Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 1
INDEX
Sl. No. Paper Title Author Page No.
1. IMPACT OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY
ON CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING OF
PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS
Salma Naseem & Dr.
Beermati Singh
2-11
2. PROFILE OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHER
EDUCATORS ON SELECTED
PARAMETERS
Prof. Chhaya Goel &
Prof. D.R. Goel
12-22
3. ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS
AMONG STUDENTS OF SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Dr. Sunita Singh & Dr.
V.K. Singh
23-33
4. QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: AN
OVERVIEW
Dr. Vijay Jaiswal 34-71
5. MATHEMATICS “CONTENT
KNOWLEDGE” AND “PEDAGOGICAL
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE”
Dr. Ritu Bala 72-79
6. DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED
DISPLACEMENT, DEPRIVATION AND
PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT IN ASSAM
Pallavi Hazarika 80-86
7. ROLE OF TEACHER EDUCATORS/ K-12
EDUCATORS: PREPARATION &
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sarmila Banerjee 87-97
8. CONSTRUCTIVISM IN SCHOOLS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER
EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
Ms Sonal Chabra, Ms
Chetna & Dr. Manorama
Mathur
98-110
9. MOVEMENT FOR GLOBALIZING NEXT
GENERATION EDUCATION @ ICT
Dr. Asheesh Srivastava 111-117
10. A CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF
CONSTRUCTIVIST PEDAGOGY
Dr. Deepa Mehta 118-128
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 2
IMPACT OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY ON CREATIVE PROBLEM
SOLVING OF PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS
Salma Naseem1
Beermati Singh2
Abstract
Creative Problem Solving is a method of finding innovative approaches for resolution of a
problem. Instead of just relying on traditional ideas to resolve a problem, the creative
approach encourages people to participate in a dynamic setting, which encourages new ideas
and new approaches. New and creative ideas improve the organizational success and provide
an edge over the competitive world, Not all the persons possess creative ability to equal
degree. Personality, intelligence, motivation and cognitive style positively affect creative
problem solving. Since problem solving requires huge fund of information, internet use may
also be one of the factors of creative problem solving. The present study explores the role of
internet use in creative problem solving of professional students. Four hundred students of
six management and four engineering colleges constitute the sample of the study. Data were
collected through systematic random sampling technique. Tools, Sarjanatmak Samadhan
Yogyta and Internet Use Questionnaire, developed by the investigator, were used for data
collection. Results revealed significant differences in Creative Problem Solving of more and
less internet user professional students, of more and less internet user professional boys as
well as more and less internet user girls. More opportunity of internet use to practice,
explore and seek new information for developing better creative problem solving ability is
suggested.
Key Words: Creative Problem Solving, Internet Use, Professional students
1 Dr. Salma Naseem, Lecturer,Karamat Hussain Muslim Girls PG College, Lucknow
2 Dr. Beermati Singh, Director Amity Institute of Education, Amity University Uttar Pradesh
, Lucknow Campus, Gomti Nagar Extension Lucknow
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 3
Creative problem solving is a powerful tool to help individuals, groups and
organizations to manage change. It provides a broad framework and tools for identifying
and defining problems and opportunities, generating high quality solutions resulting into
effective implementation. Creative problem solving (CPS) helps in changing the system
and the demand for novelty. It is powerful and flexible process for transforming ideas into
action.
Since creative problem solving is based on natural creative processes it can be easily
learned and quickly applied. It can be used directly in the classrooms where special units and
courses related to creative problem solving are directly taught to students and learning
objectives attained. It can be used indirectly where students encounter practical problems and
challenges and they are encouraged to generate ideas and find solutions. It can also be used
for professional development of employees where through brain storming new ideas are
generated. Through CPS solutions for institutions, region or state can be found. It is useful to
manage variety of organizational changes such as building continuous improvement
programmes developing a new shared vision and helping the implementation of quality
programmes.
Seeing its utility in institutions and organizations researchers have taken keen
interest in exploring the factors that affect creative problem solving . Efforts have also been
made in knowing the ways through which it can be developed. Intelligence, motivation,
personality, cognitive style, positive affect (Isen, Daubman and Nowicki, 1987) are closely
associated to creative problem solving. Belief and confidence in intelligence (Cho &Lin
,2010) also affect it positively. Since understanding and seeing its various links to different
solutions need huge find of information, it is quite possible that technology, especially
internet which provides lot of a information in shortest span of time ,may be an important
source of generating solutions to the problem being undertaken. Present study seeks to
explore the role of internet technology in creative problem solving of professional students.
Statement of the Problem :
The problem of the study has been specifically stated as under:
“Impact of Internet Technology on Creative Problem Solving of Students of
Professional Students .”
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 4
Definition of the terms :
Internet Technology :
Internet Technology refers to that worldwide computer communication which is used by
students for educational purposes.
Creative Problem Solving :
Creative Problem Solving refers to that mental process which is related to creation of original
solution of a problem. It functions through various stages like mess finding, data finding,
problem finding, idea finding, solution finding and acceptance finding.
Professinal Students:
Professional students refer to the undergraduate and post graduate students of Engineering
and Management of various institutions of Lucknow city.
Objectives :
1. To find out the difference in creative problem solving of engineering and management
students
2. To study the difference in creative problem solving of high and low internet user
professional students.
3. To find out the difference in creative problem solving of high and low internet user
male students.
4. To find out the difference in creative problem solving of high & low internet user
female students.
Hypotheses :
1. There will be significant difference in creative problem solving of professional
students of Engineering and Management streams
2. There will be significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low
internet user professional students.
3. There will be significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low
internet user professional male students.
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 5
4. There will be significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low
internet user professional female students.
Methodology
The design of the study is ex post facto, where the impact of internet technology on
creative problem solving has been studied. Independent variables of the study are1. Internet
use 2.gender and 3. academic stream. Dependent variable is creative problem solving.
Four hundred students of six management institutes and four engineering colleges
constitute the sample for the study. Sample has been selected through systematic random
sampling technique. Two tools ,namely Sarjanatmak Samasya Samaadhan Mapni, and
Internet use Questionnaire , developed by the researchers have been used for data collection.
Validity of the Creative Problem Solving scale is very high. All the items which have been
found significant at .01 level during item total and item dimension correlation have been
retained. Reliability by Rulan Flanagan was .89, which was very high. Similarly, items of
Internet Use Questionnaire were found highly reliable at .01 level in item total and item
dimension correlation. Rulan Flanagan revealed coefficient 0.95, which was very high. Data
were organized variable were and t-less was applied to test the significance of the difference
between means .
Results:
Table 1
Significance of difference in the internet use of Engineering and Management students
S.
No.
Groups N Mean SD t Significance
1 Management
Students
200 129.06 19.87
0.21
P>0.05
2. Engineering
Students
200 129.45 17.51
Table 2
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 6
Significance of difference in creative problem solving of High and Low Internet user
Professional students
S.
No.
Group N Mean SD t Significance
1 High Internet
user students
195 132.93 19.27
3.86
P<0.05
2. Low internet
user students
205 125.78 17.62
Table 3
Significance of difference in creative problem solving in creative problem solving of high
and low internet user professional male students
S.
No.
Group N Mean SD t Significance
1 High Internet
user male
138 130.75 19.54
2.43
P<0.05
2. Low internet
user male
142 125.25 18.16
Table 4
Significance of difference in creative problem solving of high and low internet user
professional female students
S. Group N Mean SD t Significance
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 7
No.
1 High Internet
user female
57 138.12 17.50
3.59
P<0.05
2. Low internet
user male
63 126.97 16.41
Table 1 reveals the significance difference is creative problem solving of engineering and
management students. It can be seen from the table that mean creative problem solving scores
of both the groups are 129.06 and 129.45 and SD for both the groups are 19.87 and 17.51
respectively .The ‘t’ value for significance of difference of both the groups is 0.21, which is
not significant at 0.05 level. The null hypothesis stating there is no significant difference in
creative problem solving of professional students of engineering and management students
is retained and it can be said that engineering and management students do not differ in their
creative problem solving ability.
It can be seen from Table 2 that mean and S D of high and low internet user
professional students are 132.93 and 125.78 and 19.27 and 17.62 respectively. The obtained
‘t’ value for the significance of the difference between two groups is 3.86 which is significant
at .05 level. Hence, the null hypotheses stating that there is no significant difference in the
creative problem solving of high and low internet user professional students is rejected and it
can be said that there exists a significant difference in creative problem solving of both the
groups.
Table 3 reveals the significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low
internet user male students. The mean of high and low internet user male students are 130.75,
125.25 and S D are 19.54, 18.16 respectively. The ‘t’ value for the significant of the
difference between two means is 2.43, which is significant at .05 level. The null hypothesis
stating that there is no significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low
internet user boys is ,therefore, rejected and it can be said that creative problem solving
ability of high and low internet user professional boys is significantly different.
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 8
Mean difference in creative problem solving of high and low internet user
professional female students have been presented in table 4. It can be seen from the table that
the mean and S D of high and low internet user girls are 138.12, 126.97 and 17.50 and 16.41
respectively. The ‘t’ value for the significance of the difference between two means is 3.59
which is significant at .05 levels. The null hypothesis stating there is no significant difference
in creative problem solving of high and low internet user professional girls is rejected and it
can be said that high and low internet user professional girls differ significantly or their
creative problem solving ability. .
Discussion :
Table 1 reveals similar level of creative problem solving of engineering and management
students. Perhaps, students of both the streams have same level of general information,
intelligence and maturity, which might have helped them in creative problem
solving.Intelligence,cognitive ability and creative thinking and problem solving ability are
positively related.(Ajwani,1979,Verma,1986,Dutt,1989, and Kumari,1991)Perhaps, similar
intellectual level and cognitive ability of stuents have resulted in similar level of creative
problem solving.Further ,as students of both the streams enter these programmes through
extensive preparation, they acquire similar kind of general information and may have been
similarly cognitive equipped through which they have tried to get the solution in a novel
manner. Despite disciplinary diversity they may not have gathered any specific information
in the different academic streams which may not have helped them solving problem in a
different manner.
Similar environment and instructional strategies of the institute may have been
another reason, where students may have been involved in similar kind of academic and co-
curricular activities. They may have participated in more interactive techniques or training as
brainstorming ,group discussion and shared decision making which might have affected their
creative problem solving ability.
Results of Table 2 have indicated that high internet users are significantly different
from their low internet user counter parts, As mentioned earlier data finding is one of the
major steps of creative problem solving. The students who use internet acquire more
information. This accumulated knowledge may have helped them in finding novel solution to
the encountered problem. Moreover , high internet use may have helped them in global
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 9
interaction, which might have also helped them securing vast information from various
sources and helped them in generating novel solution to the encountered problem.
Table 3 revealed that high internet user professional boys are different in creative
problem solving than low internet user boys, where high internet user boys are better in their
creative problem solving ability as competed to their low internet user counterparts. The
reason for the significant difference may be the same,i.e. accumulation of knowledge and
information gathered while surfing internet .If used judiciously internet usage provides lot of
information at a click, which forms the basis of emergence of creative solution to the
problems .Professional boys devote lot of time in using internet for their assignments,
projects and other academic tasks. During their search they get lot of general information as
well. Since all the students do not have equal aptitude and opportunity , all may not have
accumulated similar level of information. As a result, those of higher usage are better in
gathering information and gelling novel solution to their problems. Cheung (2008) has
reported positive correlation between knowledge and creativity. Like boys professional girls,
who are high internet user, are better in creative problem solving ability. It is evident that
internet use does play significant role in helping individuals to find a creative solution to a
problem. This is true for all irrespective of gender. Since nature and demand of courses of the
boys and girls is the same, both of them need internet similarly to enrich and update their
course material. Like boys girls also, who have better internet facilities at home or in the
hostels make comparatively more extensive use, are more equipped with the wide range of
information. Consequently, they become superior in creative problem solving ability as
compared to their less user counterparts.
Conclusions :
1. There is no difference in creative problem solving of engineering and management
students. Students of both the streams have been found similar in their creative
problem solving ability. Academic stream does not play any role in determining
creative problem solving ability of professional students.
2. There is significant difference in creative problem solving of high and low internet
user professional students. Students, who use internet more are better in creative
problem solving than those making less use.
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 10
3. High and low internet professional boys differ significantly in their creative problem
solving ability. Those making more use are better in ceative problem solving than
their less internet user counter parts.
4. High and low internet user girls also differ significantly in creative problem solving
ability. Girls who devote more time in using internet are better in creative problem
solving than those making less internet use.
Implications & Suggestions :
Since creative problem solving of professional students of engineering and
management streams has been found similar, this indicates that there are equal
opportunities of internet use and equal encouragement for new and bold solutions to
the challenges and problems encountered by students in their academic tasks. It is
suggested, therefore, that the institutes should continue encouraging students and
giving them freedom to work independently and welcome innovative thoughts and
ideas.
Results revealed that high internet professional students are better in creative problem
solving as compared to their less user counterparts. It is, therefore, recommended that
the students who lack internet facilities at home should be provided in the school.
Faculty should motivate such students to make maximum internet use for their
projects and assignments, in addition to the text and references books consulted by
them. This will help them securing boundless information, which well form the basis
of creative ideas. Moreover, adequate number of computer should be available in the
labs and each student should be provided with the laptops, if not provided in some
institutions so far. Wi-Fi facility is essential for easy access of internet, the speed and
regularity of that should be ensured. Less user students should be identified, and they
should be given extra time in net labs in addition to their class schedule.
Similar results have been found with high and low internet user boys and high and
low internet user girls. Present findings have special implications for girls, where less
internet user girls are not as good in creative problem solving as high user girls. Again
there is heed to identify such girls and know the reason of their low usage.
Restrictions of availing internet facilities outside home resulting in less usage may
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 11
be compensated by giving them additional time in the net labs. There they can
practice, explore, seek new information and can become more aware and recipient of
huge information, which will help them in becoming at per with those counterparts
who are extensively using internet.
References :
Ajwani, J.K. (1979) Problem solving behavior in relation to personality, intelligence
and age. In M.B. Buch (Ed.) 1986 Third Survey of Research in Education, New Delhi
: NCERT, 320-321
Cheung, P.K. (2008). Can creativity be learned : A knowledge management approach
to creativity support. Dissertation Abstract International, 68 (7), 3018 A .
Cho,S. Lin, C. (2010). Influence of family processes, motivation and beliefs about
intelligence on creative problem scientifically talented individuals. Roeper Review
33(1).
Dutt, Sunil (1989) The effect of problem-solving ability in science of high school
students In relation to anxiety level cognitive style and intelligence. In J.P. Snarma
(Ed.) 2000 Fifth Survey of Educational Research, 2, New Delhi: NCERT, 143.
Isen, A.M., Daubman K.A. Nowicki, GP, (1987) Positive affect facilitates creative
problem solving. Journal of Personality and Psychology 52 (6) 1122-31
Kumari V.M.P. (1991). Problem solving strategies and cognitive capabilities of
children of age group 10-12. In J.P. Sharma (Ed.) (2000). Fifth Survey of Educational
Research 2 New Delhi : NCERT, 992
Verma, S. (1986). Problem solving as related to intelligence and personality in
socially deprived and non-deprived children. In M.B. Buch (Ed.). (1991). Fourth
Survey of Research in Education, New Delhi : NCERT 213-214
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Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 12
PROFILE OF PROSPECTIVE TEACHER EDUCATORS ON SELECTED
PARAMETERS
Chhaya Goel3
D.R. Goel4
Teaching Aptitude (TA) is the potentiality in the areas of teaching interest, teaching
value, teaching attitude, teaching skill, generating, accessing, acquiring, analyzing, applying,
disseminating information, social sensitivity & sensibility, management ability and teaching
behavioural patterns. It is an innate capability-aptness, bent, faculty, flair, genius, gift,
instinct, knack, talent & inclination for teaching.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) describes an ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and
manage the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups. It is a relatively new area of
psychological research. It is the ability to monitor one's own and others' feelings and
emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and
actions.
Environmental Awareness (EA) is the sensitivity towards environment, understanding of the
environment and capability to sustain & better the environment. With the advent of 21st
Century, the environmental degeneration and decay are evident through endangered species,
air, water & soil pollution, non-bio-degradable massive waste, global warming, de-
forestation, green-washing, Employment of BT Technology, changes in architectural styles of
buildings, contamination due to micro-waves and industrial effluents.
Research Aptitude (RA) is the curiosity, unending quest to explore, to know, to establish
cause & effect relationship to reach the truth, to revisit the already established theories. The
search is not only to find, uncover and discover, but, also to construct & control.
The present study attempts to study the Teaching Aptitude, Emotional Quotient,
Environmental Awareness & Research Aptitude of the prospective Teacher Educators,
particularly, M.Ed. Scholars and explore the correlation amongst these factors.
Objectives of the Study:
3 Professor, CASE, The M S University of Baroda, Vadodara-390002
4 Professor, CASE, The M S University of Baroda, Vadodara- 390002
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 13
1. To study the profile of M.Ed. Scholars on Teaching Aptitude, Emotional Quotient,
Environmental Awareness and Research Aptitude.
2. To study the correlation between Teaching Aptitude, Emotional Quotient,
Environmental Awareness and Research Aptitude.
Nature of the Study:
It is a descriptive study attempting to study the profile of prospective Teacher Educators.
Sample for the Study:
Sample for the study is constituted of all the M.Ed. (2012-2013) Scholars of the Department
of Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, The M.S. University of Baroda,
Vadodara.
Tools for the Study:
The following tools were employed for the Study:
1. Teaching Aptitude Test (Mishra Renu, DAVV,1993)
2. Emotional Quotient Scale (Rambir, KUK, 2007)
3. Environmental Awareness Test (Self Constructed)
4. Research Aptitude Test (Self Constructed)
Data Analysis:
The data were analyzed through Mean, Median, Mode, SD, Maximum Score, Minimum
Score and Correlation. The data analysis is presented as follows:
A. Status on Teaching Aptitude:
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 14
The Mean, Median and Mode were found to be 42.42, 43, and 43, respectively out of the
maximum score of 50. The SD was 3.455. The maximum and minimum scores obtained by
the students were 48 & 30.
B. Status on Emotional Quotient
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
Teaching Aptitude
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
Emotional Quotient
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 15
The Mean, Median and Mode were found to be 163.9, 164,164 respectively out of the
maximum score of 220. The SD was 9.568. The maximum and minimum scores obtained by
the students were 180 & 145.
C. Status on Environmental Awareness
The Mean, Median and Mode were found to be 16.97, 17, 16 respectively out of the
maximum score of 28. The SD was 2.97. The maximum and minimum scores obtained by the
students were 25 & 11.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
Environmental Awareness
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 16
D. Status on Research Aptitude
The Mean, Median and Mode were found to be 13.61, 14, 11 respectively out of the
maximum score of 26. The SD was 3.34. The maximum and minimum scores obtained by the
students were 21 and 7.
E. Correlation between Teaching Aptitude & Emotional Quotient
The correlation between Teaching Aptitude and Emotional quotient was found to be 0.3203.
The value has not been found to be significant at .05 level against 32 degrees of freedom.
0
5
10
15
20
25
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
Research Aptitude
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
TA & EQ
TA Marks
EQ Marks
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 17
Though the Teaching Aptitude & Emotional Quotient have been found to be positively
correlated, but the correlation has not been found to be significant.
F. Correlation between Teaching Aptitude & Environmental Awareness
The correlation between Teaching Aptitude and Environmental Awareness was found to be
0.3045. The value has not been found to be significant at .05 level against 31 degrees of
freedom. Though the Teaching Aptitude & Environmental Awareness have been found to be
positively correlated, but the correlation has not been found to be significant.
G. Correlation between Teaching Aptitude & Research Aptitude
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
TA & EA
TA Marks
EA Marks
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
TA & RA
TA Marks
RA Marks
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 18
The correlation between Teaching Aptitude and Research Aptitude was found to be 0.3598.
The value has been found to be significant at .05 level against 31 degrees of freedom. The
Teaching Aptitude & Research Aptitude have been found to have significant +ve correlation.
