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Value-based Curriculum and Teaching Methodology : An Integrated Approach to Communal Harmony and National Integration Mohit Puri* For a country to be truly great, there must be an understanding and the appreciation of each other’s differences and strengths. The quality of the educational system need to be improved for ensuring peace and stability in the country which in turn would promote national integration. Etymologically harmony means ‘binding together’ and ‘being in concord with one another’.
From a sociological perspective, harmony can be understood as a mode of social existence. Communal harmony means living with unity, mutual reciprocity, beyond class, caste, creed and gender barriers. Communal Violence emerges as the consequence of this disturbed communal harmony. Communal Violence is the outcome of communal disharmony Communal Violence is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. No universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of communal violence currently exists.
Common definitions of communal violence refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror), are perpetrated for a religious, political or ideological goals, deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians), and are committed by non-government agencies. There has been many cases of communal disharmony in India in which Ayodhya dispute and The 1984 Anti Sikh Riots are worth mentioning. Ayodhya dispute has been a political, historical and socio-religious debate in India, centred on a plot of land in the city of Ayodhya, Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh.
This is one rare legal battle in which the court ordered for excavations at the disputed site and also got old revenue records examined by the Forensic Science Laboratory. It is a long disputed case which always has given a threat of communal disharmony. Similarly, in 1984, Sikhs witnessed four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs belonging to Indian National Congress, killed unarmed Sikh men, women, and children, looted and set on fire Sikh homes, shops and schools.
Throughout India, society has witnessed many more such ugly incidents such as Gujarat riots, terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Naxalism in West Bengal, in Tamil Nadu etc. All these incidents are surely outcome of communal disharmony. All these examples show that in India, communal disharmony has become a very common phenomenon. Racial Exclusiveness being propagated by the multi-racial schools and universities would sow the seeds of misunderstanding and mistrust. The students may well drift apart only to have few superficial commonalities between them, and few genuine ties that bind them together in a common destiny.
For combating the problem of communal violence, the value-based curriculum and appropriate teaching methodology is required. A value has three dimensions that cover all the possible aspects of human personality. (i) Cognitive aspect (thought) is an idea abstract in nature. More it is clearer, stronger will be the value. That means that value is related to mental activity and cognitive development about the idea. (ii) Affective aspect (Emotion/Feeling) means strong emotional bond with the idea. (iii) Psychomotor aspect (Action/Behaviour) results into action of behaviour.
This aspect is the final stage of culmination of a value. It is the acidic test of one’s values in life. Value-based Curriculum in different fields can be stated as 1. Cultural values – The teaching of subjects like history, civics, physical sciences, home science, craft and co-curricular activities help in inculcating cultural values in the young students. 2. Democratic values – Fellow feeling, co-operation, understanding, humanism etc. are inculcated through various curricular and co-curricular activities. 3.
Moral values – Value oriented reading material, lectures by experts, self examples of teachers help in inculcation of moral values in the students. Special tests are also helpful in development of moral values. 4. Religious values –The essential teachings of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity etc. in school curriculum help in development of religious values among the students. 5. Social values – Morning assembly, brief speeches by the students, Girl Guiding, NCC, NSS, Co-operative canteen – store etc. drama, celebration of days of national importance like 15th August, 26th January, birth days of great people, festival celebrations help in enhancement of social values and students learn to share and cooperate and work together. Role of the Teacher in inculcating Values among Students The Role of the Teacher in inculcating values among students can be discussed in two major parts the personality of the teacher and his teaching methodology. The questionnaire was prepared and administered to 100 teachers.
The responses so collected were analyzed critically for finding the relationship between teaching methodology and communal harmony. Personality of the Teacher The teacher is a dynamic force of the school. A school without teacher is just like a body without the soul, a skeleton without flesh and blood, a shadow without substance. There is no greater need for the cause of education today than the need for strong manly men and motherly women as teachers for the young. As social engineers, the teachers can socialize and humanize the young by their man-like qualities.
Swami Vivekanand has said that the true teacher is he who can immediately come down to the level of the student, transfer his soul to the students soul and see through and understand through his mind. Such a teacher can really teach and none else. The teacher’s place in society is of vital importance. He acts as the pivot for the transmission of intellectual traditions and technical skills from generation to generation and helps to keep the lamp of civilization burning. In the words of Rabindra Nath tagore, “A teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself.
A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame. ” Every teacher and educationist of experience knows that even the best curriculum and the most perfect syllabus remains dead unless quickened in to life by the right method of teaching and the right kind of teachers. The Teacher is the real maker of history. The teacher is the maker of man. Data Collected for Teaching Methodology A questionnaire containing closed ended questions was prepared. The questionnaire shows relationship between teaching methodology and communal harmony.
It contains 8 teaching areas having 24 items. This questionnaire was administered to 100 teachers and the data was collected. The number of responses of the teachers are shown in the cells opposite to the statements in each table. On the basis of responses and data attained on the questionnaire showing relationship between teaching methodology and communal harmony, the crucial features of teaching methodology are written below each table which are necessary for inculcating communal harmony and national integration.
