Education
They say never judge a book by its cover. Wise words but the title on the cover of a book definitely gives the reader a good reason to give it a second look…or not! And this title grabs attention immediately! The strength of this book is the choice of the topic. It is extremely relevant for people spanning a wide age group. It speaks of microbes coexisting with us, a fact that is certainly not new but it describes the width and depth of our interaction with microbes which is not so well known to most people, barring the experts…
The ‘present’ generation and its values have oft taken the blame for much that is wrong in the world. The generation keeps changing just as the wrongs keep changing. As people age, the side of this blame game that they represent also changes. Yet, seldom do people sit and think who is responsible for the changing values of the ‘present generation’ that has led to so much ‘wrong’ in the world. Parenting for most people is not a conscious choice. We grow up, build careers, and start a family, because that is what society teaches us. This is taken as a given without any conscious thought about who can be a good parent.
Recently, my school has started a quarter-long course called Eagles Enhancing Lives (EEL). In this course, we learn about social justice and issues that have happened and are currently happening in the world. There are four mini units we go through, and we explore the concepts of Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Identity. In each unit we explore different social justice issues and learn about how each concept links to the issue. For example, in our Identity unit we learned about intersectionality, and how we’re more than ‘one story’, or one perspective and trait…
The first quarter of 2020 was marked by a fear of COVID-19 in India. A sudden lockdown was declared and although it seemed to be initially for a finite period, it soon became clear that the period of uncertainty would continue for a while. While adults grappled with illness, loss of job, relocation, and a changed lifestyle, children were themselves faced with a completely alien set of circumstances. The experiences of children have been heterogeneous, essentially marked by their socio-economic contexts and family circumstances.
Childhood has long been an area of interest to psychologists, sociologists, educators and parents. It is important to understand childhood through the lived experiences of children as they give us unique insights into their life worlds. They also provide insights into the ways in which children need to be raised, socialized and enculturated and the different roles and styles of parenting that exist in different families. Reflections on children’s lives and experiences also enable decisions on visualizing effective pedagogic processes, curricular structures and school policies and practices that would support children’s learning and development in schools…
Ten minutes later, the Marker apartment was teeming with masked men and women, all reeking of hand sanitizer and nervous energy.Any time else, a murder scene crowded with masked people, air tinted with sanitizer smell and nervous energy, and a cordoned off building in the middle of a lockdown…
Academic writing in the field of education often presents a theoretical understanding that is disconnected from field realities. As a teacher educator, I have often found pre-service teachers struggling with theories, models and perspectives that are built on the basis of research…
JNU Stories: The First 50 years is an anthology of anecdotal essays and a few poetical pieces. These essays, suffused and soaked with nostalgia, map the institutional and intellectual journey and are haunted by an ‘anxiety about preserving an institutional memory’ (p. 44). This passionate…
Reading the history of one’s old school is always interesting, sometimes even challenging. Rakesh Batabyal’s book on Modern School is certainly both. Situating the founding of the school in the context of the Indian Independence movement’s initiatives to build free…
The past few years have been tumultuous for universities across the country. On the one hand, universities have seen student unrest accorded to a demand for greater freedom for speech and exchange of liberal ideas; on the other, there has been a restructuring.
Higher Education in India and China is a collection of scholarly contributions by leading researchers and academia from the University of Delhi and the University of Hong Kong and Macao. Each of the contributions provide a rich understanding about the development of education.
The book could not be timelier, given that so many people live in perpetual fear, insecurity and life-threatening circumstances in different parts of the world. The context of Jammu and Kashmir highlights a growing trend (as observed in other contemporary political-ethnic conflicts.
The book as the name suggests is based on a research study aimed at examining the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, in the State of Haryana. The study was funded by the Department of Planning, Government of Haryana as has been duly acknowledged.
The total spend on education in India (Central and State governments together) is 2.7% of GDP. Though lower than the spends by peer BRICS countries the budget alone does not account for the poor state of school education(primary and secondary) and tertiary education, as revealed in various surveys and reports notably the ASER reports for schools and Asian or global rankings of universities and colleges.
The Idea of a UnThe Idea of a University, edited by Apoorvanand, is a spirited defence of ‘cosmopolitan’, liberal university education and reassertion of the meaning and relevance of academic freedom in today’s troubling times. Notably, this book draws on the same title as John Henry Newman’s 1852 volume, which was a collection of his lectures on the idea of an ideal university, (that was published in the backdrop of the first Irish Catholic University, the University of Dublin, being set up).
Dev Lahiri’s book is a slim, easy read on the complex and multi-layered topic of school education in India. The author draws from his vast experience of over four decades as a teacher, principal and educator, both in India and abroad. The book is replete with real, and often funny anecdotes from his stint in various schools and his sense of humour and ‘joie de vivre’ come across in many parts of the book.
A few years after I had joined…
As J. Krishnamurti and Educational Practice: Social and Moral Vision for Inclusive Education edited by Meenakshi Thapan enters circulation, I wondered how to write a non-conventional review of it. That is, to outline the politics in which it can be located and read, rather than say what it contains and what it does not.