H. Correlation between Emotional Quotient & Environmental Awareness
The correlation between Emotional quotient and Environmental Awareness was found to be
0.1288. The value has not been found to be significant at .05 level against 31 degrees of
freedom. Though the Emotional Quotient & Environmental Awareness have been found to
be positively correlated, but the correlation has not been found to be significant.
I. Correlation between Emotional Quotient & Research Aptitude
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
EQ & EA
EQ Marks
EA Marks
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 19
The correlation between Emotional quotient and Research Aptitude was found to be -.0622.
The value has not been found to be significant at .05 level against 31 degrees of freedom.
Though the Emotional Quotient & Research Aptitude have been found to be negatively
correlated, but the correlation has not been found to be significant. It seems higher is the
emotional quotient lower is the Research Aptitude. Research goes more with rational thinking
than emotional.
J. Correlation between Environmental Awareness and Research Aptitude
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
EQ & RA
EQ Marks
RA Marks
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
EA & RA
EA Marks
RA Marks
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 20
The correlation between Environmental Awareness & Research Aptitude was found to be
0.1128. The value has not been found to be significant at .05 level against 31 degrees of
freedom. Though the Environmental Awareness & Research Aptitude have been found to be
positively correlated, but the correlation has not been found to be significant.
K. Correlation amongst TA, EQ, EA & RA
Teaching Aptitude & Research Aptitude have been found to be significantly Positively
correlated, whereas, Emotional Quotient & Research Aptitude have been found to be
insignificantly negatively correlated. All the other factors have been found to be
insignificantly positively correlated.
Emerging Theses:
The profiles of M.Ed. Scholars have been found to be wanting in the areas of Environmental
Awareness. A large majority of them have not been in a position to respond correctly on
areas, namely, whether landfills are designed to help biodegradable waste decompose
quickly, whether green washing is an alternative to white washing, whether Expanded Poly
Styrene & Poly Propylene are recyclable, whether more than 50 million of Bangladeshis are
exposed to excessive Arsenic in their drinking water, which are the green House gases,
whether it takes more than 1 million years for a plastic plate to decompose, whether acid
rains cause most problems in Australia & California, which is the most beautiful,cleanest,
greenest planned city in India & which one is the most polluted, how the once common
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Sco
res
Students
TA, EQ, EA & RA
TA Marks
EQ Marks
EA Marks
RA Marks
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
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sparrows are now harder to see, how the honey bees are disappearning globe over, how the
fast food contributes to health, which are the endangered species, which substances are more
eco friendly, What is global warming due to. It seems insipite of Environmental education as
a Special area in Teacher Education, it has neither been in a position to develop
environmental awareness, nor environmental ethics. Even in the 21st century the Post
Graduate Students with Science background do not know the strutures of many a polymers,
such as, Expanded Polystyrene, PolyPropylene, Poly-Ethylene, Poly Vinayl Chloride.
a. Expanded Polystyrene
b. Polypropylene
Similar has been the status on Research Aptitude. The M.Ed. Scholars have been founding
wanting understanding of objectives of research, scales of measurement, relative weight &
density, phenomenology, data interpretation, contingent truths, info-savvy skills, and
constructivist approach.
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Teaching Aptitude & Research Aptitude have been found to be significantly positively
correlated, whereas, Emotional Quotient & Research Aptitude have been found to be
insignificantly negatively correlated. All the other factors have been found to be
insignificantly positively correlated. Looking into the magnitudes of correlation it seems that
Teaching Aptitude & Research Aptitude, as well as, Teaching Aptitude & Emotional
Quotient have togetherness, whereas, Emotional Quotient & Research Aptitude do not have
togetherness. It seems that the Research goes more with IQ than EQ.
Looking into the profiles of the M.Ed. Scholars on the factors considered, namely, Teaching
Aptitude, Emotional quotient, Environmental Awareness & Research Aptitude, it is evident
that a large majority of them are wanting in the areas of Environmental Awareness &
Research Aptitude.
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ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AMONG STUDENTS OF SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Dr. Sunita Singh5
Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh6
ABSTRACT
Environment is the sum total of conditions in which organisms live and carry on the
various life functions. In the recent world history of about 200 years rapid changes have
occurred in the environment throughout the globe. These changes have resulted into global
warming because of greenhouse gas emission, acidification of soil and water, drastic decline
in the quality of air, soil and water, reckless exploitation of natural resources stored in the
soil through mining activities, drastic changes in land use and land cover through over-
exploitation of natural resources leading to desertification of landscapes, associated rapid
depletion of biodiversity etc. Environmental Education is an integral part of the education
process. The objectives of environmental education include awareness, attitude, skills and
participation.
Environmental crisis or maladies are the foremost and the most persistently changing
problems, which are ready to devour the glories of human existence and are ready to wipe
out the human civilization from this earth. The present century is witnessing such problems of
environmental crisis which are nothing but the creation of a greedy human society which
wants to exploit nature beyond any reasonable limit.
Therefore, the present study deals with the environmental awareness among the
students of senior secondary schools on the basis of gender, board of study and course of
study. For achieve the objectives an adapted tool (constructed by Anita Anand nee Anita
Bharti, 2001-2002) was used. The results show that there is no significant difference in the
level of environmental awareness on the foresaid bases.
5 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, BHU, Varanasi.
6 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, BHU, Varanasi.
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INTRODUCTION
Etymologically the term ‘environment’ means ‘surroundings’. It is the sum total of
conditions in which organisms live and carry on the various life functions. In other words,
surroundings of an organism consist of sum total of all living and non-living constituents of
conditions around them. Organism and environment both are subjected to change with time.
If these changes are within the adjustment capacity of the environment or organism they do
not leave any derogatory effect on them. Such changes have been happening since thousands
of years of known human history. But in the recent world history of about 200 years rapid
changes have occurred in the environment throughout the globe. These changes have resulted
into global warming because of greenhouse gas emission, acidification of soil and water,
drastic decline in the quality of air, soil and water, reckless exploitation of natural resources
stored in the soil through mining activities, drastic changes in land use and land cover
through over-exploitation of natural resources leading to desertification of landscapes,
associated rapid depletion of biodiversity etc. Remarkrishnan (2001) has categorized and
these changes under ‘Global Change’.
This global change has triggered variety of changes in natural environment which are
further leading to scarcity of pure air to inhale, pure water to drink, pure soil for cropping etc.
Therefore top priority should be given to overcome environment problems. Education in
various forms and at various levels has the potential to solve environmental problems.
Therefore, education in its various forms has been used to create, conserve and transfer
knowledge from time to time. At the same time education has been used to develop human
potential for his/her ‘self-development’ and also for making him her useful for the society. It
has been rightly said in National Policy on Education, 1986 that “Education is an investment
in present and future”. So, for betterment of present environment and to handover better
environment to future generations environmental concerns must be incorporated at all levels
of education i.e. (i) Pre-primary, (ii) Primary, (iii) Secondary and (iv) Tertiary level of
education. Steps in this direction have been initiated in form of Environmental Education
worldwide since 1970’s.
“Environmental Education is an integral part of the education process. It should be
centered on practical problems and be of an inter-disciplinary character. It should aim at
building up a sense of values, contribute to public well-being and concern itself with the
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survival of the human species. Its force should reside mainly in the initiative of the learners
and their involvement in action and it should be guided by both immediate and future subject
of concern.”
The goals of Environmental Education as accepted in the inter-governmental
conference organized by UNESCO/UNEP in Tbilisi, USSR in October, 1997 are as follows:
To foster clear awareness of a concern about, economic, social, political and
ecological interdependence in urban and rural areas.
to provide every person with opportunities to acquires knowledge, values, attitudes,
commitment and skills needed to protect and improve the environment, and
to create new patterns of behaviour of individuals, groups and society as a whole
towards the environment.
Further, the Tbilisi Conference (1977) also extended it and developed the objectives
of Environmental Education. They are follows:
Awareness to help individuals and social groups gain a variety of experience with the
total environment to acquire a basic understanding critical responsible presence and role in it;
Attitude to help individuals and social groups acquire social values for working
towards the solution of environment problems and to foster a dialogue between these groups;
Skills to help individuals and social groups the skills for working towards the solution
of environment problems and to foster a dialogue between these groups; and
Participation to help individuals and social groups develop a sense of responsibility
and urgency regarding environmental problems to ensure appropriate action to help solve
these problems.
NEED OF THE STUDY
Man is a part of nature and hence cannot control and direct nature on the basis of his
free will. Nature provides a limited freedom to man for conducting his exploitation activities.
But, when he tries to break the natural laws of nature, he is bound to face the serious
consequences. Sir Edmund Hillary comments on the environment: “It is people who created
bad environment and a bad environment brings out the worst in people. Man and nature need
eah other, and by hunting one, we would the other. There is so much that needs to be done to
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halt the destruction of our world environments so many prejudices and so much self-interest
to be overcome.”
Environmental crisis or maladies are the foremost and the most persistently changing
problems, which are ready to devour the glories of human existence and are ready to wipe out
the human civilization from this earth. The present century is witnessing such problems of
environmental crisis which are nothing but the creation of a greedy human society which
wants to exploit nature beyond any reasonable limit. Never before has the future of life on
earth rested so much in human hands as in the recent decades with scientific technological
and ecological advancement.
The ministry (2000-01) interacted actively with the UGC, NCERT and the Ministry of
Human Resource & Development (MHRD) for introducing and expanding environmental
concept, themes, issues, etc. in the curriculum of schools and colleges.
The problem can be best tackled if proper awareness and attitude towards
environment is developed in the society and man both. Systematized, organized and
awakened social mind can be developed only through right type of education and it is through
right type of education that appropriate awareness can be created to make life and its
environment creative, constructive and progressive. To bring such state of mind fostering of
scientific attitude among individuals for the growth and the development of environmental
awareness is essential.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Gaylen, N. Irwin (1990) studied parental attitude towards environmental education.
Mike (1996) studied the effectiveness of environmental policy making and implementation in
Japan- the issue of wild life conservation. Lowia (1997) studied the impact of environmental
education on environmental awareness programme among the Ugandan population. Read and
Pongracz (2000) studied public education and awareness rising in U.K.
Kamalanabhan and Vijaya (1996) compared environmental concerns of technology
and non-technology students. Rana and Singh (1997) studied environmental conservation
through educational institutions. Dey and Saxena (2004) studied the level of consciousness
about pollution and environmental protection among teacher trainees of Udaipur region of
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 27
Rajasthan. Singh, Sunita (2005) studied the environmental awareness among different
educational groups. Yadav, Sanjay Singh (2008) studied the environmental attitudes of higher
secondary students on the basis of subject group and gender. Ananda, Kalpana (2008) studied
environmental awareness among primary teachers in Varanasi city. Tripathi, K.K., (2008)
studied environmental awareness among prospective teachers of Banaras Hindu University.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of the present study are:
1. To study the extent of awareness of senior secondary school students regarding
environment.
2. To compare the environmental awareness among senior secondary school students on
the basis of gender.
3. To compare the environmental awareness among senior secondary school students on
the basis of discipline.
4. To find out the environmental awareness among senior secondary school students in
relation to different examining board.
HYPOTHESES
The research hypotheses are as follow:
1. There is no significant difference in the environmental awareness of male and female
students of senior secondary schools.
2. There is no significant difference in the environmental awareness of science and arts
students.
3. There is no significant difference in the environmental awareness of CBSE AND UP
Board students.
METHODOLOGY
Population and Sample: In the present study, students of class XI and XII of different
schools of Varanasi city were taken as population. The students of class XI and XII
were selected for the study. For this, four (2 CBSE and 2 UP Board) schools were
selected purposively. The students were selected through random sampling technique.
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The description of sample according to variables under investigation areas is
mentioned in the following:
Board
Gender
Total Male Female
Science Arts Science Arts
CBSE 25 25 25 25 100
UP 25 25 25 25 100
Total 50 50 50 50 200
Tool used: The researcher used an adapted tool (constructed by Anita Anand nee
Anita Bharti, 2001-2002) consisting of 65 items, which cover different aspects of
environmental awareness. It was a summated rating scale. Each item has five response
category viz. strongly agreed, agree undecided, disagree, and strongly disagree. For
favorable and unfavorable items 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 scores were given,
respectively. The reliability of the test was found to be 0.91 by split-half method. The
content, construct and intrinsic validity of the test were also established.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
The data collected was subjected to‘t’ test.
Table 1: Gender difference related to the Environmental Awareness
Gender N Mean S.D. df t-value
Male 100 196.27 22.98
198
0.9329 Female 100 200.12 27.12
The calculated‘t’ value is smaller than table value (1.98) at 0.05 level of significance.
Hence, there is no significant difference between the environmental awareness of male and
female students. Therefore, the research hypothesis is rejected. Probable reason may be that
boys and girls both are provided equal facilities now-a-days. The qualification of the parents
also affects their children’s awareness towards environment. Therefore, there is no significant
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difference between the environmental awareness of male and female senior secondary
students.
Table 2: Environmental Awareness among Students of CBSE and UP Board
Board N Mean S.D. df t-value
CBSE 100 193.09 24.09
198
0.077 UP 100 199.18 24.29
Entering the probability table of t-ratio at df=198, we find that our obtained value of
‘t’ is smaller than the value of ‘t’ (198) at 0.05 level of significance. Hence, the null
hypothesis is accepted and it is concluded that the board of study does not produce significant
effect on the awareness of environment of CBSE and UP board students. Probable reason
may be that both CBSE and UP boards provided more or less equal syllable and give more
emphasis on the environmental field. Therefore, there is no significant difference between the
environmental awareness of CBSE and UP board students of senior secondary schools.
Table 3: Environmental Awareness among Students of Science and Arts
Discipline N Mean S.D. df t-value
Science 100 198.44 22.51
198
0.178 Arts 100 193.81 25.85
The calculated‘t’ value is smaller than table value (1.98) at 0.05 level of significance.
Hence, there is no significant difference between the environmental awareness of the students
of science and arts groups of senior secondary schools. Therefore, null hypothesis is
accepted. The probable reason may be that both groups are taught and facilitated equally.
Other than school students get knowledge about environment through media, newspaper,
NGOs etc., they also play very effective role in exceeding awareness towards environment.
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FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
The main findings are:
1. At 0.05 level of significance, there is no significant difference between the
environmental awareness of male and female students.
2. At 0.05 level of significance, there is no significant difference between the
environmental awareness of CBSE and UP board students.
3. At 0.05 level of significance, there is no significant difference between the
environmental awareness of science and arts group students.
The above findings show that all the students included in the sample manifest some
environmental awareness. The effect of general factor such as gender, board of study and
course of the study are reflected in the study. By this, it can be concluded that the general
factors affect the awareness towards environment. It may be due to many reasons as in case
of male and female students. We know that generally they get common exposure in their
family, community and also in their schools. Both the boards (CBSE and UP) included all the
necessary information about environment in their syllabus but in government schools some
extra facilities provided by government like Mid-day meal, extra health services. That is why
there was no significant difference found is awareness regarding environment of them. The
slight difference in the mean scores of the students belonging to science and arts streams is
due to some ignorance. But there was no significant difference found in the environmental
awareness of the senior secondary school students belonging to science and arts.
Thus, overall, board of study, course of study and gender difference does not affect the
environmental awareness of an individual.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY
On the basis of the findings of the study, a few educational implications of the study may
be indicated as follow-
1. The findings of the present study will be helpful to educationists, teachers, and
educational administrators must acquaint their pupil about pros and cons of
environmental pollution.
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2. This study will also be helpful to parent. They will be able to understand their wards
and through this they will provide more attention for inculcating their knowledge.
3. Formal systems of education should also incorporate in its curriculum, some elements
of environmental awareness programmes. This should be a compulsory part of the
curriculum.
4. With the help of various mass media and modern means of communication, the
concept of environment and its protection should be published and popularized viz.
news paper, radio, TV, film, etc.
5. It would be more beneficial and effective if special programmes are launched to
develop environmental awareness among the students. It is possible only through
inclusion of special course on environmental education in the schools.
6. Value oriented education in the light of environmental pollution and environmental
awareness should be provided.
7. Environmental awareness should be inculcated at an early stage and in amanner which
includes more practical and less text book instruction.
REFERENCES
Ambasht, R.S. (1990). “Environment and Pollution: An Ecological Approach”,
Varanasi, Students Friends & Co., 1st edition
Bharti, A. Nee Avita (2002). “A study of relationship between environmental
awareness and scientific attitudes among Higher secondary students of Varanasi city”
An unpublished thesis. B.H.U. Varanasi
Bhattacharya, G.C. (1997). “Environmental awareness among Higher secondary
students of science and non-science stream”, School Science, 35 CU
Dey, B. Gihar, S. and Saxena, M.K. (2004). “Environmental consciousness among
prospective teachers”, Gyan, Journal of Education: V-I No. 1, July-December
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 32
Kumar, Ram (2001). Encyclopedia of environmental science and technology, Vol.-I
Ivy Publishing House
Mishra, S.N. (1998). :Study of environmental awareness of secondary school (UP &
CBSE Board) students”, An unpublished thesis. B.H.U. Varanasi
Neelam (2007). “Study of environmental awareness among students of graduation 3rd
year studying in educational institutions of Varanasi city.” An unpublished
dissertation, Faculty of Education, B.H.U., Varanasi
Ramakrishnan, P.S. (2001). Ecology and Sustainable Development, N.B.T., New
Delhi.
Rebello, D.M. (1994). “Integration of Environmental Education in Elementary School
Curriculum Approaches, context and curricula: in Environmental Education for
Elementary Teacher Education, NIEPA (now NUEPA), New Delhi
Sharma, R.C. and Mahajan, B. (1994). Source Book on Environmental Education for
Elementary Teacher Education, NIEPA (now NUEPA), New Delhi
Singh, Sunil Kumat (2010). Fundamentals of Environmental Education, 1st Edition.
Sharda Pustak Bhawan, Allahabad
Singh, Sunita (2005). “A study of environmental awareness of different educated
class”, Indian Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 23, No. 2, Lucknow
Sinha, G.N. (1997). “Attitude of teachers and parents of secondary school students
towards environmental education” An unpublished thesis. B.H.U. Varanasi
Tripathi, K.K., (2008). “Environmental awareness among prospective teachers of
Banaras Hindu University”. An unpublished thesis. B.H.U. Varanasi
Yadav, Sanjay Singh (2008). “Environmental attitudes of higher secondary students
on the basis of subject group and gender”, An unpublished thesis. B.H.U. Varanasi.
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 33
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW
Vijay Jaiswal7
In qualitative research, a researcher takes into account the phenomenon as a whole
and describes it as it exists. In some situation, it is difficult to analyse a phenomenon into
various components or variables which can be measured in quantified terms. In such cases,
the researcher takes into consideration the phenomenon as a whole and assumes that there is
some quality in the phenomenon in its entirety. When the- researcher attempts to retain the
significant totality of a phenomenon while verifying propositions regarding it, he/she adopts
qualitative research methods. This method of research describes the experiences of people in
depth and permits the researcher to study and understand people in depth in their own
perceptions.
According to Denzin and Lincoln (1994), qualitative research focuses on interpretation of
phenomena in their natural settings to make sense in terms of the meanings people bring to
these settings. Qualitative research involves collecting information about personal
experiences, introspection, life story, interviews, observations, historical, interactions and
visual text which are significant moments and meaningful in peoples' lives.
Qualitative studies are most often exploratory in nature; exploratory in the sense of
studying an altogether new population, a new problem, finding out new concepts, new
meaning, new variables, local vocabulary and classifications. Hence, one may not start a
qualitative study with explicitly stated conceptualization.
A qualitative approach is one in which the inquirer often makes knowledge claims based
primarily on constructivist perspectives (i.e. the multiple meanings of individual experiences,
meanings socially and historically constructed, with an intent of developing a theory or
pattern) or advocacy/participatory perspectives (i.e. political, issue-oriented, collaborative or
change oriented) or both. In qualitative study inquirers state research questions, not objectives
(i.e. specific goals for the research) or hypotheses (i.e. predictions that involve variables and
statistical tests), in effect, however, most qualitative approaches have: 7 Assistant Professor (Sr.), Department of Education, C. S. J.M. University, Kanpur-208024
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feelings and impressions, rather than numbers;
a focus on natural settings;
an interest in meanings, perspectives and understandings;
an emphasis on process;
a concern with inductive analysis and grounded theory.
multi-method in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject
matter; hoping always to get a better fix on the subject matter at hand.
Qualitative research follows an altogether distinct conceptual framework which takes into
account the following factors:
i) Multiple Realities: First, naturalists assume that there exist multiple realities in social
situations which can be observed and researched.
ii) Meanings and Interpretations: Naturalists emphasise study of meanings given to or
interpretations made about objects, events and processes concerning social situations.
iii) Generation of Knowledge: Qualitative inquiry insists on generation of knowledge
resulting from the interaction between the researcher and the respondents.
iv) Generalisation: As stated above, naturalists do not believe in the process of
generalization as propounded by scientists. Naturalist argue that in the process of making
generalization, a lot of meaningful information existing in individual units is undermined,
hence, generalised knowledge does not represent real or complete knowledge.
v) Human Relations: In the case of human relations several intrinsic factors, events and
processes keep on influencing each other constantly.
vi) Value Systems: Naturalists do not believe in value-free inquiry. They assume the
influence of value systems in the identification of problems, selection of samples, use of
tools for data collection, conditions in which data are gathered, and the possible interaction
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that take place between the researcher and the respondents. That is why naturalists stress
that the researcher's bias cannot be ignored and it must be mentioned in research reports.
Qualitative research adopts the inductive approach (Fig.1). Such research is conducted
because of a lack of theory or existing theories are unable to explain phenomenon
convincingly. Because of this no hypotheses are put forward to guide research. The
qualitative researcher begins by observing phenomena and continues of find patterns in the
form of themes, categories, concepts and typologies that emerge. Tentative hypothesis are
introduced and additional information are collected to explain the phenomenon.
Fig. 1 The Inductive Approach in Research
Procedural Uniqueness of Qualitative Research
(i) Holistic approach
Naturalists intend to develop a deeper understanding of a given situation in a holistic
fashion. In other words, all possible information concerning all the significant dimensions
of the situation under study is gathered with a view to portray the- situations in their
Patterns
Tentative
Hypothesis
Observation
Theory
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totality! For example, role of voluntary actions in social work cannot be studied in a
partial fashion. It has to be studied in a holistic manner taking into account the composite
influence of all the socio-economic and cultural factors.
(ii) Insightful inquiry
Naturalists emphasise insightful inquiry, where humans are treated as the sole means of
data collection, Qualitative methods like participant observation, informal interviews and
discussions, reading of relevant literature, and daily observation notes and diary writing
are very often used for fieldwork.
(iii) No a priori theory
A researcher goes to the field for data collection without having any a priori (pre-specific)
theory in mind. Naturalists apprehend that an a priori assumption restricts the inquiry to
those elements which may have been significant prior to developing an understanding of
the situation.
(iv) No pre-specific design of study
Prior to fieldwork, naturalists do not make explicit statements on the hypotheses and the
conditions in which data are to be collected, analysed and interpreted.
Nature of Qualitative Research Methods
(1) Naturalist Approach
Qualitative research aims to reach as close to the reality/field situation as possible, through
scrupulous description of the reality. Such a meticulous capturing of the reality is one of
the primary aims of the qualitative research.
(2) Importance of Context
Qualitative research gives importance to the context in which an action takes place.
Meaning of any action or phenomenon and the intentions of behaviours are derived from
the context in which they occur. To understand the phenomena one has to understand the
context.
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(3) Emphasis on Holism
In qualitative research, an action or phenomenon is not broken into narrow variables, but
is seen as embedded in a context and as being complexly and inextricably related with a
number of other process and factors.
(4) Intensive/In-depth
Qualitative studied are mere of them intensive and in-depth in nature. They choose to
study smaller communities hence these studies can be intensive and in-depth. Since the
studies are usually of small communities they are able to be holistic and naturalist in
perspective and they can focus a great deal on the context.
(5) Long Period of Data Collection
- Mere interaction with field and participants.
- Reflective and interactive method continues changes of idea design.
- Not pre-determined sets of questions.
(6) Understanding Meaning and Process
- New meaning
- New context
- Capturing process
Three Types of Researcher’s Roles
(i) Total Researcher
(ii) Researcher Participant
(iii)Total Participant
(i) Total Researcher
As a total researcher I observed events in which I participated minimally or not at all. For
example – as a silent audience member at public meeting.
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(ii) Researcher Participant
I participant in an event but as a researcher rather than a resident. For example – as met in
social gathering.
(iii) Total Participant
I actual spontaneously as a friend or neighbour and subsequently analyzed the activities in
which I had so participated.
Qualitative Data Collection Methods
The three most common qualitative data collection methods are participant observation,
in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Each method is particularly suited for obtaining a
specific type of data.
• Participant observation is appropriate for collecting data on naturally occurring behaviors
in their usual contexts.
• In-depth interviews are optimal for collecting data on individuals’ personal histories,
perspectives, and experiences, particularly when sensitive topics are being explored.
• Focus groups are effective in eliciting data on the cultural norms of a group and in
generating broad overviews of issues of concern to the cultural groups or subgroups
represented.
Qualitative Research vs Quantitative Research
The table-1 given below depicts the differences between qualitative and quantitative
researches.
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Qualitative Research Quantitative Research
_____________________________________________________________________
1. Philosophy: Phenomenology, Symbolic Positivism, Logical
interactionism empiricism
2. Goal: Understanding, meaning Prediction, testing
hypothesis
3. Approach: Broad focus, process-oriented Narrow focus, product-
& context-bound oriented & context-free
4. Focus: Quality (features) Quantity (how much,
numbers)
5. Method: Ethnography/Action research Experiments/Corr.
6. Data collection: In-depth interviews, observation Questionnaire, scales,
documents, artefacts tests, inventories,
standardized interview
7. Research Design: Flexible, emerging Structured, predetermined
8. Sample: Small, purposeful Large, random,
representation
9. Generalisation: Unique case selection Generalisation
10. Analysis: Inductive (by the researcher) Deductive (by statistical
methods)
11. Outcome: A story, an ethnography Measurable results
or a theory
12. Role of Researcher: Immersed Detached
13. Rigour: Trustworthiness, authenticity, Internal/external validity,
Typicality and transferability Reliability, Generalisability
Table -1 Differences between Quantitative and Qualitative Research [adaptation
from Merriam, 1998; Firestone, 1987 & Patton, 1996]
Qualitative Research Methods
There are following some major qualitative research methods:
(i) Phenomenology
(ii) Ethnomethodology
(iii)Symbolic Interactionism
(iv) Interpretivism
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(v) Feminism and Gender Studies
(vi) Grounded Theory
(vii) Ethnography
(viii) Hermeneutics
(ix) Content Analysis
(x) Case Study
(i) Phenomenology
Phenomenology is a philosophical method developed in the early years of the twentieth
century by Edmund Husserl and a circle of followers at the universities of are the structures
of consciousness. A basic definition describes meaning for several individuals of their lived
experiences of a concept or phenomenon (Cresswell, 2002). Phenomenology is not interested
in modern science’s focus on simplification and reducing phenomena to abstract laws, but
examines how people describe things and experiences through their senses.
Phenomenology is the descriptive study of how individuals experience a phenomenon-
socially constructed realities and no objective experience. The foundational question in
phenomenology is: What are the meaning, structure, and essence of the lived experience of
this phenomenon by an individual or by many individuals? The researcher tries to gain access
to individuals' life-worlds, which is their world of experience; it is where consciousness
exists. Conducting in-depth interviews is a common method for gaining access to individuals'
life- worlds. The researcher, next, searches for the invariant structures of individuals'
experiences (also called the essences of their experience). Phenomenological researchers
often search for commonalities across individuals (rather than only focusing on what is
unique to a single individual).
Focus of Phenomenology
Phenomenology focuses on a concept or phenomenon.
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Love, anger, betrayal, happiness, caring, undergoing coronary bypass surgery, what it
means to be/experience being underweight, and so on.
To reduce individual experience with a phenomenon to a description of the universal
essence.
To derive inner meaning Essence: core meanings, mutually understood through a
commonly experienced phenomenon.
For example, “What are the essences of peoples' experiences of an un/caring nurse?”
Types of Phenomenology
There are seven types of phenomenology. The major two are as follows:
Hermeneutical Phenomenology reflecting on lived experiences with interpretation
by the researcher.
Transcendental Phenomenology focusing less on the researcher’s interpretation and
more on the describing experiences of participants.
Primarily unit of analysis are people, but also, art, literature, poetry, biographies, novels,
diaries, journals, music, and so on.
Phenomenology Processes/Methods
Bracket researcher’s assumptions regarding phenomenon.
Bracketing is the process of setting aside the researcher’s experiences with the
phenomenon to better examine the consciousness itself setting aside one’s own
understanding of the phenomenon to look at how other people experience the
phenomenon. By detailing the researcher’s experiences with the phenomenon, they
highlight their bias(es).
Collect data about experiences with phenomenon.
Develop a composite description of experiences.
What and how experienced.
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Sampling and Data Collection
An important criterion of sample is that the individuals must have experienced the
phenomenon. Usually interviews with 5 to 25 people, the more diverse the people, the
harder it is to find common experiences.
Write: Individuals write-up their own experiences.
Interviewing: Gather narrative data from conversation
Observation: Gather data by observing
Studying art, literature, diaries, journals, music, and so on.
Two broad questions are the focus of the interview: What have you experienced in
terms of this phenomenon? What contexts or situations have typically influenced or
affected your experiences of the phenomenon?
Data Analysis
Horizontalization: Laying out all the data to examine it as equals.
Highlight significant statements that provide understanding of participants’
experiences.
Organize the data into clusters and themes.
Phenomenological Reduction Process of continually returning to the essence of the
experience to derive inner meaning.
Textual description of participants’ experiences.
Imaginative Variation: Description of the context and how participants experienced
the phenomenon.
Description of the researcher’s experiences.
Write a composite description of the phenomenon.
Focus on common experiences of participants.
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(ii) Ethnomethodology
The word ‘ethno’ means ‘relevant to your culture’, and ‘method’ means ‘how you use this
knowledge’. Thus ethnomethdology means “the study of everyday methods that people use to
live their daily lives”. In other words ethnomethodology is concerned with the organization of
everyday, ordinary life. Wallace and Wolf stated, “If we translate the “ethno” part of the term
as “member” or “folk” or “people” then ethnomethodology can be defined as members'
methods of making sense of their social world.
Main exponent of Ethnomethodology was Garfinkel, the U.S. sociologist.
Ethnomethodology is influenced by phenomenology, linguistics, anthropology, symbolic
interactionism, and other mainstream concepts found in sociology. In Studies in
Ethnomethodology (1967) Garfinkel wrote that his work had been particularly influenced by
Emile Durkheim (social facts), Talcott Parsons (idea of social trust), Alfred Schutz
(phenomenology), Aron Gurwitsch, and Edmund Husserl. As Ritzer (2000) stated, “While
Parsons stressed the importance of abstract categories and generalizations, Garfinkel was
interested in detailed description.”
Garfinkel’s Ideas
Garfinkel believed that life consists of many ordered things and activities. He studied
jurors and common sense knowledge. Ethnomethdology placed primary importance on
meanings that people give to everyday situations and how define their own situations.
Ethnomethodology is an approach to understanding social interaction and is “based on the
assumption that social reality is the result of our agreement to agree with one another.
Ethnomethodology attempts to reveal the subjective nature of human interaction. It has a
microfocus on daily life and on the thoughts and actions of human behavior.
Ethnomethodology is concerned with an interruption of daily life in order to reveal standard
rules. In order to reveal rules that are a natural part of society, Garfinkel believes that we
must disrupt the natural process of reality construction in order to reveal deep set rules.
Accounting
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Accounting is the process by which people offer accounts in order to make sense of the
world. Ethnomethodologists devote a lot of attention to analyzing people’s accounts, as well
as to the ways in which accounts are offered and accepted (or rejected) by others. Garfinkel
(1967) stated that “sociologists distinguish the “product” from the “process” meanings of a
common understanding. As “product, a common understanding is thought to consist of a
shared agreement on a substantive matters; as “process” it consists of various methods
whereby something that a person says or does is recognized to accord with a rule.
(iii) Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic interaction theories focus on the interpretation (social meaning) that is given to
behaviour, and on the way such interpretation helps to construct the social world, the
identities of people, and, ultimately how they behave. All interaction theories are concerned
with the way in which meaning is constructed. Its basic principles are:
1. Humans have capacity for thought.
2. Thought is shaped by social interaction.
3. Through interaction, people learn symbols and meanings that allow them to think.
4. Meanings and symbols allow for human action.
5. People can interpret a situation and modify their action or interaction.
6. People can create own meanings.
7. Groups and societies are made up of patterns of action and interaction.
According to Herbert Blumer (1969), symbolic interactionism “is based on the idea that
social reality is constructed in each human interaction through the use of symbols, such as,
words or gestures.” Studying symbolic interaction assists us in understanding human
behavior. There are three premises to symbolic interactionism:
1. Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for
them. Things include everything that the person has in their world.
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2. The meaning of things that is derived from the social interaction that you have with
someone.
3. These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by
the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters.
The following are the importance of symbolic interactionism:
Adds micro-level perspective to mainstream sociology.
Adds potential to bridge gap between macro and micro-levels.
Advances our understanding of sociological processes.
(iv) Interpretivism
Interpretivism (also known as antipositivism) is the view in social science that the social
realm may not be subject to the same methods of investigation as the natural world; that
academics must reject empiricism and the scientific method in the conduct of social research.
Antipositivists hold that researchers should focus on understanding the interpretations that
social actions have for the people being studied. Interpretivism is critical of the positivism
because it seeks to collect and analyze data from parts of a phenomena and, in so doing,
positivism can miss important aspects of a comprehensive understanding of the whole.
The underlying assumption of interpretivism is that the whole needs to be examined in
order to understand phenomena. Interpretivism proposes that there are multiple realities, not
single realities of phenomena, and that these realities can differ across time and place. It
refers to approaches emphasizing the meaningful nature of people's participation in social and
cultural life. The methods of natural science are seen as inappropriate for such investigation.
Researchers working within this tradition analyse the meanings people confer upon their own
and others' actions. It rejects scientific sociology. It interprets human behaviour from within
the phenomena. The general question of this qualitative approach is “Can we understand
other people’s motives/actions?” Max Weber (1991) believed that before the cause of a social
action could be found, it was necessary to understand the meaning attached to it by the actor.
(v) Feminism and Gender Studies
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More than a research perspective, feminist research began as a fundamental critique of
social science and research in general. This research focussed on the ignorance of women’s
life situation and of male dominance. Feminist research was often characterised by using
qualitative research due to the methods opening up more to women’s voices and needs in
general (Flick, 1998).
According to Ussher (1999), feminist research is focussed on a “critical analysis of gender
relationships in research and theory.... an appreciation of the moral and political dimensions
of the research........and the recognition of the need for social change to improve the lives of
women.”
This leads not only to defining an issue of research (e.g. gender inequalities) but to
challenging the way research is done on different levels. Feminist researchers may adopt
multiple tools to gain access and understanding into the world around them, and may in fact
use multiple methods within the same study (Tolman and Szalacha, 1999). Feminist
researchers often bring a unique epistemological and methodological lens to the question of
how to do the research. Within the research process, regardless of the method they have
chosen, feminists are attuned to the way they frame their research questions.
Research conducted from the feminist perspective often promotes new areas of knowledge
building and can lead to the implementation of the innovative methods. A feminist approach
to epistemology seeks to establish knowledge production from a woman's perspective. It
theorizes that from personal experience comes knowledge which helps each individual look
at things from a different insight. Epistemology, methodology and methods are not de-linked
from each other but interact in dynamic ways to produce new knowledge, and this openness
itself is also characteristics of how feminist researchers approach their work.
Feminist researchers embrace two key tenets: (1) their research should focus on the
condition of women in society, and (2) their research must be grounded in the assumption
that women generally experience subordination. Thus, feminist research rejects Weber's
value-free orientation in favour of being overtly political-doing research in pursuit of gender
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equality. Themes explored in feminism include discrimination, objectification
(especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, art
history and contemporary art, and aesthetics.
(vi) Grounded Theory
Grounded theory (GT) is a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the
generation of theory from data (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). ‘The methodological thrust of
grounded theory is toward the development of theory, without any particular commitment to
specific kinds of data, lines of research, or theoretical interests . . . Rather it is a style of doing
qualitative analysis that includes a number of distinct features . . . and the use of a coding
paradigm to ensure conceptual development and density’ (Strauss, 1987).
It is mainly used in qualitative research, but is also applicable to quantitative data.
Grounded theory is a research method that seeks to develop theory that is grounded in data
systematically gathered and analysed. There is a continuous interplay between data collection
and analysis. The method is extremely useful in developing context that surrounds a language
unit and helps to determine its interpretation-based, process-oriented descriptions and
explanations of the phenomenon.
The three basic elements of grounded theory are:
Concepts
Categories
Propositions
The Concepts
Concepts are the basic units of analysis since it is from conceptualization of data, not the
actual data per se, that theory is developed. Theories can't be built with actual incidents or
activities as observed or reported; that is, from "raw data”. The incidents, events, happenings
are taken as, or analyzed as, potential indicators of phenomena, which are thereby given
conceptual labels. If a respondent says to the researcher, "Each day I spread my activities
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over the morning, resting between shaving and bathing," then the researcher might label this
phenomenon as “pacing”. As the researcher encounters other incidents, and when after
comparison to the first, they appear to resemble the same phenomena, then these, too, can be
labeled as “pacing” only by comparing incidents and naming like phenomena with the same
term can the theorist accumulate the basic units for theory.
The Categories
Categories are higher in level and more abstract than the concepts they represent. They are
generated through the same analytic process of making comparisons to highlight similarities
and differences that is used to produce lower level concepts. Categories are the
"cornerstones" of developing theory. They provide the means by which the theory can be
integrated.
The Propositions
Which indicate generalized relationships between a category and its concepts and between
discrete categories. This third element was originally termed 'hypotheses’. It is felt that the
term 'propositions' is more appropriate since, as Whetten (1989) correctly points out,
propositions involve conceptual relationships whereas hypotheses require measured
relationships.
Grounded theory is a research method that operates almost in a reverse fashion from
traditional research and at first may appear to be in contradiction to the scientific method
(fig.1). Rather than beginning with a hypothesis, the first step is data collection, through a
variety of methods. From the data collected, the key points are marked with a series of codes,
which are
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Fig.1
extracted from the text. The codes are grouped into similar concepts in order to make them
more workable. From these concepts, categories are formed, which are the basis for the
creation of a theory, or a reverse engineered hypothesis. This contradicts the traditional
model of research, where the researcher chooses a theoretical framework, and only then
applies this model to the phenomenon to be studied.
Grounded theory begins with a research situation. Within that situation, researcher
understands what is happening there (data gathering), and how the players manage their roles,
most done through observation, conversation and interview. After each bout of data
collection "note-taking“ on key issues is important. It is inductively derived from the study of
the phenomenon it represents. That is, discovered, developed, and provisionally verified
through systematic data collection and analysis of data pertaining to that phenomenon.
Therefore, data collection, analysis, and theory should stand in reciprocal relationship with
each other. One does not begin with a theory, then prove it. Rather, one begins with an area
of study and what is relevant to that area is allowed to emerge (Straus & Corbin, 1990).
Interviews are frequently the main source of the information the researcher will develop
theory from. But any data collection methods can be used. So is informal conversation, group
feedback analysis, or any other individual or group activity which yields data. The main
Written Record
Data Analysis Approach
Data Collection Technique Research Method
Philosophical Assumptions
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methods employed in qualitative research are observation, interviews, and documentary
analysis. The following type of questions the grounded theorists use while coding data:
What is happening? (Glaser, 1978)
“What is this data a study of?” (Glaser, 1978, p. 57; Glaser and Strauss, 1967)
What theoretical category does this datum indicate? (Glaser, 1978)
What does the data suggest? Pronounce?
From whose point of view?
Process of Grounded Theory
Five analytic phases of grounded theory building are identified:
Research design
Data collection
Data ordering
Data analysis
Literature comparison
There are several key analytic strategies:
Coding is a process for both categorizing qualitative data and for describing the
implications and details of these categories. Initially one does open coding, considering
the data in minute detail while developing some initial categories. Later, one moves to
more selective coding where one systematically codes with respect to a core concept.
