Education in India is a vast undertaking, and the system is one of the largest in the world, responsible for teaching more than 250 million students. It favours a knowledge based approach, and students are schooled based on a strict syllabus guided by text books and regular exams.
“The Indian learning experience is completely different from that in Australia,” says Dr Premnadh Kurup, a lecturer in STEM education at La Trobe University. “Australia has smaller, more personalised classes and the system is flexible. It’s more focused on activities and scientific enquiry than India, and the assessments are outcome based.”
Dr Kurup is the lead researcher in a global teaching practicum model titled ‘Peer Alliance for Productive Professional Experience in Teaching’ (PAPPET). Working in collaboration with Dr Rohan Nethisinghe of RMIT and Dr Jose Cherian of Christ University in Bangalore, India, the program ran from 2017-2019, during which students from the two Australian universities were paired with counterparts from India and immersed in Bangalore’s education system.
The project was funded by the New Colombo Plan Scholarship Program provided by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“The Australian students had much to learn from working within an education system so different to what they are familiar with,” says Dr Kurup. “They had to become familiar with India’s curriculum very quickly and become competent in it. They had a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in a cultural experience and both cohorts benefitted.”
“The Australian students taught in classrooms in India for three weeks, and the Australian students were able to teach school-aged children in Bangalore about their culture, customs and wildlife,” says Dr Cherian. “Activites, music and dance were integrated into the lessons in a more dynamic way, and there were beneficial learning outcomes for all involved.”
The data gathered from the three year program ultimately formed the basis for further research. Using statistical modelling developed by La Trobe University statistics consultant Dr Xia Li, the team compared education competencies between the two countries in a number of publications, including a book chapter in Teacher Education: Analytical Approach to Internship Practices Around the World published by Routledge.
“Our research has demonstrated a real need for globalisation in education in the 21st century, and the cultural exposure that student teachers are required to obtain,” says Dr Kurup. “The program creates a better understanding of the curriculum framework in both countries, and can be used to create better collaborative projects for international teaching internships.”
