| Abstract: |
In many post-colonial contexts, education reforms fail to change pedagogical practices in classrooms not merely due to technical limitations but because they clash with teachers' embedded worldviews and existing education ecosystems. In India, indigenous pedagogical knowledge is often discarded in favor of externally constructed pedagogical approaches without sufficient adaptation to local realities. Grounded in these insights, this study examined how Invisible Pedagogical Mindsets (IPMs)--the interplay of culture, local education ecosystems, and preferred learning theories--shape the conceptualization and implementation of education reform under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in India. The study was part of the Strengthening Pedagogical Approaches for Relevant Knowledge and Skills (SPARKS) project, implemented by the Brookings Institution and Dream a Dream in India. The study's findings highlight the realities faced by teachers in Uttarakhand, Telangana, Jharkhand, and Goa and show how the IPMs affect the implementation of the NEP 2020's goals. A local Research Policy Collaborative (RPC) was formed to involve various education ecosystem actors in the research process. Data collection included semi-structured interviews with 52 teachers from the four states, semi-structured interviews with five teacher educators from Jharkhand, three focus group discussions with small groups of teachers from Jharkhand and Goa, and semi-structured interviews with 5 policy actors. The findings of the SPARKS India study demonstrate that the shift to holistic, inclusive, and experiential learning imagined by NEP 2020 can only be realized when reform efforts engage with teachers' lived realities, emotional investments, and professional expertise. Meaningful and sustainable education reform begins with teachers and requires policies to take into consideration the interaction of culture, the education ecosystem, and learning theories. Without attending to IPMs, reform efforts risk being top-down, fragmented, and disconnected from classroom practice. [This report was created in collaboration with Dream a Dream.] |