Contemporary Researches in Education
IMPROVING QUALITY OF TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS IN
CLASSROOM OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Abdus Salam
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, West Goalpara College, Balarbhita, Goalpara, Assam, India.
Abstract
The incorporation of technology into teaching
and research is one of the most important
challenges for education today. It is time to move
beyond the walls of our classrooms to join forces
with other institutions and societies to revitalize
education. Technology in acquiring knowledge and
skill is an extremely essential component of
education and training at all levels: primary,
secondary, higher and professional education.
Technology integration is the necessity for students
to have 21st century skills like: personal and
responsibility skill; planning, critical thinking,
reasoning, and creativity skill; strong
communication skill; cross-cultural understanding
skill; visualizing and decision making skill; and
technology application skill. The present paper
entitled “Improving Quality of Teaching Learning
Process in Classroom of Twenty-first Century” is
an attempt that will greatly contribute to meet the
needs of students for learning anywhere, anytime.
Keywords: Teacher, Learner, Information
Technology, Digital Classroom and Online
Material
INTRODUCTION
Teaching is the noblest profession. Teaching
involves many sub-activities but all are centered to
achieve one main goal – the ultimate development
of the learner. Teaching is a process of interaction
in which there are at least two poles – teacher and
learner. Learning is considered as the other side of
the coin-teaching. Learning is the outcome of
teaching in a particular set up or context. Teaching
as an activity depends on many factors that are
directly or indirectly related to the process of
modifying the behavior of the learner. Teacher is
considered as the first variable in the teaching
process because it is the teacher who actually
organizes the whole of teaching learning process. In
the teaching process, a teacher functions as an
independent variable. The second variable of
teaching process is the learner. The learner is
considered as dependent variable of teaching
process because it is the learner who has to work in
1
accordance with teaching plans, system and
organization etc. The process is the third variable or
intervening variable of teaching process. The
medium of interaction between learners and
teachers, methods of teaching, teaching devices,
teaching strategies, content and the nature of study
material etc. may be called as the process.
Education is one of the most influencing system
of our society for the development and growth of
the nation. The education system of a society
reflects its image. Today, education system needs to
improve the quality of education through
information technology. Technology when
integrated into the curriculum revolutionizes the
learning process. It also improves the learning
process and outcome of the student. Teacher who
recognizes computer as problem solving tool
changes the way of the teaching. Technology and
interactive multimedia are more conducive to
project based learning. Technology in acquiring
knowledge and skill is an extremely essential
component of education and training at all levels:
primary, secondary, higher and professional
education.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR
TEACHING LEARNING PROCESS
Information Technology (IT) is the science that
investigates the properties and behaviours of
information, the forces governing the flow of
information, and the means of processing
information for optimum accessibility and usability.
IT implies telecommunications involving a
combination of computers, networks, satellites,
telephones, radio, television and the like. IT
resources involve not only hardware (equipment)
but also software (programs), people, education,
government and association/collaboration
resources. Application of IT in teaching learning
process involves many disciplines related to
computers in handling, processing, management,
automation and communication of information in
the broader cultural and economic context of a
society. Thus, technology in teaching learning
 2 Contemporary Researches in Education
process encompasses one or more of the following
modes:
 Media and Audio-Visual (AV) communication,
e.g. alternative instructional delivery systems
such as Radio, Educational Television (ETV),
etc.
 Vocational training tools, such as CBT
(Computer Based Training), CAD (Computer
Aided Design) etc.
 Computers and computer-based systems for
instructional delivery and management, e.g.
CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) etc.
 Internet/web based education e.g. not only
educational information with text, graphics,
video and courses offered by various web sites.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND
CHILD CENTERED LEARNING
One of the basic functions of education is
preparation of students for life. This function in 21st
century is participation in an information rich
society where knowledge is regarded as the main
source for socio-cultural and politico-economical
development of nation. Information rich society
promotes new practices and paradigms for
education where the teacher has to play new role of
mentoring, coaching and helping students in their
studies rather to play the conventional role of spoon
feeding in the classroom. Students can learn
independently having a wide choice of program
selection and access to information. Under the
influence of information technology teaching and
learning occurs in a changed situation. There seems
a shift from teacher centered teaching to student
centered learning. These include:
A Shift from Lecture and Recitation to
Coaching: Students learn by interactive
technologies and teachers facilitate them on how to
use and reflect responses. Teachers diagnose the
learning problems and help the learners to find out
their solutions. When students work with
information technologies, teachers reduce the time
they append directing students; they spend more of
their time facilitating student learning.
A Shift from Whole Class Instruction to Small
Group Instruction: Students progress at different
rates and pace in their learning process. Teachers
can interact with individual student and in small
groups.
A Shift from Working with Better Students to
Working with Weaker Students: Individual
differences exist among students at all levels of
learning. Information technologies enable teachers
to cope with this problem in large classes working
with individual student and in small groups.
A Shift from All Students Learning the Same
things to Different Students Learning Different
things: Conventionally, all students had to learn the
same things what the teacher intended to teach them
in a class. However, now the situation has changed
and the use of information technologies has enabled
the students to learn what they need and what they
want to learn. Resources for learning are available
through information technologies, it becomes
possible for students to recognize and use the
appropriate information to achieve the goals under
the tutelage of teacher.
A Shift Towards more Engaged Students:
Conventionally, majority of students is passive
listener in the classrooms for most of the time.
Teachers carry on delivering lectures without any
concern of students’ participation in the teaching
learning process. Use of information technologies
in classroom situation particularly interactive
technologies however; ensure attention and active
involvement of students. Well-designed computer-
mediated instruction is more likely to engage
individuals for effective learning that simple
lectures and book reading a classroom.
A Shift from Assessment Based on Test
Performance to Assessment Based on Products
and Progress: Competencies and skills are
necessaries to live a successful and productive life.
These may result from undertaking creative projects
rather than repeating or paraphrasing information
from lectures and textbooks. The best projects
include realistic tasks that generalize the student’s
learning and its application in new situations.
Information technologies actively involve the
students in different competency based activities
through skill oriented projects in real situations.
A Shift from Competitive to a Cooperative Goal
Structure: Collaborative and cooperative learning
approach provides learners the opportunities of
extensive interaction. Students have access to
extensive databases and share their own work
through networked communications to work on
collaborative projects. Teachers guide the students
on how to share and interact in networked
collaborative learning environments.
Contemporary Researches in Education
Smart School and Smart Classroom/Digital
Classroom
A need is felt to make students and teachers better
equipped to enter the workforce, where use of
technology is a standard practice. It will change the
way teachers teach, may impact their status in the
classroom and will definitely alter the way students
learn by enabling them to develop numerous
modes, techniques, tools and styles of learning.
Technology can provide effective learning
experiences by helping the learners perceive
information, reflect on how it will impact their life,
compare how it fits into their own experiences and
think about how this information offers new ways
to act. The present era puts forth the concept of a
‘digital classroom’ and ‘smart school’ which is
locally ground yet has a global out look. The digital
classrooms and smart schools mainly aim at the
following:
 To change the teaching learning process by
encouraging teachers to shift to child centered
and more collaborative forms of learning in
their classrooms;
 To prepare students who are creative,
numerate, literate, well-trained and readily
retainable at any point in their development;
 To ensure that all students understand the
necessity of being able to live and work
harmoniously with other people in their
environment and progress of the society.
Thus, IT in education along with our traditional
modes can be used for developing; Teaching
Learning Materials (TLM) which make the
classroom environment lively and conducive to
learning. It can be used for individualized learning
or self learning, as well. The use of Information
Technology can engage learners in the four-step
process as described by David Kolb in the book
Experiential Learning (1997), where he identifies
the steps in the following manner.
Watching Thinking
(Mind)
According to Kolb, learners have immediate
concrete experiences that allow them to reflect on
new experiences from different perspectives. IT can
be used in our classrooms in the following ways:
3
Multimedia: Development in computers,
communication, electronics and other multimedia
tools provide a wide range of sensory stimuli. It is
said ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do
and I understand.’ The animations, simulations,
software packages to teach various subjects, speech,
music, multimedia networks, image enhancements,
etc. create virtual realities and experience for the
learners, which in turn, help in making learning a
more direct, useful and joyful experience and retain
knowledge for a longer time.
Community Resources: An electronic community
allows students to engage in dialogue with each
other, their teacher, experts and teachers in different
parts of the country or the world. This can be done
via two modes namely, asynchronous
communication and synchronous communication.
In asynchronous communication, exchanges take
place in a delayed format. There are a number of
activities that can be developed using asynchronous
communication like presentations, free flow
discussions on a topic, peer reviews, debates,
message boards, bulletin boards, e-mails, listing
servers, seminars, simulations, feed back on
assignments, forums, learner led and threaded
discussions. Where as, in a synchronous interactive
environment, exchanges take place in real time.
Instant messengers, chat rooms, and MOOs are
good examples. (A MOOs is a sort of sophisticated
chat room, complete with its own architecture of
interconnected rooms, stock pile of objects that can
be manipulated, and a cast of interesting characters.
Originally used for role-playing games, the MOOs
have recently made its way into technologically
progressive universities and secondary schools.
Some outstanding academic MOOs include NCTE-
MOO designed for teachers and teacher educators
and diversity MOO designed specifically for
academic purposes.) The synchronous
communication can also be used for online lectures
and live demonstrations.
Feeling Doing
(Emotions) (Muscle)
Individualized Instruction: Technology can be
used for individualized instruction in order to
bridge the gaps between the teaching styles and the
 4 Contemporary Researches in Education
learning styles. The use of technology can be made
to address the visual learners, auditory learners and
kinesthetic learners. In an ordinary classroom with
one teacher, it is difficult for the teacher to respond
and provide feedback to each student. The
programmed instruction models as suggested by
Skinner can be used to provide learners learn at
their own pace and give immediate feedback.
Audio-Visuals and Animations: Audiovisuals,
video conferencing, short animations, virtual
reality, etc can be used in teaching learning process.
The abstract ideas can be focused upon and
understood by means of visuals from different point
of views. To illustrate the chapters / topics of the
respective subjects can be taught by PowerPoint
presentations. The Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Information and Broadcasting and
the Prasar Bharti have launched the Educational TV
channel of India ‘Gyan Darshan’ on 26th January
2000. The Central Institute of Educational
Technology a constituent unit of NCERT also
provides educational videos and audio programs for
various stakeholders at school education level. All
these attempts hope to have a positive impact on
learning.
Digital Devices: The digital devices like cameras,
scanners can be used for instruction. For instance
digital photographs and recordings can be used for
electronic and virtual field trips, science
experiments and demonstrations, etc. The portable
scanners can read text from books, documents,
research papers, newspapers and the information
scanned can be pasted at ease for reference and
documentation. The other digital devices like
digital blackboards, electronic pens and touch
screens etc. can also be used to enhance learning.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA): The PDA
wireless devices are used as e-learning tools
allowing the learners to access information any
time, any where. It is observed that, there is a shift
from the E-learning to M-learning (which includes
learning via. mobile computation). The use of
Bluetooth and infrared technologies has made it
possible to transfer information in fractions of
seconds.
Online Materials: The online materials used in the
educational setting are as listed below.
 Database: Database is a good source of
materials put up by the government, libraries
and educational institutions. It contains
extensive information on graphic interface,
websites, electronic page layout, graphics,
multimedia and animated designs. The
websites like www.intschool-leipzig.com,
www.discovery.com,
www.nationalgeographic.com, etc. provide
information that serve educational purposes.
 Journals: There are many e-journals available
on the web. Facilitators can include online
journals as an integral component of their
learning materials with knowledge that can be
regularly updated and links that can remain
active. Online journals like www.rsc.org,
www. journals.cambridge.org, etc., are a good
source of information for helping learners to
complete projects, assignments and other
research work.
 Software Libraries or Digital Libraries:
Software libraries contain programs that the
learners may download to their own computers.
However some websites require specific
viewers and plug-ins before learners can view
the website. There is a range of software
available from many websites on education,
which includes downloads for preschool, grade
school and high school. The software library
includes e-books, interactive CDs and teaching
tools. The famous websites like
www.chemsoc.org, ww.library.thinkquest.org,
www.iisc.ernet.in etc. allow downloads of
interactive CDs in various subjects. The
knowledge mapping software designed to
capture and organize brainstorming sessions
into concepts and knowledge webs can also be
used. A teacher can pose a problem before the
students. The students thereby can create a
diagram of ideas, web of ideas using hypertext
and hypermedia for assembling and linking
information to present their understanding of
almost any topic. Simulated software can also
be used to explore student’s prior knowledge.
The student makes choices while interacting
with the software. Observing the choices and
discussion made by the students enables the
teacher to explore the student’s prior
knowledge and understanding about the same.
Interaction patterns: Some schools in India have
started using the internet and intranet facilities to
interact or communicate with each other. The
following patterns have been observed.
Contemporary Researches in Education
 Teacher Parent Interactions: Voice mail and
other messaging systems help in encouraging
both parents and students to leave messages to
their teachers. In addition the working parents
and parents of hostellers have an opportunity to
interact with the teachers at ease. The parents
can also have the direct access to the
classrooms instead of having their children’s
educational experiences filter and interpreted
through the eyes of their children.
 Teacher-Teacher Interactions: Teachers
around the world can share their instructional
activities and experiences with each other. The
chat rooms like innovative teaching on
www.yahoo.com and other websites like
www.teachingideas.com,
www.innovativeteaching.com etc. serve this
purpose.
 Teacher Student Interactions and Student-
Student Interaction: This helps in creating a
learning environment. The students can decide
a time to meet online and discuss the various
aspects of the course on weekends and
holidays.
Online Testing: The teacher may prepare a
question bank or an objective type test and place it
on the network. The students answer and submit the
test. The immediate feedback and scores can be
obtained by the student. The evaluation can be done
by means of assignments in the form of
presentations, documents, and audio visuals, drill
and practice, online quiz in various subjects, etc.
A school website: A school website is an
innovative way of creating learning environment as
well as involving the society in the same. The major
components of the classroom website are the home
page which is linked to the student page, parent
page, teacher page, teaching philosophy page and
professional page.
Above mentioned are ways in which technology
can be used in educational setting. The technology
when used in teaching the curricula subjects like
English, Science, Mathematics, Social studies helps
the students see the unseen, to test theoretical
concepts, comprehend abstract ideas and
communicate effectively. IT has also made a
remarkable contribution to the field of distance
education making it is possible to learn anytime,
anywhere. However, all the advances in technology
and its impact on instructional modes have changed
5
the role of a teacher from an instructor to a
facilitator and creator of a learning environment.
HOW TO DESIGN A SMART CLASSROOM
 Desks and Furniture that Support
Collaboration. The days of the single desk and
chair are gone; it is a time when all K-12
classrooms are developed around the concept
of collaboration – between student and teacher
and among the students themselves.
 Ample Electrical Outlets. Not all students
will come to class with their iPads and laptops
charged up and ready to go. To make sure 21 st
Century learners have the power they need to
engage in classroom activities, school uses a
combination of electrical outlets, some of
which are integrated into the classroom
furniture, and power strips that are distributed
through the classroom.
 “Smart” Teacher Lectern. Teaching in a
smart classroom requires a “smart” lectern,
schools to put time and money into the
structures that teachers will use as their home
bases. USB ports that allow for easy document
camera connections, interactive whiteboard
equipment controls, and other features should
be incorporated into the fixtures.
 Lighting that’s easy to Control. With
audiovisual technology becoming more
advanced and even more useful in the K-12
classroom, the need for lighting that’s easy to
dim or enhance is imperative. The student
sitting furthest away from the projection
screen, for example, must be able to see the
workspace clearly and without interference
from shadows.
 Physical Space that goes beyond the Single
Classroom. The 21st Century classroom has to
be a single room. Classroom walls to help
create a collaborative environment that
expands beyond a single room.
ROLE OF A TEACHER IN THE PRESENT
ERA
The starting point of a digital classroom is a
teacher. Teachers must be trained to effectively use
the technology for planning and student instruction.
The role of the teacher has subtly shifted from
being the sole 'provider' of knowledge to being a
facilitator as the student explores for himself, the
expansive world of knowledge. From being a 'Sage
 6 Contemporary Researches in Education
on the Stage', to being a 'Guide by the Side'. In
today's world, life long learning has become a
critical determinant of success. And hence, more
than mastering various competencies, the key skill
required is learning how to learn. The Learning
Management System (LMS) harnesses the potential
of technology to improve learning outcomes and to
prepare students for the accelerated changes in the
world in which they live. According to the UNDP
statistics in the year 2001, almost 80% of the
teachers in developing countries feel that they are
not prepared to use the technology. However,
efforts are been made to make the teachers aware of
the use of technology through pre-service and in-
service courses. In addition, Intel® Teach, Edutech
programs also aim towards making the teachers
techno savvy and teach using the computers.
Hence, the use of IT in teaching requires
competencies on the part of the teacher and has
indeed made the profession more challenging.
CONCLUSION
Technology is the means to enhance teaching
learning quality. One can use technology to better
display information, increase access to information,
improve information sharing, and organize better
class presentation. Technology is not a panacea for
educational problems, but by combining technology
with applicable learning models, the overall quality
of education can be enhanced. Students raised in
an age of technology demand student centered and
piloted learning. Educators must discover and
develop how to implement new technologies into
the learning environments and focus on efforts for
facilitating learning and not implementing
“multimedia toys”.
REFERENCES
Aggarwal, J. C. (2005). Evaluation and
Educational Technology Management. Vinod
Pustak Mandir, Agra, pp. 33-57
Aggarwal, J. C. (2011). Educational Technology
and Management. Agrawal Publications, Agra,
pp. 71-74
Bloom, B. S. (1968). Learning for Mastery.
Evaluation Comment (UCLA-CSEIP), 1(2), pp.
1-12
Charp, S. (1994). Educational Technological
Horizons. Educational Journal, 22(8), p. 56
Khan, I. A. (2011). Education and Pedagogy.
Mittal Publications, New Delhi, pp. 69-76
Kulshreshtha, S. P. and Kulshreshtha, A. K. (2011).
Foundations of Educational Technology. R. Lall
Book Depot, Meerut, pp. 45-64
Mangal, S. K. (2002). Educational Technology.
Tandon Publications, Ludhiana, Punjab, pp.
217-238
Pathak, G. (2013). Teaching Learning Method and
Pedagogy. Surya Prakash, Guwahati, Assam,
pp. 11-42
Sharma, R. A. (2009). Essentials of Pedagogical
Analysis and Critical Pedagogy. R. Lall Book
Depot, Meerut, pp. 90-107
Sharma, R. A. (2008). Educational Technology. R.
Lall Book Depot, Meerut, pp.353-378
Vernal, L. (2004). ICT in Teacher Education: A
Case Study, University News, Punjab
University, Chandigarh, 42 (39), pp. 1-3.
Contemporary Researches in Education
ACADEMIC ANXIETY AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN
RELATION TO GENDER AND TYPE OF FAMILY
Chaman Lal Banga
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, ICDEOL, Himachal Pradesh University Shimla.
Abstract
The present study is undertaken with a
view to find out the Academic Anxiety among high
school students in relation to gender and type of
family. It was hypothesized that there exists
significant gender difference in the academic
anxiety of high school students and students coming
from nuclear and joint families do not differ
significantly in their academic anxiety. For
verification of these hypotheses, the data were
collected from 200 secondary school students of
Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh by adopting
technique convenient sampling by administering
‘Academic Anxiety Scale for Children’ (AASC)
developed by Dr. A.K. Singh and Dr. A. Sen Gupta
(2009. The statistical technique used was t- test.
The findings of the present study revealed that there
is no significant gender difference in academic
anxiety of High School Students. Students coming
from nuclear and joint families do not differ
significantly in their academic anxiety. However,
students coming from joint families have slightly
higher mean of academic anxiety score than their
counterparts from nuclear families but this
difference is not significant statistically.
Keywords: Academic Anxiety, Gender, High school
students, Nuclear and Joint family.
INTRODUCTION
Education is a lifelong process, which
starts right from cradle and goes on throughout life.
Education is about the preparation of unprepared
minds. Preparation of mind as a process, thus
involves enormous inputs and efforts on the parts of
all stakeholders namely parents, teachers, peers and
society. All these play a very significant role in the
development of a child from his birth till death. The
child learns a lot from all these in all stages of his
life. But, this process of development is not an easy
process. The child faces many problems from his
childhood till his death. In a developing country
like India where there is lack of resources in almost
every sphere, it becomes difficult for the individual
to fulfil most of his needs during his life span. This
difficulty in the fulfilment of his needs due to
7
several personal, emotional and social reasons
creates anxiety among the individuals. Anna Freud
characterizes adolescence as a period of internal
conflict, psychic disequilibrium and erratic
behaviour. Adolescents are on one hand egoistic
regarding themselves as the sole object of interest
and the centre of the universe but on the other hand
also capable of self sacrifice and devotion. Youth
today are living in an increasingly anxiety ridden
atmosphere. They live in a world where nothing
seems to be guaranteed with certainty and at the
same time they are expected to perform at every
front, the main being the academics. Adolescents
often lack in academic motivation and performance,
as their attention is divided among a lot many
things especially at creating an identity for
themselves. Anxiety is one of the most studied
phenomena in psychology. The concept of anxiety
is differentiated from fear as it is a normal human
response to stress. Today anxiety is a common
phenomenon of everyday life. It plays a crucial role
in human life because all of us are victims of
anxiety in different ways (Goodstein and Lanyon,
1975).
ANXIETY: CONCEPT AND MEANING
Anxiety is not considered to be
a normal reaction to a perceived stressor although
many feel it occasionally. Anxiety is an essential,
physical response that communicates the need to
pay attention to something in the environment. This
reaction has been essential for animals to survive,
and is also important for people. It starts as a
biochemical change in your brain and body with the
release of adrenalin. Anxiety, also called angst or
worry, is a psychological and physiological state
characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive and
behavioural components. The root meaning of the
word anxiety is the vex or trouble; in either
presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety
and create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness and
dread. At a lower level, anxiety helps individuals to
deal with a difficult situation by prompting them to
cope up with it but when anxiety becomes
excessive, it becomes a disorder.
 8 Contemporary Researches in Education
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY
Anxiety is a mental disorder that is,
characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and
often irrational worry about everyday things that is
disproportionate to the actual source of worry, it is
diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
GAD occurs without an identifiable
triggering stimulus. The behavioural effects of
anxiety may include withdrawal from situations
which have provoked anxiety in the past. Anxiety
can also be experienced in ways which include
changes in sleeping patterns, nervous habits, and
increased motor tension like foot tapping. The
emotional effects of anxiety may include "feelings
of apprehension or dread, trouble concentrating,
feeling tense or jumpy, anticipating the worst,
irritability, restlessness, watching (and waiting) for
signs (and occurrences) of danger, and, feeling like
your mind's gone blank" as well as "nightmares/bad
dreams, obsessions about sensations, a trapped in
your mind feeling, and feeling like everything is
scary."
ACEDEMIC ANXIETY: CONCEPT AND
MEANING
Anxiety is a state of mind in response to
some stimulus in the environment which brings in
the feelings of apprehension or fear. When the
person is exposed to the cause of anxiety the next
time, the conditioning effect causes a repeat
response and the person will try to avoid the cause.
All the responsibilities of being an academic brings
with it a state of mind referred to as "academic
anxiety". This can be associated with almost all the
tasks associated with academics i.e. starting from
attendance to classes to the biggest cause of
academic anxiety- exams! It doesn't stop there,
though. Students can be anxious about everything
from their reading speed to their performance in
gym class. Academic anxiety arises out of the
apprehension of rebuke from teachers, parents and
peers regarding the failures of performing the
responsibilities of an academic properly.
Developing a state of academic anxiety causes a
decrease in attention span, concentration and
memory which can result in having a negative
effect on the performance of the individual. It is
now been learnt that some level of anxiety is
required for the person to take up all the
responsibilities seriously but both high levels of
academic anxiety or too low a level has deleterious
effects on academic performance, which in turn
may lead to more academic anxiety. The era of
competition makes students more anxious and the
eagerness of whether they can do well in their
academic part or perform well in academic
activities may adversely affect the mental health of
students. It is the painful uneasiness of mind while
doing or focusing on academic activities in school
or at home. It is a kind of state anxiety which
relates to the impending danger from the
environment of the academic institutions including
teaching certain subjects like mathematics, science,
English etc. Academic anxiety afflicts students
during school-related situations. If academic
anxiety isn't properly addressed, it can have many
serious and lasting consequences, such as causing a
student to procrastinate, perform poorly on school
work, fail in classes and withdraw from socializing
with peers or pursuing activities that interest him.
Academic anxiety is, to a certain extent,
unavoidable, necessary, and even productive, since
it motivates to spend time for academic tasks. It's
stress or pressure that you experience based upon
school related functions, such as presenting in front
of a class. The method of reducing your anxiety
depends upon which of these you are experiencing.
Although anxiety is a normal, even healthy part of
our lives, it can be counterproductive when not
managed well. Academic anxiety is a common
issue that students cannot ignore if they want to
succeed in school. It often leads to problems
concentrating while studying and remembering
information while completing tests, which makes
the student, feel helpless and like a failure. If
academic anxiety isn't properly addressed, it can
have many serious and lasting consequences, such
as causing a student to procrastinate, perform
poorly on schoolwork, fail classes and withdraw
from socializing with peers or pursuing activities
that interest him. Academic anxiety in children and
adolescents can be challenging to recognize since it
can have much in common with other disorders.
According to Cornell University:
“Academic anxiety is the result of biochemical
processes in the body and the brain that make your
attention level increase when they occur. The
changes happen in response to exposure to a
stressful academic situation, such as completing
school assignments, presenting a project in class or
taking a test. When the anxiety becomes too great,
the body recoils as if threatened, which is a normal
fight-or-flight reaction”.
Contemporary Researches in Education 9

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE: study on the topic of “a study of anxiety among

medical post-graduate students in relation to sex,
Anxiety and its relationship with other
intelligence and socio-economic status.” He found;
variables is an area which has been amply
a) Significant differences in anxiety of post-
researched. Lummeburg (1964) found a negative
graduate medical students in relation to independent
correlation between test anxiety and achievement
impact of sex. b) No significant difference in
scores in a sample of 213 boys and girls studying in
anxiety of post-graduate medicos in relation to
grade IV to V. He reported that negative correlation
independent impact of intelligence. Neelam and
tends to be large for boys than girls. Gaudry and
Attri (2013) have attempted to find out the
Spielberger (1971) discussed that high test anxiety
academic anxiety and academic achievement of
is considered as one of the main factor for low
secondary school students. It was hypothesized that
performance of students at university level. Gaudry
there exists a significant difference in academic
and Spielberger (1972) conducted a study on test
anxiety and academic achievement of male and
anxiety differences in boys and girls in relation to
female secondary school students. For verification
their academic achievement. They observed that the
ofthese hypotheses, the data was collected from 200
relationship between anxiety and achievement is
secondary school students of Mandi district of
equally stronger for two sexes, but their relationship
Himachal Pradesh by adopting lottery method of
may vary as a function of complex situational
random sampling by administering ‘Academic
factors such as the sex of teacher or teacher’s value
Anxiety Scale for Children (AASC)’ and their
system. Trivedi (1995) attempted to study the
marks of class 9th were taken as academic
anxiety level and academic achievement of
achievement. . The statistical technique used was t-
undergraduate students. The major objectives of the
test. The findings of the present study revealed that
study were: a) To study the anxiety level of
there exist significant differences in academic
undergraduate students, b) To study if there are
anxiety and academic achievement of male and
significant differences between any two categories
female secondary school students. Girls found to be
of undergraduate students in respect of their anxiety
more academically anxious and had better academic
level, and c) To study the nature of relationship
achievement than boys.
between the anxiety level and academic
achievement of undergraduate students. The major OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
findings were: a) No significant difference existed
1. To study gender difference in the academic
between the means of boys and girls, science and
anxiety of high school students.
commerce streams, science and arts streams in
respect of their anxiety level. b) A negative 2. To study family- difference in the academic
relationship had been found between the anxiety anxiety of high school students.
level and academic achievement among the girls,
students of commerce and arts streams but among HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
boys and students of science stream a positive 1. There exists significant gender difference in
correlation had been found, but the correlation had the academic anxiety of high school students.
been found to be very low and not significant.
Schonwetter, (1995) by relating this phenomenon to 2. Students coming from nuclear and joint
classroom instruction, the researchers further families do not differ significantly in their
discussed “how high test- anxious students were academic anxiety.
unable to benefit directly from organized METHODOLOGY
instruction, which ultimately affected their
performance in class”. Murthy and Kulshreshtha For conducting the present investigation,
(1999) have attempted to study the influence of ‘Survey Technique under Descriptive Method of
academic anxiety on academic achievement of Research’ was used.
students studying in two management schools, on Sample of the Study:
class IX students comprising boys and girls. The
objectives included: a) To study the influence of In the present investigation, the researcher
academic anxiety on academic achievement. b) To adopted convenient sampling technique. The
study the influence of two management schools on sample for present study comprised of 200 students
academic achievement. Singh (2003) conducted a of 9th class in Government schools Hamirpur
district of Himachal Pradesh. All the students from
 10
8 schools were selected by the researcher in order
to realize the objectives of present study. The
T ab le 1 . Number of Schools along with Number of Students
Si. No. Name of school
1 GSSS Sanahi
2 GHS Baffrin
3 GSSS(Boys) Hamirpur
4 GSSS Tauni Devi
5 GSSS Bohni
6 GSSS Bhota
7 GSSS Chabutra
8 GSSS Jhiralri
Total
Tool Used:
Following research tool was used by
researcher in the present study:
‘Academic Anxiety’ Scale for Children (AASC)
developed by Dr. A.K. Singh and Dr. A. Sen Gupta
(2009).
In the present study, academic anxiety
scale towards school students of class VIII, IX, X
(age range: 13-16years) has been developed by
Dr.A.K.Singh and Dr.A.Sen Gupta (2009) was
used. The preliminary form of the “Academic
Anxiety” Scale of Children (AASC) had 30 items.
After carrying out item analysis based upon Kelly
technique (1939), only 20 items were retained and
the remaining 10 were dropped.
The scale is self administering and self-
reporting five points scale requiring response for
each item on a continuum ranging from strongly
disagree. The reliability of the academic anxiety
scale for children test was reported as 0.433(Spilt-
half) and 0.60 (Test-Retest). The scale is fairly
internally consistent as well as valid as reported by
authors.
The Detailed Norms:
The detailed norms for interpretation of
obtained scores, scoring procedure and instructions
for its use are given in the manual of the scale. A
low score on the scale indicates favourable attitude
towards academic anxiety of students and vice-
versa.
Contemporary Researches in Education
sampling distribution is given in table 1.
No. of students
Selected in sample
41
06
51
23
22
24
19
14
200
Scoring Procedure:
The maximum possible score of this test is
20. In academic anxiety scale for children, each
item of the test is scored as either + 1 or 0. There
are two types of items-positive and negative. All
positive items which are endorsed by the subjects as
Yes and all negative items No. 4, 9, 16 and 18
which are endorsed by the subjects as No are given
as score of +1. A score of zero is awarded to all
other answers. Thus high score on the test indicates
high academic anxiety and low score on the test
indicates low academic anxiety.
Statistical Technique Used:
In order to obtain empirical verification of
the proposed hypotheses, the data was analyzed by
applying t-test.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Analysis of data means studying the
organized material in order to discover inherent
facts or phenomena. It involves breaking down
existing complex factors into simpler parts and
putting parts together in new arrangements for the
purpose of interpretation i.e. verification of
hypothesis and getting answers to the research
questions. In the present study, the main aim was
to the study Academic Anxiety of High School
students in relation to gender and type of family
Contemporary Researches in Education
Academic Anxiety of High School Students in
relation to Gender:
Table 2.Gender wise Difference in Academic Anxiety of High School Students
Variable Gender
Boys (N=125)
Academic Anxiety M=10.54
S.D.=3.47
Table 2 indicates that the calculated value
of ‘t’ for finding out the difference in the academic
anxiety of boys and girls, for df 198, came out to be
0.07 which is less than the table value at 0.01 level
of significance. Hence, hypothesis 1 is rejected. It
may be interpreted that boys had significantly
higher mean of academic anxiety scores (10.54)
than the girls (10.49).
Table 3. Family-wise Difference in Academic Anxiety of High School Students
Gender
Variable
Nuclear (N=87)
Academic Anxiety M=10.32
S.D.=3.69
NS – Not significant at 0.05 level
Table 3 depicts that the calculated value
of ‘t’ for finding out the significance of the
difference in the means of academic anxiety of
students coming from nuclear and joint families, for
df 198, came out to be 0.87 which is below the
table value even at 0.05 level of significance.
Hence, hypothesis is accepted.
However, students coming from joint
families have slightly higher mean of academic
anxiety score (10.76) than their counterparts
coming from nuclear families (10.32) but this
difference is not significant statistically.
DISCUSSION
The present time is the time of harsh and
cut throat competition in every sphere of life. If one
has to excel or succeed in his career, he/she has to
overcome a number of barriers which are of both
external as well as internal in nature. The external
barriers are related to the environment in which the
individual resides and the facilities he enjoys over
11
The means of academic anxiety scores of
boys and girls along with number, SD and t-value
are given in Table 2.
SEDM t-value
Girls (N=75)
M=10.49
0.71 0.07
S.D.=5.554
Academic Anxiety of High School students in
relation to their Type of Family
The means academic anxiety scores of
High School students belonging to nuclear and joint
families along with number, SD and t-value are
given in Table 3
SEDM t-value
Joint (N=113)
M=10.76
S.D.= 3.35 0.50 0.87
there. The internal barriers to one’s success are
related to the personality traits of that individual.
These personality traits or characteristics are very
much essential for getting success. Some of the
major personality characteristics that can hamper or
prove to be detrimental in one’s success include
anxiety level. ‘Academic Anxiety’ is a common
issue that students cannot ignore if they want to
succeed in school. It often leads to problems
concentrating while studying and remembering
information while completing tests, which makes
the students, feel helpless and like a failure. So, it
was thought worthwhile by the investigator to study
the level of academic anxiety among high school
students. The results of the present study will help
in knowing the level and differences in academic
anxiety of the high school students. School
counsellors can use this data for reducing the
academic anxiety of the students so that they can
contribute optimally for social as well as national
development. This will also assist in refining their
certain personality traits that will finally lead to
higher academic performance.
 12
From the perusal of the literature it is
evident that very few studies have been undertaken
in the state of Himachal Pradesh to study academic
anxiety of high school students in relation to certain
socio-demographic variables. So keeping this in
view, it was thought worthwhile to study the
academic anxiety of high school students in relation
to gender and their type of family.
ED UC A T IO N A L IM PL IC A TI O N S
The most outstanding characteristics of
any research are that it contributes something new
to the development of the area of concerned. On the
basis of the above findings, the investigator is
inclined to have the following educational
implications;
It is a common perception that the
Academic Anxiety is related to Academic
Achievement of students in such a way that less
Academic Anxiety leads to higher ‘academic
achievement’ or vice versa. The main cause of
Academic Anxiety is examination system, burden
of homework and attitude of parents and teachers.
A moderate amount of anxiety actually helps
academic performance by creating motivation. It is,
therefore, needed to find out the level of Academic
Anxiety in school students. It is reflected from the
results of the present study that there is low level of
academic anxiety among high school students. This
can be seen in the light of new evaluation system i.e
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).
Here we are evaluating each aspect of student
development and we are motivating them to
contribute according to their ability and interest.
Which in turn lowering their level of academic
anxiety. Moreover promotion of all students
whether male or female, whether is from nuclear
or joint family . So implication of this study is that
the evaluation system is student friendly, then they
will have low level of academic anxiety and we
cannot differentiate any student on the basis of their
level of academic anxiety. i.e. they will behave
almost similarly in the examination. Another
educational implication of this study is, less burden
of home work, no to punishment and student
friendly school environment will definitely reduce
the level of academic anxiety among high school
students. Equal opportunities to male and female
and to all categories are also responsible for no
difference in level of academic anxiety among male
and female students of different categories.
Contemporary Researches in Education
The present study has its implication for
parents, teachers, policy makers, administrators,
central and state government, and all other bodies
related to the development of the students at high
school stage directly and indirectly. In the light of
the present study all those who are engaged in the
work of development of students at high school
stage should take necessary steps for improving the
academic anxiety. Knowledge about academic
anxiety is of immense worth both for teachers and
learners and it will play an important role in
teaching-learning process.
 We can reduce level of academic anxiety
among students if the evaluation system is
student friendly.
 Indian society is not male dominating
now. We are giving equal opportunity both
to male and female students. Since in CCE
we are evaluating each aspect of student
development so lack is one aspect is
overcome by the growth in another aspect,
which also reduces the level of academic
anxiety among students.
 Students from nuclear and joint families
are showing no difference in their
academic anxiety i.e. type of family is not
contributing to academic anxiety. This
implies that healthy home environment
whether it is in nuclear or joint family will
always contribute to lowering the level of
academic anxiety.
The conclusion or final result based on
analysis and interpretation of data may be stated as
given below:
1. There is no significant gender difference in
academic anxiety of High School Students.
2. Students coming from nuclear and joint families
do not differ significantly in their academic anxiety.
However, students coming from joint families have
slightly higher mean of academic anxiety score
(10.76) than their counterparts coming from nuclear
families (10.32) but this difference is not significant
statistically.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The scope of the present study is delimited
to gender and their type of family of high school
students and their relationship with academic
anxiety. Following suggestions may be laid down in
the continuity of the present study and in the light
of the delimitations of the study:
Contemporary Researches in Education
1 . The present study was conducted on high
school students. Similar researches may be
carried out to study the relationship of
academic anxiety at other levels of
education.
2 . The present study can be conducted on a
large sample. Instead of Hamirpur district,
this study can be done on the students of
Himachal Pradesh state as whole for more
reliable results.
3. The present study can be conducted to find
out the difference between academic anxiety
and academic achievement of rural and
urban students.
4. This study can be further extended to find
out the difference between academic anxiety
and academic achievement of tribal students.
5. An investigation of Academic Anxiety in
relation to Academic Achievement may be
conducted among middle, high and senior
secondary school students.
6. Comparative study of Verbal and Non-
Verbal Intelligence may be conducted
among high school students.
REFERENCES
Barlow, David H. (2000). Unraveling the mysteries
of anxiety and its disorders from the
perspective of emotion theory. American
Psychologist 55 (11): 1247–63.
Gaudry, E., & Spielberger, C. D. (1971). Anxiety
and educational achievement. New York:
Wiley.
Gaudry.,& Spielberger (1972). Test anxiety
differences in boys and girls in relation to
their academic achievement. Journal of
13
instructional psychology: A psychological
abstract.
Goodstein, L.D.& Layon, R.I.(1975). Adjustment,
Behaviour and personality . Addison weekly
Publishing Company , INC.
Koul, Lokesh. (2004). Methodology of Educational
Research . Vikas Publishing House Pvt Ltd
576, Masjid Road, Jangpura, New Delhi-
110014.
Lummeburg. (1964). Relations among Social
Desirability Achievement and Anxiety
measurer in children. In child development,
(35, pp.169-182).
Neelam.,& Attri, A.K. (2013). Academic Anxiety
and Achievement of Secondary School
Students. International Journal of Behavioral
Social and Movement Sciences. (Vol. 02-
Issue 1, pp. 27).
Singh, B. (2003). A Study of Anxiety among
Medical Post Graduate Students in relation to
Sex, Intelligence and Socio-Economic Status.
Indian Educational Review.( Vol. 39- No. 2,
pp.90).
Trivedi.,& Bhansali. (2008). Is Academic Anxiety
Gender Specific? In Journal of Social
Science.(Vol.17- No.1, pp.1-3).
Trivedi, R.M. (1995). Anxiety level and Academic
Achievement of Undergraduate Students.
Experiments in Education.(Vol. XXIII- No.
3), 47-51. In Indian Educational Abstracts,
(Vol 3, July 1997, pp.67).
 14
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION IN INDIA
A CRITICAL OBSERVATION
Dr. Hitesh Bhatia1 and Nikita Mehta2
1
Assistant Professor (Economics), School of Business and Law, Navrachana University, Vadodara
2
Assistant Professor (Finance), School of Business and Law, Navrachana University, Vadodara
Abstract
‘The State shall endeavor to provide within a period
of ten years from the commencement of this
Constitution, for free and compulsory education for
all children until they complete the age of 14 years’
(Part IV (45) the Directive Principal of State
Policy)
Educated young population is the nation’s
only biggest asset. India being a young economy,
with over 30% of population in the age group of 0-
14 (Census, 2011), the economic growth and
development in future will rest upon the fact that
how educated, skilled and trained this population
is. Education is an accelerator to economic growth.
If we desire to productively use this young
population in future than investment in their
education is to be done today. Albeit; the current
levels of public investment in education remains
derisory both at the centre and state level. This will
limit the opportunities for growth and change.
Present paper attempts to highlight the
supply side of the problem in education. It tracks
the trends in public expenditure on education in
reference to the vast population in the age groups
of 0-14 and 15-30. The paper further examines how
inadequate investment in education can deprive the
nation to reap the fruits of demographic dividend.
Keywords: Education, Public Expenditure,
Demographic Dividend, Human Development.
INTRODUCTION
India is expected to remain one of the most
productive nations by the year 2050. With over
20% of population in the age group of 0-14 years
and another 30% of population in the age group of
15-30 years, India will be home to the largest
labour force in the World. However, whether India
will be able to reap the advantage of being the most
productive nation will depend upon its quality of
labor force (Bhatia, Hitesh 2010). The quality of the
labour force can only be improved through
Contemporary Researches in Education
adequate investment in its education, skill
development and training (investment in health is
another aspect of quality of labor force). Due to
lack of political liaison between the centre and state
governments the desired levels of investment in
education is hardly seen (Kumar, Jayant & Hitesh
Bhatia, 2009). In India the responsibility of
investing in education keeps on shifting back-and-
forth between the centre and state.
In spite of the global financial crisis and
recessionary fears during the last few years, India
has continued to remain one of the leading and
fastest growing economies in the World. India’s
economic growth rate leaped from Hindu growth
rate of 3.5% during early 90’s to a robust average
of over 9% by 2009. This has endowed the central
government with adequate resources for
expenditure. India’s annual budgetary expenditure
has seen exorbitant rise through the last decade,
from over three lakh crores to a massive over
fifteen lakh crores (Union Budget, 2012). This
should have provided enough opportunity to the
central government to spend reasonably well over
the most primary areas of human development i.e.
education (and health). But on the contrary the
budgetary allocation over education has remained
almost stagnant during the last decade. Though the
overall social sector spending has seen some rise
but its efficiency and execution remains under
doubt. This is evident from the fact that India ranks
diffidently at 134 out of 182 countries in UNDP’s
conventionally appreciated Human Development
Index (HDI) for 2011. India’s HDI value is low not
only in comparison to the developed countries but
also against other developing economies like
Brazil, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia
and South Africa. A lot of these economies are
economically, politically or socially in a much
distress than India, still they have managed to score
better than India. This is a serious matter of
disgrace for the second largest growing economy in
the world.
Contemporary Researches in Education 15

0.708 0.715 0.718 Brazil

0.665 0.692
0.6 0.68 0.686 0.691 Sri-Lanka
0.549 0.633 0.662
0.583 Thailand
0.539 0.656 0.673 0.68 0.682
0.626 Philippines
0.566
0.486 0.622 0.636 0.641 0.644
0.571 0.602 Indonesia
0.55 0.613 0.617
0.543 0.572 0.607
0.423 0.481 South Africa
0.615 0.616 0.599 0.61 0.615 0.619
0.564 India
0.344 0.41 0.461 0.504 0.535 0.542 0.547

1980 1990 2000 2005 2009 2010 2011

Figure 1. Trends in the Human Development Index (HDI) 1980-2011

Source: - Human Development Report. 2011
UNDP.
It would be interesting to note that growth
rate of India’s HDI value for 1980-1990 and 2000-
2011 are almost same at 18%. It means that even
during the high growth rate year’s country was
unable to trickle down the benefits towards the
improvement of human development. Among other
reasons, it is the quality of education and its
delivery mechanism which has left India with such
a poor performance in terms of Human
Development even during the years of high growth
rate.

