A Sikh-Inspired Vision for Learning
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A Sikh‐inspired vision for learning: the discursive production of an ethos by members of the GNNET education trust By Gopinder Kaur Sagoo MRes Dissertation School of Education University of Birmingham June 2009 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This qualitative case study considers the formation of a vision for learning by members of a Sikh education trust called GNNET, established in the Midlands, UK, in 2001. Four participant interviews are analysed to build a picture of the meanings, values and life experiences which underpin their endeavours to articulate an ethos. These bring together a range of understandings, personal stances and communicative repertoires, generating common themes as well as highlighting distinct approaches and orientations. Sikh identity pertains to a shared religion, ethnicity and culture, originating five centuries ago in the Punjab region of northern India. This tends to be researched as a subject of study rather than a basis for exploring approaches to learning itself. Associated with the Punjabi words sikhna (‘to learn’) and sikhya (‘learning’), the tradition is rich in educational concepts, arising from its sacred text and resulting discourses and practices passed down through oral tradition. GNNET seeks to identify, apply and share these concepts, emphasising that education should help one to develop spiritually as well as prepare one for work and life in society. Thus, this study also hopes to prompt further research contributing Sikh perspectives to the field of children’s ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural development’. Acknowledgments The writing of this thesis has been a journey I could not have undertaken without the input and support of many people. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors and tutors at the School of Education – especially Marilyn Martin‐Jones, along with Geoff Teece, Paul Warmington and others – who have guided me through my MRes training, which now culminates in this study. Their assistance in shaping out ideas, stimulating and extending my thinking from a range of academic standpoints ‐ from linguistic ethnography to the field of religious education as well as equality and diversity studies – has been much appreciated. Having reached this milestone as a postgraduate, I look forward to engaging further with staff and students from the wider research community. I am also very grateful to the study participants who are part of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Education Trust and its parent organisation, with which I have become associated in recent years. Their four accounts offer glimpses of a rich reserve of imagination, energy, dedication existing amongst a diverse team of colleagues and volunteers. Humble thanks goes to Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh who inspires, enables and guides their endeavours. Serving untiringly as leader, he takes forward the legacy of his two predecessors; this has established a phenomenon in the contemporary Sikh world which I am grateful to have encountered, opening up possibilities for research, learning and development at many levels. As a practising Sikh, I bow to what we refer to as our shabad‐Guru, or sacred‐text‐as‐ Guru, whose words keep alive the inner substance of our outwardly distinct tradition, whilst making connections with others across religious and social divides. As I first embarked on my postgraduate studies, I was getting to grips with the joys and challenges which first‐time parenthood brings. A warm and loving thanks goes to my husband, Raj, for his patience, flexibility, love and support along the way – and also to my mother and father for their hands‐on assistance in times of need. I am indebted to them! This gratitude is extended to everyone else who ensured that my daughter did not ‘miss out’ whilst her mother was busy but, rather, gained all the more in terms of love, security and adventure. I am grateful, too, to three‐year old Kanpreet; she is sure to light up memories of this effort in years to come. Gopinder Kaur Sagoo University of Birmingham June 2009 Table of Contents Glossary of Terms i 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Rationale 1 1.2. Key aims and research questions 3 1.3. Dissertation overview 3 2. SOCIO‐CULTURAL CONTEXT 5 2.1 Sikhs: religion, culture, ethnicity, migration 5 2.2 Cultural frameworks for learning 8 2.2.1 An introduction to Sikh concepts of learning 8 2.2.2 Early Sikh institutional frameworks for learning 11 2.2.3 The impact of British colonial rule 12 2.2.4 Historical foundations of schooling in England 14 2.2.5 Ideologies of education in England, with reference to RE and SMSC 14 2.2.6 Transmitting Sikh heritage from post‐war Britain to the present day 15 3. RESEARCH SITE AND PARTICIPANTS 20 3.1 The research site 20 3.2 Participants 22 4. