Edu Indian Journal Vol 4

ISSN 2277-3819
Indian Journal of
INDIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH (PEER REVIEWED)
Educational Research
(Peer Reviewed)
Volume IV March 2015
Department of Education
University of Calcutta
Indian Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2277-3819
Chief Patron
Professor Sugata Marjit, Vice-Chancellor, University of Calcutta
Academic Advisor in Chief
Dr. Debasri Banerjee, Head, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Editorial Board
Professor Nimai Chand Maiti (Editor)
Professor Md. Kutubuddin Halder, Professor Malay Kumar Sen,
Professor Debasri Banerjee
Advisory Board
Professor Swagata Sen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Calcutta
Professor Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (B.A. & F), C.U.
Professor Mita Banerjee, Vice-Chancellor, W.B.U.T.T.E.P.A., Kolkata
Dr. Soumitra Sarkar, Librarian, University of Calcutta
Professor Marmar Mukhopadhyay, formerly Joint Director, NUEPA, New Delhi
Professor Pranab Kumar Chakrabarti, formerly Dean, University of Calcutta
Professor Debjani Sengupta, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Professor Madhumala Sengupta, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Professor Rita Sinha, formerly Dean, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Professor Aditi Ghose, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Dr. Madhumita Bandhopadhyay, Associate Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi
Swami Tattasarananda, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Sikshan Mandira, Belur, W.B.
Professor Sanat Kumar Ghosh, formerly Dean of Arts, Rabindra Bharati University
Professor Subrata Saha, Department of Education, Rabindra Bharati University
Professor Jayanti Das, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Dr. Sridipa Sinha, Associate Professor, Dept. of Education, University of Calcutta
Dr. Santoshi Halder, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Education, University of Calcutta
Dr. Sudeshna Lahiri, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Education, University of Calcutta
Published 2015
© University of Calcutta
All right reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted, in any
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University Press. 48, Hazra Road, Kolkata-700019
No. 2767B Price: 150

Indian Journal of Educational Research
Volume III, March 2014
Articles
A study on the Contributions of Some Women Littérateurs towards the Development of Women Education in Bengal
(1900-1947) through their Literacy Works
Indrani Adak and Mita Banerjee
Attitude towards Constructivist Approach and Self-Efficacy : Perspective of Secondary School Teachers
Abhijit Guha and Ujjwal Paul
Attitude towards Teaching Profession of Trainee Science Teachers in Relation to their Understanding of the Nature of
Science
Rajib Mukhopadhyay
Career Choices of Secondary Students with Special Reference to Gender, Type of Stream and Parental Education
Mohammad Iqbal Mattoo
Click and Learn: An Interactive Learner Control On-Screen Approach for Student with Hearing Impaired
Santoshi Halder, Sanju Saha and Soumita Das
Developing a Test for Measuring Oral Competence in English of the Secondary level Students in Bengali Medium
Schools of West Bengal
Anupama Chakrabarti
Ecological Citizenship Behaviour (ECB) in the Context of Domestic Waste Management: A Case Study on Sustainability
in Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Madhumala Sengupta, Pintu Kumar Maji and Diya Sengupta
Effectiveness of Activity-Based Method of Teaching Life Science over Chalk and Talk Method
Sujit Pal, Subhas Chandra Roy and Sarbani Gangopadhyay
Error Analysis in Mathematics in Relation to Secondary School Students
Usashi Kundu (De)and Debjani Sengupta
Geography of Personality : An Empirical Study of Two Different Geographical Locations
Kalyan Gangopadhyay and Pranab Kumar Chakrabarti
Impact of Globalization on Elementary Education in India
Sachinandan Sau
Information and Communication Technology: Evolution and Constraints for Transaction in School Education
Prakriti Ranjan Sarkar, Md. Kutubuddin Halderand Nimai Chand Maiti
Internal Efficiency and Physical Facilities in Primary Schools in Rural West Bengal : A Longitudinal Survey Study
Syed Nurus Salam, Md. Kutubuddin Halder and Nimai Chand Maiti
Job Satisfaction of Secondary School Teachers
Dulal Mukhopadhyaya and Uday Sankar Kabiraj
Leadership Ability of Elementary School Head-teachers in Relation to Locality, Type, Sex and Managerial Aspect
Anjali Sharma
Landmarks in the Development of Primary Education in Darjeeling during the Pre-Independence Period
Sridipa Sinha and Arpana Singh
Philosophical Research in Education : Some Critical issues
Ram Mohan Kesherwani and Asheesh Srivastava
Raja Rammohan Roy : The Great Social Reformer
Aisharya De and Mita Banerjee
Status of Elementary Education in Some Muslim Predominant Areas of West Bengal
Sanat K. Ghosh
Students’ Manifestation of the Relationship with Mathematics
Prabir Ghosh and Aditi Ghose
Syllabus of Mathematics in Elementary Education
Minara Yeasmin, Md. Kutubuddin Halder and Nimai Chand Maiti
Teacher’s Perception of School Effectiveness : A Factorial Study
Amarnath Das, Nandini Banerjee and Dibyendu Bhattacharyya
Training through Creative Discussion Approach of Teaching Bioscience in Developing Creative Thinking Ability of
Students
Shreyashi Paltasingh
Value System of Teacher Educators in West Bengal
Arindam Bhattacharyya, Nimai Chand Maiti, Md. Kutubuddin Halder
Research Abstracts
March 2015
Articles
Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX and X Adolescents
Jhumpa Biswas
Adolescent Girls in Distress–A Cross-Sectional Study from Muslim Community in West Bengal
Sourav Paul, Sunita Mondal and Bishnupada Nanda
Assessing the Relationship between Environmental Awareness and Action towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
of Twelfth Grade Students
Pintu Kumar Maji and Madhumala Sengupta
Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the Under Graduate College on the Use of ICT: A Case Study
Rekha Nariwal
Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students of Distance Education and Regular Course
Anwesha Acharya, Md Kutub Uddin Halder and Nimai Chand Maiti
Coping strategies and educational aspirations of higher secondary students
Sibichen K. K., and Anisha V. Gopalakrishnan
Construction of a five-point Likert type scale to measure the perception of teacher educators about ICT
Arindam Bhattacharyya, Nimai Chand Maiti and Md. Kutubuddin Halder
Embracing the Socially Isolates in the Classroom
Anupriya Basu, Debjani Sengupta and Debasri Banerjee
Environmental Ethics among Higher Secondary Students of Bankura District
Nandini Banerjee, Amarnath Das and Dibyendu Bhattacharyya
Environmental Knowledge of Secondary School Students in West Bengal
Bijan Sarkar
Factors Affecting the Subject Choice of Muslim Girls in Higher Education
Fauzia Khan and Ambreen Yusafi
Inculcating a Culture of Reflection in Pre-Service Teacher Education
Ravneet Kaur
Influence of the Practicum of the B.Ed. Course of West Bengal in Developing a Favourable Attitude of Secondary
School Teachers towards Inclusive Education
Piku Choudhuri
Inter Relationship between Self Esteem and Happiness
Dipankar Das and Indrani Nath
Mapping the Significance of Human Rights Education in Undergraduate Curriculum
Debalina Guha and Madhumala Sengupta
Nineteenth Century Bengal Renaissance and Raja Rammohan Roy: Present Perspective
Parental Education and van Hiele Level of Geometric Thinking among Higher Secondary Students
Arup Kundu and Aditi Ghose
Relationship between Teaching Behaviour and Personality Trait of Effective Science Teachers
Pritam Das, Sohini Ghosh and Sanat K. Ghosh
Representation of Women and Museum Education: A Micro Study in some Selected UK Museums
Indrani Bhattacharya
Teaching Dynamism and Teacher Education
Tinku De (Gope) and Sukanya Bhattacharjee
Research Abstracts
ISSN 2277-3819
Indian Journal of
Educational Research
(Peer Reviewed)
Editorial Board
Professor Nimai Chand Maiti (Editor)
Professor Md. Kutubuddin Halder
Professor Malay Kumar Sen
Professor Debasri Banerjee
Department of Education
Alipore Campus
1 Reformatory Street, Kolkata-700027

CONTENTS
Pages
Editor’s Note v
Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX 1
and X Adolescents
Jhumpa Biswas
Adolescent Girls in Distress–A Cross-Sectional Study 11
from Muslim Community in West Bengal
Sourav Paul, Sunita Mondal and Bishnupada Nanda
Assessing the Relationship between Environmental Awareness 17
and Action towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of Twelfth
Grade Students
Pintu Kumar Maji and Madhumala Sengupta
Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the 28

Under Graduate College on the Use of ICT: A Case Study
Rekha Nariwal
Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students 41

of Distance Education and Regular Course
Anwesha Acharya, Md Kutub Uddin Halder and Nimai Chand Maiti
Coping strategies and educational aspirations of 52
higher secondary students
Sibichen K. K., and Anisha V. Gopalakrishnan
Construction of a five-point Likert type scale to measure 59
the perception of teacher educators about ICT
Arindam Bhattacharyya, Nimai Chand Maiti and
Md. Kutubuddin Halder
Embracing the Socially Isolates in the Classroom 78

Anupriya Basu, Debjani Sengupta and Debasri Banerjee
Environmental Ethics among Higher Secondary 93
Students of Bankura District
Nandini Banerjee, Amarnath Das and Dibyendu Bhattacharyya
Pages
Environmental Knowledge of Secondary School 101
Students in West Bengal
Bijan Sarkar
Factors Affecting the Subject Choice of Muslim 107
Girls in Higher Education
Fauzia Khan and Ambreen Yusafi
Inculcating a Culture of Reflection in 124
Pre-Service Teacher Education
Ravneet Kaur
Influence of the Practicum of the B.Ed. Course of 137
West Bengal in Developing a Favourable Attitude of
Secondary School Teachers towards Inclusive Education
Piku Choudhuri
Inter Relationship between Self Esteem and Happiness 151
Dipankar Das and Indrani Nath
Mapping the Significance of Human Rights Education in 169
Undergraduate Curriculum
Debalina Guha and Madhumala Sengupta
Nineteenth Century Bengal Renaissance and 184
Raja Rammohan Roy: Present Perspective
Parental Education and van Hiele Level of Geometric 193
Thinking among Higher Secondary Students
Arup Kundu and Aditi Ghose
Relationship between Teaching Behaviour and 203
Personality Trait of Effective Science Teachers
Pritam Das, Sohini Ghosh and Sanat K. Ghosh
Representation of Women and Museum Education: 210
A Micro Study in some Selected UK Museums
Indrani Bhattacharya
Teaching Dynamism and Teacher Education 223
Tinku De (Gope) and Sukanya Bhattacharjee
Research Abstract 229
Editor’s Note
Whole hearted greeting to all our readers, contributors, reviewers and others
associated with the Indian Journal of Educational Research.
The present issue is comprised of twenty articles and one research abstract
related to good quality research covering various aspects of education. The
topics include diverse issues like women education, environmental education,
teacher education, human rights education and distance education. The articles
on school education, higher education, special education, and mathematics
education have also been included leading to the holistic approach of the journal.
Moreover, as a truly research journal, it has delved into matters related to meta
analysis, construction of standardized test, ICT, career choice and other issues.
Articles are included in historical, sociological and psychological research. All
the papers in the journal are expected to enhance the quality research in
education. It is to be noted that our journal can be seen at present in our
University website (caluniv.ac.in) through ‘Education’ Department.
Our whole hearted thanks to the authorities of the University, our
colleagues in the department, the contributors, the panel of reviewers and the
readers. We are fortunate enough to have a highly esteemed peer reviews
committee who, in spite of their very busy schedule, provided thorough and
critical inputs for each and every paper. I specially thanks to my colleague
Dr. Md. Kutubuddin Halder for his silent dedication towards the shaping of the
journal. As a big family we all tried our best to enhance and sustain the quality
of the journal. In spite of utmost care, some limitations and incompleteness
may crop therein. It is all due to our constraints to shoulder the responsibility
to the perfection.
With warm regards,
Dr. Nimai Chand Maiti

Professor, Department of Education,
v
Indian Journal of Educational Research, ISSN 2277-3819
Volume-IV, March 2015, Pp. 1-10
Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX and X

Adolescents
Jhumpa Biswas*
Abstract
The social structure with its advancing technology and tremendous growth of
knowledge is making more and more demands upon the adolescents which appear
to be far beyond their capacity to cope. In such society adolescence are more
vulnerable to competition. Competition leads to academic overload which is one
of the most pervasive psycho-social stressor for the young generation in our
country. The present study aimed to find out the impact of Academic Overload
on Mental Health of adolescents with respect to their familial and social
backdrop. A sample of 240 adolescents both boys and girls (15-16 years) from
co-educational Government and Private Secondary schools of Kolkata
Metropolitan city was studied. Data were collected by using Personal Information
data sheet, RCEB Mental Health Scale developed by S.P. Anand (1980) and a
self structured Interview schedule to assess Academic Overload was administered.
From the study it was found out that female students of both class IX and X
taken together suffered more in Academic Overload ie. 74.20% than male
students’ ie. 68.35%. In case of Mental Health score female students of both
class IX and X taken together are 36.65% and male students are 58.30%, which
clearly shows that when Academic Overload increases percentage of mentally
healthy students decreases and vice versa.
Key Words: Adolescents, Academic Overload, Mental Health, Stress.
Introduction
The present age is a transitional period suffering from economic hardship,
unemployment, population explosion, poverty etc. Due to population explosion
life space has become narrower. On the other hand the period is known as the
competitive age. Everyone is striving for excellence and material gain seems to
be the primary purpose of life and in a culture where happiness is often measured
in terms of material success, people have become more dependent on material
means as a source of security and power. In such society adolescence are more
* Assistant Professor in Education, Women’s College Calcutta
P-29, Kshirode Vidya Vinode Avenue, Kolkata–700 003,
E-mail : jhumpabiswas.meenan@gmail.com
vulnerable to competition. Competition leads to academic overload which is one

of the most pervasive psychological stressor for the young generation in our
country. It generally refers to the state when certain aspects of our lives place
excessive demands on us, and when we fail to satisfy those demands we
experience distress. We all are aware of the multiple forms in which they are
experienced as the adolescents live in modern, automated, fast paced, time
driven, tensed world that leads to mental health problem due to academic
overload which cannot bring lasting peace and tranquility. Overload reaches the
class-room as well. Children are pressured to do well academically, to serve
the purpose of grade battle in this competitive age. Academic overload is defined
as the excessive internal and external demands regarding academic performance,
which creates disequilibrium in the mental life of the child Pfiffer, (2001).
There is a relatively constant underlying pressure to compete with upcoming
assignment Hudd, S.S. et.al., (2000). The load or demand from various sources
does not seem to create a problem as long as the student is able to strike a balance
and maintain its equilibrium amongst all. But when these expectations or load
cross the level to which the student is unable to strike a balance, one feels
overburdened or overloaded. The individual is then at a position to complain
that one has to do too many things in too less time. Perhaps the academic load
faced by the adolescents of today is higher than ever before. This is because
today’s challenging environment is pushing the children beyond the limit without
providing opportunity to maximize their potential. Thus, a child’s innate nature
and capacities have no opportunity to find expression in a daily routine that
permits no time to play, to enjoy simple pleasures and to explore the world. The
situation has of course worsened during the years, and the situation now is not
confined to metropolitan cities alone, it can be seen in small towns and bigger
villages too. (Yash, P. 1993). Pediatricians, psychiatrists and neurologists are of
the opinion that the effect of academic overload or pressure is immense on their
young patients. Educators, social welfare societies and juvenile protective
agencies are tracing out mal-adjustment problems which are resulting due to
academic overload or stress.
In recent years, clinical psychologists as well as educationalists have
started giving proper attention to the study of mental health. Mental health means
those behaviours, perceptions and feelings that determine a person’s overall level
of personal effectiveness, success, happiness, and excellence of functioning as
a person Cutts and Mosley (1994). The World Health Organization (2005)
defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes
his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her
community.” According to Richards, Campania, & Muse-Burke (2010) “There
2
Biswas
is growing evidence that is showing emotional abilities are associated with

prosocial behaviors such as stress management and physical health”. Also
without emotional support, mental health is at risk. By receiving emotional
support your health can increase and prevent mental health disorders.
However, for the present work the targeted sample are in the higher
secondary stage (class IX and X) of educational ladder of Kolkata Metropolitan
city. Academic Overload and Mental Health of adolescents is taken into
consideration to carry out the present work.
Academic Overload
Sarma (2004) in a study conducted that parental education was highly associated
with the academic stress of their children. The students with the parents of
official and government jobs may have poor level of academic stress and better
adjustment compared to the students of business, coolie and agricultural parents.
Asha Batnagar (2007) observed 600 tenth class students of Delhi and found a
positive and significant correlation between the academic stress factors and the
academic achievement. He also found a significant negative correlation between
study habits and academic stress. Premalata Sharma (2007) in a study on
achievement of rural girls found that poor study habits were highly associated
with higher stress. The level of stress also leads o the academic success.
Chakrabarthy (2007) observed that educational level of the family influenced
the academic stress of the female students compared to the male students.
Nagaraju (2009) conducted a study on 224 students of class X and reported
that (i) the correlation between academic stress and anxiety is positive and
significant. (ii) the correlation between intelligence and stress is negative and
significant and (iii) the correlation between achievement and stress is positive
and significant.
Mental Health
Bhargava and Qureshi (2006) made a comparative analysis of mental health of
drug abuser and non-drug abusers and found that drug abusers were found
significantly lower in adjustment, emotional stability, autonomy, intelligence and
scored more in insecurity and self-concept. Singh, Chaudhary and Asthana
(2007) studied the mental health status of high and low emotionally intelligent
adolescent and observed a significant difference in mental health status
indicating better mental health of highly emotionally intelligent adolescent.
Singh (2008) studied the effect of socio-economic status and residence on mental
health of college students and found that low socio-economic status had a
negative impact upon sound development of mental health behavior. However
rural urban region was not found to be significant determinants of mental health
behavior. Tejpreet Kang, Asha Chawla (2009) studied the mental health: A study
3
of rural adolescents. The sample comprised of rural adolescent boys and girls.
The tools used were: a)socio economic status scale, b) Mental health check list.
Major findings of the study were: 1) A non-significant gender difference across
mental health status but a significant difference in somatic health status of
adolescent boys and girls, 2) Boys were found to be having better somatic health
status as compared to girls. Justin Hunt M.D., M.S. Daniel Eisenberg Ph.D.
(2010) studied the mental health Problems and Help-Seeking Behavior among
College students. Mental disorders are as prevalent among college students as
same-aged non- students and these disorders appear to be increasing in number
and severity. The purpose of this report is to review the research literature on
college student mental health, while also drawing comparisons to the parallel
literature on the broader adolescent and young adult populations.
Hence these studies formulated a strong foundation to structure the present
study. This study is not a replica of the earlier studies. It differs from earlier
studies in respect to essential purpose, region and conditions in which it was
conducted, population and mode of exploring the relationship between the
variables involved. Although Academic Overload and Mental Health of
adolescents (15-16 years) are important area from the educational point of view,
these areas are not much explored. So the researcher chose to study the impact
of Academic Overload and Mental Health of Adolescents (boys and girls) of class
IX and X students.
Objective of the study
X To find out the percentage of male pupils and percentage of female pupils
of class IX and X with respect to high Academic Overload i.e. Q3 above.
X To find out the percentage of male pupils and percentage of female pupils
of class IX and X with respect to high Mental Health i.e. Q3 above.
X To find out percentage of male pupils and percentage of female pupils
(class IX and X taken together) with respect to high Academic Overload
i.e. Q3 above.
X To find out percentage of male pupils and percentage of female pupils
(class IX and X taken together) with respect to high Mental Health i.e.
Q3 above.
X To find out the interrelationship of Academic Overload and Mental Health
of adolescents (male pupils & female pupils) of class IX and X i.e. Q3 above.
Method
Adolescents (both boys and girls) in the age group (15–16 years) studying in
different schools of Kolkata metropolitan city of higher secondary level (session
2013–14) were selected for the study.
4
Biswas
Sample Selection
Sample was selected by using stratified random sampling technique. Four
schools were selected out of which two schools were government and two
schools were private. After the selection of the schools, the Principals were
personally contacted with a request to carry out research work in their schools.
After obtaining the permission from the school principals, the class in charge
of 9th and 10th grades were personally contacted and lists of adolescents (boys
and girls) falling in the age group (15-16 years) were prepared. A sample of 60
adolescents (both boys and girls) was randomly drawn from class IX and X.
Thus the final sample comprised of 240 adolescents.
Tools
X Personal information data sheet was prepared to assess the age, gender,
education and occupation of parents, number of family members, parental
income etc.
X RCEB Mental Health scale developed by S.P. Anand (1980). The inventory
consists of total 60 questions which are to be answered on a five point
scale meant for senior secondary level children. Likert’s technique has been
used for the construction of the scale. Five responses categorizes as (1)
Strongly Agree, (2) Agree, (3) Undecided, (4) Disagree and (5) Strongly
Disagree with scores corresponding 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 for 20 positive questions
and 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 for 40 negative questions. The minimum score is 0 and the
maximum score is 240. Children scoring above 160 are said to be mentally
healthy. The test-retest reliability was calculated to be 0.95. This is a self-
administering test that may be given individually or in groups. Although
there are no time limits, the respondents normally complete it within 40
minutes.
X A self-structured schedule was prepared to find out Academic Overload of
adolescents. Long sessions were arranged with teachers teaching the
students of high classes in schools. Teacher educators were also involved
in this process. A preliminary list of statements was also discussed with
some school students. Modification was done according to their suggestion
and ten new items were added to the questionnaire. The test-retest reliability
was calculated to be 0.82 by using Pearson’s Co-efficient of Correlation.
The inventory consists of total 22 questions which are to be answered on
a five point scale. Five responses categorizes as (1) Almost Always, (2)
Very Often, (3) Often, (4) Seldom and (5) Never with corresponding scores
5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The minimum score is 22 and the maximum score is 110.
Children scoring less than 71.58 are considered to have low academic
overload whereas children scoring above 95.28 are considered to have high
5
academic overload. Validity of the questionnaire was found out by the inter-
item consistency. At least four items from each dimension with the highest
inter-item consistency value were selected for the final form. This is a self-
administering test that may be given individually or in groups. Although
there are no time limits, the respondents normally complete it within 15
minutes.
Data Collection and Analysis
A close rapport was established with the adolescents so that they will feel free
to reveal their true feelings. The adolescents were requested to give honest
responses and were assured that their identity would be kept confidential. After
the collection of data frequencies, cumulative frequencies, cumulative percentage
frequencies, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, co-efficient of correlation
and Q3 were calculated.
Table 1 : Mean, Median, Mode & Standard Deviation of Academic Overload

of Class IX & X
Academic Overload Class-IX Class-X
Mean 93.64 88.65
Median 95.00 91.50
Mode 91.00 92.00
Standard Deviation 7.81 9.22
Table 2 : Mean, Median, Mode & Standard Deviation of Mental Health
of Class IX & X
Mental Health Class-IX Class-X
Mean 163.03 162.75
Median 163.00 164.50
Mode 163.00 163.00
Standard Deviation 21.68 24.92
Table 3 : Percentage of Pupils (Male & Female) of Class IX & X with
respect to High Academic Overload i.e. Q3 Above
Classes Gender Q3 above Total
Class IX Male 73.40%
Female 85.00% 79.20%
Class X Male 63.30%
Female 63.40% 63.30%
6
Biswas
Table 4 : Percentage of Pupils (Male & Female) of Class IX & X with

respect to High Mental Health i.e. Q3 Above
Classes Gender Q3 above Total
Class IX Male 53.30%
Female 36.70% 45.00%
Class X Male 63.30%
Female 36.60% 50.00%
Table 5 : Gender wise Academic Overload Shown Taking Together Class

IX & X i.e. Q3 Above
Gender Q3 above
Male 68.35%
Female 74.20%
Table 6 : Gender wise Mental Health Shown Taking Together Class IX &
X i.e. Q3 Above
Gender Q3 above
Male 58.30%
Female 36.65%
Table 7 : Academic Overload & Mental Health (Male Pupils & Female
Pupils) of Class IX & X i.e. Q3 Above
Classes Gender Academic Overload Mental Health
Q3 above Q3 above
Classes IX & X Male 68.35% 58.30%
Classes IX & X Female 74.20% 36.65%
Result and Discussion

From Table 1 and Table 2 Mean, Median, Mode and Standard Deviation of
Academic Overload and Mental Health are given respectively.
From Table 3 it is found out that in class IX percentage of male pupils above
Q3 in Academic Overload is 73.40% where as in case of female pupil it is
85.00%. The female pupils in class IX shows more Academic stress or overload
than male pupil. Whereas in class X the situation is more or less same for male
and female pupils that is 63.30% and 63.40 respectively.
From Table 4 it is found out that in class IX and X percentage female pupils
above Q3 in Mental Health test is 36.70% and 36.60% respectively. Whereas
7
in class IX and X percentage of male pupils above Q3 in mental health is much

more that is 53.30% and 63.30% respectively. Female pupils are found to be
less mentally healthy compared to male pupil of both class IX and X.
From Table 5 it is found out that percentage of male pupils (class IX and X
taken together) with respect to high Academic Overload i.e. Q3 above is 68.35%,
whereas percentage of female pupils (class IX and X taken together) with
respect to high Academic Overload i.e. Q3 above is more i.e. 74.20%.
From Table 6 it is found out that percentage of male pupils (class IX and X
taken together) with respect to high Mental Health score i.e. Q3 above is
58.30%, whereas percentage of female pupils (class IX and X taken together)
with respect to high Mental Health score i.e. Q3 above is much less i.e. 36.65%.
From Table 7 the interrelationship of Academic Overload on Mental Health
clearly shows that when Academic Overload increases the number of mentally
healthy pupils decreases and vice versa. In female pupils the Academic Overload
or stress is found to be more i.e. 74.20% compared to male pupils i.e. 68.35%
and thus we can see that the number of male pupils are more mentally healthy
i.e. 58.30% than female pupils i.e. 36.65%.
Conclusion
Academic pressure on children and youth to succeed academically is a universal
phenomenon of urbanized society. Our precious children are subjected to
excessive stress and strain within the school and outside the school which leads
to significant mental health problem in the recent years. Psychologists have
found out the current emphasis on grades which is mainly extrinsic reward of
learning and it de-emphasizes the importance and utility of what is actually
learned. The grades on the report cards mean a lot to the parent’s. Teachers
and parents face pupils whose physical and emotional maturity is not sufficient
to withstand these extra pressure which causes mental break down and even
juvenile delinquency. Psychologist, scientists and welfare agencies have not put
much importance to research the effect of Academic overload and Mental Health
on adolescents for which there is dearth of statistics. It would be wise to bring
up such studies so that a holistic approach towards mentally sick can be adopted.
Schools in response to community demands for more academic emphasis,
makes the attainment of success more difficult and it contributes to one of the
great social problem. Unrealistic demands for scholastic achievement seem to
occur for unwillingness to accept the truth what is known as individual
differences. The ultimate effect of unrealistic expectations of parents can only be
defeatism. The child or youth who might have been a happy, well-adjusted person
making a valuable contribution to his community in some worthy work suited
8
Biswas
to his capacity and potentiality may become one of life’s failure. An intense
review of curriculum and workload of adolescents is vital. Seminar, training,
workshop, conferences are very much necessary for the teachers, policy makers,
parents, to enlighten and sensitize them regarding appropriate handling of
children so that the adolescent do not face excessive demand and competition
which leads to mental health problem. A major part of a country’s population
consists of adolescents. Thus the prosperity of any country in various fields
depends upon the proper growth and development of the adolescents. A well
adjusted adolescent will be a good adult in the society.
References
Bhargava M., & Qureshi A., (2006). A comparative study of mental health of drug
abusers and non-drug abusers. Praachi Journal of Psycho-Cultural Dimensions.
22(1), pp. 35-39.
Bhatnagar A., (2007). A Study of some factors affecting student involvement in studies,
Journal of Educational Research. Vol. l5, pp. 70-73.
Chakrabarthy S., (2007). A critical study of Intelligence, Educational Environment in
the family and quality of schools in standard X: A case study of some schools
in and around Pune. Ph.D. in Education, Poona: Poona University
Cutts N. F., Mosley N., (1941). Practical short Discipline and Mental Hygiene, Boston:
Houghton Miffline.
Hudd S.S., et.al., (2000). Stress at college: Effects in health habits, health status and
self-esteem. College students Journal. 34, pp. 217-228.
Justin Hunt M.D., M.S. Daniel Eisenberg Ph.D. (2010). Studied the mental health
Problems and Help-Seeking Behavior among College students. Journal of
adolescent health. Vol. 46, Issue 1, January 2010. pp. 3-10.
Nagaraja J., (1983). Mental Health Limits, priorities and psycho-ethics, Indian Journal
of Psychiatry. Vo1. 25, pp. 3-6.
Pfiffer D.M., (2001). Academic and Environmental stress among undergraduate and
graduate college students : A Literature review. American Psychological
Association Publication Manual, No. 28.
Richards K.C., Campania C., Muse-Burke J.L., (2010). Self-care and Well-being in
Mental Health Professionals: The Mediating Effects of Self-awareness and
Mindfulnes, Journal of Mental Health Counseling. 32 (3): p 247.
Sarma M., (2004). A Study of Correlates of Socio-Metric Status in High School Classes.
Ph.D. Education, Meerat: Meerat University
Sharma P., (2007). Study Habits and Academic Stress and Achievement among rural
girls, Journal of Educational Research and Extension. VoI. 22(4), pp. 221-224.
Singh A.K., (2008). Mental health behavior as a function of socio-economic status and
residence. Indian Journal of Psychometric and Education. 39, pp.118-120.
Singh M, Chaudhary O.P., & Asthana M., (2007). Mental health among high and low
emotionally intelligent adolescent. Psycho-Lingue. 37(2), pp. 175-179.
9
Tejpreet Kang, Asha Chawla. (2009). Studied the Mental Health: A study of rural
adolescents, Journal of All India Association for Educational Research. 21(1).
Yash P., (1993). (Report of the NAC) Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource
& Development : Department of Education, New Delhi : Learning without Burden.
World Health Organization (2005). Promoting Mental Health : Concepts, Emerging
evidence, Practice: A Report of the World Health Organization, Department of
Promotion Foundation and the University of Melbourne. Geneva : World Health
Organization
10
Adolescent Girls in Distress–A Cross-Sectional Study from

Muslim Community in West Bengal
Sourav Paul* Sunita Mondal** and Bishnupada Nanda***
Abstract
Anxiety, depression and distress are known to affect adult females at higher risk
by 12th grade because they experience more challenges in early adolescents and
because of their tendency to cope with problems by ruminating. Girls also tend
to respond to stressors more strongly than boys. Reported is the study of Muslim
adolescent girl students distress. Hopkins Symptoms Checklist (HSCL-10) was
used for collection of data. 171 respondents from Hawrah district (Bankra area)
were used as the sample of the study. All the samples were taken from minority
girls schools. Statistical analysis done using F2 test. Results showed that
adolescent girls’ students are affected from anxiety, depression and distress.
Key Words: Muslim Adolescent Girls, Community, Anxiety, Depression, Distress
Introduction
Adolescence is a transition period from childhood to adulthood. In this
developmental period they experience major physical, social, psychological and
sexual changes that cause adolescents more stresses easily. In this stage of life
they not only affected by the relations with other persons or environment, but
they also concern about ‘self’. They feel lonely, humiliated or dissatisfied with
their appearance and become more sensitive to their life events (Seiffge-Krenke,
1995). “The adolescent girls in distress comes from a large family with a low
socioeconomic status, a household that does not offer privacy for the adolescent
girl and parents who have difficulties in daily functioning and are often dealing
with problems of substance abuse, prostitution, illness etc.. The atmosphere at
home is negatively charged with conflict and tension, and the neighbourhood
* Research Scholar, Dept. of Education, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.

** Guest Faculty (Guidance and Psychological Counselling), Special Education &
HEPSN Cell, Jadavpur University, Kolkata & Guest Lecturer, Dept. of Education,
Burdwan M.U.C. Womens’ College, Burdwan, West Bengal.
*** Associate Professor and Head, Dept. of Education and Course Coordinator,
Special Education & HEPSN Cell, Jadavpur University, Kolkata.
environment also fails to provide a positive role model” (Stiener, 1979; Tene,
1987) (quoted from Azaiza, 2006).
The literature suggests various definitions for adolescent girls in distress,
such as difficulties in functioning in different contexts, including familial and
social neglect or physical abuse, familial or social conflict, emotional abuse,
delinquency etc. (Azaiza,2006).
Some researchers claim that the main characteristics of adolescent girls in
distress is their difficulty in functioning in family, school, community and work
environment (Konopoka, 1966; Stiener, 1979; Tene, 1987). According to Shechter
(1984) adolescent girls are affected from emotional problems like low self-
esteem, high levels of stress, frustration and anxiety, difficulties in decision-
making processes, and a fatalistic world view. Adolescents living in two-parent
families with higher level of parental conflict tend to have poorer well-being than
those from divorced families (Mechanic & Hansell, 1989). Furthermore, parental
divorce is more beneficial for the better well-being of adolescents than higher
level of parental conflict (Jekielek, 1998). Again parental divorce of a conflicting
family is more acceptable for better well being of the adolescents than parental
remarriage (Amato, et.al., 1995; Looms & Booth, 1995). But very little is known
about why and how parental conflicts, divorce and remarriage affects adolescents
well-being and more particularly its effects in terms of adolescents age. Emery
(1988), Allison & Furstenberg (1989) observed that impact of parental divorce
is more harmful to younger children than the older one. Adolescents from two-
parent families are psychologically in well condition than those from the families
where parental divorce occurs (Amato & Keith, 1991; Amato, 2001). Parental
conflict and parental divorce are regarded as primary stressors for the adolescent
because in such situation children may feel that they have lost a dream about their
family. This psychological loss may increase the tension and conflict between
children and custodial parents. These poor children may be more likely to
experience financial decline, decrease in parental support, and moving as well
as it increase the scope of their abusement.
Avison & Mclalpine (1992) suggested that gender differences was strongly
associated with the levels of psychological distress.
Parental or close relatives illness, changes in relations with peers, family
instability, changes in schools and violence are some common stressful life
events for adolescents (Buchanan et.al., 1996).
Aseltine (1996) noticed that family structure not only directly affect
adolescent distress, but also indirectly affect adolescents through life events and
family relations. We found that both single parent families and conflict families
are linked to adolescents more distress because of poorer family relations. Again
adolescents life events may be associated with adolescent distress by poorer
12
Paul, Mondal and Nanda
family relations. Marital conflict and parental divorce are positively related to
the level of adolescent distress and these two factors are primary stressors, where
as life events are the secondary stressors. Again these stressful life events lead
to emotional problems.
Depressive illness is known to affect adult females at about twice the rate
found in males (American Psychiatric Association) because of their greater
tendency to cope with problems by ruminating. Research with younger people
have also highlighted increased vulnerability among girls, with longitudinal
research showing that girls are at higher risk than boys for depressive symptoms by
12th grade due to their experiencing more challenges in early adolescence (Petersen,
Sarigiani & Kennedy, 1991). Girls report more depression and tend to respond to
stressors more strongly than boys (Hankim, Mermelstein & Roesch, 2007).
Objectives
The objectives of the this study are to explore the extent of distress of adolescent
Muslim school going girls in the age groups 11 to 18 years on the basis of
some selected demographic features.
Sample
Data were collected from 171 adolescent Muslim girl students in the age group
11-18 years. Demographic characteristics of the sample were shown in the table1.
Table 1 : Demographic Characteristics of the Sample
Variables Total No. %
Age (in years) 11-14 135 78.95
15-18 36 21.05
Habitat Urban 84 49.12
Rural 87 50.88
Monthly income 1000-5000 137 80.12
5001-10000 21 12.28
10001-15000 13 7.60
No. of Siblings 1-4 130 76.02
5-8 38 22.22
9-12 3 1.75
Family Structure Nuclear 54 31.58
Joint 111 64.91
Broken 6 3.51
Birth order of the sample 1-4 130 76.02
5-8 38 22.22
9-12 3 1.75
13
Measuring instrument
Hopkins Symptoms Checklist questionnaire developed by Hopkins (HSCL-10)
was used to measure psychological distress (anxiety and depression) of the
respondents. The checklist was selected because it demonstrates good sensitivity
and simplicity for detecting the psychological symptomatology and mental distress.
Out of 10 items of this checklist first four items indicated anxiety and rest 6 items
were related to the symptoms of the depression. The co-relation between original
anxiety score and short version score was 0.91 and co-relation between depression
score is 0.96. Each item of the scale was rated on a scale from one (not at all) and
four (extremely). The original scale was adopted in Bengali by Nanda (2009).
Collection of Data
Adopted questionnaire with demographic data sheet were supplied to the
selected respondents each in groups. Filled up demographic data sheet and
questionnaire were collected personally, cleaned and quantified as much as
possible and tabulated systematically for further analysis and interpretations.
Results
Table-2 : Mean, Standrad Deviation and F2-values
Variables No T.S M Sd df X2 Sig
Age 11-14 135 2440 18.07 271.98 1 1014.7 0.05>
15-18 36 665 18.47 110.19 0.01
Habitat Urban 84 1601 19.06 174.22 1 3.04 <0.05
Rural 87 1504 17.29 160.32 <0.01
Monthly 1000-5000 137 2522 18.41 215.15 2 3226.73 >0.05
income 5001-10000 21 360 17.14 76.67 >0.01
10001-15000 13 218 16.77 17.07
No. of 1-4 87 1518 17.45 162.43 2 853.6 >0.05
Siblings 5-8 69 1310 18.99 157.20 >0.01
9-12 15 277 18.47 70.53
Birth order of 1-4 130 2340 18 204.44 2 2674.14 >0.05
the participant 5-8 38 709 18.66 113.49 >0.01
9-12 3 56 18.67 26.40
Family Nuclear 54 926 17.51 124.84 2 1874.4 >0.05
Structure Joint 111 2061 18.57 194.74 >0.01
Broken 6 104 17.33 38.76
14
Paul, Mondal and Nanda
Major Findings
1. Significant differences exists in the anxiety, depression and distress of
adolescent muslim girls students on the basis of their age.
2. No significant differences exists in the anxiety, depression and distress
of adolescent muslim girls students in terms of their habitat.
adolescent muslim girls students in terms of their parental income
(monthly).
adolescent muslim girls students in terms of their no. of siblings.
adolescent muslim girls students on the basis of birth order of the
samples.
adolescent muslim girls students on the basis of their family structure.
Discussion
The concept of adolescent Muslim girl students in distress is an unfamiliar one
within Indian cultures and is not in common use among lay people and non-
professionals. The respondents in this study belong to an eastern ethnic minority.
The main finding of this study is that Muslim adolescent girls understand the
concept of distress. Now a days throughout the world self-harm behaviours
constitute a high risk problem for adolescent girls (Rodham, Hawton &Evans,
2005). In Muslim community also the same trend is increasing. Adverse life
situations and stressors play a vital role in the development of depressive and
self-harm intentions in this age group. The girls possess a greater tendency to
cope with problems and therefore, they are more affected from depressive
disorders. In the absence of suitable intervention the likelihood of suicidal
tendency increases. Lower age of menarche has also been associated with
increased mental distress among adolescent girls. This is more applicable for
the adolescent girls from Muslim society. Because , their orthodox view bound
them to conceal this physical change and all the related uneasyness that makes
them more depressive. Parental income is also a constituting factor for adolescent
girls depression. Adolescent girls from lower-income group families experience
higher rates of depression than their middle or highier income peers (Gibbs,
1985; Schoen et.al.,1997). In the present study also same result was established.
Muslim adolescent girls from lower family income possess more anxiety,
depression and distress. Further in-depth research in this unfamiliar area of study
is recommended.
15
References
Allison, Paul D., & Furstenberg, Jr., Frank F., (1989). How Marital Dissolution Affects
Children: Variations by Age and Sex. Developmental psychology, 25, 540-549.
Amato, Paul R., (2001). Children of Divorce in the 1990s: An Update of the Amato and
Keith (1991) Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62, 557-573.
Amato, Paul R., Laura Spencer Looms, & Alan Booth. (1995). Parental Divorce, Marital
Conflict, and Offspring Well-being during Early Adulthood. Social Forces, 73,
895-915.
Aseltine, Jr. Robert H., (1996). Pathways Linking Parental Divorce with Adolescent
Depressions. Journal of Health and Social Behaviors, 37, 133-148.
Avison, William R., & Donna D.M., (1992). Gender Differences in Symptoms of
Depression among Adolescents. Journal of Health and Social Science, 33,
77-96.
Azaiza F., (2008). Adolescent girls in distress: Views from Arab female adolescents
living in Israel. International Social Work, 49 (2), 188-197.
Buchanan C.M., Eleanor E.M, & Sanford M.D. (1996). Adolescents after Divorce.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gibbs J.T., (1985). City girls: Psychosocial adjustment of urban black adolescent females.
Sage, 2(2), 28-36.
Hsueh, Cherng-Tay. (2002). Single-Parents Families and Its Change in Taiwan: 1990 and
2000 Census Data in Comparison. Journal of NTU Social Work, 6, 1-33.
Jekielek, Susan M., (1998). Parental Conflict, Marital Disruption, and Children’s
Emotional Well-Being. Social Forces, 76, 905-935.
Konopka G., (1966). The Adolescents Girl in Conflict. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall.
Mechanic D., & Stephen H., (1989). Divorce, Family Conflict, and Adolescents’ Well-
Being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, 105-116.
Schoen C., Davis K., Scott Collins K., Greenberg L., Des Roches C., & Abrams M.,
(1997). The commonwealth fund survey of the health of adolescent girls. New
York: Louis Harris & Associates.
Seiffe-Krenke, I (1995). Stress, Coping, and Relationships in Adolescence. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Stierner Y., (1979). Girls in distress, Knowledge and Attitudes. MA thesis, University of
Haifa, Israel (in Hebrew).
Tene D., (1987). Girls in Distress, Clinical Aspects. Jerusalem: Academon Press, Hebrew
University (in Hebrew).
16
Assessing the Relationship between Environmental

Awareness and Action towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
of Twelfth Grade Students
Pintu Kumar Maji1 and Madhumala Sengupta2
Abstract
Environmental actions related to 3Rs namely reducing, reusing and recycling are
the overarching principles of environmental education. Such actions are always
preceded by environmental awareness, knowledge, inculcation of appropriate
values etc. The educational institutions are considered to be the nursery of pro
environmental behaviour. This study analyzes the relationship between the
environmental awareness of the students with their reported environmental
actions comprising 3Rs. The responses were collected from twelfth grade students
(N=400) studying in and secondary and higher secondary schools affiliated to
West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. The research instrument developed
by the researchers consists of 10 pair of items related to 3R’s based on
Environment attitude and action scale by Kaspolu and Turan (2008). It measures
the level of environmental awareness and the degree to which one practices the
related environmental action. For analyzing the data chi-square with contingency
of coefficient test was employed. Within the framework in environmental
awareness and action, the items were categorized into three components namely–
reduce, reuse and recycle. The results showed that in case of reduce and reuse,
the score of awareness and action significantly correlated. Whereas weak
relationship exists between these two scores in terms of items related to recycle.
The study implies that positive measures are to be taken to improve the recycling
behaviour of the students so that sustainable living can be ensured.
Key Words: Environmental Awareness, Environmental Action, Reuse, Reduce and
Recycle
Introduction
The most important objective of environmental education is developing
and practicing those behaviours which have minimum adverse impact on
1. Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Sarsuna College

E-mail : pkm.edu@rediffmail.com
2. Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta,
E-mail : dr.msengupta@rediffmail.com
environment. As Stern (1997) maintained that environmentally significant

behaviour should be defined in terms of its impact on the structure and dynamics
of eco system or biosphere. The concept of environmental education has evolved
during last decades. The period of metamorphosis demonstrates how the emphasis
has shifted from acquiring environmental awareness, and knowledge towards
environment towards civic action to minimize and arrest degradation of
environment caused by unmindful human action. But environmentally significant
behaviour is a complex issue and many factors are attributed to it apart from mere
environmental knowledge, awareness and attitude. Kollmus and Ageyman (2002)
had analysed the different theories of behaviour to explain the attitude behaviour
gap in the context of environment. Among the various theoretical frameworks
related to awareness attitude behaviour they have emphasized on Theory of
Reasoned Action and their Theory of Planned Behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975;
Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). These researchers pointed out that in order to find out
the exact relation between attitudes and behaviour the attitude towards a targeted
behaviour should be measured. This is what has been done in this present
research. Rajecki (1982) ascribed four causes of attitude action gap regarding
environmental issues. These ares—
a) Direct vs. indirect experiences– Indirect experience of an environmental
issue like reading about pollution of a river from a book will result in
weak environmental action than direct observation of the ways a river is
being polluted.
b) Normative influence– Social norms, cultural patterns and the life styles
of the family members exert strong influence on environmental behaviour.
c) Temporal discrepancy– It implies that with passage of time peoples
‘attitude and subsequent behaviours are likely to change.
d) Attitude behaviour measure– When attitude is broad in scope then it fails
to relate with a particular behaviour. For example an attitudinal question
likes ‘do you care about environment? ‘May not correlate strongly with
‘do you do composting? Thus result may show discrepancies (Newhouse,
1991).
There are varied types of environmentally significant behaviours. Among them
sustainable practices have been associated with environmental actions namely
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. These are very important strategies to minimize
resource and energy uses and to reduce waste production. To tackle the problem
of sustainability, to awaken consciousness among students and implementing
it into action – understanding the concept of 3R’s is an imperative need. This
study primarily explores the interrelationship between awareness and action
practiced by the school students. 3R’s are the essential elements in achieving
18
Maji and Sengupta
sustainability (World Class Communications Technologies, LLC 2011). In terms

of hierarchy of 3R’s, the first step is reduction. Reduction means to use less
of something. It actually motivates the buyers to buy only those items which
are of utmost necessity. The second step is reuse, this signifies to use something
again without any kind of modification in it. For example, instead of throwing
it away as waste, try reusing it different situations. Lastly the process of recycle
includes using old items to make the new ones. Today proper implementation
of 3R’s has created societal, environmental and economic benefit (World Class
Communications Technologies, LLC, 2011). Following the strategy of 3R’s will
ensure healthier lifestyles among individuals and a more responsible behaviour
towards environment.
Several studies have been conducted on 3R’s and sustainability from various
perspectives in different countries. Studies related to environmental issues
Shahnawaj (1990), Hausebeck, K.W., Milbrath, L.W., & Enright, S.M. (1992),
Bradley, J.C., Walichek, T.M. & Zajichek, J.M.(1999), Kuhlemeier, H., Bergh,
H.V.D., & Lagerweij, N. (1999), Abdul Wahab S.A.(2008) may be cited in this
respect. However researches on awareness-action as one of the dimensions
reflecting 3R’s related to sustainability are scarce. Going green or using eco-
friendly products is an essential for attaining sustainability. In this respect, Saxena
and Srivastava (2012) reported that respondents had only a limited understanding
of environmental issues which positively impacted their eco-friendly behaviour.
Mishra (2012), Sebastian and Nima, (2005) study showed that the science
students have more awareness of biodiversity and its conservation than other
students. Whereas no significant differences on environmental awareness among
students of public and govt. schools was found (Mishra, 2012). Researches on
3R’s in the Indian perspective especially in school education context are not
adequate. Hence this work is to be accepted as in right direction especially to
understand the importance of 3R’s vis-à-vis environmental awareness and action.
Objectives
This paper observes the perceptions of the students regarding their awareness
of 3R’s. The present study investigates the relationship between students’
awareness and action regarding 3R’s (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle). This study
is unique as it explores the extent of interrelationship between the two variables
and their likely consequences on environment.
Methodology
Sample
The sample was drawn from the schools (affiliated to West Bengal Board
Secondary Education) of twelfth grade students, situated in the city of Kolkata.
The present sample comprises 400 (N) students comprising both girls and boys.
19
Instrument
The research instrument was based on Environmental attitude and action
scale developed by Kaspolu and Turan (2008). The items were modified
to relate to Bengali culture and practices. It consists of 10 pair of items
representing 3R’s to measure the level of environmental awareness and the
degree to which one practices those environmental actions. Actually each
item is essentially a pair of awareness and action in the context of a particular
environmental issue for example saving water. This item has two parts as
indicated below-
X Awareness : Broken and dripping taps should be repaired
X Action : I repair or have someone to repair broken and dripping taps
All the items are framed in the same manner. Each item has three responses
options – always, sometimes and never for action related part and completely
agree, neither agree nor disagree and not agree for awareness part.
Results and Discussion

The results show 10 dimensions of awareness-action item in relation to
twelfth grade students. It illustrates students’ ideas about environmental services
and their sensitivity or responsibilities towards environmentalism.
Table 1 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Saving Energy
Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

Action nor Disagree
Always 138 14 5 157
Sometimes 151 5 23 180
Never 18 12 33 63
Total 307 32 61 400
Chi-square=110.13/ P=0.000
Table 1 scores revealed that students’ relationship between awareness and action
towards saving energy was highly correlated. The results demonstrated that
students’ perception for saving energy was not only high but they also imple-
mented it in practice hence they were aware of the utility of saving fossil fuels
by reducing its use.
20
Maji and Sengupta
Table 2 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Paper Saving

