BELIEFS AND PRACTICES RELATED TO GIFTEDNESS IN

NAVODAYA VIDYALAYAS

by

Vani Gaddam

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in

Education Approved: Scott L. Hunsaker Deborah A. Byrnes Major Professor Committee Member Martha T. Dever Tilak R. Dhiman Committee Member Committee Member Martha L. Whitaker Thomas L. Kent Committee Member Dean of Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2003

ii

Copyright © Vani Gaddam 2003

All Rights Reserved

iii

ABSTRACT

Beliefs and Practices Related to Giftedness in

Navodaya Vidyalayas

by

Vani Gaddam, Doctor of Philosophy

Utah State University, 2003 Major Professor: Dr.Scott L. Hunsaker Department: Elementary Education

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme (NVS) is the largest talent

development program in India. It was established by the government in 1985 with

two schools set up on an experimental basis. Today the NVS includes 480 boarding

schools, one in nearly every district throughout the country. The specific objectives

of the scheme are to identify and nurture talent particularly in rural areas, to

promote national integration, and to establish institutions of high quality that would

serve as pace-setters and models at district levels.

The problem of this study was founded on the lack of appropriate research

concerning the organizational strategies of Navodaya Vidyalayas. The objective of

this study was to understand and describe the beliefs and practices related to

giftedness in Navodaya Vidyalayas.

iv

A phenomenological approach was followed to gain the perspectives of the

participants pertaining to their beliefs and practices related to giftedness. Data were

collected through 14 interviews with central administrators, principals, and teachers

at four different locations and through document analysis of official reports, annual

reports, and magazines published by the central administration. Rigor was

established through triangulation, member checking, peer debriefing, reflexive

journals, and an audit.

The findings of the study revealed that no theoretical or official definition

of giftedness exists underlying the NVS. Only an operational definition was

identified from the opinions of the participants, which was based on a very narrow

concept of giftedness. Participants believe that giftedness exists in varied fields, but

there was no concordance with school practices. NVS has introduced some

innovations such as promotion of national integration, pace-setting activities, art in

education, and over-all development of the child that can be traced back to an

ancient concept of excellence in Indian culture, but because of various socio-

political pressures the final emphasis has been laid on academic achievement only.

The major conclusion of the study is that, a well-articulated belief system

could strengthen the program. This would require retention of some current aspects,

but necessitate a broadened conception of giftedness, the change of student and

teacher selection practices, and a more individualized application of curriculum.

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DEDICATION

--To My Lord—

Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva

Tvameva bandhuscha sakha tvameva Tvameva vidya dravinam tvameva Tvameva sarvam mama devedeva.

O my supreme Lord! You alone are everything, mother and father You alone are my friend, helper, and protector

You alone are knowledge, material, and spiritual prosperity You alone are my everything, my Lord.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the help and contribution made by my committee

members: Dr. Scott Hunsaker, Dr. Martha Dever, Dr. Martha Whitaker, Dr.

Deborah Brynes, Dr. Tilak Dhiman. The guidance and direction given to me by my

committee chair, Dr. Scott Hunsaker, was enormous and invaluable. His high

expectations helped me to explore my potential to the fullest. Thank you, Dr.

Hunsaker, for bringing out the hidden scholar in me.

I extend my deepest thanks to my family: my mom, Krishna Veni; my dad

Linga Reddy; my sisters, Veena and Rani; and my cousins, Sena and Sumanth.

Without their support and love this study could not have come to fruition. To my

mom, I give a very special thank you for believing in me and making all this

possible.

I extend my special thanks to my dear husband, Venu Madhav Reddy, who

accepted to be a forced bachelor even after marriage for three long years.

Separation from him served as a great motivation for completion of my research in

a short period of time. His constant support and encouragement provided the vital

energy in this process.

I thank the central authorities of Navodaya Vidyalaya samiti, principals, and

teachers who consented to participate in this study and helped me in the success of

my study.

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I thank from the bottom of my heart all my friends who have directly or

indirectly encouraged and boosted my confidence constantly. Their constant

presence had given me confidence in this challenging endeavor. I give a special

thanks to my friend Benicia for not only accepting to be my peer debriefer but also

for all her valuable suggestions and time through out this study.

My heartfelt thanks to my teacher and a great friend, G. Narsi Reddy, for

inspiring and motivating me all through my Ph. D. program. Without his guidance,

support, and constant help, this Ph.D. would have remained nothing but a dream.

And last but not least to my little kid who is still unborn, who didn’t trouble

me a lot and helped me progress in my dissertation. My sweet baby was patient in

spite of the demanding long hours of work on my dissertation. I thank you and love

you and hope to hold you soon close to my heart.

Once again, I could not have done it without each one of you, Thank you!

