Search

The world we live in today compels what Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandes describes as 'intensified encounters with difference' constituted by contradictory and paradoxical movements. A decolonial approach to constructing global imaginaries centres on reconfiguring human relations in ways that unmask complicity and denial and further healing, justice and solidarity. In this paper, we reflect on the possibilities and challenges for alternative approaches to global citizenship education (GCE) in India through the experience of a thirty-year old educational programme called Avehi-Abacus (AA). The paper begins with an overview of the historical influence of colonial, nationalist and neoliberal discourses on citizenship and citizenship education. We then reflect on specific pedagogical challenges and possibilities in relation to (a) unlearning socio-cultural diversity as deficit and danger, and (b) reimagining ourselves and our relationships with other living beings. The discussion highlights the intrinsic linkages between knowledge, relation and affect in an educational approach which attempts to inculcate alternative understandings of being and becoming a global citizen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Child-Centred Approach (CCA) is increasingly promoted within India and internationally as a response to the challenge of delivering quality education. From identifying and examining Indian indigenous and global concepts of CCA within traditional and contemporary child-centred pedagogic discourse, this paper reveals the complexities of underlying agendas within the domestic and international setting and the implications of this for the integration of CCA and the ‘child-centred’ teacher in India. Based on empirical analysis of teachers’ interviews, the findings demonstrate that the role of the teacher continues to be largely overlooked in spite of a willingness from teachers to engage within the child-centred pedagogic discourse. Disempowerment, a lack of autonomy and limited professional status are highlighted. Therefore, this paper calls for the rediscovery of the ‘child-centred’ teacher to advance from within the nation. Without this, it is asserted that the authenticity of the CCA model will continue to be compromised, and with it, any indigenous expressions of a similar epistemology will be fundamentally restricted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Studies to date show how low-fee private (LFP) schools, including unrecognised ones, have gained practical legitimacy and continue to increase in number. However, little explanation is offered regarding the legal legitimacy of such unrecognised LFP schools. This paper intends to fill this gap by examining the legal legitimacy of unrecognised schools in Delhi whose actual existence was challenged by the Delhi High Court and the Right to Education Act, 2009. The paper also illustrates the practical legitimacy of unrecognised schools by comparing perspectives of different actors (the government, NGOs and managers, teachers and parents at nine unrecognised schools in Delhi) based primarily on the author’s interviews with these actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to improve the 'quality' of education for all in government primary schools in India have seen a shift towards child-centred teaching. This paper examines the 'Joyful Learning' programme, an example of a pedagogic reform implemented in rural primary schools in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Through an empirical analysis of teachers' pedagogic discourses, I explore what it means to introduce child-centred pedagogic principles in low-income, rural Indian contexts. Of particular interest to this paper is how new forms of pedagogic control in child-centred approaches might be understood and mediated by teachers. The analysis reveals how the social controls of knowledge acquisition can remain unchallenged, and hidden, by the rhetoric of this child-centred pedagogy. The discussions reflect on the need for more complex and contextual considerations of pedagogy in attempts to achieve 'quality' universal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective programmes introduced by NGOs in developing countries have the potential to benefit a large number of people if they are scaled up, but instances of successful scaling-up are relatively rare. This paper uses a case study of an Indian educational NGO that has scaled up rapidly and effectively in order to explore the reasons for choice of scaling-up strategy, the particular barriers to scaling-up in the education sector, and how these barriers can be overcome. It finds that, while a high-functioning NGO can successfully overcome many of the internal organisational challenges posed by scaling-up, external barriers such as the difficulty of building relationships with key stakeholders like government officials and school teachers pose significant challenges. While these difficulties could in principle be mitigated by moving from an expansion-based to collaboration-based model of scaling-up, low accountability and governance of the NGO sector make it difficult to detect the quality of potential partners. The case also shows that India's recent law mandating CSR has increased funding availability for scaling-up, but its requirement for corporate donors to preferentially support local projects has also created some challenges by constraining NGO ability to harness economies of scale during scaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapidly increasing burden of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries, tobacco control initiatives – especially cessation – receive little emphasis. This is true despite low-cost methods that have potential for widespread dissemination. The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study example of how lay interventionists may be trained and supported to facilitate tobacco use cessation, based on the successful Tobacco-Free Teachers–Tobacco-Free Society program (TFT–TFS) implemented in Bihar, India. This school-based program included multiple components, with lay interventionists having a crucial role. The lay interventionists included health educators and lead teachers, both of whom were selected based on formative research, underwent extensive training and received continuing