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India - the paradoxes

8/7/2015

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Posted By Erik Remsen
First a disclaimer: the inspiration and thinking behind this post are not mine. Instead, the credit goes to Maya Menon, of the Teacher Foundation in Bangalore, who spoke to my TGC group about the paradoxes of India. She raised many interesting points that are worth sharing and I've tried to find some of my pictures to better illustrate the paradoxes. 
WEALTH & POVERTY
The two pictures above were taken in Delhi about a block apart from each other. The first is the lobby of the hotel that our group of teachers was staying in and the second is of two men carrying a small clothes dresser down the sidewalk next to a small slum area. While there is extreme wealth, there is also extreme poverty, and I often observed the two almost side-by-side throughout India. In this case, the posh hotel and ramshackle slum share the same street in the capital city.  
BEAUTY & UGLINESS
The picture on the left should be instantly recognizable as the Taj Majal, one of the most well-known structures in the world. The other picture is a roadside trash pile in Delhi that spills onto the sidewalk. This contrast between beauty and ugliness is another of India's paradoxes. The country has both man-made beauty (such as the Taj Majal) and physical beauty in abundance, and yet there seems to little interest in keeping public areas clean. I saw lots of litter, pollution, as well as public urination throughout my trip.  
URBAN & RURAL
India has 1.2 billion people, and in less than 15 years it will likely be the world's most populous country. The vast size of the cities and the cacophony of noise are likely to shock any Vermonter visiting for the first time. Despite the enormous population there are still places, such as areas in the Western Ghats between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, that still retain natural beauty.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
The picture on the left is a small cluster of shelters underneath the Delhi Metro. There is one child in the picture next to a man in what might be called an open kitchen. That child is unlikely to receive the same educational opportunities as the girls in the picture on the right at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Malapurram School. They have parents who could afford the expense of sending their children to this school. They attend a school with decent resources, SmartBoards and a computer labs, for example. It is a school that seeks to enhance learning through teacher exchanges; our host teacher had taught in Ohio for 5 months in 2014. It is a school that conducts instruction in three languages (Malayalam, Hindi, and English). Finally, it has a good track record at sending students to post-secondary education. All of these things help to ensure these girls will be able to succeed in the world once they are finished with school. What education awaits the child on the left? 

India has a track record of producing outstanding students who shine even when measured on the world stage. India produces some brilliant students, but it also offers little opportunity to those who do not have the means to access it. India has 450 million students under the age of 18 (that's larger than the entire population of the United States) and they do not all have equal access to education, yet. 
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The look of education

4/7/2015

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Posted by Erik Remsen
What does education look like? During my three weeks in India, I saw a lot of similarities between education in India and the United States. Students are students wherever they are in the world and their curiosity exists regardless of nationality. Subjects like math, science, and social studies are also pretty much universal. On the other hand, I saw a lot of things that looked very different.  Class sizes of 40 to 50 were the norm and because of the climate, schools are constructed differently in India. (Cooling, not heating, is the priority.) Teachers in India also have very little discretion about what and how they teach due to end of the year tests that are of great importance for students, teachers, and schools. 

While capturing education in images is difficult, I've made a mediocre attempt by gathering together a few sets of images. Below are some pictures of what education at Rutland High School looks like:
At RHS, education goes beyond the core subjects. Art, music, theater, and athletics are considered part of education. Students are also being given increasing voice in what and how they learn. Additionally students, on occasion, take on the role of teacher and educate other students. 

In India, I visited schools that are completely publicly funded, schools that are private schools, and schools that are financed through a combination of public funding and private tuition. Below are pictures of schools students can attend if parents can afford the tuition costs. 
At these schools, students have resources similar to those available to U.S. students. However, class size is often much larger and most classes have the teacher as the focal point, sometimes on a raised platform. Most classes are in the lecture format with great emphasis on memorization so that high results can be achieved on the end of the year tests.  

Finally, the following are pictures of public primary schools in India.
These schools often lack the resources of private schools, but they function in a similar manner. In all Indian schools, discipline is emphasized and seen in the everything from the straight rows of students during morning assembly to the rules about how students must walk through the halls (hands behind the back, no running). Respect is also of the utmost importance and all teachers are addressed as "sir'" or "madam." 

Is either country 'doing' education right? Has education developed, in both countries, based on their culture, history, and economy and therefore uniquely fitted to each place? Are there things to be learned from each other that can improve our respective education systems? My answers to these questions: no, probably, and yes, without a doubt.   
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