From a Volunteer to a Teacher

Annu Khatri is creative, inspirational and committed to her profession. She began her teaching journey by volunteering as a computer teacher at a school for children from the underserved section of society during her college days.

A post-graduate in Early Childhood Care and Education and Psychology, Annu considers herself as a Mother Teacher and aims at helping her students develop critical thinking and learning by doing. She believes in overcoming the odds by alternative thinking and taking a stand for what is right and wants to inculcate these values in her students. To create a vibrant atmosphere in class, she tries to engage her students in various activities.  

Annu’s journey with ITEI-Shakti Nagar began with pre-primary workshops conducted as part of the Shikshaantar program. She later participated in the happiness curriculum workshop as well. During both the sessions, she shared detailed feedback on how the suggested activities and pedagogy tools are relevant for teachers and how effective implementation of these can improve teaching-learning experiences in the class. A total of 360 Pre-Primary teachers participated along with Annu in the workshop that emphasized on different aspects of Child Safety- Physical, Psychological and Social. The workshop also included relevant issues of child development, importance of play and experiential learning for young students and pre-reading and writing skills.

“A teacher first needs to be a learner. Instead of targeting the completion of syllabus, a teacher should introspect and then enter the class because effective learning will not be possible unless you provide a favorable learning environment.” says Annu Khatri.

Her learning comes from her wide range of experiences and a long list of achievements. It was a turning point in her life when she was chosen for the NCERT guidance and counselling course in 2012-13. Moreover, she served at the Ministry of Education in Bahrain as a Parent coach and also a Kindergarten coordinator. She was also a part of a revolutionary project of developing the pre-primary curriculum for Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools headed by Mr. Krishna Kumar and was a part of the team that designed the book ‘Neenv’. Currently, she is a panelist in the government helpline ‘Mano Darpan’, and she is also an active member of the counselling service provided by NCERT.