Let me state from the outset of this post that I am not a formal scholar of South Asian educational history and there’s obviously much that I don’t yet know about the topic. My impressions and opinions are based on a combination of reading, observation and experience. I was a middle and high-school student in India myself - at an international school that, while certainly not typical, provided me with my first exposure to education in the region. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to work and study further in India, Nepal and Pakistan … and now to share my thoughts on those experiences. I repeat my usual entreaty. I invite those who read this blog to think of it as an online conversation and to respond to my statements, to question my opinions or to expand on what I have to say.
Many, many cultural, religious and political traditions have informed the practice of education in South Asia over centuries (and I hope to address some of these in future posts). But the contemporary system is based mainly in European and British pedagogical thinking. (Since each of the countries in the subcontinent has a unique modern history, I’ll focus only on India for the rest of this post.) In India, European schooling was introduced first by Christian missionaries and then augmented by the colonial powers (mainly British) that assumed political control of the region. Most classrooms look much like those in the West: a teacher, a blackboard, students at desks or benches working from textbooks. The curriculum is based on the standard “3 R’s”. The primary medium of instruction for many schools is English; for others it is the language of the local region. Class sizes tend to be large– sometimes 50 or above. As a rule, tests are paramount as assessment tools in Indian schools and there is a rigorous testing schedule in all subject areas. There are several standardized national examinations that hold tremendous weight and the most important of these are administered in grades 10 and 12. Some schools are religiously based, some are government-run and some are private but secular.
Pedagogically, most Indian schools rely on a model that stresses repetition, memorization of facts and methodology, and the primacy of teachers and texts as intellectual authorities. There is very little room for experience-based learning, for open-ended experimentation and discussion, or for critical thinking that might challenge sanctioned content and procedure. There ARE advantages to this system. Indian students tend to be disciplined scholars with an impressive mastery of subject matter. But they often find themselves at a loss when asked to answer open-ended questions or to formulate their own theories or opinions. Many students who have moved from Indian schools to American colleges and universities say they’ve found themselves better-prepared than their Western peers in math and science, but at a disadvantage when asked to write papers in the arts or social sciences.
My own agenda should be clear by now. I am a progressive educator who believes in the value of rich experience, collaboration, the arts and critical thinking – all largely absent in the typical Indian classroom. That’s the bad news … but there’s much to celebrate as well. There have always been alternatives in India and there certainly are now. There is an amazing range of schools, pedagogies, teaching methods and educational experiences available for kids and parents, and an incredible community of educators who administer these programs. Further, my sense is that now, more than at any time in the past few centuries perhaps, a major movement toward rethinking learning and pedagogy is gaining momentum. As India assumes a new and increasingly powerful role in the international community, parents are recognizing that their children need more than the ability to memorize and catalog facts. Most don’t know what form such an alternative might take and are anxious about moving away from a system that they know. Addressing these concerns is the work of progressive education and I’m looking forward to being part of that work.
-Beth
