With the participation of scholars with diverse backgrounds, the ´Transnationalism and societal transformation in India´seminar aims at creating a space for fruitful discussion and multidisciplinary collaboration to touch on some of the following questions:
- What constitutes the core of social, political, or economic transformations in the Indian context nowadays?
- How are these processes influenced by and contribute to transnational mobilities of humans, ideas, policies, technologies, etc.?
- How is knowledge production entangled with these societal transformation processes and transnationalism?
- Considering the experiences, research findings, and lessons from India, how can/should we shape knowledge production for more sustainable and just futures?
The workshop is organized by TRANSIT in collaboration with the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL – India) and the Faculty of Education and Culture of Tampere University.
Time: Friday, Oct 14th, 2022, 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM (Helsinki time)
Venue: Onsite: TAU Virta 339. EDUs café. Åkerlundinkatu 5, 33014, Tampere, Finland. Online: Please fill in the REGISTRATION FORM. The Zoom Meeting link will be sent to online participants after registration.
Agenda:
10:00 – 10:10: Opening speeches
10:10 – 10:20: ´Lifestyle Migrants Searching for a Better Life in India.´ by Mari Korpela
10:20 – 10:30: ´Effect on Socio-economic conditions of inter-state migrant workers post COVID-19 pandemic and scope of intervention in India.´ by Kumar Sumit
10:40 – 10:50: ´Relevance and significance of indigenous knowledge.´ by Yukti Sharma
10:50 – 11:00: ´Open data governance in education – India as a case study.´ by Joyeeta Dey
11:10 – 11:20: ´Teacher education in India: Policy context, concerns, and transitions.´ by Gunjan Sharma
11:25 – 11:35: Break time
11:35 – 11:45: ´ Developing Teaching and Learning Innovations; a case study and the development programme of Indo-Finnish collaboration.´ by Mikko Ruohonen, Gururaj Mahajan & Katriina Vartiainen
11:45 – 11:55: ´The role of the Nordic Center in India in supporting scholars working in India.´ by Christabel Royan
12:05 – 12:30: General discussion
Presentation abstracts:
´Lifestyle Migrants Searching for a Better Life in India.´
By Mari Korpela, Social Anthropologist, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Finland
India is a land of opportunities. Some people are not, however, interested in economic or technological opportunities but search for a more meaningful and relaxed life. Lifestyle migration is a phenomenon whereby people from affluent countries move to India to search for a better quality of life. Some are interested in Indian spirituality or ancient culture whereas others embrace a countercultural lifestyle. This presentation outlines the phenomenon and discusses its preconditions and impacts. The presentation also shows how the discourses celebrated by the lifestyle migrants are circulating among local populations.
´Effect on Socio-economic conditions of inter-state migrant workers post COVID-19 pandemic and scope of intervention in India´
By Kumar Sumit, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Policy, Prasanna School of Public Health, India
Many people migrate from rural areas to cities, often across various Indian states, for better employment prospects. The Coronavirus pandemic has caused a massive economic crisis. Social distancing norms and frequent lockdown to deal with the pandemic have brought economic activity to a standstill. A massive exodus of migrant workers from cities to their native villages started in March 2020 and continues. Mental and financial issues due to job loss significantly impacted the socio-economic conditions of inter-state migrant workers. In the years to come, there will be serious ramifications in the absence of evidence-based interventions. Multi-sectoral coordination by engaging the central and state government authorities, prospective employers, and migrant worker’s unions can be one step forward in dealing with the situation.
´Relevance and significance of indigenous knowledge.´
By Yukti Sharma, Professor, Department of Education, University of Delhi, India
The presentation would discuss the relevance and indigenous knowledge specifically in the context of developing countries. It will be substantiated with the theoretical rationale for including indigenous knowledge in the formal curriculum. Specific cases and examples of Indian knowledge systems and practices will be cited from diverse micro contexts to establish the significance of the same in relation to the natural environment, particularly the plant resources.
´Open data governance in education – India as a case study.´
By Joyeeta Dey, Doctoral Researcher, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, India
Open data’ is part of a growing transnational idea of ‘open government’ upheld through values of transparency, accountability, participation, and devolution of power. I will first trace the emergence and subsequent proliferation of this idea in Indian education policy and governance. Subsequently, I will examine two Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) – the Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE) and National Achievement Survey (NAS) data dashboards through the theoretical lens of open government – describing some of the contradictions they represent to the notions of transparency via openness. For instance, being “open,” i.e. publicly available on the internet yet unknown, or presenting aggregated and processed data for the ostensible purpose of successful data dissemination and communication, which however makes it difficult to query.
´Teacher education in India: Policy context, concerns, and transitions.´
By Gunjan Sharma, Assistant Professor, Ambedkar University Delhi, India
Teacher education (TE) is at a crossroads in India. Policy and regulatory developments and debates in TE have intensified over the past one decade. These developments are fundamentally connected with the overarching education policy focus on the ‘learning crisis’ at the school level. This crisis is seen as an outcome of ‘poor teaching’ that in turn relates to the unsatisfactory quality of TE. Long-standing structural issues in TE, such as the high concentration of TE in for-profit institutions, impinge upon policy reforms in the domain. Exploring this context, this presentation will map the transitions in the TE policy approach in India.
´Developing Teaching and Learning Innovations; a case study and the development programme of Indo-Finnish collaboration´
By Mikko Ruohonen, Professor of information systems and business, Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland
Gururaj Mahajan, Local Research Coordinator in India, Tampere University, Finland
Katriina Vartiainen, University Instructor and Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Management and Business, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland
The objective of this collaboration case study paper is to outlay the action plan for joint Indo-Finnish collaboration between Tampere University (TAU), Finland, and University of Agricultural Sciences Dharwad (UASD), India. Background, needs, and challenges for thematic teaching and learning area development of “smart agriculture and entrepreneurship” is introduced and the implemented training programme presented (May-June 2022). The collaboration of Indian and Finnish universities for these activities is reviewed and several actions for innovation building are presented.
Keywords: Teaching, Learning, Innovations, India, Finland, Collaboration, Smart-agriculture, Entrepreneurship.
´The role of the Nordic Center in India in supporting scholars working in India.´
By Christabel Royan, Director, Nordic Centre in India
The Nordic Centre in India is a consortium of leading universities and research institutions across the Nordic region. We were established in 2001 with a presence in India in the form of a liaison office in New Delhi led by our Nordic secretariat which is currently located at Tampere University, Finland. We work in encouraging cooperation in higher education, research, and in international student recruitment in the two regions. We facilitate and support a wide range of study and research activities in India and the Nordic region. Our strength has been in creating and running short-term and longer programmes for students while also customising and creating opportunities as per specific needs of member universities along with supporting academic activities in India.
(Photo by Joshuva Daniel on Unsplash)