Somehow, there is this compulsion to take stock of things at the end of every year — what we have done (or not done), what changes have occurred in our lives, what progress has been made, how the world has changed, and so on. Some changes jerk us into awareness as they happen; elections, natural disasters, sudden shifts in perspectives. Others creep over us while we are looking some place else, or, as John Lennon famously said in his “Beautiful Boy”, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
One might say the same about learning. We may be conscious of our “aha!” moments or knowledge may seep into us in slow, silent waves while we are immersed in activity. This is true of trends, too. We often do not see a trend happening until it reaches a point when it has already become the norm. It would be a challenge to point to specific critical themes that have emerged in the world of education in recent times, perhaps even in the past year, because movements in education are not disconnected from what happens in the economy, or in society, and definitely in our political sphere. But let me try, with the near-perfect vision of hindsight, to indulge in a bit of academic dissection.
I would suggest that the trends fall into two broad categories — the hard and soft aspects of education. “Hard” aspects have to do with the education infrastructure — buildings, tools, materials, money and people — while “soft” aspects have to do with the ideas, frameworks, attitudes and methodologies.
The hard stuff
Technology: The fascination with the bells and whistles of new/digital technology in the education sector has continued, with the higher-end schools buying into tech-enabled services for monitoring, assessment and evaluation of student work, as well as surveillance and performance tracking of teachers. Despite dubious evidence, policy-makers remain committed to the idea that digital technology will deliver us into a more educated world.
Material resources: Following from the above, much of the investment of time and money has been in building new technologies for the classroom, extending the reach of education with online courses (particularly in higher education), and exploring mobile platforms for course delivery. The downside of this is that the preparation of teachers has received less attention despite the acknowledgement that we need more and better human resources in this sector. Despite a nominal increase in the budgetary allocation for school education, in real terms it is still far less than the required six per cent of the GDP. This has meant that the small increase in funds has been put into seeking efficiencies rather than making more schools more accessible to underserved populations.
The soft and substantial core
This is where a lot of exciting things have been happening, despite the inertia of the larger system. There is a lot of inventiveness among those who actually occupy the centre and peripheries of the teaching-learning space — the teachers, teacher trainers, and education entrepreneurs.
Frameworks: Although formal education is still dominated by the idea of employability in a very instrumental sense, there is a growing pushback from those who believe in the broader role of education to produce individuals who are reflective, engaged citizens who can find and give meaning to the world. While this is more evident in higher education — more liberal arts programmes, colleges and universities — it will soon filter down to the school level as young people come into teaching with this awareness.
Attitudes: Learner-centered teaching is slowly becoming a practice, driven in the public sector by the overwhelming evidence from studies such as ASER that show that children learn only when the process is engaging and connects with their lived experience, and in the private sector by a more demanding parent community. This has also meant that teachers are more sensitive to the diverse needs of their students. Degrees in education studies offered by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Azim Premji University, among others, are grooming a new generation of teachers who do not look at teaching as a last-ditch option. Social experiments such as Teach for India, as well as the multitude of NGOs working both in rural areas and among the urban poor, are making an impact on how we think about curriculum and delivery and, most importantly, about the social and political purpose of education — rather than only the economic.
Discourses of inclusion, equity and kindness are finding space and attention in the general conversation about education. Last year saw the release of two films which brought the topic of school education into popular culture — Chalk N Duster and Nil Battey Sannata . Neither was a commercial success, but they did make it into theatres. And that’s a start.
The author teaches at the University of Hyderabad and edits Teacher Plus. Email: usha.bpgll@gmail.com
