Prev
| Home | Next
On
critical examination, the formal educational system of India is found to be empirically
dysfunctional, highly wasteful and progmatically inadequate in terms of national
needs and aspirations. Policy-wise it is ineffective for pursuing its intentions
of promoting egalitarian transformation in education and reducing poverty and
disharmony. In spite of 700,000 institution and an expenditure of Rs. 25,000 million
per annum, it has hardly been able to touch the problem of illiteracy and many
other vital issues that interface between education and society. We have in our
country nearly 400 million of illiterates - which is no less than half of the
total world illiterate population. The existing educational structure of the formal
system is not merely dysfunctional and ineffective but in fact, it is also making
our stratified society still more inegalitarian by resting economic and political
power in the hands of upper 30 per cent of the income group while marginalizing
the role and status of the vast educational system promote a wide gap between
the esoteric literate and the exoteric oral cultures-a gap which elite literate
class is interested in maintaining.
Literacy programme has to be seen in the context of our failure in sustaining
universal elementary education and making formal educational system functional
and meaningful. There is every danger that if the broader content of literacy
is not made relevant to the immediate felt needs of the learner, rational temper
of our society and national aspirations for creating a new social order based
on freedom and equality, this massive movement will fall into the trap of middle-class
value system on which the formal education is based. "We must especially
guard against the danger, ever present, that adult education may be used as a
tool for educating the poor to present marginal status, conformity and resignation
or for encouraging escapist trends". (Citizens for Democracy 1978 : 25).
'Literacy' has to be seen, therefore, from both these aspects - form/technique
and content/substance. As a form, it is an acquisition of a skill in the control
of written medium of a language ; with respect to its content, it is a learning
that promotes self-awareness and knowledge for improving the standard of living
by solving the day-to-day problems. But what is generally forgotten is that literacy
is a call for participation of the illiterate masses already conditioned through
the life-vision and verbal behaviour of oral tradition into the heritage of written
culture. Instead of making illiterates literate from within their own culture,
we generally adopt literate methods conditioned and shaped by the value systems
of written culture.
Goody and Watt (1972) have discussed the characteristic difference of cultural
transmission that exist between illiterates and literate society. I would like
to point out here a few of them.
i)
Literate culture leads to abstractions of the syllogism which does not correspond
directly with the common experience.
ii)
Literate culture tends to transform the men into 'wandering encyclopaedias'.
iii)
Literate culture is inevitably committed to social differentiaton and ever increasing
series of cultural lags.
iv)
Literate culture promotes the awareness of the past as different from the present.
v)
Literate culture lays emphasis on the world-wide intellectual tradition ignoring
the wisdom and capacity of the local people and prevents the individual from participating
fully in the total cultural tradition.
vi)
Literate culture is unable to foster a homeostatic tendency which disregards or
modifies those aspects of past which are no larger functional in the present.
vii)
Literate culture promotes the education to create discontinuity a discontinuity
between the parent and the child, between the professionals and the specialists,
etc.
Before we talk of
tools for literacy programme and take a plunge into the material
production
endeavour for 'educating' the illiterates, it is worth asking whether we want
to draw the 'axes' made available to us by literate culture without questioning
its appropriateness and relevance for 'laudable goals' we generally talk about.
The nature of literate methods of trading-bound written culture is such that it
leads to social differentiation, prevents from work participation, creates obstacles
in making direct contact with people and situation, promotes discontinuity and
fosters the culture heritage which is opposed to structural amnesia and homeostatic
tendency. The very nature of literate methods is such that it makes its educants
"ill-suited to bridge the gap between the street-corner society and the black-board
jungle" (Goody and Watt 1972; 342); in fact, it makes them aliens to own
culture. When brought to rural scene, instead of bringing about individual growth,
social transformation and meaningful exploitation of native resources for improving
the quality of life, these tools are bound top produce educants into a parasitic
class aiming for the life-styles of consumption-oriented urban society.
It is necessary at this stage to ask a very pertinent question ' literacy for
what ? ' ' by which method ? ' and ' through which techniques ?'. The conditions
with out approach to the problem. It conditions the nature of 'method' and 'technique'
employed. In fact, all the three are integral parts of an arrangement which is
hierarchical in order. The approach describes the substance and significance of
the entire programme. Method is an overall procedural plan for achieving the 'substance'
and hitting the 'target'. Technique, on the other hand, is an operational device,
a stratagem or contrivance with method, if the programme has to yield the result.
