Nurturing Critical Consciousness of Caste Oppression in the Early Years of Primary School in India

An estimated 80m children are denied opportunities to meet their developmental and educational potential as a result of caste oppression. This includes children being denied access to basic human rights such as water and healthcare and rights to quality education. COVID-19 has exacerbated social inequalities, further stigmatising Dalits.
Children from caste-privileged backgrounds have few educational opportunities to learn about caste oppression as caste-based differences among children are often ignored by educators to avoid 'uncomfortable realities'. It is in the early years that children learn to normalise injustice or to challenge it.
Early primary programs can raise children's awareness of oppression and promote social inclusion. This research will engage classroom-teachers in Lucknow, India in co-designing and developing culturally relevant literacy-based educational tools that can nurture children's awareness of caste-oppression in the hopes of making contribution to ending caste-oppression and supporting social inclusion.
-What are children's and teachers' perceptions on caste oppression in early-primary classrooms at a school in Lucknow, India?
-How can teachers support children to develop critical consciousness of caste oppression in early-primary classrooms at a school in Lucknow, India?
Research draws on the theory of critical pedagogy which emphasises that schools are not neutral sites. Explains how schools can either reproduce oppression or challenge it. Research using critical pedagogy shows that participatory approaches are necessary for supporting educators and children to recognise issues of oppression and collectively developing approaches for inclusion.
Study will utilise an interpretivist paradigm, with participatory action research methods and elements of the Mosaic approach to engage children and teachers in examining issues of caste oppression in a primary school in Lucknow, India. The critical consciousness raising approaches will be co-designed with educators to best align with learning environments and existing classroom practices. The study will be guided by the expertise of an advisory board including NGO workers, young Dalit activists, children's books writers, academic experts, mentors and peers to sensitively represent caste issues in the research.
A participatory action research will be conducted in three phases (planning, acting and reflecting) spanning 8-9 months with primary classroom educators and children.
Study will be conducted with a group of approximately 7 educators and 30 children across early-primary classrooms in 1 Indian school. To ensure tools are authentic, sensitive, and practical, in-depth small-scale participatory research will be conducted to support the development of meaningful teaching tools, which can then be adapted and disseminated across wider contexts.
Video observations, interviews/dialogue, drawings, photographs, and collection of artefacts. The research will take an iterative approach where tools for the participatory research will be developed in negotiation with the educators and the advisory board. Data collected will be simultaneously analysed and results validated with participants to support on-going reflection and action.
A thematic analysis of data collected will occur across different phases. Data will be organised into themes that summarise findings on ways to raise critical awareness.
Study will be an initial step in addressing an international human rights issue by working out a framework to establish anti-caste communities of teachers and children. It will develop a repertoire of culturally relevant teaching tools adaptable for use across settings to foster inclusion of Dalit children and other marginalised groups. The research will provide suggestions for curriculum developers, publishers, policy-makers and teachers - on how to engage students as well-informed agents of change for greater inclusion and equity in schools and society.