Summary
The webinar is a part of the Iconic Week observed by Department of School Education
The topic of the 2-day webinar is ‘Toys and Games to Play, Make and Learn’
NCERT, under the aegis of the ministry of education, is hosting an international webinar on “Toys and Games to Play, Make and Learn” on January 20-21 as part of its Iconic Week, being observed from January 17 to 21.
The chief guest for the first day of the webinar was Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, minister of state for education. In his inaugural speech, he said, “Toy-based pedagogy is in alignment with the NEP 2020 and Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Vocal For Local’.”
Singh highlighted the role of toys in the cognitive development of children, and igniting creativity and problem-solving skills in them. He stated that toys as a teaching-learning resource has potential to transform pedagogy, and that toy-based pedagogy can be easily used by the parents to make their children learn.
Toys help in understanding the cultural heritage of our country and, at the same time, strengthen the psychomotor and emotional development of their personality, he added. He also hoped that this international webinar will facilitate the journey of our nation towards self-sufficiency and will contribute to the economic development of the country.
The first technical session was on ‘Toys in Different Civilisations and Cultures’. The session was chaired by Sadchidanand Joshi, member secretary, Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts, New Delhi. There were five papers presented on different themes on the living tradition of toys and games, taking examples from history and connecting it to the present day.
Jyotsna Tiwari, head, department of Gender Studies, NCERT and coordinator of the webinar, highlighted that “toys” have always been an important part of the Indian culture, and raised concern over the increasing usage of plastic toys that have environmental repercussions. She underscored the importance of promoting rural and indigenous crafts, and boosting the indigenous toys industry, highlighting the importance of toy-based pedagogy in helping children to think, rethink and reimagine the world.
Harshad P Shah, vice-chancellor, Children’s University Gandhinagar, spoke about the Indian toy industry in the context of the global toy industry, mentioning that the former has a nominal share in the latter. He also mentioned that toys help in developing skills, logical thinking, receptive power and competencies in children. For example, toys help in developing coordination and cooperation among students, in understanding the so-called “difficult subjects”.
The second technical session on ‘Learning Different Concepts with Toys: Toy based Pedagogy’, was chaired by Kim Insley, associate professor (Teaching) in the department of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, Institute of Education, University College of London. Several educators shared their experiences during the session.
The third technical session on ‘Toy Design Education: Courses and Careers’ was chaired by Ravi Poovaiah, professor, Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay. There were faculty members from different design institutes and one entrepreneur who shared their views on toy design education in the country, inviting a synergy between different institutions to work for toy-based pedagogy.
Last updated on 21 Jan 2022
