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Indian Social Studies Curriculum in Transition: Effects of a Paradigm Shift in Curriculum Discourse

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Curriculum in International Contexts

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Abstract

In this chapter, Kumar discusses the effects of changing curriculum reforms on the curricular discourse related to social studies education in India. He conducts a comparative content analysis of two major curriculum reform documents, National Curriculum Framework 2000 and National Curriculum Framework 2005, highlighting a paradigm shift in social studies education in India—a shift from “traditional social studies instruction” to “critical social studies.” The chapter also reports the results of interviews and a focus-group discussion with social studies schoolteachers to examine the impact of these curricular reforms on the lived experiences in the classroom. Findings indicate that although the NCF 2005 textbooks are student-centred, interactive, and critically oriented, many concerns remain to be addressed. Among these concerns are teachers’ lack of adequate training and time, the dearth of resources, and the predominance of a behaviouristic-positivistic and examination-focused system that still views curriculum and teaching as atheoretical, apolitical, and ahistorical processes.

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    Ashwani Kumar

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Kumar, A. (2019). Indian Social Studies Curriculum in Transition: Effects of a Paradigm Shift in Curriculum Discourse. In: Curriculum in International Contexts. Curriculum Studies Worldwide. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01983-9_6

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