Anna Bagnoli - Response

Anna Bagnoli - Response

I found Bagnoli’s paper very interesting. Firstly I didn’t realize how insightful drawings could be especially when someone is at a cross roads in their life or has to make big decisions.  I realized that on an unconscious level you constantly think about the things that are bothering you whether you know it or not. What I did learn from this article was the importance of having very general and broad instructions so that the participant is free to express whatever they want in whatever manner/form they want. As everybody has different ways of expressing him or herself and if you truly want to understand what they are going through you need to give them more control.

This is how I intend to conduct the next workshop – with one visual method activity with broad instructions. 

Daphna Patai - Response

Daphna Patai - Response

Patai’s chapter in which she talked about artificial intimacy that is created in qualitative research got me thinking about how this correlates with counseling. As counselors we witness people’s pain, empathize with them, and see them grow and change. Patai’s chapter suggested to me that there was a lot of cross over, as researchers also seem to hold a similar equation with their interviewees. People come and unburden themselves, let us into deep aspects of their private lives (one way traffic of sharing) and then we proceed analyze it (their lives/situations) and churn out some kind of data and/or theory to understand where they are coming from and almost to justify what they have said.

Patai advocates that qualitative research is conducted to achieve ‘social transformation’ and empower people.  This connects to counseling where the aim is to help others help themselves. However, maybe counselors provide an atmosphere and/or environment that help people act/change on what they have spoken about. Whereas qualitative researchers act more like a sounding board where people come to unburden themselves and then leave with out really analyzing or internalizing what they have said. Do they feel shortchanged? Betrayed? Breach of privacy? Because it is one thing to go and talk to someone about something personal and have a(n) (‘artificial’) connection with the interviewer, but then once that information gets published how do they feel?

Reading List - School Dropouts and Motivation

1.     School Dropouts or Pushouts? Overcoming Barriers for the Right to Education, by Anugula N. ReddyShantha Sinha, http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/ImpAccess_RPC/PTA40.pdf

2.     THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOLING ON COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH IN INDIA, http://ebooks.iaccp.org/ongoing_themes/chapters/mishra/mishra.php?file=mishra&output=print

3.     Feasibility of implementation of right to education Act, Pankaj S Jain, Ravindra H Dholakia, http://www.righttoeducation.in/sites/default/files/research-n-analysis/rte-epw_june09.pdf

4.     Right to Education Act: A Critique, Parth J Shah and Shreya Agarwal, http://www.cfo-connect.com/images/article/tt-critique-may2010.pdf

5.     Right to Education Act : A Critical Analysis, http://www.jamiajournal.com/2012/04/24/right-to-education-act-a-cricitical-analysis/

6.     Teacher Motivation in India, http://www.dfid.gov.uk/r4d/PDF/Outputs/PolicyStrategy/3888Teacher_motivation_India.pdf

7.     Structural Adjustment, Education and Poor Households in India: Analysis of a Sample Survey, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPOVERTY/Resources/WDR/dhaka/pradhan.pdf

8.     Influence of gender and type of school on environmental attitude of teachers in Iran and India, International Journal of Enviornmental Science and Technology, Vol. 3, No. 4, Autumn 2006, pp.351-357. http://www.bioline.org.br/request?st06044

9.     Inclusive Education in India, Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, Volume 2, Number 2 Electronic Journal for Inclusive Education, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Summer/Fall 2007) http://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1086&context=ejie&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.co.in%2Fscholar%3Fstart%3D70%26q%3Dgovernment%2Bschool%2Bdiscipline%2Bindia%26hl%3Den%26as_sdt%3D0%2C5#search=%22government%20school%20discipline%20india%22

10. The India Model, By Gurcharan Das,  Foreign Affairs, July/August 2006, http://relooney.fatcow.com/00_New_1704.pdf

Research Plan - Corporal Punishment

Big Research Question:

1. What are teacher’s intentions in giving punishment?
2. What do they want to change in student's behaviors?

3. What is impact of punishment on student?

4. What punishments are considered fair?

Secondary Questions:

1. What behaviours are punished? (Indiciplen )

2. What types of punishment are given?

3. How do students view punishment?

4. How do they avoid punishment?

5. Reasons for getting punished?

Number of Interviews

●      With teachers                       5

●      With students                       10

●      Others                                    2

Number of Observations

●      Where                                    in the class room and around the school

Number of Focus Groups

●      Age group                             10, 12 and 14

Comments on the books and subject I read

Corporal Punishment

Punishment start to students at schools and also at homes by parents and others, useing of abusive language, lack of interest in study or homework, quarrels and adults’ frustrations leading to corporal punishment. The volume of corporal punishment in schools and at homes was found to be identical. The situation regarding corporal punishment, both at private and public schools, was the same. A common phenomenon was that younger children at schools received more punishment than the older ones. 
The two categories of punishment at schools are physical and the psychological.