Memoing is a process for recording the thoughts and ideas of the researcher as they
evolve throughout the study. You might think of memoing as extensive marginal notes
and comments. Again, early in the process these memos tend to be very open while
later on they tend to increasingly focus in on the core concept.
Integrative diagrams and sessions are used to pull all of the detail together, to help
make sense of the data with respect to the emerging theory. The diagrams can be any
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form of graphic that is useful at that point in theory development. They might be
concept maps or directed graphs or even simple cartoons that can act as summarizing
devices (Fig.2). This integrative work is best done in group sessions where different
members of the research team are able to interact and share ideas to increase insight.
Fig.2
(vii) Ethnography
"Ethnography," also known as "Naturalistic Observation," is a qualitative research method
involving the study of a group of people in their natural setting. The researcher tries to study
the people without affecting their behavior. One way to do this is to participate as a member
of the group. When this is done, it is called "Participant-observation." As a "Participant-
observer," the researcher studies the group from the inside as a member. “Naturalistic
Observation” yields rich information about how a society lives.
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Ethnography emerged as a research strategy in societies with greater cultural uniformity
and less social differentiation than are found in large, modern, industrial nations.
Ethnography provides a foundation for generalizations about human behavior and social life.
Ethnographers have tried to understand the whole of a particular culture. They adopt a free-
ranging strategy for gathering information. Ethnographers draw on varied techniques to piece
together a picture of cultures. During fieldwork ethnographer moves from setting to setting,
place to place and subject to subject to discover the totality and interconnectedness of social
life.
The central aim of ethnography is to provide rich, holistic insights into people’s views and
actions, as well as the nature (that is, sights, sounds) of the location they inhabit, through the
collection of detailed observations and interviews. As Hammersley states, “The task [of
ethnographers] is to document the culture, the perspectives and practices, of the people in
these settings. The aim is to ‘get inside’ the way each group of people sees the world.”
Methods of Field Work
Direct, firsthand observation of behavior, including participant observation.
Conversation with varying degrees of formality, from the daily chitchat that helps
maintain rapport and prolonged interviews, which can be unstructured or structured.
The genealogical method for collecting data on family and kinship.
Detailed fieldwork with key consultant, or informants, about particular areas of
community life.
In-depth interviewing, for the collection of life histories.
Discovery of local (native) emic beliefs and perceptions, which may be compared
with the ethnographer’s own observations and conclusions.
Ethnographers record their impressions in a personal diary, which is kept separate
from more formal field notes.
Ethnographers strive to establish rapport, a good, friendly working relationship based
on personal contact, with their hosts.
Interview Schedule
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With the interview schedule, the ethnographer talks face-to-face with people, asks the
questions and write down the answers.
Genealogical method is a well-established ethnographic technique.
Genealogy is prominent building block in the social organization of industrial and
non-industrial society.
Key cultural consultant – expert on a particular aspect of local life. The key consultant
by accident, experience, talent or training can provide the most complete or useful
information about particular aspects of life.
Life History
Life history – of a key consultant; a personal portrait of someone’s life in a culture.
Life histories which may be recorded on videotaped for review and analysis.
One goal of ethnography is to discover local (native) views, beliefs and perceptions.
Emic approach allows focus on local explanations and meanings.
On the other hand, etic research approach emphases the universal or ethnographer’s
explanations and categories.
Other kinds of Ethnography
Problem-oriented research or evaluation studies are carried out to investigate specific
problem.
Longitudinal research is the long term study of a community, region, society, culture
or other unit, usually based on repeated visits.
Team research is a longitudinal research coordinated by multiple ethnographers.
(viii) Hermeneutics
Hermeneutics, broadly, is the art and science of text interpretation. Traditional
hermeneutics is the study of the interpretation of written texts, especially texts in the areas of
literature, religion and law. A type of traditional hermeneutic is biblical hermeneutics which
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concerns the study of the interpretation of the Bible. In religious studies and social
philosophy, hermeneutics is the study of the theory and practice of interpretation. Modern
hermeneutics encompasses everything in the interpretative process including verbal and
nonverbal forms of communication as well as prior aspects that affect communication, such
as presuppositions, pre-understandings, the meaning and philosophy of language,
and semiotics (Ferguson & David F Wright, 1988).
The terms exegesis and hermeneutics have been used interchangeably. However,
hermeneutics is a more widely defined discipline of interpretation theory, because it includes
the entire framework of the interpretive process, encompassing written, verbal, and nonverbal
communication. Exegesis, on the other hand, focuses primarily on written text.
Philosophical hermeneutics refers primarily to the theory of knowledge initiated by Martin
Heidegger and developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer in Truth and Method, and sometimes to
the theories of Paul Ricoeur (Grondin, 1994). Hermeneutic consistency refers to analysis of
texts for coherent explanation. A hermeneutic (singular) refers to one particular method or
strand of interpretation.
(ix) Content Analysis
Harold Lasswell formulated the core questions of content analysis: "Who says what, to
whom, why, to what extent and with what effect?." Ole Holsti (1969) offers a broad
definition of content analysis as "any technique for making inferences by objectively and
systematically identifying specified characteristics of messages." Kimberly A.
Neuendorf (2002) offers a six-part definition of content analysis:
"Content analysis is a summarising, quantitative analysis of messages that relies on the
scientific method (including attention to objectivity, intersubjectivity, a priori design,
reliability, validity, generalisability, replicability, and hypothesis testing) and is not limited as
to the types of variables that may be measured or the context in which the messages are
created or presented."
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Content analysis of documents is another qualitative research method that can potentially
provide a holistic picture of an organization, event, or issue. When using this non-intrusive
research method, information is extracted from documents, such as those found in archives or
administrative data. This method can provide a detailed historical account of the subject(s) of
study. Data found in documents such as letters, memos and books are often coded and
statistically analyzed. This form of research is a valuable alternative when people are not
available to give needed information.
According to Krippendorff (2004), six questions must be addressed in every content
analysis:
1. Which data are analysed?
2. How are they defined?
3. What is the population from which they are drawn?
4. What is the context relative to which the data are analysed?
5. What are the boundaries of the analysis?
6. What is the target of the inferences?
Ole Holsti (1969) groups 15 uses of content analysis into three basic categories:
make inferences about the antecedents of a communication
describe and make inferences about characteristics of a communication
make inferences about the effects of a communication.
He also places these uses into the context of the basic communication paradigm. The
following table-2 given below shows fifteen uses of content analysis in terms of their general
purpose, element of the communication paradigm to which they apply, and the general
question they are intended to answer.
(x) Case Study
A case study is an intensive analysis of an individual unit (e.g., a person, group, or event)
stressing developmental factors in relation to context (Flyvbjerg, 2011). The case study is
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common in social sciences and life sciences. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory.
The latter type is used to explore causation in order to find underlying principles (Shepard &
Greene, 2003) They may be prospective (in which criteria are established and cases fitting the
criteria are included as they become available) or retrospective (in which criteria are
established for selecting cases from historical records for inclusion in the study).
Thomas (2011) offers the following definition of case study: "Case studies are analyses of
persons, events, decisions, periods, projects, policies, institutions, or other systems that are
studied holistically by one or more methods. The case that is the subject of the inquiry will be
an instance of a class of phenomena that provides an analytical frame — an object — within
which the study is conducted and which the case illuminates and explicates."
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Table-2 Uses of Content Analysis by Purpose, Communication Element, and Question
Purpose Element Question Uses
Make inferences about the
antecedents of communications
Source Who?
• Answer questions of disputed
authorship (authorship
analysis)
Encoding
process Why?
• Secure political & military
intelligence
• Analyse traits of individuals
• Infer cultural aspects &
change
• Provide legal & evaluative
evidence
Describe & make inferences
about the characteristics of
communications
Channel How?
• Analyse techniques of
persuasion
• Analyse style
Message What?
• Describe trends in
communication content
• Relate known characteristics
of sources to messages they
produce
• Compare communication
content to standards
Recipient To whom?
• Relate known characteristics
of audiences to messages
produced for them
• Describe patterns of
communication
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Rather than using samples and following a rigid protocol (strict set of rules) to examine
limited number of variables, case study methods involve an in-depth, longitudinal (over a
long period of time) examination of a single instance or event: a case. They provide a
systematic way of looking at events, collecting data, analyzing information, and reporting the
results. As a result the researcher may gain a sharpened understanding of why the instance
happened as it did, and what might become important to look at more extensively in future
research. Case studies lend themselves to both generating and testing hypotheses (Flyvbjerg,
2006).
Another suggestion is that case study should be defined as a research strategy, an
empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life context. Case study
research can mean single and multiple case studies, can include quantitative evidence, relies
on multiple sources of
evidence, and benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions. Case studies
should not be confused with qualitative research and they can be based on any mix of
quantitative and qualitative evidence. Single-subject research provides the statistical
framework for making inferences from quantitative case-study data (Yin, 2003) (Source:
www.wikipedia.org).
As a research design, the case study claims to offer a richness and depth of information not
usually offered by other methods. By attempting to capture as many variables as possible,
case studies can identify how a complex set of circumstances come together to produce a
particular manifestation. It is a highly versatile research method and employs any and all
Make inferences about the
consequences of
communications
Decoding
process
With what
effect?
• Measure readability
• Analyse the flow of
information
• Assess responses to
communications
Note. Purpose, communication element, & question from Holsti (1969). Uses primarily from
Berelson (1952) as adapted by Holsti (1969).(Source:www.wikipedia.org)
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methods of data collection from testing to interviewing. One of the criticisms aimed at case
study research is that the case under study is not necessarily representative of similar cases
and therefore the results of the research are not generalisable. This is a misunderstanding of
the purpose of case study research which is to describe that particular case in detail. It is
particularistic and contextual. Generalisability is not normally as issue for the researcher who
is involved in studying a specific situation.
Criteria for Judging Qualitative Research
Guba and Lincoln(1985) proposed four criteria for judging the soundness of qualitative
research and explicitly offered these as an alternative to more traditional quantitatively-
oriented criteria. They felt that their four criteria better reflected the underlying assumptions
involved in much qualitative research.
Credibility
The credibility criteria involves establishing that the results of qualitative research are
credible or believable from the perspective of the participant in the research. Since from this
perspective, the purpose of qualitative research is to describe or understand the phenomena of
interest from the participant's eyes, the participants are the only ones who can legitimately
judge the credibility of the results.
Transferability
Transferability refers to the degree to which the results of qualitative research can be
generalized or transferred to other contexts or settings. From a qualitative perspective
transferability is primarily the responsibility of the one doing the generalizing. The
qualitative researcher can enhance transferability by doing a thorough job of describing the
research context and the assumptions that were central to the research. The person who
wishes to "transfer" the results to a different context is then responsible for making the
judgment of how sensible the transfer is.
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Dependability
The traditional quantitative view of reliability is based on the assumption of replicability
or repeatability. Essentially it is concerned with whether we would obtain the same results if
we could observe the same thing twice. But we can't actually measure the same thing twice --
by definition if we are measuring twice, we are measuring two different things. In order to
estimate reliability, quantitative researchers construct various hypothetical notions (e.g., true
score theory) to try to get around this fact. The idea of dependability, on the other hand,
emphasizes the need for the researcher to account for the ever-changing context within which
research occurs. The research is responsible for describing the changes that occur in the
setting and how these changes affected the way the research approached the study.
Confirmability
Qualitative research tends to assume that each researcher brings a unique perspective to
the study. Confirmability refers to the degree to which the results could be confirmed or
corroborated by others. There are a number of strategies for enhancing confirmability. The
researcher can document the procedures for checking and rechecking the data throughout the
study. Another researcher can take a "devil's advocate" role with respect to the results, and
this process can be documented. The researcher can actively search for and describe and
negative instances that contradict prior observations. And, after he study, one can conduct a
data audit that examines the data collection and analysis procedures and makes judgements
about the potential for bias or distortion.
Trustworthiness of Qualitative Research Methods
Establishing trustworthiness ensures the quality of the findings. It increases the confidence
of the reader that the findings are worthy of attention. Many different strategies (Table-3) are
employed in qualitative research to establish trustworthiness (Krefting, 1991) and the
researchers should report on the methods they employed.
Table-3 Strategies to establish trustworthiness
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Strategy Criteria
Credibility Prolonged and varied field experience
Time sampling
Reflexivity (field journal)
Triangulation
Member checking
Peer examination
Interview technique
Establishing authority of researcher
Structural coherence
Referential adequacy
Transferability Nominated sample
Comparison of sample to demographic data
Time sample
Dense description
Dependability Dependability audit
Dense description of research methods
Stepwise replication
Triangulation
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Peer examination
Code-recode procedure
Confirmability Confirmability audit
Triangulation
Reflexivity
A critical group of strategies used to enhance trustworthiness is triangulation. It involves
using multiple sources and perspectives to reduce the chance of systematic bias. There are
four main types of triangulation:
• By source - data is collected from different sources, e.g., different people, resources;
• By methods - different data collection strategies are used such as individual interviews,
focus groups and participant observation;
• By researcher - which involves the use of more than one researcher to analyze the data,
develop and test the coding scheme; and
• By theories - multiple theories and perspectives are considered during data analysis and
interpretation.
Key Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research
Informed Consent
• First mentioned in Nuremberg Code, Voluntary nature of research participation
without any force, fraud, pressure or coercion. Inform the participant about research,
its purpose and various features. Positional risk and benefits if any, freedom to
withdraw and not to answer any specific sensitive question. Consent can be obtained
in writing, verbally, audio or video taped. IRB/IEC main requirement.
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• Practical difficulties at the field level, cultural context examples and strategies to
overcome them. Qualitative research is informal, informed consent is formal – need
for a middle way. Gatekeeper consent is NOT participant consent.
Confidentiality
• Assuring respondents that their names and other indentifying details will not be
shared with anyone, names will be changed (pseudo names) where used. This is
required and will also lead to free expression on various interview questions
• Especially important in studies with sensitive variables like personal medical
information, sexual behaviour, mental health addiction, employer abuse, police abuse
etc. which can lead to stigma, discrimination, violence etc.
• Sensitive variables are generally explored in details in qualitative studies and
therefore it is all the more important. Care is also to be taken while transcribing
sometimes even without name it can be easily identified. Requires skills
• However, also respect the desire or wish to be identified sometimes.
Reciprocity/Compensation
• A dicey issue: On one hand respondents are giving us their time which has strong
opportunity cost (including leisure/rest) for the poor and study is not possible without
their cooperation, therefore, should be compensated. On the other hand, compensation
can induce specific answers. Some prefer token of appreciation than cash, some
believe in help at the community level (school or health centre gift etc.) Check with
the IRB.
• Sharing results with study participants is also expected, a presentation can be made
with gratitude and recognition.
When to Use Qualitative Research Methods?
Hartley & Muhit (2003) have given the following criteria of using qualitative research
methods.
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I- Exclusively
(i) When little is known
Qualitative research methods are known to be appropriate and effective when little or
nothing is known about the situation, as they do not require a predictive statement and
therefore seek the answers to open questions (Stone, 1999). In such a situation, predictive, or
closed quantitative questions are inevitably based on culturally different norms, imported
from other settings.
This creates a situation, where, however rigorously the research is conducted, the outcome
is likely to be inappropriate in that particular setting, and irrelevant to the problems the local
people are facing. In such situations, there is a need to base service development on cultural
realities and develop new innovative services, training and policy based on the complex and
dynamic actualities. Muecke (1997) argues that qualitative research has the capacity to do
this and that it has a vital role to play, in putting people and culture back into development by
documenting ignored social realities.
(ii) When target populations are vulnerable
Qualitative methods are also an effective tool when the target group are vulnerable, as is
inevitably so, when focusing on people with disabilities. Other common vulnerable groups
are women, illiterate groups and people with HIV. Use of qualitative research methods
provided the opportunity to listen and include the voices of the vulnerable population, in
programme planning.
(iii) When policy information is required
Quantitative studies have given decades of comparative data that have been used to inform
policy and planning of health and education services at all levels, but what this data does not
do, is provide information about the variations within the target population and the extremes
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that are likely to exist. Such studies tend to ignore the socio-cultural context as determinants
of health and educational status and the fact that political problems are socially constructed
(Carey, 1997).
II- Together with Quantitative Research
Qualitative data can be a prerequisite for good quantitative research in a number of ways,
for example, increasing the validity of measuring tools by providing culturally relevant
information about the issues that require to be measured. Black (1994) says 'It is better to
measure what is relevant inaccurately than to measure accurately what is irrelevant', but it is
even better to measure accurately what is relevant. Qualitative research can also be used for
providing possible explanations for quantitative survey results, which would be otherwise un-
explicable.
Qualitative research is useful in relationship to quantitative research if:
The topic has been researched for a long time in the same way.
The topic is new to research.
You would like in-depth information that may be difficult to convey quantitatively.
Conclusion
All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding (Campbell, 1974). Scattered
inconsistent researches take us nowhere. There should be continuity of research area.
Research culminating into mathematical equations to the reality is the climax. But social
reality is too complex to be represented through mathematical equations. All forms and all
types of researches together are too limited to understand the social reality (Goel & Goel,
2006). A major strength of the qualitative approach is the depth to which explorations are
conducted and descriptions are written, usually resulting in sufficient details for the reader to
grasp the idiosyncracies of the situation. The ultimate aim of qualitative research is to offer a
perspective of a situation and provide well-written research reports that reflect the
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researcher's ability to illustrate or describe the corresponding phenomenon. One of the
greatest strengths of the qualitative approach is the richness and depth of explorations and
descriptions." (Myers, 2002)
As qualitative studies rely on collecting data from participants in their natural settings and
most of the data are usually non-numeric, unstructured textual data, a high level of linguistic
skills are required. Quality and relevance of interview and focus group data largely depends
on the linguistic skill of the researcher. Excellent verbal and written communication skill are
required to collect qualitative data and to analyse and disseminate the results of qualitative
study.
Other important skills required by a good qualitative researcher are: the ability of
formulating open-ended questions and facilitating discussions in a non-directional manner;
empathy, commitment and involvement of the researcher, the ability to listen carefully to
better understand other people's views etc. Qualitative researchers need to learn not to judge
people as that can create a communication barrier between researcher and the participants.
Facilitating skills are required particularly to conduct focus group discussions. It is important
to consider the skills that are required when recruiting interviewers for a qualitative study and
also to provide training in interview techniques and facilitating skills. Most of the skills can
be developed and enhanced through active training, regular practice and sharing the
experience with other researchers.
All research requires excellent planning and management skills but in qualitative research
changes to the research structure can be made in response to new data at any stage in the
process in an iterative way (Hartley & Muhit, 2003). Qualitative researches demand
competent, faithful, ethical, integrated, open, empathizing, dedicated and interdisciplinary
personalities.
References
Black N. (1994). Why we need qualitative research? Editorial, Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health. 48, 425-426.
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Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method. Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press.
Carey, M. A. (1997). Qualitative Research in Policy Development. In Morse, K. (ed)
Completing a Qualitative Study. Pp. 345- 355.
Charmaz, K., (1994). Grounded Theory: Objectivist and Constructivist Methods. In
Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (ed.) Handbook of Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, p. 289.
Cresswell JA. (2002). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods
Approaches. London: Sage publications, p. 57.
Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1984). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Newbury
Park: Sage Publications.
Ferguson, Sinclair B; David F Wright &J. I. Packer (1988). New Dictionary of
Theology. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.
Firestone, S. (1987). Meaning in method: The rhetoric of qualitative and quantitative
research. Educational Researcher. 16, 16-21.
Fischer, C. T. (Ed.). Qualitative research methods for psychologists: Introduction
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Flick, Uwe (1998). An Introduction to Qualitative Research. New Delhi: Sage, p. 67.
Flyvbjerg, Bent (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case Study Research.
Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), April, 219-245.
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Flyvbjerg, Bent (2011). Case Study. In Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln
(eds.). The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (4th Ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage, pp. 301-316.
Glaser, B. and Straus, A. L. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies
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Goel, D. R. & Goel, C. (2006). Basic Tenets of Qualitative Research. Quality
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Grondin, Jean (1994). Introduction to Philosophical Hermeneutics. Yale University
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Garfinkel, Harold (1967).Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
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Hartley, Sally & Muhit, Mohammad (2003). Using Qualitative Research Methods for
Disability Research in Majority World Countries. Asia Pacific Disability
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Ibid, p. 108.