Action nor Disagree
Always 38 55 42 135
Never 48 52 47 147
Total 137 141 122 400
Chi-square=7.26/ P=0.12277
Findings from table-2 indicated that there is no significant relationship between
students’ awareness and action. It signifies that students failed to save papers
despite being aware of necessity of reducing use of papers which are mostly
manufactured by felling of trees.
Table 3 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Excessive Packaging

Action nor Disagree
Always 98 55 32 185
Never 48 12 17 77
Total 227 101 72 400
Chi-square=6.22/ P=0.1833
From table 3, it can be concluded that students’ awareness-action link towards

excessive packaging was low and not significant. Unnecessary packaging
increases the amount of waste and therefore decorative packages mostly of
plastics and non bio degradable materials must be avoided. But it seems that
the students have failed to realize the importance of less packaging. Packages
made of Styrofoam and plastics contaminate the food with harmful chemical
and cause immense harm to environment. However, they are attractive and
act as advertisement and the consumers are ready to pay higher prices for
that. The school students included in the sample group may be aware of ill
effects of excessive packaging but their behavior in this respect is not eco-
friendly.
21
Table 4 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Saving Water

Action nor Disagree
Always 161 11 6 178
Never 22 27 2 51
Total 336 51 13 400
Chi-square=85.96 P=0.000
According to the results of table no-4 regarding saving water, it was reported that
the relationship between students’ awareness and action towards conservation of
water was significant. The value of ‘p’ signifies the relation between the two
variables is positive and moderate. Thus if awareness towards saving water is
high it will lead to rise in practicing environmental friendly behaviours.
Table 5 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Donate Old Clothes and Books
Action nor Disagree
Always 46 19 14 79
Never 171 29 34 234
Total 276 59 234 400
From the table no. 5 it is evident that the students are aware about the importance
of reuse of old clothes and books but donating these materials is something
which they fail to practice. Hence there is a clear gap between awareness and
action in respect of reuse of materials.
Table 6 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Reuse Empty Glass and Jars
Action nor Disagree
Always 153 23 61 237
Never 26 8 11 45
Total 244 58 98 400
Chi-square=11.49/ P=0.0215
22
Maji and Sengupta
Observation of table – 6 reveals that the ‘p’ value is 0.02 which is significant
at 0.05 level. Table 6, however shows a different result pertaining to reuse of
different types of materials namely glasses and bottles. The reuse of bottles
is a very common practice which the students have observed and may be
encouraged by their family members to do it whereas reuse of old clothes is
not so common among the young students rather the mothers in the families
are decision makers in this respect.
Table 7 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Buy Second-Hand Books

Action nor Disagree
Always 127 47 46 220
Never 45 19 27 91
Total 235 78 87 400
Chi-square=9.89/ P=0.04232
Table-7 showed that students’ awareness-action relationship towards reusing old
or second-hand book was significant at 0.05 level.
Table 8 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Buying

Products Made from Recycled Materials
Action nor Disagree
Always 37 9 13 59
Sometimes 127 15 56 198
Never 92 18 33 143
Total 256 42 102 400
Chi-square=4.7 / P= 0.3194
Data from table–8, states that students’ theoretical knowledge about environment
does not necessarily result in recycling behaviour patterns. Knowledge as well
as attitudes is not enough to behave responsibly (Kasapog¢lu and Turan, 2008).
Thus the relationship is weak and there is lack of sensitivity towards
environment. However, it is to be admitted that the students can buy recycled
materials only when they are easily available, which is not always the case in
Indian market.
23
Table 9 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Sorting Disposals

Action nor Disagree
Always 56 8 24 88
Never 177 14 52 243
Total 272 29 99 400
Chi-square=7.75 P=0.1011
Results from table-9 illustrated that there is no significant relationship between
students’ awareness and action with regard to sorting waste disposal. As such
practices is very rarely been carried out in India, therefore students of twelfth
grade often lack the understanding of such concepts.
Table 10 : Showing the Awareness-Action item

Related to Use Rechargeable Batteries

Action nor Disagree
Always 63 14 17 94
Never 157 25 29 231
Total 276 45 79 400
From table 10, it was observed that the students’ awareness and action relation
to the usage of rechargeable batteries was not significant. This implies that
students’ sensitivity towards environment may not be low but practicing such
behavior is not always possible due to various constraints in this case the high
price of the rechargeable batteries.
Conclusion
From the findings, it can be concluded that the students’ relationship between
awareness-action regarding 3R’s for sustainability were moderately correlated.
Furthermore the results revealed that the scores of awareness and action were
significantly correlated in terms of reduce and reuse items. Awareness often
resulted in preserving and conserving the resources. In this respect, students
24
Maji and Sengupta
who were motivated to save water, energy, reusing empty bottles, etc. carry out
a sustainable behaviour pattern. Results of some previous studies (Kaiser et al,
1999), postulated that there is a positive and significant relationship between
environmental knowledge and energy consumption behavior. In contrast, the
scores of awareness-action relation regarding recycling items reflected low and
weak relationship. It is evident from the study that students are more concerned
about environmental problems which they face quite frequently like saving fuel,
reusing old books, bottles etc but somehow they fail to transform in to daily
practice. The study implies that the current curriculum should be revised with
more content from environment including recycling practices as one of the vital
approaches to sustainable living. At the same times it must be admitted that
traditional curricular transaction fail to motivate students to participate actively
in matters pertaining to environmental issues. Environmental education should
permeate the whole school life. Conde and Sanchez (2010) suggested that
environmental education should be integrated with school life and the teachers
and school authority should practice what they preach. They emphasized that
every action in school must satisfy environmental criteria and there should be
environmental monitoring by the eco vigilante.
Implication
The present study highlights the fact that teaching environmental education by
traditional approach does not help to attain the objectives of the subject. The
environmental awareness may increase but the students fail to translate the
knowledge into environmentally significant behaviour. The school authority must
introduce drastic changes within the school campus so that the students have
enabling situation to practice 3Rs related to environmental action. It may be
suggested that schools may incorporate the following policies as suggested by
DEFRA in UK-
a) Enable–It signifies that barriers to sustainable practices are to be removed.
The facilities for practices of 3Rs should be provided by the school
authority. Education should give skill training and necessary information
to the students.
b) Encourage–The students who demonstrate pro environmental behaviour
should be rewarded and recognized. Social pressures are to be created on
those who fail to reduce, reuse or recycle and in general behave in an
unsustainable manner. Penalties and fines may be imposed for non
cooperation.
c) Engage–The school can create community centers for environmental
activities. The students may develop network with external organizations
25
active in environmental issues. The school can also organize media

campaign regarding sound sustainable practices.
d) Exemplify–Most importantly teachers and heads of the institutions must
lead by examples. The school authority needs to introduce consistent
environmental policies.
These 4 Es are essential conditions for turning the schools in to sustainable
ones where students will learn to practice sustainable consumer behaviour.
The present study highlights the importance of introducing Environmental
Education as a separate discipline in the school curriculum. Apart from imparting
theoretical knowledge some practical oriented concepts like 3R’s should be
introduced. Thus teaching environmental education should be based on a coherent
approach. Garcia (2000) stated that greening of curriculum can be ensured when
environmental consideration is taken into account as an educational principle in
decision making process. The contexts of green curriculum are preparation and
use of appropriate teaching materials, motivating the students, improving their
attitude and habits and adding more environment related contents in the
curriculum (Conde and Sanchez, 2010). In. other words the school ethos should
reflect environmentalism whereby students will acquire courage, commitment
and motivation to take active part in solving environment related issues.
References
Ajzen I., and Fishbein M., (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social
Behavior. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Arunkumar J., (2012). A study on assessment of environmental awareness among teacher
trainees in teacher training institutes. IJRSS, 2(3).
Bezbatchenko A.W., (2011). Where Meaning Lies: Student Attitudes and Behaviours
Related to Sustainability in College. Pro-quest : Umi dissertation publishing.
Chen T.B., and Chai L.T., (2010). Attitudes towards the environment and green products.
Management Science and Engineering, 4(2), 27-39.
Conde M.C., and Sanchez J.S., (2010). The School Curriculum and Environmental
Education: A School Environmental Audit Experience. International Journal of
Environmental and Science Education, 5(4) : 477-494.
Fishbein M., & Ajzen I., (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction
to Theory and Research. Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley.
García J.E., (2000). Educación ambientaly ambientalización del curriculum. In F.J.
Perales, & P. Cañal (Eds.), Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales (pp. 585-
613). Alcoy (Spain): Marfil.
Hart P., (2006). Environmental Education. In S.K. Abell, & N.G. Lederman (Eds.),
Handbook.
Hini D., Gendall P., and Kearns Z., (1995). The link between environmental attitudes
and behaviour. Marketing bulletin, 6, 22-31.
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Maji and Sengupta
Howe R.W., and Disinger J.F., (1988). Teaching Environmental Education Using Out-
of-School Settings and Mass Media. West view press: Columbus, OH.
Hunter L.M., Hatch A., and Ohnson A.J., (2004). Cross-national gender variation in
environmental behaviors. Social Science Quarterly, 85, 677–694.
Kusapo A., and Turan F., (2008). Attitude-behaviour relationship in environmental
education: a case study from turkey. International Journal of Environmental
Studies, 65 (2), 219–23.
Lahiri S., (2010). Assessing the environmental attitude among pupil teachers in relation
to responsible environmental behaviour: a leap towards sustainable development.
Journal of Social Sciences, 7 (1), 36-44.
Maleki A., and Karimzadeh S., (2011). A survey of relationship between the
environmental attitudes and environmental knowledge and energy consumption
behavior among citizens of Urmia, west Azerbaijan, Iran. International Journal
of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 3(1), 1309-8063.
Mishra S., (2012). Environmental Awareness among Senior Secondary Students of
Maheshwar and Mandleshwar, Dist.-Khargone (M.P.). International Journal of
Scientific and Research Publications, 2(11).
Newhouse N., (1991). Implications of attitude and behavior research for environmental
conservation. The Journal of Environmental Education, 22(1), 26–32.
Rajecki D.W., (1982). Attitudes : Themes and Advances. Sinauer: Sunderland, MA.
Saxena P., and Srivastava P., (2012). Environmental awareness of senior secondary
students in relation to their eco-friendly behaviour. Research Scapes, V-I (ii).
Scott D., and Willits F.K., (1994). Environmental attitudes and behavior—a pennsylvania
survey. Environment and Behaviour, 26, 239–260.
Stern P.C., (2000). Towards a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behaviour.
Journal of Social Issues, 56 (3), 407-424.
Stern P.C., Dietz T., and Kalof L., (1993). Value orientations, gender, and environmental
concern. Environment and Behaviour, 25, 322–348.
UNESCO-UNEP. (1977). Tbilisi declaration. retrieved April, 2008 from http://unesdoc.
unesco.org/images/0003/000327/032763eo.pdf
27
Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the

Under Graduate College on the Use of ICT: A Case Study
Rekha Nariwal*
Abstract
Technology awareness, motivation and changing learners’ and teachers’ behavior
are prerequisites for successful implementation of e-learning programs. For the
past three decades ICT has changed many aspects of our life but when one looks
at education there seems to have been an uncanny lack of influence and far less
change than other fields have experienced. Awareness goes along with attitude
and ‘positive attitude towards ICTs is widely recognized as a necessary condition
for effective implementation. Present study focuses on awareness and attitude
of students and teachers of the under graduate college on the use of ICT. 105
undergraduate girl students of the Humanities discipline and 21 teachers were
randomly selected for the study. Teacher Educators Attitude towards ICT scale
and Rating scale were used as tools. Percentage, Mean, S.D. and t- value were
calculated. Qualitative analysis was also done.
Key Words: Information and Communication Technology, Awareness, Students’,
Attitude, Teachers’, College, Developing Country, Kolkata
Introduction
Globalization and technological change—processes that have accelerated over
the last twenty years have created a new global economy powered by technology
fuelled by information and driven by knowledge. The emergence of a new global
economy has serious implications on the nature and purpose of educational
institutions. As the half-life of information continues to shrink and access to
information continues to grow exponentially, schools and formal institutions of
education cannot just remain venues for transmission of a prescribed set of
information from the teachers to the students over a fixed period of time. Rather
schools must promote learning to learn, ie, the acquisition of knowledge and
skills that make possible continuous learning over the lifetime. The illiterate of
the 21st century according to futurist Alvin Toffler, will not be those who cannot
* Assistant Professor, Dept. of Education, Bhawanipur Education Society College,
5, Elgin Road, Kolkata – 700 020, West Bengal
E-Mail : rekhanariwal4@gmail.com
Nariwal
read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn. Concerns over
educational relevance and quality therefore coexist with the imperative of
expanding educational opportunities to those made most vulnerable by
globalization–developing countries in general, low-income groups, girls and
women, and low-skilled workers in particular. Global changes have constantly
put pressure on all groups to constantly acquire and apply new skills and teachers
or teacher education as a whole needs urgent and comprehensive reforms .The
International Labour Organization defines the requirements for education and
training in the new global economy simply as ‘Basic Education for All’, ‘Core
Work Skills For All,’ ‘Life Long Learning For All’. Information and
communication technology does not merely mean having radio, T.V and newer
digital technologies such as computer and internet as powerful enabling tools
for educational change and reforms but appropriately using them to expand
access in education, strengthening the relevance of education to the increasingly
digital workplace and raising educational quality by and among others and
making teaching–learning an engaging active process connected to life. However
the experience of introducing different ICTs in the classroom and other
educational settings all over the world over the past several decades suggests
that the full realization of the potential educational benefits of ICTs is not
automatic. The effective integration of ICTs into the educational system is a
complex, multifaceted process that not only involves technology, indeed given
enough initial capital, getting the technology is the easiest part! but curriculum
and pedagogy, institutional readiness and teacher competencies above all
needs a greater convergence between professional preparation and continuing
professional development for all stages of education in terms of level, duration
and structure.(NCFTE2009). Education as an area of interdisciplinary knowledge
is not merely an application of a few core disciplines but a praxis and a context
where theories and practical wisdom are generated continuously. This primarily
is intended to help policy makers in developing countries define a framework
for the nation in consonance with the technological advancement. The rapid
advances recently made in ICT particularly in internet has very important
implication .Use of internet has increased rapidly from an estimated 3 million in
1990 to approximately 137 million in June, 2012 (Market Research firm IMRB
and the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI)
Internet has therefore undoubtedly emerged as a powerful and effective tool
facilitating the teaching process. It has become a useful resource for information,
database along with user interaction and participation. It has complemented the
traditional libraries and has shared the burden of students facilitating learning
through e-journal thus helping universities with battling the inflation in the
29
printing material cost. No doubt during the second half of twentieth century
as a result of knowledge explosion it has opened more avenues and opportunities
to help learners find jobs, scholarships and educational opportunities for further
higher studies.
Not alone for the college, the internet has proved its benefits in schools
by enhancing and facilitating learning. Even a single computer in the classroom
can bring about effective results has been proved in the study of Scaplen (1999).
Today it is an integral part of schools, colleges and universities. It has facilitated
information collection and storage. It has catered to different students and their
personalized needs. It has also catered to the needs of the differently able
students thus facilitating learning and accommodation in various learning styles.
As we begin the 21st century it is almost impossible to imagine how ICT will be
like by the end of the century. The advances in this field are already visible
but in a developing country like India there is a long way to go. The Chinese
proverb says—Tell me and I forget—Show me and I remember, Involve me
and I understand is very apt in the present times of unprecedented change. The
potential role of ICT may play an important role in revitalizing teaching to
meet the growing aspiration of today’s world. Teaching therefore is becoming
one of the most challenging professions in our society where knowledge is
expanding rapidly and much of it is available to students as well as teachers at
the same time (Perraton, Robinson and Cree, 2001) As new concepts of learning
have evolved, teachers are expected to facilitate learning and make it more
meaningful to individual learners rather than just to provide knowledge and
skills. Recent developments of innovative technologies have provided new
possibilities to the teaching profession but at the same time has placed more
demands on teachers, to learn how to use these technologies in their teaching
(Robinson and Latchem, 2003) Globally too, educational systems are under
pressure to adopt innovative technologies and to integrate new information and
communication technologies in the teaching learning process to prepare students
with the knowledge and skills they need in the 21st century. Apparently teaching
profession is evolving from an emphasis on teacher centered, lecture based
instruction to student centered interactive learning environment. Today New
Information and Communication Technology (NICTs) is integrating the usage
of technology seamlessly for educational processes like transacting curricular
content, support based learning, research, evaluation, development of instru-
ctional materials international collaboration, networking in educational and
professional development in developed countries. Video conferencing through
multimedia delivery to websites is also being used to help the teachers meet
the challenges they face today. In a developing country like India the educational
30
Nariwal
system therefore needs to come in real terms with these new challenges and take
full advantage of these opportunities. If educational institutions have to ensure
that their students leave the institutions as confident individuals capable of using
new technology creatively and productively then their teachers should have the
competence to integrate emerging technologies and digital content in all their
operations. There is a profound gap between knowledge and skills students
acquire in school and colleges and those required in the ever changing today’s
world of technology. The technology that has become so pervasive in our daily
lives is still outside the comfort zone of our educational environment. The
teachers are therefore facing immense challenges to overcome traditional ways
and change pedagogical practices in the ways that reflect the changing social,
political and economic landscape in which 21st century students learn. Therefore
the educational system must understand and embrace the 21st century skills
within the context of rigorous academic challenges.
The success of any program in education depends solely upon the awareness
of the students’ and support and positive attitude of its teachers’. Teachers are
the steering engineers and therefore if they perceive that the introduction of
technology will do no good to their students introducing technology with the
best of infrastructure will be futile. Among the other factors that affect successful
use of computers in the class room are teacher attitude towards computers
(Huang and Liaw 2005) Attitude in turn constitutes various dimensions. Some
examples of those perceived usefulness, computer confidence (Rovia and
Childress, 2002) training (Tsitouridou and Vryzas, 2003) gender (Sadik, 2006)
knowledge about computers (Yuen, Law and Chan, 1999), anxiety, confidence
and liking (Yildirim, 2000)
In support of the importance of teachers attitude towards computer use Zhao,
Tan and Mishra (2001) provided evidence to suggest that the attitudes of teachers
are directly related to computer use in the classroom. For example, teachers often
view the computer as a tool to accomplish housekeeping tasks, manage their
students more efficiently, and to communicate with parents more easily. The
success of student learning with computer technology will depend largely on the
attitude of teachers and their willingness to embrace the technology (Teo, 2006)
Gaining an appreciation of the teachers’ attitude towards computer use may
provide useful insights into technology integration and acceptance and usage of
technology in teaching and learning. In many developed countries nearly all
schools and higher educational institutions are equipped with infrastructure to
conduct ICT mediated teaching and learning. Positive teacher attitude is
therefore crucial if computers are to be effectively integrated into the school and
31
higher educational institutions. A major reason for studying teachers’ attitude

is that it is a major predictor for future computer use in the class room. (Myers
and Halpin 2002).
Information and Communication technology (ICT) is indispensable and has
been accepted as part of the contemporary world especially in the industrialized
society. In fact, cultures and societies have adjusted to meet the challenges of
the knowledge age. The pervasiveness of ICT has brought about rapid change
in technology, social, political, global and economic transformation. However,
the field of education has not been unaffected by the penetrating influence of
information and communication technology. Unquestionably ICT has impacted
on the quality and quantity of teaching, learning and research in teacher
education in developed countries. Undoubtedly, ICT provides opportunities for
students, teachers, academic and non academic staff to communicate with one
another effectively during formal and informal teaching and learning (Yusuf
2005 b, pp. 316-321) In the same vein teachers need training not only in computer
literary but also in the application of various kinds of educational software in
teaching and learning (Ololube, 2006) Furthermore, they need to learn how to
integrate ICTs into their classroom activities and school and college structures.
The quality of teachers is known in virtually all countries to be a key predictor
of student learning (Ololube 2005a; 2005b). Therefore teacher training is crucial
using ICTs because ICTs are tools that on the one hand can facilitate teacher
training and on the other hand help them to take full advantage of the potential
of technology to enhance student learning (UNESCO, 2003). Correspondingly,
ICTs have introduced a new era in traditional methods of teaching and offering
new teaching and learning experiences to both teachers and students.
The purpose of this paper is to address the issues of awareness of students
and attitudes of their teachers’ with regard to use of ICT in an under graduate
college in Kolkata. The key assertion of this paper is that technology based
learning should be provided to the teachers so that synergistic results will benefit
the teachers in course of their transaction. Accordingly there is a need to design
better teacher education programs—pre-service, in-service, refresher and
orientation courses for unanticipated and unintended results that may confront
them in the classroom. The curriculum according to the researcher should be
absolutely built not only on the theoretical structure without the integration of
ICT but amalgamating the two intensely. There is a myth between our curriculum
and the expectations out of it. Accepting the fact that ICT is an integral part
of teaching the study has proposed to examine the awareness of the college
students and the attitude of their teachers respectively.
32
Nariwal
Objectives
1. To study the awareness of the students’ of the first year undergraduate
female students towards the use of ICT
2. To study the attitude of the college teachers’ towards the use of ICT.
Sample
The present sample comprised of 105 undergraduate girl students and 21
teachers of the Humanities in an undergraduate college in Kolkata.
Tools Used
1. The study made use of two standardized tools (I) Rating scale developed
by Magre and Sandhya Milind Khedekar of the University of Mumbai was
employed to assess the awareness of first year undergraduate female
students on the four dimensions of awareness which comprised of 48 items
under 4 sub scales namely awareness about computer, awareness about
internet, broadcasting technology and over all awareness of ICT. This scale
was modified to suit this particular study. Community and income level
were added in this tool.
2. For assessing the attitude of college teachers on the use of ICT the
researcher used another research instrument namely ‘Teacher Educators
Attitude’ towards ICT scale developed by Sharma 2010 was employed.
This scale comprised of 40 items under six sub scales : Curiosity to
use potential of technology, Comparative use of technology, role in
improvement, innovativeness and overall attitude. There were 48 and 40
items respectively in both the scales. The items for both the standardized
scales were scored as strongly agree = 5, Agree = 4, Not sure or Neutral =
3, Disagree=2 and strongly disagree=1.The overall scores yields students
and teachers awareness and attitude towards the use of ICT respectively.
Procedure
The girl students belonging to the first year undergraduate level of the
humanities discipline and 21 teachers of the same department were studied by
the researcher. The standardized tools for both the students and teachers were
distributed among the respondents’ who were present on that particular day.
The researcher tried to maintain objectivity as far as possible. The statistical
measures used in the study are mean, Standard Deviation, t-test and percentage.
The total scores of the items are 176.
33
Results and Discussion
Table 1 : Community Wise Difference in Awareness of Students towards ICT

Category No. of Students Percentage
Hindus 40 38.09
Muslims 16 15.23
Christians 42 40
Jain 03 2.85
Sikhs 01 0.95
Others 03 2.85
Total 105 100
The result showed that community wise mean and S.D. for Hindus was 102.09
and 6.50) for Muslims it was 98.31 & 4.55 for Christian it was 111.64 & 5.43
& for others (101.57 & 3.20)
The t value of Hindus and Christians was 9.82 (two tailed) and 4.91 (one
tailed) which is significant at 0.05 level. The t-value of Muslims & Christians
was 8.90 (two tailed) & 4.45 (one tailed which is significant at 0.05 level. Mean
was higher for Christians than the other communities namely Hindus, Muslim
and others and t-value (4.12) was significant at 0.05 level. So it may be
concluded that Christians may have scored higher on a few dimensions of ICT
assessed on awareness through the rating scales than all other communities.
The researcher feels the Christian students’ command over English could have
been the contributory factor towards better awareness and understanding of
computer and its better usage. Linguistic barriers therefore need to be addressed
while teaching computers.
Table 2 : Income Level and Difference in Awareness of Students
towards Use of ICT
Category No. of Percentage
Students
No response 1 0.95
30,000 Earning Per Month Middle income group 49 46.66
60,000 Earning Per Month Upper Middle 38 36.19
income group
Above 60,000 Higher income group 17 16.19
Earning Per Month
Total 105 100
34
Nariwal
Mean and S.D score for middle socioeconomic status (MSES) was 116.89 and
7.77, upper socio-economics status (USES) was 108.78 and 7.67 and higher
socio-economic status (HSES) was 107.64 and 5.60.
The t-test value between MSES and UMSES was 5.76 * and between MSES
& HSES was 5.36* both significant at 0.05 and 0.01 level. The t value for
UMSES and HSES was 0.53 which was insignificant at 0.05 levels. The research
finding shows that awareness towards ICT is seen more among students
belonging to the MSES category. The reason could be students belonging to this
category may belong to a service background family and therefore they try and
abreast themselves with the ever changing technology so that they can face
competition and challenges ahead in life. It has been a tradition that the middle
SES category of students have to seek employment and only then can they earn
their living. They can’t dare to ignore the changing world and its pressing
demands. This is an interesting finding.
Awareness about Computer

X 80% students have knowledge about computers.
X 45% have difficulty in using computer for the purpose of study since
‘Computer’ is a separate and optional subject. Hence students of
Humanities discipline do not have it as a core subject. Hence difficulty in
using it as an educational tool.
X 100% students do not know difficult programmes in computer.
X 48.5% students know word processing and use of computer to make power
point presentation. Formal training has not been imparted to them in school
but they learnt it through trial and error method since it is the requirement
of the day. In a developing country like India computer science is a separate
subject and only science students, teachers and policy makers believe
should have knowledge about it.
X It is alarming that 100% students use the computers to play games.
X 100% strongly agreed saying that computers should be used to teach a
subject as it will an enable them to learn a difficult subject more easily.
All students felt subjects should be integrated. They are all aware that
computer increases their knowledge, helps them academically and improves
their interpersonal skills.
Awareness about Internet

X 95.8% students are aware of the immense potential of internet. The students
use the internet for web-surfing, E-mailing, for accessing information and
educational materials.
35
X 29.5 % students use the internet for making presentation if the teacher
assigns a particular task to them.
X 100% students use the internet to download music or a movie.
X 98.5% students strongly disagreed using the internet to access an
educational software.
X 99% students disagreed on the teachers giving assignments and quizzes
online and were not even aware of any on-line course in education. Students
use the internet to be connected to friends on face book, chatting etc.
X 97.5 students are aware that there is a method of video conferencing but
they have never experienced this form of virtual exposure.
It can be therefore concluded that the students are aware of the use of
internet but since internet is still a costly affair in India they feel accessing
the net for long hours to search information would be secondary and their
primary interest was to be connected to friends. The college in which the
students are studying has a website where administrative and academic
matters are uploaded to give them information.
Awareness about Broadcasting Technology : Radios and Television

1. 100% students were aware about the broadcasting technology (radio and
television). They know this technology helps in transmitting, accessing and
understanding information but they are not aware of its potential as an
educational tool.
2. 100% students know that programs on education are broadcast but they
never watch or listen to it. Radio and television for the students is an
entertainment tool rather than an educational tool.
Awareness about ICT (Overall)

1. 92 % students strongly agreed that the use of ICT has changed their role
as students. It has opened their gates to a vast sea of knowledge,
Undoubtedly 100% students agreed that use of ICT helps them learn better
and has a positive impact but since its usage is limited as teachers still use
the chalk and the talk method nothing has really changed. Teachers
appreciate the use of ICT for studies, just to surf information but a new
beginning has to be made when computer technology will be integrated in
teaching. There are great challenges ahead and to fulfill our dreams of
integrating ICT needs a positive attitude not only of our policy makers and
administrators but the teachers at large who are the makers of destiny and
torch bearers of our nation. These finding corroborates the contention of
the earlier study undertaken by (Mehra and Mital, 2007) that for example
36
Nariwal
in India, despite research and testimony that technology is being used by

more faculty, the diffusion of technological innovations for teaching and
learning has not been widespread nor has it become deeply integrated will
curriculum. Low collaborative activities and the significant preference of
print over virtual forms of presentation prove the prevalence of traditional
dynamics of teacher–centered learning where there is one way
communication flowing from teacher to learner and printed materials are
distributed among the students (Allan, 2007, Kundi and Nawaz, 2010) Until
there is a change in attitude of people involved in academics not only with
academia, designers, policy makers, administrators and above all the
teachers who are to actually implement it is the classroom, no
transformation can be really seen with regard to its actual usage. To bring
about change the teacher is really to be taken into confidence. Since
technology by nature is disruptive and demands not only new investments in
terms of time, money and space but changes in the way people think and
do things, acquire new skills and so on (Aaron et al, 2004).
2. There is also great uncertainty among decision makers, managers’
developers, trainers, learners and instructors about their new role as tutors
and facilitators for learning process (Elhers, 2005)
The availability of technology itself will not instigate the aspired goals Cultural
and pedagogic change should occur for the technology to be implemented to its
full effectiveness and achieve the goals it was designed to fulfill (Allan, 2007).
In some cases integrating the traditional “sage on the stage” to also being a
“guide on the side” and student’s role also changes from being passive receivers
of content to being more active participants and partners in the learning
processes (Mehra and Mital 2007; Nawaz and Kundi, 2010c).
Teachers’ Attitude and use of ICT in Education

Table 3 : Mean value of Teachers scores with Respect to Sub-Scales of Attitude
Sub–Scales Number (N) Mean S.D.
Curiosity to use 21 4.06 0.47
Potential of Technology 21 4.07 0.49
Comparative Use of Technology 21 4.07 0.41
Role in Improvement 21 4.16 0.42
Innovativeness 21 4.01 0.33
Overall Attitude 21 4.20 0.49
The above table reveals that since the mean value of the scores lie in between
37
4 and 5 it implies that most of the teachers strongly agree or agree with the
items given in the attitude scale. Overall attitude of the teachers was found to
be positive towards the use of ICT. However 89% teachers felt they need to be
formally trained towards the use of educational software. Not a single teacher
questioned has registered for any online course or were even aware of any such
courses like Khan Academy or COURSERA etc.
Though the college in which the study was conducted was Wi-fi connected
but only 2% of the teachers who were in the administration could access the
internet since the password was not available to all the other teachers. Students
too had a similar fate and 98% teachers accessed the internet from their homes
to send emails (first) followed by chatting (2nd) and www. (3rd). Students and
teachers of the same college responded in a similar way. This finding highly
indicates that teachers need to be trained to use ICT in education like accessing
e-journals inflibnet database search etc.
Conclusion
ICTs have not permeated to a great extent in many higher educational institutions
due to the attitude of its teachers who are not fully equipped to meet the ever-
changing demands of the society. Integrating technology in India in higher
educational institutions is still a big challenge the teachers are facing today and
especially teachers of the Humanities discipline. The curriculum has not changed
to a large extent in terms of greater information access, greater communication,
synchronous learning, increased co-operation and collaboration, pedagogical
improvement through simulation, virtual experiences integration of different
subjects, graphic representation etc. Teachers therefore require special training
to integrate computers in their respective disciplines. Developing countries are
immensely facing these challenges in spite of the governments’ initiative to fund
for infrastructure. Challenges of integrating these technologies can only make
a break–through when teachers’ attitude towards its usage is positively and
equitably distributed. During the last couple of years since 1990 the university
libraries and other institutional libraries are coming under the impact of
Information technology, since last two decades several initiatives lave been
taken by the Government of India for computerization and networking of Indian
libraries. (Sinha and Satish, 2000). ICT should be identified as a game charger
that can significantly strengthen India’s higher educational system and propel the
country to become a “Knowledge Power.” For effective implementation there
is a need to overcome linguistic barriers as well so that teachers and students can
equally master English since knowledge of English is essential to master
computers. Out of 368 million literate rural Indians only 17 % can speak English.
38
Nariwal
A survey of accredited colleges by UGC in 2008 revealed glaring IT

infrastructure short comings. The average number of computers per college was
only 6. Teachers, the researcher believes should assume a leadership role in
transformation of education or be left behind in the swirl of rapid technological
changes. Positive attitude no doubt is important for readiness but utilizing the
computer in the right perspective is equally important. A new calibre of teachers
with professional ability to handle the computer and its immense potential as an
educational tool is to be inducted into the system and only then can they help
their students do the same. This research endeavour might have made a
considerable stride in terms of awareness of students with regard to their
community and income level but further studies may be taken up to probe more
parameters in terms of gender, age and types of institutions on the basis of
medium of instruction etc. Further research may be undertaken to probe some
of the parameters with a larger sample size as well.
References
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40
Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students

of Distance Education and Regular Course
Anwesha Acharya1, Md. Kutub Uddin Halder2 and Nimai Chand Maiti3
Abstract
The research was conducted to compare the socio-economic background of the
students of distance education and regular course. Stratified random sampling
technique was adopted. 250 M.A. students in History, Political Science and
Education subjects of which, 163 in distance mode and 87 in regular mode
students were taken as sample. Socio-Economic Background Schedule framed in
consultation with the Kuppuswammy standardized Socio-Economic Scale, is used
as tool. For quantitative analysis of data, percentage, Mean. Standard Deviation,
Chi-square and t-test were applied and qualitative analysis was done. The study
found that the number of married and aged students in distance mode particularly
in Indira Gandhi National Open University was greater than the regular mode.
The minority communities and female students were more in number in distance
education mode than regular mode. In both the modes, distance and regular about
80 per cent students belonged in nuclear family. There was significantly better
in socio-economic background particularly occupation and income level of the
families of students in distance mode than that of regular mode. But in the case
of educational background of students there was no difference in distance and
regular mode.
Key Words: Distance Education, Uni-Mode University, Dual-Mode University,
Socio-Economic Background
Introduction
Distance learning is an idea or approach to education which has experienced
an explosive growth in the last few years. Distance education is an educational
mode supplementary, complementary and alternative to conventional/traditional
1. Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Education, University of Calcutta and Assistant

Professor, Department of Education, Bijoy Krishna Girls College, Howrah
2. Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta.
E-mail : md.khedu@rediffmail.com
E-mail : nimaichandmaiti@gmail.com
system of education, depending on the situation it is practiced. The term

distance education means the type of education that is liable to be organized and
imparted keeping cognition of the distance factor. Who imparts such education
and who receives it, both are separated by a common factor known as distance.
Distance education institution in any country are established with the main
objective to democratize education as a resource and provide every citizen,
irrespective of sex, caste and creed, easy and affordable access to quality
education. Present day distance learning is based on ideology of creating human
capital. It has moved to another level all together with objective of creating
substantial work force that can aid in raising the economy of a country to newer
heights.
In India, distance education is providing through open universities and dual–
mode universities i.e. universities which offer both on and off campus education.
The universities which offer only on or off campus education are known as
uni-mode universities.
Today distance education has evolved into an independent system of
education in our country. Recently, a large number of students have been entering
in higher education through open education system in different universities. In
a survey conducted by All India Survey on Higher Education 201-12, reveals
that Distance enrolment constitutes 12.5% of the total enrolment in higher
education. At Post Graduate level there were 1303864 students. Among them
772328 were male and 531536 were female. Enrolment in distance education
has grown at an annual rate of 11% in the last three decades. (Twelfth Five Year
Plan-2012-17). Naturally some questions arise in our mind that do the different
universities perfectly satisfy the objectives of distance education through open
and distance mode? Is there any difference in the student’s background of
distance and regular course among the universities? For obtaining answer, it is
needed to study the socio economic background of the students of distance and
regular course which has been done in this study. The main objective of the study
is to find out the socio-economic background of the students of distance and
regular courses including their demographic features, gender, marital status, age,
communities, family pattern and family size.
Hypotheses
1. There is no difference in educational level of the family of the students
of distance and regular mode.
2. There is no difference in occupational level of the family of the students
42
Acharya, Halder and Maiti
3. There is no difference in monthly income of the family of the students

4. There is no difference in regard to socio-economic background of students
studying in regular or in distance mode of learning.
Method
It is survey type descriptive study.
Population
Students of different courses of arts faculty of distance education at the post-
graduate level in the Rabindra Bharati University (RBU), Vidyasagar University
(VU), Netaji Subhas Open University (NSOU) and Indira Gandhi National Open
University (IGNOU) are considered as population for the study.
Sample
Stratified random sampling technique was adopted. (a) The Rabindra Bharati
University and Vidyasagar University and (b) Netaji Subhash Open University
and Indira Gandhi National Open University were selected as dual mode and
uni-mode universities respectively. 250 students were chosen of which 163 were
in distance mode and 87 in regular mode.
Tool
Socio-Economic Background Schedule
It was framed by the investigators in consultation with the Kuppuswammy
standardized Socio-Economic Scale. It was finalized on the basis of the result
of pilot study and opinion of the experts.
Findings of the Study

Both qualitative and quantitative analysis was done. For variables yielding
quantitative results, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-value and chi-square
value were calculated.
Demographic features
To study the demographic features, gender, marital status, age, communities,
family pattern and family size of 250 distance and regular mode students were
measured.
43
Table 1 : Gender of the Student of Distance and Regular Modes
Distance Mode Regular Mode Total

Sex Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Female 116 71.17 49 56.32 165 66
Male 47 28.83 38 43.68 85 34
Total 163 100 87 100 250 100
It is observed from the table 1 that out of 163 students in distance mode, 116
were female (71.17%) and 47 (28.83%) were male. In regular course data were
collected from 87 students. Among them 49 (56.32%) was female and 38
(43.68%) was male students. It was also observed during visiting in different
universities that the number of girl students both in distance and regular mode
was greater in the faculty of arts in every university. The data collected about
enrolment from different universities also support this fact.
Table 2 : Marital Status of the Students of Distance and Regular Modes

Distance Mode Regular Mode
Sex Number Percentage Number Percentage
Female Married 17 14.66 2 4.08
Unmarried 99 85.44 47 95.9
Total 116 100 49 100
Male Married 5 10.63 0 0
Unmarried 42 89.36 38 100
Total 47 100 38 100
Total Married 22 13.50 2 2.30
Unmarried 141 86.50 85 97.70
Total 163 100 87 100
The table 2 shows that the number of married students was greater in distance
mode (13.50%) than that of the regular mode (2.30%). The number of married
female students (14.66%) of distance education was more than the number of
male student (10.63%). Age group of the students of distance and regular mode
classified in the different universities is shown in Table 3 and age group of
the students of distance and regular mode in all universities is presented in
Table 4.
44
Table 3 : Age of the Students of Distance and Regular

Modes Classified in the Difference Universities
Indrira Netaji Rabindra Bharati Vidyasagar
Gandhi Subhas University University
Age National Open Distance Regular Distance Regular Total
Group Open University Mode Mode Mode Mode
(Years) University
20-23 4 12 30 36 31 48 161
(21.05) (41.38) (48.39) (36) (58.49) (94.12) (64.4)
24-26 2 4 27 0 11 3 47
(10.53) (13.79) (43.55) 0 (20.75) (5.88) (18.8)
27-29 5 7 4 0 6 0 22
(26.32) (24.14) (6.45) 0 (11.32) 0 (8.8)
30-32 1 4 0 0 2 0 7
(5.26) (13.79) 0 0 (3.77) 0 (2.8)
33-35 3 0 0 0 2 0 5
(15.79) (0) 0 0 (3.77) 0 (2)
Above 4 2 1 0 1 0 8
35 (21.05) (6.90) (1.61) 0 (1.89) 0 (3.2)
Total 19 29 62 36 53 51 250
(100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100) (100)
Percentages are given in brackets

Table 4 : Age of the Students of Distance and
Regular Modes in All Universities
Age group Distance Regular
(Years) Mode Percentage Mode Percentage
20-23 77 47.24 84 96.55
24-26 44 26.99 3 3.45
27-29 22 13.50 0 0.00
30-32 7 4.29 0 0.00
33- 35 5 3.07 0 0.00
above 35 8 4.91 0 0.00
Total 163 100.00 87 100.00
45
From the table 3 it was found that in regular course most of the students
belonged to 20-23 age groups (RBU-100% and VU-94.12%). But in distance
mode, a section of students belonged to above 24 years of age group (Table 4).
Even in the case of Indrira Gandhi National Open University, out of 19 students,
04 (21.05%) belonged to above 35 years of age group (Table 3). So it may be
said that in the regular course the age groups were more homogenous than
distance mode. It was expected for distance education. Mean and S.D of age
(years) of the students in Indira Gandhi National Open University, Netaji Subhas
Open University, Rabindra Bharati University and Vidyasagar University are
presented in Table 5 and t-value for the comparison of age of the students of
distance and regular modes is given in Table 6.
Table 5 : Mean and S.D of Age (Years) of the Student Classified

in the Difference Universities
Indrira Netaji Rabindra Bharati Vidyasagar

Gandhi Subhas University University
Gender Stati- National Open Distance Regular Distance Regular Total
stics Open University Mode Mode Mode Mode
University
Female N 16 21 41 27 38 22 165
Mean 30.88 25.14 23.93 21.81 22.97 21.50 23.87
S.D 10.86 4.13 2.94 0.83 1.92 0.51 4.75
Male N 3 8 21 9 15 29 85
Mean 33.33 28.63 23.81 21.67 27.67 22.41 24.58
S.D 0.58 6.14 1.54 0.71 4.84 1.12 4.09
Table 6 : t-value of Age of the Students of Distance and

Regular Modes
Mode of Education N Mean (Years) S.D. (Years) t-Value
Distance Mode 163 25.28 5.23 4.95*
Regular Mode 87 21.92 0.93
It is observed from the table 6 that t-value (4.95) for the comparison of age of the
students of distance and regular mode is significant at 0.05 level. So, it may be
said that comparatively aged students were continuing their education through
distance mode.
46
Table 7 : Communities of the Student of Distance and Regular Modes

Communities Distance Perce- Regular Perce- Total Perce-
Mode ntage Mode ntage ntage
General Hindu 101 61.96 57 65.52 158 63.2
Scheduled Caste and Tribes 27 16.56 19 21.84 46 18.4
Minorities including OBC 27 16.56 3 3.45 24 9.6
O B C excluding Minority 8 4.90 8 9.20 22 8.8
Total 163 100 87 100 250 100
From table 7 it is observed that the percentage of general Hindu in both regular
and distance mode is greater than other community. The percentage of minority
is greater in distance mode than regular mode. Family pattern and family size
of the students of distance and regular mode are presented in Table 8 and Table
9 respectively.
Table 8 : Family pattern of the Students of Distance and Regular Modes
Family pattern Distance Mode Regular Mode Total
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Nuclear 129 79.14 71 81.61 200 80
Joint 29 17.79 12 13.79 41 16.4
Extended 4 2.45 4 4.60 8 3.2
Monk 1 0.61 0 0.00 1 0.4
Total 163 100 87 100 250 100
Table 9 : Family Size of the Students of Distance and Regular Modes
Number of Distance Mode Regular Mode Total
family member Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
2 7 4.3 4 4.6 11 4.4
3 41 25.2 24 27.6 65 26
4 60 36.8 33 37.9 93 37.2
5 33 20.2 12 13.8 45 18
6 16 9.8 6 6.9 22 8.8
7 4 2.5 4 4.6 8 3.2
8 2 1.2 1 1.1 3 1.2
9 0 0 1 1.1 1 0.4
10 0 0 2 2.3 2 0.8
Total 163 100 87 100 250 100
47
From the table 8 it is observed that the number of nuclear family is greater
in both distance and regular mode. The table 9 refers that majority of the family
are consisted of four members both in distance and regular mode.
Table 10 : Mean and S.D. of the Family Size of the Students of
Distance and Regular Modes
Distance Mode Regular Mode Total
N 163 87 250
Mean 4.18 4.29 4.22
S.D. 1.19 1.59 1.34
From the Table 10 it may be said that there is no difference in the family size of
the student of distance and regular mode.
Table 11 : Physically Challenged Students of Distance and Regular Modes

Mode of Education Normal Physically Challenged Total
Distance Mode 163 0 163
Regular Mode 86 1 87
Total 249 1 250
From the table 11 it is found that only one student in regular mode of the
collected sample is Physically Challenged.
Income, Education and Occupation
To assess the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students, their family’s income,
education and occupation were measured and according to the basis of these
it is classified into three groups. The socioeconomic status of students in
distance and regular modes is shown in Table 15.
For ranking of education, occupation and economic level, Kuppuswammy
scale was adopted and the data of 246 students were analyzed, as 4 students out
of 250 undertaken as sample provided incomplete data. Education level of the
families of the students of regular and distance modes is presented in Table 12.
It is observed that in both the cases of distance and regular modes one-third
of students belonged to level 6 category i.e. sound educational backgrounds. For
comparing it between the regular and distance modes chi-square value (3.63)
was calculated which was not significant. So, the hypothesis 1 which states
that there is no difference in the education level of the students of distance
and regular modes is accepted. Occupation and income levels of the families of
the students of regular and distance modes are shown in Table 13 and Table 14
respectively.
48
Table 12 : Education Level of the Families of the Students of

Regular and Distance Modes
Scores for Regular Distance

Education Level Number Percentage Number Percentage
1 1 1.16 0 0
2 3 3.49 4 2.50
3 16 18.60 16 10.00
4 17 19.77 29 18.13
5 22 25.58 47 29.38
6 26 30.23 61 38.13
7 1 1.16 3 1.88
Total 86 100 160 100
Chi-square value 3.63
Table 13 : Occupation levels of the Families of the Students of

Scores for Regular Distance

Occupation level Number Percentage Number Percentage
1 10 11.63 41 25.63
2 28 32.56 22 13.75
3 1 1.16 2 1.25
4 3 3.49 9 5.63
5 37 43.02 76 47.50
6 6 6.98 4 2.50
10 1 1.16 6 3.75
Total 86 100 160 100
Chi-square value 16.43*
From the Table 13 it is observed that the chi-square value (16.43) for comparing
the occupational level between the regular and distance modes is significant. So,
the hypothesis 2 is rejected. Thus it may be said that there is a difference on
the occupational level of the family of distance and regular modes students.
49
Table 14 : Monthly Income of the families of Regular

and Distance Modes
Income Range Scores for Regular Distance
(Amount in Rs) income Number Percentage Number Percentage
below 3000 1 14 16.28 6 3.75
3001- 6000 2 20 23.26 24 15
6001-10000 3 13 15.12 28 17.5
10001-14000 4 5 5.81 17 10.625
14001-18000 6 8 9.30 13 8.125
18001-34000 10 12 13.95 36 22.5
above 34000 12 14 16.28 36 22.5
Total 86 100 160 100
It is found from the study that monthly family income of 40% of students in
regular course were below rupees 6000/-. But in case of distance mode, 18.75%
students belonged in this income category. Again, 30.23% of students in regular
course belonged to top income categories i.e. above rupees 18000/-. On the
other hand 45% students of distance mode belonged to these two top income
categories (Rs 18001 to 34000 and above 34000). For comparison of monthly
income of students’ families, the chi-square value (17.82) is significant. Thus
it may be concluded that there is a difference in the family income of distance
mode students and regular mode students.
Table 15 : Comparison of the SES of the Students between

SES Groups Distance Regular
Low 41 (25.625) 29 (33.72)
Medium 41 (25.625) 29 (33.72)
High 78 (48.75) 28 (32.56)
Percentages are given in the brackets

It was found from the study that in regular mode near about one-third, equal
number, of students belonged to each of the SES group namely Low, Medium
and High. On the other hand in distance mode, about half of total students
50
(48.75%) belonged to High socioeconomic group and other half belonged to

Medium (25. 75%) and Low (25.75%) groups.
The chi-square value (6.12) to compare the socio-economic background of
students between the distance and regular modes is significant. So the null
hypothesis no. 4 is rejected.
Conclusion
From the study conducted by the researcher the following conclusions can be
drawn. There is a difference in socio-economic background of students of regular
courses and distance mode. The income and occupation level of the families of
the students of distance mode is better than that of regular mode. There is no
difference in education levels of the families of distance and regular modes.
While collecting data it is found that individual expenditure of the students in
distance education is more than that of regular course. So it is more affordable
for well to do families than poor families. The objective of distance education
is to provide opportunity to those who have missed the opportunity of taking
advantage of conventional mode of learning, equal educational opportunities for
higher education through distance mode for a large segment of the population
and it should be cost effective. It is cost effective from the part of the universities
as they can cater education to a large number of students at a time, but it is
not cost effective for individual students. Therefore the study recommends that
governmental budgetary allocation should be increased for education through
distance mode so that financial burden on the part of individual students can
be reduced.
References
Arya P.P., (Ed., 2006). Higher Education and Global Challenges, Systems and
Opportunities,. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publication Pvt .Ltd.
Distance Education Bureau, Retrieved from www.ugc.ac.in htm.on 18.02.2014.
Distance education, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Retrieved from https://en. wikipedia.org on 7.2.2012
Garg S.V., and et al. (Ed.) (2006). Four Decades of Distance Education in India
Reflections on Policy and Practice. New Delhi: Viva Book Pvt. Ltd.,
Government of India, All India Survey on Higher Education 2011 12 (provisional).
Ministry Of Human Resource Development Department of Higher Education,
New Delhi. Retrieved from http://mhrd.gov.in on 14.2.2015
Government of India (2012). Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012 to 2017). Retrieved from
www.ey.con/publication/VWLUAssets/Higher_Education_in_India/$File/EY-
FYCC-Higher Education_Report_Nov.12 pdf. on 18.02.2014.
51
Coping Strategies and Educational Aspirations of Higher

