Volume : IX, Issue : II, February - 2019

Inclusive Classroom and Social Diversity: Myths and Challenges

Dr. Priti Chaudhari

Abstract :

Today, many children, across the country come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, such as Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities; ethnic and religious minorities, economically weaker sections (EWS), migrant labourers, nomadic and de–notified tribes, urban poor, children with special needs (CWSN) and so on. Although children of these communities are enrolled in school, they face the danger of dropping out. Many of them live in extremely vulnerable socio–economic conditions and face a serious threat to their universal rights, such as a school education. From a learner’s point of view, TE, 2009 provides a legal framework to make school admission, attendance and completion compulsory. It is now a widely recognized fact that glå achievement gaps exist between the children of marginalized and non–marginalized communities (GOI, 2009). In fact, in recent decades, various studies, reports and documents have revealed that in the classroom, curriculum delivery and pedagogy in contemporary mainstream government schools in India, children—especially those belonging to the marginalized communities—are subjected to various forms of discrimination and humiliation which severely affects their self–respect and self–confidence. Children have narrated painful stories of their experiences in the classroom and shown their resentment to this, as well as towards the teachers (Probe Report, 1999; Nambissan, 2001; Govinda, 2002). Some children have undergone violent experiences inflicted by teachers as well as their classmates from dominant castes. A study of schools in Uttar Pradesh by Dreze and Gazdar (1996) reported that teachers refused to touch SC children. They were subjected to verbal abuse and physical punishment by teachers, and were frequently beaten by their upper–caste classmates. Recognizing the complex of issues regarding teacher based practices the RTE Act, 2009 makes It talks about the pedagogic factors that prevent learners, especially those belonging to disadvantaged social backgrounds, from a comprehensive and continuous elementary education, in the context of ensuring quality education for all. NCF 2005 also attempted to address the issue of “child–friendly” teaching–learning. NCF 2005 makes a series of observations and suggestions about pedagogy, curriculum, teaching–learning material, and classroom and school environments

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

INCLUSIVE CLASSROOM AND SOCIAL DIVERSITY: MYTHS AND CHALLENGES, Dr. Priti Chaudhari INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH : Volume-9 | Issue-2 | February-2019

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