Click Below to View my Blog
Archived Posts are on the Right Side
Research Question
In order to add focus to the International Field Experience, IREX asked each Fellow to decide on a single research question. My research question evolved during my time in India. Originally, my research focus on the perceptions that Indian students had about the school experiences of American students. My interest in this question was sparked by the film 2 Million Minutes. This 2008 documentary film produced by Robert A. Compton compared the high school experiences of high school students in the U.S., China and India. Two millions minutes is the approximate amount of time a student spends in high school. It is a fascinating film and worth watching. To find the information I needed, I would need to have long and frank conversations with a variety of Indian students. Unfortunately, the structure of my visits never really lead to these open conversations. There were several impediments. First, I would have to gain the trust of a small group of students. Second, the students would need to be proficient enough in English to communicate their thoughts and ideas. Third, I would have to have time with these students in an atmosphere where they felt comfortable having this conversation.
It was this last impediment that derailed this research topic. Despite spending numerous hours with students, there never was an extended time for me to explore this question in a comfortable setting. I found that the formality of the student-teacher relationship is such that students were not willing to express themselves in a less formal way when one of their teachers was present. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to interact with a small group of students outside the presence of their teachers. I have to admit that it was a little frustrating not being able to follow through on this research question.
As a result, I developed a second and very timely research question based on another topic of interest. The second question was inspired by the work of American education expert Jonathan Kozol. In a number of his books including Savage Inequalities Kozol explores the impact of income inequality on the education of American students. His thesis is that wealthy students in the U.S. receive a superior education than students from lower economic strata. This is certainly a relevant question in the U.S. today. As I traveled and visited schools and observed students in India, it became clear that it is a timely and relevant question in India as well.
Thus, my research question evolved into to what degree does income inequality impact the education of Indian students?
In 2009, the Indian Parliament passed the Right to Education Act (RTE) which guaranteed a free and appropriate education to every child in India ages 6 to 14 regardless of class or gender. It should be noted that in many states this was already happening. The 2009 act guaranteed this right on the national level. An interesting caveat to this act was that even private schools would have to reserve 25% of their seats to children from poor families and that the tuition for these students would be paid for by the government. I am sure that RTE will improve quality of education for poor children but it will take time. My observations of four schools indicate that there is a highly stratified system of education which in part is based on income but may be far more complex when the fading remnants of the caste system are considered.
Here are my observations of four schools I visited. Note that my observations are anecdotal and I did not collect any hard scientific data during my stay.
I had the opportunity to visit Aura Edify School in Penambi, Perinthalmanna in the state of Kerala. Aura Edify is a private for profit school with a global focus. Students must apply to the school and admission is selective. Class sizes are small by Indian standards and the buildings are new, bright and technology friendly. Tuition for high school students is 1,100,000 Indian Rupees which translates into about $17,000 American dollars per year. Bear in mind that the average income in India is $616 American dollars per year. I had the opportunity to speak with the school director who stated that “American” teaching methods were emphasized. The school was very appealing, the staff well trained and the pedagogy was very impressive as expected for the costs. This type of education is available to only the most financially elite Indians. There was no indication that scholarships were available for financially challenged students. As a private for profit school, Aura Edify was not required to reserve 25% of the seats for low socio-economic status students.
I spent the majority of my time in school in India at the Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central Government) School in Malappuram in the state of Kerala where I was assigned to spend a week with Mr. V.I. Thomas, a distinguished teacher at the school who had participated in the U.S. State Department’s International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) which is also administered by IREX. As a selected participant in ILEP Mr. Thomas spent five months in 2014 in the U.S. learning at Kent State University and teaching at McKinley High School in Mantua, Ohio. Kendriya Vidyalaya School is administered by the federal government and teaches an advanced curriculum. The school caters to federal government employees including defense employees but also admits students from the general population. The school as well as individual teachers, including Mr. Thomas, regularly receives awards for high test scores and this is very important to the school. The Kendriya School participates in the RTE and admits poorer students but these students still must meet the admissions criteria. As a side note, Mr. Thomas pointed out that there were several students who had physical disabilities but I surmised that students with cognitive challenges went to other schools. There did not appear to be a special education staff in the school. There is a tuition requirement at the school as well which may have burdened many families. My analysis of the Kendriya School is that it served higher achieving students from government families as well as the general public. Classes are taught in English which is taught at the school. The entire faculty spoke fluent English. Class size was large and I observed a class of 58 students learning Sanskrit. Some technology was present at the school in several rooms that were specifically dedicated as technology centers.
I visited two schools which served primarily poor students including one in Bangalore and another in Malappuram. It was clear that these state government schools served a much higher percentage of students from lower economic strata than either the Aura Edify School or the Kendriya Vidyalya School. At the school in Bangalore, some students did not wear shoes, a construction project was underway immediately adjacent to the school which disrupted learning and teachers expressed concern about student attendance and admitted that they helped pay for student bus fare with their salaries. There was a room at the school which had a sign that read “Computer Lab” but the troom was locked. At the government school in Malappuram, we visited during a rolling black out and students were seated in the in almost absolute darkness as the classroom windows were small and did not allow much natural light. At this school, my American teacher partner and I were asked to help inaugurate the new “English” club which I would equate with a world language club typical on U.S. schools. In meeting the faculty at the school, it was clear that only a few of the teachers spoke English. In fact, a teacher from the Kendriya School who accompanied us on this visit noted that the teacher who was charged with teaching English to the students did not speak English well. In fact, teachers in India can be qualified after just tenth grade with an additional three years of training. This education would be less than the equivalent of an associate’s degree in the U.S. It was clear from my discussions with various teachers in India that the least qualified teachers were found in the government schools. I did not observe any advanced technology at with of these schools.