Secondary Students
Sibichen K.K.1, and Anisha V. Gopalakrishnan2
Abstract
The current study explores the relationship between proactive stress coping
strategies against stress and educational aspirations of higher secondary school
students. The target population of this study consists of the higher secondary
school students of Kerala. The sample consists of 100 higher secondary students
studying in two schools of Kottayam. Proactive Stress Coping Strategy Scale
and Educational Aspiration Scale developed by Sibichen & Anisha (2013) were
used. The current study suggests that there is a significant relationship between
proactive stress coping strategies and educational aspirations of higher
secondary school students. These findings have important implications for
teaching and student learning.
Key Words: Higher Secondary Education, Stress, Educational Aspiration,
Proactive Coping Strategies
Introduction
Life today is becoming increasingly complex, tension ridden and a great source
of stress. Stress is the sum total of all nonspecific biological phenomena elicited
by adverse eternal influences” (Sudha Gurubabu, 1999). Right from the time
of birth till the last breath drawn, an individual is invariably exposed to various
stressful situations. Stress spares none, not even those who advise how to
prevent it (Shah & Kanwar, 1999). It is an inevitable part of life; it is part of
one’s response to any challenge, any demand or any change. It mobilizes one’s
untapped potentials. It can generate the impetus necessary to convert thought
into action and can motivate an individual to accept a challenge. Thus stress
not only aids man’s continued survival but also facilitates his growth. Stress
helps in converting a “passive existence” into an “active business” of living
1. Assistant Professor in Education, St. Joseph’s Training College

Mannanam P.O., Kottayam, Kerala-686 561, Email : frsibykk@gmail.com
2. Assistant Professor in Education, St. Joseph’s Training College
Mannanam P.O., Kottayam, Kerala-686 561. Email : aneeshagn@gmail.com
Sibichen, and Gopalakrishnan
by shaping one’s life-styles, setting the tempo and determining the rhythm at
which one lives. But stress is not the result of any individual factor. Rather
it is the outcome of environmental factors like economic or technological
uncertainty, mainly due to overpopulation that leads to competition for scant
opportunities. In this process, one feels psychologically disturbed, emotionally
drained and physically strapped out. One may even sweat heavily without being
subjected to any physical exertion under stress (Shah & Kanwar, 1999). The
consequences of these causes can show its direct or indirect impact on
physiological symptoms and organizational factors, the consequences of which
may give rise to psychological symptoms like sleep disturbances, depression
and the individual factors leading to stressful situations for all. The present
study therefore was planned to study the levels of adolescents’ coping strategies.
Proactive Coping
According to Schwarzer’s proactive coping theory (Schwarzer, 2000; Schwarzer
& Taubert, 2002), an emphasis on the time perspective distinguishes reactive,
preventive, and proactive coping. Proactive coping is defined as efforts to strive
actively to seek new challenges, create new opportunities, and facilitate
promotion toward challenging goals so that they will be less negative (Schwarzer,
2000). Proactive coping is based on challenge appraisal while preventive coping
is based on threat appraisal (Schwarzer & Taubert, 2002). In proactive coping,
individuals take more constructive and purposeful actions (Greenglass,
Schwarzer, & Taubert, 1999), while in preventive coping, individuals employ
more defensive and general strategies (saving resources for future needs). In
short, proactive coping is “goal management” and preventive coping is “risk
management” (Schwarzer & Taubert, 2002).
Theoretical inferences and empirical studies have demonstrated the positive
impact of proactive coping on individual adjustment. Moreover, much research
has reviewed the common areas of proactive coping (e.g., Greenglass, 2002).
However, the relative importance of proactive coping and the mechanism of
functioning has not been carefully delineated by the extant literature.
Educational Aspiration
Education is a human enterprise. It is a process and kind of activity in relation
to human beings. It is a continuous effort to develop all capacities of the students
to control their neighbouring environment and to fulfil their needs. Though
education is a part of human life, it cannot help the pursuers unless they have
the required amount of educational aspirations. The concept of level of
aspiration was first introduced by Hoppe (1930) while making a reference to
the degree of difficulty of the goal towards which a person is striving. Every
53
student has educational aspirations. It is a decision which the individual makes

about what he wants to become in life and what course he wants to study.
Significance of the study
Apart from knowing the proactive stress coping strategies adopted by the
students, the study can help the management, administration and counselling
unit to recommend the appropriate counselling services for the students. This
study will be a source of information for researchers, students and social workers.
Teachers need to know much about and understand the students being taught
in the classroom. Teacher needs to be well versed in different coping strategies
commonly adopted by students. In general, proactive strategies are those
behaviours that a teacher can use in order to lessen the likelihood of a child
demonstrating inappropriate behaviour, and involve altering a situation before
problems escalate (e.g., establishing rules, and praising appropriate behaviour
Safran & Oswald, 2003). Proactive discipline plans can be conceptualised as
being preventive and taking a positive approach to classroom management.
Teachers are likely to use positive responses when students demonstrate
appropriate behaviours (Little et al., 2002). A considerable body of research
points to the value of using proactive approaches such as praise, enhancing the
classroom environment and increasing student learning and on-task behaviour
(Arthur, Gordon, & Butterfield, 2003; Porter, 1996). It has been argued that
consistent use of these techniques will eliminate most problem behaviours, and
maximize student attention to curriculum content and involvement in productive
activities (Wilks 1996).
Operational definitions
Proactive Coping Strategies
Proactive coping is defined as efforts to strive actively to seek new challenges,
create new opportunities, and facilitate promotion toward challenging goals so
that they will be less negative. Proactive coping strategy is a coping strategy that
is multi-dimensional and forward-looking. Proactive coping integrates processes
of personal quality of life management with those of self-regulatory goal
attainment. It consists of efforts to build up general resources that facilitate
promotion of challenging goals and personal growth. Among the different
strategies of proactive coping, investigators use only two strategies namely
proactive goal-oriented and proactive emotion focused stress coping strategies
and skills.
Educational aspiration
It is a concept referring to orientation towards educational goal, spaced in
continuum of difficulty and social prestige and arranged in educational hierarchy
54
Higher Secondary School Students

Higher secondary school students refer to the students studying in the first year
higher secondary (16-17 yrs) from Government /Private schools of Kerala.
Objectives
1. To find out the Proactive stress coping strategies of higher secondary
school students of Kottayam District
2. To find out whether there is any significant difference between male and
female higher secondary school students in their Proactive stress coping
strategies against stress
3. To find out whether there is any significant relationship between proactive
stress coping strategies against stress and Educational aspirations of higher
secondary school students
Hypotheses
1. There is no significant difference between male and female higher
secondary school students in their Proactive stress coping strategies
2. There is no significant relationship between proactive stress coping
strategies and Educational aspirations of higher secondary school students
Method used in the present study

The method adopted in the present study is survey.
Population
The target population of this study consists of the higher secondary school
students of Kerala.
Sample
The study involved randomly selected 11th standard adolescents. It consists of
100 higher secondary students studying in two schools of Kottayam. Among
them 12 are male students and 88 are female students.
Tools used
Proactive Stress Coping Strategy Scale and Educational Aspiration Scale
developed by Sibichen & Anisha (2013) were used.
Proactive Stress Coping Strategy Scale consists of two parts. Part one includes
items related to Proactive goal-oriented stress coping strategies and part two
includes items related to proactive emotion focussed stress coping strategies. The
dimensions identified for Proactive goal-oriented stress coping scale for students
are Individual responsibility, Self belief to face challenges, Persistence, Proactive
Planning, Preventive Coping and Direct Action. The dimensions identified for
55
Proactive emotion focused stress coping scale are Emotional self-regulation,

Readiness to take others’ suggestions and Tendency to rely on others.
The investigator used 5 point scale for the construction of the tool for the
variable Proactive stress coping strategies. It was prepared only after a thorough
review of theories related with coping strategies, related studies, and with the help
of experts. The statements were prepared by the project team. The statements
were edited and finalized in consultation with various experts in the field.
In the present study the investigators used Split-half method to find out the
reliability co-efficient. The reliability co-efficient is found to be 0.78. The final
tool consists of 45 statements. The tool consisted of the following dimensions,
namely individual responsibility, Self belief to face challenges, Persistence,
Proactive Planning, Preventive coping, Direct Action, Emotional self-regulation,
Readiness to take others’ suggestions and Tendency to rely on others.
Statistical techniques used
Arithmetic mean, Standard Deviation,‘t’ test
Data analysis
Table 1 : Proactive Coping Strategies Adopted by Higher Secondary
School Students
Dimensions of Proactive stress Never Sometimes Always

coping strategy No % No % No %
Individual responsibility 11 11 74 74 15 15
Self belief to face challenges 17 17 67 67 16 16
Persistence 15 15 72 72 13 13
Proactive Planning 15 15 71 71 14 14
Preventive coping 9 9 80 80 11 11
Direct Action 12 12 72 72 16 16
Emotional self-regulation 19 19 68 68 13 13
Readiness to take others’ suggestions 12 12 73 73 15 15
Tendency to rely on others 14 14 77 77 9 9
Proactive stress coping strategy 14 14 74 74 12 12
It is inferred from Table 1 that 14% of the higher secondary school students
never used the proactive stress coping strategies, 74% of them have sometimes
used the proactive stress coping strategies and 12% of them have always used
the proactive stress coping strategies.
56
Table 2 : Difference Between Male and Female Higher Secondary

School Students in their Proactive Stress Coping Strategies
Dimensions of Proactive Male Female Calculated Remarks
stress coping strategy Mean SD Mean SD Value ofat 5%
“t” level
Individual responsibility 23.94 2.03 23.01 3.19 1.75 NS
Self belief to face challenges 24.88 3.01 23.88 3.20 1.51 NS
Persistence 23.88 3.01 23.19 3.72 1.03 NS
Proactive Planning 20.34 3.67 17.94 3.95 2.98 S
Preventive coping 24.41 5.50 23.51 5.37 0.76 NS
Direct Action 20.16 3.03 19.19 3.07 1.48 NS
Emotional self-regulation 18.28 4.02 17.74 3.52 0.66 NS
Readiness to take others’
suggestions 21.25 2.19 20.21 3.25 1.89 NS
Tendency to rely on others 23.69 3.15 23.41 3.54 0.39 NS
Proactive stress coping strategy 201.47 19.12 192.38 24.57 2.02 S
Note. At 5% level of significance the table value of ‘t’ is 1.96

It is inferred from the Table 2 that there is no significant difference between male
and female higher secondary school students in their proactive stress coping
strategies such as individual responsibility, self-belief to face the challenges,
persistence, preventive coping, direct action, emotional self-regulation, readiness
to take others suggestions and tendency to relay on others, but there is significant
difference between male and female students in their Proactive Planning and
Proactive stress coping strategy.
Table 3 : Relationship between Proactive Stress Coping Strategies and
Educational Aspirations of Higher Secondary School Students
Proactive Calculated Table Remarks
stress coping ∑x ∑x2 ∑y ∑y2 ∑xy Value Value at 5%
strategy of ‘γ’ of ‘γ’ level
Educational 19529 3868351 21266 4626890 4196522 0.576 0.195 S
aspirations
It is inferred from Table 3 that there is significant relationship between proactive

stress coping strategies and Educational aspirations of higher secondary school
students.
57
Findings
Findings reveal that only 12% of higher secondary school students have always
used the proactive stress coping strategies
1. Findings reveal that there is significant difference between male and female
students in their proactive stress coping strategies
2. Findings reveal that there is significant relationship between proactive
stress coping strategies and educational aspirations of higher secondary
school students
In the present study attention has been focused on coping strategies and the ways
in which they can alleviate stress levels and promote higher quality of life. Coping
strategies play a critical role in an individual‘s physical and psychological well-
being when faced with challenges, negative events and stress. In the past, coping
was seen mainly as reactive, a strategy to be used once stress had been
experienced, more recently coping is being seen as something one can do before
stress occurs. Increasingly, coping is seen as having multiple positive functions.
References
Greenglass E., (2002). Proactive coping. In E. Frydenberg (Ed.), Beyond coping: Meeting
Goals, Vision, and Challenges (pp. 37–62). London: Oxford University Press.
Greenglass E., Fiksenbaum L., & Eaton J., (2006) The relationship between coping, social
support, functional disability and depression in the elderly. Anxiety, Stress and
Coping, 19(1), 15–31.
Greenglass E., Schwarzer R., & Jakubiec D., (1999, July). The Proactive Coping
Inventory (PCI): A Multidimensional Research Instrument. Paper presented at
the 20th International Conference of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society
(STAR), Cracow, Poland.
Safran S., & Oswald K., (2003). Positive behaviour supports: Can schools reshape
disciplinary practices? Council for Exceptional Children, 69, 361–373.
Shah S., & Kanwar K.C., ( 1999). ‘Stress and the Stressed.’ Tribune, Wednesday, Dec.
8 : 12.
Schwarzer R., (2000). Manage stress at work through preventive and proactive coping.
In E.A. Locke (Ed.), The Blackwell Handbook of Principles of Organizational
Behavior (pp. 342–355). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Schwarzer R., & Taubert S., (2002). Tenacious goal pursuits and striving toward personal
growth: Proactive coping. In E. Frydenberg (Ed.), Beyond Coping: Meeting Goals,
Visions and Challenges (pp. 19–35). London: Oxford University Press.
Wilks R., (1996). Classroom management in primary schools : A review of the literature.
Behaviour Change, 13, 20–32.
58
Construction of a Five-Point Likert Type Scale to Measure

the Perception of Teacher Educators about ICT
Arindam Bhattacharyya1, Nimai Chand Maiti2, and
Md. Kutubuddin Halder3
Abstract
Based on the present scenario, it is essential to know and understand the level
of ICT Perception of the present teacher educators. A five-point Likert type scale
was constructed in English language and developed after an extensive review
of related literature. After necessary investigation of relevant literature, the
investigator was set the ‘Dimensions and Sub-Dimensions’ regarding ‘Perception
about ICT’.The number of total dimensions was four, and every dimension had
four sub-dimensions. The initial tool was rated by three reputed educationists
for validation of content. Here thirty two items, including sixteen positive and
sixteen negative items were taken for final selection on the basis of their
judgement. Necessary changes were made as suggested by them. ‘The Inter-rater
Agreement Model for Content Validity’ (Gregory, 2012) was used to see the
reliability of the three raters (i.e. experts). The range of Coefficient of Content
Validity was (0.80 to 0.85). The average Content Validity was 0.825. The
reliability of entire scale of thirty two items was measured by the Cronbach’s
Alpha. The sample for ascertaining the reliability of the above scale was
collected from 280 teacher educators of 50 B.Ed. Colleges or B.Ed. Department
under six different State University of West Bengal. The data were analyzed
through SPSS 19.0 Version and reliability was found to be 0.846.A pilot test was
also made on 45 teacher educators from three universities through the process
of randomisation. On the basis of their responses, a few modifications were made
in the construction of statements. After the entire standardisation process, the
researcher developed a five-point Likert type scale which consisted of thirty two
test items to judge the ‘Perception of teacher educators about ICT.
Key Words: Perception about ICT, Teacher Educators
1. Assistant Professor, Ramkrisna Mission Shikshanamandira, Belur Math, Howrah.

Email : bhatta.arin@gmail.com
Email : nimaichandmaiti@gmail.com
Email : md.khedu@rediffmail.com
Introduction
In 1998, UNESCO World Education Report on teachers and teaching in a
changing world describes the radical implication of new Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) for improving teaching learning process.
Thus, ICT has induced a paradigmatic change in the field of teacher education
program. UNESCO (2002) further reported that, “During the past decade there
has been an exponential growth in the use of ICT which has made pervasive
impact both on society and on our daily lives. ICT has become a principal driver
of economic and social change worldwide. Within education ICT is seen as a
way to promote educational, improve the skill of learners and prepare them for
the global economy and the information society”. So there is a need to proper
integration of ICT in Indian Teacher Education System. It is a challenging task
and demands more of perfection on the part of Indian Government and also
teacher educators. Several attempts on ICT integration in the field of teacher
education system, are found in, ‘The Curriculum Framework for Teacher
Education’ (CFTE-2004), National Curriculum Framework – 2005’ (NCF-
2005), ’National Knowledge Commission – 2006’ (NKC-2006) etc.
Specially, ‘The National Curriculum Framework For Teacher Education
(NCFTE)-2009’ has emphasized, ‘teacher education needs to orient and
sensitize the teacher to distinguish between critically useful, developmentally
appropriate and the detrimental use of ICT. In a way, ICT can be imaginatively
drawn upon for professional development and academic support of the pre-
service and in-service teachers’. Moreover, the National Policy On ICT in
School Education (NPICTSE, 2010), Draft, Last revision: 23 March, 2012,
wants “Teacher educators will be suitably oriented and trained to use ICT in
their pre-service teacher training programmes”. They will also be expected to
enable pre-service teachers to be sensitised to and practice the use of ICT. So,
here lies the responsibility for teacher educators to promote, utilize and
implement ICT in teacher education program in such a way that they can move
from pedagogues to techno pedagogues. Therefore, the present teacher educators
are expected to function as a facilitator for acquisition of knowledge through
ICT. With the fast changing of the World Education Scenario, where the new
technology, ICT has already built a strong bride of communication for
knowledge society. Based on the present scenario, it is essential to analyze the
perception of teacher educators about ICT.
Perception is a complex mental process and it is typically interpreted as a
cognitive process, in contrast to sensation. Holzman (1963) said that “Its
principal function is to carry information from the environment for integration
with other psychological function, such as learning, memory, judgement, and
60
Bhattacharyya, Maiti and Halder
anticipation. ...Through perceiving we get information not only about external

reality but also about the consequences of or actions on that reality”. Thus the
perception is the awareness of this or that objects with their qualities and it
is also the result of previous experience of the individual, through his/her
education, culture and other things.
Various previous studies already mentioned about the teachers, trainee
teachers and student’s knowledge, usage, attitude, awareness, competencies and
perception on ICT. Some of them given here.
Selwyn (1997) developed a five-point Likert type scale with 21 items on
four components, viz. affective, perceived usefulness, perceived control and
behavioural. It was administered to 87 students for formal validation and both
the test-retest reliability and internal reliability coefficient of (0.93) and (0.90)
respectively. Selwyn used an independent criterion measure, ‘computer usage’,
to test concurrent validity of the scale and performed spearman’s rank order
correlation to test the construct validity. Carter and Leeh (2001) designed a
questionnaire to survey teachers’ perception of their change in the use of ICT
within their professional practice. 29 items under eight elements was presented
in the instrument, including ability, values, information, circumstances, timing,
obligations, resistances and yield. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of item
reliability test were from (0.6163 - 0.8294) in Korea and (0.6449 – 0.8389)
in England. The study revealed the different propensity of change in the use
of ICT between two countries in age, career, education, and equipment and
performance group comparisons between two countries. Rathod (2002)
conducted a study on perception of B.Ed. students towards ICT in education.
The study revealed that 53% of the students had internet awareness. Goel et.al.
(2003) were conducted a study on the perception of B.Ed. students towards
the course ICT in education, a compulsory course at B.Ed. level and to study
the development of ICT skills in the learners through ICT in education course.
The study has reported stream wise, medium wise and gender wise significant
differences in the mean achievement scores. Dhodi (2004) conducted a study
on the approaches adopted by the M.Ed. students (future teacher educators)
for information gathering through World Wide Web and its utility for the M.Ed.
programme. The study revealed that there was a felt need of developing ‘Info-
Savvy’ skills, namely asking, accessing, analyzing, applying and assessing in
the M.Ed. students such objectives could be realized by offering ICT literacy
programmes. Figgaiano and Fasano (2004) conducted a project, ‘Teacher’s
perceptions and usage ICT: An issue for Educators’. The study suggested that
an adequate preparation is essential for teachers to cope with technology rich
classrooms and to develop a more suitable and effective awareness of the usage
61
of ICT. Kuo (2005), developed, a five-point Likert type Scale with 32 items,
named ‘The Perceptions of the Wireless Laptop Scale’. Construction of the scale
was based on the conceptual framework, which refers to Rogers’ five attributes
of innovation (1995): relative advantages, compatibility, complexity, trailability,
and observability. Shah (2005) found low degree of ICT awareness, Use and
Need of Secondary and Higher Secondary Teachers of Vadodara city. Dhamaji
and Panda (2006) found that the P.G. students have more favourable attitude
towards the internet. There was no significant difference in the attitude towards
internet among male-female, arts-science-commerce P.G. students. Gay, et.al.
(2006) used a self-administered questionnaire to measure students’ attitudes,
experience and reasons for the use of ICT. The study showed that students were
generally favourable towards ICT. University administrators need to address the
gender and age differences regarding ICT usage. Gulbahar & Guven (2006)
developed a three-point Likert-type scale with 78 items under (5) parts, named
‘ICT Usage Survey’. The overall reliability was (á = 0.84). The results showed
that although teachers were willing to use ICT resources. Zayapragassararazan
and Ramganesh (2007) found that, only 61.25% of the college teachers had
a favourable attitude towards making use of computer and ICT in the teaching-
learning process. This study indirectly stressed the need to train teachers at all
levels to become e-literate and tertiary level mathematics and science curriculum
should also be enriched to use computers and internet. Wong and Hanafi (2007)
developed a five-point Likert type questionnaire to measure the attitudes of
Malaysian student teachers towards Information Technology. The questionnaire
comprised of 23 items under 3 dimensions (viz. Usefulness, Confidence and
Aversion). The reliability was found (0.87) by using the Cronbach Alpha test.
The study showed no significant difference between male and female student
teachers when the pre and post test mean scores were compared. Wright (2008)
explored teacher perception of ICT in a secondary school of Samoa. It was
found that teacher perceptions of ICT were mostly positive, but they were
hindered by lack of ICT skill and insufficient techno-pedagogical knowledge
in their classes. Teachers perceived several obstacles to effective integration
of ICTs in classrooms. Yasemin and Petek (2008) conducted a study on ICT
usage in Turkish higher education. It explained 61 percent of the faculties use
ICT, with a good model fit. The faculty members make use of ICT most as
a mean of communication and for searching information about the course
through the internet. Goktas, et.al. (2008) developed the questionnaire to
measure the ICT Competencies, usage, and perceptions. It includes 13 multiple
choice items, 7 items under Likert type scale format and 4 open-ended questions.
Questionnaire was developed through literature review, opinion of experts and
pilot test. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient of reliability was (0.87). The results
62
indicated that most of the participants expressed positive perceptions about the
integration of ICT into teacher education programmes. Felix and Begum (2011)
in their study have found that scholars of teacher education have an increased
level of awareness in the use of internet. For M.Ed. students, it is 08.47% and
for M.Phil. Students the number goes up to 34.96%. The result revealed that
the M.Ed. students have not acquired the skills to browse the e-resources when
they have passed out of B.Ed. and M.Phil. Scholars have acquired skills
comparatively more than M.Ed. students. Kumari and Babu (2012) conducted
a study to assess the secondary school English language teachers’ knowledge
and use of ICT in their English language classrooms. Findings were revealed
that the level of knowledge of ICT possessed by above teachers was poor and
as such, they rarely use ICT in their instruction process.
With all previous studies in mind, it is essential to understand the nature
of ICT perception of teacher educators. Present researcher was able to find only
a few sporadic works in this field, especially in the Indian context. So a detailed
investigation has been carried out for construct a scale to understand the
perception of teacher educators of West Bengal about ICT. A study is therefore
attempted in this respect and an objective is also set in this context. The
investigator has therefore constructed a scale designed to identify the
‘Dimensions and Sub-Dimensions’ regarding ‘Perception of ICT’.
Objective
To construct a five-point Likert type scale to measure the perception of teacher
educators about ICT.
A short description of development and standardization process of ICT
Perception Scale (ICTPS) discussed below.
Identification of the dimension and sub-dimension regarding ‘Perception

of ICT’
Figgaiano and Fasano (2004) previously suggested that an adequate preparation
(for experience) is essential for all teachers to cope with technology rich
classrooms and to develop a more suitable and effective awareness of the usage
of ICT. Therefore, the area of perception is determined by the perspective of
the individual who perceives and perception varies according to individual’s
subjective and objective point of view/s. Actually perception is, “The way in
which a person views his or her environment based on the sense, past experience,
attitudes, awareness, current information and other personal variables”
(Bellingham, 2004). From the above background, present investigator explored
and identified the four (4) main dimensions for the development of the ICT
Perception Scale (ICTPS). These were (1) Attitude towards use of ICT; (2)
63
Awareness about the development of ICT; (3) Scope of Using ICT; and (4) Impact
of ICT. Here, each dimension had four (4) sub-dimensions.
Gay, et. al. (2006) measured students’ attitudes, experience and reasons for
the use of ICT through their self-administered questionnaire on ‘Perceptions
of information and communication technology’ for the under graduate
management students of Barbados. They adapted and modified the tool from
Dorup’s (2004) study of medical students in Denmark. Reflections of these
four (4) dimensions previously presented in the 18 items in context of
‘Perceptions about use of ICT’ under the fourth part of Gulbahar & Guven
(2006) study and also reflected in the study of Oyedeko & Tella (2010). Now
a short discussion is given below on the sub-dimensions.
1st Dimension - Attitude towards use of ICT
Attitude refers to predisposition or mental set to perceive feel or beliefs or
behave towards specific objects in a particular manner (Taneja, 2003 and
Bellingham, 2004). Wong and Hanafi (2007) used three dimensions,
Usefulness, Confidence and Aversion to measure the attitudes of Malaysian
student teachers towards Information Technology. They were adapted these three
dimensions from the studies of Loyald & Gressard (1984) and Christensen
& Knezek (1998). Loyald & Gressard’s computer attitude scale was
constructed by the components of computer confidence, liking, anxiety, and
usefulness. Wong (2002) and Davis (1989) defined usefulness as the student
teachers’ beliefs in the enhancement of the quality of their academic or non-
academic related work by using a specific system. Confidence and aversion
were defined by the Wong (2002) as the student teachers’ feelings of uncertainty
and strong dislike respectively in using the internet, specific software
applications, other general software applications, as well as the computer and IT
in general for leisure or academic work respectively. Selwyn (1997) previously
used ‘perceived usefulness’ as an important component in his computer attitude
scale’. Then, ‘Usefulness, Confidence and Aversion’ were taken as first three
(1 to 3) sub-dimensions under the first (1st) dimension. According to Taneja
(2003) and Bellingham (2004) views on attitude, the fundamental element of
human behaviour is belief. Human attitude very much depends on his or her
belief towards specific objects or matter. Thus the Present investigator also
considered ‘Belief’ as fourth separate sub-dimension under the first dimension.
Therefore the four sub-dimensions were ‘Usefulness, Confidence, Aversion and
Belief’ under first (1st) dimension.
2nd Dimension - Awareness about the development of ICT
Awareness about ICT means alertness, attentiveness, consciousness or
64
enlightened about ICT. But Shah (2005) found low degree of ICT awareness,
Use and Need of Secondary and Higher Secondary Teachers. Figgaiano and
Fasano (2004) already suggested in their study that an adequate preparation
is essential for teachers to cope with technology rich classrooms and to develop
a more suitable and effective awareness of the usage of ICT. They further said
that in the next future “they (teachers) can also become aware of how to better
make use of ICT as a resource to create an effective and meaningful learning
environment”. To reach the future goals, the teaching community must increase
their motivation level towards ICT, enrich their ICT consciousness, deep
knowledge & understanding about present facts on ICT concerns and integrating
capacity between theory and application on ICT related tasks. From the above
background, the present investigator selected four sub-dimensions, which were
Motivation, ICT Consciousness, Facts and Phenomena and Integration of theory
and practice by ICT under second (2nd) dimension.
3rd Dimension - Scope of Using ICT

Gulbahar & Guven (2006) were composed 19 items regarding barriers that
teachers faced during technology utilization in the teaching-learning process in
the last part of the ‘ICT Usage Survey’. The study showed some limitations
such as teachers’ lack of ICT usage skills and insufficient ICT infrastructure.
Teachers were facing problems in relation to accessibility to ICT resources and
lack of in-service training opportunities. The other main barriers to the
implementation of ICT as perceived by the teachers were the mismatch between
ICT and the existing curricula and the class-time frame. Gulbahar & Guven
(2006) also said that ICT has vast potential in education but its effective use
must be carefully tried out and planned by researchers, teachers and
administrators who know what to do with it in the teaching-learning process
of education.
Simultaneously, the present researcher wants to know the ‘Scope of Using
ICT’ in curriculum transaction, in administration, in teacher educators’
profession, among teachers and learners. ‘The use of ICT impacts on both
declarative and procedural knowledge to such an extent that clearly the current
curriculum and models of teaching and learning were not designed to
accommodate the increasingly rapidly expanding quantity of knowledge (Riel,
1998). The quantity of declarative knowledge is growing rapidly and it is widely
fuelled by the ICT. ICT itself has added large quantities of declarative
knowledge and there is great scope of various usages of them. According to
Riel (1998), ‘Students requiring specific bodies of declarative knowledge they
require very flexible and general sets of procedural knowledge. These tend to
involve conceptual understanding, problem-solving, personal interaction, and
65
using resources’. Scope of using ICT on both the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the
curriculum; Riel (1998, p. 12) provides an example of this dual aspect,
“Students can use hypertext to organize their learning, but they can also use
hypertext as a form of expression. Writing in hypertext is a new skill. It is
conceptually different than sequential writing. It allows for a different form
of interaction between author and reader and larger communities of people”.
Furthermore, application of ICT is very helpful for special learners. ‘There are
many case studies where children with physical disabilities may use adaptive
technologies to maximise their successful use of ICT’ (Donegan, 1999). In other
side, “ICT gives teachers access to information to support them in trying new
strategies, thinking, reflecting on practice, and engaging with new material
(Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, 2000). Now it is
‘requiring more collaboration and more communication with teachers,
administrators and parents’ (Cradler & Bridgforth, 2002).
Thus the present researcher selected four sub-dimensions under the third
(3rd) dimension were the scope of using ICT ‘In Curriculum Transaction; In
Administration; In Profession and Among Users (Teachers and Learners).
Hence, it is necessary to promote the scope of using ICT in these selected areas.
In spite of the importance to know that the teacher educators perceived
characteristics in the scope of using ICT in these areas.
4th Dimension - Impact of ICT

It is fact that there is a great impact of ICT on learners, on teachers, on teachers’
profession, and on the larger community or society. Various research reviews
are the basis of the above comment. ‘While theoretical arguments can be put
forward to provide a strong rationale for the use of ICT, the only real rationale
is based on whether, in practice, it has a positive impact on learning, the learners,
curriculum, teachers and their profession also’ (Newhouse, 2002). Newhouse
(2002) prepared a report on the impact of ICT on learning, students, the
curriculum, teachers, schools, and school systems. The relevant connections
between them were properly showed by a diagram, which acted as a theoretical
framework of the report. The use of ICT in education should have a positive
impact on learners in terms of supporting their learning and in particular
addressing their individual learning needs. Researchers have found that typically
the use of ICT leads to more cooperation among learners within and beyond
school and a more interactive relationship between students and teachers
(Réginald Grégoireinc. et al., 1996). The “use of ICT has consistently
improved students’ attitudes towards learning and their own self-concept”
(Sivin-Kachala, 1998). The Committee on Developments in the Science of
66
Learning (2000) further stated that “it has great potential to enhance student
achievement and teacher learning, but only if it is used appropriately” (p. 206).
The impact of ICT on teachers and their profession is very significant in
education. A number of studies have found that, “Personal access for teachers
to a computer for the purpose of preparation and planning is one of the strongest
influences on the success of ICT training and subsequent classroom use” (Office
for Standards in Education, 2002, p. 3). ICT is ‘providing greater access to
information, leading to increased interest in teaching and experimentation
(Cradler & Bridgforth, 2002). Teachers need to always active at updating their
ICT skills and knowledge for their profession. It is in addition to their need
to be up-to-date with content of curriculum and pedagogy. Thus the ICT ‘impacts
on teaching strategies will lead to changes in the composition of the role of
teachers. For example, high level access to computer support for learning tends
to encourage teachers to use more cooperative group work and less teacher
stand-up lecturing (Schacter, 1999). Therefore it is important now that the
teachers may be supported very carefully in practical and motivating ways by
educational administration. The “supportive, enthusiastic and visionary
leadership has a positive impact on teachers’ attitudes and behaviours” (Becta,
2002) towards proper use of ICT. Thus the modern teachers are expected to
upgrade their ICT knowledge and skills for successful execution of their duties.
ICT has deep influences to construct the fast growing knowledge society.
“Knowledge construction is a community activity where learning is enhanced
from contact with the wider community” (Committee on Developments in the
Science of Learning, 2000, p. 224). Riel (1998) explains that “this means that
schools need to involve more heterogeneous grouping, community organization,
collaboration, interdependent teamwork, and to allow input from a range of
expertise”. Riel (1998) and others stress that learning and building knowledge
is viewed increasingly as a community activity where schools in the past have
tended to be isolated from the community. Thus the time has come to accept the
challenge of globalization and incorporate the ICT for advancement of society.
On the basis of the above reviews the present researcher wants to investigate
the impact of ICT on learners, on teachers, on teachers’ profession, and on the
larger community i.e. society under fourth (4th) dimension.
Construction of Items of the ICT Perception Scale (ICTPS)

Different sources were used for the construction of scale. Some important
criteria for Survey Design given by Devellis (2012), Mertler & Charles (2012),
were taken into consideration. Thus the researcher considered each Dimension
and Sub-Dimension regarding ‘Perception of ICT’ from relevant literature and
67
then appropriate items (both positive and negative) were constructed for each
sub-dimension. Here total dimensions were four (4) and every dimension had
four (4) sub-dimensions. Therefore the scale had four dimensions and sixteen
(4 x 4 =16) sub-dimensions which were given here. At first, the total items
(42) were checked by a reputed language expert (former Professor of Viswa
Bharati) and certain changes in the language of some items were made. Two
items, one positive item and one negative item were omitted according to his
suggestion. Rest of the items (40) were further checked and approved by an
IT expert, because some ICT components were presented in the above Scale
Table 1 : Details of Dimensions and Sub-Dimensions of ICTPS

Dimensions Sub-Dimensions Dimensions Sub-Dimensions
1. Attitude i) Usefulness 3. Scope of i) In Curriculum
towards use Using ICT Transaction
of ICT ii) Confidence ii) In Administration
iii) Aversion iii) In Profession
iv) Belief iv) Among users
(teachers and learners)
2. Awareness i) Motivation 4. Impact of i) On Teachers

about the ii) ICT Consciousness ICT ii) On Learners
development iii) Facts and Phenomena iii) On Profession
of ICT iv) Integration of theory iv) On Society
and practice by ICT
Content Validation
The initial tool (consists of 40 items) were rated by three (3) reputed
Educationists (leading Professor of Education under different Universities) for
validation of content. Only those common items which were rated as quite
relevant (QR) and very relevant (VR) items were selected. Here thirty two (32)
items, including sixteen (16) positive and sixteen (16) negative were taken for
final selection on the basis of judgement of the experts. Necessary changes were
made as suggested by them. ‘The Inter-rater Agreement Model for Content
Validity’ (Gregory, 2012) was used to see the reliability of the three raters
(i.e. experts). The range of Coefficient of Content Validity was (0.80 to 0.85).
The average Content Validity was 0.825
68
Table 2 : Showing the Reliability of Three Experts
Expert 1 Expert 3
Expert 2 0.80 0.825
Expert 3 0.85 ———
Response Pattern
Response and scoring process to each item was envisaged in a five - point Likert
type scale pattern as follows:
Table 3 : Showing the Response Categories
Response Type Scoring Key Scoring Key

of positive item of negative item
Strongly Agree (SA) 5 1
Agree (A) 4 2
Undecided (U) 3 3
Disagree (D) 2 4
Strongly Disagree (SD) 1 5
Having scored all of the responses from a particular individual, the sum total of
the set (here 32) of item scores for that person was obtained. That total score
provides the measure for that person. Here, each item maximum possible score
is (5) and minimum possible score is (1). Score range of the above scale is
(32 to 160).
Instruction of the Scale

A short instruction to the subject was written in top of the scale.
Pilot Study
A pilot test was made on forty-five (45) teacher educators from three universities
(C.U., K.U. and B.U.) through the process of randomisation. Fifteen (15)
teacher educators from each group (i.e. Language group, Social Science group,
Science group) were taken as samples for the purpose of pilot test. On the basis
of their responses, a few modifications were made in the construction of
statements. Some minor alteration of wording was prompted in some statements
in order to sharpen their focus. Total 32 items of entire Sub-dimension were
remixed to each other before final development of the tool.
69
Table 4 : Showing the requisite changes after Content Validation

Process and Pilot Study
Item Nature Items Before Change Items After Change
No. of Item
1 Positive ICT promotes effective sharing ICT helps effective sharing
of experiences of academic experiences
among teachers among teachers.
2 Positive The application of ICT in the The use of ICT makes
classroom brings confidence the teacher confident
among teachers. in the classroom.
3 Negative Specific educational information It is very difficult to find
is hard to find from Specific educational
the Web. information from internet.
4 Positive ICT based teaching-learning ICT based teaching-learning,
activities generate interest develops interest
among its users. among its users.
5 Positive ICT intervention in the ICT provides wide scope
administration of teacher tomake educational
education makes it more fruitful. administration more effective.
6 Positive There is a paradigm shift There is a great change in the
in entire teaching-learning system entire teaching-learning system
due to ICT innovations due to ICT innovations.
Data Collection for Reliability Test

Stratifiedn Random sampling technique was adopted for data collection. Six
(6) Universities viz. Calcutta University (C.U.), West Bengal State University
(W.B.S.U.), Kalyani University (K.U), Vidyasagar University (V.U.), Burdwan
University (B.U.), and North Bengal University (N.B.U.) were selected. Then
50 colleges from among all B.Ed. colleges / B.Ed. departments of general
colleges affiliated to above six (6) Universities, were chosen randomly. Teacher
educators were taken from Language, Social Science and Science groups. The
investigator visited the fifty (50) Colleges personally, after necessary permission
was obtained from the College authority. At first, the teacher educators were
given short instruction regarding the filling in of their responses. It was further
assured to them that the response regarding personal information and other
information would be kept secret and be used for research purpose only. After
that, ICT Perception Scale (ICTPS) along with response-sheet was given to them
and they required approximately 20 to 30 minutes completing. Completely filled
70
up response-sheets of eighty (80) Language teacher educators, one hundred ten

(110) Social Science teacher educators, and ninety (90) Science teacher
educators was considered for the reliability test.
Reliability of the Scale

The reliability of entire scale of thirty two (32) items was measured by the
Cronbach’s Alpha. The sample for ascertaining the reliability of the above scale
was collected from two hundred eighty (280) teacher educators of B.Ed.
Colleges under different State University of West Bengal. It consisted of eighty
(80) Language teacher educators, one hundred ten (110) Social Science teacher
educators, and ninety (90) Science teacher educators. The data were analyzed
through SPSS 19.0 Version and reliability was found to be 0.846. Thus the
reliability of the scale is high.
Table 5 : Showing the Reliability Analysis of the Entire Scale
(Corrected) item-Total Cronbach’s Alpha if
No. of item Correlation Item deleted
il 0.252 0.845
i2 0.363 0.842
i3 0.351 0.842
i4 0.454 0.839
i5 0.399 0.841
i6 0.355 0.842
i7 0.403 0.841
i8 0.386 0.841
i9 0.398 0.842
i10 0.317 0.843
i11 0.36 0.842
i12 0.301 0.844
i13 0.412 0.842
i14 0.448 0.839
i15 0.114 0.848
i16 0.444 0.839
i17 0.577 0.834
i18 0.186 0.846
Table 5 Contd.
71
Table 5 : Showing the Reliability Analysis of the Entire Scale (Contd.)
(Corrected) item-Total Cronbach’s Alpha if

No. of item Correlation Item deleted
i19 0.362 0.842

i20 0.327 0.843
i21 0.306 0.843
i22 0.313 0.843
i23 0.436 0.839
i24 0.385 0.842
i25 0.32 0.843
i26 0.068 0.85
i27 0.347 0.842
i28 0.396 0.841
i29 0.519 0.836
i30 0.308 0.843
i31 0.349 0.842
i32 0.352 0.842
Here total number of samples (N) was (280) and number of items was (32).
Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Coefficient was (0.846). From the above table,
we see that there was no negative correlation of any item. But there were
differences in the correlations between individual items and the scale as a whole,
ranging from 0.068 to 0.577. In fact, the three items, i.e. (i15), (i18) and (i26)
has low correlations with the scale as a whole. It is seen that removal of (i15)
and (i26) would cause the scale reliability to slightly increase and removal
of (i18) would leave the reliability of the whole scale unchanged. Therefore,
the researcher took decision that the three items (i15), (i8) & (i26) were not
to be eliminated from the Scale.
Thus the total number of dimensions was four (4) and total number of sub-
dimensions was sixteen (4 x 4 = 16). Each Sub-dimension had one positive item
and one negative item. Therefore, total positive items were sixteen (16), total
negative items was sixteen (16) and total items was thirty two (16 x 2 = 32).
An overall view shown by the following table:
72
Table 6 : Showing the Final Format of the Scale

Sl. Dimensions (D) Sub-Dimension (SD) No. of No. of
No. +ve items -ve items
1 Attitudes towards a) Usefulness. 1 1
Use of ICT b) Confidence. 1 1
c) Aversion. 1 1
d) Belief. 1 1
2 Awareness about a) Motivation 1 1
the development b) ICT Consciousness. 1 1
of ICT c) Facts and Phenomena. 1 1
d) Integration of theory
Practice by ICT. 1 1
3 Scope of a) In curriculum
using ICT Transaction. 1 1
b) In Administration. 1 1
c) In Profession. 1 1
d) Among users
(teachers-learners). 1 1
4 Impact of ICT a) On Teachers. 1 1
b) On Learners. 1 1
c) On Profession. 1 1
d) On Society. 1 1
Total (32) 16 16
The final form of the ICT Perception Scale (ICTPS)

The final form of the ICT Perception Scale (ICTPS) was developed by this
process. ICTPS was prepared in English version and it had two parts. The first
part was provided to be filled in by the teacher educators, where in they had
to provide some ‘General Information’, like name, gender, contact number,
educational specialization, name of the institution serving and name of the
affiliating University. The second part judged the ‘Perception of teacher
educators about ICT’. It was a five point Likert type scale and consisted of
thirty two (32) test items.
73
Delimitation of the ICT Perception Scale (ICTPS)

The scale is quite suitable for secondary level teacher educators of the B.Ed.
College, especially for West Bengal.
Conclusion
The above discussions show that the scale (ICTPS) may be taken as a valid and
reliable tool to be used to measure the perception of teacher educators about ICT.
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Appendix–I
An Essence of Dimension and Sub-Dimensions from the ICT Perception Scale
(ICTPS)
Here first dimension (i.e. Attitude towards use of ICT) and its four sub-
dimensions-usefulness, confidence, aversion and belief elaborately shown below
as example.
Item Dimension Sub Type Statement

No. Dimension
1. Usefulness P ICT helps effective sharing of
academic experiences
among teachers.
2. - Do - N The use of ICT in education
prevents the teachers
from being creative.
3. Confidence P The use of ICT makes
the teacher confident
Attitude in the class room.
4. towards - Do - N The challenge of applying
use of ICT ICT is not always suitable
for the teachers.
5. Aversion P Teaching through ICT
is encouraging.
6. - Do - N It is very difficult to
find Specific educational
information from internet.
7. Belief P The application of ICT in
education, improves the entire
Teaching–Learning system.
8. - Do - N ICT makes its users mechanical.
77
Embracing the Socially Isolates in the Classroom

Anupriya Basu1 Debjani Sengupta2, and Debasri Banerjee3
Abstract
One of the major foci in the concept and practices of education in today’s world
is inclusive education. This is the high time to bring all children under one
umbrella in spite of their all diversities. But the real scenario in the schools of
India depicts different picture. The present system of education is structured
mostly on the basis of the needs of average children. Sometimes extra attention
and special arrangements are organised for the children who fall within the ambit
of positive side of the distribution curve. But those children who can not learn
at equal pace with other children are ignored and gradually become isolated in
the class and society as well. Slow learners belong to this category. The output
of inclusive education must be making them feel less stigmatised and more socially
accepted as well as for developing the sense of self-worth in them. Subsequently,
other children in the class will learn to value differences. Keeping this context
in view, the present work attempts to study the effectiveness of an intervention
programme in changing the social status of the slow learners among their
classmates. The components of the intervention programme were 1) Participatory
learning 2) Mixed Ability Grouping in the class and 3) Participation of all children
in various co curricular activities as per their interest and ability. Participants were
54 slow learners of class I studying in Kolkata Municipal Corporation School.
The total programme continued for ten months. A standardised Sociometric Scale
was administered to all children in the class before and after intervention
programme to appraise the social status of the slow learners. Data thus obtained
was subjected to qualitative analysis and simple calculation like percentage and
graphical presentation were also applied. Analysis of data shows substantive
improvement in sociometric status of slow learners as a result of the intervention
programme.
Key Word: Inclusive Education, Slow Learner, Social Status, Intervention
Programme
1. Assistant Professor, Seth Soorajmull Jalan Girls College and Ph.D Scholar,
Department of Education, University of Calcutta
2. Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
3. Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Basu, Sengupta and Banerjee
Introduction
Education is not only simply making schools available for those who are already
able to access them. It is about being proactive in identifying the barriers and
obstacles learners encounter in attempting to access opportunities for quality
education as well as in removing those barriers and obstacles that lead to
exclusion (UNESCO Report 2010). The school experiences are always organised
targeting the average children and sometimes the few who belong to the level of
above average. The world is fascinated with the gifted and genius people and their
innovative work but those who are lagging behind are ignored and humiliated by
surroundings. Slow learners are one of those categories who belong to the later
group. They are the students who learn more slowly than their peers, yet do not
have a disability requiring special education (Griffin 1978). Unfortunately these
children are often “overlooked” since they do not fall within the ambit of positive
side of the distribution curve, neither even the central region of the curve. These
learners, due to their histories of repeated failure at school, are likely to feel as
through academic outcomes are beyond their control, thus perceiving themselves
as less competent in all aspects than their peers (Ntshangase, Mdikana & Cronk,
2008). It increases the risk of social isolation, low self esteem and poor social
development. They usually feel awkward to interact with teachers as well as
classmates and remain isolated in the class leading subsequently to a feeling of
rejection from their more able peer groups. It hampers their socialization which
has an adverse impact on their personality development.
Inclusive Education must help children with differences to develop social
skills which in turn will enable them to interact more effectively with increasing
network of acquaintances, co-workers, family members and friends as the
children grow older. (Fuchs and Fuchs,1998). Keeping this context in view, the
present study aimed to explore the ways through which these students can be
made more participative within and outside the boundaries of the school walls.
Exploration of a suitable “way” prompted the present researcher to visualise
the total school experience of a child in terms of (1) Constitution of the class
(leading to mixed ability grouping) (2) Academic Practices (leading to
participatory learning activities) (3) Non academic practices (leading to
participation of all children in various co-curricular activities outside and
sometimes inside the classroom.
Mixed Ability Grouping is one of the important ways teachers can follow in
the classroom. Mixed Ability Grouping process is based on the principle of Co
operative Learning. It involves social interaction amongst the students (Salvin,
2009). Using social interaction and active experiences in learning helps children
to feed knowledge to one another. Peer learning helps students to build effective
listening and communication skill. (Harding 2009).
79
Participatory learning strategies also seem very significant for the

advancement of the students in general and slow learners in specific. The
academic achievement of the slow learners significantly depends on the teachers
and interactive learning situation (Chaudhury A.Q. and Hussain M.A. 2012).
It improves self-confidence, academic achievement, improves their attitude
towards the subject matter and encourages greater persistence in completing
tasks ( Ezenwosu S.U, 2013).
For the development of social inclusion and for enhancement of sociometric
status, the role of co-curricular activity is worth mentioning. Recently the
educationists and the administrators of different educational institutions started
realizing that the co-curricular activities have positive influence on the skills
enhancement and the academic performance of the students (Marsh&
Kleitman,2002). Most of the co-curricular activities have found to be good in
constructing and enhancing academic performance of the students (Marsh &
Kleitman, 2002).
Thus the major objective of the present study is to explore whether the
sociometric status of the slow learners can be improved with the help of above
mentioned intervention programme.
Methods
In the present study Quasi Experimental Research design was followed. Pre-test
and Post-test design was applied to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention
programme on sociometric status of the slow learners in the classroom.
Sample
The population for this study were the students of class I studying at Kolkata
Municipal Corporation Schools. The sampling frame for the study was a list
of names of all Kolkata Municipal Corporation Schools (Bengali Medium)
published by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. Eight schools were selected
randomly from these schools. The numbers of participants were 277 students
of class I. 53 children who were in the first quartile of the distribution of scores
in the Criterion Referenced Tests on Bengali and Mathematics administered to
them were identified as slow learners. The range of the score of first quartile
was 1-26 and 3-21 for Bengali and Mathematics respectively. All the participants
were matched in the criteria of academic performance, schooling background
and socio economic background i.e underprivileged section of the society.
Tools
Two Criterion Reference Tests on Bengali and Mathematics
It consisted 50 items for each under 10 categories. Each item carried 2 marks.
The categories of Bengali were—Identification of the alphabet, Arranging in
80
order, Word making, Recitation, Pronunciation, Hand writing, Reading Skill,

