Aaina: Reflections on Education and Society

We are delighted to invite you to the sixth session of Pedadogy Talks, with Savitha Suresh Babu.

Time: 11:30 AM, Sunday, 25th August (online)
Registration link in bio

Self as text: Engaged pedagogy in the non-formal classroom

This talk will delve into the power of narrating the self in safe shared spaces, as a way to learn about one’s own location within larger socio-political histories and to view the world with critical social lenses. Drawing upon my experiences as a teacher and a researcher seeking to understand the practice of critical engaged pedagogy in non-formal educational spaces, I will discuss how the personal story can offer powerful pedagogic possibilities, particularly for marginalized youth. At the same time, there is need for caution and attention to power hierarchies, within and beyond the classroom, in thinking of these narrations as pedagogy.

Savitha is the co-executive director of Samvada, an organization that has been working to empower youth from vulnerable communities of Karnataka. Samvada works to sensitize youth to social realities around us, build their leadership capabilities, and mentor them through the difficult navigations that mark youthhood. Savitha's work in programs of Samvada have built on her interests in understanding youth vulnerabilities and critical pedagogic possibilities. She has a PhD from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. Her doctoral work involved understanding how women from socially marginalized communities navigate state welfare hostels.

If you have any queries, contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected]) or Aishwarya  (8076578407; [email protected])

What has been your experience of care-work in teaching?

Further reading:

The emotional labour of caring in teaching, Lynn Isenbarger, Michelins Zemblyas

Emotional labour in the classroom: A psychoanalytic perspective, Heather Price

Emotional labour, teaching and burnout: Investigating complex relationships,Grayson Bodenheimer, Stef M. Shuster

How do we think about school uniforms?

Readings:

Clean bodies in school: spatial-material discourses of children’s school uniforms and hygiene in Tamil Nadu, India, Smruthi Bala Kannan

‘The prison of the body’: school uniforms between
discipline and governmentality, Jasper Friedrich & Rachel Shanks

School Uniforms — Equalising A Caste & Class-Ridden Society Or Stifling Individuality?, Ankita Apurva

On identity, comfort and uniforms, Anuradha Goyal

Mediated Empowerments:
An Ethnography of Four, All-Girls’ “Public Schools” in North India, Meghan M. Chidsey

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak.

A few moments from our sessions at NALSAR Hyderabad last week, in collaboration with their Writing Lab. We did a session with the first year students, as a part of their orientation, to discuss various kinds of pedagogic and structural inequalities that shape educational experience. We reflected on our emotions around English, struggles with writing and research work, the dynamics of participation and belonging in the university, senior-junior relations, among others. We concluded with a short exercise to affirm how we need to build agency to address many of these problems, in our individual and collective capacities. Much is possible if we put our minds and hearts to it.

We also had a reflective conversation with the faculty and writing tutors at the Writing Lab, to think through ways in which tutoring work can be sharpened, made more meaningful and engaging.
Overall, it was an energising, hope-inducing experience and we hope to continue the conversations with the students and faculty!

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Reach out to us to organise and collaborate on workshops and sessions in your institute!

Hello. Our Instagram account got suspended a couple of days back. While we have appealed the decision and are awaiting a review, please amplify this tweet and connect us with relevant people who could help? Thanks!

https://x.com/Aaina_Edu/status/1811681173887652309

How do we build student feedback literacy?

Illustrations by

We are delighted to invite you to the fifth session of Pedadogy Talks, with Rajendran Narayanan.

Time: 11 AM, Sunday, 7th July (online)
Registration link in bio!

An ongoing pedagogical journey from maths to data, democracy & development

From teaching mathematics and statistics courses at an undergraduate and postgraduate level, Rajendran has branched out to teaching some non-traditional social science courses such as ‘Data & Society’, 'Development as Freedom' and 'Politics & Ethics of Data.' In this session, he will start with some pedagogical challenges he has faced in teaching mathematical courses and subsequently the kind of adaptation one needed to teach social sciences. He’ll talk about his interest in communicating stories and insights using data, and also how to demystify economics and democratise learning with data.

