• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

STUDENTS’ JOURNAL OF EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT Editorial Collective Aman Walia | Ann Mary Biju | Chainika Dhingra | Mohammed Mishad K | Richa Pandey | Richu Sunil | Soujanya Sridharan | Vinaysree Vinod Project Coordination and Advocacy Team Kalpita Wadher | Kriti Gupta | Saesha Surendran Pillai | Vinay Advisory Board Avinash Kumar | Girdhar Rao | Himanshu Upadhyay | Saswati Paik | Shantha K | Sindhu Mathai EDITORIAL The Students’ Journal of Education and Development (SJED) is a space to bring forth the voice of the student community of Azim Premji University about issues of public importance and in-terest. It is a space to collate the wealth of academic writing from among the students and share learning with the wider community. This sixth edition of the SJED takes this spirit of engage-ment forward and brings to you a collection of insightful research articles, perspective-building pieces, essays, and notes. Our first article in this edition is by Ms. Jayna Jagani. It is a research study that looks at the perspectives of early childhood education teachers on “autonomy” for children during play-activities and finds that classroom learning and pre-decided objectives continue to take prece-dence over children’s autonomy for various reasons. The second article is by Ms. Lipika Kanekal. It is a research study on “Homeschooling in the Indian context”. Through qualitative evidence, the essay comprehensively looks into the curricula used by families where children are home-schooled and also looks into the impact of RTE on this emerging schooling experience. Our third article is based on the East Kolkata Wetlands (EKW), often considered as the “kid-neys” of Kolkata. They constitute an important socio-ecological system providing a range of val-uable ecosystem services. However, the system continues to be threatened by the rapid urban sprawl and constant pressure from real estate. As EKW grapples with the challenges of urbaniza-tion, the study, done by Ms. Madhureema Auddy, uncovers the multifaceted impact of urbani-zation on the wetlands and thus on people’s lives. The essay captures narratives of change in the EKW and how society, in turn, responds to such transformations. Fourth, we have Ms. Nupur Rastogi’s study which considers perspectives of different stake-holders to study community engagement in schools in a village in Jharkhand. She looks at the perceptions of the community members on their own engagement with the school and closely analyses the factors involved in this engagement. The fifth article studies the relationships between a science museum (Khoj Museum) and science curricula taught in two upper primary schools in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Mr. Samrudh Dixit enquires into how museums inculcate conceptual understanding in students and improve their retention of concepts. The sixth article is by an alumnus, Mr. Brihas Tiwari. The essay asks a pertinent question: “Can low-fee private schools be an alternative to government schools?” The answer to this, the author says, is multi-layered and has to do with the social, economic, and political situation in the country. He looks at the perceptions of society, quality of education, and the responsibilities of the government in this respect and also proposes some interventions to turn the situation around. In the seventh article, Mr. Nityanand Rai presents the historical evolution of the post-development theory from development theory. He writes about the ideas of Gandhi and Marx and puts forth the similarities and dissimilarities of their world views. He also goes on to show how Ivan Illich, one of the pioneers of the post-development theory, draws his ideas from Marx and Gandhi. Next, in the eighth essay, Ms. Sariya Ali looks at female genital mutilation (FGM) and female sexuality. The paper notes that FGM is practiced in a number of communities across the world. The paper attempts to understand the practice by exploring the ideological justifications for and the acceptance of this practice. The essay details a number of interventions to tackle FGM under-taken by organizations along with the members of the community. The last article in this edition is by Ms. Rituja Mistra. She reviews a book written by Dr. Nitya Ghotge named Livestock and Livelihood. She presents key points from the book highlighting how livestock is an important aspect of rural livelihood across the Indian subcontinent. She also critically analyzes various gaps in modern veterinary science and examines the status of tradi-tional wisdom of livestock rearers. As is evident, the above-mentioned papers cover a wide range in terms of themes. This issue of SJED has been made possible by the contributions of current students of Azim Premji University, members of its alumni body, the journal’s Advisory Board, the Editorial Collective, and the Coordination and Advocacy teams. The Project Coordination and Advocacy Team, Students’ Journal of Education and Development. CONTENTS Research Articles The nature of autonomy as understood by teachers of 4-6-year olds during play-based activity hour in low fee private schools - Jayna Jagani ...................................................................................................... 3 Varied Trends of Homeschooling in Bangalore - Lipika Kanekal ............ 23 Understanding the Socio-Ecological Impact of Urbanization in the Transformation of Lakes and Wetlands – A Case Study of East Kolkata Wetlands, West Bengal - Madhureema Auddy .............................. 45 Community engagement in Schools: A Study of a village in Jharkhand - Nupur Rastogi ........................................................................ 67 Studying the relationship between Science Museums and Science Curriculum taught in upper primary schools in Ahmedabad, Gujarat - Samrudha Dixit .................................................................................. 81 Perspectives and Practices Can Low-Fee Private Schools Be An Alternative to Government Schools? - Brihas Tiwari .................................................................................... 99 Contribution of Marx & Gandhi in Evolution of Post Development Theories - Nityanand Rai .................................................................................. 111 Notes Haraam Ki Boti Topic - Female Genital Mutilation - Sariya Ali ........................................................................................................... 119 Classics Revisited Book Review of Livestock and Livelihoods - Rituja Mitra ..................................................................................................... 129 Style Sheet ..................................................................................................... 136 Research Articles THE NATURE OF AUTONOMY AS UNDERSTOOD BY TEACHERS OF 4-6 YEAR JAYNA JAGANI OLDS DURING PLAY-BASED ACTIVITY HOUR IN LOW FEE PRIVATE SCHOOLS Abstract Nurturing autonomy or agency in children has been viewed as fundamental on-going process for a child’s growth. This study tries to understand what autonomy means to teachers of Early Childhood Care and Education schools during play-based activity hours. To what extent teachers’ beliefs are translated into classroom practices which result in governing the children’s choice, control and movement. A sample of 10 teachers from two low-fee private schools reveals that although autonomy is seen as a significant factor, the degree of autonomy shifts as per the teachers’ discretion. Effective classroom management techniques, discipline and learning outcome take precedence due to which autonomy suffers. Key Words: autonomy, nurture, play-based activity, choice, control, beliefs, movement, learning outcome. 1. Introduction Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) has gained significant ground over the past few years in India. A lot of research has been done in this field which tells us how crucial and essential these early years are for the rapid physical and mental growth of children. Given these benefits, it is indispensable for every child to get the opportunity to develop in a healthy and nurturing environment. (Chopra, 2012). But, mere participation in an ECCE setting is not enough, the quality of the setting is also crucial and for this reason, after a lot of debates and discussions, India adopted a National ECCE policy in 2013. The policy lays down the Curriculum Framework to be followed by the settings and do’s/don’ts for the teachers. This framework serves as a plan or a broad guideline for the implementation of quality care and education for the young ones (Government of India, 2012). Jayna graduated with an M.A. in Education from Azim Premji University in 2020. She is currently working on an internship project on School readiness and Parent Engagement for children from disadvantaged communities with the organisation Indus Action based in Delhi. She is interested in Early Childhood Education and the practices adopted to teach children in this field. Students’ Journal of Education and Development | Issue 06 3 The role of teachers/care givers has been given utmost importance in the Curriculum guidelines. It says that earlier, there were no guiding principles on the basis of which teachers would work and hence were neglected throughout. The problem arises when, while framing a child centric curriculum, one only thinks about the best practices and activities for children, which will help in better learning, but does not think about the practices for teachers who are the ones who are going to deliver that learning. Thus, keeping

Load more

  154

Copy Link