Bharati Baveja — University of Delhi, Delhi.

Our everyday observations of most individuals irrespective of age, gender or class, witness a striving to contemplate or at least acknowledge the experience of something that is convincingly real and yet denied as reality by the (so called) mainstream intellectual traditions. Based on some empirical data, the paper argues that the urge to address the issue of ‘higher’ self or consciousness is ubiquitous, albeit, unexpressed by the majority. The need to create space for deliberations on this issue has been silently and sometimes overtly expressed by individuals and therefore it can no longer be brushed aside under the garb of scientifically invalid subject matter or secular education.. The method of science as the method of inquiry has failed to deal with the complexities of life and nature. I take a stance expected from a student of education in India and consider promotion of a discourse in teacher education, which places Indian traditions and contexts in the center-stage. Education is an ‘organic subject’ which has to essentially emerge from the ethos and realities of the context. The theories taught in the teacher education programs do not work well in the Indian classroom. The paper thus makes a case for the need to develop a discourse on education including teacher education, as a distinct area of study, which emerges from, takes shape in, and addresses the Indian context.

Email the author: "Prof. Bharati Baveja" <scbaveja@vsnl.com>