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 24 4.1 Research Design 24 4.2 Data Collection Methods 25 4.3 Data Analysis 26 4.4 Reflexivity 27 5. FINDINGS 28 5.1 Interview with Bhai Sahib 28 5.1.1 Key themes 28 5.1.2 How Bhai Sahib talks 31 5.2 Interview with R. Singh 32 5.2.1 Key themes 32 5.2.2 How R. Singh talks 36 5.3 Interview with B. Kaur 37 5.3.1 Key themes 37 5.3.2 How B. Kaur talks 41 5.4 Interview with K. Kaur 42 5.4.1 Key Themes 42 5.4.2 How K. Kaur talks 44 6. CONCLUSION 47 6.1 Comparing and contrasting the transcripts 47 6.1.1 Emerging themes 47 6.1.2 How participants talk and what their discourse reveals 51 6.2 Constraints on the study 54 6.3 Recommendations for future research 54 References 56 Appendices 60 List of Appendices 1. Leitner on Indigenous Education in the Punjab (Extracts) 60 2. Background to GNNET’s parent organization, GNNSJ 62 3. Mission statement of GNNSJ’s centre for civic engagement 65 4. Diagram from a GNNSJ brochure (2008) 66 (outlining its five centres for excellence, intra‐faith and interfaith activities) 5. Participant profiles: 67 a) Bhai Sahib 67 b) R. Singh 68 c) B. Kaur 69 d) K. Kaur 69 6. Guiding framework for semi‐structured interviews 70 7. Transcripts of the interviews: 71 a) Bhai Sahib 71 b) R. Singh 80 c) B. Kaur 95 d) K. Kaur 103 Glossary Below is a list of Sikh terms which recur in the main text. (Other terms whose appearance is more localised are explained as they appear within the text). gurbani the teachings of Sikh sacred text, uttered or approved for inclusion by the Sikh Gurus gurdwara (also sometimes spelt gurudwara); the Sikh place of worship or ‘abode of the Guru’. Guru a word used by Sikhs specifically, as a title with a capital ‘G’, to denote the ‘ten Gurus’, the historical personalities who founded their faith, and the volume of sacred text which embodies and preserves their teachings. Traditionally associated with enlightenment – one who dispels darkness (‘gu’) by bringing light (‘ru) ‐ ‘Guru’ is also used by Sikhs in praise of the Creator, Vaheguru or Wonderful Guru. Guru Granth Sahib the body of sacred text which Sikhs revered as a perpetual or ‘Living’ Guru; the title ‘Guru’ is followed by ‘Granth’ meaning volume of text, and ‘Sahib’ which denotes respect. (NB: academic scholarship is accustomed to using the term Adi Granth, a name given to the original compilation before it was extended and formally ‘canonised’ as Guru) kirtan the musical tradition of singing verses from gurbani kirat work or the earning of one’s livelihood, done with sincerity, honesty and in remembrance of the divine presence; it is part of the central, threefold motto ‐ ‘pray, work and share’ ‐ which underpins Sikh life seva (also sometimes spelt sewa) the concept of serving others selflessly. Sikh tradition holds that this must go hand in hand with simran, or meditation Abbreviations GNNET ‘Guru Nanak Nishkam Education Trust’ GNNSJ GNNET’s parent organisation,’ Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha’ (a jatha (organisation) inspired to do seva (serving others) in the spirit of nishkamta (selflessness) in the name of the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak GGS ‘Guru Granth Sahib’ (this abbreviation identifies extracts of verse quoted in the main text) RE ‘Religious Education’ – a curriculum subject in the UK SMSC ‘Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development’ i A Sikh‐inspired vision for learning Chapter 1 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale This study allows me to explore a number of issues of relevance to my doctoral research in the field of children’s ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural development’ or SMSCi. In particular, I seek to identify Sikh perspectives on SMSC, allowing me to build upon my existing knowledge as a practising Sikh of Punjabi descent, raised in the UK, with a broad exposure to diversity existing with the tradition, and a special interest in SMSC‐related knowledge which may be accessed through both the sacred text and those, particularly practitioners of the faith, who engage reflectively with its teachings. Ahluwalia et al. (2005) characterise the multidisciplinary field of Sikh Studies as polarised by traditionalist ‘normative theology’ and a highly ‘secular’, objective area studies approach. Where it crucially lags behind, they argue, ‘is in admitting that the ontological ground of Sikh Studies, namely the kind of subjectivity that accrues to being ‘Sikh’, or more simply stated, what it means to be a Sikh, continues to be foreclosed.’ Like Smith (1989) who, instead of looking at something called ‘Buddhism’, prefers to ‘look at the world, so far as possible through Buddhist eyes’, I am interested in exploring what it means to be a Sikh when one is purposefully engaged with the pedagogy of Sikh scriptural teaching, whilst embedded in a range of wider discourses about education acquired through social exposure as well as professional training.