The big story of education

The big story of education

"You tell the big story, we will take care of the rest of the things"

I had an opportunity to interact with teachers of MCD in a workshop organized by SCERT. We were discussing the theme 'classroom practices to enhance learning outcomes' Teachers in MCD are on the verge of experiencing a major change. Some of them are excited, some are apprehensive, and some are confused. But in a perfect state where conversation happens. As Dewey puts it "Immaturity is the necessary condition for growth". Similarly, confusion is a necessary condition for developing an understanding.

We discussed 8 different pedagogical approaches which can help engage children in constructing their knowledge. I have discussed these 8 different Pedagogical approaches in a separate piece which I wrote earlier for reflecftivediary.com.

Coming back to the big picture!

While discussing the mind map, I wrote a few words on the whiteboard. The words were 

education, world bank, IMF, LPG, finance, MGML, contract teacher, education. I explained how all these words are connected and give us a bigger picture of education. We all operate within this bigger picture. 

The story goes on…

Imperialists were unable to control the colony physically after independence. However, capital and technology continue to be a tool of control over newly independent nations. Global capital always had a dominant presence, but it wanted an open market. The year 1991 came with the opportunity, India's capacity to pay the imports bill touched an all time low, as the Foreign Exchange Reserve depleted. The government had no option but to seek help from the global financial institutions, World Bank and IMF. They agreed to help…Of course, with conditions applied. We know these conditions as LPG. Liberalization, Privatisations and Globalization were introduced as guiding principles for our economic policies. The underlying mantra was to open the market for the private players and let people buy the goods and services in a competitive environment. The argument was… People will enjoy greater choices and cheaper prices. The message was clear for the government as well…Withdraw from providing services, let people buy them. The process to withdraw from education begins. After almost 30 years. The result is quite visible… Dilapidated school buildings, contractual teachers, overcrowded classrooms, closure and merger of schools and so on. In the same period, private schools expanded and today 40 percent of children of school-going age are enrolled in private schools. 

In Bihar, out of five lakh sanctioned posts of teachers in government schools, four lakh sixty thousands are contractual. A Supreme Court of India verdict declared permanent teachers a 'dying cadre' and allowed the Bihar government not to recruit permanent teachers. Meanwhile, several types of research were sponsored to prove that contractual teachers teach better than permanent teachers. Governments continued to withdraw from education. Most people assumed that it was the teachers who were not teaching. Well, most of us don't have access to the big picture. Common people would of course not have access to it. They would continue to hold teachers responsible for the failure of the government school system. 

Amidst this all-India story of the decline of the government school system, there are stories of hope. Kerala maintains a good government school system, Andhra Pradesh Government has increased spending on school education. Punjab is a new hope. Of course, with 25 percent of its total budget, Delhi stays on the top. 

On the one hand, big capital, corporate media, and most governments continue to denigrate the possibility of reviving the government school system. On the other hand, few states in India have realized, education can not be left to be privatized. Democracy can only be strengthened when we have a strong public education system. Each one of us who believes in the possibility of public education has a role to play. Teaching well in the classroom is a statement against the corporate media and capital that have declared government schools to be failing.

The story is really big, I'll stop here. 

The response from my teacher friends… 

"You tell the big story, we will take care of the classroom pedagogy"

I remembered…my students also used to tell me the same thing "Sir, you continue with the big story we will take care of the syllabus"

I believe that big stories help teachers develop their pedagogy. Their role is part of this larger web of events. They choose their position and as government school teachers they feel determined to rescue the system. In their words "Sir, you made us realize our worth"