How neglect in the area of harmonious and organizational relationship between
approach, method and technique can become a cause of educational failure when
masses are involved or when the area of educational endeavour falls at the 'conflict
zones' of two cultural milieu, has been shown in our evaluation of the New Rural
Health Scheme launched in October 1977 with a view to creating a trained cadre
of Community Health Workers (CHW) for an ongoing work in villages. The scheme
in its approach highlighted the needs of the nation at the level of 'rural population
and the urban poor'. Our evaluation shows that though in its objective the scheme
is 'revolutionary' in nature, through its wrong method in instruction and ill-conceived
strategam of operation, it is slowly becoming either ineffective or deviant than
the initially conceived objective - CHW' have begun to view themselves as 'doctors'
(rather than Health Workers) and in operation, instead of becoming 'support manpower'
(as envisaged in the scheme) they are inclined to take more of curative measures,
and thus ending up in malpractices and quackery (Srivastava, 1978).
Even a cursory glance at the Manual (which serves as a reference book as well
as an instructional aid) reveals that not only its language is grammatically incorrect,
structurally deviant, semantically less graspable, logically incoherent, textually
ill-formed, stylistically inappropriate and contextually less sensitive to the
common man but also substance-wise it attests contradiction between objective
and its realization. It stimulates formal knowledge rather than problem solving
skill, deals the subject matter in a way unrelated to actual experiences in village
life and inculcate the life-view of educated elite instead of rural poor. Accordingly
prose-format, expressive devices and lexical resources are drawn from a milieu
of 'written culture' without providing any means to transform them into the values
of exoteric oral culture.
Before we look into the factors related to literacy achievements, it is better
to understand what literacy is. Looking at the scope and space of the paper, it
does not seem possible for me to discuss its different ingredients extensively.
In a summary fashion, however, we can point out its salient features.
i)
Literacy is the use of written language
It is the control of written medium of a language experience and not just writing
skill.
ii) Literacy
is a learned behaviour
Unlike articulacy aspect of language experience, it needs formal instruction.
It is not spontaneous, as is the case with the oral behaviour.
iii)
Literacy presupposes articulacy
A language should be known to a learner before he is initiated in to the skills
in operating a written medium. Hence, a failure in literacy can be due to either
lack of control of linguacy or lack of control of the medium.
iv)
Literacy as a written mode a transmission is an addition, not an alterantive,
to
articulacy
Literacy is a supplement to rather than a substitute of the oral mode of transmission
of messages.
v) Literacy
is measured in relation to articulary
If literacy is restricted to one or the other aspects of articulacy or one or
the other domains of oral verbal behaviour, it is partial literacy : a full literacy
is that where written skill extends to all these functions which are controllable
by spoken language.
vi)
Literacy can be restricted to one mode of written material
The written world involves two fields of operation-reading and writing. A literacy
can be confined to only reading skill without the complementary of writing.
vii)
Literacy is a matter of degree
Literacy is a matter of degree as the competence in the control of written medium
is developmental. It should be pointed out that formal education is dependent
upon literacy and hence we can talk about more or less literate. Though literacy
skill offers a cline, scholars have talked about two types of literacy-necessary
literacy and sufficient literacy.1
viii)
Literacy is a continuous process
The long-range view of the phenomena accepts the view that literacy can be extended
indefinitely within the institutional writing system of the mothertongue or beyond
it. According to one view, it may be extended either to the writing systems of
the other tongues (bi-literacy) or to the other writing systems of the same language
(bi-systemacy).2 For example, in China initial literacy starts now in Latin alphabetic
writing system with the result that the Chinese traditional characters are mastered
quickly as an extension of literacy.
ix.
Literacy is participation in the world of written culture
Literacy is not merely an acquisition of written skill but an attempt to enter,
participate and act into the esoteric literate culture where writing gives an
additional support for the memory and recollection.
x.
Literacy is a basic ingredient of formal education
Formal education is based on written medium as it exploits the accumulated rather
than accumulating culture. As formal education is based on the concepts and abstractions
of the syllogism, it has to depend upon the written culture. However, literacy
can be formal as well as outside the institutionalized educational system.