Writing Skill, Verbal language ability, Comprehension skill.
The criteria for Mathematics were—Identification of numbers, Writing numbers,
Arranging in order Tally with counting, Counting, Conception of height, weight,
Conception of symbols, Spelling of the numbers, Addition and Subtraction.
A Standardised Sociometric Scale
It was used to assess the social status of the slow learners among the classmates.
Here, on the basis of the choice of other classmates the social status of a
particular student is evaluated by calculating the Z score for “liked most” and
“liked least”. In accordance with the score of ‘ Social Preference’ and ‘Social
Impact’ students are categorised under ‘Rejected’, ‘Neglected’, ‘Controversial’,
‘Average’ and ‘Popular’ category.
Unstructured Interview Schedule for the students
The main focus of this interview was to reveal the view point of the students
including the slow learners regarding their classmates.
Procedure
For fulfilling the objective of the study, the first step was to identify the slow
learners. In accordance with the mentioned need, Criterion Reference Test for
Bengali and Mathematics were constructed by the researcher with the help of the
subject teachers of sampled schools and experts. The test items were categorised
under ten criteria, each consisted of 5 items and each carried 2 marks. The items
were selected as per the syllabus of the pre primary level. At pre intervention
stage these tests were applied on the total participants. On the basis of the
distribution of the marks, 54 children who belonged to the first quartile were
identified as the slow learners. To study their social status among classmates a
Standardised Sociometric Scale was administered to all children in the class of
the respective schools. With the consent of the concerned schools an intervention
programme for the participants was scheduled for ten months.
The intervention programme consists of the following components:
A] Mixed Ability Grouping:
To form a mixed ability grouping students were divided into small teams
comprising of 4-6 students with at least one students of each quartile. Students
were asked to sit in groups. During the whole intervention period the sitting
pattern of the students were made flexible as far as possible keeping in the mind
the usual constraints of a regular classroom. The instruction was given group
wise and the students were asked to complete the task collaboratively. They were
encouraged to help each other, assuming the benefits of peer tutoring and co
operative learning.
81
B] Participatory Learning:
The class instruction was organised in a way that induce maximum of students’
activities. Behind this planning the main thought was not only to motivate the
slow learners in teaching-learning situation but also to provide them scope for
mixing up with other classmates. Moreover it accelerates the hidden skills of the
slow learners. To be more specific to develop the comprehensive skill in Bengali
language, dramatisation process was adopted. On the basis of the poem and prose
of their syllabus the students were taught to enact which conveyed the meaning
to them. Abacus was used for strengthening the concept of basic calculation.
With the help of word game, the word construction capacity was developed. For
giving a clear concept of counting the coloured beads and the game like ludo
were used in the classroom teaching. Moreover for accurate pronunciation the
recorded version of proper reading of the poems presented with the help of
mobile phone and tape recorder. To make the slow learners and the whole class
acquainted with the surroundings, many picture cards were made. Mainly the
pictures of animals, birds, vegetables, flowers and other household’s things were
drawn in bright and attractive colour. Active participation made the class
environment more enjoyable and slow learners started to participate in all the
activities instead of sitting alone and isolated with a fear of punishment and
humiliation.
Every week 8 hours as per convenience of the school
Month Activity / Week

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
1 a) Recognition a) Writing the Memorisation Revision

of the alphabets letter and number and Short test
and numbers on sand Reproduction Feedback
with the letter b) Individual of the letter
card and number assistance was and number
card where these given in writing without any
letters, number is with chalk and clue.
written in single then pencil.
in bold and clear c) In mixed
format.b) Proper ability group
pronunciation of more competent
each letter and students helped
number their slow peer in
writing
82

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
2 Arranging the Fill in the blanks Arranging the Revision

letters and in proper order letters and Short test
numbers in order numbers in Feedback
with the help of smaller to larger
activities like and vice versa
making a queue
in that order
holding the
number and
letter in hand.
3 a) Word a) Matching the Writing the Revision

formation with word with picture words with the Short test
punctuation b) counting with help of hints Feedback
b) Concept of tallies, beads
double digit
number
4 Dictation of a) Recitation of a) Understanding Revision
word and poem with the the poem with Short test
numbers help of tape the help of Feedback
recorder, mobile video, pictures
phone b) concept
b) Counting formation of
numbers with shape, height,
drawing and weight
colouring the
pictures
5 a) Reading the a) Hand writing Dictation Revision

words with b) table learning Short test
meaning using Feedback
word game
b) writing the
number in word
83

1st 2nd 3rd 4th
6 a) Sentence a) sentence a) Handwriting Revision

making writing b) Addition Short test
b) Addition with b) addition using without pictorial Feedback
the help of pict- Abacus help
orial presentation
7 a) Reading small a) dramatisation a) Verbal skill Revision
prose with the of poem and development Short test
help of picture prose for b) Subtraction Feedback
b) Subtraction understanding without
with the help of meaning pictorial help
pictorial b) subtraction
presentation using Abacus
8 a) Development a) Comprehen- a) Writing the Revision

of reading skill sion skill develo- question answer Short test
with expressing pment with in comprehen- Feedback
the meaning verbal question sion form
b) Application of answer b) Calculation
the knowledge b) Calculation by understa-
of calculation in from the question nding problem
practical life with the help of
using ludo and drawing the
other mathem- mathematical
atical game problem
9 a) Making sente- a) Sentence a) Writing the Revision

nce by own obs- making with a poem from Short test
erving surrou- word memory Feedback
nding or picture b) multiplication b) multiplication
b) Writing the
table
10 a) verbal and Evaluation of the Evaluation of Feedback

written Achievement of the Achievement to the tea-
description Bengali of Mathematics chers and
b) division parents
84
C] Co-curricular Activities:
One of the major components of the intervention programme was participation of
the whole class in various co-curricular activities. Under these segment drawing
class, cultural programme, health camp, environment awareness programme,
competitions were arranged. The distribution of the above mentioned activities
across time was presented in the following table:
Every week 4 hours as per convenience of the school

Month Week
1st 2nd 3rd 4th End of the month
1 Drawing, Dance, Drawing, Physical Drawing
Physical Recitation Indoor Activities Competition
Education Games
2 Dance, Drawing, Recitation, Dance, Cultural
Music Physical Drama Drama Programme
Activities
3 Indoor Dance, Physical Dance, Recitation
Game, Recitation Activities, Recitation Competition
Music Drama
4 Clay Drawing, Recitation, Clay A small exhibition
modelling, Dance Drama modelling, of drawing
Music Handicrafts and handicrafts
5 Music, Handi- Drama, Physical Sports meet
Physical crafts Recitation Activities
Activities
6 Dance, Recitation, Drama, Drama Drama
Drama Music Physical Performance
Activities
7 Physical Drawing Handicrafts Physical Environment
Activities, Activities Awareness
Music programme
8 Dance, Music, Drawing, Green Health Camp
Drama Recitation Clay Project
Modelling
9 Dance Music Recitation Drama Cultural
Dance Dance Programme
10 Drawing, Handicrafts Physical Drama, Short Tour
Indoor Music Activities Dance
games
85
After the intervention programme once again the sociometric scale was applied
on them to evaluate whether there was any transition of the social status among
classmates of the slow learners occurred or not.
Result
Table 1 : The percentage of the Slow Learners under each category of

Sociometric Scale at Pre and Post Intervention Programme
No. of slow learners in the category of
Rejected Neglected Controversial Average Popular
Pre intervention 16 (30%) 11 (20.7%) 14 (26.4%) 6 (11.3%) 6 (11.3%)
stage
Post intervention 4 (8%) 5 (9%) 6 (11.3%) 26 (49%) 12 (22.6%)
stage
Figure 1. Graphical presentation of the categorisation of slow learners in

sociometric scale before and after intervention
Table.1 and Figure 1 depicts that a remarkable change occurred from pre
intervention categorisation to post intervention stage. The percentage of slow
learners under ‘Rejected’, ‘Neglected’ and ‘Controversial’ category has been
reduced from 30%, 20.7%, 26.4% to 8%, 9% and 11.3% respectively. The
change under ‘Average’ and ‘Popular’ category is also worth mentioning, as
it accelerates to double in Popular category and four times in Average
category.
86
Table 2 : Transition of the Sociometric Status of the Slow Learners

among Classmates before and after Intervention
Roll Sociometric status at Roll Sociometric status at
No Pre Post No Pre Post
Intervention Intervention Intervention Intervention
Stage Stage Stage Stage
7 Rejected Average 1 Popular Average
School : 5
9 Neglected Neglected 10 Rejected Neglected
School : 1
11 Rejected Average 11 Rejected Average

16 Rejected Controversial 19 Controversial Average
19 Neglected Average 24 Average Average
20 Controversial Popular 4 Average Popular
6 Controversial Average 7 Neglected Average
12 Controversial Popular 12 Neglected Average
School : 6
17 Rejected Average 14 Popular Popular

School : 2
24 Rejected Popular 17 Rejected Popular

27 Popular Popular 18 Controversial Rejected
28 Controversial Neglected 29 Controversial Controversial
33 Neglected Rejected 30 Rejected Average
34 Neglected Average 4 Popular Average
School : 7
8 Rejected Average 12 Rejected Neglected

12 Rejected Average 13 Rejected Average
School : 3
16 Controversial Rejected 19 Controversial Average

19 Neglected Average 25 Average Average
24 Neglected Average 3 Neglected Average
School : 8
25 Average Popular 11 Popular Popular

9 Rejected Controversial 12 Rejected Popular
10 Controversial Average 16 Controversial Rejected
14 Controversial Average 20 Controversial Controversial
19 Controversial Neglected
School : 4
31 Neglected Popular
32 Average Average
37 Average Controversial
40 Rejected Controversial
41 Popular Popular
45 Neglected Average
87
Figure 2 : Graphical presentation of categorisation of social status of the slow

learners at pre intervention stage
*P-Popular, A- Average, C-Controversial, N-Neglected, R-Rejecte
Figure 3; Graphical presentation of transition of the Sociometric status of the

slow learners among classmates from before to after intervention
Table 2 and Figure 2 and Figure 3 show that 16 students were under ‘Rejected’
category at pre-intervention stage. But at post intervention stage out of 16 there
was none in the category of ‘Rejected’. Majority of them (50%) were placed
88
in the category of ‘Average’. Moreover three(19%) rejected slow learners were

nominated as ‘Popular’ among the classmates.
The picture of the ‘Neglected’ category took a reverse mode. Out of 11 slow
learners only1 (9%) remained as neglected and 1(9%) was degraded as
‘Rejected’. But 8(73%) were categorised as ‘Average’ and 1(9%) also elected
as ‘Popular’.
But for those who belonged to ‘Controversial’ category, transition was quite
haphazard because out of 14, three (21%) and two(14%) slow learners were
identified as ‘Rejected’ and ‘Neglected’ respectively. Though five slow learners
were elected as ‘Average’(36%) and two (14%) entered into the category of
‘Popular’.
For the category of ‘Average’ and ‘Popular’ none was transferred to
‘Rejected;, ‘Neglected’ and ‘Controversial’.
Discussion
The whole intervention programme put a great impact upon the sociometric
status of the slow learners in the sampled population. It was observed that the
percentage of neglected, rejected and controversial category has been reduced
remarkably and the percentage of Average & population category indicated the
acceptance of the slow learners among classmates. It proved the positive
influence of the intervention programme. Mixed ability grouping method was
one of the major part of the intervention programme .With the help of this
strategy, slow learners found a way to interact with other classmates who
encouraged them feel a sense of integration. Beside other students of the class
also started to accept the slow learners as a part of their group instead of leaving
them isolated as they did earlier. Some interview data will corroborate this. S.L
15/S-6/F expressed in the interview during pre-intervention stage that she had
been refused by her classmate when she wanted to sit with them or liked to
participate in play. Everybody she used to get punishment and most of the
classmates laughed at her, so she did not prefer to come to school. But this mixed
ability grouping is based on the principle of peer tutoring and cooperative
learning which provide the slow learners opportunity to learn from their friends
and to ask them for support. SL15/S-4/F shared her view that one friend of her
group taught her a poem and she enjoyed learning with friends. SL-8/S-4/M said
that his friend helped to complete his home work of handwriting. From the
classroom observation it can be said that majority of the slow learners felt
comfortable with this strategy, as they usually hesitated to interact with teachers
and to ask for any help.
Another significant component was participatory learning. In this method
all the study materials were designed in such a way that the students would get
89
scope to participate activity, work together and to learn with practical

experiences. This process enhanced the motivational level and succeeds to
eradicate the unwillingness to learn which is very common among the slow
learners. This learning procedure is very much supportive for skill development
which may accelerates the level of self-confidence, positive attitude towards
learning. From their direct account it was projected that participatory learning
made the classroom situation enjoyers. Game based teaching aids were mostly
greeted by the slow learners. Not only that, enhancement of self-efficacy leaded
towards socialization.
Co curricular activities play a very worth mentioning role in intervention
programme. For all round development of the child, there is a need of physical,
emotional, social, moral enrichment. That is complemented and supplemented
by co-curricular activities. In connection with its utility the case study of SL33/
S-5/M can be mentioned. He was coming from a very poor economic and social
background. He stays in a small room with six family members. His parents,
siblings, neighbour, teachers, friends all complained that he was very
mischievous in nature. During pre intervention he did not communicate at all
in the time of interview. In school as well as in home he always got corporal
punishment, but none was capable to motivate him to learn something or to
convince him to lead a proper livelihood. During the intervention period, it was
noticed that he was performing very well in physical activities and in sports
events. Observing his efficacy he was made more engaged in these kinds of co
curricular activities and rewarded after achievement. These circumstances
brought a change in his attitude. He started to remain happy and his classmates
also started to accept him in a praised manner. As an effect he began to plead
with his friends for academic support his category was shifted from rejected to
popular. In this way co-curricular activities identified many creative minds
among the slow learners. Culture Programmes brought a fresh air to many. They
shared each others thoughts and co-operates. S-41/S-6/F expressed great interest
in learning dance. She seems very much communicative and active in the time
of this kind of performance. Her group felt proud of her performance and she
helped others to learn the dance pose. Her accomplishment shifted her from the
category ‘Average’ to ‘Popular’ in Socio metric Scale. Moreover Drawing class
benefitted S-52/S-8/F so immensely that pictorial presentation of study units
geared up her academic standard which reflected in her social life too. Her
acquired drove her to way to easy social cohesion with her classmates. Earlier
she felt on intense sense inferiority. In home also she remained isolated as she
felt all her siblings even the younger ones were superior to her. But capacity
and interest of drawing and painting reshaped his status among friends. In Mixed-
Ability-Grouping she used to give assistance to other members of the group in
90
drawing assignment. Not only personal enrichment, but also co-curricular

activities mainly progress the fellow feeling, togetherness, co-operative attitude
among the students. These findings and the case study of the slow learners made
this a concrete thought that proper intervention programme in school enable to
change in societal life of these slow learners. These processes slow the way to
social inclusion o these slow learners. The findings of the present study are
evidenced in several research works. It was observed that peer tutoring improves
self confidence, attitude and encourages greater persistence in completing tasks
(Roy Arora, 2015). The effectiveness of mixed ability grouping in the present
study corroborated with the observations made by Mairead Dunne etal (2007)
who concluded that co operative learning offers support to low achievers. Askew
and Willian (1995) and Boaler et. al (2000) showed in their study that significant
gains in achievement seen in the mixed ability group. They added more that
homogenous ability based grouping produced slightly better result for higher
attaining students, whilst lowering the results of average and below achievers.
Elbaum, Schumm, Vaughn (1997) reported that mixed–ability formats provide
poorer readers with help from better readers and an opportunity for all students
to co operate. They pointed out that students with learning disability particularly
appreciated the help that they were able to get when they encountered unfamiliar
words in their reading. This finding goes very much similar with the case study,
discussed earlier. The basic principle behind this grouping method is co operative
learning in which all students are expected to communicate effectively, provide
leadership for the group work, build and maintain trust among group members.
(Johnson and Johnson, 1987). Present study also revealed the same benefits of
mixed-ability-grouping, participatory learning process was also of great
importance. Salvin (2004) pointed out in his research that participatory learning,
claims students to learn to support, encourage and help each other, listen
carefully to each others’ ideas and settle disputes peacefully. In the present study
use of dramatisation took a very significant which goes very much similar with
the work of Alesaoy (2004). He showed that dramatisation in Language classes
brought a significant difference in social skills among the mentally retarded
children. Participatory learning is intimately related with co-curricular activities.
In the present study some case studies focussed on the benefits of it. Students
involved with co-curricular activities in the form of student organization
can maximize students’ learning in multi cultural competence. Ahmed (2011)
has listed number of values of curricular activities like educational value,
psychological values, development of social values, development of civic values,
physical development values, recreational values and cultural values. Present
study also revealed that slow learners were very much benefitted to be developed
at a satisfactory level.
91
References
Ahmed S., (2011). School Organisation and Management on Co-curricular Activities
(On-line), available at http:/edchat.blogspot.com/2011/01/definition-and-concept-
of-co-curricular.html. Retrieved on 5th March, 2016.
Boaler, Willium D., & Brown M., (2000). Students’ experiences of ability grouping-
disaffection, polarisation and the construction of failure. British Educational
Research Journal, 27, 350-367.
Fuchs D., & Fuchs L., (2014). Introduction to response to intervention: What, why and
how valid is it? New Direction in Research, 93-99
Harding S., (2009). Successful inclusion models for students with disabilities require
strong site leadership: Autism and behavioral disorders create many challenges
for the learning environment. International Journal of Learning, 16(3), 91-103
Johnson D.W., Johnson R.J., (1987). Joining Together Group Theory and Group Skills
(3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice-Hall.
Mairead D., Louis, Gazeley, (2008). Teachers, social class and under achievement. British
Journal of Sociology of Education, 29(5), 451-463.
Ntshangase S., Mdikana A., & Cronk C., (2008). A Comparative study of self-esteem
of adolescent boys with and without learning disabilities. International Journal
of Special Education, 23(2), 75-84.
Ray, Arora, (2015). Peer Tutoring as a remedial measure for slow learners in Medical
School. Directory of Open Access Journal (Sweden)
Slavin R., (1987). Educational psychology : Theory and practice (9th ed.). Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
92
Environmental Ethics among Higher Secondary Students

of Bankura District
Nandini Banerjee1, Amarnath Das2 and Dibyendu Bhattacharyya3
Abstract
The study attempts to highlight the level of environmental ethics among the higher
secondary school students of Bankura district in the state of West Bengal.
Descriptive survey method was employed for the present study. Random sampling
technique was used for selection of sample. The sample consisted of 300 higher
secondary school students of six West Bengal governments aided higher
secondary schools of Bankura. A Likert type scale for assessment of student’s
environmental ethics was developed and standardized for the study. The data was
organized and statistically analyzed by using Chi-Square technique and it was
found that there was no significant difference in environmental ethics among
higher secondary school students in respect of their gender and academic stream.
However, the analysis in respect of locality it was revealed that there was a
significant difference in the environmental ethics between Rural and Urban
students.
Key Words: Environmental Ethics, Environmental Education, Higher Secondary
School, Gender, Locality, Academic Stream.
Introduction
Environment means the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal,
or plant lives or operates. It includes air, water, land dynamically the inter-
relationship that exists between these and human beings; other living creatures,
plants, micro-organism and property. The word environment embraces the
conditions or influences under which any organism or things exists, lives or
develops. The environment in which we live is very important and it directly
affects our lives. We cannot exist without environment. The relationship between
1. Research Scholar, Department of Education, University of Kalyani

Email : nandinibanerjee11@gmail.com
2. Research Scholar, Department of Education, University of Kalyan
Email : amarnathdas2011@gmail.com
3. Research Scholar, Department of Education, University of Kalyan
Email : db.ku@rediffmail.com
the man and environment has been established in the early periods itself. Human
being live in the kingdom of nature and interact with it constantly. The influence
of nature in the form of the air he breathes, the water he drinks, the food he eats,
and the flow of energy and information. Any change in the environment cannot
only result in devastating effects, but can also pose a threat to the human race.
Today man is living in a world of crises. In recent decades, global problems
relating to degradation of natural resources and pollution have increased
dramatically. Natural resources are depleted by excessive use. Many efforts are
being made to make people aware about environmental protection. The term
environmental ethics has a broad meaning. It not only implies motivation about
environment but also value and necessary skills to solve the environmental
problem. Only education can make man aware, conscious and knowledgeable
about environment and environmental problems. Environmental education with
active participation in environmental activities is an important tool through
which the goals of environmental motivation for higher environmental ethics
can be achieved easily. This is the crucial time for inculcate the environmental
ethics among the masses particularly among students.
Environmental ethics has given a new dimension to the conservation of
natural resources and it is one of the major concerns of mankind. It is the
discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to,
and also the value and moral status of the environment and its nonhuman
contents. It is the examination and discussion of people’s obligations towards
the environment. It brings about the fact that all the life forms on Earth have a
right to live. To take part in an environmental organization or voluntarily involve
in various environmental activities is known as participation in environmental
activities. We explore whether environmental motivation affects environmental
behavior by focusing on volunteering. The environmental motivation has a strong
impact on individuals’ voluntary engagement in environmental organizations. A
higher level of environmental motivation due to higher environmental ethics may
lead to higher level of participation in environmental activities. To achieve the
participation of the community, environmental ethics must be provided to the
entire community through environmental education.
If we want to generate the environmental values in our students we have to
show eco-friendly behavior. A number of research works have been taken up
in this respect. But being a location specific issue, research on environmental
ethics should be under taken in different parts of the country for developing a
clear understanding and perspective of the issues involved.
It is pathetic to notice that younger generation of India is much behind in
concern for environmental balance. Compulsory environmental education at all
94
Banerjee, Das and Bhattacharyya
level in education system as directed by Hon’ble Supreme Court is the most

appropriate strategy towards environmental protection. That’s why we are felt
need to study environmental ethics of higher secondary students of Bankura
district.
Justification of the Study
One of the gravest situations in the present world is pollution and loss of natural
resources. The district of Bankura is no exception to it. The rate of population
of this district has increased to a great dimension during last some decades.
Resultantly, the area of the town has enlarged. As a result, natural forest and
resources is getting spoilt. So it has a significant effect on population, creatures,
soil and atmosphere. The influence of industrialization has added fuel to it.
Some industries that are polluting have been spread in various parts of this
district. This pollution is gravely affecting soil and water, as a result of which
it is affecting farming and health of human beings. The way of coming out
of this problem is to create environmental ethics in every step of life. The first
step of this will start from school. Because the future denizens are made from
here. If the environmental motivation is increased to a great extent, the students
will be able to attain the higher environmental ethics which may lead to higher
level of participation in environmental activities that will help to grow this
environment more beautiful. So the students of H.S. level from some schools of
Bankura district are included in the present study.
Definitions of Some Important Terms

X Environment: Environment means the surroundings or conditions in
which a person, animal or plant lives or operates.
X Environmental Ethics: Environmental ethics is one’s beliefs about nature,
which are based upon but exceed science, have everything to do with beliefs
about duty. Environmental ethics is the only ethics that breaks out of
culture. It has to evaluate nature that mixes with culture and wild nature,
and to judge duty thereby.
X Environmental Education: Environmental Education means a process of
developing a world population, i.e. aware of and concerned about the total
environment and its associated problems, and which has the knowledge,
skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment to work individually and
collectively toward solutions of current problems and the prevention of new
one.
X Students: A volunteer participant chosen from the population of students
from the higher secondary level of the schools of Bankura district.
X Gender: It means either sex, i.e. male and female.
95
X Locality: It includes some rural and urban areas of Bankura district.

X Academic Stream: The term means stream of Arts and Science of H.S.
level.
Objectives
X To study the environmental ethics of higher secondary students of rural
area of Bankura district in West Bengal.
X To study the environmental ethics of higher secondary students of Bankura
town in West Bengal.
X To compare the environmental ethics of Boys and Girls students of higher
secondary level.
X To compare the environmental ethics between students of Rural and Urban
area of higher secondary level.
X To compare the environmental ethics between Arts and Science students of
higher secondary level.
Hypotheses
X H01: There is no significant difference in the environmental ethics between
Boys and Girls students of higher secondary level of Bankura district in
West Bengal.
Rural and Urban students of higher secondary level of Bankura district in
West Bengal.
Arts and Science students of higher secondary level of Bankura district in
West Bengal..
Methodology
The method of the present study is a descriptive survey method.
Sample
A sample of 300 students of higher secondary level has been selected by
adopting the random sampling techniques in the present study. The selected
sample has been divided into three different groups on the basis of sex, locality
and academic streams. All the students are from six Bengali medium higher
secondary govt. aided schools situated in the district of Bankura.
Tool Used
On the basis of the objectives of the study the investigators developed a Likert
type scale as tool for assessment of student’s environmental ethics which was
96
standardized and used in the present study. The present test contains 20, all
positive, statement each indicating one aspect of environmental ethics. The five
response alternates are–strongly agree; agree; undecided; disagree; strongly
disagree and scoring weights assigned are: strongly agree–5; agree–4;
undecided–3; disagree–2; strongly disagree–1.
Analysis of Data
The data have been analyzed by SPSS statistical software. Chi-Square test was
the statistical techniques used for carrying out the analysis and interpretation
of the data collected for measuring the environmental ethics of higher secondary
students.
Result
The major findings of the study have been presented and discussed.
Table 1 : Showing the level of Environmental Ethics

Environmental Ethics Score Range
Low 0 – 35
Moderate 35 – 70
High 70 – 100
Table 2 : Environmental Ethics of Boys & Girls Students of Higher

Secondary Schools
Environmental Ethics
Low Moderate High
Boys 45(29.6) 51(33.6) 56(36.8)
Girls 39(26.4) 43(29.1) 66(44.6)
F2 1.88
Percentages are given in the bracket
After analysis of the data it is found that there is no significant difference

between Boys and Girls students in regards of their Environmental Ethics. The
calculated value of F2 with df = 2 is 1.88 at 0.05 level of Significance is less
than the table value 5.99 (Table 2). So, the null hypothesis is accepted. It is
observed that majority of the Boys and Girls students had higher levels of
Environmental Ethics.
97
Table 3 : Environmental ethics of Higher Secondary School

Students residing in Rural & Urban area
Variable Environmental Ethics F2 df P Value

(Locality)
Low Moderate High
Rural Frequency 20 35 81 21.41 2 0.000022
% 14.7 25.7 59.6
Urban Frequency 37 73 54
% 22.6 44.5 32.9
*Significant at 0.05 level of Significance
It is observed from the Table 3 that there has a significant difference between
students residing in Rural and Urban area in regards of their Environmental
Ethics. The calculated value of F2 with df = 2 is 21.41 at 0.05 level of
Significance is much greater than the table value 5.99. So, the null hypothesis
is rejected. Rural students found to have higher levels of Environmental Ethics
compared to Urban students.
Table 4 : Environmental ethics of Higher Secondary School Students

belonging to Arts & Science streams
Variable Environmental Ethics F2

(Academic Stream)
Low Moderate High
Arts Frequency 49 54 58 0.14
% 30.4 33.5 36.02
Science Frequency 41 45 53
% 29.4 32.3 38.1
After analysis of the data it is found from the Table No–4 that there are no
significant difference between students belonging to Arts and Science streams in
regards of their Environmental Ethics. The calculated value of F2 with df = 2
is 0.14 at 0.05 level of Significance is less than the table value 5.99. So, the null
hypothesis is accepted. It is observed that majority of Arts and Science students
had higher levels of Environmental Ethics.
98
Figure : Level of Environmental Ethics in relation to Variables
Conclusion
On 22nd November, 1991 Hon’ble Justice of Supreme Court passed an order
stating that Environmental Science ought to be included in the syllabus of all the
Educational Board of State Governments and this should be made compulsory.
As a result, this subject is taught in every school for some years. In our survey
it is found that despite having differences in case of gender and academic
streams, there are no significant difference in case of environmental ethics. From
this point of view it may be said that the positive effect of environmental ethics
has been created among learners by environmental education. That speaks of the
learners’ environmental motivation due to higher environmental ethics. On the
other hand as far as the locality is considered students in rural schools had better
environmental ethics as compared to students in urban schools. The reason could
be that rural students get more exposure to open nature than urban students.
So, more emphasis should be given on development of Environmental Ethics
through theoretical knowledge as well as project work, educational tour, debate
etc. among the students of urban schools.
Educational Implication
In the perspective of environmental ethics two things are necessary. First of all
one’s beliefs about nature and the other is its reflection in behaviour. So, along
with theoretical knowledge project work, educational tour, debate etc. are to
be inculcated with a view to having concrete knowledge of culture and nature
99
and if skilled teachers are included in it, the goals of environmental motivation
for higher environmental ethics can be achieved easily. Not only students, but
also other peoples like guardians, interested persons in education and social
institutions are to be included and as such its total reflection will protect the
society and environment. As a result, this earth will be a good habitat for all.
References
Bryan Norton, (1984): Environmental Ethics and Weak Anthropocentrism, Environmental
Ethics Vol. 6, pp. 131-148.
Jonson B., & Christensen L., (2008) : Educational Research (3rd edition), New Delhi,
Sage Publication.
Obusegen A., (2007): The Study on Student Knowledge Towards Pollution, The Social
Science Medwell Journals, Vol. 2, Issue. 3, pp. 283-286.
Prayoon W., & Prasart N., (2011): Effects of Environmental Ethics Infusion Instruction
on Knowledge and Ethics of Undergraduate Students, Research Journal of
Environmental Sciences, Vol. 5, pp. 77-81.
Quinn C., Burbach, Mark E., Matkin, Gina S., Flores K., (2009): Critical Thinking for
Natural Resource, Agricultural, and Environmental Ethics Education, A Journal
of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education, Vol. 38, pp. 221-227.
Robert E.G., (1990): International Ethics and the Environmental Crisis, Ethics &
International Affairs, Vol. 4, Issue.1, pp. 91–105.
Saha (2007): Ecology and Environmental Biology, Books and Allied (P) Ltd., Kolkata.
Sengupta M., Das J., & Maji R.K., (2010): Environmental Awareness and Environment
Related Behavior of Twelfth Grade Students in Kolkata : Effects of Stream and
Gender, Anwesa, vol. 5.
Shari L.B. (2002): Environmental Ethics in Middle School Students: Analysis of the
Moral Orientation of Student Responses to Environment Dilemmas, On-line
Research in Middle Level Education, Research Journal of Environmental
Sciences, Vol. 5, pp. 77-81.
Shukla & Chandel, (1972): Plant Ecology and Soil Science, S. Chand and Company Ltd.,
New Delhi.
100
Environmental Knowledge of Secondary School Students

in West Bengal
Bijan Sarkar*
Abstract
Industrial revolution transformed rural pattern of life. As many as 150 unique
types of organisms are estimated to go extinct every day. In the present scenario,
the urgent need for promoting change in knowledge, attitude and behaviour in
relation to the environment can well be prioritized. The main aim of Environ-
mental Education is to promote environmental knowledgeable concerning the bio-
physical environment and its associated problems and also help to solve problems
related to environment. Different conferences, commissions, committees, and
summits have emphasized the need of Environmental Education and hereby
environmental knowledge. The objectives of the paper are to find out the nature
of secondary students’ environmental knowledge and the differences in environ-
mental knowledge strata wise (gender & locality). Researcher framed four null
hypotheses. 622 students of class IX from three districts of Gangetic plane of
West Bengal was considered as sample and purposive sampling was used for
sample selection. Researcher developed a tool to measure environmental
knowledge. The validity and reliability were estimated by applying Test-Retest,
Cronbach alpha, Inter-dimension correlation. After collection of data, ‘t’ test was
applied for testing hypotheses. All null hypotheses were rejected, hence it was
found that significant differences existed gender wise and locality wise among
the secondary students.
Key Words: Environmental Education, Environmental Knowledge, Bio-Physical
Environment.
Introduction
Only a few hundred years ago, protecting the natural world was not crucial to
the survival of humanity. But the Industrial Revolution of the 1800’s transformed
this overwhelmingly rural pattern of life. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say
that human activities have brought the earth nearer to its death. As many as 150
unique types of organisms are estimated to go extinct every day (Lamont 1995).
In the present scenario, the urgent need for promoting change in knowledge,
attitude and behaviour in relation to the environment can well be prioritized.
* Assistant Professor, Deptt. of Education, Kalyani University
As the present global trends indicate that we have failed to hold on to

environment related values, attitudes, consciousness and awareness, we need an
educational involving with man’s relationship with his natural and man–made
surroundings. This implies that Environmental Education (EE) is a necessity.
EE is aimed at producing a citizenry that is knowledgeable about the bio-physical
environment and its associated problems, is aware of how to help solve these
problems and motivated to work towards their solutions.EE should make the
individual concerned about the environment and its associated problems, and be
equipped with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, and commitment to
work individually and collectively toward solutions of current problems and the
prevention of new ones (Stapp et al., 1969).
The early 70s witnessed the initial impetus to a worldwide interest into
formulating strategies of facing the crisis of environmental degradation. In 1970,
the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
Commission of Education emphasized the need of EE. In June 1972, the
representatives of various nations of the world met at the International
Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm. Subsequent to this came the
Tbilisi Declaration, this is considered to be one of the most important seminal
documents in EE. It was the world’s first Intergovernmental Conference on EE,
and was organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the UNEP which was
convened in Tbilisi, Georgia (USSR) from 14 to 26 October 1977. Ten years
later, the ‘Tbilisi Plus 10’ International Congress on Environmental Education
and Training was held in Moscow in 1987. The UN Conference on Environment
and Development (1992), known as the Earth Summit was held at Rio de Janeiro.
It gave high priority in its Agenda 21 to the role of education in pursuing the kind
of development that would respect and nurture the natural environment. The
Johannesburg Summit (2002) broadened the vision of sustainable development
and re-affirmed the educational objectives of the Millennium Development
Goals. All these conferences and summits have emphasized the need of EE and
hereby environmental knowledge.
Hungerford, Litherland, Peyton, Ramsey & Volk (1996) in their study
‘Investigating and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Actions’ had described
the characteristics of an environmentally literate citizen as people with-
environmental sensitivity, knowledge of ecological concepts, knowledge of
problems and issues, skill in identifying, analyzing, investigating, and evaluating
problems and solutions, beliefs and values, knowledge of action strategies, skill
in using action strategies, and internal Locus of Control.
Kumari, et. al, (2006) in their study on ‘Environmental Awareness, Environ-
mental Attitude and Intentional Ecological Behaviour among Adolescents’ tried
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to find out the relationship among environmental awareness, environmental

attitude and intentional ecological behaviour. The results indicated that majority
of respondents fall in the category of high awareness level. That is 72% of girls
and 66% of boys were found to have high environmental awareness levels.
Leeming et al. (1993) reviewed 34 studies published between 1974 and 1991
that showed changes in environmental knowledge, attitudes or behaviours. One
half was categorised as classroom interventions and the other half as out-of-class
interventions. For the former, nine out of 17 studies reported significant positive
changes in environmental knowledge, attitudes or behaviours. Three of these
studies revealed no significant changes and the rest showed either mixed or
inconclusive results. Many of these studies involved classroom interventions
with a duration less than eight weeks and students varying from 3rd grade (9–
10 years old) to 12th grade (18–19 years old).
Palmberg (1997) in the research publication ‘Environmental Knowledge,
Attitudes and Actions among Finnish Secondary School Pupils’ had examined
the knowledge, attitudes and practical actions in environmental issues among
245 randomly selected 15-year-old pupils in seven Swedish-language secondary
schools by using a questionnaire produced for this purpose. The level of the
general knowledge about environmental problems was high, but the under-
standing of these problems, as well as, the pupils’ own roles in solving problems
was unexpectedly low.
Frick (2004) in her thesis entitled ‘Environmental knowledge: Structure,
relevance for attitudes, and behavioral effectiveness’ had started with theoretical
models, which assumed that environmental knowledge was an important
precondition for pro-environmental, or conservation, behaviour. Accordingly, a
large part of EE relied on imparting knowledge as a means of promoting
conservation behaviour. After considering these facts researcher considered the
followings as the objectives of the study and framed the hypotheses.
Objectives
X To find out the nature of the environmental knowledge of secondary
students.
X To find out the differences in environmental knowledge strata wise (gender
& locality).
X To develop a tool for measuring environmental knowledge of secondary
students.
X To measure the environmental knowledge of secondary students.
103
Hypotheses
X HO.1 : There exists no significant difference in the mean scores of
environmental knowledge between boys and girls
environmental knowledge between rural and urban students
environmental knowledge between urban boys and rural boys
environmental knowledge between urban girls and rural girls
Method and Materials

This study was quantitative in nature and Descriptive Survey approach was
applied for conducting the research.
Variables: Environmental knowledge of the secondary students of West
Bengal was considered as the dependent variable and the independent
variables are gender and location in this study.
Sample: 622 students of class IX from three districts of Gangetic plane of WB
was considered as the sample and purposive sampling was used for sample
selection.
Tool used: Researcher developed a tool to measure environmental knowledge.
After item analysis 30 items were selected. The validity and reliability
were estimated by applying Test-Retsest, Cronbach alpha, Inter-dimension
correlation and they were found sufficient for the study.
Analysis and Interpretation

After collecting the data researcher used different descriptive and inferential
statistics. At first, the researcher confirmed the assumptions regarding using
parametric test. Then the data were analyzed by applying t-test.
Table 1 : ‘t’-test: Environmental Knowledge between Boys and Girls

EK N Mean SD SEm df t
Boys 303 14.45 4.60 0.26
620 3.81**
Girls 319 13.07 4.37 0.24
**significant at 0.01 level
The‘t’ value was found to be significant; therefore the corresponding null
hypothesis (HO.1) was rejected. As such, it could be inferred that there existed
104
Sarkar
significant difference in the mean scores of environmental knowledge of boys

and girls.
Table 2 : ‘t’-test: Environmental Knowledge between Urban Students
and Rural Students
Urban 279 16.00 5.24 0.32
620 11.80**
Rural 343 11.91 2.72 0.15
The‘t’ value was found to be significant, therefore the corresponding null
significant difference in the mean scores of environmental knowledge of urban
and rural students.
Table 3 : ‘t’-test: Environmental Knowledge between Urban Boys and

Rural Boys
Urban Boys 115 18.76 3.79 0.35
301 17.19**
Rural Boys 188 11.82 2.66 0.19

and rural boys.
Table 4 : ‘t’-test: Environmental Knowledge between Urban Girls and

Rural Girls
EK N Mean SD SEm Df t
Urban Girls 131 14.10 5.81 0.51
317 3.17**
Rural Girls 188 12.37 2.78 0.20

105

and rural girls.
Conclusion
On the basis of the statistical analysis and interpretation the findings of the
present study could be reiterated as below:
X Significant difference was found in the mean scores of environmental
knowledge of rural and urban students, wherein the environmental
knowledge scores were significantly higher in case of urban students.
X Significant difference was found in the mean scores of environmental
knowledge of boys and girls, wherein, the environmental knowledge of
boys was significantly higher.
X Significant difference existed in the mean scores of environmental
knowledge of rural and urban boys, wherein; the scores were significantly
higher in case of urban boys.
X Similarly, significant difference was found in the mean scores of
environmental knowledge of rural and urban girls, wherein, the scores were
significantly higher in case of urban girls.
References
Frick J., (2004). Environmental knowledge: Structure, relevance for attitudes, and
behavioural effectiveness. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Zurich, Germany.
Hungerford H., Litherland R., Peyton R., Ramsey J., & Volk T., (1996). Investigating
and Evaluating Environmental Issues and Actions. Champaign, IL: Stipes
Publishing Co.
Kumari C., Kumar S., Gauraha M., & Tripati B., (2006). Environmental Awareness,
Environmental Attitude and Intentional Ecological Behaviour among Adolescents.
University News, 44(12), 159–163.
Lamont B.B., (1995). Testing the effect of ecosystem composition/ structure on its
functioning. Nordic society Oikos, 74(2), 283-295. Oikos.
Leeming F.C., Dwyer W.O., Porter B.E., & Cobern M.K., (1993). Outcome research in
environmental education: A critical review. Journal of Environmental Education,
24(4), 8–21.
Palmberg I., (1997). Environmental knowledge, attitudes and actions among Finnish
secondary school pupils. Paper presented at ATEE-97, Association of Teacher
Education in Europe (Macerata, Italy 26-30.8.1997), Proceedings, p. 106-107.
Stapp W.B., et al. (1969). The Concept of Environmental Education. Journal of Environ-
mental Education, Heldref publication, 1(1), 30-31. Washington DC-20036.
106
Factors Affecting the Subject Choice of Muslim Girls in

Higher Education
Fauzia Khan1 and Ambreen Yusafi2
Abstract
The beginning of college education is a very important step in the life of a woman.
The choices made at this stage form the basis of their career or future
occupation.There are many factors that influence all the Indian women,
particularly the most suppressed group among them, the Muslim women, while
choosing their subjects and course. Thus the various sociological factors that
influence Muslim women students in deciding their subjects at university level
were considered to be an important research area. Thus the investigator
formulated the research design for the given study. The study reveals that the
subject choices of Muslim women students are influenced by many social factors.
Family influence emerged as the major determining factor in decision of the girl
student’s choice of subjects at college/university. Medium of instruction, type of
residence, study room, caste and type of the family, parent’s education, occupation
and income, type of education received, religiosity, moral support from relatives
and teachers and socio-economic status are the other major factors.
Key Words: Subject Choice, Muslim Girls
Introduction
Since the last few years, women education has got a paramount point in much of
the discussion of educationists, policy makers, social activities and even general
people. There have been discussions about the reasons to educate women, the
type of education they should get and its purpose it would serve. Generally
Indian society characterized as patriarchal. The general perception of people
is that the females are inferior, weaker and less intelligent than men. They are
not equal so they should not be given equal opportunities. Ironically, due to
prevalent prejudices in the society, women themselves internalizedthis mindset
and started to believe that they are not and can never be equal to men. The
women are commonly considered for the role for domestic and reproduction
purpose. Consequently it adversely affected the education of women. There are
1. Professor, IASE, Jamia Millia Islamia

2. Research Scholar, IASE, Jamia Millia Islamia
also other factors which keep the education out of reach of women like negative
social attitude, restrictions, family pressures, etc.
After critically examining the related literature, the investigator found that
many of these studies are comparative studies of perceptions of males and
females, students of different streams, etc. in different prospects of education.
There are some studies about vocational interests, occupational choices, factors
affecting occupational choices, career organizations of the younger generation,
particularly women.After critical and careful examination of the given studies
and their findings, the investigator identified certain gaps which could be filled
up with an empirical survey type study. The beginning of college education is
a very important step in the life of a woman. The choices made at this stage
form the basis of their career or future occupation. There are many factors that
influence all the Indian women, particularly the most suppressed group among
them, the Muslim women, while choosing their subjects and course. Thus the
various sociological factors that influence Muslim women students in deciding
their subjects at university level were considered to be an important research
area. Thus the investigator formulated the research design for the given
study.
The objective of this paper is to find out the reasons that influence Muslim
girls to choose a particular course. The schools should acknowledge various
sociological factors that influence a Muslim girl to choose her subjects at college
level. These girls will then get proper understanding of various fields open to
them and they will become more efficient to achieve their best opportunities and
abilities. As in any other developing society, Indian society also has great gender
bias in context of education. Being a minority community, Muslim girls are
the most suppressed members to face this bias. The families of Muslim girls,
their culture, traditions, society and even educational institutions play a very
important role in influencing these girls for their subject choices. This study
is limited to the Muslim girls studying in two central universities of Delhi i.e.
Jamia Millia Islamia and the University of Delhi. Study is conducted in keeping
the objective to find out whether Muslim women face any discrimination while
making their subject choice as well as while in the process of choosing subject
whether these girls have made for reasons other than their interests and aptitude.
Our survey also focused on the special needs of a professional guidance and
counseling while making subject choices. Consequently it helps us to examine
the various factors affecting the aspirations of Muslim girls and to establish a
relationship between perception of courses and variables of students like–Socio
economic factors (residential conditions, parents’ education and occupation etc.)
or Socio-cultural factors (religion, caste, modernity, etc.).
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Khan and Yusafi
Sampling and Method

A sample of 400 Muslim girl students in different courses at University of
Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia was taken for the study. Samples were basically
derived from graduation class of education, science, arts and commerce and
30 students each from post-graduation of arts and science stream were taken.
Numbers of sample were equally taken from both girls and co-educational
colleges affiliated to the above mention universities. The procedure of sampling
was random selection. The courses included in the study were Graduation
Courses in Education, Science, Arts and Commerce and Post Graduate Courses
in Science and Arts from Jamia Millia Islamia and different colleges of
University of Delhi.
Factors Affecting the Subject Choice

The factors affecting the subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
are represented below.
1. Medium of Instruction
Figure 1 : Medium of instruction and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Among the Muslim girls studied at English medium schools 48.7% are perusing
science, 31.8% perusing Arts and 19.5% perusing commerce. Among those
studied at Urdu medium schools 48% are perusing science, 42% perusing Arts
and 10% perusing commerce. But, among those studied at Hindi medium
schools 49.3% are perusing commerce, 42.5% perusing Arts and 8.2% perusing
science. This shows that those students who have studied in English and Urdu
Mediums Schools are more inclined almost equally towards science, while Hindi
medium students favor commerce or arts.
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2. Nativity
Figure 2 : Nativity and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher

education
Among the Muslim girls of Native Delhi 45.6% are perusing arts, 29.6%
perusing science and 24.8% perusing commerce. Among the Muslim girls of
Native UP 67% are perusing science, 22% perusing commerce and 11%
perusing arts. Among the Muslim girls of Native Other State 60% are perusing
science, 20% perusing commerce and 20% perusing arts. Maximum number
of students belonging to Delhi had opted for art subjects. It shows that Delhi
based Muslim girls’ families do not give much importance to commerce and
science stream. The reason may be that these families have settled in Delhi
after coming from other places. The main objective for them remains to become
settled rather than to go for education. Considering the case of Uttar Pradesh,
it was observed that maximum percentage of students have opted for science,
may be the parent of these girls are more practical and pragmatic in nature.
They are aware that study of science is an important for survival in this
technology-driven world. So they stress on study of science by their daughters.
Same is the case of families belonging to other states. Here also, the maximum
number of students has opted for science stream.
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Khan and Yusafi
3. Longtime Residents
Figure 3 : Longtime residents and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Among the Muslim girls of staying in Delhi more than 10 years 43.7% are
perusing arts, 32.7% perusing science and 23.7% perusing commerce.Those who
are newly in Delhi 67% are perusing science, 24% perusing commerce and 9%
perusing arts.This shows that those students whose families had been living
in Delhi for more than ten years have opted for arts stream. The girls who are
in Delhi for less than 10 years have preferred Science stream. It indicates that
there is change in attitude of people who have recently migrated to Delhi.
4. Number of Rooms in Residence
Figure 4 : Number of rooms and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher

education
Among the Muslim girls those are staying in single room residents 64.4% are
perusing arts, 23.3% are perusing commerce and 12.2% are perusing science.
Among the double room residents 61.7% are perusing science, 20% are perusing
111
arts and 18.3% are perusing commerce.Among multi room residents 34.6% are
This shows that those students having only single-rooms house mostly opt for
art. The reason for this may be that lack of separate room with privacy compelled
them to opting comparatively easier course. The students who live in a two
room house mostly opt for science. The reason may be that they have separate
space to study where they can concentrate on their studies. So they can give
more attention to difficult subject like science. Those having a three room are
almost fairly equally distributed in science, arts and commerce.
5. Separate Study Rooms
Figure 5 : Study room and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
Among the Muslim girls those who have separate study room 91.3% are
perusing science, 6.3% are perusing commerce and 2.5% are perusing arts.
Among those not have study, 43.1% are perusing arts, 28.8% are perusing
science and 28.1% are perusing commerce. This shows that those girls who
did not have a separate study room mostly opted for arts. The girls who have
a separate room tend to study science.
6. Caste
Figure 6 : Caste and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
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Khan and Yusafi
Among the general category Muslim girls 58.7% are perusing science, 23%
are perusing arts and 18.3% are perusing commerce.Among OBC 51.2% are
Among the ST 50% are perusing arts, 25% are perusing commerce and 25%
are perusing science.This shows that OBC students have mostly opted for arts
stream followed by commerce and science. The students from general category
have mostly opted for science followed by in arts and commerce.
7. Family Type
Figure 7 : Family type and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
Among the Muslim girls from the nuclear family 49.7% are perusing science,
29.5% are perusing arts and 20.9% are perusing commerce.Among joint family
52% are perusing arts, 32.7% are perusing commerce and 15.3% are perusing
science.This shows that from nuclear families majority opted for science,
followed by arts and commerce. The reason may be that these girls live in small
families, so they find enough time and space to study science. Girls, who live
in joint families, mostly opt for arts.
8. Education of Parents
Figure 8 : Education of parents and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
113
Among the Muslim girls whose fathers are highly educated 55.2% are perusing
science, 23.7% are perusing commerce and 21.1% are perusing arts. Among
those students whose mothers are highly educated 50.4% are perusing science,
25.3% are perusing arts and 24.2% are perusing commerce. This shows that
among highly educated parents tend to opt for science, followed by commerce.
This reveals that if parents have higher qualifications, their daughters are
strongly influenced by it and they tend to opt for science streams. The students
who had less educated parents, mostly opted for arts.
9. Occupation of Parents
Figure 9 : Occupation of father and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Among the Muslim girls whose fathers are government employees 43.8% are
perusing science, 42% are perusing arts and 14.3% are perusing commerce.
Among the students whose fathers are businessmen 44.4% are perusing
commerce, 33.3% are perusing arts and 22.2% are perusing science. Among
the students whose fathers are working in private sector 43.4% are perusing
arts, 38.7% are perusing science 17.9% are perusing commerce. This shows
that the students whose fathers are in government and private jobs nearly equally
distributed in science and arts streams. The girls from business families show
more inclination in commerce than in arts or science. Another trend observed
is that girls whose fathers have technical or professional jobs, these girls mostly
opt for science subjects. Majority girls from agricultural families opted arts
stream.
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Khan and Yusafi
Figure 10 : Occupation of mother and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Among the students whose mothers are working as housewife 37.3% are
perusing commerce, 31.6% are perusing science and 31% are perusing arts.
Among the students whose mothers are working as government employees
48.7% are perusing arts, 44.2% are perusing science and 7.1% are perusing
commerce. This shows that the mothers who are in government jobs, their
daughters tend to be more inclined towards arts, closely followed by science.
The reason may be that as the mothers have stable jobs, they are more relaxed
and tend to encourage their daughters for taking up science or arts. The mothers
who are in private jobs, their daughters are equal in number in commerce and
science i.e. they are care more about the trends of the world and send their
daughters into complex and competitive fields like commerce and science. The
professional or technical mothers send their daughter maximum into science,
with very small number into commerce or arts.
10. Family Income
Figure 11 : Family income and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
The Muslim girls Students whose family income are 25,000 or above 48.5%
are perusing science, 28.8% are perusing commerce and 22.7% are perusing
115
arts.Students whose family income level are 10,000-25,000 43.3% are perusing
science, 36.2% are perusing arts and 20.5% are perusing commerce.Students
whose family income level are 5,000-10,000 65.9% are perusing arts, 25% are
perusing commerce and 9.1% are perusing science.This shows that students fall
within the income group of between 10,000-Rs.25000, opted for science,
followed by commerce. Maximum number of students of income group ‘above
Rs. 25000’ opts for science. This is because science is comparatively expensive
to study, so higher income group girls favor it. The students from the lower
income group selected arts more than commerce or science, as it is inexpensive
and does not require much fees.
11. Type of Education
Figure 12 : Type of education and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Among the Muslim girls who passed out from co-education 47.7% are perusing
science, 31.4% are perusing arts and 20.9% are perusing commerce.Among
those passed out from girl’s school and girls colleges 50.7% are perusing arts,
36% are perusing commerce and 13.3% are perusing science.This shows that
most of the co-ed girls had opted for science stream. The reason may be the
feel more competitive when students of both the sexes are present. On the other
hand, in girls colleges, there is only a single sex i.e. girls, so the competitive
spirit is somewhat lost, as most the girls of girls colleges had chosen arts stream,
followed by commerce stream, with very small number of girls in science
stream.
12. First Choice