Based on my anecdotal observations from my short time in India, I can only conclude that social strata in India is a very important factor in India. Students in the poorer schools learn in vastly inferior facilities, are far more likely to come from poor families and have teachers with less teacher training. These are the conditions that are attempting to be addressed by the The Right to Education Act. Without question, social class has a huge impact on the student experience in India.
It was this last impediment that derailed this research topic. Despite spending numerous hours with students, there never was an extended time for me to explore this question in a comfortable setting. I found that the formality of the student-teacher relationship is such that students were not willing to express themselves in a less formal way when one of their teachers was present. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to interact with a small group of students outside the presence of their teachers. I have to admit that it was a little frustrating not being able to follow through on this research question.
As a result, I developed a second and very timely research question based on another topic of interest. The second question was inspired by the work of American education expert Jonathan Kozol. In a number of his books including Savage Inequalities Kozol explores the impact of income inequality on the education of American students. His thesis is that wealthy students in the U.S. receive a superior education than students from lower economic strata. This is certainly a relevant question in the U.S. today. As I traveled and visited schools and observed students in India, it became clear that it is a timely and relevant question in India as well.
Thus, my research question evolved into to what degree does income inequality impact the education of Indian students?
In 2009, the Indian Parliament passed the Right to Education Act (RTE) which guaranteed a free and appropriate education to every child in India ages 6 to 14 regardless of class or gender. It should be noted that in many states this was already happening. The 2009 act guaranteed this right on the national level. An interesting caveat to this act was that even private schools would have to reserve 25% of their seats to children from poor families and that the tuition for these students would be paid for by the government. I am sure that RTE will improve quality of education for poor children but it will take time. My observations of four schools indicate that there is a highly stratified system of education which in part is based on income but may be far more complex when the fading remnants of the caste system are considered.
Here are my observations of four schools I visited. Note that my observations are anecdotal and I did not collect any hard scientific data during my stay.
I had the opportunity to visit Aura Edify School in Penambi, Perinthalmanna in the state of Kerala. Aura Edify is a private for profit school with a global focus. Students must apply to the school and admission is selective. Class sizes are small by Indian standards and the buildings are new, bright and technology friendly. Tuition for high school students is 1,100,000 Indian Rupees which translates into about $17,000 American dollars per year. Bear in mind that the average income in India is $616 American dollars per year. I had the opportunity to speak with the school director who stated that “American” teaching methods were emphasized. The school was very appealing, the staff well trained and the pedagogy was very impressive as expected for the costs. This type of education is available to only the most financially elite Indians. There was no indication that scholarships were available for financially challenged students. As a private for profit school, Aura Edify was not required to reserve 25% of the seats for low socio-economic status students.
I spent the majority of my time in school in India at the Kendriya Vidyalaya (Central Government) School in Malappuram in the state of Kerala where I was assigned to spend a week with Mr. V.I. Thomas, a distinguished teacher at the school who had participated in the U.S. State Department’s International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) which is also administered by IREX. As a selected participant in ILEP Mr. Thomas spent five months in 2014 in the U.S. learning at Kent State University and teaching at McKinley High School in Mantua, Ohio. Kendriya Vidyalaya School is administered by the federal government and teaches an advanced curriculum. The school caters to federal government employees including defense employees but also admits students from the general population. The school as well as individual teachers, including Mr. Thomas, regularly receives awards for high test scores and this is very important to the school. The Kendriya School participates in the RTE and admits poorer students but these students still must meet the admissions criteria. As a side note, Mr. Thomas pointed out that there were several students who had physical disabilities but I surmised that students with cognitive challenges went to other schools. There did not appear to be a special education staff in the school. There is a tuition requirement at the school as well which may have burdened many families. My analysis of the Kendriya School is that it served higher achieving students from government families as well as the general public. Classes are taught in English which is taught at the school. The entire faculty spoke fluent English. Class size was large and I observed a class of 58 students learning Sanskrit. Some technology was present at the school in several rooms that were specifically dedicated as technology centers.
I visited two schools which served primarily poor students including one in Bangalore and another in Malappuram. It was clear that these state government schools served a much higher percentage of students from lower economic strata than either the Aura Edify School or the Kendriya Vidyalya School. At the school in Bangalore, some students did not wear shoes, a construction project was underway immediately adjacent to the school which disrupted learning and teachers expressed concern about student attendance and admitted that they helped pay for student bus fare with their salaries. There was a room at the school which had a sign that read “Computer Lab” but the troom was locked. At the government school in Malappuram, we visited during a rolling black out and students were seated in the in almost absolute darkness as the classroom windows were small and did not allow much natural light. At this school, my American teacher partner and I were asked to help inaugurate the new “English” club which I would equate with a world language club typical on U.S. schools. In meeting the faculty at the school, it was clear that only a few of the teachers spoke English. In fact, a teacher from the Kendriya School who accompanied us on this visit noted that the teacher who was charged with teaching English to the students did not speak English well. In fact, teachers in India can be qualified after just tenth grade with an additional three years of training. This education would be less than the equivalent of an associate’s degree in the U.S. It was clear from my discussions with various teachers in India that the least qualified teachers were found in the government schools. I did not observe any advanced technology at with of these schools.
Based on my anecdotal observations from my short time in India, I can only conclude that social strata in India is a very important factor in India. Students in the poorer schools learn in vastly inferior facilities, are far more likely to come from poor families and have teachers with less teacher training. These are the conditions that are attempting to be addressed by the The Right to Education Act. Without question, social class has a huge impact on the student experience in India.