Academics - Balyadhoon

My experience in postgraduate teaching

Visiting Faculty - I have been a visiting faculty for postgraduate teaching for the following courses:
- M.A. Psychology, S. P. College, Pune
- Post Graduate Diploma in School Psychology (Affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University), Jnana Prabodhini's Institute of Psychology (JPIP), Pune
- Education of the Gifted: Methods and Strategies (Now named as 'Psychology & Nurture of Giftedness') (Recognized by Savitribai Phule Pune University), Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology (JPIP), Pune
Curriculum Design for Postgraduate Course - I was part of the team which designed the curriculum of the UGC-sanctioned innovative course ‘Education of the Gifted: Methods and Strategies’ at JPIP.

Designing the content and delivering a module on understanding the psychology of the gifted – for an online course on giftedness, prepared by TCS Ion and Educational Activity Research Centre, Jnana Prabodhini, Pune.
Creating Course Material - I was part of the team which wrote modules for the course booklets for the correspondence course in ‘Child & Adolescent Psychology; Enhancing Potentials’ by JPIP.
As an examiner - for the correspondence course ‘Child & Adolescent Psychology; Enhancing Potentials’ by JPIP.

My work under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020:

I was a member, as an expert in Psychology, of the national-level ‘Syllabus-cum-Textbook Committee for the Foundational Stage’. As a part of this, I worked with the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in 2022. (Foundational Stage: age 3 to 8 years)

During this work, I contributed in preparing ‘Unmukh’: a trainers’ handbook for Balvatika. This handbook was later translated into regional languages for use at the state level.

I conducted a training session on ‘Aims of Education, Curricular Goals, Competencies, and Learning Outcomes’ for the committee working on the State Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (SCF-FS) at the State Council of Educational Research and Training, Maharashtra (SCERT) in August 2023.

The set of two books Khel Roaj Nava – Parts 1 and 2, written by me and published by बाल्यधून (Balyadhoon), is listed in the reference-book list of the State Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage – 2024, Maharashtra (SCF-FS) under NEP 2020.

Paper Presentation: Presented a paper on ‘Enhancing Potentials in Early Childhood through Play’ at national conference ‘Beyond Horizons: Giftedness in 21st century’ conducted by Jnana Prabodhini’s Institue of Psychology (February 2013).

Presented a paper on ‘Training Parents to Identify and Nurture Giftedness in Early Childhood’ at international conference ‘Research in Education and Curriculum Planning for Gifted Minds’, organized by Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search (JBNSTS), Kolkata, in 2014 in New Delhi.

Uma Bapat was honoured with the ‘Women Inspirator Awards 2025’ at the Silver Jubilee celebration of AISSMS Institute of Information Technology held in Pune on March 12th, 2025. This award was presented to 25 women leaders from various fields. Uma Bapat received this award in the field of Education. (All India Shri Shivaji Memorial Society (AISSMS) is a renowned institute in Pune initiated by Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj in 1917.)