Among the Muslim girls who got their first choice subject 46.6% are perusing
science, 31.4% are perusing arts and 22% are perusing commerce.Among those
who didn’t get their first choice subject 63% are perusing arts, 37% are perusing
commerce.This shows that all the students of science stream had their first
choice in school, while 82% of commerce students only got their first choice
116
Khan and Yusafi
and 78% of arts students only got their first choice. This indicates that most
of the students who could not get their first choice in school are in the arts
stream. The main reason for this was found to be parental pressure, followed by
financial reasons. The parents did not want their daughters to study science and
moreover science was comparatively expensive to study than arts due to high
fee structure of the courses in science after senior secondary. Although all of the
science students said that they got their first choice, but still many were there
as they could not get admission to medical or engineering so they joined B.Sc.
The students of arts and commerce who could not get their desired stream in
college were mostly influenced by their friends’ choice, followed by parental
pressure. Thus it was found that girls mostly decide their subjects according
to their friend’s choice or their parents and family. Maximum changeover was
observed in arts students where many of arts students had changed their streams
from school to college. The students either studied science or commerce at
school level, but had to take up arts at college level. Some of commerce students
had changed their streams, these were earlier science students in school, but
they took up commerce in college. The researcher tried to find out the reasons
for the changeover, and main reasons were either friends’ choice or financial
reasons or parental discouragement to study science.
13. Counseling
The Muslim girls those received counseling 75% are perusing science, 25% are
perusing commerce.This shows that students who did not receive any guidance
or counseling in their school to choose their subjects, used to discuss their choice
of subjects with their parents, elder siblings or tuition teachers. Most of the
girls felt the need of professional guidance and counseling for selection of
career, course and college.
14. Gender Stereotype
Among the Muslim girls who are coming from gender stereotype background
51% are perusing arts.Many students did not consider their gender before
choosing the stream. Most of these girls were science students. It shows the
changing mindsets of people towards education of girls. Out of those girls who
did keep their gender in mind before opting for a course were arts students.
This indicates that there still exists some sort of gender bias in some families.
They do not want their daughters to study science or commerce, so they chose
a comparatively ‘safe’ course for their daughters i.e. arts.
15. Friends in Similar Stream

The Muslim girls who selected subject due to their friends’ studies in similar
stream 49.6% are perusing arts. This shows that many arts students had the
117
course as taken by their best friend. In those students whose best friends had
chosen dissimilar course than them, most of them belonged to science, followed
by commerce. This reveals that science students are least influenced by their
friends choice followed by commerce students.
16. Satisfaction
Among the Muslim girls who are satisfied at present course 59.4% are perusing
science, 32.3% are perusing commerce and 8.3% are perusing arts. Among the
dis-satisfied students 88.9% are arts students.This shows that among the
satisfied mostly are science students followed by commerce students. In the
moderately satisfied group, most of the students belong to arts stream. Among
students are dissatisfied with the course they are pursuing and most of them
are from arts group.
17. Moral Support

Among the Muslim girls who are getting moral support from relatives 40.8% are
perusing science.Among those who are not getting moral support from relatives
91.7% are perusing arts and 8.3% are perusing commerce. In most of the cases
it is either the parents or elder siblings who keep a watch over the students.
Most of these students are science students. In case of commerce students, tutors
keep a watch over the progress of their students. Still there is one category
where no one takes care of the girls’ studies, most of them belong to arts stream.
18. Parents Interaction

The Muslim girls those who have parent’s interaction in education majority are
perusing science and those who are not having parental interaction majority are
perusing arts. Majority of parents interacted with their daughters occasionally
i.e. twice or thrice in a week. These students were almost equally distributed in
science and arts. Among parents daily interacted, these are mostly from science
stream. Among parents never interacted mostly are from arts.
19. Future Job Planning
Figure 13: Future planning and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher education
118
Khan and Yusafi
Among the Muslim girls those are planning for job 46.5% are perusing
science, 31.9% are perusing arts and 21.5% are perusing commerce. Those
who are planning for marriage preference 54.7% are perusing arts, 22.6% are
perusing science and 22.6% are perusing commerce. This shows that among
those want to join job after the course,mostly are from science, followed
by arts and commerce stream. Most of the students wanted to establish a
career and most of them belonged to science. The students who wanted
to become housewives were all arts students. Those who want to be teaching
jobs maximum numbers of student are from Science, those who want to be
research scientist, maximum come from science. Those girls, who want to
be computer experts or business women, mostly are from commerce stream.
Among the girls who want government jobs or administrative jobs are almost
equally distributed in all the three streams. When asked about reasons to
choose this particular career, half percent of students cited this was their
own decision, some took this decision under family influence and others cited
financial reasons. All the students who wanted to be housewife belonged to
arts stream. The main reasons comes out to be marriage preference followed
by own choice and family reasons.
20. Religiosity
Figure 14 : Religiosity and subject choice of Muslim girls in higher

education
Among the Muslim girls from highly religious family 47.1% are perusing
science, 45.7% are perusing arts and 7.2% are perusing commerce. Among
those from no religious family 66.7% are perusing science, 16.7% are perusing
arts and 16.7% are perusing commerce. This shows that highly religious girls
mostly have taken either science or arts. Moderately religious families have
maximum number of students in commerce, where there are mostly science
students belonging to not religious families.
119
21. Socio-Economic Status
Figure 15 : Socio-economic status and subject choice of Muslim girls in

higher education
Those Muslim girls who are from upper class 53.2% are perusing commerce,
30.6% are perusing science and 16.1% are perusing arts. Among those who
are from lower class 50% are perusing arts, 32.1% are perusing commerce and
17.9% are perusing science. Upper class families, majority chose commerce
followed by science. Most of the girls belonging to lower middle class chose
arts.
Summary of Findings
The study reveals that the subject choices of Muslim women students are
influenced by many social factors. Family influence emerged as the major
determining factor in decision of the girl student’s choice of subjects and
college/university. More than one-third of girls chose arts stream under family
influence. Similar number of girls chose science stream. One-third of girls chose
their college according to their family wishes. The type of family i.e. nuclear or
joint also plays an important role. About half of girls of nuclear families opted
for science, and half number of girls of joint families opted for arts. Father’s and
mother’s education and occupation also played an important role. High qualified
parents tend to encourage their wards to take up science. Working mothers are
more aware about the education of their daughters.
Women are certainly discriminated on the grounds of various socio-economic
status. While selecting their courses, very few girls considered their gender.
Their families tried to push them in the so-called safe-streams and safe-careers.
While selecting a course, about one-fourth girls had responded that they had
taken the present course to become a teacher and one-third of these girls gave
the reason that teacher’s profession is best for girls. Thus for most of the Muslim
women, college education still remains confined to conventional thinking about
the various courses. Moreover, they also have to pass the various barriers for
gender biasness to get the college for higher studies.
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Khan and Yusafi
Socio-economic status also plays an important role in choice of subjects. Among

the upper class girls, more than half of them chose commerce stream. In the sample,
most of the girls were belong to upper middle class. Out of these girls, majority
chose science and only some chose arts. On the other side, girls opted for the arts
were mostly from lower middle class. Somewhere, although in small amount,
Interest is also a deciding factor for choosing subjects. About one-third of girls
chose their course according to their interest and about one-fourth of girls chose
their college according to their interest. Among the total factors influencing a girl
to choose her subject, interest comes first in case of science students, and comes
second after family, in case of arts and commerce students.
A majority of girls feel the needs of professional guidance and counseling in
schools to guide them for their career and choice of courses. The girls responded
that due to insecurity and uncertainty at that time, they often took wrong
decisions which later on affected their satisfaction levels. About one-fourth of
girls were moderately satisfied and few were totally dissatisfied by the course
being pursued by them. So they feel that there should be provision of professional
guidance and counseling at school level also.One of the interesting factors that
come out is ‘own decision’. Due to the changing mindsets of people, girls are
also becoming more confident about what they want to do in their future. About
half of girls said that the decision for choosing this particular was career their
own. Out of these girls, majority are from the science stream followed by
commerce and arts stream. Another factor which determines the career choice of
Muslim girls is, as expected, their family. About one-third of girls are influenced
by their families while choosing their careers and most of them are from science.
Financial conditions are also emerged as an important reason in the choice of
streams. Low income Muslim student often choose arts as their subjects.
When the relation between perception of course and occupational choice
was calculated, it was found that both are inter-related. The perception of course
was directly related to the occupational choice of Muslim women students. Most
of the girls were those who wanted to take up a job after completion of the
present course. Out of these girls, one-third of them want to become teachers
and some want to get a government job or administrative job.Few girls wanted
to get married after completion of the course. Most of these girls belonged to
arts stream and expressed their desire become housewives. However, very small
percentage of girls wanted to study further. Out of these, most of them wanted
to be teachers. Some wanted to do research or to get government jobs.
Conclusion
There are many restrictions on Muslim women students. The major restrictions
121
come from family and society. Majority of girls said they feel restricted due
to family, society and cultural issues. Some girls said that their parents do not
allow them to study in co-educational institutes. Some parents do not allow
their daughters to far off colleges; some girls want to go to other universities,
while some girls are not allowed to do professional courses. There were certain
girls who felt restricted due to the pressure of wearing hijab. The perception
of course is inter-related to the socio-economic status of the girls. The upper
class students mostly wanted to study further. They do not have any tension
for resources as they tend to be more luxurious in getting education. The lower
middle class students mostly want to improve their financial condition, so they
want to do job after completion of the course. Some of the girls also want
to get married so that they do not have to worry about the resources. On the
hand, upper middle class students mostly opt for science and most of them
want to do job after the completion of the course.
The perception of course is also related to socio-cultural factors. The students
who have been living in Delhi for more than ten years are more practical and
pragmatic. More than half of the girls want to do job after completion of their
courses. The girls coming from nuclear families are more confident than those
coming from joint families. Out of these girls, about half want to take up a
job after their courses. The girls of working mothers also want to become career
women. Most of them want to be teachers, some want to be government
employees and a negligible number of girls also want to be businesswomen.
Parental interaction is also a factor for the same. The girls whose parents
regularly interact with them are more confident and career-oriented than their
counterparts.The moderately religious families allow girls to go for career along
with not-religious families. Modernity of the family also plays an important role.
The orthodox families do not allow their girls to get a career, while all of the
modern and advanced families and most of the average families had daughters
who aspire to be career women.
Educational Implications: Educational implications can be summarized as
education for social upliftment of women, redesigning curriculum, provisions
of professional guidance and counseling, and education for change in attitude.
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123
Inculcating a Culture of Reflection in Pre-Service Teacher

Education
Ravneet Kaur·*
Abstract
Reflection is claimed as a goal in teacher education programmes, but its definition
and meanings are interpreted in numerous ways. NCF-2005 and NCFTE-2009
have highlighted the need for reflective teaching, yet how it might be fostered
in pre-service teachers remains a matter that requires further attention. This paper
explores the concept of reflective teaching; positions the concept of reflective
teaching within teacher education and suggests the need for a learning
environment that fosters reflective thinking in student-teachers. Student-teachers
who are educated in a ‘culture of reflection’ are more likely to become reflective
practitioners. In this particular article the author interprets reflection in form of
bridging theory-practice gap, understanding of self and others, analysing linkages
between education and the larger society in terms of inherent values, ideologies
and power relations, acceptance of multiple perspectives and so forth. Keeping
these at centre, this paper presents the insights gained through the reflections
of B.El.Ed student-teachers on a field exposure. Based on these, the last section
proposes that experiential learning through field exposures provides opportunities
to student-teachers to think and reflect.
Key Words: Reflection, Teacher Education
Introduction
The notion of reflection is not new and has been around for centuries. It has
been assigned a multitude of meanings and interpretations. The review of these
meanings and interpretations done in this section is in no way exhaustive but
sets the stage to understand reflection in teacher education.
In Dewey’s seminal book ‘How We Think’ (1933), the question of reflection
was raised. According to him, reflection begins in a state of doubt and perplexity
which for teachers begins when they encounter difficulties and challenging
situations; when things don’t go according to plans or don’t fit with their
theoretical frameworks. When a problem is not solved, a teacher moves into
a critical thinking process and reflects to find answers. In addition, reflective
* Assistant Professor, Mata Sundari College for Women, University of Delhi
Kaur·
thinking also involves value-based thinking, foresight and planning. Further,

Dewey identifies open mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness as
characteristics of reflective teachers.
Schon (1983) developed the ideas of ‘reflection-in-action’ (reflecting while
you are doing it) and ‘reflection on action’ (reflecting after you have done it).
While teaching, a teacher needs to be constantly aware and monitor the session
as it develops. This awareness allows her to ‘think on feet’ and make necessary
changes as per the demand of the situation. Post the session, she can reflect on,
analyze and evaluate the learning and teaching. This then informs the subsequent
planning and preparation leading to a cycle of continuous improvement.
Schon also makes a distinction between technical rationality and tacit
knowledge. He explains that although teachers may acquire theoretical
knowledge (technical rationality) of their subject yet there could be gaps
between the practice of teaching and learning; to simply state he highlights the
theory-practice gap. Real life experiences are important as from real life
experiences teachers develop for themselves, tacit knowledge—a synthesis of
theory and practice. Further, theory is of use when it is applied and developed
in practice. In reflective teaching, theory is applied, tested and evaluated.
Pollard (2008) suggests that when teachers start analyzing the relationship
between individual, education and society, this serves as a step in becoming
reflective practitioners. In order to reflect on their teaching, it is essential for
teachers to review and examine classrooms, where issues pertaining to values,
aims and commitments, classroom relationships are manifested. Further, Solomon
(1987) suggested that reflection is a social process and articulation of ideas with
others is crucial to the development of reflective practice.
In India, according to Gandhi, the ultimate aim of education is to develop
the whole person-body, mind and spirit; develop character and draw out the
latent talents of students. For Tagore, the highest education is that which does
not merely gives information but makes our life in harmony with all existence
(Tagore, 1921). In the Krishnamurti tradition, teachers are geared towards
reflective practice. This can be achieved through self-awareness (Krishnamurti,
1953). The aim of reflection is to look within, inward and backward at the
same time seeking to make sense of the past, recent and ongoing experiences.
It is a unique tool to develop a new and true perception of oneself and the
surrounding and enables one to deal with life situations effectively. Reflection
also helps us identify our strengths and weaknesses, goals and mission of life,
thus enhancing the development of the self.
Self-reflection involves examining how one’s beliefs and values, expectations
and assumptions, family imprinting, and cultural conditioning impacts oneself
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and one’s learning (Larrivee, 2005). It entails deep examination of values and
beliefs, embodied in the assumptions teachers make and the expectations they
have of students. Self-reflective learning promotes an understanding of oneself
in the workplace and provokes questions about one’s identity and the need for
self-change (Nikolou-Walker and Garnett, 2004). It helps people to open their
hearts and minds to the experiences of others, to acknowledge their wisdom and
understand their resources, strengths and needs (Reed and Koliba, 1995).
Through reflections, teachers take the responsibility of their own learning and
become critical to their own beliefs and teaching (Hamlin, 2004). On the other
hand, unless teachers engage in critical reflection and ongoing discovery they
stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and
expectations (Larrivee, 2000). Functioning as a reflective practitioner not only
requires specific skills but also specific attitudes (Broeder & Stokmans, 2012).
Hence, as presented above, throughout literature the term reflection and by
extension, reflective practice is being used to describe practices ranging from
analyzing aspects of teaching-learning process to considering the ethical, social
and political implications of teaching practice; the practitioner being central
to the learning process.
Reflection and Teacher Education

The need to prepare professionals who will be reflective practitioners has gained
wide acceptance and the concept of reflection has been widely used in teaching
and teacher education. Reflective teaching forms an important component of
teacher education curriculum and is considered to be significant for authentic,
valuable and continuous professional development of teachers.
As mentioned above preparing teachers for reflective teaching has been the
goal of many teacher education programmes, but how each of these
conceptualise the meaning of reflection and reflective practice within teacher
professional development may differ. It may also differ on how a particular
programme fosters reflection in student teachers. Reflection in education is not
just commonsense self-indulgent thinking but here we take it a step further and
reflect on our actions and make plans to do things differently. It is much more
deliberate, purposeful, requires linking theory and practice and about change.
In this particular article the author’s focus on reflection comes through bridging
theory-practice gap, understanding of self and others, analysing linkages
between education and the larger society in terms of inherent values, ideologies,
power relations and acceptance of multiple perspectives and so forth.
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF) envisions that schools should
be places where “children and teacher share and reflect on their individual and
collective experience without fear of judgement” (NCF 2005, p 24). The National
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Kaur·
Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (NCFTE) envisages humanistic

and liberal teacher education programmes with reflective practices as the central
objective. Its ultimate aim is to prepare humane teachers who are thinking
professionals. It envisions that, “Teacher education programmes at all stages
should provide opportunities to the would-be teachers for understanding the self
and others, develop sensibilities, the ability for self-analysis and the capacity
to reflect” (NCFTE 2009, p. 64).
However, NCFTE acknowledges the limitation that current teacher education
programmes provide little scope for student teachers to reflect on their
experiences. Despite the enormous role and importance of reflection in teacher
development, teachers seem unable to engage effectively in reflective practices.
As per Nikolou-Walker and Garnett (2004), the concept of reflection is
confusing for teachers and it takes time for teachers to understand the process
and get used to the practice. Further, the spirit of Right to Education cannot be
implemented without teacher empowerment.
According to Batra, NCF evades how can a teacher, who has not been through
such a process herself, inculcate critical thinking and meaning making among
children (the aim of the NCF). She suggests that in order to demystify the
dominant culture, it is important for teachers to develop a critical social
perspective (Batra, 2005). Teachers, who develop an appreciation of social
realities, are able to confront their beliefs and supposedly develop deeper
knowledge and reflective understanding.
Just as there are multiple interpretations of reflection, similarly educators
debate the most appropriate and effective ways of promoting novices’ reflective
attitudes. Most teacher education curricula are premised on the idea that after
acquiring knowledge of subject matter, student trainees will be able to apply
this automatically to their teaching (Lewin & Stuart, 2003 cited in Batra, 2005).
In actuality, this cannot take place on its own unless student trainees are
provided with meaningful ‘educative’ experiences necessary to create interface
between theoretical concepts/frameworks and practice. This necessitates
‘experiencing’ the real, larger social realities and engaging in reflection on these
experiences. The spaces for such opportunities should form an essential part
of the design of any teacher education programme and within each area of study.
This involves “positioning of areas of study in a manner that allows an easy flow
from experience to theory and further to field experience” (Batra, 2009). The
manner in which learning tasks and the learning environment for student
teachers are structured facilitates the preparation of teachers who are reflective
about their work.
One strategy to make student-teachers, ‘reflective’ is to provide them a
127
stimulating environment by taking them on field visits. Field based assignments

help the student teachers to establish connections between different courses
under study. Through these, they are able to construct meanings through
interdisciplinary and scientific ways of understandings. Facts are not seen as
isolated tit-bits of information but are situated in a larger whole, which is much
more meaningful and coherent. As a B.El.Ed faculty, in the following part of the
paper I shares insights from one such exposure visit. The data is based on the
reflections (both written and verbal) shared by the B.El.Ed IVth year student-
teachers on an exposure visit. It tries to highlight how field visits can be used
as a platform to develop inter-linkages among various subjects under study as
well as develop reflective learning in student teachers.
Field Exposures as Opportunities for ‘Reflection’
As stated in the earlier sections, to develop reflective thinking in pre-service
teachers, it is important to expose them to opportunities where guided and
deliberate reflective thinking can take place. In this direction, the design of the
B.El.Ed programme ensures provision of learning spaces to develop connections
through a mix of practicum and field based units of theoretical study. Given the
importance of experiential learning in reflective teaching, most practicum are
structured and supervised to support student teachers to learn effectively from an
array of experiences-both in schools as well in community. Assistance is also
extended to help them reflect upon these experiences. Here, reflection is not seen
as an end in itself, but a process of becoming a reflective practitioner and
inculcating a ‘culture of reflection’ becomes the goal of all reflective exercises.
The programme acknowledges the significance of ‘reflective thinking’ and in a
bid to help student teachers become reflective teachers and human beings, courses
such as Self-Development Workshops and Theatre become an integral part of the
programme. Throughout the programme, theories that help understand the learner
and the larger socio-cultural, political, economic, familial and personal ‘contexts’
in which, the learner grows up are discussed.
Brief Background of the Visit
The Department of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed), Mata Sundri College for
Women in collaboration with Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML),
under the Yuva-Yatra programme of NMML organised an Exposure Visit for
the B.El.Ed IV Year students in 2011. Yuva-Yatra is a rural exposure programme
which mandates to provide first-hand experience to urban youth through
exposure to rural lifestyles in different parts of the country and to address critical
issues like sustainable development, livelihoods, environments etc. This Yuva
Yatra was planned to Tehri Garhwal with ‘Beej-Bachao Andolan’ based
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Kaur·
community group working on farmer’s rights, sustainable agriculture, forest

regeneration and so forth.
The field visit had components like visiting village communities and organic
farms, meetings with local youth leaders, engaging with village schools etc.
The emphasis was to make this visit useful for young student teachers so that
it could provide them with an opportunity to work with rural community
and transform their experience into teaching at schools. It was envisioned that
this experiential learning will help student teachers to draw linkages between
theory and practice, understand self and others, analyse relationships between
education and the larger society and so forth.
In the next section insights based on the written and oral reflections shared
by the participants during the trip are shared.
Student teachers’ Reflections during the Field Exposure

The participants regularly wrote their reflections and learnings throughout the
visit. These reflections were not written for evaluation purpose but only as an
exercise to encourage reflective thinking–a value that must be inculcated in
young teachers. The following points that emerged from the same substantiate
that field visits are powerful enough to provide spaces for reflection.
Bridging Theory-Practice Gap: Analysing Linkages between Education and

Society
As the student teachers got exposed to the people who got affected by the
construction of the Dam, they understood government policies through an
objective lens. They critically thought and analysed the consequences of these
on people’s lives. They reported that as read in textual sources, they thought
that as dams generate electricity, they bring prosperity and development for a
particular area in which they are constructed. But it was only after coming to
Tehri that they were able to understand the flipside of it-how more than 150
villages got submerged in the dam and another set of villages seemed on the
verge of submersion. As reported by the community, people lost their ancestral
lands, their relatives and social networks got affected as some of the village
men were given lands in inaccessible locations; trade got affected and people
were not given right compensations, landless workers who used to sow tomatoes
along the river got displaced and were left with no source of livelihood; the
government could not take stock of the animals and birds that used to inhabit
these areas; counting the cattle and animals who got submerged and died was
difficult; monkeys who used to live in these areas were now intruding into
people’s territories; use of dynamites while making the dam has eroded the soil
of the area and so forth. Here, the students listened to people’s voices and were
129
able to understand the ecological and sociological fallouts of any policy. They
also understood the governmental constrains in dealing with all these challenges.
So they were able to learn through interfaces and bridged theories with practical
realities.
Furthermore, the participants conducted a village survey, which helped to
bring out interconnections between the various aspects under study-socio-
political, economic, education, financial and so forth. The role of women stood
out as especially important as they work hard all through the day-may it be
on bringing firewood, doing household chores, grazing the cattle, bringing water,
working on the fields or so forth.
Such opportunities helped student teachers to revisit concepts (such as ‘Vikas’)
and challenge the seemingly sacrosanct projected social realities. They were able
to engage in deep dialogue and critically analysed the situations. They learnt the
grassroot level realities and questioned the ‘received’ ideas, institutions and
practices. This enabled them to understand how society is structured, managed
and governed in terms of inherent values, ideologies and power relations. They
also examined the forces that transform and redirect society in various ways.
According to Kolb and Fry, effective learning entails the possession of concrete
experience, reflective observation and abstract conceptualisation and active
experimentation in the learner (Kolb and Fry, 1975, 1984). Exposures like this
provide scope for the above to happen.
“..Bahut padha hai chipko andolan ke bare main parantu use jude jeevant
logo se milna aur itihaas ki hi zabaan se sunna, ek sunehra pal tha.
Prerit to hum hote hain, jab baatein sunte hai lekin aaj mujhe laga ki
wo dil se dil tak wali baat hai iss wartalaap mein. Aandolan ka arth
bhi aaj mere liye thoda badal gaya, joki wartalaap mein hua..”.
– Student 14
Students often read about people's movements in isolation and are hence unable
to relate to it. In case of urban students, they feel these movements are rare and
distant and divorced from their everyday realities. They see leaders of these
movements as people who are different from the rest of the population. But when
they met them in person and understood that 'these' are real persons, who had
courage, motivation, selflessness and willingness to work for others, they got
motivated to instil these values in themselves also. When the student teachers
interacted with local leaders and got to know about community participation and
the community taking full responsibility for regeneration of the forest-they were
able to draw parallels with their own city life. They generated critical arguments
regarding how much they contribute to their own city and how these people are
protecting their environment.
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Kaur·
Further, they were able to draw linkages between what they study in their
curriculum and actual practical realities. This is evident from the following
excerpt–
“....hum apne chauthe varsh ke pathyakram mein Gender and schooling
ke tehet feminism padh rahe hai aur maine adhiktar western feminists
ke bare mein padha hai. Bhartiye feminists ke bare mein bhi padha hai
par sudesha ji mujhe iska sateek udhahran lagi. Apni baat ko sabhi logo
ke samne rakhna, nariyon ke adhikaaro ke liye ladna aur sabse acchi
baat adhikaar se pehle kartavya ko nibhana, koi sudesha ji se seekho….”.
– Student 17
From the above reflection, it stands clear that they were able to draw parallels
between what they study and how it finds expressions in from real life. They were
able to acknowledge women's participation in people's struggles. The course on
'Gender and Schooling' and feminist theories seemed much more real and situated
in the Indian scenario. Student teachers were able to critically examine gender
inequalities in society using feminist theoretical frameworks. National Position
paper also focuses on making perspective of women integral to any historical or
contemporary concern (National Focus group on Teaching of Social Sciences,
2005). Hence how gender can be taught through integrated approach came to fore.
Opportunity for Understanding Self and Others

Self-reflection is not restricted to any activity directed from the outside, but
becomes an integral part of one's own thinking-learning and meaning-making
process. Through the following excerpts it can be clearly seen how student
teachers reflectively thought through the exposure. One can appreciate 'self-
awareness' and knowledge of one's 'being' and 'becoming' that came to light.
“....doosre din jab main pahad ki sankari aur choti sadko par chal rahi
thi to mujhe aisa laga ki hamara jeevan bhi aisa hi hai. Humein har
kadam par savdhani aur dherya ki aavyashakta hai….”.
– Student 17
“….main pehli baar akele ghar se door reh payi. Maine apna saara kaam
bhi khud hi kiya, jaise apna bhaari saaman uthana aadi. Isse mujhe yeh
pata chala ki sharirik aur bhavnatmak, dono roop se main bahut strong
hoon…”.
– Student 8
“…..kehne ko to bahut kuch hai parantu wo sab meri sway ki soch ko
disha dene ke liye. Jise main akele mein apne liye hi sochna chahti
hoon…iske bare mein aur aage vistaar se sochna chahti hoon...”.
– Student 11
131
As evident from above comments, the exposure visit served as a platform to

explore one's own strengths, potentials and limitations. It also brought-forth the
need for internal dialogue and space for oneself in today's fast-paced life.
According to Rogers, experiential learning is equivalent to personal change and
self-growth (Rogers, 1969).
“….shayad meri zindagi ke pichle do din, sabse zyada yadgaar ho. Mujhe
aisa lagta hai ki meri wo shahari dikhawati zindagi mujhe mere liye,
meri pasand ke liye samay hi nahin de payi. Par pichle guzre hue do
din bahut sari cheezein samajhne, unme sambandh sthapit karne,
vatavaran ko karreb se janne, saath hi mujhe mere bare mein batane
main bahut sahayak rahe hai…kamm lagne wala samay, yahan paryapt
lag raha hai. Saath hi kary karte samay baar baar ghadi dekhne ki
avyashakta nahin hui aur iska karan shayad, mera dil se karya karna
hai, jisme kary karte karte weh sway hi nirdharit samay par samapt ho
jata hai….”.
– Student 19
In the above excerpt, the participant points to the need to understand oneself,
critique one's lifestyle and plan for oneself. She was also able to reflect that
when we are deeply engaged in any work we tend to do it well.
“…agar main apne vyavhaar mein parivartan lane ki baat karu to jo
main dilli jate hi sabse pehle karne wali hoon, wo hai time utilization.
Dilli mein bina padhe, bina ghar ka koi kaam kiye apna din barbaad
kar deti hoon aur mera kaam aise hi padha rehta hai…yahan maine sabse
mahatvapoorn baat jo seekhi wo yeh ki hum ek din mein itne saare kaam
kar lete hain. Aaram bhi kar sakte hai aur phir bhi sfurti rehti hai shareer
mein.”
– Student 10
In the above excerpt, one can see the participant engaging in a meta-cognitive
self evaluation and understanding the dynamics of working effectively. She
pointed to the fact that when we are completely engrossed in the task, then
our self-efficacy increases (Bandura, 1962). When all faculties of the mind and
body are involved in the task, it is much more motivating for the learner to
sustain the activity. The natural flow of the task ensures self-discipline on part
of the learner. Here, the need for time-management is also highlighted.
“….itne bade samuh ke saath rehna, tatha zimmedariyo ke saath rehna,
ek sukad aur gyanwardhak ehsaas hai…”.
– Student 4
“…yahan aane se pehle yeh tha ki wahan ke pahad kaise honge. Aane
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se pehle yeh lag raha tha, ki wahan theek se reh payenge ya nahin, wahan
par sardi kitni hogi. Mann mein bahut saare sawal bhi aa rahe the. Lekin
yahan aakar bahut accha laga ki sach mein batane ke liya shabd bhi
nahin hai….sab ke saath rehna, khana, sona, ek-doosre ki madad karna,
group mein rehna, bahut accha laga…..”.
– Student 11
Such trips expose people to nurture life skills such as preparation for group-
life. Participants nurture soft skills like tolerance, helping each other in a group,
caring for each other, sharing responsibility and so forth. It also forces one to
come out of one's comfort zone and push one's limits.
“…NCF 2005 mein ek uddesh paryavaran addhyan ke dauraan likha hai
ki vidyarthi ko vatavaran ke prati samvedansheel karna, lekin yahan
aakar mujhe laga ki abhi to main khud hi purntaya samvedansheel nahin
hui. Ab unn sabhi paksho ko sachne ki aavshakta hai…”.
– Student 4
There is a need to sensitise the coming generations to care for the environment.
But here, the above student teacher herself acknowledged the need to sensitise
teachers and accepted that she herself has to become more sensitive. Hence,
field exposures provide space for inner dialogue and reflection.
Acceptance of Multiple Perspectives: Nurturing Sensitivity and Respect for

Various forms of life
Some of the student teachers reflected that despite being from a village, they
were completely divorced from village life. They did not regard and respect
village life but this trip sensitised them to respect the roles and responsibilities
that villages and rural India plays in our 'urbanised' lives. They were able to draw
meaningful connections between rural and urban India. Perhaps this will
catalyse a positive outlook, behaviour and attitudes in them.
“…Main swayam gaon se hoon, parantu mera mann hamesha shehar
mein rehne ka karta tha. Main chaahti thi ki main bas shehar mein sab
sukh suvidhaaon ke saath rahu, taki kahin jana ho to yatayat suvidha,
samaan kharidna ho to bazaar ki suvidha, ghoomne ke liye mall aur
cinema ghar ki suvidha ho. Mujhe kabhi gaon, khet, kheto ki sabziyaan
wa phal, gaayein-bhainso ke dhoodh ka mahtva nahin laga. Lagta tha
ki yeh to hum khareed bhi sakte hain, isme gaon mein rehkar pareshaan
hone ki kya zaroorat hai. Kabhi organic khane ki mehatvata ko nahin
samjha. Hamesha sheher mein rehna hi accha aur zaroori samajhati
thi…. Parantu yahan aane ke baad gaon ke mahatva ko aur kareeb se
133
jana, samjha ki har cheez apne aap mein anoothi hai-hariyaali, khet,
janwar aur bina shor-gul ka jeevan. Garv mehsoos hota hai ki main gaon
se hoon aur mujhe iss tarah ka jeevan mila hai. Bazaar, yatayaat,
manoranjan ke sadhan hi sukh ke sadhan nahin hai-asli sukh to wo hai
jahan apne apko jaanane, samjhane ka, shanti ke saath rehane ka mauka
mile. Jahaan sukoon mile. Yahan aane par main har chhoti chhoti cheez
ke mahatva ko samajhane lagi….”.
– Student 1
A theme of concern today is that people from urbanised settings are largely
getting alienated from their habitat. For the urban child and sometimes teachers,
the 'environment' seems an alien concept. They are unable to find the missing
link as to 'How they are linked to the entire environment and are affected by
the rapid changes in the macro environment'. Understanding the different facets
of environment and the fact that every action has a consequence is a concept
that learners find difficult to understand. There is a need to equip them with
skills appropriate for a rapidly changing world (Position paper on Habitat and
Learning, 2005). Exposures like these help see such causal connections, build a
vision, respect and sensitivity towards rural life. One could see student teachers
acknowledge rural India as much a partner in nation building and also in urban
India.
Understanding the world happens best through first hand experiences and
direct engagement with the environment (Dewey, 1938). Actual observations
of ecological systems are of vital importance in becoming acquainted with the
empirical facts about environment. The National Curriculum Framework
strongly proposed that sensorial and practical activities should form the basis
for learning and curriculum content (National Curriculum Framework, 2005).
“…. hum logo ke liye jungle kitna mahatv rakhta hai. Pehle mujhe nahin
pata tha ki jungle ki kya zaroorat hai.agar yeh anubhav nahin milta to
shayad jungle ke mahatv ko kabhi samajh nahin pati. Aksar TV mein
Discovery Channel mein jungle tatha prakriti ke bare mein batate hai.
Isse kuch seekhne ko mila par jo pratyaksha roop se jo anubhav mila
hai, wo sabse mazboot seekh mili hai. Yeh seekh kabhi nahin bhulegi…..”.
– Student 12
This exposure provided first-hand experiences to student teachers and they were
able to contrast this place with their own villages. They were able to appreciate
the diversity and multi-plurality of the Indian culture. This brought awareness
about social diversity, which is of special significance for teaching tolerance and
inculcating attitudes of peace in multicultural contexts.
134
Kaur·
Conclusions
It flows from the section above that exposure visits provide student teachers
with opportunities to establish meaningful linkages and critically reflect on
theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, appreciate social
contexts and develop sensitivity and understanding towards life in relation to
environmental concerns. It also questions our role in the development process
and gives spaces for self discovery. Reflection is much deeper when supported
by hands-on experiences and thus field visits provide spaces for connecting with
oneself and social issues. This has implications for teaching learning situations.
It builds a culture of self-reflection among teachers. Therefore, I suggest that
such initiatives should be encouraged and should become an integral part of
all teacher-education programmes.
References
Bandura A., (1962). Social Learning through Imitation. In N.R. Jones (Ed.)., Nebraska
Symposium on Motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Batra P., (2009). Teacher Empowerment: The Education Entitlement-Social Transformation
Traverse in Contemporary Education Dialogue, Vol 6 No. 2.
Batra P., (2005). ‘Voice and Agency of Teachers: Missing link in National Curriculum
Framework 2005’. Economic and Political Weekly, 40 (36), 4347-4356.
Boeder P., & Stokmans M., (2012). ‘The Teacher as Reflective Practitioner Professional
Roles and Competence Domain’, International Conference on language, Medias
& Culture, Vol 33.
Dewey J., (1933). How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective
Thinking to the Educative Process. Heath & Co., Boston.
Hamlin K.D., (2004). Beginning the Journey: Supporting Reflection in Early Field
Experiences. Reflective Practice, 5, 167-179.
Kolb D.A., & Fry R., (1975). ‘Towards an Applied theory of Experiential Learning; in
C. Cooper (Ed.). Theories of Group Process, London : John Wiley.
Kolb D.A., (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as a Source of Learning and
Development. N.J: Prentice Hall.
Krishnamurti J., (1953). Education and the Significance of Life. Krishnamurti Foundation:
India.
Larrivee B., (2005). Authentic Classroom Management: Creating a Learning Community
and Building Reflective Practice. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Larrivee B., (2000). Transforming Teaching Practice: Becoming the Critically Reflective
Teacher. Reflective Practice, 1 (3), 293-307.
Lewin K.M., & Staurt J.S., (2003). Researching Teacher Education: New perspectives
on Practice, Performance and Policy. Department for International Development
(DFID) Research Series, 49a cited in Poonam Batra, 2005.
NCERT (2006). Position Paper: National Focus Group on Habitat and Learning. New
Delhi: NCERT.
135
NCERT (2006). Position Paper: National Focus Group on Teaching of Social Science.
New Delhi: NCERT.
NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework. NCERT, New Delhi.
NCFTE (2009). National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education–Towards
Preparing Professional and Humane Teacher. NCTE, New Delhi.
Nikolou-Walker E., & Garnett J., (2004). Work based learning. A new imperative:
Developing reflective practice in professional life. Reflective Practice 5, 297-312.
Pollard A., et al. (2008). Reflective Teaching. Continuum: London.
Reed J., & Koliba C., (1995). Facilitating Reflection : A Manual for Leaders and Educators.
Rogers C.R., (1969). Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill.
Schon D., (1983). The Reflective Practitioner : How Professionals Think in Action. New
York: Basic Books.
Solomon J., (1987). New Thoughts on Teacher Education. Oxford Review of Education.
13 (3). Pp 267-274.
Tagore R., (1921). Personality: Lectures Delivered in America. London: Macmillan.
136
Influence of the Practicum of the B.Ed. Course of West

Bengal in Developing Favourable Attitude of Secondary
School Teachers towards Inclusive Education
Piku Choudhuri1
Abstract
This paper remains a humble attempt at exploring the efficacy of the prevalent
B.Ed. Course on the teachers of West Bengal in developing a favourable attitude
to inclusive education. The study has been conducted on 400 secondary school
teachers, both trained and untrained, from ten districts of east, west, and north
and southern parts of West Bengal. The findings of the study reveal significant
factors like personal experience with children with special needs as crucial that
must be taken cognizance for developing teachers with a favourable attitude
towards education of the children with special needs in regular classrooms. The
study points out the importance of such factors that may develop teachers
through a revised form of the Practicum that allows trainees an exposure to
children with special needs and a revised evaluation system that assesses the
teacher’s competencies of addressing diversity in the class.
Key Words: Inclusive Education, Teacher Education, Attitude, Practice.
Introduction
With the major changes proposed for quality enhancement in teacher education,
the B.Ed. course is about to undergo major curricular changes in West Bengal,
but how far the prime concern of developing teachers for inclusive settings will
be taken into cognizance and in what form remains a largely gray area that needs
to be explored. Increase in duration with scant regard for revision in the prevalent
nature of practicum and evaluation in West Bengal is unlikely to ensure quality
in preparation of teachers fit for addressing diversity in modern society. The
present system followed in West Bengal has prepared teachers for years now
with inclusive Education” as a theoretical part of the curriculum, but how far
it has succeeded in developing confident teachers with a favourable attitude
towards the children with special needs inducted into their regular classrooms
under RTE, remains a gray area till date. Inclusive education has increasingly
become a focus of debate in discussions about the development of educational
1. Assistant Prof. Satyaprio Ray Teachers, Training College, Saltlake, West Bengal
policy and practice around the world (Farrell and Ainscow, 2002; Lindsay, 2007).
Scholars likePijl et al., (1997) have described inclusive education as a ‘global
agenda’.Inclusive education,therefore, is now seen as central to human rights and
equal opportunities and a priority policy objective of liberal democracies
including India where Right to Education is constitutionalized. The Right to
Education Act 2009 has granted the issue a central significance and inclusion
has emerged as ‘an appropriate philosophy and a relevant framework for
restructuring education’ (Thomas et al., 1998, p.4), with attempts at transforming
the mainstream to enhance its capacity for responding to diverse learners
(Ainscow, 1999). However, what emerges as a crisis largely unaddressed till date
is the development or preparation of teachers’ attitude in creating a truly
inclusive class in a mainstream school.The Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Govt. of India, too voices the emerging concern with the current
status of teacher education and the urgent need for “the changes in the teacher
education curriculum from the perspective of inclusion of children with special
needs (CWSN)”. The nature and adequacy of the training imparted, remain
problematic and must come under the scanner for effective inclusion in the
educational institutes of India, specifically West Bengal. Most of the children
with special needs, due to prolonged social inequity, privations and handicaps
subsist in less conspicuous and less verbalized mode of existence and the
teachers’ role in aiding their sudden exposure to the mainstream world of
cognitive, articulatory and information explosion to be “included”, is crucial.
The teachers exposed to the traditional B.Ed. curriculum and the practicum in
West Bengal reveals a colossal knowledge gap. They are often apprehensive
about such inclusive classes and of the RTE Act 2009 and reportedly lack
confidence in handling children with special needs. The B.Ed. course in the
prevalent form in West Bengal offers only a theoretical paper on special and
inclusive education, which is believed to be sufficient to train teachers for
effective inclusive practices in real life inclusive classes. Most universities in
West Bengal like Calcutta University and West Bengal State University have
made this paper on Special Education compulsory instead of its earlier optional
status, whereas it remains an optional paper in most other universities like
Jadavpur University. The paper proposes to explore how far the B.Ed Course
of West Bengal is relevant or adequate in generating in the teachers an attitude
conducive to inclusive education. There are a few teachers with B.Ed. degree
in Special Education in some schools of West Bengal, but they were left out
of the ambit of this study since the scope of this study is limited to the efficacy
of the regular B.Ed Course of the state in fostering favourable attitude among
the teachers towards education of challenged children in regular classrooms.
138
Choudhuri
Objectives of the Study

i. To find out whether there is any significant difference in attitude towards
inclusive education between teachers with B.Ed.with experience of practice
teaching under supervision and those without B.Ed.and thus without any
experience of practice teaching under supervision.
ii. To find out whether there is any significant difference in attitude towards
inclusive education between trained urban and rural teachers who have
undertaken practice teaching under supervision.
iii. To find out whether there is any significant difference in attitude towards
inclusive education between trained male and female teachers who have
undertaken practice teaching under supervision.
iv. To find out whether there is any significant difference in attitude towards
inclusive education between teachers who had done practice teaching for
twenty days or more and those who got only a week for practice teaching.
v. To find out whether the supervision done during the practice teaching
sessions included advice on practical modalities of teaching children with
special needs.
vi. To find out whether the supervision done during the practice teaching
sessions influenced the trainees’ attitude towards teaching children with
special needs.
vii. To find out whether there is any relation between a teacher’s personal
experience with challenged children and his/her favourable attitude towards
inclusive education, irrespective his/her B.Ed. degree.
Hypotheses
H01: There is no significant difference between teachers with experience of
practice teaching under supervision and those without B.Ed and hence
without experience of practice teaching under supervision.
H02: There is no significant difference in attitude towards inclusive education
between trained urban and rural teachers who have done practice teaching
under supervision during their B.Ed.
between teachers who had done practice teaching for twenty days or more
and those who got only a week for practice teaching.
between trained teachers who had been supervised daily and those who
had been supervised at intervals during their practice teaching sessions.
139

between trained teachers who had found children with special needs and
those who had not found children with special needs in their classes during
their practice teaching sessions.
H06: There is no relation between a teacher’s personal experience with
challenged children and his/her favourable attitude towards inclusive
education, irrespective his/her B.Ed. degree.
Method
Sample
400 secondary school teachers, consisting of both trained and untrained teachers
were selected randomly from secondary schools from Kolkata, North 24
Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hoogly and Howrah districts in the southeastern
part of West Bengal, Purulia and Bankura in the Western part of the state, and
Malda, Siliguri and Jaipaiguri in the northern part of the state. It was not possible
to cover each and every district of the state and so representative districts from
east, south, west and northern parts were selected for the study.
Tool and Technique
A standardized tool TASTIE –SA [Teacher Attitude Scale towards Inclusive
Education] developed by Sood & Anand of Harprasad Institute of Behavioral
Studies was adopted for the survey. Certain modifications of the scale were made
on the basis of need of the present study after in-depth analysis of previous
research studies and critical discussions with experts. The tool thus modified
had 48 questions with two options ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Values of 2 and 1 were ascribed
to the options ‘ýes’ and ‘no’ respectively. The five broad areas of the attitude
scale so developed are:
i. Psychological/Behavioral Aspects of Inclusive Education: This comprised
of statements reflecting predispositions of teachers with respect to influence
of inclusive education on the pupils. These are mainly related to the
perceived effect of various inclusive education strategies on students’
cognitive and affective characteristics.
ii. Social and Parents-Related Aspects of Inclusive Education: This area includes
the statements concerning teachers’ attitude towards influence of inclusive
education on development of social values among school children. It also
covers statements related to teachers’ perception of social and parental support
for promoting inclusive education in general educational institutions.
iii. Personal Experience and Exposure related Aspects of Inclusive Education:
This area includes statements concerning the teachers’ personal experience
and exposure to challenged children.
140
Choudhuri
iv. Curricular and Co-curricular Aspects of Inclusive Education: This area has
statements related to teachers’ perception about teaching methodologies
adopted to impart education in inclusive settings, and various curricular and
co-curricular activities organized in schools by them to promote inclusive
education.
v. Administrative Aspects of Inclusive Education: This area has statements
that reflect the teachers’ disposition towards various governmental
provisions, infrastructural facilities, provision for teacher development/
training as well as commitment of administrative machinery for promoting
inclusive education in schools.
The modified self-administering and self-reporting questionnaire with these
aspects was a two point scale. The questions were translated into Bengali for
the benefit of the teachers and a few questions were added. The tool was tested
for reliability and validity. The preliminary draft of the attitude scale was
administered on a sample of 250 secondary school teachers of Kolkata and
suburbs in West Bengal. The selection of these teachers was made from 35
secondary and higher secondary schools by employing multistage stratified
proportionate sampling technique.
Reliability: The reliability of the scale was established by– (a) Test-retest
Method and (b) Internal Consistency of the scale. The sample of 250 secondary
school teachers, consisting of both male and female school teachers was tested
twice with a gap of two months between testing and retesting. The product
moment correlation ‘r’, that is the reliability index, was 0.82. Thus the scale
was found to be reliable. The internal consistency of the scale was judged by
computing the coefficients of correlation between total score on the scale and
score on each of the five areas of the scale. The values so deducted established
the reliability of the scale.
Validity: The validity of the scale was ascertained on the basis of content
validity, cross validity, Item validity and Intrinsic validity. The aspects of
inclusive education used in the modified scale has been substantially supported
by literature available in the area of inclusive education and the views and
suggestions sought from various experts at the time of preparing preliminary
draft of the scale. Thus the scale can be said to possess adequate content validity.
Each sample of the sample teachers selected for carrying out the item analysis
was different entirely from one another in order to avoid the chance of errors of
carry over effect and thus it may be said that cross validity of the scale has
been ensured.
Item validity was established since only those items with t-value of 1.75
or above were retained in the final form of the scale. The intrinsic validity
141
for the scale was ascertained by ensuring internal consistency of the scale
through product moment correlation method. The test retest realiability
coefficient of 0.82 established the intrinsic validity of the scale.
Procedure of Data Collection

The tool was applied in person and also sent by mail to teachers in some cases.
Sufficient time was given to the teachers before collecting their feedback so
that the responses were well thought over and not perfunctory. Questions were
explained in cases where it was needed by the respondents.
Analysis of data
Table 1 shows analysis of data obtained to show whether there is any influence
of B.Ed degree [and hence with exposure to supervised practice teaching] on
a teacher’s attitude towards inclusive education.
Table 1 : Attitude of Teachers with B.Ed. degree and Teachers without
B.Ed. degree
Teachers with Teachers without Total
B.Ed. degree B.Ed. degree
Teachers with
favourable attitude 32 20 52
Teachers with
unfavorable attitude 259 89 348
Total 291 109 400

F Test was applied to test null hypothesis at 5% level of significance.
F value, computed based on the above data after applying Yate’s correction
for continuity
= [{ |32 × 89 – 20 × 259| – 400/2}2 × 400] / (32 + 20) × (259+89) ×
(32 + 259) × (20+89)
= 3.790 (rounded to 3 decimal places)
Tabulated value of F with Degrees of Freedom 1, at D-level 0.05 = 3.841
Since the computed F value is less than the tabulated value at 5% level,
the null hypothesis is accepted and we have no reason to believe that B.Ed.
degree with planned supervised practice teaching has any influence on a
teacher’s attitude towards inclusive education. Thus hypothesis H01 is accepted.
Table 2 shows analysis of data obtained to show whether there is any
significant difference between trained urban and rural teachers [having undergone
supervised practice teaching] in their attitude towards inclusive education.
142
Choudhuri
Table 2 : Trained Urban and Rural Teachers in their attitude towards

inclusive Education
Urban teachers with Rural teachers with Total
experience of Practice experience of Practice
teaching under teaching under
supervision supervision
Teachers with
favourable
attitude 66 29 95
Teachers with
unfavorable
attitude 79 117 196
Total 145 146 291
F Test was applied to test null hypothesis that 5% level of significance.
for continuity
= [{ |66 × 117 – 29 × 79| - 291/2}2 × 291] / (66+29) × (79+117) × (66+79)
× (29+117)
the null hypothesis is accepted and we have no reason to believe that area has
any influence on a teacher’s attitude towards inclusive education. Hypothesis
H02 is thus accepted.
Table 3 shows classification of data obtained from the survey questionnaire
to show whether there is any significant difference between male and female
teachers in their attitude towards inclusive education.
Table 3 : Male and Female Teachers in their attitude towards inclusive
Education
Male teachers with Female teachers with Total
experience of Practice experience of Practice
teaching under teaching under
supervision supervision
Teachers with
favourable
attitude 28 24 52
Teachers with
unfavorable
attitude 151 88 239
Total 179 112 291
143

for continuity
= [{ |28 × 88 – 24 × 151| – 291/2 }2 × 291] / (28 + 24) × (151+88) ×
(28 + 151) × (24+88)
Since the computed F value is less than the tabulated value at 5% level, the
null hypothesis is accepted and we have no reason to believe that gender has
any influence on a teacher’s attitude towards inclusive education. Hypothesis
H03 is thus accepted.
Table 4 exhibits classification of data obtained from survey to show whether
there is any significant influence of workshops on inclusive education for in-
service teachers conducted by Sarva Siksha Mission on the teachers’ attitude
towards education of challenged children in their regular classrooms.
Table 4 : Teachers attitude according to their attendance of days in
Practice Teaching
Teachers with 20 Teachers with 10 Total
or more days of days or less of
practice teaching practice teaching
Teachers with
favourable
attitude 29 23 52
Teachers with
unfavorable
attitude 123 116 239
Total 152 139 291

for continuity
= [{ |29 × 116 – 23 × 123| – 291/2 }2 × 291] / (29 + 23) × (123 + 116)
× (29 + 123) × (23 + 116)
the null hypothesis is accepted and we have no reason to believe that SSA
144
Choudhuri
Training has any influence on a teacher’s attitude towards inclusive education.

