COMMENTARY which ideas like equality shape concepts The Teacher, Society like “education for all”. But we know that these institutional characteristics do not and the Modern School play out the same way all over the country. The school system with its decision- making bodies at one end and teachers Yemuna Sunny at the other is guided by a particular socio-political ethos influenced by the A case study of how science is popular rule-of-thumb for good historic and social processes of society. taught in some of the primary schools is that teachers in such That is why the present article first con­ schools in Hoshangabad district A schools attend to students regu- textualises the region, Hoshangabad in larly. This means that they come to school M­adhya Pradesh where the study was in Madhya Pradesh reveals that a and teach. The general wisdom behind done. Various aspects of the society be it lack of “cultural capital” does this is practical – how can teaching happen religion, modernity, politics or class struc- hamper the economically poor without teachers? Also, radical perspectives ture influence the schooling processes. 1 students in synchronising with on schooling like those of Paulo Freire These interrelationships help us to grasp emphasise the crucial role of teachers. the role and potential as well as challenges the “education” that is designed in However, it is naive to blame teachers for faced by teachers who are historically, school textbooks and taught by the poor state of education in the country. socially and institutionally located. teachers. Middle-class students This kind of blaming is quite often ex­ Social Contexts who are backed by certain perienced both in the non-governmental o­rganisation (NGO) sector and in society Hoshangabad3 is primarily an agricultural cultural capital fare relatively in general. The same thinking is echoed in region occupying a fertile and water-rich better. Cultural capital informs studies that emphasise the benefits of em- area of the Narmada valley. The district has the relationship between ploying para-teachers because the insecu- a fairly large population of adivasis mostly schooling and the family/social rity regarding their jobs supposedly makes occupying the Satpura mountain ranges. them efficient teachers.2 These views fail But the plains of Narmada are o­ccupied by structure and also shapes the to see the larger implications behind mainstream societies. Most of these peo- teacher’s role in how she or he e­mploying para-teachers as part of the ple have migrated from the neighbouring negotiates with students from neo-liberalisation process and by pinning regions. Except for the K­orku and Gond different backgrounds. Differing down teachers as the problem area in tribes, the population in the district can schooling. They reflect a serious gap in historically be traced back to immigrants cultural capital is not reflected the sociopolitical understanding of the who reached the region a­pproximately either in the nature of textbooks school as an institution in which teachers around 1650. Probably b­etween 1650 and or in the nature of the teachers’ are located. For instance, how does liber- 1700, the first settlers came from Gwalior 4 training. This reveals how the alisation-globalisation affect the school- and Bundelkhand. Between 1750 and 1800, ing of different strata of society? there was a­nother wave of immigrants question of accessibility to Even though teachers are only a part of chiefly from Marwa.5 Around the same time, education cannot be limited to the school system, they are the most visi- immigrants also came from Khandesh.6 access to infrastructure but also ble part. Since they occupy positions lower The following period was marked by 7 includes access to knowledge. down the hierarchy as far as power, Pindari raids and so the times were too a­utonomy and decision-making are con- precarious to enable immigration into cerned, it becomes easy and analytically Hoshangabad. The trends of immigration simple to blame teachers in general. It is again started after British occupation.8 often argued that individual teachers can The struggles of adivasis in the region make a difference to schooling. True, but are historic and continue to the present then individual collectors, police officers, day. They had resisted the zamindars and doctors and employees of government/ the British who were keen on making NGO sectors can all make a difference by i­nroads into the forests. The struggles of doing their jobs well. But none of them in Tandya Bhil in Nimad-Malwa and the their individual capacities can bring about o­pposition of the tribal women in Banjari large-scale changes in the system. Dal in Betul against these forces are Yemuna Sunny ([email protected]) works The school is a modern institution; it remarkable in the history of the region. with Eklavya at Hoshangabad, Madhya trains the workforce needed for modern The second world war increased the ex- Pradesh. She is also a visiting faculty at TISS, jobs, exposes students to modern/scientific ploitation of the forests for wood by the Mumbai. knowledge and also opens up a space in British and this was also resisted by the

