Education+for+All+Research+Proposal

(Mondraya Howard, a SPA Global challenge member reviews the wiki.)
 * Global Challenge 20/20: Education for All**
 * __Research Question__**: **//How can a quality, all-inclusive universal education be provided to all people?//**

In India, the focus would be more on the __relevance__ and the __accessibility of education__ to people of __all social groups__ (urban, rural, caste groups, gender/race). This question could be studied through the perspectives of different social groups – identifying how relevance and availability are viewed by different groups, then proposing a solution that would provide a useful and enriching education across these groups.


 * ASB PROPOSAL FOR UNDERTAKING RESEARCH ON THIS TOPIC**

Today in class we brainstormed what we need to understand / agree upon in order to address the central research question. This is what we came up with.


 * What purpose should an education serve (in our context)?**

· to inform people enough so that they can make informed choices about the things that will affect them · to help keep people safe and healthy and also to improve their lots in life · to convey the benefits of education; to demonstrate that knowledge is power · to provide skills of logic and reasoning that can be employed in any/all situations · to help people advance in their chosen fields (agriculture, carpentry, etc0 · to broaden people’s outlooks so that they have civic responsibility/duty and to lessen and hopefully eradicate biases based on religion, gender, caste, economic status, ability/disability.


 * __Focus__****: //What specifically do we need to know to address the main research question?//**

1. What is the existing role of the Indian government in providing a basic education for its citizens? 2. What are the main reasons that people in India do not have access to education? Is it personal choice, economic situation, caste/gender/religion-based situation, or issue involving accessibility? 3. What role do the existing quota systems play in increasing the numbers of people that do have access to education? 4. What is the quality of the education received by the average Indian student? (need to consider the quality and accessibility of teachers and resources) 5. What kind of difference are non-government organizations making in improving the quantity and quality of education received by Indian? 6. What constitutes a quality education that is useful in India today?


 * __Methodology__****:** **//How should we go about doing our research? What methods will make our research both high-quality and authentic?//**

1. We need to gather existing information about the state of education (deprivation) in India using news articles and more scholarly sources 2. We need to undertake interviews with a broad spectrum of people in India on their understanding of the state of education in the country and also what needs to be done to improve education in India. We would interview, for example; · Urban laborers: Maids, cooks, drivers, · Employees of the Brihan (Greater) Mumbai Municipal Corporations (BMCC) that are specifically involved with the running of schools in the City · Informed employee of the Government of India’s Department of Education · Directors of Education-related NGOs · Individuals, perhaps farmers, living in more rural parts of the country · Individuals from historically-discriminated groups (women, religious minorities, members of “scheduled” castes) · Teachers and students at a municipal school


 * __Format__**: **//What format should our project take so that it is informative, analytical, and compelling?//**

An interactive website that contains: 1) the information we have gathered and our analysis of this information; the analysis should be directed towards answering our central research queston 2) comparisons between the state of education in India and the US 3) blogs documenting our (ASB and SPA students) progress 4) links to articles that provide information related to our research question 5) video clips from interviews conducted by ASB and SPA stude