Thus hypothesis H04 is accepted.
Table 5 shows classification of data collected from survey questionnaire to
find out whether there is any significant difference in attitude of those trained
in-service teachers who had studied the Special Education Paper which is their
only exposure to inclusive education on the present teacher education system
of West Bengal, in their B.Ed. course and those trained in service teachers
who had not studied this paper, the paper being optional in their university
that conducts the B.Ed. Course.
Table 5 : Attitude of Trained in-service Teachers
Teachers who did Teachers who had Total
practice teaching supervision at intervals
under daily during
supervision practice teaching
Teachers with
favourable
attitude 21 11 32
Teachers with
unfavorable
attitude 123 136 259
Total 144 147 291
for continuity = 3.747 (rounded to 3 decimal places)
the null hypothesis is accepted and it may be inferred that the Special Paper
does not have any influence on a teacher’s favourableattitude towards education
of challenged children in their regular classrooms.
Table 6 shows how individual experience with children with special needs
influences a teacher’s perception, understanding of and attitude towards inclusive
education irrespective of his or her formal teacher education degree in West
Bengal. Only those teachers with a favourable attitude to inclusive education were
taken for the analysis to find out the impact of personal experience behind this
positive attitude and to see how far the formal teacher education program in form
of the prevalent B.Ed. course in West Bengal has any influence in developing a
favourable attitude towards inclusive education.
145
An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to examine whether

personal experience with differently abled children, and having B.Ed degree,
has any influence on a teacher’s favourable attitude towards inclusive education.
52 teachers, whose survey response have been ‘favourable’, were categorized
as follows:-
Teachers with Teachers without Total
personal experience personal experience
Teachers
with B.Ed. 25 7 32
Teachers 18 2 20
without B.Ed.
Total 43 9 52
ANOVA calculations are as follows:-

Sum of squares of raw values = 1002
Correction Factor = (52)2 / (2 × 2) = 676
Total SS (Sum of Square) = 1002 – 676 = 326
SS due to Degree = [(32)2 + (20)2] / 2 – 676 = 36
SS due to Personal Experience = [(43)2 + (9)2] / 2 – 676 = 289
SSE (Sum of Squares due to Error) = 326 – 36 – 289 = 1
F values are computed as follows:
Factors Degrees of Sum of Mean Square Observed F
Freedom Square
B.Ed. Degree 1 36 36 36.00
Personal
Experience 1 289 289 289.00
Error 1 1 1
Tabulated value of F with Degrees of Freedom 1,1 at á-level 0.05 = 161.4

Thus we observe that:
F value for the factor ‘B.Ed. Degree’ <tabulated F value.
F value for the factor ‘Personal Experience’ > tabulated F value.
Hence the Analysis of Variance indicates that personal experience with differently
abled children has a positive influence on a teacher’s favourable attitude towards
inclusive education. But no such conclusion can be drawn for B.Ed degree.
146
Choudhuri
It was found that there is no significant difference between trained and

untrained teachers in their attitude to inclusion of children with special needs in
regular classes. It was also found that there is no significant difference between
teachers who had not studied the Special Education paper, that being optional
in their B.Ed course and those who had studied the paper as a compulsory
subject in their B.Ed. Course in their attitude to inclusion of children with
special needs in regular classes.
Discussion and Future Implications
From the study conducted it is found that in the present structure of the
B,Ed,Course in West Bengal, the only exposure to inclusive education is through
a paper on Special education that carries 50 marks in some universities and 100
in some others. Again in some other universities this lone paper is optional and
hence all trainees are not exposed to it. There is no scope of practice teaching
in essentially inclusive settings as all schools in the state do not have challenged
children and the prime concern while sending trainees to schools for Practice
teaching remains the school’s proximity to the teacher education institute, with
absolutely no concern for the fact that they may not get to teach in inclusive
settings. There is also scant scope for systematic workshops on inclusive
education by experts as a part of the B.Ed. Course or visit to inclusive institutes
to observe strategies of addressing the special needs of the challenged children.
There is no scope for any collaboration between regular teacher education and
special teacher education courses in the state. The practical examinations simply
assess the general teaching abilities and skills of a teacher and there is absolutely
no marks or assessment scheme for teaching skills needed to address diversity
in inclusive classes. A trainee, therefore, even after systematic teacher education,
remains in dark about inclusive settings and necessary skills and competencies.
The workshops conducted by SSA too may impart some knowledge to the
teachers, but fail to give them hands on experience in dealing with challenged
children in regular classrooms and hence, as the study reveals, such workshops
are inadequate to generate confidence and a positive attitude towards inclusive
education among the in-service teachers already burdened with regular workload
and pressure to finish the examination oriented syllabus on time. Gender too,
as revealed by the study, is not a significant factor in this regard. What is indeed
interesting is the finding that personal experience in any form is a significant
factor in developing a positive or favourable attitude towards teaching children
with special needs in regular classrooms. It is seen that among the teachers with
favourable attitude towards inclusive education, formal B.Ed. degree is not so
much a significant factor as is personal experience with such children with
special needs. This finding is crucial especially when the present B.Ed. Course
147
in West Bengal practically has no scope of providing the trainees any form of
experience in teaching in inclusive settings or providing any scope for honing
skills necessary for addressing diversity in the class. The trainees are in fact
granted no scope of any practical exposure to the children with special needs in
the prevalent teacher education system in the state, and nor are they evaluated on
their ability to teaching inclusive settings. The study reveals the significance of
personal experience in developing a positive attitude towards teaching children
with special needs in regular classrooms and development of true empathy
instead of sympathy. Thus the findings of this study point out to the need of
reconsidering the teacher education system in the state with more emphasis of
planned and systematic exposure to and evaluation of skills needed to effectively
address diversity in a regular classroom and to foster essentially inclusive
settings. The teachers would be more confident and would be able to contribute
to the development of a truly inclusive society as a necessary aftermath.
References
Ainscow M., (1999). Understanding the Development of Inclusive Schools. London:
Falmer Press.
Avramidis E., & Kalyva E., (2007). The influence of teaching experience and professional
development on Greek teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. European Journal
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Inter Relationship between Self Esteem and Happiness

Dipankar Das1 and Indrani Nath2
Abstract
Self esteem can be described as an evaluation of oneself by the person himself
on the basis of others opinion about him as well as his own assessment about
his worth as an individual in the society. Happiness on the other hand means
state of well-being. This paper attempts to critically investigate whether any
relationship exists between happiness and self esteem. National and international
journals, project reports, government documents, doctoral thesis, seminar/
conference proceedings and research articles have been consulted in this regard
as secondary source of information. Various study reveals that no significant
gender differences exists in self esteem in regard to parental educational level,
rate of literacy among family members, father’s occupation and social support.
Key Words: Happiness, Self Esteem.
Introduction
According to James (1890), self esteem is a product of perceived competence in
domains of important aspect of mental health. This means self esteem is derived
from thinking. We are good at things that have significance to us, but not those
we don’t personally value. Charles Cooley, a sociologist proposed that findings
of self worth also stem from the ‘looking glass’ self concept i.e. our perception
of how we appear in eyes of others. Harter (1999) opined that self esteem is
often impacted more powerfully by the opinion of acquaintances than close
others which means that the foundation of self esteem can be vague and ill-
formed. As a social psychological construct, self-esteem is attractive because
researchers have conceptualized it as an influential predictor of relevant
outcomes, such as academic achievement or exercise behaviour. In addition, self-
esteem has also been treated as an important outcome due to its close relation
with psychological well-being. Psychologists usually regard self-esteem as an
enduring personality characteristic (‘trait’ self-esteem). Synonyms or near-
1. Research Scholar, Department of Education, University of Calcutta,

Email : dipankardas117@gmail.com
2. Head, Department of Education, Sarsuna College,
Email : indraninath214@gmail.com
synonyms of self-esteem include: self-worth, self-regard, self-respect and self-

integrity. Thus, self-esteem is how we value ourselves; it is how we perceive our
value to the world and how valuable we think we are to others. It affects our
trust in others, our relationships, our work and nearly every part of our lives.
Positive self-esteem gives us the strength and flexibility to take charge of our
lives and grow from our mistakes without the fear of rejection. Frey, D &
Carlock, J. (2009) believes that self esteem is an interpretation of the emotional,
intellectual and behavioural aspects of the self. While according to Baron &
Byrne (1991) self esteem is an individual’s attitude about him or herself
involving self evaluation along a positive/negative dimension. Malbi & Reasoner
(2000) stated that self esteem is the sense of personal significance and capability
that persons correlate with their self concepts. Self-esteem is based on three
essential sources: (i) messages of love, support and approval from others; (ii)
specific attributes and competencies; and (iii) the way one regards these specific
aspects of the self, both in comparison with others and in relation to one’s ideal
self. Self-esteem is also associated with depression, anxiety, motivation and
general satisfaction with one’s life. Given these associations, children and
adolescents who lack self-esteem may be more dependent on their parents and
have lower academic and vocational goals. Moreover, the belief is widespread
that raising an individual’s self-esteem (especially that of a child or adolescent)
would be beneficial for both the individual and society as a whole. Thus, it can
be said that self esteem is composed of two distinct dimensions, competence
(efficacy based self-esteem) and worth (worth based self-esteems).
Webster’s dictionary defines happiness as “a state of well being characterized
by emotion ranging from contentment to intense joy and pleasurable or satisfying
experience”. Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms
of living a good life. The two components of the Greek word Eudaimonia,
translate as happiness, or used in virtue ethics are ‘eu’ meaning well and
‘daimon’ meaning spirit or divinity. Sonja Lyubomirsky (2007) a researcher of
positive psychology in her book, The how of happiness, describes happiness as
“the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a
sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.” Ruut Veenhoven on
the other hand describes happiness as “the degree to which an individual judges
the overall quality of his life-as-a-whole favourably.” Jonathan Freeman affirms
that “people generally agree about what they mean by happiness. It is a positive,
enduring state that consists of positive feeling including both peace of mind and
active pleasures or joy”. According to Kesebir & Diener (2008) it is a mental
state of well-being described by positive emotions ranging from contentment.
Diener, et.al (1999) stated that happiness is one of the most important and major
dimension of human experience and emotional life. It is a common observation
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that happy person have a tendency to feel positive about themselves and those
individuals who have low self value and self worth are usually miserable and
unhappy (Lyubomirsky, et. al. 2005). Happiness can increase well-being, health,
work performance, warmth, altruism, creative thinking and problem solving and
reduce stress (Argyle, 2001). Thus, happiness can be defined as an emotional or
mental state of well being. It is a living of good or flourishing life. It is an
experience of joy, contentment or positive well being, combined with a sense
that one’s life is good, meaningful and worthwhile. It is an overall feeling of
satisfaction with life that pervades and abides over longer time periods.
Philosophical Perspective of Happiness
The philosophy of happiness is an umbrella term for the various philosophical
approaches in explaining the nature of happiness, as well as how to attain it. Both
the classical western as well as the eastern philosophy since its inception dealt
with the subject of happiness. The great western philosophers like Socrates,
Aristotle, Plato, Epicurus, all tried to define the term happiness in their very own
way. In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle stated that happiness is the only thing
that human desires for its own sake. He observed that men sought riches, or
honour, or health not only for their own sake but also in order to be happy. Thus,
to him happiness is an activity rather than an emotion or a state. Plato said that
science (the philosophy of happiness) should be the centre of any happy society.
According to Epicurus, one will feel happy when one constantly trains positive
thinking. Therefore, one should think about the meaning of life and reflect it again
and again towards his positive goals. Inner happiness comes only from inner
peace. So, when a person calms down, inner happiness appears. According to
eastern philosophy ‘Ananda’ (Sanskrit: EFŒFŒº) literally means bliss or happiness.
In the Hindu Vedas, Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, ‘ananda’ signifies eternal
bliss which accompanies the ending of the rebirth cycle. Those who renounce the
fruits of their actions and submit themselves completely to the divine will, arrive
at the final termination of the cyclical life process (sa§sara) to enjoy eternal bliss
(ananda) in perfect union with the God. The tradition of seeking union with God
through passionate commitment is referred to as bhakti, or devotion. Meaning of
happiness as defined by different eastern philosophers are as follows: According
to Sri Aurobindo, happiness is the natural state of humanity, as he mentions in his
book the ‘Life Divine’ it is all about the delight of existence. According to the
Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, ananda is that state of sublime delight when
the ‘jiva’ becomes free from all sins, doubts, desires, actions, pains, sufferings
and also all physical and mental ordinary pleasures. According to Ramana
Maharshi, happiness is within and can be known only through discovering one’s
true self. He proposes that ‘ananda’ can be attained by inner enquiry, using the
thought “Who am I?” Within the various schools of Hindu thought, there are
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different paths and ways of achieving happiness. The main four paths are Bhakti
yoga, Jnana yoga, Karma Yoga and Raja Yoga. According to Buddha, there are
four stages of deeper concentration called Dhyana: The first stage of
concentration is one in which mental hindrances and impure intentions disappear
and a sense of bliss is achieved. In the second stage, activities of the mind come
to an end and only bliss remains. In the third stage, bliss itself begins to disappear.
In the final stage, all sensations including bliss disappear and are replaced by a
total peace of mind, which Buddha described as a deeper sense of happiness.
There are a number of mechanisms through which religion may make a person
happier, including social contact and support that result from religious pursuits,
the mental activity that comes with optimism and volunteering, learned coping
strategies that enhance one’s ability to deal with stress, and psychological factors
such as “reason for being.” However, the links between religion and happiness
are always very broad in nature, highly reliant on scripture and small sample
number. To that extent “there is a much larger connection between religion and
suffering” (Lincoln 1034).
Today’s philosophy of happiness is strongly influenced by ‘happiness
research’. It is the quantitative study of happiness, positive and negative effects,
well-being, quality of life and life satisfaction. The field has grown substantially
since the late 20th century. Joseph Murphy, Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent
Peale, Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai
Lama are all well known personalities in this regard. Arthur Schopenhauer, a
German philosopher explains happiness in terms of a wish that is satisfied, which
in turn, gives rise to a new wish. The absence of satisfaction is suffering, that
results in an empty longing. He also links happiness with the movement of time,
as one feels happy when times moves faster, and feels sad when time slows down.
John Stuart Mill represented, that cultural, intellectual and spiritual satisfaction
also own a qualitative happiness value. Michel de Montaigne (*1533, †1592)
wrote, “The enjoyment of life requires a deliberate handling with it. He enjoys
his life twice as much as the others.” “Philosophy makes those who are devoted
to her, happy and cheerful.” Bentham’s ethics of happiness is “The greatest
happiness for the greatest number”.
Psychological Perspective of Happiness

To psychological researchers, happiness is life experience marked by a
preponderance of positive emotion. Feelings of happiness and thoughts of
satisfaction with life are two prime components of subjective well-being (SWB).
The scientific pursuit of happiness and positive emotion is also considered as the
first pillar of the new positive psychology. This was first proposed by Martin E.P.
Seligman in 1998 in American Psychological Association’s Presidential address.
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He coined the term ‘positive psychology’ to describe the scientific study of

happiness. He referred to the good life as “using one’s signature strengths every
day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification.”In his book
“Authentic Happiness” (2002), he described happiness as being based on three
lives - the pleasurable life, the engaged life and the meaningful life. An individual
leading a life of pleasure can be seen as maximizing positive emotions, and
minimizing negative emotions. One leading a life of engagement constantly seeks
out activities that allow him/her to be in a flow (a state of deep, effortless
involvement). It occurs most frequently when we concentrate our undivided
attention on activities that are moderately challenging to us. When one is in flow,
it may seem that one’s sense of self vanishes and time stops. Seligman
recommends that in order to achieve this ‘flow’, one must first of all identify one’s
own strength, or strengths that are deeply characteristics of one’s own self, and
then learn how to practice them. On the other hand an individual leading a
meaningful life belongs to and serves something that is bigger than him. These
larger entities could be family, religion, community, country, or even ideas.
According to him the better each of these lives is lived, the happier the person
will be. Jonathan Freeman affirms that “people generally agree about what they
mean by happiness. It is a positive, enduring state that consists of positive felling
including both peace of mind and active pleasures or joy.” Ruut Veen-hoven
described happiness as “the degree in which an individual judges the overall
quality of his life-as-a-whole favourably.” Sigmund Freud believed that man is
doomed to chronic unhappiness. Theodor Adorno believed that happiness is a
mere temporary mental escape from misery. The words, “the good life” are
derived from speculation about what holds the greatest value in life, the factors
that contribute the most to a well-lived and fulfilling life. Several humanistic
psychologists such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Erich Fromm also
developed theories and practices pertaining to human happiness.
Objectives
1. To assess whether any relationship exists in regard to happiness and level
of individual’s self esteem.
2. To assess whether any gender difference exists in regard to happiness
and level of individual’s self esteem.
3. To study various aspects like life satisfaction, social support, level of
parental education, humour style, academic achievement, social domain,
self efficacy in relation to happiness and self esteem.
Observations
To satisfy the above stated objectives secondary information has been used for
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the study. For this purpose national and international journals, project reports,
doctoral thesis, seminar and conference proceedings, websites and research
articles have been consulted.
Happiness, self esteem and life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is an overall assessment of one’s feeling, attitude, and behaviour
by own self. It may range from positive to negative. The personality variables
tapping interpersonal relationship and social axioms tapping perceptions of
social contexts were significantly related to overall life satisfaction (Chen, et.al,
2006). In another study it was found that lower life satisfaction and lower self
esteem were associated with high levels of depressive symptoms. Female
students were reported to have higher level of depressive symptoms than male
students (Al khatib, 2013). However, self esteem was found to be positively
correlated and associated with life satisfaction. It was also found that boys scored
higher than girls in case of both self esteem and life satisfaction (Moksness, K.U
& Espnes, A.G., 2013). On the other hand study reveals that older women have
lower life satisfaction, self esteem and happiness than man (Pinquart, M. &
Sorensen, S., 2001). Tiefenbach, T. & Kohlbacher, F. (2013) in their study
indicated that house hold income affects happiness & life satisfaction equally for
men and women. However, Kagegama, J. (2009) found that on national level as
average happiness increases, the gender difference in life expectancy decreases.
Thus, it can be said that happiness is significant on explaining the differences
in the life expectancy gap between countries. Mansfield (2012) in his research
finding indicated that male and female participant experienced low levels of
body esteem and body dissatisfaction as a result of media playing a powerful
role. Lyubomirsky, et.al (2002) “Maximizing versus satisfying: Happiness is a
Matter of choice” in their research examined that maximizers were less satisfied
than non-maximizers regarding consumer decisions, social comparison and
bargaining game. Thus, study reveals that self esteem and life satisfaction are
positively correlated. It was found that male studensts score higher in self esteem
and life satisfaction than female student. Men and women are equally affected
by household income in happiness and life satisfaction. Happiness and gender
difference in life expectancy gap were found to be negatively correlated.
Happiness, self esteem and gender inequality
In general by gender inequality is meant unequal treatment or perceptions of
individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially
constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain
structure, and hormonal differences. Research on gender inequality reveals
various interesting findings. Bhardwaj & Agrawal (2013) in their research found
no gender differences in the overall self esteem in the pre-adolescence period
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in relation to social, academic, and parental self esteem. Rafei (2008), Ahmad
et.al (2013) in their study also had similar findings. Srivastava & Joshi (2009),
in their study found that there is no significant differences in regard to self esteem
of adolescents those who are living in rural and urban region. However, Farid
& Akhtar (2013) in their study found that there is a gender difference in self
esteem of overall students. Urban student showed higher self esteem than rural
students. Students pursuing science subjects were found to have greater self
esteem than those students pursuing arts subject. Ahmad et.al (2013) in their
study indicated that there is a significant gender differences in the domains of
personal, social, and academic self esteem. Prajina. P.V. & Premsingh, G.J.
(2014) in their research indicated that the self esteem among female is greater
than male. However, Kanus (2013) in his study found just the opposite i.e. the
males had a higher self esteem than the females. Srivastava & Joshi (2009), in
their study also found that boys scored significantly higher than girls in regard
to self esteem. In another study Nicksic & Ducharme (2004) found that women
have lower self esteem than men. However, Acharya and Deshmukh (2012) in
their study found that there were significant differences in regard to self esteem
among male and female students. Rafei (2008) in his study found that significant
difference exists between males and females in the personal self esteem. Wanjiru
& Gathogo (2014) in their study on orphans found that self esteem is greatly
influenced by gender factor which in turn influences the educational and job
aspiration. Schwalbe & Staples (1991) identified that women attach greater
importance to reflected appraisals than men, where as the men attach greater
importance to social comparisons than women. No significant difference was
however found in self perceived competence. Prajina. P.V. & Premsingh, G.J.
(2014) in their study found that there is no significant difference in the level
of self esteem in respect to age, father’s occupation & birth order. Prajina. P.V.
& Premsingh, G.J. (2014) in their study “Self esteem-its influence & structural
changes in the lives of tribal students of Kannur, Kerala” noted that majority
of the tribal students show normal level of self esteem. McMullin & Cairney
(2004) in their study found that self esteem and gender are similar across age,
class and group. Kumru, et.al (2007) in their study identified that high self esteem
adolescents perceived higher maternal & parental closeness monitoring, peer
approval & maternal support. The result also indicated that high self esteem
adolescents believed that their mother, father and teachers were reliable secret
holders and honest and their peers were promise keepers more than low self
esteem adolescents. Similarity, Chen, F.Y. (2005), in his research “gender and
self esteem for supportive peer relations: the mediating of cooperative goals”
found that gender similarity was positively while self esteem was negatively
related to the cooperation & the relationship quality of the peer members. Patton
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et.al (2004), in their research “Gender differences for optimism, self esteem,
expectations and goals in predicting career planning & exploration in
adolescents” found that the stable person inputs of optimism and self esteem
would predict career planning & career exploration through the variables of
career expectations and career goals differentially for young males and females.
There are also other factors which influences individual self esteem. Kanus
(2013) in his research, “Effects of Gender on students’ self esteem scores and
parental alcohol abuse in Kosirai division, Nandi north district, Kenya”
emphasized the importance of a conducive home environment in promoting high
self esteem of students. However, Ratliff & Oishi (2013), in their study “Gender
differences in implicit self esteem following a romantic partner’s success or
failure” found that men had lower implicit self esteem when their partner did
well at a ‘social intelligence’ task & implicit self esteem is negatively influenced
by thinking about a romantic partner’s success both when the success is relatively
& when it is not. In another study Omarsson (2013), “Effects of sport
participation on self esteem & body image” found that participants who practice
sports on a weekly basis have significantly higher self esteem & body image
than participants who do not. Again, it was found that participants who practice
individual sports have significantly higher self esteem than participants involved
in team sports. In happiness research Lyubomirsky, et. al. (2005), in their study
found that happiness & self esteem are highly correlated. However, in contrary
to this Mostafael et.al (2012) in their research found that there is no correlation
between age, education, and happiness. Again, in another study conducted by
Cesare & Amori (2003) it was found that the highest educational level is
positively correlated to happiness. However, Joshanloo & Weijers (2013) in their
study found that linear relationship exists between gender inequality, happiness
and life satisfaction. Mi Yu, et.al (2013) in their research also showed that
adolescent’s happiness was significantly correlated with developmental assets,
peer support and the appearance satisfaction factor. However, Stevenson &
Wolfers (2008) in their study indicated that women’s, happiness has declined to
men. Masaaki (2013) in his study concluded that females in general feel happier
than males. However, Perez (2012) in his research found that gender differences
exists in happiness in regard to spiritual experience, father relation-ship, peer
relationship autonomy, positive relation with others and purpose in life. Arrosa
& Gandelman (2013) in their research found that happiness among female is
much favourable than men in regard to geographic regions and country income
groups. In another study Cesare & Amori (2003) revealed that the civil status,
health, interpersonal relationship, religiousness, area of residence & income have
strong effect on individual’s happiness. Mostafael et.al (2012) in their research
found that there is significant difference between orphan and non-orphan
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children in regard to positive & negative emotion. Marcelli & Easterlin (2005)
in their research suggested that significant gender differences exist in life cycle
happiness. However, Mi Yu, et.al (2013) in their study indicated that significant
gender differences exist in case of happiness, empowerment, social competence,
and social support. In another study Choden (2012) found that there is significant
gender gap in children’s happiness particularly among those who were going
to school, aged six to sixteen in Bhutan. It was also found that there is no robust
evidence of a gender gap in the allocation of health expenditure on children aged
less than sixteen. However, Yan Liu, et.al (2012) in their study revealed that
happiness, human diversity index, gender empowerment measure, are all
negatively associated with gender gap in life expectancy. In another study
Masaaki (2013) also found that a gender equal society affects the happiness
gender gap. However, Sironi & Mencarini (2013) in their study found that gender
gap exists in education and political power. However, no significant gender
difference was noted in regard to social, academic achievement and parental self
esteem. No significant gender difference was found in regard to self esteem of
pre-adolescent and adolescent students living in urban and rural setting. Boys
were found to score significantly higher in self esteem than girls. No significant
difference in self esteem level was found in regard to age, father’s occupation,
birth order. No significant difference in happiness was found in regard to age,
positive or negative effect, relationship with mother and personal growth. Female
were found to be much happier than male in regard to geographical location and
income group level. Significant gender difference exists in happiness in regard to
spiritual experience, father relationship, autonomy, peer relationship, positive
relation with others, and area of residence, civil status, health, income,
empowerment, social competence & social support. Study reveals that significant
difference exists between orphan and non orphan children in regard to positive
and negative emotion. There is a significant gender gap in happiness in regard to
education, political power, human diversity and life expectancy. Happiness
among adolescent were found to be significantly correlated with developmental
aspects, peer support, appearance satisfaction. Student self esteem is found to
be correlated to conducive home environment and policy formulation relating
to family school interface.
Self esteem and social support
Social support is the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance
available from other people and that one is part of a supportive social
network like emotional (e.g., nurturance), tangible (e.g., financial assistance),
informational (e.g., advice), or companionship (e.g., sense of belonging) and
intangible (e.g. personal advice). In regard to research conducted on social
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support and self esteem Teoh HJ & Afiqah R (2010), Naeem et.al (2014) in their
study found that there is no significant gender difference between self esteem
and social support. In another study Teoh HJ & Afiqah R (2010) found that all the
personality and social support factors were found to be associated with levels of
self esteem, only extraversion, openness to new experience, conscientiousness,
emotional stability. No significant gender difference was found to exist in regard
to self esteem and social support. It was found that there is no correlation
between social support and self esteem.
Self esteem and level of parental education
Leila et.al (2013) in their research on level of parental education and their
children’s self esteem found that there is no significant relationship between the
two. No significant relationship was found to exist between student self esteem
and level of parental education or between self esteem of boys and girls in
relation to their family literacy.
Self esteem and humour style
Humour styles are related to the way in which individuals differ in their use
of humour in everyday life. People of all ages and backgrounds engage in
humour, but the way they use it can vary greatly. Although humour styles can
vary slightly depending on the situation, they tend to be a relatively stable
personality characteristic among individuals. In regard to research on humour
style and self esteem Liu (2012) in his study found that adaptive humour styles,
self esteem, and subjective happiness all are positively correlated.
Self esteem and social domain
Social domain is the affective domain but with the some crossovers to the
cognitive domain. Social domain skills included greater awareness in regard to
communicating and teaming skills support management and leadership skill.
Gentile et.al (2009) in their study on the impact of social domain on self esteem
found that there is no significant gender differences in regard to academic
achievement, social acceptance, family and self esteem. It was also found that
there is a significant gender difference in physical appearance and self esteem
among adults. However, it was found that there is no significant gender
difference in self esteem in regard to self acceptance, academic achievement
and family.
Self esteem and academic achievement
Academic achievement or (academic) performance is the outcome of education-
the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational
goals. Several researches have been conducted to study whether academic
achievement of an individual affects his level of self esteem. Srivastava and Joshi
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Das and Nath
(2009), in their study found that there were significant differences in regard to
academic achievement of adolescents living in rural and urban area. Acharya
and Deshmukh (2012) in their study found that there is no significant difference
in regard to academic achievement among rural and urban students. However, it
was found that students who were living in urban areas were scoring significantly
higher on self esteem as compared to students who were living rural areas. In
another study Rafei (2008) found that significant difference exists between grade
levels in the global, in general. It was also found that academic & social self
esteem subscales while no significant difference was recorded in the personal
and parental self esteem among that grade level. However, Rafei (2008) in his
study found that there is no significant interaction between gender, academic
achievement, and social self esteem. No significant gender difference was found
in regard to academic achievement of students and place of residence i.e. urban/
rural area. Similarly, no significant interaction was noted between gender,
academic achievement & social self esteem.
Happiness and self efficacy
Self-efficacy is the extent or strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to
complete tasks and reach goals. Self-efficacy affects every area of human
endeavour. By determining the beliefs a person holds regarding his or her power
to affect situations, it strongly influences both the power a person actually has to
face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make.
These effects are particularly apparent, and compelling, with regard to
behaviours affecting health. Hunagund & Hangal (2014) in their study on self
efficacy and happiness found that both are positively correlated. It was also
found that there is significant difference between undergraduate and post-
graduate students in regard to self efficacy but no gender differences exists in
happiness. Self efficacy and happiness are correlated. No significant gender
difference exists in happiness in regard to self efficacy.
Self esteem and happiness
In regard to researches on happiness and self esteem Farzaee (2012) in his study
found that a positive as well as meaningful relation exists between the two.
In another study Malekiha, et.al (2012), found that self esteem was significantly
correlated with happiness & depression. However Hasnain, et.al (2013), in their
study noted that there is no significant difference between happiness of children
and different parenting style with self esteem. It was found that self esteem
and happiness are correlated.
From the basis of the observation of several studies mentioned above it may
be said that self esteem and life satisfaction are positively correlated. Men and
161
women are equally affected by household income in happiness and life

satisfaction. Happiness and gender difference in life expectancy gap are
negatively correlated. No gender difference exists in social, academic
achievement and parental self esteem. No gender difference exists in regard to
self esteem of pre-adolescent and adolescent students living in urban and rural
setting. No difference in self esteem level was found in regard to age, father’s
occupation, birth order. No difference in happiness was found in regard to age,
positive or negative effect, relationship with mother and personal growth. Gender
difference exists in happiness in regard to spiritual experience, father
relationship, autonomy, peer relationship, positive relation with others, and area
of residence, civil status, health, income, empowerment, social competence &
social support. Difference exists between orphan and non orphan children in
regard to positive and negative emotion. There is a gender gap in happiness in
regard to education, political power, human diversity and life expectancy.
Happiness among adolescent were found to be correlated with developmental
aspects, peer support, appearance satisfaction. Student self esteem is found to be
correlated to conducive home environment and policy formulation relating to
family, school interface. No gender difference was found to exist in regard to
self esteem and social support. Human style, self esteem and happiness all are
found to be positively correlated. There is no difference between self esteem
among boys and girls in relation to their family literacy. There is a gender
difference in regard to physical appearance and self esteem among adults. No
gender difference was found in regard to academic achievement of students and
place of residence i.e. urban/rural area. No gender difference exists in overall
self esteem level with the respect to age, birth order, residential location, father’s
occupation and socio geographic status. No gender difference was noted in
regard to academic achievement of rural and urban students. No gender
difference was found in the level of happiness in respect to age. Strong gender
gap exists in regard to happiness associated with highest educational level,
political power and parenthood. No difference was noted between happiness of
children and different parental style on self esteem. Men were found to have
lower self esteem when their partner succeeds social intelligence task than when
their partner fails, whereas women’s implicit self esteem is not affected by
partner’s performance. These gender differences have important implications for
understanding social comparison in romantic relationships.
Conclusion
Related literature review supported that happiness and self esteem are related.
It also boosted our confidence in the notion that despite the high degree of
relatedness between happiness and self-esteem, they are separable constructs
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Das and Nath
with potentially different sources. Equanimity, a deep sense of happiness, is

attainable through proper knowledge and practice, building up a habit refraining
from acting, speaking or thinking in everyday life. Such constructive behaviour
builds up the potentials on our mental continuums for experiencing happiness
in the future. Our mind can create images, even images of our self. Some images
act like memories and are stored in ways that we are not aware of, or we might
call unconscious self-images. The mind is the realm of imagination; nothing has
to be fixed or finite. The mind can create many self-images and they can change
from time to time and can be contradictory too. The mind has no innate need
or governing mechanism to resolve these conflicting self-images. This explains
how we can feel good about our self in one moment, and then triggered by a
circumstance, or someone making a comment, we feel terrible and deflated the
next moment. We can trigger those potentials to ripen by not denying the good or
bad qualities of any object or situation, we experience or any level of happiness
or unhappiness with which we experience it- regardless of what object or
situation may be. These self-image created and maintained in the mind can also
be distorted. Images of our self from memories formed during moments of
embarrassment, shame, guilt, fear, or anger might be lodged with lots of emotion.
These emotions make them more powerful and distort an honest representation
of our self in our mind. We need especially to quite our mind of worries or
expectations. In that serene tranquil state of mind, we will feel a level of
happiness and that can trigger the potentials and then we will have for feeling of
even greater happiness. We can then expand our mind by turning our attention to
the problems of others and how they might be in even worse situation than ours.
We must stop thinking for only our own selves. We could think how wonderful
it would be if all others could be free of their suffering and how great it would
be if we could help them to accomplish that. This strong compassion naturally
leads to feeling of love- the wish for them to be happy. Thinking of their
happiness triggers even more of our potentials for happiness to ripen.
However, it was found that very few researches have been conducted so
far on self esteem and happiness among students pursuing higher education in
regard to life satisfaction, gender inequality, academic achievement, humour
style, social support, and level of parental education. More research need to be
conducted to study the relationship between self esteem and happiness for both
teachers and students at secondary and higher educational level and also to study
the impact of teachers in this regard on students. Further, study may be
conducted on self esteem and happiness in regard to orphan, non-orphan
children, father’s occupation, caste, place of residence (rural & urban), sibling’s
achievement, support of parents and other family members. Study may also be
163
conducted to examine whether home or working environment has any impact on

individual’s happiness and level of self esteem and if yes then how and to what
extent.
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Mapping the Significance of Human Rights Education in

Undergraduate Curriculum
Debalina Guha1, Madhumala Sengupta2
Abstract
Global trends point towards inclusion of human rights in the curricular of all
learning institutions leading to strengthening of universal commitment to human
rights culture. This paper reports on a study designed to examine how college
students perceive the various human rights norms as embedded in international
laws. It discusses the significance of human rights education to promote a
participatory, democratic and humane society. The undergraduate college students
( N= 150) in Kolkata were selected as sample for the study. It was divided into
two subgroups ( N= 75 for each subgroup) on the basis of human rights education
as curricular subject and without it. The study finds significant relation between
human rights awareness and behavior related to protecting human rights among
the total sample groups and the two subsample groups as well. The two groups
differed significantly among themselves in relation to awareness about human
rights and related behavior. The coefficient of correlations of the two independent
samples also differed significantly. The findings indicate the importance of
introducing human rights education at the undergraduate level to usher an
egalitarian and tolerant society.
Key Words: Human Rights Education, Undergraduate Curriculum, Democratic
and Humane Society
Introduction
Human rights education is increasingly emphasized worldwide in organizational,
curricular and discursive developments (Andreopoulos and Claude 1997; Elbers
2002) though the whole phenomenon was little anticipated in educational
thought and research a few decades ago. The relevance of human rights
education has largely been neglected in empirical research (Stellmacher &
Sommer 2008). Human rights education is a lifelong process that builds skills
and knowledge as well as attitudes and behaviors, to promote and uphold human
rights. This definition guides the World Programme for Human Rights
1. Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Anthropology, Calcutta University.

2. Professor, Department of Education, Calcutta University.
Education, a global initiative of the UN which since 2005 has encouraged

concrete measures to integrate human rights education in all sectors.
The Plan of Action for the second phase (2010-2014) of the World
Programme for Human Rights Education was adopted by U.N.Human Rights
Council on 30 September 2010, with the new focus on human rights education
for higher education and human rights training programmes for teachers,
educators, civil servants, law enforcement officials and military personnel at
all levels. Building on the foundations laid during UN Decade for HUMAN
RIGHTS EDUCATION (1995-2004) the World Programme which has been
complemented by a new specific standard setting effort, namely the UN
Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training adopted by General
Assembly on 19 December, 2011. Article 2 of the Declaration states that Human
rights education and training comprises all educational training, information,
awareness raising and learning activities aimed at promoting universal respect
for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and thus
contributing inter alia to the prevention of human rights violations and abuses
by providing persons with knowledge skills and understanding and developing
their attitudes and behaviours, to empower them to contribute to the building
and promotion of a universal culture of human rights.” Human rights education
and training encompasses education about human rights, which includes
providing knowledge and understanding of human rights norms and principles,
the values that underpin them and the mechanisms for their protection.
The Indian Social Institute and Delhi- PUCL with the assistance of NHRC
held a seminar in 1995. The proceedings of the seminar was published in a
book under the title ‘Human Rights Education India”— (i) edited by R.M. Pal
and Somen Chakraborty (published by Indian Social Institute, New Delhi-
2000), The authors emphasized that Human rights education must transform
students in the programme as agents change. It raises the poignant question
that what is the use of Human rights education if it ultimately does not
strengthen the people whose rights are violated and its students are not inwardly
motivated to action? The authors uphold the idea very strongly that human
rights teaching has to be cantered on dialogue enabling the students to get rid
of preconceived notions on hierarchy, inequality and justice.
The notion of human rights is that it is rooted in a conception of human
dignity. They are not derived from any institutions of society but from our
human status alone. International law now embodies human rights and has
developed complex institutions of adjudication. They are universal rights held
equally by all human beings every where. Herein lies the significance of human
rights as represented in international norms. The principles of human rights
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Guha and Sengupta
are necessarily abstract, but through their emergence as universal enduring ideas
suggestive of a coherent and humane world, human rights lay the ground for a
democratic prosperous society. As human rights can be used as an ethical lingua
franca as well as standards for conduct (Bisethand Holmarsdottir 2013) and can
provide a common ground and a way of nuancing our understanding of the world
and its various issues. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN,
1948) is an exceptionally far sighted moral catalogue (Hamelink 2000). Since
we experience a huge gap between morality and reality, an engagement in the
ethical perspectives of human rights can help us on the way to closing this
gap (Biseth and Halmardothir, 2013).
Review of literature
Doise (et al, 1996) conducted a study supporting the hypothesis that awareness
of different kinds of social conflict and personal experience of social injustice
can lead to greater involvement in the cause of human rights. The study by Spini
and Doise (1998), revealed that involvement in human rights is linked to values
and perception that subjects have of a situation. This interesting and significant
study explored the factors such as values which lead people to anchor their
involvement in Human Rights indifferent ways. The study also showed that at an
abstract level it was possible to find a substantial consensus about Human Rights
issues but not at the applied level. 1999 Civic Education study by International
Educational Association (IEA) revealed that females were substantially more
supportive of immigrants rights. These studies reinforce the findings that
students predominantly female will have greater engagement with human rights.
Sommer and Stellmacher (2002, 2003) conducted two representatives studies on
humans rights, where they found that the worldwide implementation of human
rights is seen by 76% of the participants as very important. The results showed
a very small knowledge about human rights by the participants. Only 4% were
able to name the important documents such as UDHR, and other UN major
conventions which defines human rights for every human being worldwide.
Other studies began to document that although students believed that human
rights ought to be universally respected, their level of knowledge about this
subject is not as high as one might wish, Gender based difference are emerging
as an area of special interest in human rights education programmes and may
warrant additional scrutiny. Studies reinforce the finding that those students
(predominantly female) who are more emotionally oriented will have greater
engagement with human rights concepts.
The study by Sonja (2004) showed that most respondents supported (in
principle) the notion of human rights for all but tended to engage in low political
171
activity rather than actively working towards positive social charge. It examined
the barriers to respondents viewing themselves as agents of positive social
change, and outlined that human rights education may be an ideal way of raising
awareness among young people that responsibility for social change rests with
every individual and it is only by organizing collectively that we can effect
positive change. According to Mihr (2004) HRE leads to a culture of human
rights and hence a stable society. It bridges the gap between international
normative standard setting and behavior and action according to human rights
values. Mihr and Schmitz (2007) suggests that HRE be used as a strategic tool
which leads to societal mobilization beyond the narrow non-governmental sector.
Stellmacher and Sommer (2008) demonstrated in their study that even short term
humam rights education can increase and enhance positive attitude and
commitment concerning human rights.
Tibbitts (2010) overviews some of the available research on human rights
education subdividing it into three main categories; theory of human rights
education, implementation of human rights education and outcomes of human
rights education. Her study demonstrates that there is an expanding literature
on human rights education, the range of research in this field being rich and
diverse. Human rights education is attempting to distinguish itself on the basis
of its potential to ‘empower’ and ‘transform’ yet there remains a need for
scientifically rigorous impact evaluations on the outcomes of human rights
education programmes. Our understanding of how human rights education can
have a transformative impact is somewhat limited, at least in the in the research
base. Though human rights education is attempting to distinguish itself on the
basis of its potential to empower and transform one cannot expect such outcomes
on the basis of short term educational experiences. A 10 country impact
evaluation carried out for Amnesty International involved the development of
log frame indicators for outcomes at the individual, institutional and societal
level. The outcomes at the individual level included understanding of one’s
human rights and the rights of others, awareness of human rights issues,
development of empathy and care for the human rights problems of others, a
sense of personal agency in promoting human rights, the application of human
rights principles to own private life and relationships (see, Tibbitts, models 2010).
Katoch (2011) conducted the study which revealed that gender wise and locality
wise there is significant difference in the awareness of college students about
human rights. Male and urban college students are more aware about Human
Rights as compared to their counterpart. In another study by Katoch the findings
reveal that male teachers are more aware about Human Rights than their
counterparts and urban teacher trainees are more aware than rural trainees. It
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Guha and Sengupta
was also evident from the analysis of data that science and arts stream students
differ significantly in their awareness about Human Rights. Katoch (2012)
found that gender wise teacher trainees differed significantly in their awareness
about human rights. Ashraf (2013) found that there is significant difference in
the level of human rights awareness among B.Ed and D.Ed teacher trainees.
Dayal and Kaur (2015) found that there is significant difference in human rights
awareness of male and female teachers working in CBSE affiliated schools.
Objective of the Study

The study attempts to explore the awareness and understanding of students with
regard to the various principles of human rights embedded in UN documents
namely theories and perspectives of human rights, their understanding of
cardinal principles of human rights such as tolerance, gender equality, justice,
non-discrimination; indivisibility, universality and interrelatedness of human
rights, their attitude towards poverty democracy and development; problems of
vulnerable groups such as women children, indigenous people, minorities,
displaced persons and violations of human rights in the civil, political,
economic, social and cultural spheres.
The objectives of the study thus are to find out
z The level of awareness of the undergraduate students in the context of the
different components of human rights as embedded in the UN documents.
z The level of human rights related behaviour of the sample group students.
z Whether there is any difference in the awareness and behavior of the
two sample subgroups one studying human rights education at the under
graduate level and other with no such curricular component.
z Whether awareness about human rights component is correlated with
human rights related behavior
z And whether there is any significant difference in two coefficient of
correlation values of the two sub sample groups.
Hypothesis
On the basis of the above mentioned objectives following hypotheses are framed.
H01 There is no significant difference in the human rights awareness scores
of the students with human rights education as subject and that of students
without it.
H02 There is no significant difference in the human rights related behaviour
scores of the students with human rights education as subject and that
of students without it.
173
H3 The scores of human rights awareness and human rights related behaviour
are positively correlated.
H4 There is a significant difference in ‘r’ values of subgroup with human rights
education as a subject with the subgroup sample without this subject.
Design
Kerlinger (1978) defines a research design as the plan, structure and strategy
of investigation purporting to answer research questions and control variance.
An expost facto approach with only one independent variable (Human Rights
Education) in a survey Research design is contemplated for the present study.
Population
Students between the age 19-21 years enrolled in the bachelor degree programme
in colleges of Kolkata and its adjoining areas comprise the population for this
study.
Sampling
Data is gathered from a total of 150 students who were selected randomly from
the colleges where human rights education is taught as a subject and the colleges
where this subject is not taught separately. The population of the sample is
then divided into two sampling units and they are 75 students (2nd and 3rd
year) enrolled in Bachelors Degree with Human Rights as a elective subject
and 75 students enrolled in the Bachelor Degree who are not studying Human
Rights in their undergraduate curriculum.
Tools
Two questionnaires were constructed by the researchers namely Human Rights
Awareness Scale and Human Rights Activism Scale. The scales were
constructed on the basis of the other research works in these particular areas.
(Sommer and Stellmacher 2002, 2003, Tibbitts 2010 Katoch 2011). The items
used by these researchers were compiled and expert opinions were sought
regarding their applicability in the Indian social context. Five experts from the
department of Education Calcutta University and the Department of
Anthropology Calcutta University were requested to rate the items for assessing
components of human rights principles and related behavior for protecting and
upholding such rights.
On the basis of their endorsement 35 items were selected for Human Rights
Awareness Questionnaire and 30 items for Human Rights Activism Scale The
Likert Scaling Technique was used to measure the respondents’ degree of
agreement or disagreement to a given point of view. The reliability of the two
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Guha and Sengupta
questionnaires was determined and Cronbach alpha for Awareness Scale was
found to be 0.91 and that of Activism scale is 0.89.
Two examples of items include in the Human Rights Activism Scale are
i) At home, if any member of my family abuse rights of an individual, I protest.
Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Occasionally ( ) Rarely ( ) Never ( )
ii) I take part in debate and discussions where the issue is related to human
rights Always ( ) Sometimes ( ) Occasionally ( ) Rarely ( ) Never ( ). Two
items from Human Rights Awareness are i) Human rights values are western
concepts and therefore cannot be accepted as basic human values ii) No one
shall be subjected to torture and cruel inhuman degrading treatment or
punishment. Strongly agree ( ) agree ( ) undecided ( ) disagree ( ) strongly
disagree ( )
Variables
Human rights awareness
The working definition of human rights awareness is the knowledge about rights
and freedom of all human beings who are entitled to rights by virtue of being
human. For the purpose of the study awareness means understanding and
knowledge of international human rights standards embedded in major human
rights instruments. Awareness also means to have understanding about the
various kinds of violations in the political, civil, economic, social and cultural
spheres and sensitivity towards such sufferings.
Human rights behavior
This means, attitude and behaviour in accordance with human rights values.
Such behaviour encompasses all kinds of activity such as advocacy, campaign,
mobilization of masses with the help of community, police, government and
other organizations for empowering and protecting rights. For the purpose of
the present study human right behaviour would also mean being inwardly
motivated to bring positive social change.
Human Rights Education
For the purpose of the present study human rights education would mean a
formal education and training in the undergraduate curriculum of studies of
university which aims at all the following objectives with special emphasis laid
on moulding of attitude and perspective in accordance with human rights
principles.
Human Rights Education is defined in the United Nations Plan of Action
for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education as “training,
dissemination and information efforts aimed at building of a universal culture
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of human rights through the imparting of knowledge and skills and the moulding
of attitudes The objectives of human rights education are given below.
z It aim at strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms
z It seeks full development of the human personality and the sense of its
dignity
z It promotes understanding of tolerance, gender equality and friendship
among all nations, indigenous peoples and racial, national ethnic, religious
and linguistic groups
z It enables of all persons to participate effectively in a free society.
z It endeavours to further develop the activities of the United Nations for
the maintenance of peace
Result and analysis

The data were analysed and presented in two parts. In the descriptive statistics
the nature of the distribution of the scores is shown.
Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the scores of Human Rights
Awareness of the total sample group (N-150)
Table 1 : Awareness Scores
N 150
Missing 0
Mean 150.83
Median 151
Mode 155
Standard deviation 13.26
Skewness -.339
Standard error of skewness .198
Kurtosis -.235
Standard error of Kurtosis .399
The mean of the scores is 150.83, median 151 and mode 155. The distribution
is negatively skewed (-.339). It signifies that scores are piled on the positive
side indicating that most of the students reported higher HR awareness.
The following figure shows the distribution of the scores. The distribution
is slightly negatively skewed which indicates the scores are more inclined on
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Guha and Sengupta
the positive side. It implies that the students’ awareness of human rights is on
the higher side.
Fig-1 : Showing the frequency distribution of HR awareness scores.

