Project Work is the fourth Course of the DECE Programme and its Course Code is DECE 4. In the first three Courses (DECE 1, 2 and 3) you have to carry out some Practical Exercises given in the Practical Manual with each Course, as part of Assignments for that Course. Remember that Practical Exercises are different from Project Work. For Project Work, you have to carry out activities with a child/children between 3-6 years of age under the supervision of a ‘Guide’.
- a) You have to first read the Course 1 - ‘Organizing the Child Care Services’ (DECE-1) thoroughly as it helps you to understand development of children and how this development can be fostered by planning curriculum. Only after this are you equipped to start the Project Work.
- b) The next step is to read the Project Manual titled ‘DECE 4 - Project Work: Working with Young Children in a Child Care Setting’ which gives the details of how you have to carry out activities with preschool children in the face-to-face mode with children in the nursery school.
- c) The third step is to read these New Guidelines. These Guidelines are based on the content given in the Project Manual. You will be able to understand the New Guidelines given in this document ONLY, AND ONLY when you first read the Project Work Manual. These Guidelines describe how to do the Project work during School Closure and it also contains the Revised Annexure which you have to use when you are doing Project Work in the Nursery School.
- d) The fourth step is to identify a Guide for Project Work. The guide has to be identified BEFORE you begin the Project Work. It is COMPULSORY to identify a Guide whenever you want to start the Project Work. You will need to interact daily with your Guide, show him/her the work you are doing as per these New Guidelines and get your work evaluated.
- e) Contact the Counsellors in your Study Centre for clarifications about the Project Work, so that you are able to complete the work as per these requirements. Attend the counselling sessions organized by your Regional Centre for DECE 1 and Project Work.
Who can be the Guide?
I) Criteria for identifying Guide when Project Work is being done with children in the Nursery School/ Pre-primary Section
For Project Work in the nursery school, the Guide should be the one who is presently working with preschool children in the school. It is mandatory for the Guide to have the following educational qualifications as well as work experience.
- a) Educational Qualifications: A teacher with any of the following qualifications can be the Guide for the Project Work.
- Masters Degree in Home Science with the Specilization in Child Development/Human Development
- Diploma in Nursery Teacher Training/ Diploma in Preschool Education
- Masters Degree in any other field of Home Science / Bachelors Degree in Home Science who has attended one or more seminars/ workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education
- Diploma in ElementaryEducation/ ElementaryTeacherTraining/ Junior Basic Training/ Basic Teacher Course
- B. Ed degree who has attended one or more seminars/ workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education
- Graduate Degree in any discipline who has attended one or more seminars/ workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education totaling up to 3 months.
b) Work Experience
- I) The Guide should be working and have the experience of working with a group of preschool children for a period of a minimum period of 6 months. In fact, the more the experience of the Guide, the better it will be for you as a learner to work under her supervision.
- II) Criteria for identifying Guide when Project Work is being done during School Closure according to New Guidelines.
Any of the following professionals/ teachers could be the Guide. He/she may in service presently or could be retired.
Professionals / teachers with
- Masters Degree in Child Development/ Human Development
- Diploma in Nursery Teacher Training/ Diploma in Preschool Education
- Masters Degree in any other field of Home Science / Bachelors Degree in Home Science who has attended one or more seminars/
- workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education or has experience of teaching preschool children
- Diploma in Elementary Education/ Elementary Teacher Training / Junior Basic Training / Basic Teacher Course
- B. Ed and who has attended one or more seminars/ workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education or has experience of teaching preschool children
Graduate Degree in any discipline who has attended one or more seminars/workshops/training programmes in field of preschool education totaling up to 3 months and has at least one year of experience.
Supervision and Evaluation of Project Work by the Guide
Share the Project Manual as well as these New Guidelines with the guide. You can share the hard copy or the link of e gyankosh where the Project Manual is uploaded with the Guide so that she understands the work to be done by you for Project Work.
Inform the Guide about the relevant Annexures and marking scheme. The Marking Scheme and the Annexures are different when Project Work is done with children in the nursery school and when it is done according to
New Guidelines during School Closure
- All the work done for Project Work whether in nursery school or during School Closure has to be shown to the Guide on a REGULAR BASIS and got signed and marked by the Guide.
- During School Closure meet your Guide face-to-face maintaining social distancing, or interact with her and send her your work and videos through Telephone/ Mobile/ E mail/WhatsApp and get the work evaluated.
- During School Closure you have to share the videos of activities done by you in Phase 2 and Phase 3 with the guide since they cannot actually see you doing the activities with children. Only
on the basis of your videos will she be able to mark you for the conduct of activities. When you are working with children in the nursery school it is not necessary to show the videos of activities done in Phase 2 and Phase 3 to the Guide, as she is already seeing you working with children. s
- The weightage given to the Evaluation by the Guide and the Evaluation by the IGNOU Expert has been revised now. The Evaluation by the Guide carries 30% weightage and by the IGNOU 70% weightage.
