why a professional magazine makes sense

We've been overwhelmed by the number of encouraging notes we've received from friends and readers, and many people who have followed the fortunes of Teacher Plus over the years and are sad to see it go. Many have offered direct support in some measure, others have asked what they can do to help. It gives us hope that the magazine--or an avatar of it--will survive.

Month after month, while putting together the magazine, one page was always hard to fill: the space we called "Forum", letters from readers. Sometimes we actually had to ask people to write letters! In more recent months we have had a slightly higher rate of response, but nowhere near the number of notes we have received in response to our mail about our decision to stop publication!

There have been days across these 21 years when we have sat down and taken apart the reasons for poor reader response and the failure to grow our subscription base to the extent we thought possible. Do teachers just not read. we wondered? Is it a question off too much work and too little time? Or do they not see themselves as "professionals" who need to also be involved in the development of the discipline and its application? Do they not think their ideas are worth sharing?

When we spoke to readers directly, most of them said they enjoyed reading the magazine, that they found some bits useful, others not really applicable to their situation... but overall they were positive about the magazine. So we continued to wonder, not being able to understand why response was so poor (other than knowing that we needed to spend much more time, effort and money or simply getting the word out).

We all know that there are communities of practice and communities of knowledge, and in many cases the two do not interact. The gap then between findings from research and reflection and their application to the sphere of practice keeps widening, although the raison d'être of the former is to influence and help positively impact the latter. Research in medicine, for instance, directly leads to better treatment options; research in engineering leads to new products or improvements on existing ones. So why is it that research in education and child development takes so much time to reach the classroom? Why do we not have more action research? Why are university departments of education so distanced from the practising teacher?

There are certainly efforts to bridge this gap; some schools actively promote research into practice for instance, and some university departments are making more concerted efforts to link with teachers and real classrooms, such as JNU's University Schools Resource Network. But these kinds of connections need to grow and flourish if the classroom (and all kinds of classrooms) are to benefit from the kind of thinking and innovation that goes on in higher education.

Teacher Plus, and such teacher magazines are a space where this gap can be addressed. Without unduly privileging either the academic or the practitioner, a professional magazine can equally address both and build bridges from one type of thinking to its testing in the field.

When looked at like this, issues of time or need become irrelevant. The content becomes relevant--and imperative for work to go on, with any measure of quality and meaning.

endings and possible beginnings

Endings invariably hold within them seeds of many new beginnings. Teacher Plus, which turns 21 this month, has arrived at what appears to be the end of a difficult but always satisfying journey. It is in many ways ironic that this chronological coming of age has coincided with the closure of the magazine. But in these 21 years, we have created a small but loyal and always interactive community of readers, writers and thinkers who have shared their ideas and experiences with us and with each other through the pages of the magazine.

A big thank you to all those people--

• teachers who continue to struggle and smile and suffer and find joy in classrooms;
• curriculum developers who straddle the line between the ideal and the practical, who hold a vision in their heads and try to draw it on paper through syllabi and materials;
• principals and school administrators who must meet varying demands, and serve diverse needs and expectations;
• parents who hold hope and worry, and try to give their children the tools, through education, to deal with their futures;
• reformers and idealists who think education holds the key;
• ...and just everyone who fits those labels and others.

Teacher Plus has endeavored, through its articles, to spark ideas and means of their implementation in learning spaces, and also to give teachers a sense of themselves--as people, as professionals, as important catalysts of human development.

Unfortunately, material resources drive the expression of ideas, and when those resources are in short supply, it becomes difficult to sustain activity. Teacher Plus has been fortunate over the past 21 years to have had the support of many individuals and three organizations that have believed that change in education--through teachers--is possible. These are Orient Longman (now Orient Blackswan), Spark-India, and Wipro Applying Thought in Schools (WATIS). But at some point the ideas must create enough energy to propel their own expression. And that is what could not be achieved by Teacher Plus.

However, the team at Teacher Plus does not really believe that this is the end of the road. Call it denial, call it wishful thinking, but we truly think we have a good thing going, and it's not "done" to just shut shot and call it a day. We've had heartwarming and encouraging responses from authors and readers who have heard the news of the closure, and all of them have asked if they can do anything to help us stay afloat.

So we're thinking. And looking long and hard at possible options. Something may come of that yet.

In the meantime, this is a space where the Teacher Plus community can continue to share and continue to learn from each other.

Ideas are welcome!