13.2 13.8
13.1 12.7
11.9 12.3
10.3
8.5 8.9
8.2
6.6 7.2
5.8
4.4

India South Africa Indonesia Philippines Thailand Sri-Lanka Brazil

Mean Years of Schooling Expected Years of Schooling

Figure 2. Mean and Expected Years of Schooling – HDR- 2011

Source: - Human Development Report. 2011,
UNDP.
The mean years of schooling in India is
almost 50% less than South Africa, Philippines and
Sri-Lanka this clearly highlights the defect in
India’s education system as a whole. The mean year
of schooling for SC, ST and OBC is further worse
at less than 3 years (India HDR, 2011). For years
academicians and policy makers have easily shifted
the focus on the demand side of the problem, by
highlighting the drop-out rates and stating that due
to poverty people are unwilling to send their
children to schools and would prefer them to work.
However the fact remains that government and
policy makers have incessantly ignored the supply
 16
side of problem in education. Government’s
expenditure on education both at the centre and
state level has remained catastrophically low. This
has largely been an obstacle towards providing
quality education to all.
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE
ON EDUCATION
Post world-war II almost all major nations
have used public spending as a tool to boost two of
the most fundamental sectors for human
development i.e. education and health. Investment
in both has resulted to the high growth of several
countries including china, which till few decades
back had almost the similar rate of growth as India.
India, however has failed to seize this
opportunity to switch its huge population into an
asset. Education allows individuals to make right
choices and take decisions which are economically
fruitful. Unfortunately in India a large section of
society remains deprived of both. Six decades of
economic planning has not been able to provide
quality school education to all across the socio-
50.3 49.3 48.9
48.7 47.5
10.3 9.6 9.7 10 10.5
2.9 2.74 2.6 2.6 2.72
2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12
as a % of GDP
Figure 3. Central Government Expenditure on Education
Source: - Various Issues, Economic Survey
Declining trend in public spending on
education as a proportion of GDP shows that less
priority is given to education by the central
government in a progressive economy. Not only the
allocation on education is inadequate but even this
Contemporary Researches in Education
economic groups, religion, gender and geographical
region. Quality education is neither free nor cheap.
Thus the basic determinant of education is its
funding. Huge monetary investment is required for
acquiring infrastructure, trained and well paid
teachers, adequate amenities, modern teaching aids
and updated technology. In absence of these inputs,
expecting quality and productive workforce for any
economy remains a myth.
Tracing central government expenditure
on education during the high growth years gives
shocking figures. Expenditure on education as a
percentage of GDP and Total Government
Expenditure since 2001 has marginally increased by
just 0.2 and 1.1 percentage respectively. It is
important to note that during the same period total
GDP of India increased by over three times and
Total Government Expenditure has increased by
over four times. In comparison to this the
expenditure on education has not been given due
weight. As a matter of fact education expenditure as
a percentage of total social sector spending has
drastically fallen by over 5 percentage points.
44.3 46.1
43.3 44.1
42.4
9.7 10.1 10.6 11.1 11.5
2.56 2.87 3.05 3.25 3.11
RE BE
as a % of TE as a % of SSE
has not been utilized fully. A similar trend is
visible even for the states.
STATE GOVERNMENT’S EXPENDITURE
ON EDUCATION
According to the study conducted by RBI
on states’ finances, aggregate social sector
expenditure to total expenditure for all states has
Contemporary Researches in Education 17

been marginally higher since 1990 after falling for expenditure of all states on major social heads like
almost a decade and then rising gradually. This is education, health, family welfare, water supply,
strange; because post reforms the growth rate of housing and nutrition has almost remained same
economy has been highest since independence, during last three years. This clearly indicates the
moreover the states also have been able to score a lack of focused attention states have paid towards
record growth rate since 2000. The average growth and distribution of merit goods.
State 2000- 2001- 2002- 2003- 2004- 2005- 2006- 2007- 2008- 2009- 2010- 2011- 2012-
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13
Andhra Pradesh 13.3 12.5 11.7 11.6 9.8 11.1 10.8 9.0 9.0 10.0 12.5 14.0 13.6
Bihar 23.7 20.7 18.4 18.9 15.8 19.6 19.7 17.6 18.5 18.1 16.3 16.6 19.5
Gujarat 13.6 12.7 13.5 11.2 11.5 12.6 12.7 13.4 11.7 13.8 15.9 16.1 13.4
Haryana 14.6 13.8 13.7 10.2 11.6 13.4 11.9 12.9 15.0 16.3 17.3 16.6 18.3
Karnataka 17.7 16.0 14.8 12.9 12.7 14.0 13.1 14.4 16.1 14.0 15.6 15.5 14.8
Kerala 20.0 19.0 17.6 15.7 16.2 16.6 17.1 15.9 16.7 16.8 17.0 17.6 17.0
Madhya Pradesh 16.3 12.5 12.2 9.9 8.8 10.2 12.4 11.1 12.8 13.0 14.2 13.3 14.8
Maharashtra 22.3 22.1 18.9 15.5 14.0 15.7 16.4 17.2 17.0 19.1 20.8 19.9 19.8
Odisha 15.9 14.6 14.3 12.2 12.6 14.7 12.8 14.3 16.9 18.2 18.3 16.9 15.7
Punjab 13.2 11.7 12.1 10.2 10.1 11.3 8.9 10.3 11.3 12.2 11.7 15.6 14.2
Rajasthan 18.8 18.2 15.5 14.1 13.8 17.2 15.6 14.6 17.9 19.0 19.1 18.0 18.5
Tamil Nadu 18.0 17.3 13.8 12.6 11.2 13.6 12.2 12.7 13.1 15.2 15.2 14.5 15.0
Uttar Pradesh 16.8 16.0 14.6 9.1 12.5 15.2 14.7 14.1 13.2 13.8 16.1 17.4 17.6
West Bengal 17.1 16.2 15.9 11.8 14.9 13.7 15.2 15.2 13.1 17.7 19.7 19.4 17.8
All States 17.4 16.2 15.1 12.6 12.7 14.2 14.0 13.8 14.3 15.3 16.6 16.6 16.5

Figure 4. State Expenditure on Education as a Percentage of Total Expenditure

Computed from: - RBI, 2009-10 State Finances: A
Study of Budgets
The ‘study’ further reveals that despite
improved fiscal performance of major states during
the last decade, proportion of expenditure on
education in total expenditure continued to decline.
Indeed; conventionally rich states like Maharashtra,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab and Andhra
are spending considerably low, less than 15% on
education, sports, youth affairs combined 1.
Against this the poor states like Chhattisgarh,
Bihar, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, West Bengal and
U.P is spending nearly 20% (RBI, 2012).
The combined expenditure of central and state
governments on social sector as a percentage of
GDP has improved marginally by less than 2% in
over a decade. This is in spite of the robust
economic growth since late 90’s. Education must
get budgetary allocation of minimum 6% of GDP
was recommended way back in 1966 by the Kothari
1 make them more competitive in international
State government allocates resources collectively
on Education, Sports and youth affairs.
Commission, against this abysmally low allocation
on education is a complete unjust to the most
important pillar of human development.
EDUCATION FOR YOUNG INDIA
India for now is enjoying its demographic
dividend and will continue to do so for couple of
more decades (Kapila, Uma 2009). With over 20%
of total population in the age group of 0-14 and
over 60% of population in the age group of 15-64
and median age less than 30 years by 2025, India
will continue to remain one of the youngest
economies in the world. This shall provide India
with a special window of opportunities for business,
investment, human development and faster rate of
economic growth during the next few decades. To
reap the fruits of demographic transition India
needs to up its investment in education, training and
skill development infrastructure. Especially
education of those who currently are in the age
group of 0-14 is most crucial kernel towards
reaping the fruit of development in future. This will
not only raise the productivity levels but will also
markets.
 18 Contemporary Researches in Education

64.79 63.8
61.41 59.3
57.21 58.49
55.98

40.73 39.61 37.67

34.29 0-14
30.21
15-64
23.2
19.7 65 +

13 21
3.29 3.63 3.85 4.3 5

1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 2025 2050

Figure 4. Classification of Population in Broad Age Groups

Source: - Census Survey, 2011 and United Nations levels is of about 40%. If these figures were not
Report on Population Ageing, 2011 alarming consider this, there is no regulatory
framework for pre-school education in India and no
The proportion of old age population in
standard curriculum. With meager presence of
India will remain much less compare to that in rest
government schools, the private sector owns
of the world. Especially countries like Japan and
majority of pre-school market which is valued at $1
other European economies which are known as
billion and is growing at the rate of 50% per
ageing economies. India with large workforce can
annum. The major players in this segment are Euro-
provide for various goods and services demanded in
Kids, Kid Zee Tree House, Bachpan and Kangaroo
these ageing economies. But for that India need to
kids among others. The deficit is not only at the
have large scale investment in education not just at
pre-school level but even at the secondary and
school level but in vocational and skill based
higher secondary levels too. According to some
learning too.
estimates 68% of children at higher secondary level
Currently only 37% of total children i.e. standard 9-12 are currently not enrolled in
among 0-14 years of age are enrolled in schools. schools. NCERT estimates that India has a overall
Less than 40% of Indian schools provide education deficit of 25000 schools in 2010.
beyond primary level and the dropout rate at all
Table 1. State Level Fund Utilization and Teacher Vacancies under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

Total
Funds Unused as a Funds Unused as a Teachers
% of Approved % of Approved sanctioned Recruitment Deficit
State Outlay 2008-09 Outlay 2010-11 till 2011 till 2011 till 2011
Andhra Pradesh 21.9 84.4 50590 39847 21.2
Bihar 42.8 80.7 421641 191983 54.5
Gujarat 31.9 57.4 38372 15052 60.8
Haryana 29.6 75.4 14074 8970 36.3
Himachal Pradesh 24 63.7 8478 3546 58.2
Karnataka 6.5 73.9 34378 24278 29.4
Kerala 6.2 76.3 8760 0 100
Madhya Pradesh 16.9 68.3 197311 98287 50.2
Contemporary Researches in Education 19

Maharashtra 10 79.2 50011 15311 69.4

Orissa 19.5 66.8
Punjab 1.5 60.4
Rajasthan 9.5 56.4
Tamil Nadu -8 67.9
Uttar Pradesh 11.5 69.6
West Bengal 28.4 67.2
All India 21.1 71.8
Source: - Centre for Budget and Government
Accountability, 2011
Almost all the major states have failed to
utilize its total allocated funds on providing
education under the prestigious Sarva Shiksha
Abhiyan (SSA). The above table shows that till
recently hardly 30% of the funds have been used by
the state governments under SSA. For the last year
2010-11 majority of funds approved have remained
unused by the respective state governments this
clearly shows less priority given to education across
the states and the centre. The similar trend is seen
in case of appointment of teachers under SSA,
across the states nearly 50% positions have
remained vacant in spite of being sanctioned by the
governments themselves. The India Human
Development Report (2011) highlights the fact that
around 9% of schools in India are one class room
schools, while 23% are of two class rooms. The
condition of primary schools is extremely worse
with over 50% of them are run in one or two class
room buildings.
CONCLUSION
The education sector in India has been
deprived of its due share, even after five decades
since when Kothari Commission on Education
recommended 6% allocation of GDP and GSDP on
education both at the centre and state respectively.
High dependence on market oriented educational
system is visible as the public expenditure on
education as a proportion of total expenditure has
remained stagnant over the decade and as
proportion of social sector expenditure has declined
by 5%.
Such a small level of investment has made
the country ignore the high degree of positive
externalities of education. The government
programs financed through modest public
expenditure lack political determination and
conviction, thus fail to make any substantial
103200 88442 14.3
35488 9694 72.7
114132 94201 17.5
49467 37666 23.9
440367 258924 41.2
196808 113954 42.1
2141358 1212450 43.4
difference in eradicating vulnerability. Host of
schemes launched more with a political interest
against social concern often lead to multiple
coverage, targeting the present deprivation but
ignoring the future development of capabilities.
Investment in education which could well have
been an opportunity to change and economic
growth is today turning out to be an obstacle. To
turn it into an opportunity
Human resource investment policy is an
essential part of overall sustainable economic
growth model. Hence cohesive education program
is required to target the poor and vulnerable groups
so that they get economic independence which
allows them to increase social capabilities and live
on. Government needs to increase participation in
primary schooling and to improve the quality of
instruction so as to pull human resource assets
however for higher education it should provide
required incentives to the private sector.
REFRENCES
Bhatia, Hitesh. (2011). Business Opportunities for
India: - In Ageing Economies, International
Journal Of Business Economics &
Management Research, ZIRAF, Vol.1 Issue
2, Haryana.
Centre for Budget and Government Accountability,
(2011). Reclaiming Public Provisioning
Priorities for the 12th Five Year Plan
Education Commission (1966). Education for
Development: Report of the Education
Commission 1964-1966 (Kothari
Commission). New Delhi: Government of
India
Economic Survey, various issues, Government of
India
Human Development Report. (2011). UNDP
India Human Development Report (2011). Institute
of Applied Manpower Research, Planning
Commission, Oxford University Press.
 20
Kapila, Uma. (2009). Indian Economy since
Independence, Academic Foundation, 2009
Kumar, Jayant., & Hitesh, Bhatia. (2009).
Unorganized Workers in India: A
Perspective towards.
RBI (2012). Study of State’s Finances Report
Contemporary Researches in Education
Thornton, Grant. (2010). Education in India:
Securing the demographic dividend UK
Union Budget (2012). Ministry of Finance,
Government of India.
Contemporary Researches in Education
A STUDY OF THE INTERACTIVE INFLUENCE OF
BRAIN-BASED-LEARNING AND HEMISPHERICITY OF STUDENTS
OF STANDARD VIII ON THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
IN BIOLOGY, STUDY HABITS AND STRESS
Dr. Mary George Varghese
Assistant Professor, MES Pillai College of Education and Research, Chembur Mumbai
Brain-based learning is an interdisciplinary
answer to the question of, “what is the most
effective way of the brain’s learning
mechanism?”(Jensen 1998).Brain-based learning is
an effective teaching technique that represents
abstract or complex content matter in to simple and
meaningful scaffolds and it has the potential to
delay the learning platue since it provides great
scope for interaction among and between students
and teacher.
Brain-based learning requires three interactive
elements: Relaxed alertness, Immersion and Active
processing. Relaxed alertness: Learning
environment should give possibility for taking safe
risks to increase the learning at the highest level.
Sense of safety that accepts a risk at suitable level is
a part of being relaxed. Immersion: It is the
students’ focusing on the context. When the
wholeness and connecting to each other are
inevitable, the students have to use local memory
systems to discover the context. Active
Processing: In active processing, teachers should
work with the students purposefully because the
students need to connect and innate the knowledge
both meaningfully as a character and conceptually
harmonious.
The study includes the following variables
which can be operationally defined as:
Academic Achievement: refers to the total scores
obtained by an individual as measured on the test
constructed by the researcher in the selected topics
from the subject of Biology of std. VIII.
Study Habits: For the purpose of the present study,
study habits has been operationally defined as the
tendency of a student to study when the opportunity
of study is given and the way of studying in test
taking skills, text book study, time management,
nutritional aspects of the study, note taking skills,
concentration and memory, analytical thinking and
problem solving and vocabulary skills.
21
Stress: It is defined as a reaction to any event in
which environmental demands, internal demands or
both tax or exceeds the adaptive resources of a
student.
AIM OF THE STUDY
To ascertain the interactive influence of Brain-
Based learning and Hemisphericity on Academic
Achievement in biology, Stress among students and
Study Habits of students.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To develop an instructional package based
on brain–based learning
2. To analyze the hemispheric preferences of
students of experimental and control
groups.
3. To compare experimental and control
groups on pre-test scores of the following
variables: Academic Achievement, Stress,
and Study Habits of students.
4. To compare experimental and control
groups on post-test scores of the following
variables: Academic Achievement, Stress,
Study Habits of students
5. To ascertain the interactive influence of
Brain-based learning and hemispheric
preferences of the experimental group on
the following variables: Academic
Achievement, Stress, Study Habits of
students
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
1. There is no significant difference between
experimental and control groups on pre-
test scores of the following variables:
Academic Achievement, Stress, and Study
Habits of students.
2. There is no significant difference between
the experimental and control groups on
 22
post-test scores of the following variables:
Academic Achievement, Stress, and Study
Habits of students.
3. There is no significant interactive
influence of brain-based learning and
hemisphericity of the experimental group
on the basis of following variables:
Academic Achievement, Stress, and Study
Habits of students.
METHODOLOGY
Quasi-Experimental method was selected
for the study. The design adopted was factorial
design, the pre-test, and post test quasi-
experimental design. Experimental group
constituted students which are selected randomly
and they underwent experimental treatment namely
brain based learning strategy.
Sample of the Study:
The study was carried out on a sample of
240 students from 4 schools in which two were
private-aided 120 students and two were private-
unaided 120 students.
 Three stage sampling technique was used at
the first stage, stratified random sampling
was used for selecting private-aided and
private un aided schools.
 At the second stage, through simple random
sampling (lottery method) schools were
assigned to the experimental and control
groups and
 At the third stage, the sampling technique
used was incidental sampling in order to
select students.
Tools Used:
Educational Hemisphericity
(Venkataraman, 1996), Study Habits Inventory
Scale (Ferris, 2001), Stress (D’souza, 2007),
Raven’s Progressive Matrices, Achievement Test in
Biology (Researcher-made) Personal Data Sheet.
Instructional Material: Lessons based on Brain-
Based learning and Lessons based on lecture
method.
Statistical Techniques Used: t-test, ANOVA,
ANCOVA were used for the analysis of the data
Contemporary Researches in Education
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
 The researcher found that the teaching would
be highly effective if the teachers start using
the principles of brain research in their
classrooms.
 The findings of the study have a major bearing
on the curriculum planners to explore new
dimensions to keep students as well as
teachers abreast with new explosions in
research.
 It also provides scope for self-organized and
self-directed learning along with interactive
and collaborative learning and learning
become authentic and situated learning.
 The findings of the research brought
advantages of a holistic view of the classroom,
taking the physical and affective dimensions
of learners into account if their cognitive side
is to function optimally.
 The incorporation of brain-based learning and
hemispheric dominance is an effective way to
broaden both the goals and the range of tools
at disposal for teaching in the Indian context.
 The present study on brain-based learning and
hemisphericity shows that it has got a
significant influence on student’s academic
achievement, their stress level and it has the
potential to make a remarkable change in
students study habits also.
 The research finding supports that it develops
dynamic interaction and more teacher-pupil
collaboration, which leaves scope for better
stress management options, which is a burning
issue in the education sector.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
1.a. The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant difference in the pre-test scores on
academic achievement of students of experimental
and control groups.
The technique used for testing this hypothesis is t-
test. The obtained t ratio is 0.64, which is less than
1.96 and hence it is not significant at 0.05 level.
Hence the null hypothesis is accepted.
1.b. Comparison of Pre-test Scores on stress of
Experimental and Control Groups
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant difference in the pre-test scores on stress
of experimental and control groups. The obtained t
ratio is 0.75 which is less than 1.96 and hence is not
Contemporary Researches in Education
significant. Hence null hypothesis is accepted at
0.05 level.
1.b.a. Comparison of Pre-Test Scores on
academic stress of Experimental and Control
Groups.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant difference in the pre-test scores on
academic stress of experimental and control groups.
The obtained t ratio is 3.29which is greater than
2.58 and hence is significant at 0.01level. Hence
null hypothesis is rejected.
1.b.b. Comparison of Pre-Test Scores on
examination stress of Experimental and Control
Groups.
The pre-test scores on examination stress of
experimental and control groups are found to be not
significant. The obtained t ratio is 0.78 which is less
than 1.96, it is clear that the control group and
experimental group do not differ on the
examination stress.
1.b.c. Comparison of Pre-Test Scores on social
stress of Experimental and Control Groups
The obtained t- ratio 1.58 for the pre-test scores on
social stress is less than 1.96 hence it is not
significant at 0.05 level.
1.c. Comparison of Pre-Test Scores on study
habits of Experimental and Control Groups
The hypothesis states that there is no significant
difference in the pre-test scores on study habits of
experimental and control groups.The t- ratio
obtained for the pre-test scores on study habits is
1.90 which is less than 1.96. Hence it is not
significant at 0.05 level. Hence the null hypothesis
is accepted.
2.a. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on
Academic Achievement of Experimental and
Control Groups
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant difference in the post-test scores on
academic achievement of students of experimental
and control groups.
2.b. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on Stress of
Experimental and Control Groups
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant difference in the post-test scores on total
stress of experimental and control groups. The
obtained t ratio 20.61 is greater than 2.58 and hence
23
is significant at 0.01 level. Hence null hypothesis is
rejected.
2.b.a. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on
Academic Stress of Experimental and Control
Groups.
The obtained t-ratio 17.02 is greater than 2.58 and
hence is significant at 0.01 level. Hence the null
hypothesis is rejected.
2.b.b. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on
Examination Stress of Experimental and
Control Groups.
The obtained t ratio14.07 is greater than 2.58 and
hence it is significant at 0.01 level. Hence the null
hypothesis is rejected.
2.b.c. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on social
stress of Experimental and Control Groups.
The t- ratio obtained is 12.24 for the post-test scores
on social stress of experimental and control groups.
This is greater than 2.58 hence it is significant at
0.01level. Hence the null hypothesis is rejected.
2.c. Comparison of Post-Test Scores on study
habits of Experimental and Control Groups
The hypothesis states that there is no significant
difference in the post-test scores on study habits of
experimental and control groups. The t- value
obtained for the post-test scores on study habits is
27.42 which is greater than 2.58. Hence it is
significant at 0.01 level. Hence the null hypothesis
is rejected.
3.a. Interactive Effect of Treatment and Gender
on Academic Achievement.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on academic achievement. The technique
used to test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance,
(ANOVA).The obtained value of F= 0.02 for
gender is fall short of the tabulated value of F=3.38
at 0.05 level of significance. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to gender must be accepted.
The obtained value of F= 794.03 for treatment is
larger than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01
level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis
with respect to treatment is untenable and must be
abandoned. The obtained value of F= 8.76 for
interaction is larger than the tabulated value of F=
6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to interaction is untenable
 24
and must be abandoned. Since the F- ratio with
respect to gender is found less than the table values
hence the null hypothesis must be accepted.
3.b. Interactive Effect of Treatment and Gender
on Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on total stress. The technique used to test
this null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA).The obtained value
of F= 3.01 for gender is less than the tabulated
value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence
the null hypothesis with respect to gender accepted.
The obtained value of F= 326.58 for treatment is
larger than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01
level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis
with respect to treatment is untenable and must be
abandoned. The obtained value of F= 0.80 for
interaction is less than the tabulated value of
F=6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. This shows
that there is no significant interaction effect of
treatment and gender on total stress. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and gender on examination stress is
accepted.
3.b.a. Interactive Effect of Treatment and
Gender on Academic Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on academic stress. The technique used to
test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 3.14 for gender is less
than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to gender is accepted. The obtained value of F=
175.47 for treatment is larger than the tabulated
value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence
the null hypothesis with respect to treatment is
untenable and must be abandoned. The obtained
value of F= 0.56 for interaction is less than the
tabulated value of F= 6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. There is no significant interaction
effect of treatment and gender on academic stress,
but the treatment is significant. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to interaction effect of
treatment and gender on academic stress is
accepted.
3.b.b. Interactive Effect of Treatment and
Gender on Examination Stress.
Contemporary Researches in Education
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on examination stress. The technique used
to test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 3.81 for gender is larger
than the tabulated value of F=3.38 at 0.05 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to gender is untenable and must be abandoned. The
obtained value of F= 138.62 for treatment is larger
than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to treatment is untenable and must be abandoned.
The obtained value of F= 0.71 for interaction is less
than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. This shows that there is no significant
interaction effect of treatment and gender on
examination stress. Hence the null hypothesis with
respect to interactive effect of treatment and gender
on examination is accepted.
3.b.c. Interactive Effect of Treatment and
Gender on Social Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on social stress. The technique used to test
this null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained
value of F=0.4 for gender is less than the tabulated
value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence
there is no significant effect of gender on social
stress. The obtained value of F= 181.37 for
treatment is larger than the tabulated value of
F=6.75 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to treatment is untenable
and must be abandoned. The obtained value of F=
0.33 for interaction is less than the tabulated value
of F=3.38 at 0.05 level of significance. There is no
significant effect of gender and interaction effect of
treatment and gender on social stress. Hence the
null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and gender on examination is accepted.
3.c. Interactive Effect of Treatment and Gender
on study habits.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant interactive influence of treatment and
gender on study habits. The technique used to test
this null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value
of F= 3.84 for gender is larger than the tabulated
value of F=3.38 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence
the null hypothesis with respect to gender is
Contemporary Researches in Education
untenable and must be abandoned. The obtained
value of F= 1140.75 for treatment is larger than the
tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to treatment is untenable and must be abandoned.
The obtained value of F= 10.29 for interaction is
larger than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01
level of significance. There is significant interaction
effect of treatment and gender on study habits of
students. Hence the null hypothesis with respect to
interactive effect of treatment and gender on study
habits of students is untenable and must be
abandoned.
4.a. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and
Treatment on Academic Achievement.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
treatment on academic achievement. The technique
used to test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 3.01 for different levels of
intelligence fall short of the tabulated value of
F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence there is
no significant effect of levels of intelligence on
academic achievement. The obtained value of F=
794.03 for treatment is larger than the tabulated
value of F=6.75at 0.01 level of significance. Hence
the null hypothesis with respect to treatment is
untenable and must be abandoned. The obtained
value of F= 4.06 for interaction is larger than the
tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of
significance. There is no significant effect of levels
of intelligence on academic achievement and there
is a significant interaction effect of intelligence and
treatment on academic achievement. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and intelligence on academic
achievement must be abandoned.
4.b. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and
Treatment on Total Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
treatment on stress. The technique used to test this
null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value
of F= 1.18 for different levels of intelligence is less
than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence there is no significant effect of
levels of intelligence on total stress. The obtained
value of F= 324.87 for stress is larger than the
tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
25
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to treatment is untenable and must be abandoned.
The obtained value of F= 1.12 for interaction fall
short of the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level
of significance. There is no significant interaction
effect of intelligence on stress. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and intelligence on stress is accepted.
4.b.a. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and
Treatment on Academic Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
treatment on academic stress. The technique used to
test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 0.28 for different levels of
intelligence is less than the tabulated value of
F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence there is
no significant effect of different levels of
intelligence on achievement stress. The obtained
value of F= 175.05 for treatment is larger than the
tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to stress is untenable and must be abandoned. The
obtained value of F= 3.01 for interaction fall short
of the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. There is no significant interaction
effect of intelligence on academic stress. Hence the
null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and intelligence on academic stress is
accepted.
4.b.b. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and
Treatment on Examination Stress.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
treatment on examination stress. The technique
used to test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 0.58 for different levels of
intelligence is less than the tabulated value of
F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence there is
no significant effect of different levels of
intelligence on examination stress. The obtained
value of F= 135.79 for stress is larger than the
tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to stress is untenable and must be abandoned. The
obtained value of F= 0.12 for interaction fall short
of the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
significance. There is no significant interaction
effect of intelligence on examination stress. Hence
 26 Contemporary Researches in Education

the null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect 4.d.a. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
of treatment and intelligence on examination stress Treatment on Academic Achievement of
is accepted. students.
4.b.c. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and The null hypothesis states that there is no
Treatment on Social Stress. significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on academic achievement of students. The
The null hypothesis states that there is no
technique used to test this null hypothesis is the
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
two-way classification of analysis of variance,
treatment on social stress. The technique used to
(ANOVA). The obtained value of F= 0.093 is less
test this null hypothesis is the two-way
than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
The obtained value of F= 0.004 for different levels
to hemisphericity must be rejected. The obtained
of intelligence is less than the tabulated value of
value of F= 777.89 for academic achievement is
F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence there is
larger than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01
no significant effect of different levels of
level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis
intelligence on social stress. The obtained value of
with respect academic achievement is untenable
F= 181.10 for stress is larger than the tabulated
and must be abandoned. The obtained value of F=
value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence
3.85 for interaction fall short of the tabulated value
the null hypothesis with respect to stress is
of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. There is no
untenable and must be abandoned. The obtained
significant interaction effect of hemisphericity and
value of F= 1.34 for interaction fall short of the
treatment on Academic achievement. Hence the
tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
significance. There is no significant interaction
hemisphericity and treatment on Academic
effect of intelligence on social stress. Hence the
achievement is accepted.
null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and intelligence on social stress is 4.d.b. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
accepted. Treatment on stress of students.
4.c. Interaction of Levels of Intelligence and The null hypothesis states that there is no
Treatment on Study Habits of students. significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on stress. The technique used to test this null
The null hypothesis states that there is no
hypothesis is the two-way classification of analysis
significant effect of levels of intelligence and
of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value of F=
treatment on study habits of students. The technique
0.24 for hemisphericity is less than the tabulated
used to test this null hypothesis is the two-way
value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
there is no significant effect of hemisphericity on
The obtained value of F= 11.83 for different levels
total stress. The obtained value of F= 325.01 for
of intelligence is larger than the tabulated value of
stress is larger than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at
F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence the null
0.01 level of significance. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to different levels is
hypothesis with respect to treatment is untenable
untenable and must be abandoned. The obtained
and must be abandoned. The obtained value of F=
value of F= 1135.04 for study habits is larger than
2.11 for interaction fall short of the tabulated value
the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. There is no
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
interaction effect of hemisphericity on total stress.
to stress is untenable and must be abandoned. The
Hence the null hypothesis with respect to
obtained value of F= 10.43 for interaction is larger
interactive effect of treatment and hemisphericity
than the tabulated value of F=6.75 at 0.01 level of
on stress is accepted.
significance. There is a significant interaction effect
of intelligence on study habits. Hence the null 4.d.b.a. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of Treatment on academic stress of students.
treatment and intelligence on study habits is
The null hypothesis states that there is no
untenable and must be abandoned.
significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on academic stress. The technique used to test this
Contemporary Researches in Education
null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value
of F= 0.63 for hemisphericity is less than the
tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of
significance. Hence there is no significant effect of
hemisphericity on academic stress. The obtained
value of F= 176.10 for achievement stress is larger
than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to treatment is untenable and must be abandoned.
The obtained value of F= 2.78 for interaction fall
short of the tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level
of significance. There is no significant interaction
effect of hemisphericity on achievement stress.
Hence the null hypothesis with respect to
interactive effect of treatment and hemisphericity
on academic stress is accepted.
4.d.b.b. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
Treatment on examination stress of students.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on examination stress. The technique used to test
this null hypothesis is the two-way classification of
analysis of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value
of F= 0.038 for hemisphericity is less than the
tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of
significance. Hence there is no significant effect of
hemisphericity on examination stress. The obtained
value of F= 136.99 for treatment is larger than the
tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of
significance. Hence the null hypothesis with respect
to treatment is untenable and must be abandoned.
The obtained value of F= 2.41 for interaction fall
short of the tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level
of significance. Hence there is no interaction effect
of hemisphericity on examination stress. Hence the
null hypothesis with respect to interactive effect of
treatment and hemisphericity on examination stress
is accepted.
4.d.b.c. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
Treatment on Social Stress of students.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on social stress. The technique used to test this null
hypothesis is the two-way classification of analysis
of variance, (ANOVA). The obtained value of F=
0.0246for hemisphericity is less than the tabulated
value of F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. Hence
there is no significant effect of hemisphericity on
social stress. The obtained value of F= 160.76 for
treatment is larger than the tabulated value of
27
F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance. Hence the null
hypothesis with respect to treatment is untenable
and must be abandoned. The obtained value of F=
132.96 for interaction is larger than the tabulated
value of F=6.74 at 0.01 level of significance There
is a significant interaction effect of hemisphericity
on examination stress. Hence the null hypothesis
with respect to interactive effect of treatment and
hemisphericity on social stress must be abandoned.
4.d.c. Interaction of Hemisphericity and
Treatment on Study Habits of students.
The null hypothesis states that there is no
significant effect of hemisphericity and treatment
on study habits of students. The technique used to
test this null hypothesis is the two-way
classification of analysis of variance, (ANOVA).
The obtained value of F= 2.97 for hemisphericity
fall short of the tabulated value of F=3.88 at 0.05
level of significance. Hence there is no significant
effect of hemisphericity on study habits of students.
The obtained value of F= 1116.74 for treatment is
larger than the tabulated value of F=6.74 at 0.01
level of significance. Hence the null hypothesis
with respect to treatment is untenable and must be
abandoned. The obtained value of F= 2.72 for
interaction fall short of the tabulated value of
F=3.88 at 0.05 level of significance. There is no
significant interaction effect of hemisphericity on
study habits of students. Hence the null hypothesis
with respect to interactive effect of treatment and
hemisphericity study habits of students must be
accepted.
CONCLUSIONS
 There is an effect of the treatment on
academic achievement in biology of VIII
students.
 A significant variation is found in the
stress levels of students from the
experimental groups
 There is a significant effect of treatment on
study habits of students from the
experimental groups
 The treatment is effective in improving the
academic achievement in Biology,
reducing the stress levels of students and
thereby enables better study habits among
students.
 28
 There is no effect of gender on academic
achievement, stress- academic stress,
examination stress and social stress and
total stress.
 There is no effect of intelligence on
academic achievement, stress- academic
stress, examination stress, social stress
separately and in total stress.
 There is a significant effect of intelligence
on study habits of students. Moreover a
significant interaction of intelligence (low
and average IQ ) on academic achievement
and study habits of students.
 There is no significant effect of
hemisphericity on academic achievement,
stress- academic stress, examination stress
and social stress and total stress and study
habits of students.
 There is a significant interactive effect of
hemisphericity (right hemisphericity) on
academic achievement and social stress of
students.
Contemporary Researches in Education
REFERENCES
Bruer, J. T. (1999). In Search of Brain-Based
Education. Phi Delta Kappan. V:80, N: 9.
(648–654, 656–657)
Best, J.,& Kahn, J. (2006). Research in Education
(9 ed), New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India
Pvt. Ltd.
Borg, W. R.,& Gall, M. D. (1979) Educational
Research and Introduction New York:
Longman Inc.
Caine, G., Nummela-Caine, R., & Crowell, S.
(1999). Mind shifts: A Brain-Based Process
for Restructuring Schools and Renewing
Education, 2nd edition. Tucson, AZ: Zephyr
Press. ISBN: 1569760918.
Diamond, M.,& Hopson, J. (1998). Magic trees of
the mind: How to nurture your child's
intelligence, creativity, and healthy emotions
from birth through adolescence (p. 37). New
York: Dutton.
Dhority. L.F.,& Jensen. E.(1998). Joyful Fluency
Brain Compatible Second Language
Acquisition. San Diego: He Brain Stone, Inc.
LeDoux, J. (1996). The Emotional Brain: The
Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life.
New York.
Contemporary Researches in Education
GENDER DISPARITIES IN LITERACY OF WEST BENGAL
Dr. Sanghamitra Adhya
Assistant Professor in Geography, Kalyani Mahavidyalaya.
Abstract
The literacy rate is generally considered
as one of the important indicators of the
development of a population and the educational
level of a population is seen as an important
determinant of its quality of life. Education
interacts with other human development variables
in many crucial ways. Women education plays
important role in Cultural and traditional values
stand between girls and their prospects for
education. The achievement of girls’ right to
education can address some of societies’ deeply
rooted inequalities, which condemn millions of girls
to a life without quality education-and, therefore,
also all too often to a life of missed opportunities.
Improving educational opportunities for girls and
women helps them to develop skills that allow them
to make decisions and influence community change
in key areas. The improvement in literacy has been
relatively slow in West Bengal, especially for
women. While rural female literacy is lower than in
urban areas, it has improved more rapidly in recent
past. This paper aims to find out the causes and
consequences of illiteracy among women and also
make some recommendations for betterment of
women.
INTRODUCTION
Basic education provides girls and women
with an understanding of basic health, nutrition and
family planning, giving those choices and the
power to decide over their own lives and bodies.
Women's education leads directly to better
reproductive health, improved family health,
economic growth, for the family and for society, as
well as lower rates of child mortality and
malnutrition. It is also a key in the fight against the
spread of HIV & AIDS. It reduces female infant
mortality and child mortality rates. Educating girls
and women is an important step in overcoming
poverty. Inequality and poverty are not inevitable.
“The focus on poverty reduction enables the right to
education to be a powerful tool in making a change
in the lives of girls and women.
Women in West Bengal are commonly
portrayed as among the most oppressed and
29
majority of them are grounded in both poverty and
patriarchy. Patriarchy limits women’s ownership
and control of property and other economic
resources including the products of their own
labour. Women’s mobility in West Bengal is
constrained and their access to education and
information hindered. They are practically excluded
from decision making. Preventable diseases and
unequal access to health care still affect women and
girls, especially those in rural sector. Despite the
land of various political, social, economic and
cultural movements, the state has failed to organize
a movement for development and upliftment of
women as an entire class. The problem of gender
inequality and discrimination is interlinked with the
differential rates of literacy of a particular locality,
access to primary and basic education, health and
nutrition indicators.
The first census in free India was carried
out in 1951 and at that time, only one fourth of the
total state population was literate. While in 2011,
more than two thirds of the total population (7+ age
group) was found to be literate in the state. Over the
last 50 years almost all the districts has made a
literacy jump of more than 30%, but some of the
districts recorded a higher jump than the others. In
fact, a heterogeneous increase is being observed
across the districts of the state.
In education field there exists a large gap
of attaining literacy between male and female; this
gap is manifold when we consider the same in the
higher as well as professional field of education.
State Government has undertaken many measures
to minimize the gap and if required undertake
positive discrimination in favour of females and
introduce infrastructure to bring women to the
arena of education. Emphasis on higher education
for women is an imperative especially at the district
level and more importance may be given to science
education for girls with proper laboratory facilities.
Concept and approaches of Gender & related Social
legislations will suitably a part of Primary
Education as well as Secondary Education. For this
purpose different action plan may be worked out in
coordination with the School Education, Higher
Education and Technical Education Department.
State Government may relax the age limit in
 30
scholarships & may also think about the revision of
age limit for women appearing for competitive
examinations.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
In 1854 there were 288 girls’ schools in
the then Bengal. These schools were very small and
the total number of girls receiving this education
was minuscule in relation to the total population.
Between 1849, when Bethune School opened, and
1882, when the Indian Education (Hunter)
Commission reviewed the progress of education in
India, serious efforts had been made to develop
primary schools for girls and teacher-training
institutions. Higher education for women and co-
education were still contentious issues. Faced with
the fact that 98 percent of school-age girls were not
in school, authors of the Hunter Education
Commission Report recommended more liberal
grants-in-aid for girls’ schools than for boys’ and
special scholarships and prizes for girls. In the next
two decades higher education expanded rapidly;
whereas there were only six women in Indian
universities in 1881-82, by the turn of the century
there were 264. First the Brahmo Samaj, and later
the Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj and Theosophical
Society all supported female education.
After independence, the education of
upper-class women proceeded apace. So did the
expansion of their opportunities. But in the hamlets
of rural areas and the slums of urban areas, young
girls were still encouraged to stay within the home
(first their own, then that of their husband’s).
Slowly, the demand for education grew among
women from poorer families as well. But progress
was slow, and uneven. Broadly speaking, the
southern districts were more supportive of women’s
education than the states of the northern districts.
There was also religious differentiation - Christians
were generally the most keen to send their girls to
school, followed by Hindus and only then by
Muslims.
A century ago the Indian women's
movement placed 'female education' very high on
its agenda. NGO Pratham and its partners surveyed
nearly 6 lakh children in 2.4 lakh households from
12,000 villages in 525 rural districts between Nov
11 and Dec 18, 2004; volunteers visited randomly
picked villages in each district of India and
surveyed 20 randomly chosen households in each
village. In each household, children in the age
group of 6-14 years were interviewed and tested for
Contemporary Researches in Education
basic reading, writing, and arithmetic on a one-on-
one basis; the result is the First Annual Status of
Education Report (ASER), 2005. The gender gap in
the percentage of children out of school, however,
has dropped. In 2001, it was estimated that 2 out of
3 dropouts were girls, but this study finds that only
a little more than half (52-55%) of the children out
of school are girls. It is equally amazing that the
spontaneous interventions from the floor from
women without distinction of class, location,
religion, caste or literacy.
Factors Responsible for Poor Female Literacy
Rate
The United Nation for Education, Cultural
and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) revealed on
September 8th, 2010 (World Literacy Day), that of
the 796 million adult illiterates in the world, two
out of every three is a woman (UNESCO, 2010).
Historically, a variety of factors have been found to
be responsible for poor female literacy rate in West
Bengal.
i. Gender Based Inequality: There is a
perception in society even urban that girls are more
homely and are better at taking care of things. That
is why arts, fashion, designing and drama are
generally fields reserved for women. Engineering
and other related fields are considered hardcore; so
more men than women enrol in these programmes.
This perception is gradually changing. Women
students have family affairs to attend to. The so
called soft disciplines are Education and Social
Sciences, while the male disciplines are engineering
and IT. That is how most of the women’s colleges
running Social Sciences, Humanities and Mass
Media programmes. Again, while
Business/Commerce and Science disciplines are (to
a great extent) skewed in favour of men.
ii. Social Discrimination and Economic
Exploitation: Our state has been unable to
eradicate its many social evils completely. Child
labour, child marriage, untouchability and the caste
system are strong causes of a large percentage of
Indian children being denied even basic primary
school education. Child female labour is rampant
among poor families who aim to increase their
family income by sending out children to work
from a very young age. Moreover, these children
are forced into illegal early marriages and then
saddled forever with the responsibility of managing
a household, family and work on their young
Contemporary Researches in Education
shoulders before even gaining the maturity to fully
comprehend the meaning of any of them.
According to the data published by the
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), New
Delhi, West Bengal stands very high in the list of
states when it comes to trafficking in women. The
2005 statistics provided by the NCRB reveal that in
2005, West Bengal ranked second, coming after
Bihar, in importation of girls. The traffickers
mostly target women and children who belong to
the rural areas. Trafficking in women is most
prominent in the southern part of South 24
Parganas, the eastern part of Murshidabad, the
eastern side of Nadia, and the eastern region of
North 24 Parganas.
iii. Low Retention Rate and High Dropout Rate:
In India, for example, only one girl in three will
finish primary school. Most drop out of school to
help with housework, or to get a job and earn a
living. Many parents prefer to invest in the
education of their sons due to strong social norms.
As in many parts of the developing world, marriage
often takes place at an early age for Indian girls,
and education is replaced by the responsibilities of
motherhood.
iv. Attitude towards Learning: There are certain
sections of people who think otherwise, who look
down upon education and regard it with contempt.
They claim that it is of no use to build a scholarly
mind or enlighten it through academics. Families of
poor financial standing often discourage studying in
their households as they wish to engage the children
in work as soon as possible to expand their
collective remuneration.
Some people consider modern education
as a threat to their beliefs and way of life.
Consequently, the children of such households are
also deprived of the opportunity to study in modern
schools and free their minds of meaningless
conventions and conservative ideologies.
v. Geographical Factors: The families in remote
locations-like deep within the Himalayan forests or
in the arid lands of Puruliya, they are often cut-off
from mainstream civilization and all convenient
facilities of education. This is true especially in the
case of wandering tribes like the Warlis of the West
and the numerous forest communities residing at
the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. These tribes
often follow shifting cultivation as a result of which
they have no permanent dwelling place. Moreover,
31
their culture and practices are so different from the
mainstream that it is difficult to bring them in sync
with modern society and provide them with similar
kind of education.
vi. Individual Disabilities: The most unfortunate
are those whose physical or mental conditions do
not allow them to educate themselves easily.
Disabled female child in many families find it
exceedingly difficult to read, write, absorb and
remember information. For example, a dyslexic
child will find it hard to remember the letters of the
alphabet and to interpret words when they are
formed with those same letters. Physical disabilities
also inhibit literacy. A blind child will find it
difficult to read without assistance. A child with a
disabled arm will find writing a tough task. Such
persons are often neglected and shunned from
schools.
vii. Inadequate Facilities: It is shocking how many
schools have been unable to create facilities e.g.
sanitation and safe drinking water for even paid
education for all female children, who are
essentially the future of this nation. Many schools
do not have enough classrooms to accommodate all
school-age children.
a. Lack of Qualified Female Teachers: Girls
are more likely to attend schools if they have
female teachers. Girls are more comfortable and
more vocal with lady teachers, thus actively
focusing and participating in the learning process.
Also, parents - especially in rural areas - are
hesitant to send their girls to schools that have only
male teachers. Parents often complain about
insecurity for girls attending schools.
b. Lack of Transport Facilities: Particularly
in rural areas, transportation is needed for girls to
attend primary and secondary schools, which are
often far away from their homes. Primary education
is often accessible much closer, but secondary
education facilities assume that children will drop
out as they age, and therefore fewer schools are
established to cater to older children.
c. Lack of Hostel Facilities for Girls: Many
girls desirous of pursuing education above primary
level, facilities for which are available away from
their homes, cannot avail themselves of these
facilities due to lack of hostel arrangements. Girls,
particularly those belonging to minority groups
would continue their education at middle and above
levels if they could find free or inexpensive
 32
residential facilities nearer the educational
institution.
d. Fixed Schooling Hours: Fixed schooling
hours do not suit girls in rural areas, as they are
needed for domestic work at home or in farms
and fields during these hours. This is one of the
causes of lower participation rates of girls in
education. The enrolment rates of girls and their
retention can be improved if educational facilities
are made available to girls during periods suitable
to them when they are free from domestic chores.
Flexible school timings have been tried in
Rajasthan through the Shiksha Karmi Project and
Lok Jumbish, and the results are encouraging.
viii. Population Explosion: The combination of
increasing population and development has led to a
situation where the state has innumerable citizens
who wish to learn but not enough educational
institutions to teach them. The existing schools are
already overflowing with students and lack the
infrastructure to take in more. As more and more
children are born every year, the pressure on these
institutions keeps ballooning up continuously.
Consequently, entry into these schools gets
increasingly difficult and majorities of the vast
population, who are poor, are denied a chance to
admit their children owing to insufficient funds.
ix. Poverty: A huge portion of our population
(29.8%) lies below the National Poverty Line,
Table 1. Decadal Growth of Literacy Rates in West Bengal after Independence
1951 1961 1971
Total 24.61 34.46 38.86
Male 34.79 46.57 49.57
Female 12.77 20.27 26.56
Note: Literacy rates for 1951, 1961 and 1971 Census relate to population aged 5 years and above. The
rates for 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 Censuses relate to the population aged 7 years and above.
Contemporary Researches in Education
which indicates that they do not have access to
basic requirements of essential commodities,
including food and water, for themselves or their
families. These families earn barely enough to feed
their children one square meal a day. Education is a
luxury they cannot afford. A great portion of West
Bengal’s population is deprived of education
because it is poor. The vicious circle of poverty
stands between the society and its education.
Due to the gradual expansion of basic or
primary education, women representatives express
their desired role in rural development, planning
and agree to assume responsibility for pure water
facilities, set up village school and the anganwadi.
The facilitating factors have been the increasing
participation of women in public and private
spheres, the equalizing of salary for equal work,
targeted credit and economic assistance and
incentive linked girls’ education.
Government will utilise different
educational Institutions, Women study Centres,
State Resource Centre for Women to assess status
of Women across the state and districts annually
which will help to undertake future development
planning for achieving the Goal. A resource pool of
fund will be reserved annually for the purpose.
Government will consider developing trained
personnel up to village level from the existing
village level staff or volunteers for collection of
data regularly.
1981 1991 2001 2011
48.64 57.72 68.64 77.08
59.93 67.81 77.02 82.67
36.07 46.56 59.61 71.16
Contemporary Researches in Education
Literacy Rate in Percentage 90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1951
Figure 1. Decadal Growth of Literacy Rate in West Bengal after Independence
Source of Data: Census of India 1951, 1961, 1971, 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011
Although Government will arrange proper
resource allocation for women, but effective
implementation is possible if proper monitoring
mechanism is there. The Government has initiated
effective monitoring mechanism at the District level
by setting up Development Monitoring Committee
under the leadership of District Magistrate and
same has been replicated up to Block level.
Government will consider setting up Level
Board/Council for Welfare of Women with
adequate power/authority by enacting legislation or
administrative order whichever is appropriate for
the same. Such Body/Council may be headed by
any eminent women activist/personalities of the
District supported by other such women
personalities with the right perspective as well as
District level senior Officers will also be inducted
into the Committee. District Social Welfare Officer
may be made Member-Convener of the same.
Despite these improvements, there still
remains a lot to be done in terms of improvement
and certain pockets of illiteracy in particular need to
be addressed. According to provisional DISE Data
(2010-11), there are 51016 schools offering
Primary Education and 10574 schools offering
Upper Primary Education in West Bengal. Total
8901 and 8822 schools are offering Secondary and
Higher Secondary Education in West Bengal
respectively.
33
Literacy Rate in West Bengal
Total
Male
Female
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
Year
The incidence of literacy, enrolment or
retention/drop-out, education as such, is dependent
not only on the delivery system but also upon the
societal factors. Thus, gender, caste/community,
occupational and rural-urban inequalities all affect
education.
A major vexing phenomenon observed
mainly in the low literacy regions, in the country
and elsewhere, is the high rate of dropouts at a very
early stage of education. The primary education
policies in different parts of the state are aimed at
reducing this high dropout rate by creating
incentives to the students and the parents to keep
the children in the school till they complete the
desired level of education.
EDUCATIONAL EXPENSES
People from all classes and socio-
economic backgrounds expend ‘considerable
amount’ of money for the education of their
children. According to Tilak (2002), the “free”
education is a misnomer in the Indian context given
the economic barriers to its accessibility. A host of
factors such as household income, household
expenditure, and educational qualifications of the
head of the household, demographic burden, caste
and religion impinge on the educational
expenditure. Likewise, availability of the school in
the neighbourhood, distance of the school and
various incentives (namely, mid-day meal,
 34
distribution of text-books, school uniforms) directly
influence the quantum of educational expenses.
More importantly, the widely prevalent
practice of private tuitions has added to the
quantum of educational expenditure. In the Pratichi
(India) Report, 2002, Amartya Sen writes that the
“evil of private tuition” perpetuates the ‘class
divisions’ in an uninterrupted way. It also violates
the commitment of the Indian Constitution for “free
education”.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES FOR
WOMEN
India is positioned almost at the bottom of
the heap in measures of the Gender Parity Index
which traces the growth of female enrollment in
schools. While a GPI of 1 indicates perfect parity
between the sexes, India measures 0.83 at the
primary level (2003), a figure that is only slightly
better than worse performers like Mali (0.72),
Liberia (0.73) and Pakistan (0.74). This distinction
in Indian figures is nowhere in the list of countries
(including Nepal and Pakistan) that have shown the
greatest improvement in girls’ enrollment. The
government plans to set up Balika Shivirs
(residential camps for girls), bridge courses and
some 750 residential schools (Kasturba Gandhi
Balika Vidyalayas) for under-privileged girls in
difficult-to-reach areas. The National Programme
for Education of Girls at Elementary Level
envisages a 'model cluster school' per cluster (that
is, 8 to 10 villages) - in 'educationally backward
blocks'. These model schools are envisaged as girl-
friendly, with provision for special incentives,
libraries, gender-sensitisation of teachers, crèches
next to schools, girls' collectives (Meena Manch)
and Mothers' Committees.
Although a number of NGOs such as
Eklavya, Nirantar, Ankur, Digantar, Urmul and
Aditi have focused on improving education,
particularly girls' education, these have remained
small-scale efforts, restricted to certain pockets of
the country. The biggest scheme demonstrating
positive links between education and empowerment
is a government-run scheme (presently running in
nine states) called the Mahila Samakhya. It draws
in the energies of several movement activists,
providing it with energy and direction.
The main aim of all the educational
programmes is to make every girl child of the
society literate.
Contemporary Researches in Education
REFERENCES
Annual Report, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-
01, 2002-2003, Department of School
Education.
Basu, A. (1997). Sibling Rivalry, Resource
Constraints and Gender Bias in Education:
Evidence from Rajsthan Working Paper,
Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University.
Bhatty, K. (1998). Educational Deprivation in
India: A Survey of Field Investigation,
Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 33, No.
27, 28.
Economic Survey 2002-03, Ministry of Finance &
Company Affairs, Economic Division,
website:http://indiabudget.nic.in.
Government of West Bengal (2002). Statistical
Abstract 2001-02, Bureau, of Applied
Economics & Statistics.
Jabbi, M K., & Rajyalakshmi, C. (2001). Education
of Marginalised Social Group s of Bihar, in
Vaidyanathan A. and P R Gopinathan Nair
(eds) ‘Elementary Education in Rural India: A
Grassroots View’, Sage Publication, New
Delhi.
Krishnaji, N. (2001). Poverty, Gender and
Schooling in Andhra Pradesh’ in
Vaidyanathan A. and P R Gopinathan Nair
(eds) ‘Elementary Education in Rural India: A
Grassroots View’, Sage Publication, New
Delhi.
Lave, Charles., Michael, Cole.,& Donald, Sharp.
(1981). Determinants of Educational
Achievement, Economics of Education
Review, 1(2): 253-62.
Mukhopadhyay, Asim. (1994). Girl Child in three
Indian States, Economic and Political Weekly,
June 4, 1379-82.
National Council of Educational Research and
Training (2002). Compendium of Educational
Statistics-(School Education), New Delhi.
Contemporary Researches in Education
ENFOLD REALITIES: A DALIT PERSPECTIVE
Sandeep Kumar
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, University of Delhi
Abstract
‘Dalit’ is a word which is more powerful
in India than ‘India.’ It has played a major role in
social, political and economic life of India. Dalits
have faced unexpected exclusion in all aspects of
their life. Though, different policies and
constitution in itself provide various safeguards to
them in almost every dimension of life. But the
biggest question need to be addressed is that to
what extent the gap has bridged between theory and
praxis? What are some of the internal ambiguities
of policies which ruined the entire strength of the
policy provisions? Education is also not an
exception in this regard. Extreme level of
humiliation and discrimination has been not only
perceived moreover proved by countless studies.
Present paper is going to unfold the existing
problems and concerns associated with Dalit girl
child with reference to education and socialization.
This paper is presenting the theoretical
understanding of what does it means to be a ‘Dalit
girl child.’ and has been supported by some case
studies conducted for the purpose of this paper.
Case studies of a few SC students provide practical
strength to the paper. The paper will also try to
establish linkages between education and
socialization of Dalit girl child. The education of
SC girls has been looked into. Paper emphasis that
socialization and education are not distinct
categories of each other, rather they are associated
with each other. To reach to the collusion, the
paper discusses various theoretical understanding
focuses on, education and socialization regarding
Dalits.
India is known to be diverse in various
aspects. As per Chanana, K. (1993) verna system
has been prevalent in the country, which divides
individuals on the basis on caste. The term
‘Scheduled Caste’ become legalized in 1937 to
designate lower ranking Hindu castes and they will
be getting special protection and support by the
Indian Government. It is important to understand
that how to understand a caste system or what are
the characteristics, caste system include. Some of
these characteristics are stratified division of
society, Hierarchy, restrictions on social
35
intercourse and interactions, civil and religious
prohibition and special immunities, lack of
unrestricted choice of occupation, restriction on
inter caste marriage and education.
Education always had been prohibited for
Dalits and considered property of upper caste
people. Though, it has been acknowledged long
back that education is must for liberation. Jyotiba
Phule and Dr. Ambedkar are the most prominent
personalities who strongly favored education for all
without any kinds of discrimination, neither on
caste base nor any other.
SOCIALIZATION
All most all sociologist and psychologists
believe that socialization plays a very significant
role in the make- up of an individual. Luckman and
Berger said that all individual become member of
society after their birth. They become legitimate
member of a society, where they live and
participate in activities of a particular society. There
is a temporal sequence, in the course of which he is
inducted into participation in the social dialectic.
By successful socialization we mean the
establishment of a high degree of symmetry
between objective and subjective reality.
According to Prof Krishna Kumar
socialization is a process results from the encounter
between children and adults around them, first the
parents and other family members and later the
members of the larger community play a very
important and significant role in the process of
socialization. Krishna Kumar has taken this
understanding from Vygotskian perspective of
development, where Vygotsky talked about the
process of co-construction of knowledge. This
process of co-construction becomes one of the
important aspects of socialization.
Socialization according to Berger and
Luckmann comprises of primary and secondary
socialization. Primary socialization takes place
childhood which is emotionally charged and not
questioned. Secondary socialization on the other
hand is role specific, thus, taking one’s place in
larger role in society and social practices. Men
together produce human environment. It is through
 36
the interaction of men that the human environment
is created as a amalgamation of socio cultural and
psychological formations. There will be no social
life or environment without interaction or in
isolation.
The process of habitualization can also be
understood with reference to socialization. In this as
well the same kind of pattern is repeated again and
again traditionally so much so that it has become a
habit. And gradually this habit become natural
rather acquired.
“Man is man, in fact, only because he lives
in a society” (Durkheim). Durkheim explains
socialization in terms of interacting and adjusting
into a set of complex social environment. Education
and socialization are interrelated, where, Family
does the primary socialization and further
socialization is done by education in specific
categories. Socializing and education can be seen as
synonymous, where, they serve the same purpose.
This combined process, provides space, to
individual, for development.
Dewey considers education as a process of
growth in the social life. Similar to Durkheim,
Dewey said Durkheim education cannot be defined
apart from social experience. These days we
perceive not distinction between education and
socialization, because, education is seen as having a
fundamental social character. To makes school
natural and easy initiation in the society, Dewey
mentioned that the school must be integrate with
the society’s experiences.
SOCIALIZATION AND EDUCATION:
PERSPECTIVE OF SCHEDULED CASTE
GIRLS
Caste is an integral aspect of socialization.
Every child is born in a caste and gradually go
through the specific socialization of that caste in a
particular manner. Throughout this process, he/she
expected to behave, interact with people in a
particular way. Getting education for a low caste
child and that too a girl is not an easy task but in
spite of this if entry is made in the schools the caste
of that child is further reinforced as they are
expected to mention the sub caste to which they
belong. The process of this discrimination starts at
the time of admission itself. As the caste of the
child is known, the teachers who mostly belong to
the non Dalit caste impose their own assumptions
on the low caste students. Implicit to explicit, all
Contemporary Researches in Education
kids of biases, prejudices and discrimination is
faced by the lower class students. Girl children
have more Sevier situation. They have to face
double discrimination, of being a Dalit and girl.
Phule, Ambedkar and Paulo friere’s views
on education of women are significant to discuss
here. According to Phule the powerless situation
of the untouchables and women was due to their
debarment from education and knowledge. Phule
advocated education for women for their
development. It would be vital to the development
of women as persons and as citizens and foremost
as a human being. He believed in liberation through
education. He believed in the power of education
for liberation. Phule set up the first school for Dalit
girl.
Ambedkar also talked about the equal
education for men and women Education became a
crucial dimension of Dalit women’s political
involvement (Velasker, 2007).
According to Paulo Freire education and
liberation is not a gift that would be provided easily
to the oppressed. A constant fight and vigor to
attain freedom has to be a part of the oppressed.
Paulo Freire said in order to achieve the goal the
oppressed has to critically reflect on the reality
followed by taking appropriate action. Education
has been the prerogative of the high caste people
but unless and until critical reflection of the
situation was done no appropriate action could have
been possible. “It is absolutely essential that the
oppressed participate in the revolutionary process
with an increasingly critical awareness of their role
as subject of the transformation” (Freire, 1972)
Education of women gets effected at
various levels. There are established processes
which influence decision making related to
schooling from a social exclusion perspective.
It is important to understand the factors
which influence the decision of sending a child to
school or not. This also becomes an important part
in our understanding of socialization. There are
several points those can be discussed in this regard,
some significant has been highlighted in a paper by
UNICEF on ‘Social Exclusion of Schedule Caste’ It
includes:
 Characteristics and process within the
school (i.e. teaching, school environment,
background of teachers, discriminatory
practices etc.)
Contemporary Researches in Education
 Processes within the community (i.e.
social dynamics, inclusive decision-
making, social norms within the
community related to education etc.)
 Household characteristics and related
processes (i.e. caste, poverty, gender,
number of children, nutrition, educational
level and occupation of parents, value
places on education etc.)
The above three elements affect a child’s
chances of accessing school (UNICEF, 2006). The
school, community and household are not isolated
categories rather are interlinked and interdependent
on each other. All three act together, in order to
ensure a child’s entry in school. Let us consider an
example in order to illustrate the above mentioned
process. A Scheduled caste girl Seema in a village
with family belonging to a lower socio- economic
group drops out of school. Her parents have to work
daily to earn their two time meal. Seema has two
younger siblings. Seema has to take care of
household work and her siblings in her parent’s
absence. This situation makes her to play a role of
mother in very early age. This makes it difficult for
her to enter school; but even after making certain
arrangements her parents send her to school. Within
the school she realized from the day first all know
about her caste and developed a specific kind of
behaviour against her. Therefore there is a bias that
already exists within the minds of the students and
even the teachers of the schools who mostly belong
to the upper caste. This existed discrimination
forced her to leave the school. The end result is
drop out from school. This shows the way a
community, household and school all three act
together in the decision making process of either
attending or not attending schools.
CASTE STUDIES
To explore more about the discussed
understanding in first segment of the paper, four
case studies have been conducted. These case
studies provide authenticity to the work. These case
studies are done on four SC school going girls. The
idea behind this work is not to generalize the
situation of SC girls. But certain issues and
concerns are heighted by these case studies, which
is important to be acknowledged. The case studies
presented only as indicative resource for
understanding the situation of SC girls with respect
to their socialization and education.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
37
Socialization
In terms of socialization it is evident that
family is a primary agent of socialization. Gender
roles are defined within the family very precisely.
All the cases show that father has to work outside
or earn money for the family and on the other had
mother does not burdened with this responsibility
irrespective of her qualification. In the first case
study the mother is a graduate still she is housewife
and in the fourth case study where the mother is
illiterate still she tries to contribute financially in
the family. This situation has a specific concerned
with socio-cultural status of the family. The first
case study girls, studied in private schools, whereas,
in forth case study girl studied in government
school. The gender roles are defined here that a
women has a choice of going out and earning,
whereas, a man has no such choice. The role of
women as a nurturer is specified in the household
which is further carried on by the girls of family.
The patterns of socialization get affected
by regional situations and therefore, it is important
to understand them form rural and urban
perspective. In the first study the girl is born and
brought up in Delhi but she was very uncomfortable
talking about her caste, whereas, the girl in case
study II (Radhika) is comfortable about her caste.
The reason being that caste has been a part the
socialization of Radhika but not for Meena (case I).
This also signifies that in rural areas the division is
evident to children as they grow up and even
parents do not feel the need to hide such a thing
from their children. On the other hand the
socialization of a girl staying in Delhi did not
include caste, as her parents also never wanted her
to understand her identity and ancestral
background. Meena’s parents did not want their
children to now and identified by their caste. They
said they do not want to tag their caste with their
childrens’ identity.
Elders’ perspective towards education
Elder family members’ perspective
towards education plays a significant role in
processes of socialization. Their beliefs, attitudes,
perceptions etc. all effect the socialization of a child
in a family.
Education has been important in all the
case studies. In the case of Radhika (Case study II)
her mother motivates her to study. This belief
becomes a part of the socialization of Radhika as
 38 Contemporary Researches in Education