26 april 23, 2011 vol xlvi no 17 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY adivasis. But even after independence their Hoshangabad was included) marked the in this programme which also paved the struggle has continued. The dam built on entry of modern education here. In 1862, the way for “Eklavya”, an organisation that the Tawa (a tributary of the Narmada) in education department was constituted and subsequently ran the programme through Hoshangabad district had displaced several by 1865, the region had an estimated 167 government collaboration in the entire Korku and Gond people who were barely schools. It is to be noted that many of these district for approximately 20 years.15 It compensated. The Central Proof Esta­blish­ schools were opened at the private expense f­ocused on hands-on learning of science to ment near Kesla and most recently the of landholders. Thus the school buildings replace rote learning, structured for a Bori Wildlife Sanctuary and the Satpura of Seoni, Sohagpur, Babai and Sobhapur democratic relationship between teachers National Park displaced many more of them. were all paid for by one zamin­dar.11 The and students and reformed the examina- Within the mainstream, non-adivasi situation of girls’ education was not very tion system through open book exams and s­ociety, we do not see prominent histories favourable – in 1906-07, the percentage of an evaluation process that did not place of sociopolitical movements based on land, children under instruction and those of the blame for failure on the students. labour or dalit rights. The socialist stream school-going age was given as 33 for boys I­nstead, it was meant to point out areas for of politics that became active during the and 2.5 for girls12 respectively. improvement in the writing of textbooks freedom struggle had made some impact A number of schools were opened in the and the teaching processes. in this region among students, the work- region here by Christian missionaries in- ing class and in the villages. To a lesser cluding the Quakers.13 The women’s indus- Education in Hoshangabad extent, the left parties, especially the trial schools14 trained girls in garment Present day Madhya Pradesh has a b­elow- Communist Party of India (CPI) made an making, embroidery, making of shoes, the-national level literacy rate as well as impression through its trade unions in toys, bags, etc. The impact of Gandhian other indicators such as availability of the railways, the postal department and thought could be seen in the opening of schools within one km of settlements.16 banks. Later many of the socialists merged the Harijan Sevak Sangh around 1932 that Within the state however, Hoshangabad with the Congress. After the Emergency and set up some schools and hostels for Harijan represents an average or above-average sit- the emergence of the Janata Party, by 1980, children in the region. The Quakers worked uation. For instance, the estimated percent- this ground was being utilised by the BJP in this region through relief centres, adult age of children between the ages of 7 and 14 to get a toehold in the region. Overall, the education, agriculture, dairying and health who do not attend school ranges between Congress and the BJP occupy the main programmes. They were deeply influenced 20 and 30% in Hoshangabad district. But in electoral positions, though in recent times by Gandhi and often discussed with and Sidhi, Dhar, Sheopur, Jhabua, etc, it is as the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Gondwana consulted him. Friends’ Rural Centre, more than 50% while in Balaghat, Seoni, Ganatantra Party are also making their Rasulia in Hoshangabad was a centre for Narasinghpur, Shajapur, Mandsaur, it is less mark by taking up dalit and adivasi issues, rural uplift where both the English and the than 20%.17 The spread of primary schools respectively, in some pockets of the re- Indians worked together. in the state is above the national a­verage gion. The Samajwadi Jan Parishad (SJP) and there seems to have been a thrust from has had some impact in Kesla among the Post-Green Revolution the state administration on this front since adivasi communities. There are no signi­ The green revolution increased agricultural the 1990s. Aided schools are less here in ficant histories of teachers’ unions here. production in the region and put more comparison to many other states of India. Some weak attempts were made by the money into the hands of farmers. A­fter the The spread of upper primary and high Congress and the BJP. Hoshangabad town, 1970s, wealthy farmers started sending schools