Understanding the ‘constitution’ of our democracy
Nivedita Dwivedi
Political science, in simple terms, is a branch of social science that deals with political institutions and processes, the structures and functions of the government and the state at various levels and the way the political power relationships work. A closer look at the theoretical and practical aspects of political science will reveal that its domain encompasses a study and understanding of the sources, structures, distribution and practices of power and resources. This would mean an in-depth understanding of the letter and spirit of the Constitution as the fountainhead, the various structures and functions emanating from it, and the interplay between these. The practice of political science, however, remains incomplete if it fails to study and understand the interface between politics and society and the role that politics and power plays in the day-to day life of an ordinary citizen.
Rationale for its inclusion in the teaching-learning process in schools
The day of the birth of an individual bestows upon her, among others, a political identity as well. An individual born in India, for example, becomes a citizen of India, by virtue of her having been born on the Indian soil. She now has certain rights and duties (some of them of course to be activated at an appropriate age) applicable to her in common with all the other citizens of India, drawn from the Constitution of India. Thus, any individual, by default, is also a political being and has a political identity which cannot be separated from her. Just as the individual is socialized into her family and the society, both by virtue of being a part of that family and society, and also through conscious efforts put in by the family and society; similarly, the individual, by virtue of being born in a particular form of political system, is circumscribed by the boundaries of that system, and hence, even if no particular effort is made to politically educate her, she will imbibe a certain political character anyway. It thus becomes even more imperative for the education system to take up the responsibility of ensuring that the individual develops a mature understanding of the political system, is able to develop a voice and exercise her choices based on critical reasoning and holistic understanding of all the aspects in any given situation.
Political science, being a branch of the broader domain of social sciences, also carries the responsibilities that have been placed on the larger domain of social sciences. The Position Paper by the National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences, 2006, explains the responsibilities placed on the domain of social sciences in the following terms: “The social sciences carry a normative responsibility to create and widen the popular base for human values, namely freedom, trust, mutual respect, respect for diversity, etc.”
The appropriate age of inclusion of teaching-learning of political science in schools
Having established the rationale behind the teaching-learning of political science, the next question that arises is what can be the suitable time for integrating discussions of this nature in the school curriculum. Here, it would be useful to take recourse to the Piagetian model of cognitive development. Piaget was a proponent of the constructivist theory of learning.
According to Piaget, when formal operational thought of cognitive development is attained (adolescence to adulthood), thinking in abstractions, formulation of hypotheses, understanding complex inter-relationships, etc., is possible. After this, no new structures are needed. According to this model, a child, after reaching the stage of upper-primary in school education, would thus be capable of formal operational thinking, hence the appropriateness of this age-group for the introduction of political science in schools, integrated with other social-science disciplines. The Position Paper by the National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences, 2006, also seems to concur with the above inference.
The spaces for inclusion of teaching-learning of political science in schools
Proceeding now to the next logical question of how political science can be integrated seamlessly into the classroom. To understand this, we will have to deal with both the aspects of the teaching-learning process, i.e., curriculum and pedagogy.
Providing curricular space to political science
The Position Paper by the National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences, 2006, and the National Curricular Framework, 2005 have acknowledged the need for providing curricular space to political science. Consequently, the nomenclature for “Civics” has been changed to “Social and Political Life”, for the upper-primary classes, in the NCERT curriculum. The textbooks for classes VI-VIII do a commendable job in living up to the objectives for social sciences teaching set out by NCF, 2005.
I would like to make a mention here of another three year supplementary curriculum designed by Avehi Abacus Organization for the students of classes V-VII. The Avehi Abacus project has been working with municipal schools and non-formal education centres in Mumbai and outside since 1990 (Avehi Abacus Team, Acknowledgements, 2001).Titled, Sangati, this curriculum is transacted in the form of six kits (two each) from classes V-VII in all the municipal schools of Mumbai. This three-year supplementary curriculum has been envisaged with a vision to fulfil the objectives of education, to ‘equip children with the knowledge and skills that they will need to face the world, to build values that will help them take care of themselves and contribute to the society they live in and to bring about a positive change in individuals and society’ (Avehi Abacus Team, Dear Teacher…, 2001). The fourth kit, namely, ‘The Way We Live’, turns the focus to the Indian society of today, the problems that we face and how these can be understood and resolved. Various issues are discussed in this kit, like, caste, religious and gender discrimination, economic inequalities, the meaning of patriotism and democracy, etc. The topics that have been discussed are all relevant and which need to be understood by the students in their correct perspective for them to be able to contribute positively towards making our society a better place to live in. A very enabling curricular space has been created here for meaningful and relevant political discussions.
Political science and pedagogy
To render any curriculum effective, the classroom teaching needs to be able to shift from didactic to dialogic. Teachers need to be able to discuss every issue in depth, setting aside their biases and prejudices, and providing varied perspectives. Teachers need to be able to push students to think critically and reason things out. The classroom space needs to be such that teachers and students don’t have a hierarchical relationship where the teacher is supposed to know all and transmit that knowledge to students, but it should be a space where all are learners on the path of knowledge acquisition. The Vygotskian concept of “More knowledgeable other” and “scaffolding” can aptly describe such classrooms.
