Juego de las tácticas

Ten belief domains

Several scholars highlight the disadvantages of leaving teacher belief studies too open-ended, and recommend instead selecting particular beliefs to be studied at an appropriate level of specificity, to generate more reliable findings (Buehl & Fives, 2009; Pajares, 1992; Valcke et al, 2010). For this study, ten belief domains were selected based on

Bihar and Kerala teachers were observed for 40 minutes, but in Maharashtra classes last only 35 minutes, thus all the observations were cut down to 35 minutes for consistency.

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my own previous experiences, examination of literature, and recommendations by Indian educationists. Initially, tentative insights on this topic emerged from the three years I worked in education reform efforts in India and interacted with diverse educational stakeholders. These initial hunches were juxtaposed with the literature which helped me identify specific categories for exploration.

The literature suggests that one’s core beliefs, particularly ‘worldview’ beliefs (ontological, epistemological, teleological and axiological beliefs, as discussed in Chapter 1), shape many of the rest of one’s beliefs. My aim was not to derive a comprehensive list of all beliefs that impact teachers’ practice, but to identify central beliefs that are foundational in shaping the rest of teachers’ beliefs and consequently practice, and are thus most strategic to be targeted in teacher education programmes. Next, the teacher beliefs literature, reviewed in Chapter 3, indicates several key beliefs that tend to relate to teachers’ practice: particularly teachers’ democratic, pedagogic, epistemological, and professional identity beliefs. Further, I undertook a thematic analysis of literature on Indian teachers and education reform, to see what other scholars have said about prevalent beliefs that may be hindering pedagogical change in India. This analysis generated ten belief domains, which are presented in Appendix- 4.3 along with examples of authors who have discussed these. Similar categories were kept in mind while deciding which beliefs to explore in this study.

These tentative categories were discussed with several Indian educationists, and suggestions taken from them for refining the categories and tools. Based on the above sources, ten belief domains were chosen for exploration in this study and hypothesised as potentially affecting teachers’ implementation of LCE, presented in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Ten belief domains selected for investigation

Beliefs about: Belief dimensions Categories from Literature

Worldview dimensions

1-Equality • Views about children’s value and learning ability based on caste/ gender/ community

Democratic beliefs _Ontology 2-Relationships • Hierarchical vs. democratic relationships

– in society, school, classroom • Beliefs about discipline and behaviour

management

3-Diversity • Valuing diversity vs. uniformity 4-Knowledge • Source and nature of knowledge and

learning

• Beliefs about learning and learners/ children

Epistemological beliefs

Epistemology

5-Purpose • Purpose of life, work, education

Pedagogical beliefs (Teacher efficacy beliefs) Teleology 6-Responsibility for learning outcomes

• Teachers’ duty as completing syllabus vs. ensuring learning outcomes 7-Professionalism • Integrity, work ethic, accountability

82 8-Teaching as

vocation

• Motivation and commitment for teaching • Views teaching as job for individual

advancement, vs. calling to serve society Professional

Identity beliefs Axiology 9-Time • Concern for effective use of time

10-Change • Valuing change vs. maintaining status quo

• Openness to change (social/ educational)

• Possibility/ personal responsibility for change

I also analysed and coded the assumptions of NCF 2005 regarding each of the ten belief categories selected for this study, in order to determine what would be a ‘learner-centred’ perspective on these issues as defined by NCF. This allowed me to explore the extent to which teachers agreed with these LCE assumptions of policy documents (RQ1). These are presented in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: Beliefs of NCF 2005 regarding the 10 belief domains

Belief Domains NCF 2005 Beliefs

1-Equality “All [children] have the ability and the right to learn” (14) 2-Democratic

relationships

“The classroom needs to nurture a democratic, flexible and accepting culture, so also the school institution and the bureaucratic

structure…Relationships…must be informed by equality and mutual respect, and decision-making must be on the basis of dialogue and discussion” (98) 3-Diversity “Differences between students must be viewed as resources for supporting

learning rather than as a problem” (16). “When children of different backgrounds study together, it improves the overall quality of learning and enriches the school ethos” (103)

4-Knowledge “learning and knowledge are to be sought out, authenticated and thereby constructed, and neither the textbook nor the teacher is an authority.” (20) “need to recognise the child as a natural learner, and knowledge as the outcome of the child’s own activity.” (12)

5-Purpose “Education should aim to build a commitment to these [constitutional] values” (10-11), [and] “should function as an instrument of social transformation”(7). “Education is concerned with preparing citizens for a meaningful and productive life.” (71)

6-Responsibility for learning outcomes

“Children do not fail, they only indicate failure of the school” (84). “The child’s performance needs to be treated as an indicator of systemic quality” (8). 7-Professionalism “Teaching needs to be seen as a professional activity”(viii)