is quite weak with a sizeable pro- the district headquarters, is functionally their children from the villages to schools portion of private schools (Table 1). MP is an administrative one and has no history and colleges in nearby towns and cities. also reported to be the worst performer at of factory production.9 It can be described Several students of joint families stay in the upper primary level.18 as a medium-level region as far as people’s rented houses in Hoshangabad town with an Table 1: Number of Schools in Different Sectors in MP struggles and politics are concerned – adult member accompanying them to take (2007-08) Government Private neither very passive nor very vibrant. care of food and other requirements. The Primary only 81,603 8,489 Historically, sociopolitical movements 1980s saw the opening of government sup- Primary + upper primary (UP) 31 10,066 for equality like the working class and ported non-formal education centres Primary + UP + sec/higher sec 32 1,846 dalit movements have visualised the need called “Pankath Yojana” in the region. The UP only 24,709 1,657 for educating the people who are deprived same decade also saw the emergence of a UP+Sec/higher sec 33 534 of it by social structures and practices.10 science teaching programme initially called Source: NEUPA (2009: 40). Madhya Pradesh has not witnessed these Rasulia science programme and which later Hence the continuity from primary to type of struggles for education. Prior to came to be known as the Hoshangabad upper primary and high schools is not f­luid 1854, the schooling scenario largely oper- Science Teaching Programme (HSTP). The enough for all strata of society to make use ated through village school masters and combined efforts of Kishore Bharati (a vol- of the provision of free and compulsory through makatabs and madrasas. In 1854, untary organisation in Bankhedi, a village elementary education. In this situation, one the setting up of the Sagar Educational in the district) and the Friends’ Rural Centre can imagine how the poor, marginalised Circle of North-West Province (in which (Rasulia in Hoshangabad town) resulted and girls would fare in pursuing schooling

Economic & Political Weekly EPW april 23, 2011 vol xlvi no 17 27 COMMENTARY beyond primary levels “Child Rights Ob- therefore seen to be distinctly separate and the society is a very useful understanding servatory” reports (2009: 84) on the im- the schooling process is not able to explore that can change the processes of school- pact of this on tribal children.19 the essential relationships between the ing. It is to be noted that in contradistinc- children’s thoughts and of the science tion to such understandings, our schools Study of Geography perspectives. This is definitely a serious are not structured to house such relation- Some years ago, a study examined the problem for modern schooling, but why was ships. Even a cursory review of school problems of teaching the subject of geo­ this happening? The problem was dis- textbooks brings to light that they are graphy. This was done especially in the cussed with teachers and they talked about organised around the transmission of context of difficulties noted both by teach- their interpretations of the problem. There products of knowledge. And this gives no ers and by Eklavya that physical geogra- were three distinct trends that emerged. scope for building relationships between phy taught in schools was too abstract for the learners and the teachers. Dialogue on students to comprehend. The main find- Case 1 and engagement with knowledge is not in ings of the study, especially the implica- Some teachers felt that children do not any way systemically built in. tions of the primary data were pub- anyway understand anything, hence it does That is why students’ observed facts lished.20 This article utilises qualitative not matter how and what they are taught. of life stand in contradiction to the notes of classroom observations and dis- So they place the onus of the problem on perceptions of science. For instance, while cussions with teachers to examine the the “deficiencies” of childhood. we observe that the earth appears flat and questions of the assumed centrality of This perspective on children is not one stationary, science tells us that it is spheri- teachers in our school system. created by the teachers, but a shared per- cal and moves around the sun and also The study on school geography had spective of society on children – that they spins like a top. The contradictions are too focused on the topic “Movements of the do not know anything, they are not capable stark for students to simply accept the Earth” which is usually taught in the fifth of knowing and that all decisions regard- science model; they instead tend to believe or sixth standard. Classroom observations ing them need to be taken by adults. what appears to them as