It is our common experience that the literacy materials are being produced in
form and content which are generally out of touch with real life situations and
immediate felt needs of the learner. Accquisition of literacy skills cannot be
seen in isolation with the broader content of adult education. It should be remembered
that the target group of Literacy Movement is not the child but the group of adults;
not the adults who are 'wandering encylopaedias' but those who are manual workers
seeking to improve earning capacity and over and above, not an urban elite or
village rich but the rural poor and tribal backward. It is, therefore, necessary
that the educational content for this massive movement should have the following
orientations:
a)
The literacy material should deal with problems of living.
b)
The literacy material should be structured according to the learners' perceived
roles and activities and should help in developing vocational skills.
c)
The literacy material should contain subject matters related to general education
(including health and hygiene), civic education (including essential citizenship
education) and culture education (including the awareness of social transformation).
d)
The literacy material should be in the language and style within the articulacy
competence of the learner.
e)
The language and style of materials for initial literacy should be language and
style employed in wider communication.
f)
The content of literacy materials should be organized not within the framework
of 'passive knowledge' but with an orientation of problem solving approach with
complementarity of intellectual and manual work.
g)
The content and form of literacy material should be as far as possible free of
retroactive inhibition.
The
content and form of lessons to be used in functional literacy programmes call
for a kind of orientation different from the known formal (traditional) types
of teaching. Formal teaching is meant in fact to convey information with theoretical
attitude and through the speech mode which "facilitates the verbal elaboration
of subjective intent, sensitivity to the implications of separateness and difference,
and points to the possibilities inherent in a complex conceptual hierarchy for
the organization of experience". (Bernstein 1973-78). A lesson for literacy
learning can be seen as a "unit of work" a phrase now being used to
refer to the 'method of organizing learning experiences'. A 'unit' in fact consists
of "purposeful (to the learner) related activities so developed as to give
insight into, and increased control of some significant aspects of living"
(Lee and Lee 1950:222). A teaching (rather learning) through experience units
entails in itself a speech mode suited to participatory learning.
Some of the difference between the two types of units, as conceived by Burton
(1944 : 247-48) are as below:
Formal Units Experience Units
-began in the intention of users -begin in the
intention of the user to achieve
to teach approved subject matter. user to
achieve some purpose to satisfy
some need.
-are
organized logically around a -are organized congnitively with the
core within
the subject matter. ultimate purpose of developing desirable
understanding,
attitudes, skills etc. in the
user.
-are
organized from the simple to -are usually centred in present and future;
the complex and within subject use accumulated materials freely from the
fields.
past in solving the present problems.
-are
closed with backward look, -lead to new interests, problems and
so called
'review'. purposes.
We must not forget that functional literacy is not a closed ended achievement
confined to the mere acquisition of written medium of linguacy. In fact, it is
the use of written language for emotional purposes which may be extended indefinitely
within medium though at present is grounded deep in a culture which favours abstractness
of the syllogism and promotes the 'banking concept of knowledge' (Friere 1970),
is bound to take a new role through literacy programme of participatory learning
and enactional element of exoteric culture' At the same time, we should also bear
in mind that literacy skill is for solving the day-to-day problems of illiteracy.
It is neither a skill in language embellishment nor a mastery in verbal elaboration
of subjective intent.
REFERENCES
Bernstein,
B. 1973. Class, Code and Control London; Paladin.
Burton, N. H. 1944. Guidance
of Learning Activities New York :
Appleton-Century croft, Inc.
Citizens
for Democracy Education for our people (A policy frame for the
1978. development
of education 1978-87). Bombay :
Allied Publishers Ltd.
De
Silva, M. W. S. 1970. Diglossia and literacy. Mysore : Central
Institute of
Indian Ladguages.
Freire,
F. 1970 Pedagogy of the Oppressed London Penguin.
Goddard,
N. 1974 Literacy : Language - Experience Approaches
London : McMillan &
Co.
Goody, J. & I.
Watt. 1963 'The consequences of Literacy' in Comparative
Studies in Society
and History Vo. 5, also in
Language and Social Context (ed. P.P. Gigloli).
Prnguin. 311-357.
Halliday, M.A.K. The Linguistic Sciences and Languages
Tecaching
McIntosh,A ; Bloomington : Indiana University Press.
Strevens,
P. 1964.
Lee. J. M. and
D. M. Lee The child and His Curriculum. New York:
1950 Appleton-century Croft
Inc.
Meethan, A. (ed).
1969. Encyclopaedia of Linguistics, Information and
Control Oxford; Pergamn
Press
Srivastava,
R. N. 1978. Evaluation of Comprehensibility and Effectiveness of Manual for C.H.W.
(Preliminary Draft).