Tracing Global-Local Transitions within Early Childhood Curriculum and Practice in India:

Taking the view that curriculum and pedagogy are complex processes related to history, politics, economics, culture and knowledge, and influenced by interactions that occur between students, teachers and the larger communities, this article will discuss how curriculum takes shape and is negotiated in some early childhood classrooms in post-colonial urban India. The article draws on empirical and published research, and includes a discussion on the influence of recent local and global forces on teaching and learning, focusing specifically on issues such as: the deep divide between private and public education in India; the challenge of sustaining local government schools in India in the face of the global emphasis placed on knowledge of the English language; the recent increase in the emergence of private schools in low- as well as high-socio-economic-class neighborhoods in India; the more recent neo-colonial influences of western media on children's lives in their homes and schools; and early childhood teachers' perceptions on the transitions between 'western' and 'Indian' values. The Global-Local Interplay School philosophies tend to mirror national cultures and borrow from cultural beliefs, and as local cultures evolve under global influences school systems are transformed and begin to reflect those changes that are encountered in local realities. Historically, this has resulted in various countries attempting to re-form their school cultures as a reaction to global imports (Watson, 1997; Anderson-Levitt, 2003). Taking the current situation of India, some examples of global imports that are creating changes in local realities include various elements from the business world of multinational corporations, from the entertainment world of celebrities, and from the world of education with regard to curricula and pedagogies, elements that are reflective of Euro-American lifestyles. These current imports have not only permeated the fabric of urban metropolises but are gradually and visibly seeping into small-town India as well. The direct impact of these and related changes on school systems has resulted in the Indian government's recent concern over the drawbacks of an educational system that has for centuries been too rigid and academically oriented. Indeed, ever since colonial powers took control of education in India a couple of centuries ago, the nature of mainstream schooling in urban and rural India has almost entirely consisted of the textbook-driven, examination-based approach focused on the honing of academic skills without much regard for nurturing the development of children's imagination or creative thinking skills. Although there have been independent educators over the years in India who have tried to establish schools to implement educational approaches that are less academically rigorous and more holistic, these attempts have been few and far between and without widespread government support. It was only in 2006 that the Indian government's National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) implemented a fundamental change in the national curriculum framework in India with the goal of making the process of learning more fun and child-friendly at all levels from primary through secondary schools. Examples of these changes include the addition of more