well. And this motivation brought her Delhi from One of them said her mother always tell
her village for higher studies. Here we also need to her not talk much neither at home nor at school.
keep in mind the region that she belongs to. She herself realize it later, that why her mother
Accepted Buddhism the family is influenced by the asked her to do so. As her caste revealed in class,
idea of Ambedkar. This is reflected in their students and even teachers start behaving with her
understanding of education and its importance in in a special manner. She felt disdained.
the life of Dalit girl. This is in contrast to case study
Another one said, education has liberated
III (Veena) as her parents want her to be educated
me, but, enforced different other kinds of
but for marriage only, so that she can get a good life
discriminations, restrictions and biases. She felt that
partner. This also shows that the objective of
she left one cage and entered in other one.
educating girls is getting good marriage proposals.
The development of independence
Socio-economic status of family
Dalit girls’ perspective about self-decision
The socio-economic status of the family is
making and being independence was very low and
also significant in the analysis. In Case Study I the
narrow. They said most of the time they have to
girl is born and brought up in Delhi and studied in a
consult their parents for even very small thing.
private school. She has no issues on the economic
Whereas, their parent said it is necessary to take our
form; also no gender difference is evident because
permission before they take any decision. They
there is no brother in the family. On the other hand,
stated two basic reasons for this, first, society is not
in the other case studies, the socio economic status
safe for girls these days and second, girls cannot
is not very impressive and gender differences in
take decision alone, because they do not have
terms of rituals and eating habits can be seen.
experience of life.
In case study IV the women of the family
One of the girl said, I have never
adds to the family income and the reason is become
participated in decision making in family. Here,
the socio-economic condition of the family is not
clothes, food, studies, friends even how to thinking
very stable. She is illiterate but contributes
has been decided by the family. She said, life is so
whatever she can to the family. On the other hand
tough outside home, one, because of being Dalit
in the case study I the women is educated but still
and second she is a girl. Another girl evaluated
she does not contribute in the family income as she
family role and said, family had played a major role
does not feel the need as the family is stable with
in her life, which is, both, negative and positive.
respect to the socio-economic status. This shows
Negative role of family had been stated, in terms of,
that earning is not the priority of the woman of the
not making them independent. One girl said,
house unless and until there is a lack of financial
school and school environment had also hindered
stability.
their development of independence.
In terms of socialization and education it is
The tendency to take initiative
seen that there is a link among two. the education of
the parents and their socialization affects the Socialization is a process, which develops
socialization and education of their children. Also ability, capability and attitude for taking initiative
the way in which children are socialized also affects for known and unknown works and tasks. One of
their education. the girls said, she has given space for initiative only
for household work, not other works and gradually
The development of trust
she become dependent and failed to take initiative
It was fond in all the case studies that the for any sort of work. She, very helplessly
trust on other members of society was very low. mentioned that school had also not helped her in
Three girls out of four said that they have been this process. Her primary socialization had already
treated badly because of their caste at various developed a base for her personality development
places like society, school etc. therefore they do not in future.
want to believe anyone. They accept that they took
Another girls said, to buy note book also I
more time to develop trust on other. This also
have to ask my parents. Though, her brother is
influences their socialization in school as well as in
allowed to take his decisions. She mentioned,
society. Some time it hinders their studies also.
neighbourhood people also questioned, if, I do
Contemporary Researches in Education
anything, which is not very obvious to them. One
girl said initiating something is a far away from her;
she even cannot suggest anything in something
which is already existed.
THE SENSE OF COMPETENCE AND
AMBITION
Competences and ambitions are highly
associated with the kind of independence and
opportunities one have. Interaction with girls and
above few theme of analysis proves that they had
very little space for these things. One girl said that
she liked to become an airhostess, but, her caste
never left her hand and family, school all made her
feel, in different way, that she should not think of
becoming an airhostess. She mentioned that she
could not carry this burden anymore and decided to
quit.
One girl said she never dared to think
about any ambition, as, she knew, she has to do
what her parents will say. She said, her life is like a
sandwich, where, one slice is her caste and second
slice is other castes and she is in between. She
mentioned how one can even think about her
competence and ambitions.
One girl shared her ambitions to join
police, but, unfortunately, she did not get any kind
of space and opportunity to achieve it, neither from
home nor from school.
Decisions about ‘who one is’
Knowing one’s identity is really important
which includes self-concept. “Who are you”, was
answered by girls very casually. All of them said
they are girls. They hardly could relate any specific
abilities with them. Their self-efficacy was also
very low and therefore self-concept. Three out of
four very clearly mentioned their identity is
recognized by others and that is “Dalit.” One said,
she is Dalit, but, she has other identity also of being
student, girls, citizen and so on, but she could not
talk much about this.
Analysis of cases shows that these girls are
confused about “who are they.” Most of the
responses were not clear to the researcher. They
were just able to see themselves with association to
their caste and as a girl.
Relationships with others
Social interaction depends upon the kind
of social relations you have with family, neighbors,
39
friends in school, teachers and so on. All the girls
said that they have good relation with others but
simultaneously also saying that nobody want them
to be developed.
One said, all her friends talked to her
nicely, but, caste difference still exists. She stated
some of her friend, clearly pointed out, that certain
thing, do not happen in your customs. They wanted
to prove them self-higher caste, more civilized and
developed.
Such relations explicitly and implicitly
influenced the socialization of these girls. All of
these were able to identify the significant others and
one said, it is not easy to disobey other and
particularly those have significant role in their life.
CONCLUSION
Caste and gender play a very significant
role in socialization patterns and education. Caste
Socialization is an important aspect of the growing
up of an individual. Education also influences and
reinforces on various occasions the socializing
pattern of the family.
Many provisions have been incorporated
in India constitution to provide repetitive space to
SC. Different polices extensively talked about the
provisions in this regard, but, these policies have
not been considered as enabling forces that address
the social norms of discrimination among
disadvantaged groups (Chopra and Jefferey, 2005,
p.63).
Government reservations for minority
groups’ access to education may help to increase
the number of Dalit girls in school, practicality has
a different face all together. And challenges do not
end here, after accessing school, Dalit girls have to
face problems in their identity development, as they
have to face preexisted prejudices regarding caste.
The social inequalities are so strongly embedded,
that it is imperative to keep them in consideration
while dealing with various issues. Nothing can be
seen in isolation as everything is dependent on each
other. Understanding about gender, caste also has a
significant role to play and visa- versa. Therefore it
is important to understand the scenario in totality,
rather, segmented. By segregating, it would be
impossible to look at such extensive problem in
isolation, there is need to understand it in an
interlinked issues spread out in society.
 40
The paper is tried to enfold the realities a
Dalit girls lived with. Paper also discussed that
socialization and education are interdependent on
each other. The reason of SC girls not being able to
attend school or even drop out also depends to a
great extent on the assumption and beliefs of the
people with the family and society.
Within the category of women, dalit
women are even more affected as they become a
victim of dual discrimination on the basis of gender
and caste. Taking a broader view and looking at the
socializing pattern would aid in analyzing the
situation in a better manner.
It is essential to understand that a Dalit
woman has lower status among women. They have
to face bauble discrimination on the basis of gender
and caste. Here, it also becomes important to study
the socialization pattern more seriously to cater the
problem.
REFERENCES
Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (1991). The Social
Construction of Reality- A Treaties in
Sociology of Knowledge. Anchor Publication.
Bube, L. (2001). Anthropological Exploration in
Gender: Intersecting Fields. Sage Publication
Contemporary Researches in Education
Chakravarti, U. (2003). Conceptualizing Gender—
Phule, Brahmanism and Brahminical
patriarchy, Rao, A (Ed), Gender and Caste-
Issues in contemporary Indian Feminism.
Women Unlimited Publication.
Channana, K. (2001). Interrogating Women’s
Education- Bounded Visions Expanding
Horizons. Rawat Publication.
Dewey, J. (2008). The School and the Society.
Aakar Books.
Freire, P. (1972). Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
Penguin Books.
Mittal, M. (2010). Dalit Women n India- Survivla
and Current Dilemma. Arise Publishers and
Distributers.
Pawade, K. (1995). Life of a Dalit Women.
Jogdnad. P.G (Ed), Dalit Women- Issues and
Perspectives, Gyan Publishing House.
Velasker, P. (2007). Caste, Gender and Education:
Dalit girls access to schooling in Maharashtra.
Tilak, B.G (Ed.), Women’s Education and
Development. Gyan Publishing House.
Contemporary Researches in Education
COMMERCIALISATION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION: NEED FOR
CAREFUL AND CONTROLLED INTERNATIONALISATION &
PRIVATISATION IN INDIA
Bhavya Nain
Advocate, Supreme Court of India; and Former Law Clerk-cum-Research Assistant, Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
Abstract
Education has always been a sacred
subject in the ancient India. But, this phenomenon
has undergone change in the recent times. The
main reasons are: privatization and globalization
in the education. Thus, there should be control and
regulation on the privatization and globalization in
the education sector in India. There must be clear
national education policy in this regard, especially
in relation to higher education. There must also be
changes in the law and the policies.
Commodification of education is against the Indian
traditions. We must reinforce the Gurukula
tradition and values; and implement it in the
modern context in India with suitable changes.
“State itself must provide higher education and the
citizens cannot be left at the helm of certain private
educational groups and interests, etc. for their
educational needs.”
INTRODUCTION
Outside India, educational institutions
have been compared to McDonald shops (Nesar
Ahmad, 2002). The occupation of education is
treated as a business. Student is treated as a
consumer. Education is treated as a commodity. All
these effects in the educational field are due to the
excessive commercialization of education abroad.
We must not allow the same to happen in India.
Use of terms like globalization, internationalization
and privatization of education should not be
allowed to be a garb for excessive
commercialization of higher education. It is a false
premise that if an occupation is internationalized or
globalized, it will be definitely better. It is a false
premise that if an occupation is privatized, then
there will be definite progress. Everything has its
merits and demerits. The author by way of the
present chapter would deal with the merits and
demerits of commercialization of higher education.
This approach will help in scientific analysis of the
said issue and lead to a concrete and definite
outcome.
41
ANCIENT INDIAN TRADITION
Before, we can discuss the utility of
globalization/ internationalization of education in
the Indian context and scenario, we must
understand the Indian style of education as existing
since long. The ancient Indian Education System
was indeed very effective and prosperous. It was
appreciated world over. Renowned Dr. R.E. Kaey,
in this regard, has pointed out, “Not only did the
Brahman educators develop a system of education,
which survived the crumbling of empires and the
changes of society, but they also, through all these
thousand years, kept aglow the torch by higher
learning.”(P. Annie Amala, 2004). As per Kewal
Motwani (1947), in order to preserve the continuity
of this national heritage and add to its richness,
India built large institution of higher learning from
time to time. They served as the repositories of her
spiritual, philosophical, scientific, artistic and
literary achievements and as the media of
transmission of this heritage to the future
generations. Thus, it is clear that the education
system in the ancient India was powerful and
effective. Now, we must understand as to the key
ingredients of the ancient Indian education system.
As per A.S. Altekar (1944), there were
three key aims of all education in ancient India,
these are:-
Firstly, the first aim was to make the
student a useful and pious member of the society.
Thus, the social function of education was given
due importance.
Secondly, the second aim was to develop
the character of the student. The aim of the ancient
educational system in India was to transform and
ennoble the character and nature of the students.
Morale building of the students was given prime
importance.
Thirdly, the third aim was to develop the
personality of the student. The aim of the ancient
educational system in India was to go beyond
learning of texts by the students. Holistic
 42
development of the students was the target for the
educators.
The approach towards education in ancient
India was entirely different. The function of
education is clearly represented by the classical
Indian verse: “Sa vidya ya vimuktaye”, which meant
that which liberates us is education.
No discussion of the ancient educational
system in India is complete without the discussion
of the Gurukul system of education. As per R.B.
Kokatanur (2013), Gurukulas were the dwelling
houses of gurus situated in natural surroundings
away from noise and bustle of cities. Parents sent
their wards at the age of five years to nine years
according to their castes after celebrating their
Upanayan Sanskar. Pupils lived under the roof of
their guru and under the direct supervision of their
Guru. The students were like sons of the teacher
and the whole institution lived like family.
The concept of Guru Shishya Parampara
is also relevant. Under this practice, the Guru was
more than a teacher and Gurukul was more than a
mere school. Under this Parampara, there was
close relationship between the Guru and the student
(Shishya) and the Gurukul was like a kula (family)
for the student. Under this practice, the students
were prepared for hard work and austerity and were
to maintain Brahmacharya (celibacy) till the
education was complete (Kurian Kachappilly,
2003)., Generally there was a one-to-one
relationship between the Guru and the shishya. The
Guru was autonomous and decided the curriculum,
the timeframe and the methodology of transaction.
The Guru did not receive a salary nor did the
disciples pay any fees. The commitment of the
Guru to pass on the religious traditions was
exceptional. Besides, it was his duty to pass on
sacred texts and customs. There was emphasis on
self-learning apart from the correct recitation and
pronunciation of the verses.
Even the Buddhist learning system which
eventually replaced the vedic system was built on
similar values (C. Panduranga Bhatta, 2009). The
Buddhist learning system emphasised value based
education through its universal 8 fold path:
1. Right though: avoiding covetousness, the
wish to harm other and wrong views
2. Right speech: avoiding lying, divisive and
harsh speech and idle gossip
Contemporary Researches in Education
3. Right actions: avoiding killing, stealing
and sexual misconduct
4. Right livelihood: trying to make a living
with the above attitude of thought, speech
and actions
5. Right understanding: developing genuine
wisdom
6. Right effort: joyful perseverance to
continue
7. Right mindfulness: trying to be aware of
the ‘here and now’
8. Right concentration: trying to keep a
steady, calm, and attentive state of mind
Thus, the ancient Indian education system
was a value based education system. Education was
never seen as a business, but as a solemn duty of
the teacher. This education system should not be
abandoned on the premise of better education by
way of globalization and internationalization of
education. We must learn from our past. Adoption
of western educational system divorced of Indian
traditions would be imprudent and detrimental to
the Indian educational fabric.
THE MODERN INDIAN SCENARIO
The modern day scenario is best
summarized in the observations of the Hon’ble
Allahabad High Court in D.P.S. Bhati V/s. State of
U.P.1: “The education, these days, has become
highly commercialised….. The opportunity and
avenues as also the atmosphere has to be created
by welfare Government of the country …... We can
boast to have presently having mushroom growth of
educational institutions including privately owned
universities but the manner they are working is well
known to everyone.”
There are many cases of profiteering, use
of capitation fee, demand of donation fees, mis-
selling of degrees by the educational institutions.
This must be seen in the context that these
problems have occurred due to over
commercialization of education by the private
educational institutes and organizations. The over
commercialization of higher education is
weakening the educational fabric of India. Now,
students see the degrees and certificates as a mere
1
Writ C. No. 53773 of 2000, decided on
25.08.2011.
Contemporary Researches in Education
ticket to a well-paying job. Now, professors see
their job as a routine lecture job. Now, educational
institutes treat education as a commodity which
they sell. Now, the parents of the students see
education as only a business investment. This is
contrary to everything the ancient educational
system of India stood for. The Indian Supreme
Court also has tried to lament these practices and
also has sometimes come to the rescue of the
students. In Unnikrishnan V/s. Union of India1, the
Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that
commercialization of education is opposed to
public policy and Indian tradition.
NEED FOR CAREFUL AND CONTROLLED
INTERNATIONALISATION &
PRIVATISATION IN INDIA
Privatisation of higher education has not
worked well in many countries. For example, Latin
American countries, Philippines in East Asia. This
is because uncontrolled privatisation of higher
education can lead nowhere. For economic and
social development of the country, higher education
must be rendered with a larger plan and objective.
Leaving higher education at the helm of private
institutes and bodies does not help. Uncontrolled
mushrooming of private educational institutes leads
to uncontrolled and un-measurable progress.
Uncontrolled progress is only a little better than no
progress. The attitude of the Indian Government on
the issue of higher education is deplorable. A
careful study of the ninth and the tenth five year
plan makes it amply clear that the State wants more
involvement of private institutes and private
financing of higher education. It has also been the
experience that the public expenditure by India in
the education sector is notably less than many other
countries (K.C. Chakrabarty, 2011). There lies the
problem. A fundamental fallacy which exists in the
Indian way of thinking is that higher education is
less important than primary education. This
thinking also ails the Indian Government. There
must be a clear education policy of the Government
of India to the effect that excessive
commercialization and commodification of higher
education is prohibited. The lack of a clear policy to
this effect has actually led to the present dismal
scenario. Privatisation of higher education cannot
be stopped completely. However, there is need for
checks and balances. Without additional checks and
balances, the educational fabric of the country
1
1993 (1) SCC 645.
43
would be tarnished because education without
values is no education at all. The privatisation and
globalisation of higher education must cautiously
consider the following aspects:
a) resultant commercialisation of education,
b) obstacles in merit based admissions,
c) deterioration in academic standards,
d) encroachment in institutions & autonomy,
e) service conditions of teachers, and
f) education becoming subservient to market logic
advanced by the private sector in the country
(C.L. Anand, 1999).
Uncontrolled privatisation and
globalisation of education should not be allowed to
shape the higher education framework of our
country. Instead, we should frame our own higher
education agenda and try to use the opportunities
created by controlled privatisation and globalisation
of education to meet our higher education agenda
(Deepak Nayyar, 2007). Laissez Faire policy
cannot be allowed to be to determine the future of
our educational framework. Laissez Faire Policy
cannot be allowed to control our future through the
education sector. There must be difference between
an education university and an education factory.
Education universities cannot be allowed to become
knowledge/ education factories.
Complete/uncontrolled privatisation of higher
education is as bad as complete privatisation of
defence or national security. Uncontrolled
privatisation of higher education may lead to
dispensing of the high moral and educational
standards set by the ancient Indian traditions. The
ancient educational values may become lost in this
whole process. There must be some difference
between selling of goods or commodities and
selling of education. This difference is becoming
blurred because of excessive commercialisation/
privatisation of higher education. There is an
increase in the number of disputes/ conflicts arising
between students and educational institutions. The
reason behind this is only one and that is over-
commercialisation of education in India.
CONCLUSION
Education is not a commodity. Neither is
higher education. It cannot be allowed to become a
commodity under the garb of privatisation,
internationalisation or globalisation of education.
 44 Contemporary Researches in Education

We must fall-back on our ancient Indian tradition REFERENCES

and values in order to determine our higher
Ahmad, Nesar. (2002). Education: A Commodity
education policy. There must be a clear education
for Sale, Retrived from:
policy in this regard. Ambiguity regarding the same
http://www.swaraj.org/shikshantar/mceducation
has only caused over-commercialisation of
forall.htm.
education in India. We must correct this situation.
Altekar, A.S. (1944). Education in Ancient India.
Higher education cannot be allowed to go out of
Benares: Nand Kishore & Brothers.
public control. Uncontrolled privatisation, is thus,
Amala, P. A. (2004). History of Education,
not advisable. Universities cannot be allowed to
Discovery Publishing House: New Delhi.
become solely market oriented players. Universities
Anand, C.L. (1999). Privatisation of Higher
must have certain academic independence.
education in India: Rationale and Perspectives,
Uncontrolled privatisation reduces such
Dialogues, 1(1).
independence of the Universities. This is a global
Bhatta, C. P. (2009). Holistic Personality
phenomenon which has troubled the countries such
Development through Education: Ancient
as U.S., U.K., Europe, etc. We must learn from
Indian Cultural Experiences, Journal of Human
their mistakes. Blindly, applying their education to
Values.,Vol. 15; p. 49.
India and adopting all their education systems will
Chakrabarty, K.C. (2011). Exploring the challenge
only aggravate our problems. Privatisation cannot
of financial education across emerging
be the sole solution to the educational problems of
economies, Retrieved from:
India. This is because even if many private
http://www.bis.org/review/r120606c.pdf.
educational institutes open in all areas of the
Motwani, Kewal. (1947). India: A Synthesis of
country even then there will be still less access to
Cultures, Thacker: Bombay.
education because a large section of the Indian
Nayyar, Deepak. (2007).Globalization: What Does
society will not be able to afford these private
it Mean for Higher Education?, Economic and
educational institutes. Thus, there is need for
Political Weekly, 15 December, 30-35.
increased public expenditure on education; and
Kachappilly, Kurian. (2003). Gurukula: A Family
there is also need for more State owned educational
with Difference, Retrieved from:
institutes/ universities. The State cannot be allowed
http://www.kurian-
to shirk from its responsibility in this regard. There
kachappilly.com/events/12.html.
is also a need for the educators to understand their
Kokatanur, R. B.(2013). Education Period in
roles. Educators should not see their job as merely
Ancient India, Indian Streams Research
as that of a teacher, but should see their job in the
Journal, 3(4), 1-4.
role of a mentor, guide and philosopher for their
students. This has always been the Indian Tradition.
We must reinforce this tradition and implement it in
the modern context with suitable changes.
Contemporary Researches in Education
PERSPECTIVES OF TEACHERS TOWARDS INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS IN NORTH
COASTAL ANDHRA REGION
Dr. K. Ramu
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.
Abstract
The aim of the study was to assess the
attitude of mainstream teachers towards inclusive
education of children with special needs in north
coastal Andhra region. A total number of 500
mainstream school teachers from different districts
of north coastal Andhra region were selected for
this study from government, government-aided and
private schools through purposive sampling.
Identification and demographic information about
mainstream school teachers were obtained by
using specially designed data sheet Attitude
assessment tool had been developed by the author
was used to find out the attitude of the mainstream
teachers towards inclusive education of children
with special needs. Descriptive statistics like t-test,
Pearson's correlation (r) and ANOVA with post-
hoc analysis (LSD) were used. The study indicated
that female teachers having more positive attitude
towards inclusive education of children with
special needs as compare to the male teachers.
Teachers attended several programmers on
inclusive education which enables them to improve
or change the attitude on policy towards inclusive
education. Whereas, the income of the mainstream
school teachers w ere having less important role in
changing the attitude of the teachers towards
inclusive education of children with special needs.
Further it could be concluded that, need based
orientation and training programme should be
provided to strengthen the teachers in terms of
knowledge about disabilities and inclusive
education to facilitate healthy interactions and
relationships among teachers and the children with
special needs. It is also suggested that more focus
to be given on the rural mainstream school
teachers in imparting the knowledge about
disabilities towards inclusive education in north
coastal Andhra region.
Keywords: Attitude, Inclusive Education,
Mainstream teachers, Children with special needs.
45
INTRODUCTION
The debate on how to handle children with
special needs (children with disabilities) has been
raging since the traditional educational system
began questioning the effectiveness of segregated
institutions. Today, the struggle for ensuring the
right to education for disabled children is an
undeniable reality. Assuring the social integration
of this largely excluded group can only begin
when educational inclusion is practiced and
ensured. By doing so, we can move closer to the
goal of Education for All.
Current strategies and programmes have
not been sufficient to meet the needs of children
and youth with disabilities who are particularly
vulnerable to marginalization and exclusion. In
the past, efforts have consisted of specialized
programmes, institutions and specialist educators.
The unfortunate consequence of such
differentiation, although well intended, has often
been further exclusion. Education must be viewed
as a facilitator in everyone's human development
and functionality, regardless of barriers of any
kind, physical or otherwise. Therefore, disability
of any kind (physical, social and/or emotional)
cannot be a disqualifies Inclusion, thus, involves
adopting a broad vision of Education for All by
addressing the spectrum of need sofa 11 learners.
Integration, which began in the West, in the
late seventies and early eighties, was spurred by a
progressive educational ideology. The parallel
system to traditional schooling that developed
came to be known as Special Education. Such a
pattern has been commonly observed in most
countries. The second stage in this development
has taken the form of Special Needs Education.
Special Needs Education is a system of education
for children with disabilities within ordinary
schools (Lanier et a)., 1996). This form of
education represents an effort to provide
education in more 'normal' settings. However, a
common characteristic of this provision of
education is that it has been offered in special
 46
classes and not in cooperation with other'
mainstream' children.
Gradually voices clamored asking for
integration in education and in the late sixties and
seventies, the focus shifted to integration.
Integration was understood as a gradual reform of
the special education system without challenging
the ideological underpinning of the system. This
integration took many shapes, in some cases it
was merely limited to sharing the same dining hall
and in others it consisted of teaching groups of
children with disabilities together with other
children for several hours per week (Abrams, P.
D., & Leyser, Y., 1983).
Inclusive education, which has its origins in
special education, originally set out to meet the
needs of learners who were being traditionally
excluded from the school or were otherwise
marginalized within the classroom (Mamlin,
1999). A series of shifts from focusing on the
children with disabilities as a problem to focusing
on changes in the management of the classroom
revealed surprising changes in learning. The
results demonstrated benefits to those who were
traditionally excluded from learning as well as all
the others in the classroom. Today inclusive
education or 'inclusion in education' is a
conceptual approach aimed at achieving quality
education by making changes to accommodate all
learners regardless of their physical, social or
psychological differences.
Inclusion is seen as a process of addressing
and responding to the diversity of needs of all
learners through increasing participation in
learning, cultures and communities, and reducing
exclusion within and from education. It involves
changes and modifications in content, approaches,
structures and strategies, with a common vision
which covers all children of the appropriate age
range and a conviction that it is the responsibility
of the - regular system to educate all children
(Monahan & Marino, 1996) and the mainstream
teachers play an important role in inclusive
education of children with disabilities.
There has an evolutionary process in
changing the attitude towards person with
disabilities. In ancient days, disabled persons were
rejected and even destroyed. The right of every
child to education is proclaimed in the "Universal
Declaration of Human Right (1950)" and was
forcefully reaffirmed by the "World Declaration of
Contemporary Researches in Education
Education for All (1990)". Therefore,
Universalization of primary education with equal
opportunities (qualitative and quantitative) is
accepted by all the governments as a human right.
Inclusive education preferably takes place
in a regular class in the students nearest and
regular school. Separation from the regular school
environment whether partially or in exceptional
cases fully occurs only where there is evidence
that education in a regular class, accompanied by
supplementary support and services, or else fail to
meet the student's educational, emotional and
social needs. Inclusive education recognizes and
responds to the diversity of children's needs and
disabilities including difference in their ways and
pace of learning. It does so by using
individualized teaching methods, adapted
curricula as well as tailor made learning aids and
materials.
Though the different efforts have been
made by the Department of School Education,
Government of north coastal andhra region
through S S A/ PBSSM for the successful
implementation of inclusive education in north
coastal andhra region but with regards to the
availability of the number of children with
disabilities lots more to be done. Specially, while
dealing with the children with disabilities, it is
very essential that the mainstream teachers must
be having knowledge towards disability and
attitude to serve the best to the children with
disabilities for their successful inclusion. Hence,
the mainstream teacher's needs are also to be
assessed so that they can work systematically.
Very less evident are found which reflects that the
kind of needs, knowledge and attitude is required
to serve the children with special needs for
successful inclusive education. Hence, the need
was felt to conduct the study on mainstream
teachers towards their needs, knowledge and
attitudes towards inclusion of children with
special needs in the present context of north
coastal Andhra region.
To educate all the special need children in
the mainstream, Integrated Education Programme
for the Disabled (IED) has started as a functional
component under District Primary Education
Programme (DPEP, 1994) and Sarva Siksha
Abhiyan (SSA, 2000). To make inclusion of
special need children successful in mainstream
education programme, mainstream teachers'
Contemporary Researches in Education
attitude about disability and about their education
in the mainstream education is an important factor.
They need special training as well as barrier free
environment (physical, social, emotional,
economic, information, attitudinal, cognitive and
instructional) and other important facilities for
successful inclusion. Hence, it is very essential to
study the attitudes of the mainstream teachers in
three major dimensions, i.e., general, policy level
and the management of the children with
disabilities in the mainstream schools.
Considering the above mentioned facts
about the present investigation, the researcher
aims at studying the attitudes of the regular school
teachers towards inclusive education of children
with special needs in north coastal andhra region.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To study the present scenario of inclusive
education in north coastal Andhra region.
2. To study the governmental and non-
governmental efforts in north coastal
Andhra region for inclusive education.
3. To study the attitude of regular school
teachers toward inclusive education.
4. To develop a strategy for successful
inclusive education in terms of special
need children in north coastal Andhra
region.
METHODOLOGY
Sample of the Study:
Total 500 regular school teachers of
mainstream schools from different districts of
north coastal andhra region (25 teachers from each
district) were selected for this study. Samples
were taken from government, government-aided
and private schools. Teachers were included
through purposive sampling with informed
consent with equal number of male and female
mainstream teachers.
Tools Used:
Demographic data sheet: A specially
designed data sheet was used to collect the
information about mainstream school teachers of
north coastal Andhra region.
Attitude assessment tool had been
developed by the author was used to find out the
attitude of the mainstream teachers towards
47
inclusive education of children with special needs.
The tool contains 30 items under three domains,
namely, general attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities, attitude
towards policy on inclusive education of children
with disabilities and attitude towards management
in inclusive education of children with disabilities.
Each statement of the scale provides a five-point
scale and assigns each of the five options as scale
value. The five points are, Strongly Disagree,
Disagree, Uncertain, Agree, and Strongly Agree.
The investigator used this scale for eliciting the
opinions / information of the mainstream teachers
in regard with their attitude towards children with
special needs for inclusion in mainstream school.
The responses to various statements were scored
in such a way that a response indicative of the
strongly disagree to strongly agree attitude. High
the score represents the higher attitude of
mainstream teachers towards inclusion of children
with special needs in mainstream school.
Data Gathering Procedure:
Data were collected from all the twenty
districts of north coastal Andhra region about the
attitude of mainstream teachers towards inclusion
of children with disabilities in general schools.
Once the informed consent was obtained from the
regular school teachers, socio-demographic details
were collected on specially designed data sheet.
Attitude assessment tool was administered on the
regular school teachers in one session consisting
45 minutes. Teachers were requested to answer
each statement freely without any hesitation and
they have ensured the secrecy of their responds.
Each and every teacher was contacted personally
in the school setup. The purpose of the study was
explained and they were requested to give their
frank and appropriate responses. The respondents
were also requested not to leave any item
unanswered and incomplete.
Statistical Techniques Used:
Statistical analysis had been done by using
SPSS for Windows (Version 10.0). Descriptive
statistics like t-test, Pearson's correlation (r) and
ANOVA with post-hoc analysis (LSD) were used
as per their basic assumption to find out
significant differences within the groups of
mainstream teachers towards inclusion in different
areas, such as general attitude towards disability,
policy land management and its relationship with
 48
their gender, age, education, experience,
occupation, income and place and type of school.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The success of inclusive education
programmes for the children with disabilities to a
large extent depends on the mainstream teacher's
needs, knowledge and attitude to deal children
who are challenged in the regular classroom. The
organizational, teaching, learning and guidance
and counseling activities should be tuned to meet
the individual need of the learners. It is natural
that knowledge leads to formation of better
attitudes and if the needs can be satisfied in
dealing the children with disabilities in the
classroom, leads to successful inclusion.
Placement of the children with disabilities
with normal child in normal schools is nothing but
the provision of least restrictive environment for
the children with disabilities (PWD Act, 1995).
This approach helps the children with disabilities
to grow and develop like other normal children. It
promotes healthy social relationships between
normal and the children with disabilities by
enhancing their growth and development on par
with their normal peers. It gives an opportunity to
participate in all academic and non-academic
activities in the school as well as in the society. It
reduces the psychological problems of the
children with disabilities which further leads to
good mental and physical health.
Basic readiness skills are required to
include the children with disabilities more
effectively in normal schools. The mainstream
school teachers require multi- talents to play
diversified roles to handle these children with
disabilities in the normal classroom.
Special techniques are used only in case of
children with severe disabilities and for
developing only the basic academic skills. The
mildly disabled do not require such special skills
and require only modifications in the instruction.
After learning special skills even the severely
disabled can be educated in regular schools with
suitable assistive devices. Special educational
needs of most of the children with disabilities can
be met effectively in mainstream schools, which
in turn lead for better inclusive education
practices. After the through research study, the
major findings are listed below.
Contemporary Researches in Education
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
1. The study indicated that 61% teachers
having below average attitude towards
inclusive education of children with
disabilities followed by 31% having above
average attitude and 08% having average
attitude towards inclusive education of
children with disabilities.
2. The study indicated that the mainstream
teacher's education had significantly
positive correlation in relation with general
information, causes and management of
the disability towards the inclusion of the
children with disabilities. As the
mainstream teachers gaining the
knowledge towards disability and their
management through different
programmes conducted by SSA and also
the special education paper has been added
in curriculum of B.Ed. and M.Ed. courses.
3. Study indicated that female teachers have
more positive attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities as
compared to the male teachers in the area
of 'general attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities' and
attitude towards management of children
with disabilities. This indicates that the
nature of female towards the children or
kids is more acceptable. That is the reason
female teachers are having more positive
attitude towards the inclusive education of
children with disabilities.
4. This study revealed that there is no
significant difference in the attitude of the
mainstream school teachers towards
inclusive education of children with
disabilities with respect to the age of the
teachers. However, the study also reflects
that the teachers whose age is more than 40
years is having more positive attitude
towards inclusive education of children
with disabilities.
5. The finding of the study indicated that the
education plays an important and vital role
in adjusting and accepting the reality and
facts of the society. And the human being
thinks more for the societal developments
compare to the self centered.
Contemporary Researches in Education
6. The findings indicated that teachers
attending several programmes on inclusive
education of children with disabilities
which enables the teachers to improve or
change the attitude on policy towards
inclusive education of children with
disabilities. So it can, be said that as the
experiences increases, attitude on policy
towards inclusive education of children
with disabilities also increased.
7. This study indicated that the income is
having less important role in changing the
attitude of the teachers towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities.
8. This indicated that the urban teachers are
more aware about the condition of
disabilities as compared to the rural primary
school teachers. Due to awareness, their
general attitude towards inclusive education
of children with disabilities is more positive
as compared to the rural primary school
teachers. So, focus to be given on the
training of the rural primary school teachers
on orientation and training programme
towards inclusive education of children
with disabilities.
9. This study indicated that the teachers from
private schools have more positive attitude
towards inclusive education of children
with disabilities as compared to the
government school teachers.
10. The finding of the study indicated that the
mainstream teacher's education had
significantly positive correlation in relation
with general attitude and policy level
attitude towards the inclusion of the
children with disabilities. This shows that
education of the mainstream teachers play
an important role in changing the attitude of
the teachers towards inclusion of the
children with disabilities in the mainstream
school.
Inclusive education means, the full
inclusion of children with diverse abilities in all
aspects of schooling and that schools should
accommodate all children regardless of their
abilities or disabilities (Loreman, Deppeler, &
Harvey, 2005; Loreman, Forlin, & Sharma, 2007;
Rogers, 1993). The literature shows that all
children no matter how severe their disabilities are
49
or how intensive their needs are belong in the
general education classroom and can be
accommodated in the regular class in their
neighborhood schools, the schools they would be
attending if they did not have a disability
(Jenkinson, 1997; Peters, 2003; Smith, Polloway,
Patton, & Dowdy, 2008).
Teacher's attitude towards children with
disabilities is major and important aspects in the
education of children with disabilities. Right type
of teacher with right type of attitude can do better
justice to the children with disabilities. Hence,
research on the teacher attitude paves way for
better promotion of education of the children with
disabilities.
The study indicated that female teachers
having more positive attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities as compared
to the male teachers (Prochnow, et al., 2000) in the
areas of 'general attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities' and attitude
towards management of children with disabilities.
This indicates that the nature of female towards
the children or kids is more acceptances that are
the reason female teachers are having more
positive attitude towards the inclusive education of
children with disabilities. However, there was no
significant difference in the attitude of the
mainstream school teachers towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities with respect
to the age of the teachers. Though the study
reflected that there was no significant difference
but teachers whose age were more than 40 years,
have more positive attitude towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities. The finding
of the study indicated that the education plays an
important and vital role in adjusting and accepting
the reality and facts of the society and the human
being thinks more for the societal development as
compare to the self centered.
Teachers attended several programmes on
inclusive education of children with disabilities
which enables them to improve or change the
attitude on policy towards inclusive education of
children with disabilities (Nanda & Nanda, 2007).
So it can be said that, as the experiences increases,
attitude of the mainstream towards inclusive
education of children with disabilities also
increased. Whereas, the income of the mainstream
teachers were having less important role in
changing the attitude of the teachers towards
 50 Contemporary Researches in Education

inclusive education of children with disabilities. shows that education of the mainstream teachers
However, teachers from urban areas were more play an important role in changing the attitude of
aware about the condition of disabilities as the teachers towards inclusion of the children with
compare to the rural primary school teachers. Due disabilities in the mainstream school.
to awareness their general attitude towards
Further it could be concluded and
inclusive education of children with disabilities is
suggested that, need based orientation and
more positive as compare to the rural primary
training programme should be provided to
school teachers. So, focus to be given on the
strengthen the teachers in terms of knowledge
training of the rural primary school teachers on
about disabilities and inclusive education to
orientation and training programme towards
facilitate healthy interactions and relationships
inclusive education of children with disabilities.
among teachers and the children with
This study also indicated that the teachers from
disabilities. It is suggested that more focus to be
private schools have more positive attitude
given on the rural mainstream school teachers in
towards inclusive education of children with
imparting the knowledge about disabilities
disabilities as compare to the government school
towards inclusive education in north coastal
teachers. The finding of the study indicated that
Andhra region.
the mainstream teacher's education had
significantly positive correlation in relation with
general attitude and policy level attitude towards
the inclusion of the children with disabilities. This
Table 1. Identification and Demographic Details of Mainstream Teachers (N=500)

Areas (n) (%)

Gender Male 250 50.0
Female 250 50.0
Age Below 30 years 252 50.4
31-40 years 132 26.4
Above 40 years 116 23.2
Education Graduation 314 62.8
PG 135 27.0
PG with B.Ed. 51 10.2
Experience Less than 5 years 353 70.6
5-10years 50 10.0
Above 10 years 97 19.4
Income of Teachers Less than Rs. 5000/- 267 53.4
Rs. 5001-10000/- 129 25.8
Above Rs. 10000/- 104 20.8
Place of School Rural 139 27.8
Urban 137 27.4
Semi Urban 224 44.8
Type of School Govt. 73 14.6
Govt. Aided 52 10.4
Private 375 75.0
Contemporary Researches in Education 51

Table 2. Attitude of Mainstream Teachers towards Inclusive Education

of Children with Disabilities (N=500)

Category Frequency Percentage

Above average attitude 155 31.0
Average attitude 40 8.0
Below average attitude 305 61.0
Total 500 100.0

Table 3. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education of Children

with Disabilities with Respect to the Gender of the Teacher

Attitude towards inclusive Male n=250 Female n=250 t value (df=498)

education M±S D M±SD
General 35.23 ±12.17 58.92 ± 13.81 5.63 "
P o lic y 18.69 ±4.25 20.92 + 4.91 0.77
Management 18.04 ±4.11 24.35 ± 5.47 4.96 **
** p < 0.01, *p <0.05
Table 4. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education of Disabilities
with respect to the Age of the Teacher

Attitude towards inclusive Group 1 Group II Group III ANOVA LSD

education n=252 n=132 n=116 (df = 2)
M±SD M±SD M±S
D
Ge ner al 38.40±10.60 37.60±11.10 39.60±15.38 0.52
P o lic y 20.14±7.21 18.10±6.29 21,84±7.37 0.42
Ma na ge me nt 13.14±3.21 15.10±4.29 16.84±0.57 0.28
" p <0 .0 1 , *p <0 .0 5
Gro up I = T eac her s a g e b elo w 3 0 year s.
Gro up II = T eac her s a ge fr o m 3 1 -4 0 ye ars .
Gro up I I I = T eac her s a g e ab o ve 4 0 year s.
Table 5. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities with
respect to Education of Teachers

Attitude towards inclusive Group I Group II Group III ANOVA LSD

education n=314 n=135 n=51 (df = 2)
M± S D M± S D M± S D
Ge ner al 30.27±8.59 36.54 ±10.34 45.6 ±13.76 5.61** III>II
P o lic y 24.22±6.76 31.33±9.33 36.21±10.21 4.35** I I I >I,
II>I
Ma na ge me nt 18.31 ±4.31 21.12±6.06 22.16±6.21 1.87
**p <0.01, *p< 0.05
 52 Contemporary Researches in Education

Group I = Teachers Education up to Graduate.

