Abstract
Through a case study of a girl student, this paper attempts to draw linkages between science classroom, gender and the larger discourse on the economy and job market. The ideal science student is constructed through classroom interactions, and a particular ideal is fostered which is highlighted in this paper. This paper sets itself to locate the micro-processes such as the classroom interactions, pedagogy and textbooks in the larger macro-context of economy, social mobility and jobs. It draws from the critiques of meritocracy and neoliberal ideology to present the arguments. Through an ethnographic approach, the study focuses on the experiences of students in science classrooms. The school chosen is located in an urban context in India. Examples from the classroom interactions and discussions with the students reveal how certain kind of conduct is promoted in the classroom. Through the description of dreams and aspirations and notions of science and scientists of a girl student, this paper argues that the learning of science is situated in the context of globalisation and neoliberal ideology. The classrooms, pedagogy and notion of aspirations and mobility seem to foster this economic discourse. This paper points to the fact that there is a need for alternative approaches in the teaching of science.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Althusser, L. (1970). Ideology and ideological state apparatuses. In Lenin and philosophy and other essays. Monthly Review Press. Retrieved from https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/althusser/1970/ideology.html.
Arnold, D. (2013). Nehruvian science and postcolonial India. Isis: An International Review Devoted to the History of Science and its Cultural Influences, 104, 360–370. https://doi.org/10.1086/670954.
Au, W. (2016). Meritocracy 2.0.: High-stakes, standardized testing as a racial project of neoliberal multiculturalism. Educational Policy, 30(1), 39–62. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904815614916.
Bagla, P. (2015, August 2). From basket case to a global force. In The Hindu. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/from-a-basket-case-to-a-global-force/article7485071.ece.
Bazzul, J. (2012). Neoliberal ideology, global capitalism, and science education: Engaging the question of subjectivity. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 7, 1001–1020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9413-3.
Bencze, J. L. (2010). Exposing and deposing hyper-economized school science. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 5, 293–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9256-8.
Bourdieu, P. (2007). The forms of capital. In A. R. Sadovnik (Ed.), Sociology of education: A critical reader (pp. 83–96). New York: Routledge.
Brandt, C., Shumar, W., Hammond, L., Carlone, H., Kimmel, S., & Tschida, C. (2010). Habitus, social fields, and circuits in rural science education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 5, 477–493. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-009-9229-y.
Campbell, J. (2015). The lacunae of neoliberal higher educational reform: Ethnicity and the problems of horizontal inequality and merit. In R. Jay (Ed.), Globalization (pp. 169–194). Cheyenne: Academy Publish.
Carter, L. (2014). The elephant in the room: Science education, neoliberalism and resistance. In J. Bencze & S. Alsop (Eds.), Activist science and technology education. Cultural studies of science education (pp. 23–36). Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4360-1_2.
Cornwall, A., Gideon, J., & Wilson, K. (2008). Introduction: Reclaiming feminism: Gender and neoliberalism. IDS Bulletin, 39(6), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1759-5436.2008.tb00505.x.
Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. London: Open University Press.
Kamat, S. (2011). Neoliberalism, urbanism and the education economy: Producing Hyderabad as a global city. Discourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32, 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2011.565639.
Kumar, K. (1985). Reproduction or change? Education and elites in India. Economic and Political Weekly, 20(30), 1280–1284. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/journal/1985/30/special-articles/reproduction-or-change-education-and-elites-india.html.
Kumar, K. (1988). Origins of India’s “textbook culture”. Comparative Education Review, 32, 452–464. https://doi.org/10.1086/446796.
Madan, A. (2007). Sociologising merit. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(29), 3044–3050. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/29/special-articles/sociologising-merit.html.
Majumdar, M. (2017). Homogenized educational imagination and polarized educational opportunities: Schooling in contemporary Kolkata. In W. Pink & G. Noblit (Eds.), Second international handbook on urban education (Vol. 1, pp. 319–346). Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5.
Mendick, H., Berge, M., & Danielsson, A. (2017). A critique of the STEM pipeline: Young people’s identities in Sweden and science education policy. British Journal of Educational Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2017.1300232.
Ministry of Education. (1953). Report of the secondary education commission, Mudaliar commission report. New Delhi: Government of India.
Ministry of Human Resource Development. (2016). Some inputs for draft national education policy, 2016, MHRD. New Delhi: Government of India. Retrieved from http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/uploadfiles/mhrd/files/Inputs_Draft_NEP_2016.pdf.
Nambissan, G. (2010). The global economic crisis, poverty and education: A perspective from India. Journal of Education Policy, 25, 729–737. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2010.508180.
Nambissan, G. (2017). The ‘Urban’ and education in India: Section editor’s introduction. In W. Pink & G. Noblit (Eds.), Second international handbook on urban education (Vol. 1, pp. 299–318). Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5.
National Council of Educational Research and Training. (2006). Position paper on gender issues in education. New Delhi: NCERT.
Ninnes, P. (2002). Discursive space(s) in science curriculum materials in Canada, Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 34, 557–570. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027011011408.
Prasad, P. (2017). Closed city ‘Spaces’: Differential access to education in Vijayawada, South India. In W. Pink & G. Noblit (Eds.), Second international handbook on urban education (Vol. 1, pp. 397–416). Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5.
Puaca, G., Theandersson, C., & Carlén, M. (2017). Resisting consumerist rationalities in higher vocational education. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, 15(1), 205–227. ISSN 1740-2743. https://www.jceps.com/archives/3329.
Raina, D. (1990). Commoditised science or science for consumption. Economic and Political Weekly, 25(40), 2245–2247. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/journal/1990/40/perspectives/commoditised-science-or-science-consumption.html.
Rao, S. (2017). Production of an ‘educational’ city: Shadow education economy and re-structuring of Kota in India. In W. Pink & G. Noblit (Eds.), Second international handbook on urban education (Vol. 1, pp. 417–444). Switzerland: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5.
Sadgopal, A. (2016). ‘Skill India’ or deskilling India: An agenda of exclusion. Economic and Political Weekly, 51(35), 33–37. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/journal/2016/35/commentary/skill-india-or-deskilling-india.html.
Subramanian, J. (2007). Perceiving and producing merit: Doing science in India. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 14, 259–284. https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150701400203.
Tienken, C. H. (2013). Neoliberalism, social Darwinism, and consumerism masquerading as school reform. Interchange, 43, 295–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10780-013-9178-y.
Tobin, K. (2011). Global reproduction and transformation of science education. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 6, 127–142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-010-9293-3.
Upadhya, C. (2007). Employment, exclusion and ‘merit’ in the IT industry. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(20), 1863–1868. Retrieved from https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/20/special-articles/employment-exclusion-and-merit-indian-it-industry.html.
Walkerdine, V. (1998). Counting girls out: Girls and mathematics. Oxon: Routledge Falmer.
Walkerdine, V. (2003). Reclassifying upward mobility: Femininity and the neo-liberal subject. Gender and Education, 15, 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250303864.
Walkerdine, V. (2011). Neoliberalism, working-class subjects and higher education. Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, 6(2), 255–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2011.580621.
Wong, B. (2016). Science education, career aspirations and minority ethnic students. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137533982.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my research guide Prof. Nandini Manjrekar for the guidance and reviewing multiple drafts of my work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Lead Editor: Rachel Gisewhite.
Voices of the participants presented as examples and discussions are not corrected for grammatical or content errors.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sundararaman, I. ‘World would move ahead!’: exploring the learning of science and aspirations in the urban context through a case study. Cult Stud of Sci Educ 15, 775–792 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-020-09970-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-020-09970-y