Krippendorff , Klaus (2004). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology
(2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Krefting, L. (1991). Rigor in qualitative research: The assessment of trustworthiness.
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Lincoln, Y.S. and Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry, Beverly Hills: Sage
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Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative research and case study: Applications in education.
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developing country social scientists. In Morse J. (Ed) Completing a qualitative
project. London: Sage publications.
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Stone E. (1999). Disability and Development. Leeds: The Disability Press.
Straus, A. L. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. Cambridge: Cambridge
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Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 71
MATHEMATICS “CONTENT KNOWLEDGE” AND “PEDAGOGICAL
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE”
Dr. Ritu Bala8
Abstract
Teachers’ knowledge is a key factor to students’ achievement. One could question what this
teachers’ knowledge comprises of content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge or
both. Whether acquiring Mathematics content knowledge alone adequately prepares
prospective Mathematics teachers for teaching mathematics. Specifically, does the mastery in
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus etc. prepare future teachers to be
highly competent to teach students or just acquiring pedagogical knowledge alone
adequately prepares prospective Mathematics teachers for teaching mathematic. In the
1980’s, Lee Shulman and his colleagues coined a new term “pedagogical content
knowledge” to answer these questions and categorized teacher’s knowledge in seven
categories and this give a start to the new debate which one is more better content knowledge
or pedagogical content knowledge. This paper is an attempt to define and elaborate the
difference and relationship between these two terms Mathematics content knowledge or
Mathematics pedagogical content knowledge to make them more understandable to the
Mathematics teachers.
Teachers’ knowledge is a key factor to students’ academic success in today’s
classrooms. There have been many debates on the underlying interpretation of what
Mathematics teacher’s knowledge includes Mathematics content knowledge or Mathematics
pedagogical content knowledge or both. What is the difference or relation between these two?
8 Dr. Ritu Bala, Email: [email protected]
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 72
In the 1980’s, Lee Shulman and his colleagues popularized the concept of
“pedagogical content knowledge” and introduced a new way of thinking about the nature and
role of the teacher’s knowledge needed for high academic success of students Shulman
(1986). In 1987, Shulman distinguished teacher’s knowledge in seven categories: content
knowledge; curricular knowledge; pedagogical content knowledge; general pedagogical
knowledge; knowledge of learners and their characteristics; knowledge of educational
contexts and knowledge of educational ends, purposes and values. Ever since Shulman
established these categories, many researchers have come to believe that pedagogical content
knowledge is an important topic in Mathematics education and that high levels of
pedagogical content knowledge will predict high levels of student achievement and this
believe has further grounded the platform for discussion to which one is most important
content knowledge or pedagogical content knowledge.
Figure1
Shulman’s Seven Categories of Teacher’s Knowledge
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 73
Ball’s studies (1990) showed that effective Mathematics teaching is linked to both
teachers’ subject matter content knowledge as well as their pedagogical content knowledge.
Heid et al. (1999) showed that secondary Mathematics’ teachers content knowledge
influences their instructional planning and classroom practice. Heather et al. (2005) found
that teachers’ mathematical knowledge was significantly related to student achievement.
Waller (2012) found positive relationship of Mathematics intervention teachers’ pedagogical
content knowledge and students’ math achievement gains in primary math interventions.
The above-mentioned studies show a significant relation between Mathematics
content knowledge, Mathematics pedagogical content knowledge, effective Mathematics
teaching and students’ math achievement. Before reaching to any conclusion, one must have
a deeper insight to both of these terms Mathematics content knowledge, Mathematics
pedagogical content knowledge. Mathematics content knowledge is common knowledge of
mathematical content. It is the subject matter knowledge and refers to general Mathematics
ability. It includes knowledge about axioms, postulates, theorems, rules, principles, formulae,
language, concepts, sub-concepts etc. of Mathematics, depth, breadth, accuracy and
application of content knowledge; connections within and between topics and the branches
of Mathematics and fluency with multiple modes of examples of a topic and getting solution
to a particular mathematical problems. On the other hand, Mathematics pedagogical content
knowledge is defined as the specialized content knowledge required for teaching
Mathematics. It includes, “the most useful forms of representation …, the most powerful
analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations - in a word, the most
useful ways of representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to
others…. Pedagogical content knowledge also includes an understanding of what makes the
learning of specific topics easy or difficult” (Shulman, 1986).
Pedagogical content knowledge is the knowledge of how to transform formal content
knowledge into meaningful learning outcomes for students and it involves an understanding
of a particular topic and the ways a teacher explains the topic or concepts to make sense to
the students in the classroom. Teachers are always expected to exhibit a basic set of
pedagogical knowledge and skills in the classroom, which involves a good knowledge of
Mathematics, teaching methods, skills and knowledge of child development etc. This is
emphasized by (Hill et al 2004) that “In performing the process of teaching and learning,
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 74
teachers bring alone with them the knowledge components, contents knowledge, good
knowledge about the students and the various ways of using content knowledge in a
classroom’s teaching and learning process indeed play a role”. Moreover, the integration of
all these knowledge is recognized as pedagogical content knowledge.
For an example, teachers of Mathematics need a special type of understanding of
mathematical content itself. “A powerful characteristic of Mathematics is its capacity to
compress information into abstract and highly usable forms. . . . Mathematicians rely on this
compression in their work. However, teachers work with Mathematics as it is being learned,
which requires a kind of decompression, or ‘unpacking’ of ideas” (Ball and Bass, 2003). This
“unpacked” knowledge may provide the foundation for knowing how to represent the subject
to students or how to understand the mathematical features of student work. Most adults, for
example, know that one can “invert and multiply” to get the correct answer to the problem:
3/4 divided by 1/2. However, Mathematics teachers must know why such rules work and how
to represent the Mathematics to facilitate student understanding. Is a student mathematically
correct in saying that this problem can be illustrated by splitting 3/4 pies evenly between two
families or in saying that this can be illustrated by calculating how much money you would
have if you doubled Rs.0.75? If not correct, then what is a good story problem that illustrates
3/4 divided by 1/2? Good Mathematics teachers know how to address such questions and
how to unpack and represent fractions in ways that are useful in teaching the subject.
Pedagogical content knowledge includes “…understanding of how particular topics,
problems, or issues are organized, presented, and adapted to the diverse interests and abilities
of learners” and the “…most useful forms of representation of these ideas, most powerful
analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations, and demonstrations” and “…the ways of
representing and formulating the subject that make it comprehensible to others” (Shulman,
1987). The relation and difference between the Mathematics content knowledge and
pedagogical content knowledge can be better understood from the following table:
Table: Mathematics content knowledge vs. Mathematics pedagogical content
knowledge
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 75
Dimensions of
Knowledge Mathematics Content Knowledge
Mathematics Pedagogical
Content Knowledge
Field of
Knowledge Mathematics Mathematics Education
Output of
Knowledge
Enables to be skilled and competent
Mathematics student/s
Enables to be skilled and
competent Mathematics teacher/s
Knowledge is
Mastered by The learner/student The teacher
Objective of
Getting
Knowledge
To master the rules, principles,
formulae etc. of Mathematics to
solve the problems based on them
To transform mathematical
knowledge into meaningful
learning outcomes for students to
make them understand the rules,
principles, formulae etc. of
Mathematics
Basic
Requirements for
Knowledge
The will to learn Mathematics
Attitude towards learning
Mathematics
The will to teach Mathematics
Aptitude for teaching
Mathematics
Areas of Study of
Knowledge
The concepts and sub-concepts
of Mathematics
The relation within and
between the branches of
Mathematics
Solution of Mathematical
problems related to the
concepts of arithmetic, algebra,
geometry, statistics,
trigonometry etc.
Teaching of Mathematics
The content knowledge
Content analysis
Pedagogical analysis
Psychology of teaching and
learning
Learner and her/his
characteristics
Methods of evaluation etc.
Knowledge is
Mastered
Through
Drill work techniques and practice
while learning
Training and practice during
teaching
Basis for Pure Mathematics and Sciences Behavioural Sciences
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Knowledge
Relation
Without pedagogical content
knowledge a teacher will not be
teach effectively in the class. less
effective teaching results in less
effective content knowledge
Without mastery of content
knowledge, teacher cannot master
the pedagogical content
knowledge.
From the above table it is clear that there is difference between to master the concept
her/himself and to make others master the content. The first one refers to the content
knowledge and the second one refers to the pedagogical content knowledge. To make
students master the Mathematics content knowledge the teacher her/himself has to master the
Mathematics content knowledge along with Mathematics pedagogical knowledge and
contextual knowledge. Mathematics pedagogical knowledge is “the knowledge or the study
of science of teaching mathematical concepts and sub-concepts that influences the
Mathematics learning in students”. Therefore we can conclude that Mathematics pedagogical
content knowledge includes three sub-components: Mathematics content knowledge –
Knowledge of the contents of Mathematics, pedagogical knowledge - knowledge of science
of teaching, content analysis, pedagogical analysis, methods and techniques of presentation
and contextual knowledge - the level, characteristics and needs of the students as well as the
subject, teaching-learning environment.
Figure 2
Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 77
A teacher with good mathematical pedagogical content knowledge can break down
mathematical content knowledge into less polished and abstract forms, thus making it
accessible to students who are at different cognitive levels. S/he can unpack the Mathematics
into its discrete elements and can explain a concept or procedure at a level that includes the
steps necessary for the students to make sense of the reasoning. S/he can understand where
students may have trouble learning the subject and will be able to represent mathematical
concepts in a way that their students can comprehend its structure and avoid these difficulties.
In order to prepare effective Mathematics teachers, a teacher-training program must focus on
Mathematics pedagogical content knowledge.
References:
Ball, D. L. (1990). The mathematical understandings that prospective teachers bring
to teacher education, Elementary School Journal, 90(4).
Ball, D. L. and Bass, H. (2003). Toward a practice-based theory of mathematical
knowledge for teaching. In Phelps, G. and Schilling, S. (2004). Developing measures
of content knowledge for teaching reading, Elementary School Journal. Online
sii.soe.umich.edu/.../ESJ_CKT%20reading_Final_Reformated. pdf
Heather C. Hill, Brian Rowan, and Deborah Loewenberg Ball (2005) Effects of
Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching on Student Achievement American,
Educational Research Journal, 42(2).
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 78
Heid, M. K., Blume, G. W., Zbiek, R. M., & Edwards, B. S. (1999). Factors that
influence teachers learning to do interviews to understand students’ mathematical
understandings, Educational Studies in Mathematics, 37.
Hill, H.C., Ball, D. L. & Schilling, S. G. (2004). Developing measures of teachers’
mathematics knowledge for teaching, Elementary School Journal, 105.
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching,
Educational Researcher, 15(2).
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform.
Harvard Educational Review, 57(1).
Waller, Lisa Ivey (2012) Math intervention teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge
and student achievement, Eastern Kentucky University Richmond, Kentucky. Online
http://encompass.eku.edu/etd/57.
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Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 79
DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT, DEPRIVATION AND PEOPLE’S
MOVEMENT IN ASSAM
Pallavi Hazarika9
Introduction
The traditional concept of development as increasing wealth and income, a higher standard
of living, improved technology and industrial progress has undergone a change with the
emergence of concepts like human security, human development, human rights etc. The
traditional concept of development relies heavily on capital investment and advanced
technology to harness existing natural and human resources.10
But such kind of development
can go against their right to life enshrined in Article 21 of Indian constitution as the
development projects require a huge land area and the governments acquire both public and
private land by forcing the poor, marginalised people to move out from their private ancestral
land for the overall development of the society. Studies show that many of these areas are
inhabited by the tribal and other poor rural people whom the projects force to sacrifice their
sustenance in the name of national development. But its benefit does not reach them; some
sections pay the price of benefits that other sections get.
Displacement is caused by various factors such as natural disasters, ethnic, religious
and political conflicts and development projects. In development projects some persons are
physically displaced and others deprived of livelihood without being displaced. Development
projects are crucial for economic growth, but results in a change in land use. Therefore
development induced displacement is planned; the state acquires private land through a
Gazette Notification and compensates them for it. Land is people’s livelihood but projects
treat it only as a commodity. On the other hand, most families specially the poor tribals
sustain themselves on the Common Property Resources (CPRs). But when the projects
acquire CPRs, they are not considered as land losers because they do not have an individual
9 Research Scholar, Department of Political Science, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong,
Meghalaya
10
Walter Fernandes and Gita Bharali, Uprooted for whose Benefit? Development-induced Displacement in Assam 1947-2000, North Eastern Social Research Centre, Guwahati,2011
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title to it according to the present legal system. Its dependants are, therefore, unable to sustain
themselves on it and are forced to move out. They are not displaced persons (DPs) and are
not counted among the DPs and Project Affected Parsons (PAPs) because they legally leave
their homes of their own accord. Loss of both private land and CPRs cause DPs and PAPs,
but most projects count only individual land losers among them and exclude most families
sustaining themselves on CPRs according to their customary law. Most of these families
have inhabited in CPRs for centuries but the individual based laws of the country do not
recognize their rights over them. They are thus excluded from benefits like compensation
when the projects alienate their sustenance.11
With the emergence of people oriented concept of developmental activities, human
rights protection and promotion of the displaced people has become a global phenomenon.
And it is the prime responsibility of the state to provide pre and post rehabilitation measures
to the displaced and project affected people as displacement, resettlement and rehabilitation
have been considered as important issues of human rights debate. In this paper an attempt has
been made to analyse the problems of internal displacement caused by mega dams in Assam
and thereby tries to focus on the issues raised by the movements led by various civil society
organizations against the on-going Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project and the responses
of the Assam Government to address the same.
The Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric Project (LSHEP) and People’s movement
The LSHEP is the first hydro-electric project to be located in two states- Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh. The project was launched in the year 2000. The proposed dam site is 23
km upstream of the Gerukamukh village in the Dhemaji district of Assam. 90% of the project
area falls within the territory of Arunachal Pradesh and the remaining 10% falls under
Assam. The total requirement of the forest land is 4039.3 hectares, out of which 3183
hectares are in Arunachal Pradesh and 856.3 hectares are in Assam. The 116 meter high dam
will submerge 3436 hectares of land.12
Local citizens and other civil society groups in Assam
repeatedly raised concerns about the faulty clearances to the project without comprehensive
downstream studies. The area in which the dam is located has been very vulnerable to flood
11
Ibid,pp-1-11 12
Monirul Hussain, Interrogating Development: State, Development and Popular Resistance in North East India, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2008 pp.116, 119.
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and earthquake. Landslide is also common in the area. The project is also located in an
important bio-diversity hotspot.13
In this paper an empirical study has been made to analyse the problems of the project
affected people.While talking about the problem of internal displacement, this paper tries to
focus on the issues of livelihood or indirect displacement faced by the people of the
downstream of the LSHEP in the form of livelihood disruption, social and cultural
disintegration, breakdown of traditional way of life and community networks etc. From the
field survey of the Gerukamukh village conducted for this purpose it is revealed that most of
the people are tribals, specially Mishings of Assam and Adi people from Arunachal Pradesh
and the rest are tea tribes, Koch-kalita, ahom, sunuwal kachries, koibatra, Nepali etc.
Majority of them are poor marginalized farmers, carpenters and daily wage earners. Again,
no physical displacement has taken place because of the LSHEP so far. But the acquisition of
Common Property Resources for the installation of the project caused livelihood
displacement to a large extent as most of the people are dependent on agriculture and allied
activities for their very existence. People are indirectly displaced from access to natural
resources and environmental inputs for their livelihood. The project was set up in a reserve
forest area known as subansiri reserve forest. Before the installation of the project, the local
people used to collect fire-woods, medicinal herbs and even used the forest land for the
production of seasonal vegetables and as gazing fields. But now the NHPC authority declared
the area as prohibited area and hence the local people are deprived from their access to the
forest.
Though the project authorities promised to provide them livelihood and employment
opportunities along with other services like education, health care, drinking water,
Communication services etc containing expenses of 1% of the total cost of the project for the
overall development of the local people, but only a few of the local youth manage to get jobs
only on contractual basis under contractors about whom the project authorities have no
official records either.
13
Manju Menon and Kanchi Kohli, Large Dams for Hydro Power in North East India, Kalpavrikh , South Asian Network on Dams Rivers and People, 2005, p. 43.
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Majority of the local people are against the dam only because of the psychological
trauma related to the breakdown of the dam due to natural calamities like Earthquake,
Landslide etc as it will create devastating impact on the downstream area as most of the
important districts of Upper Assam including the river island Majuli will be submerged by
water unleashed by the dam. Hence, the project violates the basic human rights like right to
life, right to property and right to human security and the fundamental rights of the
constitution of India, specially the article 21 which deals with the right to life of every Indian
citizen.
The impact of the LSHEP on the ecology, bio-diversity and wildlife is immense. The
local people informed the decrease of important wild animals like elephant, bear, langur etc
in the nearby forests because of the noise produced by the dam. Thus, the LSHEP has
violated the provisions of the basic forest and environmental protection acts related to the
protection and preservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats.
It may be noted that the Lower Subansiri Project is facing resistance from the people
of both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The people are resisting under the banner of various
organizations like the People’s movement for Subansiri Valley, the Subansiri Bachao
Committee, the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, North East Dialogue Forum, Brahmaputra
Valley Gana Sangram Samiti etc. Various civil society and student organizations like the All
Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the All Dhemaji District Student Union (ADDSU), the
Takam Mising Parim Kaubang (TMPK) etc are also active in raising the voices in certain
core areas of displacement, resettlement and rehabilitation and also on the problem of
artificial flood and environmental degradation unleashed by the dam. The main issues raised
by these organisations are- execution of the report of the expert committee, fresh
environmental clearance to the LSHEP and suspension of its work till the project got fresh
environmental clearance, safety and security of the people of the downstream, infrastructure
development such as establishment of schools, health centres, parks etc, providing sufficient
electricity, better livelihood, job opportunity etc. The protesters alleged that though the expert
committee had confirmed that the subansiri dam would cause devastation to the people of the
downstream, the centre as well as the state governments had not taken any step to stop the
dam. All the organisations also protested against the carrying of the turbines to the
Gerukamukh site of the LSHEP. But it is important to mention here that the till date 5 out of
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8 turbines have been installed and the power cable towers have already been set up for
transmission of electricity from the LSHEP.
Responses of State Government
Faced with protests in Assam against big dams in the upper reaches of the
Brahmaputra, the Ministry of Power has commissioned a number of studies. Along with that
the Ministry of Environment and Forest has made assessment of downstream impact
mandatory.14
The union Ministry of Environment and Forest on September 10, 2010
announced that no hydro electric power project would get clearance from Ministry of
Environment and Forest without a comprehensive bio-diversity and culminative impact
study.15
The Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also assured the people that a
technical committee would study the under constructed LSHEP and if any flaws are detected,
the committee would try to rectify them.16
The State Power Minister of Assam said that the
Assam Government wanted adequate safeguards against any possible adverse impact the
proposed mega dam might have on the downstream areas. And the safeguards should be
taken on the basis of comprehensive scientific studies to be conducted by government
Agencies like the Power Ministry, the Central Water Commission, the Central Electricity
Authority, and the Ministry of Environment and Forest.17
The rulling congress pasrty is for an
in-depth assessment of the impact of the mega dams including LSHEP for mitigating the
adverse effects and compensating the people. The Chief Minister of Assam also suggested the
Union Power Minister to appoint a multi-disciplinary expert committee to study the impact of
the LHSEP and also to initiate scientific studies for removing all the doubts on the safety and
the adverse impacts of the LSHEP and other such hydel projects proposed in the NE region.
Conclusion
The Lower subansiri Basin in Assam supports an ethnically diverse population that
sustains itself primarily on traditional agriculture, fishery and allied activities. The on-going
14
“Mega Dams in North East India: Downstream Impact Study made mandatory”, The Assam Tribune, 26 november,2009 15
The Assam Tribune, September 11,2010, Guwahati. 16
The Assam Tribune, October 31,2010, Guwahati. 17
The Telegraph, July 24, 2010, Guwahati.
