Indian adult education and the post‐colonial legacy

Under the Raj education concentrated on reproducing a small Anglicized elite capable of administering the country. Adult education was minimal and confined to a few urban centres. After Independence Indian adult education was burdened with the project of modernization as India under Nehru and the nationalist movement desperately tried to industrialize the state according to western and soviet models. Despite the relative success of the first Five Year Plan's literacy programme, levels of funding dropped while bureaucracy and falsification of figures increased. Despite Gandhi, Indian education also suffered from elitist discourses inherited from the British Raj which assumed a ‘trickle‐down’ effect and resulted in the over‐balancing of the system towards higher education. Western experts (with the honourable exception of Frank Laubach) have tended to confirm the bias, but even Laubach's agenda raised suspicion. Only with the coming of the NAEP in 1978 was a serious attempt to redress the balance made. Subsequent radical educationists have once again taken up the banner of ‘Gandhi’ in the cause of educating the very poor and the project of modernization has given way to more needs‐based programmes.     

Supporting the emotional labour associated with teaching: considering a pluralistic approach to group supervision

This paper puts forward a framework for supervising teaching staff whose roles involve supporting the emotional well-being of young people and young adults. Initially, the increasing focus upon the interface between education and health is outlined and the potential for this ‘emotional labour’ to cause distress to those in helping roles is considered. Further, as a means of supporting these professionals, the rationale for, and importance of, reflexive practice is outlined. As such, self-care is promoted and clinical supervision related to this work is recommended. To account for the wide variety of ways of working with young people, a pluralistic framework for group supervision is outlined. This psychologically informed framework emphasises the importance of the supervisory alliance and breaks down the process into supervisory goals, tasks and methods. Each element is briefly described and the framework is suggested as a means of supporting those working in these contexts. This proposition is considered alongside a number of associated potential challenges and is outlined purposefully as a provocation to consider the implications of working in such a way within school settings.