The Social Context of Learning in India: Achievement Gaps and Factors of Poor Learning

180 Pages·2023·2.868 MB·English

by  Manoj Kumar Tiwary (editor), Sanjay Kumar (editor), Arvind Kumar Mishra (editor)

“This volume seeks to provide theoretical and macro perspective towards
the idea of learning achievement gap and poor learning at the outset and
then moves on to capture the social context to the learning advantage or
disadvantage. The proposed book then specifically identifies the micro
issues of language, multilingual classroom contexts in schooling and their
impact on learning processes and also the teacher attitudes and strategies in
facilitating or not facilitating learning among socially disadvantaged social
groups such as tribes.”
Anonymous Reviewer
“The book illuminates the complex and embedded nature of school learning.
By considering the contextual and personal factors, it offers an account of
the academic achievement gap. The analyses presented have implications
for the rejuvenation of the school system. The work deserves the serious
attention of scholars and policymakers engaged with the issues of access,
equality, and justice in society.”
Girishwar Misra, Former Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi
Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishvavidyalaya, Wardha, and Former Professor and
Head, Department of Psychology, Delhi University, Delhi
“The Social Context of Learning in India offers a bold analysis of factors
hindering the education of historically marginalized children and youth.
This fascinating collection of chapters peels back layers of complexity that
produce both successful learning among the middle classes, as well as failure
among the poor. While the authors suggest no quick fix, they pinpoint
specific problems that can be addressed. I highly recommend this valuable
book for anyone interested in improving education in India.”
Christine Sleeter, Professor Emerita, California State
University Monterey Bay, Member,
National Academy of Education

The Social Context of Learning in India
Why are children from disadvantaged and minority communities
overrepresented among academic underachievers, poor learners, and school
dropouts? This volume engages with this question and examines classroom
learning as a process that involves a multitude of actors situated in specific
social, cultural, and historical contexts.
The volume covers an interdisciplinary spectrum of educational processes,
contexts, educational ambitions, and limitations of low-caste, working-
class, and middle-class students from different Indian communities and
regions. The volume delves into the problem of academic underperformance
from a social identity perspective and probes into social context-based
variability in classroom learning, systemic disadvantages in the form of
negative stereotypes, and the family as an under-studied social group in
all discussions of schooling. It also examines the teachers’ perceptions and
attitudes towards Adivasi students and other minority groups in primary
schools and their effect on children’s classroom engagement.
The chapters in this volume provide insights into unresolved and critical
research questions that require the attention of teachers, school management,
educators, and policymakers alike. This book will also be useful for
academicians, policymakers, teacher educators, pedagogic practitioners in
India and abroad, and state and central government institutions working
on school education, educational psychology, policymaking in education,
learning methods, and research on educational enhancement.
Manoj Kumar Tiwary is an educationist and research fellow for a number
of organisations based in India and the Netherlands. His research explores
the social history of education, teacher training, and learning achievements,
with a particular focus on Bihar.
Sanjay Kumar is a scholar, practitioner, and founder of Deshkal Society,
Delhi, India. He has been working in the areas of social diversity, inequality,
and education for more than one and a half decades both in practice and
scholarship. His articles, monographs, and occasional papers have been
published in journals and magazines. He is the co-editor of various books:
Interrogating Development: Insights from the Margins; School Education,
Pluralism and Marginality: Comparative Perspectives; and Dynamics of
Inclusive Classroom: Social Diversity, Inequality and School Education in
India. His recent co-edited publication is The Marginalized Self: Tales of
Resistance of a Community.
Arvind Kumar Mishra teaches Social Psychology at Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi. He is the co-editor of four books: Interrogating
Development: Insights from the Margins (2010); School Education,
Pluralism and Marginality: Comparative Perspectives (2012); Dynamics
of Inclusive Classroom: Social Diversity, Inequality and School Education
in India (2017); and The Marginalized Self: Tales of Resistance of a
Community (2020). His research papers have been published in prestigious
journals such as the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and the Journal of
Social and Political Psychology. His research interest focuses on theoretical
and philosophical issues in psychology, resistance to modernity, self, and
identity processes among marginalised communities.
The Social Context of
Learning in India
Achievement Gaps and Factors of
Poor Learning
Edited by Manoj Kumar Tiwary,
Sanjay Kumar, and
Arvind Kumar Mishra
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Manoj Kumar Tiwary, Sanjay Kumar
and Arvind Kumar Mishra; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Manoj Kumar Tiwary, Sanjay Kumar and Arvind Kumar Mishra,
to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-19569-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-48108-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-38744-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003387442
Typeset in Sabon
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To Imtiaz Ahmad,
for sensitizing to view the dynamics of education from the lens
of marginality.

Contents
Acknowledgements xi
Preface xiii
List of Contributors xvi
Introduction 1
1 Understanding Classroom Learning: Psychological Tools
Approach to Education 14
JYOTI RAINA
2 The Power of Collective: Responses to Systemic Disadvantage
in the Educational Context 36
DIVYA PADALIA AND ARVIND KUMAR MISHRA
3 The Family–School Relationship 53
NITA KUMAR
4 Enabling Environment for Learning and the Middle-Class
Advantage 64
SMRITI SINGH
5 Samaj and Sangat: Parental Construction of Children’s Poor
Educational Attainments in a Caste-Based Segregated Settlement 84
SRITI GANGULY
6 Textbook ‘Proposes’, Teacher ‘Disposes’: Marginalising
Textbooks and Teachers’ Strategies of Subversion 101
KISHORE DARAK