HR Awareness
Histogram
20
Mean=111.53
Std. Dev.=13.262
N=150
15
Frequency
10
0
120.00 140.00 160.00 180.00
VAR00037
Similarly the HR Activism scores are also analyzed and the following table
shows the descriptive statistics.
Table 2 : HR Activism Score

N 150
Missing 0
Mean 111.5
Median 111.5
Mode 129
Standard deviation 14.85
Skewness Standard error of skewness -.231.198
Kurtosis Standard error of Kurtosis -.278.302
The table shows the mean, median and mode of activism scores. The standard
deviation of the distribution is 14.85. The distribution is negatively skewed like
177
awareness scores distribution which implies that the larger number of scores
are piled on the higher side of the distribution.
Fig-2 : Showing the distribution of activism scores.

HR Activism
Histogram
20
Mean=111.53
Std. Dev.=14.852
N=150
15
Frequency
10
0
60.00 80.00 100.00 120.00 140.00 150.00
VAR00031
The above mentioned figure also shows that scores are negatively skewed. The
indication is that high level of environment related behavior practices.
Testing HR awareness differentials among the students belonging to different
sub samples.
H01 There is no significant difference in the human rights awareness scores
of the students with human rights education as subject and that of students
without it.
Table 3 : Showing the Difference in Awareness Scores between Students
with Human Rights Education Subject and Students without it.
Sample N Mean SD df ‘t’value Standard ‘p’ value
error of
difference
With HR 75 154.4 13.5 148 3.43 2.08 .0008
Without HR 75 147.24 12.2
From the table 3 it is evident that the there is a highly significant difference
in HR awareness among the two groups of students. Obviously the knowledge
of human rights acquired through curriculum transaction has contributed in
developing such awareness.
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Guha and Sengupta
Testing of HR activism differential, H02 which says that there is no

significant difference in the human rights related behaviour scores of the
students with human rights education as subject and that of students without it.
Table 4 : Showing the Difference in Activism Scores between Students

with Human Rights Education Subject and Students without it.
Sample N Mean SD df ‘t’value Standard ‘p’ value
error of
difference
With HR 75 1114.9 13.35 148 2.94 2.31 .0037
Without HR 75 108.08 15.5
This result also shows the importance of HR education as there is a significant

difference in the two means of the two sample groups. It may be surmised that
being more aware the students who study human rights as a formal subject,
practice rights related behavior more than their other counterparts.
Testing of hypothesis H3
H3 The scores of human rights awareness and human rights related behaviour
are positively correlated.
The following table (Table 5) shows the correlation between awareness and
activism scores.
Table 5 : The Correlation between Awareness and Activism Scores
Aware all Act all

Aware all Pearson Correlation 1 .461**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 150 150
Act all Pearson Correlation .461** 1
N 150 150
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The ‘r’ value (.461) is positive and significant. So it can be said that if rights
related behaviours are to be inculcated among the students, then knowledge
and awareness about the various aspects of human rights are to be imparted
and instilled among the students.
Testing of H4 which maintains that there is a significant difference in ‘r’
179
values of subgroup with human rights education as a subject with the subgroup
sample without this subject.
Table nos. 6 and 7 show the coefficient of correlation.
Table 6 : Showing the Awareness and Activism Sores of the Students who
Study Human Rights Education as a Subject in Undergraduate College
awarehr acthr
awarehr Pearson Correlation 1 .519**
N 75 75
acthr Pearson Correlation .519** 1
N 75 75
It is evident from the ‘r’ value that awareness scores and activism scores is
positively and significantly correlated (r = .519) with reference to students
having HR education as a subject.
Table 7 : Showing the Awareness and Activism Sores of the Students

who do not Study Human Rights Education as a Subject in
Undergraduate College
Correlations
awarenohr actnohr
awarenohr Pearson Correlation 1 .342**
N 76 75
actnohr Pearson Correlation .342** 1
N 75 75
The value of ‘r’ in this case is also positive and statistically significant
(r=.342). It obviously indicate that even though the HR education is not formally
taught the general awareness about human rights concepts is likely to induce
people to practice related behavior.
The two coefficients of correlation are compared to find out whether any
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statistically significant difference exists between them. So the Fischer z

was calculated with the help of Lenhard and Lenhard (2014) Psychometrica.
Table 8 : Shows the Result
N r
Correlation 1 (HR as subject) 75 .591
Correlation 2 (Without HR as subject) 75 .341
Test Statistics z 1.94
Probability .026
The z value indicates that the difference between the two values are statistically
significant at .05 level. Therefore it may be concluded that the correlation
between awareness and activism is stronger in case of those students who study
human rights as a curricular subject.
Educational implication of the study
The core of the research lies in exploring the attitude and understanding of
the students towards human rights principles and violations of human rights
as it unfolds in our society. It was found that those who are learning about
human rights in the formal curriculum of studies, have deeper and holistic
understanding of human rights norms and were found to be more in agreement
with the points of view as enshrined in international laws. The study reveals
that these students have a better appreciation of the holistic concepts of human
rights. The holistic concept is that all human rights are universal, interrelated
and indivisible. This forms the bedrock of the idea of human rights without
which empowering people and putting an end to social in justices is not possible.
With regard to human rights behaviour students who have chosen to study
the subject in the formal undergraduate curriculum demonstrate a higher degree
of sensitivity to atrocities and are more active in the human rights sphere. They
think that injustices against others within society are a problem belonging to
all of us, and it is their personal responsibility to ensure that human rights of
all people in society are respected. In contrast those who do not learn the subject
in a formal undergraduate curriculum-demonstrate an absence of adequate
understanding of the injustices faced by vulnerable groups and think that
injustices against others within society is not a problem belonging to all of us.
They do not think it is their responsibility to ensure that human rights of all
people are respected. They think that the government is mainly responsible for
ensuring human rights-so they do not play nor intend to play an active role in
human right movement, and are of the view that nothing they could do would
make a difference.
181
The inclusion of human rights education in the undergraduate curriculum

study envisions a transformative experience for the students. The present study
amply demonstrates that students who are exposed to the influence of human
rights education are more aware of human rights principles as represented in
international instruments, have better understanding and appreciation of
international human rights standards and therefore are more inwardly motivated
to act and think according to human rights values.
Thus the implication of the study is far reaching as the study reiterates that
inclusion of Human Rights in the curriculum of educational programmes to
foster and strengthen the human rights culture is an urgent imperative which
is effective in empowering human beings to live with dignity.
Concluding Remarks
The curriculum of human rights education must help in bringing about positive
change and prepare the learners to analyse and understand the world around.
The purpose of Human Rights curriculum is to foster and strengthen the human
rights culture. To accomplish this human rights education must be multi-
disciplinary, proactive and effective in empowering human beings to live with
dignity. Identification of various vulnerable groups, their economic and social
problems and the impact of development in their lives need to be properly linked
to a programme of human rights study. Human rights education must not be
confined to the institutional framework alone and it should be integrated with
human sufferings in society at large. Even if practitioners would hope that human
rights education programmes will bring about changes supportive of a human
rights culture, as with any educational programme, one cannot expect such
outcomes on the basis of short term educational experiences. The present study
can lead to development of new knowledge and advance critical reflection in
the area of human rights, which in turn inform policies and practices in human
rights and in human rights education. In the context of Indian society human
rights violation is an intractable problem despite the Constitutional guarantee.
India is yet to provide for equity for its citizens as the menaces of religious
bigotry, xenophobia and upper caste chauvinism raise their ugly heads at regular
intervals. Under such circumstances the human rights education can inculcate
the values of peace, mutual respect intercultural tolerance in young people. There
is an urgent need to be equipped with skills to uphold and protect the rights
of people by acting as carers. India must prepare its young people to realize “the
vision and political will reflected in numerous international and regional human
rights treaties that stipulate the right to education and its interrelation with other
human rights.” (World Education Forum 2015, Education in 2030). Known as
the Incheon Declaration , it also reaffirms that education is a public good, a
fundamental human right and a basis for guaranteeing the realization of other
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rights. It is essential for peace, tolerance, human fulfilment and sustainable

development.
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Research, Volume 41, Issue 14.
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roadmap-19-may
183
Nineteenth Century Bengal Renaissance and

Raja Rammohan Roy: Present Perspective
Aisharya De1 and Mita Banerjee2
Abstract
At the end of 18th century and in the beginning of 19th century, India in general
and Bengal in particular was undergoing through stagnation and denegation.
Mechanical observances of rituals, irrational thinking and superstitions were
decaying every hooks and corners of the society. Under such a dismal tradition,
an urgent need was felt for humanity, high standard of rational thinking and for
a new awakening. That new awakening was termed as Renaissance, which evolved
Bengal with humanity, rationality and modernity. One of the most remarkable
personalities of the 19th century Bengal with whom all those changes came into
being was none other than Raja Rammohan Roy. Raja Rammohan Roy, as a father
of Bengal Renaissance made immense contributions for uplifting the condition
of society and education and by those contributions brought a new awareness,
a new consciousness among his countrymen. All his contributions in the field of
Bengal Renaissance are still significant today for reforming and regenerating
today’s society.
Key Words: Humanity, Rationality, Modernity, Raja Rammohan Roy, Bengal
Renaissance.
Introduction
At the end of 18th century and at the beginning of 19th century, in every sphere
of politics, society, culture and education, darkness, superstitions, meaningless
rites and rituals were prevalent. In 19th century, social oppression and
religious fanaticism engrossed the society thereby declaring the age as an age
of ‘ideological fanaticism, religious bigotry, economic injustice or social
oppression.’ (Barua, B.P, 1988)
The original thinking power of the people was blocked. Culture was
decadent. Educationally, the official policy was in favour of revival of traditional
oriental learning, though the demand of the age was for western, modern and
1. Assistant Prof. Chandraketugarh S S Mahavidalaya, West Bengal State University.

2. Vice Chancellor, The West Bengal University of Teachers’ Training, Education
Planning and Administration, Kolkata.
De and Banerjee
liberal education for an inauguration of the new learning. All those were possible
if and only if natives could be given instruction in western Science and literature.
That could bring a new awakening, enlightenment, which was in high demand
then. That new awakening was termed as ‘Renaissance’. Needless to say that
after the Charter Act of 1813, the complex, many sided socio-cultural movement
which influenced company’s educational policy was designated as Renaissance.
In India, Renaissance, the new awakening started with Bengal, so it is termed
as Bengal Renaissance. That Renaissance movement was heralded by none other
than the father of modern India, Raja Rammohan Roy.
Background of Bengal Renaissance

The main reason for that new awakening was to pull out the men from
medievalism, casteism, purdaha and other social evils to an age of development
and illumination. i.e. from political, social, cultural and educational stagnation
to an age of light. Renaissance functioned as a process of removing men from
superstitions to science. At that time in accordance with fatal political, social,
cultural and educational backdrop and with regard to the dead culture and
creativity, renaissance came as a process of removing all those obstacles.
Politically, The year 1765 was the year when the East India Company moved
from being traders to becoming de facto rulers. Consequently there was a crucial
shift in their activities too. Fundamentally East India Company accounted a
‘populous society, thriving economy, and a well developed political institution.’
(Mani, L, 1998). Gradually the British mastered the whole country. The British
in general and the company in particular were very clever in the matter of non-
interference in the religious views and social practices of the natives. They used
to take a neutral position thereby leading to no complaints on the part of the
Indians (both Hindus and Muslims) against the conquerors. (Krishnayya, G.S,
1969). Because of that weak and negative neutral position, socially, natives used
to practice and cultivate those rites and rituals which were meaningless and were
not at par with the religious doctrines of the Hindus. Out of many such prevalent
horrible rites, the rite of Sati was worth of mentioning. That practice became
familiar during the epic period as in Mahabharata; there were examples of
faithful wives who cheerfully burnt themselves on the funeral pyre of their dead
husbands to prove their truth. (Singh, I, 1958.) there was always an attempt to
prohibit such rite. However all attempts did not end with success. As per the
report of the Asiatic Journal of January, 1824, the practice “was discouraged
and even forbidden by the Mughol Government.” (Collet, S.D, 1988). However
that was never absolutely forbidden. Culturally, also the society was in a
paralysed condition. Hindu society was deprived of proper cultural values. There
was no unity of religion and morality, thereby leading to ignorance, bigotry,
185
superstitions and social and cultural decadence. Undoubtedly the reason behind
such ignorance and apathy in every sphere of religion, society and culture was
the lack of education. True system of education with proper emphasis on science
was rejected. More emphasis was placed on orientalism. Democratic education,
conducive for public good, i.e., a complete system of education was absent then.
Proper education with a unity with rationalism was very much felt then. So, the
demand of the age in accordance with a dark background of politics, society,
culture and education, was a warm welcome of western civilization, an
awakening. That dawn of modern awakening was termed as Renaissance.
The first phase of Bengal Renaissance was led by none other than Raja
Rammohan Roy, who by his farsighted vision, zeal, compassions and efforts
successfully led the movement and created the modern age at a time when it
was of utmost importance. He heralded the movement of Bengal Renaissance
in 19th century. Socially, the activities for which his name would be remembered
all the times was the abolition of Sati practice, likewise, in education his most
significant contribution was the emancipation of western system of education
with particular emphasis on the language of English. He was the first producer
as well as the first product of the composite culture of India, which was a fact to
be recognized today. His thoughts, his activities, his contributions in social and
educational field were beyond the comprehension of an average man. Raja
Rammohan Roy’s Renaissance movement emphasised over the dimension of
humanity in society, rationality in religion, newness in education. He upheld the
causes of monotheism and universalism in religion, which further developed
into the concept of “internationality, super nationality and universal state.” (Seal,
B, 1924). Toda’s concepts of women empowerment, value education, national
integration and international understandings all were not possible without
humanitarianism, universalism and rationality. Emancipation of one’s manhood
is very significant today which is not possible without understanding the guiding
philosophies of Raja Rammohan Roy’s movement. He promulgated his ideas
of enlightenment, concepts of liberty and equality along with the method of
enquiry. Still today the society is deep buried under the heaps of injustice,
corruption and lack of values. The root cause of all sorts of superstitions and
dogmatism in the country is inadequate socialisation, which is the result of
deviation from social norms and the latter is due to lack of proper education.
So, during that dismal stage, when the political, social, cultural and educational
conditions were unstable, the study of the nature of Raja Rammohan Roy’s
Renaissance movement, by which he shaped his own religion and culture is
very significant to eradicate the moral degradation, social oppression and
educational backwardness (especially for women) covering the Indian society
even after so many years of Indian independence.
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De and Banerjee
Objectives
1. To study the political, social, cultural and educational conditions of Bengal
at the time of Bengal Renaissance.
2. To study the role of Raja Rammohan Roy in Bengal Renaissance.
3. To study the present day relevance of Raja Rammohan Roy’s contributions
In Bengal Renaissance.
Definitions of the Terms
1. Bengal Renaissance- The literal meaning of Renaissance was revival or
rebirth of ancient tradition, culture and literature. After the Charter Act
of 1813, the complex, many sided socio- cultural movement which
influenced company’s educational policy was designated as Renaissance.
In India, Renaissance, the new awakening started with Bengal, so it is
termed as Bengal Renaissance.
2. Raja Rammohan Roy-He was a nationalist reformer, born in 1772, on
22nd May, in the village Radhanagar, in the district Hooghly. He fought
single hand against many prevalent inhuman evils and practices. He
worked tirelessly for the rational analysis of religion with scientific
temper, and brought a sense of modernity in the minds of his fellow
countrymen by liberal system of education. He was the father of Bengal
Renaissance. All the dimensions of his renaissance movement, namely,
humanism, rationality and modernity are still significant today.
Raja Rammohan Roy—The Pioneer of Bengal Renaissance
‘Renaissance’, a rebirth of the age old decaying culture and superstitions brought
a new sense of consciousness among the countrymen at a time when in religion,
society, education, culture and politics they faced a decadent tradition and an
attacking humanity. Regarding the significance of that dark age against of which
Raja Rammohan Roy brought revolution, Rabindranath Tagore had remarked
that “He was born at a time when our country having lost its link with the
innermost truths of its being, struggled under a crushing load of unreason, in
abject slavery to circumstances. In social usage, in politics, in the realm of
religion and art, we had entered the zone of uncreative habit, of decadent
tradition and ceased to exercise our humanity.” (Bose, 1976). His renaissance
movement actually was a movement for bringing humanism, rationality and
modernity in the then society. That movement revived the old heritage and
glorious past.
Through the Renaissance movement, Raja Rammohan Roy stressed
over bringing humanism in so called decaying society of 19th century, by
emphasising over the eradication of social oppressions, superstitions, ignorance
187
and sectarian bias. He fought earnestly for eradicating one of the inhuman
crimes of the then Hindu society, Sati. He was opposed to caste system and
for bringing people of different class, castes and communities under one roof
of common worship, he founded the Brahmo Samaj. That Samaj reacted against
social stagnation and tirelessly worked for cultural, social and educational
upliftment. The chief objective of the Samaj was to improve the moral character
of the Hindus by raising their mind above superstitions and by leading their
senses towards truth and reason. (Majumdar, J.K, 1983). His Renaissance
movement emphasised over common public good, “Lokasreya”. (Seal, B, 1924).
The rational dimension of Raja Rammohan Roy’s Renaissance movement
emphasised over comparative religion and over the wholeness of different cults
and religions. He believed in the intellectual capacities of man and advocated
that man should make an enquiry into the nature and principles of religious
doctrines before their acceptance with the validity of the doctrines of truth and
reason. Through that movement, he emphasised over the inductive reasoning.
(Tagore, S, 1975). For that purpose, Raja Rammohan Roy stressed over the
importance of science and scientific education. He believed that Science would
enable men to reject dead social conventions, modes and practices.
Another dimension or aspect over which he was always adhered to was the
dimension of modernity. He was rightly called as the ‘beacon of the modern
age’. (Upadhaya, P, 1990). He believed that for this, modern liberal type of
education is required which could escape men from all bondages of dogmas
and superstitions. That enlightened system of education, he knew could secure
individual dignity and rights and could promote well developed personality. He
was always vocal for individual rights, dignity and the personality. Raja
Rammohan Roy believed that through that movement, man would be conscious
about their rights and privileges. For that reason, he worked as a co-adjucator
of David Hare in founding the Hindu College. not only that but also he extended
his valuable help to one of the earlier representatives of the Christian Education
Mission, Dr. Alexander Duff in setting up Scottish Mission Secondary School.
Present Perspective
Raja Rammohan Roy is recognized as a man of many distinguished features,
who heralded the Renaissance in Bengal in the 19th century. Three dimensions
of his renaissance movements namely, humanism, rationality and modernity still
amaze us. So, it becomes necessary to discuss and focus the dimensions of his
movement in the context of the present day to find the relevance of his activities.
Through the renaissance movement, Raja Rammohan Roy fought against one
of the malignant disorders of popular Hinduism, Sati. Though Sati is abolished
188
De and Banerjee
today, cruelty like bride burning, discrimination between boys and girls in the
family, mental, physical torture, rape and many more social oppressions and
harassment are still continuing in our society. Nowadays, this general imbalance
begins even before birth as because of unscrupulous medical practitioners, who,
with the help of technology help to identify a female foetus and destroy it.
The cruel rite of Sati has taken new version in our present society, female
infanticide and female foeticide, gender based oppression of women in India.
In general the sex ratio imbalance worldwide, with a decreasing number of
females for every 1000 males may be an indicator of the growing increase of
female infanticide and female foeticide. It is based on the sex determination,
which leads to an irresistible conclusion that the practice of eliminating female
foetus by prenatal diagnostic techniques is widely prevalent. Female foeticide
began in the early 1990s as a result of the availability of ultrasound techniques
in India capable of determining the sex of an unborn child. Social organizations,
activists, thinkers’ media and people’s representatives have viewed female
foeticide as nothing but a case of murder.
According to the Children in India 2012: A Statistical Appraisal, released by
the Ministry of Statistics and Programmed Implementation, it was revealed that
at least three million girls were missing in 2011 as a result of selective abortions
and female foeticide. In 2011 the Indian National Crimes Record Bureau
declared that the police had received almost 1,00,000 cases of cruelty to women
by their husband or relatives, and more often than not those cases were related
to them carrying female foetuses.
Through the renaissance movement, Raja Rammohan Roy always refuted
every argument in support of caste system. He was also in support of inter
caste marriage and Saiva marriage as there was no discrimination of age and
caste or race. Raja Rammohan Roy held the view that the entire human society
was a big family and for accelerating the national development, caste system
had to be eradicated. This concept of Raja Rammohan Roy is very significant
today, as in our constitution too, equal rights and privileges for all irrespective
of caste, class, creed, sex has been sought for. Article 15 of Indian Constitution,
as enacted in 1950, prohibited any discrimination based on caste. Article 17 of
Indian Constitution declared any practice of untouchability as illegal.
Raja Rammohan Roy’s Brahmo Samaj for integrating people of different
religious communities and castes still today denounces polytheism, reject the
caste system, reject the dowry system and focus on its abolition. Today’s
Brahmo Samaj also held women emancipation as its one of the principles. Other
areas where it has focussed today are remarriage of widows, reformation of
educational system, opposition to the burning of widows, Sati, spread of
189
universal knowledge, and opposition to corrupting influences etc. The principles

are at par with what Raja Rammohan Roy instilled at the time of its foundation.
On 16th May, 1890, at the decision of the Executive Committee of the
Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya was founded. From 1910-
1936 the wife of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, Lady Abala Bose was the
secretary of the school. This school can boast as one of the premier educational
institutions for girls in Calcutta still now.
Today in our daily life, Science and technology are growing at a rapid and
tremendous pace. In present day there is rapid explosion of information through
cellular phones, fax, electronic mails, and the websites. The isolation of the East
from the West, which was there in Raja Rammohan Roy’s times, is no more.
He actually wanted a synthesis between eastern spirituality with western science.
Because of the scientific revolution, human lifestyle has changed dramatically
in the present centuries. The notions of jet and supersonic air travel, cellular
phones, lunar and planetary spacecrafts, computer controlled automation,
television, nuclear power, electronic mail all those have appeared as Science
fiction but now those are reality. Today more emphasis is placed on scientific
invention, research and revolution. Present day science is considered as an
appealing stream of career. So, Raja Rammohan Roy’s ideologies of scientific
temper are still significant today.
Through the renaissance movement, Raja Rammohan Roy emphasised on
the dignity, personality and individual rights of men. One such right for which
he dedicated his life was undoubtedly the right to education. For securing that
right, he assisted in founding Hindu College and in setting up Scottish Mission
Secondary School. These two institutions still exist with more expansion and
pride. Initially established as Hindu College, it was renamed Presidency College,
i.e. the college of the Bengal Presidency in 1855. In 2010, it was upgraded
to the status of a full university by the Presidency University Act, 2010 passed
in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly. A number of prestigious institutions
were started under the aegis of Presidency College. Although now independent,
The ‘Hindu School’ was the college’s school when it was established. From
the middle of the nineteenth century, the Hare School has been located inside
the premises of the college and has been traditionally associated with it. Prasanta
Chandra Mahalanobis in 1931 founded The Indian Statistical Institute in the
Statistical Laboratory of this college. Scottish Mission Secondary School was
converted to Scottish Church College in 1830. Scottish Church College is the
oldest continuously running liberal Arts and Science College in India. University
Grants Commission rated the college as college with Potential for Excellence.
Not only these, but also the following Schools and Colleges were named after
190
De and Banerjee
Raja Rammohan Roy as a tribute to his movement for individual educational

rights.
z Ram Mohan College: Renowned College situated at Raja Rammohan
Sarani, West Bengal. It offers undergraduate and post graduate courses.
It is affiliated to Calcutta University. Its origin was City College, Kolkata,
one of the oldest first grade colleges in West Bengal. It has also a Science
building.
z Raja Rammohan Roy Mahavidyalaya: This College is situated at his birth
place Radhanagore, Nagulpara, Hooghly, West Bengal. From the very
beginning the college aimed at spreading both curricular and co-curricular
education to the common lot of locality.
z Raja Rammohan Roy College of Education: this college is situated at
Bangalore. This college is affiliated to Bangalore University. The college
offers courses in Education.
z Raja Ram Mohan Roy Institute of Vocational Studies: this institute is
at Chandigarh.
z Raja Ram Mohan Roy Public School : It is situated near Madhuban
Chowk, Delhi.
z Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy Cambridge School : this is situated in
Clement Town Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
Apart from schools and colleges, the following libraries and museum were also
named after Raja Rammohan Roy as a tribute to his exertions and activities.
z Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation: It is a central autonomous
organization established and fully financed by the Ministry of Culture,
Government of India. It is situated in Salt lake City, in a five storied
building.
z Rammohan library: It is situated at Sukiya Street, Garpar, Raja
Rammohan Roy Sarani, Kolkata -700009. It is a Public Services Library
and having a rare collection of books on the legend.
z Raja Rammohan Roy Memorial Museum : It is on Raja Rammohan Roy
Sarani, The memorabilia in the museum consists of photographs,
sketches, paintings and excerpts from the writings of Raja Rammohan
Roy and others reproduced, wherever possible, in facsimile. Also it has
diorama representations designed to recreate the times. Together they not
only give us the glimpses of the various facets of one of the greatest
personalities of the modern age, but at the same time take us back into
a period in history when India was at crossroads, and Raja Rammohan
Roy heralded the coming of the modern age. It was opened in 2009.
191
Conclusion
Thus one can easily interpret that the three dimensions of many sided complex
renaissance movement of Raja Rammohan Roy, namely, humanism backed by
‘lokasreya’ or common public good, rationality, guided by science and scientific
temper and modernity, guided by the opening of more and more institutions
for modern and liberal type of education for securing individual rights, dignity
and personality all are relevant today. Not only these but also his philosophies
are required even today for oppressing day to day crimes against women in
the name of dowry, female infanticide, female foeticide, withdrawal of property
rights etc. So, the activities and contributions of Raja Rammohan Roy still find
an important place in the lives of people and also in the society at large. Raja
Rammohan Roy will still be adored and honoured and long cherished for many
years to come.
References
Barua B.P., (1988). Raja Rammohun Roy and the New learning. Raja Rammohun
Roy and His Quest for Rationalism and Tolerance (pp 78-92). Calcutta: Orient
Longman Publishing Ltd.
Bose N.S., (1976). The Indian Awakening and Bengal. Prelude to the Renaissance,
(pp 13-30). Kolkata: Firma KLM.
Collet S.D., (1988). The Life and Letters of Raja Rammohun Roy. First Regular
Campaign, (pp 69-118). Calcutta: Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Krishnayya G.S., (1969). Raja Rammohun Roy. India in Transition, (pp 1-9). New Delhi:
National Council of Educational Research and Training.
Majumdar J.K., (1983). Raja Rammohun Roy and Progressive Movements in India.
Vol I. Religious, Moral and Social, (pp 3- 219). Kolkata: Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
Mani L., (1998). The Debate on Sati in Colonial India. Equivocations in the Name
of Tradition, (pp 11-15). England: University of California Press.
Seal B., (1924). Rammohun Roy The Universal Man. Rituals and Symbols, (pp 17-23).
Calcutta: Brahmo Mission Press.
Singh I., (1958). Rammohun Roy A Biographical inquiry into the making of modern
India. Vol I. Not For Burning, (pp 187-216). New Delhi: Asia Publishing House.
Tagore S., (1975). Rammohun Roy–His Role in Indian
Renaissance. Rammohun and the Indian Renaissance, (pp 1-14). Calcutta: The Asiatic
Society.
192
Parental Education and van Hiele Level of Geometric

Thinking among Higher Secondary Students
Arup Kundu1 and Aditi Ghose2
Abstract
Nature versus nurture is an ongoing debate in education. Yet we cannot ignore
the influence of the home in the education of the child. Significant in this regard
are the educational qualifications of parents.Geometry can be one of the most
interesting and exacting subjects in the school curriculum. This paper attempts
to see whether students’ acquisition of geometry thinking is related to their
parents’ educational qualifications.The population for the study consisted of Class
eleven (XI) students in southern districts of West Bengal. The sample consisted of
779 students. The van Hiele test (Usiskin, 1982) was used to assess the levels of
geometry thinking, and the Chi Square test was used to ascertain the relationship
between of these levels with parental qualifications. The finding indicated that
higher parental qualifications were indeed advantageous to the acquisition of
higher levels of geometric thinking.
Key Words: Van Hiele Level, Geometry Thinking, Parental Qualification.
Introduction
Students in H.S. classes have arisen through ten years of school education and
are deemed to have learned the basic knowledge and skills required to lead
the lives of proficient citizens. Included in the list of essential qualities to be
acquired by the secondary school learner is spatial skill. This is manifest in
the students’ proficiency and innate understanding of the basics of geometry.
Though geometry is to be ‘learned’ in school it is experienced in everyday life
in numerous ways. The richness of this realization depends on each student’s
individual environment. To look at the influence of the variety of experience
and the immediate environment of the student is almost impossible. Yet an
inquiry into these aspects can give valuable ideas about the extent to which
1. Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Govt. Training College (CTE), Hooghly and

Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Education, University of Calcutta,
Email: arup.cu.edu@gmail.com
2. Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta, Kolkata-700027,
Email: ghose_aditi@rediffmail.com
students really conceive geometric ideas. The most important aspect of students’
immediate environment that leads to conceptualization of knowledge is the
effect of his/her parents’ outlook, and by logic, their education.
This argument may be seen as an extension of the oft repeated adage ‘An
educated mother means an educated family’ in our society, usually the father
heads the family, and is normally the most educated in therein. Thus he
definitely has an effect on the knowledge acquisition of his children. This
investigation therefore has attempted to find out the level of geometric thinking
of Higher Secondary students and to relate this to the educational qualifications
of their parents.
Geometry is the most important branch of mathematics (Isil and Ubez, 2004)
and it is related with the properties and relationships of lines, angles, curves,
shapes, etc. Geometry helps us to define and explain the world rationally and
systematically (Cantürk-Günhan and Baser, 2007). According to Sherard (1981)
and Hong (2005), geometry is important for students as it is also applied in
other branches of mathematics. For example, geometry is applied in other
subjects such as basic science and engineering. The two most poignant
objectives of geometry learning are to develop logical thinking skills and to
develop spatial intuitions. Spatial abilities are required in learning physics
(Pallrand and Seeber, 1984), geosciences (Kali and Orion, 1996), engineering
(Hsi, Linn and Bell, 1997) and in chemistry (Bodner and Guay, 1997; Carter,
LaRussa and Bodner, 1987; Lord, 1987). Numerous mathematics educators
(Barakat,1951; Murray, 1949; Wrigley, 1958) investigated the relationship
between spatial ability and mathematical ability. Mathematics educators
(Bishop, 1983) found that spatial ability was correlated more highly with ability
in geometry then algebra. Thus geometry is an essential aspect of the education
of the individual.
The van Hiele model of geometric thought emerged from the works of two
Dutch mathematics educators, Dina van Hiele-Geldof and Pierre M. van Hiele
at the University of Utrecht. Van Hiele explained the model of geometric
thinking using three aspects: the existence of levels, properties of the levels,
and the movement from one level to the next level. The van Hiele model consists
of five levels of geometric thinking. These levels, as arranged from the lowest
to the highest, include:
Level 1. Visualization: The student can merely recognize a shape.
Level 2. Analysis: The student is able to analyze a shape because he/she knows
the properties of the shapes in Level 1.
Level 3. Abstraction: The students have learned geometric properties after
having attained the first two levels.
194
Kundu and Ghose
Level 4. Deduction: The student is able to construct proofs of geometric

properties after having attained the first three levels.
Level 5. Rigor: The student is able to understand the implications of non-
Euclidian geometry after having attained the first four levels. (Crowley, 1987).
Usiskin tested the ability of the van Hiele model to describe and predict
the performance of students in secondary school geometry (Usiskin, 1982).
Currently there are two lines of research based on the van Hiele theory in the
world: one transforming the van Hiele theory to other areas of mathematics
(Boolean Algebra, Function-Analysis-Calculus), and another one using dynamic
geometry to achieve higher van Hiele levels – De Villiers(2010).
This investigation has attempted to relate the extent of geometric thinking
among H.S. students, with parents’ education with the help of the van Hiele
model.
Research Method
The study was a survey based on quantitative techniques regarding the
population of urban class XI student in southern districts of West Bengal.
Sample
The sample consisted of 779 Class XI students drawn up from 25 urban schools
of southern districts West Bengal. The schools were selected through purposive
sampling. Geographical accessibility, proximity and functionality were some
of the factors that influenced the choice of these schools. However, adequate
representation of districts covering the population was taken. The participants
were mainly from middle income socio-economic communities. Formal
approval from the school Head Teachers were obtained in order to conduct
this research.
Following administration of a personal data sheet the sample was further
detailed according to the participants, gender, streams of study and their parents’
educational qualification:
Table 1 : Gender and Streams of Study
Streams Science Arts Commerce
Male 188 122 95
Female 159 179 36
Total 347 301 131
195
Table 2 : Parents’ Educational Qualification
Parent’s Illiterate Primary Madhyamik Higher Graduate Total

educational standard standard Secondary standard
qualification standard or upper
Father’s 24 145 180 130 300 779
Mother’s 56 188 211 148 176 779
Tools
A personal data sheet seeking participants’ gender, stream of study, educational
qualification of father, educational qualification of mother.
The van Hiele Geometry Test as constructed by Usiskin (Usiskin, 1982)
was translated into Bengali. The test consisted of multiple choice questions,
with five questions pertaining to each of the five van Hiele levels. Each
question displayed five options consisting of one correct answer and four
distracters. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient for reliability of the test ranged
from .69 to .79, (Usiskin, 1982; Bal, 2014).
Procedure
The participants were met in their classes and administered the tools of the
study. The completed personal data sheets and the answer sheets of the van
Hiele geometry test were collected after about 40 minutes. Forced van Hiele
levels were assigned to the respondents according to the literature (Usiskin,
1982).
Data Analysis
Quantitative techniques were used in the analysis of data using the SPSS 16.0
statistics programs and analyzed.
Findings
Fathers’ qualifications
The following table shows the fathers’ educational qualification according to
the van Hiele levels of the students.
196
Kundu and Ghose
Table 3 : Forced Van Hiele Level versus Father’s Educational Qualification
Father’s Qualification Total

Illiterate Primary M.P. H.S. Graduate
or upper
Level 0 (13)7.5% (59)33.9% (55)31.6% (28)16.1% (19)10.9% (174)100.0%
Forced Van Hiele Level
Level 1 (11)4.4% (55)22.2% (58)23.4% (45)18.1% (79)31.9% (248)100.0%
Level 2 (0).0% (20)12.3% (37)22.7% (27)16.6% (79)48.5% (163)100.0%
Level 3 (0).0% (10)7.6% (21)16.0% (21)16.0% (79)60.3% (131)100.0%
Level 4 (0).0% (1)1.6% (9)14.3% (9)14.3% (44)69.8% (63)100.0%
Total (24)3.1% (145)18.6% (180)23.1% (130)16.7% (300)38.5% (779)100.0%
(Figure in brackets signify frequency)
This has been further illustrated by the following figure:
Figure 1. Fathers' educational qualification according to the Forced Van

Hiele Levels of students.
The table shows that
z 248 students were at Level 1, making this the modal level.
z Only students with Level 0 and 1 had fathers who were illiterate.
z Student with Level 2, 3 and 4 had a remarkable number of fathers who
were graduates or were more qualified.
Thus this indicated that the father's qualification was related to the students'
forced van Hiele levels.
197
To further investigate this the null hypothesis was as follows:

H01: The Forced van Hiele Levels of the participants are independent of
their Father's educational qualification.
A Chi Square test was conducted and the result is as follows:
Table 4 : Chi-Square Test

Value df Asymp.
Sig.(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.534E2a 16 .000
Likelihood Ratio 174.517 16 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 141.024 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 779
The Chi Square value is highly significant at 1% level, thus H01 may be
rejected. The forced van Hiele Level of the participants is not independent of
the fathers' qualification. Therefore one may conclude that the father's
qualification has an impact on the student's level of geometric thinking. That
is, fathers with higher qualifications are more likely to have children with higher
forced van Hiele levels. Unfortunately, children of fathers who are illiterate
appear to suffer in this regard.
Mothers' qualifications
The following table shows the mothers' educational qualification according to
the van Hiele levels of the students.
Table 5 : Forced Van Hiele Level versus Mother’s Educational Qualification
Mother’s Qualification Total
Illiterate Primary M.P. H.S. Graduate
or upper
Level 0 (30)17.2% (65)37.4% (61)35.1% (14)8.0% (4)2.3% (174)100.0%
Forced Van Hiele Level
Level 1 (22)8.9% (77)31.0% (58)23.4% (48)19.4% (43)17.3% (248)100.0%
Level 2 (2)1.2% (31)19.0% (45)27.6% (40)24.5% (45)27.6% (163)100.0%
Level 3 (2)1.5% (12)9.2% (34)26.0% (33)25.2% (55)38.2% (131)100.0%
Level 4 (0).0% (3)4.8% (13)20.6% (13)20.6% (34)54.0% (63)100.0%
Total (56)7.2% (188)24.1% (211)27.1% (148)19.0% (176)22.6% (779)100.0%
(Figure in brackets signify frequency)
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Kundu and Ghose
This has been further illustrated by the following figure:

Figure 2. Mothers' educational qualification according to the Forced Van
Hiele Levels of students.
The table shows that
z No students at Level 4 had mothers who were illiterate.
z Student at Level 2, 3, and 4 had a considerable number of mothers who
were graduates or were more educated. In fact, most students at Level
4 had mothers who were graduates or more educated.
Thus this indicated that the mother's qualification was related to the students'
forced van Hiele levels.
To further investigate this null hypothesis was as follows:
H02: The van Hiele Levels of the participants are independent of their
Mother's educational qualification.
The result of the Chi Square test is as follows:
Table 6 : Chi-Square Test
Value df Asymp.
Sig.(2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.859E2a 16 .000
Likelihood Ratio 210.009 16 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 166.364 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 779
The Chi square value is highly significant at 1% level, thus H02 may be rejected.
The forced van Hiele Level of the participants is not independent of the mothers'
qualifications. Therefore one may conclude that the mother's qualification has
an impact on the student's, level of geometric thinking. That is, mothers with
higher qualifications are more likely to have children with higher forced van
Hiele levels. Unfortunately, children of mothers who are illiterate appear to
suffer in this regard.
Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations
The above analysis shows that the students' forced van Hiele Levels is impacted
by the qualifications of both fathers and mothers. In other words, the primary
source of acculterization, and by reasoning, of attuning to the reception of
knowledge by the student is the family. In this case, the acquisition of spatial
skills and conceptualization of geometric ideas depends on the educational level
of the parents.
199
Highly educated parents are more likely to be believers of the importance

of mathematics on their children's lives. Thus they transfer their positive feelings
and attitudes to their children (Hong, You, & Wu, 2010). Once students are
exposed to positive mathematics feelings and attitudes, their intrinsic motivation
towards mathematics can increase (Gottfried, Gottfried, & Oliver, 2009) and
they want to be more successful in mathematics. Several researchers appear
to be in consonance with the present findings. For example, Demir, Kilic and
Unal (2010) find that students whose parents are highly educated and exposed
to mathematics in their lives tend to show more success in mathematics than
their peers whose parents are less educated and not exposed to mathematics.
Because highly educated parents know the learning requirements and provide
opportunities for the appropriate educational environment for their children
(Alomar, 2006), their children are exposed earlier to mathematics in the most
effective educational environment.
Even though the majority of the literature on parents' education pertains to
the direct, positive influence on achievement (Jimerson, Egeland, & Teo, 1999;
Kohn, 1963) Luster, Rhoades, & Haas (1989) also suggest that it influences the
beliefs and behaviours of the students, Thus parents' education leads to positive
outcomes for children and youth (Eccles,1993).
Though 'the nurture versus nature' debate has not been resolved, it remains
that with the right kind of nurturance children may be able to develop with
more awareness and greater logical sense and hence enhanced power of
conceptualization. Ergo, children of educated parents have the advantage of
being enveloped within an atmosphere of discourse that is directly or indirectly
affected by their urbane knowledge.
Educators are constantly concerned with the poor performance of the learners
in geometry. The van Hiele theory was useful in analyzing the performance
of the learners. The results of this research identified a notable factor that could
explain why learners experience difficulties with school geometry in school.
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202
Relationship between Teaching Behaviour and Personality

Trait of Effective Science Teachers
Pritam Das**, Sohini Ghosh** and Sanat K. Ghosh***
Abstract
Teacher behaviour is influenced by both situational factors and personal
dispositions. In the present study a constructive methodology was adopted to find
out the relationships between the teaching behaviour patterns and the personality
patterns of the effective science teachers of the secondary school level. A sample
of 30 effective science teachers (10 in Mathematics, 10 in Physical Science and
10 in Biological Sciencet) were identified from the perceptions of their ex-
students studied in their respective schools. The Effective Teacher Rating Scale
and Cattell’s Five-Factor Inventory were used as data gathering tools. It was found
that there were some sorts of relationships between the teaching behaviour
patterns and personality patterns, especially between the Personality Traits, viz.,
Openness, Concientousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism and
Teacher Behaviours, viz., General Teaching Behaviour, Prepatory Behaviour,
Presentation Behaviour, Pedagogical Behaviour, Motivation Arousing Behaviou,
Classroom Management Behaviour either in a positive way or in a negative way.
Key Words: Effective Teacher, Teacher Behaviour Pattern, Personality Pattern.
Introduction
Behaviour of the teacher in general and in the classrooms in particular has a
great bearing in their participation in the teaching-learning processes on
development and shaping of the student behaviour. Teacher behaviour is the
activities as they go about doing what ever is required of teachers, particularly
those activities which are concerned with the guidance or direction of the
learning of students. It also regards teacher behaviour as a function of the
* Research Scholar, Dept. of Education, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.