true. Historically, in Hoshangabad town brought forth a Though it is true that children do not have philosophically and methodologically, we range of situations that reflect the general the experience that adults have, it needs know that science grew from these con- status of schooling in the country, the im- to be acknowledged that they are in a crete observations and inferences, etc. But plications of abstractions taught in young- process of knowing, learning and experi- in the process of teaching/schooling, we er grades and in yet other cases brought to encing. And in this process, adult guid- assume that the final products of science light specific sociocultural beliefs that ance is crucial, which means helping chil- are accepted by students, even as evidences challenge the school curriculum. dren to know and to learn. This crucial and claims appear contradictory. That is Teachers are seen to make their own component has been much written about why the highly abstract formulations of interpretations on these situations which by Vygotsky, who for instance notes: the text build no connections with the ex- enable them either to be indifferent to or periences of the children21 and they inevi- the lack of recognition among educators…of to find short cuts to help students pass the the many ways in which an experienced tably fail to grasp the implications of proc- examinations. The interpretations and learner can share his knowledge with a less esses like “movements of the earth”. The stands taken by teachers are important advanced learner, limits the intellectual de- crucial role of dialogue that is inherent in sources of information that reveal the velopment of many students; their capabili- Vygotsky’s writings could help students to v­arious relationships of the school with the ties are viewed as biologically determined examine their own observations and to rather than socially facilita­ted (1978: 126). society and show that the enactments modify and fine-tune them through adult in the classrooms are manifestations of The dialectical relationship that Vygotsky inferences which have grown historically. social thought and structures. And it also elaborates between the individual and Such processes would diminish the pre­sent shows that various analyses of the school and the teacher remain inappropriate and Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), incomplete without considering such es- Nizamia Observatory Campus, Begumpet, Hyderabad, sential relationships. Andhra Pradesh – 500 016 Students were not seen to relate to the www.cess.ac.in; [email protected] topic under study in the ways in which the text explained it and they were dismissive of Applications are invited from research scholars in social sciences from universities/ institutions preferably located in south India for research methodology course the scientific explanations given in the text- to be held during 16-28 May, 2011. Candidates pursuing Ph.D or lecturers books. In the better performing schools, without Ph.D may apply to Course Coordinator by 30th April, 2011 preferably while they use scientific formulations for by E-mail. The application should be accompanied by a one page note on the the examinations, deeper interpretations topic and methodology of the research being pursued by the scholar. are made only on the basis of their own observations and common sense. The Details are available at the Institutes website www.cess.ac.in. “concrete” (children’s observations) and Sd/- the “abstract” (science in textbooks) were Director

28 april 23, 2011 vol xlvi no 17 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY state of polarity represented by children’s rethinking and challenging, if required, around and ask the students to keep quiet. observations and thoughts on one end and the received notions of children as not But nothing much changed and the class science on the other. capable in many ways? (3) How far can we went on this way till the bell rang and put Teachers observe that the abstract visualise individual teachers, who are also an end to the distinctly unconnected acti­ e­xplanations of science do not reach the part and parcel of existing social practices vities of the children and the teacher. children; and in many cases the teachers and perspectives, to act for change, when After class, I discussed this state of themselves, being products of the same the school system itself is not geared for it? ­affairs with the teacher. She remarked that education system, do not engage with these the “good” students have left for private concepts. They interpret and act on this Case 2 schools, leaving behind only the wards of situation in two different ways according Some teachers believe that the “deficient”’ the poor in the government schools for to individual understandings and leanings. social background of students makes it boys. She found it difficult to convey