Rajendran teaches at Azim Premji University, where he has been anchoring a curriculum called 'Data, Democracy & Development.' After completing his Ph.D in Statistics from Cornell University, he has held academic positions at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Cornell University and Ashoka University. He is interested in building bridges between research, advocacy and public engagement which led him to be a founder member of LibTech India, which works with researchers, civil society organisations and governments across some states on improving transparency and accountability of rural social policies. He is part of national campaigns such as those involved in the promotion of constitutional values, human rights, right to work and food etc. Rajendran is also interested in demystifying economics and in understanding what the proliferation of data, and over-reliance on technological processes mean for citizenship and participatory democracy.

Pedagogy Talks is a discussion forum aiming to promote reflective conversations on teaching in academia. If you have any queries, contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected]) or Aishwarya (8076578407; [email protected])

How do we think of using AI tools in the classroom?
Further reading:

A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays,
Steffen Herbold, Annette Hautli-Janisz, Ute Heuer, Zlata Kikteva & Alexander Trautsch

Analyzing the role of ChatGPT as a writing assistant at
higher education level: A systematic review of the literature, Muhammad Imran and Norah Almusharraf

ChatGPT in Scientific Writing: A Cautionary Tale,
Haoyi Zheng and Huichun Zhan

Collaborating with ChatGPT in argumentative writing classrooms, Yanfang Su, Yun Lin, Chun Lai

Using ChatGPT for second language writing: Pitfalls and potentials, Jessie S. Barrot

How ChatGPT Can Transform Autodidactic Experiences and Open Education?, Dr. Mehmet Firat

Exploring Teachers' Attitudes towards Using ChatGPT, Nayab Iqbal, Hassaan AhmedandKaukab Abid Azhar

Reflection on whether Chat GPT should be banned by academia from the perspective of education and teaching, Hao Yu

Illustrations by

If you wish to collaborate or organise sessions with us, do reach out via Instagram or email us at [email protected]

How do we think of internships for college students?

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

How do we think about edtech platforms being promoted in schools and higher ed institutes?

Further reading:

The Digital University: Imaginations around the pedagogic space for the Marginalised, Shivani Nag and Manasi Thapliyal Navani

Governed by Edtech? Valuing Pedagogical Autonomy in a Platform Society, Niels Kerssens;
Jose van Dijck

Edtech Platforms from below: A Family Ethnography of Marginalized Communities and Their Digital Learning Post-Pandemic, Kiran Vinod Bhatia, Payal Arora, and Siddhi Gupta

Technocentrism and Social Fields in the Indian EdTech Movement: Formation, Reproduction and Resistance, Patricia Burch and Neha Miglani

‘Someone Else in the Universe Is Trying to Teach You’: Teachers’ Experiences with Platformized Instruction, Sarah Schneider Kavanagh, Tess Bernhard, and Lynsey K. Gibbons

EdTech should be driven by science and not hype. And it must look beyond UK, US, Natalia Kucirkova

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak and

The full video of the session is now on our Youtube page, link in bio!

Farah Farooqi is professor of education, Jamia Millia Islamia and author of Ek School Manager Ki Diary (Eklavya, 2020) and Education in a 'Ghetto': The Paradoxes of a Muslim-Majority School (Routledge, 2023). 

Do join us for future Pedagogy Talks sessions! Our next session is on June 9, you'll find the details and registration link in bio.

We are delighted to invite you to the fourth session of Pedadogy Talks, with Vijeta Kumar.

The Teacher as Student

Do we stop being a student when we begin teaching? Is there any way in which we can be both student and teacher? In a classroom such as ours, that is large, diverse, and constantly changing - how is it possible to do this? Teaching is perhaps one among the few occupations where learning everyday is non-negotiable. Are we better able to be of use to our students when we show them that we too are like them?

