EDUCATION: THE DUAL SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION TO THE VOLUME
‘Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe.’ Education is the key to development and progress. The old controversy of whether it is a dependent or independent variable has yielded to the realisation that it includes both perspectives: the education system of a society both reflects and impacts social change in society. READ MORE
In sum, education is a crucial public good which can serve to embed the political economy of a society or subvert it. We have a dual system of education: a few excellent schools and colleges, predominantly English medium and urban and now increasingly privatised and self-financing; while public education at all levels, primary, secondary, tertiary and even post-graduate, which flounder in mediocrity, or worse in a downward spiral of regression.
If we do not reverse this process we will put our future at risk, if we haven’t already. We urgently need to invest more in a viable public education system that levels the playfield for all students at the start of their education, whereas at present we have public primary education producing illiterates, and our secondary education turning students without marketable skills. This cannot produce a critical citizenry to sustain a progressive democracy or a labour force for a growing economy. A catastrophe of a populist regime, authoritarian and majoritarian is overtaking our peoples and is already staring us in the face.
The essays in this volume should remind us of what H.G. Wells once said: Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. If we lose this race we risk losing this race and falling into barbarism. Technical prowess without a genuine humanism is certain to bring this on.
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LIST OF ARTICLES WITH ABSTRACTS IN VOLUME VII
1. EXAMINATION PERFORMANCE AND GOAL DISPLACEMENT
Abstract: The importance given to examinations in the education system results in a displacement of its true goals.
2. THE DILEMMA OF INNOVATIVE CHANGE: AN ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
Abstract: Institutional innovation is a special instance of organizational change implying deliberation, direction and newness. This article examines innovative institutional change and structural reasons for the low level of innovation.
3. SOME DILEMMAS IN COLLEGE TEACHING
Abstract: The teacher is the most crucial resource in any educational system. This paper proposes to examine some of the structural dilemmas that confront college teachers in their present academic situation. It does not pretend to be an exhaustive list but only to underline some of the more important and crucial dilemmas of college teaching today. It is a tentative effort meant to stimulate, not conclude the discussion.
4. TOWARDS AN EDUCATIONAL REVOLUTION: BEYOND THE AFFILIATING MODEL
Abstract: Few, if any, can doubt that our educational system reflects and reproduces the inequalities of our society. Some would argue it even contributes to legitimising them. Mass examination by statutory bodies provides a symbol of fairness that in reality is little more than tokenism. For the selection process involved in such certification perpetuates rather than circulates our elites
5. A LIBERATIVE PEDAGOGY FOR TRANSFORMATION
Abstract: If the gospel proclamation and the mission that derives from it, is the very foundation of all authentic Christian living, then formation for mission cannot but be an equally foundational dimension of any Christian pedagogy. This has been written more specifically with Jesuit formation in mind. Hopefully, however, it will have some relevance beyond this: particularly for seminary training, but also for Christian catechesis and faith-formation by extension, and more generally for Christian education as well. For once these are imbued with a sense of Christian mission, of witnessing to the good news of Jesus, it would seem to me, that they cannot quite escape the pedagogic problematic posed here.
6. TRIBAL EDUCATION IN INDIA: THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Abstract: The iniquitous bias of the system falls hardest on the ones lowest in the social hierarchy and it is most crucial at the earliest stages of education. The reasons for the failure of tribal education in India are not just economic. For too long have the internal constraints of the system and socio-cultural context of the community been neglected. The resulting mismatch between educational institutions and tribal life has been responsible for a colossal economic and human wastage. Reformist measures have been proposed, but as yet there has been no breakthrough in tribal education.
7. TRIBAL EDUCATION IN INDIA: REVERSING THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Abstract: This paper is a sequel to ‘Tribal Education in India: The Downward Spiral’. The downward spiral described there is neither inevitable nor irreversible. This paper attempts to suggest how it can be stopped and turned around. It is indeed a complex and difficult task, but it is not an intractable problem. If only there is sufficient empathetic understanding and committed action, the strategies for change will not be elusive.