Education is communication tool. When school communicate effectively, students understand and support what the school is doing, and the process of teaching and learning moves forward and educators can have as much trouble communicating clearly.

Many times have students in a school misunderstood directions or left class with no clear idea of the next day’s assignment and many kids are confused about exactly what behavior is expected, preferred, accepted, allowed, or valued in your school?

Types of punishments: Smacking, spanking, kicking, throwing, pinching, pulling hair, twisting arms or ears, forcing the child to stay in uncomfortable or undignified position, forcing the child to take excessive exercise, burning, giving electric shock and hitting them with different objects such as cane, belt, whip, shoe, broom and electric wire.

Bagnoli

This article talks about visual methods based and arts-based projective technique, the self-portrait, and the graphic elicitation methods. Interviews can also involve participants engaging in creative activities like drawing, collage, creating diagrams, taking pictures or looking. The article argues that applying these drawing methods in the context of an interview can open up participants’ interpretations of questions, and allow a creative way of interviewing that is responsive to participants’ own meanings and associations. The useing photo-elicitation interviews as a qualitative research method when studying aspects of adolescent behaviour and it describes the use of photo-elicitation interviews to investigate and analytical potential of graphic elicitation and arts-based methods, by making reference to the insights that they offered in the contextual analysis with more traditional text-based data.

Patai

This book introduces students to the practices of ‘doing' sociology. This course introduces students to the skill of thinking sociologically and the skill of testing sociological ideas through empirical research. But, throughout this course, we will also apply a critical perspective. Critical perspective means that we will ask questions, such as, how can sociologists prove that they have really found answers through their research? Or, why should anyone believe what sociologists say? The better a sociologist understands along with the strengths of any given method. This course will help to understand of the general difficulties that social researchers face when they are trying to generate knowledge about the social world.

Field notes

During the last official visit, it was an acute nostalgia of the divine "free periods". Me and my teammate luckily bumped into a class where the teacher was absent. So we made them enact a normal day in school. To find out the discipline functions and the measures undertaken by the teachers to keep them on track, we added a condition where a student comes late and another has not done homework. As a reaction we observed a few things:
# They can be sent home as well as whipped.
# The students are amazing actors.
# The teacher and the students have a close relationship where they are comfortable with cracking jokes and having fun together.
# They are not threatened in any manner and are not oppressed profoundly for such mistakes. Some toughness is undoubtedly important to keep things under control.
Workshop
It was important to know their basis of a structured living and differentiation of thoughts; their likes and dislikes, aspirations and expectations from the surroundings and themselves. So we asked them to draw a "good boy" and a "good girl", and write down precisely why did they think their characters were good. Most of them were based on their academic performance, behavior with teachers, elders and a decent dress code. According to some, a good boy or girl is someone who is "smart". Then came the turn for a "bad boy & a bad girl" and write what about them, made them 'bad'. Again it was related to academic performance, code of conduct and shabby looks. One of them drew a fat girl and the reason for her being bad was because she ate a lot! Apparently, this was a very honest and innocent answer because it didn't reflect a statement from his course book, rather something about his experience.
Independence day

All in white (their wednesday and saturday school dress), cheerful faces still maintaining the decorum of the school. They were visited by their friends from other schools and old students, some of who were now studying in colleges and one is now a scientist aiding their paraphernalia like notebooks and other stationeries. After the function was over, they colored each other and there was a swarm of patriots on the street, cheering for the independent India.

Research Plan

Topic:

What are the students and teachers understanding of and reaction to the terms 'good boy' and ‘good girl' in a school space?

Big Research Question:

What ideals about goodness are formed, kept, and taught to students to strive towards?

Secondary Questions:

How do these get formed?

Who influences them?

Where is it kept explicit and implicit?

How do students relate and react to it?