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LSHEP is likely to have a cumulative impact of different dimensions right from the
immediate downstream impact to the confluence with the Brahmaputra. The LSHEP has the
potential to jeopardize the lives and livelihood of a large number of people in the downstream
areas besides impacting the environment. On the other hand, the State Government and the
concerned authorities fail to win the confidence of the affected people regarding their safety
and security issues as the LSHEP is situated in an earthquake prone area. Moreover the
Central Government is not interested to halt the work of the LSHEP as it has already spent
hundreds of thousands on the construction and it is not possible to bring any structural
changes at this stage. Except the Dibang Multipurpose project, none of the 167 projects have
any provision for flood water storage. The release of water for the operation of the project
can create dam-induced flood in the downstream areas. India does not have any clear cut
resettlement and rehabilitation policy and the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 is also a
controversial one. Now, it is the time to place the issue of development with the issue of
livelihood, rights, dignity and security of the people in the popular politics of New Social
Movements and it is equally important to include the international guidelines on dam-induced
displacement to the policies that Central or State Government is going to adopt to deal with
the problems of resettlement and rehabilitation of the development- induced displaced people.
It is also hoped that the proposed Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill,
2011 will give weightage to humanitarian issues over state-centred developmental policy for
the overall development of the society.
References
Bharali, Gita. “Development –induced Displacement and Human Security in Assam”
in Akhil Ranjan Dutta’s (ed). Human Security in North East India, Anwesha,
Guwahati
Das, Samir Kumar (ed). Blisters on their Feet: Tales of the Internally Displaced
People of India’s North East, Sage Studies on India’s North East, New Delhi, 2008
Fernandez, Walter and Sanjoy Borbora.“Development, Displacement and Right to
Life” in Samir Kumar Das (ed). Blisters on their Feet: Tales of the Internally
Displaced People of India’s North East, Sage Studies on India’s North East, New
Delhi, 2008.
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 85
Fernandez,Walter and Gita Bharali. Development-Induced Displacement and
Deprivation in Assam 1947-2000: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study of Its Extent
and Nature, North East Social Research Centre, Guwahati, 2006.
Gohain, Hiren. Brihat Nadibandh aru Axomar Biparjay, Bhabani Print and
Publications, Guwahati, December,2010
Hussain,Monirul. Interrogating Development: State, Displacement and Popular
Resistance in North East India, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2008
Menon, Manju and Kanchi Kohli. Large Dams for Hydro Power in North East India,
Kalpavrikh, South Asian Network on Dams Rivers and People, 2005.
Riba, Timo. “Proposed Subansiri Hydel Project: A Case Study of Potential
Displacement” in Samir Kumar Das(ed). Blisters on their Feet: Tales of the Internally
Displaced People of India’s North East, Sage Studies on India’s North East, New
Delhi, 2008.
Talukdar, Mrinal and Kishor Kumar Kalita (eds). Brihat Bandh and Assam, Bhabani
Print and Publications, Guwahati, December,2010
Thomas C. Joshua (ed). Dimensions of Displaced People in North East India,
Regency Publications, New Delhi, 2002.
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ROLE OF TEACHER EDUCATORS/ K-12 EDUCATORS: PREPARATION &
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Sarmila Banerjee18
Abstract:
The role of teacher educators today is to mend the existing system with vision to help teacher
education grow as a profession and produce quality teachers for schools. This article
discusses the role and examines the consequences of modeling by teacher educators as a
means of changing the views and practices of future teachers. Teacher educators are
responsible for producing quality teachers. As pointed by Harvey (1993) and Atwood (2007)
that Quality processes tend to focus on ‘core’ aspects of education such as learning-teaching
and course organization. In other words teacher educators’ way of organizing theoretical
framework, practical sessions and skills development programme affect the future teachers.
The activities suggested during training are carried to the classroom teaching in the schools.
Researchers like McAffrey et.al. (2003), Rivkin et.al. (2005) and Rockoff (2004) found that
teachers have a significant impact on the achievement of the students. However, research
studies are genuine to provide answer to the question if the teacher educators directly affect
the teachers’ classrooms behavior or management of activities in the schools. There could be
many reasons for this.
Teacher Educator are “All those who actively facilitate the (formal) learning of student
teachers and teachers”. This includes those, involved in the continuing professional
development of teachers as well as those involved in Initial Teacher Education.
PREPARING TEACHER EDUCATORS
Teacher educators who are competent and professionally equipped for the job will
obviously produce prospective and effective teachers through proper education and training.
The professional competence of teacher educators predicts the quality of pedagogical inputs
in teacher education programmes and the manner in which they are transacted to realize their
intended objectives are also determined by them. The need and importance of professionally
18 Ph.D Scholar (Dept. of Edu. V.B.) & Lecturer (S.B.B.Ed. Tr. Inst.), Santineketan, e-mail-
[email protected], Mob. +91 9474410600
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trained teacher educators has been emphasized in statements on educational policy many
times, but the situation on the ground remains poor; there is severe shortage of properly
qualified and professionally trained teacher educators at all stages of education and especially
at the elementary stage. The shortage refers to both inadequacies of required numbers as well
as to mismatch in the qualifications of teacher educators and their job requirements.
Existing Arrangements for Training of Teacher Educators – Status and Critique
Teacher education programmes in ECE(Early Childhood Education) should develop
in the trainee concepts, competencies, attitudes and skills related to implementation of
developmentally appropriate curriculum based on child-centred and play and activitybased
approach: cognitive and language development, health and nutrition, social –emotional
development, physical and psychomotor development, aesthetic development, creativity and
play, programme planning and school organization, community mobilization and
participation. Teacher educator who has a sound educational philosophy of ECE besides
specialized content and methodology skills pertaining to the above areas are required.
Available Institutional arrangements for preschool teacher education are grossly inadequate
considering the expected expansion of pre-school education sector in the coming years. Also
there is need to evolve specially designed programmes at the degree and post-degree levels
for the training of teacher educators. One possibility is to develop the M.Ed as a teacher
educator training programme with specialization in pre-school / elementary / secondary
teacher education.
NCTE was established in 1993 by the Act of parliament to give the tinge of
professionalism to teacher preparation programme. Instead of mending the system it caused
some damage to the programme of teacher education because of the lack of insight on the
part of teacher educators to provide a good model of teacher education. Teacher educators
instead of taking the aspect of professionalism seriously, have been criticizing the process of
teacher education rather than providing answer to problem faced by them. A good model of
teacher education programme has not been produced till now. Existing teacher education
problems were further increased by the privatization of teacher education institutions. Private
enterprises in teacher education programme were never accepted by them, though they had
been party in recognizing the private teacher education institutions (through NCTE) for the
sake of fringe benefits bestowed by the private players. The situation deteriorated to such an
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extent that at particular time a committee was constituted by the Ministry of Human resource
Development to scrap the regulatory body of teacher education (NCTE). The situation was
saved by some right thinking teacher educators to reverse the decision after a great hue and
cry. The teacher educators gave a little thinking to their role in the changed set up under
Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization after developments like this happened.
CONTRIBUTION OF TEACHER EDUCATORS
The teacher educators have much to contribute to the development of quality amongst
the teachers. Simply criticizing the system in the name of NCTE should be stopped and their
role should be emphasized. If they do not contribute, they will move from the current
marginalized status to the one of irrelevance. According to Liston et. al. (2008) they will have
to respond at both conceptual/empirical and pedagogical levels.
The first and foremost thing is to accept the existing realities of the world, i.e., Privatization
of the educational system and it cannot be denied at any cost. The existing teacher education
colleges or the University departments of education cannot accommodate all the aspirants.
Thus the nation at such a juncture will have to depend on private participation in education
system of the country. This Mass Education does not Necessarily Mean the End of Quality.
In India Teacher education programme has never been based on demand and supply
phenomenon. So in such a situation there is a need to draft teacher education courses that
have totally specialized knowledge, specialized skills and inherent code of ethics. There
should be good theoretical base. Depending only on Philosophy, psychology or such other
subjects they should bring up a body of knowledge that the future teachers start
philosophizing or thinking psychologically to find solution to their classroom problems. They
should start devising the knowledge akin to the discipline of education, i.e., like learning
styles, thinking skills etc.
Secondly, the teacher educators will have to develop specialized skills that add quality to the
professional functioning. Skills of quality teaching and quality assessment are most desired.
Quality teaching skills involve the process of making students work hard and become
independent learner. Similarly the teacher trainees have to be trained in quality assessment
procedure which requires the trainees to assess the students with respect to their thinking
process and learning styles. The skills related to feed back have to be developed amongst
future teachers so that the feedback is accepted openly in the same manner.
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Thirdly teacher educators should develop functions other than teaching by making teacher
education degree/ diploma broad based with respect to changing times. Many dimensions
with specializations will have to be added since the future teaching will not be limited to
classroom teaching alone. Students will not depend upon teachers to seek knowledge about
subject matter but find better transmitter of knowledge in media. But they will not be able to
negate the teachers as they will require help of the teachers to solve their day-to-day learning
or behavioral problems. Even the parents of the students will seek indulgence of teachers in
achieving their aspired goals. The future schools will be having trauma centre’s on their
campus and will depend upon teachers’ skills to solve various issues related to behavioral
problems of students. So the teacher educators will have to design course curricula to
accommodate such functions of the teachers. Specializations like Public Relationing, Parent
Counseling, Behavioral Therapy, Developing e-learning material etc. will have to be included
in the course curricula of teacher education. All such dimensions have to be added to the
teacher education courses if these courses have to exist in the future.
Fourthly, the whole nature and process of teacher education will have to be worked out
differently, as the existing teacher education programme is divided in to different academic
papers and sections. The academic papers are Principles of Education and Educational
Psychology etc and while teaching these courses, the teacher educators emphasize
information aspect only (having no relevance to classroom teaching or school problems). The
student teachers are never taught ‘how to use the information for solving problems related to
school education in general and teaching in particular’. Keeping in view the limitations of
discipline oriented approach the teacher educators should visualize Problem oriented
approach. A comprehensive list of various problems faced by various functionaries be
developed through field based working and the student teachers should be asked to find out
workable solutions to the problems. This is possible by having flexible, experience based,
process oriented teacher education programme; wherein the student teachers are trained in
analyzing the problem, developing hypotheses, collecting relevant data and drawing
conclusions. Later the student teachers discuss these conclusions with large group to work on
the solutions in simulated set up. Such a Project based teacher education programme will help
in establishing credibility of teacher education programme. The apex institution like NCTE
should work with a vision to metamorphose the existing teacher education programme.
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Fifthly, the teacher educators will have to organize their research as per the needs of
the society and the market forces. Liston et.al. (2008) in his editorial pointed out that
“Teacher quality research emerges from different conceptual lenses, some less familiar to
educators (e.g., labour economies). It is important to grasp varied theories of action implied
and to analyze assumptions and values in different research designs.” To put it in simpler
words, it connotes that research process and research problems in education should be such
that these solve societal problems from different angles. For example the society in India at
present is being faced with problems like violence by schools students, sex linked problems
at primary stage, aspiration of parents that their child should lead the class in every activity,
going for tuitions even at pre-primary level, etc. The answer to such problems is not simple.
It involves knowledge of sociology, psychology as well as economics. The teacher educators
need to get all essential knowledge to take up the issue and find workable solutions. After all
it is the teacher educators who teach about the nature of the child and work directly in the
field.
Identity and commitment of Teacher Educator
It can be concluded, therefore, that there is many different kinds of people who share
responsibility for educating teachers, but they do not share the same levels of commitment to
Teacher Education, the same ideas about quality in teaching, or a common system of
professional values. Different Teacher Educators adopt very different – and often multiple -
professional identities according to research evidence which has only started to emerge.
According to Swennen et al (2010), four sub-identities of teacher educators in the literature
are found: teacher educators as school teachers, teacher educators as teachers in higher
education, teacher educators as researchers and teacher educators as teachers of teachers (or
second-order teachers). Professional identity is in part linked to the professional competences
deployed. Although some phases of Teacher Education are located within Higher Education,
it is important to recognize that, to be effective, Teacher Educators are required to deploy
specific competences in addition to those required of other university or school teachers; in
particular, as second order teachers, they require competence in:
• reflecting upon how they teach,
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• communicating about how they teach, and
• modeling good teaching practice to student-teachers.
Teacher Educators have a dual role: to be producers of knowledge about education, learning
and teaching, and to be educators of teachers. But many Teacher Educators do not undertake
research into teaching. Teacher Educators are key actors for quality in education, as Snoek et
al (2010) have pointed out: “When the general consensus is that teachers are the most
important in-school factor influencing the quality of their pupils’ learning, it seems
appropriate to assume that teacher educators are an important factor influencing the quality of
the learning of student teachers. The issue of the quality of the teacher educator then becomes
an issue of paramount importance.” In Europe to be little explicit policy either to define what
quality means in Teacher Education or to define the formal education or professional
development requirements of teacher educators. Based upon information about the countries
few States have set standards for Teacher Education or defined the competences required to
be allowed to work as a Teacher Educator. Some examples do exist, in Portugal, for
example, Teacher Educator competences are specified in law; in Austria, a list of Teacher
Educator competences is currently being prepared, and in the Netherlands, the relevant
professional body has devised a set of professional standards for teacher educators. A
question for further discussion is whether different competence profiles are justified for
Teacher Educators working in different contexts (e.g. Higher Education, school …).
Because of the wide range of competences required by Teacher Educators, a team approach is
desirable, such that the Teacher Educator team as a whole possesses the full range, with
individual members of the team bringing different areas of knowledge and expertise. This
approach requires effective management. The areas of expertise or knowledge required by
Teacher Educators (many of which are distinct from those required by other teachers in
Higher Education, or by teachers at other levels of education) include:
• the pedagogy of educating teachers
• educational studies
• (practice-based) research
• schools as institutions
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• professionalism
• the discipline
• the discipline as school subject
• the discipline didactics
• general didactics
• school-based education
• new skills (e.g. transversal Key Competences, digital competences …) (based upon
Jónasson, 2010) . Thus it was concluded that the competences required by Teacher Educators
include:
• first order teacher competences (competence in teaching learners)
• second order teacher competences (competence in teaching about teaching)
• knowledge development (research)
• system competences
• transversal competences
• leadership competences • competences in collaborating and making connecting
school leaders to use the same frame of reference for teacher quality and professional
development. To define competences required, professional standards and ‘quality’ for
Teacher Educators; a starting point the existing national competence profiles or standards can
be taken. One aim could be to devise on a European level an illustrative Frame of Reference
for the professional development and assessment of Teacher Educators that can inspire and
support the development of profiles or standards on the national level.
Lifelong Learning for Teacher Educators
Lifelong Learning is as important for Teacher Educators as it is for teachers and others, and
provision should be structured as a coherent continuum. The form that the Initial Education
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of Teacher Educators should take requires further discussion. Teachers have to prepare young
people with the competences they need to enter a world that is in rapid evolution; this means
that school curricula, and approaches to the organization of education and to teaching need to
adapt very rapidly to the changing needs of society and of the economy. As the people
responsible for making sure that teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes are kept up to date,
Teacher Educators must themselves be open to constant evolution in their own professional
body of knowledge, skills and attitudes, and must be able to adapt rapidly to changing needs.
All Teacher Educators, whatever their point of departure, need to take part in a suitable
programme of induction into the profession of Teacher Educator as well as into their new
employer institution. Thereafter, they need access to continuing professional development
opportunities of the highest quality, throughout their careers; these might be course-based or
tailor-made, formal or non-formal, individual or collective. The possibility of developing a
common frame of reference for the induction of Teacher Educators was suggested.An issue
requiring careful consideration is whether all Teacher Educators should possess a teaching
qualification. Another question is about the level of Teacher Educators' qualifications and
competences; one view is that a Teacher Educator should always have, or be working
towards, a qualification higher than the qualification of those s/he is teaching.All types of
Teacher Educator, at all levels need to have access to an adequate supply of suitable
educational and professional development opportunities. In this regard, it should be borne in
mind that ‘qualification’ can mean more than BA, MA, or PhD. It may be that other courses
leading to other qualifications need to be developed to cater for the varied needs of different
kinds of Teacher Educator. The potential offered by Professional or Educational Doctorates
should be further explored. The stakeholders who need to be involved in decisions about the
profession of Teacher Educator include:
• Government / educational authorities
• Employers of Teacher Educators
• Teacher Educators themselves
• Employers of teachers
• Teachers
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• Professional Associations of Teacher Educators
• External quality agencies
• Unions
For the work of Teacher Educators to be fully effective, a number of conditions need to
be met. These include, for example: • creating the necessary conditions / legislative
framework in which the Teacher Educator profession can be most effective;
• safeguarding the coherence of the Teacher Educator system;
• providing a framework for quality within the Teacher Educator profession and in Teacher
Education generally;
• setting quality criteria for the (initial and continuing) education and development of
Teacher Educators
• setting competence criteria for the selection of Teacher Educators;
• regularly assessing the quality of Teacher Educators;
• providing adequate Initial Education, induction and opportunities for Teacher
Educators. Whilst the mechanisms for undertaking these responsibilities, and the stakeholders
involved may, of course, vary according to different national contexts, it would appear
that in many countries some of these key conditions are not being met, often because it
is unclear who is responsible for them, with the negative consequences for the
profession that have been highlighted above.
Conclusion: Teacher Educators are the key players in the endeavor to improve the quality of
teacher education; they should therefore be supported to be the kingpins in innovation both
within teacher education and in schools .Furthermore, Teacher Educators are role models.
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From them, many teachers acquire the competences (knowledge, skills and values) that they
deploy in the classroom. By modeling effective teaching strategies, Teacher Educators
potentially play a key role both in maintaining and in improving the quality of the education
system (through their impact on student teachers and serving teachers) and in developing it
(through their role as developers and mediators of knowledge about education, and as
educational innovators).Against the background of recent developments, teacher education,
which for a long time in many countries was outside, and cut off from, mainstream Higher
Education, is now gradually finding a new place in Higher Education systems. This has not
been without significant challenges for the profession, and its consequences are still
unfolding. However, it is still premature in many states to refer to ‘a Teacher Education
system’, as if there were a single, coordinated and coherent continuum encompassing Initial
Teacher Education, Induction and continuing professional. Current policy discourse in
Europe and in other parts of the world emphasizes the crucial role played by the teaching
profession in helping young people to acquire the competences they need to develop their full
potential and to be active members of society and of the workforce. For this reason, the
development of policies to help raise the quality of the teaching profession is high on the
agenda in many countries .The publication of the European Commission’s Communication
‘Improving the Quality of Teacher Education ’in 2007, teacher education has moved higher
up the political agenda in
Europe. It is agreed that improving the quality of education requires improving quality of
teaching, and therefore of Teacher Education. Until recently, little attention has been paid to
the profession that plays the central role in this endeavor: the profession of Teacher Educator
sometimes called 'the hidden profession'. However, it is agreed, amongst other things, that
Teacher Educators should have ‘solid practical teaching’.
References:
1.Malhotra S.P. Teacher Educators’ Role in Enhancing Teacher Quality www.aiaer. Net/
ejournal/ vol 2010 8/2.htm
2. The Professional development of Teacher Educators.ec. europaeu/ education/ school-
education/ doc. Prof-en.pdf.’ The profession of Teacher Educators in Europe’( Education and
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 96
Training 2010 programme. Cluster ‘Teachers and Trainers’. Report of a Peer Learning
Activity in Reykjavik, Iceland, 21-24 June2010.
3.Snoek M, Swennen A, van der Klink M: ‘The quality of teacher educators in the European
policy debate, Actions and measures to improve professionalism of teacher educators’. Paper
presented at the ATEE Conference 2009, Palma de Mallorca.
4.Swennen A, Jones K, Volman M: ‘Teacher educators: their identities, sub-identities and
implications for professional development’, Professional Development in Education Vol. 36,
Nos. 1–2, March–June 2010, pp. 131–148
5.Swennen A, van der Klink M (Eds.): ‘Becoming a Teacher Educator: theory and practice
for
Teacher Educators’, Springer, 2009.