the For some, it only reinforces the prevalent impossible for any teaching to be effective. text to them while this was not the case idea that “children do not anyway under- Here the reference was to students from with the middle class children. These chil- stand anything”. Others who are apparently economically poor families; the onus dren were mostly first-generation learners more committed to their role as teachers to was placed on the socio-economic-cultural and so did not have a tradition of school- help children pass examinations, use met- background of the students. ing, rote learning and parental support as aphors and models to help them memorise This situation was seen in government middle class children did. Neither the top- the key points of the movements of the schools that are (inevitably boys’ schools) ics taught nor the textbooks interested earth. Examples of key points are: “rotation attended only by economically poor stu- them and many of them could not read of the earth causes day-night” and “earth’s dents. M­iddle class boys go to private and write. The teacher conveyed a sense revolution causes seasons”, etc. Some ex- schools (middle class girls whose educa- of helplessness in meeting the demands amples are discussed here. tion is perceived to be less important are that the system placed on her – that is, to A teacher gathered the students be- still sent to the government schools).22 It is teach these chapters to students. neath a tree – they were instructed to link interesting to note that the problem stated Here we come across a distinct prob- their hands and move in a circle. The here is more of a “government boys’ school” lematisation of lack of “cultural capital”, shadow of the tree fell on some of them syndrome. Many of the best schools of the term used by Bourdieu. He had identi- while others were in the sunlight. This sit- Hoshangabad are the government girls’ fied three forms: capital-economic, s­ocial uation was created to explain the process schools or co-ed schools. Let me describe and cultural. Whereas the first one deals of day and night. The moving circle of the situation concretely through a class- with money and the second one with net- students became a metaphor for the rotat- room observation: work of social relations, the third one is ing (spherical) earth. It was explained that The teacher was taking a lesson on lati- the product of education which is “...con- the part of the circle on the tree’s shadow tudes and longitudes. For almost the en- nected to individuals in their general edu- represented night and the other part, tire period of the class she faced the black- cated character – accent, dispositions, which was in sunlight, represented day. board and away from the students. This learning, etc; connected to objects – In another class an effort was made by was a Standard VI classroom. The teacher books, qualifications, machines, diction- the teacher to make a child spin around was explaining through definitions and aries, etc; and connected to institutions – and move ahead simultaneously. This was diagrams what latitude-longitude meant. places of learning, universities, libraries, meant to signify the simultaneous move- She was drawing circles and the latitude etc” (Grenfell and James 1998: 21). ments of the earth on its axis and on its and longitude lines on them. She ex- In the present case, we find that lack of orbit. The above metaphors do not take plained the 360 degrees of longitudes cultural capital does not favour a particular into account any of the factors that actu- marked out through 180 western running set of students in the class. Middle class ally play a key role in causing us to experi- lines and 180 eastern ones. Similarly she students who are backed by certain cul- ence day and night like the earth’s spheric- also explained 90 degrees of north latitudes tural capital synchronise relatively better ity, gravity and tilted axis. Instead, it took and 90 degrees of south latitudes. Yes, she with the “education” that is designed in the shape of play that could enable stu- sincerely poured out all the assigned knowl- school textbooks and acted upon by teach- dents to remember the formula of the text. edge of the particular chapter. ers. But in the case of economically poor In analysing this case, many questions But between the teacher at the black- students, such synchronisation is lacking come to mind (1) given the abstract nature board and where I was sitting at the ex- so much so that the school system does not of texts which pose a problem to the learn- treme end of the room, another world was seem to accommodate them. Cultural capi- ing process of children, how can teachers be alive. The children were talking and jok- tal informs relationships between school- expected to tide over it? Do they have the ing with each other, shouting aloud or ing and family/social structure and this is autonomy to change the situation? (2) Does sometimes hitting each other. They paid also seen to shape the teacher’s role in ne- the school system including designs of no attention to the several degrees of lati- gotiating or not negotiating with students textbooks, examinations, teacher-training, tude-longitude lines that the teacher was, with different cultural capital. etc, address such problems and the nature in isolation, engaging with at the black- The school system does not address the of learning processes? Does it encourage board. Once or twice the teacher did turn situations of differing cultural capital. No

