Education: An Option for Social Change
by
Persis Ginwalla and Jimmy Dabhi
This article has been published in
VIKALP, Vol.XI/No:4 - 2003:77-89, Mumbai: Vikas Adhyayan
Kendra
Societal change may
take place by accident but not social change and transformation. It needs human
will and ability to bring about change and transformation. The important point
to understand is that social transformation is not accidental; rather it is
purposeful, an act of will which is consciously undertaken.
The 21st century, the much-hyped “new
millennium” will not cure the ills that plague our societies. Things do not
happen by themselves. They are made to happen. Change and transformation, for
that matter stagnation and underdevelopment as well are outcomes of our
decisions and actions, in democracy like ours they are also outcome of our
political decision and actions. It would
not be an understatement to say that these decisions and actions will be
largely influenced by the kind of education ‘tailored’, delivered or
denied lack of it or tailored and made
available to us, especially to Indian masses. We agree with the stand that
education is important for progress in society but we are going further to
state that it is equally important to pay attention to the kind of education
that is being given today, how it is given and to whom it is made available and
who are denied. Our contention is that the educational system as of today (in
the context of India
The paper talks about education as one of the means of
change and the role it can play in transforming society, in a particular way
addressing social discriminations based on gender, caste, class, religion,
geography, language, race, and very recently, history. For the purposes of this
paper we restrict our focus on the two discriminations viz. caste and gender.
The paper begins with a brief note on discrimination and its various aspects
(section I). The subsequent section, section II, deals with the present
scenario. Section III finally examines the concept of education as it exists
and what it could be and the factors which influence education and learning.
I
Violence is not always physical and bloody. Certain kinds
of violence are more subtle, more cruel, aimed at debilitating or killing the
spirit – the self-image, self respect, the identity of a person, community or
group. The discriminations mentioned above are such a kind of violence. They no
doubt result in physical violence but often it is resorted to when the subtle
(non-physical) violence fails. These discriminations are human-made and not
God-given as we are “given” to believe. Its ultimate aim is power or control over
others. Socialisation (family and the educational institutions) is a powerful
medium of communicating these beliefs and perpetuating the existing
inequalities/injustices.
Discrimination impacts the cognitive, emotive and
behavioural aspects of a person. The cognitive factor refers to the frame of
mind of a person, a society, what that person/society thinks, assumes, believes
and expects of oneself, others and the world at large. For example, the belief
that women are inferior or the assumption that the presence of some people is
“polluting”.
Emotive aspect is to do with the emotions or feelings of
a person and are, by and large, influenced by their cognitive disposition. In
other words the emotions and feelings are brought on by our thinking, our beliefs
and assumptions about reality and about ourselves. For example, the belief that
women are inferior arouses emotions of contempt for the woman. The assumption
that the presence of some people is “polluting” arouses feelings of disgust or
repulsion in the presence of people so considered. For the woman who also holds
a similar belief about women’s inferiority or the person who has accepted the
“pollution” associated with oneself it may arouse feelings of contempt towards
their own selves. Through passage of
time the belief becomes so much a part of the being (internalised) that it
evokes the emotions “naturally”.
The emotions, in turn, influence the behaviour. The
emotion of contempt for women may be expressed in jokes about the female body
or the emotion of disgust towards an “untouchable” may be manifested through
prohibitions on their drawing water from the well of the “touchables”, or
separate water pots for the Dalits in the rural school. For the woman it may be
manifested in jealousies or bickering about other women and for the
“untouchable” in physical pulling away when in the proximity of “touchable”
people.
Any discrimination is based on the assumed superiority
(along with privileges) of the one against the inferiority of the other. On
this is built the edifice of inequality, injustice, oppression. This is of
course rationalised on the basis of a natural given (sex, birth, colour, race
etc.) and further authenticated, approved, affirmed and asserted through
religion and institutional assent.
As is clear from the
foregoing, discriminations and their practice have the power of shaping not
only those who are discriminated against but also those who discriminate
against. The need to rise beyond such thinking and practice is not only for
those who are discriminated against, as is commonly held, but equally so for
those who discriminate against. Let us now briefly examine two discriminations
that exist in Indian society.
Caste discrimination based on the Varna Varna
Similarly the discrimination suffered by women, what we call gender
discrimination, is based on the assumed superiority of the man over the assumed
inferiority of the woman. The discrimination here too is on the basis of a
natural given, ones sex, and the relationships are ordered on the basis of this
dictum.