Time: 11 AM, Sunday, 9th June
Scan the QR code, or register here to get the event link: https://forms.gle/YJzFzhefbgq3zEP8A (link in bio)

Vijeta teaches at the Department of English, St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, and frequently writes on her teaching and learning experiences in the classroom. To read more of Vijeta’s writing, check out https://rumlolarum.wordpress.com/

Pedagogy Talks is a discussion forum aiming to promote reflective conversations on teaching in academia. If you have any queries, contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected]) or Aishwarya (8076578407; [email protected])

We are delighted to invite you to the fourth session of Pedadogy Talks, with Vijeta Kumar.

The Teacher as Student

Do we stop being a student when we begin teaching? Is there any way in which we can be both student and teacher? In a classroom such as ours, that is large, diverse, and constantly changing - how is it possible to do this? Teaching is perhaps one among the few occupations where learning everyday is non-negotiable. Are we better able to be of use to our students when we show them that we too are like them?

Time: 11 AM, Sunday, 9th June
Scan the QR code, or register here to get the event link: https://forms.gle/YJzFzhefbgq3zEP8A (link in bio)

Vijeta teaches at the Department of English, St. Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, and frequently writes on her teaching and learning experiences in the classroom. To read more of Vijeta’s writing, check out https://rumlolarum.wordpress.com/

Pedagogy Talks is a discussion forum aiming to promote reflective conversations on teaching in academia. If you have any queries, contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected]) or Aishwarya (8076578407; [email protected])

How do we think of celebrating festivals in colleges and university spaces?

Further reading:

Onam, Mahabali and the Narrow Imaginations of the Right, P.K.Yasser Arafath

Dalits Point out How Onam Is the Story of Upper Caste Domination, Abhirup Dam

What is Holi (Holy) about this? Why would the Brahmanical-Patriarchal India celebrate the burning of Holika, an Asura Bahujan woman?, Maktoob Media

Taking a stand for tribal rights: Why I am not celebrating Durga Pujo, Dhrubo Jyoti

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

We are delighted to invite you to the third session of Pedadogy Talks. We will discuss the different influences on our teaching and educational practice and how we can document and understand them.

Our conversation will be initiated by Farah Farooqi, professor of education, Jamia Millia Islamia and author of Ek School Manager Ki Diary (Eklavya, 2020) and Education in a 'Ghetto': The Paradoxes of a Muslim-Majority School (Routledge, 2023). She will talk about how her work as a school manager and a researcher have informed her work as a teacher. This will be followed by a reflective discussion among the participants.

Time: 2 PM, Monday, 22nd April
Venue: Seminar Room, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

Pedagogy Talks is a discussion forum aiming to promote reflective conversations on teaching in academia. If you have any queries, contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected]) or Aishwarya (8076578407; [email protected])

How do we think of decolonising education?

This post was developed in conversation with

Further reading:

The promises and pitfalls of decolonial thinking, Raihan Rahman

From decolonisation to authoritarianism: the co-option of the decolonial agenda in higher education by right-wing nationalist elites in Russia and India, Alexandra Lewis and Marie Lall

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

What challenges do teacher accountability mechanisms pose for teachers?

Further reading:

Meera Chandran, Teacher accountability and education restructuring: an exploration of teachers’ work identities in an urban school for poor in India

Leon Tikly et al., Decolonising Teacher Professionalism: Foregrounding the Perspectives of Teachers in the Global South

Damien Page, Conceptualising the Surveillance of Teachers

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

We are delighted to invite you to the second session of Pedadogy Talks. In this session, we aim to discuss concerns around multilingualism, education, and pedagogy. Our conversation will be initiated by Shivani Nag, faculty at the School of Education Studies, Ambedkar University. This will be followed by a reflective discussion among the participants.

