Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of

Education India Journal: A Quarterly Refereed Journal of Dialogues on Education, ISSN 2278- 2435, Vol. 3, Issue-4, November-2014. Page 1


Index Sl.

No.

Paper Title Author Page No.

01 Hidden Tribal Language of India Dr. M. Lakshmi Prabha 03-09

02 Bhagwan Dev Atma: His Contribution in Women Education

Harsangeet Kaur

10-18

03 Development and Implementation of a Multimedia Package to Teach Biology to Std. XII Students

Fr. Rayappan Irudayam & Dr. Devraj Goel

19-45

04 The Root Cause Factors of Conflict between Teachers and School Leaders in Government Primary Schools of Harari Regional State of Ethiopia

Mr. Maeregu Biyabeyen Asfaw & Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi

46-71

05 Qualitative Research in Education : An Overview

Jitendra Singh Goyal & Suneeta Chaudhari

72-91

06 Influence of Locus of Control and Self Concept on the Academic Achievement of Adolescents

Anju Sharma & Madhu Sahni

92-119

07 Constructivism: A Vibrant Approach to Revitalize Social Studies Classroom

Vandana Yadav &

Dr.Anil Shukla 120-135

08 Impact of Education in Women’s Empowerment in India

Dr. Sunil Kumar Sain Dr. SudhirSudamKaware

136-153

09 A Study of Relative Status of Multiple Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence of Student-Teachers

Madhuri R. Shah & Chhaya Goel

154-175

10 Tourism and Globalization Kapil Shanker Tiwari 176-184

11 Perception of University

Studentsabout Constructivist

Classroom Learning Environment

Dr. Sarat Kumar Rout

Mr. Kulamani Sahoo

Mamata Rani Panda

185-208


Paper-1

Hidden Tribal Language of India Dr. M. Lakshmi Prabha


Hidden Tribal Language of India Dr. M. Lakshmi Prabha1

Abstract Indian subcontinent consists of an umpteen number of separate linguistic

communities, at times sharing a common language and culture and again, at

times standing in huge difference in dialects. It is already acknowledged that

cosmopolitan and metropolitan populace possesses their indigenous

sophisticated version of language and mode of communication. However, the

point of interest in this context is the mode of utilization of the language of

tribes and tribal population in the country.

Tribal people make up 8.2 percent of the Nation's total population, Tribal

people are essentially an aboriginal community residing in India, possessing

their own customs and languages. Indian tribesmen are almost secluded in their

universe, cut off from the rest of 'civilised' society. As such, it has since long

remained a point of much curiosity and research about the kind of daily life they

lead, or the style of language they employ. Indeed, Indian tribal languages are

perhaps the second most enamouring topic of daily discussion, with the first

being accredited to tribal dance and jewellery.

Introduction- The Languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones

being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 73% of Indians and the Dravidian

languages spoken by 24% of Indians. Other languages spoken in India belong to

the Austro-Asiatic, Tibeto-Burman, and a few minor language families

and isolates. The official language of the Union Government of Republic of

1 Assistant Professor (SG), Department of Biotechnology, Karunya University, Coimbatore 641 114. E-mail:

[email protected],09442424136


India is Hindi in the Devanagari script and English. The constitution of India

states that "The official language of the Union shall be Hindi

Devanagari script." a position supported by a High Court ruling. In addition,

some individual states legislate their own official languages, depending on their

linguistic demographics. Individual mother tongues in India number several

hundred; the 1961 census recognized 1,652 (SIL Ethnologue lists 415).

According to Census of India of 2001, 30 languages are spoken by more than a

million native speakers, 122 by more than 10,000. More than three millennia of

language contact has led to significant mutual influence among the four

language families in India and South Asia. Two contact languages have played

an important role in the history of India: Persian and English.

Dialectologist distinguishes the terms "language" and "dialect" on the basis

of mutual intelligibility. The Indian census uses two specific classifications in

its own unique way: (1) 'language' and (2) 'mother tongue'. The 'mother tongues'

are grouped within each 'language'. Many 'mother tongues' so defined would be

considered a language rather than a dialect by linguistic standards. This is

especially so for many 'mother tongues' with tens of millions of speakers that

are officially grouped under the 'language' Hindi. The government of India has

given 22 "languages of the 8th Schedule" the status of official language. Some

languages with a large number of speakers still do not have this status, the

largest of these being Bhili/Bhiladi with some 9.6 million native speakers

(ranked 14th), followed by Garhwali with 2.9 million speakers, Gondi with 2.7

million speakers (ranked 18th) and Khandeshi with 2.1 million speakers (ranked

22nd). On the other hand, 2 languages with fewer than 2 million native speakers

have recently been included in the 8th Schedule for mostly political

reasons: Manipuri/Meiteiwith 1.5 million speakers (ranked 25th) and Bodo with

1.4 million speakers (ranked 26th).


Odisha is one of the Indian states with a sizeable tribal population of roughly

22%. Tribals also called Adivasis, or “the original inhabitants.” They live in

deep forests and speak many different languages. There is no education

provided in any of the languages they speak. In each census the number of

people speaking these languages is decreasing. The Shabari River marks the

boundary between Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Tribals living on both sides of the

river speak Gondi. Tribals in all the nearby bordering states have the same

issues, as all of them are communities dependent on natural resources. But after

getting educated in different languages and losing their own languages,

increasingly they are unable to communicate about these common issues with

each other. Communication makes a community. They also learned how to

communicate more effectively in their own native languages using new tools

like mobile phones. This is the first communication platform of any type in all

these languages. There are no newspapers, magazines, radio or TV in any of

these tribal languages. Now they send messages in their own languages using

the main Swara channel. We hope all of these Adivasi languages will have their

own exclusive mobile phone-based communication platform soon to give tribals

a way to communicate and preserve their languages and their unique culture.

A "hidden" language has been documented in an isolated hill tribe in a

northeastern Indian region considered a "black hole" in the study of languages,

linguists announced today. The new language, Koro, is spoken by about a

thousand people in Arunachal Pradesh a state for which little linguistic data

exist, due to restrictive entry policies, according to the linguists behind the

findings. Koro belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language family, which includes

400 languages such as Tibetan and Burmese. About 150 Tibeto-Burman

languages are found in India, but a team with the National Geographic Society's

Enduring Voices Project discovered that Koro was distinct from all other

languages in its family. The linguists happened upon the language in 2008 while


researching another two poorly known languages—Aka and Miji—which are

spoken in one small district. While listening to these tongues, the researchers

detected a third language, Koro. (Related: "'Lost' Language Found on Back of

400-Year-Old Letter.")."This is a language that had been undocumented,

completely unrecognized, and unrecorded," said researcher Gregory Anderson,

director of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. What's

more, the newly identified Koro tongue may be endangered: Only about 800

people are speakers—most of them older than 20—and the language hasn't been

written down.

Newfound Language in a Class by Itself- The team climbed steep hillsides and took to bamboo rafts to access the remote

villages, where people make a living raising pigs and cultivating rice and barley.

Going door-to-door among the stilted bamboo houses, the team recorded

villagers speaking the newfound language. It's unknown how the Koro, who

number between 800 and 1,200 people, came to live as a subtribe of the 10,000-

person Aka tribe. But it's clear that Koro differs greatly from Aka, the team

found. For instance, Koro's inventory of sounds is completely different, as is the

way sounds combine to form words. Words and sentences are built differently

in Koro too. For example, the Aka word for "mountain" is "phù" while the Koro

word is "nggõ." Aka speakers call a pig a "vo," while to Koro speakers, a pig is

a "lele." The groups share about 9 percent of their vocabulary."Koro could

hardly sound more different from Aka," linguist K. David Harrison of

Swarthmore College writes in his new book The Last Speakers. The linguist is

also a National Geographic Society fellow."They sound as different as, say,

English and Japanese."

Though they lack a common language, Koro speakers and Aka speakers insist

there is no difference between them. Typically, the minority language in such an

arrangement would lose ground to the majority language and in time die out—


or the smaller group would maintain its own language by asserting a unique

identity. But in the villages of the Aka and the Koro, in the shadow of India's

contested border with China, everyone maintains the tribe and subtribe are the

same but for a small variation in dialect.

Indian Tribal Language- The Indian tribal languages are a good indicator to the lifestyle and history of

many of the famous tribes of India. So, here we have attempted to update with

some of the Indian tribal languages.

Abujmaria- It is a language belonging to Dravidian language family and is

generally spoken in the Abujmar hills in Bastar Disstrict (M.P). Hill Maria

tribes of India usually speak in this language.

Aariya-Madhya Pradesh

Gadaba- It is spoken in Orissa.

Garo- This language of Indian tribes belong to Western Assam, Garo hills,

Meghalya, Nagaland and Tripura. The language also has many a dialects

namely Atong, Chisak, Megam and many more.

Saurashtri- Also known as Patnuli, this language is spoken by many a tribes of

India in Chennai, North Arcot, parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Tsangla- It is spoken in the villages of Arunachal Pradesh.

References-

Mc Groaty, M. (2006). Lingua Franca Languages. Annual Review of

Applied Linguistics, 26.

Kenna, M. & Stahl, S. (2004).Assessment for reading instruction. New

York: Guilford Press.

Mc Narma, D. S. (2007).Reading Comprehension Strategies: Theories,

Instruction, and Technology. New York: Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.


Nation, I.S.P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. New York:

Newbury House.

Nunan, D. (1989).Understanding language classrooms: A Guide for

Teacher-Initiated Action. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Nuttall, C. (1996).Teaching reading skills in a foreign language (2nd ed.).

Oxford: Heinemann.

Perfetti, C. (1985). Reading Ability. New York: Cambridge University

Press.

Kuhn, M.R. & Stahal, S.A. (2003). Fluency: A review of developmental

and remedial practices. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 3-21. ********************************************************


Paper-2

Bhagwan Dev Atma: His

Contribution in Women Education Harsangeet Kaur


Bhagwan Dev Atma: His Contribution in Women Education Harsangeet Kaur2

Abstract This article aims to discuss the development and growth of the socio-religious

reform movement started by Bhagwan Dev Atma with special reference to

women education and their empowerment. He Thought that without women

education social and economic progress of country was not possible. Bhagwan

Dev Atma was the moving spirit behind empowering women and getting for

them a respectable position in the society. Education is important for everyone

but when it comes to women, its importance becomes even more prominent.

Key words- Women Education, women Empowerment, Bhagwan Dev Atma

Introduction- Education is a process of inner growth and development. Education is a

continuous and dynamic process. Man learns something every day and every

moment. The imperative character of education for individual growth and social

development is now accepted by everyone Education is one of the factors

affecting the physical and mental growth of an individual. Today education is

seen as a series of teaching thinking learning experiences which serve to change

behaviour. Education plays a vital role in giving human beings proper

equipment to lead a gracious and harmonious life.

Need of Women Education- Women and men are just like the two wheels of a chariot. They are equal in

importance and they should work together in life. Nation's progress is

impossible without trained and educated mothers. If the women of a country are

not educated, about half of the people will be ignorant. Women empowerment 2 Assistant Professor, Dev Samaj College of Education for Women, Ferozepur, Punjab (India), Pin- 152002


can only be achieved through the provision of adequate and functional

education to the women folk. The need for women education is also informed

by the fact that the purposeful occupational achievement and satisfaction is

ensured by deep self awareness and understanding which can only be achieved

through the provision of effective and functional education and guidance &

counseling. Women education in India plays a very important role in the overall

development of the country. It not only helps in the development of the half of

the human resources but in improving the quality of life at home and outside.

Educated women not only tend to promote education of their girl children but

also can provide better guidance to all their children. More over educated

women can also help in the reduction of infant mortality rate and growth of the

population.

About Bhagwan Dev Atama- Bhagwan Dev Atma-the most worshipful founder of Dev Samaj the teacher of

one universal science rounded system of religion and all sided benefactor of

mankind is Shree Pandit Satyanand Agnihotri. The spiritual sun of the world

was born at Akbarpore, District Kanpur on Posh Badi Pratipada, Sammat 19 so

sat Bikirmi Corresponding to 20 December 1850. The auspicious time when

Bhagwan saw the light of the day was the break of dawn when the moon was

about to set and the sun was about to raise, upto the age of 16, Bhagwan Dev

Atma took his education in his village. During these 16 years of his life

Bhagwan's unique life displayed a drama which is simply heartening to read and

think over.

At the age of 16, Bhagwan completed his education in his village. His parents

who were ardently fond of him. did not like to send him outside Akbarpur for

any further education but Bhagwan's love of education had become an

imperious force in him, hence as soon as he came to know that there was a


chance for him to go to Roorki for further education, he appeared for the

preparatory examination and he successfully passed it.

He told his parents frankly that if they would not let him go to improve his

intellectual prospects, he would run away and join the institution. His father had

to yield. He took him to Roorki in the last month of November 1866, when he

had not completed even the sixteenth year of this life. When he was at Roorki,

he came in contact with a remarkably noble soul whom he accepted as his

religious guru, guide, and preceptor named pandit shiv Dyal Sigh. He was an

altruistic soul. By faith he was a vedantist.

He served in the college as the curator of the college central Instrument Depot.

He also served there as meteorological observer. Bhagwan felt a sweet. Holy

and higher psychic attraction for this good soul. This attraction made Bhagwan

to seek his suitable environments at his feet. This attraction was silent and

unnoticed but it possessed a mighty import for the evolution of Bhagwan's soul.

Contribution of Bhagwan Dev Atma in Women Education- A renowned religious and social leader, Bhagwan Dev Atma was committed to

the spread of women education In India. He fought to empower women by

promoting women's right to property and women's education. One of the

methods Bhagwan Dev Atma implemented in order to ensure that women

education was made accessible to all, was by establishing a number of schools

& colleges in India. His idea was to enable the women of India to raise the

knowledge and living standards so that they would be able to compete with the

society. Bhagwan Devatma the founder of Dev Samaj played the most

conspicuous part in the emancipation of women in the early 19th century in

India. He played a great role in the fight for women's equal status in law, society

and education. When he established the society of Dev Samaj he inspired his

disciples to build institutions, for girls for in education lay the emancipation of

women Dev Samaj girls school was the first dear child in his Herculean efforts


for women emancipation. He says that education is milestone of women

empowerment because it enables them to respond to the challenges to confront

their traditional role and change their life. Education of women is the most

powerful tool of change of position in society.

History of first Girls School- Dev Samaj Girl's school was his first dear child in his efforts for women

education. This institution was the only institution whose responsibility was

shouldered by the head office. This institution has the distinction of being the

first High school in Punjab by an organization. On 2nd November 1901, the

opening ceremony of the famous institution of Dev Samaj Girl’s School

Ferozepur was performed by Bhagwan Dev Atma. At shikarpur, in 1905, one of

the most important Ashrams was opened, the account of which appeared in the

jiwanpath magh Bakrimi (1905). In Shikarpur Sindh the building of the Ashram

was due to the enthusiasm of Revered Bhai Mohan Dev ji. Two other girl's

schools have also been maintained at Ambala and incharge of two lady

members of Dev Samaj Besides these two schools there are two Nari Ashrams

(Training homes for adult women) opened and worked at Ferozepur & Moga).

The Courses of Instructions and training followed in the institutions were Hindi

Reading, Hindi Writing, elementary arithmetic, cooking and sewing and

religious exercises. The kindergarten system of education has been introduced

in the infant classes Physical training of girls is receiving special notice

Dev Samaj College for Women (Ferozepur)- The pressing demand of the public in and around Ferozepur motivated and

inspired the Dev Samaj Society to open the gates of higher education for girls. It

was in the years 1934 that in response to the pressing demand of the citizens of

Ferozpur and of the surrounding areas for a separate girls college, the Dev

Samaj Started an intermediate college for girls. The college has the distinction

of producing first Hindu Lady B.A.B.T., First lady IAS officer in the undivided


Punjab, the first lady principal of lady Irwin medical college New Delhi, with

great pleasure and pride we place on recod that Mrs. Sarla Grewal, the former

Principal secretary to Late Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi and later on the

Governor of Madhyapradesh, was product of this college.

Dev Samaj college of Education Ferozepur- Education College at Ferozepur was established in 1942 by the society of Dev

Samaj which works for the social moral and spiritual upliftment of humanity. It

was a great vision of Bhagwan Dev Atma to educate the women folk during the

times, when women were not educated at all. He opened training college for

women to fulfill the demand of quality teachers for school. It was the first non-

governmental Teacher's Training College in the whole of united Punjab. It was

the oldest women Teacher’s Training College in the state of Punjab. This

college provides pre-service teacher-education to the women students. College

provides all necessary assistance and guidance to students.

Dev Samaj College for Women Sector-45, Chandigarh- Dev Samaj College for women Chandigarh was started in 1981. At Dev Samaj,

equal opportunities for education, work and service are provided to cultivate in

the women, characteristics which will make them good daughters, sisters, wives

and mothers. Dev Samaj aims at the social moral and spiritual uplift of

humanity.

Dev Samaj College of Education Sector-36(B) Chandigarh- Dev Samaj took positive steps to build a social structure where women could

enjoy respectable position free from the gender bias. The venerable founder of

Dev Samaj realized that future of women lay in education. Dev Samaj society is

running about 26 educational institutions in the country. Dev Samaj College of

Education sector 36-B Chandigarh is an Institution of high repute having carved

a name of itself with academic and curricular achievements of unrivalled

standards. The college has a record of educational success that dates backs to


1981, completed 28 years of meritorious service to the country and to the union

territory of Chandigarh in particular in the field of teacher education for women.

Present Women educational institutes running by Dev Samaj

Society in border areas and UT- In spite of the forceful intervention by the bastion of female previllage, feminist

critics, constitutional guaranters, protecting laws and sincere efforts by the Dev

Samaj Society and State/Centre Governments through various schemes and

programmes over the last centuries and above all/with regards to the uplift

plight of women in terms education is still in the state of an enigma in India for

several reasons.

S.N

.

Name of the

Institutions

Date of

Eastibli

sh-

ment

Principal Course Offered

1 Dev Samaj Sr.

Secondary School

Ferozepur

1901 Mrs. Sunita

Rangbulla

Up to 10+2

2

Dev Samaj College for

women Ferozeur City

1934

Dr. Mrs. Madhu

Prashar

UG PG

BA

B. Sc.

B.

Com

BCA

BA(H)

B.Sc(H

)

Mathematic

s

Chemistry

Physics

English

Punjabi

Hindi

History

Economics


Commerce

M.Sc. IT

3 Dev Samaj College of

education

1942 Mrs. Balwinder

Kaur

B. Ed & M. Ed.

4 Dev Samaj College for

Women Sec. 45

Chandigarh

1981 Dr. Meera Modi BA, BBA, BCA, B.

Com, M. Sc.

Computer Science

and MA Economics

5 Dev Samaj College of

Education Sec. 36B

Chandigarh

1981 Dr. Mrs. Jyoti

Khanna

B. Ed., M. Ed. And

Diploma in Guidance

and Counseling.

Conclusion- Educated women are the creator of a healthy society. Following with the foot

marks of his holiness Bhagwan Dev Atma, the Dev Samaj society has made all

out endeavors with missionary zeal to put permanent end to the evils against

women. According to Dev Samaj society, education of girls is the most

powerful tool of change of position in society. Education also brings a reduction

in inequalities and functions as a means of improving their status within the

family. To encourage the education of women at all levels and for dilution of

gender bias in providing knowledge and education, established schools,

colleges, and universities even exclusively for women in India.

Education for all programme and other many educational programmes are

providing various facilities to enhance the education for women, hence these

programmes are very helpful to improving the girl’s education in India.

References-

Amar Singh. Life and Teaching of Bhagwan Dev Atma. Lahore:

Mercantile Press.


Kanal, P. V. (1929). Dev Atma. Moga: Dev Samaj.

Kanal, S. P. (1950). A brief Life Sketch of Bhagwan dev Atma. Moga:

Dev Samaj

Kanal, P. V. (1992). My Bhagwan:What I saw of Him. Chandigarh: Dev

Samaj

Gupta, L. D. (1998). Eight Distinguished Women of dev Samaj.

Chandigarh: Dev samaj

Kanal, P. V. (2003). The Chronicle of dev Samaj V2. Chandigarh: Dev

Samaj

Kumar, Raj (2000). Women and Education. New delhi: Anmol

Publications.

Shukla, Narendra and Shrivastava, Sangya (2014). Women

Empowerment: Challenges and Opportunities. New Delhi: Sarup Book

Publishers.

http://www.devsamaj.org/history-dev-samaj.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Devatma

http://dscwfzr.org/

http://www.devsamaj.org/about-dsce.php ********************************************************


Paper-3

Development and Implementation of a

Multimedia Package to Teach Biology to Std.

XII Students

Fr. Rayappan Irudayam

Dr. Devraj Goel


Development and Implementation of a Multimedia

Package to Teach Biology to Std. XII Students Fr. Rayappan Irudayam3

Dr. Devraj Goel4

Introduction- There have been many calls for reforming Science Education in India. If these

are to be attended to, attention needs to be directed towards the Life Sciences,

including Biology Education Research. The basis for this claim is found in

elementary, middle, and high school classrooms throughout the country. Life

Science content is commonly taught at all levels. One reason is that elementary

teachers tend to be most comfortable teaching Life Science topics. In addition,

for students at both the elementary and secondary levels, learning about living

things, including themselves, is a dire necessity. Thus, research that enlightens

on teaching and learning Biological Concepts has the potential to improve the

Biology Education that students receive. This may be particularly important

because today we are in the midst of a Biological Revolution -- one that will

continue to present significant political, economic, ethical, and educational

issues for our society to grapple with. Properly designed Educational Multimedia on Multimedia Computers supports

active participation and puts the students in control. Such multimedia demands

the right teaching architecture, as explained here. Learning about people and the

various ways in which they interact with each other and with the various

environments in which they find themselves is very essential. The way to make

3 Doctoral Scholar, Centre of Advanced Study in Education, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,

Vadodara- 390002

4 Professor Emeritus, Centre of Advanced Study in Education, The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda,

Vadodara- 390002


people aware about themselves and their environment is through education. The

subject of Biology which directly deals with every form of life and the

environment in which they live, carries a special responsibility of preparing

young children to become well informed, constructive participants in society

and capable of developing healthy and harmonious relationships. The aim of

providing education to the children is the all round development of their

personality. The scope of Biology is very vast and in fact as wide as the world

itself and as lengthy as the history of life on the earth. Modern Technologies

can make learning Biology an engaging affair. It allows students to find

information which they construct into their own knowledge using computer

production software. In the proposed research, the investigator is taking an

effort to use modern technologies in the form of Multimedia Instructional

Software Package to teach some important components or concepts of Biology

to standard XII students of (GSHSEB) Gujarat Secondary and Higher

Secondary Education Board.

Review of Related Literature- The investigator has reviewed a total of 63 studies keeping the present study in

view to develop a complete and holistic perspective of these studies and to

arrive at the implications to support the present study. The investigator has first reviewed 56 studies related to innovative methods of

teaching science and other subjects other than Biology conducted by Shah

(1966), Sharma (1966), Patel (1975), Jones (1980), Kolz (1980), Adeshera

(1981), Tauro (1981), Golani (1982), Krishnan (1983), Rao (1983), Vardhini

(1983), McDonald (1984), Menon (1984), Desai (1985), Joseph (1985), Parry,

et al (1985), Johnson and Stanne (1986), Meyer (1986), James (1987), Joshi

(1987), Cutlet (1990), Slick (1990), Srivastava (1990), Jeyamani (1991),

Mahapatra (1991), Raghavan and Dharmaraja (1991), Bhatia (1992), Douglas

(1992), Stella (1992), Williamson (1992), Shah and Agarwal (1994), Waddick


(1994), Agarwal (1995), Wilson (1995), Karandikar (1996), Rangaraj (1997),

Das (1998), Khirwadker (1998), Zyoud (1999), Yadav (2000), Dalwadi

(2001). Zschoke (2002), Crews (2003), Sharma (2003), Casanova (2004),

Helaiya (2004), McLaughlin Daniel (2004), Barot (2005), Hung (2005),

Rosales (2005), Gilbert (2006), Parikh (2006), Thakkar (2006), Ford (2007),

Galvis (2007), Ratwa (2007) and Karnati (2008). They have found in their

studies that teaching through computers and multimedia is effective in terms of

students’ academic achievement and it helps in increasing conceptual

understanding of the subject matter.

The investigator has also reviewed 7 studies related specifically to teaching of

Biology conducted by Hopper (1982), Ravindranath (1982), Waugh (1984),

Dighal (1985), Leila (1987), Bhardwaj (1990) and Adhikari (1992). They

have found that teaching Biology through computers and other innovative

methods is effective in terms of students’ academic achievement and they could

learn at their own pace.

Implications of the Review Of Related Studies for the Present

Study- On the whole, from the review of the related literature it can be inferred that

majority of the studies indicated that teaching through computers and

multimedia is effective in terms of students’ academic achievement. Teaching

through computers or multimedia has been found effective, not only for

academic achievement but for developing interest and attitude towards

Biological Sciences.

From the review of related literature, the investigator further infers the

following:

The nature and the type of methodology adopted for the teaching of

Science determines the effectiveness of the method.


In many of the studies it was seen that innovative methods were more

effective than traditional methods.

Audio-visual methods also promoted the understanding of the subject

well.

Learning capacity of the students was more when Multimedia

Instructional Packages were used along with traditional methods of

teaching.

The methodology used is largely based upon the pre-test –

intervention - post-test design. The tools used are Questionnaires and

Reaction Scales. The data have been analyzed using the appropriate

statistical tools, such as, t-test, correlated t-test, Chi-square ANOVA

and ANCOVA.

The studies have been carried out for the teaching of mainly Science.

The sample group, in these studies, consisted mainly of school

children of urban areas.

There is no one single method of teaching Science. The teacher

should be experimental-minded and should use different approaches in

the light of different objectives.

On the basis of review presented above, the researcher has observed that the

scope of studies was quite diverse. The available studies clearly indicate that

not many studies on teaching of Biology have been conducted in India.

From the review of the related literature, it can be inferred that the methodology

of teaching Science has an impact in the learning process. Most of the studies

mentioned above concluded in favour of innovative methods in comparison

with traditional methods of teaching.

The pressing need of the hour therefore, is to impart Education (Biological

sciences) effectively. This has been the immediate inspiration behind the

researcher taking up the present investigation. The investigator has been very


keenly interested as to whether imparting knowledge through a new and non-

traditional, multimedia instructional package would make it easier for the

children to understand the different Biological Concepts in an efficient and

effective manner.

As not many studies on Biological Sciences have been conducted at the higher

secondary level, the researcher sought to explore the effectiveness of an

innovative Multimedia Instructional Software Package in the teaching of

Biology at the higher secondary level. It is in this background that the present

study seeks to improve upon the existing methods adopted for the education of

the students. The present study seeks to study the impact of the Multimedia

Instructional Software Package in increasing the knowledge, interest, and

scientific attitude of the students regarding Biological Sciences.

