Educational Interventions for Elimination of Discriminatory Practices in Secondary Schools and Their Impact on Student Wellbeing

Abstract

Fairness ensures that no one is discriminated against by another. Unfortunately, school-going children often experience or perceive discriminatory practices which defy the idea of equity, as envisioned by the policy makers and leaders of society. The present study investigated the Educational Interventions for Elimination of Discriminatory Practices in Secondary Schools and their Impact on Student Wellbeing. The researcher administered self-constructed Discriminatory Practices Scale (DPS) on students from class 9 of 10 U.P. board secondary schools (co-educational institutions) to identify the subjects perceiving discriminatory practices at school level. After survey 883 students out of which 187 students who perceived high discrimination were selected for experimental group. Single group Pre-test Post-test experimental design was used to investigate the effect of educational interventions on discriminatory practices and student wellbeing. The researcher found that students belonging to three schools scored very high on DPS. Then, researcher administered the self constructed tool of Student Wellbeing Scale (SWS) on these students. Educational interventions designed on Transformative learning approach were provided to administrators, teachers and students involving-20 modules of one hour each based on transformative approach. They were given for 3 months. t-test and F test were used for quantitative analysis and Interview, check list and SWOT analysis was conducted for qualitative analysis .Qualitative analysis revealed that discriminatory practices are evident at institutional, individual and structural levels. Results revealed that there was significant difference in perception of Discriminatory practices between boys and girls. A high positive co-relation was found between discriminatory practices and student wellbeing. There was significant difference in scores of pre-test and post-test of discriminatory practices and student wellbeing which shows that the educational interventions are operational in enhancing student wellbeing. newline