FROM THE CHIEF EDITOR

DIVERSITY PERSPECTIVES RE-THINKING THE CURRICULUM

As we approached the end of the second phase of the Campus Diversity Initiative, we held a conference in Delhi, to consider one of the main thrusts of the project- the transformation of the curriculum through the Initiative. Thirteen colleges, the main players in the two phases of the CDI, who had made some significant changes in their academic work, were invited to present their views.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Thomas Coburn, Professor of Religion and former Dean of St. Lawrence University, New York, who has made an important contribution to multicultural education in the course of his distinguished teaching career. This issue of Beyond the Margins includes his paper and some of the presentations at the conference.

From the Chief Editor: Ms.Sharada Nayak - Diversity Perspectives re-thinking the curriculum...

The Difference That Difference Makes: Thomas B. Coburn

Education for a Changing World:

Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, Mumbai

Diversity and Curriculum Change Initiative at SNDT Women's Unversity: Harsha Parekh

Teacher's Experiences: Mala Pandurang

Student Workshops: Women in the Political Process

Student Workshops: Strengthening Democracy - Understanding Conflicts

Pocketful of Ash : Dilip D'Souza

Letters From our Readers

ERC News, Visits &  Events

(A report of the Conference will shortly be available on our website www.erctrust.org)
The Campus Diversity Initiative looked towards a transformation of the educational process through many dimensions; student activities focussed on interaction with different regional cultures, lectures and seminars, faculty training, cultural programmes centered on regional folk and performing arts. While each college has developed its own project relevant to the region and its population, ERC has played a major role in teacher training through human resource development modules designed especially for the teacher and the student. These training modules have had a significant impact on faculty in developing their interpersonal skills and communication skills. It has increased their sensitivity to student abilities. As a natural corollary to this training, we embarked on workshops on counselling skills, especially in increasing the students' comprehension skills through "learning to learn" workshops. This has been especially effective with students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

While it is useful to ensure individual self-development, through the HRD instruments, as a starting point of all workshops, this must be followed up with discussion on change in the curriculum, improved teaching styles and communication between different groups on campus- teachers, students, non-teaching staff, and increased participation of all the above groups in discussing the changes envisaged. Implementation of curriculum reform will be successful if there is understanding, appreciation and acceptance of the proposed changes among all stakeholders. While enrichment of the syllabi is important, equally important is the widening of student experience through activity, community outreach and a linkage with social concerns in the college environment. The faculty should assume ownership of the curriculum, which is the totality of the input that makes teaching and learning happen. Positive change evolves from the understanding of the curriculum as the way in which teaching and learning are shaped.

In all the regions and institutions where we have worked, there has been at some point an expression of dissatisfaction, criticism and discontent over the state policy of reservation for the disadvantaged. There has to be a serious engagement of the issues of diversity in the classroom and in the curriculum, to lay open the attitudes of the teacher and the taught to issues of difference, of non-inclusion of the historically deprived except through the token acceptance of government requirements for admission to colleges. Such opportunities for an interaction in deeper ways with those who come from different sections of society, has a positive impact on their cognitive development and on the attitudes of all stakeholders on the campus. An institutional commitment to diversity programs has a powerful impact on efforts to re-think the curriculum. This commitment is related to learning that affects all students and improves educational outcomes through a better understanding of broader societal issues.

At student workshops that ERC organised during the second phase of the CDI, there were sessions on communications skills, on discussion and interaction between students from different parts of the country. One of the factors that came through was the need to communicate in the language of the student's instruction. The divide between the English-speaking student and the young person from a vernacular medium college was apparent on the day that fifty students from all over India gathered in Bangalore. There were shy groups of students, most of them of rural background, who sat separately, quiet and diffident. The change through interaction in various sessions of the workshop became evident through increased participation.

In this conference on diversity and curriculum transformation, we sought to encourage an openness to re-visit the spaces in which we teach, in our minds, and in our approach to pedagogy. Those of us who have been deeply involved in this project, have made several attempts particularly in the last three years to open our minds to new approaches to subject syllabi. Within the constraints of the university-mandated course structure, many of the colleges have found ways to introduce learning avenues that have had an impact on their campus environment. Some of them were presented during the conference. Problems and failures were described. For instance, 'One-shot' lecture series or seminars have sunk like a stone in the pond, the ripples settling into the quietness of stillness and stagnation. How does a churning take place?

The most effective means is through a changed and re-invigorated faculty. The output of undergraduate education should bring changed students, i.e. those who are achievement motivated, have concern for excellence, are self reliant, creative, are highly optimistic, have the power to make an impact; and can extend themselves to larger groups.

To get this output, the throughput should be with the means of curriculum, and the influence of the individual teacher. The curriculum should be broad based by giving an exposure to a wide variety of disciplines, and add an extra dimension, as in a "minor" area of specialization. There should be relevance to national issues linked with global issues. An action component should be included that would involve the student in projects outside the classroom, such as excursions and field visits.

A policy of inclusion demands a wider approach to teaching-learning. Information is available from many sources with the internet, now a widely used tool in many colleges. However, a sensitive teacher extends the student's knowledge through experience and knowing the wider society through projects that extend beyond acquisition of data to a deeper understanding of problems and conflicts through empathy; a processing of the information taught in the classroom to its place in life.

When we speak of multicultural studies we look outward into the many cultures that form the fabric of Indian society; and inward to where one stands in one's own personal experience, at a point where geography and history intersect.

In our project, a changed faculty has approached teaching in multi-disciplinary ways and students' responses have changed through this experiential learning. One of our colleges reported on a field trip in which botany students not only made notes of the specimens of plants they observed in the tropical forests, but also encountered, communicated with, and understood the life of the tribal people who have traditionally used these plants for medicinal purposes. The project report, therefore, demonstrates a lasting impact on the students' learning.

Our discussion on curriculum will hopefully encourage openness and provide space for an innovative teacher to explore means of making students' growth personal and societal. We welcome an opportunity to share our own individual college experiences as well as look to our discussants to help us come up with broad recommendations that would transform undergraduate curriculum. A more flexible and open curriculum would enable it to reflect our own strengths and weaknesses, conflicts and distortions and make learning at this crucial stage in a young person's life a point of discovery of his or her potential, as well as enable the young person to find a balance between tradition and the modern global forces that impinge on our lives. We in India now stand at a stage where change is crucial and possible, if those of us who have access to education can show courage and creativity.


MARCH 2003                                                        SHARADA NAYAK