II
It is pointless to dwell on the need to change these
discriminatory sets of relationships; it has been asserted ad nauseum onwards of 1947. The
present educational system, in view of the above, does not respond to the above
discriminations. To that extent it appears to us as subtly reservationist (the
reservation which society does not wish to acknowledge) and secondly, as
largely irrelevant – examination oriented and ill equipped to understand and
cope with the world around (Heredia, 1996).
It is reservationist, a “dual system
operating in a society with a strong class bias” (Xavier, 1996: 1). Those with
the means are able to acquire an education of a higher quality in private
institutions; those without them are forced to opt for an education of the
lowest quality, if at all, mostly in government schools. The concept of
‘excellence’ then, understood as securing high percentages in the Board /
University examinations, works to the advantage of the former. They are then
the ones to make use of further educational opportunities. The job market would
also favour these students only. They are also the ones who occupy the top
posts in government and bureaucracy with the power to shape policies. The
system is exclusive because admission to the privileged circle is “reserved” by
default, of ones birth or financial status.
The educational system operational today is also
irrelevant to the context and has failed to answer the needs of the country.
The U.G.C. document - Challenges of Education (1985:1-2) reads, “If the present
system is allowed to continue, the chasms of economic disabilities, regional
imbalances and social injustice will widen further, resulting in the building
up of disintegrative tensions”. Let us
look at the growth of the educational sector in terms of student enrolment, numbers
of institutions and universities in the following table (Sisodia, 1999:45).
Growth of higher education system in India
|
No.
|
Higher Education System
|
Year
|
Growth (fold increase) %
|
|
|
1947
|
1997
|
|||
|
1.
|
Conventional
Universities
|
20
|
179
|
8.9
|
|
2.
|
Colleges (total)
§ Colleges of General (liberal) education
§ Professional Colleges
|
591
459
132
|
8529
6759
1770
|
14.4
15
13.4
|
|
3.
|
Enrolment (total)
§ Colleges of General (liberal) education
§ Professional Colleges
|
228881
183238
45643
|
5898407
5332782
565625
|
25.76
29.1
12.4
|
|
4.
|
Teacher (total)
|
24000
|
320000
|
13
|
|
5.
|
Teacher – Pupil
ratio
|
1: 8
|
|
--
|
|
Source: Sisodia, M.
L. (1999) ‘Meeting HRD Challenges in Higher Education’, in Pareek U. and
Sisodia V. (1999) HRD in the New Millennium,
|
||||
The above table indicates the phenomenal increase in the
educational opportunities available in India
|
Caste Background of Members of Managing Committee, Teachers,
Administration Staff and Students in Educational Institution
|
||||||
|
Sr. No.
|
Caste
Background
|
No. of elected members of Managing Committees
|
No. of Teachers
|
No. of Administration Staff
|
No. of Students
|
Total
|
|
1
|
Upper Caste (Only Thakurs)
|
124,
98.40 %
|
300,
86.58 %
|
53,
43.08 %
|
1468,
48.42 %
|
1845,
52.53 %
|
|
2
|
Middle Castes
|
1,
0.8 %
|
29, 12.55 %
|
63, 51.22 %
|
884, 29.15 %
|
977, 27.82 %
|
|
3
|
Lower Castes
|
1,
8.8 %
|
2,
0.87 %
|
7,
5.69 %
|
680, 22.43 %
|
690, 19.65 %
|
|
Total
|
|
126, 100 %
|
331, 100 %
|
123, 100 %
|
3032, 100 %
|
3512, 100 %
|
|
Source: from an unpublished document of ‘Caste, Land and Power’. The
document is based on the date collected from nine educational institutions
managed and financed by the Government in Dobhi Region of Sultanpur Dist.,
U.P. in 1978-79, cited in Haq, 1991:246
|
||||||
Therefore, while India
The educational process that a child
passes through is devoid of an active values inculcation and integration
component in the regular curriculum. This, coupled with the plethora of wrong
patterns of behaviour, life styles and role models (also see Desrochers, 1987)
which are available to the young mind today, makes them aspire or simply follow
(in the absence of any other) to those life styles and patterns of behaviour.
The cycle goes on reproducing itself in society. S/he looks at the utility of a
bit of information / knowledge from the perspective of Board / University
performance only.
The output of this kind of an
educational process is a product which is utilitarian and status quoist.