Group II = Teachers Education up to Post Graduate.
Group III = Teachers Education up to Post Graduate with B.Ed.
Table 6. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education
of Disabilities with respect to Experience of Teachers

Attitude towards inclusive Group 1 Group II Group III ANOVA LSD

education n=353 n=50 n=97 (df = 2)
M±SD M±SD M±SD
Ge ner al 33.50±9.36 38.43±13.32 44.40± 14.94 2.22
P o lic y 23.54±6.78 33.32±10.41 38.37±12.35 3.74** II>I, III>I
Ma na ge me nt 14.38±4.37 12.24±2.46 17.89±5.79 1.14

** p < 0.01, *p< 0.05

Group I = Teachers experience up to 5years.
Group II = Teachers experience up to 10 years.
Group III = Teachers experience above 10 years.
Table 7. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education of Children
with Disabilities with respect to Income of the Teacher

Attitude towards inclusive Group I Group II Group III ANOVA df LSD

education n=267 n=129 n=104 = 2)
M±SD M ±SD M±SD
Ge ner al 2 5 .6 9 ± 6 .4 3 2 8 .2 2 ± 9 .2 3 3 2 .3 4 ± 1 0 .1 4 2 .0 5
P o lic y 2 0 .1 4 ± 7 .2 1 1 8 .1 0 +6 .2 9 2 1 .8 4 ± 7 .3 7 0 .4 2
Ma na ge me nt 1 8 .4 5 ± 5 .9 7 1 6 .2 5 ± 5 .3 4 1 7 .3 5 ± 5 .4 2 0 .7 9

* *p <0 .0 1 , *p <0 .0 5
Gro up I =T ea c her s i n co me up to R s. 5 0 0 0 .
Gro up I I =T ea c her s i n co me fr o m R s. 5 0 0 1 -1 0 0 0 0 .
Gro up III =T eac her s i nc o me ab o ve R s.1 0 0 0 0 .
Contemporary Researches in Education 53

T ab le 8 . M ai n str ea m Sc ho o l T eac her 's Att it ud e to ward s I n cl u s i ve Ed u ca tio n o f

C hi ld r e n wi t h Di sab il it i es wi t h re sp e ct to P l ace o f Sc ho o l
Attitude towards " inclusive Rural & Suburban Urban n=137 t value (df = 498)
education n=363
M±S D M±SD
Ge ner al 3 3 .4 2 ± 9 .9 7 4 9 .8 7 ± 1 1 .6 5 4 .8 9 **
P o lic y 1 9 .8 9 ± 4 .7 2 2 1 .3 4 ± 5 .0 4 0 .9 8
Ma na ge me nt 1 9 .7 4 ± 4 .6 9 2 8 .4 4 ± 6 .5 6 4 .7 8 "
" p <0 .0 1 , *p < 0 .0 5
Table 9. Mainstream School Teacher's Attitude towards Inclusive Education of Children with Disabilities with
respect to Type of School
Attitude towards Inclusive Government and
Private n=375 t value (df = 498)
Education Government Aided n=125
M±SD M±SD
4 0 .1 5 ±
Ge ner al 3 6 .4 4 ± 1 0 .0 5 1 .3 9
1 1 .3 4
P o lic y 1 7 .4 5 ± 3 .9 7 1 9 .3 4 ± 4 .5 4 0 .8 4
Ma na ge me nt 1 5 .1 2 ± 3 .1 2 2 1 .8 1 ± 5 .2 1 4 .9 6 "

** p < 0.01 ,*p< 0.05

Table 10. Relationship between the Education of the Mainstream Teacher and their Attitude towards Inclusion of
Children with Disabilities in Mainstream School

Areas Education
Ge ner al 0 .3 7 2 **
P o lic y 0 .2 9 0 "
Ma na ge me n t 0 .0 4 3

** p< 0.01, *p <0.05

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ed u cat io n/ tra i ni n g / ud hr. ht m
 56
STUDY BEHAVIOR OF LEARNER: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
AND SOME PSYCHOMETRIC CONSIDERATIONS - WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO SCHOOL LEARNERS
Dr. Rajib Mukhopadhyay
Department of Education, St Xavier’s College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
Abstract
Among various significant determinants of
learning, study behaviour is an important one. This
controls involvement of students to their study, their
way of processing information, and the way of
coping with new situation in learning. This has
been selected as the focal area of the present study.
The conceptual framework has been explained in
details with adequate research evidence. Various
study behaviours identified by researchers have
been discussed along with their operational
dimensions. The study has emphasized on study
behaviour of school students and the behavior
deemed relevant in this context has been identified
in view of the detailed review of existing studies.
Various tools in this regard have also been
reviewed along with their relative merits and
limitations.
Keywords: Study behaviour, Conceptual frame
work, Operational dimensions.
INTRODUCTION
Study behaviour of learners is an important
concern of researchers working in the field of
psychology [26]. This is a significant factor
determining the quality of learning [12].
Study behaviours refer to the type of thoughts
and behaviours in learning as well as the process
used to create, implement and monitor them in the
same context. Learning is associated with several
internal states of a learner. Information storage and
retrieval capacities, intellectual skills and cognitive
strategies are important among these (Gagne and
Biggs, 1974) [in 23]. All these are influenced
significantly by learners’ study behaviour [1].
Researchers relate study behaviour to
systematic and purposive process of organizing,
storing and retrieving of information after
understanding by bringing about necessary changes
in the incoming information as well as in the
organized system within which it will be
accommodated [26]. An effective study approach
Contemporary Researches in Education
includes cognitive, affective and behavioural
activities that facilitate encoding, storing, retrieving
of information [3]. If students have effective study
behaviour, they can take responsibilities for their
own learning by creating, implementing and
monitoring strategies, thoughts and behaviours in
learning [4]. In this way, effective study behaviour
helps a learner to manipulate learning environment
properly enriching his/her information processing
system and thereby enabling him in achieving
mastery or control over the acquired experiences
possessing knowledge, understanding of various
concepts, analysis, synthesis, application,
appreciation, original and fresh thinking - in the
situation of learning. It is also related to the ability
of a learner to express his/her ideas clearly and
coherently, to have a sense of own identity in
learning from which come a sense of self-
confidence [26]. A problem faced by the learner in
any learning situation challenges his/her existing
cognitive structure and utilizing enriched
information processing, he/she adopts suitable
modification in it, and make necessary
reconstruction. This may also help in adopting
flexible approaches in learning, enabling him/her in
coping with new situation in learning leading to an
effective learning as the consequence [15].
Might be in view of these, researches in this
particular area of learning is drawing gradually
increasing attention. Different study behaviors
namely ‘learning strategy’, ‘approaches to
learning’, ‘orientation in learning’, ‘learning style’,
‘approaches to learning and studying’ etc have been
recognized by researchers in this field. To identify
their operational construct and review the related
tools are major objectives of the present study.
These are discussed step by step in the following
sections with special emphasis to the study
behavior of school learners.
1. OPERATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF VARIOUS
STUDY BEHAVIORS AS IDENTIFIED BY
RESEARCHERS: A BRIEF REVIEW
Contemporary Researches in Education
Operational dimensions of different study
behaviors of learners considered by researchers
within the framework of Students’ Approaches to
Learning (SAL-Framework) are as follows :
Biggs (1978) introduced the term ‘learning
strategies’ which normally imply complex fusion of
intention and purposes in learning [2, 5]. Biggs
identified three different strategies, namely- deep,
surface, and achieving, to explain study behaviour
in tertiary learning. Deep strategy focuses on
meaning of the content. Deep students read widely,
attempt to relate new information to relevant prior
knowledge. Surface strategy involves reproduction
through rote learning, whereas achieving strategy
emphasizes on organization of time and space to
promote performance in assessment. Entwistle
(1984) used the term ‘Approaches to learning’ [15].
Three approaches (deep, surface, and achieving)
were considered, each of which implies a particular
strategy in combination with corresponding motive
in learning. Deep strategy along with intrinsic
motivation is deep approach, surface strategy
combined with extrinsic motivation forms surface
approach, whereas achieving strategies and
achievement motivation together form the
achieving approach [14].
‘Orientation in learning’ (or studying) were
considered by Entwistle and Ramsden (1983),
which indicates a different meaning [17].
Predispositions to adopt a particular approach in
learning is referred to as ‘orientation’ (Entwistle,
1988), as when students are asked by questionnaire
how they usually go about learning (Biggs, 1987;
Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983; Weinstien; 1987)
[in 23]. According to Biggs, learning strategies in
combination with motive are termed as
‘approaches’, whereas, according to
Entwistle(1988), approaches combined with
relevant motives and other factors are termed as
‘orientation’. Utilizing the ‘phenomenographical
approach’, similar to Marton and Saljo (1976),
Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) identified different
study orientations – which are ‘general approaches
to study’ [22, 14]. They incorporated these in their
instrument ‘The Approaches to Study Inventory’
(ASI: Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983). Different
orientations, considered by Entwistle and Ramsden
(1983) are meaning, reproducing, strategic
(achieving), and non-academic [17]. Achieving
orientation referes to students’ management of
time and resources to maximize grades. Meaning
orientation refers to intention of understanding the
57
meaning of a lesson, interacting actively with
author’s argument, and relating these to previous
knowledge and own experience of a learner.
Whereas reproducing orientation emphasizes on
rote learning, intention of a learner producing facts
and information to satisfy external demands only
without concern to the meaning [16]. The achieving
(strategic), meaning and reproducing orientations of
Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) are parallel to
Biggs’ achieving, deep, and surface constructs
respectively [18].
The fourth dimension is ‘non-academic
orientation’, which is not an approach to learning,
and is adopted by those learners who are
unmotivated in study orientation (non-academic
orientation: Entwistle et al., 1979; narrow
orientation: Harper and Kember, 1989) [in 20]. This
was also identified as ‘styles and pathology in
learning’ (Entwistle, 1988). Pask (1976) considered
pathology as failure of a student to make use of
valid and important analogies and to build an
overall map to see how various elements of the
topic are interrelated and how does the topic fit into
the subject area, in general. Pask called this
pathology as ‘improvidence’. Pask described the
tendency to make inappropriate or vacuous
analogies as ‘globetrotting’. This pathology might
take the form of an over-readiness to generalize
from insufficient evidence, to form an hasty and
personal judgment [26]. Non-academic orientation
was considered by Pask as ‘holistic strategy’, which
involves looking at the whole area being learned,
taking a broad perspective, seeking interconnection
with other topics and making use of personal and
idiosyncratic analogies. The examination of logical
structure and the supporting documents come later,
when understanding is demanded, but left to
himself as ‘holist’ is likely to put off what he may
see as the mere boring part of learning [23]. But
there are other students who are readily able to
adopt task- specific learning strategy, emphasizing
either on ‘comprehensive learning’ or ‘operation
learning’ as appropriate, and using both at tandem
whenever possible. Pask labeled it as a ‘versatile
style of learning’. Watkin (1982) and Sen(1989)
also considered non-academic orientation as
‘holistic strategy’ or ‘holistic orientation’ as per
Pask (1976) [in 23]. Sen(1995) [in 26] recognized
the relevance of this dimension in explaining
learning of late-adolescent learners [34]. The four
dimensions, as referred, have been considered
 58 Contemporary Researches in Education

differently by different researchers. Following table

shows the comparison.
Table 1. List of Study Behaviours Considered by Researchers

Researcher Entwistle and Entwistle (1988) Biggs (1994) Watkin (1988) Harper and
Ramsden (1983) Kember(1989)
Study Study Orientation Approaches to Learning Study Study
Behaviour Study Strategies Orientation Orientation
Dimensions Meaning Deep Approach Deep Strategy Meaning Deep
Orientation Orientation orientation
Reproducing Surface Approach Surface Reproducing Surface
Orientation Strategy Orientation Orientation
Achieving/Strategic Achieving/Strategic Achieving Achieving Goal
Orientation Approach Strategy Orientation Orientation
Non-academic Styles and ______ Holistic Narrow
Orientation Pathology Orientation Orientation
Deep, Surface and Achieving approaches as depends on the learners and learning situations very
considered in the SAL-framework: much. To reproduce without understanding, could
well implicate rote learning; but a decision to
Surface approach in the SAL framework is
ensure accurate recall of already understood
based on the guiding principle or intention that is
information may also implicate rote learning. The
extrinsic to the real purpose of task. The strategy
first is a surface approach; the second depending on
arising from that is ‘satisfying’, but not satisfying,
the context could be part of a deep or an achieving
task demands by investigating minimal time and
approach. This approach was described by Tang
effort consistent with appearing to meet
(1991) as ‘deep memorizing’ [23].
requirements. It is commonly believed that the
presence of rote learning in itself means that student According to Biggs (1991), the achieving
is adopting surface approach. But rote learning may approach is based on ego-enhancement that comes
well be entirely appropriate for certain tasks and out of visibly achieving, and in particular through
certain contexts. Giving a person rote task and high grades. Like surface approach, the focus is not
saying that it requires a ‘surface approach’ is to task-centered but on the recognition gained from
misunderstand the construct [26]. top performance. The strategy is to organize time,
working space, and syllabus coverage cost
The ‘deep approach’ in SAL framework is
effectively with much use of cue seeking,
based on interest in the subject matter of the task.
systematic use of study skills, planning ahead,
The strategy is to maximize underlying meaning of
allocating time according to importance of task.
the task. The intention is to engage in the task
Biggs’ three factor model is further validated by
properly, on its own terms.
Andrews et. al. (1994) [in 9].
Deep approach is aimed at understanding the
Among these three approaches, only deep is
meaning of students’ course material, surface
task-focused or ‘natural’, surface and achieving are
approach aimed at enabling to reproduce those
institutional creations, sanctions and rewards
materials for purpose of assessment. Deep and
shifting the focus from the task itself to ways of
surface though are different approaches, but the
maximizing the rewards and minimizing the
same student can exhibit different approaches to
sanctions associated with successful or
studying in different situations (Sen, 1995;
unsuccessful completion of the task. A ‘deep
Edmunds and Richardson, 2009) [in 23, 11]. In
achieving approach’ appears to be the most
general, the choice of one approach among these
adaptive institutionally (Biggs, 1987) [in 1].
two, rather the other, is related to learners’
perceptions of the content, context and demands of Cantwell et. al. (1994) [in 9] reported that
different tasks (Richardson, 2000) [in 24]. Both the independently of difficulty level, deep learners
terms ‘deep’ and ‘surface’ are used generically, displayed greater depth of context concern and
what they specifically mean in any instance greater flexibility in strategy behavior, while
Contemporary Researches in Education
surface learners are consistently data-bound and
strategically biased towards both rote learning
techniques and recourse to external sources to
resolve difficulties. Findings are consistent with
earlier researches on students’ learning [9].
Three factor models is also used by other
researchers. Schemeck (1983), utilizing a cognitive
theoretical framework, identified similar
dimensions of studying. He described four learning
orientations. Deep processing indicates students’
efforts to conceptually organize to evaluate
critically. Elaborative processing indicates students’
concern to relate information to their existing
knowledge, to apply it to cognitively encode new
information using elaborative processes. Fact
retention refers to the mechanical reproduction of
factual information, and methodical study refers to
the organization of study time and activity.
Schemeck’s deep and elaborative processing is
parallel to deep approach and meaning orientation.
Fact retention is similar to surface approach and
reproducing orientation; methodical study is
consistent with achieving approach [21].
Few contemporary studies
Being influenced by constructivist views in
learning, SAL-researchers (Curry, 1983; Dunn and
Dunn, 1991; Saddler-Smith, 1996 etc.) have also
proposed ‘learning styles’ addressing many
individual differences in learning, ranging from
environmental and emotional preference in learning
to differences in cognitive styles to explain
effective learning [10, 25]. Integrated models of
learning have also been proposed (Boyle, 2003), in
this regard [7]. Vermunt (1994) proposed such an
integrated model considering four different
components of learning, which are: (i) processing
strategies (i.e. relating and structuring, critical
processing, memorizing and reharsing, and
analyzing concrete processing), (ii)regulation
strategies (i.e. self regulation of learning process
and result, self regulation of learning content,
external regulation of learning process, external
regulation of learning results, and lack of
regulation), (iii) mental models (motives) of
learning (i.e. construction of knowledge, intake of
knowledge, use of knowledge, stimulating
education, and cooperative learning), and (iv)
learning orientations (i.e. personally interested,
certificate oriented, self-test oriented, vocation
oriented, and ambivalent) [31]. Using exploratory
factor analysis, Vermunt (!998) identified four
59
different learning styles: meaning – directed style,
reproduction – directed style, application – directed
style and undirected style; which displayed
characteristic patterns of factor loading across those
four components of learning [33]. Meaning directed
style has strong positive link with relating and
structuring strategy, critical process strategy,
concrete process strategy, self regulation of
learning process and results strategy, and self
regulation of learning content strategy, and negative
association with intake of knowledge motive and
certificate orientation. Reproducing- directed style
has positive association with memorizing and
rehearsing strategy, external regulation of learning
process strategy, external regulation of learning
result strategy, intake of knowledge motive and
certificate orientation. Application directed style
has strong positive association with certificate
orientation and use of knowledge motive.
Undirected style whereas has strong link with the
learning components as intake of knowledge
motive, and stimulating education motive
(Vermunt, 1998) [in 33].
Knight (1995) [in 23] argued that different
methods of students’ assessment may encourage or
discourage different styles of learning, and also
reported that examinations encourage students to
‘mug up’ and use a reproduction-directed style of
learning; while coursework assessment encourages
students to develop a deeper understanding of
coursework, and consequently to use meaning-
directed style in learning. Biggs, Kember and
Leung (2001) reported that meaning-directed and
reproduction – directed styles, in the context of
higher education are clearly similar to deep and
surface approaches to studying respectively [5].
The factor structure of those styles examined by
Vermunt (1998) also indicated that meaning-
oriented, reproduction-oriented and application–
oriented styles are close to deep, surface and
achieving approaches to study respectively [33].
Vermunt (1998) considered several
dimensions of learning as ‘self regulation’,
‘construction of knowledge’, etc. Therefore the
styles are appropriate to the context of learning of
mature learners (Vermetten, Vermunt and
Lodewijks, 1999), where learning is not influenced
by teachers very much [29]. Students’ perception
on their own learning has been considered by
Entwistle, McCune and Velda (2002), who used
‘approaches to learning and studying ‘to explain
study behavior of mature learners (college students)
 60
[16]. These behaviors also seem to be inappropriate
in the context of learning of school students, in
view of immaturity of them.
Instead of three or four factor construct of
learning as used by most of the SAL- researchers,
Richardson (2000) indicated that deep and surface
are adequate to explain study behaviour of
university students. He proposed a two-factor
model of learning, relevant in the context of higher
education [24]. Biggs et al (2001) also proposed
two-factor model to explain learning in the context
of higher education [4].
Study behaviors of students in higher
education (college/university) have some special
features. They are mature enough; meta-cognition,
self-regulation in learning might be the study
behaviour relevant for this group [6, 8]. But these
behaviors are not relevant to the context where
learning is dominated by teachers (Vermunt, 1996)
[in 32]. School children are immature, their
learning is mostly dominated by teachers, where
meta-cognition, self-regulation might be irrelevant.
They just have a tendency to develop a set of
behaviors, but not so stably. Only they may have
specific orientations towards their study by
applying specific strategy, not rigidly, but flexibly,
trying one or the other. Their study behavior is the
area of focal attention of the present study.
The review, as referred, indicates that, study
behaviors considered by Entwistle and Ramsden
(1983) are appropriate in the present context of
study, for explaining the learning of school
learners. These are study orientations, i.e., general
approaches to learning, related with predisposition
of learners to adopt a particular approach in
studying. These are also comprehensive for
including strategy, motives and other factors in
learning together [13, 23].
2. REVIEW OF TOOLS ON VARIOUS STUDY
BEHAVIORS
According to Watkins (2001), first direction
on students’ approaches to learning (or studying)
research (SAL) was generated by Swedish
researchers Marton and Saljo (1974) and was
focused on a qualitative analysis of how students
perceived the content and process of learning,
which they called Phenomenography [34, 22]. The
second direction was developed by Biggs in
Australia and Entwistle in U.K. and focused on
quantitative methods, such as self report surveys
and questionnaires to assess what students usually
Contemporary Researches in Education
do while learning and studying [17, 26]. Research
in this direction led to development of two learning
process inventories: the Study Process
Questionnaire (SPQ; Biggs, 1987) [in 19] and the
Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI : Entwistle
and Ramsden, 1983) [in 23]. Researchers
considered three different study behaviours in this
regard, as already explained in section 2 of the
present study. The behavior, used in Biggs’ model
is ‘strategy’, implying complex fusion of intention
and purpose of learner, whereas, ‘strategy’ in
combination with motive implies the behavior
‘approach’ (Entwistle, 1984) [in 16]. Another
behaviour, ‘Orientation to study’ was considered by
Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) [in 26]. ‘Strategy’
combined with relevant motive and also with other
factors implies ‘Orientation’. Approaches to Study
Inventory (ASI: Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983)
measures study orientations, which are general
approaches to studying (learning) [23].
Vermunt (1994) developed an Inventory of
Learning Styles (ILS) considering four different
components of learning together, which are:
processing strategies, regulation strategies, mental
models (students’ view) of learning, and learning
orientations [31]. The inventory consists of two
parts, Part A and Part B. Part A is called ‘Study
Activities’ including two domains, processing
strategies and regulatory strategies. Part-B is called
‘Study Motives and View on Studying’ containing
the components mental model and learning
orientation. Each of the four components includes
five different sub-scales. Different sub-scales for
each component are as following:
1. Processing strategies: relating and
structuring, critical processing, memorizing and
rehearsing, analyzing, concrete processing
2. Regulation Strategies: self regulation of
learning process and results, self regulation of
learning content, external regulation of learning
process, external regulation of learning result, lack
of regulation.
3. Mental models of knowledge: construction
of knowledge, intake of knowledge, use of
knowledge, stimulating education, comparative
learning.
4. Learning orientation: personally interested,
certificate orientated, self-test oriented, vocation
oriented, ambivalent.
Contemporary Researches in Education
Each of those sub-scales of ILS contains four
to six numbers of items. Each item comprises a
statement for which the participant has to indicate
on a 5-point scale to what extent the statement
applies to them. Vermunt confirmed reliability and
validity of the four ILS components and using
exploratory factor analysis, identified four different
learning styles, a meaning directed style, a
reproduction directed style, an application directed
style, and an undirected style (Vermunt,1998) [in
33], which displayed different characteristic
patterns of factor loadings across the four
components of learning (Boyle et al, 2003) [in 7].
Vermunt’s model of learning is grounded in
modern constructivist views of learning, provides
an integrated account of learning combining
metacognitive aspects of learning in addition to
strategies and motive. Four different learning styles
are found to have their significant relevance in
explaining the learning of university students
[29,30], indicating ILS might be suitable for
measuring study behavior in the context of higher
education, but may not be effective for school level
learners, learning of which is influenced very much
by teachers (Biggs, 1996) [in 3].
In view of importance of students’ perception
of their own learning, another inventory, within
SAL framework, was constructed by Entwistle,
McCune and Velda (2002), i.e. ‘Approaches to
Learning and Studies Inventory’ (ALSI) [16]. It is
also influenced by the trend ‘constructivism’ and
seems to be not so relevant in teacher controlled
learning context, as for example, learning of school
students; which is the present context of study.
Even SPQ (Biggs, 1978 and 1979) was meant for
college students and hence is not appropriate with
respect to present context. Inventory of Learning
Process (ILP: Schemeck et-al, 1977) is used to
describe study behaviors of college students with
respect to learning and memory and is also not
suitable for the present purpose of study [25].
The Review hence revealed that, within
‘SAL’ framework, Learning Process Questionnaire
(LPQ: Biggs, 1978) and Approaches to Study
Inventory (ASI: Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983) are
relevant for present study (for school learners),
among the available and mostly used tools. These
two tools are discussed briefly as following:
(1) LPQ (Biggs, 1978) – It is a 36 item group
administered instrument. Each item consists of an
affirmative self-report statement that describes a
61
student’s strategy or motive. For each item, the
student responds on a five point Likert-type scale.
The LPQ provides six sub-scale scores related to
the kinds of strategies students use (surface, deep
and achieving). Motive and strategy scores in
combination, produce three approaches to learning.
Biggs (1978) reported low to moderate internal
consistency co-efficients (0.51 to 0.70) with the
Australian sample. Andrews et-al (1994) reported
the same for surface motive 0.47; deep motive 0.70;
achieving motive 0.75, deep strategy 0.73; surface
strategy 0.55; achieving strategy 0.76; and total
LPQ scale 0.79. These are in accordance with other
research reports (Hattie and Watkin, 1981; O’neil
and Child, 1984) [in 26].
(2) ASI (Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983) – It
consists of 64 statements about how students tackle
everyday learning tasks. There are 16 sub-scales
with four items each. These are – deep strategy, use
of evidence, relating ideas, intrinsic motivation;
surface strategy, syllabus boundedness, fear of
failure, extrinsic motivation; achieving strategy,
negative attitude to study, disorganized study
methods, achievement motivation; comprehension
learning, globetrotting, operation learning, and
improvidence. The 16 sub-scales are combined into
four scales, each representing an orientation or
approach to studying. Use of the term ‘orientation’
here is to describe a ‘general approach to studying’.
Names of these four combined scales are Meaning,
Reproducing, Achieving (Strategic) and Non-
academic Orientation (Entwistle, Ramsden, 1983)
[in 17]. These are parallel to Deep approach,
Surface approach, Achieving approach (Entwistle,
1988) and Holistic approach (Watkins, 1982;
Sen,1995) respectively [34, 26].
Meaning orientation includes the sub-scales
deep strategy, use of evidence, relating ideas and
intrinsic motivation; Reproducing orientation
includes surface strategy, syllabus bounded ness,
fear of failure and extrinsic motivation; Achieving
orientation includes achieving strategy, negative
attitude to study, disorganized study methods and
achievement motivation ; Non-academic orientation
includes globetrotting, comprehension learning ,
operation learning and improvidence.
Five options (always, often, sometimes,
rarely, never) are associated with each of the 64
statements of the inventory. Among these five
options, subject has to choose any one, upon which
scoring depends. For some of the statements,
 62
options ‘always’, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, ‘rarely’ and
‘never’ imply scores 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 respectively;
whereas in case of others, criterion is the reverse
(for the sub-scales negative attitude to study and
disorganized study methods). Reliability obtained
by Speth and Brown (1988) for the four sub-scales
of ASI (Entwistle, Ramsden, 1983) [in 23] ranged
from 0.58 to 0.73; similar to that reported by
Entwistle et.-al., (1985) [in 26]. Sen (1995) adopted
the inventory, estimated reliabilities and validities
of four different sub-scales individually in Indian
context (for secondary passed students, N=600) [jn
23]. Cronbach-alpha coefficients of reliability for
the sub-scales meaning, reproducing, achieving and
non-academic (though Sen:1995 called these as
deep, surface, achieving and holistic approaches),
were reported to be 0.78, 0.72, 0.81 and 0.76 ; and
validity coefficients (intrinsic) as 0.73, 0.69, 0.78
and 0.71 respectively, by Sen (1995) [jn 26].
There is some diversity in the views of most
of the representative SAL researchers about how
many dimensions and sub-scales are really needed
(Cano, 2009) [in 23]. Entwistle and Ramsden
(1983); Entwistle, McCune and Walker (2001) and
even Biggs (1987), in their research established
three SAL dimensions – deep, surface and
achieving [26]. Whereas, Richardson (2000)
suggested that only deep and surface are valid,
particularly in the context of higher education [24].
Revised Approaches to Study Inventory (RASI;
Entwistle and Tait, 2004) is constructed in this
regard [26]. Psychometric properties of revised
versions were unstable and hence cautious use of
those versions, particularly in the non-western
context was suggested (Richardson et. al., 2005) [in
26].
ASI, as considered by Entwistle and Ramsden
(1983) [in 17] hence is found to be suitable for the
present purpose of study. Rationale is mentioned as
following:
(1) Dimensions incorporated in it are mostly
common to that considered by a number of other
researchers.
(2) It is meant for both school and college
level students, whereas, LPQ is for school learners
only, and other revised versions for ASI meant for
higher educational context.
(3) Holistic (Non-academic) dimension is
included in it. This is relevant in the context of
learning of the adolescent learners (Sen, 1995) [in
Contemporary Researches in Education
26]. Therefore it is important in the present context,
for present sample being also a group of adolescent
learners.
(4) This version was adapted by other
researchers, as Sen (1995), Smith (2001) [in 26, 27]
etc.
CONCLUSION
Discussion reveals that, the available studies
on study behavior have mostly investigated that of
the students in the field of higher learning. They are
mature and have more or less stable behavior. But
study behaviors of school students rather are more
diverse. They are immature and do not possess a
stable behavior. Adequate heterogeneity lies in the
field of their learning due to diversity in their study
behavior- which might be a major concern of
school teachers. In view of the knowledge of
relevant study behavior (approaches to study) and
employing the appropriate tool (ASI), a teacher can
deal with the diversity effectively. This is also
essential in making teaching truly a learner centric
one.
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Contemporary Researches in Education 65

AN INVESTIGATIVE SURVEY INTO CONTEMPORARY DEBATES

AND RESEARCHES ON ‘WORLD ENGLISHES’:
THEORY AND PRAXIS
Mitul Trivedi
Reasearch Scholar, H M Patel Institute of English Training and Research, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh
Vidyanagar, Anand. Gujarat. India.

Abstract world. The consequent result of such a wide range

The present study aims to engage into the
discussion of the dichotomic relationship of
‘English as a Lingua Franca’ and ‘World
Englishes’. Further, it discusses the most important
models in context to World Englishes; it could be
observed that the discipline in discussion has yet to
formulate a systematic model to define ‘World
Englishes’. At one hand, there are linguists, who
advocate the phenomenal spread of English all over
the globe and endeavour to locate the language, in
its entire socio-cultural functionality, into a
singular space, creating what Lyotard calls ‘the
metannarrative of ideological discourse’. On the
other hand, however, there are linguists who
decentralize such notions and conceptualize the
‘World Englishes’ in its plurality. Such
decentralization unconventionally advocates the
polyglossic nature of ‘World Englishes’, what
Kachru calls ‘Pluricentric nature of language
variations’. The dichotomy has yet to be resolved
and needs focused endeavours from the research
fraternity to systematically construct and
ideologically structure the collective model that
defines and determines the debate in its
sovereignty.
Keywords: ‘English as a Lingua Franca’;
Globalization of English; Language and Ideology;
Models of ‘World Englishes’; ‘World Englishes’.
INTRODUCTION
There are several ways in which linguists
study language variation and change. Consensually,
it could be surveyed that language change is an
obvious ‘process’ and that language change can be
resulted from a great variety of causes including,
and pressingly, language contact. Language contact,
in general sense, indicates to a socio-cultural
situation where a variety of groups of people
speaking different languages come into contact.
English, which is undoubtedly a global language
now, has, historically considering, come into
contact with a range of languages all over the
of contact is that today there are more ‘non-native’
speakers of English than there are ‘native’ speakers
of it. This has further resulted in the English
language changing, being modified in different
ways in different parts of the world. In this section
of the paper, I would like to engage my discussion
on how English has changed as it has become a
global means of communication and how linguists
study the phenomenal growth of varieties of
Englishes, what they term as ‘World Englishes’.
‘THE GLOBAL ENGLISH’ AND ‘WORLD
ENGLISHES’: AN OVERVIEW
English has become, probably, the first
language ever to achieve the status of truly a global
language. Linguists, hence quite naturally and
obviously, have been fascinated by the global rise
of English and have been studying what happens to
a language when it is adopted by people around the
world as a lingua franca. They have observed that
as English expanded to the global territory, it had
evolved in different and unique ways. For example,
it has served as a ‘lexifier’ language in the creation
of new pidgin and creole languages, which are quite
distinct from English in other ways; In India, it has
evolved as a language of ‘power’ and ‘prosperity’.
English has also been ‘adopted’ as an official
language in many countries, and by many
multinational groups and corporations.
When people from diverse social, cultural,
ethnic, and religious backgrounds use English for
their regional purposes, they ‘nativize’ and
‘acculturate’ it to create meanings that are relevant
and ‘appropriate’ for their functions and purposes.
This process of ‘nativization and ‘acculturation’
causes a fair amount of changes in the structural as
well as semantic features of the language. These
‘new’ and ‘emerging’ varieties of English are
termed ‘World Englishes’. In this section of the
study, I shall attempt to explore ways in which
World Englishes can be studied.
 66
Traditionally, the English language used
by ‘native’ speakers was considered the appropriate
model for language description, language
acquisition, and language teaching (and efforts to
continue such tradition are still existent in the
rigorous efforts made by British Council all around
world). However, over the last 20 years, as linguists
have rationally documented, how the English
language varies around the world, there has been a
constant and continuous growth in acceptance of
language variation and World Englishes. There are
two related categories of research that have
contributed to this work. The first category of
research that looks at World Englishes studies and
analyzes the language in different parts of the
world. This work on World Englishes primarily
focuses on language divergence - i.e., how
local/regional varieties of English differ from other
varieties of Englishes.
The second body of research looks at English
as a Lingua Franca and focalizes upon language
convergence - i.e., what happens when people who
use different varieties of Englishes interact with
each other. Representative research to this category
on World Englishes studies and describes the
‘linguistic’ (as well as stylistic) features of
particular varieties of Englishes. A plethora of
research studies is observable on the linguistic and
stylistic features of Indian English, Nigerian
English, or maybe, South Asian English. Research
on English as a Lingua Franca, on the other side,
investigates into
1. Features of language that are shared by
different varieties of Englishes,
2. Features of language that can impede
communication between users of different
varieties, and
3. Strategies that people use to accommodate
for language variation.
World Englishes and English as a Lingua
Franca researches primarily centralize their debates
on different features of the same global
phenomenon : the global spread of English. The
fundamental rationale of World Englishes is to
examine how language ‘changes’ as it spreads
beyond the territorial space; whereas English as a
Lingua Franca researchers study how language
variations are discussed or ‘acculturated’ in order to
attain a communicative function. In both of these
approaches to looking at English language in a
global context, the central focus is on the
Contemporary Researches in Education
‘language’ itself as it is used by people in diverse
socio-cultural as well as functional contexts and not
on an abstract notion of a ‘standardization’ and
‘legitimacy’ of language that is based on ‘native’
speaker norms. There are more than one rational
reason for the practitioners of the discipline to go
afar the ‘native’ model of English. For the purpose
of the present study, I would focus on two of them.
Descriptions of ‘standard’ Englishes tend
to have basis on the language as it is used by middle
class ‘White’ speakers of the language. Being the
politically leading group in Britain, Australia, and
North American countries, their dialectology is
considered to be a ‘standard codification’ and
‘legitimate authority’ the language. Other speakers
of English are peripheralized or marginalized. For
example, the English spoken by Afro-Americans or
the Chicano speakers in the United States are not
used for the purposes of codification of Standard
American English. The English used by the
diasporic groups in the UK is not considered to be
standardized codification of linguistic functions.
One example would clarify this dichotomic
relationship : there is a striking difference between
Standard English and Afro-American English,
especially in the use of double negatives. Double
negatives such as ‘I ain’t gonna do nothing’ or ‘I
dunno nothin’ ‘bout it’ are considered inappropriate
in Standard American English; however, this
linguistic feature is quite observable and frequently
used in common Afro-American English. Scholars
researching World Englishes are aware of this and
note that using only ‘Standard English’ models in
diverse settings (for instance, education or
literature) can have negative implications for people
who speak divergent varieties of English. Their
work is, thus, a tool to help give ‘legitimacy’ to the
local uses of English and to empower these
varieties, hence the speakers of these varieties.
Another thing that the scholarship of world
linguists has noted is that tEnglish cannot be
‘prescribed’ in any singular ‘standard’ form. Native
speakers of English, too, show a lot of language
variation, as in the UK, one would observe
language variation from one county to another. As a
result of this, it is believed that grammar books and
the ideological discourse of syntax that are based on
the ‘native’ speakers are not always ‘accurate’ and
hence ‘appropriate’ in their description of English.
For example, while many (prescriptive or
pedagogical) grammar books inserts that there
should not be any split in the use of infinitives, i.e.,
Contemporary Researches in Education
users should not insert an adverb in between a word
group such as ‘to conclude’, there is plenty of
evidence that people not excluding the native
speakers, do so quite often. If it is surveyed among
the native speakers use of the language, one would
be able to observe clearly that that this rule cannot
be supported by actual language data. One often
comes across phrasal or structural constructions
such as: ‘to rapidly conclude’, ‘to obviously
conclude’, and ‘to finally conclude’. In all three of
the examples just cited, the to-infinitives are broken
up by an insertion of an adverb. Grammar books do
not allow such use; however, language samples
collected from users of English do not support this
rule. This leads to a convincing conclusion that
there lies substantial language variation among the
native speakers and that grammar books that are
used to describe them fail to capture such variation.
Such theoretical model, in other words, fail to
capture the authentic use of the language in praxis.
Thus, linguists from 1980s onwards go beyond such
‘standard’ models and investigate into how
language is ‘actually’, ‘authentically’ used by
people.
The following section is divided into two
major sections. In the first section, I would like to
overview a broad outline of the development of
English over the centuries. The purpose of this
section is to help develop an understanding of how
the English language evolved over time and how it
gradually emerged to be a global language. The
second section attempts to outline some of the
major theoretical models developed to explain the
development of World Englishes. The objective of
this section is to help understand the ways in which
linguists describe and categorize global varieties of
Englishes.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AS A
GLOBAL LANGUAGE
According to a research survey, currently
the ‘non-native’ users of English along with one or
more other languages are estimated to have
approximately 800 million people (Todd and
Hancock, 1986) as compared to just over 300
million people who use English as their ‘first’ or
‘primary’ language. All the countries in the ‘Outer
Circle’, as stated by Braj Kachru, are multilingual
and multicultural. English has official status in their
language policies. For example, the Indian
Constitution recognizes English as an ‘associate’
official language; in Nigeria and Zambia English is
67
one of the state languages; in Singapore English is
recognized as an official language; and in all of
these countries as well as the Philippines, English
continues to be the language of education and
research, trade and commerce, the legal system, and
administration. In all of these places, English plays
an important role in social interaction, and in
literary creativity as well. Increasingly, it is also
making its presence felt in popular culture (Lee and
Kachru, 2006). In the Expanding Circle English has
no official status, but it is the preferred medium of
international trade and commerce, as well as the
language of scientific, technological, and academic
discourse.
The English language developed as a
contact language between speakers of a range of
Germanic languages who moved to what is now
England in the 5th century. Over the period,
English language cultivated and incorporated new
words from other languages that it came into
contact with (for example, French, Indian etc). if
the English people had not expanded colonial
territory, the language could have remained as local
as any other regional languages of the world.
However, the first wave of expansion of
English was within the British Isles. As the English
conquered Scotland, Wales and Ireland, they
imposed their own language on these regions as
means of colonization. As a result of such
enforcement, this early expansion of English caused
the demise of a number of vernaculars. Even in the
present time, the impact of this expansion is clearly
visible. For example, while Ireland has been
actively engaged in reviving the Irish language,
English still dominates in the country. Similarly,
English is the main language in Wales and
Scotland, with the Gaelic and Welsh having very
limited use. This first wave of the expansion of
English played an important role in the later
development of the language as well.
The second wave of expansion of English
can be linked to the larger colonial expansion of
England. This wave can be seen as a set of related,
but qualitatively different, dimensions. In one
dimension of the colonial expansion of England, the
English people moved to ‘new’ territories, where
they removed the ‘local’ populations through the
diasporic establishment of them. This was the case
in the British conquest of North America and
Australia. As part of this conquest, a large number
of migrants from England moved to these ‘new’
 68
lands and established their colonies. In moving to
these lands, they brought the English language with
them and used it as the language of the new
colonies. Over the time, migrants from other parts
of the world also moved to these countries and
contributed to the development and changes in the
English used in these countries. As a result of the
influence of different languages as well as a result
of other natural time-based language changes,
English in these parts of the world evolved in
different ways. Today, we identify these Englishes
as Inner Circle Englishes, such as those spoken in
Australia, Canada, Britain, Ireland, New Zealand,
and the United States.
In a different dimension, the British
captured countries which already had well
established systems of government and had
organized military capability that resisted
colonization. In these contexts, the British captured
the lands, but ruled them through the local
populations. This was the case in countries such as
countries belonging to the India subcontinent and
African territories, etc. In these countries, English
was used as an ‘official’ or ‘additional’ language
alongside a range of local languages. In these
contexts, the English language was influenced by
the local languages and was ‘nativized’ and
‘acculturated’ to construe and represent local
experiences, narratives, customs and socio-cultural
functions. With the decline of the British Empire,
the various territories controlled by the British
resisted against the colonialism. After
independence, these countries typically identified
one or more of the local languages as national
language(s), but maintained English as an official
language. For instance, after the Independence,
Indian Constitution accepted Hindi as the national
language out of 21 official languages spoken across
the nation, but English remained as an ‘official’ as
well as ‘additional’ language to serve the major
governmental purposes. The English that developed
in these contexts are considered to be Outer Circle
Englishes.
The territorial gains of the British Empire
resulted in a need for ‘workers’ in the new
colonized regions to help the ‘White’ settlers in
farming the lands and other such tasks. There were
not enough migrants from the UK or Europe to fill
the demand for human resources. To meet this
need, people were captured in Africa and sold as
slaves in the colonies. The slaves who were
captured and moved to the colonies did not
Contemporary Researches in Education
necessarily speak the same language. Thus, in order
to communicate with each other and with their
masters, they created new ‘pidgin’ languages that
used English as a lexifier language. These
Englishes, spoken today in the Caribbean and other
parts of the world emerged as English pidgins, but
then creolized into national varieties of Englishes
(e.g., Jamaican English, Guyanese English,
Nigerian English etc.).
With the prohibition on ‘human’ trade in
early 19th century in the emerging and then
establishing the awe of humanism, there was a
change in the politics of human migration. Instead
of capturing and selling slaves, the British recruited
‘indentured labour’ to work in their colonies. A
large number of these bonded labourers were
recruited in India and then shipped to different parts
of the British Empire, such as the Caribbean, Fiji,
Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, etc.
These populations brought their own languages
with them, but also spoke and learnt English. This
process of ‘indentured migrants’ impacted the
development of the English language in the regions
where the migrants were relocated.
The British control of their empire started
weakening after the Second World War and the
formal colonies started gaining independence from
the empire. While many of these countries
developed their local languages into national
languages, they also maintained English as an
official language, such as India, Sri Lanka,
Malaysia, Pakistan etc. As a consequence of this
policy, English maintained its global positioning
and use as a ‘lingua franca’. At the same time as the
English were losing their global power, the United
States of America was becoming a ‘ruling
authority’. With the rapid growth of the US
economy and power, and with the development of
its highly successful media industry, Hollywood,
the Americans ensouled the English language with
a new lease of life. Over the time, with the
dominance of the United States as a major
international/global power, the English language
not only maintained its position, but also expanded
its global position. People in countries around the
world learnt English as a foreign language, as a
second language, as a language for specific
purposes. These new Englishes are called the
Expanding Circle Englishes.
Today, English is not only associated with
the United States or England, but is also used as the
Contemporary Researches in Education
language of a number of international organizations
and corporations. This use of English in
international organizations has further strengthened
its position as the lingua franca of the world. This
use of English as a global language has also
resulted in the language changing and evolving in
different ways over the period of time. The
discipline of ‘World Englishes’ studies these
variations in English as well as associated policies
and practices. In order to do this, linguists have
developed and are developing a number of models
to study the observable fact. I shall now engage my
discussion on some of these models in the
following section.
THEORETICAL MODELS OF ‘WORLD
ENGLISHES’
Over the last three decades, there have
been development of number of models by world
linguistics scholarship that serve the purpose of
explanation on the development of World
Englishes. In this section of the paper, i would like
to overview some of the most important models of
World Englishes : Kachru’s Model of ‘Three
Concentric Circles, McArthur’s Model of ‘Circle of
Englishes’, the Proficiency-Based Model, and ELF
(English as a Lingua Franca).
Kachru’s Model of ‘Three Concentric Circles’
One of the most often cited models of
World Englishes is Braj Kachru’s (1986) three
concentric circles model. This model is a central
endeavour that tried to define the pluricentrality of
English. Kachru (1996) states,
(T)he pluricentricity of English is
overwhelming, and unprecedented in
linguistic history. It raises the issues of
diversification, codification, identity,
creativity, cross-cultural intelligibility and
of power and ideology. The universalization
of English and the power of the language
have come at a price; for some, the
implications are agonizing, while for others
they are a matter of ecstasy.
- Braj Kachru (1996 : 135)
However, such statement does question
that globalization of English has fundamentally
raised the questions of ‘legitimacy’ and
‘standardization’ of the language. It it raises a
logical investigation whether English can be
circumscribed within a singular, either the British
69
or the American form since there are multiple
varieties of English languages observable in various
different cultural contexts, which are often caused
by the notion of acculturation, nativization and
hybridization. The Kachruvian Model views
English having more centres than just America and
Britain by then, and believes that as linguists and
language scholars, it is important to study the nature
of this ‘various’ language in their respective
individualities. As B. Kachru (1985: 12–13)
suggests, one useful way of conceptualizing this
pluricentricity is to look at the English-using world
in terms of three concentric circles, The Inner
Circle comprises the ‘mother country’ - England
and the British Isles - and the areas where the
speakers from Britain took the language with them
as they migrated - Australia, New Zealand and
North America. The Outer Circle comprises the
countries where the language was ‘transplanted’ by
a few colonial administrators, businessmen,
educators, and missionaries, and is now nurtured by
the vast majority of indigenous multilingual users.
They use English as an additional or supportive
language for their own purposes, which include
many national and international domains. The
Expanding Circle represents the countries (e.g.,
People’s Republic of China, Japan, Korea,
Thailand, countries of Europe, the Middle East, and
Latin America) where the language is still
dispersing widely, mainly for serving the need for
an international medium in business and commerce,
diplomacy, finance, and other such domains.
English in this circle, however, is also finding
increased use in internal domains of academia,
creative writing, media and professions such as
medicine, engineering, etc.
This model has its conceptual basis on an
understanding that English evolved in England,
travelled with the speakers of this English to other
parts of the world, and then was adopted and
adapted by people in different parts of the world as
an ‘official’ or an ‘additional’ language. This
process is furthering as the number of people
around the world learning and using English keeps
increasing. Within this model, Kachru positions
England and countries where English is used as a
mother tongue by a large proportion of the
population, e.g., Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
the United Kingdom and the United States of
America, as the ‘inner circle’ countries.
And the varieties of English used these
countries are called ‘Inner Circle Englishes’.
 70
Secondly, there have varieties of English that were
formed as a result of colonization (as in
Bangladesh, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Pakistan,
and Singapore). These varieties of English are
called ‘Outer Circle Englishes’. In the Kachruvian
views, in these Outer Circle Varieties, English is
viewed as a language of ‘power’ and ‘prosperity’.
Finally, with the current political and economic
power of English speaking countries and the multi-
national corporations that use English as their
official language, English is used in most other
countries as a foreign language (e.g., Brazil, China,
Japan, Korea, Thailand, Latin America, etc.). These
varieties of English are called ‘Expanding Circle
Englishes’.
Kachru’s model and his terms ‘inner’,
‘outer’, and ‘expanding’ circles are used
extensively in plethora of works produced in the
discipline of ‘World Englishes’. However, many
scholars in the field have counter-argued some of
the arguments that Kachru has put forward. One of
the most problematic issues that critics raise with
this model is that it places countries that are
historically linked to English in the ‘inner’ circle,
thereby giving them a position of privilege. Critics
argue that by placing these countries in the centre,
they appear to be the core countries or the countries
that are seen as ‘norm’ setting and ‘detriment’ of
ideological positioning. This was, however, not the
objective of Kachru’s study - his model was
primarily constructed on an understanding of the
spread of English over time : from inner circle
countries, to outer circle countries, to expanding
circle countries.
However, the centralizing of the ‘inner
circle’ countries did lead many scholars to consider
these ‘native’ varieties of Englishes as being the
only ‘correct’ and ‘appropriate’ Englishes and
others as being ‘incorrect’ or ‘inappropriate’. Over
the period of last three decades, other linguists have
come up with different models of World Englishes
to avoid such misunderstanding. McArthur’s Model
on ‘Circles of Englishes’ is one such attempt.
McArthur’s Model on ‘Circle of Englishes’
In trying to shun the criticism charged
against the concentric circles, McArthur (1998)
presented an alternative scrutiny to the definition of
the understanding of World Englishes. McArthur’s
‘Circle of World Englishes’ groups the Englishes
territorially and regionally. The ‘circle’ centralizes
the abstract notion of ‘World Standard English’ and
Contemporary Researches in Education
then groups Englishes spoken in different territories
and regions of the world around it. In doing so,
McArthur’s circle is a step-forward-improvement
on Kachru’s concentric model because it does not
give any centralized and standardized position to
any singular variety of English. Further,
McArthur’s model includes English-based creole
languages in the circle of Englishes (e.g., the ones
listed for the Caribbean), which did not find a
‘recognizing place’ in Kachru’s model. As a result
of McArthur’s work, it can be seen that all
Englishes are equal in its needs and purposes and
that they provide a common expression to the
people who use this language in their local socio-
cultural settings. Doing so, it definitely eradicates
the concept of ‘centrality’ and classifies no singular
dialect of English being better or more central than
the another.
McArthur’s circle attempts to label and
describe different dialects and varieties of Englishes
on a singular position. However, it does not help in
understanding what ‘World Standard English’ is or
what happens in contexts where speakers of
different dialects/varieties communicate with each
other. This conceptual gap in understanding is
currently being studied by linguists working in the
area of ELF (English as a Lingua Franca).
‘Proficiency-Based Model’ of World Englishes
Another model of World Englishes that in
this subsection will be considered as a ‘proficiency-
based model’ deserves a mention. This model posits
that the notion of a second or an additional
language user of English is no longer relevant in the
space of today’s globalized world. It also raises
questions and, in turn, discards the use of territorial
labels to group speakers of English around the
world. This model advocates the language in
concern with ‘proficiency’ of its functional use and
looks at the world of English speakers based on
their proficiency in the language, rather than their
paracital links to the language. This model is
rationally illustrated and competently forwarded in
David Graddol’s study.
The proficiency-based model is definitely
dissimilar from the earlier models of World
Englishes in that it does not consider who the users
of the language are - whether they are ‘native’ or
‘non-native’ speakers of the language. Rather, the
sole objective basis of the model is theorized upon
language proficiency. The ability of the model to
move away from the notions of ‘native-ness’ and
Contemporary Researches in Education 71

‘country-of-origin’ is one of its striking strengths. ‘accommodation’ and ‘negotiation’ of language in

