Schooling and Aspirations in the Urban Margins : Ethnography of Education in the Indian Context

"This book presents a detailed ethnographic study conducted in an urban slum in India. It explores how a State school, as a social and pedagogic institution, shapes the aspirations and worldviews of children in the urban margins. The volume engages with the children's experience of marginality and exclusion as they negotiate the intersecting axes of caste, class, gender, and citizenship. It further explores how their everyday school experience is mediated by the power asymmetries between the teachers and the community. In this process, it makes-sense of the political dynamics between the State and its margins while highlighting the role of schools and locating childhood in this context. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book will be of interest to researchers, students, and teachers of education studies, sociology and politics of education, teacher education, childhood and youth studies, and urban studies. It will also be useful for education policymakers, and professionals in the development sector"-- Provided by publisher This book presents a detailed ethnographic study conducted in an urban slum in India. It explores how a State school, as a social and pedagogic institution, shapes the aspirations and worldviews of children in the urban margins. The volume engages with the children’s experience of marginality and exclusion as they negotiate the intersecting axes of caste, class, gender, and citizenship. It further explores how their everyday school experience is mediated by the power asymmetries between the teachers and the community. In this process, it makes sense of the political dynamics between the State and its margins while highlighting the role of schools and locating childhood in this context. Based on ethnographic fieldwork, the book will be of interest to researchers, students, and teachers of education studies, sociology and politics of education, teacher education, childhood and youth studies, and urban studies. It will also be useful for education policymakers and professionals in the development sector. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Foreword 7 Acknowledgements 9 List of abbreviations 10 1 Introduction 12 2 Education and urban marginalisation: international comparisons 24 3 Studying the non-linear: ethnographic explorations in education 34 4 Constructing and deconstructing the slum 50 5 The idea of sarkari school: negotiations and aspirations 76 6 The teachers and the school culture 95 7 Experiencing childhood in the margins: meanings and aspirations 109 8 Concluding thoughts 138 References 146 Index 155 Child,education,in,India;,Education,in,India;,Schooling,in,India;,Gujan,Sharma;,Child,education,in,South,Asia;,Slum,Children;,Slum,children,education;,New,Delhi,education;,Schools,in,New,Delhi;,AAP,education;,New,Delhi,municipal,schools;,New,Delhi,Government,schools Child education in India,Education in India,Schooling in India,Gujan Sharma,Child education in South Asia,Slum Children,Slum children education,New Delhi education,Schools in New Delhi,AAP education,New Delhi municipal schools,New Delhi Government schools