Situating teacher education in the Indian context: A paradigm shift
Bharati Baveja — University of Delhi, Delhi.
Our everyday observations of most individuals irrespective
of age, gender or class, witness a striving to contemplate or at least
acknowledge the
experience
of something that is convincingly real and yet denied as reality by the (so
called) mainstream intellectual traditions. Based on some empirical data, the
paper argues
that the urge to address the issue of ‘higher’ self or consciousness
is ubiquitous, albeit, unexpressed by the majority. The need to create space
for deliberations on this issue has been silently and sometimes overtly expressed
by individuals and therefore it can no longer be brushed aside under the garb
of scientifically invalid subject matter or secular education.. The method
of science as the method of inquiry has failed to deal with the complexities
of
life and nature. I take a stance expected from a student of education in India
and consider promotion of a discourse in teacher education, which places Indian
traditions and contexts in the center-stage. Education is an ‘organic
subject’ which
has to essentially emerge from the ethos and realities of the context. The
theories taught in the teacher education programs do not work well in the Indian
classroom.
The paper thus makes a case for the need to develop a discourse on education
including teacher education, as a distinct area of study, which emerges from,
takes shape in, and addresses the Indian context.
Email the author: "Prof. Bharati Baveja" <scbaveja@vsnl.com>
This paper was presented at the
National Conference on
Indian Psychology, Yoga and Consciousness
Pondicherry (India), 10-13 December 2004