Utilitarian, because s/he would only value the degree in terms of a job and the
salary-perks- position package which it brings. The creativity which s/he can
bring to the job and the contribution to the organisation and society at large
are of secondary importance. This kind of education produces disparities, and
tragically for the country, we must admit, the system thrives on these
disparities. The citizens that such a system produces are numbed to the
gruelling realities of the times and in that sense, status quoist, because it
would never occur to such a product that the reality needs questioning.
We would like to briefly present our
observations, which are based on the examination of a few sample textbooks[ii]
(of Standards I and III) used in some of the schools of Ahmedabad. The content
of the textbooks clearly reveal the biases of the writers themselves and thus
society itself. e.g. the exercise asking for an introduction of the student
asks about the name of the father. The mother has been obliterated from the
exercise, and the process of marginalisation of women has been subtly
introduced. In fact the textbooks,
without exception, are full of gender role stereotypes. One can imagine the
child being bombarded with these “facts” (“This is our kitchen, mother cooks
here”, “My Daddy is big and strong… he sees to our needs. Mummy…looks after us…
She does all the work at home”, “some mothers go out to work… they earn money
to help the family”) and images (the teacher and nurse are always women, woman
along with the girl child fetching water, man sitting on the cot while the
woman is sitting on the ground, the outdoor games are all played by boys, girls
only listen to the radio or watch T.V., all professions and positions of power
and influence are held by men,). The western / elite / upper class biases of
the textbook are revealed thus: porridge, bread and strawberry jam for
breakfast, the Collector in a tie and shoes… What impact these would create on
the young mind is anybody’s guess.
The teacher/s, who are the products of
the same society, reinforce and perpetuate the stereotypes and thus strengthen
the discriminations. The teachers of the village school maintaining separate
pots of water (for the teachers and students) for the avarnas (outcaste) and
the savarnas (caste). The attitude of questioning such practices is absent in
the teachers themselves. How will it be transmitted to the students?
The methodology followed in the
classrooms is that of ‘dishing out’ on the part of the teachers and passive
reception of what is ‘dished out’ on the part of the students. A stray question
from a student invites reprimand from the teacher, one, to hide the inability
of the teacher to answer the question and secondly, the lack of honesty to
accept ones limitation. The assessment of the students is heavily based on
reproduction of the facts, repetition. Creativity and originality are not the
criteria for assessment, at best.
It is clear from the foregoing discussion that the
present state of education in the country is in need of serious rethinking and
rejuvenation. This process of rethinking needs to take account of the various
sections of the society, their varying demands and aspirations, especially the
ones who have been historically marginalised and who form the bulk of the
uneducated masses in the country (residing mainly in the villages and urban
slums).
III
There are various means (Maadhyam) through which we act,
we create, we transform but destroy as well. Education is one of the means
which can be used for this purpose – of transformation, of dynamism and of
healthy challenge. Education is a
process through which we act upon the young mind with the hope of shaping it in
order to promote and create a humane, just society.
The word education is derived from the Latin ‘educare’
which means ‘to elicit, to bring out’. Therefore, an educator (a teacher), by
implication, is one who elicits or brings out. There is a crucial assumption
implicit in the meaning of the term, which is that each individual has
potential which is latent and which has to be brought out. This, then,
is the task of an educator. An educator is a catalyst who brings out the full
potential of the individual, one who facilitates the process of “potentiation”,
one who helps the student do and achieve all that she is capable of doing or achieving.
Education therefore has to be a process in which, through interaction, human
beings are potentiated to their fullest capacities.
As illustrated in Section I social discrimination affects
not only the discriminated persons / communities but also the groups / persons
who practice the discrimination. Since it makes use of and affects all the
three faculties cited above (cognitive, emotive and behavioural), social change
and transformation, if it has to be lasting, effective and pervasive, must also
take into account these three faculties.
Education today world-wide is run like a “banking system”
(Freire, 1972) – you put in what you have and withdraw, with interest, after
sometime. The assumption is that the mind is an empty vessel and it is the
educator’s task to fill it – with, data, facts, figures… and that this will
equip the individual with the skills to earn a livelihood. But what this kind
of an ‘education’ gives is information, which is very different from knowledge.
The emphasis in this kind of education is on the delivery of the content (by
hook or by crook), and cramming the facts. The process of arriving at an
awareness of a subject, which is the way to knowledge, is overlooked, bypassed
or simply ignored. Further, it thrives on the rigid maintenance of the
boundaries of the teacher and the taught – one knows and the other does not.
Such an attitude impedes growth for the teacher and brings in stagnation and
mediocrity (also see Dabhi, 1999).