However, like other models that we have, or we situated contexts (Jenkins, 2003). It could be
have not discussed, there are certain challanges observed here that the ‘notion of accommodation’
with this model as well. The most significant and in the theory of English as a Lingua Franca has
questioned issue with this model is that it does not roots in the work on accommodation theory
provide any collective definition of the term propagated and advocated by Giles.
‘proficiency’. Proficiency is a problematic term in
According to this theory, interlocutors
itself because it is typically measured in relation to
converge their language to that of their interlocutors
‘native’ models of the language, for instance in the
in order to achieve communicative success. In the
International Testing System like IELTS and
context of English as a Lingua Franca, this means
TOEFL. Thus, this model, in some ways, ties us to
that people who speak different Englishes adapt
the ‘native’ model instead of helping us understand
their language to their interlocutors. This process is
how proficiency is negotiated between users of
largely subconscious and requires interlocutors to
English in the context in which it is used. It falls on
adjust and negotiate their language to achieve their
the same allegations to which the Kachruvian
communicative purpose. Seidlhofer (2001: 240)
model has suffered.
discusses this in the context of English as a Lingua
‘English as a Lingua Franca’: A Theoretical Franca and points out that ‘English as a Lingua
Perspective Franca’ users accommodate their language as they
focus “on the purpose of talk and on their
Studies in the area of ‘English as a Lingua
interlocutors as people . . . absorbed in the ad hoc,
France’ attempt to address what happens to the
situated negotiation of meaning.”
English language when people from diverse
backgrounds (dialects and varieties) interact with CONCLUSION
each other. In earlier models of ‘English as a
After discussing the most important
Lingua France’, linguists working in this area
models in context to World Englishes, it could be
posited the notion of a ‘core English’ - a set of
concluded that the discipline in discussion has yet
features that were shared by all speakers of English.
to formulate a systematic model to define ‘World
Modiano (1999) presented one possible explanation
Englishes’. At one hand, there are linguists, who
of this model in which he has tried to capture the
advocate the phenomenal spread of English all over
notion by showing that ‘English as a Lingua
the globe and endeavours to locate the language, in
France’ or English as an International Language
its entire socio-cultural functionality, into a singular
was the common ‘language’ between different
space, creating what Lyotard calls ‘the
dialects or varieties of English. However, this
metanarrative of ideological discourse’. On the
particular model of ‘core’ or ‘central’ or
other hand, however, there are linguists who
‘standardized’ English, or World Standard English
decentralize such notions and conceptualize the
– as in McArthur’s model, has been extensively
‘World Englishes’ in its plurality. Such
criticized because there are no clearly identifiable
decentralization unconventionally advocates the
‘collectives’ of English. Canagarajah (1999),
poliglossic nature of ‘World Englishes’, what
amongst others, has noted that English as a Lingua
Kachru calls ‘Pluricentric nature of language
Franca attempts to ‘manufacture’ ‘a standardized
variations’. The dichotomy has yet to be resolved
core’ of English language without any real
and needs focused endeavours from the research
linguistic evidence for it. He argues that any
fraternity to systematically construct and
‘manufactured variety (English as a Lingua Franca)
ideologically structure the collective model that
will be another exonormative norm, imposed from
defines and determines the debate in its
outside, and not developed locally within
sovereignty.
communities of usage’ (208). Linguists such as
Canagarajah point out that language evolves in REFERENCES
local settings and that people negotiate their
Canagarajah, Suresh. (1999). Resisting Linguistic
differences in order to achieve their communicative
Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford:
goal. This importance of negotiation has been taken
Oxford University Press.
up in more recent work on English as a Lingua
Franca, which has moved away from the notion of a
‘core’ and is currently looking at work on
 72
Jenkins, Jennifer. (2003). World Englishes: A
Resource Book for Students. London:
Routledge.
Kachru, B.B. (1985). Standards, codification and
sociolinguistic realism: The English language
in the outer circle. In English in the World:
Teaching and Learning the Language and
Literatures. Edited by Randolph Quirk and
Henry Widdowson. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, pp. 11–30.
Kachru, B.B.,& Nelson, C.L. (1996). World
Englishes. In Sociolinguistics and Language
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Teaching. Edited by Sandra Lee McKay and
Nancy H. Hornberger. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 71–102.
McArthur, Tom. (1998). The English Languages.
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Modiano, Marko. (1999). Standard English(es) and
educational practices for the world’s lingua
franca. English Today, 15(4), 3–13.
Seidlhofer, Barbara. (2001). Closing a conceptual
gap: The case for a description of English as a
lingua franca. International Journal of Applied
Linguistics, 11(2), 133–58.
Contemporary Researches in Education 73

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ON THE ATTITUDE OF ENGLISH

TEACHERS TOWARDS THE USE OF COMPUTER ASSISTED
LANGUAGE LEARNING (CALL) IN TEACHING OF ENGLISH AT
SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL
Fathimath Safara M.
Research Scholar,Gov.College of Teacher Education, Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram

Abstract Recent years it can be seen that a bloom of

interest in using computers for language teaching
English is a language which because of its
and learning. The role of computers in the language
multifarious facets and universal features has these
instruction has now become an important issue
days, become most useful to the welfare of mankind.
confronting large numbers of language teachers
But unfortunately, the English language instruction
throughout the world. The concept of learner
in Kerala today, has failed to equip learners with
centred design is an important one in education it
the communicative skills that are necessary for
means focussing on the learner and his needs and
social interaction and individual career
motivations. CALL is a form of computer- based
achievements. As we all know, with the
learning which carries two important features:
development of information technology, all
bidirectional learning and individualised learning
application of the instruction starts to have a
and the materials are mainly used in teaching to
tendency towards technology based rather that of
facilitate the language learning process. It is a
teacher-centred instruction. It is important to
student- centred learning material, which promotes
mention that computers are the main instructional
self-paced learning. CALL can be used to reinforce
support to the learning and teaching process, it can
what has been learned in the classrooms. It also is
be seen a tendency of application of computer
used as remedial to help learners with limited
based instruction in the language classrooms too.
language proficiency.
Therefore, this study handled the attitude of
teachers towards the use of CALL in teaching of CALL can be defined as “the search for and
English especially at secondary school level. study of applications of the computer in language
teaching and learning” (Graham Davies, 1982).
This study examined that how teachers
CALL’s origins and development trace back to the
perceive the incorporation and use of computer
1960’s (Delcloque 2000). Since the early days
technology resources in language teaching
CALL has developed into a symbiotic relationship
especially in EFL context. The main objectives of
between the development of technology and
this study are: 1) to find out the attitude of
pedagogy.
secondary school English teachers towards the use
of CALL in teaching of English and 2) to find Warschauer (2000) divided the development of
whether there is any significant difference in the CALL into three phases:
attitude of teachers towards the use of CALL in
a) Behaviouristic CALL:
teaching of English for the total sample and for the
Structural or behaviouristic CALL was
subsample based (medium and type of
conceived in 1950s and implemented in
management). The study was a normative survey in
the 1960s and 1970s. Informed by the
its nature and the researcher selected a sample of
behaviourist learning model, this is
75 secondary school English teachers in Kollam
featured repetitive language drills, referred
district that were chosen randomly. The data were
to as drill-and practice programs and
collected with the help of an attitude scale which
language testing instruments, strictly
was constructed and standardised by the
followed by the computer - as - tutor
investigator. The results revealed that the attitude
model.
of teachers towards CALL is positive. Skills have no
effects over these attitudes. b) Communicative CALL
Communicative CALL emerged in the
Keywords: CALL (Computer Assisted Language
late 1970s and early 1980s. It stressed that
Learning), Attitude, English language teaching.
computer based activities should focus
 74
more on using forms than on the forms
themselves, teach grammar implicitly
rather than explicitly, allow and encourage
students to generate original utterances
rather than just manipulate language, and
use the target language predominantly or
even exclusively (Jones and Fortescue,
1987)
c) Integrative CALL (multi media and the
internet)
Integrative CALL gives important both
to integrate various skills (Listening,
Speaking, Reading and Writing) and also
integrated technology more fully into the
language learning process. Here the
students learn to use a variety of
technological tools as an ongoing process
of language learning and use, rather than
visiting the computer lab on a once a week
basis for isolated exercises.
Thus the role of CALL has changed greatly.
Technological and pedagogical developments now
allow us to better integrate computer technology
into the language learning process. Multimedia
programs incorporating speech recognition software
can immerse students into rich environments for
language practice. Varied software and large
language corpora provide students’ means to
investigate language use in authentic context. And
the internet allows a great number of opportunities
to communicate in the target language and
multimedia information.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The present study aims at finding out the
attitude of English teachers towards the use of
CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)
strategy in teaching of English especially at
secondary school level. Here the investigator
attempts to examine that how teachers perceive the
incorporation and use of computer technology
resources in language teaching especially in EFL
context.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To know the attitude of secondary school
English teachers towards the use of CALL in
teaching of English
2. To find whether there is any significant
difference in the attitude of secondary school
English teachers towards the use of CALL in
Contemporary Researches in Education
teaching of English of Govt. and Private
schools.
HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
1. Secondary school English teachers have a
positive attitude towards the use of CALL in
teaching of English
2. There is no significant difference in the
attitude of secondary school English
teachers towards the use of CALL in
teaching of English of Govt. and Private
schools.
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Attitude: Attitude refers to “affective, cognitive, and
behavioural components that correspond, respectively
to one’s evaluations of knowledge of, and
predisposition, to act toward the object of the attitude”.
(Wagner, 1969). In this study attitude of secondary
school teachers refers to the sum total of teacher’s
inclinations and feelings, prejudice or bias, pre-
concerned notions and convictions about CALL
especially in teaching of English at secondary school
level.
CALL: CALL is an acronym of Computer Assisted
Language Learning. CALL is a growing field in ILT
(information and learning Technology) with wide
selections of applications, reference works, and study
and research tools, available as well as plenty of
applications targeted at specific English Language
exams.
METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF
The present study is a Normative Survey study
that is intended to collect data regarding the attitude
of high school English teachers towards CALL
strategy in teaching English. The population of the
study was the secondary school English teachers of
Kollam district.
Schools were selected by using lottery method
for the study. 8 Government and 8 Private schools
were selected. Total institutions selected by stratified
random sampling method in which Total 75 teachers
from different region of Kollam district were
participated in this survey.
A self constructed attitude scale which was
standardised by the researcher was used for the
study. There are 24 items in which 12 are positive
and 12 are negative. It was a five point attitude scale.
In this study, the researcher used
descriptive statistical measures to compare the
Contemporary Researches in Education 75

attitude of secondary school English teachers teachers based on medium and type of
towards the use of CALL in teaching of English. A management.
t-test procedure was used to test the differences
among the attitude of secondary school English
ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY
Attitude of Govt. and Private Secondary School English Teachers towards the Use of CALL in Teaching
of English
Table 1. Mean and SD of secondary school English teachers’ Attitude

Sample N Mean Percentage SD

Entire sample 100 71.46 71% 4.143
The above table indicates that the attitude attitude towards the use of CALL in teaching of
of secondary school English teachers towards the English.
use of CALL in teaching of English is high. The
Thus the hypothesis, Secondary school English
mean value of secondary school English teachers’
teachers have a positive attitude towards the use of
attitude (71.46%) indicates that there is a high
CALL in teaching of English (H1), is accepted.
Comparison of Attitude of Govt. and Private Secondary School English Teachers towards the Use of
CALL in Teaching of English
Table 2. Computed ‘t’ value of Govt. and private secondary school English teachers

Type of N Mean S.D t-value

Management
Govt. 50
Private 50
Total N:100
In table.1 the mean, standard deviation and
t-value is presented. The mean score for attitude of
English teachers in Govt. school towards CALL in
teaching of English is 41.36 with a standard
deviation 5.58, and mean score of attitude of Private
teachers is 30.50 with a standard deviation 6.61 for
the Attitude Scale. Thus it can be said that the
attitude of Govt. school English teachers towards
the use of CALL in teaching of English is higher
than that of Private school teachers.
The t-value at 0.01 level of significance is
2.58 from table. Here the t-value for the significance
of attitude of English teachers in Govt and Private
school towards CALL in teaching of English is 8.30,
which is greater than the table value. Therefore, the
obtained ‘t’ value is significant at 0.01 level. Hence
the null hypothesis is rejected. It can be said that
there is significant difference in the attitude of
secondary school English teachers towards the use
of CALL in teaching of English of Govt. and Private
schools.
41.36 5.58
30.50 6.61 8.30
FINDINGS
The major finding of the study reveals the
existence of a high positive attitude among the
English teachers towards the use of CALL in
teaching of English in secondary school level.
Among these the attitude of Govt. School teachers
are more stable and reliable compare to teachers of
other institutions.
CONCLUSION
It can be seen that computer technology has
taken its rightful place as an important element of
language learning and teaching today. Future
developments in networked communication,
multimedia and artificial intelligence will likely
converge, creating a potentially more central role for
the computer as a tool for authentic language
exploration and use in the second language
classroom (Warschauer, 2000). CALL brings with it
several potential benefits as a teaching or learning
medium which include self-paced learning and also
self-directed learning.
 76 Contemporary Researches in Education

REFERENCES
Ahluwalia, S.P. Manual for Teacher Attitude Delcloque, P. (2000).History of CALL.Available
Inventory, Agra: National psychological from www.historyofcall.org/
corporation
Jones,C.,& Fortescue,S. (1987). Using Computers in
Ahmad, K., Corbett, G., Rodgers, M.,& Sussex,R. the Language classroom.London:Longman
(1985). Computers, Language Learning and
Kern, R. & Warschauer, M. (2000). Theory and
Language Teaching. Cambridge University
practice of network-based language teaching:
Press, Cambridge.
concepts and practice. New York: Cambridge
Davies, G., (1982). Computers, Language and University Press.
Language Learning.CILT London.
Contemporary Researches in Education
CONTINUOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION AS A TOOL
OF EXAMINATION REFORMS
Dr. R. Vijaya Anuradha
Assistant Professor, Indian College of Education, Opp. to VIT, Katpadi, Vellore.
Abstract
Attitudes, emotions and values are an integral
part of cognitive development of an individual, and
are linked to the development of language, mental
representations, concepts and reasoning. As
children's meta-cognitive capabilities develop, they
become more aware of their own beliefs and
capable of regulating their own learning.
Accordingly, the National Curriculum Framework
(2005) points out the need for plurality and
flexibility within education while maintaining the
standards of education in order to cover a growing
variety of children. It also proposes changes within
the examination system (examinations for classes X
and XII) allowing reasoning and creative abilities
to replace memorisation. Even though, the
programmes of examination reform in India have
made considerable progress, we have still a long
way to go. In present education system, teachers,
instead of assisting learning, spend most of their
time assessing learning. Instead of enabling and
equipping students to learn, schools have taken on
the function of examining and screening out on the
basis of those examinations. So, the need of the
hour is to make possible changes in the education
system as a whole and evaluation system in
particular.
Keeping all this in mind and to reform the
existing examination system at school level,
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
is a term currently being used in the context of
educational reforms, particularly reforms in
assessment and evaluation. The Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) had introduced and
implemented CCE in primary classes (I to V) doing
away with the terminal examinations in the year
2004 and decided to extend CCE to classes VI to
VIII in 2006. India’s then HRD Minister, Mr. Kapil
Sibal introduced CCE methodology for CBSE
schools while making Class X board examinations
optional in 2008, but it took almost a year to get
rolled out, and was actually implemented from
September 2009 for students in IX standard and
extended to class X while making board exams
optional in 2010. Several other school boards are
77
now emphasising the importance of CCE and have
taken measures to implement it with the
cooperation of state education departments.
INTRODUCTION
Examinations have been proverbially
described as the bane of our educational system.
Successive commissions and committees on
education have emphasised the need for
examination reform and suggested specific
measures towards this end. The University
Education Commission (1948) went so far as to
say: "We are convinced that if we are to suggest
any single reform in university education, it would
be that of examinations." (p. 328.) The Mudaliar
Commission on Secondary Education (1952-53)
also recognised the lack of validity, reliability and
objectivity in examinations. Much was not,
however, done to remove the defects of the
examination system until 1958 when the erstwhile
All-India Council for Secondary Education which
had always recognised the importance of improving
examinations as a means of improving the quality
of education, set up the Central Examination Unit
to organise programmes of examination reform at
the secondary stage. With the establishment of the
National Council of Educational Research and
Training, the Central Examination Unit along with
the All-India Council for Secondary Education
became its part and has, ever since, been working
vigorously to refine and improve examinations.
Efforts have been mainly concentrated at the stage
of secondary education, although some work has
also been taken up at other stages of education.
Under the Constitution of India, education
was a state matter until 1976. The central
government could only provide guidance to the
states on policy issues. In 1976 the constitution was
amended to include education on the concurrent
list. The central and the state governments have
joint responsibility for education, with freedom for
the state governments to organise education within
the national framework of education. Educational
policy planning is under the overall charge of the
central Ministry of Human Resource Development
which includes the Department of Elementary
 78
Education and Literacy and the Department of
Secondary and Higher Education. The Ministry is
guided by the Central Advisory Board of Education
(CABE) which is the national level advisory body.
The education ministers of all the different states
are members of the board. The National Council of
Education Research and Training (NCERT) defines
the National Framework for Curriculum for classes
I - XII. It also functions as a resource centre in the
field of school development and teacher education.
State Councils of Educational Research and
Training (SCERT) are the principal research and
development institutions in all the states. At
secondary level, school boards at state level
affiliated schools have set examination standards in
accordance with the national framework. The
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE),
established by a special resolution of the
Government of India in 1929, prescribes
examination conditions and the conduct of public
examinations at the end of Standard X and XII. The
CBSE and Council for Indian School Certificate
Examinations (CISCE) cover all India besides the
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
According to the Kothari Commission
(1964–66), education was intended to increase
productivity, develop social and national unity,
consolidate democracy, modernize the country and
develop social, moral and spiritual values. To
achieve this, the main pillar of Indian education
policy was to be free and compulsory education for
all children up to the age of 14. Furthermore, there
is no common school system; instead children are
channelled into private, government-aided and
government schools on the basis of ability to pay
and social class. At the top end are English-
language schools affiliated to the upscale CBSE
(Central Board of Secondary Education), CISCE
(Council for the Indian Schools Certificates
Examination) and IB (International Baccalaureate)
examination boards, offering globally recognized
syllabi and curricula. Those who cannot afford
private schooling attend English/language
government/aided schools, affiliated to state-level
examination boards. And on the bottom rung are
poorly managed government or municipal schools,
which cater for the children of the poor majority.
The initial attempts of designing a
National Education Policy were made in 1968 but it
was only in 1986 that India as a whole had a
uniform National Policy on Education. The
National Policy on Education 1986, modified in
Contemporary Researches in Education
1992, defines the major goals for elementary
education as universal access and enrolment,
universal retention of children up to 14 years and
substantial improvement in the quality of education.
BACKDROP OF EXAMINATION REFORMS
After India became an independent nation,
the University Education Commission (1948) was
equivocal in its criticism of examinations, stating
that, if members were asked to make just one
recommendation for reforming education, they
would identify the area of examinations as the one
where greatest priority and urgency for introducing
reforms should be applied. Even before this, the
Calcutta University Commission (1917-19) also
identified several shortcomings in the examination
system and specifically indicated its unhappiness
about alternative questions, the mechanical system
of marking, grace marks, frequency of
examinations, and so on.
In 1948, the United Provinces (nowadays
Uttar Pradesh) Government appointed a Committee
on the Reorganization of Primary and Secondary
Education. In the same year, a Committee on the
Reorganization of Secondary Education was also
appointed by the Government of Central Provinces
and Berar. Both committees deliberated on the
problems of examinations in the context of
education and suggested immediate action for
reforming them. Soon afterwards, a Secondary
Education Reorganization Committee (1953) was
appointed in Uttar Pradesh. This committee made
the positive suggestions that external examinations
might be replaced by an assessment made by the
teacher, and that continuous evaluation could be the
main basis for a final assessment of a student. We
are still working to forward these aims (Srivastava,
1979). The Secondary Education Commission,
popularly known as the Mudaliar Commission
(1952-53, p. 237), made the following specific
recommendations with regard to examination
reforms:
1. The number of external examinations should be
reduced, and the element of subjectivity in the
essay-type tests should be minimized by
introducing objective tests and also by changing the
type of question.
2. In order to assess the pupil's all-round progress
and to determine his future, a proper system of
school records should be maintained for every
pupil. These would indicate the work done by him
Contemporary Researches in Education
during successive periods, and his attainments in
each of the different spheres.
3. In the final assessment of the pupils, due credit
should be given to the 'internal' (in-school) tests and
the school records of the pupils.
4. A system of symbolic rather than numerical
marking should be adopted for evaluating and
grading the work of the pupils in external and
internal examinations, and in maintaining the
school records.
5. There should be only one public examination at
the completion of the secondary school course.
6. The certificate awarded should contain, besides
the results of the public examination in different
subjects, results of the school tests in subjects not
included in the public examination; as well as the
gist of the school records.
7. The final public examination should be
transformed into a system of compartmental
examinations. These were conceived as
supplementary to the main public examination.
They provided an opportunity for students who had
secured the minimum qualifying marks in most
subjects, but had failed in one or two subjects by a
small margin, to retake the examinations in the
deficient subjects.
Further, Kothari Commission (1964)
established by the Government of India was
different from the earlier ones as its terms of
reference extended to all stages of education. It
could, therefore, study India's education system as a
whole and, inter alia, give concrete
recommendations on examination reforms for all
stages of education – the new approach to
evaluation will attempt: (a) to improve the written
examination so that it becomes a valid and reliable
measure of educational achievement; and (b) to
devise techniques for measuring those important
aspects of the student's growth that cannot be
measured by written examinations. Internal
assessment by the schools should be comprehensive
enough to evaluate all aspects of student growth,
including those not measured by the external
examinations. It should be descriptive as well as
quantified. Written examinations conducted by
schools should be improved, and teachers trained
appropriately. The internal assessment should be
shown separately from the external examination
marks.
79
Assessment of students’ learning has
always been an important concern, featuring
centrally in almost all policy documents.
Committees and policies such as the Kothari
Commission 1966 and the National Policy on
Education (NPE- MHRD, 1986) have in the past
outlined the futility of an examination system that
caused stress for students and essentially tested
their ability to rote memorise the content of
prescribed textbooks. In a study prepared for the
International Educational Reporting Service on
Experiments and innovations in Education:
Examination Reforms in India for International
Bureau of Education, Srivastava (1979) urged that -
Continuous evaluation of the development
of the pupils in all aspects should be a regular
procedure. In fact, there should not be any pass or
fail in any examination. What is important is to use
evaluation for the furtherance of learning. School's
cumulative assessment in each subject/unit should
be placed on record and given to each student. A
record of such assessment should cover both
scholastic and non-scholastic areas, and be without
any aggregate. Thus, there should be no pass or fail
in the final school-leaving certificate. This
certificate should give only the letter grades (A, B ,
C , D , E . . . ) of each student in the school.
Gradually, as the system of internal assessment
takes root and a system of checking any biases
(which lower standards) is evolved, the external
public examination at the end of class X will
become redundant and can be abolished. It would
be necessary for each board/state to evolve a phased
programme in order to accomplish this.
Learning without Burden, popularly
known as the Yashpal Committee Report
(Department of Education, 1993) pointed out ways
in which a skewed examination system aggravated
the academic load on school children, burdened as
they already were with the incomprehensibility and
joylessness of learning situations that the formal
schools placed them in. This not only converted
testing into a screening device for eliminating
students but also made it textbook-centric. It took
away teachers’ autonomy in assessing students,
placing them instead in the hands of anonymous
examiners.
Attitudes, emotions and values are an
integral part of cognitive development of an
individual, and are linked to the development of
language, mental representations, concepts and
 80
reasoning. As children's meta-cognitive capabilities
develop, they become more aware of their own
beliefs and capable of regulating their own learning.
Accordingly, National Curriculum Framework -
2005 (NCF-05) proposing Examination Reforms
has stated -
"Indeed, Boards should consider, as a long-term
measure, making the Class X examination optional,
thus permitting students continuing in the same
school (and who do not need a Board certificate) to
take an internal school examination instead".
Further, The National Curriculum
Framework (2005) points out the need for plurality
and flexibility within education while maintaining
the standards of education in order to cover a
growing variety of children. The Framework
recommends that learning shifts away from rote
methods and that the curriculum reduces and
updates textbooks. It also proposes changes within
the examination system (examinations for classes X
and XII) allowing reasoning and creative abilities to
replace memorisation.
The more recent National Council of
Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
position paper on examination reforms (2005) also
criticised the short comings of the present system of
examination, particularly the boards. It further
noted that besides failing to test higher-order skills
like reasoning and analysis, the system was
inflexible and unjust and did not make any
allowance for different types of learners and
learning environments. Prominent among these
shortcomings are: emphasis on memorization;
subjectivity; poor content coverage; and
administrative shortcomings. Until quite recently
memorization occupied a dominant place in all
written examinations, which almost completely
overlooked the testing, of higher objectives like
understanding, and the application of knowledge
and skills. This, in turn, reflected very badly on the
instructional programmes where the development
of these higher abilities on the part of the students
was also invariably overlooked. Whatever their
limitations may be, examinations have come to
occupy a very dominant position in our education
system. The modern reform point of view asserts
that they should, as a part of sound educational
strategy, be wisely employed to bring about
qualitative improvements in education.
Changes in evaluation practices imply
concurrent changes in courses and their objectives,
Contemporary Researches in Education
instructional methodology, textbooks and other
teaching aids, and teacher training (both pre-service
and in-service). Even though, the programmes of
examination reform in India have made
considerable progress, so that significant
improvements in the practices and procedures of
conducting examinations are visible, we have still a
long way to go.
According to the National Focus Group on
Examination Reforms constituted by NCERT
(2005), school-based Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system be
established in order to (i) reduce stress on children,
(ii) make evaluation comprehensive and regular,
(iii) provide space for the teacher for creative
teaching, (iv) provide a tool for diagnosis and for
producing learners with greater skills. The CCE
scheme should be simple, flexible, and
implementable in any type of school from the elite
one to a school located in rural or tribal areas.
Keeping in view the broad principles of the scheme,
each school should evolve a simple suitable scheme
involving its teachers, and owned by the teachers. It
is a very well known fact that the evaluation
practices carried out in schools aim to measure the
knowledge and understanding outcomes of learners,
neglecting the evaluation of skills and higher
mental abilities.
ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
Educators use two distinct processes to
help students build lifelong learning skills:
assessment and evaluation. There is a lot of
confusion over these two terms as well as other
terms associated with assessment, testing, and
evaluation. Assessment and evaluation both have
their purposes, and, when used correctly, both can
add significant value to teaching/learning.
Assessment provides feedback on knowledge,
skills, attitudes, and work products for the purpose
of elevating future performances and learning
outcomes. Evaluation determines the level of
quality of a performance or outcome and enables
decision-making based on the level of quality
demonstrated. These two processes are
complementary and necessary in education.
As accrediting agencies have become
increasingly interested in improvement, it has
become imperative to have a word that describes
feedback for improvement that is distinct from one
that describes the determination of quality. To add
another layer of confusion from the literature, the
Contemporary Researches in Education
word “formative” has typically been used to
describe an improvement process, while the word
“summative” has been used to describe a decision-
making process (Brown, Race, & Smith, 1996). In
the literature of the last several years, assessment
has usually been used to indicate that at least some
hint of improvement is expected in the assessment
process (Bordon & Owens, 2001; Palomba &
Banta, 1999). Similarly, evaluation is usually used
to indicate that some sort of judgment of quality
will be made.
Assessment is the term used to look at how
the level of quality of a performance or outcome
could be improved in the future; it includes
strengths that should be sustained as well as high
priority areas for improvement. The assessment
process is not concerned with the level of quality;
only with how to improve the level of quality.
Evaluation is the term used to describe the
determination of the level of quality. The evaluation
process focuses only on the actual level of quality
with no interest in why that level was attained.
Educational evaluation is a process of estimating
and appraising the degree and dimension of
students' achievements. The main purpose of
evaluation is to see how far the set objectives have
been achieved through the curriculum. This process
is naturally related to the learning experiences and
methods of teaching that must have been used.
Although assessment and evaluation are
used for different reasons, they do have some
similar steps. Both involve specifying criteria to
observe in a performance or outcome. Both require
the collection of data and other evidence by
observing the performance or by looking at the
outcome or product. Both require a performer and a
person who collects information about the
performance. Both processes also conclude with a
report of the findings which include all the
similarities and at least as many differences. The
relationship between the people involved is
different in the assessment and evaluation
processes. In both cases a person observes or
collects evidence about a performance or outcome;
another person performs or develops an outcome. In
assessment, the locus of control rests with the
performer; in evaluation, it rests with the observer.
In the assessment process, the report includes
information about why the performance was as
strong as it was, and describes what could be done
to improve future performances. In assessment,
there is no mention of the actual quality of the
81
performance; only how to make the next
performance stronger. There is no language
indicating the level of quality, such as ‘good’,
‘bad’, ‘worse’, or ‘horrible’. Conversely, in the
evaluative report, only information regarding the
actual quality of the performance is given. This
might be in the form of a grade or a score or an
evaluative comment, such as “good work.” The
purpose of the evaluative report is to report the
level of quality and possibly any consequences
based on the determined level of quality. It is not
used to suggest improvements in future
performances.
PLACE OF EVALUATION IN THE
CURRICULUM
A curriculum is what constitutes a total
teaching-learning program composed of overall
aims, syllabus, materials, methods and assessment.
In short, it provides a framework of knowledge and
capabilities, seen as appropriate to a particular
level. The syllabus provides a statement of purpose,
means and standards against which one can check
the effectiveness of the program and the progress
made by the learners. Evaluation not only measures
the progress and achievement of the learners but
also the effectiveness of the teaching materials and
methods used for transaction. Hence evaluation
should be viewed as a component of curriculum
with the twin purpose of effective delivery &
further improvement in the teaching– learning
process & also;
 Should help students grow as social beings
and thus save them from unnecessary pain,
anxiety, harassment and humiliation.
 Should develop the requisite healthy
attributes among the students.
 Should be consistent with its purpose and
should provide a reliable and valid
measure for students’ performance.
 Should reflect the outcomes of each
learning intervention and
would provide all the students the same op
portunity to display their individual potenti
als.
 Should be built in with the teaching-
learning process and thus will be carried
out during the entire period of education.
 82
 Should take into account both the
background and the prior experiences of
students.
 Alternative evaluation procedures should
be used for students with special needs
making it humane, learner friendly and
flexible.
 Procedures for grading and their reporting
will be appropriate and easily understood
by one and all.
 Should restore faith and trust of masses by
ensuring transparency in the procedures.
NEED FOR REFORMS IN THE
EVALUATION SYSTEM
In present education system, teachers, instead
of assisting learning, spend most of their time
assessing learning. Instead of enabling and
equipping students to learn, schools have taken on
the function of examining and screening out on the
basis of those examinations. So, the need of the
hour is to make possible changes in the education
system as a whole and evaluation system in
particular. Because-
 The examination system usually call for
rote memorization and fail to test higher-
order skills like reasoning and analysis, let
alone lateral thinking, creativity, and
judgment.
 They induce an inordinate level of anxiety
and stress among students as well as
parents. In addition to widespread trauma,
there are a growing number of exam-
induced suicides and nervous breakdowns.
 There is need for a functional and reliable
system of school-based evaluation.
 They are just marks oriented and not
knowledge and skills based.
As the National Advisory Committee (1993) on
‘Learning Without Burden’ opined: Board
examinations, taken at the end of Class X and Class
XII, have remained rigid, bureaucratic, and
essentially uneducative… and mainly a source of
awe because of the amount of information they
demand in a manner ready for instant recall.
While the need for meaningful
examination reforms can hardly be under stated, it
is important to exercise caution in proposing
reforms and in understanding their potential, both in
Contemporary Researches in Education
terms of addressing the malaise associated with the
existing examination system and implications for
facilitating and enriching the equitable teaching-
learning processes in classrooms.
At the moment, India is at a crucial
juncture with education having been made a
fundamental right for all children in the age group
6-14 years [Right to Education Act (RtE), Ministry
of Human Resource Development or MHRD,
2009]. Concerns are simultaneously being
expressed about providing uniform good quality
educational experiences to all children, irrespective
of their socio- economic and cultural backgrounds.
The Indian school education system has often been
subjected to severe criticism, ranging from its
inequitable and hierarchical nature to the poor
quality educational experiences that children go
through in its classrooms. Among the several
limitations pointed out, the nature and manner in
which students’ learning is examined has also been
a central and repeated concern of educationists,
policymakers, teachers and parents alike (Disha
Nawani, 2013).
Keeping all this in mind and to reform the
existing examination system at school level,
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
is a term currently being used in the context of
educational reforms, particularly reforms in
assessment and evaluation. The Central Board of
Secondary Education (CBSE) had introduced and
implemented CCE in primary classes (I to V) doing
away with the terminal examinations in the year
2004 and decided to extend CCE to classes VI to
VIII in 2006. India’s then HRD Minister, Mr. Kapil
Sibal introduced CCE methodology for CBSE
schools while making Class X board examinations
optional in 2008, but it took almost a year to get
rolled out, and was actually implemented from
September 2009 for students in IX standard and
extended to class X while making board exams
optional in 2010. Several other school boards are
now emphasising the importance of CCE and have
taken measures to implement it with the
cooperation of state education departments.
OBJECTIVES OF CONTINUOUS AND
COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION (CCE)
The CBSE Manual (2010) in one of its appended
circulars asserts that - the objective of this exercise
is to shift the focus of academic activities towards
enrichment of the total personality of the learners
and to facilitate learners to address the various
Contemporary Researches in Education
facets of learning encompassing the cognitive,
affective and psychomotor domains. Overemphasis
on examination marks that focus on only the
scholastic aspects in turn makes students assume
that assessment is different from learning, resulting
in ‘learn and forget’ syndrome. Besides
encouraging unhealthy competition, it also
produces enormous stress and anxiety among the
learners. The multiple modes of assessment
proposed are supposed to reduce the emphasis on
recall-type questions and enhance emphasis on
questions which test higher order thinking skills of
students. Further -
 Encourage development of cognitive skills
and de-emphasize rote learning
 Make the entire education process a
student-centric activity
 Help develop cognitive, psychomotor and
interpersonal skills
 Make holistic evaluation an integral part of
entire education process
 Improve student's accomplishments
through regular diagnostics and remedial
instructions
 Use evaluation to control quality and
maintain desired performance
 Take decisions about the learner, learning
process and learning environment by
determining social utility, desirability &
effectiveness of the programme
PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS AND
COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION
CCE refers to a system of school-based
evaluation of a student that covers all aspects of a
student development. It was designed to reduce the
student stress related to board exams, and to
introduce a uniform and comprehensive pattern for
student evaluation across the country. It is a
developmental process of student which emphasises
on two- fold objectives: (a) Continuity in
Evaluation and (b) Assessment of broad based
learning and behavioural outcomes on the other.
Clearly, it attempts to shift emphasis from ‘testing’
to ‘holistic learning’ with an aim of creating young
adults, possessing appropriate skills and desirable
qualities in addition to academic excellence. There
is also an implication that an assessment of this
kind is not only about assessing learning as an end
83
in itself, but also as a means for improving
teaching-learning processes in schools and assisting
students to optimally develop their potential in both
scholastic and co-scholastic domains.
CCE has scholastic and co-scholastic
activities. The scholastic domains are to be assessed
on a five-point scale, grades for which vary from A
(9.1 to 10) to E (0 to 1.0). Assessment in Scholastic
areas is done informally and formally using
multiple techniques of evaluation continually and
periodically. There are 2 types of Assessments, in
an academic year, to test the Scholastic areas:
Formative Assessment (FA) and Summative
Assessment (SA). Formative assessments (FA) and
summative assessments (SA) are to be used for
assessing the scholastic components.
Formative Assessment is carried out as a part of
the instruction methodology and provides
continuous feedback to both the teachers and the
learners. It comprises of assignments, quizzes,
projects, debates, elocution, group discussion, Class
work, Homework, Oral questions, etc. Main
features of Formative Assessment are (CBSE,
2010)-
 It is diagnostic and remedial
 It makes the provision for effective
feedback
 It provides a platform for the active
involvement of students in their own
learning process
 It enables teachers to adjust teaching to
take account of the results of the
assessment and to incorporate varied
learning styles in deciding what and how
to teach
 It recognizes the influence of the
assessment on the motivation and self-
esteem of students
 It offers an opportunity to the students to
improve their performance post the
feedback is given
Summative Assessment is carried out at the end of
a term. It measures how much a student has learnt
from the course and is usually a graded test i.e.
Examination. SA might not be able to yield a valid
measure of the growth and development of the
child. It might only certify the level of achievement
only at a given point of time. An academic year is
 84 Contemporary Researches in Education

divided into 2 terms and in each term there will be Performing Arts, Leadership &
2 FAs & 1 SA and weightage is allotted to each in Organization Skills etc.
the following manner: FA1 and FA2 carries 10%
each in Term1 & Term2 and 40% in Final  Health and Physical Education, that
Assessment, while SA1 and SA2 carries 30% each includes areas like Sports, NCC,
in Term1 & Term2 and 60% in the Final SA. Gardening etc.
Therefore, Continuous and Comprehensive Each of these domains has descriptive
Evaluation is designed to measure continuous indicators against which the students are to be
assessment in the form of Formative Assessment, continuously observed and allotted marks. An
along with the Summative Assessment. average then needs to be calculated by dividing the
The co-scholastic domains are to be assessed total score obtained by a student by the number of
on a five-point scale, grades for which vary from items in that component. Finally, the average score
A1-(91-100) through E2- (0-20). Co-Scholastic in each domain is to be converted into its
areas of evaluation include- corresponding grade (CBSE, 2010). The role and
importance of Co-scholastic areas of evaluation has
 Life Skills i.e. Thinking, Social & been further emphasized by an up-gradation policy
Emotional Skills of CBSE that allows students to upgrade their
Scholastic grades depending on performance in co-
 Attitude & Values i.e. towards Teachers, scholastic areas.
School-mates, School Programmes ,
Environment and the Value System CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM OF
EVALUATION VS CCE
 Co-curricular Activities which are further
divided into activities like - Literary &
Creative Skills, Scientific Skills, Visual &
Conventional System of Evaluation Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
Focuses only on the end term a) Focuses equally on both scholastic and co-scholastic areas of
examination and evaluates only development of the students, thus taking into account the holistic
Scholastic aspects of education development of the students
b) Evaluates students continuously at regular time intervals on small
portions of content which helps teachers in employing a variety of
remedial measures of teaching based on learning needs and student
potential
Declares results of the students as “pass” a) Shifts the focus of the education community from marks to grades
or “fail” on the basis of their marks thereby reducing pressure, of getting “good marks”, on students from
leading to undesirable competition among their parents and teachers
students b) Prevents cut-throat competition among the students
 It is an evolving methodology which
implies teachers need to be continually
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTING CCE
educated to ensure that they are equipped
CCE implemented in a hurry, thus teachers are still with necessary knowledge and skills
very much on the starting block in terms of
comprehension and adoption of CCE.  Due to hasty implementation of CCE
students are facing increased stress and
 The success of CCE is largely hinged on pressure in the form of project work
the adoption of the model by the teachers
 Implementation ambiguity at teacher’s
 So far, our teachers have been conditioned level has resulted into an overdose of
to the traditional system of evaluation and project work for students, resulting in
will take time to understand, apply and lesser time for self study.
realize the value of the CCE
 A typical report card runs into 6-7 pages
Contemporary Researches in Education
 Manual generation of report cards can take
more time
 Although the entire process of student
evaluation is decentralized, CBSE holds
control on issuing the final certificate of
assessment to Class X students which
requires schools to send student’s
performance data for Classes IX & X
electronically to the board at the end of the
academic session that further calls for
maintenance of performance data in
different formats by the school, resulting
in duplication of effort Result is increased
stress for teachers
 No uniform model of recording the
assessment has been followed anywhere so
far
 Personal attention for the students by the
teachers, which is important for the
success of CCE, is not possible in many
schools as the student-teacher ratio is
widely skewed, ranging from 40 to 60,
thus resulting in ‘efficiency and
effectiveness’ related issues
 The CCE scheme does create the
additional pressure of constantly requiring
teachers to be on the lookout for those
proposed indicators against which relevant
information on students has to be collected
and the extra task of filling up those
elaborate formats.
The entire CCE evaluative framework is
quite exhaustive and elaborate. The various steps
outlined for assessing the co-scholastic aspects of a
student by teachers include identifying qualities,
specifying behaviours/indicators, collecting
evidence, recording, analysing, reporting,
converting marks into grades, averaging them and
finally putting them in a report card. Teachers are
expected to keep a “watchful eye” (CBSE, 2010,
43) on their students and record any significant
behaviour that may shed light on the various
descriptors under different domains. Very clearly,
all this has implications for not just the workload of
teachers but also their perceived role as skilled
technicians capable of implementing the
reformatory scheme with finesse.
85
IMPACT OF CCE
Dramatic increase in record keeping and
documentation duties is a common lament of
teachers of CBSE schools countrywide. Under
CCE’s formative assessment which covers
evaluation of non-scholastic attainments, teachers
have to maintain assessment sheets on each
student’s co-curricular and extra-curricular
activities as well as records in the form of anecdotes
or achievements for proof of life skills, team work
and attitudes towards teachers and peers. According
to Joshi (2013), the difference in standards of
schools, roadblocks in communication with
stakeholders and diversity of socio-economic
backgrounds has been the biggest challenge in
implementing CCE. The results of the research
study of Singhal (2012) revealed that currently the
perception of government school teachers about
CCE is average which indicates moderate
acceptability of CCE by the teachers. The teachers
are not adequately prepared for the effective
execution of CCE in government schools. Further,
the study of Rao (2001) revealed that the large
number of students in the classes, lack of
appropriate training, inadequate infrastructure and
teaching materials and increased volume of work
act as barriers in smooth execution of CCE. Lack of
seriousness among the students towards academics
was also reported as a serious concern of the
teachers (Anuradha, 2014a).
Since implementation of CCE in CBSE
schools countrywide, there’s been a steady increase
in the number of students clearing the class X board
examination, and an unprecedented rise in the
number of 90-plus percenters. In the very first year
of CCE in 2011, the percentage of students passing
CBSE’s class X exam rose to 98.6 percent (91.1
percent in 2010), with the number of students
averaging 90 percent-plus recording an all-time
high. Of the 1 million students countrywide
certified by CBSE in 2011, 3.8 percent (38,377)
scored a perfect cumulative grade point average
(CGPA) of 10 (91-100 percent) and 76,900 students
got perfect CGPA of 10 this year i.e. 2014.
Assessment liberalisation has clearly set in. The
national pass percentage in the CBSE class X exam
of 2012 rose to 98.19 percent and 98.94 in 2013.
CCE has prompted grades inflation. In many
schools marks are given liberally or tests made
simple to boost institutional reputation. Also after
the introduction of CCE, academic syllabuses have
 86
been diluted especially for science subjects, and
standards have fallen.
Some CBSE officials admit that the
implementation of CCE in the board’s affiliated
schools is far from satisfactory. For instance, in the
first-ever internal study (2013) of proof of
assessments submitted by schools, CBSE found
only 31.57 percent of schools following CCE “in
letter and spirit”. The board had asked 5,000
randomly selected schools to show the evidence of
assessments they made for the first term of the
2012-13 academic year. After examining the
evidence for over a month, CBSE found most
schools had turned the formative assessment under
which teachers are advised to evaluate student
performance through assessment of project work
and practical’s rather than paper-pencil tests, into
just ‘another test’. While 31.57 percent of schools
were categorised as ‘good’ for having successfully
implemented CCE, nearly half were rated
‘average’. According to the feedback report
prepared by the board, 18.28 percent of schools
needed to radically improve existing CCE practices.
CONCLUSION
The Implementation of CCE is a curricular
initiative, attempting to shift emphasis from
memorizing to holistic learning. It aims at creating
citizens possessing sound values, appropriate skills
and desirable qualities besides academic excellence.
It is hoped that this will equip the learners to meet
the challenges of life with confidence and success.
It is the task of school based co-scholastic
assessment to focus on holistic development that
will lead to lifelong learning. To make the process
more comprehensive in nature, it is important that
assessment of learning be done in a wider range of
situations and environments both in and out of the
classroom. The assessment process should provide
information and feedback on the extent to which the
school and teachers have been successful in
realizing the expected outcomes of education.
Before looking at how assessment is to be
undertaken, teachers need to determine objectives
for achievement at various levels. They need to
look at what education should develop in children,
not only in cognitive domain, but also psychomotor
and affective domains. Along with these attributes,
they need to incorporate different age related
indices and behaviours into the assessment criteria
and practices. They also need to determine what
their expectations are from the learner at the end of
Contemporary Researches in Education
each stage, and what kind of profile report is
required in relation to different aspects and learning
areas, that reflect the child's personal development.
Indian schools need reasonable teacher-
student ratios and changes in the nature of the
teacher-student relationship, from an unequal,
hierarchical relationship to that of co-participants in
a joint process of knowledge construction. So also
the creation of adequate resources and opportunities
in schools for the development of the multiple
facets of students’ personalities, involving students
and parents both in understanding the aims of
assessments and ways of achieving it. It is critical
to resist the tendency to use assessment results for
multiple purposes, especially as a tool to evaluate
teachers and schools. Most importantly, the key is
not simply training teachers to implement the
framework, but empowering them by involving
them in all aspects related to teaching, learning and
assessing and having a realistic understanding of
the conditions under which they work.
REFERENCES
Anuradha, R.V. (2014a). Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation: Certain Issues,
Educational Extracts, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pp. 65-79.
Borden, V., & Zak Owens, J. L. (2001). Measuring
quality: Choosing among surveys and other
assessment of college quality. Washington, DC:
American Council on Education and Florida
State University—Association for Institutional
Research.
Brown, S., Race, P., & Smith, B. (1996). 500 tips
on assessment. London: Kogan Page.
CBSE (2010). “Continuous and Comprehensive
Evaluation: Manual for Teachers, Classes VI to
VIII”, CBSE, New Delhi
Disha Nawani (2013, Jan. 12). Continuously and
Comprehensively Evaluating Children,
Economic & Political Weekly, Vol.XLVIII, No.
2.
Government of India (1993). Learning without
Burden. Report of the National Advisory
Committee appointed by the Ministry of Human
Resource Development, Department of
Education, New Delhi. p .17.
Government of India. Report of the Calcutta
University Commission (1917-19). Vol. I, II, V,
Contemporary Researches in Education
VI, VII, X. Calcutta, Superintendent,
Government Printing, India, 1919.
Government of India. Report of the Education
Commission (1964-66)—Education and
National Development. Delhi, Manager of
Publications, 1966.
Government of India. Report of the Secondary
Education Commission (1952-53). Delhi,
Manager of Publications, 1954.
Government of India. Report of the University
Education Commission (1948-49). Vol. I, II and
Part I. Delhi, Manager of Publications, 1949.
Joshi, S. (2013). An interview with Times of India
dated 31st May, 2013.
MHRD (1986). National Policy on Education, New
Delhi: MHRD.
MHRD (2009). The Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act 2009, New Delhi:
MHRD.
National Council of Educational Research and
Training - NCERT (1998): National Curriculum
Framework for Elementary and Secondary
Education – 1998, Publication Division,
NCERT, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi.
National Council of Educational Research and
Training (2000): National Curriculum
Framework for School Education – 2000,
Publication Division, NCERT, Sri Aurobindo
Marg, New Delhi.
87
NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework,
New Delhi: NCERT.
NCERT (2005). National Focus Group on
Examination Reforms, New Delhi: NCERT.
Palomba, C. A., & Banta, T. W. (1999). Assessment
essentials: Planning, implementing, and
improving assessment in higher education. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Rao, Manjula P. (2001): Effectiveness of the
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
Training Programme over the evaluation
practices of Primary School Teachers – A DPEP
Research Study in Tamil Nadu (Report),
Regional Institute of Education, (NCERT),
Mysore.
Singhai, Pooja. (2012). Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation: A Study of
Teachers Perception. Delhi Business Review, 13
(1).
Srivastava, H. S. (1979). Experiments and
innovations in Education: Examination Reforms
in India, A study prepared for the International
Educational Reporting Service, International
Bureau of Education, Asian Series No. 41,
UNESCO: Paris.
Thomas, A. Angelo and Patricia Cross, K. (1993).
Classroom Assessment Techniques: A
Handbook for College Teachers, Jossey-Bass,
2nd Edition.
 88
CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH IN EDUCATION: FOCUS ON
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Dr. Prasamita Mohanty
Director, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, BBAU, Lucknow
INTRODUCTION
In the field of education, neither the
treatment nor the ability to manipulate the condition
is conducive to an experiment. Thus researcher
prefers to conduct correlational research to study
the relationship between two or more variables or to
predict an outcome. Correlational Research
concerned with determining the extent of
relationship existing between the variables. The
magnitude of relationship is determined through the
use of co-efficient of correlation. In correlation
Research, the investigators use the correlation
statistical test to describe and measure the degree of
relationship between two or more variables or sets
of scores. In this research, the researcher do not
attempt to control or manipulate the variables as an
experiment, instead they relate and using the
correlation statistics.
When do we use Correlational Research?
When two or more variables influence
each other such as relationship between Academic
Achievement and Adjustment. This type of research
predict an outcome such as inter student
relationship, teacher- student relationship,
classroom adjustment and academic achievement
influence student achievement. Researcher can
apply statistical technique by calculating
Correlation test.
How did Correlational Research Develop?
The origin of correlational research
developed by Statistician in the late 19th
Century(Cowles,1989). Although British
Biometrician articulated the basic ideas of “co-
relation” during the last half of 1800s.Pearson used
illustrations from Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
and Sir Francis Galton’s ideas on heredity for
experiment the concept of correlation. In1897, Yule
(Pearson’s student) developed solutions for
correlating two, three and four variables. In 1904,
Spearman published ideas about a correlation
matrix to display the coefficients. Fisher (1935)
pioneered significance testing and ANOVA,
important statistical ideas for studying the
difference between observed and predicted scores
Contemporary Researches in Education
in correlational analysis. It was not until1963 that
Campbell and Stanley provided new impetus to
correlational research. In using correlational
research, they encouraged researchers to both
recognize and specify the extensive threats to
validity inherent in this form of research.
During 1970 and 1980 with the advent of
computers, improved knowledge about
measurement scales and the need to study complex
associations among many variables, quantitative
researchers initiated correlational studies.Instead of
the physical control available to experimental
researchers through techniques such as
randomization and matching, correlational
researchers sought control through statistical
procedures. With computers, they could statistically
remove the effect of a large no. of variables to
examine the relationship among a small set of
variables. They could explore the combination of
variables(e.g.,age,gender and SAT Scores) and an
outcome. From simple regression- the analysis of
the variability of a single dependent variable by a
single independent variable- the technique of using
multicle regression to analyze the collective and
separate effects of two or more independent
variables on a dependent variable emerged.
BASES OF CORRELATIONAL STUDY
Correlation Matrix:
The correlation study is relatively easy to design
and conduct. It collects two or more sets of
measurement and prepare correlation matrix. A
correlation matrix presents a visual display of the
correlation coefficient for all variables in a study. In
this display, all variables listed in both horizontal
and vertical column in the table. When interpreting
the score it is important to identify the direction
whether move in same or opposite direction. The
direction of relationship may be positive or
negative; the degree of relationship may be vary
from perfect to high, to average, to no relationship;
the relationship may be linear or curvilinear. When
low score of one variable relate to the low score on
a second variable then positive linear relationship
exists. When low score in one variable relate to
Contemporary Researches in Education 89

high scores on the other variable then negative 5.Tetrachoric The characteristic of both
linear relationship exists. When a particular score of variables are expressed in
one variable does not predict any information about nominal scale, artificial
the possible score on other variable then nonlinear dichotomy used with both
relationship exists. variables and both the
Degree of Correlation: variables have continuous
distributions
The degree of correlation means the association
between two variables or sets of scores is a 6.Phi-coefficient The characteristic of both
variables are expressed in
correlation coefficient of -1.00 to +1.00 indicating
nominal scale and genuine
no linear association. This association between two
dichotomy used with both
sets of scores reflects whether there is consistent,
predictable association between the scores. variables.
According to Cohen and Manion (1994) the table of 7.Contingency Both the variables are
correlation coefficient interprets: Coefficient classified into two or more
categories and the
 .20-.35: When correlations range from .20 characteristic of both
to .35, there is only a slight relationship. variables are expressed in
This relationship may be slightly nominal scale
statistical significant but little value in
prediction studies. STEPS IN CONDUCTING CORRELATIONAL
 .35-.65: When correlation are above .3 STUDY
they are useful for limited prediction
1. Determine the Research Problem
 .66-.85: When correlation falls into this
category, good prediction can result from A correlational study is used when a need
one variable to the other. Coefficient in exists to study a problem requiring the
this range would be considered very good. identification of the degree of association between
 .86 and above: Correlations in this range two sets of scores. The problem which explain the
are typically achieved for studies of complex relationship of multiple factors, identify
construct validity or test -retest the type of association and predict the outcome.
TYPES OF CORRELATION ANALYSES Some sample research questions in correlational
study are:
A number of correlational techniques are employed
for various types of data.  Is Creativity is related to Intelligence of
school children?(association of two
Correlation Type of scale variables)
coefficient  What factors are responsible for higher
1. Pearson product The characteristic of both student learning?(complex relationship)
moment variables are expressed in  Does class test score predict the final
interval scale result of the annual
2. Spearman rank The characteristic of both examination?(prediction)
difference variables are expressed in 2. Identify the sample
ordinal scale
The next step of conducting the
3.Point Biserial One variable on interval correlational study is to identify the sample and the
scale, the other a genuine sample size. The larger size contributes to less error
dichotomous variable on a variance and better representativeness.
nominal scale
3. Identify two or more variables
4.Biserial One variable on interval
scale, the other an artificial The basic idea of correlational research is
dichotomy to compare the participants in two or more variables
in order to prove the reliability and validity.
 90
4. Collect Data
The next step is to administer the tools and
collect at least two sets of data from each
individual. This will predict single outcome from a
single predictor variable and multiple predictors
from complex relationship. Other factors that might
affect the study are lack of standard administration
procedures, condition of testing situation and
expectation of participants.
5. Analyse the Data
The objective of correlational research is
to describe the degree of association between two
or more variables. The researcher uses statistical
procedures to determine the strength of relationship
as well as its direction. The analysis begins with
coding data and transfer to a computer file. Then
the researcher needs to determine the appropriate
statistics techniques to apply and calculate the
result.
6. Interpret the Result
The final step in conducting the
correlational study is interpreting the meaning of
result. This requires the magnitude and direction of
the result in a correlational study, considering the
impact of intervening variables in a partial
correlation study, interpreting the regression
weights of variables in a regression analysis and
developing a predictive equation for predictive
study.
How to Evaluate Correlational Study?
 An adequate sample size for hypothesis
testing
Contemporary Researches in Education
 The display of correlation results in a
matrix.
 An interpretation about the direction and
magnitude of the relationship
 The choice of an appropriate statistics for
analysis
 The identification of predictor and the
criterion variable
REFERENCES
Best, John W.,& James, V. Kahn. (2008). Research
in Education, New Delhi, Prentice Hall of
India Pvt. Ltd.
Good, Carter V. (1966) Essentials of Educational
Research: Methodology and Design. New
York,Appleton-Century Crofts.
John, W. Creswell. (2012). Educational Research,
New Delhi, Pearson Education Inc.
Kerlinger, Fred N. (2008). Foundations of
Behavioural Research, New Delhi, Surjeet
Publication
Koul, Lokesh. (2013). Methodology of Educational
Research, Noida, Vikas Publishing House
Pvt.Ltd
Sharma, A.K. (1997). Educational Research in
India: An Overview in fifth Survey of
Educational Research;1988-92, New
Delhi,NCERT.
Contemporary Researches in Education
COOPERATIVE LEARNING: A PERCEPTION OF UPPER PRIMARY
TEACHERS
Rejo R.
Research scholar, G.C.T.E. Thycaud., Thiruvananthapuram
Abstract
Knowledge is expanding alarmingly in this
new technological age. Therefore equipping
students with new knowledge is the main aim of our
school curriculum. Our school curriculum is much
concerned about the learner. The teachers should
adopt new methods to equip the pupil to adjust with
the changing circumstances. There are so many
innovative methods available today. Such a method,
which is learner centred, is cooperative learning.
This study examines that how teachers perceive the
incorporation and use of cooperative learning in
teaching-learning process. This is a normative
survey and the investigators selected a sample of
140 teachers from kollam district that were chosen
randomly. The data were collected with the help of
an attitude scale which was constructed by the
investigator.
Keywords: Cooperative learning, Perception.
INTRODUCTION
Education, in the modern concept, can be
regarded as a tripolar-process involving the
interaction of the personality of the educator and
educant in a social setting which affect the
modification of the behaviour of the educant. A
tripolar theory of education was proposed by
Adamson (1997). According to him, “The essence
of education consists in adjustment between the
child and child’s world”. The teacher continuously
design and plans educational experience in the light
of social environment. Education has to catch to the
individual as well as the social needs. These
instruments, urges, impulses and tendencies have to
be directed towards society. This is possible when
the child participates in the social situations and
there is an interaction between him and the
environment.
Today’s school curriculum is much
concerned about the learner. The learner is the most
important factor in the teaching learning process.
Learning is something students do, not something
that is done to student. Learning is not a spectator
sport. It requires student direct and active
involvement and participation. Like mountain
91
climbers, students most easily scale the lights of
learning when they are part of a cooperative team
(Johnson, 1994).
Cooperation is working together to
accomplish shared goals. Cooperative learning is
the instructional use of small groups through which
students work together to maximize their own and
each other’s learning. Though there are limitations
on when and where you can use competitive and
individualistic learning appropriately, you may
structure any learning task in any subject area with
any curriculum cooperatively (Johnson, 1994).
In a study named, “Use of Peer Tutoring,
Cooperative Learning, and Collaborative Learning:
Implications for Reducing Anti-social Behaviour of
Schooling Adolescents”, published in US-China
Education Review A 11 (2012), indicate that
teachers are aware of peer tutoring, cooperative
learning, and collaborative teaching as strategies for
reducing anti-social behaviour of schooling
adolescents and that to a large extent, they are
applying these strategies in their classrooms. In
another study named, “The Jigsaw Technique and
Self-Efficacy of Vocational Training Students: A
Practice Report”, published in European Journal of
Psychology of Education September 2012, revealed
that vocational trainees will get benefit of
increasing their self efficacy by implementing the
jigsaw approach in classrooms.
In traditional teaching, it is easy to control
the processing of learning because it is teacher
centred and its presentation is logical and
sequential. While cooperative learning is basically
learner centred. In this technological age knowledge
is expanding alarmingly. It is necessary to adopt
new methods to equip the pupil to adjust with the
changing circumstances. But for effective
instruction and learning, a teacher should have a
positive attitude towards the teaching method.
Hence the investigator felt the need to find out the
attitude of teachers towards cooperative learning.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 92 Contemporary Researches in Education

