Making “ideal” Indian women: Annie Besant’s engagement with the issue of female education in early twentieth-century India

ABSTRACT

In 1893, Annie Besant touched the shores of India as a leader of the Theosophical Society. In India, Besant is widely known for her involvement in the Home Rule Movement and as president of the Indian National Congress, the chief political organisation in the Indian freedom struggle. Before entering into the political arena of the country, Besant was actively involved in the religious education of Hindu youths. After six years of establishing a college and a school for upper caste Hindu boys, she founded a school for upper caste Hindu girls in the city of Benares in the United Provinces of British India. The formal education of girls was in a nascent stage in the United Provinces compared to those in the presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras. One of the reasons behind this lag, particularly in Benares, was the deep-rooted orthodoxy which was either opposed to the formal education of girls or enforced restrictions on it. The paper aims to throw light on Besant’s engagement with the question of female education not only in terms of physical access to school but also with regard to “what” the girls were being taught at the school. Did Besant strive for “true” education of upper caste Hindu girls enabling them to liberate themselves from the fetters of orthodoxy or did she perpetuate the orthodox ideals to make them “ideal” Indian women?     

Religious education legislation in an atheist state: towards a typology and policy analysis for contemporary China

ABSTRACT

The rule of law presents a new path for understanding and handling religious affairs in contemporary China. The field of religious education is no exception and current legislation has to be improved so that China’s religious education can be further promoted. This research examines the legislation and legislative regulations governing China’s diversified and dynamic religious education, which includes professional religious studies, religious education embedded in ethnic education, missionary religious education, religious education included in general education, and education on religious policies and regulations. It argues that how to understand and implement the principle of separation of education and religion stands out as the core issue, as China requires a more dialectical and pluralistic religious education.     

The experience of black African religious education trainee teachers training in England

This study addresses issues surrounding the recruitment and training of black African religious education teachers within the context of the government’s intention to make the teaching profession more representative of the wider community. In relation to this there is a strong emphasis in the Teacher Training Agency’s Qualifying to Teach on selection procedures which promote equality of opportunity and the recognition of individual training needs. The study is informed by the work of Sikes and Everington who have highlighted the place of religion and culture within the personal histories of religious education teachers. Black African members of two successive cohorts of PGCE students are tracked to identify their training needs in relation to their cultural and religious backgrounds. The data identifies four cultural and religious factors which impact on their training to teach religious education in the UK. Finally, as advised by the Carrington Report, recommendations are made for the practice of teacher educators.     

Developing a measure to understand young children’s Internet cognition and cyber-safety awareness: a pilot test

Abstract

Advancements in technology have increased preschool children’s access to the Internet. Very little research has been conducted to identify pre-school-aged children’s understandings of the Internet and ramifications of being ‘online’. Without an understanding of children’s thinking about the Internet, it is difficult to provide age- and pedagogically appropriate cyber-safety education. This study developed and pilot-tested an interview schedule that focuses on the Internet thinking and cyber-safety awareness of Australian children aged 4–5 years. The schedule is informed by sociocultural theory, cyber-safety education research and approaches for researching with young children. The schedule shows potential to elicit children’s understandings of the Internet and cyber-safety awareness. Adjustments are required to allow more contextualised responses from children.     

The religious–secular interface and representations of Islam in phenomenological religious education

Abstract

Alongside community-based education, a principal agency which has contributed to defining multi-faith identities in England and Wales over the past five decades has been the subject of religious education in state maintained schools. Over this period, formulations of the social category of ‘Muslims’ and the curricular concept of ‘Islam’ in religious education have been significantly influenced by the application of the phenomenology of religion, a methodology derived from religious studies that has come under question for its decontextualised readings of religion. Drawing upon critiques of this approach, this article seeks to examine representations of Islam and Muslims in religious education based on the phenomenological model, with particular reference to the interface between the religious and the secular. Looking ahead, the article considers proposals on intercultural education which aim at preparing the young for a contributive role in society.     