support. We emphasized encouraging and supporting teachers to quit tobacco use and engaging both tobacco users and nonusers to create a supportive environment for cessation. We also stressed that neither the health educators nor lead teachers were being trained as counselors or as cessation experts. We focused on the importance of respecting teachers as individuals and identifying locally relevant methods of cessation. Although we cannot isolate the precise contribution of the lay interventionists to the successful TFT–TFS intervention, the abstinence findings in favor of the intervention at follow-up are highly encouraging. Teachers have been neglected as lay interventionists for tobacco cessation despite the fact that they tend to be highly respected and credible. The approach used for TFT–TFS could be disseminable in multiple low- and middle-income country contexts through train-the-trainer programs targeted to teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since the early 1990s, significant progress has been made with regard to education in India. This positive development stands, however, in sharp contrast with the way in which government teachers themselves think and talk about education. Instead of feeling pride and satisfaction, many teachers are unhappy, and often self-critical. Based on focus group discussions and interviews with teachers in Andhra Pradesh, south India, this paper analyses the reasons behind motivations and demotivations of government school teachers. The paper concludes that there is a need for a new professional ethos and culture. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study was undertaken to determine the concerns of primary school teachers about the inclusion of students with disabilities in Ahmedabad, India. A total of 560 teachers, working in government-run schools, returned the completed survey. A two-part questionnaire was used in this study. Part 1 gathered information relating to personal and professional characteristics of the teachers. Part 2 was a 21-item Likert scale titled Concerns about Inclusive Education -- Gujarati. The major finding of the study was that the teachers in Ahmedabad were moderately concerned about including students with disabilities in their classrooms. The teachers were most concerned about lack of infrastructural resources and least concerned about lack of social acceptance of students with disabilities in inclusive education classrooms. Significant differences existed in teacher concerns based on the following background variables: gender, qualifications in special education, teaching experience and number of students with disabilities in class. A number of implications are discussed to address teacher concerns for inclusive education in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was undertaken to determine the attitudes of secondary regular schoolteachers towards the inclusion of students with disabilities in New Delhi. A total of 470 teachers, working in schools managed by a private organisation in Delhi, returned the completed survey. A two-part questionnaire was used in this study. Part one gathered information relating to personal and professional characteristics of the teachers. Part two was a 16-item Likert scale titled, Attitudes towards Inclusive Education Scale. The major finding of the study was that the teachers in Delhi had positive attitudes towards the inclusion of students with special needs. This study also indicated that the teachers who were more positive about inclusive education were male, younger teachers (less than 40 years of age), less experienced (less than 10 years) and had postgraduate qualifications. In addition, the teachers who had a contact with a person with a disability and those who did not have a focus on disability during their preservice teacher education programmes were more positive towards inclusive education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the remembered experiences of children who went to school in the late colonial period and examines the extent to which these memories relate to the official literature of the time and the historiographical debates surrounding education. The precise focus is memories of formal elementary education in the Madras Presidency 1882—1947 as described in autobiographies. This includes a study of how children regarded the space of the classroom, what they did and what was important enough to be remembered. In other words this article attempts to find fragments of the experiences of children, rather than just the history of education. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose -- This research aims to assess the significant differences in the climate profile and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) of teachers working in public and private schools of India. Design/methodology/approach -- The sample comprised of 100 teachers, out of which 50 teachers were from public school and 50 teachers were from private schools. Following data collection, significant differences regarding climate profile and OCBs were examined by using t-test. Findings -- The findings indicated significant differences in the climate profile of public and private schools. Also, there was significant difference in the exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers working in public and private schools. Research limitations/implications -- The research represents the beginning and not an end to the examination of climate of schools as well as exhibition of citizenship behaviors of teachers. The study makes feasible suggestions for improving the climate profile of private schools and citizenship behaviors of teachers. It also implies that to enhance the climate of private schools, appropriate strategy must be followed which can transform teachers to be creative, innovative, and flexible. Also, open communication and appropriate feedback must be encouraged which can build strong relationship between teachers and principal, which is generally stymied by the bureaucratic leadership styles of the principals. Originality/value -- This study provides further groundwork to assist administrators in identifying other areas which are sensitive to climate profile and behavioral aspects of school and aspects which can prevent from tarnishing the image of the school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]