Economic & Political Weekly EPW april 23, 2011 vol xlvi no 17 29 COMMENTARY such thrusts are reflected either in the meanings. That was what she could do for see that a similar sort of duality operates nature of textbooks or in the nature of students who needed to fare well in the between the world view of teachers as the teachers’ training. This reveals how examinations. But why was she taking part of society and the world view of sci- the question of accessibility to education such a stand? She revealed that she did ence through schools in which they are c­annot be limited to infrastructure, it also not believe that the earth really moved employed. And schooling only enables includes accessibility to knowledge. But as around the sun. It was the sun that moved teachers and students to function instru- the common practices of schooling do not around the earth. She asked me whether mentally. So science as a way of thinking accommodate people without cultural any religious texts mentioned such move- or as a historical-social process has not capital, their “deficiency” is seen as the ments of the earth as the textbooks des­ made much progress. And the teacher her- reason for not achieving schooling. This cribe. I replied in the negative. She de- self plays a dual role in the relationship turns the problem on its head because the scribed herself as a religious person and b­etween school and society. individual is blamed for her social depri- found it difficult to tell children such vation. But the role of modern schooling things as she herself did not believe in. But Conclusions should be to enable people who have been she had to attend to the students and so The social stratifications that stem from historically deprived of cultural capital. she chose a path where she could do jus- modern and premodern production pro­ It would be expected to shape a space tice to them as a teacher. This seems to the cesses has historically-socially created that is not simply physical, but social – be the case of a teacher who is – sections of marginalised societies with that could be enabling, supportive and As a member of the local community, shar- gaps in literacy and schooling. But the dialectical. And if such spaces are built, ing its culture and valid forms of knowledge, school instead of acting to address these teachers as part of such a system would the teacher could well afford to scoff at the marginalisations only acknowledges those need to act differently through a different knowledge he was himself imparting in the who are backed by cultural capital; thus it nature of textbook, perspective and prac- school. It was not his job to make this knowl- reinforces and reproduces existing social edge meaningful. His personality was thus tices of d­ialogue in the classrooms. But in split into two halves – one representing the inequalities. And even with the middle the g­iven socio-historic situations, the salaried employee of the education system, class children, it is mostly rote and instru- t­eacher herself a part of the class-caste- and the other representing a literate, tradi- mental learning that takes place, leaving gendered practices of society does not act tionally revered member of the local com- very little room for scientific world views. for change. munity (Kumar 2005: 93-94). The school as a modern institution is per- The situation described above speaks ceived as carving out space for science and Case 3 more of duality than of dialectics. On the equality. But neither the nature of knowl- Some teachers said that they were them- one hand the study shows that even in the edge nor the accessibility of marginalised selves not convinced of the information in best performing schools, students scored communities to knowledge are qualita- the textbooks. How can they then success- through rote than through conceptual tively enhanced. In the absence of dialec- fully convey those to their students? engagements. This marks a deep duality tical relationship in the classroom and Let me take a specific example. The between children’s thoughts and the school’s also between the school system and the teacher (whose basic training was in San- curriculum and texts which portray scien- society (the teacher being a part of both), skrit, but