Paulo Freire, an educationist from Latin
America , proposed another understanding and practice of education
in his revolutionary book called The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. He held that
education had to be “problem-solving”. It has chiefly three implications:
§ That it is an interactive, interdependent, two-way
process, wherein both the teacher and the learner are involved in the process
of learning and acquiring knowledge. There is an important assumption made here
which is that the teacher is not the final authority or repository of
knowledge; the student plays an equally important role not only in her own
learning but also that of the teacher. It is therefore envisaged as a dialogue
between the teacher and the taught. His educational pedagogy questioned the
‘teacher-taught’ dichotomy in education – i know, you don’t know.
§ That it is a dynamic process, not static. Learning and
education are seen as lifelong activities which do not stop with the
acquisition of a degree. Change and transformation, renewal and upgradation are
an integral part of education.
§ It is praxis-oriented therefore involving constant and
conscious action – reflection – action.
Ivan Illich, in his influential work Deschooling Society,
suggests that education should be a liberating experience in which the
individual explores, creates, uses her initiative and judgement and freely
develops her faculties and talents to the full.
Therefore we may rightly conclude that true education has
the following ingredients:
Ø Dialogue between the teacher and the taught.
Ø Praxis
Ø Transformation of both the teacher and the taught,
Ø Dynamic (as opposed to static or one time),
Ø It is a perspective (a spirit of learning) not an end in
itself.
Along with education let us briefly introduce the word
learning that is so often talked about. Learning is part of education; it is “a
process of acquiring knowledge through experience which leads to a change in
behaviour”. Here ‘learning’ is a process, ‘knowledge’ is the outcome or the
result, and ‘change in behaviour’ is an indicator of learning. The entire
experience of learning involves the human faculties of cognitive (mind),
emotive (heart) and behavioural or motor (behaviours and skills).
We would like to highlight three factors which need to be
paid attention to in this process of learning, which education is expected to provide
and educators are expected to facilitate. These three factors are the educator,
the content and the desired output.
§ The educator
should have adequate knowledge of the subject and is expected to exhibit
quality. The educator is expected to have competence blended with right
attitudes and values which are people oriented, which exhibit respect, dignity
and equality for human beings, their cultures. If the educator is not an
integrated person with right qualities of knowledge, competencies and human values
the process of education and learning are hampered, the outcome is suspect, the
student is not entirely to be blamed for lack of adequate education and
learning. In other words we are talking here of providing effective
“role-models” to the students.
§ The content
reflects the processes that go into education. Content has to do with the
methodology used in education. Various means such as teaching,
action-reflection, type of in-house/outdoor curriculum, research, expeditions
and exposure are part of this content. The means the educator uses are
important. It reflects the creativity and spirit of experimentation of the
individual and of the institution. However, the means on their own, without the
spirit of the educator and the learner may not bear much fruit; but often the
means are motivating, the dynamics in-built in them are stimulating and
facilitate the environment for learning.
§ The desired
output may be thought of in terms of the person who passes through this
process and the climate the process creates in an educational institution. The
climate, the environment becomes both the content and the outcome. The human
‘outcome’ in terms of students, who have passed through this process may be
expected to be persons with a healthy self-image, i.e. of self acceptance and
acceptance of others, one who exhibits respect for self and others. Such a
person has adequate criticality and ability to analyse the environment, one who
does not take the observed at face value but who is interested in exploring the
‘how’ and the ‘why’ of what is observed.
The person who has been subjected to such a process
through the kind of education described above may be expected to be an ‘actor’
and not just a ‘reactor’ in a situation and to stimuli. Such a person faces
situations, problems and makes adequate attempts to solve problems whether in
oneself, in the family or society at large. Therefore education and knowledge
which does not help to face reality, but on the contrary help to deny the
existence of the problem, is suspect. Often suicides, drugs, some other vices
are not always a free choice but escape routes from reality and both the
educators and educated of our times are victims of it.
|
Educator
|
Content
|
Desired Output
|
|
Quality
Knowledge
Competencies
Attitude
Values
Integrity
|
Methodology
Processes
Research
Publication
Reflections
Training
|
Growth, joy of learning,
Respect – for self and others,
Co-operation, Acceptance,
Feeling of being wanted, important,
|
In the context of education, it is an illusion to assume
that education can be value-free or value-neutral. Education is value-loaded
and it is influenced by the values, biases, cultural context of the educator
and her/his society (also see Desrochers, 1987). Therefore it is all the more
imperative for the educators, education systems and institutions to guard
against the anti-human, anti-poor, anti-women cultures, values, attitudes.
