Ankur Joshi

Elementary education in Bharat (that is India): insights from a postcolonial ethnographic study of a Gurukul

The education delivered in Bharat1 grapples with the issues of quality in terms of its content, pedagogy and the outcomes. The colonisation of education system subsequently led to the demise of traditional institutions (like Gurukul) of education delivery. Afterwards with the political independence, the government neither could work for the decolonisation of the education nor could it make significant efforts to revive or learn from the Gurukul system. However, a significant number of Gurukuls are still running in the country. This paper takes a post-colonial stance to the education and presents an ethnographic account of one such Gurukul. The propositions are presented based on this account for improvement in the quality of elementary education.

A Post-Colonial Perspective Towards Education in Bharat

The article explores what could be a post-colonial perspective to the education delivery. If we believe that majority of the problems faced in Bharat have their roots in the colonial residue left in the society post-Independence, we should explore what can be done today. For this exploration was made whether gurukul system of indigenous education can provide the solution to few problems faced by us today? The first person embodied enquiry was made and participant observations were made to understand the pedagogy of gurukul. Hence, the experience of the researchers of the gurukul system of education is presented. Policy relevance is majorly focused on inputs for shaping up education policy with respect to elementary education.

Researcher Preparation for Indigenous Fundamental Research Through Collaborative Participation

A researcher is the most crucial constituent in any research and re-search under Communities of Practice, specifically for research domain concerning the social aspect of human existence. This chapter presents a collaborative auto-ethnography of researchers’ preparation for undertaking indigenous fundamental research. The chapter has three major sections ‘why researcher preparation?’ followed by ‘how it was achieved (process of researcher preparation)’ and finally describes ‘the way ahead’. The researchers had a common interest and common philosophical orientation, so the researcher preparation activities were conducted in a ‘community’ formed by the researchers. This community involved the authors who ‘interacted’ and ‘experienced’ the indigenous phenomenon. The account could help other researcher(s) in forming a community with varied areas of interest, but with similar philosophical approach.

An Ethics of Care Induced from Kautilya’s Wisdom

According to the ancient Indian scholar Kautilya (350–275 BC), a leader can only be successful if he or she considers philosophy to be of equal importance to economics and politics, because a philosophical foundation will infuse into praxis the principles of self-regulation, care, and transcendence. Although Kautilya’s teachings originally referred to leaders in the context of politics (heads of state), they are applicable to other forms of leadership, too.

Tolerance in Indian Society: Implications on Society, Natural Resources and Lifestyle

Tolerance levels are one of the major concerns for the global society. Generally, the world witnesses attacks motivated by intolerance for immigrants, women or people belonging to certain religions or ethnic groups. India is the largest democracy in the world and tolerance is one of the precise and direct measurements of democratic performance, hence studying tolerance level and its implications becomes critical. Contrary to hype created by media, tolerance has been part of Indian society; it has given a distinct identity to nation. India is a nation that is birth place of concepts like “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” which means entire world constitutes a family.

Issues and Challenges in Ensuring Public Accountability: The Indian Context

This paper focuses on the challenges of ensuring public accountability in the Indian context. The urgent need for accountability of public servants in India, elected as well permanent, emanates from the large scale perception about lack of responsiveness with respect to results and outcomes for citizens and customers of public services. In real terms, there is a trustdeficit with regard to public services in general and the quality of public services in particular. The complex nature of public accountability lead to blurring of the issues which could be critical for ensuring the same in the delivery of public services. The extant literature clearly shows that a narrowly defined public accountability is one of the reasons contributing to inefficient public accountability. The fundamental issue therefore is to define public accountability in the context of changing public policy and public management discourse in India. The paper discusses these emerging dimensions of public accountability in the Indian context. The definition of public accountability, the need for exercising accountability, the issues involved in poor accountability, effective ways to exercise accountability, and ensuring accountability in Indian context, are the aspects analysed in this paper.