was teaching geography as well) tific information. At another level, we also the potential of teachers remains grossly conducted the class by asking a student to read the chapter aloud. Students took turns to read and the teacher stopped them in CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN SOCIAL SCIENCES, CALCUTTA (CSSSC) between to explain the meanings of diffi- cult words. For example, ushmakathibandhi M.Phil, in Social Science 2011-13 – she explained as ushma means hot and kathibandhi means zone. Having explained (Affiliated to Jadavpur University, Kolkata) the Torrid Zone this way, the reading con- tinued. But the astronomical and geo- Applications are invited from eligible candidates for admissions to graphical concepts of the chapter were M.Phil. in Social Sciences Programme 2011-13. For eligibility criterion hardly examined or talked about. She was perhaps one of the best teach- and other details, please visit: www.cssscal.org. Applicants may ers of the school (a government girls’ also contact the Office of the Programme Officer (M.Phil.-Ph.D.) at school) – efficient, sincere and attentive to CSSSC at R-1, Baishnabghata Patuli Township, Kolkata-7000094. students. I had assumed that her lack of training in geography could be the reason Application Form will be available on the website and from the office why her classes were conducted like San- of the Centre. Last date of receiving application is May 23, 2011. skrit classes. During our discussion she remarked that her teaching of geography Registrar largely focused on explanation of word

30 april 23, 2011 vol xlvi no 17 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY untapped. So the teacher would only numeracy and not towards enabling children 5 In Rajasthan. r­eproduce existing norms which heavily to comprehend, contest and transform: 6 Region around Nasik of Maharashtra. 7 Pindaris were called bandits. They looted the affects the ways in which knowledge is ...the philosophical goals have been set aside g­odowns of zamindars, etc, but distributed the i­nterpreted and the ways in which social wealth to the poor. This can be seen as assertions and replaced by functional goal of meeting on resource distribution. hierarchies are accepted. the demand of the market. Under globalisa- 8 Gazetteer of Hoshangabad, 1997: 46. Thus schools do not become spaces tion/liberalisation paradigm, schools have to 9 Security Paper Mills set up in the 1960s required a large extent been replaced by literacy and that no polluting factories be set up within a radius where a change in relationships happens informal centres, trained teachers have been of 10 km. through knowledge. In such situations, replaced by para-teachers, and the s­ystem of 10 Jyotirao and Savitri Phule in Maharashtra and Ayyankali, Sree Narayana Guru in Kerala, etc, teachers would only become agents of re- at least one teacher for every class and for had focused on accessibility to education as an production of traditional social relations. every important subject has been r­eplaced by important issue in struggles for equality. We have no contexts that would enable us multigrade teaching… (Dubey 2009: 16). 11 Gazetteer of Hoshangabad district, 1979: 347. 12 Ibid. to place them in roles of crusaders of These trends are carried out by the 13 Quakers are a Christian group generally known change. For any ruptures to happen, we NGOs as well. Even Eklavya which operated as “Society of friends” who hold informal meet- ings instead of formal church services. They op- would need to work on and act on the rela- a programme like HSTP has taken a detour; pose war and violence. tions between society and school, the lat- its main field thrust is today described by 14 Like Industrial Womens’ Home, Sohagpur and the ter as a space in dialectical relationship learning centres outside the school that Railway European Girls’ School, Itarsi. 15 It was closed down by the government in 2002. with the former. Hence in a system that is cater basically to literacy and numeracy at 16 Child Rights Observatory, 2009. by its perspectives and nature, dialectical primary levels. Kumar (2009: 75) rightly 17 Ibid (data for the year 2006-07). or revolutionary, the teachers would have points out the subservience of education 18 Sanket Centre for Budget Studies, 2010: 5. 19 Whereas 25% enrolments of adivasi children are a very different role to play. Such imagi­ to the needs of capital. seen at primary school, it declines to 17% for native applications were seen in Paulo Let me conclude with an insightful ob- u­pper primary. 20 See Sunny (2008). 