The MLE Teacher: An Agent of Change or a Cog in the Wheel?

Urmishree Bedamatta

doi:10.1017/jie.2014.25

Authors

Urmishree Bedamatta Ravenshaw University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1017/jie.2014.25

Keywords:

multilingual education, multilingual education teacher, para-teacher, quality education

Abstract

This article examines the role of the multilingual education (MLE) teacher in the mother tongue-based MLE program for the Juangas, a tribe in Odisha, an eastern state of India, and is part of a broader study of the MLE program in the state. For the specific purpose of this article, I have adopted Welmond's (2002) three-step process: identifying culture-specific knowledge about the role of a teacher; examining the state's education objectives that influence teachers’ behaviour and experiences; and focusing on the behaviour and experience of teachers at the local level. These three steps constantly merged into one another during the examination of the subject under discussion. The paper recognises that the MLE teachers are not only first-generation teachers, but also first-generation practitioners of MLE, and therefore need to be resourceful and experimental in their classroom practices. However, given the national imperative to achieve universal elementary education by 2015, within the para-teacher framework adopted by the Government of India, the MLE teacher seems to be just a means to an end.

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