Vani Gaddam

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CONTENTS

Page ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ........................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. xi LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. xii CHAPTER I PROBLEM STATEMENT....................................................................... 1 Purpose...................................................................................................... 4 Study Rationale……………………………………………………5 Research Questions………………………………………………..6 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE.................................................................... 8 Theories of Giftedness………………………………………………… 9 Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness……………………………11 Gagné’s Differentiated Giftedness-Talent Model………………..17 Concepts of Excellence in India………………………………………...26 Ancient Conceptions……………………………………………..27 Modern Historical Perspectives………………………………….36 III METHOD……………………………………………………………….45 Locations ................................................................................................ 45 Entrée ...................................................................................................... 47          Researcher as Instrument ........................................................................ 48 Ethical Issues........................................................................................... 49 Biases ....................................................................................... 49 Permissions .............................................................................. 50

ix

Benefits .................................................................................... 50 Confidentiality ......................................................................... 51 Data Collection Procedures..................................................................... 51 Interviews................................................................................. 52 Document Analysis .................................................................. 53 Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 54 Coding...................................................................................... 54 Content Analysis ...................................................................... 56 Adages from the Native Culture .............................................. 57 Study Rigor ............................................................................................. 57 Triangulation............................................................................ 58 Member Checking.................................................................... 58 Peer Debriefing ........................................................................ 59 Field Journals ........................................................................... 60 Audit......................................................................................... 60 IV MY PERSONAL JOURNEY ................................................................ 62 V FINDINGS .......................................................................................... 74 Beliefs about Giftedness………………………………………..75 Rationale for Establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas………………79 Quality Education to Rural Students ………………………80 Competency in Three-Languages……………………….…84 Promotion of National Integration………………………...84 Pace-Setting Schools……………………………………….85 Incorporating Art in Education…………………………….88 Teacher Selection……………………………………………….88 Teacher Traits……………………………………………...89 Selection Procedure……………………………………….90 Challenges of Teachers…………………………………....91 Training Programs………………………………………..92 Inspection………………………………………………...94 Student Selection………………………………………………..95 JNVST……………………………………………………96 Selection Issues…………………………………………..99

x

Nurturing Environment……………………………………….101 Curriculum……………………………………………………106 Suggestions…………………………………………………...109 Studies and Reports…………………………………………..113 VI DISCUSSION............................................................................... ….115 Definition of Giftedness in Navodaya Vidyalayas……………115 Official Definition Related to Historical and Cultural Perspective……………………………………………………117 Beliefs of Participants About Giftedness……………………..119 Beliefs Related to Current Theories of Giftedness……………122 Beliefs Related to Historical and Cultural Perspectives………124 Beliefs Reflected in the Experiences of Participants…………128 Entrance Test………………………………………….131 Teacher Selection……………………………………..131 Curriculum……………………………………………132 Urban-Rural mix……………………………………..133 Residential Life………………………………………133 Summary……………………………………………..134 VII CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 135 Positive Features…………………………………………….136 Drawbacks…………………………………………………..137 A Culturally Responsive Definition…………………………138 Program Components……………………………………….141 Student Selection Process……………………………142 Teacher Selection…………………………………….143 Curriculum and Instruction………………………….143 Final Thought………………………………………..144 REFERENCES.................................................................................................... 145 APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... Appendix A: Consent Form ................................................................................ Appendix B: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Teachers ......................... Appendix C: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Principals ....................... Appendix D: Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Central Authorities ........ Appendix E: Organizational Chart of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti ................... Appendix F: Auditor’s Attestation...................................................................... Appendix G: Copyright Permission Letters........................................................ CURRICULUM VITAE ...........................................................................................

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LIST OF TABLES Table Page

1 Letters Assigned to Different Levels of Participants ................................ 55

xii

LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page

1 Renzulli’s three-ring conception of giftedness−1978 version .................. 12

2 Renzulli’s three-ring conception of giftedness−1986 version .................. 14

3 Operation Houndstooth ............................................................................. 16

4 Gagné’s differentiated giftedness-talent model−1991 version ................. 20

5 Gagné’s differentiated giftedness-talent model−1993 version ................. 22

6 A psychological filigree of factors accounting for gifted achievements... 23

7 Gagné’s differentiated giftedness-talent model−1991 version ................. 25

8 Story of Shravana..................................................................................... 29

9 Story of Eklavya....................................................................................... 31

10 Story of Arjuna......................................................................................... 33

11 Story of Buddha ....................................................................................... 35

CHAPTER I

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Saraswati Namastubhyam varade kaamaroopini Vidyarambham karishyami siddhirbhavatu me sadaa

O Goddess Saraswati, salutations to you, the giver of boons, the one who fulfills all

desires. I begin my studies. May there always be accomplishments for me.

With a population of over one billion people, India has a great reservoir of

talent. Unfortunately, little of that talent is discovered and developed, due to several

adverse societal conditions, including over-population, poverty, illiteracy, and

unemployment. India’s national resources are often focused on what will help the

masses, such as general education (Raina, 1985). “Where the majority of parents

are illiterate and the minority though educated are unwilling to allow the young to

give expression to their creative talent, . . . and where school teaching is one of the

poorest paid professions, . . . the education of the gifted child becomes doubly

challenging” (John, as cited in Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p. 107)1. Education for

those people who may have the creativity, intellect, and commitment to solve, or

ameliorate, present conditions is rarely addressed. However, according to Clark

(1997):

1 The reader will encounter numerous secondary citations in this dissertation. That is because many of the sources are from India and could not be traced in the libraries in India.

