Dehumanising experiences of teaching in the private schools in neoliberal India: an autoethnographic study

Abstract

In the neoliberal economic policies adopted by nations, services for social welfare including education are rendered commodities to be purchased by citizens, and the employees’ (teachers’) skills too get commodified. The pedagogical skills of teachers may often be judged predominantly in terms of their contribution towards ease of profit-making by the private schools rather than facilitating students’ learning and growth. Through qualitative autoethnographic analysis of my experiences within private schools as an employee in a major city of Uttar Pradesh state of India, I explore the ways in which commodification of private school education, including teachers’ skills and roles, could be potentially dehumanising (being treated as persons unworthy of humanness or care) for teachers. The findings of my autoethnographic analysis point to aspects of such dehumanisation and the challenges ahead for the teachers to work towards making school spaces a growth-inducing experience for students and themselves.