Education is an ‘enabling factor’, which facilitates not only economic betterment but also human freedom. However, for the marginalised— Dalits and tribals in India, the Mapuche in Chile, the Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as women in most parts of the world—basic education remains a challenge not only due to lack of access, but also because the pedagogy of mainstream education alienates the marginalised.
The editors and contributors of School Education, Pluralism and Marginality argue that school education must be conceptualised keeping in mind the material, social, and life experiences of marginalised groups. They strongly argue that pluralism and social inclusion should be the core principles of the pedagogic conceptual framework, practices and processes of school education across the world.
Divided into four sections, this volume brings together international perspectives on education from the USA, UK, Europe, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, among others, with a focus on India. It probes into the realities of the formal schooling system and the hegemonies that exclude children of the marginalised communities. It also explores the relationships between school education, labour processes, and differential opportunities and their outcomes. Importantly, the contributions in this volume suggest measures for developing inclusive teaching and learning methods and practices, and present models for culturally responsive and inclusive schooling.
This topical volume will be useful for students and scholars of education, culture studies, gender studies and Dalit studies. It will also be of interest to policy-makers and NGOs working in the area of education.
Christine E. Sleeter is Professor Emirita, College of Education and Professional Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA.
Shashi Bhushan Upadhyay is Professor, Department of History, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India.
Arvind K. Mishra is Assistant Professor of Social Psychology, Zakir Hussain Center for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
List of Tables and Figures Publisher’s Acknowledgements Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction
Part I: Marginal Communities, Social Exclusion and Schooling
1. Achieving Universal Elementary Education: Expanding Access with Equity R. Govinda and Madhumita Bandyopadhyay
2. Pedagogic Practice and the Violence Against Dalits in Schooling M. Murali Krishna
3. Educational Progress among the Indian Tamil Minority in the Plantations of Sri Lanka Angela W. Little
4. School Education of the Marginalised: A Critical Study of Tharu Tribals’ Education in West Champaran (Bihar) Subhash Sharma
5. Muslim Educational Backwardness: Competing Pressures of Secular and Religious Learning Imtiaz Ahmad
6. Dalits and the Modern Education in Colonial India Shashi Bhushan Upadhyay
Part II: Hegemonies, Formal Schooling Systems, and the Child
7. Caste, ‘Race’ and Class: A Marxist Critique of Caste Analysis, Critical Race Theory and Equivalence (or Parallellist) Explanations of Social Inequality Dave Hill
8. The Marks Race: India’s Dominant Education Regime and New Segmentation Manabi Majumdar and Jos Mooij
Part III: Pluralism, Citizenship and School Education
9. The Periphery’s Progeny: The South African School and its Relationship to Youth Identity in Contemporary South Africa Crain Soudien
10. Negotiating Difference in the Context of Pluralism: Issues in African Schooling and Education George J. Sefa Dei
11. Educating the Roma: Towards a Human Rights-Based Approach Lynn Davies
12. Paving the Way to Self-Empowerment through a Rights-based Education Vedrana Spajic-Vrkas
Part IV: Developing Teaching and Learning Methods: The Social Context
13. A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations Russell Bishop
14. Language and Marginalisation in Primary Education in India Dhir Jhingran
15. N Navigating Cross-Currents of Standards, Textbooks and Marginality Christine Sleeter
16. Growing up in the Ashes: Theoretical and Pedagogical Issues Affecting Indigenous Education Raymond Nichol
17. Alternative Schooling for Children from the Musahar Community: An Innovative Experiment Sanjay Kumar and Rafiul Ahmed
Contributors