Rationale for the Present Study- Biology as a discipline, by its very nature is media-genic. Biology is a study of

life which is broadly classified into two parts, namely Botany, the study of the

life of Plants and Zoology, the study of the life of Animals. Subdivisions of

each of these branch include Cytology, that is the study of Cell and Cell

structure, Histology, that is the study of Tissues, Anatomy or Morphology,

that is the study of internal and external features of living organisms,

Physiology, that is the study of various functions of the living organisms and

Embryology, that is the study of the embryonic development of an individual

animal or plant.

The various features of the biological contents are height, weight, length,

breadth, depth, shape, size, colours, textures and sounds, pictures, diagrams,

landscapes, lab experiments, field trips, educational tours and so on. The time

for the coverage of the content is limited whereas the volume is very large.

Properly developed multimedia may very well facilitate coverage of the content

more efficiently and intelligibly. It may not be feasible to take the students on


to the field trips for each and every bit of content coverage or to dissect in the

laboratory each and every animal or plant, they study in their syllabus.

Moreover, today the dissection of animals in the labs is prohibited. Thus, the

reality may be captured and mediated through a well developed Instructional

Multimedia Package. Particularly in life-sciences, multimedia has shown to be

beneficial because it provides visualization of concepts that are difficult to

envision. Today, we are in an age of computers, ICT and digital technologies.

Media are said to be the extension of human beings which are expected to

facilitate educational instruction cost effectively. In today’s society, students

are constantly surrounded by many aspects of technology. Allowing the use of

technology in the classroom, can make learning more meaningful, exciting and

enjoyable too. Once students have discovered a purpose and passion for

learning, the drive for solving problems increases. Biology is a subject that

contains an inordinate amount of abstract concepts. So, using the multimedia

can aid in clarifying matters for students.

A successful student in biology should have exposure to hands-on laboratories,

but when the situation does not always warrant the means for accomplishing

this task, it is important to look for alternatives. As a means of enhancing the

curriculum, the technology is priceless. The students can actually “see”

concepts via virtual laboratories, they have the most current research/findings

available, and they are taking a direct part in their learning. Due to the fact that

Biology, and most other science disciplines have very broad, abstract topics, it

became apparent that the traditional way of delivering instruction could be

revised. Implementing technology into the classroom seemed a likely solution.

Biology is a subject that involves many processes such as mitosis and meiosis.

These topics can be unusually difficult for students to grasp when taught with

chalk and talk method, so when a visual presentation can be used, it goes a long

way as for as comprehension is concerned.


As teachers, we must present as many ways of learning to our students as

possible. Lectures, laboratories, field trips, and computers are all helping our

students succeed in school and in life. We must understand that technology is

here to stay and it is involved in every aspect of our lives. If we allow our

students to become familiar with the software available for biology (and other

subjects), we can assist in opening their minds and increasing their critical

thinking skills. The learning styles of students in any given classroom vary

greatly. Therefore, if we include computers, we are helping to bridge the gap for

those students who may otherwise tune out the subject matter.

The investigator after having graduated in Biology at Masters Level and having

more than 15 years of experience in teaching Biology subject is very much keen

on realizing quality Biology Education. Also, the investigator has specialized

in the area of Computer Education. And therefore, the investigator has decided

to develop a Multimedia Instructional Software Package to teach Biology. The

investigator has not come across any study at Standard XII level on Biology

teaching through multimedia.

The investigator envisaged to try his level best to make the Multimedia

Instructional Software Package as comprehensive, interesting and enriching as

possible, directing the concepts to the various senses of the learners optimally

for their maximum involvement. Most of the students find it difficult to

understand biological concepts on Animal Physiology and Reproduction as

compared to other units in Biology. And therefore, the investigator thought of

developing Multimedia Instructional Software Package on Animal Physiology

and Reproduction for better understanding of the seemingly difficult biological

concepts.

The investigator has attempted to improve the understanding of the students in

Biological Sciences, using various media, such as, Power Point Presentation,

Charts, Video-clips, accompanied by appropriate music, flash, animations,


virtual laboratories and movie clips in the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package. Students enjoy learning through various differential modes.

Therefore, this study was undertaken to improve the quality of teaching and

learning Biology in the classroom.

Statement of the Problem- “Development and Implementation of a Multimedia Package to Teach Biology

to Std. XII Students”

Objectives of the Study-

1. To develop a Computer Based Multimedia Instructional Software

Package to teach Biology to the students of Standard XII. 2. To study the effectiveness of the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package in terms of mean achievement of the students in the subject of

Biology. 3. To study the effectiveness of the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package in terms of reactions of the students towards Biological Sciences

through multimedia package. 4. To study the effectiveness of the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package in terms of reaction of Biology teachers towards teaching of

Biology through multimedia Software Package. Operationalization of Terms- Multimedia Instructional Software Package: In this study, Multimedia

Instructional Software Package consists of Power Point Presentation,

accompanied by appropriate music, video clips, charts, movie clips, flash,

animations and graphics.

Effectiveness: Effectiveness of the programme was studied in terms of the

difference in the mean gain score of the experimental group and the mean gain

score of the control group and the reactions of students and Biology teachers


towards teaching of Biology through Multimedia Instructional Software

Package.

Hypotheses-

1. There will be no significant difference between the mean gain scores of

the experimental group and control group from pre-test to post-test. 2. There will be no significant difference between the observed frequencies

and the expected frequencies against equal probability on various points

of the reaction scale of the students. 3. There will be no significant difference between the observed frequencies

and the expected frequencies against equal probability on various points

of the reaction scale of the Biology teachers. Delimitation of the Study- The study is delimited to Biology textbook (2010-11) prescribed for Standard

XII by GSHSEB. The research has been further delimited to 8 chapters covered

in the syllabus of the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

Board as mentioned below.

Chapter 05: Nutrition in Animals

Chapter 06: Digestive system of Cockroach & Human beings

Chapter 07: Respiration in Animals

Chapter 08: Circulation in Animals

Chapter 09: Excretion and Osmoregulation in Animals

Chapter 10: Movement and Locomotion in Animals

Chapter 11: Nervous System of Cockroach and human

Chapter 12: Reproduction and Development in Animals


Populaltion of the Study- All the students of Standard XII studying in English Medium opting Biology in

the schools of Baroda, following the syllabus of Gujarat Secondary and Higher

Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB). Sample of the Study- The sample for the proposed study was selected purposively. For this the

researcher selected standard XII students studying in two schools of Baroda

city. The investigator judged the availability of Computer and Multimedia LCD

Projector, speakers etc, for implementing the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package while deciding on the school. The willingness of the Principal and of

the teaching staff was also taken into account while deciding the school. Other

factors like convenience of approach and availability of time were also taken

into account while deciding upon the school.

All the 30 students of Biology Group of (2010-11) of Standard XII B of Covent

of Jesus and Mary School, Fatehgunj, were taken as experimental group,

whereas all the 31 students of Biology Group of (2010-11) Standard XII B of

Rosary High School, Pratapgunj, were taken as control group for the present

study. All the 35 Biology teachers of Bio-teachers’ Club, Baroda (2010-11)

comprised the sample of Biology teachers.

Methodology of the Study- A. Design of the Study

The proposed study is experimental in nature where Quasi-experimental design

was employed. The Pretest-Posttest-Experimental and Control Group Design

was employed for the study. The design of the study is presented as follows.

O1 X O2

O3 C O4

Where, O1 and O3 are pretests

O2 and O4 are posttests


X stands for Experimental group and

C stands for Control group.

For the purpose of studying the effectiveness of Multimedia Instructional

Software Package in Biology, the achievement of students in Biology of

experimental group and control group was considered.

B. PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY

The entire procedure consisted of four phases for the present study.

Phase I: Development of Multimedia Instructional Software Package and

Tools-

All the eight chapters of animal physiology and reproduction were

selected from the English Medium Biology textbook of Standard XII

prescribed by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

Board (GSHSEB) for the preparation and implementation of the

Multimedia Instructional Software Package.

Content analysis of all the eight chapters was done. Thereafter, the

Multimedia Software Instructional Package was developed with the help

of Power Point Presentation, video clips, charts, movies, graphics, flash,

and animations, accompanied by appropriate music.

The Multimedia Instructional Software Package was developed over a

period of three months. The developed Multimedia Instructional Package

was shown to two experts in the field of Biology and two experts in the

field of Education to ascertain its content validity, clarity, mode of

presentation and comprehensiveness. Changes were made as per the

suggestions of the experts.

A pre-test, post-test, reaction scale for students and reaction scale for

teachers were constructed by the investigator and validated by the experts

mentioned above. Changes were made as per the suggestions of the

experts.


Phase II: Administration of the Pre-test.

Before the implementation of the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package, both the groups, viz., control as well as experimental were

administered pretest on achievement in Biology to check the level of

knowledge in Biology.

Phase III: Implementation of the developed Multimedia Instructional

Package.

The developed Multimedia Instructional Software Package was

administered on the experimental group for 5 months, 35-minutes each

day, during the Biology period.

Phase IV: Administration of the Post-test.

After the completion of the treatment with the Multimedia Instructional

Software Package, the Post-test was administered on the students.

Tools for Data Collection- A Pre-test and a Post-test-

A Pre-test and a Post-test were constructed on the selected chapters of Biology

to study the achievement of the students. After constructing the tests, they were

shown to the experts in the field for determining their correctness, language,

comprehension and validity. Changes were made as per the suggestions of the

experts. Answer keys, for both, the Pre-test and Post-Test were prepared to

maintain the objectivity of scoring. The answer keys were given to the experts

for validation. Each test consisted of forty items, to be answered in forty

minutes. All the items were of multiple choice types. Each item was having

four alternative answers (A, B, C and D) and the students were expected to

encircle the correct answer. In every question there was only one correct

answer. Each question carried one mark. All the questions were to be

answered.

Reaction Scale for Students-


The reaction scale for students was constructed by the investigator comprising

the areas concerned with the Multimedia Instructional Software Package for

teaching Biology. It is a five point scale. The initial draft was given to the

experts for correction and suggestions and also to point out language clarity,

inconsistency in the presentation and direction (positive and negative) of the

statements. After receiving the feedback some of the items were modified and

some eliminated. Thus the final and modified scale was having 50 items.

Reaction Scale for Biology Teachers-

The reaction scale for Biology teachers was constructed by the investigator

comprising the areas concerned with the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package for teaching Biology. It is a five point scale. The initial draft was

given to the experts for correction and suggestions and also to point out

language clarity, inconsistency in the presentation and direction (positive and

negative) of the statements. After receiving the feedback some of the items will

be modified and some eliminated. Thus the final and modified scale was

having 50 items.

Data Collection- The data collection was personally done by the investigator from the students.

The investigator prepared a time schedule for data collection. The investigator

personally administered the tests mentioned above. The first step involved

administering the Pretest to the students. The second step was to implement the

intervention programme. This was followed by administration of the Post-test

and the Reaction Scale for students and the Reaction scale for Biology teachers.

Thus the required data for the study were collected.

Data Analysis- Data analysis was done quantitatively by employing the t-test to find out the

significance of difference between the mean gain scores of the Experimental

and Control Groups. The data on the reactions of the students towards Biology


through Multimedia Instructional Software Package and the reaction of teachers

on Multimedia Instructional Software Package to teach Biology were analyzed

through Chi-square.

Findings- The findings of the study are as follows:

A. The Multimedia Instructional Software Package was found to be

effective in teaching Biological Sciences.

This could be said on the basis of the statistical tool adopted for data analysis:

The t-test. The computed t-value of 2.46 is lesser than the table t-value of 2.66

at 0.01 level against 57 degrees of freedom. So, the null hypothesis that there

will be no significant difference between the mean gain scores of the

experimental group and the control group is not rejected at 0.01 level.

The computed value of 2.46 is greater than the table t-value of 2.00 at 0.05 level

against 57 degrees of freedom. So, the null hypothesis that there will be no

significant difference between the mean gain scores of the experimental group

and the control group is rejected at 0.05 level. The mean gain score of the

experimental group has been found to be significantly greater than the mean

gain score of the control group. Hence, the Multimedia Instructional Software

Package treatment has been found to be effective at 0.05 level.

It is evident from the above analysis that the treatment through Multimedia

Software Instructional Package in teaching Biological Sciences has been

found to be effective.

B. Reaction of Students towards Biology through Multimedia Software

Instructional Package in terms of expected frequencies and observed

frequencies against equal probability has been found to be effective

This could be said on the basis of the tool adopted for data analysis, that is,

Reaction of Students on Multimedia Instructional Software Package for

teaching Biological Sciences in terms of expected frequencies and observed


frequencies against equal probability on various points of the reaction scale of

the students.

The computed values of Chi-square are greater than the table value of Chi-

square of 13.277 at 0.01 level against 4 degrees of freedom. So the null

hypothesis that there will be no significant difference between the observed

frequencies and the frequencies expected against equal probability is rejected

against all the 50 statements. The frequency loading is greater on the higher

points of the rating scale that is Strongly Agreed (SA) and Agreed (A) against

the statements 1, 3, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32,

34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 and 50, having positive polarity. Whereas,

greater on the lower points of the rating scale that is Strongly Disagreed (SD)

and Disagreed (DA) against the statements 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 28,

31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 and 49 having negative polarity. So, the students have

been found to have favourable reactions towards Biology through Multimedia

Instructional Software Package.

So, the treatment through Multimedia Software Instructional Package in

terms of reactions of the students towards teaching Biological Sciences

through Multimedia Instructional Software Package has been found to be

effective.

C. Reaction of Biology teachers on Multimedia Software Instructional

Package in teaching of Biological Sciences in terms of expected

frequencies and observed frequencies against equal probability has

been found to be effective.

This could be said on the basis of the tool adopted for data analysis, that is,

Reaction of Biology teachers on Multimedia Package for teaching Biological

Sciences in terms of expected frequencies and observed frequencies against

equal probability on various points of the reaction scale of the biology teachers.


The computed values of Chi-square are greater than the table value of Chi-

square of 13.277 at 0.01 level against 4 degrees of freedom. So the null

hypothesis that there will be no significant difference between the observed

frequencies and the frequencies expected against equal probability is rejected

against all the 50 statements. The frequency loading is greater on the higher

points of the rating scale that is Strongly Agreed (SA) and Agreed (A) against

the statements 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31,

33, 35, 37, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48 and 49, having positive polarity. Whereas,

greater on the lower points of the rating scale that is Strongly Disagreed (SD)

and Disagreed (DA) against the statements 3, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 25, 28,

30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 41, 44,4 6 and 50 having negative polarity. So, the Biology

teachers have been found to have favourable reactions towards Multimedia

Instructional Software Package to teach Biological Sciences.

So, the treatment through Multimedia Software Instructional Package in

terms of reactions of Biology teachers towards teaching Biological Sciences

through Multimedia Instructional Software Package has been found to be

effective.

Suggestions for Further Research in this Field-

Multimedia package on other units of Biological Sciences may be

designed, developed and implemented in the schools.

Multimedia Instructional Software Package may be designed on other

branches of Science such as, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

Multimedia Instructional Software programmes may be prepared for all

levels of education, that is, schools, colleges and universities.

Proper evaluation of already available Multimedia Instructional Packages

on science studies can be done to put Multimedia Instructional Software

Package on a sound footing.


A survey can be done to ascertain the prevalence of such non-traditional

Instructional Packages in the teaching and learning processes.

The efforts of present study can be extended to a wider spectrum of

schools to ascertain its impact on the learning abilities of children at

different levels.

Studies with a large sample can be done to arrive at more generalized

findings.

Case studies can also be conducted on Technology Integrated Biology

Education and problems faced in imparting Science Education. Conclusion- The investigator in this study has made a genuine attempt to design, develop

and implement Multimedia Instructional Software Package to teach Biological

Sciences to the Students of Standard XII. The investigation revealed that the

Multimedia Instructional Software Package was effective in understanding

various Biological concepts. It has enhanced the understanding of the students

towards Multimedia Instructional Software Package to learn Biology in a joyful

way. It has also brought tremendous awareness among the Biology teachers on

how effectively Biological Sciences can be taught through Multimedia Software

Instructional Package. The Multimedia Software Instructional Package was developed taking into

consideration the psychological needs of the children. The Package very well

captured the attention of the students. The Software Instructional Package was

very interesting and facilitated joyful learning in the students. It motivated the

students to learn the Biological concepts with much interest. The inclusion of

pictures, video clips, movies, flash, animations, sound effects and appropriate

music made the subject of Biological Sciences more realistic and

comprehensible. The Multimedia Package resulted in saving of instructional


and learning time. The presentation of the Package was found to be very

appealing to the students.

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Paper-4 The Root Cause Factors of Conflict Between Teachers

and School Leaders in Government Primary Schools of

Harari Regional State of Ethiopia

Mr. Maeregu Biyabeyen Asfaw

Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi


The Root Cause Factors of Conflict between Teachers and

School Leaders in Government Primary Schools of Harari

Regional State of Ethiopia Mr. Maeregu Biyabeyen Asfaw5

Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi6

Abstract The main objective of this study was to examine the root causes of conflict

between school leaders and teachers in government primary schools of Harari

Regional State of Ethiopia. As a descriptive survey, the study population

comprised all the 48 government primary schools in the State. Out of this

population, a sample of 12 schools was drawn while 152 `respondents (58

leaders and 94 teachers) were selected through the stratified` and simple

random sampling technique. Questionnaire and interview were the main data

gathering tools. The data collected were analyzed using mean, mean rank, and

grand mean. The findings show that conflicts have not been seen as effective

and constructive in the schools’ outcomes according to the views of teachers.

However, school leaders had better understanding about the positive effects of

conflict on school outcomes. Ethnic based assumption, ideology differences and

communication barriers were primary cause factors for conflict of teachers and

school leaders. Inter personal and intergroup conflicts were dominantly

occurred in primary schools of Harari Regional State.

5 Lecturer, Department of Educational Planning and Management, Haramaya University, Ethiopia, Email

[email protected]

6 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Planning and Management, Haramaya University, Ethiopia.


Key words- conflict, causes, primary schools, teachers and school leaders

Introduction- Conflict may involve individual or group disagreements, struggles, disputes,

quarrels, or even physical fighting and wars (USAID, 2003 E.C). It ranges from

work issues of responsibility, power, authority, and ethics to interpersonal

matters like misunderstandings, difference of opinion and poor communication

between two persons (Salleh & Adulpakdee, 2012). Conflict can also be

perceived as the opposition of an individual’s ideas by another part. Kreps

(1990) cited in Makaye and Ndofirepi (2012) views conflict process by which

individuals express and negotiate their differences. Furthermore, Kreps (1990)

asserts that conflict is an expressed struggle between two or more competing

positions held by one or more individuals usually based on incompatible beliefs,

ideas or goals. Conflict arises whenever perceived or real interest collide

(Hanson, 1991) in the organization.

Organizational behaviour is positively related to organizational output. For this

reason, the educational administrator needs to take conflict management issues

as very important issues because "conflicts and attempts towards resolution are

perhaps the most powerful force existing for bringing about changes in patterns

of organizational behaviour" (Hanson, 1991; Gonie, 1998). Indeed one of the

commonly expressed concerns of organizational people in developing countries

is that of permanence of internal conflicts in their organizations. Each institution

has shared the view that it is characterized by internal wrangling. Undeniably,

the disagreements are often manifested in open conflicts.

Conflict may take various forms and manifest itself at various levels. Kinard

(1988) cited in Gebretensay (2002), CRU Institute (1992–2004) and Gonie

(1998) for example, distinguishes between three types or levels of conflict.

Firstly, conflict may occur within an individual, hence, an intrapersonal conflict.

The situations that give rise to such conflict are many. They range from


conflicting needs, frustrating situations, failing to achieve aspired goals.

Secondly, conflict may occur between individuals who are brought together in

work places or elsewhere. Confrontations between individuals must often occur

where they have to compete for limited resources. Such conflict is often termed

as interpersonal conflict. Thirdly, conflict may occur at the level of groups.

There are several situations that may turn groups into rivals. These include

situations where groups have to compete for limited resources such as money,

personnel and equipment, or when communication difficulties occur. Groups

may also experience confrontations because they promote different interests and

goals.

Review of Related Literature- An organization comes into being when there are people who are to interact

with each other and who are prepared to put force and a unified effort in pursuit

of a common goal. Rahim (1986) and Gebretensay (2002) write on the nature of

conflict in school organizations. Conflict in school organizations has been a

common phenomenon for a long period of time. When people interact with one

another, it is natural for conflicts to occur. It received different degree of

emphasis from social scientists during various periods of history. Thus, the

phenomena related to conflict have been deeply studied by philosophers,

sociologists, economists, political scientists, anthropologists, and psychologists.

Those scholars agreed that conflicts arise when interests collide usually as a

result of divergence in organizational goals, personal ambition, group loyalties,

demands on scarce resources and so forth (Rahim, 1986). Gray and Stark (1984)

cited in Hendel, Fish, and Galon, (2005) identified six sources of conflict. These

are: 1) Limited resources, 2) Interdependent work activities, 3) Differentiation

of activities, 4) Communication problems, 5) Differences in perceptions, and 6)

The environment of the organization. According to these writers, conflict can

also arise from a number of other sources, such as: 1) Individual differences


(some people enjoy conflict while others do not); 2) Unclear authority structures

(people do not know how far their authority extends); 3) Differences in

attitudes; 4) Task symmetries (one group is more powerful than another and the

weaker group tries to change the situation, and 5) Difference in time horizons

(some departments have a long-run view and others have a short-run view).

Therefore, conflicts originate from multitude of sources found at personal and

organizational levels in institutions. Whatever the sources of conflict are for the

sake of this research, intrapersonal, interpersonal, intra group and intergroup

types of conflict are addressed below.

Intrapersonal conflict is caused by poor person-environment fit, poor time

management, underestimation or over estimation of skills, and assigned tasks

that do not bring much goals, interests, values or abilities, lack of confidence,

feeling of powerlessness extra (Hanson, 1996). The primary sources of

intrapersonal conflict as suggested by Makaye and Ndofirepi (2012) and Kinard

(1988) are: conflicting needs, role ambiguity and incompatibility of

organizational and personal values. At the individual level, behavioural

scientists have asserted personality as ''The dynamic organization within the

individual of those needs dispositions that govern his or her unique reactions to

the environment '' (Getzels in Campbell et al., 1983). In other words, individuals

with the same formal responsibility in a school organization may perceive these

differently because of differences in their personalities.

Interpersonal conflict involves conflict between two or more individuals and is

probably the most common and most recognized conflict (Makaye and

Ndofirepi, 2012; Kinard, 1988). This may involve conflict between two

departmental managers who are competing for limited capital and manpower

resources. According to Chandan (1994), interpersonal conflicts can also be

expressed by disagreements over goals and objectives of the organization. For

example, some members of a school board may like to offer courses in sex


education while others may find this proposal morally offensive and thus

causing conflict.

Intergroup conflict refers to differences and clashes between groups,

departments, or divisions within an organization (Hellriegel & Slocum, 1982).

According to these writers, the causes of intergroup conflicts are: 1) task

interdependency; 2) task dependencies; 3) inconsistent performance criteria and

rewards; 4) intergroup differences; and 5) problems in sharing scarce common

resources. Ivancevich and Matteson (1990) suggested that there are causes of

intergroup conflicts. These are: 1) Interdependence (pooled, sequential and

reciprocal); 2) Difference in goals, and 3) Difference in perceptions. Similarly,

Hellriegel and Slocum (1982) indicated three major factors that contribute to

intergroup conflicts in organizations. First, the need for joint decision making

creates potential for conflict. This refers to the dependence and interdependence

over and between groups dictated by the systems nature of organizations.

Second, the difference in goals: multiple goals exist within the same

organization. This is because different individuals and groups develop different

goals by virtue of internally inconsistent reward systems, competition for scarce

resources, etc. These complications give rise to the third factor contributing to

inter group conflict, difference in perceptions, which are also exacerbated by

departmentalization and different flows of information to different

organizational sub units. Along with intergroup conflict intra-group conflict is

common in school organizations. According to Curşeu (2011) intra-group

conflict refers to disagreements of differences among the members of a group or

its subgroups regarding the goals, functions, or activities of the group. Members

of the same group (department, or two or more subgroups within a group)

develop conflict either substantive or affective one, based on intellectual

disagreement, or on emotional responses to a situation. It describes a situation in


which group members hold discrepant views (have different opinions, attitudes,

knowledge) or has interpersonal incompatibilities with each other.

The better educators and students understand the nature of conflict, the better

able they are to manage conflicts constructively. Moran (2001) sees conflict

management as “a philosophy and a set of skills that assist individuals and

groups in better understanding and dealing with conflict as it arises in all

aspects of their lives”. Conflicts as concept never remain positive or negative

but it has always been seen as a basic and result oriented part of school life.

According to Owens (1998), frequent and powerful conflict can have a

devastating effect on the behaviour of people in organizations. Such conflict

results in physical and psychological withdrawal and is a widely occurring

phenomenon in schools that is often written off as laziness on the part of

teachers who have been spoiled by ''soft'' administrative practices. Effective

management of conflict can lead to outcomes that are productive and enhance

the health of the organization. Except in some situations where conflict can lead

to competition and creativity, in most other cases conflict is destructive in

nature. Therefore, it should be resolved as soon after it has developed as

possible. But it is advisable for managers to make an effort in preventing it from

developing (Chandan, 1994).

As to Hendel, Fish and Galon (2005), conflict management refers to the modes

used by either or both parties to cope with a conflict. Owens (1998) in

Gebretensay (2002) suggested that effective conflict management can lead to

outcomes that are productive and enhance the health of the organization

whereas ineffective management of conflict can and frequently does-create a

climate that exacerbates the situation and is likely to develop a downward spiral

of mounting frustration, deteriorating organizational climate, and increasing

destructiveness of the school. Adler and Towne (1990) identified three possible

courses of actions when faced with a conflict as mentioned in Hendel, Fish and


Galon (2005): (1) accepting the status quo (that is living with the problem); (2)

using force and mandating change; (3) reaching an agreement by negotiating.

The writers pointed out tree types of outcomes that result from these approaches

to conflict management: Win–Lose approach, Lose–Lose approach and Win–

Win approach.

Statement of the Problem- Conflict as an inevitable event, occurs in the organization in any circumstance.

School organizations frequently appear to be centers of tension; on occasion,

they are perhaps a manifestation of problems in the community (Ghaffar, 2010).