1. To find out the attitude of teachers towards METHODOLOGY

the use of cooperative learning in primary
The present study is a Normative Survey
school curriculum.
study that is intended to collect data regarding the
2. To find out whether there is any significant
attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of
difference between teachers in government
cooperative learning in primary school curriculum.
schools and private schools in respect of
their attitude towards the inclusion of Sample of the Study:The population of the study is
cooperative learning in primary school the primary school teachers of kollam district.
curriculum. Schools were selected by stratified random
sampling method in which total 140 teachers ie, 70
HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
teachers from government schools and 70 teachers
1. Teachers are having positive attitude from private schools from different region of
towards the inclusion of cooperative kollam district were participated in this survey.
learning in primary school curriculum.
Tool Used: A self constructed attitude scale which
2. There is no significant difference between
was used for the study. It is a three point attitude
teachers in government schools and private
scale with 16 items. Maximum score is 48 and
schools in respect of their attitude towards
minimum score is 16.
the inclusion of cooperative learning in
primary school curriculum. Data Analysis: In this study, the researcher used
descriptive statistical measures to compare the
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF KEY
attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of
TERMS
cooperative learning in primary school
Cooperative Learning: A learning strategy in which curriculum. A t-test procedure was used to test
the pupils are structured into groups of peers who the differences among the attitude of teachers
work together towards a common goal. It places based on type of schools.
students of differing abilities on the same team and
uses group rewards to encourage learning.
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA
Perception: It is the process by which people
translate sensory impressions into a coherent and Attitude of teachers towards the inclusion of
unified view of the world around them. Though cooperative learning in the primary school
necessarily based on incomplete and unverified curriculum
information, perception is equated with reality for
most practical purposes and guides human
behaviour in general.
Table 1. Mean and SD of Teachers’ Attitude

Sample N Mean Percentage SD

Entire sample 140 37 77 4.8
The above table indicates that the teachers’ Cooperative learning in primary school curriculum
attitude towards the inclusion of Cooperative (H1), is accepted.
learning in primary school curriculum was high.
Comparison of attitude of teachers in
The mean value of teachers’ attitude (37; 77%)
government schools and private schools
indicates that they are having high attitude towards
towards the inclusion of cooperative learning
the inclusion of Cooperative learning in primary
in primary school curriculum
school curriculum.
Thus the hypothesis, teachers are having
positive attitude towards the inclusion of
Table 2. Computed t-value of Attitude of Teachers in Government Schools and Private Schools

Total Scores
Group No. of pupils Mean m1-m2 Standard Deviation SEm t value
Contemporary Researches in Education 93

Government
schools 70 39.93 3.06

Private
schools 70 34.07 5.86 4.45 0.65 9.08
Adamson, J. M. (1997). Cooperative learning with
interactive multimedia. The effect of gender
The above table shows that the
and interactive multimedia. The effect of
difference between the attitude of teachers in
gender and group composition on attitude
government schools and in private schools
and interaction. Doctorial dissertation,
towards the inclusion of cooperative learning
Howard state university. Dissertation
in primary school curriculum is significant at
abstracts international, 58(3), 1976.
0.01 level (table value= 2.58). It can be
understood from the table that the teachers Celine, Darnon., Céline, Buchs.,& Delphine,
from government schools posses’ high attitude Desbar. (2012). The Jigsaw Technique and
towards the inclusion of cooperative learning Self-Efficacy of Vocational Training
in primary school curriculum. Students: A Practice Report. European
Journal of Psychology of
Thus, the null hypothesis, “There is
Education..27, 439-449. doi.
no significant difference between teachers in
10.1007/s10212-011-0091-4
government schools and private schools in
respect of their attitude towards the inclusion Eskay, M., Onu, V. C., Obiyo, N.,& Obidoa, M.
of cooperative learning in primary school (2012) . Use of Peer Tutoring, Cooperative
curriculum”, is rejected. Learning, and Collaborative Learning:
Implications for Reducing Anti-social
FINDINGS
Behaviour of Schooling Adolescents. US-
The major findings of the study reveal the China Education Review .11. Retrieved from
existence of a high positive attitude among the the ERIC database.( ED538819).
teachers towards the inclusion of cooperative
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Holubec, E. J.
learning in primary school curriculum. Among
(1994). Cooperative learning in the
these the teachers from government schools are
classroom. Virginia: Association for
having more favourable attitude towards the
supervision and curriculum development
inclusion of cooperative learning in primary
Alexandria.
school curriculum.
REFERENCES
Ahluwalia, S.P. (1978). Manual for Teacher
Attitude Inventory, Agra: National
psychological corporation.
 94 Contemporary Researches in Education

A CORRELATIONAL STUDY OF STUDY HABIT, SOCIO-ECONOMIC

STATUS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SOME SELECTED
SCHOOLS IN CHENNAI
Sridhar Ramachandran1, Pandia Vadivu P2, Mohan Kumar B3 and Saravanan Selvam4
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Gojan College of Teacher Education, Chennai.
2
Assistant Professor, Division of Cognitive Science, School of Education, Tamilnadu Open University,
Saidapet, Chennai.
3
Ph.D (UGC-JRF) Scholar, School of Education, Pondicherry University, Puducherry.
4
Department of Mathematical Science, Velammal Group of Institution, Chennai.

Abstract In views of increasing reports on academic

The present research work is an attempt to
find out the impact of Study Habit (SH), Socio -
Economic Status (SES) on Academic Achievement
(AA) among school students in Chennai,
Tamilnadu. Normative survey method was applied
and null hypothesis was framed. The sample
consisted of 322 students from different schools in
Chennai. B.V. Patel’s (1976) study habit inventory
was used. The data were collected, recorded and
analysed using Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS). The scoring was prepared using
Normal Probability Curve (NPC) method. The
study indicated that statistically significant positive
correlation between study habit and academic
achievement at 0.01 (r=0.184) levels. Hence the
present study concluded that the study habit
influenced on academic achievement greatly than
other factors.
Keywords: Study Habit, Socio-economic status,
Academic achievement, Normal probability curve
and Correlation.
INTRODUCTION
Education is a continuous process and it
should emphasis the learning of happiness
throughout in the life. From this perspective, study
habit, socio-economic status and academic
achievement play crucial role in the phase of
education. Study habit is a well planned and
deliberate pattern of study which has attained a
form of a consistency on the part of the students
towards understanding academic subjects and
passing at examination. Socio-economic status is
used to measure the individual based on income,
education etc., to live in the society. Academic
achievement is one of the important factors of the
phase of education.
achievement around the world, the purpose of the
present study was to find out the significant
differences among the variables and relationship
exists between dependent and independent variable.
This work also intends to analyse the attitude of
school students towards the study habit.
REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
Saroda V (1990) reported that the study
skills are positively related to academic
achievement. Another study conducted by Devi and
Maywi (2003) stated that the family and school
further affects the AA of residential school children
studying IX & X class. Nouhi E, Shakoori A and
Nakhei N (2008) conducted a pilot study in study
habit, study skills and AA of medical science
students at Kerman University. They reported that
study skills had a significant correlation with
academic achievement (r=0.101, P<0.005), while
study habit correlation with academic achievement
was not significant (r=0.0085, P>0.03).
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To analyse the attitude of school students
towards study habit.
2. To study the influential relationship among
study habit, socio-economic status and
academic achievement of the school
students.
3. To find out the significant difference
among the variables such as gender,
medium of instruction, class studying, type
of management, board of affiliation, type
of school and locality.
Contemporary Researches in Education
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
Totally ten null hypothesis was framed and
they are non –directional hypothesis. There is no
significant difference between Male and Female;
Tamil and English medium; Secondary and Higher
Secondary; Government, Government aided and
Private school; State, Matriculation and Central
Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools;
Boys, Girls and Co-education; Urban, Sub urban
and Rural school students toward study habit. Also
there will be significant relationship exist between
Academic Achievement and Study Habit, Study
Habit and Socio-economic status and Socio-
economic status and Study habit respectively.
METHODOLOGY
Method: Normative survey method was applied in
the present study. (Nouchi. E, Shakoori A & Nakhei
N, 2009).
Population: The Secondary (IX and X) and higher
secondary (XII and XI) School students who were
affiliated to various educational board such as State,
Matriculation and CBSE consisted of population of
the study.
Sample: The sample of the present study was
school students (N=322), out of these 82 (41 boys
and 41 girls) were drawn from class IX, 82 (41 boys
and 41 girls) were drawn from class X, 79 (41 boys
and 38 girls) from class XI and 79 (40 boys and 39
girls) from class XII respectively. Total samples
were collected from nine different schools of
Chennai.
Tools Used:
Study Habit: The standard study habit inventory
(B.V. Patel, 1976) consisted of 45 statements. The
reliability value (0.77) was calculated by spilt half
method and the concurrent validity was 0.74. Out of
45 statements, 35 statements are positive and
remaining 15 statements were negative which have
to be checked on two point attitude scale. For each
statement the score value was given as 1 and 0 was
given for two responses namely Agree and Disagree
in case of positive statements. The scoring was
reversed in case of negative statements. It consists
of seven dimensions namely home environment and
planning of work, reading and note taking habits,
planning of subjects, habits of concentration,
preparation from examination, general habits and
attitudes and school environment.
95
Socio-economic Status Scale: Factors such as
ordinal position of the child, size and type of
family, education and occupation of parents and
family, monthly income were taken into
consideration in this scale.
Academic Achievement: The two average marks of
the students in previous examinations were taken as
academic achievement scores and it could be dully
filled by the class teacher in the data sheet.
Scoring:
Based on the normal probability curve
(NPC) method the scoring was prepared with the
help of maximum and minimum score obtained by
the respondents. (a) Study Habit; the maximum
score of ‘45’ and minimum score of ‘14’ could be
obtained and the respondents were grouped into
three categories in the order as poor (14-24),
mediocre (25-37) and good (38-45). (b) Similar
method was employed to socio-economic status
scale; the maximum score of ‘26’ and minimum
score of ‘8’ would be obtained. Therefore the
respondents were segregated into three categories
as poor (8-12), mediocre (13-21) and good (22-26).
(c) Academic Achievement: the average AA scores
were converted into four categories such as
excellent (75-100%) as ‘A’ grade, Good (60-74%)
as ‘B’ grade, Average (50-59%) as ‘C’ grade and
finally poor (below 50%) as ‘D’ grade.
Data Collection:
The inventory along with socio-economic
status scale were administered to the school
students and academic achievement of the students
could be filled by the class teacher after obtaining
Prior permission from the Principals of the different
schools in the Chennai. The random sampling
technique was applied to collect data from the
school students. The instructions were given to
students to fill the personal and institutional profile
and the data sheets were distributed to the students
and worked to respond to all statements.
Furthermore, the researcher personally met the class
teacher to collect the information pertaining to
score obtaining by the students. The collected dates
were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS-
version 16.02.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The results were analysed using
descriptive statistics and differential statistics. The
main purpose of the descriptive research in
 96 Contemporary Researches in Education

description of the state or affairs as it exists at
present. It involves calculation of one of the
measure of central tendency and variability. On
other hand, the differential analysis involves the
most important by which the researcher is
determine the statistical significance difference
between groups.- ‘t’ test, ‘F’ test, ANOVA
(analysis of variance) etc, used.
The percentage of the respondents
(N=322) with respect to SH) by NPC method in the
Table 1. Analysis of Variables of the Study Habit Using ‘t’ Scores
order as mediocre. 72% (n=231) poor -16% (n=53)
and good – 12% (n=38). Similarly for SES scale
among school students were found to be mediocre –
62% (n=201), poor – 22% (n=71) and good – 16%
(n=50) respectively. The percentage of AA of the
students in the present study was found to be in the
order as excellent – 43% (n=140) good – 39%
(n=125), mediocre – 13% (n=42) and poor – 5%
(n=15).

Si.No. Variable Calculated ‘t’ – Table ‘t’ value Level of significance at 0.05
value level

1 Gender 2.947 1.96 Significant

2 Medium of instruction 0.559 1.96 Non- significant
3 Studying class 0.984 1.96 Non- significant
Table 2. Analysis of Variables between and within Groups of SH & AA by ‘F’- Scores

Si. Variable Calculate ‘F’ – Table ‘F’ value Level of significance at

No. value 0.05 level
1 Type of management 4.163 2.22 Significant
3.177 2.22 Significant

2 Board of affiliation 2.999 2.22 Significant

4.279 2.22 Significant
3 Type of school 2.956 2.22 Significant
3.188 2.22 Significant
4 Locality 8.210 2.22 Significant
2.43 2.22 Significant
Table 3. Pearson’s Correlations between Academic Achievement, Study Habit and Socio Economic Status

Si. No. Relationship No.of sample Degree of Calculated Table Level of significance
freedom ‘r’-value ‘r’
(N-2) value
1 AA & SH 322 320 0.184 0.138 Statistically significant/
positive correlation
2 AA & SES 322 320 0.013 0.138 Non significant /
negative correlation
3 SH & SES 322 320 0.014 0.138 Non significant /
negative correlation
CONCLUSION habit and academic achievement was determined by
Pearson’s correlation method (b) Found out the
Our findings of the present study indicate
statistically significant/ non significant of the
(a) The positive correlation exists between study
variables. (c) The respondents (N=322) were
Contemporary Researches in Education
analyzed and grouped into various categories (Poor,
Mediocre & Good) using NPC method. Despite of
the limitations of the present study, the relationship
between academic achievement and study habit was
proved to be statistically significant (positive
correlation) Pearson’s correlation method. Since the
table ‘r’-value is 0.138 at 0.01 level of significance,
where as the calculated ‘r’-value as 0.184. In live
with this, it is suggested the study be replicated in
other district, regional, state or abroad using the
prescribed tools. To some extend the same study
could administrate to college student and need to
conduct individual counselling program to improve
the Study Habit for their fruitful life.
Although several factors such as
intelligence, self-control, study skill, socio
economic status, etc., attribute the performance of
every individual. Therefore the researchers
concluded that the study habit influenced on
academic achievement greatly than other factors.
Hence the present study explains the scenario of
students’ curricular performance towards study
habit.
97
REFERENCES
Devi. S., and Mayuri. K. (2003). The effects of
family and school on the academic
achievement of residential school children.
J.Comm.Guid.Res. 20(2), 139-148.
Nouhi. E., Shakoori. A., and Nakhei N. (2008).
Study habit and skills and academic
achievement of students in Kerman
University of Medical Science. Journal of
Medicine Education 12, (34), 77-80.
Patel. B.V. (1976). Manual for study habit
inventory. Agra Psychology Research Cell,
Tiwari Kothi, Belanganj, Agra, 1-8.
Saroda.V. (1999). Study of impact of SES, study
habit and achievement motivation on
academic achievement of higher secondary
students. The Progress of Education. 99,
122-124.
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
Version 16.02. (2008) IBM Corporation.
Available at http://www-
01.ibm.com/software/analytic/spss/
 98
EFFECTIVENESS OF QUANTUM LEARNING MODEL ON THE
ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS AT SECONDARY LEVEL
Naseerali M.K.
Assiatant Professor, Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University Centre, Malappuram
Abstract
The study aimed to compare the
achievement of students in Physics when taught
through Quantum Learning Model and Lecture
Method. For this, the experimental research design
is selected. The sample consist 64 students (32 each
in control and experimental groups). The result
shows that the Quantum Learning Model is more
effective than the activity oriented method of
teaching in physics.
INTRODUCTION
Today Education for Sustainable
Development is not, if ever has been, just one
“thematic” Biological education among many. It is
a vital and basic education for the contemporary
world, a primary feature of global education with
the widespread vocation of being a place of
freedom that induces involvement and the desire to
change the problematic situations.
Education for Sustainable Development
invites us to reconsider and restore our Biological
education. Biologists have an essential role to play,
but it is necessary to analyses the nature of their
role carefully. Biological education is important,
but increasingly, improving knowledge about the
issues is not the only way in which ideas, problems
and questions should be addressed. At the light of
the past innovations and evaluations, the
presentation will explore the diversity of
approaches, strategies and possible themes. New
model of learning will have been promoted.
Teaching does not always produce the
anticipated results. “The didactic ration, i.e. the
amount of knowledge acquired versus time spend,
is very poor, sometimes inexistent. Some reasoning
“errors” or “erroneous” notions appear repeatedly
among pupils with baffling regularity, even after
numerous learning sequences. However, when we
observe what goes on in the classroom, the overall
course seems coherent and logical. Overall, the
lessons appear to be understood.
Until now, teachers have simply handed
down knowledge. Their “job” has been done when
Contemporary Researches in Education
they have said or demonstrated something. In this
new approach to the profession, their role is to
create an environment conductive to learning. Their
tasks come in at a rather earlier stage. They must
challenge pupils so that they feel involved and thus
wish to learn. Teachers also have to encourage
pupils to make the effort necessary to all learning.
Staring with the learner does not mean staying
there. Teachers must constantly implement
educational strategies that are meaningful to their
audience. In particular, their role is to create or
enhance an environment conductive to questioning.
Day -to-day experiences and all the associated
issues are vital sources of investigations.
As regards the teaching of concepts
themselves, teachers may hand over the job to
books, sheets, films and multimedia material, which
pupils tend to find more attractive. However, only
teachers can help pupils to take a step back and gain
a wider perspective. By offering pointers they help
elicit questions and serve as sources of references
that pupils can consult in order to find their
bearings amidst a flood of information. They can
also prompt an analysis of knowledge and its role in
society, which is crucial for low achievers.
How do they perceive knowledge? What
do they consider as knowledge, and why? Which
skill and/or knowledge do they see as important,
and why? All these “philosophical” issues should
be addressed from nursery school on, for they foster
the development of a critical mind and help forge a
personality. Teachers must not cease to be
communicators. The most important thing they
have to communicate, however, is a desire and
passion for learning.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1. To compare the achievement of students in
Physics when taught through Quantum
Learning Model and Activity Oriented
method.
Contemporary Researches in Education
HYPOTHESIS OF THE STUDY
Quantum Learning Model is more
effective than the activity oriented method of
teaching on the achievement in Physics of students
at secondary level.
METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF
The researcher adopted experimental
method for the present study. The design selected
was Non-equivalent pre-test post-test method. The
unit ‘The Rhythm of Life’ in Standard VIII was
taken for experimentation. The study was
conducted on a final sample of 64 (32 each in
experimental and control group) students of
Standard VIII. One division was randomly taken as
the Experimental Group and other as the Control
Group. Six Lesson Transcripts were prepared using
Quantum Learning Model and the Experimental
Group was taught through this Lesson Transcripts.
The Control Group was treated with the Lesson
Transcripts based on Lecture Method. Both the
groups were taught by the investigator himself. An
achievement test in Physics was prepared by the
investigator to act as Pre-test and Post –test for both
the Experimental the Control Groups. The data thus
collected were tabulated and analyzed statistically.
Tools Used:
1. Lesson plans based on Quantum Learning
Model.
2. Lesson plans based on Lecture Method.
3. Achievement Test in Physics
Statistical Techniques Used:
Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation,
Skewness, Kurtosis, Critical Ratio, Standard
Error and Analysis of Co-variance
COMPONENTS OF QUANTUM LEARNING
MODEL
The Quantum Learning Model increases
teacher effectiveness and improve student
performance through the orchestration of moves
within its four core components Foundation,
Atmosphere, Design and Delivery and
Environment.
Foundation creates an aligned community
of learners. This creates a culture of learning where
students class room procedures and know how to
interact with each other and with their teacher to
experience successful learning. Important
foundation initiatives include the 8 Keys of
99
excellence skills that inspire and motivate students
to become effective learners.
Atmosphere creates a positive and
respectful emotional climate where students feel
safe to risk. Atmosphere plays a significant role in
affective domain of learning.
Design and Delivery create and facilitate
meaningful learning .In addition to the brain –
considerate crafting of effective lessons, design
intertwines the element of student buy –in,
connecting content to prior Knowledge ,and the
transfer of learning to real –life situations
Environment creates a physical space that
supports the classroom culture and enhances
learning.
Six phases of activities of Quantum Learning
Model
Phase 1-Grow
Teachers must first get students’ attention
Phase 2-Natural
Teachers need to provide a common
experience before the learning begins
Phase 3-Call
Teachers present content, students add
information to their Schema
Phase 4-Demonstrate
Students are given an opportunity to use
their knowledge
Phase 5 -Repeat
Students reflect on their new knowledge
Phase 6- Celebration
The whole class celebrates the learning
Social system
The social system in this model is
moderately structured. Teacher are responsible, at
least initially, for starting the phase and guiding
students through the activities within each phase;
however, the particular content of the discussions
and enactments determined largely by the students.
The teachers’ questions and comments should
encourage free and honest expression of ideas and
feelings. Teachers must establish equality and trust
between themselves and their students. They can do
this by accepting all suggestions as legitimate and
 100 Contemporary Researches in Education

making no value judgements. In this way, simply topic. Follow up by asking a few students to give
reflect the children’s feelings or attitude. you some feedback on how the role play went. Or
give them a visualization exercise where they
Principles of reaction
imagine themselves in a relevant situation.
Teacher should accept student’s responses Introduce new terms related to the topic and relate it
and suggestions, especially their opinions and into things they have learned in previous lessons.
feelings, in a no evaluative manner. The teacher The Investigator provides an activity that gives
should respond in such a way that they help the students an opportunity to practice the newly
students explored various side of problem situation, acquired knowledge. In phase “recall” the students
recognising and contrasting alternative point of recollect their idea about the topic and play some
view. By reflecting paraphrasing, and summarising upbeat music.
responses, the teacher increases student’s awareness
of their own views and feelings.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF THE
Support system
DATA
The material for Quantum Learning Model
The scores of the Experimental and
is minimal but important. The major curricular tool
Control Groups were subjected to Analysing of
is the problem situation. Films, novels, and short
Covariance to determine the effectiveness of
stories make excellent source for problematic
Quantum Learning Model based teaching over
situation. Problem stories or outline of problem
lecture Method.
situation are also use full.
Before proceeding to ANCOVA, ANOVA
To introducing the topic ‘Rhythm of Life’
was done. Total sum of squares, Mean square
by asking questions to the students that arouse
variance and F-ratio for the Pre- Test and post test
curiosity in them. Thus students felt that the lesson
scores of the Experimental and Control Group were
was really needed for them. Put students into pairs.
computed. They are given in Table 1.
Give them a role play scenario that relates to the
Table 1. Summary of ANOVA of Pre- Test and Post-test scores of Experimental and Control Groups

Source of variation df SSx SSy MSx(vx) MSy(vy)

Among Means 1 0.56 1080.77 0.56 1080.77
Within Group 62 58.88 478.84 0.95 7.72
Fx= 0.59 The F ratio for the two sets of scores
where tested for significance. The table value of F
Fy = 139.94
for df 1/ 62 at 0.01 level and 0.05level are 7.08 and
From Table F for degree of freedom (1, 4.00 respectively. The calculated Fx value is 0.59.
62) So it is inferred that it is not significant at 0.01
levels. The calculated value of Fy is 139.94. So it is
F at 0.05 level = 4.00
inferred that, it is significant at 0.01 levels.
F at 0.01 level = 7.08
Table 2. Summary of ANCOVA of Pre- Test and Post-test Scores of Pupils in the Experimental and Control
Groups

Source of variation Df SSx SSy SSx.y SSy.x MSy.x (vx.y) SDy.x

Among Means 1 0.56 1080.77 -24.66 1098.20 1098.20 2.75
Within Groups 61 58.88 478.84 33.13 460.21 7.54
Fy.x= 145.57 F at 0.01 level=7.08
From the table of F for degree of freedom Since the FXY ratio 145.57 is greater than
(1, 61) the table value 7.08, it is significant.
F at 0.05 level=4.00
Contemporary Researches in Education
The table value for df 1/ 62 at0.01 level
and0.05are 7.08 and 4.00 respectively. The
calculated Fyx value 145.57 and therefore it is
significant at 0.01 level. From the table value it can
be interpreted that the Experimental Group differ
significantly from the Control Group in their Mean
scores.
Comparison of Adjusted Means
Table 3. Data for Adjusted Means of Post- Test scores of pupils in Experimental and Control Groups
Group N Mx
Experimental 32 2.00
Control 32 2.19
General Means 64 2.09
SEm between adjusted Mean is 0.69
Calculated t value is 12.12
From table of t for degrees of freedom 62
t at 0.05 level=2
t at 0.01 level=2.66
Since the calculated value is greater than
the table value, the performance of the two groups
differs significantly. Therefore Instructional
Strategy using in Quantum Learning Models can be
considered as more effective when compared to the
Lecture method of teaching.
Adjusted Y Means for the post test scores
were tested for significance for df 1/62.The
calculated’ value is 12.12 .The table value for df
1/62 is 2.00 at 0.05 level and 2.66 at 0.01 level. The
value is significant at both levels (t= 12.12,
p<0.01). Therefore it can be interpreted that the
Experimental and Control Groups differ
significantly in their achievement.
Since the adjusted Means score for the
Experimental Group is superior to the Control
Group, it may be concluded that the students who
learned through Quantum Learning Model achieved
better than those who taught through Lecture
method.
FINDINGS
 The study has shown that The Quantum
Learning Model is more effective than the
Lecture Method of teaching in physics. Hence
teachers must be encouraged to apply the
Quantum Learning Modelwhile teaching.
101
The adjusted Means of Post- Test scores
(Y Means) of pupils in the Experimental and
Control Groups were computed. The differences
between the adjusted y Means were tested for
significance. The data for adjusted Means for Pre-
Test scores of pupils in the Experimental and
Control Group are given in Table 3.
My My.x(Adjusted)
16.5 16.58
8.3 8.26
12.42 -
 It was found that while teaching Physics
through strategies based on Quantum
Learning Model, the interest of pupils was
also increased. So the students should be
handled with this method of instruction.
 Pupils should be exposed to variety of
objective experiences that enables them to
develop various skills.
 Quantum Learning Model provides so much
freedom to each and every learner that helps
in free, divergent, creative and productive
thinking. Hence teacher should encourage the
students to reflect on their own thought
processes in an atmosphere of success and
non-threatening environment.
REFERENCES
Alan, et al. (1997). Exploring Education, an
Introduction to the Foundation of
Education. New York: A Division of
Paramount Publishing.
De Porter, B. (1993). Quantum Learning. Great
Britain: Judy Piatkus Publishers Ltd.
DePorter, B., Reardon, M., & Singer-Nourie, S.
(1999). Quantum teaching: orchestrating
student success. Needham Heights, MA:
Viacom.2(1),6.
Bobby. (1992). The Impact of Quantum Learning,
New Horizons for Learning.
http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/acceler
ated/deporter2.htm
Benn. (2003) Evaluation on Study of Quantum
Learning Impact on Achievement in Multiple
setting. www.qlncom/ql-CRS-model.html.
 102 Contemporary Researches in Education

Quantum Learning Network, http://www.qln.com learning, education and development. Retrieved

from http://www.d.umn.ed/kgilbert/edud5165-
Kolb, et al.(1999) Experiential learning theory: A
731/reading/e-l-t-pdf
dynamic, holistic approach to management
Contemporary Researches in Education
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING:
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
Dr. Dinesh H. Patel
Assistant Professor, Dept. of English, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand,
Gujarat.
Abstract
This article describes the factors that
influence the extent to which computer technologies
are being used in teaching English based on the
results of the research and survey conducted among
nearly 200 English language teachers in Gujarat
and suggests some of the approaches to deal with
these factors, overcome barriers and enhance
computer technology integration into English
language teaching process.
Keywords: Computer, Technology, Teaching,
Integration, Issues
INTRODUCTION
“Computers will not replace teachers.
Teachers who use computers will inevitably replace
teachers who do not”. - C. Bradin
As we enter the new millennium there are
two realities that few people would contest. The
first thing is that English has become an essential
world language today. The second is that
information communication technologies with its
most recent and multifaceted medium as Internet is
here to stay. The growing role of this new
technology and sharpened demand in English in the
workplace and in everyday life increases our
responsibility for providing our students with skills
to succeed and compete in the information-based
world. How are we as teachers of English ready to
explore the possibilities of combining these two
realities to meet these demands? This paper is
aimed to clear out the situation with the use of
computer and information technologies in education
in Gujarat, in English language teaching, in
particular, find out the factors that influence the
extent to which they are being used and develop
some approaches to overcome the existing barriers
and enhance technology implementation into the
teaching and learning process.
As the power of computer technology
becomes evident, the number of educational
institutions and individuals using them has been
steadily increasing in Gujarat. Most universities and
103
practically all the schools and colleges in Gujarat
today have at least some access to computer-based
technologies. But despite this evident increase and
relatively large technology expenditures over the
last few years and even total computerization,
computer technology is not being integrated into the
language teaching and learning process and is not
being an instrument for the use by the great
majority of English teachers as well as by the
others. Much of these computer technologies are
not being used to its potential and most classroom
environments are still not significantly influenced
by them. What are the factors that influence the
extent to which teachers use computer technology
in Gujarat?
To clear out the situation in the field a
survey was carried out. More than 200 English
language teachers from different schools and
colleges of Gujarat were enrolled in this
investigation. The analysis of the survey helped us
to find out the main factors that influence computer
technology use in ELT in Gujarat, teachers’ main
concerns about it and to define approaches to more
widespread technology integration in teaching
language.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY USE BY ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHERS:
1. First is the problem of access to appropriate
technologies. Clearly, before teachers can
use the computer technology they must first have an
access to it. 39% of teachers reported they don’t
have it.
2. The second greatest barrier to technology as the
results of the survey show is lack of teachers’ time
and opportunities to learn and experiment with new
technology. In any profession time must be invested
in learning how to use a particular piece of software
to accomplish work related goals. Hardware and
software, no matter how “user-friendly”, are
complicated and constantly changing. Teachers, in
particular are “prisoners of time”. The diverse jobs
teachers are asked to do also affect their ability to
 104
take on another challenge. Schools, colleges and
universities require teachers to spend vast majority
of the day on actual instruction, which leaves little
official time for planning, preparation or learning
new things. Besides, teachers are given a very little
compensated staff development time. Even
accomplished technology-using teachers, who are
highly motivated, rated the lack of time among the
most problematic barrier to technology use in
schools and colleges. Teachers who want to use
technology also find that educating themselves
enough to be able to use a particular piece of
hardware or software requires considerable amounts
of extra time and effort. So, unless there significant
changes to the rhythm of the school or college
hours or changed incentives for giving teachers
more time to learn and experiment with new
technologies, this barrier to technology use will
remain immense.
3. Teachers’ low salary turned to be one of the
serious factors. Experimentation with new
technologies demands certain investments on the
side of teachers: costly Internet services, purchase
of computer for the personal use at home, software,
CD, floppy disks etc.
4. Inadequate training in using computer-based
technologies is reported by the majority of the
teachers - 66% as one of their essential concerns.
Most of them are computer illiterate, with even no
basic computing skills. Although quite a large
number of teachers see the value of students
learning about and with computers and other
technologies, still many teachers - 49% lack a clear
understanding about what resources technology can
offer them as they try to meet their instructional
goals. They are not aware of other resources
technology can offer them as professionals in
carrying out the many aspects of their jobs. Schools
and colleges don’t have plans and teachers a clear
understanding of curricular uses of technology. It is
difficult for them to keep up with the rapid rate of
technology development because they lack
experience and knowledge not just about how to
run the computers but about what software to use,
how to integrate it into the curriculum, and how to
organize classroom activities using technology over
the long term.
Many teachers reported absence of the
opportunities to observe and learn about the wide
range of educational uses to which technology can
be put, 49% of the respondents said that to
Contemporary Researches in Education
adequately use the computer they need more
knowledge and models showing the value of
technology for their own professional use.
5. As do most users of emerging technologies,
many English teachers encounter technical and
logistical problems they cannot solve by themselves
and lack support and training necessary to resolve
the problem. How much actual training or
coursework about technology and its educational
uses have teachers had? The data received from the
survey suggest that teachers have had very little. In
a survey only 17% of teachers reported that an
introductory computer course is available. Regular
onsite support for technology use is a daunting
problem. In a majority of universities there is no
onsite support person officially assigned to
coordinate or facilitate the use of technologies.
Even where a technology coordinator exists very
little time goes directly to training or helping
teachers use technologies.
Furthermore, the kind of training, not just
its availability, is also an important factor. Much of
today’s educational technology training tends to
focus more on mechanics of operating new
machinery, with little or even no information about
integrating technology into specific subjects,
choosing software, or organizing classes. This
problem concerns not only in-service but pre-
service teachers as well. Despite the importance of
technology in teacher education, it is not central to
the teacher preparation experience in most schools,
colleges and universities in Gujarat today. Most
new teachers graduate from teacher training
institutions with limited or practically no
knowledge of the ways technology can be used in
their professional practice.
There are also a number of psychological
factors that influence the extent of computer
technology use by the teachers.
6. Teachers are an incredibly diverse group.
Differences among teachers in their attitudes
towards change and technology turned also to be a
kind of a barrier. Some teachers already have
experience with technologies - computers at home,
for example, while others have never even shown
how to switch it on. 32% of teachers reported that
they are eager to experiment with new ideas even at
the risk of failure, while 39% have little interest,
energy or time for experimentation. Others lie
somewhere in between.
Contemporary Researches in Education
Quite different are also their feelings
concerning their first computer experience: from
being nervous and frustrated - 34% - to being
excited and eager - 49%. Some teachers have
certain fears: of change, of commitment, of
appearing incompetent, of the technical aspect, of
not knowing where to start. Some teachers worry
that their lack of knowledge might result in
embarrassment of “feeling like a fool” in front of
their students. For them such a situation may be
intolerable. For other teachers, the greater need
understands what the technologies can do. The use
of computer technology in language teaching is still
considered by many of them as an “art”,
demonstrated by advanced educators but not yet a
“technology” embraced for use.
7. Consumer expectations stemming from the
former centralized system give teachers the
expectation that computer technology instruction
“will be sent” to them “from above”. There are 18%
of those ones who will wait until computer
technology use in ELT has become an established
standard.
So, taking into account the above-
mentioned factors it is not surprising that computers
are not used very often: only 26% of English
teachers reported using them often. The most
common uses of computers are; for information
search - 24%, communicating via e-mail - 34%,
educational research -19%, for basic skills practice
-15%, for teaching English - only 8%.
To meet the challenges caused by the rapid
development of new information technologies we
should take into account the factors mentioned
above that cause barriers to using computers,
master and employ a wide range of technology in
teaching English. The following approaches are
developed to meet the demands.
APPROACHES TO OVERCOME BARRIERS
AND ENHANCE COMPUTER
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION
In a situation when quite a number of
educators are not ready yet and not even willing to
change traditional methods waiting for the
instructions to come ‘from above’, administrative
initiative can play a definite facilitative role in
technology integration. If our Ministry of Education
as well as our school, college and university
administration wants to maintain or enlarge its
involvement in this area the linchpin of
105
administrative policy could be a set of initiatives
that develop and support technology and help
teachers in their teaching and professional
activities. When technology is effectively harnessed
to goals identified by teachers, schools, colleges,
universities and policymakers, it becomes a vehicle
for learning that is powerfully attractive.
Several factors that seem to be essential for
making the better use of computer technology
should be taken into account by administrators
aiming to solve the abovementioned problems.
INVESTING IN TECHNOLOGY: KEY
ISSUES
1. Access to equipment
Access to equipment is the basic
prerequisite for effective use of technology by
teacher. It is clear that before teachers can use
technology they must have an access to it. What
constitutes ‘access’ to technology? Counts of
equipment, student-computer ratio, money spent
while being important, alone are not sufficient to
define access to technologies. It is appropriate
rather to consider infrastructure in a broader sense:
type of technology, up-to-date working order of
hardware and software, i.e. age, capacity,
connectivity, software and services. Organizational
arrangements - the placement and flexibility of
technology - also affect the ease of use by teachers
and students. It is frustrating for teachers to learn to
use technology in a workshop, then return to the
classroom where the technology is not readily
available. Putting technology in the hands of
teachers, allowing them to see and explore how
technology can help them do their jobs can be an
effective way of motivating teachers to learn about
technology.
2. Instructional vision: suitability of particular
technologies to educational goals.
Developing a technology plan, thinking
through the goal for technology use at the local site
and involving teachers in the planning process is a
key to successful implementation - an important
step in ensuring that the technology will be used by
those it is intended to support. Investments should
not be made in technology for its own sake, but
because it facilitates or extends instruction. This
requires that a well defined instructional vision
should precede the technological one: teacher
involvement in defining this vision is essential.
Sound educational reasons should guide the
 106
technology decisions, instead of technology driving
the educational process.
3. Establishing technology training and support
resource centers, where teachers can experiment
with different hardware, try out software programs,
consult experts and receive training and support.
INVESTING IN THE HUMAN RESOURCES:
KEY ISSUES
The challenge of integrating new
information technologies into our curriculum is
much more human than it is technological. What’s
more, it is not fundamentally about helping people
to operate machines. Rather, it is about helping
people, primarily teachers, integrate these
technologies into their teaching as a tool of a
profession that is being redefined through the
process. Making the connection between
technology and teachers, helping educational
institutions to be effective, incorporate technology
into the teaching and learning process are the most
important steps. Appropriate and timely planning,
maintenance, expertise to support and help teachers
have proven to be constant and continuing, yet key
expenditures. Policy towards technology training
should be revised. At least 30% of technology funds
should be spent on training. Funds should be
allocated for high-quality support and preparation
of staff. While nowadays administrative policy has
been focused solely on generating funds for capital
investment in hardware. Insufficient attention has
been given to teacher preparation, development and
support of learning tools and techniques and the
constantly growing demands on teacher’s tune. If
the government wants to support the expansion and
appropriate use of technologies at schools, colleges
and universities its policy should go beyond
funding.
1. A good staff development training program
should be developed:
1.1 Hands-on training with technology is a
necessity. Teachers must have the chance to make
the computer work, and gain the confidence in their
own competence before they try the same thing
with their own class.
1.2 Follow-up support and coaching is as essential
to effective staff development as the initial learning
experience. Teachers don’t learn all at a training
session, even if it extends over several weeks.
When they return to the classroom the unexpected
inevitably happens. At this point teachers need to be
Contemporary Researches in Education
able to reach out for technical assistance and
support.
1.3 “Train-the-trainers” strategy - an approach in
which selected teachers who are more enthusiastic
and motivated to learn, are given intensive training
and become responsible for teaching and training
their colleagues. These teachers return to their
places where they demonstrate and provide onsite
training in the new techniques to other teachers. An
advantage of this model is that teacher-trainers can
continue to be available to other staff after the
formal training has ended. They become the kind of
“local experts” that other teachers can draw on for
assistance or advice.
The Key factors for the success in “train-the-
trainers” strategy are:
 Training teachers in a group, i.e. training more
than one person from a site so that they could
support each other and encourage the change to
lake hold;
 Availability of support, time and resources as
they return to their places;
 Interpersonal and organizational skills as well
as technical knowledge of technology leaders
in order to interest and motivate colleagues less
inclined to using new technology
 Structuring of training is important for teachers
with widely varying experience with and
knowledge about technology. Finding oneself
in a training session that is too complicated or
advanced can be especially frustrating and
discouraging for the novice technology users.
2. Appropriate technology resource people should
be provided rendering technical and motivational
support, onsite experts such as technology
coordinators who can support teachers. They can be
provided from other staff, such as librarians,
computer coordinators, or volunteers from business,
parent, and student groups.
3. Pedagogical support is necessary, such as advice
on choosing relevant software and integrating it into
a specific lesson, suggesting ways the technology
can be used to meet particular curriculum goals, or
ideas about how to organize the whole class to use
4 computer workstations or a single computer with
a modem.
4. Administrative support and leadership. The roles
of administrators are critical in fostering sustained
Contemporary Researches in Education
use of technologies: the play key role in successful
implementation. Training administrators alongside
teachers is necessary so that they can serve as
technology supporters and guide efforts within their
educational institutions. When administrators are
informed about and comfortable with technology
they become key players in leading and supporting
technology. Their support along with technical,
motivational and educational support can create a
climate that encourages innovation and sustained
use.
5. Giving teachers time to develop personal
confidence and expertise. It is important to
recognize that technology tools require time to
master. One of the clearest findings of our research
is that even highly motivated teachers require
substantial amount of time before they feel fully
versatile with a complicated new technology and
are able to expand technology tool to fit their
particular teaching goals. And finding time in the
teaching day and year for training, collaboration
and “messing around” with technology is a bane of
the profession. A goal for educational institutions
that want their schools to function more effectively
is to find ways to give teachers time for lesson
preparation and learning and support for continuing
work. Teachers need time to experiment with new
technologies, share experience with other teachers,
plan and debug lessons using new methods that
incorporate technologies, attend workshops or
training sessions.
6. Vision of curricular applications. Many
technology rich sites continue to struggle with how
to integrate technology into the curriculum.
Curriculum integration is central if technology is to
become a truly effective educational resource. But
one should remember that true integration is a
difficult, time-consuming, and resource-intensive
endeavor. Research is needed to help explore and
develop technology tools that best suit for teaching
and learning English.
7. Educational research, development and
dissemination of research results should be
supported. First, more and better information is
needed on the effectiveness of various technology
tools and applications, including whether and how
technology works for teachers. Some of the
research questions can be as the following: How
technology can enhance teaching effectiveness?
How to integrate it with different instructional
107
styles? How to incorporate it into our curriculum?
Are some types of training or support more
effective than others? How the teachers’ work fife
is changed by technologies?
One of the principal policy challenges for
the next decade is to lead by example and
commitment. The experience of effective
technology use in classrooms needs to be widely
shared, evaluated and used in building blocks.
Actions of the Ministry of Science and Education
and Departments of Education can promote
dissemination of research results as well as
organization of corresponding conferences,
seminars, and round table discussions. Gathering,
demonstration and propaganda of successful
technology implementations is necessary and can
be organized also through professional teacher
associations. Increased focus on teachers, both in
training and in the field, including time and money
to allow teachers to learn to use technology, support
for their professional growth, respect for the
complex nature of learning and the many demands
facing teachers today, research on how technology
affects teaching and school change are turned to be
the necessary components for taking advantage of
learning technology and optimizing use of it by
ELT teachers. Realization of the approaches
suggested above to enhance technology
implementation will help to change the perception
of computer technologies as an “art” to a perception
of it as an “applied technology” that must be
mastered and practiced as an accessible tool to be
integrated into regular teaching and use. Certain
steps have already been taken in this direction and
nowadays we have certain prerequisites for
computer technology integration into English
language teaching in Gujarat.
REFERENCES
Teaching with the Internet: Strategies and Models
for K-12 Curricula. (2000). Neal-Schumen
Publishers, New-York-London.
Egbert, J.,& Hanson, Smith, E. (Ed.) (1999). CALL
Environments: Research, Practice and Critical
Issues, TESOL.
Teachers and Technology: Making the Connection.
Office of Technology Assessment (1995).
Congress of the United States.
 108
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTIVIST CLASSROOM WITH
RESPECT TO HIGHER ORDER LEARNING SKILLS
Dr. Anita Dhawan1 and Jaspreet Kaur2
1
Associate Professor, Dev Samaj College of Education for Women, Ferozepur City.
2
M.Ed. Student, Dev Samaj College of Education for Women, Ferozepur City.
Abstract
How to effectively integrate technology
into the classroom has been a growing concern for
teachers, parents, and other stakeholders within
the field of secondary education. Bearing the
genuine agreement with this concern the current
study was undertaken to investigate the role of
technology in constructivist classroom with respect
to higher order learning skills namely
metacognitive and cognitive style. In order to
conduct the study sample of 100 students of class
nine from one P.S.E.B and one C.B.S.E. school of
Ferozepur City were taken. The selected students
were randomly assigned to two groups. One group
was considered as experimental group (which was
taught by the investigator through constructivist
technological approach using computers) and the
other as control group (taught by regular
classroom teaching). Metacognitive inventory and
Group embedded figure test were adminstered to
both the groups before and after the respective
treatments to access the changes in their
metacognitive and cognitive style respectively.The
results of current investigation revealed that
infusion of technology in the process of education
and adoption of constructivist approach in the
teaching- learning process self-empowers the
learners to define problems, research a wide
variety of material and media, conceptualize,
reason and clearly communicate their solutions
using a wide range of furthering the development
of higher order skills viz. metacognitive and
cognitive style of the students. Keywords:
Technology, Constructivist classroom, Higher
order skills, Metacognitive, Cognitive style.
INTRODUCTION
Educational technologies, specifically
computer and the Internet technologies, have
apparently become powerful tools in the classroom
as they change the way we teach and learn today.
Technology integration, if done properly, can do
many things to help in the process of creating more
authentic learning environments and more. Many
Contemporary Researches in Education
of the studies report, if the learning environment is
technologically rich, it can increase self-esteem and
enthusiasm for learning (Fouts, 2000). Research
also has shown that technology integration
increases the chance of interaction within the
learning environment (Keengwe et. al., 2008).Our
current educational system originated during the
Industrial Revolution. It was aimed at training
children to read basic material, write at a basic
level, do simple mathematics, and follow directions
(Burns, 1993). Now, educationalists assert that not
only students need to be able to do the above but
also must be able to: create, design, teach, define
problems, quickly assimilate relevant data,
conceptualise, reorganise information, make
intuitive leaps, and work collaboratively to find
solutions (Burns, 1993) and (Engle & Conant,
2002).The type of thinking processes a student
needs to develop in order to accommodate changes
in both the type and quantity of knowledge with
which she/he will be confronted as society
continues to change, go beyond the simple learning
of facts and content (Raghavan & Glaser , 1995)
and (Peters, 2003).
Furthermore, it is currently required that
students become self-empowered learners who can
define problems, research a wide variety of material
and media, conceptualise, reason and clearly
communicate their solutions using a wide range of
media (Engle & Conant, 2002). All this is in strong
contrast to merely gathering knowledge by rote
learning which was more typical of earlier
times(Gross, 1991) and (Mather, 2004). Hence the
current process of education must aim at the
development of various higher order skills namely:
metacognition cognitive style, comprehension,
critical thinking, problem solving, insight, context,
creativity and procedural knowledge among the
students. That is why pedagogies of school reform
are now highly influenced by and built around the
“constructivist” theories of learning, assuming the
use of technology in education for active and
meaningful knowledge construction. The infusion
of technology in the constructivist classroom
Contemporary Researches in Education
enables the learners to actively participate in
classroom discussions, construct their own
knowledge and arrive at solutions of various
problems. This in turn helps in development of
insight, problem solving and critical thinking
furthering the process of development of various
higher order skills.
Constructivist pedagogy as based on the belief that
meaningful learning occurs when learners are
actively involved in a process of meaning-making
and knowledge construction, rather than passively
receiving and memorizing information (rote-
learning). Learners become the meaning-makers, as
they attempt to understand new ideas. As such,
constructivist teaching is likely to promote critical
thinking and create intrinsically-motivated and
autonomous learners. Constructivism represents a
paradigm shift from education based on
behaviourism to education based on cognitive
theory. Fosnot (1996) has provided a recent
summary of these theories and describes
constructivist teaching practice. Behaviourist
epistemology focuses on intelligence, domains of
objectives, levels of knowledge, and reinforcement.
Constructivist epistemology assumes that learners
construct their own knowledge on the basis of
interaction with their environment.
Research suggests that technology alone
cannot effect educational change (Strommen,
1992). According to the National Council for
Research, “if technology is to make a contribution
to improving student learning, it must be aligned
with educational practices that are most likely to
achieve desired learning goals.” There appears to be
a central theme within the debate of whether or not
technology integration is working to enhance
learning. Several researchers have suggested that
technology integration combined with constructivist
teaching strategies appears to be one of the most
promising ways to use technology to affect
learning. Constructivism and the infusion of
technology in the curriculum could improve the
achievement of all students in the core subject
areas” (Lunenberg, 1998). Experts suggest that
using technology, particularly the internet, along
with constructivist strategies “advances higher level
instruction, such as problem solving and increased
learner control that is student-centered”
(Lunenberg, 1998). Jonassen (1999) describes
constructivist technology-enriched methods as
those which build knowledge resulting from
109
activity and an effective use of technology in
education.
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
1. There exists no difference in the
attainment scores of higher order learning
skill (metacognition) taught through
routine classroom teaching and
constructivist technology approach.
2. There exists no difference in the
attainment of higher order learning skill
(metacognitive) among P.S.E.B and
C.B.S.E. schools.
3. There exists no difference in the
attainment scores of higher order learning
skill (cognitive style) taught through
routine classroom teaching and
constructivist technology approach.
4. There exists no significant difference in
the improvement of cognitive style of
P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E school students,
taught through routine classroom teaching
and constructivist technological approach.
5. There is no relationship between
technological input and attainment of gain
score in relation to higher order learning
skills.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF KY
TERMS
Technology: Technology, however, as a distinctive
phenomenon refers to the use of knowledge,
materials, tools, techniques, systems, and sources of
power to make life easier and better and to work
more productively and efficiently.
Constructivism: Constructivist pedagogy is based
on the belief that meaningful learning occurs when
learners are actively involved in a process of
meaning-making and knowledge construction,
rather than passively receiving and memorizing
information (rote-learning).
Higher Order Skills: In this study this terms was
categorized as follow:
Metacognitive: Metacognitive is
knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive
processes and products or anything related to them,
metacognitive refers, among other things, to the
active monitoring and consequent regulation and
orchestration of these processes in relation to
cognitive object or data.
 110
Cognitive Style: Cognitive style or
"thinking style" is a term used in cognitive
psychology to describe the way individuals think,
perceive and remember information .The
construct of field dependence (FD) and field
independence (FI) manifest across a broad
spectrum of cognitive processing behaviours.
Specifically when interacting with stimuli, children
who are FD may find it difficult to locate the
information they are seeking because it becomes
masked by other information within the stimulus
field. Contrastingly, FI typically find it easier to
recognize and select the critical
information from the surrounding field (Jonassen
and Grabowski, 1993).
DESCRIPTION OF THE SAMPLE
RANDOMLY SELECTED GROUPS
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
GROUP GGGRGROUP
PRE-TEST
TAUGHT BY CONSTRUCTIVIST
TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACH
POST-TEST
DIFFERENCE IN PRETEST AND
POST TEST SCORES
COMPARED
In order to conduct the study, 9th class
students from one P.S.E.B and one C.B.S.E. school
of Ferozepur City were taken. The selected students
were randomly assigned to two groups. One group
was considered as experimental group (which was
taught by the investigator through constructivist
Contemporary Researches in Education
technological approach using computers) and the
other as control group (taught by regular classroom
teaching). In total, a sample of 100 students were
selected, 50 students from each school respectively.
DESIGN OF THE STUDY
For the purpose of present investigation
“Randomized groups, pre test –post test design” is
employed. Three variables namely technology,
constructivist approach (independent variables) and
higher order learning skills (dependent variable) are
studied. . The higher order learning skills
acquisition is checked as a difference in post-test
and pre-test results. The schematic layout of the
study is presented in figure below:
CONTROL GROUP
PRE-TEST
TAUGHT BY TRADITIONAL METHOD
POST-TEST
DIFFERENCE IN PRETEST AND
POST TEST SCORES
INSTRUMENTS USED
Metacognitive Inventory: This test was developed
by Dr. Punita Goyal. The inventory contains 30
items dealing with both the aspects of
meatcognitive i.e knowledge of cognitive process
and regulation of cognitive process. Item nos. 2, 3,
Contemporary Researches in Education
5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 22, 28 and 30 deal with
knowledge of cognitive processes and item nos. 1,
4, 6, 8, 10, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 and
29 deal with regulation of cognitive processes. Each
item is a statement followed by a four-point scale:
‘not at all’ is given a weightage of 1 point.
Similarly 2, 3 and 4 points are given for markings
on ‘somewhat’, ‘to a considerable extent’, and ‘very
much so’ respectively. To find out the score of an
individual the weightages assigned to him or her on
all items are added. This sum will form the total
score of the respondent. The items have arranged in
a sequence according to their statistical properties.
The test possesses satisfactory content validity and
the value of reliability coefficient for the test is
0.82.
Group Embedded Figure Test-Geft: This test was
developed by Philip K.Oltman, Evelyn, Raskin and
Harman A. Witkin to measure the cognitive style
dimension of field independence/dependence of the
sample. It has 18 complex figures and requires the
subjects to locate a simple visual figure embedded
within a complex one. Besides the seven simple
forms (A,B,C,D,E,F,G) that have to be located, the
test has three sections; first section comprised of a
seven time practice test which served the purpose of
providing practice to the subjects and is not to be
scored, second and third sections are comprised of
nine difficult figures which are arranged in
ascending order of difficulty within each
section.The entire resting session is of 20 min.The
total number of simple forms correctly traced in
second and third sections combined is the
individual’s scores since the items in practice set
are not scored but merely scanned to ensure that the
Table 1. Mean Difference of Metacognitive in case of P.S.E.B School Students
Pre-test
Control Group Mean1 = 91, σ 1 = 8.10
(P.S.E.B N1 = 25, σM1 = 1.62
School) df =24
r = 0.99 , σD = 0.235
Experimental Mean1 = 87, σ 1 = 7.84
group (P.S.E.B N1 = 25, σM1 = 1.568
Schools) df =24
r = 0.75, σD = 1.058
Table 1 reveals that computed value of ‘t’
in case of the control group for P.S.E.B school is
0.340 which is quite small with respect to the
critical values of ‘t’ for degree of freedom 24 at 5%
111
instructions have been understood properly by the
subjects. Omitted items are scored as incorrect.
Those students getting 13 or above marks are
indicative of field independence while those
students getting 8 or below marks are denoted as
field dependent. Those students getting the median
scores are not included in the groups. The value of
reliability coefficient for the test is 0.82.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Analysis is the process of resolving a
problem in the logical sense. Analysis is a general
process of breaking down a complex whole in to as
many careful distinguished parts as opposed to
synthesis so as derive concrete results.
The data in the current study was analysed under
following headings:
A. Difference in the attainment scores of higher
order learning skill (metacognitive) taught through
routine classroom teaching and constructivist
technology approach.
B. Difference in the attainment scores of higher
order learning skill (cognitive style) taught through
routine classroom teaching and constructivist
technology approach.
C. Relationship between technological input and
attainment of gain score in relation to higher order
learning skills.
Difference in the attainment scores of higher
order learning skill (metacognitive) taught
through routine classroom teaching and
constructivist technology approach.
Post-test t-value
Mean2 = 91.08, σ 2 = 8.30
N2= 25, σM2 = 1.66
df =24 0.340
Mean2 = 98, σ 2 = 6.92 10.39
N2= 25, σM1 = 1.384
df =24
and 1% level of significance which are 2.06 and
2.80 respectively .Hence, we conclude there is no
significant difference between the pre-test and post-
test scores of control group taught through routine
 112
classroom teaching .However in case of
experimental group the computed value of ‘t’ i.e
10.39 exceeds the above mentioned critical values
both at 5% and 1% level of significance indicative
of the fact that in case of the experimental group
Table 2. Mean Difference of Metacognitive in case of C.B.S.E School Students
Pre-test
Control Group Mean1 = 94 ,σ 1 = 7.63
(C.B.S.E. School) N1 = 25, σM1 = 1.53
df =24
r = 0.99, σD = 0.2173
Experimental group Mean1 = 93, σ 1 = 7.17
(C.B.S.E School) N1 = 25, σM1 = 1.43
df =24
r = 0.88, σD = 0.732
Table 2 reveals that computed value of ‘t’
in case of the control group for C.B.S.E school is
0.340 which is quite small with respect to the
critical values of ‘t’ for degree of freedom 24 at 5%
and 1% level of significance which are 2.06 and
2.80 respectively. Hence, we conclude there is no
significant difference between the pre-test and post-
test scores of control group taught through routine
classroom teaching .However in case of
experimental group the computed value of ‘t’ i.e
6.83 exceeds the above mentioned critical values
both at 5% and 1% level of significance indicative
of the fact that in case of the experimental group
taught by constructivist technological approach
there is significant difference between the two set
of scores and population mean on the post-test is
significantly higher than the population mean on
pre-test .
Conclusions
The computed value of ‘t’ for the
experimental group taught by constructivist
technological approach is quite higher than the
critical ‘t’ values both at 1% and 5% level of
significance indicative of the fact that there is
significant difference between the pre-test and post-
test scores and population mean on the post-test is
significantly higher than the population mean on
pre-test. However, in case of the the control group
taught by routine classroom teaching the calculated
‘t’ value is quite lower than the critical ‘t’ values
Contemporary Researches in Education
taught by constructivist technological approach
there is significant difference between the two set
of scores and population mean on the post-test is
significantly higher than the population mean on
pre- test .
Post-test t-value
Mean2 = 94.16, σ 2 = 7.71
N2= 25, σM2 = 1.54
df =24 0.736
Mean2 = 98, σ 2 = 7.66 6.83
N2= 25, σM1 = 1.53
df =24
both at 1% and 5% level of significance indicative
of the fact that there is no significant difference
between the pre-test and post-test metacognitive
scores. Hence, we conclude that the adoption of
constructivist technological approach in classroom
leads to significant improvement in higher order
learning skill i.e metacognition. This provides
sufficient evidence for rejection of H1 i.e “There
exists no difference in the attainment scores of
higher order learning skill (metacognitive) taught
through routine classroom teaching and
constructivist technology approach.”
It may be noted from above that both in
case of P.S.E.B. and C.B.S.E. school students the
difference between the pre-test and post-test scores
is significant and population mean on the
post-test is significantly higher than the population
mean on pre-test. Hence, we conclude that the
adoption of constructivist technological approach in
classroom leads to significant
improvement in higher order learning skill i.e
metacognition in case of both P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E
board students. So, the hypothesis H2 that there
exists no difference in the attainment of higher
order learning skill (metacognitive) among P.S.E.B
and C.B.S.E. schools is rejected.
Difference in the attainment scores of higher
order learning skill (cognitive style) taught
through routine classroom teaching and
constructivist technology approach.
Contemporary Researches in Education 113

