25 years old. I am completing my Grap Dip Ed this year in secondary teaching, with History as my main teaching area. At the moment I have completed half of my required prac days for the Grad Dip Ed, teaching history in a Sydney high school. I have also spent a lot of time tutoring primary school students in areas such as reading and comprehension. As a history teacher I have a great love for all cultures and their unique histories, so I am extremely excited to visit India for the first time. I also love to learn new languages, and while I may not be that adept at them I sure do give it a go!

*****
Hey! My name is Stephanie, and I’m in my third year of a high school teaching degree, with English and Drama as my two teaching subjects. I chose these areas because I have always been drawn to the arts as a process, and as a creative outlet that goes beyond the stage and into any classroom. Literature, particularly writing, has always given me a strong sense of identity by allowing me to explore and imagine outside of myself. For these reasons, I chose to pursue teaching so that I may hopefully inspire a similar means for self-exploration in those that I teach.
My past volunteer work has included teaching ESL in Thailand to hill tribe families and their children, recovering addicts and the wider community, and I was an assistant tutor at NIDA for the acting class for children with intellectual disabilities, while undertaking my own part-time theatrical study. These experiences have taught me a great deal about the power of learning as a tool for change and development, and as a teacher, I’ve found it necessary to teach outside of my home so that it may infer the lessons I bring back. As such, I’m incredibly excited for this new adventure in India!
*****
My name is Karlie Pogson and I am in my last year of a Bachelor of Education at Macquarie University. I also have a BA-Psychology, which is remarkably helpful for teaching (somewhat making up for those 3 long years). In between these studies I worked in an After School Care in Parramatta, which was great fun. The kids were amazing and I got to see just how much difference one person can make in another life. Studies aside I’ve also travelled a fair bit, a lot with my family and some by myself. One definite favourite was an amazing opportunity to assist with running a kids’ holiday program in a township in South Africa, followed by a week in a preschool in a rural village. I can remember the moment when we trundled into the township with planning and resources for the 60 kids we were expecting, only to watch about 120 kids run in from every direction and assemble expectantly before us. It was terrifying and also fantastic, I’m expecting this teacher tour to be totally different but be filled with just as many great memories and experiences.

***
HI! My Name is Rebecca and I am in my third year at Macquarie University doing a BA Dip Ed (Primary). I have experience teaching dancing and in 2010 I did an internship at Starlight Room at Westmead and Randwick Children’s hospitals. I love to bake and do cooking parties for a company called The Chefs Toolbox. This will be my second Tara.Ed Teacher Tour as I was selected for the September Tour in 2010 and stayed in the village of Ajra for three weeks. I am excited to be taking on a mentor role during this tour and look forward to applying the skills I learnt last year to a new school.

*****
While on tour, the Pre-Service Teacher Team will be supervised and supported by Ms. Julie Worsley. Julie has worked at Eastwood Heights Public School for over twenty years, both as a classroom teacher and specialist Music teacher. Julie’s aim is to provide professional support to both the Australian Pre-Service Teacher team and the 12 Teachers from the school.

The Tour will be led by Tara.Ed Founder and Director Jen Star.

Shortlist will be announced by Tuesday 14 June, with interviews shortly there after.