Number of Interviews

• With teachers

5 Subject teachers and 1 P.T./Sports teacher

• With students

12 (6 boys, 6 girls) from 8th and 9th standard

• Others

Principal, Co-ordinator (Ashrita), SkyLight faculties and volunteers

Number of Observations

• Where

In the classrooms

In the playground

In Skylight

In School building

Number of Focus Groups

1 Male group (3-6 boys)

1 Female group (3-6 girls)

1 Mixed group (3 boys and 3 girls)

1 Adult group (2-4 teachers) – (if possible)

• Age group

Entering Teenage (13 – 15)

Other research methods that will be used

• Questionnaire

• Semi-structured Interviews

Individual

Group (Focus group)

field notes2 - Exams. Samhita

Students getting ready for the assembly, some playing football, some reading notes, some wanting to finish the assembly and get to class, it was a hot sunny morning. The assembly began with P.E exercises followed by prayer, Karnataka anthem, News read by the students and ended with the national anthem. As the assembly got over we were called by the principal to enquire about the progress of the project. He told us that it was getting more challenging to engage co education schools. Students stay back up to 4.30p.m after school hours for Independence Day function practice, but, students reach home late. He even told us that students of the primary school bring cell phones to school and parents are encouraging them to do so. When parents are questioned on this they say that they need to keep a track of their child, hence the child carries the phone along. The principal thinks that this I negativity is the effect of media on the students. He went on to tell us that the students hide their phones in their socks when there is a check. They send texts to one another making each one aware of the checking.

While talking to us, he got a call from one parent saying that her daughter won’t be able to attend school for the day, as they had a family issue. At that point, he told us that he prefers the parent calling or texting him when the child won’t be able to attend school. This is because he can keep a track and know if it’s genuine. Some children used to write leave letters and sign instead of their parent. Thus he does not accept leave letters.

He told us that there was a girl who had family issues and the mother asked the principal to give her a T.C, so that she can get admitted in a school in Tamil Nadu. The Principal and teachers tried convincing her not to do so, but she went on to do it. Later, the girl had trouble adjusting in the other school, so she brought back. Then the parents literally begged the principal to get her admitted in to the school.

He told us that the students are obedient. But when it comes to revising at home they would not do it. Most of the parents are illiterate too and do not look in to what the child has done in school. Due to this the school conducts extra classes after school hours for the students. This is to help them revise so that they can score well in the exams. Students groups 5 were formed head by a student who performed well in which they study together and help each other. Every once in 2 month’s parent teacher meeting is conducted so that the parents know how their child is performing in school. This is done for improvement.

Then we on to talking to the teachers in the staff room, the kannada teacher was free then. He told us that they conducted weekly tests for the 10^th std students on every chapter. If one does not perform well, then a retest was given. The 8^th and 9^th std students had monthly tests. The students were given scheme of evaluation; this helped them in preparing accordingly.

The English and social studies teacher told us that, report cards are given, PTM, dairies are maintained in which portions are given, marks are entered, exam time table is written, home work details. This is done to keep a check on every child individually. They have a revision book; intense revision is done in class. Month of September is the most stressful week for the students.

On talking to Arshita, we got to hear a lot of stories of why students were dropping out of school but she even mentioned that drop outs have considerably reduced over the years. She said that there were some students dropped out of school due to exam pressure which led to bad performance in exams. There are more than 80% of the students who come under the below poverty line, these students were given bicycles from the government.

Field Notes - 2

Date Visited: 15th August, 2012 (Independence Day)

After the flag hoisting and other performances program:

• Students become very friendly and start playing by running after each other and teasing each other by names.

• Attracted by the camera that was being used by me - Get themselves clicked and one of the boys clicked me with them as well.

• One of the students, fascinated by the camera and interested in photography - possessed digital camera himself - bought by his brother who studies in college - didn't get it to school though (hard to believe but if true from where could he manage to buy a digital caMERA) 

• Students also carry mobile phones and one of them carried an ipod nano - responsibility is held by the students themselves as the possession of electronic items by students at school is prohibited

• Boys and girls very friendly with each other - tease each other by names.

•  Have teenage relationships which was earlier denied - talk and eye contact. Friends call each other by opposite partners' names in  a group - girls and boys came and introducedcme to their 'lover boyfriends'.

• Introduced me their other friends as well.

• Old students and alumni were present on the occasion - last year pass outs were familiar and friendly with the present students - i was introduced to the old students as well by the present students.

• Students get their photos clicked with their teachers.

•  They apply the national flag's powdered colors to each other

• Have unity in terms of hiding and using things like the electronic devices.

Photograph clicked by a student

Photograph clicked by a student

Photograph clicked by a student

Photograph clicked by a student













Photograph with the teachers