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EDITORIAL
TEAM
Chief Editor
SHARADA NAYAK
Editor
DR.S. SRINIVASA RAO
Zakir Husain Centre
for Educational Studies, JNU, New Delhi
Consulting Editor
K. P RAJENDRAN ORBIS international,
New Delhi
Editorial Advisory Board
Prof. UDAI PAREEK
Chairman
Indian Institute of Health Management and Research, Jaipur
Prof. JASBIR JAIN
Former Director Academic Staff College, Rajastban University, Jaipur
Prof. SUMA CHITNIS
Former Vice-Chancellor SNDT University,
Mumbai
Dr. KRISHEN KAK, IAS Director,
Gayatri Trust New Delhi
Prof. RATNA NAIDU
Former Vice-Chancellor Sri Padmavathi Mahila University, Tirupati
Prof. NARAYANI GUPTA
Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
Dr. JAYA INDIRESAN
Former Senior Fellow, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), New Delhi
ERC Staff
Dr. SRILEKHA MAJUMDAR
Dr. S. VINU
MS.JAYA BALAKRISHNAN
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FOR OUR READERS
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ERC
Welcomes your comments, suggestions and
constructive criticism of Beyond The Margins
You can mail your views
to us at
Beyond the Margins
Educational Resources Centre
C-4/68, Safdarjung Development Area
New Delhi 110 016
email: eduresou@vsnl.com
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 FROM
THE CHIEF EDITOR
The principal goal of education is to create persons
who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating
what other generations have done - people who are
creative, inventive, and discoverers.
Jean Piaget
"The tendency in the curriculum has been to place more emphasis on content than on the process by which students learn. We still talk of students "taking" certain subjects, "passing" certain subjects and "majoring in" certain subjects. The curriculum still is divided basically into subject matter units. Even if this organizational plan is retained we can add a process approach to learning about and from other cultures. If the medium is the message, the process is the subject. By learning a general process for the study of a particular culture, the student can internalize the method and use it, as the anthropologist does, for understanding other cultures. Such a process should help the learner develop empathy and a sense of humility. Although students may be introduced to other value systems, this does not mean that their own cultural values will be minimized. Rather, it is likely to result in additional and different perspectives, not only of others but also of oneself... Students will not only know, they will think, feel and appreciate. No other part of the curriculum has greater potential to help students become more fully human".
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The above extract is from a little book 'Integrating the Trans-National/Cultural Dimension', by the late Dr. Seymour Fersh, a good friend, who passed away three years ago. He came to Allahabad University, with his family, as a young lecturer, on the Fulbright exchange programme in 1958. The experience left an indelible impression on his thinking. On his return, he served as Education Director for the Asia Society, as a consultant for UNESCO, and as a curriculum specialist in many US high school and college systems. He published two books for high school teachers on social studies and the study of India. Dr. Fersh kept in close touch with me as I developed my ideas and involvement in the Campus Diversity Initiative. I was greatly honoured to be invited to deliver the Seymour Fersh Memorial Lecture at the Annual Conference of the Community Colleges for International Development held at Tampa, Florida in February.
One of the main thrusts of the Campus Diversity Initiative has been curriculum reform. Some participating universities and colleges have introduced courses adding the diversity perspective to undergraduate education. Many colleges have offered Foundation Courses which add the important dimension of value education and understanding of the contribution of several cultures to one's own background. Each one of us stands at the intersection of space and time where geography and history are the coordinates for mapping one's cultural identity. In our workshops for faculty we have identified curriculum as the link between teaching and learning, the process where a student is able to relate his or her education to more than an acquisition of information. This valuable understanding is perhaps the greatest gain of our project.
My visit to the US and my interaction with friends, students, and academics in the post-September 11 climate was a deep learning experience. We talked about cultural perspectives, the climate of violence, and the need to develop an additional kind of learning the capacity to learn from the world. We had many questions for and about each other, on society, politics and values. Were we, as educators doing "new things" that Piaget asked? Are we so busy with what we teach our students, that we forget what it is they need to learn? Are we teaching our students to ask questions about themselves, their role in society, their attitudes and responses to the increasing violence and intolerance? Our "curriculum" has to be more than "syllabus"- more than subject knowledge - moving towards a process of discovery and invention of new ways of living.
As I boarded my return flight to India on February 28, I picked up news reports of the violence and carnage in Gujarat. It was not a happy homecoming. The questions are more urgent than before. We have discussed these with our students and will continue to talk about the important need to become more fully
human.
APRIL 2002
SHARADA NAYAK
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CALL FOR
CONTRIBUTIONS
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Beyond the Margins through this issue made an attempt to focus on the activities of ERC in the field of diversity and multicultural education. But, this endeavor can be enriched only with the active support and participation of all the stakeholders. Therefore, Beyond The Margins
looks forward to your valuable contributions for publication in the subsequent issues. Students, teachers, and educational administrators may write their everyday experiences about various aspects of diversity and multicultural learning on their campus. Beyond The Margins
also calls upon the academics, policy makers, and educationists to share their thoughts, ideas, and experiences to a wider network of concerned citizens. But, due to the paucity of space, we request you to restrict the length of your articles to about 800 - 1000 words. |
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The Culture of Dialogue
Responsibility of 
Challenges and Opportunities 
Setting a Model for Institutions of Higher Education 