** Assistant Professor, Dept. of Special Education, Rabindra Bharati University
*** Professor of Education and Ex Dean, Faculty of Arts, Rabindra Bharati
University, Kolkata,
E-mail : sanatghosh.rbu@gmail.com
characteristics of the teacher, the educational environment and the tasks in which
the teacher is engaged with.
Teachers are made as well as born. Some teachers may possess natural
capabilities or aptitudes but the scope of their modifiability through self-
experience is quite considerable. The teaching behaviour may also be acquired
through training as well as interactions with the environment and as such it
is modifiable. Since the situations are not static, the teaching behaviour changes
due to the surrounding environment.
Behaviour is influenced by both situational factors and personal dispositions.
Such disposition does appear to be relatively stable over time and accorded
situations in most of the instances. The basic question is which disposition or
traits are most important for consistency in effective teacher behaviour. In his
search for the key dimension or traits of personality, Gordon Allport (1961)
distinguished between two basic approaches. One, known as the Nomothetic
approach, seeks to compare all individuals on the same dimensions of
personality. The other, known as the Idiographic approach is concerned with the
uniqueness of specific individuals. It seeks to identify the unique combination
of traits that best describe the personality of a specific person. Using the
Idiographic approach, Allport concluded that personality traits could be divided
into several major categories. According to Allport, “each human being possesses
a small number of central traits that together account for much of that person’s
uniqueness as an individual”.
Using the factorial analysis technique, Cattell and Dreger (1977) have
identified 16 basic source traits. Sophisticated research conducted during the
past two decades has begun to converge on a refreshingly simple conclusion.
In fact, there may be only key or central dimensions of fundamental source
traits (Costa & McCrae, 1988; Hogan, 1983; McCrae, 1989; Noller, Law &
Comrey, 1987). These five central dimensions are known as – (i) Extraversion,
(ii) Agreeableness, (iii) Conscientiousness, (iv) Emotional Stability and (v)
Openness to Experience (Baron, 1995).
Constructivism is basically a theory, based on observation and scientific
study about how people learn. It says that people construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world through experiencing phenomena
around us and reflecting on these experiences. When we encounter something
new, we have to reconcile it with our previous ideas and experience, may be
changing what we believe, or may be discarding the new information as
irrelevant. In any case, we are active creators of our own knowledge. To do
this, we must ask questions, explore, and assess what we know.
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Das, Ghosh and Ghosh
In the classroom, the constructivist view of learning can point out towards
a number of different teaching practices. In the most general sense, it usually
means encouraging students to use active techniques (experiments, real-world
problem solving) to create more knowledge and then to reflect on and talk about
they are doing and how their understanding is changing. The teacher makes
sure he/she understands the students’ preexisting conceptions, and guides the
activity to address them and then build on them.
Constructivism as applied to education is a relatively recent phenomenon
primarily derived from the work of Swiss developmental psychologist Jean
Piaget (1973) and Russian psychologist Lev Vigotsky (1978). However, its
underlying principles have had a long history in education influenced by the
developmentalist notions of 18th century French philosopher Jacques Rousseau,
and later, the theories of John Dewey, G. Stanley Hall, and Arnold Gesell (Stone,
1996). Developmentalist teaching practices emerged as a reaction against the
harsh educational practices employed in 18th and 19th century Europe and
America.
Biswas, A.K. (1998), in his study on “Teacher Effectiveness Index” has
developed an Index that objectively and meaningfully quantifies a secondary
school teacher’s effectiveness from the viewpoint of pupils’ learning with the
assumption that a pupil’s annual-learning in a school subject is assessed by
his/ her scores on curriculum reference test of the Mastery system. This index
may be used to measure and compare teachers’ effectiveness irrespective of
pupils, subjects, classes and schools. Real-life data have been used to determine
the index of teacher effectiveness.
The present constructive study dealt with the relationship between teaching
effectiveness behaviour and personality factors of the science teachers of
Secondary level.
Objectives
1. To identify effective science teachers of secondary level in West Bengal
as perceived by their ex-students;
2. To identify classroom behaviour patterns of effective science teachers
of secondary level in West Bengal;
3. To find out the relationship between the five personality traits and
classroom behaviour pattern of effective science teachers.
Methods
The proposed study as an empirical research was based on constructive study
design. According to Strommen, E.F. & Lincoln, B. (2006), there are four phases
205
of a constructive study design – (i) Exploration, (ii) Conceptualization, (iii)

Production and (iv) Post-Production.
Sample
Approximately one thousand ex-students of different categories drawn at
random was the first sample of the study. The second sample was thirty effective
science teachers, ten each from Mathematics, Physical Science and Life-Science
subjects, who are still teaching in secondary schools of West Bengal, drawn
from the pool of effective school teachers identified from the opinions of ex-
students.
Variables
Two major variables were – (i) Classroom Behaviour Pattern of Effective
Secondary School Science Teachers and (ii) their respective Personality Traits.
Tools
(i) Effective Teacher Rating Scale - The scale was used by each of the sampled
ex-students to identify effective teacher he/ she was taught in his /her
school life and the same was used to identify classroom behaviours of
that effective teacher.
(ii) Cattell’s 5 P.F. Inventory - The inventory was administered by each of
the sampled effective science teachers under study to locate five key or
central dimensions of personality traits.
Table 1 : Showing Means and Standard Deviations of Teacher

Behaviour of Science Teachers
Effective Teacher Minimum Maximum Mean Standard
Behaviours Deviation
General Teaching
Behaviour .00 4.67 3.4333 1.33380
Preparatory Behavior .00 5.00 3.7000 1.46102
Presentation Behaviour .00 4.67 3.5500 1.31245
Communication Behaviour .00 4.50 3.5167 1.32742
Pedagogical Behaviour .00 4.50 3.0375 1.26251
Motivation Arousing
Behaviour .00 4.80 2.8400 1.28513
Classroom Management
Behaviour .00 4.75 3.0500 1.29529
206
Results
The obtained data was analyzed and the following results were obtained:
Table 1 shows that Preparatory behaviour of the Science teachers (N=30)
has the highest mean score (M=3.70) and the General Teaching behaviour is
the next one (M=3.4333). The lowest mean Score is found in respect to
Motivation Arousing behaviour of the Science teachers. But the overall scores
of the Effective Teacher Behaviour of the Science are found below average.
Table 2 indicates the Means and SDs of five Personality Traits of Science
Teachers (N= 30). The highest mean score (M=4.6833) is found in Openness
personality trait, whereas the lowest is in Neuroticism (M=1.9333). The overall
personality pattern of the Science Teachers has been found quite moderate.
Table 2 : Showing Means and Standard Deviations of Five Personality

Traits of Science Teachers
Five PF Minimum Maximum Mean Standard
Deviation
Openness 4.33 5.00 4.6833 0.22839
Conscientiousness 2.83 3.50 3.1667 0.26058
Extraversion 3.00 4.50 3.7333 0.50430
Agreeableness 2.17 3.83 3.2667 0.54546
Neuroticism 1.00 3.00 1.9333 0.52234
Table 3 shows that Openness and Concientousness personality traits of science

teachers are positively correlated with all the seven measures of effective teacher
behaviours, whereas personality traits like Extraversion, Agreeableness and
Neuroticism are negatively correlated
Table 3 : Showing Correlation Matrix between the Scores of Effective
Teacher Behaviour and Five Personality Traits of Science Teachers (N=30)
Effective Statistics Openness Conscien Extraversion Agreeab Neuroti
Teacher tiousness leness cism
Behaviour
General Teaching r (Pearson) .663* .124 -.130 -.117 -.592
Behaviour Sig. (2-tailed) .037 .732 .720 .747 .071
Preparatory Behavior r (Pearson) .683* .113 -.146 -.222 -.620
Sig. (2-tailed) .030 .755 .688 .538 .056
Presentation Behaviour r (Pearson) .563 .054 -.136 -.098 -.661*
Sig. (2-tailed) .090 .882 .708 .787 .037
207
Table 3 : Showing Correlation Matrix between the Scores of Effective

Teacher Behaviour and Five Personality Traits of Science Teachers (N=30)
(Contd.)
Effective Statistics Openness Conscien Extraversion Agreeab Neuroti
Teacher tiousness leness cism
Behaviour
Communication r (Pearson) .508 -.018 -.242 -.126 -.599
Pedagogical Behaviour r (Pearson) .519 .049 -.393 -.023 -.677*
Sig. (2-tailed) .124 .893 .261 .950 .032
Motivation Arousing r (Pearson) .502 .044 -.227 .205 -.790**
Classroom Management r (Pearson) .451 .014 -.247 .189 -.775**
*p< .05; **p< .01
with the effective teacher behaviours of the science teachers. It further reveals
that Openness is significantly correlated with the General Teaching Behaviour
and Prepatory Behaviour of the science teachers but negative significant
correlations are found between Neuroticism and teacher behaviours, like,
Presentation Behaviour, Pedagogical Behaviour, Motivation Arousing Behaviour
and Classroom Management Behaviour. Where as, Concientousness,
Extraversion and Agreeableness personality traits show low level correlations
with all the seven types of Effective Teacher Behaviours.
Conclusion
The present study reveals that that there are some sorts of relationships between
the teacher behaviour patterns and personality patterns, especially between the
Personality Traits, viz., Openness, Concientousness, Extraversion, Agreeable-
ness, Neuroticism and Teacher Behaviours, viz., General Teaching Behaviour,
Prepatory Behaviour, Presentation Behaviour, Pedagogical Behaviour,
Motivation Arousing Behaviour, Classroom Management Behaviour either in a
positive way or in a negative way. It further reveals that the exhaustive related
elements need to be further studied for developing a model of an effective
teacher. It emphasises not only the domains of effective teaching which receive
most of the attention in teacher education and evaluation, namely content
knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and, more recently, pedagogical content
knowledge but also takes into account the teacher’s personal knowledge and
knowledge of context. We suggest that it is not just this knowledge that teachers
208
have in these domains but the way this knowledge overlaps and interacts both
within the teacher and with the teacher’s physical, social, intellectual and
emotional environment.
References
Allport Gordan., (1961). http://www.blackwellpublishing.comintropsych/pdf/chapter14.
pdf (p. 294), Retrived on 07.05.2012.
Baron G., (1995). http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/public/etd-32198-18285/materials/etd.
pdf (pp.67-110), Retrived on 07.05.2015.
Biswas A.K., (1998). Teacher Effectiveness Index, Perspectives in Education, Vol. I,
No. 2. NCERT, New Delhi,
Cattell and Dreger (1977). Handbook of Modern Personality Theory. Hemisphere
Publishing Corporation, Washington DC, pp.
Costa P.T. Jr., & McCrae R.R., (1988). From Catalogue to Classification: Murray’s
needs and the five-factor model, Journal of ersonality and Social Psychology.
pp. 258-264.
Dewey J., Hall G.S., & Gesell A., (Stone, 1996).
Hogan, (1983). http://psych.colorado.edu/~carey/courses/PSYC5112/ readings/psnBig5_
Mccrae. Pdf (p.181) Retrived on 07.05.2012.
McCrae, (1989). http://www.education.nic.in/cd50years/g/z/9j/0Z9J0201.htm
Retrived on January 2012
Noller P., Law H.. & Comrey A.L., (1987). http://psych.colorado.edu/~carey/courses/
PSYC5112/Readings/psnBig5Mccrae.pdf (p.181). Retrived on 14.05.2012.
Vigotsky L., (1978). http://www.teqjournal.org/backvols/2003/30_3/mathews.pdf (p.53).
Retrived on 26.06.2012.
209
Representation of Women and Museum Education: A

Micro Study in some Selected UK Museums
Indrani Bhattacharya*
Abstract
The paper focussed mainly on representation of women in some UK museums. In
this regard the researcher surveyed few museums in UK, viz., the British Museum,
the Science Museum; and the Hunterian at Glasgow University, along with the
Imperial College Library. The study concluded that museums being important
social institutions reflect prevalent situations in the society. Representations of
different socio-economic segments of the society must be reflected in the
museums.
Key Words: Museum Education, Display, Programmes, Representation, Women,
Policy
Introduction
About half of the world populations are the women. Ideally, in every sphere
of life, including museums, women should have equal participation, but the
reality is far from the ideal. In the museums, women participation in the policy
making and decision taking positions are seldom found. Though, ironically
enough, girls constitute majority of the students in the university Museology
departments throughout the world. Women are found in museums in limited
numbers restricted to the lower ranks. The Researcher finds a serious subject
for research to be undertaken to look out the factors behind such inequality.
When one goes to look for basic data regarding the number of women visitors
in the museums, the likes & dislikes, expectations, aspirations & desires of the
women museum visitors, exhibitions relating to women issues, role of women
in museum management, the contributions of women in the collections that are
possessed by the museums, etc., he/she would likely to find a complete vacuum
in the database. No explanatory research has been taken up, even by the big
institutes, on such important issues. The basic problem is that the museum
planners and administrators do not accord women issues the same importance
as they do to the men. Such apathy perhaps arises from the visualisation of the
role of women in family and society.
* Associate Professor, Department of Museology, University of Calcutta.
Bhattacharya
Women are the major contributors to the museum collections. Traditionally

rural women have been involved in the production and distribution of goods
and services. Many of the art and craft collections in the museums are solely
produced by the womenfolk. Even today, women artisans play pivotal role in
producing handicraft items. Women have considerable roles in the production
of the artefacts made by their men folk. Say, for example, the clay and terracotta
idols, though produced mainly by the male artisans, still women participate in
decorating, arranging and packaging them. Examples are plenty. In different
parts of India, handicraft items, beautiful textiles made by the women can be
found. The contributions of the women must be duly recognised. Women are
in fact repositories of numbers of traditional cultural heritage. In rural Indian
set up, also in the urban milieu, women are the primary source of moral and
value education for the children. When one thinks of his/her own grandmothers
or great grandmothers, he/he may find that probably, they were not formally
educated, still they used to uphold high standard of morality, ethics, social values
and collective wisdom. The so-called granny’s kitchen remedies are extremely
useful even in today’s world of medical excellences. The traditional wisdom
borne by the women must be properly and scientifically documented
immediately to save them from extinction. Hordes of elements of cultural
heritage, especially the oral traditions like ballads, folk songs, riddles, rituals,
decorations, folk games, even recipes, etc., are still being carried by the women.
Museums and museologists must arrange to take up serious research works
to document, preserve and revive such a rich repository of the Indian cultural
heritage. Immediate research should be taken up to ascertain the exact numbers
of women visitors, their choices, dislikes, aspirations, etc. Museum research
on women should be counteracting cultural and social barriers and should add
to the skill and experience. As a very first step, it must be ascertained the actual
percentage of the women visitors in relation to their male counterpart. Then
it must be found out the women’s choices regarding content, format & style
of the exhibitions even to the basics like colour schemes of exhibits, galleries,
etc., exhibit orientation, various programmes including the educational ones and
the extension services. The inputs should help to prepare a complete database
on the women museum visitors that would enable the museums to amend
themselves.
Objectives of the Study

a. To study the representation of women in the exhibits of the selected
museums.
b. To make a study on programmes undertaken for women by the selected
museums
211
c. To study representation of women in the staff pattern of the selected

museums.
d. To arrive at a correct conclusion regarding the representation on women
in and around the museums.
Research Methodology
Research methodology included thorough search of the published materials and
other papers, which are available at various libraries. Most current information
provided by organisations, conferences and individuals actively working in this
field will be accessed. Information was also obtained from the Internet.
Extensive surveys in selected museums, particularly in India & United Kingdom,
to photo-document the exhibits representing women, and to acquire other
relevant data for further analysis and comparing is the most important part of
this project. Interviews with museum personnel, both women & men are another
focus area of the project. The accumulated data were analysed to arrive at a
rational conclusion. Lastly the findings and interpretation will be published.
Observation
1. The Researcher made extensive Library works in the British Library,
London, Science Museum, London and the Imperial College Library,
London, in search of related references and collected adequate materials
on the objectives of the Research Project.
2. The Researcher also searched Internet for relevant materials and made
a collection of archival materials.
3. The Researcher made extensive study on the exhibits displayed in the
British Museum, Science museum, London, the Victoria & Albert
Museum, London, and photo-documented the exhibits that represent
women.
4. The Researcher visited several important museums in UK, viz., the
Hunterian, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow; the
National Art Gallery, London; the National Portrait Gallery, London, and
photo-documented exhibits related to the topic of Research for making
comparative studies with the findings in the Indian museums.
5. The Researcher made a study on programmes undertaken for women by
the selected museums.
6. The Research project recorded and analysed the demographic profile of
the women visitors in the selected museums and also studied
representation of women in the staff pattern of the selected museums.
7. The Researcher completed compilation and analysis of the collected data
212
Bhattacharya
to arrive at a correct conclusion regarding the representation on women

in and around the museums.
8. The findings of the research project corroborated the primary contention
that representation of women as a whole is marginal in the museums
though women as exhibits are predominantly perceptible.
9. The research findings strongly underline necessity of further research to
assess the situation more accurately.
Major Findings
Representation is presently a much debated topic not only in postcolonial studies
and academia, but in the larger cultural milieu. The ‘Oxford English Dictionary’
defines Representation primarily as ‘presence’ or ‘appearance’ there is an implied
visual component to these primary definitions. Representation can be clear
images, material reproductions, performances and simulations.
Venus from British museum, UK, height 88 inches, gift of H.M. King
William IV; this sculpture was one of a dozen or so found at roman villa at
campolemini dug up in spring 1794 by Robert Fagan in partnership with Prince
Augustus and Sir Corbet. The Venus is of the Capitoline type. Prince Augustus
had promised the statue to his brother Prince of Wales, and it centred the letters
collection at Carlton house. Four years after the death of George IV (1830),
his success William IV donated it to the British museum, London. Venus was
the Roman goddess of love. The goddess is shown in art as young and beautiful
and sometimes accompanied by Erotesor cupids and doves. Venus was one of
the most popular deities in roman art and numerous representation survive
including sculptures figurines in terracotta and bronze and representation in
mosaics and wall paintings. Bronze statuette of Venus or her mother Dione were
made in the roman period probably around the middle of the 2nd century AD.
This figure shows ‘Venus’ the roman goddess of love.
213
During the survey works in different museums in London, the researcher

found various objects displayed in Victoria & Albert Museum, India Office
Library, The National Art Gallery, London are related to women issues. Some
are depicted here for references.
Thematically and aesthetically some of the finest secular patas of Kalighat
are related to women. Sometimes they make music on the veena, the violin,
the harmonium or tabla well stacked versions of surasundaries or celestial
beauties of the sun temple at Konark, Orissa. Others are seen getting ready
for their clients of the evening, giving the last touches of their pneumatic women
like early make up. One golap sundari ‘the beauty with the rose’ another fixing
her eardrop, a third finishing her toilette. One beauty fondles her pet parrot
as she awaits her Babu. Another refuses a drink offered by her lover. From
the visuals it is clear that women constitute a major part of museum collection.
In Victoria & Albert Museum, London a beautiful collection of these patas
reveals the same socio-cultural pictures.
214
Bhattacharya
When work of a museum itself generates higher levels of accountability

and responsibility by systems that encourage direct feedback on performance,
clear work goals, and appropriate involvement of a Museum a climate for
creativity and the work output of improved quality has been achieved. In Science
Museum, London, UK, One could witness this. Many of the Science Museum
exhibits are donated to the Museum by women. For example, the calculating
machine which was used at the Scientific Computing Service (SCS) from about
1939 to 1965, when it was transferred to Physics and Astronomy Department
of University Collage, London. It was given to the Science Museum in 1981
by Beryl Waters—a woman. Its fundamental design was done by Alan Turing,
who wrote the specification in 1945 while working at the Government’s National
Physical Laboratory. Until 1960s, most homosexual was illegal. Many people
lived in constant fear of being caught by police, prosecuted and either
imprisoned or fined. In 1952, Turing was arrested for a sexual relationship with a
man and sentenced to a one-year course of female hormone treatment. At that
time he was busy advising the Government on secret code-breaking projects.
The Pilot ACE computer, 1950—was one of the first electronic ‘universal’
215
computers. Two years after his arrest, in 1954, Turing was found dead at his
Wilmslow home. The official verdict was suicide from cyanide poisoning, the
coroner believing ‘his mind had become unbalanced’. Science Museum recently
organises an exhibition on Alan Turing’s Life and Legacy. Head of Exhibitions
and Programme, Emily Scott Dearing stated that ‘we are always mindful of the
gender balance in creating any exhibition and constantly thinking about making
this a welcoming place for all. Nowadays there is gender imbalance in studies
of physics and mechanics. But recently science museums organises some new
exhibitions like ‘Engineering Today’ to arouse curiosity among the target groups
of 11 to 16 years so that both boys and girl students are interested in studying
pure science and engineering. Though there are many women scientists and
engineers who are women, but there lies a great gap in the numbers of boys
and girls students studying pure science and engineering. Like Indian
subcontinents, in United Kingdom also most of the girl students prefer to study
humanities and social sciences. Besides that she also claims that her team is
predominantly female. In 2014, In International Women’s Day Programmes, all
the speakers are women. Basically, Dr Dearing is a post doctorate in gene
therapy from Cambridge University. Now she is the first person in decision
making about museum programmes and exhibitions.
Head of research and public history in Science Museum, London, Dr Tim
Boom worked for 31 years and mainly worked on public history of the science.
In United Kingdom, there are many science centres besides science museums.
But most of the museums are reluctant to have biological sciences. In 1970s
Welcome Trust came forward to open the Welcome wing which is mainly related
to human biology and medical sciences. Coming of Welcome is a revolution in
science museum. It is also a turning point towards the socio-historical and social
dynamics of museums. According to him science museums are both social and
cultural institution and it is much more than an institution of science
communication, but serious types of research on the social dynamics has not
been done on it. As the history passes the meaning of the objects of museum
changes, the science museum professionals took part to uncover the stories of
the unheard, working classes of people since 1960s onwards. He also stated
that we have to be careful in choosing languages due to social change and he
pointed out the disproportionate representation as ‘positive discrimination’.
Amelia Robinson—the manager of Audience Research in Science Museum,
London, UK, stated that among museum visitors almost 50% are women. Some
of them come to the museum accompanying family to spend quality time in
the museum. Some of them also come because they are interested in science
and culture and some want to give their children some knowledge in an informal
216
Bhattacharya
manner. She also told that the Director of learning in the museum is woman
and lots of the projects in the museum are headed by women leaders. Ms
Robinson also added that woman professional come to the museum by choice. In
London day care for babies is very expensive, so some mothers prefer to join
in part time jobs. On behalf of the museum she added that Museums authority
does not differentiate between males and females. All exhibitions are open to
large no of people as much as possible. But some persons of older generation
believe that girls are not fit for hard core science and technology fields.
Jean Franczyk, the Deputy Director of the Science Museum, London, UK,
worked for 15 years in different museums and he is working 9 years in this
museum. By birth she is an American. She mentioned the pioneer woman pilot,
Amy Johnson, whose story is also depicted in the ‘Flight Gallery.’ She said,
“Men Do Not Believe Us Capable.” According to her after 10 years of her
joining in the museum the situation regarding woman museum professional has
been changed, recently more women are in the profession, there is also an option
for part-time professional. The pro-active steps of the Government to promote
more girls students to science and technology is probably the another reason.
Now they have strong voice for the audience.
The British Museum: Visit Modes and Segmentation report 2013/14 presents
two methods through which the British Museums’ audience is divided into
groups of individuals with shared needs and values: culture Segments and Visit
Modes. Culture Segments is a sector-specified whole market segmentation
system for culture and heritage organisations. On the other hand, visitors to
cultural venues are far from homogeneous, and an individual visitor never makes
the same visit twice. Their behaviour on site varies each time they come based
on who they are coming with and their reasons for visiting. A total of 262,400
booked schools groups visited the British Museum in 2013-14.
Sightseers are socially driven visitors for whom the destination, the building,
and orientation tools are as important, if not more, than the collections. They
are predominantly one-off visitors and view the British Museum as one of the
many tourist attractions in London. 82% of the Sightseers group were visitors
from overseas. This group focuses on having a general visit of the Museum’s
collections. But in this type of survey women visitors participation was not
counted separately, though the different age groups and the purpose of visit
was considered as important data regarding visitor surveys. From the data it
is also clear that families are visiting for a combination of both enjoyment and
learning. Adults within the family, mostly father and mother, have different
levels of knowledge and confidence. But one thing is common i.e. they are
attending with children under the age of 16. For a successful visit the parents
217
need to occupy, stimulate and engage their children. Less confident parents need
the British Museum to act as a facilitator in their visit, on the other hand some
parents have the knowledge and experience to explain and analyse the
collections to their children. Families represented the largest Visit Mode group,
accounting for 26%of all visitors. The number of family visitors in 2012-13
and 2013-14 are more or less similar, revealing that the Family audience was
maintained rather than increased. Family visitors were significantly more likely
than average to be aged between 35 and 44. In British Museum ‘Visit Modes &
Segmentation Report’, 2012-13 was a particularly successful year for engaging
families. While the growth in the family market did not continue in 2013-14,
the size of the family audience was maintained.
Elizabeth-I’s (1558-1603) reign is considered the Golden age in the history
of England. For she ushered in political stability and with it trade, commerce,
and fine arts flourished, But Elizabeth was not in a hurry to solve the question
of religion and she wanted to solve this delicate problem with the help of
parliament who represented the people. Her childhood as Besides Elizabeth-
I England and Great Britain have had a few reigning queens when the crown
had no male heirs. These women rulers include some of the best known, longest-
reigning, and culturally most successful rulers in Britain History; Empress
Matilda – Lady of the English, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria,
Elizabeth II. Queen Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland from 20th June, 1837 to 22nd January, 1901 till her death which
is longer than any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch
in history. This period in history is known as the Victorian Era. From 1st May,
1876, she used the title of Empress of India. It was a period of cultural, political,
industrial, and scientific change within UK. It was also marked by a great
expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British Monarch of the House
of Hanover. Victoria later described her child hood as ‘rather melancholy’1. Her
mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was largely isolated from other
children under the so-called “Kensington System.”
This type of conservative social system was prevalent in British Society.
According to Jill Cook of the Department of Prehistory & Europe Section of the
British Museum, London, now the British Government has good laws regarding
women. The Government is also inspiring girls’ student to join in the pure
science & engineering disciplines of colleges & universities of UK. Though the
no of women population in UK is higher than male population but ratio of
women scientists & engineers in relation to men scientists & engineers are much
less. According to 2011 Census, the population of the United Kingdom was
1 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011–census, accessed on 10.12.2014
218
Bhattacharya
estimated to be 63.2 million. There were 31 million men and 32.2 million women.
A recent comprehensive review of statistics on women’s & men’s position in
Britain finds that differences between men and women are getting smaller over
a wide range of areas from employment to education and health.
In the collection of this museum there is a large no. of objects which are
related to women directly or indirectly. In Room No. 4 there is a limestone
statue of a husband and wife which belongs to 1300-1250 BC. The Warren
Cup is a silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same
sex acts. Roman artworks on glass, pottery, etc., with sexual acts represented
were very popular and were intended to be seen by all sections of society. The
Warren Cup is exhibited in the Room No.70 of the British Museum, Romans
had no word for homosexuality and the images on the warren cup provide an
important aspect of their culture. Greek Vases in the ‘Enlightened Gallery’ also
reveals women subjects.
In Room No 23, one could found the version of the ‘Crouching Venus’
(Accession no. GR1963.10-29.1). It is the former collection of Sir Peter Lely; lent
by HM Queen Elizabeth II, dated back to 2nd Century AD. It is a marble statue.
In Room No. 56, the Babylonian ‘Queen of the Night Relief’ of the Goddess
Ishtar, circa 1790 BC – this Mesopotamian Goddess of sexual loves and war.
Portrait of a young women (c. 1440) Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Virgin and Child’
with Saint Anne and the infant Saint (c. 1499-1500), Drawing of a woman with a
rose (1763-1765), In Room No. 40 – the ivory statue of Virgin & Child, who is
crushing a dragon under her foot from Paris, France (1310-1330 AD) are some
collections of this type. In Room No 46, the ivory sculpture of Virgin Mary
and Child, Mediaeval, about AD 1330, Paris, France.
The Hunterian is Scotland’s oldest public museum and has over a million
magnificent items ranging from mummies to rocks, minerals and meteorites.
William Hunter’s original collection is assembled here. In 1807, the Hunterian
was the first museum in Britain with a gallery of paintings. But it is most famous
219
for Whistler and Mackintosh collections. Masterpieces by Rembrandt, Rubens,

Chardin and Stubbs and world largest display of works of James Mc. Neill
Whistler are presented here. The mackintosh house displays the personal settings
of the remarkable artist couple.
Conclusion
The researcher collected relevant inputs to document, preserve & prepare a data-
base regarding the women visitors in museums in UK, actual percentage of
women visitors in relation to their male counter parts, women’s choices regarding
220
Bhattacharya
content, format & style of the exhibition, women professionals actively working
in museums. This work helped the researcher to compare the inputs with
collected data from Indian context. This work is completely based on a different
socio-cultural milieu. Being a vast topic it is very difficult to do complete justice
within a few pages. Museum is a social institution and quite relevant to
contemporary social issues. The Torreon Declaration of INTERCOM, 2009 calls
the museums to be active in promoting diversity and human rights; the essence
being the equal, unbiased representation of all, especially the underprivileged
in the core of management of modern museums. Women and their creativity as
individual entities need to be managed professionally. Immediate research should
be taken up to ascertain the exact numbers of women visitors, their choices,
dislikes, aspirations, etc. The findings of the Research work are important ones in
relation to the interdisciplinary subject Gender Studies. The present study would
definitely help in maintaining the balance in the museums. Nevertheless, further
studies should follow to achieve the goal.
References
Ames K., and Martinez K., (Eds.), 1992. Material Culture of Gender/Gender of Material
Culture. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Research Press, Ann Arbor.
Andal N., 2002. Woman and Indian Society. New Delhi: Rawat.
Banerjee, Lyric and Chanda, Supreo. (2008). En(!)gendering Museums: Can Culture
be Gender Specific? A Million Dollar Question. Journal of Indian Museums.
Vol. LXI. New Delhi: Museums Association of India. pp. 39-42.
Banerjee L., and Chand, S., (2009). Redefining Museum a Gender Correct Statement,
Journal of Indian Museums. Vol. LXII. New Delhi: Museums Association of
India. pp. 52-54.
Belk R., (1998). Possessions and the Extended Self. Journal of Consumer Research 15.
pp. 139-68.
Belk R., Wallendorf M., Sherry J., Holbrook M., Roberts S., (1998). Collectors and
Collecting, Advances in Consumer Research 15. pp. 548-53.
Berry Nancy W., (1989). Museum Education: History, Theory and Practice. USA:
National Art Education Association.
Bhattacharya Indrani, (2004). Museum, Women & Research. Journal of the Department
of Museology. Kolkata: University of Calcutta. Vol. 3. pp. 68-70.
Bhattacharya Indrani, (2011). Gender in Tourism & the Museums. Journal of Indian
Museums. Vol. LXIV. New Delhi: Museums Association of India. pp. 5-7.
Chanda Supreo, (2008). Inclusive Museology: Call of the Day for a Multi-Cultural
Country like India. Journal of Indian Museums. Vol. LXI. New Delhi: Museums
Association of India. pp. 21-25.
Curruthers A., (1987). Bias in Museums. Museum Professional Group Transactions.
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Darvill Timothy, (2002). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. New York:
Oxford University Press.
Geetha V., (2000). Gender. Calcutta: Stree.
Hein H., (2010). Looking at Museums from a Feminist Perspective. Gender, Sexuality,
and Museums: a Routledge Reader. Amy K Levin (Ed.). London & New York:
Routledge. pp. 53-64.
Levin Amy K., (2010). Straight Talk: Evolution Exhibits and the Reproduction of
Heterosexuality. Gender, Sexuality, and Museums: a Routledge Reader. Amy K
Levin (Ed.). London & New York: Routledge. pp. 201-212.
Levin Amy K., (Ed.). 2010. Gender, Sexuality, and Museums: a Routledge Reader.
London & New York: Routledge.
Marjorie A., (Ed.). (2003). Women, Gender and Human Rights: A Global Perspective.
Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications.
Moghadam, Valentine M and Bagheritari, Manilee. (2005). Cultures, Convention, and the
Human Rights of Women: Examining the Convention for Safeguarding Intangible
Cultural Heritage, and the Declaration on Cultural Diversity, SHS Papers in
Women’s Studies/ Gender Research, No. 1. Paris: UNESCO.
Murdoch J., (1998). Defining Curation, Museums Journal. pp. 18-19.
Pearce Susan M., (1992). Museums Objects and Collections: A Cultural Study. Leicester
and London: Leicester University Press.
Pearce Susan M., (1994). Interpreting Objects and Collections. London: Routledge.
Porter Gaby, Gender Bias: Representations of Work in History Museums. Museums
Professional Group (UK) Transactions. Proceedings of a Conference on Bias in
Museums.
Tomasevski Katarina, (1993). Women and Human Rights, London and New Jersey: Zed
Books.
Tripp A.M., (2001). The Politics of Women’s Rights and Cultural Diversity in Uganda.
M. Molyneux and S. Razavi (Eds). Gender Justice, Development and Rights.
Oxford: OUP.
Wiesner–Hanks, Merry E., (2001). Gender in History. Oxford: Blackwell.
Witty P., (1931). Sex Differences: Collecting Interest, Journal of Educational Psychology.
22: 221-8.
222
Teaching Dynamism and Teacher Education
Tinku De (Gope)1 and Sukanya Bhattacharjee2
Abstract
The present paper tried to highlight few points regarding teaching learning
situation which they supposed to be needed to bring dynamism in teaching.
Moreover as teacher education programme is the gateway of successful teaching,
so the highlighting points can be given more concern in the teacher education
programme to make teaching dynamic and effective.
Key Words: Teaching Dynamism, Critical Thinking, Analytical Thinking, Creative
Thinking, Classroom Mannerism.
Introduction
Education is an important tool for social reconstruction. It helps to the solution
of various problems faced by the society. As the role of teacher is very important
to the education of children so the education of the teachers themselves becomes
an important matter of concern. Modern society is full of professional men and
women like doctors, engineers, weavers, oilmen, cobber, barber, sweeper, washer
men etc. A doctor’ profession is concerned with the physical side of man’s
personality and the engineer looks after physical side of social life in building
roads, bridges, dams, houses in devising new methods and machines. Likewise
all the above mentioned professions are useful for the society, which is limited
to physical side of human life only. But the highest good consists in all
round development of individual physical, social, intellect, moral, spiritual and
aesthetic aspects. It is the teaching profession which helps an individual for his
growth fully in his body, mind, spirit, intellectual emotion with moral values and
artistic sensitivity. Therefore teaching has been accepted as the noble profession.
Teacher education is an integral part of education system which is conditional
by the ethics and principles of education of teacher to strengthen the main
attributes of a profession. It is one of the principles of educational planning
that the quality of education depends upon the quality of teachers and teacher
1. Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Tripura University, Tripura

2. Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Education, Tripura University, Tripura
education is a systematic process to make quality teachers with proper training

and education.
Dynamics of Teaching in 21st Century Education

“The teacher, like an artist, the philosopher and the man of letters, can only
perform his/her work adequately if he/she feels himself/herself to be an
individual directed by an inner creative impulse not dominated by an outside
authority”–B. Russell.
The basic need of 21st century is to have dynamic teacher. Every teacher
must have widest vision where the highest aim of education should not be to
make students only to pass the examination. The ultimate goal of education is
learning must be to make the students well developed personalities with high
intellectual, moral and spiritual upliftment.
Major Components of Dynamism in Teaching:
¾ Knowledge of the subject-content
¾ Understanding of child psychology
¾ Pedagogic principles of teaching
¾ Adjustment capability
¾ Effective use of teaching materials
¾ Planning of lesson
¾ Proper knowledge of Guidance and Counselling
¾ Incorporation of co-curricular activities
¾ Proper evaluation techniques
¾ To fulfil the ultimate aim of education with the all round development
of the learners
Classroom Setting for Effective Teaching-Learning Interaction

A huge increase in the field of knowledge with a rapid change in the scientific
and technological areas have directly and indirectly changing the processes and
practices of education, the impact of which indicating the need of change in
the programmes of teacher education. The advances in the field of educational
technology with theinventions of new learning methods have revolutionized the
traditional concept of teaching. The role of teachers has become more extensive
and comprehensive. The job of a teacher does not remain confine just to make
his/her students able to pass the examination, gather lots of certificates with
some rote memorisation of subject contents. The new direction of teacher’s
responsibilities is to enable the students-learning how to learn, knowing how to
know and experiencing how to do.
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De (Gope) and Bhattacharjee
To develop dynamism in teaching for effective and purposeful learning

proper classroom teaching-learning interaction is very important which is based
on proper classroom management. Classroom management and the issues
associated with it appears as a dominant concern in the research on student
teacher (e.g. Fuller, 1969, Ryan, 1970, Morrow & Rane 1983). Many such
studies particularly focus on the role of the teacher. Secondly, it focuses on
classroom dynamics, the institutional context of the school and wider socio-
political factors influencing teacher student relationships (e.g. Connell, 1985,
Zeichner, 1986, Britzman, 1986). Goodman’s (1985) research into student–
teacher field experience and the institutional forces of social control revealed
the dominance of issues of classroom management.
Many teachers struggle with their classroom teaching throughout their life;
it is because they are unable to organize systematically a learning atmosphere
within the classroom. Actually a well organized classroom has to be created with
lots of thoughts, planning and efforts. Every classroom has is a heterogeneous
groups of children with different attitudes, expectations, behaviours and learning
abilities. It demands careful actions from teachers to manage these heterogeneous
groups into a productive unit. A child centred classroom motivated students to
enjoy all the challenges of learning and stimulates them to work honestly and
work hard to reach the heights of success with excellence. To achieve the ultimate
teaching goal with a well managed interactive classroom, teachers have to
cautiously and consciously apply their abilities, implementing appropriate
teaching strategies. It needs to be cherished and developed with couple of
dynamism to make teachers competent enough through teacher education
programme.
Teacher Education for Teaching Dynamism

The main aim of teacher education programme is to prepare teachers who can
efficiently carry out the school education programme. The basic objective and
function of teacher education is to produce effective teacher. A teacher after his
training should be better equipped with ideas of change and competency to face
the real classroom teaching effectively. The success of teacher education
programme largely depends upon the proper implementation of teacher education
programme in real classroom teaching. Practice teaching is an integral part of
teacher education programme which is the way to enable teachers with effective
teaching skills that a teacher needs. But for developing effective teaching skills
quality of practice teaching is need to be implemented. In the words of Education
commission (1964-66), “The quality of training institutions remains, with a few
either mediocre or poor, competent staffs are not attracted, vitality and realism
are lacking in the curriculum and programme of work which continue to be
225
largely traditional and set patterns and rigid techniques are followed in practice
teaching with a disregard for present day needs and objectives”. The present
paper prepared to highlight few points’ needs to improve the quality students
teaching in teacher education programme.
In teacher education programme practice teaching is a process through which
student teachers are prepared for all aspects of teaching like- practical use of
teaching skills, teaching methods, teaching strategies, teaching techniques,
teaching materials etc. Practice teaching is given under simulated and actual
classroom which is very important for student teacher to train themselves to be
effective teachers. The present paper prepared to highlight few point need to
improve the quality of students teaching in teacher education programme.
Some implications for teacher educators are needed to improve quality of
teacher education.
1. Encouragement of Learner-Centred Method

Teacher students can be motivated to train with learner centred method of
teaching which will encourage them to improve their teaching by applying
these type of methods in their future teaching. Some of these methods are pair
work Group work activity, Group discussion, project work, activity-oriented
assignments.
2. Learning in a Diverse Way:

Somediverse ways of learning in teacher education programmecan make teacher
students’ learning more effective as learning materials for self learning, self-
development, proper use of library, using of mass media, learners’ participation
in seminar, workshop, conference etc., learning through question-answer and
discussion.
3. Use of ICT in Teacher Education

The use of ICT in teacher education is applicable at different level as-small
group instruction, classroom instruction, country wide classroom instruction
during teaching training courses by using different kinds of technological
gadgets. It enables teachers to analyse content in terms of media and technology
and they become able to use LCD, OHP, teleconferencing, video-conferencing
for teaching and power point present of content in seminar, conference etc.
4. Personality Development
To be a teacher, personality of a teacher student needs to be well developed.
The total personality of a teacher depends upon the development of some skills.
These skills are
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De (Gope) and Bhattacharjee
z Emotional, personal and social development

z Communication and language skills
z Knowledge and understanding of the world
z Expressive and aesthetic development
5. Application of the Principles of Teaching

A teacher should know clearly ‘what’ should be taught and ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘how’
it should be taught. The knowledge of the appropriate use of principles of
teaching makes teaching more beneficial. By understanding and combining the
fundamentals principles of teaching with psychological principles, a teaching
can be more learner-centred.
6. Development of Critical Thinking

In teacher education programme teacher students can be taught by using various
methods of teaching which can develop their critical thinking ability as- problem
solving, brain storming etc. It is said that if one needs to have their own opinions
about anything heard, read or seen they have to think critically. Teacher also
needs to have some innovative ideas and opinions of his/her which he/she can
incorporate in teaching by developing critical thinking.
7. Development of Creative Thinking

Creativity is applicable in different spheres of life as in thinking, working,
writing and even in teaching-learning interactions. Creativity is a quality which
cannot be taught or a person cannot be made creative. But teacher education
programme can pay a vital role to encourage and stimulate creative thinking
among teacher students through which they can improve their quality of teaching.
8. Development of Analytical Thinking

Analytical thinking means analyzing the whole things into parts to find out the
relationship between things or figure out the features of things. Reflection and
analytical thinking can equip teacher students with better thinking skills
necessary to meet the challenges that arise out of problematic situation.
Encouraging teacher students to think analytically will train them to think
independently, systematically and to acquire more knowledge.
9. Development of Classroom Mannerism and Communication Skills

Classroom mannerism and communication depends upon combination of a few
factors which can definitely make a tremendous influence. Conducting the
conversation skilfully during classroom teaching, presenting impressively the
contents of lessons, asking appropriate questions in order to elicit specific
227
information are some of the most pivotal communicative abilities that can
enhance the effectiveness of classroom teaching.
10. Effective Evaluation

Objective and effective evaluation of performance periodically help the teacher
students improve professionally. Halo effect has to be avoided for proper
judgement of performance. It helps in monitoring closely the teaching learning
strategies so it can be used at every stage of designing lesson plan, using
teaching strategies, learning processes etc.
Conclusion
Education is one of the most important components for social change which
involves transformation of educational system from traditionalism to modernism
to satisfy the current needs of the society. Keep on focusing of the present
needs of the society the present author feels that there is a need to implement a
complete and effective regulation of teacher education programme. Increase in
cooperation between theory and practice by following the content and
methodology approach can play a significant role in improving the quality of
teacher education programme as a whole.
References
Singh A., (2012). Classroom Management. New Delhi: Kaniska Publication.
Talwar P.V., (2011). Professional Development of Teachers (Ed). Hyderabad: Neelkamal
Publications.
Sharma S., (2012). Classroom Intacion. New Delhi: Knowledge Plus.
Mohan R., (2011). Teacher Education. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Nikose R.L., (2012). Teacher Education: Issues and Challences. New Delhi: APH
Publishing House.
Paliwal M., (1985). Teacher Education on the Move (A Global View—Today and
Tomorrow). New Delhi: Uppal publishing house.
Noble I., (2013). Encyclopaedia of Creativity in School. New Delhi: Random Exports.
Taj H., (2008). Current Challenges in Education. New Delhi-110063: Neel Kamal.
Aggarwal J., (2010). Essentials of educational Technology. Innovations in Teaching and
Learning. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
228
Research Abstract
Primary Education: Internal Efficiency of School and Scholastic Achievement

of Students
Title A Study of Sarva Siksha Abhijan Programme in

relation to Internal Efficiency of School and
Scholastic Achievement of Students at Primary
Level in Rural West Bengal
Research Scholar Syed Nurus Salam
Supervisors Md. Kutubuddin Halder
Joint Supervisor Nimai Chand Maiti
Department Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Degree Awarded Ph.D. 2014
Availability Central library, University of Calcutta
Problem
Sarva Siksha Abhijan (SSA) is a highly integrated and comprehensive
programme aiming at achieving the target of ‘Education for All’ in a time bound
approach. Since ‘Primary Education’ involves a number of factors e.g. physical
infrastructures, teaching-learning methods & techniques, scholastic achievement.
In simple terms internal efficiency can be defined as an optional relationship
between the input and output. An activity is said to perform efficiently if a given
quantity of output is obtained with the minimum inputs or given quantity of input
yields the maximum output. Thus, the internal efficiency of school means to get
maximum output. It is the ratio of difference of output & input and input
multiplied by 100. Primary Education is the beginning stage of formal education
i.e. classes I to class IV.
Objectives
1. To compare the internal efficiency of school before and after implemen-
tation of SSA Programme.
2. To study the changes in physical facilities in Primary schools before and
after implementation of SSA Programme.
3. To compare the rate of repetition and completion of primary education
among the first, second and third phases.
4. To compare the achievement level of class IV students before and after

implementation of SSA Programme.
5. To study the changes of socio-economic background of class IV students
before and after implementation of SSA Programme.
6. To find out the constraints of proper and effective implementation of
SSA Programme.
Sample
Stratified random sampling technique was adopted.18 Schools were selected in
6 Blocks of three districts in Rural West Bengal. In all these 18 schools all 539
pupils enrolled in class I in 1974, 830 in1990-91 and786 in 2007-08 sessions
constitute the sample. For knowing the achievement of the students, 216 students
in class IV in 2000 and all 538 students in class IV in 2011 were chosen from the
18 schools. 4 students of each school in two phases 144 (72+72) in total were
sampled out for class IV students to satisfy the objective no. 5. Besides these, all
teachers including Headmaster/Headmistress of 18 schools were taken as sample.
Tools of the study

The following tools were used for the investigation-
1. Questionnaire on general information of the school.
2. Students’ admission and attendance register (class I to IV from 2007-
08 to 2013).
3. Interview schedule on quality aspect of the teachers.
4. Schedule on Socio economic background of the student.
5. Scholastic Achievement Test
Achievement test of class IV was constructed by Dr. Kutubuuddin Halder,
Department of Education, Calcutta University, the supervisor of the present
study under the guidance of late Dr.Sharmistha Chakrabarty, Department of
Education, Calcutta University on the basis of achievement level test for class
IV prepared by Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. Some items of that
test were also taken into consideration at the time of preparation of this test.
Item analysis was done keeping in view that there must be individual differences
and also to maintain some sorts of reliability and validity, avoiding too much so
called easy items or difficult items. The test was framed in three parts based
on three subjects namely Bengali, Mathematics and Environmental Studies. Full
marks of each subject and entire test were 50 and 150 respectively.
Analysis of Data
For quantitative analysis of data, ratio, percentage, mean, standard deviation,
230
Research Abstract
t-test, z-test and F2 test were applied and qualitative analysis were done on the
basis of informal discussion with the assistant teachers and headmasters of the
schools while collecting data. In the study data analysis was done in three phases
i.e. First Phase, Second Phase and Third Phase. The First Phase was a period
before adoption of new curriculum in 1981 recommended by H.B.Mazumder
Committee i.e. the academic sessions from 1974 to 1981. Eight years back i.e.
the year1974 was considered as the base year for the First Phase because it
was found from the pilot study that some children took eight years to complete
primary education and some of them continued several years (more than four
years) in primary education. The Second Phase was a period before SSA
programme i.e. the academic sessions from 1990-91 to 1997-98 and the
enrolment of children in class I in 1990-91 was considered as base year of the
phase. It is to be noted that the academic session in primary schools was
converted from May to April at that material period. The academic session 2007-
08 to 2013 were treated as the 3rd phase i.e. the period after the implementation
of SSA policy. The enrolment of children in class I in 2007-08 was considered
as the base year for Third Phase. The calculation of internal efficiency in school,
rate of drop out, stagnation and completion were calculated using ‘True Cohort
Method’ which is more accurate method in comparison to ‘Apparent Cohort
Method’ or ‘Reconstructed Cohort Method’.
For getting data regarding socio-economic background and scholastic
achievement of students for post SSA period, Schedule on Socio economic
background of the student and Scholastic Achievement Test were administered
on the students of class IV in the academic session 2011 and for pre SSA period,
the investigators used the data collected by Halder, M.K. in the academic session
2000.
Findings
The study shows an improvement in all indicators of internal efficiency e.g.
input-output ratio; input per graduate; wastage ratio; proportion of wastage on
accounts of drop outs and repeaters; average duration of stay; cohort survival and
dropout rates, although repetition and drop-out still exist in primary education.
The physical facilities have been improved in SSA period but the physical
environments of the schools are dirty and unclean. There is improve-ment in
the pupil-teacher ratio but enrolment has been decreased in school. Competency
wise analysis of achievement level in Bengali, Mathematics and Environmental
Studies shows that there is no significant difference in pre SSA and post SSA
period. The performances in mathematics in post SSA period are still poor. The
gender parity has been improved. It is a great concern that though internal
efficiency and physical facilities of the schools have been improved in SSA
231
period but achievement of the students have not improved. In recent time, these
schools are getting the students with comparatively lower socio economic
background as there is a perception of common people that a private primary
schools are better in quality than a government primary schools. The students
with comparatively better socio economic background are coming to private
primary school. So there are developments in quantity aspect but there are no
observable changes in qualitative achievement of the students which is the
ultimate goal. There is tangible infrastructural development in SSA period but
impacts of that development have not been transformed into quality of education.
Government aided primary schools are transforming to the schools of socially
disadvantage groups. These schools are not inclusive for the entire society.
Conclusion
On the basis of the findings it may be recommended that only remedial or
correctional measures may not be sufficient. The entire teaching learning process
may be re-looked and revisited. It may also be recommended that the depth in
study in this field may shed extra light to find out its real cause of such maladies
and its remedial measures. In mathematics it is evident, the error committed by
the students are many and varied. Their root causes are also numerous. But it
can be assumed that those errors are generated by the teaching, may be in the
classroom situation or from the knowledge gained from outside. Before teaching,
the so called teachers must be acquainted with such types of errors committed
by the students. The error correction is required regularly and the teaching
procedure may be modified. Teachers should have clear idea about the various
competencies in different subjects. The physical environments of these schools
are dirty and unhygienic. Even the schools are running without regular sweeping
and unhygienic sanitary arrangement. There is no provision of sweeper or any
other group D staff. According to the opinion of the teachers, students are not
ready to the sweeping voluntarily. Guardians are in strong opinion that his/her
ward is not going to school for sweeping or other work of sanitation. So they are
discouraging these. Teachers do not dare to make the student to do these works
at the present socio-political situation. So teachers are in the opinion that there
should be the provision of sweeper and group D staff in primary schools.
232
Department of Education, University of Calcutta
Alipur Campus, 1, Reformatory Street, Kolkata-700027
Editor : Professor Nimai Chand Maiti, E mail : ijer.dedu@rediffmail.com
Notes to the Contributors
Articles submitted for the journal should be original contributions and should not
be under consideration for any other publication at the same time; if an article is
under consideration by another publication, authors should clearly indicate this
at the time of submission.
At least two copies of the articles typed in double space on one side of the
A4 size, 29.5 cm × 21 cm. Margins on all sides should be at least 1 inch. The
pages of the typescript should be numbered serially. The author is responsible
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ISSN 2277-3819

No. 2767B Price: 150

Volume IV March 2015

Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the 28

Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students 41

Embracing the Socially Isolates in the Classroom 78

Dr. Nimai Chand Maiti

Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX and X

vulnerable to competition. Competition leads to academic overload which is one

is growing evidence that is showing emotional abilities are associated with

Table 1 : Mean, Median, Mode & Standard Deviation of Academic Overload

Table 4 : Percentage of Pupils (Male & Female) of Class IX & X with

Table 5 : Gender wise Academic Overload Shown Taking Together Class

Result and Discussion

in class IX and X percentage of male pupils above Q3 in mental health is much

Adolescent Girls in Distress–A Cross-Sectional Study from

* Research Scholar, Dept. of Education, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.

Assessing the Relationship between Environmental

1. Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Sarsuna College

environment. As Stern (1997) maintained that environmentally significant

sustainability (World Class Communications Technologies, LLC 2011). In terms

Results and Discussion

Table 1 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Saving Energy

Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

Table 2 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Paper Saving

Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

Table 3 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Excessive Packaging

Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

From table 3, it can be concluded that students’ awareness-action link towards

Table 4 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Saving Water

Table 7 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Buy Second-Hand Books

Table 8 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Buying

Table 9 : The Awareness-Action item Related to Sorting Disposals

Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

Table 10 : Showing the Awareness-Action item

Awareness Agree Neither Agree Disagree Total

active in environmental issues. The school can also organize media

Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the

higher educational institutions. A major reason for studying teachers’ attitude

Results and Discussion

Table 1 : Community Wise Difference in Awareness of Students towards ICT

Awareness about Computer

Awareness about Internet

Awareness about Broadcasting Technology : Radios and Television

Awareness about ICT (Overall)

in India, despite research and testimony that technology is being used by

Teachers’ Attitude and use of ICT in Education

A survey of accredited colleges by UGC in 2008 revealed glaring IT

UNESCO, (2005). “United Nations Decade of education for Sustainable development

Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students

1. Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Education, University of Calcutta and Assistant

system of education, depending on the situation it is practiced. The term

3. There is no difference in monthly income of the family of the students

Findings of the Study

Table 1 : Gender of the Student of Distance and Regular Modes

Distance Mode Regular Mode Total

Table 2 : Marital Status of the Students of Distance and Regular Modes

Table 3 : Age of the Students of Distance and Regular

Percentages are given in brackets

Table 5 : Mean and S.D of Age (Years) of the Student Classified