Children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ in the Key Stage One classroom: life on the ‘tricky table’

ABSTRACT

Within the wealth of research on ‘ability’ in education, there is a missing perspective: the perspective of the child. Whilst ‘ability’ informed practices such as ‘ability’ grouping are commonplace in the UK, how these are experienced by the young child has previously received only limited attention in research. Using case study evidence, this article demonstrates that children’s lived experiences of ‘ability’ are highly individual and shaped by a broader range of social, structural and pedagogic aspects of classroom life than previously thought. Implications are that a wide range of teaching choices can potentially affect a child’s experience of ‘ability’ and that the impact of these are particularly profound for some children, shaping their perceptions of themselves and others. Children’s perspectives therefore offer a challenge to the hegemonic discourse of ‘ability’ in education and the classroom practices upon which it is based.     

An ethnography of caste and class at an Indian university: creating capital

Despite having outlawed the caste system and the concept of untouchability in 1947, caste identity remains a cornerstone of social, political and economic life in India. Like other social institutions, educational institutions are the reflection of caste prejudices and discrimination. The recent inclusion of lower castes through the reservation system (affirmative action) has changed the nature of higher education. Based on an ethnographic account of a university campus and students’ perceptions about caste issues, the authors suggest that the structure of higher education in India is designed in a manner that exacerbates, instead of ameliorates, tensions of class and caste. Using Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital, the paper defines the existing campus culture as a ‘caste culture’. The text concludes that elite institutions do not yet guarantee the capability to overcome existing caste prejudices and stereotypes, regardless of structural attempts at reform.

     

International knowledge transfer in religious education: universal validity or regional practices? Backgrounds,considerations and open questions concerning a new debate

ABSTRACT

This article refers to the new European discussion on international knowledge transfer in religious education. Readers are introduced to the background of the recent manifesto ‘International Knowledge Transfer in Religious Education: A Manifesto for Discussion’ which was the outcome of a first international consultation of researchers in the field of religious education in October 2018. In a first step, the demand for international knowledge transfer in religious education is described. Furthermore, the question of the validity of knowledge in religious education is taken up and discussed in the sense of the presuppositions of international transfer and cooperation. Special attention is given to the relationship between universal and contextual elements or dimensions of knowledge in religious education and their epistemological implications which the authors consider a general and fruitful challenge for the discipline, in international as well as in national contexts. In conclusion, the authors set forth a number of perspectives for future research concerning international knowledge transfer in religious education.     

The (mis)use of the Finnish teacher education model: ‘policy-based evidence-making’?

Abstract

Background: International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide. The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy-making to initiate educational reform. Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both efficient and equitable education. Finland’s teachers and teacher education have not only garnered much attention for their role in the country’s PISA successes, but have also influenced education policy change in England.

Main argument: This article argues that the Finnish model of teacher education has been borrowed uncritically by UK policy-makers. Finnish and English philosophies of teacher preparation differ greatly, and the borrowing of the Finnish teacher education model does not fit within the teacher training viewpoint of England. The borrowed policies, thus, were decontextualised from the wider values and underpinnings of Finnish education. This piecemeal, ‘pick “n” mix’ approach to education policy reform ignores the fact that educational policies and ‘practices exist in ecological relationships with one another and in whole ecosystems of interrelated practices’. Thus, these borrowed teacher preparation policies will not necessarily lead to the outcomes outlined by policy-makers in the reforms.

Sources of evidence: Two teacher preparation reforms in England, the University Training Schools (outlined in the UK Government’s 2010 Schools White Paper, The Importance of Teaching) and the Master’s in Teaching and Learning (MTL), are used to illustrate the problematic nature of uncritical policy borrowing. This article juxtaposes these policies with the Finnish model of teacher education, a research-based programme where all candidates are required to complete a Master’s degree. The contradictions exposed from this analysis further highlight the divergent practices of teacher preparation in England and Finland, or the disparate ‘ecosystems’. Evidence of educational policy borrowing in other settings is also considered.

Conclusions: Both the MTL and the White Paper reforms overlook the ‘ecosystem’ surrounding Finnish teacher education. The school-based MTL contrasts with the research-based Finnish teachers’ MA. Similarly, the University Training Schools scheme, based on Finnish university-affiliated, teaching practice schools, contrasts heavily with the rest of the White Paper reforms, which contradict the philosophies and ethos behind Finnish teacher education by proposing the move of English teacher preparation away from the universities. The analysis highlights the uncritical eye through which politicians may view international survey results, looking for ‘quick fix’ options instead of utilising academic evidence for investigation on education and education reform.     