As Fikru (1993) and Gonie (1998) indicated, conflicts are realities in Ethiopian

schools. In line with these findings, Fikru (1993) based on MoE reports

identified the following major conflict generating factors: Dissatisfaction of

some teachers and other workers, unnecessarily dominating (authoritative)

principals, dissatisfaction in performance evaluation systems, improper

distribution of class load extra and worthiness for advancement. As far as the

researcher’s knowledge is concerned, as a lecturer of the primary and secondary

school leaders at Haramaya University in summer season, school leaders raised

many causes for conflicts of teachers and school leaders. Some of them were

lack of transparency regarding school resources, ethnic problems, unproductive

and monotonous political meetings, negative attitude of teachers towards

teaching profession, lack of teachers’ motivation in their job and poor

performance of teachers and school leaders. In case of this many leaders

especially principals reject their position in many schools of Harari Regional

State. These gaps inspire the researcher to prove and identify the existing root

causes of conflict of teachers and school leaders in primary schools of Harari

Regional state. This paper addresses the following basic questions that under

pin the issues:


1. What are the major root causes of conflicts in primary schools of Harari

Regional State?

2. How do primary school teachers and school leaders view conflicts in Harari

Regional State?

3. What major types of conflicts are there in primary schools of Harari

Regional State?

Objectives of the Study- The objectives of the study are-

1. To identify the major root causes of conflicts in primary schools of Harari

Regional State

2. To explore the views of school leaders and teachers about conflict in Harari

Regional State

3. To scrutinize the major types of conflict that exists in primary schools of

Harari Regional State

Research Design and Methodology- Research Design-

The purpose of the study is to explore the root causes of conflict between

primary school teachers and leaders in Harari Regional State. Hence descriptive

research survey design was used to explore the existing root causes of conflict

between teachers and school leaders and the perceptions of teachers and school

leaders towards conflicts.

Sources of Data-

Primary and secondary data sources were used. As primary sources, teachers,

school leaders (principals, vice principals, department heads and unit leaders)

and parent-teacher associations were included and secondary sources were

regional reports on school governance and school reports on recording conflicts.

Sample and sampling techniques-


In Harari Regional State there are over 48 primary schools. Of whom, 12

schools were selected as samples through simple random sampling. As far as

participants are concerned, stratified sampling and simple random sampling

were generally used to take representatives. Accordingly, 24 principals (through

available sampling), 24 department heads (stratified sampling), 10 unit leaders

(by available sampling) and 94 teachers (through simple random sampling)

were participated. Additionally, 5 Parent-teacher association representatives and

3 Woreda Education Bureau supervisors of Harari Regional State were involved

purposively to crosscheck the validity of the data obtained from teachers and

school leaders.

Data gathering tools-

Questionnaire and interview were the main data gathering tools. Both open

ended and close ended questionnaires were prepared in English language for

teachers and school leaders and interview guiding questions were prepared for

parent teacher association representatives and supervisors.

Data collection and analysis-

A total of 152 respondents were participated and 56 (96.6%) questionnaires

from the school leaders and 88 (93.6%) questionnaires from the teachers were

properly filled in and returned. The questionnaires were collected by the

researcher with the support of school leaders. Furthermore, interview was

conducted by the researcher through arranging appropriate time for Parent

teacher association representatives and supervisors. The data were tabulated and

analyzed using mean, grand mean and mean ranks.

Results and Discussion- The respondents were asked to rate eight possible root cause factors of conflict

between teachers and school leaders on a five point Likert-type scale which

extends from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) and the second five

point Likert scale which extends from not at all (1) to always (5) which


measures the views of teachers and school leaders towards conflict. The rating

scores were computed to mean value and rank as presented in Table 1.

Table-1 From the view points of school leaders as Table 1 shows, all of the set reasons

except one variable (Lack of outdated policies and guidelines for teachers and

leaders) were rated as the root factors that lead to conflict. The mean values

range from a maximum of 3.80 to a minimum of 2.29 while the overall average

mean was 3.08. Similarly, the response rate of teachers was similar with

responses of school leaders. All of the set reasons except one factor (Teachers

are resistant to change (disengagement, low spirit of work and low intimacy)

were the root causes of conflict which leads teachers and school leaders in

conflict.


N

o

Major root causes of conflict Respondents

Leaders N=56

Teachers

N=88

Response Rating Score 푴풆풂풏

value

푴풆풂풏

rank

5

4

3

2

1

1. Sick school climate (aloofness and

unproductive disengagement of leaders)

Leaders

(N=56)

Teachers

(N=88)

6

25

9

29

12

20

23

9

6

7

2.75

3.70

6

3

2. Group think (ethnic based assumption ) Leaders

Teachers

10

38

12

31

18

12

7

5

9

2

3.13

4.10

5

2

3. Communication problems (unclear

direction and work assignment)

Leaders

Teachers

12

17

14

21

24

41

5

8

1

2

3.55

3.52

2

5

4. Unfairness due to ideological and ethnic

differences on the part of leaders

Leaders

Teachers

9

50

16

29

23

6

5

3

3

0

3.41

4.43

3

1

5. Lack of outdated policies and guidelines

for teachers and leaders

Leaders

Teachers

5

11

9

14

19

38

16

21

10

4

2.29

3.08

8

7

6. Problems in implementing teachers Leaders 7 15 20 9 5 3.18 4


Table1: Rating scores of respondents on root causes of conflict between teachers and school leaders

career structure Teachers 20 31 23 9 5 3.49 6

7. Because decisions are made without the

participation of workers (teachers)

Leaders

Teachers

2

17

6

28

13

31

23

10

22

2

2.52

3.55

7

4

8. Teachers are resistant to change

(disengagement, low esprit of work and

low intimacy)

Leaders

Teachers

14

9

21

12

17

21

4

24

0

12

3.80

2.45

1

8

Overall Leaders

Teachers

3.08

3.54


The mean values of teachers range from a maximum of 4.43 to a minimum of

2.45 whereas the overall average mean was 3.54. Since the mean values rating

scores for all the set cause factors from both groups of respondents were greater

than the acceptable mean value of 2.5, it can be concluded that all the variable

except two variables (lack of outdated policies and guidelines for teachers and

leaders and teachers are resistant to change) are the root causes of conflict for

teachers and school leaders.

The level of impact of the root causes however shows slight variations. As

depicted in Table 1, from the view point of school leaders the most significant

factors in rank order 1 to 4 were teachers are resistant to change

(disengagement, low spirit of work and low intimacy), communication

problems (unclear direction and work assignment), unfairness due to ideological

and ethnic differences on the part of leaders and problems in implementing

teachers career structure. Even though the mean values of the responses of the

school leaders and teachers show agreement on the root causes of conflict, the

respondents provide different ranking order for the root causes. The most

significant cause factors according to the teachers’ responses in rank order 1 to

4 were, unfairness due to ideological and ethnic differences on the part of

leaders, group think (ethnic based assumption), sick school climate (aloofness

and unproductive disengagement of leaders) and because decisions are made

without the participation of workers (teachers).

Teacher respondents agreed up on the problem of ethnic differences and group

think (ethnic based assumption) as principal cause factor of conflict for the

teachers and school leaders in primary schools of Harari Regional State. One of

the primary school PTA members states during interview ‘‘conflict at this time

is seen as common events in every school. There are many reasons for conflict

of teachers and school leaders in the school, however; the major are unfairness

of school administrators in every level regarding various benefits and ethnic


based assumption.’’ As it is known, the Ethiopian government system was

organized based on ethnicity. Every citizen does not get equal job, justice and

living opportunity in regions as Ethiopians. Therefore, regions are organized

according to the country’s constitution and they provide opportunities and

benefits to their ethnic groups. As far as ethnic based conflict is concerned,

Alemayehu (2009) states that regional state in Ethiopia supported its respective

ethnic group rather than searching for common or joint resolution of the

conflicts between or among different ethnic groups. This circumstance leads

individuals to engage in ethnic based conflict. This case was occurred in

primary schools of Harari Regional State as the finding depicted.

Table-2 Organizational conflict is viewed as neither good nor bad, but it is inevitable.

Thus, whether we like it or not, conflict will exist or will occur even if

organizations have paid great sacrifice to prevent it (Gray and Strake, 1984).

Table 2 presents the views of teachers and school leaders towards conflict and

how they perceive it in their schools.


Table 2: Views of Teachers and School Leaders towards Conflict

No Description Respondents Response Rating Score 푴풆풂풏

value

SD

5 4 3 2 1

1. The extent to which conflict

affects staff morale

Leaders (N=56)

Teachers

(N=88)

12

35

18

29

14

16

9

5

3

3

3.48

4.00

2.59

3.75

2. The degree of conflict creates bad

feelings among staff

Leaders

Teachers

17

41

21

19

14

17

3

9

1

3

3.89

4.01

3.46

3.78

3. The degree of job effectiveness

in the absence of conflict

Leaders

Teachers

10

20

12

23

18

25

7

15

9

5

3.13

3.43

2.11

2.41

4. The extent to which conflict can bring a

change

Leaders

Teachers

9

6

16

3

23

50

5

14

3

15

3.41

2.67

2.12

1.86

5. Conflict results in better work climate Leaders

Teachers

7

5

15

9

20

23

9

20

5

31

3.18

2.25

2.17

2.00

6. Conflict is useful in creating new

ideas if properly managed

Leaders

Teachers

2

10

6

9

22

31

23

28

13

10

2.84

2.78

1.91

1.88


As it can be seen in Table 2, teachers and school leaders had similar understanding

about conflict. Since the mean values of teachers (M=4.00) and school leaders

(M=3.48) indicate that conflict affects the staff morale and motivation. Moreover,

school leaders and teachers believe that conflict creates bad feeling among the staff

with mean values 3.89 and 4.01 in that order. However, research findings show

that teachers and school leaders should see the positive effects of conflict on the

effectiveness of school outcomes. Functional conflict is a confrontation between

groups that enhances and benefits the organization's performance. Without

functional conflict in organizations, there is a possibility to have little commitment

to change, and most likely groups would become stagnant (Gebretensay, 2002).

Additionally, USAID (2003 E.C) in its training manual on leadership skills for

primary school female teachers states that conflict can help school leaders to

identify the root causes of problems, identify the possible ways of problem solving

strategies, and facilitate school changes. Contrary to the above research findings,

both respondents in Harari Regional State view that job effectiveness is increased

in the absence of conflict with mean values of 3.13 and 3.43 of school leaders and

teachers respectively. As evidence shows, however; job effectiveness alone does

not realize through in the absence of conflict rather than conflict and disagreement

between decision makers (school leaders) and teachers can improve school

outcomes (Hunt, 1992). Constructive conflict enables individuals to release their

tensions and frustrations about the overall atmosphere of the school and permits

open discussion on conflicting school issues. This action explicitly improves

individual teacher and leader performance in company with school outcomes.

As the mean values of school leaders (M=3.41) and teachers (M=2.67) depict,

response difference was observed regarding the values of conflict that brings

school change. From the figure it can be concluded that teachers did not sure that


conflict brings organizational (school) change. Along with this, one of the PTA

members reported that ‘‘teachers are change resistant that they do not want put

forth their effort to realize the change. They always would like to maintain the

status quo of the school as it is.’’ Furthermore, great discrepancy was seen from

responses of school leaders and teachers concerning conflict results in better work

climate with mean value 3.18 and 2.25 correspondingly. Teachers were generally

pessimistic about the constructive effect of conflict in the sample schools. This

may be able to come from the deprived knowledge of teachers on the positive

effects of conflict. On the other hand, school leaders had better understanding on

the positive effect of conflict. School leaders therefore are responsible for

facilitating the school climate to be conducive for change. Additionally, leaders

must play an active role in initiating change and in attempting to reduce resistance

to change. They can think of the current condition in school as equilibrium, which

is the result of driving forces and resisting forces working against each other.

Research verifies that conflict create conducive work climate if it is seen as

constructive and managed properly. Rue and Byars (1989) state that conflict

usually causes changes; activates people’s mind, and can make the school

environment healthy.

Therefore, we can say that functional conflict can activate the minds of teachers

and promotes the interactions of the staff by shaping the schools climate. Shaped

school climate on the other hand plays important role in setting the atmosphere

conducive for a particular school. It is achieved through the interaction between the

principal and teachers, between teachers and students and between the principal

and students. The social interaction compels the principal, teachers and students to

discuss mutually in area of planning, decision-making, problem solving and

control through reducing the causes of conflict.


Table-3 Conflict can be either intrapersonal, interpersonal, intra groups, inter groups and

between the organization and individuals. In this research the former four types of

conflict were examined and identified through factorial analysis. The five point

Likert scale (always=5, usually=4, sometimes=3, rarely=2 and not at all=1) was

used to measure the frequencies of conflict occurrences between teachers and

school leaders.

Table 3: The types of conflict

Types of Conflict Leaders Teachers

1. Intrapersonal Mea

n

Mea

n

rank

Mea

n

Mean

rank

Low standard of living (low salary) 3.33 1 4.21 1

Mismatch between individual and organizational

goal

2.89 3 3.42 2

Lack required ability for a particular job 2.96 4 2.54 4

Family related problems 3.01 2 3.11 3

Grand Mean 3.05 3.32

2. Interpersonal

Ideological and goal difference (personality

differences)

3.31 3 4.34 2

Absence of cooperation between workers 3.89 2 3.76 3

Competition for limited resources 4.56 1 4.78 1

Inappropriate implementation of rules and 2.67 4 3.67 4


regulations


3. Intra group

Unfair distribution of teaching load 2.34 3 2.42 4

Divide and rule style of group leadership 2.56 2 3.69 2

Group think 3.00 1 4.13 1

Incompetence of the group 2.33 4 2.49 3


4. Inter group

Due to the difference in ideology, interest and

goal between groups

2.78 3 3.56 2

Lack of professional commitment on teachers

and leaders

3.21 2 2.69 4

Due to lack of resources 4.48 1 4.54 1

The problem in the assignment of educational

managers

2.23 4 3.43 3


Table 3 shows, the four types of conflict which comprises four factors under each

type of conflict. As far as intrapersonal conflict is concerned, the first reason of

intrapersonal conflict of school leaders and teachers was low standard of living

(low salary) with mean value 3.33 and 4.21 in that order. Seeing that the mean rank

of factors indicates, low standard of living was ranked first by both respondents.

Mismatch between individual and organizational goal and family related problems

were the second factor which occurs usually in the schools as the sources of intra


personal conflict. Since the mean values and grand mean values rating scores for

all factors from both groups of respondents were greater than the acceptable mean

value of 2.5, it can be concluded that all the variables were occurring in primary

schools of Harari Regional State. In line with this, the type of conflict which highly

occurred in primary schools of Harari Regional State was interpersonal conflict.

The primary factor that occurs most of the time in the sample schools was

competition for limited resources with mean value of 4.78 of teacher and 4.56 of

leaders. In this regard, Kinard (1988) reports that disagreement between

individuals is often occurring where they have to compete for limited resources.

Resources are very limited in primary schools of Harari Regional State and

teachers have no any means of alternative to boost their incomes. This in turn

creates conflict between individuals when few incomes generating means get hold

of in the school. The second set reasons for interpersonal conflict were ideological

and goal difference (personality differences) and absence of cooperation between

workers which were rated by the teachers and leaders with mean values 4.34 and

3.89 respectively. During personal communication, one of the primary school

leaders said ‘‘most employees in the school are concerned about their ethnic,

position, status, power, benefits and resent any encroachment on them. Also they

are often competing with each other for recognition, approval and promotion.

Every individual in the school focus on fulfilling their own interest and becomes

reluctant for shaping and creating academic environment.’’ Kinard (1988) and

Hendel, Fish and Galon (2005) suggested that interpersonal conflict is occurring by

personality difference, power struggles, and competition of resources in the

schools. Similarly, among the intra group factors, group thinking was the first set

reason ranked first by both respondents as the factor of conflict in the schools.

Secondly, divide and rule style of group leadership was mentioned by the teachers


as the factor for intra group problem with mean value 3.69. Significant difference

was observed between teachers and school leaders mean scores about the factors of

divide and rule style of group leadership that school leaders were reported had

insignificant factor for the cause of intra group conflict.

In line with intra group type of conflict, teachers and school leaders said that

shortage of resources in the school always creates inter group conflict in the

sample schools with mean value 4.54 and 4.48 in that order. The second reason for

inter group conflict was difference in ideology, interest and goal between groups as

to the teachers mean score of 3.56 while as to school leaders, the second reason for

inter group conflict in the schools was due to lack of professional commitment on

teachers and leaders to achieve organizational goals according to school leaders

response. Furthermore, teachers contended that the reason for inter group conflict

was not due to lack of professional commitment of teachers but due to the problem

in the assignment of educational managers. For both cases, one of the school

supervisors said during interview that ‘‘nowadays teachers do not have

professional commitment and good morale for their job. They become reluctant,

vegetate and resentful. Not just teachers but also school leaders do not perform

their work properly. They spent their huge time with lot of worthless meetings and

they have working political activities rather than professional works. That is why

the quality of education is deteriorating through time. In any case both groups do

not execute their responsibility as intended therefore this leads in conflict.’’

Figure 1: Summary of the type of conflict with grand mean value


The likely types of conflict found in the literature were forwarded as an example

out of which respondents could select the types of conflict which they think were

existed in primary schools of Harari Regional State. The results are clearly seen in

Figure 1. According to the grand mean values observed in the Figure, the types of

conflict can be put in order on their degree of magnitude 1) Inter personal conflict,

2) Intergroup conflict, 3) Intrapersonal conflict, and 4) Intra group conflict.

Therefore, intergroup conflicts and interpersonal conflicts are predominantly found

in primary schools of Harari Regional State. Both respondents seem to agree on the

rate of occurrence of the types of conflict mentioned in the sample schools.

Conclusions- The findings of this study have led the researcher to conclude that major root

causes of conflicts are unfairness due to ideological and ethnic differences on the

part of leaders, group thinking (ethnic based assumption), sick school climate

(aloofness of school leaders and unproductive disengagement) and because

decisions are made without the participation of workers (teachers) in primary

schools of Harari Regional State. This shows that the teaching learning process and

Intrapersonal Interpersonal Intragroup IntergroupSchool leaders 3.05 3.61 2.56 3.18Teachers 3.32 4.14 3.18 3.56

3.053.61

2.56

3.183.32

4.14

3.183.56

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5


the management of the schools are adversely affected by the teachers and school

leaders’ disagreement. This in turn brings deteriorate of quality of education in

every grade levels. According to the findings, teachers and school leaders viewed

that conflict affects the staff morale (motivation) and creates bad feeling among the

staff as well as it reduces the effectiveness of the schools outcomes. This

designates that teachers and school leaders perceived that conflict does not have

constructive impact on the schools’ results. Hence, they do not give any room for

the functional outcomes of conflict. Inter personal conflict and intergroup conflicts

are major types of conflict which frequently occurring in primary schools of Harari

Regional State.

References –

Abdul, Ghaffar. (2010). Conflict in Schools: Its Causes and Management

Strategies. Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology,

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Communication. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Forth Worth.

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national Federation. Stadtschlaining, Austria. Unpublished Master Thesis,

European University

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Educational Administration (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc.

Chandan, Jet. (1994). Organizational Behaviour. New Delhi: Vikas

Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

Gebretensay, Tesfay. (2002). A Study of Factors that Generate Conflict

between Government Secondary School Teachers and Educational


Managers in Addis Ababa Administrative Region. Unpublished Master

Thesis, A.A.U.

Gonie Tegbaru (1998). A study on Teacher-Principal Conflicts in Amhara

Secondary Schools. Unpublished Master Thesis, A.A.U.

Gray,J.L and Strake,F.A. (1984). Organizational Behaviour-Concepts and

Applications (3rd. ed.). Columbus Bell and Howell Company.

Hanson, M. (1991). Education Administration and Organisation Behaviour.

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Hellriegel, D. and Slocum,J.W.(1982). Management (3rd ed. ). London:

Wesley Publishing Company.

Hendel T., Fish M., and Galon, V. (2005). Leadership Style and Choice of

Strategy in Conflict Management among Israeli Nurse Managers in General

Hospitals. Journal of Nursing Management 13, 137–146

Hunt, J.W. (1992). Managing People at Work: A Manager Guide to

Behavior in Organizations. (3rd.ed.). London: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

Ivancevich, J.M and Matteson, M.T. (1990). Organizational Behaviour and

Management (2nd ed.). Boston: R.R Donnelley & Sons Company.

Jeriphanos, Makaye. and Amasa, P. Ndofirepi. (2012). Conflict Resolution

between Heads and Teachers: The Case of 4 Schools in Masvingo

Zimbabwe. Greener Journal of Educational Research ISSN: 2276-7789 Vol.

2 (4), pp. 105 – 110

Kreps, G.L. (1990). Organisational Communication. New York: Longman.

Owens, R.G. (1987). Organizational Behaviour in Education. (3rd ed.).

Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Inc.


Petru, L. Curşeu (2011). Intra-Group Conflict and Teamwork Quality: The

Moderating Role of Leadership Styles. Department of Organisation Studies,

Tilburg University. Adm. Sci., 1, 3-13

Rahim, A.M. (1986). Managing Conflict in Organizations. New York

Praeger Publishers.

Rue, L.W. and Byars, L.L. (1989)). Supervision: Key Link to Productivity.

Boston Hoomewood.

Salleh, Mohamad Johdi and Adulpakdee, Apitree (2012). Causes of Conflict

and Effective Methods to Conflict Management at Islamic Secondary

Schools in Yala, Thailand. International Islamic University Malaysia

(IIUM). International Interdisciplinary Journal of Education - Volume 1,

Issue 1

Tschannen, Moran, M. (2001). The Effects of a State-Wide Conflict

Management Initiative in Schools. American Secondary Education

ዩ.ኤስ. ኤይድ (2003). የአመራር ክህሎት፤ ለመጀመሪያ ደርጃ ትምህርት ቤት ሴት መምህራን

የተዘጋጀ ሞጁል፡፡ ያልታተመ፣ አድስ አበባ ኢትዮጵያ፡፡ **********************************************************


Paper-5

Qualitative Research in Education: An

Overview Jitendra Singh Goyal

Suneeta Chaudhari


Qualitative Research in Education: An Overview Jitendra Singh Goyal7

Suneeta Chaudhari8

Abstract Qualitative research is designed to explore the human elements of a given topic,

while specific qualitative methods examine how individuals see and experience the

world. Qualitative approaches are typically used to explore new phenomena and to

capture individuals’ thoughts, feelings, or interpretations of meaning and process.

Such methods are central to research conducted in education, nursing, sociology,

anthropology, information studies, and other disciplines in the humanities, social

sciences, and health sciences. Qualitative research projects are informed by a wide

range of methodologies and theoretical frameworks.

Key words- Phenomena, Frameworks, Approaches.

Introduction- Qualitative research is a generic term for investigative methodologies described as

ethnographic, naturalistic, anthropological, field, or participant observer research.

It emphasizes the importance of looking at variables in the natural setting in which

they are found. Interaction between variables is important. Detailed data is

gathered through open ended questions that provide direct quotations. The

interviewer is an integral part of the investigation. This differs from quantitative

research which attempts to gather data by objective methods to provide

7 Research Scholar, Deaprtment of Education (IASE), University of Lucknow, Lucknow (U.P.), E-mail-

[email protected], Mobile no.-08909683734

8 Lecturer (Education ), Gaya Prasad Verma P.G. College, Dhibhauli, Chakarnagar District-Etawah (U.P.), E-mail-

[email protected], Mobile no.-09058414147


information about relations, comparisons, and predictions and attempts to remove

the investigator from the investigation.

Characteristics of Qualitative Research- Purpose: Understanding - Seeks to understand people’s interpretations.

Reality: Dynamic - Reality changes with changes in people’s perceptions.

Viewpoint: Insider - Reality is what people perceive it to be.

Values: Value bound - Values will have an impact and should be understood and

taken into account when conducting and reporting research.

Focus: Holistic - A total or complete picture is sought.

Orientation: Discovery - Theories and hypotheses are evolved from data as collected.

Data: Subjective - Data are perceptions of the people in the environment.

Instrumentation: Human - The human person is the primary collection instrument.

Conditions: Naturalistic - Investigations are conducted under natural conditions.

Results: Valid - The focus is on design and procedures to gain "real," "rich," and

"deep" data.

Point of Comparisons Qualitative Research Quantitative Research

Focus of research Quality (nature, essence) Quantity (how much, how

many)

Philosophical roots Phenomenology,

symbolic interaction

Positivism, logical

empiricism

Associated phrases Fieldwork, ethnographic,

naturalistic, grounded,

subjective

Experimental, empirical,

statistical


Goal of investigation Understanding,

description, discovery,

hypothesis generating

Prediction, control,

description, confirmation,

hypothesis testing

Design characteristics Flexible, evolving,

emergent

Predetermined, structured

Setting Natural, familiar Unfamiliar, artificial

Sample Small, non-random,

theoretical

Large, random,

representative

Data collection Researcher as primary

instrument, interviews,

observations

Inanimate instruments

(scales, tests, surveys,

questionnaires,

computers)

Mode of analysis Inductive (by researcher) Deductive (by statistical

methods)

Findings Comprehensive, holistic,

expansive

Precise, narrow,

reductionist

Advantages of Qualitative Research-

In-depth Examination of Phenomena.

Uses subjective information.

Not limited to rigidly definable variables.


Examine complex questions that can be impossible with quantitative

methods.

Deal with value-laden questions.

Explore new areas of research

Build new theories. Qualitative Research Vs Quantitative Research-

QUALITATIVE

RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH

Multiple realities Single reality

Reality is socially

constructed.

Reality is objective.

Reality is context

interrelated.

Reality is context free.

Holistic Reductionist

Strong philosophical

Perspective

Strong theoretical base

Reasoning is inductive. Reasoning is deductive and inductive.

Discovery of meaning is the

basis of knowledge.

Cause-and-effect relationships are the

bases of knowledge.

Develops theory Tests theory

Theory developed during

study.

Theory developed a priori.

Meaning of concepts Measurement of variables

Process oriented Outcome oriented


Control unimportant Control important

Rich descriptions Precise measurement of variables

Basic element of analysis is

words

Basic element of analysis is numbers

Uniqueness Generalization

Trustworthiness of findings Control of error

Comparison of Qualitative Methods -

TABLE COMPARISON OF QUALITATIVE METHODS

METHOD STUDY

FOCUS

ANALYTIC

FOCUS

DISCIPLINES

Ethnography culture/cultural

group

describe a

culture/cultural

group

Cultural Anthropology

Grounded

Theory

cultural groups generate

theory about a

basic social

process

Sociology/ Symbolic Interaction/

Criminology

Phenomenologyindividual

experience

discern the

essence of the

lived

experience

Philosophy/ Psychology/

Sociology


Holistic Description- When conducting qualitative research, the investigator seeks to gain a total or

complete picture. According to Stainback and Stainback (1988), a holistic

description of events, procedures, and philosophies occurring in natural settings is

often needed to make accurate situational decisions. This differs from quantitative

research in which selected, pre-defined variables are studied.

