Overcoming Middle-Class Hegemony in Curriculum Frameworks

           Overcoming Middle-Class Hegemony in Curriculum Frameworks

Upon careful examination of the Indian education system, it becomes evident that it caters primarily to the middle-class population. The modern education system has evolved from industrial societies, which are predominantly composed of a middle-class demographic in urban areas worldwide. Elements such as school architecture, timetables and examination procedures are closely aligned with the lifestyle of the urban middle class. The middle-class value system refers to a set of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that are commonly held by individuals belonging to the middle class. These values often revolve around education, career success, financial stability, upward social mobility, and adherence to societal norms and expectations. Middle-class values often prioritize individual achievement, competition, and the pursuit of material comforts, while placing emphasis on formal education and professional occupations.

It is not only the functioning of schools but also the experiences imparted to children that are deeply influenced by middle-class values. The idea of success appears uniform across the country among students attending these schools, to the extent that even schools in rural areas do not produce children aspiring to be farmers. This dominance of discourse extends beyond career aspirations and has negative implications. For example, the privileged class, who may ride in rickshaws for leisure, may perceive rickshaw pullers as lacking in hard work. Similarly, those who find it laborious to climb a few flights of stairs in multi-story buildings may believe that women carrying heavy loads of bricks to the top floor do not work hard. It is this privileged class that conceives, designs, and implements the curriculum.

The middle-class value system actively erodes regional or local knowledge systems within school classrooms. When a child is ridiculed by teachers or peers for speaking in the local language, it undermines the existence of local knowledge. Similarly, when a teacher declares proudly, " You know my Hindi is very poor," it denies the value of local and indigenous knowledge systems in the classroom. The class that considers reciting multiplication tables as "two ones are two, two twos are four" to be intelligent, while viewing "do a kan do, do do na char" as inferior, perpetuates this bias.

While there has been significant effort to uncover and challenge gender discrimination perpetuated by textbooks, scant attention has been paid to how school curricula and educational policies actively suppress local knowledge systems and promote problematic middle-class values.

One of the reasons why a large number of students struggle to fit into secondary and higher secondary stages is because schools fail to recognize the value of the knowledge these children bring with them. After years of struggling, many students eventually give up. Although the National Education Policy and the draft curriculum framework acknowledge the importance of accommodating the local knowledge systems children possess, they fall short when it comes to creating sufficient space for it in the curriculum and effectively implementing it in classrooms.

Just as extensive research has been conducted in the field of Gender Studies, we need comprehensive research that sheds light on how the middle-class value system dominates school curricula, shapes the mindset of our teachers, and excludes a significant number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in society. In terms of population size, the middle class constitutes a significantly smaller proportion compared to the large number of poor and disadvantaged sections in the country. However, when it comes to influencing policies, it appears that the middle class value system has colonized and imposes its values system on a large population.