8. EDUCATION AND MISSION: THE SCHOOL AS AN AGENT OF EVANGELIZATION IN INDIA
Abstract: This essay treats not only Christian education within the missionary enterprise but extends itself to the socio-political impact beyond as well. The first is discussed within the ecclesial context of conversion and evangelization, and it is crucial in order to understand the inspiration and gradual evolution of missionary institutions. The second is framed by a more secular discussion and is important because of the pioneering role the missions had in bringing western education to India and the consequent effect this had on Indian society. It concludes with the need for a socio-political analysis of and a contextualized theology of secular action for Christian education, if the liberating potential of its ideals and purposes it to be realized.
9. TEACHING AS A SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITY: PEDAGOGIES FOR CHANGE
Abstract: The context articulated here is that of a ‘drop-out’ teacher from the formal system, who has now become a ‘tuned-in’ student of the voluntary sector; a ‘cop-out’ administrator from a university college and now a ‘turned-on’ researcher on his own!
10. DIALOGUE IN A MULTICULTURAL, PLURI-RELIGIOUS SOCIETY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE FOR A HOLISTIC APPROACH
Abstract: A viable and sustainable perspective on dialogue must be premised not on a walled-in consciousness of a colonised mind, nor on the rootless wonderings of the uncommitted spirit, rather it must be a serious quest for a mutually enriching encounter. The challenges we face today demand a critical interrogation of our multicultural and pluri-religious society before there can be any constructive dialogue between our diverse people and varied traditions.
11. INTERROGATING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: EXCELLENCE AND RELEVANCE IN INDEPENDENT INDIA
Abstract: Christian missionaries were the first to introduce and institutionalise western education in this subcontinent. The driving force of Christian education has always been, and indeed must still be, its sense of mission. To neglect this would be to misunderstand its historical growth and to misconceive its present purpose.
12. REVISITING GANDHI, RETHINKING ‘NAI TALIM’ : AN APPROACH FOR NON-FORMAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
Abstract: The principles of Gandhi’s basic education or ‘nai talim’: bridging the school with the world of work, imparting an activity orientation to the curriculum, and inculcating a sense of self-reliance. It is well served when the learner has both the freedom and the opportunities to learn in a supervised environment. These are further strengthened when classroom activities become the extension of home experiences.
13. PERSISTENCE AND CRISIS IN INDIAN EDUCATION
Abstract: Indian education has been experiencing a crisis, and our attempt here will be to investigate its colonial origins and to trace the continuity and persistence of the system into our post-colonial times.
14. HERMENEUTICAL SUSPICIONS TOWARDS RENEWAL AND REORIENTATION: REFLECTIONS ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND THE MAKING OF MODERN INDIA
Abstract: A new vision and mission, where we must position ourselves to start building a prophetic model for education to contribute to building our nation and to preparing our people for the future with hope. For this, Christian educators must be ready for a kenosis, a self-emptying that will make us into receptive vessels of the grace and inspiration we will need for the enterprise before us.
15. TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION FOR A JUST SOCIETY
Abstract: The inadequacy of education at all levels is putting our future at enormous risk in the rapid and radical change Indian society is undergoing. Conscientised adult literacy, universal primary education, good secondary education in multiple streams available to all, accessible tertiary education for everyone qualified, with at least some world-class institutions at the upper end of this spectrum, all these are crucial social capital for governments and society to invest in.
16. DIALOGUE AS PEDAGOGY: LEARNING TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER IN THE ASIAN CONTEXT
Abstract: Dialogue is readily described as communicative exchange. However, it is more comprehensive than the ‘communicative rationality’ of Habermas., The nature of dialogic communication focuses less on rational meaning than on hermeneutical meaningfulness. Moreover, to be credible, dialogue must be sensitive to the differences of local situations, and to be effective it must consider their commonalities as well as differences and thus develop an overall architecture for a more universally sustainable dialogue.
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