Table 2. Cognitive Style in P.S.E.B School Students

Control Group Experiment Group

Si. No. Pre-test Post-test S.No Pre-test Post-test
1. 9 13 (F.I ) 1. 14 (F.I ) 16 (F.I )
2. 14 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 2. 12 12
3. 13 (F.I ) 14 (F.I ) 3. 10 14 (F.I )
4. 12 15 (F.I ) 4. 15 (F.I ) 16 (F.I )
5. 15(F.I ) 12 5. 17 (F.I ) 18 (F.I )
6. 16( F.I) 17 (F.I ) 6. 13 (F.I ) 18 (F.I )
7. 16 (F.I ) 14 (F.I ) 7. 9 15 (F.I )
8. 8 (F.D) 13 (F.I ) 8. 11 15 (F.I )
9. 10 9 9. 15 (F.I ) 17 (F.I )
10. 17 (F.I ) 17 (F.I ) 10. 15 (F.I ) 16 (F.I )
11. 13 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 11. 13 (F.I ) 15 (F.I )
12. 15 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 12. 11 14 (F.I )
13. 16 (F.I ) 17 (F.I ) 13. 15 (F.I ) 17 (F.I )
14. 18 (F.I ) 18 (F.I ) 14. 18 (F.I ) 18 (F.I )
15. 16 (F.I ) 17 (F.I ) 15. 17(F.I) 17 (F.I )
16. 12 14 (F.I ) 16. 6 (F.D) 14 (F.I)
17. 10 13 (F.I ) 17. 7 (F.D) 13 (F.I )
18. 15 (F.I ) 16 (F.I ) 18. 12 15 (F.I )
19. 11 13 (F.I ) 19. 6 (F.D) 16 (F.I)
20. 6(F.D) 12 20. 8 (F.D) 14 (F.I )
21. 8 (F.D) 10 21. 5 (F.D) 13 (F.I )
22. 7 (F.D) 9 22. 8 (F.D) 17 (F.I)
23. 6 (F.D) 9 23. 6 (F.D) 12
24. 12 13 (F.I ) 24. 10 13 (F.I )
25. 11 12 25. 13 (F.I ) 14 (F.I )
Total (F.I)=12 (F.I)=18 Total (F.I)=11 (F.I)=23
(F.D)=5 (F.D)=0 (F.D)=7 (F.D)=0
Table 4. Cognitive Style in C.B.S.E. School Students
Control Group Experiment Group

Si. No. Pre-test Post-test Si. No. Pre-test Post-test

1. 7 (F.D) 12 1. 13 (F.I) 15 (F.I)
2. 10 13 (F.I) 2. 14 (F.I) 16 (F.I)
3. 8 (F.D) 13 (F.I) 3. 18 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
4. 10 14 (F.I) 4. 16 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
5. 13 (F.I) 13 (F.I) 5. 14 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
 114 Contemporary Researches in Education

6. 12 12 6. 8 (F.D) 13 (F.I)
7. 15 (F.I) 16 (F.I) 7. 13 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
8. 13 (F.I) 14 (F.I) 8. 18 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
9. 7 (F.D) 8(F.D) 9. 7 (F.D) 13 (F.I)
10. 5 (F.D) 8 (F.D) 10. 15 (F.I) 16 (F.I)
11. 14 (F.I) 17 (F.I) 11. 10 13 (F.I)
12. 9 14 (F.I) 12. 12 14 (F.I)
13. 10 14 (F.I) 13. 11 16 (F.I)
14. 13 (F.I) 13 (F.I) 14. 8 (F.D) 17 (F.I)
15. 14 (F.I) 15 (F.I) 15. 9 13 (F.I)
16. 15 (F.I) 15 (F.I) 16. 15 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
17. 15 (F.I) 16 (F.I) 17. 6 (F.D) 14 (F.I)
18. 8 (F.D) 13 (F.I) 18. 17 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
19. 18 (F.I) 18 (F.I) 19. 10 12
20. 13 (F.I) 15 (F.I) 20. 14 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
21. 7 (F.D) 8(F.D) 21. 7 (F.D) 13 (F.I)
22. 13 (F.I) 14 (F.I) 22. 8 (F.D) 13 (F.I)
23. 5 (F.D) 8(F.D) 23. 18 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
24. 13 (F.I) 13 (F.I) 24. 12 15 (F.I)
25. 16 (F.I) 16 (F.I) 25. 5 (F.D) 12
Total (F.I)=13 (F.I)=19 Total (F.I)=12 (F.I)=23
(F.D)=7 (F.D)=1 (F.D)=7 (F.D)=0

(F.I) = Field independent (F.D) = Field Dependent
Change in cognitive style for P.S.E.B. school
students
1. It may be observed from table 1.3 that in
control group out of 25 there were 5 field dependent
students in pre test from which only 1was converted
to field independent in post test. With respect to pre
test there was a gain of 5 students in field
independent list in post test.
2. It may be observed from table 1.3 that in
experimental group out of 25 there were 7 fields
dependent from which 6 were converted to field
independent in post test. With respect to the pre test
there was a gain of 13 students in field independent
list in post test. There was improvement in the post
test scores of students.
Change in cognitive style for C.B.S.E. school
students
1. It may be observed from table 1.4 that in
control group out of 25 there were 7 field dependent
students in pre test from which 2 were converted to
field independent in post test. With respect to pre
test there was a gain of 7 students in field
independent list in post test.
2. It may be observed from table 1.4 that in
experimental group out of 25 there were 7 fields
dependent from which 6 were converted to field
independent in post test. With respect to the pre test
there a gain of 12 students in field independent list
in post test. There was improvement in the post test
scores of students.
Conclusions
1. It may be concluded from above that there
is significant improvement in the cognitive style of
experimental group than the control group students.
So the hypothesis (H3) viz, "There exists no
difference in the attainment scores of higher order
learning skill (cognitive style) taught through
Contemporary Researches in Education 115

routine classroom teaching and constructivist cognitive style of P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E school
technology approach is rejected. students, taught through routine classroom teaching
and constructivist technological approach” is not
2. It may be noted from above that there is no
rejected.
significant difference in the improved results of
post test in both P.S.E.B. and C.B.S.E. school C. Relationship between technological input and
students. Hence the hypothesis H4 that “there exists attainment of gain score in relation to higher
no significant difference in the improvement of order learning skills.
Table 5. Mean Difference of Metacognition between Post-test Scores of C.G and E.G both in case of P.S.E.B
and C.B.S.E School Students

Category Post-test Post-test t-value

(Control Group) (Experimental Group)

P.S.E.B School Mean1 = 91.08, N1= 25, df = 48 Mean2 = 98, N2= 25, df = 48
3.168
Pooled S.D = 7.80 , σD = 2.184
C.B.S.E Mean1 = 94.16, N2= 25, df = 48 Mean2 = 98, N2= 25, df = 48 2.084
Schools
Pooled S.D = 6.58 , σD = 1.84
Table 5 reveals that computed value of ‘t’ indicates that difference between post-test scores of
i.e significance of difference between post test control and experimental groups of C.B.S.E school
scores of control and experimental group for is significant at 5% level of significance and
P.S.E.B school is 3.168 which crosses the critical insignificant at 1% level of significance. However,
values of ‘t’ both at 5% and 1% level of as the difference in both the cases is significant at
significance which are 2.01 and 2.68 respectively. 5% level of significance, this provides enough
Similarly in case of the C.B.S.E school calculated evidence to support the fact that the technological
value of ‘t’ i.e significance of difference between input in the classroom has lead to significant
pos-test scores of control and experimental group increase or gain in the metacognitive scores.
for C.B.S.E school is 2.084 which crosses the
Table 6. Post-test Scores of Cognitive Style for C.G
critical values of ‘t’ at 5% level significance which
and E.G both in case of P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E
are 2.01 but is smaller than critical t-value at 1%
School Students
level of significance i.e 2.68 .The result so obtained
P.S.E..B School C.B.S.E School
Si. No. Post-test (C.G) Post-test (E.G) Si. No. Post-test (C.G) Post-test (E.G)
1. 13 (F.I ) 16 (F.I ) 1. 12 15 (F.I)
2. 15 (F.I ) 12 2. 13 (F.I) 16 (F.I)
3. 14 (F.I ) 14 (F.I ) 3. 13 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
4. 15 (F.I ) 16 (F.I ) 4. 14 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
5. 12 18 (F.I ) 5. 13 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
6. 17 (F.I ) 18 (F.I ) 6. 12 13 (F.I)
7. 14 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 7. 16 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
8. 13 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 8. 14 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
9. 9 17 (F.I ) 9. 8(F.D) 13 (F.I)
10. 17 (F.I ) 16 (F.I ) 10. 8 (F.D) 16 (F.I)
11. 15 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 11. 17 (F.I) 13 (F.I)
 116 Contemporary Researches in Education

12. 15 (F.I ) 14 (F.I ) 12. 14 (F.I) 14 (F.I)

13. 17 (F.I ) 17 (F.I ) 13. 14 (F.I) 16 (F.I)
14. 18 (F.I ) 18 (F.I ) 14. 13 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
15. 17 (F.I ) 17 (F.I ) 15. 15 (F.I) 13 (F.I)
16. 14 (F.I ) 14 (F.I) 16. 15 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
17. 13 (F.I ) 13 (F.I ) 17. 16 (F.I) 14 (F.I)
18. 16 (F.I ) 15 (F.I ) 18. 13 (F.I) 17 (F.I)
19. 13 (F.I ) 16 (F.I) 19. 18 (F.I) 12
20. 12 14 (F.I ) 20. 15 (F.I) 18 (F.I)
21. 10 13 (F.I ) 21. 8(F.D) 13 (F.I)
22. 9 17 (F.I) 22. 14 (F.I) 13 (F.I)
23. 9 12 23. 8(F.D) 18 (F.I)
24. 13 (F.I ) 13 (F.I ) 24. 13 (F.I) 15 (F.I)
25. 12 14 (F.I ) 25. 16 (F.I) 12
Total (F.I)=18 (F.I)=23 Total (F.I)=19 (F.I)=23
(F.D)=0 (F.D)=0 (F.D)=1 (F.D)=0
Table 6 reveals the post test scores for Statistics of data show that the adoption of
cognitive style both for control and experimental constructivist technological approach in classroom
groups of C.B.S.E and P.S.E.B schools. It is leads to significant improvement in higher order
observed from the tabulated score that in case of learning skill i.e metacognitive. Meaningful
P.S.E.B school total number of field independent learning occurs when learners are actively involved
students for the control group were 18 which in a process of meaning-making and knowledge
showed considerable improvement for experimental construction, rather than passively receiving and
group being 23. Similarly, in case of C.B.S.E memorizing information as done in the traditional
school total number of field independent students teaching. Learners taught by constructivist
for the control group were 19 which showed technological approach are self-empowered to
considerable improved in the case of experimental define problems, research a wide variety of material
group being 23. and media, conceptualize, reason and clearly
communicate their solutions using a wide range of
Conclusion
media(Richardson, 1997) and (Schunk, 2004). This
In both the schools there is significant helps in active monitoring and consequent
increase in the post-test scores of experimental regulation and orchestration of various processes in
group taught by constructivist technological relation to cognitive object or data furthering the
approach , both for metacognitive and cognitive development of metacognitive. The results obtained
style with respect to pos-test scores of the control are in tune with the findings of Ayas,
group taught by routine classroom teaching. This Cemalettin.(2006) who asserts that powerful
provides enough evidence to support the fact that teaching learning that integrates technology aligned
the technological input in the classroom has lead to with constructivist pedagogy has the potential to
significant increase or gain in the both move social studies education beyond meaningless
metacognitive and cognitive style scores. Hence, facts, inadequate connections, superficial coverage
the H5 viz: “There is no relationship between of contents and passive knowledge construction.
technological input and attainment of gain score in Studies carried out in university of London by
relation to higher order learning skills.” is rejected. Jonassen (2000) also suggests that Middle school
students can acquire the necessary skills to learn
DISCUSSION science by using computer simulations. The results
Hypothesis 1 of current investigation were in close agreement
with the similar study done by Philip (2000) which
Contemporary Researches in Education
suggests that the students were encouraged to think
in greater depth about the materials and to argue
their convictions in an improved manner by
computer simulation.
Hypothesis 2
Data reveals that that the adoption of
constructivist technological approach in classroom
leads to significant improvement in higher order
learning skill i.e metacognitive in case of both
P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E board students. Use of
constructivist technological approach, through
active participation of students in classroom
discussion and following multi-sensory approach to
learning equally empowers the learners both from
P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E boards to become the
meaning-makers, and understand new ideas which
further help them to know and regulate their
cognitive processes developing their metacognitive.
Hypothesis 3
Statistics of data show that there is
significant improvement in the cognitive style of
experimental group with respect to the the control
group students. With respect to the traditional
teaching the adoption of constructivist
technological approach in classroom that appeals to
the multiple senses of the learner and generates
healthy learning environment in the classroom
enables learners to actively participate in classroom
discussions, construct their own knowledge and
arrive at solutions of various problems (Fosnot,
1996) and (Hendry et al.,1999). This in turn help in
development of Insight, Problem solving and
Critical thinking which to large extent contribute to
the cognitive-style of the learner. These results so
obtained are in tune with the findings of Philip
(2000) who asserts that the constructivist approach
to learning assumes that learning is best done by
learner constructing their own understanding,
developing higher order learning skills. Jonassen
(2003) also arrived at similar results holding the
view point that the problem solving, discovery
learning, deeper insight and inductive learning are
seen to constitute a general framework for the
description of learning process that are involved in
exploratory environments (constructivist
approach).The results of present study are also in
tune with the view point of Honey et. al.,(2003)
who in their similar study arrived at conclusion that
constructivist simulations on experimental group
revealed that the experimental group demonstrated
117
more sophisticated reasoning in other words higher
order thinking skills.
Hypothesis 4
Data reveals that that the adoption of
constructivist technological approach in classroom
leads to significant improvement in higher order
learning skill i.e cognitive style in case of both
P.S.E.B and C.B.S.E board students. Adoption of
constructivist technological approach in teaching
rather than traditional one calls for active
participation of students both from P.S.E.B and
C.B.S.E schools in classroom discussions, give
them opportunity to generate new ideas and come
forward with innovative solutions to the novel
problems that arise when the teaching –learning
process continues. Moreover the curriculum
requirement for both the boards is more or less the
same hence the learners of class ninth of both the
schools though of different boards were taught the
similar content material by employing the
constructivist technological approach to teaching
which equally empowered them to develop insight,
problem solving and critical thinking improving
their cognitive or thinking style.
Hypothesis 5
Statistics of data provides enough evidence
to support the fact that the technological input in the
classroom has lead to significant increase or gain in
the both metacognitive and cognitive style scores.
With respect to the monotonous and teacher
dominated environment that characterizes
traditional teaching the child-centred environment
generated by adopting the technological
constructivist classroom act as the motivational
source for the learners and create in them desire and
interest to learn. The delivery of the subject
material through Power point presentations loaded
with variety of colourful illustrations, animations
and sound clips appeals to the multiple senses of the
students and enables them to correlate knowledge
gained in four walls of classroom with real world
outside. This helps in development of various
mental faculties like memory, attention,
imagination, reasoning and judgement which may
further account for improvement in metacognitive
and cognitive-style.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE
STUDY
The results and findings of the study
suggest that Constructivist technological approach
 118
has proved to increase the metacognitive and
cognitive style of the students. These are
some of higher order learning skills which are
required by the learners to make them self-
empowered to define problems, research a wide
variety of material and media, conceptualize, reason
and clearly communicate their solutions using a
wide range of media. Inculcation of constructivist
technological approach will make our future
generations able to “use their knowledge and skills-
by thinking crtically, applying knowledge to the
new situations, analyzing information,
comprehending new ideas, communicating,
collaborating, solving problems, making decisions”.
The curriculum may be designed following the
constructivist technology approach and after testing
its initial impact, it may be made a part of present
day curriculum.
Teachers should be encouraged to come
out of their cacoons and orientate their
teaching on the constructivist strategies.
They should be receptive to the new techniques and
innovative ideas in the field of teaching-learning to
enrich their teaching strategies. New programmes
should be organised for the teachers to give them
training for the use of constructivist technology.
Old myths of teachers regarding low level of
attainment of P.S.E.B than C.B.S.E. students should
be clarified. The low level of achievement of the
students is not due to incapability of student
but due to the traditional styles of teaching of the
teachers.
Heads of the institutions should show an attitude of
cooperation to an innovative teacher who wishes to
use technology enriched environment that appeals
to multisensory channels of pupil to provide them
wide variety of experiences and knowledge.
They should not only be concerned with the
academic results of their students that can earn
laurels to the institution but should make their
students creative, original thinkers and problem
solvers.
Parents of the children need to be
technology-minded and need to understand the
relevance of technology enriched environment in
education of their child. They shouldmake available
the necessary electronic gadget including computers
and internet facility at the disposal of their
child, so that he no more gets yesterdays education
in the modern world of today. However, the parents
of the children need to maintain the check that the
Contemporary Researches in Education
technology is relevantly used by the children for the
purpose of education and not for unnecessary
entertainment.
The societal educational resources need to
be reconstituted on the technological lines. In the
community libraries, necessary provisions of
computers along with the internet facilities need to
be made so that learners from every strata of society
are not devoid of fruits of quality knowledge and
experiences that can self empower them to be
creative, original thinkers and problem solvers.
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FURTHER STUDY
The present study was restricted to 100
students only of Ferozepur city. In further studies, a
large sample from the large area encompassing
entire state and even entire nation can taken to get
more valid and reliable results.It was also restricted
to the students of class 9th only. It is suggested that
similar study can be conducted on students from
primary to senior- secondary classes. In the present
study only two higher order learning skills
(metacognition and cognitive style) were taken in
consideration. Same study can be conducted taking
more of the higher order skills (comprehension,
critical thinking, problem solving, insight etc)
under investigation.
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 120
QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS
Ms. Geeta R Thakur, Assistant Professor, Pillai College of Education & Research, New Panvel.
Abstract
Interviews, field notes and various types of
unobtrusive data are often not amenable to analysis
until the information they convey has been
condensed and made systematically comparable.
An objective coding scheme must be applied to the
notes or data. Content analysis is very useful
method for solving this problem of coding. Content
analysis is widely used in social science research.
Content analysis is a method that may be used with
either qualitative or quantitative data. This paper
includes qualitative content analysis. It describes
the process of qualitative content analysis. It also
includes example from the research from the area
of organizational behavior to understand how to
make use of qualitative content analysis to support
analysis and interpretation.
Interviews, field notes and various types of
unobtrusive data are often not amenable to analysis
until the information they convey has been
condensed and made systematically comparable.
An objective coding scheme must be applied to the
notes or data. This process is commonly called as
content analysis.
Content analysis may be seen as a method
where the content of the message forms the basis
for drawing inferences and conclusions about the
content (Nachmias and Nachmias, 1976).
Krippendorff (1980) defined content
analysis as a research technique for making
replicable and valid inferences from data to their
context.
It allows the researcher to enhance
understanding of the data. Through content
analysis, it is possible to distil words into fewer
content related categories, words, phrase and the
like share the same meaning. (Cavanagh 1997)
To conduct a content analysis on a text, the
text is coded, or broken down, into manageable
categories on a variety of levels--word, word sense,
phrase, sentence, or themeThe results are then used
to make inferences about the messages within the
text, the writer, the audience, and even the culture
and time of which these are a part.
Content analysis is widely used in social sciences.
Contemporary Researches in Education
Content analysis is objective as analysis is
pursued on the basis of explicit rules, which enables
different researchers to obtain the same results from
the same documents or messages. It is systematic as
the content is analyzed and added to categories
based on some consistently applied rules. It is
generalizable as the result obtained result is applied.
Content analysis is a method that may be used with
either qualitative or quantitative data:
Qualitative content analysis has been
defined as “a research method for the subjective
interpretation of the content of text data through the
systematic classification process of coding and
identifying themes or patterns” (Hsieh & Shannon,
2005, p.1278),
“An approach of empirical,
methodological controlled analysis of texts within
their context of communication, following content
analytic rules and step by step models, without rash
quantification” (Mayring, 2000, p.2)
Qualitative content analysis is a process of
converting raw data into categories or themes based
on valid inferences and interpretation. This process
makes use of inductive reasoning.
Furthermore, it may be used in an
inductive or deductive way. Which of these is used
is determined by the purpose of the study. If there is
not enough former knowledge about the
phenomenon or if this knowledge is fragmented, the
inductive approach is recommended (Lauri &
Kynga, 2005). The categories are derived from the
data in inductive content analysis. Deductive
content analysis is used when the structure of
analysis is operated on the basis of previous
knowledge and the purpose of the study is theory
testing (Kynga¨ s & Vanhanen, 1999). An approach
based on inductive data moves from the specific to
the general, so that particular instances are observed
and then combined into a larger whole or general
statement (Chinn & Kramer 1999). A deductive
approach is based on an earlier theory or model and
therefore it moves from the general to the specific
(Burns & Grove 2005).
In contrast to quantitative content analysis
techniques, which enable researchers to derive
quantitative measures from non-numerical
Contemporary Researches in Education 121

information sources, inductive content analysis is sentences which gives sense was considered as unit
well-suited for research where few or no previous of analysis.
studies of the phenomenon in question exist. The
The researcher marked with a Highlighter
inductive approach enables researchers to identify
all statements that are relevant to the Organizational
key themes in the area of interest by reducing the
Behavior. I.e. any description, statement which is
material to a set of themes or categories.
related to different variables of Organizational
Process of Qualitative content analysis Behavior is taken into consideration for the present
study.
The process of qualitative content analysis is given
along with one example from research done. Step 3: Developed Categories
Step 1: Prepared the Data for analysis Content categories can be defined as
compartments or “pigeon holes” with explicitly
Content analysis is used to analyze various
stated boundaries into which the units of content are
types of data. The data has to be transformed into
coded for analysis. Categories and a coding scheme
written text. The data could be interview transcript
can be derived from three sources: the data,
etc. it also may include the observations made
previous related studies, and theories. Coding
during interviews.
schemes can be developed both inductively and
Eg. The data was collected through deductively. While developing categories
interviewing principals. Almost all the questions inductively from raw data you should use constant
were considered for the purpose of content analysis. comparison method. It helps you to compare text
Transcribe the interview into text. The object of and put it in apt category. You can either take help
content analysis was interview transcripts. of theory or model which is base of your study. You
can generate initial list of coding categories from
Step 2: Defined the Unit of analysis the model or theory. Categories in your coding
The unit of analysis refers to the basic unit should be defined in a way that they are internally
of text to be classified during content. Messages homogeneous and externally heterogeneous.
should be unitized before they can be coded.
Eg. The researcher had a theory of
Qualitative content analysis usually uses individual
Organizational Behavior on which to base the
themes as the unit for analysis. A theme might be
inquiry. So the researcher generated an initial list of
expressed in a single word, a phrase, a sentence, a coding categories from the theory. The analysis was
paragraph or an entire document. done considering the following different variables
Eg. In these interview transcripts, at three levels i.e. Individual process level, team
statements made, or sometimes the group of process level and organizational process level.
Categories
Learning in Initiative taken by college for the learning in organization
organization Responses by the teachers
Attitude towards learning
Work place Extent of values and ethics followed by principals
ethics and Principals’ perception of teachers’ values and ethics
values
Employee Strategies of motivation adopted in the college
motivation Perception of principals motivation of teachers
Stress Level of stress management of principals
management Perception of principals about stress of teachers
Foundations of Efforts to encourage team work of teachers
team dynamics Team work of teachers
Decision Teachers’ involvement in decision making
 122 Contemporary Researches in Education

making and Reasons for involvement/ lack of involvement

employee
involvement
Communicating Communication channels used
in Effectiveness of communication
organizational
setting Communication barriers
Organizational Extent of transformational and transactional leadership
Leadership
Organizational Extent of organizational culture i.e. responsive culture, relational culture
culture and performance culture
Unique culture of organization
Employee Relationship among teachers
relationship Relationship with management
Organizational Efforts taken to cope up with change
change and Strategies to face change
development
Step 4: Test your coding Scheme on a sample of When sufficient consistency has been
text achieved, the coding rules can be applied to the
entire text.
For clarity and consistency of your
category definitions, you need to code a sample of Step 6: Assess your coding consistency
your data. After the sample is coded, the coding
After coding the entire data set, you need
consistency needs to be checked. If the level of
to recheck the consistency of our coding. You may
consistency is low, the coding rules must be
likely to make mistakes as the coding proceeds,
revised. Coding sample text, checking coding
new codes may have been added, and your
consistency should continue until sufficient coding
understanding of the categories and coding rules
consistency is achieved.
may change over the time. For all these reasons,
Eg. Transport all the relevant sentences you need to recheck your coding consistency.
into related categories. First of all the statements
Step 7: Draw Conclusions from the Coded Data
which shows the presence of each variables of
Organizational behavior are separated. Based on This step involves making sense of the
coding system, the presence of each variable was themes. At this stage, the researcher used tally
fixed. Further tally frequency was used to find out frequency and made inferences and presented her
the percentage. The percentage shows how many reconstructions of meanings derived from the data.
principals feel that particular variable of The researcher explored the dimensions of
Organizational Behavior is followed in their categories, identified relationships between
institution. The statements which reflect other categories and tested categories against the full
information such as different strategies, activities, range of data.
healthy practices etc. are separated of its variable
wise. Put similar units together in a pile. The Step 8: Reported Findings
researcher labeled each pile as initial categories Qualitative content analysis
(themes) using key words. She used some
categories sparingly and revised categories as The findings were presented in terms of percentage
continued to code data. Then she went through the as well as description.
entire interview transcript identifying distinct units, CONCLUSION
grouping and regrouping similar and dissimilar
units, and re-labeling categories. Inductive approach for qualitative analysis
is mainly useful to condense raw textual data into a
Step 5: Code all the Text brief, summary format, to establish clear links
Contemporary Researches in Education
between the evaluation or research objectives and
the summary findings derived from the raw data
and to develop a framework of the underlying
structure of experiences or process that are evident
in the raw data.
The inductive approach provides an easily
used and systematic set of procedures for analyzing
qualitative data that can produce reliable and valid
findings.
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Contemporary Researches in Education
ATTITUDE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS TOWARDS EDUCATION OF
DIFFERENTLY ABLED CHILDREN: AN EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVE
Dr. Shazli Hasan Khan
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Education & Training, MANUU, Hyderabad.
Abstract
Today, when the whole country is
harnessing upon key issues like, ‘Education for All’
and ‘Universalization of Elementary Education’,
there is felt a dire and an urgent need for inclusion
of all differently able and special needs children in
the mainstream of Indian education. For a long
time it is seen that children with disabilities were
educated in separate classes or in separate schools.
People got used to the idea that special education
meant separate education. But we now know that
when children are educated together, positive
academic and social outcomes occur for all
children involved. Although there are several
challenges and barriers in inclusion of special
needs children in mainstream, which should be
overcome. In this regard, parents and teachers of
these children should be given training and
counselling by government agencies, Non-
Governmental Organizations and other special
schools meant for special needs children on how to
bring up and provide education to these differently
able children, especially in about the precautions to
be taken, while handling such type of children, so
as to prevent them from enhancing their possible
disabilities. Now it has been realized that a
majority of children with disabilities, can lead a
better quality of life, if they have equal and effective
access and opportunities to various rehabilitation
measures. In Indian scenario, ‘inclusive education’
has been provided mainly to children with mild
disabilities and who are considered easy to include
into regular school programs. Children with severe
disabilities, in a majority of cases, do not attend
school or in very rare cases attend a special school.
In the present paper, the author tries to elaborate
and focus upon the attitudes of parents and
teachers towards education of differently able
children. The present paper also highlights on the
various barriers and challenges, which are
impeding the progress of successful inclusion of all
special needs children in the mainstream of Indian
education system. Thus, in a nutshell, it can be said
that it is the duty of every stakeholder in the society
to provide a level playing field to differently able
children along with the normal children, so that
125
they too can make their valuable contribution in the
progress and development of the society as well as
nation at large.
Keywords: Inclusion, Inclusive Education, Special
Needs Children, Higher Education, UEE.
INTRODUCTION
Education is a dynamic process and
continuous process of reconstruction of human
experiences. The Central Government has
introduced Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in 2001
to achieve Universalization of Elementary
Education (UEE) for 6-14 years age of all children.
Right to Education (RTE) mandates free and
compulsory education to all children from 6-14
years of age. The key objective of RTE-SSA is
Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE).
The 86th constitutional amendment has been
facilitated making free and compulsory elementary
education a fundamental right, the amendment has
given a new thrust to the education of Children
With Special Needs (CWSN) inclusion. Inclusive
education means welcoming all children, without
discrimination regular or ordinary schools. it refers
to the process of educating all children in their
neighbourhood school, regardless of the nature of
their disabilities. Students participating in an
inclusion program follow the same schedule ad
their classmates and participate in age appropriate
academic classes. They don’t receive special
education services in separate or isolated places.
Students with disabilities are not required to be
ready and don’t have to earn their way into regular
classroom based upon their academic skills.
Inclusive education goes one step further by
defining theses children as ‘children with special
needs who needs special attention, rather than
children who are ‘impaired’. Inclusive education is
‘making the programme fro disabled children as an
integral part of the general educational system
rather than a system within general education’.
Inclusive education is not merely about
providing access to mainstream school for pupils
who have previously been excluded. It is not about
closing down an unacceptable system of segregated
provision and dumping those pupils in an
 126
unchanged mainstream system. Existing school
system in terms of physical factors, curriculum
aspects, teaching expectations and styles, leadership
roles have to change. This is because inclusive
education is about the participation of all children
and young people and the removal of all forms of
exclusionary practices. Inclusive education is based
on the right of all learners to a quality education
that meets basic learning needs and enriches lives.
Focusing particularly on vulnerable and
marginalised groups, it seeks to develop the full
potential of every individual. The ultimate goal of
inclusive quality is to end all forms of
discrimination and foster social cohesion.
Inclusive education stands for a process of
fighting for the inclusion of people with disabilities
in the mainstream education system. Education for
all is closely connected to the work for equal rights
of people with disabilities and against their social
exclusion. Education is seen as key to a society that
is ready to welcome a wide diversity of different
abilities (Ainscow, 2000)1. It has been now known
that inclusive school system is the most effective
tool for developing necessary skills and building
solidarity among our youth with special needs and
their peers. It also creates a path for being better
prepared for all kinds of work opportunities.
Inclusion of children with special needs has become
a matter of priority in many countries around the
world. The implementation of inclusive education
requires dedication and willingness on part of all
stakeholders especially educators. Every educator
must be aware of the concept of ‘inclusion’.
NEED OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Several studies have been done on the
effects of inclusion of children with disabilities in
general education classrooms. A study on inclusion
compared integrated and segregated (special
education only) pre-school students. The study
determined that children in the integrated sites
progressed in social skills development while the
segregated children actually regressed. There are
many positive effects of inclusion where both the
students special needs along with the other students
in the classroom both benefit. Research has shown
positive effects for children with disabilities in area
such as reaching Individualized Education
Programme (IEP) goal, improving communication
and social skills, increasing positive peer
interactions, many educational outcomes and post
school adjustments. Positive effects on children
Contemporary Researches in Education
with disabilities include the development of
positive attitudes and perceptions of persons with
disabilities and the enhancement of social status
with non-disabled peers. The need of inclusive
education is discussed below:
1. To fulfil Constitutional Responsibility
It is an attempt to maintain principles of
equality by giving every child right to get education
in the school of his choice regardless of his/her
differences in physical, psychological and socio-
cultural characteristics.
2. Universalization of Education
Inclusive education helps in achieving our
motives of universalization of education. It could
only be possible if expansion of education be made
keeping in view the mental and physical health,
needs and other strengths of the children.
3. All Children Learn by Being Together
It is a place which removes discrimination
as everyone belongs, is accepted and supported by
his or her peers and other members of the school
community in the course of having his or her
educational needs met. In inclusive settings,
children learn at their own pace and style within a
nurturing learning environment.
4. Development of Friendship
Schools are important places for children
to develop friendships and learn social skills.
Children with and without disabilities learn with
and from each other in inclusive classes.
5. Children Learn Important Academic Skills
In inclusive class rooms, children with and
without disabilities are expected to learn and read,
write and do maths. With higher expectations and
good instruction children with disabilities learn
academic skills.
6. Children Develop Positive Understanding of
Themselves and Others
When the children attend the classes that
reflect the similarities and differences of people in
the real world, they learn to appreciate diversity.
Respect and understanding grow when children of
differing abilities and cultures play and learn
together.
7. Children Experience More Self-esteem
Contemporary Researches in Education
Student with disabilities experience
increased self-esteem by the mere fact that they are
attending classes in a regular education setting
rather than in a special education setting.
8. Improvement in their Own Self-concept.
Children without disabilities experiences
growth in social recognition and gain a greater
understanding and acceptance of students with
disabilities and of diversity in general when they
experience inclusive programming. Children
without disabilities also experiences increased self-
concept and overall improvement in their own self-
concept.
ROLE OF TEACHERS IN INCLUSIVE
EDUCATION
Teachers in inclusive classrooms should
welcome all children, without discrimination by
making necessary arrangements for their education
in the same school and class along with the non-
disabled peers. To teach in inclusive settings,
cooperation and understanding between regular,
special and resource teacher is an essential
condition. The teacher for teaching in inclusive
classroom must be aware of 3 R’s i.e., Rights, Roles
and Responsibilities. The general role and
responsibilities of a teacher in inclusive settings can
be summarised as following:
 Providing equal opportunities to each child to
participate in classroom activities and social
programmes according to his/her capability.
 Making disabled child emotionally, physically,
psychologically and educationally sound.
 Following the principle of ‘zero rejection
policy’ according to which everyone should be
integrated in the normal classroom.
 Provide enhanced opportunities for overall
development of child’s physical, cognitive,
emotional and social skills.
 Working closely with parents to inform them
of their child’s progress and suggest techniques
to promote learning at home.
 Collaborate with regular education teachers
and all related services personnel.
 Provide classrooms with disability awareness
information, as requested.
127
 Suggest/ coordinate per mediators, peer tutors,
or peer buddies etc.
 Provide regular education teachers and Para-
professionals with information on disabilities,
medical concerns and equipment operations.
 Monitor and evaluate assigned students’
progress in regular education curriculum.
 Develop in collaboration with the regular
education teacher, a plan for supervising the
paraprofessional’s duties.
 Coordinate weekly scheduled collaboration
with the regular education teachers to identify
necessary accommodation.
INCLUSIVE EDUCATION IN INDIAN
CONTEXT
There are some of the key observations regarding
Inclusion in the Indian context, which are as
following:
a) Central and State governments have taken a
number of initiatives to improve the enrolment,
retention and achievement of children with
disabilities. There is a need to establish interlinks
and collaboration among various organizations to
prevent overlapping, duplication and contradiction
in program implementation.
b) Most services for children with disabilities are
concentrated in mega citers or close to district
headquarters majority of children with disabilities
who live in rural areas do not get benefit from these
services.
c) There is an absence of consistent data on the
magnitude and educational status of children with
disabilities and disparities between regions and
types of disability. This makes it difficult to
understand the nature of the problem and to make
realistic interventions.
d) Special schools and integrated practices for
children with disabilities have developed over the
years. Inclusive education has gained momentum
over the last decade.
e) Community involvement and partnership
between government agencies and NGOs had been
instrumental in promoting inclusive education.
f) Many regular schools have a large number of
children in each classroom and a few teachers. As a
consequence of this, many teachers are reluctant to
 128
work with children with disabilities. They consider
it an additional workload.
g) Sensitization of masses towards disability and
inclusion issues and how to cover efforts for the
effective implementation of programs, are
important concerns.
h) Different disabilities require different supports.
The number of skilled and trained personnel for
supporting inclusive practices is not adequate to
meet the needs of different types of disability.
i) The curriculum lacks the required flexibility to
cater to the needs of children with disabilities.
There are limited developmentally appropriate
teaching learning materials for children both with
and without disabilities. The teaching-learning
process addresses the individual learning needs of
children in a limited way.
BARRIERS TO INCLUSION OF
DIFFERENTLY ABLE IN NORMAL
SCHOOLS
One of the greatest barriers to inclusion is
the ‘attitude’ of parents and especially teachers
towards differently able children. If teachers hold
unfavourable or negative attitude towards inclusion
of children with special needs in the regular
classroom and if they possess negative beliefs about
the educability of such children in the regular
schools, then inclusion would remain a distant
dream and unsuccessful. It is seen that some parents
of normal children are not in favour of sending their
children to integrated schools where both disabled
and normal children learn together, on the grounds
that the education of their children would be
affected by including disabled children in the
regular class and that their normal children would
imitate the undesirable behaviours and manners of
disabled children. Such negative attitude of parents
of normal children makes inclusion a failure one.
Labeling is another barrier. Inmost cases it is seen
that regular teachers tend to categorise and address
such children by a label. But there are some
negative effects of such labelling, which are:
Labeling usually focuses on a child’s negative
aspects i.e. their inadequacies and defects. Teachers
and parents tend to have low expectations about
what a child can do; Teacher tend to explain a
child’s poor performance only in terms of his
defects and not in terms of instructional failure; A
labelled child develops a poor-self concept; Labels
lead to rejections by the peers; Labels create sense
Contemporary Researches in Education
of helplessness, inferiority and stigmatization
among the disabled children.
Teachers must respect diversity among
disabled children. Inclusion values diversity, not
assimilation. Teachers should, therefore respect the
diversity among children and provide programmes
keeping in view their individuality. Lack of
teachers respect for diversity is a serious barrier to
inclusion. A multidisciplinary approach is essential
for inclusion. Collaboration between parents,
teachers, special education teachers, therapists,
social worker, community people and doctor is an
essential condition for the success of inclusion.
Each and every teacher in inclusive setting
irrespective of special education teacher or regular
teacher should take the responsibility and should be
accountable for his education. Failure to be
accountable leads to the exclusion of the child from
inclusive settings. Another barrier is the traditional
mode of teaching. Children with diverse abilities
have unique needs and needs innovative practice
teaching. Traditional way of teaching involves
lecture method with a fixed timetable, a single
textbook and rigid grouping. Curriculum is not
adopted to meet their needs. Individual attention is
not seen in traditional teaching which will be a
barrier to providing quality education to children
with special needs in inclusive settings. Effective
inclusion requires that the school personnel and
resources should be integrated. All teachers and
resources of the school should be available for
providing services to children with diverse abilities
and disabilities. An unhealthy division between the
professional will be a barrier to effective inclusion.
Differently able children included in the regular
classroom require support from teachers and peers
to make satisfactory progress in learning. If they
don’t get the requisite support, they may experience
failure and later drop out from school. There should
be a linkage with their special schools. Special
schools with their expert teachers and special aids
and equipments should function as resource centres
for inclusive schools. Children enrolled in inclusive
school or who need specialised help must be
referred to special schools or that specialist teachers
working in special school may be requested to
provide special assistance and services to such
children. Lack of linkage between special schools
and inclusive schools is a barrier to inclusion.
Contemporary Researches in Education
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In India since a majority of children with
special needs do not receive any formal education,
in-spite of the practice of inclusive education in
some schools. This is because children with
disabilities and learning defences are perhaps
segregated from mainstream schools and other
regular routines and social activities of normal
children. It is the parents who are largely not aware
of inclusive education. Even if they are aware, they
doubt the setting of inclusive education. Parents of
disabled children are contended with the special
education settings as they think it is safe without
considering the real interest and need of their
children. The purpose of the study is just to find out
the opinions of parents and teachers of both normal
and disabled children towards inclusive education.
The author in this study has tried to find out the
significant differences if any are there in the
attitudes of teachers and parents towards inclusive
education. An attempt is made to analyse the
opinions of teacher and parents towards inclusive
education, by making use of a questionnaire on
inclusive settings of education.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To study the attitude of the parents of
normal children towards inclusive
education.
2. To study the attitude of parents of
differently able children towards inclusive
education.
3. To study the attitude of teachers of normal
school towards inclusive education.
4. To find out the difference in attitude
between parents of differently able
children and parents of normal school
children towards inclusive education.
5. To find out the difference in attitude
between parents of normal school children
and teachers of normal school towards
inclusive education.
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
1. There is no significant difference in the
attitude of parents of differently able
129
children and parents of regular school
children towards inclusive education.
2. There is no significant difference in the
attitude of parents of normal school
children and teachers of normal school
children towards inclusive education.
3. There is no significance difference in the
attitude of parents of differently able
children and teacher of normal school
children towards inclusive education.
METHODOLOGY
In order to carry out the present study, the
investigator undertook a Survey Method of research
study. The investigator himself went to the
Government primary school located in Jamalpur
area of Aligarh city and administered a
questionnaire based on inclusive education.
Sample for the Study:
To study the present problem, the
investigator took a sample of 50 parents of normal
school children, 50 parents of disabled children and
50 normal school teachers from the Government
primary school in Jamalpur area of Aligarh city.
Tool Used:
To get the responses and to study the
attitude of teachers and parents of both normal and
differently able children towards inclusive
education, the investigator used and collected data
through a self-developed Likert-type questionnaire.
Statistical Techniques Used:
The statistical techniques used to analyse
the collected data are: Mean, Standard Deviation,
and ‘t’ test.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF
DATA
The data collected from teachers and
parents was analysed with the help of Mean, SD, ‘t’
test statistical techniques. The following tables from
1 to 3 shows the Mean value, SD and ‘t’ values of
each variable of the respondents towards inclusive
education.
 130 Contemporary Researches in Education