Corroboration- The purpose of corroboration is not to confirm whether people’s perceptions are

accurate or true reflections of a situation but rather to ensure that the research

findings accurately reflect people’s perceptions, whatever they may be. The

purpose of corroboration is to help researchers increase their understanding of the

probability that their findings will be seen as credible or worthy of consideration

by others (Stainback & Stainback, 1988).

Triangulation- One process involved in corroboration is triangulation. Denzin (1978) has

identified several types of triangulation. One type involves the convergence of

multiple data sources. Another type is methodological triangulation, which

involves the convergence of data from multiple data collection sources. A third

triangulation procedure is investigator triangulation, in which multiple researchers

are involved in an investigation. Related to investigator triangulation is researcher-

participant corroboration, which has also been referred to as cross-examination.

Other procedures can be used to improve understanding and the credibility of a

study. These include research or inquiry audit, peer debriefing, and the seeking of

negative cases in the field that might disconfirm interpretations.


Qualitative Research Methods - There are following some major qualitative research methods:

1. Case study

2. Ethnography

3. Phenomenology

4. Concept Mapping

5. Focus Group Methodology

6. Grounded theory

7. Naturalistic Inquiry

8. Symbolic Interactionism

9. Content Analysis

10. Interpretivism

Case Study- Case studies are detailed investigations of individuals, groups, institutions or other

social units. The researcher conducting a case study attempts to analyze the

variables relevant to the subject under study (Polit and Hungler, 1983). The

principle difference between case studies and other research studies is that the

focus of attention is the individual case and not the whole population of cases.

Most studies search for what is common and pervasive. However, in the case

study, the focus may not be on generalization but on understanding the particulars

of that case in its complexity. A case study focuses on a bounded system, usually

under natural conditions, so that the system can be understood in its own habitat

(Stake, 1988).

Ethnography-

Ethno – refers to human culture


Graphy – means description of A research process used in the scientific study of

human interactions in social settings.

Used extensively in anthropology.

Has become increasing popular in educational research over the past few years.

Has been relatively slow to become accepted in agricultural and extension Education. Purpose-

To describe and explain a facet or segment of group social life as it relates to

education.

Hypotheses and questions-

Begin as a broad statement about the purpose of the research, then are allowed to

emerge more specifically as data are amassed.

Data-

Verbal descriptions of people, interactions, settings, objects and phenomena within

the context being studies.

Data Sources – the people, settings, and relevant objects being observed

Data Collection – done by the researcher through observation, sometimes

combined with interview

Data treatment and analysis – presentation of verbal descriptions and/or

logical analysis of information to discover salient patterns and themes.

The Process-

A question or concern is identified for study

A group to study is identified

– Typically small

– Typically purposively selected

Permission to study the group is obtained.


The researcher observes the group

– Privileged observer – just observes

– Participant observer – functions as part of the group

Researcher watches and listens attentively and records as much detail as possible (this

is called naturalistic observation). Large amounts of notes are typically generated.

This process may last a week or two or could be years.

The researcher analyzes the notes, identifies themes, looks for answers to research

questions, and makes logical inferences.

The final step is to write the research paper describing the process, observations,

findings, and conclusion.

Often rich descriptions are provided so the readers can make their own interpretations.

Phenomenology-

Is not a unified position (e.g., Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, Heidegger)

A school of philosophical thought that underpins all of QL research.

Emphasis on experience and interpretation

Also is a set of tools

Essence-

Focus of the study is on the essence or structure of an experience

(phenomenon) (Merriam).

The task of the phenomenologist is to depict this essence or basic structure

of experience (Merriam).

“The assumption of essence, like the ethnographer’s assumption that culture

exists and is important, becomes the defining characteristic of a purely

phenomenological study” (Merriam, p. 15 quote from Patton, p 70).


Concept Mapping-

Social scientists have developed a number of methods and processes that might be

useful in helping you to formulate a research project. I would include among these

at least the following- brainstorming, brainwriting, nominal group techniques,

focus groups, affinity mapping, Delphi techniques, facet theory, and qualitative

text analysis. Here, I'll show you a method that I have developed, called concept

mapping, which is especially useful for research problem formulation.

Concept mapping is a general method that can be used to help any individual or

group to describe their ideas about some topic in a pictorial form. There are several

different types of methods that all currently go by names like "concept mapping",

"mental mapping" or "concept webbing." All of them are similar in that they result

in a picture of someone's ideas. But the kind of concept mapping I want to describe

here is different in a number of important ways. First, it is primarily a group

process and so it is especially well-suited for situations where teams or groups of

stakeholders have to work together. The other methods work primarily with

individuals by a trained facilitator in helping a group to articulate its ideas and

understand them more. Second, it uses a very structured facilitated approach. There

are specific steps that are followed clearly. Third, the core of concept mapping

consists of several state-of-the-art multivariate statistical methods that analyze the

input from all of the individuals and yields an aggregate group product. And

fourth, the method requires the use of specialized computer programs that can

handle the data from this type of process and accomplish the correct analysis and

mapping procedures.

Steps of Concept Mapping-

A concept mapping process involves six steps that can take place in a single day or

can be spread out over weeks or months depending on the situation.


Preparation Step

Generation Step

Structuring Step

Utilization Step

Interpretation

Representation Step

Focus Group Methodology-

Qualitative research method

Address research questions that require depth of understanding that cannot

be achieved through quantitative methods.

Purpose: exploratory, pretesting, triangulation, phenomenology

Purpose-

Gather background information

Diagnose problems

Stimulate new ideas or identify new relationships

Generate hypotheses

Evaluate programs

Interpret quantitative results

Independent investigation

Principal data source

Multi-method study or program

Qualitative & quantitative methods

Triangulation

Supplement

Interpretation of quantitative data


Grounded Theory-

Theory which is derived inductively from the data which were

systematically gathered and analyzed throughout the research process

(Strauss and Corbin 1998).

Data collection, analysis and theory stand in a reciprocal relationship with

each other. A researcher does not begin with a pre-conceived theory in mind,

rather the researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to

emerge from the data.

Grounded theory involves-

1. An initial attempt to develop categories which illuminate the data.

2. Saturation of these categories with many appropriate cases in order to

develop their relevance.

3. Developing these categories into more general analytical frameworks with

relevance outside the setting.

Skills needed for the grounded theory research approach-

Important to minimise subjectivity by:

Maintaining an open disposition, a willingness to be surprised

Think comparatively; comparing incident to incident

Study multiple viewpoints of the phenomena in question

Researcher should periodically step back and ask ‘what is going on here?’

Phase 1 - Initial attempt to develop categories which illuminate the data.

Conceptual ordering / creating basic codes

Internal aspect- they must be meaningful in relation to the data

External aspect- they must be meaningful in relation to other categories


Open coding: the analytic process through which concepts are identified

and their properties and dimensions discovered in the data (Strauss and

Corbin 1998).

Microanalysis of the data

Progressive refocusing in light of the data

Phase 2- Saturation of categories with many appropriate cases and further

development of categories

Axial Coding: further analysis and linking of the codes

Creating subcategories in categories

Linking categories according to properties and dimensions.

Phase 3 - Developing categories into general analytical frameworks with

relevance outside the setting.

Selective coding: the process of integrating and refining categories.

Major categories are finally integrated to form a larger theoretical scheme.

In certain public sector workplaces, which deal with face to face

interaction with potentially violent customers, the physical presence of

management is desired by frontliners.

Naturalistic Inquiry-

The process of scientific inquiry follows a paradigm of deductive- hypothetico-

inductive approach. In other words, the process of scientific inquiry starts with

statements of hypotheses, which are arrived at through a deductive process. Then

starts the process of testing hypotheses or theoretical questions either in physically

controlled situations or through statistically controlled techniques. Objectivity is to

be ensured through selection of representative samples, use of standardized tests

and instruments, and use of different sophisticated statistical designs for treatment

of data and generalization of findings. i) Multiple Realities: First, naturalists


assume that there exist multiple, realities in social and educational situations which

exist in concrete forms. They are perceived by people differently and thus become

different mental constructs for different people. In other words, realities are taken

to be what people perceive them at a particular point of time. Since social and

educational situations keep on changing from time to time, the realities, too, keep

on changing. Furthermore, since the realities are context specific, they cannot be

tangible in a generalized form.

Symbolic Interactionism-

Symbolic interaction theories focus on the interpretation (social meaning) that is

given to behavior, and on the way such interpretation helps to construct the social

world, the identities of people, and, ultimately how they behave. All interaction

theories are concerned with the way in which meaning is constructed. Its basic

principles are:

1. Humans have capacity for thought.

2. Thought is shaped by social interaction.

3. Through interaction, people learn symbols and meanings that allow them to

think.

4. Meanings and symbols allow for human action.

5. People can interpret a situation and modify their action or interaction.

6. People can create own meanings.

7. Groups and societies are made up of patterns of action and interaction.

According to Herbert Blumer (1969), symbolic interactionism “is based on the

idea that social reality is constructed in each human interaction through the use of

symbols, such as, words or gestures.” Studying symbolic interaction assists us in

understanding human behavior.

The following are the importance of symbolic interactionism:


Adds micro-level perspective to mainstream sociology.

Adds potential to bridge gap between macro and micro-levels.

Advances our understanding of sociological processes.

Content Analysis-

Content analysis of documents is another qualitative research method that can

potentially provide a holistic picture of an organization, event, or issue. When

using this non-intrusive research method, information is extracted from documents,

such as those found in archives or administrative data. This method can provide a

detailed historical account of the subject(s) of study. Data found in documents such

as letters, memos and books are often coded and statistically analyzed. This form

of research is a valuable alternative when people are not available to give needed

information.

Interpretivism-

Interpretivism is an ‘ism’ that draws together a lose church of qualitative research

approaches including phenomenology, hermeneutics and symbolic interactionism.

Interpretive research focuses on identifying, documenting, and ‘knowing’ –

through interpretation – ‘the world views, values, meanings, beliefs, thoughts and

general characteristics of life events, situations, ceremonies and specific

phenomena under investigation, with the goal being to document and interpret as

fully as possible the totality of whatever is being studied in particular contexts

from the people’s viewpoint or frame of reference’

1. Naturalistic Inquiry

Studying real life situations as they unfold

Non-manipulative, unobstrusive, and non controlling

Openness to whatever emerges – lack of predetermined constraints on

outcomes.


2. Emergent design flexibility

Openness to changing inquiry as understanding deepens or situations

change; responsive

Researcher avoids getting locked into rigid designs

3. Purposeful ‘Sampling’

Cases for study (people, organisations, events, cultures) are selected because

they are the focus of interest

‘sampling’ can be emergent too

4. Qualitative Data

Observations that yield detailed, ‘thick’ description

Interviews that capture people’s personal perspectives and experiences

Careful and close document analysis

5. Personal Engagement

The researcher gets close to the people, situation, or phenomenon under

study

Researcher’s personal experiences and insights are important in

understanding the phenomenon

6. Empathic Neutrality

The researcher takes an empathic stance to seek understanding without

judgment

Shows openness, sensitivity, respect, awareness, responsiveness

7. Systems awareness

Researcher alert to dynamics of systems

Attends to contextual complexity

8. Inductive analysis


Immersion in the details and specifics of the data to identify important

categories, themes, dimensions and inter-relationships

Begins by exploring then confirming

9. Holistic perspective

The whole phenomenon under study is understood as a complex system that

is more than the sum of parts

Focus on complex interdependencies not on a few discrete variables

10. Credibility

Conveys findings with authenticity and trustworthiness

Uses data

Conveys understanding of the phenomenon in all its complexity.

References-

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New York University Press.

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Ainlay, Stephen C. 1986 "The Encounter with Phenomenology." In James

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Times: Peter L. Berger and the Vision of Interpretive Sociology. London:

Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Armstrong, Edward G. 1979 "Black Sociology and Phenomenological

Sociology." Sociological Quarterly 20:387-397.

Benner, Patricia 1995 Interpretive Phenomenology: Embodiment, Caring

and Ethics in Health and Illness. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage.


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Phenomenological Sociology." Studies in Symbolic Interaction 17:133-161.

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Social Research. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage.

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Studies: An Introduction to Phenomenological Research. Washington, D.C.:

University Press.

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the Family: A Phenomenogical Inquiry." Human Studies 17:325-341.

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Research. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage.

Denzin, Norman K. and Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds.)1998 Collecting and

Interpreting Qualitative Materials. Thousand Oaks, Ca.: Sage.

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Social Inquiry. New York: Guilford Press.

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Instructional Development." Instructional Science 24:343-56.

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Peele, Stanton 1985 The Meaning of Addiction: Compulsive Experience and

Its Interpretation. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books. ******************************************************************


Paper-6

Influence of Locus of Control and Self

Concept on the Academic Achievement of

Adolescents Anju Sharma

Madhu Sahni


Influence of Locus of Control and Self Concept on the Academic

Achievement of Adolescents Anju Sharma9

Madhu Sahni10

Abstract The main purpose of the study was to examine the influence of locus of control and

self-concept on academic achievement of adolescents in Haryana. In doing so,

multistage random sampling procedure was employed to elicit responses from 400

(200 males and 200 females) senior secondary school students identified in various

parts of the State. Locus of Control scale by Roma Pal and Children Self Concept

Scale by Dr. S.P. Ahluwalia were used to measure locus of control and self-

concept of adolescents. While the respondents' 11th standard Examination results

were measures of their academic achievement. The data collected was analyzed by

using two way ANOVA (2x2factorial design). The findings revealed that

adolescents of Haryana State have average academic achievement, there is

significant independent effect of variables viz. locus of control and self concept on

academic achievement of senior secondary school students and there is significant

two factor interactive effect of variables on academic achievement among senior

secondary school students.

Key words-Academic Achievement, Locus of Control and Self concept.

9 Asstt Professor, Vaish College of Education, Rohtak. Email – [email protected]

10 Asstt Professor, Vaish College of Education, Rohtak.


Introduction- Education is highly acclaimed as the most essential prerequisite for human development

since ages. The difference between developed and developing nations is not on the basis

of colour, race or any other criteria, but on the basis of education and knowledge. Even

in a society itself, people are differentiated on the basis of the quality of education,

received by them (Mumthas, 2006). Education, therefore, has an immense impact on the

development of human society. It is a process of instruction which aims at all round

development of the individual, facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents

of an individual. It endowed man with discrimination power. In the present scenario,

Education is a unique investment and academic achievement is a vital aspect of it. In

this world of industrialization and globalization the educational status of an individual

is highly depicted through the academic achievement. Keeping, this in mind, academic

achievement of the students needs to be promoted. Academic achievement in general

refers to the scores obtained in the annual examination or refers to the degree or level of

success or proficiency attained in some specific area, concerning scholastic or academic

work. It is directly related to students’ growth and development of knowledge in an

educational situation where teaching and learning process takes place. It is defined as

the performance of the students in the subject they study in the school (Pandey, 2008).

It gives children an opportunity to develop their talents, improve their grades and

prepare for the future academic challenges. It is the attained ability or degree of

competence in school tasks usually measured by standardized tests (Torres,1994).Good

academic records in the school lead to self esteem and self confidence, which in turn

leads to better adjustment of the students. No doubt, educational reforms and various

efforts have been made in improving academic achievement of the students but their

inadequate performance still continues to be a big problem.


Adolescent age is a crucial stage in individual’s life. It is the period of heightened

sensitivity for rapid learning and of critical acquisitions which determine the general

style of adult life. Academic achievement during this period can be a stepping stone for

the coming up years. Adolescence is the period of transition from a relatively dependant

childhood to the psychological, social and economic self sufficiency of adulthood.

During this period the individual begins to develop an attitude towards the world. It is

the time during which many developmental changes takes place in the individual like

the way he thinks looks and behaves. Adolescence is the period of time when the flow

of life reaches its highest peak. Their life is, or might be full of opportunity to enter into

new experience, to explore new relationship, to feel new resources of inner strength and

ability (Jersild, 1963). Adolescence can be a time of high risk for children, where

newfound freedoms can result in decisions that drastically open up or block life’s

opportunities. Today, the world is becoming more and more competitive. In this competitive world,

quality of performance has become the key factor for personal growth. Parents aspire

that their children climb the ladder of performance to as high level as possible. This

desire for a high level of achievement puts a lot of pressure on students. They have to

face not only the demand of multiple pressures, cutthroat competition and cope with

academic standards, but also have to bear the criticism and social embarrassment if fail

to secure the desired results. Adolescents having high academic achievement are

considered to achieve their identity in the society, get good career opportunities, get

acceptance from peer, parents and teachers, develop leadership qualities, and enhance

their self confidence and self esteem .Whereas, academic failure leads to frustration,

stress, inferiority complex, rejection from the loved ones, increased number of suicides,

discouragement and ultimately to dropping out (Ekstrom et al.,1986, Steinberg, Blinde

and Chan, 1984; Gadwa and Griggs, 1985). Hence, there is a dire need to give due


attention to the factors which are directly or indirectly influencing the academic

achievement. This will depend on a number of factors like, student’s interest and

attitude towards the subject of study, aptitude, intelligence, achievement motivation,

socioeconomic status, locality of institution, gender, physical health, family background

etc. (Behrens and Vernon, 1978; Pandey, 2008) but, there are several other factors like

home environment, parental relations, parent’s education, occupation, students self

concept, personality, emotional intelligence locus of control etc which have a close

relationship with academic achievement. One of the most important factors to take into consideration when working towards

improving academic achievement is the sense of control that students believe they have

over their academic performance(Moore,2006). The concept of Locus of Control was

systematically interpreted by Aronfreed (1968), DeCharms (1968) respectively. Locus

of control was defined as the placement of fixing responsibility for the outcome of

events or behavior. It was further identified as either internal or external locus of control

of human behavior. People with external locus of control believe that “reinforcements

are not under their personal control but rather under the control of powerful others,

luck, chance, fate etc.” while people with internal locus of control believe that

“reinforcements are contingent upon their own behavior, capacities or attributes”

(Rotter,1966). Individuals with strong internal locus of control believe that success or

failure is due to their own efforts. In contrast, externals believe that the reinforcers they

receive in life are controlled by luck, fate or chance (Garcia,2005). Researchers have

subsequently attempted to relate locus of control to various personality variables.

Externality has been correlated with low-ego strengths (Erikson and Roberts,1971) and

poor personal adjustment (Warehime and Foulds,1971). Lombardo et al.(1975) found

that externals exhibited less self-acceptance than internals while Baldo et al. (1975)

found that externals performed lower than internals on psycho-social developmental


tasks. Bar-Tal and Bar-Zohar (1977) found a significant relationship between locus of

control and academic achievement with internals having higher achievement than

externals. Stipek and Weisz(1981) reviewed a number of research articles and

concluded that locus of control was a significantly better predictor of grades. Numerous

other studies on academic achievement and locus of control shows that students having

high internal locus of control score showed better performance than students with high

external locus of control score (Yates, 2009; Shepherd, et al., 2006; Brown, et al., 1984;

Findley and Cooper, 1983; Gordon, 1977) Another important factor that can influence academic achievement is self concept which

is the picture the individual has of himself /herself. Self-concept is not innate, but is

developed or constructed by the individual through interaction with the environment

and reflecting on that interaction. This dynamic aspect of self-concept is important

because it indicates that it can be modified or changed ( Franken,1994).The way an

individual views himself accounts to a large extent for his success. It was found that

aspirations and the drive to succeed are good predictors of achievements (Hamacheck,

1971). Allport (1961) has described the self-concept as, “the self is something of which

we are immediately aware, we think of it as the warm, central personal region of our

life, as such it plays a crucial part in our consciousness, thus it is some kind of core in

our being.” Combs and Syngg, 1964 (as cited in Ahmad et.al.2012) refers self-concept

as, “the individual’s perception or view of himself.” It can be concluded that self-

concept is the sum total of all that the individual can call “I” or “Me”. It refers to those

perceptions, beliefs, feelings, attitudes and values which the individual views as part or

characteristics of himself. It refers to individual’s perception or view of himself. It

includes the person abstractions and evaluations about his physical abilities,

appearance, intellectual capacities, social skills, psychological self- image, self-

confidence, self- respect and self-adequacy. A child who has an adequate self concept is


likely to follow the problem solving approach and tends to be spontaneous, creative and

original. He trusts himself and is free to accept others without any negative feelings. As

against this, a child with inadequate self concept does not come to grip with the

problems of life. He tends to view himself as unwanted, unaccepted, incompetent, more

anxious and less adjusted, less effective in groups and develops inferiority complex. He

is also likely to exhibit a large extent of anxiety in his behavior. Due to poor self

concepts such children have lack of confidence in the mastery of environments and

leads to academic failures. Thus, an individual must choose a discipline and career

which permits him / her to function in a role consistent with his /herself concept which

will help them to achieve their desired goal (Sood, 2006). Research efforts, here strongly suggest that self-perceptions are important meditational

influences which define for individuals the nature of their relationships with other

people, the types of behaviour and tasks in which they will engage, the state of tension

they will experience, and in turn, how individuals will perceive themselves (Kifer,

1975; Abraham, 1978; Bandura, 1990; Weiner, 1980).Hamachek (1971) opined that

there is a continuous flow between the self and the stream of experiences involved in

the process of living and learning in school. He further stated that a student perceives,

interprets, accepts, rejects, or resists what he/she encounters at school in the light of the

way he/she sees himself/herself as a person generally and as a student. He then

concluded that there is a mounting body of evidence to suggest that a student's

performance in an academic setting is influenced, in both subtle and obvious ways, by

his/her concept of self. Roth (1959), investigating the role of self-concept in

achievement concluded that: In terms of their conception of self, individuals have a

definite investment to perform as they do. With all things being equal, those who" do

not achieve, choose not do so, while those who do achieve, choose to do so.


It would seem logical to reason that a poor self-concept, which implies a lack of

confidence in the environment, would be related to deficiency in one of the most

important areas of accomplishment for children - their performances in school. It is not

surprising therefore, that studies (Fink, 1962; Doyle, 1970; Purkey, 1970) have

documented a significant relationship among variables such as academic achievement,

school satisfaction, and self-concept. It has also been noted that this relationship has

been reported for children at all grade levels, from the primary grade levels through

college (McCandless & Evans, 1973; Adeniran, 1985; Salawu, 1991). And again the

findings of Guay, et.al.(2004); Harter,(1999); Bandura,(1997); Marsh and Yeung

(1997); Wigfield and Eccles,(1992); Connell and Wellborn,(1990); Eccles,(1987) and

Deci and Rayan,(1985) also show relation between academic achievement and self-

concept. Need of the Study- Present age is the age of competition and achievements; therefore, education has a

tremendous role to play in motivating the students to achieve higher and to have the

realistic aspiration in all of their doings especially at senior secondary stage of

education. The students have to realize their capacities and to have the self introspection

in various matters. It is, therefore, imperative that the adolescents at this level of

education have development of locus of control and self concept so that they can

perform all their activities perfectly. It is well known that maximum benefits ensue to

the society when all individuals are mentally healthy and when they are contributing to

the welfare of the society to their maximum capacity. It has been often said that

obtaining a good education is the key to being successful in the world. And successful

individual can contribute to the welfare of the society. Naturally, individuals with

maladjusted backgrounds, personality disorders, inadequate self concept and locus of

control and poor achievement levels cannot perform well and contribute to their optimal


capacity. The research studies conducted with locus of control have indicated that

locus of control is an important factor influencing intellectual functioning and learning

behavior of students (Levin and Levin, 1991). Individual’s belief about the control of

his life is an important factor for learning and development (Shapiro, Schwartz and

Astin 1996).Similarly, review of literature on self-concept also reveals that despite

some methodological limitations there is reciprocal relation between self concept and

academic achievement. Hence the present study has been undertaken to explore the

influence of locus of control and self concept on academic achievement of adolescents.

Objectives-

To assess the academic achievement of adolescents.

To study the influence of locus of control and self-concept and their interaction

on academic achievement of adolescents. Method- Research Design-

For the purpose of the present investigation, factorial design based upon two

independent variable viz., Locus of control and Self-concept was followed. The

independent variable Locus of Control (A) varied in two ways-internal locus of control

(A1) and external locus of control (A2); the second independent variable Self-concept

(B) varied in two ways- high self-concept (B1) and low self-concept (B2); The extreme

grouping of self-concept was set by using the formula Mean ±SD. In order to analyze

the data, two ways ANOVA (2 X 2 factorial design) was applied to see the interactional

effect of locus of control and self-concept on the academic achievement of adolescents.

Sample and Procedure-

The respondents in this study were adolescents ranging from 16-18 years studying in

class XII who were randomly selected from various senior secondary schools of state


Haryana. The state Haryana was divided into four zones namely North, South, East and

West. Out of each zone, one district was picked up by using the lottery technique. A list

of senior secondary schools located in these four districts was obtained from office of

the concerned district education officer. Out of that list twelve schools (three from each

district) were randomly selected for collection of data. The investigators personally

visited the selected schools one by one. After rapport formation investigators

administered the tools to all students of class XII present on the day.

Initially 450 respondents were chosen. Out of this, the responses of only 300 students

could be taken for analysis, as only extreme ends were taken into consideration in case

of independent variables. As per the requirement of 2x2 cells (50 in each cell of the

paradigm) the sample of 200 adolescents was chosen.

Figure: 1

Layout of the sample

Tools-

The following tools were used in the present study to obtain reliable data:

Academic Achievement-

Academic achievement in present study refers to total marks obtained by XII standard

students in annual examination in XI standard

Total Sample200

Internal LoC100

High Self-Concept50

Low Self-Concept50

External LoC100

High Self-Concept50

Low Self-Concept50


Locus of Control Scale by Roma Pal-

It consisted of 35 pairs of items having two dimensions (a) internal and (b) external

locus of control. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the scale was found to be .80

and validity coefficient was found to be .77.

Children Self Concept Scale by Dr. S.P. Ahluwalia-

This scale contains 80 items. The maximum score for total self-concept scale can be 80,

whereas minimum score can be zero. The test-retest and spilt-half reliability coefficient

of self concept varied from .83to .88 and.74 to .79 respectively.

Analysis and Interpretation- In pursuance of the objectives data was analyzed and interpreted under the following

heads (1-2): 300 adolescents were classified in to three groups according to their

percentage scored in XI standard as given in following table 1.

Table-1 Classification of subjects on the basis of their percentage scored in XI standard

Results in Table 1 reveal that majority of adolescents ie. 42.66% had range of scores

which is 59% & below, 39.33% had between 60% to 84% and only 18% had range of

scores between 85% & above i.e. excellent academic achievement.

1. Overall Academic Achievement of Senior Secondary School Students-

Mean and S.D. of 300 students of senior secondary schools of Haryana was calculated

to assess the level of their academic achievement.

S Sr. No. Range of Scores (%) Category

1 1. 85% & above 54 (18%) High

2. 60% to 84% 118 (39.33%) Average

3. 59% & below 128(42.66%) Below Average


Table-2 Mean and S.D. of Academic Achievement of adolescents.