I would now like to discuss how the creation of such an enabling environment is possible in the class. To do so, the backing of a strong and enabling curriculum is of utmost importance, because if so, the curriculum itself can sufficiently guide the teacher in steering the discussion in such a manner that it becomes interesting and challenges the minds of the students. As the Sangati curriculum (mentioned above), in my view performs this role to a near perfect level, I would like to borrow my example from this curriculum itself. In Kit IV of the curriculum, there is a session/chapter on ‘patriotism’. The ‘Main ideas’ sought to be conveyed through this chapter themselves give an indication of what is to follow. In brief, these aim at deconstructing the idea and meaning of the term ‘patriotism’, whether it means only to express one’s love for one’s country through symbolic acts or by hating the ‘enemy’ countries, or it can mean much more as in to fight problems like poverty, inequality, illiteracy, etc., and to realize one’s full potential to ultimately benefit the nation.
In order to convey these main ideas, there are various activities and interactive sessions envisaged, along with some meaningful questions, leading to certain open and critical discussions. As an example, the session/chapter begins with the story of Jarnail Singh, a 16-17 year old boy, who is writing a personal diary, wherein he conveys his dilemma of not wanting to join the armed forces while his entire family wants him to. Through the diary ideas of what patriotism means, the various problems afflicting our societ, and how Jarnail Singh wants to contribute towards ameliorating them are discussed. In the end, a very rich and meaningful discussion is attempted through questions like “Do you agree with Jarnail Singh’s view that there are many ways to serve your nation? Do you think Jarnail Singh is a patriot? Why? Should one’s patriotism make one hate other countries and fight wars with them? Students are further encouraged to think about and discuss various problems like corruption, inequality, etc.
Through such meaningful activities, discussions and questions, political science can be made really relevant, interesting, and meaningful in the classroom space. The above is a demonstration of the kind of pedagogy that can result in an enriching learning experience for students. I do believe that curricular support is essential for the creation of such a pedagogic space. However, determined, thoughtful and resourceful teachers can make a conscious attempt to do this even in the absence of an enabling curriculum, by going beyond the textbooks. For instance, the concept of democracy may not be limited to just “a government for the people, by the people, and of the people”. Meaningful discussions can be held around this topic like relationship of democracy and equality, is meaningful democracy possible in an unequal atmosphere, is democracy only a political concept or mandates the presence of at least some sort of egalitarianism to make it truly meaningful, etc. However, this is not many a time possible as the prejudices and biases of the teacher, her socialization into the dominant perspectives, etc., play a crucial role in dampening the impact.
I would also like to highlight the role of a force that is outside the curriculum and the pedagogy, but has a substantial role to play in shaping both of them, as also what the students gather from the interplay of both of these. This force is the prevailing political discourse of the day, which is predominantly shaped by the ideology of the political party in power. A visible impact of the prevailing political atmosphere was in the students’ understanding of the concept of patriotism, when I actually got a chance to interact with them during the course of my field study. In terms of the understanding of what ‘patriotism’ means, an overwhelming majority related it to symbolic acts of respecting the national symbols like national anthem, national flag, etc. They also seemed in awe of the armed forces of the nation. Such an understanding seems to concur with the general mood prevailing in the society.
Conclusion
Having understood the inseparability of our political identity from our personal identity, it is not only desirable but imperative to provide a sound and mature guidance to children, so that they can become well-informed thinking individuals and citizens, and are able to make intelligent and well thought out choices in any situation they might encounter. The form and content of political science education though, should be such that it promotes critical thinking and understanding in students and an acknowledgement of the presence of diverse perspectives, rather than a meek submission to the dominant perspective. The creation of this enabling teaching-learning atmosphere requires an enabling curriculum, pedagogy, and most importantly the promotion of the development of an independent perspective in the educational institutions, not influenced by the political ideology and prevailing political atmosphere of the time. Meeting this last requirement seems most daunting and challenging and will require dedicated and sincere efforts by the political class, if at all there is a willingness to adhere to this goal.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_science.
- National Focus Group. (2005). National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Sciences.
- Piaget’s stages of Cognitive Development. www.saylor.org/site/wp
content/uploads/2011/07/psych406-5.3.2.pdf. - Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development
- Textbook Development Committee. (2005). Equality in Indian Democracy. In T. D., Social and Political Life II. New Delhi: NCERT Textbook Publishing Bureau.
- Textbook Development Committee. (2005). Key Elements of a Democratic Government. In T. D., Social and Political Life I (pp. 36-40). New Delhi: NCERT Textbook Publishing Bureau.
- Avehi Abacus Project. (n.d.). Avehi Abacus Project. Retrieved from www.avehiabacus.org: http://www.avehiabacus.org/sangati.html.
- Avehi Abacus Team. (2001). Acknowledgements. In A. A., Myself, My Body, Our Needs Needs: Sangati Kit I. Mumbai: Avehi Abacus Project.
- Avehi Abacus Team. (2001). Dear Teacher… In A. A., Myself, My Body, Our Needs: Sangati Kit I. Mumbai: Avehi Abacus Project.
- Avehi Abacus Team. (2003). Patriotism. In A. A., The Way We Live: Sangati Kit IV. Mumbai: Avehi abacus Project.
The author is working with the Reserve Bank of India. She is also pursuing an MA in Elementary Education from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. Her interests lie in the field of education and related issues. She can be reached at niveditadwivedi31@gmail.com.