The various statements of each table were analyzed critically on the basis of data attained and hence some suggestions are given which depict the role of teaching methodology in promoting communal harmony and national integration. Table 1: RELIABLITY AND VALIDITY IN TEACHING 1 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |1(a) |Teaching is holistic, multidimensional and ever-changing process for cultivating communal harmony among students. |96 |1 |3 | |1(b) |Teaching should be reliable and valid as per the curriculum designed for the students. 100 |0 |0 | |1(c) |Means of assessing accurate teaching must be established. |94 |2 |4 | | On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about reliablity and validity in teaching for promoting communal harmony. Teaching has been characterized as holistic, multidimensional, and ever-changing; it is not a single, fixed phenomenon waiting to be discovered, observed, and measured. As such, any attempt to assess the performance of a teacher necessarily will be fraught with difficulties. Nonetheless, a means of assessing teaching accurately must be established if the assessment is to be both believed and trusted.
Reliablity and Validity in teaching promotes harmony among students which in turn creates national integration. Table 2: DEMOCRATIC METHODS IN TEACHING 2 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |2(a) |The teacher needs to teach in a manner which conveys fairness, impartiality, respect and sensitivity to students. |95 |1 |4 | |2(b) |The teacher must also allow the student to ask questions and to express opinions which are firmly founded on relevant supportive material. |97 |2 |1 | |2(c) |Use of embarrassment, sarcasm, ridicule and other hurtful statements may be used by Teacher. 0 |100 |0 | | On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about democratic methods in teaching in promoting communal harmony. The teacher needs to teach in a manner which conveys fairness, respect and sensitivity to students, while maintaining the teacher’s authority. The use of embarrassment, sarcasm, ridicule and other hurtful statements are not part of this approach, even when a teacher believes they may serve to motivate a particular child. Remember that the teacher is a model, and students judge by what they see — not by what the teacher may intend.
The teacher must also allow the student to ask questions (within limits) and to express opinions which are firmly founded on relevant supportive material. Additionally, the teacher needs to use a methodology which challenges the student to creative and critical thinking, since those cognitive processes serve to stimulate more mature moral thinking. Frontal lecturing, with little discussion and much verbatim transcribing should be discouraged. Democratic methods in teaching develop the democratic values among students which promote communal harmony among them.
Table 3: TEACHING ACCORDING TO THE LEVEL OF THE STUDENTS 3 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |3(a) |Teacher should take care of abilities, interests, and intellectual ability of students. |100 |0 |0 | |3(b) |The teachers should teach according to higher level than understanding level of the students for better results. |8 |88 |4 | |3(c) |Teacher should not help students to construct their own interpretation. |7 |92 |1 | | On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about teaching according to the level of the students in promoting communal harmony.
Classroom teachers come across young people who have a variety of abilities, interests, and levels of achievement. Teachers need to be increasingly knowledgeable of methodologies that assist them with the challenging prospects of individualizing the instructions. The teachers should teach according to the level of the students and should also figure out how to teach in ways that don’t just `impart’ knowledge, but instead helps students to construct their own interpretation. If the teacher teaches according to the level of the students, the students develop the right concept of communal harmony and national integration.
Table 4 : LOVE, AFFECTION AND PEACE 4 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |4(a) |Teacher should inculcate in the students the emotion of Love and affection for achieving the target of communal harmony. |100 |0 |0 | |4(b) |A student taught in love, affection and peace grows into being a depressed emotional wreck. |5 |92 |3 | |4(c) |Students’ well being, whether it is emotional, physical, psychological, mental or otherwise, does not depend on the classroom environment which further promotes communal harmony. |2 |97 |1 | |
On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about teaching with love and affection to students in promoting communal harmony. Love is the strongest emotion that brings happiness into one’s life. For teachers to nurture their students into becoming good human beings, they must inculcate in them the emotion called Love. The teachers need to have patience and tolerance and accept students for their plusses and minuses. A student not taught in love, affection and peace grows into being a depressed emotional wreck who finds it difficult to adjust in society.
Remember, the student’s well being, whether it is emotional, physical, psychological, mental or otherwise, depends on the classroom environment. Love, affection and peace are very significant for national integration. Table 5: RIGHT DIRECTION TO EVERY STUDENT 5 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |5(a) |The teacher should encourage the students to become an active citizen and a useful member of the society. |100 |0 |0 | |5(b) |The teacher should guide his students to maintain the balance between caring for others and attending to his own needs. 93 |2 |5 | |5(c) |Guidance is very imperative for inculcating moral values among students which helps in increasing communal harmony |97 |2 |1 | | On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about teacher’s right direction to every student in promoting communal harmony. The teacher should encourage the students to become an active citizen and a useful member of the society. The teacher should guide his students to maintain the balance between caring for others and attending to his own needs.