Table 1. Difference in Attitude of Parents of Differently able children and Parents of Normal children towards
Inclusive Education

Si. Variable N Mean SD t-value*

No.
1. Parents of differently Able Children 50 17.56 0.194 15.06
2. Parents of normal Children 50 14.79 1.694
*Significant at 0.01 level of significance parents of normal children and parents of
differently able children towards inclusive
From the table 1, it can be seen that the
education”, is rejected. There is a difference in the
obtained ‘t’- value 15.06 is significant at 0.01 level
attitude of parents of normal children and parents of
of significance. Hence the stated null hypothesis
differently able children towards inclusive
that, “there is no difference in the attitude of
education.
Table 2. Difference in Attitude of Parents of Normal children and Teachers of Normal children towards Inclusive
Education

Si. No. Variable N Mean SD t-value*

1. Parents of normal Children 50 14.79 1.694 7.62
2. Teachers of normal children 50 16.76 1.784
*Significant at 0.05 level of significance parents of normal children and teachers of normal
children towards inclusive education”, is rejected.
From the table 2, it can be seen that the
There is a difference in the attitude of parents of
obtained ‘t’- value 7.62 is significant at 0.05 level
normal children and teachers of normal children
of significance. Hence the stated null hypothesis
towards inclusive education.
that, “there is no difference in the attitude of
Table 3. Difference in Attitude of Parents of Differently Abled Children and Teachers of Normal Children
towards Inclusive Education

Si. No. Variable N Mean SD t-value*

1. Parents of differently able children
2. Teachers of normal children
*Significant at 0.05 level of significance
From the table 3, it can be seen that the
obtained ‘t’- value 4.32 is significant at 0.05 level
of significance. Hence the stated null hypothesis
that, “there is no difference in the attitude of
parents of differently able children and teachers of
normal children towards inclusive education”, is
rejected. There is a difference in the attitude of
parents of differently able children and teachers of
normal children towards inclusive education.
RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The study found that the parents of
differently able children have real interest in
inclusive education and they want their children to
get education with normal children in inclusive
settings. The parents of normal children are
sometimes afraid of he adverse effects of differently
able children on the natural development of their
50 17.56 0.194 4.32
50 16.76 1.784
normal children. Teachers look forward to teach
and mainstream these differently able children in
the inclusive classroom settings and face the future
challenges which are there in the integration of
these differently able children along with the
normal children.
The present study further found that there
is a significant difference in the attitude of parents
of normal children and parents of differently able
children towards inclusive education. it was also
found that there is a significant difference in the
attitude of parents of normal children and teachers
of normal children towards inclusive education. The
investigator further found, as can be seen from the
results of table 3, that there is a significant
difference in the attitude of parents of differently
able children and teachers of normal children
towards inclusive education. The teachers who are
giving instructions in the inclusive classroom
Contemporary Researches in Education
settings, they have to be trained in specialized
inclusive environment so as to remain effective in
the inclusive classroom settings and face the future
challenges lying ahead in the mainstreaming of
differently able children. On the other hand, the
parents of a few differently able children actually
took up the challenge of seriously sending their
children to normal schools; but had to withdraw due
to continuous complaints and harassment on part of
teachers.
Achieving Inclusive Education for All: Road
Ahead
The road to achieving inclusive education
is a long and varied one, on which challenges an
opportunities will arise. No government (or other
provider such as an NGO) can realistically expect
to switch overnight from special or integrated
approaches to inclusive ones. ‘Twin track’
approaches may be adopted meaning that special or
integrated initiatives and inclusive schools sit side-
by-side as governments work towards the proper
inclusion of all children within the mainstream
education system over time. Ideally these twin
approaches will inform one another, with learning
gained from each informing the development of
future strategies, rather than being parallel
processes without links between them. There are
particular challenges around negative attitudes and
behaviour, on part of both educators and parents, in
relation to the ability of disabled children to learn.
These challenges can be overcome by raising
awareness of human rights in communities and
publicizing positive examples of disabled children
succeeding in inclusive education and in life
beyond school as a result. Other possible methods
include supporting disabled children to express
their aspirations sand participate in planning
processes, as well as promoting action research and
critical pedagogy amongst teachers. Ensuring that
oversight bodies such as parent-teacher associations
exist, and that the parents of disabled children are
adequately represented in such entitles, is also
crucial for addressing parents’ concerns and, more
broadly, ensuring just and democratic governance
arrangements.
Other significant challenges relate to
organizational structure and leadership. In some
countries, official responsibilities for the education
of disabled children dos not even lie with the
Ministry of Education. In other cases, the problem
will be lack of joined-up thinking and practice
131
within the Ministry of Education, where there will
often be a Special Educational Needs (SEN) desk or
department that is functionally unconnected with
the rest of the Ministry’s work. The political
challenges in securing leadership, so that Ministries
of Education develop, implement and monitor an
inclusive education strategy that explicitly focus on
the mast marginalized, should not be
underestimated. It is particularly important to
ensure that disabled children are not just registered
in mainstream schools but can and do actually
attend and genuinely progress in a safe
environment.
It is also worth noting that there are
challenges in procuring and resourcing for assistive
devices. For example, children who learn to read
Braille alongside their sighted peers in an inclusive
class need Braille writing equipment and
curriculum materials in tactile form. Some of the
other challenges in inclusive education are: The
percentage of CWSN identified being only 1.50%
of the total child population in comparison to
Census 2001, wherein 2.1 % of the population has
been found to have some disability. Hnece, sates
should further streamline identification procedures;
Monitoring mechanisms to assess both quantitative
and qualitative progress in Inclusive Education to
be constantly improved by states; Emphasis on
classroom practices and teaching methods adopted
by teachers for effective classroom management of
CWSN; 58.01% schools have been made barrier-
free, more schools need to be covered. Quality of
ramps in most states is an area of concern; it must
be ensured that each and every child with special
needs receives continuing on site academic support
in schools.
SUGGESTIONS
The following are the suggestions so as to make
effective inclusion of special needs children:
1. To Re-orient the regular schooling
Systems should facilitate admission for
children with disabilities. This would ensure
application of zero rejection policy. Further,
children with disabilities would be able to go to the
neighbourhood schools which are closer to their
residence, thus overcoming the problem of
transportation. These efforts would also ensure non-
discrimination and promote mainstreaming. In
order to encourage this, it is advocated that such
school admitting children with special needs be
 132
given support to meet the extra cost towards
education such as learning aids, Braille books, low
vision appliances, special assistive devices for
locomotion, posturing, sitting, hearing aids etc. In
addition, legislative measures such as reservation of
three to five percent of seats in schools for children
with special needs can also achieve quick results.
2. Training of teachers
Few attitudinal surveys indicate the receptivity
from regular school teachers to take a child with
special needs, if adequate training inputs are given
to handle such children in class. Regular teachers
will require two kinds of support, to get in service
training on management of special needs children
and support from a resource teacher in planning and
teaching of children with special needs.
3. Modification in Existing Curriculum
In pre-schools, it is required to modify the
existing curriculum without compromising on the
quality of education and competency level expected
to be achieved by all children in a given class.
Children who have difficulty in seeing will not be
able to read the map or complete geometrical
problems. Instead, alternative add-on programmes
for specific group of children with special needs
will be more appropriate. Similar modifications are
also required in the examination and evaluation
system, so that children with disabilities are not at
disadvantage. For example, a child who is blind
would require the services of the writer, while a
child who has cerebral palsy would require extra
time in completing the theory examination as he
writes slowly.
4. Peer Group Support
Peer group supports which constitute a
significant part in the class and in the school for the
children with special needs. Few studiers have
clearly reported the normal peers have positive
attitudes. Teacher training and support: In addition
to being re-trained in curriculum and evaluation,
teachers need to be trained to change their attitude
towards special needs of children. Teachers can be
trained to view those who do not fir into existing
arrangements as offering, ‘surprises’; that is
opportunities that invite further inventiveness. This
implies a more positive view of differences.
Teachers must also be supported with appropriate
materials. Lack of teaching/learning material may
hamper the quality of education. Teachers need
support for their work in terms of information and
Contemporary Researches in Education
background materials so that they can prepare their
lessons and update their own knowledge. Also
locally made learning/teaching materials can
enhance considerably the quality of the
learning/teaching process.
5. Community involvement
Meaningful inclusion necessitates
community participation. The community can adapt
to the concepts of inclusive education to their
specific station. In addition, if leaders within the
community demonstrate strong support for the
change process, teachers, other staff and the
community are more likely to devote the time and
resources necessary for the process.
CONCLUSION
Inclusive education is a planed and
systematic effort and it involves giving need-based
support-counselling, evaluation, modifications in
curriculum and remedial teaching. A small
beginning has already been made but the goal will
be achieved only when the word is spread across
the country and there is pressure on the authorities
concerned, to take notice and action. Inclusive
education is a new approach towards educating
children with disabilities and learning difficulties
with that of normal ones within the same roof. Of
late, a consensus has emerged among Indian
intellectuals and pedagogues for adopting inclusive
education mainstream schools. Inclusive education
aims at integrated development of children with
special needs and normal children through
mainstream schooling. To develop curriculum for
special education and its inclusion in general
teacher preparation programmes, Rehabilitation
Council of India (RCI) made a historic
collaboration with National Council for Teacher
Education (NCTE) on January 19th, 2005. In India,
special education as a separate system of education
for disabled children outside the mainstream
education system, evolved way back in 1880s.
Consequent on the success of international
experiments in placing children with disabilities in
regular schools, the Planning Commission in 1971
included in its plan a programme for integrated
education. The government is committed to provide
education through mainstream schools for children
with disabilities in accordance with PWD (Persons
with Disabilities) Act, 1995 and all the schools in
the country will be made disabled friendly by 2020.
Contemporary Researches in Education
At present, all the educational schemes of
inclusive education tend towards universalization of
primary education. IE is not only the alternative
measure for CWSN for want of separate schools for
these children but it is a scientific well though
strategy for their overall development; of course it
is cost effective and doubly suitable for a
developing country like India. Various initiative for
teaching of CWSN along with normal children in
main stream schools popularly known as IE are
being taken at different levels but still 95% of
CWSN are out of mainstream schools. Even the
schools where IE is in operation, infrastructural
facilities required for inclusive teaching learning
processes are poor. Capability of teachers required
to deal with CWSN along with normal children also
appear to be poor reflecting the poor quality of
training for IE. The only point of satisfaction is that
importance of IE has been recognised and
government is working hard to provide universal
declaration to CWSN under IE.
The greatest challenge before the Central
Government and the State Governments is the
achievement of accessibility, inclusion and
empowerment for persons with disabilities. The
Government alone cannot accomplish this task of
making the “Right Real”. Tasks to be accomplished
are numerous which include: Changing the mindset
and perception of the members of the society so as
to have proper understanding of the problems of the
persons with disabilities; Infusing self-esteem and
self-confidence in the persons with disabilities
themselves so that they know that their limitations
can be overcome to a large extent by self-effort and
better environment; Improving the knowledge and
skills of persons with disabilities to make them
capable of handling different tasks in the
employment market; Motivating various employers
within and outside Government sector to employ
the PWDs who can perform a number of jobs like
other employees; Mobilizing the voluntary sector to
actively participate in the capacity building and
rehabilitation and empowerment for PWDs; Scaling
the levels of training education and research for the
benefit of PWDs; Providing social security systems
and other arrangements fro making PWDs live with
dignity; Providing them with appropriate assistive
devices and appliances at low cost to increase their
accessibility; Including PWDs in the decision
making process at various levels for better policy
formulation, monitoring and implementation and
making all out efforts to comply with all the general
133
principles contained in the UNCRPD (UN
Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities).
The general philosophy of inclusive
education provides for good teaching practices,
healthy relationships between teacher and student,
to improve the quality of education for all children
in different ways. All children do well when the
regular classroom environment is adjusted to meet
their individual needs. Thus, inclusion is an
ideology and not a program. It is a concept of
effective schools where every child has a place to
study and teachers become facilitators of learning
rather than providers of information. The concept of
child learning, co-operative learning by observation
etc takes place in inclusive education. Inclusive
education results in improved social development
and academic outcomes for all learners. It leads to
the development of social skills and better social
interaction because learners are exposed to real
environments in which they have to interact with
other learners each one having unique
characteristics, interests and abilities. The non-
disabled peers adopt attitudes and actions towards
learners with disabilities as a result of studying
together in an inclusive classroom. Thus, to
conclude ewe can say in a nutshell that inclusive
education is one way to empower the differently
able with some skills and given them a chance to
explore their abilities and enhance their
potentialities so that they can contribute to the
advancement of the nation. We as teachers, parents,
teacher educators have to facilitate the
implementation of inclusive education not only as a
program but also as an ideology.
REFERENCES
Ainscow, M. (2000). The Next step for Special
Education, British Journal of Special
Education, 27(32), 76-80.
Ellins, J., & Porter, J. (2005). Departmental
Differences in attitudes to Special
Educational Need in the secondary school.
British Journal of Special Education, 32
(40), 188-195.
Evans, J., & Lunt, I. (2002). Inclusive Education:
Are there limits? European Journal of
Special Needs Education, 17 (1), 1-14.
Farrell, P. (2000). The impact of research on
developments in inclusive education,
International Journal of Inclusive
Education, 4, 153-162.
 134 Contemporary Researches in Education

Forlin, C. (2001). Inclusion: Identifying potential Inclusion, Sage Publications, New Delhi,
stressors for regular class teachers. 1-9.
Educational Research, 43 (3), 235-245.
Kaushal Sharma.,&Mahapatra, B.C. (2007).
Gay, L.R. et al. (2009). Educational Research: Emerging trends in Inclusive Education.
Competencies for Analysis and Ivy Publication, New Delhi.
Applications, Pearson Education Inc, New
Mangal, S.K. (2007). Educating Exceptional
Jersey.
Children, Prentice Hall of India Private
Gillies, M.,& Carrington, S. (2004). Inclusion: Ltd, New Delhi.
Culture, Policy and Practice: A
Sharma, Bharat. (2011). Inclusive Education Needs,
Queensland Perspective, Asia Pacific
Practices and Prospects. Kanishka
Journal of Education, 24 (20, 117-129.
Publishers, New Delhi.
Grover, U. (2002). Inclusive Education: - An
Slee, R. (2001). Inclusion in practice: Does practice
overview, Journal of Indian Education, 28
make perfect?, Educational Review, 53,
(3), 5-12.
113-123.
Guido, D.L. (1990). Educator’s Attitude towards
Skritc, T.M., Sailor, W.,& Gee, K. (1996). Voice,
the Inclusion of Severely Profoundly
collaboration and inclusion, Journal
Disabled Students in Regular Classrooms,
Remedial and Special Education, 17 (3),
Dissertation Abstract International, Vol
142-157.
51, No.10.
Hegarty. S., & Alur. M. Education and Children
with Special Needs, from Segregation to
Contemporary Researches in Education
COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF STUDENTS FROM MODEL
RESIDENTIAL AND MAINSTREAM SCHOOL
Remya Ravindran
Lecturer in Natural Science, Department of Teacher Education, Kannur University
Abstract
This study explored the study of Emotional
intelligence and academic achievement of high
school students of Model Residential School and
Mainstream schools. The academic achievement
was measured using t Composite test and
promotion list from schools. Emotional Intelligence
was measured using Emotional Intelligent scale for
secondary school students (Suresh Vijayan and
Subair).The study revealed that emotional
intelligence and academic achievement of the
Model Residential School students differ
significantly from Mainstream school students.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To compare the Emotional Intelligence of
the students of Model Residential School
and Main Stream.
2. To compare the emotional intelligence of
the Students from M.R.S and Main Stream
with respect to gender.
3. To compare the Academic achievement to
the students of Model Residential School
and Main Stream.
4. To compare the academic achievement of
the students from M.R.S and Main Stream
with respect to gender.
5. To analyse the influence of emotional
intelligence on academic achievement of
Model Residential School students.
6. To analyse the influence of emotional
intelligence on academic achievement of
Main Stream School Students.
HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY
1. There exists no significant difference
between the emotional intelligence of
students from Model Residential and Main
Stream School with respect to total
sample.
135
2. There exists no significant difference
between the emotional intelligence of
students from Model Residential and Main
Stream School with respect to gender.
3. There exists no significant difference
between the academic achievement of the
students from the Model Residential and
Main Stream School with respect to total
sample.
4. There exists no significant difference
between the academic achievement of the
students from the Model Residential and
Main Stream School with respect to
gender.
5. There exist no significant relationship
between emotional intelligence and
academic achievement of the students
from the Model Residential and Main
Stream School with respect to Total
Sample.
6. There exist no significant relationship
between emotional intelligence and
academic achievement of the students
from the Model Residential and Main
Stream School with respect to gender.
METHODOLOGY
The Investigator selected 280 sample of
student for the study, consisting of 140students of
Model Residential School at Kannur and Kasargod
District and 140students of General Stream School
at Kannur District. The Investigator used normative
survey method for the study.
Design of the Study
Tools Used: Emotional Intelligent scale for
secondary school students (Suresh Vijayan and
Subair), Composite test, Achievement Test
Sample: Sample for the present study will be
selected by random sampling method. The
investigator selected 280 students as sample from
Model Residential School at Kannur, Calicut and
 136 Contemporary Researches in Education

Kasargod district and General Stream School at Important findings obtained in the second part of
Kannur. analysis are the following.
Statistical Techniques Used: Arithmetic Mean, Comparison of Emotional Intelligence of
Standard Deviation, Correlation Coefficient, Test of Secondary School Students of Main Stream and
Significant difference between means. Model Residential School with respect to total
sample
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF
THE DATA In study illustrated that 10% of the Model
Residential School students possess high emotional
Analysis of Emotional Intelligence of Secondary
intelligence, 77% possess average emotional
School Students of Model Residential School
intelligence and 11% possess low emotional
with respect to total sample
intelligence.
Results revealed that 11.42% of the total
While analysing the sample of Main
sample has low Emotional Intelligence, 77.85%
Stream School students 12% possess high
have average emotional Intelligence and 10.71%
emotional intelligence, 79% possess average
have high emotional Intelligence.
emotional intelligence and 11% possess low
Analysis of Emotional Intelligence of Secondary emotional intelligence.
School Students of Model Residential School
Comparison of the Emotional Intelligence of
with respect to gender
Boys of Model Residential School and Boys of
Study revealed that 9.52% of boys have Main Stream School
low emotional intelligence, majority of the subjects
The study revealed that 80% of boys of
under investigation (80%) have average emotional
Model Residential School possess average
intelligence and 10.47% have high emotional
emotional intelligence, 10% possess high emotional
intelligence.
intelligence and 9% possess low emotional
In the case of girls 17% seem to possess intelligence
low E.I, a sizeable proportion of girls (71%)
In the case of boys of Main Stream 83%
possess average emotional intelligence and
possess average emotional intelligence, 11%
remaining 11% of girls possess high emotional
possess high emotional intelligence, 4% possess
intelligence.
low emotional intelligence.
Analysis of Emotional Intelligence of Secondary
Comparison of the Emotional Intelligence of the
School Students of Main Stream School with
girls of Model Residential School and girls of
respect to total sample
Main Stream School.
Results revealed that 7.85% of the total
Results revealed that 13% of girls of main
sample has low Emotional Intelligence, 79.28%
stream possess high emotional intelligence,
have average Emotional Intelligence and 18% have
majority of subjects under investigation 75%
high Emotional Intelligence.
possess average emotional intelligence
Analysis of Emotional Intelligence of Secondary and.10%possess low emotional intelligence.
School Students of Main Stream School with
In the case of girls of Model Residential
respect to gender
School 11% possess high emotional intelligence,
Study revealed that 4% of boys have low 71% possess average emotional intelligence and
emotional intelligence, majority of subjects under 17% posses low emotional intelligence.
investigation (83%) have average emotional
Important findings obtained in the third part of
intelligence, 11% have high emotional intelligence.
analysis are the following
In the case of girls 10% possess low
Comparison of the academic achievement of the
emotional intelligence, majority of subjects under
students from Model Residential and Main
investigation (75%) possess average and emotional
Stream School based on the scores obtained in
intelligence 13% possess high emotional
the Composite Test with respect to total sample
intelligence.
Contemporary Researches in Education
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 26.7 and
standard deviation of 4.69 and students of Main
Stream scored a mean of 31.8 and standard
deviation of 5.92. The C.R obtained is 7.99 which
is significant at 0.05 level of significance. This
indicates that there is a significant difference
between the academic achievement of the students
from Model Residential School and Main Stream
School.
Comparison of the academic achievement of the
students from Model Residential and Main
Stream School based on the scores obtained in
the Composite Test with respect to gender
a. Comparison of the academic
achievement between Boys and Girls of Main
Stream based on their score in Composite Test
The study revealed that boys of Main Stream
scored a mean of 31.07 and standard deviation of
6.12 and girls of Main Stream scored a mean of
32.5 and S.D 5.70. The C.R 1.43 which is not
significant at 0.05 level of significance. This
indicates that there is no significant difference
between the academic achievement of boys and
girls of Main Stream.
b. Comparison of academic achievement of the
Boys and Girls of Model Residential School
based on their score in composite test.
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 26.5 and S.D
of 4.63 and the girls scored a mean of 28.2 and S.D
of 4.57. The C.R obtained is 1.90 which is not
significant at 0.05 level of significance. This
indicates that there is no significant difference
between the academic achievement of boys and
girls of Model Residential School.
c. Comparison of the academic achievement of
Boys of Model Residential School and Boys of
Main Stream Based on scores in composite test.
The study revealed that the boys of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 26.5 and S.D
4.63 and boys of Main Stream scored a mean of
31.07 and SD 6.12. The C.R obtained is 4.57
which is significant at 0.05 level of significance.
There is a significant difference between the
academic achievement of boys of Model
Residential School and boys of Main Stream.
d. Comparison of the academic achievement of
girls of Model Residential School and girls of
137
Main Stream Based on Scores in Composite
Test.
The study revealed that girls of Model Residential
School scored a mean of 28.2 and S.D 4.57 and
girls of Main Stream Scored a mean of 32.5 and
S.D 5.70. The C.R obtained is 4.09 which is
significant at 0.05 level of significance. Thus there
is a significant difference between the academic
achievement of girls of Model Residential School
and girls of Main Stream.
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Main Stream and Model
Residential School based on their marks in
annual examination with respect to Total
Sample
The studies revealed that the students of
Model Residential School scored a mean of 73 and
S.D 5.66 and students of Main Stream scored a
mean of 83 and S.D of 6.68. The C.R 9.26 which is
significant at 0.05 level of significance. Thus there
exist a significant difference between the academic
achievement of students from Model Residential
and Main Stream School based on their marks in
annual examination.
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Main Stream and Model
Residential School based on their marks in
annual examination with respect to gender
a. Comparison of academic achievement
of the boys and girls of Model
Residential School based on the marks
in annual examination
The studies revealed that boys of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 73 and S.D
7.99 and girls scored a mean of 75 with S.D6.55.
The C.R is 1.48 which is not significant at 0.05
level of significance. There exist no significant
difference between the academic achievement of
boys and girls of Model Residential School based
on their marks in annual examination.
b. Comparison of academic achievement
of the boys and girls of Main Stream
School based on their marks in annual
Examination.
The study revealed that boys of Main
Stream scored a mean of 83 and SD 5.38 and girls
scored a mean of 85 and SD 6.75. The C.R is 1.93
which is not significant at 0.05 level of
significance. Thus there exist no significant
 138
difference between the academic achievement of
boys and girls of main stream.
c. Comparison of academic achievement
of boys from Model Residential and
boys from Main stream School based on
their marks in annual examination.
The study revealed that the boys of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 73 and S.D
7.99 and boys of Main Stream scored a mean of 83
and SD 5.38. The C.R is 9.90 which are significant
at 0.05 level of significance. Thus there exist a
significant difference between the academic
achievement of boys of Main Stream and Model
Residential School.
d. Comparison of academic achievement
of girls of Model Residential and girls
Main Stream based on this marks in
annual examination
The study revealed that girls of Model
Residential School scored a mean of 75 and S.D
6.55 and girls of Main Stream scored a mean of 85
and S.D 6.75. The C.R is 7.40 which are significant
at 0.05 level of significant. Thus there exist
significant difference between the academic
achievement of girls of Model Residential and
Main Stream based on their marks in annual
examination.
Important findings obtained from the third part of
the analysis are the following
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Model Residential School when
groups are taken at differing level of intelligence
with respect to total sample
The academic achievement of students
from Model Residential School at differing levels
of intelligence is compared within groups and
between groups. It is done by using the test of
significance of difference between mean.
a. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from
Model Residential School with High
E.I and Low E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of
28 and S.D 4.13 and the students with Low E.I
scored a mean of 16 and S.D 3.25.The critical ratio
between the students with low and high emotional
intelligence is 8.39.Clearly it is greater than table
Contemporary Researches in Education
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This
indicates that there exists a significant difference
between the academic achievement of students with
low E.I and High E.I
b. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from
Model Residential School with Low
E.I and Average E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean
of 21 and S.D 3.35 and the students with Low E.I
scored a mean of 16 and S.D 3.25..The critical ratio
between the students with low and average
emotional intelligence is 6.73.Clearly it is greater
than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance.
This indicates that there exists a significant
difference between the academic achievement of
students with average E.I and low E.I
c. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from
Model Residential School with High
E.I and Average E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean
of 21 and S.D 3.35 and the students with High E.I
scored a mean of 28 and S.D4.13..The critical ratio
between the students with average and high
emotional intelligence is 6.30.Clearly it is greater
than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance.
This indicates that there exists a significant
difference between the academic achievement of
students with average E.I and High E.I.
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Main Stream School when groups
are taken at differing level of intelligence with
respect to total sample
The academic achievement of students
from Main Stream School at differing levels of
intelligence is compared within groups and between
groups. It is done by using the test of significance
of difference between mean.
a. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from Main
Stream School with High E.I and
Low E.I
The study revealed that students of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 31
and S.D 5.15 and the students with Low E.I scored
a mean of 21 and S.D 4.73.The critical ratio
Contemporary Researches in Education
between the students with low and high emotional
intelligence is 5.34.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This
indicates that there exists a significant difference
between the academic achievement of students with
low E.I and High E.I
b. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from Main
Stream School with High E.I and
Average E.I
The study revealed that students of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 31
and S.D 5.15 and the students with Average E.I
scored a mean of 29and S.D 6.14.The critical ratio
between the students with high and average
emotional intelligence is 1.48.Clearly it is less than
table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This
indicates that there exists no significant difference
between the academic achievement of students with
average E.I and High E.I
c. Comparison of academic
achievement of students from Main
Stream School with Average E.I
and Low E.I
The study revealed that students of Main
Stream School with Low E.I scored a mean of 21
and S.D 4.73 and the students with Average E.I
scored a mean of 29 and S.D6.14.The critical ratio
between the students with average and low
emotional intelligence is 5.22.Clearly it is greater
than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance.
This indicates that there exists a significant
difference between the academic achievement of
students with average E.I and low E.I
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Model Residential School when
groups are taken at differing level of intelligence
with respect to gender
The academic achievement of students
from Model Residential School at differing levels
of intelligence is compared within groups and
between groups. It is done by using the test of
significance of difference between mean.
a. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Model
Residential School with High E.I
and Low E.I
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of
139
26 and S.D 4.44 and the boys with Low E.I scored
a mean of 14 and S.D 4.25.The critical ratio
between the boys with low and high emotional
intelligence is8.21.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. Again
from the table we can see that mean value of
achievement is high for students with high
emotional intelligence than that of boys with low
emotional intelligence. This indicates that there
exists a significant difference between the academic
achievement of boys with low E.I and High E.I
b. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Model
Residential School with Low E.I
and Average E.I
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean
of 21and S.D 3.58 and the boys s with Low E.I
scored a mean of 14 and S.D 4.25.The critical ratio
between the boys with low and average emotional
intelligence is3.58.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. Again
from the table we can see that mean value of
achievement is high for boys with average
emotional intelligence than that for boys with low
emotional intelligence. This indicates that there
exists a significant difference between the academic
achievement of boys with average E.I and low E.I
c. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Model
Residential School with High E.I
and Average E.I
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of
26 and S.D 4.44 and the boys with Average E.I
scored a mean of 21 and S.D 3.58. The critical ratio
between the boys with average and high emotional
intelligence is 3.60.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. Again
from the table we can see that mean value of
achievement is high for boys with high emotional
intelligence than that for boys with average
emotional intelligence. This indicates that there
exists a significant difference between the academic
achievement of boys with average E.I and High E.I.
d. Comparison of academic
achievement of girls from Model
Residential School with High E.I
and Low E.I
 140 Contemporary Researches in Education

The study revealed that girls of Model Model Residential School with High
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of E.I
30 and S.D 3.12 and the girls with Low E.I scored a
The study revealed that girls of Model
mean of 20 and S.D3.10.The critical ratio between
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of 30
the girls with low and high emotional intelligence
and S.D 3.12 and the boys with High E.I scored a
is8.34.Clearly it is greater than table value at 1.96
mean of 26 and S.D 4.44.The critical ratio between the
at .05 level of significance. Again from the table we
boys and girls of Model Residential School with high
can see that mean value of achievement is high for
emotional intelligence is 1.64.Clearly it is less than
girls with high emotional intelligence than that for
table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. Again
girls with low emotional intelligence. This indicates
from the table we can see that mean value of
that there exists a significant difference between the
achievement is high for girls with high emotional
academic achievement of girls with low E.I and
intelligence. This indicates that there exists no
High E.I
significant difference between the academic
e. Comparison of academic achievement of boys and girls with High E.I
achievement of girls from Model
h. Comparison of academic
Residential School with Low E.I
achievement of boys and girls from
and Average E.I
Model Residential School with
The study revealed that girls of Model Average E.I
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean of
The study revealed that girls of Model
25and S.D 2.63 and the girls with Low E.I scored a
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean
mean of 20 and S.D3.10.The critical ratio between the
of 25and S.D 2.63 and the boys scored a mean of
girls with low and average emotional intelligence
21 and S.D 3.58. The critical ratio between the girls
is3.67.Clearly it is greater than table value at 1.96 at .05
and boys with average emotional intelligence
level of significance. Again from the table we can see
is6.10.Clearly it is greater than table value at 1.96
that mean value of achievement is high for girls with
at .05 level of significance. Again from the table we
average emotional intelligence than that for girls with
can see that mean value of achievement is high for
low emotional intelligence. This indicates that there
girls with average emotional intelligence than that
exists a significant difference between the academic
of boys with average emotional intelligence. This
achievement of girls with average E.I and low E.I
indicates that there exists a significant difference
f. Comparison of academic between the academic achievement of boys and
achievement of girls from Model girls with average E.I
Residential School with High E.I
i. Comparison of academic
and Average E.I
achievement of boys and girls from
The study revealed that girls of Model Model Residential School with Low
Residential School with High E.I scored a mean of E.I
30 and S.D 3.12 and the girls with Average E.I
The study revealed that girls of Model
scored a mean of 25 and S.D 2.63.The table shows
Residential School with Low E.I scored a mean of
that the critical ratio between the girls with low and
20 and S.D3.10.and the boys with Low E.I scored a
high emotional intelligence is 4.87.Clearly it is
mean of 14 and S.D4.25. The critical ratio between
greater than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of
the boys and girls with low emotional intelligence
significance. Again from the table we can see that
is3.26.Clearly it is greater than table value at 1.96
mean value of achievement is high for girls with
at .05 level of significance. Again from the table we
high emotional intelligence than that for girls with
can see that mean value of achievement is high for
average emotional intelligence. This indicates that
girls with low emotional intelligence than that of
there exists a significant difference between the
boys with low emotional intelligence. This
academic achievement of girls with average E.I and
indicates that there exists a significant difference
High E.I.
between the academic achievement of boys and
g. Comparison of academic girls with low E.I.
achievement of boys and girls from
j. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Main
Contemporary Researches in Education
Stream School with High E.I and
Low E.I
The study revealed that boys of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 33
and S.D 4.33 and the boys with Low E.I scored a
mean of19 and S.D 2.94. The critical ratio between
the boys with low and high emotional intelligence
is 5.10.Clearly it is greater than table value at 1.96
at .05 level of significance. This indicates that there
exists a significant difference between the academic
achievement of boys with low E.I and High E.I
k. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Main
Stream School with Low E.I and
Average E.I
The study revealed that the boys of Main
Stream School with Average E.I scored a mean of
30 and S.D 4.62 and the boys with Low E.I scored
a mean of 19 and S.D 2.94.The critical ratio
between the boys with low and average emotional
intelligence is 6.11.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This
indicates that there exists a significant difference
between the academic achievement of boys with
average E.I and low E.I
l. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Main
Stream School with High E.I and
Average E.I
The study revealed that the boys of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 33
and S.D 4.33 and boys with Average E.I scored a
mean of 30 and S.D 4.62.The critical ratio between
the boys with average and high emotional
intelligence is1.82.Clearly it is less than table value
at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This indicates
that there exists no significant difference between
the academic achievement of boys with average E.I
and High E.I.
m. Comparison of academic
achievement of girls from Main
Stream School with High E.I and
Low E.I
The study revealed that girls of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 32
and S.D 5.59 and the girls with Low E.I scored a
mean of 24 and S.D4.73. The table shows that the
critical ratio between the girls with low and high
emotional intelligence is3.22.Clearly it is greater
141
than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance.
This indicates that there exists a significant
difference between the academic achievement of
girls with low E.I and High E.I
n. Comparison of academic
achievement of girls from Main
Stream School from with Low E.I
and Average E.I
The study revealed that the girls of Main
Stream School with Average E.I scored a mean of
29 and S.D 5.15 and the girls with Low E.I scored a
mean of 24 and S.D4.73.The critical ratio between
the girls with low and average emotional
intelligence is2.77.Clearly it is greater than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance.. This
indicates that there exists a significant difference
between the academic achievement of girls with
average E.I and low E.I
o. Comparison of academic
achievement of girls from Main
Stream School with High E.I and
Average E.I
The study revealed that the girls of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 32
and S.D 5.59 and girls with Average E.I scored a
mean of 29 and S.D5.15.The critical ratio between
the girls with high and average emotional
intelligence is0 .889.Clearly it is less than table
value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance. This
indicates that there exists no significant difference
between the academic achievement of girls with
average E.I and High E.I.
p. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys and girls from
Main Stream School with High E.I
The study revealed that girls of Main
Stream School with High E.I scored a mean of 32
and S.D 5.59and the boys with High E.I scored a
mean of 33 and S.D4.33. The critical ratio between
the boys and girls of Main Stream with high
emotional intelligence is 0.877.Clearly it is less
than table value at 1.96 at .05 level of significance..
This indicates that there exists no significant
difference between the academic achievement of
boys and girls with High E.I
q. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys and girls from
Main Stream School with Average
E.I
 142
The study revealed that the girls of Main
Stream School with Average E.I scored a mean of
29 and S.D 5.15 and the boys with Average E.I
scored a mean of 30 and S.D4.62. The critical ratio
between the girls and boys with average emotional
intelligence is 1.07.Clearly it is less than table value
at 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. This indicates
that there exists a significant difference between the
academic achievement of boys and girls with
average E.I
r. Comparison of academic
achievement of boys from Main
Stream School with Low E.I
The study revealed that the girls of Main
Stream School with Low E.I scored a mean of 24
and S.D4.73and the boys with Low E.I scored a
mean of 19 and S.D 2.94. The critical ratio between
the boys and girls with low emotional intelligence
is1.68.Clearly it is less than table value at 1.96 at
.05 level of significance. This indicates that there
exists no significant difference between the
academic achievement of boys from Model
Residential and Main Stream School.
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Model Residential School and
Main Stream School when groups are taken at
differing level of intelligence with respect to total
sample
The academic achievement of students
from Model Residential and Main Stream School at
differing levels of intelligence is compared within
groups and between groups. It is done by using the
test of significance of difference between mean.
a. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of students from
Model Residential and Main
Stream School with High E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with high E.I scored a mean of
28 and S.D 4.13 and students of Main Stream with
high E.I scored a mean of 31 and S.D of 5.15.The
critical ratio between the academic achievement of
students from Main Stream School and Model
Residential School with High E.I is 5.21.Clearly it
is greater than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exists a
significant difference in the academic achievement
of students from Main Stream and Model
Residential School with High E.I.
Contemporary Researches in Education
b. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of students from
Model Residential and Main
Stream School with Average E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with Average E.I scored a mean
of 21 and S.D 3.35 and students of Main Stream
with Average E.I scored a mean of 29 with
S.D6.14.The critical ratio between the academic
achievement of students from Main Stream School
and Model Residential School is12.12.Clearly it is
greater than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exists a
significant difference in the academic achievement
of students from Main Stream and Model
Residential School with average E.I.
c. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of students from
Model Residential and Main
Stream School with Low E.I
The study revealed that students of Model
Residential School with low E.I scored a mean of
16 and S.D 3.86 and students of Main Stream with
low E.I scored a mean of 21 with S.D 4.73.The
table shows that the critical ratio between the
academic achievement of students from Main
Stream School and Model Residential School is
7.72.Clearly it is greater than table value 1.96 at
0.05 level of significance.. This means that there
exists a significant difference in the academic
achievement of students from Main Stream and
Model Residential School with average E.I.
Comparison of academic achievement of
students from Model Residential School and
Main Stream School when groups are taken at
differing level of intelligence with respect to
gender
a. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of boys from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with High E.I
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School with high E.I scored a mean of
36 and S.D 4.44 and boys of Main Stream scored a
mean of 33 and S.D 4.33.The critical ratio between
the academic achievement of boys from Main
Stream School and Model Residential School with
High E.I is7.44.Clearly it is greater than table value
1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. This means that
there exists a significant difference in the academic
Contemporary Researches in Education
achievement of boys from Main Stream and Model
Residential School with High E.I.
b. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of boys from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with Average E.I
The study revealed that the boys of Model
Residential school with average E.I scored a mean
of 21 and S.D 3.55 boys of Main Stream with
average E.I Scored a mean of 30 and S.D 4.62The
critical ratio between the academic achievement of
boys from Main Stream School and Model
Residential School with Average E.I is9.61.Clearly
it is greater than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exists a
significant difference in the academic achievement
of boys from Main Stream and Model Residential
School with Average E.I.
c. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of boys from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with Low E.I
The study revealed that boys of Model
Residential School with Low E.I scored a mean of
14 and S.D 4.25 and boys of Main Stream with
Low E.I scored a mean of 19 and S.D 2.94.The
critical ratio between the academic achievement of
boys from Main Stream School and Model
Residential School with Low E.I is 2.85.Clearly it
is greater than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exists a
significant difference in the academic achievement
of boys from Main Stream and Model Residential
School with Low E.I.
d. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of girls from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with High E.I
The study revealed that girls of Model
Residential School with high E.I scored a mean of
30 and S.D 3.12 and girls of Main Stream scored a
mean of 32 and S.D5.59.The critical ratio between
the academic achievement of girls from Main
Stream School and Model Residential School with
High E.I is 0.666.Clearly it is less than table value
1.96 at 0.05 level of significance. This means that
there exists no significant difference in the
academic achievement of girls from Main Stream
and Model Residential School with High E.I.
143
e. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of girls from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with Average E.I
The study revealed that the girls of Model
Residential school with average E.I scored a mean
of 29 and S.D 5.15 and girls of Main Stream with
average E.I scored a mean of 25 and S.D 2.63.The
critical ratio between the academic achievement of
girls from Main Stream School and Model
Residential School with High E.I is 4.61.Clearly it
is greater than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of
significance.. This means that there exists a
significant difference in the academic achievement
of girls from Main Stream and Model Residential
School with Average E.I.
f. Comparison of Academic
Achievement of girls from Model
Residential and Main Stream
School with Low E.I
The study revealed that girls of Model
Residential School with Low E.I scored a mean of
20 and S.D 3.10 and girls of Main Stream with Low
E.I scored a mean of 24 and S.D4.73.The critical
ratio between the academic achievement of girls
from Main Stream School and Model Residential
School with Low E.I is3.03.Clearly it is greater
than table value 1.96 at 0.05 level of significance.
This means that there exists a significant difference
in the academic achievement of girls from Main
Stream and Model Residential School with Low
E.I.
Important findings in the fourth part of analysis are
the following.
Analysis of the relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Academic achievement of
Model Residential School students with respect
to total Sample.
The correlation obtained between
Emotional Intelligence and academic achievement
of the students from Model Residential School is
0.224 which is positive and statistically significant
at 0.05 level of significance. This means that there
exist a significant relationship between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement for total
sample.
Analysis of the relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Academic achievement of
 144
Model Residential School students with respect
to gender
The correlation between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement for boys of
Model Residential School is 0.237 which is positive
and statistically significant at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exist a
significant relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and academic achievement of boys.
The correlation between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement for girls of
Model Residential School is 0.423 which is positive
and statistically significant at 0.05 level of
significance this means that there exist a significant
relationship between Emotional Intelligence and
academic achievement of girls from Model
Residential School.
Analysis of the relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Academic achievement of Main
Stream School students with respect to total
Sample.
The correlation between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement of students
from Main Stream School is 0.258 which is positive
and statistically significant at 0.05 level of
significance. This means that there exist a
significant relationship between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement for total
sample.
Analysis of the relationship between Emotional
Intelligence and Academic achievement of the
Main Stream School with respect to gender.
The correlation between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement of boys
from Main Stream is 0.276 which is positive and
significant at 0.05 level. Thus there exist a
significant relationship between the academic
achievement and emotional intelligence for boys.
The correlation between emotional intelligence and
academic achievement of girls from Main Stream is
0.335 which is positive and significant at 0.05 level.
Thus there exist a significant relationship between
the academic achievement and emotional
intelligence for girls.
Analysis of the Relationship between the
Emotional Intelligence and Academic
Achievement of students from Model Residential
and Main Stream School with respect to total
sample
Contemporary Researches in Education
The correlation between emotional
intelligence and academic achievement of the
students from Model Residential School is 0.224
which is positive and significant at 0.05 level of
significance. There exist a significant relationship
between emotional intelligence and academic
achievement of students from Model Residential
School with respect to total sample.
Analysis of the Relationship between the
Emotional Intelligence and Academic
Achievement of students from Model Residential
and Main Stream School with respect to gender
The correlation between the academic
achievement and emotional intelligence of boys
from Model Residential school is 0.237 which is
positive and statistically significant at 0.05 level.
There exist a significant relationship between the
emotional intelligence and academic achievement
for boys of Model Residential School.
The correlation between academic
achievement and emotional intelligence for girls
of Model Residential School is 0.423 which is
positive and statistically significant at 0.05 level
of significance. There exist a significant
relationship between academic achievement and
emotional intelligence for girls of Model
Residential School.
The correlation between academic
achievement and emotional intelligence for boys
of Main Stream School is 0.276 which is
positive and significant at 0.05level of
significance. There exist a significant relationship
between emotional intelligence and academic
achievement for the boys of General Stream.
The correlation between academic
achievement and emotional intelligence for girls
of General Stream School is 0.335 which is
positive and significant at 0.05 level of
significance. There exist a significant relationship
between emotional intelligence and academic
achievement for girls of General Stream.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
The study has yielded valid findings which
are of immense use in the field of education. The
findings of the study emphasized not only on the
development of cognitive professional skills but
also the affective skills. Here the child learns to
be good listeners. People who have high EQ has
high score on empathy and empathy occurs
Contemporary Researches in Education
through good listening. Training in Emotional
Intelligence teaches the child not to give away
to misgivings and misinterpretation of feelings
in other for it leads to hostility and bias. This
study paves a way to those students entering into
their puberty span to overcome stresses
encompassing them by developing a better
attitude towards emotional turmoil.
This study also enlightens on the
availability of proper education to all irrespective of
their caste, creed. Government should focus on
promoting better education to those socially and
economically deprived students so that they can
stand side by side with their privileged
counterparts and to complete with the world
engraved with the fever of globalization.
REFERENCES
Ansbacher, M.L., & Ansbacher, R. (1956). The
individual psychology of Alfred Adler. New
York: Basic Books.
Anastasi, A . (1982). Psychological
Testing.NewYork: Mcmillan.
Dongre, Amol., & Pradeep, R. (2011). Health-
promoting school initiative in Ashram
schools of Wardha district. The National
Medical Journal of India, 24,140-145
Bajpai, N., Dholakia, R.H. &Sachs, J.D. (2005).
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