Moral Decision‐Making,Religious Reinforcement and Some Educational Implications

Abstract

There is a fundamental gap between people's assertions as to what is right or wrong and their actual behaviour. This has been traditionally attributed to akrasia or weakness of the will. This paper examines this concept, and the related positive concept of KRAT, and considers what moral education can do about it. Claims by R.B. Braithwaite and others that religious traditions can provide reinforcement are examined and attention is directed to some important qualifications. The implications for moral education are considered, and it is argued that attempts by moral educationists to get to grips with this weakness must involve their own participation in moral debate and in decisions concerning the moral ethos of society.

Anyone who observes human behaviour through moral spectacles soon discovers that there is a significant gap between people's assertions as to what is right or wrong and their actual behaviour. This gap is traditionally attributed to akrasia or weakness of the will. Any attempt to get to grips with moral education must (a) take cognizance of this phenomena and (b) consider what, if anything, can be done about it. In this paper I aim to do three things: (i) to draw attention to some significant factors associated with akrasia, (ii) to explore claims that religious traditions can help to overcome such weakness and (iii) to draw some general conclusions from these points for moral education.     

The Relationship between the Concepts of ‘Pastoral Care’ and ‘Authority’

Abstract

The term ‘pastor’ clearly has a religious origin and is thought of in connection with providing spiritual sustenance. Such provision must be seen in relation to some concept of authority since the pastor's job could otherwise not be done.

It is likely that the connotation of a pastor in the religious sense has been carried over to the schools, especially when it is considered that schools are traditionally structures of authority.

What is necessary is to insist upon the conceptual link between ‘pastoral care’ and ‘authority’ explicitly, so as to judge the final appropriateness of ‘pastoral care’ in schools.     

Science career aspiration and science capital in China and UK: a comparative study using PISA data

ABSTRACT

The concept of science capital has a growing influence in science education research for understanding young people’s science trajectories. Popularised in the UK, this paper aims to extend and evaluate the applicability of science capital in the context of China by drawing on PISA2015. More specifically, we make use of existing items in the PISA2015 survey as a proxy for operationalising the construct of science capital to explore the science career aspirations and attainments of 15-year-old Chinese and UK students (n?=?23,998). Our findings indicate that science capital has more explanatory power for understanding UK students’ science career aspirations than for Chinese students, where science attainment seems most important. We raise the potential challenge for Chinese students to convert their science capital into scientific self-efficacy and science career aspirations as we highlight the importance of recognising cultural and national differences in operationalising science capital.     

Restrictive and expansive policy learning – challenges and strategies for knowledge exchange in upper secondary education across the four countries of the UK

Abstract

This article examines the challenges and possibilities for UK policy learning in relation to upper secondary education (USE) across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (NI) within current national and global policy contexts. Drawing on a range of international literature, the article explores the concepts of ‘restrictive’ and ‘expansive’ policy learning and develops a framework of dimensions for examining what is taking place across the UK at a time of change for all four national USE systems. From an examination of recent national policy literatures and interviews with key policy actors within the ‘UK laboratory’, we found that the conditions for expansive policy learning had markedly deteriorated due to ‘accelerating divergence’ between the three smaller countries and a dominant England that has been pursuing an ‘extreme Anglo Saxon education model’. The article also notes that some aspects of policy learning continue to take place ‘beneath the radar’ between UK and wide civil society organisations. This activity is more prevalent across the three smaller countries although each, to differing degrees, is still constrained by its position in relation to the UK as a whole.     

Multiple pathways to whiteness: white teachers’ unsteady racial identities

Abstract

Teacher education programs in the US, recognizing the mismatch that exists in preschool provision between mostly white teachers and a very diverse intake of young children, have begun to explore ways of raising racial awareness among pre-service teachers, with the aim of improving non-white children’s classroom experiences and outcomes. This paper analyzes 60 critical memoirs written by students about their own awareness of their identity to demonstrate the intersectionality of teacher identity, and in particular the impact of social class, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and religion on the processes whereby white students acquire a successful white teacher identity. In doing so, it highlights the ways white pre-service teachers who hope to work with young children imagine or realize their whiteness as it intersects with other aspects of their identities.     

