Articles by Yemuna Sunny

A case study of how science is taught in some of the primary schools in Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh reveals that a lack of "cultural capital" does hamper the economically poor students in synchronising with the "education" that is designed in school textbooks and taught by teachers. Middle-class students who are backed by certain cultural capital fare relatively better. Cultural capital informs the relationship between schooling and the family/social structure and also shapes the teacher's role in how she or he negotiates with students from different backgrounds. Differing cultural capital is not reflected either in the nature of textbooks or in the nature of the teachers' training. This reveals how the question of accessibility to education cannot be limited to access to infrastructure but also includes access to knowledge.

By examining geography textbooks and students' responses, an attempt is made here to substantiate a problematic of science education. The decontextualised nature of science education contradicts everyday life experiences. This situation does not enhance a dialectic relationship between science and experience. It is argued that cognition by itself cannot address the issue of science "enculturation"; instead, it needs to be addressed through some essential relationships of science. These include relations between common observations and reflections beyond appearances as well as relations of science that modify and control nature.