A Ten-Week Bihu Certificate Course with One Guru
A higher secondary school in Guwahati wants a 10-week Bihu certificate course for 40 students. It has one Bihu guru who can teach two afternoons a week, a part-time dhol teacher, no dedicated studio, and a budget for 10 gogona and 4 dhols. Students range from complete beginners to three who have performed on television. Assessment must be internal and portfolio-based; the school wants a showcase in week 10. The guru is 68 and prefers oral teaching; the principal wants written lesson plans and attendance records for inspection. You are asked to design the course, the assessment and the archive plan. The school year has two public holidays in the 10 weeks.
1. Design a 10-week curriculum outline that balances oral transmission with documentation and differentiates beginners from advanced students.
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Forty students cannot all receive individual attention from one guru in two afternoons, so the design must use grouping and peer mentoring without exhausting the guru.
- Weeks 1-2: context of the three Bihus, basic rhythm, listening to dhol bols, safe stance and footwork. Guru teaches; dhol teacher handles rhythm drills.
- Weeks 3-4: core anga, hand and wrist gestures, simple combinations; beginners on foundation track, advanced students as demonstrators.
- Weeks 5-6: Bihu geet and taal; gogona and dhol rotations in small groups.
- Weeks 7-8: repertoire and ensemble; advanced students learn to lead a section and mentor beginners.
- Week 9: showcase rehearsal and portfolio review.
- Week 10: showcase, reflection and feedback.
Build in the two public holidays as catch-up or review weeks. Written lesson plans should be co-created with the guru, not imposed: a student scribe can record the oral explanation, the guru approves the summary, and the plan is filed. Attendance can be taken by class monitors and checked by the teacher. Record the guru's sessions only with consent and transcribe key terms for the archive.
2. What portfolio evidence and assessment criteria would be fair and inspectable?
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A fair portfolio should show progress, not just the final showcase. Evidence:
- attendance and practice log, dated;
- a baseline video in week 1 and a final video in week 10;
- one song text with a short explanation of its meaning and context;
- a reflection note from the student;
- group performance record and teacher observation;
- a short oral quiz on festival context and instrument roles.
Criteria and weights should be published in advance: rhythmic alignment and taal (30%), technique and anga (25%), expression and ensemble (20%), contextual knowledge (15%), and portfolio documentation (10%). Beginners should be assessed against their own baseline and the foundation outcomes; the three experienced students should be set extension tasks such as leading a section or mentoring, not simply scored higher for prior training. The guru and teacher should moderate together, using video where live observation is impossible. Every portfolio should be dated and stored so an inspector can see the evidence trail.
3. The principal wants to record the guru's oral explanations for the school archive. What ethical and pedagogical issues must you address?
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Recording is useful, but it must not become extraction. First, obtain the guru's informed consent, explain who will access the archive, and agree on attribution and any payment or honorarium. The guru's oral teaching is both cultural knowledge and a livelihood; the school should not assume free permanent rights.
Second, distinguish what can be shared openly from what is sensitive. Ritual details, family-specific song variants or personal commentary may need restricted access. The community should review the material before it is used publicly. Metadata should record the date, place, language, names and context.
Third, do not let the archive replace transmission. A video cannot correct a student's posture or answer a live question. Use recordings for revision, teacher training and inspection, while keeping the guru's contact hours intact. Store multiple copies, back them up, and have a simple takedown or correction process. Finally, tell students that they are being recorded and obtain parental consent for minors. The archive should serve the tradition and its practitioners, not only the school's inspection file.