N Variable Mean S.D.

300 Academic

Achievement

63.8 15.45

As the obtained mean scores falls in the category of ‘Average’ as per table 1, this

can be safely interpreted that students of senior secondary schools of Haryana have

found to be ‘Average’ in their Performance.

2. Influence of Locus of Control and Self Concept and their Interaction on

Academic Achievement of Adolescents

Table-3 Summary of (2x2) Factorial Design ANOVA for Academic Achievement of

Adolescents.

Locus of Control (A) and Self Concept (B)

Source of

Variance

df Sum of

Squares

Mean

Squares

F– ratio Sig.

Level

A

B

AxB

Between cells

Within subjects

Total

1

1

1

3

196

199

18837.41

7875.13

1357.2

28069.74

17649.42

18837.41

7875.13

1357.2

90.04

209.21

87.46

15.07

.01

.01

.01

Significant ‘F’ value according to ‘F’ table at .01 Level = 6.72


Locus of Control- In case of Locus of Control, F- ratio 209.21(vide Table 3 for df 1/196) is highly

significant at .01 level. This indicates that Locus of Control has a significant

independent effect upon the academic achievement of adolescent. In order to

interpret this, t-test was applied. The results for the same have been given in the

Table 4 Table-4

Mean, S.D and t-ratio of Academic Achievement on Locus of Control.

Sr No Groups Mean SD t- ratio Sig. Level

1

2

A1

A2

76.02

56.61

13.53

23.66

7.13

.01

Table 4 depicts that t-ratio between adolescents with internal locus of control and

external locus of control is significant at .01 level. This indicates that significant

difference exists in the mean academic achievement scores of adolescents with

internal locus of control and external locus of control. Students with internal locus

of control got higher scores (M=76.02) than the students with external locus of

control (M=56.61). It means that adolescents with internal locus of control are

better than the adolescents with external locus of control.

Self- Concept- In case of Self-Concept, F- ratio 87.46(vide Table 3 for df 1/196) is significant at

.01 level. This indicates that Self- Concept has a significant independent effect on

the academic achievement of adolescent. In order to interpret this, t-test was

applied. The results for the same have been given in the Table 5.


Table-5. Mean, S.D and t-ratio of Academic Achievement on Self -Concept

Sr No Groups Mean SD t- ratio Sig. Level

1

2

B1

B2

72.59

60.04

15.34

11.95

6.46

.01

Table 5.depicts that t –ratio between adolescents with high Self-Concept and low

Self-Concept is significant at .01 level. This indicates that significant difference

exists in the mean academic achievement scores of adolescents with high self

concept and low self concept. Students with high self concept got higher scores

(M=72.59) than the students with low self concept (M=60.04). It means that

adolescents with high self concept are better than the adolescents with low self

concept.

Locus of Control (A) X Self- Concept (B)

Table 3 further reveals that the combined interaction between Locus of Control and

Self-Concept of adolescents is significant at .01 (F-ratio 15.07 for df 1/196). This

means that there is particular combination of Locus of Control and Self-Concept

(AxB) which affects the academic achievement of adolescents. In order to interpret

this further, t-test was applied to find out the difference between mean academic

achievement scores of different combination group. The results for the same have

been given in Table 6.


Table-6 t-ratio for different combinations of A X B levels for Academic Achievement

of Adolescents

Groups A1 BI A1 B2 A2 B1 A2 B2

Mean (S.D) 84.9(8.24)

67.14(11.85)

60.28(9.98)

52.94(6.67)

A1 BI

84.9(8.24)

9.97** 13.45** 21.30**

A1 B2

67.14(11.85)

3.13** 5.83**

A2 B1

60.28(9.98)

4.34**

A2 B2

52.94(6.67)

Table 6 shows that t-ratio for the all groups are significant at .01 level. This indicates

that these combinations differ significantly on mean academic achievement scores. In

order to present the results in brief, these have been arranged in descending order on

the basis of their mean scores for different combination groups in Table 7.


Table-7 GroupWise arrangement of mean Academic Achievement scores in

descending order for Locus of Control(A) x Self- Concept (B)

Sr No Groups Means

1

2

3

4

A1B1

A1B2

A2B1

A2B2

84.9

67.14

60.28

52.94

It may be inferred from Table 7 that students with internal locus of control and high

self-concept have the highest academic achievement scores and students with

external locus of control and low self-concept have the lowest academic achievement

scores. This shows that students with internal locus of control and high self-concept

perform better than the students with external locus of control and low self- concept.

Discussion and Conclusion- Adolescents’ Academic Achievement and Locus of Control-

The finding in the present study reveals that there is significant difference in the

academic achievement of adolescents with respect to locus of control i.e. adolescents

with internal locus of control are better in their academic achievement than the

adolescents with external locus of control. In other words the result of this investigation

support the belief that the more internal the individual’s orientation, the higher the

individual’s achievement. Findings of Stipek,1980; Findley and Cooper,1983; Brown et

al., 1984; Yates,2009 are also in consonance of the present investigation. Conclusion of

Shepherd et al.,(2006) also revealed that students with higher GPA group reported

higher scores on internal locus of control. Bar-Tal and Bar-Zohar (1977) also found a


significant relationship between locus of control and academic achievement with

internals having higher achievement than externals. Stipek and Weisz( 1981) reviewed

a number of research articles and concluded that locus of control was a significantly

better predictor of grades. Children with internal locus of control earn somewhat better

grades and work harder. The reason for this may be that students with internal locus of

control spend more time on home work as well as studying for tests, whereas those with

external locus of control spend less time at a task. Again internals are more likely to

continue at task that they have succeeded at, while externals are likely to stop working

on the successful task and move on to a different task. The another reason for this may

be that learner with internal locus of control are more effective in acquiring and using

required knowledge than external (Lefcourt, 1976; as cited in., Chubb et. al.,1997). For

that reason it could be said that internal learners will perceive the tasks less

uncomfortable and thus try to learn more effectively. They agree upon the ability,

method and noticing factors of the learning dimensions more when compared to the

students with external locus of control. Further, the students with external locus of

control are more likely to respond to failure by giving up hope and not trying harder,

whereas, those with an internal locus of control are likely to respond to failure by trying

harder to improve. This may be perhaps the reason for the internals performing better

academically.

Adolescents’ Academic Achievement and Self- Concept-

Again, this study also supports the notion that there is a link between academic

achievement and self-concept. The findings of Guay, et.al.(2004); Harter,(1999);

Bandura,(1997); Wigfield and Eccles,(1992); Connell and Wellborn,(1990);

Eccles,(1987) and Deci and Rayan,(1985) support the finding of present study. The

results of this investigation support the belief that students with a strong self-concept

tend to perform academically better as self concept is considered to be a predictor of


coping with life stresses (Bandura,1993) and there is a link between self concept and

academic achievement of students. Students with high self-concept have better ability to

cope with stress and a higher likeliness that the individual takes on difficult tasks. They

are able to accept challenges and enjoy a new learning experience that is perhaps the

reason for their better achievement. Results of Tiwari and Bansal (1994); Hattie (1992);

Short(1992) and Chapman(1988) are also in consonance of the present study. On the

other hand students with a low self concept tend to have both attitude and behavior

problems. They may be unwilling to try new things, because they believe they will fail

anyway, or they may not work up to their potential, and that is perhaps the reason for

their not performing well. Again, the children who have adequate self concept are likely

to follow the problem solving approach and tend to be spontaneous, creative and

original. They trust themselves and are free to accept others without any negative

feelings. They tend to approach school related tasks with confidence and success on

those tasks reinforces this confidence (Hamachek,1995). As against this, a child with

inadequate self concept does not come to grip with the problems of life. He tends to

view himself as discarded, unaccepted, incompetent, hopeless, more anxious and less

adjusted, less effective in groups and develops inferiority complex. He is also likely to

display a large extent of anxiety in his behavior. Due to poor self concepts such children

have lack of confidence in the mastery of environments and leads to academic failures.

Further, adolescents with high self concept approve themselves, realize to have

potential to solve the problems, take decisions and control over their emotions, feel

more cheerful, confident, positive, secure and competent and naturally get the feeling of

sufficiency and adequacy, which might in turn help them for their academic success.

The results are congruent with Nuthana (2007) who reported that there was a positive

and significant relation between self concept and academic achievement. Further,

Varma (1976) found that high levels of ego involvement help the students to secure


better performance in their studies. However, these findings are contradicted by Uma

Devi et al. (1998) who demonstrated that academic achievement did not have

significant relationship with self concept.

Interactional effect of Locus of Control and Self- Concept on Academic Achievement

of Adolescent-

According to results regarding interactional effect, it could be interpreted that the joint

effect of locus of control and self-concept is found significant on academic achievement

of adolescents. Findings of Rotter(1962) concludes that self concept leads to an internal

locus of control, which in turn foster a high educational attainment level. The probable

reason for significant interaction effect may be due to the two different ways in which

each variable is varying.

Implications- According to the results obtained in this study, it could be suggested that teachers

should stimulate their students to develop and enhance internal locus of control and

high self concept for being good mastery learners. Hence this paper calls for structuring

environments that will induce and maintain realistic internal perception of Locus of

Control and high self-concept.

Since the development of Locus of Control begins in early childhood by the

influence coming from parents and teachers (Purkey,1970 and Lefcourt,1980) as

cited in, Hawkes,1991 and Lawrence,1998; hence, child-parent interaction and

child-teacher interaction should be developed.

Attribution training, which concentrates on strengthening the students’ internal

locus of control, may be helpful in increasing motivation. It increases internal

locus of control and improve task persistence. Part of attribution training is

having say positive things about themselves. Students should be trained to say

positive things to them.


Children should be taught to believe in their own ability to control lives and the

reinforcements in their lives. The role of teacher in motivating the students may

prove fruitful if the children from a young age are taught that hard work can pay

off. Their self confidence, decision making and problem solving skills should be

developed.

Children are taught to have more hopeful attitude.

Classroom interventions, such as peer tutoring and cooperative learning should

be used in promoting self concept

Appropriate positive feedback by the teacher should be used to maintain high self

concept.

Praise, recognition and encouragement should be given to promote high self

concept.

Teacher can prevent or reduce feeling of low self concept by reducing social

comparison cues in the classroom.

Students should be encouraged to focus on how much they have improved over

time instead of focusing on how their peers are doing.

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Paper-7

Constructivism: A Vibrant Approach to

Revitalize Social Studies Classroom Vandana Yadav

Dr. Anil Shukla


Constructivism: A Vibrant Approach to Revitalize Social

Studies Classroom Vandana Yadav11

Dr. Anil Shukla12

Abstract Generally Social studies subjects are considered as boring and non-utility subjects,

and they get less importance than natural sciences. It is believed that social

science merely transmits information and these subjects are theoretical and too

text-centred in nature. On the contrary social studies subjects are equally

important as any other subject as these subjects create a base for values like trust,

freedom, mutual respect etc. and promote civic competence in young students.

Thus the aim of social studies teaching should be to develop child’s ability to think

independently, to enhance the capability of analysing social-political reality

instead of just memorization of facts. But unfortunately in present, these subjects

are still taught by traditional methods which involve techniques like lecture,

memorization of facts and heavy reliance in text-books. So Social studies

classroom needs to be revitalized by adopting such vibrant teaching approach

which fosters creativity, critical thinking, ability to draw relationship between past

and present among students. Constructivism is a new approach which can be

successfully utilized for attaining above mentioned goals. Present paper will throw

light on the utility of constructivist approach for social studies teaching. It will

11 Research Scholar (JRF), Department of Education (IASE), University of Lucknow, E-mail:

[email protected]

12 Professor, Department of Education (IASE), University of Lucknow,


also present and discuss major constructivist learning models that can revitalize

the social studies classroom.

Keywords- Constructivism, learning environment, social studies teaching

Introduction- There are many learning theories and approaches which work as a tool for the

teaching and help teachers for classroom teaching. In the first of the twentieth

century behaviourist school of psychology provide the most important theory of

learning according to which learning is a change in the behavioural disposition of

organism. This view of learning excluded the mental operations and was only

focused on the objectively overt aspect of learning. It places teacher as a “source of

knowledge” and students as “a vessel to be filled”. It gives the total control of

classroom in his hand. But in the past few years we find a paradigm shift taking

place in the field of education especially in the area of teaching-learning process.

New student-centred learning theories and approaches are emerging in which

constructivism as a learning theory and an approach has reached a high popularity

in past few decades. Although constructivist theory has emerged as an influential

learning approach in recent years, the idea of constructivism is not new. We can

easily trace the historical roots of constructivist theory among the works of

GiambattistaVico, Socrates, Plato, Kant and Aristotle all of which emphasize the

creation of knowledge. But application of constructivism as an approach and a

learning theory in education is a more recent development derived from the work

of development psychologist Jean Piaget (1973) and Russian psychologist Lev

Vygotsky(1978). Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Dewey, Jerome Bruner, G Stanley

Hall, David Ausubel and E .V. Glasersfeld had also contributed in the proposition

of constructivist principles.


What is Constructivism? The Verb ‘to construct’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Con struere’ which means

to arrange or to give structure. On-going structuring (organizing) processes are the

conceptual heart of constructivism. Constructivist epistemology assumes that

learners construct their own knowledge on the basis of Interaction with their

environment. Constructivism focuses on knowledge construction, and not on

knowledge transmission (Jha, 2012). It is basically a theory --based on observation

and scientific study -- about how people learn. It says that people construct their

own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and

reflecting on those experiences (Mehta, 2013). When we are encountered with

something new, we have to relate it with our previous experiences (either change

our ideas or discard the new information). In the process we tend to create new

knowledge by asking questions, explaining and assessing what we already known.

(Dwivedi , 2010)

Basic assumptions of Constructivism- Basic assumptions of constructivism are as follows-

Knowledge depends upon on past constructions. We know the world through

our mental framework and we transform and interpret new information

through this framework.

Constructions come through systems of assimilation and accommodation

into our existing mental framework.

Learning is an organic process of invention, not mechanical.

Meaningful learning occurs through reflection and scaffolding of new

knowledge upon existing framework of knowledge.

Learning is active and social process rather than the process of acquisition of

knowledge.


Learning is collaborative rather than competitive.

Learning is the result of dynamic interaction between task, instructor and

learner.

Knowledge is constructed out of sensual and perceptive experience of the

learner.

Each learner is a unique individual with unique needs and backgrounds.

Background and culture of the learner is an important component in

learning.

Context in which learning occurs is central to learning itself.

Assessment is a part of learning process, and hence assessment is a

continuous and interactive process.

Teaching of Social Studies and Constructivist Approach- Social science and social studies are the two terms that generally used identically.

But there is a difference between in these two subjects. Social science is a subject

which studies the individual or groups of individuals in terms of their social

relations. On the other hand social studies is an integrated study of the social

sciences and humanities to promote civic competence….the primary purpose of

social studies is to help young people make informed and reasoned decisions for

the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an

independent world (NCSS, 1994).It includes subject like history, Geography,

Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Law, Philosophy, Archaeology,

Anthropology, Psychology etc.

National Curriculum Framework, 2005 in relation to the teaching of social studies

stated that “Social science teaching needs to be revitalized towards helping the

learner acquire knowledge and skills in an interactive environment. The teaching

of social sciences must adopt methods that promote creativity, aesthetics, and


critical perspectives, and enable children to draw relationships between past and

present, to understand changes taking place in society….In order to make the

process of learning participative there is a need to shift from mere imparting of

information to debate and discussion.”

But in the most of Indian schools still teacher-centred approach is being employed

for social studies teaching. Constructivist approach in this regard can prove very

worthwhile as it creates a healthy environment in which learners actively

participate in the process of knowledge construction and meaning-making. This

approach engages students in collaborative learning, promotes high-order thinking

skills and relates social studies concepts to the lives and experiences of students by

using various techniques like problem solving, brain storming, debate, discussion,

and role etc. It makes social studies classroom a fun, interesting and a vibrant

learning place.

There are many constructivist learning models which can be used for teaching of

social studies but two major learning models that can really revitalize the social

studies classroom are as follows-

Interpretation Construction (ICON) Design Model

5Es Learning Cycle

Interpretation Construction (ICON) Design Model- Black and McClintock (1995) have created a model based on the principles of

constructivism which has following seven steps:

Observation: Students make observations of authentic artifacts anchored in

authentic situations.

Contextualization: Students access background and contextual materials of

various sorts to aid interpretation and argumentation.


Cognitive Apprenticeship: Students serves as apprentices to teachers to

master observation, interpretation and contextualization.

Collaboration: Students Collaborate in observation, interpretation and

contextualization.

Interpretation Construction: Students construct interpretations of

observations and constructs arguments for the validity of their

interpretations.

Multiple Interpretation: Students gain cognitive flexibility by being

exposed to multiple interpretations.

Multiple Manifestations: Students gain transferability by seeing multiple

manifestations of the same interpretations.

Learning Situation- Presents the students with a graphic simulation of an archaeological site,

then the students study the history of the site through simulated digging up

of artefacts, making various measurements of the artefacts in a simulated

laboratory (Observation), and relating the objects of what is already known

using a wide variety of reference materials (Contextualization).

The students work cooperatively in groups (Collaboration), while the

teacher models how to deal with such a site than fades her involvement

while coaching and supporting the students in their own study efforts

(Cognitive Apprenticeship).

The students develop ownership of their work by developing their own

interpretations of the history of the site and mustering various kinds’

evidence for their conclusions (Interpretation Construction). By arguing

with the other students and studying related interpretations in the historical

literature, they get a sense of other perspectives (Multiple Interpretations).


By going through the process a number of times bringing each contextual

background to bear on a number of different artefacts, the students learn and

understand the many ways that the general principles behind what they are

doing become manifest (Multiple Manifestations).

5EsLearning Model - A team of The Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), whose principal

investigator was Roger Bybee, developed an instructional model for constructivism

in 1997. This model is known as “Five Es". Though it was designed primarily for

the science teaching; it has a great utility for social studied teaching too. This

model has five phases: Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration and

Evaluation.

Engagement: It is a first step of learning, which engages students in classroom

activities. In this phase, firstly the instruction task is identified and encountered by

learners. Students also made connection between their prior and present learning

experiences. Here teacher tries to generate interest and pique curiosity of students

by many ways like asking a question, defining a problem, showing a discrepant

event, and acting out a problematic situation. During this phase student generally

ask these types of questions “Why did this happen?” “What do I already know

about this?” “What can I find out about this?”

Exploration: In exploration phase students get opportunity to directly involve with

the materials and phenomenon without teacher’s direct instruction. In this phase,

they construct a base of common experiences which helps them in the process of

sharing and communicating. Here the teacher plays the role of facilitator who

provides material and guides the students’ focus. Basically it is a stage of

disequilibrium where students are embroiled in complex problem. In this phase

students test their predictions and hypotheses, form new predictions and


hypotheses, try alternatives and communicate with others, record their ideas and

observations and suspend their decisions.

Explanation: It is the stage where student start to have abstract experiences. Here

students are provided with the opportunities to demonstrate their conceptual

understanding, process skills or behaviour. In this phase teacher stimulates

learner’s process of thinking. To do this he/she encourages them to explain the

definitions and concepts in their own words, to give justification of their

explanation, and present evidences and to listen critically each other’s explanation.

In addition, for explaining the concepts teacher provides and clarifies definition,

explanation and new labels. Thus it is stage where teacher tries to assess their

growing understanding by using variety of techniques like verbal communications,

drawing, writing, videos, films, educational courseware.

Elaboration: Phase of elaboration facilitates the process of transfer of learning.

Here students extend the learned concept to new but similar situations. Here

teacher helps students in drawing reasonable conclusion from evidences by asking

questions like “What do you already know?”, “What do you think..?” Thus this

phase allows students to make conceptual connection between new and previous

experiences, deepen their understanding of concepts and processes, and interact

with peers to check their understanding.

Evaluation: Final step of this model “Evaluation” is an on-going diagnostic

process which presents throughout the entire learning process. It gives chances to

teacher to assess students’ knowledge, understanding and skills. For fulfilling this

purpose he/she asks many open-ended questions such as “Why do you think?”

“What evidences do you have?” “What do you know about X?” “How would you

explain X?” In this whole process students also assess their own progress as they

compare their current knowledge with their previous understanding.


Lesson Plan Based on 5e Learning Model- TOPIC: Advent of European Trading Companies in India-

1. Preliminary Information-

Subject- History

Class- VIII

Duration- 45 minutes

Topic- Advent of European Trading Companies to India

2. Teaching Materials-

Chart (different trading companies and their target countries) , Power Point

Slides (Purposes of arrival in India), Map (India and World), Index

Cards, Teacher constructed Material (Different trading centres of companies

and their commodities)

3. Previous Experience-

Learners are aware of the Mughal History

4. Content Analysis/ Teaching Points-

Introduction

Purpose of the companies to come to India

Upcoming trading companies and the year of their arrival

Trading centres and competition among companies

5. Main Objectives-

To help the students in constructing knowledge related to the topic.

To enable the learners to understand about the purpose of trading

companies arrival to India.

To train the students in skills like making the timeline related to

arrival of trading companies in India and marking various trading

centres of these companies on map of India.


To enable the students to recognize the causes of competition among

the trading companies and adopted means to edge ahead of them.

To make the learners capable of comparing these trading companies to

the modern Multi-National Companies with special reference to their

nature, motives and impact on India.

6. Development of Lesson-

Engage-

In order to raise students’ interest in the topic teacher will give following

sheets to students. Activity Sheet-1

List of Goods Is it made in India or other

country?

(I/OC)

Nokia Phone

Bajaj Motorcycle

Barbie Doll

ChachaChaudhary Comics

Mercedes Car

Activity Sheet-2

List of Transport Mode of Transport

(Air/Land/Water)

Aeroplane

Animal Cart


Steamer

Bus

Train

Truck

Boat

Teacher will start class discussion by asking these questions-

a) Which trade routes were used during the Mughal Period?

b) If you all have to open stationary shop then which student will bring

what material for the shop and how much expense will it cost?

c) What is a trading company?

Explore- Teaching point: purpose of the companies to come to India

With the help of power point slides the teacher will present the purposes of

the companies to come to India out of which few will be direct and few will

be indirect (the students will observe this )

Group discussion will be held on the topic that what could be the probable

causes for trading with other countries?

Teaching point: upcoming trading companies and the year of their arrival

With the help of chart the world map will be marked with different symbols

to represent the companies arriving in India and those countries will be

marked where these companies went for trade. Thereafter, following points

will be discussed :

a) Which are the places marked in the map?

b) What is the meaning of different symbols used in the map?


The companies will be shown in order of their arrival to India with the help

of a slide. Students will be asked to mark them on the world map.

Teaching point: Trading centres and competition among companies

The teacher will provide the students with self-constructed written material and

will instruct the students to write answers to the following questions:

a) Prepare a list of all trade centres of all trading companies.

b) Trading companies traded in which materials?

c) Had you been the owner of a trading company what would you have

done to increase the profit of your company? ( the class will be divided

into 4 groups for group discussion)

Explain- Teaching point: purpose of the companies to come to India

The students will be asked to prepare separate lists for the direct and indirect

purposes for the arrival of the trading companies to India and will be asked to

explain for the purposes mentioned.

Teaching point: upcoming trading companies and the year of their arrival

The class will be divided into two groups. One group will be asked to

prepare a time line for the arrival of the companies in accordance with their

dates of arrival and the other group will be asked to match the arriving

trading companies and the year of their arrival through index cards.

Teaching point: trading centres and competition among companies.

The students will be asked to mark the trading centres of various trading

companies on the map of India.

Following topics will be discussed after providing the teacher made written

material:


a) Which methods were adopted by trading companies to go ahead in the

competition?

b) What were the results of this competition among the companies? Elaborate- The teacher will provide opportunities to students to practice transferring their

learning to other contexts. For this purpose she will form four groups and organise

brain storming session in each group on following topic:

Compare European trading companies on the basis of their-

a) Nature

b) Motives

c) Measures used to go ahead in the competition

d) Impact on India

Evaluation-

Arrange these companies in correct order according to their year of arrival in

India and place their country map in front of them. 1. English East India Company 2. Dutch East India Company

3. Portuguese East India Company

4. French East India Company

5. Danish East India Company

Mark the major trading centres of each company on map of India by using

five different symbols or colours.

Teacher can ask some more questions to check that students have well acquired the

objectives of lesson or not.


Conclusion- Constructivism is a theory about how people construct and acquire knowledge.

This theory challenges the “traditional” approach that gives emphasis on the

memorization of facts and concepts. Sadly in majority of Indian schools social

studies subject are being taught by this “traditional” approach. Thus there is a need

to reform the social studies’ pedagogical practices. Constructivist theory can play a

crucial role in the way the content of social studies is presented to the students. It

can changed the social studies drastically as it shows the complexity and multiple

perspectives of real world situations and promotes active learning in classroom by

using various constructive teaching methods like class discussion, brain storming,

storytelling, situation analysis, observation, demonstration, role play etc. Bringing

changes of this nature in the classroom the role of teachers is very important.To

teach social studies in an interesting, active and effective manner teacher should be

well versed in theory and implications of constructivist approach.

References-

Black, J.B. and McClintock, R.O. (1995). An Interpretation Construction

Approach to Constructivist Design. In Senapaty, H.K. (2010). Constructivist

Learning Situation. Developmental Challenges and Educational

Determinism, 27-38.

Bybee, R.W. (2006). The BSCS 5E Instructional Model: Origins and

Effectiveness.https://www.science.education.nic.gov/houseofreps.nsf/b82d55

fa13878362852572c9004f5566/$FILE/Appendix%20D.pdf. 03/01/2013.

Dwivedi, R.D. (2010). From Behaviourism to Constructivism: A Paradigm

Shift in Teaching-Learning Process. University news, 48(07), 14-18.


Jha, A.K. (2009). Constructivist Epistemology and Pedagogy Insight into

Teaching learning and Knowing. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers

&Distributors (P) Ltd.

Jha, A.K. (2012).Epistemic Skills: A Constructivist Perspective. Taxonomy

of Educational Skills. 20-29.

Mehta, D. (2013). A Conceptual Understanding ofConstructivist Pedagogy.

Education India Journal, 2(1), 118-128.

NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework. Retrieved on 16 August

2012 from www.ncert.nic.in.

NCSS (1994). National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies:

Introduction. Retrieved on 09 July 2012 from

www.socialstudies.org/standards/introduction. **********************************************************


Paper-8

Impact of Education in Women’s

Empowerment in India Dr. Sunil Kumar Sain

Dr. SudhirSudamKaware


Impact of Education in Women’s Empowerment in India Dr. Sunil Kumar Sain13

Dr. SudhirSudamKaware14

Abstract Education is a basic requirement and a fundamental right for the citizens of a free

nation. It is also of increasing strategic importance in the new environment of

knowledge and information technology based globalized economy. Education plays

a catalytic role in a country’s socio-economic development and is one of the

principal means available for a deeper and harmonious form of human

development reducing poverty, ignorance and exclusion. Higher Education, which

is a training ground for a professional, research-based, career-oriented future,

must be respected as a potential instrument for bringing about social

transformation and ensuring the success of democracy. Education must be

provided to all categories of citizens by breaking down constraints and barriers.

