The process of dissemination of education has been systematically undertaken by central and state governments and a lot of programmes and policies have been implemented to achieve the goal of universalization of primary education to all and providing a quality education that can equip our citizen’s becoming a potential human resource. It is not the purpose of this presentation to look into historical and political processes involved in education policies rather the focus of this paper will limit itself in highlighting some of the important facets of psycho-social-economic and technological importance that can throw light on better or at least diverse understanding of this subject. Education like health, is often seen as an unproblematic social good to which everyone is entitled as a fundamental right. However there is a difference between education and schooling. Education is defined as a social institution, which enables and promotes the acquisition of skills, knowledge and extension of our qualities in a more enriched and meaningful way. Schools on the other hand refers to formal process through which certain types of knowledge and skills are delivered normally through predesigned curriculum in specialized settings. How far schools are playing the role of best educators it is creating obstacles in useful learning needs serious introspection?
Psychological aspects which needs attention is that of values, growth of actual competence, curriculum, modes of teaching and recreational and reflective activities, raising emotional and ecological aspects, opportunities for teacher for self-growth in terms of independence from authority and research activity. The other psychological aspects include role of assessment techniques, growth of individualistic/collectivistic orientation and vicarious reinforcement merits attention. Values, attitudes and beliefs are important predictors of human action at any given point of time. Values are a relative concept and it is fashionable to ignore all values other than narrowly self-interested reasons. It is clearly discernible among majority of young-generation a strong preference for material well-being ignoring the hardships of their parents generation. It is important to notice that can a child sensibly value other than his/her own well-being. The opportunity aspect what a child gets can’t divorced from the valuing of different responsibilities. This narrow view of intelligent pursuit of self-interest dissociates child’s behavior from values and ethics. The presence of evolutionary survival does not indicate the absence of ethnically reasoned selection of behavior and values. Broader social goals orientation collaborative altruism behavior pattern are diminishing the breadth of our values to claim individualistic, exciting ubiquitous selfishness.
There may exist interpretational and contextual variations regarding methods adopted in an educational institution and individual choice may be in conflict with the parents-principle. The cornerstone of welfare economics which insists that unanimous individual preference rankings must be reflected in social decisions but there can’t be a debate that we want accrual of fundamental competence in our children. We may have the freedom of closing the different aspects and sub-aspects for ability improvement but we should not allow a singular track which lacks critical components of personality improvement.
There should be enough freedom be granted to each child to develop ability to achieve in their area of interest and process through which things are imposed upon the child should be minimal. I don’t wish to rule out the existence of overlaps between the two aspects. The diversity of choice which is not a bad thing is strongly opposed by educators in the garb of parametric variation. It is no strange fact that there is little room for freedom to children instead linking all other external considerations while deciding their preferences. The goal of expanding “the range of human choice” is considered as prime objective of development of child’s potential hence in examining and deciding the choice for our children attention must be paid to children’s interest.
Curriculum: Over dosage of politics and social education curriculum is strongly correlated in Indian context.
To Foucault, power and knowledge are closely tied together and serve to reinforce one another. The claims to knowledge of a doctor, for example, are also claims to power as they are put into practice in an institutional context, such as hospital. Sociologist Stephen Lukes view is pertinent to mention here that ‘ideological’ exercise of power is not explicitly observable or measurable, but can be inferred when people act in ways that against their own interests. Even desires of our children is being shaped by capitalist’s exercise of power to secure the compliance by controlling thoughts and desires. The age old traditional wisdom principles are being relegated to the background and role learning, alien language with least connectivity with reality of lives of children are being imposed. The result that few of our young children leave school thinking, our school children have to continuously fight for adjustments rather than working it from an alien norms that they find great difficulty in relating and connecting. There is a need to bring into focus more empirical studies as to our children studying a language and culture which is remotely connected to their nativistic perceptions. John Taylor Gatto (2002) a retired school teacher with 30 years of experience concluded that the hidden curriculum in USA