23 Freire’s literacy campaigns in the third servation by Ollman: 21 For details, see Sunny (2008). world countries. “Because he adapted his Just how difficult it is to grasp the bigger pic- 22 The trend of sending boys rather than girls to pri- vate schools is also reported by Child Rights educational methods to the specific his- ture was recently brought home to us when a O­bservatory (2009: 83) for Madhya Pradesh. torical and cultural setting in which his group of astronomers announced that they 23 Bertell Ollman (1998) had written this passage in had discovered what they called “The Great students lived, they were able to combine the context of capitalism where he compares it to Attractor”. This is a huge structure composed a huge structure similar to the Great attractor. their spontaneous concepts (those based of many galaxies that is exerting a strong at- on social practice) with those introduced traction on our galaxy and therefore on our References by teachers in instructional settings” (Cole solar system and on the planet on which we Child Rights Observatory, Madhya Pradesh (2009): live. When questioned as to why something et al 1978: 131). Madhya Pradesh: Status of Children. so big was not discovered earlier, one of the Cole, M, V Jon-Steiner, S Scribner and E Souberman, The situations in the region also point astronomers replied that its very size was re- ed. (1978): Vygotsky, LS: Mind in Society, the out that the different aspects of accessibil- sponsible for the delay. These scientists had Development of Higher Psychological Processes (Cambridge, Massachusetts, London: Harvard ity need to be recognised politically. The focused so intently on its parts that they couldn’t University Press). situations of adivasis in Hoshangabad see what they were parts of (1998: 339). Dubey, M (2009): “Education System in India” in Debating Education, IV: Against Neoliberal Thrust (and MP) are such that they are on a con- He further elaborates how we often try (New Delhi: Sahmat), pp 13-20. tinuous path of struggle as deeper inroads to make sense of what is going on by view- Freire, P (1972): Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Penguin Books. are being made on forest resources ing one part of society at a time and the Government of Madhya Pradesh (1979): “Madhya through liberalisation-globalisation. The connections among them like their history Pradesh District Gazetteers”, Hoshangabad District question of their education and challenges and potential for further development are (A M Sinha). – (1997): “Central Provinces District Gazetteers”, also need to be understood in these con- often not considered essential for a full or Hoshangabad D­istrict, Vol 1, G L Corbett, R V Russell texts where their struggles are on basic is- even adequate understanding. Such em- (1908), Bhopal. Grenfell, M and D James (1998): Bourdieu and Educa- sues of livelihood. And ever since liberali- phasis on relationships with the “whole” tion: Acts of Practical Theory (London/Bristol: sation began (1990s onwards), Madhya aptly applies to any analysis of teachers Falmer Press). Kingdon, G and V Sipahimalani-Rao (2010): “Para- Pradesh’s administrative thrusts of open- in schools. teachers in India: Status and Impact”, Economic & ing schools are heavily limited to the pri- Political Weekly, 10 March, Vol XLV, No 12, 59-67. Notes Kumar, K (2005): Political Agenda of Education: A mary sections. The HSTP which built rela- Study of Colonialist and Nationalist Ideas (New 1 Pedagogy of the Oppressed. tionships within classrooms was closed Delhi: Sage Publications). 2 Kingdon and Sipahimalani-Rao (2010) reviewed Kumar, R (2009): “Neo-liberal Consensus and the down by the government. In a critical re- studies on para-teachers. They point out that Agenda for Schooling” in Debating Education, IV: many studies “claim that para-teachers are about view of HSTP, it can be said that it did not Against Neoliberal Thrust (New Delhi: Sahmat), twice or thrice as cost-effective as regular teach- pp 74-78. build similar rigour in the relationship ers given their effectiveness in imparting learn- ing, at a cost to the taxpayer of only one-third to NEUPA (2009): Elementary Education in India: Where b­etween school and the society. The im- one-half of the regular teachers” (p 66). This places Do We Stand? New Delhi. pact of liberalisation-globalisation is tak- teachers in a peculiar perspective – as a group of Ollman, B (1998): “Why Dialectics? Why Now?” workers who needs to be in sacrificial light. Science and Society, Vol 62, No 3, Fall 1998, 338-57. ing matters towards a different direction. 3 I thank Yogesh Diwan for discussions on the so- Sanket Centre for Budget Studies (2010): Budget for We can clearly find reflections of the neo- cial history of the region, which has helped the Children in MP, Bhopal. liberal phase of education that shifts the writing of this section. Sunny, Y (2008): “Experience and Science in Geo­ 4 Region including Jhansi Mahoba, Lalitpur, etc, in graphy Education”, Economic & Political Weekly, f­ocus of education towards literacy and UP and Khajuraho, Sagar, Chhatarpur in MP. 14 June, 46-49.

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