First Undergraduate Department of Elementary Education in India at Jesus and Mary College

In 1994, the Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) Programme, an integrated four year undergraduate programme, in Teacher Education was established at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi.

The B.El.Ed. curriculum embraces an interdisciplinary framework designed to encourage teacher aspirants to engage with indigenous and global knowledge paradigms. B.El.Ed. serves as a pre-service professional training programme of Delhi University community’s distinctive contribution towards the progressive realisation of the human right of education for all.

Mentors

A Team of mentors facilitate the training and development of aspiring teachers. Ample opportunities are collaboratively crafted for learners to explore and discover themselves and maximise their potential to foster and enable critical learning and sharing in the classroom. Mindful of the changes that evolve from the Self, School and Society, Learners are led to critically examine the transmissive and transformative mode in the methodology of education.

The Programme of Study - Learn, Excel, Reflect

The programme’s focus on the cognitive, affective and behavioural domains of learning and sharing sparks in aspiring teachers a deep desire to learn, a drive to excel, motivation for action and reflective thinking - prerequisites to develop a critical understanding of the systemic issues and social dynamics of the school system as well as the institutional structures that govern the society at large.

The learning opportunities offered by the Foundation, Practicum, Liberal and Pedagogy courses in the first three years weave seamlessly into the fourth year as students engage with the world of school through the School Internship Programme.

Exploratory engagement with theatre, craft, physical education and self development, and complemented with talks and workshops by eminent people in the field of education offers multiple opportunities for perspective building. Regular field visits, assignments and projects are designed to transcend the confines of the classroom and encourage students to explore their physical and social environment - an integral part of the Expressed and Expressive components of the programme.

Inter and Intra Mural Opportunities

The Curriculum Laboratory and the Resource Room enables aspiring teachers to engage with books, documents, reports and several other study materials in physical and online forms.

The Giju Bhai Memorial Lecture Series started in 1994, continues to provide, now in its twenty fifth year, a forum to promote a new ambience and discourse in elementary education, exposing students to new ideas in education.

AAGAAZ the annual education festival brings together the fraternity of B.El.Ed students and faculty to engage in academic discussions as well as creative activities in the area of education. This is a valuable and often nostalgic opportunity for alumna to remember, rejoice and renew their sharing learning commitment.

Progressive Realization

The bilingual nature of the BElEd Programme as a comprehensive introduction to pre-service teacher training and development is designed to include local and wider national interests anchored to the constitutional values of respect for the human and humane, and mindful of the duty of the most exacting solicitude for the values of the constitution.

Our Vision – Reflective Practitioners

Graduates of the programme now serve as competent and committed administrators, professional teachers and reflective practitioners capable and committed of fulfilling the role of elementary school teachers as envisaged in the vision of the programme.

The BElEd Programme provides ample opportunities for teacher aspirants to analyze the characteristics of the innovation process as a creative response. It opens up a new space for the teacher and taught to reevaluate the personal and cultural narratives of education through deep engagement with theories of education.