Introduction

The Primary Teacher Training Programme is a unique teacher-training programme in Nepal that has been inspired by the work of three educational institutions: Rato Bangala Foundation, Kathmandu University and Bank Street College of Education (in New York). Rato Bangala Foundation is connected to Rato Bangala School, a child-centered school in Kathmandu with twelve years of experience. The programme is structured to create primary teachers who are well-versed in the theory of child development and philosophy of education and who have also understood and experienced first-hand teaching and learning in the training period. Classroom experience from day one provides trainees with ample hands-on opportunities and the chance to reflect on and revise their practices.
This course is offered to two kinds of candidates: those who have a 10+2 degree and those with a Bachelor's degree. The Primary Teacher Training Certification is offered to all, but those with a Bachelor's get a Bachelor's in Education after completing a fourth term of study at Kathmandu University.
The strength of this programme lies in the integration of theory and practice: lessons learnt in the classrooms are practiced in the field and new knowledge is built on the experience. Trainees are provided the close one-on-one supervision and support of advisors throughout the year. This training demands full-time commitment from trainees throughout the year.

A. Coursework
Coursework focuses on interactive and involved learning. Students learn theory in a workshop-style teaching module in which the instructor models a classroom. Each of the classes requires substantial reading, and the information gained from the readings is applied in the actual setting of schools and classrooms. Placement in cooperating schools is an indispensable part of the coursework. The programme believes that without application in the classrooms, trainees do not understand the theory at a deeper and practical level

Term One

Educational Philosophy
The main thrust of this term is to learn about child development and realise the ways in which children are different from adults and that every individual child is different with different interests and skills. Looking at the whole child and appreciating the works of different child psychologists is the focus. Trainees understand the basic needs of children and that one cannot separate the academic from social and emotional growth.

Language Arts
This is a two-term programme focusing on reading and writing. Language is a mode of communication, and it is through the medium of language that we show how we feel, what we know, what we appreciate and what we dislike. This literature-based curriculum equips trainees with techniques of teaching language, both Nepali and English.

Mathematics
This course provides lots of opportunities for trainees to revisit mathematics and realise how important the subject is in our everyday lives. Trainees come out of the course appreciating mathematics and realising that young students have to be ready to learn mathematical concepts. The fact that paper and pencil mathematics is not necessarily a reflection of what a child knows and is capable of doing is made clear in this course.

Term Two

Educational Philosophy
Much of the theory learnt in Term One is put into practice in Term Two. By visiting three Demonstration Schools for a week each, trainees realise many issues regarding teaching and learning?rom classroom management to fostering the multiple-intelligence of children. The need to focus on the whole child and not just academics is reiterated again and again, and trainees get to see experienced teachers in practice in schools that have well-defined child-centered teaching methods.

Science and Environment Education
The environment science course focuses on trainees' ability to observe, record and report accurately. The study of the shape and position of the moon over a period of weeks is one way of teaching natural phenomena. Long- term observation, recording and reporting is another focus of this curriculum. This course also uses the neighbourhood and surroundings to teach various scientific concepts and skills.

Language Arts
Writer? workshops comprise the core topic of this term. Trainees go through the writing process, publish their own literature and share their work with the whole group at the end of the session. Trainees continue to learn to teach language and use government textbooks to make plans and implement lessons.

Community Study Outside the City
Trainees reside at a locality outside the city for several days. This study provides an opportunity for the trainees to get to work together and bond with instructors and advisors as they learn and explore a specific community and appreciate its complexities and take lessons from it.

Term Three

Educational Philosophy
The focus on philosophy this term is to understand the government primary curriculum and to learn to teach from it. Trainees appreciate the different ways a child learns and plan for that learning experience. In addition, methods of authentic assessment are also discussed. Trainees follow several children closely and write and make an assessment of their overall status, and plan to report the findings to their parents. Character development issues and learning to work in groups are also focuses this term. The term ends with trainees discussing and writing a mission statement for teachers.

Social Studies
This course is designed to help trainees gain the expertise needed to teach social studies in a meaningful way so that students get the necessary experience and the ability to make informed decisions in an ever-changing world. Teachers will explore ways to nurture, inculcate, understand and practice democratic values and beliefs in order to become active and responsible citizens. The premise of the course rests on making use of the children's immediate environment to meet the goals of teaching social studies.

Arts and Physical Education
During these sessions, trainees appreciate the need for art and physical education curricula in primary school and how children develop in each of these areas. They learn the processes in the various art media appropriate for primary school children. This hands-on course gives trainees the opportunity to explore art as an expressive medium and relate their own childhood experiences to learning about working with children. We aim to demystify art and give would-be primary teachers confidence in their artistic and physical capabilities to work in these areas in a Primary School.

B. Supervised Teaching
This is a core element of the programme, in which practice teaching, discussion and reflection form major components. Supervised teaching consists of four parts:

1. Placement in Cooperating Schools
Twenty schools within Kathmandu Valley are cooperating schools and partners in this programme. These schools provide the classrooms where trainees practice what they learn in theory classes. Participating cooperating schools get at least one placement every year.

Term One: Nine hours per week in the classrooms of cooperating schools.
Term Two: Twelve hours per week for six weeks at cooperating schools.Three full weeks in demonstration schools where trainees study classroom practices and teaching methodology and how these work towards providing adequate stimulation for the appropriate grooming of a child.
Term Three: Sixteen hours a week. Trainees are placed in cooperating schools and will complete their final requirement for their certification here. They will observe how children work and assess them in a continuous manner as students participate actively in the curricular events.

2. Advisement Group Meeting
A maximum of six trainees are assigned to one Rato Bangala School Advisor, who is their supervisor and mentor for the year. The group meets every week for two hours to discuss teaching and learning and to try to weave together theory and practice. The advisement group facilitates group bonding and makes the trainees seek out each other for help and advise.

3. Individual Meeting with Advisor
The trainee meets the advisor on an individual basis for one hour every two weeks. This is the time to discuss individualised issues which the trainee and/or the advisor feels are important. It is here that the advisor is able to tailor the programme to the needs of the individual trainee.

4. Three-way Meeting
The advisor, the cooperating teacher in whose class the trainee is assigned to work, and the trainee meet to discuss issues in the cooperating school's classrooms, including the growth of the trainee and his/her performance both academically and socially