A systems approach to student-teacher relationships in the public schools of Jharkhand, India

• In Event: Education systems strengthening: Lessons learned from programming in Colombia, Haiti, India, and Indonesia

Proposal

In the last three decades, India has made tremendous efforts to expand its public education system across diverse geographies and social hierarchies. Noticeable progress has been made in terms of accessibility, with 96 percent of children having a primary school located within one kilometre of their homes.

While children from socially marginalised backgrounds now form the majority in public school classrooms in rural and urban areas, yet, curriculum and pedagogical methods lack diversity, despite policy efforts. In Indian schools, unequal social relationships are mirrored by hierarchical student-teacher dynamics. The emphasis on discipline silences student voices, while their experiences outside the classroom remain disconnected from the learning process.

For education to be a transformative journey, it is imperative that attention be given to inclusion of students’ lived experiences, strengthening their ability to critically examine the inequalities which surround them and build their confidence to raise their voices to protest against the status-quo existing within classrooms and communities.

The author’s program is focused on whole child development (WCD) in an attempt to change student-teacher relationships in the public schools of Jharkhand. This is being done through working with teachers on integration of social-emotional learning in classrooms. By creating support for teachers to adopt reflective teaching-learning practices, small shifts are being observed in teachers’ efforts towards facilitating more participatory learning environments in their classrooms. They feel equipped to ask questions bringing in student perspectives. The shift in student-teacher relationships is visible through the diminishing fearful environment in classrooms, students feeling safe to the program experiences of discrimination and in their expression for seeing change in more teachers around them.

This is an important first step in preparing the ground for students to protest against the hierarchies prevalent in an unequal education system, existing within the larger inequities of Indian society.

The program is currently being implemented in more than 100 schools across Jharkhand, and most of these schools are located in underdeveloped areas. An important site for the program implementation is Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV), residential schools set up by the Indian Government for girls belonging predominantly to minority communities in their vicinity. In Jharkhand, only 28.5% girls continue higher education, and 32% are married off before turning 18.

In the given context, the program works with the teachers and students of KGBV schools to express their unique identities, beliefs, and perspectives within the current socio-cultural landscape. This in return makes self-expression a tool for activism. This approach starts with acknowledging the impact of individual voices in social activism, challenging existing norms and status quo. The project works with teachers and education officials to create inclusive spaces where students can express themselves and have their opinions included in classroom practices.

This presentation will highlight, through case studies, the importance of a Whole Child Development approach in public schools, to shift its current narrow focus from only learning outcomes to strengthening student capabilities to raise their voices against the inequities in their classrooms and communities.

Author

• MONAL JAYARAM PODUVAL, PIRAMAL FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION LEADERSHIP