Women empowerment is a debatable subject. At earlier time they were getting

equal status with men. But they had faced some difficulties during post-Vedic and

epic ages. Many a time they were treated as slave. From early twenty century

(national movement) their statuses have been changed slowly and gradually. In

this regard, we my mentioned the name of the British people. After then,

independence of India, the constitutional makers and nation alleaders strongly

demand equal social position of women with men. Today we have seen the women

13 Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur (CG)-495009, Mob:-

09926196776

14 Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur (CG)-495009


occupied the respectable positions in all walks of the fields. Yet, they have not

absolutely free some discrimination and harassment of the society. A few numbers

of women have been able to establish their potentialities.

Keywords- Empowerment, WORK PARTICIPATION, Higher Education

Introduction- Women empowerment is a debatable subject. At earlier time they were getting

equal status with men. But they had faced some difficulties during post-Vedic and

epic ages. Many a time they were treated as slave. From early twenty

century(national movement) their statuses have been changed slowly and

gradually. In this regard, we my mentioned the name of the British people. After

then, independence of India, the constitutional makers and nation alleaders

strongly demand equal social position of women with men. Today we have seen

the women occupied the respectable positions in all walks of the fields. Yet, they

have not absolutely free some discrimination and harassment of the society. A few

number of women have been able to establish their potentialities. Therefore, each

and every should be careful to promote the women statuses.

Empowerment: Concept and Its Meaning- Now the women in India enjoy a unique status of equality with the men as per

constitutional and legal provision. But the Indian women have come a long way to

achieve the present positions. as a commodity. History is a witness that women

was made to dance both in private and public places to please the man. Secondly,

in Indian society, a female was always dependent on male members of the family

even last few years ago. Thirdly, a female was not allow to speak with loud voice

in the presence of elder members of her in-laws. In the family, every faults had

gone to her and responsible. Forth, as a widower dependence on male members of

the family still more increase. Empowerment can be viewed as means of creating a


social environment in which one can make decisions and make choices either

individually or collectively for social transformation. It strengthens the innate

ability by way of acquiring knowledge, power and experience (Hashemi Schuler

and Riley, 1996). Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing

individual to think, take action and control work in an autonomous way. It is the

process by which one can gain control over one’s destiny and the circumstances of

one’s lives. Empowerment includes control over resources (physical, human,

intellectual and financial) and over ideology (beliefs, values and attitudes).

(Baltiwala, 1994). It is not merely a feel of greater extrinsic control, but also grows

intrinsic capacity, greater self-confidence and an internal transformation of one’s

consciousness that enables one to overcome external barriers to accessing

resources or changing traditional Women’s empowerment is very essential for

the development of society. Empowerment means individual sacquiring the power

to think and act freely, exercises choice and fulfill their potential as full and equal

members of society. As per the United National Development Fund for women

(UNIFEM), the term women’s empowerment means-

1. Acquiring knowledge and understanding of gender relations and the ways

in which these relations may be changed.

2. Developing a sense of self-worth, a belief in one‟s ability to secure

desired changes and the right to control one’s life.

3. Gaining the ability to generate choices exercise bargaining power.

4. Developing the ability to organize and influence the direction of social

change.

5. To create a more just social and economic order, nationally and

internationally. Thus, empowerment means a psychological sense of

personal control or influence and a concern with actual social influence,


political power and legal rights. It is a multi-level construct referring to

individuals, organizations and community.

6. international, ongoing process centered in the local community, involving

mutual respect,

7. critical reflection, caring and group participation, through which people

lacking an equal

8. Share of valued resources gain greater access to the control over these

resources.

Empowerment and Education- Education as means of empowerment of women can bring about a positive

attitudinal change. It is therefore, crucial for the socio-economic and political

progress of India. The Constitution of India empowers the state to adopt

affirmative measures for prompting ways and means to empower women.

Education significantly makes difference in the lives of women.

Education is important because literacy has become a tool of evaluating a person-

whether one can read or write. Illiteracy has become a very pejorative word in our

society. Today we find that literacy itself gives you status. If one can read or write

is educated he/she may get access to so much of information. Information about

what you can access for others and for yourself, whether it is educational facilities,

health, employment opportunity, legal literacy and so forth. These are very

extrinsic reasons, but intrinsically education is important for individual

development and confidence. But we see today that even where all these conditions

exist, women do not come forward to claim their human entitlements. True

empowerment is achieved only if women themselves „realize‟ that it is important

for them to be empowered to enjoy a just, fair and happy life. Then why is it that

they hesitate to come forward? A simple answer to this can be that our government


is corrupt and the justice system long drawn are expensive. But there is more to

this than putting the blame on “systems”. There is an “inherent” reluctance to leave

the “comfort zone of self and societal notions” on one hand and the lack of “skill”

to handle such situations in real life on the other Empowerment of women as a goal

of development projects and programs has gained wider acceptance since 1990s.It

is not a simple linear process. It has long been argued by various UN agencies that

the critical determinant of women’s socio-economic status is education, and that

education is the key to achieving social development by improving the well being

of the girls and women and thus promoting gender equity. The experience of

numerous programs in the government and the NGO sector shows that it is indeed

possible. Empowerment of women was one of the nine primary objectives of the

Ninth Plan (1997-2002) and every effort was made to create an enabling

empowerment where women could freely exercise their rights within and outside

their home as equal Partner with men.

Education is one of the most critical factors responsible for the development of a

human person. Right to education, therefore, is held as a very important human

right. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is the principal

instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing him for later

professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally to his environment. In

these days, it is doubtful any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life

if he is denied the opportunity of an education. The international community has

realized the importance of education for individual and collective well being made

explicit provisions in several human rights instruments on the rights to education.

The Constitution of India was recently amended to provide for the right to

compulsory elementary education to children falling between the age group of 6-14

years. Among the world’s 900 million literacy people, women outnumber men two


to one. Girls constitute the majority of 130 million children without access to

primary education (Human Development Report 1995). The illiteracy rate of

women is 55.16percent as against 75.85 percent for men (2001). They can be seen

as beggars on road crossing and rag pickers. Kabeer (1990) estimates that the

deaths of young girls in India exceed those of young boys by over 300,000 each

year and every sixth infant death is specifically due to gender discrimination. Of

the 15 million baby girls born in India each year, nearly 25 percent will not live to

see their 15thbirth day (Patel, 1995). Of late, the girl child’s educational needs

received special attention in the wake of national and international efforts on

empowering women.

Education, in a broad sense, essentially involves penning the mind, enhancing self-

esteem and self-confidence, building a sense of positive self-worth, accessing

information and tools of knowledge and acquiring the ability to negotiate this

unequal and unjust world from a position of strength. No society has ever liberated

itself -economically, politically or socially–without a sound base of educated

women. Many countries experiences around the world have demonstrated that

investment in educating women is the most precious investment a society can ever

make. Women’s health is another important issue under Human Resource

Development and also highest prioritized area in family welfare programs.

However, the accumulated research evidences show that the achievement levels in

providing better health care and safe motherhood for women, especially for rural

women, are not at expected levels. In India, the highest number of deaths in the age

group of 16 to 25 is recorded among women one of the most commonly found

deficiency among the women and it is also mentioned by several studies that they

are often not too healthy when they bear the first child and none of them are

physically ready to bear a second child. A pathetic reality is that nearly 88 percent


of the pregnant women (1985-95) reported to be anemic. World Health

Organization figures also show that the lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy or

child-birth-related causes is one in twenty in some developing countries, compared

to one in ten thousand in some industrialized countries. About one in five of these

deaths stem from unsafe abortions. The available data says that in India about 20

percent of the women in the age group of 15-49 years are at the risk of unintended

pregnancy. Coming to anti-natal care only 10 percent of the pregnant women

receive it on an average in rural India. In this regard Tamil Nadu, Himanchal

Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal is in better position than other states.

Nearly 33 percent of the babies are under low birth weight category. During 1993,

5.5 percent stillbirths are recorded at all India level and this percentage is more in

Bihar and West Bengal (around 15%). The reasons for such high percentage of

stillbirths are usually associated with low age of mother, poor nutritional level of

women and low utilization of primary health care.

Work Participation- On the world level, women and girls together carry two-third of the burden of the

world’s work yet receive only a tenth of the world’s income. They form 40% of the

paid labour force. Though women constitute half of the world’s population yet they

own less than one percentage of the world’s property. The condition of women in

India is more miserable than the rest of the world in almost every field of social

life. They are paid half of three-quarters of the money while their male

counterparts earn for the same job. India is predominantly agricultural country.

Women do more than half of the total agricultural work. But their work is not

valued. On an average a woman works 15 to 16 hours a day unpaid at home and

underpaid outside. According to 1971 census, every one-fourth works in the

country is an agricultural labour. One third of the agricultural labour is female.


Only 2.5 percent of the central government employees are women. According to

National Committee on Women, the growth in the percentage of women labourer

force in the organized sector is minimal in the last sixty years i.e. 3.44percent in

1911 to 17.35 percent in 1971; besides the work load either in the field or in the

factories or offices, the women have to do the household such as cooking, washing,

cleaning up the house etc. The younger women besides all these have to carry the

burden of early pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding. In terms of help offered

to people for their various function women seem to receive the least attention from

the society.

Women Empowerment Perspective- The term empowerment pre-supposes primacy of power over other dimensions.

We speak of women’s sharing of political power and participation in government.

An important issue related to women’s empowerment is the reservation of seats

for them in the state legislature and union parliament. The 73rdand

74thConstitutional Amendment Act 1992 has provided 33 percent seats for women

in Panchayats and municipal bodies. Though the experience of the Indian

Panchayat Raj Institutions, one million women have actively entered political life

in India. Since the creation of the quota system, local women-the vast majority of

the illiterates and poor- have come to occupy as much as 43 percent of seats-

spurring the election of increasing numbers of women at the district, provincial and

national level. Since the onset of PRI, the percentages of women in various levels

of political activity have risen from 4-5 percent to 25-40 percent. The account of

measures taken for women’s empowerment in India clearly shows that there is a

deep concern in the country to uplift their social and economic conditions, so that

they may plan an active role in the task of national developments. Government is


not serious for the political participation of women; the data shows that they are

lagging behind in political sphere.

Strategies of Empowering Dalit Women- Empowerment of the Dalit women is a means to poverty alleviation. The goals of

poverty eradication can be effectively achieved if Dalit women could be organized

into groups for community participation as well as for assertion of their rights. Any

strategy of sustainable development relating to poverty eradication has to involve

the large number of poor women. Social mobilization and building organization of

the poor are essential prerequisites for poverty alleviation. There are several

strategies, which enable overall development of Dalit women. The following

strategies were found more effective for overall development. They are:

a) Empowerment of women through development of women and children in

the rural areas/ Self-Help Groups.

b) Empowerment of women through education and training.

c) Empowerment through political participation.

d) Empowerment evaluation as strategies of empowering women.

These different strategies are not independent and exclusive but used interactively.

a) Empowerment of women through DWCRA/SHG approach

Government Policies and Women Empowerment Reservations- The Government of India has made structural provisions to uplift the socio-

economic condition of the Scheduled Caste, through a policy of reservations or

protective discrimination. Protective discrimination is an affirmative state action

(Lal, 1986) that promotes Sanskritisation process among the Scheduled Castes.

Scheduled Caste person changes his or her customs, ritual ideology and way of life

in the direction of higher castes (Guru, 1986). Protective discriminations have three

components:1) political reservation (articles 330 and 332), which consists in


reservation of 18% of seats for Scheduled Castes in legislative Assemblies and

Panchayats; 2) Educational reservations[articles 15(4)] and 29 that require state

and union territories to reserve for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes 20

percent of all seats in educational and technical institutions; and 3 percent job

reservations [articles 16 (4), 320 (4)] and 333 requiring 15percent and 7 percent

position to be reserved for them at all levels in government and public sector

undertaking (Shah, 1986). Reservations prevent total injustice promotes social

mobility and leads to class-consciousness among the Scheduled Castes besides

guaranteeing a minimum share (Khan, 1994).The policy of reservations has helped

mostly those who are now in the higher income groups; but only less than 5

percent in rural areas got jobs through reservations(Selvanathan, 1989). Data from

Tamil Nadu show that the Scheduled Castes Hindus are somewhat better

represented in the higher occupational categories compared to the Scheduled

Castes Christians. This might be because of the reservations policy that benefits

Hindus and not Christian Scheduled Castes (Balakrishnan, 1993). Unfortunately,

implementation of reservation policies has so far not been fully satisfactory

Scheduled Castes are conscious of the ineffectiveness of the policies of protective

discrimination of the government, since the advance of Scheduled Castes is often

blocked by stubborn social forces. The civil rights enforcement cell that is

expected to look into the non-implementation of reservations and economic

deprivations of the Scheduled Castes is more a laughing stock than a helpful

agency as it has no power to investigate and proceeds further (Khan,

1993).Besides, a long tradition of oppression and servitude makes it difficult for

The Scheduled Castes to develop in a short time the confidence they required for

the total utilization of the benefits provide by the government (Beteill, 1969).

Subharao (1982) suggests that while reservation policy is a must, it should not


impair telnet and excellence. One of the consequences of reservations, however, is

that they will accentuate the alienation of Scheduled Castes, they will continue to

be a separate category to enjoy the benefits of reservations and thus remains

integrated with the mainstream of the society (Sinha, 1986). b) Concessions To

enable the Scheduled Castes to secure professional jobs, a number of concessions

are given to them: some of these are, relaxation in age, payable fee, standard of

suitability, experience and qualification (Brochure, 1988), Chitnis (1986) suggests

that social class considerations and vested interests seem to operate imperceptibly

in the of a follow-up of the implemented scheme; lack of seriousness on the

implementing scheme or on bank to disburse quota amount leading to year-end-

rush.

Concerns and Directions of Higher Education- Strategies of Empowerment: Higher Education and the Indian Perspective-

The Indian National Policy on Education (NPE) is a landmark in the approach to

women’s education when it proclaims: ‘The Education System will play a positive

interventionist role in the empowerment of women. It will foster the development

of new values through redesigned curricula, textbooks, training and orientation of

teachers, decision makers and administrators’. The programme implementation

explains women’s empowerment through collective reflection and decision-

making. For this Higher Education needs to take responsibility for:

Cultivation of positive self-image and self-confidence;

Developing capacity for critical thinking;

Achieving group cohesion and fostering decision-making and action;

Providing women’s centers in Agricultural and Home Science Colleges;

Providing Continuing Education and Correspondence Centers for organizing

vocational and literary skills;


Revamping the Industrial Training Institutes in terms of diversification of

trades and courses, keeping in view the job potential, facilities for vocational

counseling, imparting information about credit, banking, entrepreunal

development and access to women’s technical education;

Providing Women’s Studies Research centers to identify issues and areas

and organize seminars and workshops to discuss and analyze women-related

issues and disseminate information and encourage interaction with students

and the general public through the media’;

Providing classes on legal literacy, programmes for women’s socio–

economic development delivered via media, adult education and information

and training support;

A more relevant and responsive curriculum catering to the cultural and

occupational needs of women;

Meeting the expenses of higher education for the rural, backward sections

with incentives like scholarships and frees places;

Meeting the requirement of achieving full integration of women within the

democratic and developmental efforts of the country.

Education is an end in itself as well as a means of realizing other desirable ends.

In our world of unpredictable social and technological changes, education has

taken on a particular significance as a means of understanding and coping with

such complexities. The knowledge explosion, supported by tools of information

and communication technologies, is a driving force of the Indian economy,

facilitating a better quality of life. Thus Indian Higher Education needs to reorient

itself to become more vibrant, competitive, meaningful and purposive. In the

emerging global environment, women are required to develop a more skilled

approach to cope with the rapid multiple changing environments. If Higher


Education is to thrive within contemporary realities, then there needs to be a shift

from exclusive reliance on a masculine-orientated curriculum to a more developed

market-oriented content that is comprehensively suited to the entire population.

Higher Education is a means to achieve vertical mobility which can counteract the

deep divisions that exist in society. Since access to education allows each person

the opportunity to gain an understanding of self as well as of society and its

resources, equal educational opportunities should be available to both men and

women. Equality and social access became major goals of Higher Education in

post-independence India. In 1948-49 the University Education Commission

commented that colleges should be established that would serve both men and

women simultaneously for Higher Education but, nonetheless, gender inequalities

in access to Higher Education have continued through decades. The target of

Higher Education is to provide women’s access to vocational, technical,

professional education and emergent technologies. Identification of skills and

occupations suitable for women should be based on the employment potential of

women. Over the years, these four challenges have been faced by Higher

Education:

1. To introduce more disciplines and diversity;

2. To satisfy the social demands for new options;

3. To remove gender barriers and role stereotyping;

4. To enable enrolment of women for purposes of productivity and of

empowerment

Traditional concepts acknowledge Higher Education as an instrument of personal

development, by expanding an individual’s intellectual horizons, interests and

potential for empowerment and a better quality of life. It has also been taken to be

a vehicle of social engineering that conforms people to social values. Theodore


Schultz and Mary Backer emphasized the role of Higher Education in the

transformation of human beings to human capital. With the unveiling of economic

reform policies, the role of Higher Education is being reinterpreted and redefined.

Market-promoting policies are posing a challenge to Higher Education, and are

being considered as both a driving force of economic development and the focal

point of learning in a society. Higher Education has assumed responsibility for

transmitting accumulated knowledge both cultural and scientific. The effect of

innovation and technological progress will increasingly demand competencies and

pose challenges requiring more dynamism in the course content. Higher Education

needs to be reoriented to increase women’s access to traditionally male dominated

courses and equip them to take up entrepreneurial management and leadership

roles and responsibilities. The three specific needs related to women and Higher

Education are:

1. Recognition of women as an essential human resource base of each country;

2. A strong commitment to equip women with the necessary range of

managerial skills empowering them in their decision making role;

3. Institution of a feminine leadership model suited to the needs of social

development across all sectors.

Role of Universities: Empowering Agents of Higher Education- To be effective agents of empowerment through Higher Education, universities

need to give attention to:

Mass motivation and mobilization – dissemination of information through

newsletters and other social agencies;

Literacy Promotion: preparation of training packages and development of

learning materials;


Techno–pedagogic inputs: Preparation of data based information and

transference of matter into technological display;

Network Culture: monitor activities related to women’s studies and women’s

movements and recommend better implementation.

Women and Research: The University Grants Committee has agreed to

provide part-time research associate ships to 100 girls every year

Special access for women: Women students from scheduled caste and tribes

in India will be eligible for Government schemes of scholarship, coaching

assistance and remedial classes

Globalization and Challenges of the Century- Globalization has effected changes in educational systems owing to the

introduction and exercise of technological and communication developments.

Twenty-first century India is facing a number of challenges in the field of

education. Adjustment to social demands for new options in Higher Education and

for removal of gender barriers is creating pressures on educational leaders. Higher

Education is finding it difficult to meet the challenges of a knowledge explosion,

uneven growth and inequities in policies. As a consequence, there is a fall in

standards, posing a serious threat to India’s national development. Strategies to

provide management training and research work for women are the areas which

Higher Education needs to address to promote women’s advancement and

empowerment.

Evidence of a paradigm shift from pure industrialization to an information-based

society is present. From a gender perspective, the questions that arise are:

a) Does the curriculum content promote research and gender equality?

b) Does the learning environment foster assertiveness and empowerment in

girls?


c) How will the education system foster sensitization of members towards

girls’ Higher Education and empowerment?

d) Will limited participation in humanities and social sciences help women and

society?

e) Will Higher Education help women’s transition from emancipation to

empowerment?

Conclusion- Higher Education of women plays a crucial role in releasing their energy and

creativity and enabling them to meet the complex challenges of the present world.

In acknowledging them as potential human resources, investment must be made in

developing their capacity in terms of education, skill development, and technology

transfers through technical training. Special emphasis needs to be given to

Research and Development of appropriate scaled-down occupations engaging

women in large proportions. Illiteracy and cultural barriers need to be removed

without any further delay. For women to make personal strides forward, a synergy

of effort, concentration, planning and cohesive functioning at the Higher Education

level will create possibilities of a different future. By extending women’s visibility

and their self-sustaining ability, Higher Education must train them to become

leaders with decision-making capacities to achieve the best for themselves and the

country.

References-

Arya, Anita. (2000). Indian Women – Education and Empowerment. Delhi:

Gunjan Publishing House.

Banerjee, Amita and SenRajkumar. (2006). Women and Economic

Development. Delhi: Deep and Deep Publishers.


Banerjee, Shruti. (2009). Role of Women in Development Sector. Calcutta:

Adhayanam Publishers

Budhhapriya, Sanghamitra .(1999). Women in Management. Delhi: APH

Publishing House.

Gupta, Mukta. (2003). Women and Educational Development. Mumbai:

Swarup and Son Publishers.

Korres, George M. (2010). Women’s Participation and Innovation-

Activities in a Knowledge Base Economy. Delhi: The Women Press.

Mishra, Kavita (2007). Encyclopedia of Women. Calcutta: Omega

Publishers

Ministry of Human Resources. (2003-2007). The 3rd, 4th and 5th

Educational Survey Government of India.

Poonacha, Veena and MeenaGopa. (2004). Women and Science: An

Examination of Women’s Access to and Retention in Scientific Careers.

Mumbai: SNDT Women’s University

Bright, Pritom Singh (edt)----Competition Refresher, August, 2010, New

Delhi.Hasnain, Nadeem---Indian Society and Culture, Jawahar Publishers

andDistributors, 2004.New Delhi.

Kar, P. K---Indian Society, Kalyani Publishers, 2000, Cuttack.Kidwai, A. R-

---(edt)Higher Education, issues and challenges, Viva Books,2010, New

Delhi),

Rao Shankar, C. N.----Indian Society, S.Chand& Company Ltd, 2005,

NewDelhi. **********************************************************


Paper-9

A Study of Relative Status of Multiple Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence of

Student-Teachers Madhuri R. Shah

Chhaya Goel


A Study of Relative Status of Multiple Intelligence and

Emotional Intelligence of Student-Teachers Madhuri R. Shah15

Chhaya Goel16

Introduction- Two of the significant approaches which have received increased recognition are

Howard Gardner’s (1983) on multiple intelligences (MI) and Daniel Goleman’s

(1995) on emotional intelligence (EI). It is now well accepted that when schools

attend to students’ social and emotional education, behavioral problems decrease

and academic achievement increases. There is also an enhanced quality of

relationships supporting students. Gardner’s and Goleman’s work can be described

as promoting a holistic view of children which advocates an integrated teaching-

learning-testing approach. These are important standpoints because the education

and assessment of multiple intelligence and emotional intelligences can assist in

intervention planning as a way of building upon observed weaknesses. More

specifically, teachers and school psychologists can help design plans for assessing

multiple and emotional intelligences, and integrating them into the intervention

process (Fernández & Martines, 2008).

Gardner proposed seven basic intelligences and emphasized that these are

intelligences not talents or aptitudes. Multiple Intelligence is not a set program of

fixed techniques, but a philosophy of education and an attitude toward teaching

15 Research Scholar, CASE, Department of Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, The Maharaja

Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara-390002

16 Professor, CASE, Department of Education, Faculty of Education and Psychology, The Maharaja Sayajirao

University of Baroda, Vadodara-390002


and learning. The basic idea of this theory is to support that human brain has

various areas responsible for various kinds of intelligences and these intelligences

can be measured. The separate scores obtained through this measurement are

useful to understand various human abilities, and its implication in Education

(Gangal & Singh, 2012). Science has discovered tremendously about the role emotions play in our lives.

Researchers have found that even more than IQ, our emotional awareness and

abilities to handle feelings determine our success and happiness in all walks of life,

including family relationships.

History of Intelligence- Over the years there have been numerous attempts to answer the twin question,

namely, what is intelligence and how can this be measured. For well over two

thousand years, at least since the rise of Greek City-State, a certain set of ideas of

mental powers- capacities has been discussed. Many theories were proposed in

order to develop proper understanding of intelligence. Among these theories,

‘Faculty theory’ by Alfred Binet (1916), Spearman’s ‘Two factor theories of

Intelligence’, L. L. Thurston’s ‘Primary Mental Abilities’ and ‘Structure of

intelligence theory’ by J.P. Guilford (1967) were much popular and discoursed.

Theory by Thurston and Guilford attempted to describe mental abilities more

comprehensively.

After this, by extensive research work in developmental psychology and

neuropsychology, Howard Gardner proposed a “Theory of Multiple Intelligence”.

The roots of Multiple Intelligence (MI) can be traced to France in 1904 when the

Minister of Public Instruction and a group of colleagues developed the first

intelligence test to identify students in primary grades who might be "at risk" for

failure. They created the "IQ" test which was thought to measure "intelligence"


objectively. Eighty years later Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner challenged

this belief. He suggested that our culture had defined intelligence too narrowly, and

proposed the existence of several basic intelligences. He sought to broaden the

accepted view of human potential beyond the confines of the IQ score. (Brantley,

2002).

When seen in the light of theory by Thrust one, there are certain similarities

between theory of Multiple Intelligence by Gardner with Primary Mental Abilities.

Here, Thurston’s mental abilities like, verbal fluency, spatial visualization, number,

etc are equivalent with Gardner’s linguistic, visual, mathematical intelligences

respectively.

In 1990, researchers Jack Mayer, Peter Salovey and their colleagues published two

articles that introduced the term ‘Emotional Intelligence’ itself into mainstream

American psychology. And then, in 1995, came psychology journalist Daniel

Goleman’s best seller Emotional Intelligence. Goleman brought together the

existing body of Emotional Intelligence research with an introduction to how

emotion works in the brain, and added some practical examples of how ‘Emotional

Intelligence’ was being cultivated in schools and workplaces around the USA. In

this 1995 version, Goleman cherry-picked bits of both Gardner’s and Mayer and

Salovey’s definitions to put together his own version of Emotional Intelligence,

comprising knowing one’s emotions, managing one’s emotions, motivating oneself,

recognizing emotions in others, and handling relationships skillfully (Clavton,

2005).

