Educating every child for life in a democracy:

Towards a democratic pedagogy

Dr. M.V.S.V. PrasadAsst. Professor (Political Science)

Department of Education in Social SciencesNational Council of Educational Research and

Training (NCERT)New Delhi, India

18 January 2013 (Friday)

Do flowers fly?

Does the current school system encourage or discourage imagination of children?

How are the children 'learning'?

How can they go beyond the textbook / school?

How to make young citizens imbibe democratic temperament?

Direct observation and experience make learning more meaningful for children.

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Pedagogy for democracy

Pedagogy for democracy is a crucial element in the education for democracy.

Curriculum is implemented through pedagogy. So the potential of a democratic curriculum can only be realized by a pedagogy that is democratic in nature.

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Democracy and Education

Education for democracy has to begin at school in a practical way.

Democratic curriculum = democratic pedagogy = democratic school = democratic society

Democratic curriculum, autocratic pedagogy?

Development of democratic citizenship is a ‘work-in-progress’.

President of Mongolia, Mr. Tsakhia Elbegdorj:“Just like as baby’s diaper must be changed every morning, freedom must be taken care of every day.” 4

President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee at the Human Rights Day

function, 10 December 2012

“... we have an outstanding Constitution and a plethora of sound laws and policies to uphold different dimensions of human rights. However, such an elaborate legal infrastructure to manage human rights will count for nothing if implementation is lacking in form and spirit. We must therefore focus efforts on translating our laws and Constitutional provisions into a reality for the common man.”

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National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005

5 Guiding Principles

1. Connecting knowledge to life outside the school

2. Ensuring that learning is shifted away from rote methods

3. Enriching the curriculum to provide for overall development of children rather than remain textbook-centric

4. Making examinations more flexible and integrated into classroom life and

5. Nurturing an over-riding identity informed by caring concerns within the democratic polity of the country

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Promoting Critical Pedagogy “Critical pedagogy provides an opportunity to

reflect critically on issues in terms of their political, social, economic and moral aspects. It entails the acceptance of multiple views on social issues and a commitment to democratic forms of interaction. This is important in view of the multiple contexts in which our schools function. A critical framework helps children to see social issues from different perspectives and understand how such issues are connected to their lives.” (National Curriculum Framework, 2005, p. 23)

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3 Kinds of Knowledge of an Effective Teacher

Knowledge of general instructional strategies (Pedagogical Knowledge)

Knowledge about the subject matter s/he is teaching (Content Knowledge)

Knowledge of specific strategies for teaching a particular subject matter (Pedagogical Content Knowledge – PCK)

PCK enables practising teachers to make interconnections between their knowledge of pedagogy and their knowledge of content. These interconnections are essential for teaching effectively.

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Content for a democratic pedagogy

NCF, 2005 emphasises ‘democracy content across the curriculum’ at all stages of school education

Textbooks for consciousness-raising (‘the process of making people aware of important social and political issues’)

Textbooks for promoting social conscience (‘the state of being aware of the problems that affect a lot of people in society, such as being poor or having no home, and wanting to do something to help these people’)

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Right to Water: Issues of daily life

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Laxmi Lakra:A Remarkable Journey

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Unni Munni

All this is so remote for me. Is democracy all about rulers and governments? Can we talk about a democratic classroom? Or a democratic family?

I want to be in Lyngdoh Madam’s class! That sounds like a democratic classroom. Doesn’t it?

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(Ab)use of Authority(Social and Political Life–III, Storyboard, p. 7)

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Role-play by Teacher-Participants NCERT Orientation Programme about

Textbooks May 2008, RIE, Ajmer, Rajasthan

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Secularism in India – Rights of Minorities

(Social and Political Life–III, Storyboard, p. 23)

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Role-play by Teacher-Participants NCERT Orientation Programme about

Textbooks May 2008, RIE, Ajmer, Rajasthan

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Which Scope?

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Focus on

Focus on the whole world...

Focus on the whole nation…

Focus on the whole State…

Focus on the whole district…

Or just on your nation.

Or just on your State.

Or just on your district.

Or just on your locality.

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Multiple Perspectives about Pedagogy

Macro Bird’s eye view Broad General Global United Nations (UN) More complex?

Micro Worm’s eye view Narrow Specific Local Municipality Less complex?

Learning democracy here and now!

“The best school of democracy and the best guarantee for its success is the practice of local self-government.” – James Bryce (1838 – 1922)

What does democracy look like in practice in our locality?

Meaningful pedagogy requires localization of content.

Students can be enabled to learn by doing, through active, participatory experiences in the school, neighbourhood and beyond.

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Measures for developing a democratic pedagogy

Decentralizing education for democracy Undertaking applied research on pedagogical

issues Moving back and forth between content and

context Creating an online corpus of innovative and

workable pedagogical techniques for promoting democracy

Establishing collaborative ventures between various institutions in developing locally relevant teaching-learning materials and training educators for participatory democracy

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Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)(Lebanese-American Poet)

Your children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for

itself.They come through you but not from you,And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,For they have their own thoughts.You may house their bodies but not their souls,For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you

cannot visit, not even in your dreams.You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make

them like you.For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday....

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Thank you all for your kind attention!

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