We shall attempt to improve the quality of our school teachers and utilise their experience in more meaningful way. Most of our teachers are engaged in keeping exhaustive track records of tests administered on the basis of rigid framework. From the very beginning the children begin to develop a growing sense of distrust and constraint leaving less room for the accomplishment of natural growth. Right from, school bags, to heavy dosage of home-works and class-tests the children find interest item missing which further demotivates them. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence has clearly demonstrated that a single IQ score can’t describe intelligence of the child. According to Goleman ‘The brightest among US can founder on schools of unbridled passion and unruly impulses: people with high IQs can be stunningly poor Pilot’s of their priest lives (1996: 34). One of my neighbourhood child Prasoon Mishra (age-5-a student of Nursery) narrated man tortures emphasing role learning (Maam ratwate-ratwate Dum nikal Desi hain). There seems to less motivational interconnectedness to share the individuality of each child at school level and school teachers are mostly involved in the improvement of grades. Teacher’s are rarely encouraged to engage in research activity and willingness to do something innovative is discouraged and they enter a stage of paralysis of will that it is hopeless to try new at this not be appreciated. Pictorial representations are highly influential source of learning is still being ignored in our class-rooms. The regular curriculum does not provide enough time for sports to our school children. The over academic burden in schools often leads to demotivation of spontaneous attraction for games. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when child witnesses someone else experience reinforcing consequences for a behavior, and that child anticipates similar consequences if he or she produces the same behavior. Bandura (1962, 1977b, 1986) proposed that a fundamental way human’s acquire skills and behaviours is by observing the behavior of others which is governed by attention, retention production and motivation. There is a distinction even between acquisition and performance because people do not enact everything they learn. Performance of observed behavior is influenced by three kinds of incentives: direct, vicarious and self-administered. Personal influences, environmental forces and behavior itself function as interdependent determinants of behavior.
Gender and School Education
Now a days school education does not distinguishes between boys and girls in any systematic way however such differences persists. Although rules are gradually loosening but hidden practices, rituals and even teacher’s expectations compel girls to behave in gender specific way. Even parents committed to raising their children in a non-sexist way find existing patterns of gender stereotyping difficult to combat. Gender identities emerge, in relation to perceived sex differences in society and in turn help to shape those differences. Gender relations are the product of everyday interactions and practices and teacher’s need to be cautious and sensitive while addressing issues of stereotyped social arrangements.
Technology and Children’s Education
The spread of information technology is already influencing education in schools in a number of different ways. Will the digital media increasingly replace the school book? Are children listening more to computers than listening to a teacher? Can computer or desktop virtual reality replace our traditional methods of teaching or they need to supplement the process of education. The flexibility and convenience of internet-based learning can’t be denied but is that good and enough for our young minds for the development of abstract reasoning. Can this formal education escape the face to face learning which is truly interactive may lead to emergence of computer underclass devoid of any emotional component. Television is an early window. That it allows children to see the world well before they are capable of competently interacting with it. Joshua Meyrowitz explained, television “escorts children across the globe even before they have permission to cross the street” (1985, p. 238). What happens to children’s social development when television treats them as “little adults”. The widespread use of television and internet is equivalent to a broad social decision to allow young children to be present at wars and funerals, courtship and seductions, criminal plots and cocktail parties.
The other important factor of multinational corporations reaching every corner of our country. Our intra-individual and inter-personnel communication is isolating us from social cohesion. Necessary characteristics of education are being altered in the name of elite education which is hampering the growth of well-equipped potential in our children. Children should not be understood as social robots acting and reacting in a mechanistic manner instead they should be allowed to become autonomous, active seekers of meaning, capable of pursuing creativity not merely pursuing narrowly constrained goals. It is essential to make our school learning system more contextual, more realistic that can optimize the abilities and skills for critical thinking. The education system should also gear up to link our aesthetic social and ethical values codes and conventions that can help inculcate better modes of negotiation and a concept of expanded literacy which can enable and enrich children as unique and valued citizen’s of this country. An education content that provides role of catlayzer to stimulate the cognitive, emotional, aesthetic moral and interpretational domain of our children. The role of social education should be to widen the perspectives of young children and cultivation of enhanced enjoyment in learning.
Ecological Intelligence
Ecological refers to an understanding of organisms and their ecosystems and intelligence connotes the capacity to learn from experience and deal effectively with our environment. Ecological intelligence allows our sensibility to see inter-connectedness between our actions and their impacts on the planet, our health and our social systems children should be taught collective intelligence, one that they learn and master as individuals, and that resides in a distributed fashion among far-flung networks of people. Radical transformation of attitude can change each child becoming a far more effective agent of amelioration. Once it gets started, it can become self-perpetuating because of intrinsic pleasures of mindfulness.
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