New learner subjects? Reforming the rural child for a modern India

Abstract

This article discusses findings from an ethnographic study of schooling in India to reflect on the ways in which new learner subjects – the ideal citizens of the future – are constructed by education reforms in poor, rural communities. The concerns of the article are framed by the significant economic growth and social modernisation occurring in India, particularly for the expanding urban middle classes. The rural poor have been largely excluded from India's narrative of development and modernisation. This article asks, then, what kind of citizen-subject does schooling for the poor in India seek to produce? It focuses on the intentions and effects of child-centred pedagogic programmes in rural primary schools in the south Indian state of Karnataka. The analysis shows that in order for democratic and egalitarian education ideals to become more fully realised in these school contexts, teachers need to be supported to engage critically with the deep social stratifications in Indian society which continue to marginalise the rural poor.

Keywords:

• progressive education
• development reform
• education for all
• rural schooling
• pedagogic identities
• India

Notes

1. A pseudonym has been used for the LC program to protect the identities of the schools and teachers involved in the study, since it was a much smaller programme at the time of fieldwork.