Abstract
This book analyses how, since the 1990s, child-centred ideas have been used in international development discourses on education, promising more democratic and egalitarian schooling. This first chapter discusses the tensions created for primary school teachers in rural Indian contexts by the new authority relations sought in child-centred reforms. In doing so, the chapter raises questions about the social and material conditions required to sustain pedagogic change in development contexts. These questions frame the book’s analysis of two child-centred programs, Nali Kali and LC, implemented in rural government primary schools in Karnataka, India. As the overarching question of this book, this chapter poses: What is the relationship between child-centred education and development for the poor?
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Notes
- 1.
According to 2008 survey data, 71.8% of children aged between 6 and 14 years are enrolled in government schools across India (ASER 2008).
- 2.
The pseudonym LC has been used in order to protect the identities of teachers and project officers working with the smaller-scale programme.
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Sriprakash, A. (2012). Introduction: Pedagogy and Development. In: Pedagogies for Development. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2669-7_1
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