Right guidance is very imperative for inculcating moral values among students which helps in increasing communal harmony among students. Table 6: IMPARTIAL BEHAVIOR TOWARDS EVERY INDIVIDUAL 6 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |6(a) |Teachers should display diligent and impartial behavior when teaching and supervising students. |99 |1 |0 | |6(b) |Teacher should not treat equally with the General and Reserved Category students. |0 |98 |2 | |6(c) |The teachers should be unbiased in awarding rewards for good behavior and sanctions for unacceptable behavior. |92 |3 |5 | |
On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about teacher’s impartial behavior towards every individual in promoting communal harmony. Teachers should display diligent and impartial behavior when teaching and supervising students. Teachers should respond to students in a caring and affectionate manner. They should provide consistent and firm guidelines and rules regarding student behavior. The teachers should use be unbiased in awarding rewards for good behavior and sanctions for unacceptable behavior, which increases feeling of communal harmony and national integration among students.
Table 7: COOPERATIVE METHOD OF TEACHING 7 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |7(a) |Cooperative method of teaching does not inculcate communal harmony and national integration. |7 |83 |10 | |7(b) |Lessons in the cooperative learning strategy are arranged so that each student, ranging from the fastest to the slowest learner. |97 |1 |2 | |7(c) |The shared responsibility and interaction are likely to generate better intergroup relations which promote communal harmony. |96 |1 |3 | |
On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about cooperative method in promoting communal harmony. Cooperative learning is a comprehensive approach to teaching that derives from a theory of education and encompasses key assumptions about what students should learn and how they learn. Lessons in the cooperative learning strategy are arranged so that each student, ranging from the fastest to the slowest learner, has a contribution to make. Because the students, in this approach, are likely to acquire greater mastery of the material than in the common individual study with recitation pattern.
Furthermore, the shared responsibility and interaction are likely to generate better intergroup relations, and result in better self-images for students with histories of poor achievement. Cooperative method of teaching is very helpful for achieving the objective of communal harmony and national integration among students. Table 8: TEACHER’S AVAILABILITY FOR STUDENTS 8 |FEATURES OF TEACHING METHODOLOGY |True |False |Don’t Know | |8(a) |Good teachers are always available when needed which promotes the feeling of communal harmony and national integration. 91 |7 |2 | |8(b) |Providing feedback on the students’ assignments is an outdated mode. It does not help in inculcating communal harmony and national integration. |1 |89 |10 | |8(c) |Teacher should try to answer all the queries of the students. |97 |2 |1 | | On the basis of highest number of responses out of hundred, we can suggest about the availability of teachers for students in promoting communal harmony. Good teachers are always available when needed, answer their queries, provide feedback on their assignments and class preparations.
As they want the best performance from their students and themselves, such technologies need to be evolved so as to develop their potential and talent. It helps in inculcating communal harmony and national integration among students. Conclusion It can be concluded that seeds of communal harmony should be started in the early childhood education as well as it should be taught directly as well as indirectly in the elementary classes. Hence the teacher should try to inculcate it among the students, then only a peaceful, lovable and caring society can be build.
The human beings at their deepest level yearn for harmony. No human being enjoy disharmony or violence. Harmony is the fundamental law of creation; it is the law that continues to govern our life. It shall be primary duty of the teachers to set an example in citizenship, to endeavour to promote the public good, to uphold the dignity on all occasions, to size up the demands and aspirations of the society, to be dynamic leaders when required and to be ideal followers when desired.
Integrating Value-based curriculum and appropriate teaching methodology can be one of the most crucial factor in achieving Communal Harmony and National Integration. The people need a holistic approach towards creation of establishing communal harmony. Unless we restore communal harmony, our national integration is in danger. Works Consulted • Ayodhya dispute article as retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ayodhya_dispute on 31 Jan. 2011 • Bailey, S. Excerpts from “Democratic Classroom” Workshop as retrieved from http://www. lookstein. rg/articles/democratic_classrooms. htm on 31 Jan. 2011 • Bhatia, K. K. and Narang, C. L. (2001) Philosophical and Sociological Foundations of Education. Ludhiana: Tandon Publications • Gaur, M. S. (2003). Terrorism and Human Rights. {Edited Book} New Delhi: Anamika Publishers and Distributors(P) Ltd. • Mann, B. S. (2004). National Integration and Communal Harmony. {Edited Book} Patiala: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University • Pandey, R. S. (2001). Education in Emerging Indian Society. Agra: Vinod Pustak Mandir • Sharma, M. (2003). Teacher in Emerging Indian Society.
Patiala: Twenty First Century Publications • Singh, N. Role of Teacher In A School. Department of Education, Ministry of HRD, India as retrieved from http://navodaya. nic. in/Role%20of%20Teacher. htm on 15 Nov. 2010 • Sodhi, T. S. and Suri, A. (2006). Philosophical and Sociological Foundations of Education. Patiala: Bawa Publications • Terrorism article as retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Terrorism on 16 Nov. 2010 • The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots as retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/1984_anti-Sikh_riots on 31 Jan. 2011