Conflict between covers: Confronting official curriculum in Indian textbooks

Abstract

The article examines the most recent national-level textbook writing process in India during which activists, academics, and government bureaucrats came together to produce texts guided by a progressive vision of education. In the place of textbooks that traditionally relied on rote methods and adopted a conservative stance toward social issues, the new textbooks attempted to utilize a constructivist pedagogy and include content that would directly address inequality in Indian society. Based on interviews with textbook authors involved with the process, I find that while the state was open to changes in pedagogical approaches in the texts, it remained more resistant to content that would force students to confront sources of inequality. The findings indicate divergent possibilities and potential contradictions in countering hegemonic approaches to education, especially in the current political climate.