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CONSTRUCTIVISM IN SCHOOLS:
IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
Ms Sonal Chabra*, Ms Chetna* & Dr. Manorama Mathur**19
Education bears the impact of the newer developments in allied fields like
psychology, cognitive learning, philosophy and others. Constructivism is undoubtedly a main
theoretical influence in contemporary teaching-learning practices. Some would say it is the
major influence. Constructivism seemingly fits in with, and supports, a range of multicultural,
and broadly reformist programmes in education. Although constructivism began as a theory
of learning, it has progressively expanded its dominion, becoming a theory of teaching, a
theory of education, a theory of the origin of ideas, and a theory of both personal knowledge
and scientific knowledge. Indeed constructivism has become education’s version of the
‘grand unified theory’.
Historical figures like Immanuel Kant, John Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and
others have influenced the premise of constructivism. Various notions of constructivism have
been prevalent in the academic circle. In simple words, constructivism is a theory of
knowledge which argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from their
experiences. Scholars view constructivist learning as an active process where learners should
learn to discover principles, concepts and facts for themselves. Knowledge is thus a product
of humans and is socially and culturally constructed. Learning is not a process that only takes
place inside our minds, nor is it a passive development of our behaviours that is shaped by
external forces and that meaningful learning occurs when individuals are engaged in social
19
* Assistant Professor, Rawal College of Education, Faridabad ** Principal, Aravali College of Advanced Studies in Education, Faridabad
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activities. This means that the learning experience is both subjective and objective and
requires that the culture, values and background become an essential part in the shaping of
meaning. Constructivism advocates learner-centred, activity-centred interactive pedagogical
approach. Constructivism thus emphasizes the importance of the learner being actively
involved in the learning process, unlike previous educational viewpoints where the
responsibility rested with the instructor to teach and where the learner played a passive,
receptive role.
In past centuries, constructivist ideas were not widely valued due to the perception
that children's play was aimless and of little importance. However, Jean Piaget differed from
these traditional views. He saw play as an important and necessary part of the student's
cognitive development and provided scientific evidence for his views. Hence, formalization
of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to him, who articulated mechanisms by
which knowledge is internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of
accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their
experiences. It is important to appreciate that constructivism is not a particular pedagogy. In
fact, constructivism is a theory describing how learning happens, regardless of whether
learners are using their experiences to understand a lecture or following the instructions.
Brooks and Brooks (1993) clearly state that "in order for learning to take place in
schools, teachers must become constructivist, that is, in the classroom, they must provide a
learning environment where students search for meaning, appreciate uncertainty, and inquire
responsibly." The NCF (National Curriculum Framework) 2000 and 2005 by NCERT
strongly support the constructivist and learner-centred approach in school education. The
premise of constructivism is not just an ideal or purely normative theory: it purports to give
scientific guidance about human learning and the process of knowledge production; and
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philosophical guidance about the epistemological status of what is being learned. With
constructivism in classrooms at school level, it leaves a lot of changes in the role the teacher
has to play in such a setting.
CHANGING ROLE OF TEACHER IN THE CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING PROCESS
It has been well accepted that the role of teacher changes in the constructivist
classrooms. The teacher would move from the role of instructor to the role of facilitator on
the continuum of teaching. Where the instructor gives a didactic lecture which covers the
subject matter, a facilitator helps the learner to get to his or her own understanding of the
content. In the former scenario the learner plays a passive role and in the latter scenario the
learner plays an active role in the learning process. The emphasis thus turns away from the
instructor and the content, and towards the learner (Gamoran, Secada, & Marrett, 1998). This
dramatic change of role implies that a facilitator needs to display a totally different set of
skills than a teacher (Brownstein 2001). A teacher tells, a facilitator asks; a teacher lectures
from the front, a facilitator supports from the back; a teacher gives answers according to a set
curriculum, a facilitator provides guidelines and creates the environment for the learner to
arrive at his or her own conclusions; a teacher mostly gives a monologue, a facilitator is in
continuous dialogue with the learners (Rhodes and Bellamy, 1999). A facilitator should also
be able to adapt the learning experience ‘in mid-air’ by using his or her own initiative in
order to steer the learning experience to where the learners want to create value. A further
characteristic of the role of the facilitator in the social constructivist viewpoint, is that the
instructor and the learners are equally involved in learning from each other as well (Holt and
Willard-Holt 2000). Learners compare their version of the truth with that of the instructor and
fellow learners in order to get to a new, socially tested version of truth. The task or problem is
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thus the interface between the instructor and the learner. This creates a dynamic interaction
between task, instructor and learner. This entails that learners and instructors should develop
an awareness of each other's viewpoints and then look to their own beliefs, standards and
values, thus being both subjective and objective at the same time. The teachers have to
sometimes assume the role of a escort keeping in mind the importance of mentoring in the
process of learning. David Jonassen identified three major roles for facilitators to support
students in constructivist learning environments: Modeling, Coaching and Scaffolding. The
role of the teacher is to organise information around conceptual framework of problems,
questions, and discrepant situations. The most essential and indispensable role of the teacher
is to try to understand his students and to help each one in his growth and development.
SKILLS EXPECTED FROM A CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHER
In light of the changing role of the teacher in the constructivist classroom, it would be
wise to pen down at one place, the skills and qualities expected from such a teacher. Teaching
based on constructivist principles is demanding and requires a great deal of expertise. It
opens new approaches as well as challenges for teachers trying to implement it. The learner
centred approach does not reduce the importance of teachers. On the other hand, their role
becomes more complex, difficult and pivotal. The superlative quality for a constructivist
teacher to have is the ‘instantaneous and intuitive vision of the pupils’ mind as it goes gropes
and fumbles to grasp a new idea’ (Brooks and Brooks, 1993). They have to get prepared for
this new responsibility by creating insights, outlooks and competencies. Teachers have to
play a catalytic role.
In most pedagogies based on constructivism, the teacher's role is not only to observe
and assess but to also engage with the students while they are completing activities,
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wondering aloud and posing questions to the students for promotion of reasoning (DeVries et
al., 2002). The teacher should thus have the corresponding skills. Putting it all together,
different constructivist approaches recommend that educators:
♦ Embed learning in complex, realistic and relevant learning environments.
♦ Provide for social negotiation and shared responsibility as a part of learning.
♦ Support multiple perspectives and use multiple representations of content.
♦ Nurture self-awareness and an understanding that knowledge is constructed and
♦ Encourage ownership in learning (Driscoll, 2000).
The teachers should have a whole bunch of skills to encourage students to take
initiative for their own learning. To sum it up, the qualities, capacities and skills that should
be exhibited by a constructivist teacher are:
(a) A spontaneous but well-cultivated interest in observing students with deep insight and
sympathy;
(b) Psychological tact to deal with collective and individual needs of growth of students;
(c) Capacity to lead students to the art of self- learning;
(d) A cheerful and enthusiastic disposition capable of inspiring students to pursue their work
with sincerity and dedication;
(e) Capacity of guiding and counselling, more by suggesting and by uplifting example rather
than by lecturing;
(g) Capacity to handle self-learning equipment, audio- visual instruments and various kinds
of new learning materials including work sheets, workbooks, programmed books, test
papers with auto-correcting components and other materials required, for vocational
guiadnce;
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(h) Knowledge of art and science of educating the personality in all its aspects with a special
emphasis on integration, harmony and excellence.
(i) The teachers should be well versed with instructional methods like problem-solving,
inquiry training, discovery method and other teaching schemes.
HOW WOULD TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS ADAPT TO CONSTRUCTIVIST
EXPECTATIONS?
While it may inform and influence practice, constructivism is a theory of learning, not
a theory of teaching (Wolffe & McMullen, 1996), and translating theory to practice is both
difficult and imprecise (MacKinnon & Scarf-Seatter, 1997). However, education literature
documents several large- and small-scale efforts to do so. These efforts need to be organized
so that consequential steps can be taken in the direction. The first target group which needs to
be focused is the teachers. It is a topic of discussion at different platforms that teachers
should adapt to this changing expectations. It is the teacher education programs which hold
the responsibility of preparing teachers, hence it becomes the accountability of teacher
education programs to instill these skills in our teachers both through pre-service and in-
service education. Consequently, a constructivist approach to teacher education is needed so
that students in schools can develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. To promote
constructivism in schools, pre-service teachers must engage in constructivist processes
throughout their education. Following paragraphs highlight the adaptations in the teacher
education programmes that can be made to arrange constructivist teachers for our children in
their classrooms.
Constructivism and objectives: The focus of the teacher education programmes should be to
make the p teachers ready to rethink and change the criteria and basic situation of the
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teaching profession, in which the job of educating and stimulating students is steadily
superseding that of simply giving instructions. The teacher trainees should be taught to take
responsibility of their own learning. Another key to a successful transition to a constructivist
classroom involves helping teachers trainees rethink the source and role of authority within a
class structure. The objective should be to make the prospective teachers realize that teachers
and learners are partners in the process and teaching cannot be viewed as the transmission of
knowledge from enlightened to unenlightened. Efforts should be made in these programs to
help teacher education students deconstruct their own prior knowledge and attitudes,
comprehend how these understandings evolved, explore the effects they have on actions and
behavior, and consider alternate conceptions and premises that may be more serviceable in
teaching.
Constructivism and program design: The first realization in designing a constructivist
program is that it takes time for students to actually address their beliefs and construct new
insights. For many teacher preparation programs, the first move should be to increase the
course time and spacing of program components. Far too often teacher preparation methods
courses take place for a few weeks, and the students are moved immediately into teaching
practice. Different practicals should be given due attention because their absence leaves
students with an information base without context. The whole program should be based on
situated learning. Situated learning is where the student takes part in activities which are
directly relevant to the application of learning and which take place within a culture similar to
the applied setting. The knowledge given should not be decontextualised because of it
obvious limitations.
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Constructivism and teaching methods: Teacher education programs should teach
prospective teachers how to teach in a constructivist, generally Piagetian, manner. They
should be characterized by substantial direct instruction in theory and practice, and
complementary opportunities for inquiry, discovery, or self-examination. This approach
should not become overly prescriptive. If this occurs, the teacher educator models an
approach to teaching that is essentially antithetical to the approach student teachers are
intended to employ in their future classrooms. Teacher educators' should model constructivist
approaches and should combine lectures with seminars, tutorials, demonstrations, exhibitions
and individualised guidance so as to make the process of training as effective as possible. The
different methods involved should entail dynamic interaction between task, instructor and
learner. These could be in the form of reciprocal teaching (two learners teach each other),
critical explorations, tutoring, cognitively guided instruction, anchored instruction, cognitive
apprenticeship, problem-based instruction, web quests, and similar approaches that involve
learning with others. Constructivist approaches can also be used in online learning. For
example, tools such as discussion forums, wikis and blogs can enable learners to actively
construct knowledge.
Constructivism and learning environment: It has been recommended that the conditions in
which teachers are trained should be profoundly changed so that, essentially, they become
educators rather then mere specialists in transmitting pre-established curricula. It has been
underlined that the teaching profession will not be in a position to fulfill its role in the future
unless it is given, and develops itself, a structure better adapted to modern educational
systems. The learning environment should be so designed so as to support and challenge the
learner's thinking. While it is advocated to give the learner ownership of the problem and
solution process, it is not the case that any activity or any solution is adequate. The critical
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goal is to support the learner in becoming an effective thinker. This can be achieved by
providing a stimulating learning environment. Highlighting the importance of the learning
environment Albert Einstein said “ I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the
conditions in which they can learn.”
Constructivism and the role of practicum: Early and frequent practicum experiences are
crucial to a constructivist teacher preparation program. More and more, programs are
recognizing the tremendous and essential value of these experiences as they see the results of
constructed understanding in context. This contextual understanding can only develop when
pre-service teachers re-enter this familiar world, no longer as a student but as a prospective
teacher. The process of revisiting challenges many of their pre-conceived ideas and adds real-
world experience, through practicum, to aid in constructing new understandings of teaching
and learning.
Constructivism and methods classes: The methods classes are an essential part of the teacher
training programmes. These must encourage student-to-student interaction, initiating lessons
that foster cooperative learning, and provide opportunities for students to be exposed to
interdisciplinary curriculum. May be the biggest shift is for students to understand that they
are ultimately responsible for their own learning and that this constructivist climate has been
established to facilitate their growth. Teachers as facilitators and guides cannot solve
problems with mechanistic ‘cook book’ recipes. Therefore a constructivist teacher
preparation program, must work at the interface of curriculum and student to bring them
together in a way that is meaningful to the learner. The methods instructor must model the
process of effective questioning and reflection. Only when the teacher exposes their personal
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search for hidden biases and models these internal struggles can students begin their own
personal questioning of deeply held teaching beliefs.
Constructivism and assessment: The pattern of assessment should be seen as a continuous
and interactive process that measures the achievement of the learner, the quality of the
learning experience and courseware. The feedback created by the assessment process should
serve as a direct foundation for further development.. Critical analysis and structured
reflection on formal course knowledge and everyday practical experience should be
incorporated in the learning and evaluated in some form.
CHALLENGES FOR TEACHER EDUCATORS
The overarching challenge constructivism presents to teachers and teacher educators
is the formidable task of translating a learning theory into a theory of teaching (MacKinnon
& Scarff-Seatter, 1997). For teacher educators, among other tasks, this involves balancing the
need to acknowledge the different discipline-specific requirements of teaching with the need
to model constructivist methods in teacher education courses and practicum. Next is the shift
from single perspective mindedness to a multi-perspective teaching that values students'
understandings at the expense of "right" answers, required from the teacher educators. At
times it may become difficult for them to accept idiosyncratic student knowledge; 30
different students may arrive at 30 different understandings or interpretations of a concept.
Thirdly, the teacher educators need to become constructivist themselves. To become a
constructivist is to use constructivism as a referent for thoughts and actions. For a variety of
reasons this process is not easy. Besides, the constructivist teaching methods need to be aptly
used. Inappropriately applied, constructivist approaches may lead to the "abandonment" style
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of teaching (MacKinnon & Scarff-Seatter, 1997). Constructivist teaching methods should not
become unguided methods of instruction. The concern would be how a teacher applies
constructivist teaching techniques. Martin (1994) and Vadeboncoeur (1997) urge teacher
educators to deconstruct and scrutinize cultural assumptions that underlie various
interpretations of constructivism to expose how social beliefs have influenced the
development of theory and practices. A final challenge faced by educators is the pitfall of
regarding constructivism as the only viable theoretical framework for teaching and learning.
It is one way of thinking about how knowledge and understanding are formed, but it is not the
only way. There are various interpretations of constructivism but these are not necessarily
incompatible with one another.
CONCLUSION
Constructivism has been welcomed as a theory of knowing that fully explains the
dynamics of teaching-learning process. Adopting constructivism accentuates the need to
redefine the role of teacher in the classroom. It has, therefore, been recommended that teacher
training programmes should be so modified that teachers are equipped for the different roles
and functions imposed by new constructs and technologies. A training programme is needed
for both pre-service and in-service teachers on theoretical and practical knowledge about this
approach. The process of learning and constructing knowledge does not end with the “bell
rings” or the end of the course, but rather is an ongoing process throughout the teachers’
candidates career. Constructivist teacher preparation programs are intentionally designed to
be transformational, not just informational. Students are constantly given opportunities to
make new connections in a setting focusing on personal empowerment and critical reflection.
The program challenges both students and teachers to move toward self-directed life-long
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learning. Most educators would agree that the basic tenets of constructivism describe the way
we have "always known that people learn." Still some teachers resist constructivist pedagogy
Brooks and Brooks (1993) suggest that resistance to constructivism is due to one of the three
factors: teachers are committed to their present instructional approach, convinced that
students will not learn, or they are uncomfortable giving up control.
In closing, it must be appreciated that at times, different things tried in this course
ultimately will not work and there will be failures. But please remember that if we intend to
increase our successes, we must create a climate where failure is not only okay, but expected
from time to time.
REFERENCES
Brooks, J.G. and Brooks, M.G. (1993). In search of understanding: The case
constructivist classrooms. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and
Development.
Bigge, M.L. (1982). Learning theories for teachers. New York, Harper and Row.
DeVries et al. (2002) Developing constructivist early childhood curriculum: Practical
principles and activities. Teachers College Press: New York.
Driscoll, M.P. (2000). Psychology of learning for instruction (2nd
Ed). Boston: Allyn
and Bacon.
Gamoran, A, Secada, W.G., Marrett, C.A (1998) The organizational context of
teaching and learning: changing theoretical perspectives, in Hallinan, M.T (Eds),
Handbook of sociology of education.
Holt, D. G.; Willard-Holt, C. (2000). "Lets get real – students solving authentic
corporate problems". Phi Delta Kappan, 82 (3).
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2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 109
Kasinath, H.M. (2009). Nature of knowledge in constructivism: Implications for
education, Journal of community guidance and research, Vol.26 No.3pp.259-266.
Koalchick, A & Dawsan, K. (2005). Encyclopedia of education and technology, New
Delhi: Pentagon Press.
MacKinnon, A., & Scarff-Seatter, C. (1997). Constructivism: Contradictions and
confusion in teacher education. In V. Richardson (Ed.), Constructivist teacher
education: Building new understandings (pp.38-55). Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
Martin, R. J. (1994). Multicultural social reconstructionist education: Design for
diversity in teacher education. Teacher education quarterly 21(3), 77-89. EJ 492 141
Vadeboncoeur, J. (1997). Child development and the purpose of education: A
historical context for constructivism in teacher education. In V. Richardson (Ed.),
Constructivist teacher education: Building new understandings (pp. 15-37).
Washington, DC: Falmer Press.
Wolffe, R. J., & McMullen, D. W. (1996). The constructivist connection: Linking
theory, best practice, and technology. Journal of computing in teacher education,
12(2), 25-28. EJ 526 775.
Woolfolk, A.E (1993). Educational psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
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MOVEMENT FOR GLOBALIZING NEXT GENERATION
EDUCATION @ ICT
Dr. Asheesh Srivastava20
India has embarked upon a process of economic reforms
since 1991 and as a result it affected almost every sector in which major
is “Education”. National policy on Education, 1986 and process of
major economic reforms started since 1991 created the way for several
new opportunities and challenges. Liberalization, Privatization and
Globalization (LPG) have been the pillars of all changes during reforms.
In this context, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS),
which was signed under purview of WTO in 1995 and came into force
from 1996 was the step in right direction. The then government
recognized that, “Globalization is a reality which cannot be denied and
should not be avoided. However it needs to be managed. To do this, it is
necessary to continue the process of opening up of the economy to
international competition which was initiated in the VIII five year plan
period, while making parallel efforts to strengthen the potential of Indian
industry to compete effectively in world markets....” (IX plan). Since then
due to globalization India’s socio-economic system has changed
significantly and particularly it has made significant impact on
education.
Introduction:
Schools and universities now have a remarkable opportunity to transform education for a
new generation. Integrated digital learning resources and professional learning services make
it easy to tailor curriculums and monitor progress to help students shine. Educational
institutions are at an important juncture. By collaborating to define a vision for Next
20
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Vinaya-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati: A Central University & An Institution of National Importance, Santiniketan. Email: [email protected]
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Generation Learning and delivering on that vision through a highly integrated digital learning
platform, educators, administrators, and IT decision makers can accelerate the journey. At the
outset, educators are facing some complex questions. What is the best way to blend online
and offline content and integrate formal and informal learning? How can university support
an anytime, anywhere learning experience? How can teachers and instructors incorporate
and encourage social and collaborative experiences within the learning environment? And
what can schools and universities do to harness the power of learning analytics and become
more proficient at fostering successful student outcomes? As educators begin exploring these
issues, common goals paint the picture of a highly integrated educational landscape, rooted in
a unified digital learning platform with an intuitive interface tailored specifically for
educators, students, parents, and administrators. The industry leading Next Generation
Learning platform, based on digital technology, helps schools and universities streamline
access to core educational applications—both new and existing—as well as rich media
resources, education and operational data, and curriculum management tools. Integrating
student information and teaching and learning data with predictive analytics also enables
educators to monitor progress and tailor course content to meet individual student needs.