8-Vocation “The availability of qualified and motivated teachers who perceive teaching as a career option…[is] a necessary precondition for quality” (8)

9-Time “Planning and designing of learning activities…need to ensure that children’s time on task is maximised” (96)

10-Change “A predisposition towards social change must be viewed as core components

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Ten pedagogy indicators

Kagan (1990) recommends that teacher beliefs studies should define desirable beliefs and behaviours in terms of a specific pedagogical framework, in order to establish specific criteria for judging behaviours and beliefs. For the purpose of identifying a set of observable indicators for assessing the extent of learner-centred pedagogy of teachers in this study, I conducted a thematic analysis of NCF and RTE to unpack key dimensions of LCE practice as laid out in these two documents. The documents were coded using five broad pedagogic categories: curricular goals, materials, methods, relationships, and assessment. These categories are similar to those Alexander (2000) describes as the building blocks of teaching: task (goals), activity (methods), interaction (relationships) and judgment (assessment), along with teaching frame and form. The coding using these five categories resulted in ten themes that describe LCE as envisioned by NCF and RTE, based on which the classroom observation tools were designed:

(1) holistic learning outcomes

(2) linking learning to students’ daily lives and communities (3) using a variety of learning materials

(4) involving students’ own exploration, active participation and peer collaboration (5) building on students’ existing knowledge and prior experiences

(6) generating students’ interest and cognitive engagement in the learning task; (7) encouraging critical questioning by students

(8) a loving and fear-free emotional environment

(9) an environment that is democratic and inclusive for every child (10) continuous formative assessment

Table 4.3 lists supporting quotes from NCF and RTE for each of these themes. These ten themes also capture all the dimensions of LCE delineated by Schweisfurth (2013) and Small (2011).

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Table 4.3: Basis for selection of ten LCE-Pedagogy Indicators

LCE-Pedagogy Indicators

NCF 2005 Quotes RTE 2009 Quotes

1. Holistic Learning Outcomes

“The object of democratic education is the full, all-round development of every individual’s personality” (8).

“making connections across disciplines and bringing out the interrelatedness of knowledge.”(33)

“All-round development of the child….development of physical and mental abilities to the fullest extent” (29.2)

2. Linking learning to students’ daily lives and communities

“we emphasise the significance of contextualising education: of situating learning in the context of the child's world, and of making the boundary between the school and its natural and social

environment porous”(30)

Communities to be closely involved in school management (21.2, 22) and in discussing children’s learning progress (24e)

3. Using a variety of learning materials

“Preparing a variety of…textbooks… [and] other materials, to promote children’s creativity, participation and interest” (94) “children…encouraged to seek out knowledge from sites other than the textbook, [where] neither textbook nor teacher is an authority” (20)

All schools must meet certain infrastructure norms including playgrounds, libraries, teaching- learning equipment, play material and sports equipment (19, 25) 4. Involving students’ own exploration, active participation and peer collaboration

“The physical activity of moving, exploring and doing things on one's own, with one’s peers or…adults, and using language - to read, express or ask, listen and interact - are the key processes through which learning occurs.” (18)

“Learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a child-centred and child-friendly manner” (29.2)

5. Building on students’ existing knowledge and prior experiences

“Learners actively construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas to existing ideas” (17)

6. Generating students’ cognitive engagement and interest

“Learning must provide variety and challenge, and be interesting and engaging.” (16)

7. Encouraging critical questioning by students

“Critical pedagogy has to be practised in all dimensions of school education” (6); “to see social issues from different perspectives and understand how such issues are connected to their lives” (23); “encouraging questions and leaving space open for the pursuit of new questions.” (33)

8. An emotional environment that is loving and free from fear

“Children will learn only in an atmosphere where they feel they are valued” (14) “An enabling learning environment is one where children feel secure, where there is absence of fear...where children can ask questions freely,…making errors and mistakes”(82)

“Making the child free from fear, trauma and anxiety, and helping the child to express views freely” (29.2). “No physical punishment or mental harassment” (17)

9. An environment that is democratic and inclusive for every child

A policy of inclusion needs to be

implemented in all schools and throughout our education system… Inclusive education is about embracing all. Accept difference… celebrate diversity. (84)

“Ensure that the child belonging to weaker section

and…disadvantaged group are not discriminated against” (8c,9c)

85 10. Continuous

formative assessment

“The purpose of assessment is…to improve the teaching-learning process and materials…routine activities can be employed effectively to assess learning.” (72)

“Provide for comprehensive and continuous assessment …and supplement additional instruction where needed (29.2)