The use of teaching materials in religious education in Sweden: a quantitative analysis of Swedish religious education teachers’ reported use of teaching materials in RE classrooms

Abstract

Recent studies show that religious education (RE) and various media outlets serve as increasingly important arenas for religious socialisation among Swedish youths. At the same time, it has been shown that media material, for example in the form of various news media, often make their way into RE classrooms to be used as materials alongside the more traditional textbooks. However, little quantitative research has been conducted in order to map RE teachers’ selection and use of materials in their classrooms, and what factors are involved in this selection. A nationally representative survey among 1292 RE teachers was conducted, and the results clearly show that textbooks are the most popular form of material, followed by pictures, sacred texts, documentaries, television news and news articles. Out of the relevant background variables, it was primarily school form, age, gender and religiosity that seemed to influence the teachers’ choices of material. The author concludes that familiarity with a certain form of material through personal experiences is a likely explanation for many of the correlations found and that further research is needed in order to explore the potential complexities that arise in the juxtaposition of classroom and media logics.     

Condorcet on education

Abstract

Multicultural education (of which ‘multifaith’ RE in England and Wales is sometimes regarded as a subset) was attacked by antiracists in Britain in the 1980s. Although it is arguable that not all of the criticisms were valid, the debate raises questions about the efficacy of religious education in countering racism. The paper argues that a lack of analysis of the concepts ‘religions’ and ‘cultures’ in British RE has led to a representation of religious traditions which essentialises them, playing down their internal diversity, and which assumes a ‘closed’ view of cultures. A more flexible approach is suggested, drawing on work in ethnography and other social science disciplines, which might better combine with antiracist stances than earlier approaches. The work of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit is introduced briefly as an example of an attempt to address some of the above issues in terms of an integrated approach to theory, the study of religions in the community and the development of religious education curriculum materials.     

A Visit to “The Clearing” and “Warrior Falls”: In Search of Brave and Beyond Spaces for Religious Education

Abstract

This article seeks to address the question: “How can religious educators learn from those who have been marginalized and whose voices are not usually heard because of the hegemony of whiteness?” My primary sources are scenes from the work of two U.S. black creatives. Specifically, I examine the “Clearing” scene in Toni Morrison’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize–winning fiction novel Beloved and the “Warrior Falls” scenes in Black Panther, a 2018 film co-written and directed by Ryan Coogler. I draw attention to their common themes and their implications for approaches to religious education that can de-center white normativity.     

TERMS OF INCLUSION: UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN PUBLIC EDUCATION

Abstract In this review essay, Harvey Kantor and Robert Lowe explore the history of the culture wars in public education in the United States. Drawing on three books — David Tyack’s Seeking Common Ground, Jonathan Zimmerman’s Whose America? and Amy Binder’s Contentious Curricula— Kantor and Lowe review the history of struggles over the content of history texts and over the place of religion and religious values in the classroom. They suggest that while these struggles have been partially successful in freeing public education from the racial and ethno‐religious particularisms that informed its origins, the more inclusive curriculum that resulted from these efforts has been rendered largely symbolic by the persistence of segregation and the inequality of resources that accompanies it.     

Head teachers’ attitudes towards religious diversity and interreligious dialogue and their implications for secondary schools in Catalonia

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the attitudes of secondary-school head teachers towards religious diversity, intercultural and interreligious dialogue and the role of education in fostering intercultural and interreligious dialogue. A sample comprising 275 head teachers in Catalan secondary schools answered an online questionnaire. The results revealed attitudes which were moderately favourable towards cultural and religious diversity, more strongly favourable towards interreligious dialogue, and less favourable towards education playing a major role in managing religious and cultural diversity and in fostering interreligious dialogue. We found significant differences in head teachers’ attitudes in line with the specific features of the schools where they worked. Amongst these differences, it was noticeable that heads of religious and private–public schools had more positive attitudes towards managing religious and cultural diversity and towards education playing a leading role in promoting dialogue. Also, we identified three groups of head teachers who showed differing degrees of positivity according to the perceived religious diversity of their schools. The more diverse the school, the less favourable the attitude, and vice-versa; the most moderate favourability was also associated with the most moderate diversity.