Theory of Multiple Intelligence- Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory was first

published in Howard Gardner's book, Frames Of Mind

(1983), and quickly became established as a classical

Howard Gardner


model by which to understand and teach many aspects of human intelligence,

learning style, personality and behaviour - in education and industry. Howard

Gardner initially developed his ideas and theory on multiple intelligences as a

contribution to psychology; however Gardner's theory was soon embraced by

education, teaching and training communities, for whom the appeal was immediate

and irresistible - a sure sign that Gardner had created a classic reference work and

learning model. Types of Multiple Intelligence- Initially, seven different types of multiple intelligence were given by Howerd

Gardner. Than other three type of multiple intelligence that is Naturalistic

intelligence, Spiritual intelligence and Existential Intelligence added. Types of

multiple intelligence are as follows: Linguistic Intelligence: To think in words and to use language to express and

understand complex meanings. Sensitivity to the meaning of words and the order

among words, sounds, rhythms, inflections. To reflect on the use of language in

everyday life. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: To think of cause and effect connections and

to understand relationships among actions, objects or ideas. To calculate, quantify

or consider propositions and perform complex mathematical or logical operations. It

involves inductive and deductive reasoning skills as well as critical and creative

problem-solving. Kinesthetic Intelligence: To think in movements and to use the body in skilled and

complicated ways for expressive and goal directed activities. A sense of timing,

coordination for whole body movement and the use of hands for manipulating

objects.


Musical Intelligence: To think in sounds, rhythms, melodies and rhymes. To be

sensitive to pitch, rhythm, timbre and tone. To recognize, create and reproduce

music by using an instrument or voice. Active listening and a strong connection

between music and emotions. Spatial Intelligence: To think in pictures and to perceive the visual world

accurately. To think in three-dimensions and to transform one's perceptions and re-

create aspects of one's visual experience via imagination. To work with objects

effectively. Interpersonal Intelligence: To think about and understand another person. To have

empathy and recognize distinctions among people and to appreciate their

perspectives with sensitivity to their motives, moods and intentions. It involves

interacting effectively with one or more people in familiar, casual or working

circumstances.

Intrapersonal Intelligence: To think about and understand one's self. To be aware

of one's strengths and weaknesses and to plan effectively to achieve personal goals.

Reflecting on and monitoring one’s thoughts and feelings and regulating them

effectively. The ability to monitor one's self in interpersonal relationships and to act

with personal efficacy. Naturalist Intelligence: To understand the natural world including plants, animals

and scientific studies. To recognize, name and classify individuals, species and

ecological relationships. To interact effectively with living creatures and discern

patterns of life and natural forces. Existential Intelligence: This intelligence is the newcomer among all above

mentioned intelligence. It is the ability to recognize, share, uphold and impact

values (religious, social, human) of life. This is concerned with humans living and


not merely existing. Those with this intelligence enjoy reading philosophical

writings and find that learning is done more easily by using real world experiences. Spiritual Intelligence: Spiritual intelligence is the intelligence to connect the self

with all, becoming universal being, along with this transcending time-space-body-

mind, gaining as much knowledge as feasible with this life, cleansing the self &

becoming integral with the whole with wholistic submission & full immersion. Nine of the ten types of multiple intelligence expressed above are depicted in the

following figure (source: http://bestcareermatch.com/files/2011/08/multiple-

intelligences-lrg-top-clearest.gif):

Theory of Emotional Intelligence- Emotional Intelligence is a way of recognizing,

understanding, and choosing how we think, feel, and act. It

Denial Goleman


shapes our interactions with others and our understanding of ourselves. It defines

how and what we learn; it allows us to set priorities; it determines the majority of

our daily actions. Research suggests it is responsible for as much as 80% of the

"success" in our lives". Often referred to as EI, Emotional intelligence is about

having the ability to understand and manage the emotions of yourself and also

those around you. Remember, the objective of a leader is to complete the task

successfully, keep the team together and manage the team on an individual basis to

ensure everyone is happy and playing to their strengths.

The Mayer and Salovey Model of Emotional Intelligence- Mayer and Salovey’s ability model of emotional intelligence (Mayer & Salovey,

1990) focuses exclusively on the emotional processing of information and studies

the abilities related to this processing. This theory defines EI as someone’s ability

to attend to and perceive emotions appropriately and accurately, their ability to

assimilate and understand these emotions properly, and the skills involved in

regulating and modifying their own or others’ affect. More precisely, these

authors define EI as follows: “Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive

emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand

emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to

promote emotional and intellectual growth”.

The mental ability model of EI consists of four major components:

Perceiving Emotions;

Using Emotions;

Understanding Emotions;

Managing Emotions

These all major components of this model describe below in brief:


Branch Name Description of Skills Involved

Perceiving Emotions The ability to perceive emotions in oneself and

others as well as in objects, art, stories, music, and

other stimuli

Using Emotions The ability to generate, use, and feel emotion as

necessary to communicate feelings or employ them

in other cognitive processes

Understanding

Emotions

The ability to understand emotional information, to

understand how emotions combine and progress

through relationship transitions, and to appreciate

such emotional meanings

Managing Emotions The ability to be open to feelings, and to modulate

them in oneself and others so as to promote

personal understanding and growth

These abilities are linked so that, to regulate emotions properly, a good

understanding of these emotions is necessary; at the same time, a good

understanding of emotions requires the skill to perceive emotions accurately.

However, the opposite is not always true. People with a great ability to perceive

emotions may lack understanding and regulation of emotions. This ability may be

self-used (personal competence or intrapersonal intelligence) or may be used on

others (social competence or interpersonal intelligence). In this sense, EI differs

from social intelligence and from social abilities since EI comprises self-emotions,

private emotions that are important for personal growth and for emotional

adjustment.


Multiple intelligences and Emotional intelligence in Education- The primary intent for developing MI theory was to chart the evolution and

topography of the human mind, not to prescribe educational practice. Nonetheless,

MI theory has been discussed widely in the educational field and has been

particularly influential in elementary education, where it has provided a useful

framework for improving school-based practice in the areas of curricula,

instruction, and assessment (Elias & Arnold, 2006).

From an MI perspective, curricula, particularly for young children, should

encompass a broad range of subject areas that include (but go beyond) reading,

writing, and arithmetic, because all intelligences are equally valuable. The visual

arts, for example, are a serious domain in and of themselves, and not just as a

means to improve reading scores. According to MI theory, the talented artist is just

as intelligent as the excellent reader, and each has an important place in society.

In The Disciplined Mind, Gardner cautions that an authentic MI-based approach

goes beyond conveying factual knowledge about various domains: He stresses the

importance of promoting in-depth exploration and real understanding of key

concepts essential to a domain.

An inspirational classroom is characterized by hope, respect, and a sense of

community, and creates a climate capable of unleashing positive energy, unified

spirit, and cooperation. Effective learning is not built on domination but on people

working together toward common goals. Recognize the value of students’

contributions and encourage their participation. When conflict arises, remember

that it is often self-perpetuating and the perceived cause for conflict is rarely the

issue. Effective conflict resolution requires emotional intelligence skills in the

teacher as well, so again, successful self-integration of these skills is of utmost

importance.


Education continues to struggle with the fragmentation of the learning process in

our current objectivist climate. Encouraging emotional intelligence in the

classroom offers the potential to heal this rift because EI acknowledges the

emotional influences on learning. When students are better able to express

authentic feelings, not just emotional reactions, then real learning can begin.

According to Goleman, childhood is "a special window of opportunity for shaping

children's emotional habits." We must help children recognize and understand their

emotions and the emotions of others. (Davie, 2008). If we challenge the traditional

models of pedagogy, a paradigm shift from education as a path to successful

accumulation to a path of enriched possibilities will occur.

Specification of the problem- Statement of the problem-

“A Study of Relative Status of Multiple Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence of

Student- Teachers”

Objectives of the Study-

1) To study multiple intelligence and emotional intelligence of student

teachers.

2) To compare status of multiple intelligence and emotional intelligence

of student teachers.

Operationalization of the terms-

Multiple Intelligence: The scores obtained from Multiple Intelligence Inventory

for Adults can be considered to be multiple intelligence of that particular student

teacher. Here, nine set of scores for each of intelligence is obtained. Among nine

score the highest and lowest score of any one or more intelligence gives an idea

about which intelligence is more prominent and which one is least respectively.


Emotional intelligence: The scores obtained through Emotional Intelligence Test

is showing amount of emotional intelligence of an individual. Higher score

indicates more emotional intelligence and lower score indicating less emotional

intelligence.

Relative status: Correlation between Multiple intelligence scores and Emotional

Intelligence scores indicating how far these two are interrelated and weather this

relation is significant or not.

Delimitation of study-

This study was delimited to students perusing B.Ed. course in The Maharaja

Sayajirao University of Baroda of Vadodara city during the year 2012-2013.

Hypothesis of the Study-

There will be no significance difference between mean scores of student teacher

with respect to their emotional intelligence and multiple intelligence.

Methodology- Design of the study-

As per the objectives of study, the investigator adopted correlational study. The

scores obtained by Multiple Intelligence Inventory for Adults and Emotional

Intelligence Test were correlated by establishing one to one correlation among

each set of scores.

Population-

The population for present study consists of all the B.Ed. colleges 2012-2013 of

Vadodara city. All the student teachers of these B. Ed. Colleges constitute

population.

Sample-

All the student teachers of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda pursuing

B.Ed. constituted the sample for the present study. Purposive sampling technique


was employed for sample selection. All 155 student teachers constituted sample of

study.

Tools for Data Collection-

In order to collect the requisite data for the study, the following tools were used:

Multiple Intelligence Inventory for Adults

This tool was prepared by Armstrong in 2000. It serves the purpose of measuring

all aspects of multiple intelligence except spiritual intelligence. Scores obtained

through this test will indicate the level of each of the type of multiple intelligence.

Here, different nine sets of scores were obtained. This tool contains 90 items, so,

there are 10 items for each type of multiple intelligence. The respondent have to

choose either ‘yes’ if statement is applicable on them or ‘no’ if not applicable. The

total number of ‘yes’ responses would be the final score of respondent.

Emotional Intelligence Test

This emotional intelligence test used to evaluate several aspects of person’s

emotional intelligence. This test was developed by a team of experienced

developers led by Ilona Jerabek (1996). This emotional intelligence test was used

to evaluate several aspects of emotional intelligence like, Emotional Facilitation of

Thought, Emotional Management, Emotional Perception, Identification, and

Expression. This test is of 5 point scale contains 145 items. For allotting score to

each of the item of test, researcher had taken care of positive and negative polarity

of each statement. Each test is well researched and developed according to APA

(American Psychological Association) standards for educational and psychological

testing. All the tests on Queendom.com that carry the “Scientifically Validated”

seal are professionally developed and based on a thorough statistical analysis. As

both the tools are fulfilling purpose of study and ensuring its appropriateness the

researcher utilized these tools for data collection.


Data collection-

For collection of data the investigator personally visited Department of Education,

The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and administered both the tools. As

one Emotional intelligence test have 145 items and Multiple intelligence inventory

for adults have 90 items, which requires minimum 3 hours to fill it up, planning for

data collection was done in advance by taking care of availability of time and

maximum number of student teachers.

Data analysis-

The objective-wise data analysis techniques are given in the table below:

Objectives Data Analysis Technique

(1) To study multiple intelligence

and emotional intelligence of

student teachers.

Descriptive Statistics

(mean, median, mode,

minimum score, maximum

score)

(2) To find out correlation between

scores of student teachers

obtained by multiple intelligence

and emotional intelligence test.

t- test, Pearson’s Product

Moment Correlation

Steps of Data Analysis-

1. All the data were represented in tabular form for its statistical analysis.

2. All data were sorted out in different table on basis of its variable.

3. T-test is employed to test level of significance at both 0.01 and 0.05 levels

to test null hypotheses.


4. Overall product moment correlation of all data was found out to check

relative status of each of the multiple intelligence with emotional

intelligence.

5. After the statistical analysis of these data, results are interpreted and on

basis of this investigator had arrived at certain findings.

Findings of the Present Study- As a result of data analysis certain findings can be drawn. These findings were

merely on the basis of calculated value of central tendencies, student’s t-test and

product moment correlation.

The mean score of multiple intelligence score reveals that all kinds of

multiple intelligences are equally distributed among group of student

teachers. As the means of all types of MI are almost similar, not a single

kind of intelligence was found to be predominant.

The values of standard deviation of all aspects of multiple intelligence are

negligibly differing for all kinds of multiple intelligences. So, on basis of

this finding it can be interpreted that wide range of variation was not found

with regard to aspects of multiple intelligences. Thus, group is homogenous

with regard to this aspect.

On basis of mean scores of multiple intelligence (MI) and emotional

intelligence (EI), it can be interpreted that there is no much difference found

in mean scores of multiple intelligences of student teachers from science,

commerce and arts stream.

The result of correlation of EI calculated with each of the aspects of MI. It

was found that emotional intelligence is low positively correlated with

Linguistic Intelligence, Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Spatial


Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence,

Existential Intelligence.

It is not surprising that the higher a person’s linguistic skill the more

assertive and interpersonally sensitive to feelings they might be. Having

language skills for expressing one’s feelings and moods likewise makes

sense when we think of the power of poetry, storytelling and social

communication.

The low positive correlations (r= 0.13) among several EI scales and Logical-

mathematical intelligence reinforce the idea that effective calculating and

problem solving are also enhanced by skillful emotional self-management,

stress tolerance and adaptability.

Moreover, Musical Intelligence, Interpersonal Intelligence and Naturalistic

Intelligence found to be low negative correlation with emotional

intelligence. A somewhat surprising finding is that emotional intelligence is

showing low negative correlated with Interpersonal (r= -0.06) followed by

its low positive correlation with Intrapersonal at r=0.02. These values

reinforce the idea that emotional intelligence is less correlated with the

strength of one’s self-understanding awareness.

Discussion and Conclusion- Individual lives in a world full of different complications and external demands.

This continuous flooding of stimuli makes them utilizes different abilities, which

help them to live and work intelligently. While interacting with external stimuli,

individuals happen to use multiple kinds of intelligences, excelling in one and

failing in other. In his influential book, Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner (1993)

challenged this prevailing model of a singular, unitary intelligence to include many

skills and abilities not typically identified and valued as “intelligent” in popular


culture as well as in the fields of education and psychology. Gardner’s new

definition of intelligence fundamentally broadens the scope of mental and

behavioral performances that need to be considered as part of our intellectual

repertoire.

With the established relationship of emotional intelligence skills and academic

achievement, students would benefit from learning and applying emotional

intelligence skills to improve academic performance in school and college settings.

With new research evidence linking emotional intelligence to instructional

performance and as a factor in teacher retention, pre-service, new, and novice

teachers could benefit from learning and using emotional intelligence skills for

personal and professional development.

One study by Shearer (2006) found out that, the MI Intrapersonal scale displays the

greatest number of significant correlations with all of the EQI main scales. The

EQI Intrapersonal and General Mood scales also display many significant

correlations with nearly all of the MI scales, except Music and Naturalist. These

results suggest that emotional competence is a function of both Intra and

Interpersonal skills. As predicted, the Intrapersonal and Interpersonal scales for

both measures are the strongest correlations with each other (r=.39 and r=.55,

respectively). However, as per present study, it has been found out that there is

negative correlation found between emotional intelligence and Interpersonal

Intelligence, which is mismatch with study by Shearer (2006) and is quite

unpredictable.

As per other findings of Shearer (2006) anticipated, there are very few significant

EQI main scale correlations with the Naturalist, Spatial, Kinesthetic and Musical

scales. The overall pattern of correlations among the eight MI scales and the 23

EQI scales is congruent with theoretical expectations, e.g., the most correlations


and the strongest are with the Intra and Interpersonal scales and no correlations are

strong enough with the other scales to be considered theoretically inconsistent

(Musical, Kinesthetic, etc.). Investigator also found low negative correlation of EI

with Musical and Naturalistic Intelligence but again there is controversy found

with regard to correlation of EI with Spatial and Kinesthetic Intelligence.

The overall conclusion by an investigator shows that strengths and patterns of

these findings support the theoretical expectation that emotional self-awareness

and management are components of Intrapersonal self-understanding. Howard

Gardner’s definition of Intrapersonal intelligence includes three main aspects,

cognitive, affective and behavioral. The Emotional Intelligence concept represents

one aspect of Intrapersonal intelligence. One’s general mood and ability to manage

stress and problem solve are likewise related to the degree of one’s self-

understanding. Second, the ability to recognize the feelings of other people is

primarily a function of one’s Interpersonal intelligence that is facilitated by

Linguistic skill. Skill in managing relationships with other people is also a factor in

one’s overall mood and emotional well-being.

Recommendations for Future Research- The current study is only the beginning of a larger programme to study the role of

Emotional Intelligence and Multiple Intelligence in Educational Institutions. The

findings of the study have provided valuable insights about variables that affect

various aspects of multiple intelligence and emotional intelligence of the student

teachers. However, additional research is needed to fill in the gaps of study and to

broaden the understanding of the factors, which contribute in the development and

management of emotional intelligence and multiple intelligence. The present

research is limited by its reliance on mere comparison of scores obtained on

multiple intelligence inventory for adults and emotional intelligence test, which


can be extended by using other aspects of intelligences like creativity, intelligence

quotient, life skills, socio-emotional intelligence, etc. It can be yield valuable

information about their correlations with each other. It would be interesting to

collect data using other data collection techniques like observation, projective

techniques and other tools like anecdotal records, etc.

Implications of Findings of Study and Conclusion- The current study has produced some important results that have implications for

both educational and real life practices. It helps us in understanding the level of

development of both cognitive and affective domains of teachers which further can

be enhanced by them for their professional and personal growth. The knowledge

regarding this can be transfer through them to next generations as they have to deal

with children who are future of our nation. But prior to that knowing about our

own intelligences is very important.

Intelligence of a person directly affects their achievements and way of performing

various tasks. There are various study (few included in reviews) signifies that the

preposition that multiple intelligence is strongly related to the academic

performance of the students. This has implications for educators, who can

distinguish low performing students from high ones and can particularly focus on

the development and management of emotional and multiple intelligence by

designing and incorporating certain programmes in curriculum.

This study also has implications for educational institutions and schools who

recruit fresh graduates (in education as well as other fields) for entry level jobs.

Institutions and organizations could profit by identifying the soft skills (which has

both emotional and social components) that they require for a particular position.

This could help them assigning work and duties to suitable employees. For


instances, if a teacher who is low in interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence,

might not be kept as a counselor in school.

Finally, in brief the concluding remarks for present study are, there is low positive

correlation found between emotional intelligence and Linguistic Intelligence,

Logical-Mathematical Intelligence, Spatial Intelligence, Bodily-Kinesthetic

Intelligence, Intrapersonal Intelligence, Existential Intelligence. The concept of

Emotional intelligence in the Indian context is embedded in its highly valued social

concerns, virtues, religious, traditions and cultural practices. The level of

emotional intelligence is not fixed genetically nor does it develop in the early

childhood. Children who are in the elastic period of their life are easily influenced

by their teacher. Emotionally intelligence teacher can produce emotionally

intelligence citizens. Teachers, who can perceive, integrate, understand and

manage the emotion of their own and of others as well as mere successful in class,

school, college and working with other people (Farooq, 2003).

Teachers should help the children to express their emotions freely in the

classrooms and also at homes. This may helpful to create self – confidence in

children. Curriculum of secondary and higher secondary school should be modified

so that lessons relating to multiple intelligence, emotional and social skills are

given importance in the activities. Teachers and parents can play an important role

in the developing emotional intelligence. Therefore they should be role models; by

observing these role models children gradually learn to analyze and copy with.

Every teacher and school personnel should be trained to behave with emotional

intelligence to make their life free from all type of stresses.

Reference –

Armstrong, T. (2000). Multiple Intelligences in the Classroom (2nd Ed.).


Bara, D. (2005) A study of the development and implication of an

instrumental strategy incorporating the theory of multiple intelligence

(Unpublished Ph.D. thesis). The Maharaja Sayajirao University of

Baroda, Vadodara: CASE.

Brantley, P. (2002). A model of school improvement. Journal of Adventist

Education. North American Division Board of Education. Retrieved from:

http://www.journeytoexcellence.org

Clavton, G. (2005). An intelligent look at Emotional Intelligence. The

Association of Teachers and Lecturers (Teaching to Learn campaign),

University of Bristol, London. Retrieved from: http://www.atl.org.uk/

Images/Emotional%20intelligence.pdf

Davie, L. (2008). Emotional Intelligence: An Essential Component of

Education. Retrieved from

http://www.kellybear.com/TeacherArticles/TeacherTip3.html

Elias, M. J. & Arnold, H. (2006). The Educator’s guide to emotional

intelligence and academic achievement: Socio-emotional learning in

classroom. California: SAGE Publications company.

Farooq, A. (2003). Effect of Emotional intelligence on Academic

performance. (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis). Institute of Clinical psychology,

University of Karachi, Pakistan. Retrieved from:

Fernández, P.B. & Martines, D. (2008). Assessment of Emotional and

Multiple Intelligences. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/upm-

data/22974_Chapter3.pdf

Gangal, M. K. & Singh, J. (2012). A Study of Emotional Intelligence of

Teacher Trainees of Meerut City. International Journal Of Behavioral Social


And Movement Sciences, 2(2), 99-106. Retrieved from

http://www.ijobsms.in/v1s2p12.pdfx.pdf

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence.

New York: Basic Books

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.

Jerabek, I. (1996). Emotional Intelligence Test. Retrieved

fromhttp://www.queendom.com/ queendom_tests/transfer

Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D. (1990) Emotional intelligence. Baywood

Publishing Co., Inc. Retrieved from

http://www.unh.edu/emotional_intelligence/EI%20Assets

/Reprints.EI%20Proper /EI1990%20Emotional%20Intelligence.pdf

Shearer, C. B. (2006). Exploring The Relationship Among The Multiple

Intelligences and Emotional Intelligence, Kent State University. MI

Research and Consulting, Inc. Retrieved from

http://www.MIResearch.org/research.php

Thurstone, L. L. (1938). Primary Mental Abilities. USA: The University of

Chicago Press.

Williams, B. R. (2002). Multiple Intelligence: For Differentiated Learning.

USA: SAGE Publications Ltd ******************************************************************


Paper-10

Tourism and Globalization Kapil Shanker Tiwari


Tourism and Globalization Kapil Shanker Tiwari17

Abstract The tourism sector is one of the exemplars of the phenomenon of globalization.

This is due to the geographical scale of the industry, increased spatial linkages

between places and people from different locations. The purpose of this paper is to

evaluate the extent to which tourism globalization had impacted on various

countries. The paper submits that some countries have indeed increased their

revenues and foreign currency earnings, created employment, brought new

technology, and improved their tourism facilities and services to meet international

standards. Globalization has created respect for different countries cultures and

contributed to the protection of historical monuments and natural environments.

The paper notes the role of technological improvements in transportation and

telecommunications in making global travel shrink in terms of time and distance.

However, the paper notes that globalization has also brought negative impacts to

few countries. These include financial leakages, price increases, natural disasters

and a change in some countries cultural values. The paper concludes that the

world is in the era of globalization and that the phenomenon is here to stay.

Therefore, the paper recommends that countries should closely monitor the

negative impacts of globalization while continuing to reap the benefits that accrue

from tourism globalization.

Key words- Globalization, spatial linkages, natural disaster, multinational

corporations, vertical and horizontal mergers. 17 Mobile: 8601090128, Email: [email protected]


Introduction- All through the last decade, the tourism industry has seen many noteworthy

changes that will have a momentous impact on potential tourist demand. On the

one hand, the rise of e-tourism, the democratization of travel and the tendency to

book and to make up one’s trip online rather than to buy a standard tourist package

proposed by a tour operator, stood out with regard to the new traveler’s

preferences.

Where as on its contrary, many of the challenges like natural disasters such as

tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes as well as health issues, such as

avian and swine influenza, have changed our perception of holiday and leisure.

Therefore, it would be fascinating to hypothesize about the future trends in travel

that we can expect to see over the next decades.

New Emerging Inbound Destinations- Eastern Europe, with many countries amalgamation the EU, Asia and South

America will play a major role as leading inbound destinations since they excite

and arouse the interest of many travelers. On the other hand, North Africa is

threatened with a decline if it does not innovate and diversify its tourism product.

We can predict that competition between destinations is going to be fiercer in the

future. Each country should therefore look for a competitive advantage that it can

develop and exploit.

New Emerging Outbound Markets- Among the biggest emerging outbound markets, we can cite here China and India

with over a billion people each, many of which are starting to travel

internationally. If we look, for instance, at the number of Chinese people who

traveled abroad, it rose considerably between 2010 (34,524 million travelers) and

2012 (57,386 million travelers) thus marking a 66 per cent increase over the two


years. This implies that inbound destinations interested in those promising markets

should get prepared for this large influx by-

Improving their infrastructure, mainly road and airport infrastructures;

Preparing communication media in relevant languages;

Ensuring better air connections by seeking common ground with other

airline companies or Tour-Operators;

Initiating in-depth studies on tourists’ travel needs from those markets.

Green Tourism- Green tourism, also known as nature-based tourism or sustainable tourism, is in

great demand and will continue its growth in the future since many travelers are

now aware of the negative impact tourism might have on the environment and

have, therefore, become more responsible with regard to sustainability.

Climate Change and Alternative Future Transport- When thinking of the warming of the planet, the erratic weather patterns and the

natural disasters that will likely occur and are occurring already, we can describe

global climate change as one of the worst disasters to hit the humanity.

Furthermore, destinations should expect climate change to have an impact on

tourists’ purchasing trends. We will gradually see new means of transport gaining

ground to the detriment of air traffic: Will tourists be willing to fly across the

ocean if they consider the carbon footprint of their flights?

Travelers may opt for journeys made by train, boat or coaches especially that these

modes are nowadays offering more comfort, great web accessibility and timetables

suitability. In addition, shorter trips within the same continent or the same

geographical region will more likely outweigh the long ones.


Travel with a Mission- Another important future trend is travels that incorporate an added-value rather

than just a classic lazy sun and see vacation: Many travelers are nowadays looking

for real travel experiences that enrich their culture and let them live and feel the

authenticity. Furthermore, they seek out travels that involve volunteering (e.g.

providing support to a population in need, humanitarian actions, etc.) or that

include a particular mission, for instance, learning a new language, exploring new

culinary techniques, attending a seminar, a concert or an event, etc. As a result,

tour operators are now becoming specialists rather than generalists: Some are

positioned as experts in golf vacations while others are specialized in cultural tours

and so on. Social Media- Social media includes web-based and mobile technologies used to turn

communication into interactive dialogue between organizations, communities and

individuals. The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented rise of social media in

many different forms: Collaborative projects (e.g. Wikipedia), blogs and micro-

blogs (e.g. twitter), content communities (e.g. You Tube), social networking sites

(e.g. Facebook), etc. Businesses currently refer to social media as consumer-

generated media since they are relatively inexpensive and accessible to anyone

compared to industrial or traditional media. In the US, for example, social

networking now accounts for 22 per cent of all time spent online.