Language, which is a medium of education, can play a facilitating or hindering
role in the process of learning. Language has the potential of generating
‘negative’ feelings such as guilt, disrespect for self and others, hatred and
biases towards women, other religions, race and cultures. Our feelings are the
products of our assumptions and thoughts about objects and reality. These
feelings facilitate or hinder learning. E.g. Calling a student ‘nālāyak’ is
likely to generate feelings of humiliation and it is likely to demotivate a
student from learning, apart from the fact that it goes against the very
meaning and calling of an educator. A feedback to a student about their
performance, if given with firmness but without using words which might be
perceived as humiliating and insulting, may be more productive and effective.
We therefore can say that:
§ Education is value-based and influenced by the agents,
culture of society and community. Feelings play an important part in educating
and learning – language / symbols used may help produce ‘positive’ or
‘negative’ feelings.
§ Textbooks which are far from the reality and insensitive
to cultural, religious, caste and gender biases may reinforce anti-human,
anti-women and anti-poor values and attitudes, Spirit of freedom and
experimentation (lack of fear) enhances creativity and learning.
The examples of some of the of South-East Asian countries
such as Japan, Korea, Singapore has shown how education has helped these
countries make a quantum leap in terms of development. The experience of Kerala
shows that bringing about cent percent literacy helps in the process of social
transformation (Parikh, 1999). The Chinese proverb “Give a man a fish and you
feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life” makes sense
here.
IV
We
have talked about education, learning and some of the factors which influence
learning. Education (formal and Nonformal) helps betterment of a community and
society at large. Education as we have defined above is not just a means of
socialisation but a door to a new and better future opening up a vast world of
opportunities and ideas (Parikh, 1999), creating a new world.
We further argue that an educational system which does
not respond to the realities around us (of mass poverty, violence,
environmental degradation, fundamentalist onslaught, religious bigotry,) is
dangerous for the health of the nation. It has the potential of further
dividing society into two opposing interest groups.
In the paper we have made an attempt to examine the
concept of education and learning. The various aspects and factors of education
are briefly examined. It is argued that real education is transformational and
builds society. It is also argued that the values and biases of the society at
large and teachers who are involved in the process of education influences the
output, the student, in one way or another, and, therefore it is suggested that
the responsibility of the educators (teachers) is greater.
Education, then, understood in a proper perspective has
the potential to facilitate community and nation building – the educators have
to be committed to the process and people who are undergoing the process of
being educated.
Reference:
1.
Dabhi, Jimmy. (1999)
‘Empowerment of People: An HRD Challenge in the 21st Century’, in Pareek U.
and Sisodia V. (Eds.) (1999) HRD in
the New Millennium, New Delhi
2.
Desrochers, J. (1987)
Education for Social Change, Bangalore
3.
Franco, F. (1996)
‘Higher Education for Justice’, in Pinto A. (Ed.) (1996) Perspectives in Jesuit Higher Education
Today, Bangalore
4.
Freire P. (1972) The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York
5.
Heredia R. (1996)
‘Pedagogies for Change: Building Communities of Solidarity’, in Pinto A. (Ed.) Perspectives in Jesuit Higher Education
Today, Banglore: Indian Social Institute and JEA.
6.
Haq, Eshanul (1991)
‘Traditional Caste Structure and Modern Education in Contemporary India: A
study in continuity and Change’, in Sharda, Bam Dev (Ed.) (1991) Tribes Castes and Harijans – Structured
Inequalities and Social Mobility, Delhi
7.
Parikh K. S. (1999) India Development Report – 1999-2000, Delhi : Oxford
University
8.
Sisodia, M. L. (1999)
‘Meeting HRD Challenges in Higher Education’, in Pareek
U. and Sisodia V. (Eds.) (1999) HRD in the New Millennium, New Delhi
9.
Srinivas, M. N.
(1968) ‘Education, Social Change and Social Mobility in India Delhi
10.
Xavier L. (1996)
‘Paradigm Shift’ in Pinto A. (Ed.) (1996) Perspectives in Jesuit Higher Education Today, Bangalore
i.
This comment is made in full recognition of the efforts
that have been made by various individuals and organisations towards improving
or changing the quality and content of education today.
ii. The textbooks referred to are Std – 3, Gujarat State
School Textbook Board, Gandhinagar, and Std. – I, R.P. Gupta & Sons, Delhi,
Cambridge Publication House, New Delhi, Orient Longman, New Delhi, Goyal
Brothers Prakashan, New Delhi.
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