Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, Online ISSN 2278-8808, SJIF 2021 = 7.380, www.srjis.com PEER REVIEWED & REFEREED JOURNAL, SEPT-OCT, 2022, VOL- 10/73
TEACHING AS CIVILISING MISSION: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC REFLECTION OF SCHOOLING IN RURAL BASTAR Pushpam Kumar Jha Research Scholar, Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia
Paper Received On: 25 OCTOBER 2022 Peer Reviewed On: 31 OCTOBER 2022 Published On: 01 NOVEMBER 2022
Abstract Since the creation of the administrative and epistemic category of savage in the late 19th century, the dichotomy of savage- civilised had been an intrinsic part of school education in Adivasi areas. Though, in contemporary academic discourse, the colonial construction of tribe is now considered as myth however, in actual teaching practices education as civilising mission is still constituting educational reality of Adivasi students. Drawing data from ethnographic fieldwork, conducted in rural Bastar, this paper attempt to explore the ongoing conflation between school education and civilising mission from the teacher’s perspective. The paper argues that relegation of teacher professional development in government school system under neoliberal regime draw limitation to visualise their role in broader framework of liberal education. As a result, with all good intension and commitment, they locate the Adivasi community and students in a dominant framework of savage and uncivilised and define school education as civilising mission. Keywords: Adivasi, School education, Bastar, Savage, Civilising mission, Teacher Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com
Introduction A week before the Valentine’s Day, I got an invitation from the Subham Jee to attend Matri-Pitru Poojan Divas in his school on 14th February 2018. Shubham Jee was an upper primary teacher who had been teaching in Jondraveda village since 2009. On 14th February, the entire village assembled in the school. Around 11 AM, the celebration started. At first, students washed the all-male elderly person’s feet with water and offered some flower petals. In response, elderly persons applied tilak on their forehead. After the ritual, Shubham Jee addressed the gathering. In a nutshell, he appealed to the villagers to immerse themselves in Copyright © 2022, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies