Training Of Trainers -TOT

Training the Trainers in traditional crafts has not been addressed seriously as an academic challenge! Traditionally, Master Craft persons have been the trainers. In bamboo craft, which I will be elaborating, learning as a family trade still takes place in the Country, but is slowly vanishing as the school education takes its toll. There are number of Government sponsored short courses which take place. Institutions like BCDI(Bamboo Cane Development Centre) at Agartala have been offering full time courses from 6months to one year in bamboo craft.

None of them have been addressing specifically ‘Training of Trainers’. We started our first ‘try’ under KVIC –Mini cluster project as a week long workshop for experienced craft persons.

I have realised that there is an urgent need to bring 'Designerly ways' of Teaching and Learning in this endeavour.

A series of articles as ‘TOT challenges’  are presented here with this conviction and the insights gained in STRC-GUG(Science and Technology Centre- Gondwana University, Gadchiroli) project undertaken at Bambu Studio of IDC, IITBombay.