In 2016, I was selected to be a part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms program through IREX and the State Department. As part of the yearlong program, we had to complete an intense 10-week online class where we learned about globalization and how we can incorporate it into our classrooms. I gained so much insight into globalization and how important it was to teach our students about the world and their place in the world. This was particularly important to me as a teacher in a low socioeconomic area where the majority of the children have not been exposed to anything beyond their neighborhood. How was I going to teach them about the world when all they know is their neighborhood? It was a task that I was willing to take on. Through this process I was able to expose my students virtually to places they may never visit or even knew existed. We learned about other cultures and others perspectives through literature and Skype sessions with people around the world.
Pre-Travel Inquiry We were asked to come up with a guiding question that would help guide our international field experience. It was recommended that the guiding question be something that we could relate to in our school. I had so many directions I wanted to go in, but my biggest question was how does socioeconomic status affect academic success and is there a difference in supports at home?
International Field Experience (IFE) As part of my IFE, this summer I was sent to India for three weeks with 10 other teachers from around the United States. With my guiding question in mind, I wanted to take in every moment of this experience. Nothing could ever prepare me enough for what I would see, feel and experience. The first week was spent in Bengaluru learning about the complexity of the Indian culture and education system though various speakers and experts in their fields. Here are a few things that I learned about the Indian culture and education system.
India’s culture and diversity
Each state is a cultural unit in of itself.
700 known languages/ dialects
22 recognized languages
15 languages in the constitution and each language has its own script
India’s education system
There are three types of schools: State, Federal, and private schools.
The system is not fair for teachers and the importance of teaching varied between Federal and private school. Federal teachers were not held accountable for their work and often choose not to attend professional development because they did not feel they needed it.
In India’s attempts to make it fair to students of all economic backgrounds, private schools must have at least 25% of seats reserved for students from low-income homes.
Kids were not mandated to attend school until The Right to Education Act passed in 2009. For the first time in India’s history, education was considered fundamentally right. All students between the ages of 6-14 are mandated to attend school.
Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write your name.
6. There is a lack of common standards and curriculum.
In Bengaluru, we visited 3 schools and were able to sit in on classes and observe the procedures and routines. Something I found to be a great thing was the respect student’s have for teachers. I learned that in India, there are four people that are of great importance in one’s life. Those four people are mother, father, teacher, and God. As I traveled around India and was asked why I was there? I explained I was teaching and learning about their culture and education system, many people praised and blessed me for being a teacher. When you walk into a class, all of the students immediately stand up and greet you with “Good Morning Ma’am” and wait for you to give the cue to sit down. I could see on the walls of the classroom the hand made charts and the lack of resources that we are accustomed to. However, though they lacked resources they did everything possible to teach to the best of their ability and the students were engaged in the lessons. During our second week of our field experience, we broke away from the group and went to our host school with our partners. My host school was located in Noida, India. The school looked more like an American school than I expected. It was a private school with many programs offered to students in the areas of fine arts, music, and sports. They had things that many schools we had visited did not and the atmosphere was much different. Students seemed to be very confident and out spoken in the classroom. However, the resources in the classroom were limited which I found to be interesting given the extensive extracurricular activities they offered. During that week we also visited another school in an area of high poverty. The community in which the school was located was being newly developed by an organization to meet the needs of the community by creating a health clinic, job training, and educating them into understanding the importance of sending their kids to school. For the last year or so, this community lacked many of the resources needed for a sustainable life. The students of that school were very poor and the resources available in the school were extremely limited economically. The third week of the trip was spent in Delhi, where we gathered as a group to debrief and share our experiences in our host communities. We started to think about our guiding question and could narrow down our questions to our experiences.
Guiding question How does socioeconomic status affect academic success and is there a difference in supports at home?
To answer my question I had to think about my visits to the various schools in India as well as the information gathered through conversations with educators, speakers and through my personal experiences in India. I learned that education is extremely important in India and families are willing to do whatever it takes to get their kids into a private school. Schools are English aspired by parents because knowing English is believed to give you better opportunities. By claiming to be English schools parents believe more value is put on the type of education they will be receiving. Many of the private schools range from $40,000-90,000 rupees a year. Parents many times use all of there earnings to make sure their kids go to a private school even if it means having to get by without some basic necessities at home. In the past there was a huge discrepancy in gender equality and many girls were not allowed to go to school and if they did, they were treated differently. Now, there is a big push for girls to continue their education and go to college with some monetary incentives for the families of girls that continue their education. Government schools in India are located in areas of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, but from what I could see the students were just as eager to learn. The issues I saw impacting academic success were the lack of resources and education of the parents. Many of these students were the first generation in their family to attend school. The major difference between government and private school is some parents in the private schools often hired tutors or paid someone to help their child with projects since they could afford it. Because of the law that requires 25% of seats be reserved for lower economic students at private schools some of the teachers mentioned that those students sometimes struggled with academics. This could be attributed to very little help or academic language spoken at home due to the lack of education of the parents. Many parents cannot read so it is difficult for them to help at home.
There is a test administered to 10th grade students that is needed to pass in order to continue their education. A lot of pressure is put on students to pass. One high school student told me, "failing is frowned upon in India so there is no failing". So much pressure is put on students to pass there is a picture I will post at the end of this that shows how crucial this test is viewed. The passing of this test allows students the opportunity to further their education. So much importance is put on this test that you can see in the picture how desperate parents are to help their child pass the test even if it means passing them notes to cheat. Students have been seen copying answers from smuggled-in note sheets, and police posted outside test centers were even seen being bribed to look the other way. Parents take great pride in the success of their children and are willing to make economic sacrifices to encourage their children’s academic success.
In conclusion, similar to the United States, many parents put a lot of emphasis on education but the lack of economic and educational resources sometimes can impede the process. Families that have more money have the availability to get the help needed and have a better access to resources to help their students succeed. In addition, parents in a higher economic status often have a higher educational level, whereas parents of lower economic status lack the resources and personal education to help students with their studies.
Follow up questions? What are the states in India doing to help families with little economic resources and education? Are there programs available to parents? How can I provide support to the families in my community that lack in resources?
How can I share my capstone project with my community so they have resources to begin understanding the importance of globalization and can start using the resources in their classrooms?