Time: 11:15 AM, Friday, 15th March
Venue: Seminar Room, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

Pedagogy Talks is a discussion forum aiming to promote reflective conversations on teaching in academia. Here’s a summary of our inaugural session: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XSZTMK06Nals17lJOneliL2AmGOpnxQEoJC6c-fx6_0/edit

We will also be sharing a set of readings leading up the session. If you want to receive them, you can DM us OR contact Sayan (9717030231; [email protected])/ Aishwarya (8076578407; [email protected])

How do teachers deal with feelings of (professional) inadequacy?

Further reading:

Resolvjng feelings of professional inadequacy, Henrik Lindqvist et al

Teachers' emotions in the reconstruction of professional self-understanding

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

This comic was made as part of the Strengthening Data Ecosystems project facilitated by Aapti Institute, Mozilla Foundation, and USAID.

Our specific project, titled Storying Data Inaccuracy, explores the challenges of data collection processes in Delhi schools, and importantly, the causes of data inaccuracy within the education system.

For more comics, visit datainaccuracy.wordpress.com

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

Glimpses from the first Pedagogy Talks session held at Jamia Millia Islamia, organised by
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Do write to us if you wish to join us for future sessions, or organise a session in your institutional/community space.

How can we address issues in higher education recruitment processes?

"A teacher, displaced: Why Delhi University’s actions have made me want to quit academia", Rituparna Patgiri

"Whither Women's Studies? The Story of a Recruitment Process", Lakshmi Subramanian

This comic was made as part of the Strengthening Data Ecosystems project by Aapti Institute, Mozilla Foundation, and USAID.

For more comics, visit datainaccuracy.wordpress.com

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

We are excited to invite you to the first session of Pedagogy Talks, a discussion forum aiming to encourage reflective conversations on teaching in academia. Through reflective conversations with various teachers and educators across formal and informal educational spaces, we will attempt to build a complex and critical discourse on pedagogic work.

Day/date: Friday, 9 February 2024
Time: 2 PM
Venue: Seminar Hall, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia

This will be a roundtable conversation, where participants will share reflections from their teaching experience and practice. The discussion will be initiated by:
Aishwarya (PhD scholar, Ambedkar University and founding member, English Researchers Collective, JMI),
Deeksha (Assistant Prof, English, Zakir Husain College)
Irfan (formerly faculty, Dept of Sociology, South Asian University)
Sayan (Co-curator, Aaina and Critical Writing Faculty, Young India Fellowship)

For the longer concept note, please read:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YTcHAZ82_XQeYwYiF3TrtGcCsyVuzSzjLv4fNLLgHJQ/edit

Contact: Aishwarya 8076578407; [email protected]

How do we combat inequalities in the access and availability of academic resources?

Post developed in collaboration with

Further reading:

Public library revitalization in India: Hopes, challenges, and new visions, Ajit Pyati
Social Science Teaching in Hindi: An Inventory and Analysis of Current Curricular Materials at Six North Indian Universities, Satish Deshpande et al
Correlates of the national ranking of higher education institutions and funding of academic libraries: An empirical analysis, Vinit Kumar et al.

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

This comic was made as part of the Strengthening Data Ecosystems project by Aapti Insittute, Mozilla Foundation, and USAID.

U-DISE stands for Unified District Information System for Education. It is an initiative by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, aimed at collecting and maintaining extensive data on schools (on parameters ranging from infrastructure, enrolment, exam results etc). It is supposed to aid educational planning and policymaking, but teachers are often disempowered within the deliberative/decision-making and training processes to understand why data needs to be collected. As the post shows, teachers often feel the work of collecting this data can be time-consuming and tedious, and contribute to a feeling of being overburdened.

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

How can we address inequalities in college clubs and societies?

Post developed in conversation with

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak

This comic was made as part of the Strengthening Data Ecosystems project, facilitated by Aapti Institute, Mozilla Foundation, and USAID.

Our project explored why data inaccuracies happen in school. For more, check out the website: datainaccuracy,wordpress.com

Illustrations by Teesta Nayak.