Pedagogies for Development

Pedagogies for Development takes a sociological approach to examine the introduction of child-centred education in contemporary Indian policy and school contexts. It investigates the promise of democratic learning in development discourses to ask how far child-centred models can address poverty and social inequalities in rural Indian communities. Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research conducted in the south Indian state of Karnataka, the book offers a multi-level analysis of international, national and state education practices of pedagogic reform. The book contributes to pressing debates about how ‘quality’ education should be conceptualised and assessed in development contexts, and brings into focus the assumptions which associate schooling to social justice. 

"Arathi Sriprakash’s Pedagogies for Development is an original, well written and engaging study. Sriprakash adroitly brings together deep theory and extensive empirical and ethnographic evidence. She also provides thoughtful and insightful analyses of the translation and recontextualisation of child-centred pedagogies and development theory into policies and practices in primary schools in rural India. This study has implications for the sociology of education, policy sociology in education, pedagogical studies, and theory on educational development."
Professor Bob Lingard, School of Education, The University of Queensland, Australia

"This is a compelling, lucid and scholarly examination of teachers, classrooms and ‘joyful learning’ in India. Drawing on Basil Bernstein’s abstract language of description for pedagogy and focusing on Karnataka, Sriprakash offers a rich ethnographic analysis of pedagogical reform and innovation. Her investigation of the discrepancies between reform intentions, the ‘performance’ culture of schooling and teachers’ socially situated pedagogical practices is both provocative and engaging. An excellent addition to the emerging body of scholarship on schooling processes in India and essential reading for a wide audience concerned with teachers, pedagogy and educational change – in India and beyond."
Dr Caroline Dyer, Centre for Global Development, University of Leeds, UK

 "This important study offers a lucid, powerful account of the daily work of primary teachers amongst the rural poor in India. Rich ethnographic detail brings to life the disadvantages faced by children at school, uncovers poignant notions of ‘joyful learning’, and vividly documents teachers’ struggle to make sense of new child-centred teaching approaches in the face of government controlled examinations.  This book brilliantly proves the value of qualitative studies for educational reform".
ProfessorMadeleine Arnot, University of Cambridge, UK

"For the last twenty years Indian school education has been the object of several large scale interventions to increase access and improve quality.  Arathi Sriprakash has worked on an important yet neglected dimension–the experiences and understanding of teachers who are ultimately responsible for both inclusion and quality.  Having been a teacher herself, she brings empathetic sociological (Bernsteinian) insight into the complex and layered socio-cultural reality of government primary school teachers in rural areas, and unpacks what comes to be constituted as child centered education for the children.  Her examination of Nali-Kali, arguably among the most influential curricular innovations in the government schooling system of India, is a unique contribution and should be read widely for its critical insights into the various dimensions of curriculum and practice of teachers." 
Professor Padma M. Sarangapani, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India