Professional learning is a key enabler for Next Generation Learning initiatives, helping
educators to transition effectively from print to digital learning environments and to
personalize the educational experience for individual students. It can include targeted training
to incorporate digital collaboration tools, student engagement techniques, and teaching and
learning data into daily teaching practices. An Efficient IT framework plays a pivotal role in
helping educational institutions support these initiatives. Next Generation Learning
environments heighten demands on network bandwidth, IT security, system availability, and
storage. To meet these demands, schools and universities are exploring innovative ways to
drive productivity and enhance accountability. They are finding that a focused vision for
learning coupled with an Efficient IT strategy is fundamental to the undertaking. Rather than
attempting to solve complex problems with short-term, ad hoc fixes, schools and universities
need to take a comprehensive approach. By leveraging their existing technology investments,
institutions can map out a clear, customized path of transformation to achieve their
educational goals. These challenges can be addressed by encompassing three principal areas:
Embracing technology to inspire student success and academic excellence
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Providing accurate, actionable education data to make proactive teaching and learning
decisions
Building an Efficient IT infrastructure to support Next Generation Learning initiatives
Building an Efficient IT infrastructure
An Efficient IT approach helps educational institutions optimize services for students,
educators, and administrators by making accurate, comprehensive, and consistent information
available across all district and campus systems. This approach also helps schools and
universities scale effectively to meet growing demands despite limited resources and budgets.
By using analytics to enhance success in communications and interactions with stakeholders,
higher education providers can improve response rates throughout the admissions and fund-
raising processes. Streamlined data handling helps eliminate manual processing of duplicate
or overlapping records and supports security and regulatory compliance by feeding clean,
consolidated, constituent data to identity management systems. Potential advantages of
leveraging cloud computing in educational institutions include the following:
Cost: Schools and universities can opt for a subscription or, in some cases, a pay-as-
you-grow plan—as suits the institution’s model.
Flexibility: Cloud computing allows schools to scale their infrastructure dynamically
as demand fluctuates.
Accessibility: Cloud computing provides options to help shift workloads to hosted
environments and reduce costs through services without jeopardizing the security of
sensitive information.
Information technology in education in general:
It is a commonly acknowledged fact that for last one decade there is a new thrust in
education in general in the form of ICT. Following are the diagrammatic summary of IT’s
effectives uses in education in general-
1. Role of I.C.T. in enhancing Co-operative learning:
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2. Role of ICT in globalising higher education:
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is dynamic in nature. It has a lot
of potentiality to improve, manage and globalize different aspects of higher
education-
Group documents creation facilitated by computer ability to shared display and edit data in a group environment.
The computer can manage complex group projects.
Multi media presntation provide an
arena for all students to pool their strength in different skill areas
Telecommunication provide students with
a ability to work together
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Extending learning beyond the classroom:
Information technology is playing crucial role in developing and shaping 21st century.
Technology is a tool, which should become part of our educational and research processes
irrespective of region, language, setting etc. But it is necessary to ensure that all hard and
software is available to all. ICT in the global context would demand that the educational
planet look beyond the urban classrooms. We have to devise plans of education in electronic
environment, reaching out far-flung rural areas. Computer literacy, computer-aided learning
instruction and computer based schooling become important inputs in teacher-education.
Globalising Higher
Education
Teaching
Sharing of resources
Professional development of teachers
Increasing accessibility
Research & Development
Virtual university
Human resources
development
Distance education
Total Quality Management
Bridging gap b/w have & have-nots
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 115
Curriculum development includes components like innovative items in the areas of media
production, interactive video, virtual reality, and multimedia software. Teacher should adopt
an instrumental design that helps the learner master methods not really used like heuristic
method. It is believed that it would result in a shift from the traditional learning atmosphere
to one that encourages exploration, problem solving, decision-making etc. As mobile learning
environments become prevalent, students need technologies that enable secure, seamless
access to many different kinds of educational experiences. Technology can also transform the
educational experience by helping individuals with special needs to communicate access
information more easily, or provide a voice. However, successful deployment of assistive
technology can be complex because each solution must be custom designed and built to meet
the requirements of the individual student.
Harnessing the Power of Digital Learning in Higher Education:
Technology is playing an increasingly important role in the way students want to
learn, millions of students now taking at least one online course. There is a tremendous
impact of technology on instruction and learning. Some examples include the ability to
redesign entire courses with digitally embedded multimedia resources, provide a more
effective way by which to manage high growth online learning programs and digital learning
assets, and assess and remediate developmental skills. Faculty and instructional designers
spend years creating and curating appropriate content for their courses and programs.
However, this content is usually available only to individual users or, at most, on a
departmental basis. The emergence of inexpensive and highly efficient information networks
has increased the volume of available information. But it has also changed the way in which
information is produced and distributed. While the impact of these changes on society is
clearly far-reaching, its’ significance to higher education is particularly profound given the
fundamental role of information in higher education. Changes of particular significance to
higher education include:
Information used in education is often now available from sources other than higher
education institutions, often at lower costs (or free), and in more convenient forms.
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 116
It is far easier for individuals to form communities focused on narrow interests and
needs, including educational, without involvement of mediating educational
institutions.
Increasingly sophisticated search technologies make finding relevant information
easier, often reducing the value of intermediaries. Forecasts suggest that search
capabilities will continue to accelerate in the coming decade.
What constitutes current and relevant information changes more quickly, placing
great pressures on institutions that produce and distribute information to keep pace.
Traditional strategies used for protecting ownership of information (i.e. copyright)
have lagged behind the capacity to share/copy information.
Challenges Arising from Digitization: There are several challenges as follows-
1. Challenges in Higher education:
With the present infrastructure it is difficult to achieve all objectives of higher
education.
2. Urban-Rural Divide:
Educationally the great urban-rural divide has become glaring in most parts of the
country. The villages do have schools- a vast majority of them being single teacher
and on the other hand cities are having schools with all facilities.
3. Language Bar:
Majorly dominated by English language its scope is limited to a particular sector.
4. Challenges of Heterogeneous Indian society:
India is a nation of diversities, and it is very difficult to cope-up all diversities in a
very short span of time.
Conclusion:
There is little doubt about the benefits of digitization of education at every level so far
as next generation leaning in the age of Information and Communication Technology is
concerned. India has done and is doing well in this regard, National Policy on ICT in
School Education is evidence, that government is doing well, but so far as dealing with
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
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the country like India is concerned it needs serious attention. Before implementing IT and
ICT revolutions in the field of education, government are required to fulfil the quantity
crisis at every sector of education irrespective of region and places, only then globalizing
of next generation education @ ICT will be possible in true sense.
References:
Boyer, L.E.: Five Priorities for Quality Schools. Education Digest, 62(1), 1996.
Buch, M.B. (ed.): A Survey of Research in Education. (All Vol.)
Chandola, R.P.: The Real Problems of Indian Education. Book Enclave, Jaipur, 2003.
Chauhan, C.P.S.: Modern Indian Education: Policies, Progress & Problems. Kanishka
Pub., New Delhi, 2004.
Drucker, P.F.: Management: Tasks, Practices, Responsibilities. Harper & Row, New
York, 1974.
GATS, (1995), General Agreement on Trade in Services, WTO Document, Annexes
1B.
Kaufman, R.: Mapping Educational Success. Corwin, California, 1992.
Mukherji, S.N.: Education in India Today & Tomorrow. Vinod Pustak Mandir, Agra,
1992.
NIEPA: Globalisation & Challenges for Education. Shipra Publications, Delhi, 2008.
Fidler, B.: Strategic Planning for School Improvement. London, Pitman, 1996.
Reddy, G.S.(ed.): Current Issues in Education. Neelkamal, Hydrabad, 2007.
Mukhopadhyay, M.: Total Quality Management in Education. SAGE, 2005.
Sansanwal,D.N., (2000), Information Technology and Higher Education, University
News, 38(46)
International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, New York, Free Press, 1979.
http://www.unesco.org
http://www.ugc.ac.in
http://www.ncert.nic
http://www.education.nic
http://www.wto.org
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 118
A Conceptual Understanding of Constructivist Pedagogy
Dr. Deepa Mehta
ABSTRACT
There has been a continuous search of a viable teaching learning theory for the learners.
Although, many theories have been developed but a consensus builds up that involvement of
the learner makes learning effective and meaningful. Such consideration further led to
emergence of a theory called constructivism. It is basically a theory -- based on observation
and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on
those experiences.
Constructivist teachers encourage students to constantly assess how the activity is helping
them gain understanding. By questioning themselves and their strategies, students in the
constructivist classroom ideally become "expert learners." This gives them ever-broadening
tools to keep learning. With a well-planned classroom environment, the students learn how to
learn. Thus, it is sound understanding of constructivism is needed among teachers of present
generation. In this context the present paper in-depth deals the concept of constructivism and
its different components. Some suggestions for teachers have also been given to adopt this
theory in their classrooms.
Key word: Constructivism, Learning theories, Child centred methods, innovative
teaching methods.
Assistant Professor (Stage-2), Faculty of Education, Banaras Hindu University, Kamachha, Varanasi, UP - 221010
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 119
A Conceptual Understanding of Constructivist Pedagogy
Dr. Deepa Mehta
Constructivism is a theory of learning and an approach to education that lays emphasis on
the ways that people create meaning of the world through a series of individual constructs.
Constructs are the different types of filters we choose to place over our realities to change our
reality from chaos to order. Von Glasersfeld describes constructivism as, “a theory of
knowledge with roots in philosophy, psychology, and cybernetics” (Glaserfeld, 1989).
Simply stated, it is a learning process which allows a student to experience an environment
first-hand, thereby, giving the student reliable, trust-worthy knowledge. The student is
required to act upon the environment to both acquire and test new knowledge
The constructivist pedagogy involves the following characteristics (Richardson, 2003):
1. Attention to the individual and respect for students' background and developing
understandings of and beliefs about elements of the domain (this could also be described as
student-cantered);
2. Facilitation of group dialogue that explores an element of the domain with the purpose of
leading to the creation and shared understanding of a topic;
3. Planned and often unplanned introduction of formal domain knowledge into the
conversation through direct instruction, reference to text, exploration of a Web site, or some
other means.4
4. Provision of opportunities for students to determine, challenge, change or add to existing
beliefs and understandings through engagement in tasks that are structured for this purpose;
and
5. Development of students' met awareness of their own understandings and learning
processes.
The characteristics of constructivist learning shows an environment where due recognition
would be ensured for each uniqueness in the individual. It may emanate from cognitive
domains to all other domains of learners personality. The inclusive education movement is
Assistant Professor (Stage-2), Faculty of Education, Banaras Hindu University, Kamachha, Varanasi, UP - 221010
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
2435, Vol. 2, Issue- 1, February 2013. Page 120
also one of the reflections of such principle. Further, students may also differ in terms of their
socio economic characteristics. These differences should be properly addressed within and
outside of the classroom. Another important characteristic is to allow the learners to work in
groups and encourage collective learning. In traditional sense teacher has always been
conceived some who dominates the whole teaching learning in the classroom but in context
of constructivism teacher should act as a keen observer and should facilitate group dialogue
and group performance. In such activities students would themselves explore the knowledge
and accommodate properly in words of jean piaget.
Constructivist learning in this context demands proper planning to deal a particular topic by
the teacher. Any group activity may turn into chaos if it not properly planned. Thus,
formulation of objectives and specific allocation of responsibilities in view of each student’s
caliber should be done beforehand. The whole learning procedure should be carefully
designed so that the activity may result as a fruitful experience facilitating cooperative
learning.
Here, the teachers may present before students challenges or problem where students have to
solve them individually or collectively. Project oriented tasks may also be given to be
completed in team spirit. Some dilemmas may also be presented by the teacher where
students may be able to change or add something new in their existing understanding.
In order to facilitate such type of leaning the locally available resources may be used and
students should be encouraged to explore their surroundings to observe and analyze the
particular knowledge being dealt in their classrooms.
Constructivism emphasizes the processes by which children create and develop their ideas.
Applications lie in creating curricula that not only match but also challenge children’s
understanding, fostering further growth and development of the mind (Baltes, 2007;
Kincheloe, 2006; Leitner, 2010). Furthermore, when children collaborate in cooperative
learning groups, they share the process of constructing their ideas with others. This collective
effort provides the opportunity for children to reflect on and elaborate not only their own
ideas but also those of their peers as well. With the improvement and access to the WWW,
the children’s cooperative classroom becomes the world (Payne, 2010; Stewart, 2010). In this
cooperative learning setting, children view their peers as resources rather than as competitors.
A feeling of teamwork ensues. These processes have resulted in substantial advances in
student learning (Bulach, Lunenburg, & Potter, 2012; Larochelle, 2010; Phillips, 2000).
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
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Constructivist Pedagogy: Role of teachers
In every innovation that deals with the classroom cannot be realised until full cooperation by
the teachers. Teachers are the basic agencies which act upon actively to make any reform
successful in view of the whole education system. Thus, the role of teacher is the pivot to
adopt constructivist principles of learning in the pedagogy. The first and foremost reason
being an attitudinal change on the part of teachers; teachers have to trust for the positive
outcome of constructivist teaching and be ready to put off the transmission model of
teaching.
Beginning with such attitudinal change teachers have to act as a facilitator to facilitate the
learning process where learners may construct knowledge.
According to Dirks (1998) the role of the teacher is to engender learning by supporting the
student in this construction process. He proposes a linear model which looks like this:
In this way, the steps shown above may be followed by the teacher within the classroom.
Teaching through lenses of constructivism does not mean a carefree environment rather it
needs more discipline to encourage the learners towards meaningful tasks. The teacher
should try to expose students towards different ways of solving the particular tasks so that,
students may not digress. A conducive environment should also be ensured by the teacher so
Steps in the construction of
knowledge:
Supporting activity of the
teacher:
(a) Exposure to alternative
perspectives
Ensure alternative perspectives are
accessible readily to students
(b) Empathetic experience of
entering into those perspectives for
understanding
Establish a conducive environment
and encourage the student to
empathetically enter the alternative
perspectives
(c) Understanding of the body of
theory relating to the subject
Provide access to the "conversation
of the knowledge community"
(d) Evaluation of the alternatives
through reflection and critical
thinking
Enable the social environment in
which cognitive interactions and
dialogic processes can evaluate the
alternatives
(e) Construction of a personal
perspective, the matter that is
learned
Provide incentives to encourage
learners to complete the knowledge
construction process
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that the student may analyse and reach to a conclusion regarding each perspective. In order to
analyse these perspective a teacher may design variety of learning exercises for making the
learning process interactive and joyful. Group discussion, task assignment, oral presentation,
and identification of facts, events, and examples from the community may be designed by the
teachers. In this way a teacher can successfully facilitate construction of the knowledge by
the learners. Ultimately some form of reward or a word of appreciation should also come
from the teacher so that students may feel motivated and expedite their exploration in future
tasks.
A model of conceptual change was developed by Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1982)
at Cornell University. It describes learning as a process in which a learner changes his/her
conceptions by capturing new conceptions or exchanging existing conceptions for new ones.
Dreyfus, Jungwirth, and Eliovitch (1990) were involved in trying to induce conceptual
change in students from six high schools in Israel. The concepts being examined were
respiration; the cell membrane; and the transmission of hereditary traits. Cognitive conflict
strategies were attempted using small-group interviews and discussions. The findings of this
qualitative study provide additional support for the importance of prior knowledge.
Conceptual change can be seen in terms of recognizing, evaluating, reconstructing: the
individual needs to recognize the existence and nature of their current conceptions, the
individual decides whether or not to evaluate the utility and worth of these conceptions, and
the individual decides whether or not to reconstruct these conceptions.
According to Hewson (1981) a key factor in the learning process is the status that new and
existing conceptions have for the learner. There are two major components of the conceptual
change model. First is a set of conditions, which determine the status of the concept, that
need to be met in order for a person to experience conceptual change. Second is a person’s
conceptual ecology that provides the context, in which the conceptual change occurs,
influences the change process, and gives a meaning to the change itself.
The conditions for the status apply to conceptions that a learner either holds or is considering.
A critical point is that it is only when the learner, rather than the teacher, decides, implicitly
or explicitly, that the conditions have been met that conceptual change occurs (Cakir, 2008).
Hewson and Thorley (1989) stated the conditions as follows:
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1) Is the conception intelligible (meaningful) to the learner? That is, does the learner know
what it means?
2) Is the conception plausible (truthful) to the learner? That is, if the learner also believe that
it is true?
3) Is the conception fruitful (useful) for the learner? That is, if a conception achieve
something of value for the learner? Does it solve otherwise insoluble problems?
Does it suggest new possibilities, directions, and ideas?
Technical language of the conceptual change model (CCM), i.e., intelligible, plausible, and
fruitful, includes terminology that are not clear for every individual. Hennessey (1991) built a
consensus about a set of descriptors for each of these technical terms. The final set of
descriptors is contained in Table 1.
Table1. Descriptors for the technical terms of the CCM (Hennessey, 1991)
For an idea/concept to be Descriptors
INTELLIGIBLE to me
I must know what the concept means
The words must be understandable
The words must make sense
I should be able to describe it in my own words
I can give an example
Examples that belong
Examples that do not belong
I can find ways of representing my ideas to others
By drawing or illustrations
By talking about or explaining it
By using idea maps (concept maps)
PLAUSIBLE to me It must first be intelligible
I must believe this is how the world actually is
It is true
It must fit my picture of the world
It must fit in with other ideas or concepts I know
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In this way the teacher may design a learning process using constructive principles and assess
the students if they possess such behavioural characteristics stated above.
Further Brooks and Brooks (2005) in his book ‘in search of understanding: the case of
constructivist classroom’ defined following characteristics of teacher for adopting
constructivist teaching:
1. Constructivist teacher encourage and accept student autonomy and initiatives
2. Constructivist teacher uses raw data and primary resources, along with manipulative,
interactive and physical materials
3. When framing tasks, Constructivist teachers use cognitive terminology such as
classify, analyse, predict and create
4. Constructivist teachers allow students responses to drive lessons, shift instructional
strategies and alter contents
5. Constructivist teachers inquire about students understanding of the concepts before
sharing their own understanding of those concepts
about or believe
It is the way I see things work
FRUITFUL to me
It must first be intelligible
It should be plausible
I can see it as something useful
It can help me solve problems
It can help explain ideas in a new way
I can apply it to other ideas
It gives me new ideas for further investigation or
exploration
It is a better explanation of things
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6. Constructivist teachers encourage students to engage in dialogue, both with the
teachers and with one another
7. Constructivist teachers encourage student inquiry by asking thoughtful, open minded
questions and encouraging students to ask questions to each other
8. Constructivist teachers seek elaboration of students initial responses
9. Constructivist teachers engage students in experience that might engender
contradictions to their initial hypotheses and then encourage discussion
10. Constructivist teachers allow wait time after posing questions
11. Constructivist teachers provide time for students to construct relationships and create
metaphors
Therefore, a teacher in order to adopt constructivist learning should re-plan and restructure
teaching learning procedure so that the students’ construction of knowledge may be
facilitated
Conclusion
The discussion made so far on the constructive pedagogy shows that it is a methodology
which needs due participation of the learner as well as the teacher in the whole teaching
learning process. It demands a teacher who respects individuality of each learner and ready to
modulate learning process according to individual differences among the individuals.
Definitively an attitudinal change among the teacher should be the primary goal in order to
bring constructivist pedagogy in our classrooms. Teacher should be ready to absolve
themselves from traditional authoritative model of teaching to facilitate sound activity based
learning among the students.
It demands a new perspective for the teachers to analyse the relationship between how
teachers teach and how children learn. As Hausfather (2001) comments: Constructivism is
not a method. It is a theory of knowledge and learning that should inform practice but not
prescribe practice. By its very nature, constructivism emphasizes the importance of the
teaching context, student prior knowledge, and active interaction between the learner and the
content to be learned.
To sum up, it is recommended that constructivist pedagogy is somewhat in formative stage
not only in India but in whole global perspective particularly on its practical dimensions. It
needs more conceptual clarity in learning context of every country. Such clarity is more
Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278-
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seriously needed towards practical aspect of adopting constructivism in our classrooms.
There is need to orient our in-service and prospective teachers about such methodology so
that knowledge, skill as well as required set of attitude may be developed for adopting and
practicing constructivist pedagogy. Policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders may
also contribute fruitfully in advancing awareness of such innovative practices in our
educational institutions. A very good scope for further researches in teacher education is also
visible where researches may be conducted on conceptual and pedagogical implications of
constructivism.
***************
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