However, if destinations or tourism authorities decide to use these online platforms

to make promotions or to bring updates, it is crucial that they understand how to

deal with social media to become effective influencers and thus cleverly pass the

desired message to public. Furthermore, organizations should always bear in mind

that people are nowadays resistant to marketing in general and especially to direct


social marketing and hence they should find better tricks to be socially powerful.

Some studies came up to these organizations with two important suggestions:

Either to establish themselves as “experts” in a particular field or area, thereby

become influencers in that particular field or area, or try to gain trust and

credibility as most people prefer to learn from other people like them who share

their experiences rather than from marketers.

Safety and Security- Tourism is very different from what it was prior to the notable terrorist and

criminal attacks the world has recently witnessed. Modern tourism is a

multifaceted and complex industry involving many stakeholders. Safety and

security need, therefore, to be priorities for any tourism destination. Furthermore,

policies and practices that protect both tourists and locals, and also that address

how a crisis should be managed if the need arises are an essential component of

tourism development. To reach the safety goal, governments should work on the

implementation of an action plan that may include the following-

Devoting special and sufficient budgets for safety issues: There is a common

perception, especially in developing countries, that governments want

tourists to receive extraordinary services within the confines of ordinary

budgets. As a result, law enforcement agencies generally suffer from a lack

of funding, manpower shortages and low-morale staff due in part to low pay

and lack of resources.

Involving all stakeholders in crime prevention programmes (e.g. hoteliers,

airline companies, the local population, transportation agencies, restaurants,

bars, taxi drivers, etc.) since safety is everyone’s responsibility. This can be

achieved through a better coordination between stakeholders as well as

through appropriate planning and awareness campaigns.


Security professional tourism training: Security professionals, who work in

tourism areas, need to be sensitive to the special needs of the transient

person. In fact, they need to know how to reduce crimes’ probability and

how to comfort the tourist if he/she is a victim of a crime.

Property inspections with minimal safety standard: it is often easier to

prevent a crime than to deal with it post facto.

In brief, as today’s tourists seek places that are safe and secure, countries

should continue to get heavily involved in developing policies that protect

their population and visitors from perceived unsafe situations.

Workforce Development- The success of the tourism and hospitality sector is based on the continually

evolving challenge of “selling the intangible”. Thus, the human factor is of an

increased importance. If we look, for instance, at destinations and companies

selling tourism services, they are struggling to differentiate themselves beyond just

the physical product. In other words, it is the human element that creates their

competitive advantage and what makes or breaks a tourism experience.

Nevertheless, due to the large human resource needs of the tourism industry, there

is often a lack of qualified employees available to the industry. Destinations that

want to consolidate their positions in the future world travel market should then

work hard on upgrading their workforce. This can be achieved by-

Developing a sustainable workforce, either through education and training of

their own workforce, or through migration policies.

Implementing appropriate educational policies for all tourism organizations

(hotels, amusement parks, restaurants, bars, etc.). These policies should be

designed and developed by relevant tourism entities within the government


and not by other entities, as in some instances, educational policies are set by

the ministry of education!

Creating human resource councils that address the needs of the tourism

sector at a local, regional or national level and aiming at reducing the gap

between what is offered and what is needed, and focusing on quality control

and related issues.

Conclusion- This analysis clearly highlights that destinations seeking to maintain or strengthen

their position in the future world of travel should start working on a long-term

action plan comprising a set of strategies that comply with these eight trends. In

any case, the above study deserves a deep reflexion as it might spark other ideas

and create interesting debates.

References-

Author: Kingsbury P, 2005. Jamaican tourism and the politics of enjoyment.

Geoforum, 36: 113–132. CrossRef

Author: Knowles T, Diamantis D, El-Mourhabi J B, 2004. The Globalization

of Tourism and Hospitality: A Strategic Perspective (2nd ed.). London, New

York: Continuum, Insbes.

Author: Liu A, Wall G, 2006. Planning tourism employment: a developing

country perspective. Tourism Management, 27(1): 159–170.

Author: Macleod D V L, 2004. Tourism, Globalisation and Cultural Change:

An Island Community Perspective. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.

Author: Mbaiwa J E, 2005. Enclave tourism and its socio-economic impacts

in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Tourism Management, 26(2): 157–172.

CrossRef


Author: Reid D G, 2003. Tourism, Globalization & Development:

Responsible Tourism Planning. London: Pluto Press.

UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization), 2005. Tourism,

Microfinance and Poverty Alleviation. Madrid: UNWTO.

http://www.vault.com/industries-professions/industries/hospitality.aspx

http://sbr.com.sg/hr-education/news/singapore-companies-freak-out-amid-

stiffer foreign-labour-rules

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/JBRVLcYwDXQAUshcxevfyL/Skille

d-manpower-shortage-threat-to-hotel-industry-growth.html

http://www.publishingindia.com/ijhts/24/trends-and-practices-in-hospitality-

and-tourism-research-a-selected-study-from-international journals/298/2191/

Author: - Michael Riley, Adele Ladkin, Edith Szivas 2002 Tourism

Employment: Analysis and Planning **********************************************************


Paper-11 Perception of University Students about

Constructivist Classroom Learning Environment Dr. Sarat Kumar Rout

Mr. Kulamani Sahoo

Mamata Rani Panda


Perception of University Students about Constructivist

Classroom Learning Environment Dr. Sarat Kumar Rout18

Mr. Kulamani Sahoo19

Mamata Rani Panda20

Background of the Study- Constructivist theory promotes student learning by creating learning environments

that directly expose the learners to the things being studied. Experiencing the world

directly, the learners can derive meaning with pleasure from them. This gives

ample access to the view that constructivist learning takes place within a suitable

constructivist learning environment (CLE). One of the central tenants of all

constructivist learning is that it has to be an active process (Tam, 2000); therefore,

any CLE must provide the opportunity for active learning. Tam (2000) lists the

following four basic characteristics of CLEs, which must be considered when

implementing constructivist instructional strategies: knowledge will be shared

between teachers and students, teachers and students will share authority, teacher’s

role is one of a facilitator or guide and learning groups will consist of small

numbers of heterogeneous students.

Learning environment refers to the social, psychological and pedagogical contexts

in which learning occurs and which affects student achievement and attitudes

(Fraser, 1998). In constructivist learning environments, content, instructional

18 Lecturer, Department of Education, Ravenshaw University

19 Guest Lecturer, Department of Education, Ravenshaw University

20 Research Scholar, Department of Education, Ravenshaw University


materials and pace of learning are based upon the abilities and interests of each

individual learner. Each learner is unique and ‘is an individual who must be helped

to find his or her way to become autonomous’ (Williams & L. Burden, 1998) and

learners have different learning styles, learn at different rates, have varying

socioeconomic backgrounds, and have diverse intellectual capabilities (Dileo,

2007). Researchers have revealed that students’ perceptions of their learning

environment are influenced by a great variety of factors. there are gender, subject,

grade-level, school-type, school-location (urban and rural) and ethnic-related

differences in classroom learning environments (Fraser, 1998; Huang, 2000, 2001;

Huang & Waxman, 1995a, 1995b; Waldrip & Fisher, 2000; Waxman & Huang,

1998; Wong, Young & Fraser, 1997). Goh and Fraser (1998) found that girls

generally viewed their classroom environments more favourably than boys did,

although there were differences in mathematics achievement in favour of boys.

Wierstra, Kanselaar, Linden, and Lodewijks (1999) compared Dutch students in

foreign countries and foreign students at a Dutch University, and noted that great

differences were found between the different countries in their university learning

environments. Huang and Waxman (1995b) compared the learning environments

of Asian and Anglo-American students, with 1200 in each group, and concluded

that middle school girls had more favourable perceptions than boys had. Across

both ethnic groups, girls were more involved and attentive in class, more affiliated

with their classmates, and enjoyed their mathematics class more than boys did.

Wong and Fraser (1994) similarly found that female students held more favourable

perceptions than males. Newby and Fisher (2000) proposed a two-level model

using Structural Equation Modelling and found that learning environment variables

made a significant contribution to attitudinal variables, and that these in turn made

a significant contribution to achievement variance. Furthermore, students’


perceptions of their classroom learning environments have been found to be

positively correlated with academic efficacy in a study that examined a sample of

1055 mathematics students from Australian secondary schools (Dorman, 2001).

Significance of the Study- The teacher transmits information that the learner receives. Teaching practices

focus on lecture as a means of conveying information and on the traditional paper

pencil, multiple choice type assessment. This changing landscape of education

focuses on learning, rather than on teaching and pedagogy, curriculum and

instruction. It seeks to create a generation of learners whose learning is defined as

“the ability to retain, synthesize and apply conceptually complex information in

meaningful ways” to encourage better student learning through the learning

objectives of project based learning or learning by doing and to enable problem

solving, analysis, creativity and communication to take place in the classroom.

There are many researches conducted in the area of constructivist learning

environment. Researchers’ main focus of study was on construction of information

in classroom situation. But there are very few studies conducted on constructivist

learning environment at university level. Hence, the investigators are keenly

interested in knowing about the Perception of University Students about

Constructivist Classroom Learning Environment.

Objectives of the Study- The study was undertaken with the intention to investigate the followings-

1. To study the perceptions of post-graduate students about the constructivist

classroom learning environment.

2. To study the perceptions of male and female post-graduate students about

the constructivist classroom learning environment.


3. To study the perceptions of Arts and Science post-graduate students about

constructivist classroom learning environment.

Research Question and Hypothesis –

1. What are the perceptions of Postgraduate students about the constructivist

classroom learning environment? 2. There does not exist any statistically significant difference in perception of

male and female postgraduate students about constructivist classroom

learning environment. 3. There does not exist any statistically significant difference in perception of

Arts and Science Post-graduate Students about constructivist learning

environment. The Design of the Study- Present piece of research work is descriptive survey research because the

investigators made a survey in order to study the perception of University Students

about constructive classroom learning environment.

Population-

The population of this study was consisting of all the post graduate students of

Ravenshaw University, Cuttack.

Sample-

Out of 100 post graduate students of Ravenshaw University, 50 from Arts male

and female students and other 50 from Science male and female students

constituted the sample of the study.

Tool Used-

Constructivist learning environment scale for students was developed by the

investigators to know about the information associated with their education. There


were forty two questions prepared by the investigators and administered upon the

students.

Procedure of Data Collection-

The researchers personally collected all the relevant data relating to the proposed

study with the help of constructivist learning environment scale from the arts and

science post graduate students of Ravenshaw University

Techniques of Data Analysis-

After collection of all the relevant data the investigators analyzed the data. Both

qualitative and quantitative techniques were followed to analyse and interpretation.

The perception of postgraduate students about the relevance of their classroom

interaction was examined by using the Constructive Learning Environment

perception scale. The scale included six sub dimension namely relevance,

reflection, negotiation, support, empathy and leadership. The students rated their

levels of agreement with the statements by using a five-point Likert-type scale.

Results- The first dimension of constructive learning environment is relevance which says

what extent the learning environment is relevant to students’ own experiences,

background and aspiration. The information obtained in this dimension from the

postgraduate students is presented in the table-1.

Table-1 Percentage, Mean and S.D of Perception of Postgraduate Students

about Relevance Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment


S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Relevance (%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mean S.D

1 I have interested in the learning which

is

practiced in our classroom.

80 3.52 1.09

7 Teacher teaches those things which are

right for the student.

72 3.49 1.15

13 Teacher relates students learning with

their past experiences.

42 3.01 1.39

19 At the time of teaching, teacher tells us

how to assimilate the lessons which are

taught in the class room.

67 3.29 1.03

25 Teacher tells us to concentrate the

things of our everyday life which are

related with the new things.

92 3.92 1.06

31 Teacher tells to analyse the lessons

which he has taught at first.

94 3.46 0.90

37 Teacher tells at the time of teaching,

which lessons are changeable.

41 2.74 0.97

Overall 70 3.34 1.08

As presented in above Table-1, the findings indicated that large majority of the

postgraduate students perceived that their classroom interactions as almost always


or often or many times were practical based classroom (80 %, M=3.52),

concentrate the things of everyday life which are related with the new things (92%,

M=3.92), analyse the lessons which he has taught at first (94%, M=3.46). Majority

of the postgraduate students perceived that their classroom interactions as almost

always or often or many times were relevant or appropriate to their understanding

level (72 %, M=3.49), relate among the lessons which are taught in the class room

(67 %, M=3.29). On the other hand very low percentage of postgraduate students

perceived that their classroom interaction as almost always or often or many times

were based on their past experiences (42 %, M=3.01), lessons are changeable (41,

M=2.74). However, overall a faire majority of postgraduate students (70 %,

M=3.34) revealed that their classroom learning environment were constructive.

The second dimension of constructive learning environment is reflection. It points

to the perception students about how the teachers critically reflect on the

background knowledge, new ideas, understanding and role as teacher. Data

collected in this dimension is presented in the table-2.


about Reflection Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment

S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Reflection

Dimension

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mean S.D

2 Teachers tell us to think deeply after

end of his/her teaching the lesson in

the classroom.

35 2.51 0.79

8 Teachers give us chance to relate new 93 3.84 0.81


learning with the previous learning.

14 Teachers tell us to summarize the

lessons at the time of teaching.

80 3.60 0.85

20 Teachers teach the lesson in the

classroom with the help of the

students.

98 3.93 0.32

26 Teachers give suggestions to follows

more than one book.

99 4.89 0.49

32 Teachers tell the students to compare

the two things of their lessons.

29 2.54 0.90

38 At the time of teaching, teachers give

pause to present our opinion about the

lesson.

94 4.61 0.85

Overall 75.42 3.70 .72

From the Table-2, It has been found that more than three fourth of the postgraduate

students perceived that their classroom teaching was reflective as ‘Teachers give us

chance to relate new learning with the previous learning’ (93%, M=3.84), ‘At the

time of teaching, teachers give pause to present our opinion about the lesson’ (94

%, M=4.61) ‘Teachers teach the lesson in the classroom with the help of the

students’ (98%, M=3.93), and ‘Teachers give suggestions to follows more than one

book’ (99%, M=4.89). Very few percentage of postgraduate students reported that

classroom teaching was not reflective as ‘Teachers tell us to think deeply after end

of his/her teaching the lesson in the classroom, (35%, M=2.51) and ‘Teachers tell

the students to compare the two things of their lessons’ (29%, M=2.54). But


overall a good majority of postgraduate students (75 %, M=3.70) stated that

classroom teaching was almost always or often or many times reflective.

The third dimension of constructive learning environment is negotiation which

indicates how teachers communicate ideas with other teachers and students. The

responses of postgraduate students in this dimension are presented in the table-3.


about Negotiation Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment

S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Negotiation

Dimension

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mean S.D

3 Teacher gives a chance me to present

my opinion about a particular topic.

72 3.43 0.95

9 My friends help me to clear about my

doubt in the classroom.

9 2.17 0.56

15 Teacher tells us to remember the

lesson which S/ he teaches with our

understanding.

85 3.01 0.64

21 Teacher doesn’t want that students

remembered only their lessons.

3 1.11 0.53

27 Students try to understand the more

new concepts which are teach by the

teachers in the classroom.

98 4.41 o.92

33 Teachers provide opportunities to the

students to present their lesson.

96 3.23 0.66


39 When students couldn’t follow

teacher’s teaching, then teacher

elaborate it by using different methods.

98 4.84 0.60

Overall 66 3.17 0.69

From Table-3 it is found that a very high majority of postgraduate students (more

than 96 %) agreed upon that ‘students try to understand more new concepts which

are teach by the teachers in the classroom’ (98 %, M=4.41), ‘Teachers provide

opportunities to the students to present their lesson’ ( 96 %, M=3.23) and ‘When

students couldn’t follow teacher’s teaching, then teacher elaborate it by using

different methods’ (98 %, M=4.84). Similarly, more than three fourth of the

postgraduate students perceived that ‘Teacher gives a chance me to present my

opinion about a particular topic’ (72 %, M=3.43) as well as ‘Teacher tells us to

remember the lesson which S/ he teaches with our understanding’ (85%, M=3.01).

On the other hand very low percentage of postgraduate students (less than 10 %)

stated that ‘My friends help me to clear about my doubt in the classroom’ (9 %,

M=2.17) and ‘Teacher doesn’t want that students remembered only their lessons’

(3%, M=1.11). Moderate majority of the postgraduate students (66 %, M=3.17)

reported that their classroom learning environment was cooperative and

collaborative.

The fourth dimension of constructive learning environment is leadership which

says about the leadership qualities of teachers like organisation, setting task and

holding attention. The responses of postgraduate students in this dimension have

been presented in the table-4.



about Leadership Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment

S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Leadership

Dimensio

n

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mea

n

S.D

6 Teachers encourage me to know

new information about the lesson.

85 2.92 0.42

12 Teacher focuses on the activities

which are related to the students

learning.

10 4.71 0.73

18 Teacher relates their teaching with

the students thinking.

78 3.04 0.87

24 Teachers decided the works which

are done by the students for their

learning.

7 2.59 1.19

30 When students do their work, then

teacher guide them not to do

wrong things.

13 4.62 0.82

36 Teachers give pause to present

right answers.

4 3.68 0.82

42 Teachers tell students to do their

home work correctly.

15 4.61 0.81

Overall 30 3.73 0.69


From the table-4 it may be concluded that three fourth of the postgraduate students

opined that ‘Teachers encourage me to know new information about the lesson’

(85%, M=2.92) as well as ‘Teacher relates their teaching with the students

thinking’ (78 %, M=3.04) almost always or often or many times. Where as, very

low percentage of postgraduate students informed that ‘Teachers give pause to

present right answers’ (4 %, M=3.68), ‘Teachers decided the works which are

done by the students for their learning’ (7 %, M=2.59), ‘Teacher focuses on the

activities which are related to the students learning’ (10 %, M=4.71), ‘When

students do their work, then teacher guide them not to do wrong things’ (13 %,

M=4.62) and followed by ‘Teachers tell students to do their home work correctly’

(15 %, M=4.61). Overall, low percentage of postgraduate students (30 %) stated

about the about the leadership qualities of teachers like organisation, setting task

and holding attention.

The fifth dimension of constructive learning environment is empathy which points

to perception of the way in which teacher understands, listens attentively and

shows confidence in students. The data obtained from the postgraduate students in

this dimension is presented in the table-5.


about Empathy Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment

S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Empathy

Dimension

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mean S.D

5 When I can’t understand 24 2.49 0.93


From the table 5 it is noticed that cent percent of postgraduate students remarked

that ‘Teachers identify the students, who have not understood the lessons’

(M=4.81), ‘Teacher tries to understand the student’s thinking ability’ (M=4.74)

and ‘When students don’t understand the teachers teaching, the teachers don’t

angry with them’ (M=4.73) almost always or often or many times. In the similar

way a very high majority of postgraduate students (more than three fourth)

reported that ‘Teachers believe on my opinion’ (78 %, M=3.64), ‘When students

feel some difficulty of their lessons, then teacher listen it patiently’ (81 %, M=3.65)

teacher’s teaching, at that time

the teacher look at me with full

of doubt.

11 Teachers believe on my opinion. 78 3.64 1.20

17 Teachers identify the students,

who have not understood the

lessons.

100 4.81 0.56

23 Teacher tries to understand the

student’s thinking ability.

100 4.74 0.66

29 When students don’t understand

the teachers teaching, the

teachers don’t angry with them.

100 4.73 0.66

35 When students feel some

difficulty of their lessons, then

teacher listen it patiently.

81 3.65 0.90

41 Teacher knows those things

which are difficult for us.

86 3.70 0.88

Overall 81 3.96 0.82


and ‘Teacher knows those things which are difficult for us’ (86 %, M=3.70) as

almost always or often or many times. Very low percent of teachers pointed out

that ‘When I can’t understand teacher’s teaching, at that time the teacher look at

me with full of doubt’ (24 %, M=2.49) as almost always or often or many times.

Overall a high majority of postgraduate students (81 %, M=3.96) agreed that their

teachers understand, listen attentively and show confidence in them.

The sixth dimension of constructive learning environment is support which means

the extent to which teacher assists, shows interest and inspires confidence and trust

in students. The data obtained from the postgraduate students in this dimension is

presented in the table-6.


about Support Dimension of Constructive Learning Environment

S. No.

of

Items

Statements of Support

Dimension

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mea

n

S.D

4 Teachers help us to write the

answers of the questions which are

given by them.

40 2.45 0.77

10 Teachers correct the answers

which are written by me.

98 3.20 0.63

16 Teacher tells us to gather the

knowledge about a particular

chapter from multiple sources.

100 4.80 0.58


A very high majority of postgraduate students (more than three fourth) pointed out

that ‘Teachers correct the answers which are written by me’ (98%, M=3.20),

‘Teacher tells us to gather the knowledge about a particular chapter from multiple

sources’ (100%, M=4.80), ‘When I give rectify my notes to teachers, they see it

interestingly’ (93%, M=3.54), ‘Teacher helps the students to understand their

lesson’ (98%, M=4.66). On the other hand very low majority of postgraduate

students (less than half) stated that ‘Teachers help us to write the answers of the

questions which are given by them’ (40%, M=2.45), ‘Teacher helps the students to

relate any two important things’ (31 %, M=2.56), ‘Teacher tells about the process

of synthesing the concepts and ideas of a lesson’ (21%, M=2.45) as almost always

or often or many times. Overall majority of the postgraduate students (68%,

M=3.38) revealed that teachers were almost always or often or many times assists,

shows interest and inspires confidence and trust in them.

22 Teacher helps the students to

relate any two important things.

31 2.56 0.94

28 When I give rectify my notes to

teachers, they see it interestingly.

93 3.54 0.96

34 Teacher tells about the process of

synthesing the concepts and ideas

of a lesson .

21 2.45 0.94

40 Teacher helps the students to

understand their lesson.

98 4.66 0.76

Overall 68 3.38 0.79


Table-7 Overall Percentage, Mean and S.D of Perception of Postgraduate

Students about Constructive Learning Environment Dimension wise

Fig

ure

-

1S

ho

win

g

the

Ov

era

ll

Percentage of Perception of Postgraduate Students about Constructive

Learning Environment Dimension wise

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Relevance

Reflection

Negotiation

Leadership

Empathy

Support

S. No.

Dimensions of Constructive

Learning Environment

(%) Almost

Always

+ Often +

Many times

Mea

n

S.D

1 Relevance 70 3.34 1.08

2 Reflection 75 3.70 .72

3 Negotiation 66 3.17 0.69

4 Leadership 30 3.73 0.69

5 Empathy 81 3.96 0.82

6 Support 68 3.38 0.79

Overall 65 3.54 0.95


Figure-2 Showing the Overall Mean and S.D of Perception of Postgraduate

Students about Constructive Learning Environment Dimension wise

From the above table-7 and Figure-1&2 it may be concluded that a very high

majority of the post graduate students (81%, M=3.96) stated that existing learning

environment is more empathetic. In the similar vein, three fourth of the

postgraduate students (75%, M=3.70) perceived that teachers are reflecting

critically the background knowledge, new ideas and understanding their role as

teacher. Subsequently, majority of postgraduate students (70%, M=3.34) pointed

out about the relevance of learning experiences in the classroom interaction which

were based on their own experiences, background and aspiration. Similarly,

majority of postgraduate students (68%, M=3.38) revealed that teachers were

assisting, shows interest and inspires the confidence of the postgraduate students

as well as majority of the postgraduate students (66%, M=3.17) described that

teachers were communicating the other peer teachers and experts to solve problems

of students. Only 30 percentage postgraduate students perceived that teachers were

organising task and setting task.

Table- 8 Significance Difference between the Mean Constructive Learning

Environment Scores of Male and Female Post Graduate Students

01234

Gender N Mean SD ‘P’ value df Remark


p- Value < 0.05

Table-8 revealed that p-value (.000) does not reach at 0.05. Hence, the investigator

rejects the null hypothesis and it signified that there existed significant difference

between the male and female post graduate students with regard to their

constructivist learning environment classroom; female students have scored better

in comparison to their male counterparts.

Table-9 Significance Difference between the Mean Constructive Learning

Environment Scores of Arts Male and Arts Female Post Graduate Students

p- Value < 0.05

Table-9 revealed that p-value (.009) does not reach at 0.05. Hence, the investigator

rejects the null hypothesis and it signified that there existed significant difference

between the arts male and arts female post graduate students with regard to their

constructivist learning environment classroom; arts male students have scored

better in comparison to their arts female counterparts.

Male 50 136.54 11.088

.000

98

Significant Female 50 140.16 16.100

Gender/Stream(Arts)

N Mean SD ‘P’ value df Remark

Male 25 137.88 11.617

.009

48

Significant Female 25 136.36 17.684



Environment Scores of Science Male and Science Female Post Graduate

Students

P-value > 0.05

Since p-value =0.092 > 0.05= α, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Hence, it is

stated that there is no statistical significant difference between constructivist

learning environment scores of science male and science female post graduate

students. The science female post graduate students performed better than that of

their science male counterparts in constructivist learning environment scale.


Environment Scores of Arts and Science Post Graduate Students

P-value > 0.05



learning environment scores of arts and science post graduate students. The science

Gender/Stream(Science) N Mean SD ‘P’ value df Remark

Male 25 135.20 10.599

.092

48

Not Significant Female 25 143.96 13.652

Stream


Arts 50 137.12 14.828

.870

98

Not Significant Science 50 139.58 12.879


post graduate students performed better than that of their arts counterparts in

constructivist learning environment scale.


Environment Scores of Arts Male and Science Male Post Graduate Students

p-value =0.673 > 0.05= α, we fail to reject the null hypothesis. Hence, it is stated

that there is no statistical significant difference between constructivist learning

environment scores of arts male and science male post graduate students. The arts

male post graduate students performed better than that of their science male

counterparts in constructivist learning environment scale.


Environment Scores of Arts Female and Science Female Post Graduate

Students

P-value > 0.05



learning environment scores of arts female and science female post graduate

Gender/Stream(Male)


Arts Male 25 137.88 11.617

.673

48

Not Significant Science Male 25 135.20 10.599

Gender/Stream( Female) N Mean SD ‘P’ value df Remark

Arts Female 25 136.36 17.684

.193

48

Not Significant Science Female 25 143.96 13.652


students. The science female post graduate students performed better than that of

their arts female counterparts in constructivist learning environment scale.

Educational implications- On the basis of observations made in the study, the following implications have

been drawn..

Implications for Students- Constructivist learning environment helps the students to gathered their

previous knowledge and construction of new knowledge.

Students can apply this knowledge in their professional field.

Students can able to refresh or up-to-date their previous knowledge.

Implications for Universities- Universities should make provision of workshop, ICT laboratories, ICT

integrated classrooms, seminars, ICT project work for help of the students.

Universities should integrate constructivist learning in college curriculum.

Implications for Government- Government should make provision of ICT training programmes for teachers

which can help them to construct learning environment.

Government should provide efficient teachers to colleges which can help the

students for construction and transmission of knowledge

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