Construction Integration and Transaction of Knowledge

Abstract

Abstract newlineOne of the central concerns of the research is the disconnection of the learning in newlineschools from the real life experiences of children and the limited opportunities for their newlineholistic development. The educational philosophies of John Dewey and Mahatma Gandhi newlineattempted to address the limitations of traditional schooling by situating knowledge in the newlineproductive work or craft activities and thereby providing experiences for the holistic newlinedevelopment of head, hand and heart. In India, Gandhi s ideas of Education, known as Nai newlineTalim failed to create a lasting impact and presence in the national mainstream education. newlineConsidering the various challenges associated with this idea and our inability to build a newlinecurriculum centred on work , the present research recognises the need to closely newlineinvestigate its curricular practices in order to strengthen the same. It studied a school newlinefollowing Gandhi s Nai Talim and aimed to study how knowledge is constructed, newlineintegrated and transacted in such a curriculum centred on crafts . newlineThe research adopted a qualitative Instrumental Case study Research Design. In order newlineto analyse the school s curricular practices, it theorises two approaches of integration of newline knowledge and work as derived from Gandhi s and Dewey s philosophy. It also uses newlineBernstein s concept of classification and framing for analysis. This theoretical lens have newlinebeen crucial in studying Nai Talim through a newer perspective and understand the newlinechallenges in its implementation. newlineThe findings show the scope of such an education in reducing the gap between school newlineand out-of-school experiences and providing opportunities of holistic development which newlineare not limited to academic achievements or marks alone. The analysis further reveal the newlinecurricular challenges in implementation due to factors such as the strong classification newlineand boundaries within the curriculum, the pedagogy of teaching crafts that represented newline traditional apprenticeship with a strong framing and the resultant approach to integration newlinethat limits the scope of integration and learning. It also reveals how these aspects influence newlinethe interests of students in learning and leads to a perception of the independence of subject newlinestudies and crafts among both students and parents. newlineix newline