2

Society will need the gifted adult to play a far more demanding and innovative role than that expected of the more typical learner. We need a significant number of integrated, highly functioning persons to carry out tasks that will lead us to a satisfying, fulfilling future. Contributions to society in all areas of human endeavor come in overweighted proportions from this population of individuals. (p. 7) Realizing the importance of the education of the gifted and the need to

nurture their talents, the government of India has introduced some programs like

the National Talent Search Scheme 2, the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship

Program, and the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.

The National Talent Search Scheme provides financial assistance in the

form of scholarships for higher education to students with outstanding academic

abilities. The Cultural Talent Search Program also provides financial support to

school children of age 10-14 who demonstrate outstanding cultural talents. The

Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme is the largest program, and focuses, not on higher

education, but on the pre-college years. It includes 480 boarding schools, one in

each district3 in India. “The Vidyalayas seek to promote and develop talented,

bright and gifted children predominantly from rural areas who may otherwise be

denied good educational opportunities” (Overview, n.d., ¶ 1). It has been 16 years

since these schools were launched, and currently 112,700 students are on the

schools’ rolls.

2 Scheme is a word for large programs in India 3 District is an equivalent of a county in the United States

3

However, all three programs for the gifted students have been criticized for

lacking a basis in psychological theory or conceptualization and not being

responsive to the Indian socio-cultural context. In regard to the Navodaya

Vidyalaya, Raina and Srivastava (2000) stated:

It seems that this scheme also suffers from an inadequate and narrow concept of excellence and the tools used for selection are again based on a very narrow conceptualization. The facilities provided under the scheme became available to a few and a large number continue to suffer from acute disadvantages. (p. 106) Further, the Acharya Ramaurti Report (as cited in Nanda, 1995) criticized

the Navodaya Vidyalayas for being very expensive for the government and for

catering to a microscopic minority of the total school population. In contrast, a

release from the Press Information Bureau (1999) of the Government of India said

that the Navodaya Vidyalayas show the best results on the national standardized

tests of all categories of schools in India and these schools are doing very well. In

spite of criticism, the government has sanctioned more schools and the Samiti4 is

planning to extend the number of schools by opening schools in the districts that do

not currently have one.

Raina and Srivastava (2000) stated, “the curriculum offered, the teachers

selected specially for these schools, leadership and other aspects of organization

need to be studied critically to indicate if these talented disadvantaged are nurtured

in a proper and systematic way” (p. 106). A database search yielded no research

4 Samiti is another name for the central organization that manages all these schools’ finances and practices.

4

articles relevant to Raina’s claim. The apparent lack of research on the

characteristics of Navodaya Vidyalaya, as identified by Raina and Srivastava, is the

problem underlying the present research study. As a first step in addressing the

issues raised by Raina and Srivastava (2000), this study seeks to investigate the

beliefs and practices related to giftedness in these schools. It is important to study

the underlying beliefs and how they affect practices as a first step because then it

will provide a basis on which interested parties can evaluate whether these schools

have fulfilled their objectives or not.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose for conducting this study is definitely founded on the lack of

appropriate research concerning Navodaya Vidyalayas. The more specific purpose

is to explore the beliefs related to giftedness of the authorities and participants in

Navodaya Vidyalayas and to compare the practices in gifted education with the

cultural construct of giftedness in India. However, there are also both governmental

and personal reasons for me to conduct this study.

5

Study Rationale

The first reason for conducting this study is that the government of India

has come under severe criticism for spending millions of rupees on the Navodaya

Vidyalaya program while not making any research attempts to evaluate the efficacy

of the selection procedures and nurturing programs, nor conducting any follow-up

studies to understand the advantages or disadvantages to the gifted and talented

students. I want to examine the truth in the criticism by exploring the beliefs and

practices related to giftedness in these schools. A second reason for investigating

Navodaya Vidyalayas is more personal. Being an alumnus of Navodaya Vidyalaya

and going through the system for seven years, I am curious to know what the

concept of giftedness is underlying this scheme, what the authorities and

participants’ beliefs are, and how they view the various practices in these schools.

Thirdly, as a prospective gifted educator/administrator, I want to have a better idea

of the concept of giftedness in India and also a better understanding of various

schemes and practices related to giftedness and the influence of the Indian culture

on these practices.

I have chosen a qualitative study approach because, to understand and

describe the concept of giftedness and experiences of the participants, an in-depth

phenomenological study was felt more appropriate than trying to quantify the

concept or experiences through a quantitative study. According to Bogden and

Biklen (1998), in a phenomenological approach the researcher attempts to gain

6

entry into the conceptual world of his/her subjects in order to understand how and

what meaning they confer around their daily happenings. Patton (1990) describes a

phenomenological study as “one that focuses on descriptions of what people

experience and how it is that they experience what they experience” (p. 71). These

definitions of phenomenology fit well with the purposes defined earlier.

The Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme has 480 Navodaya schools existing in

India and all these schools are similar in terms of the teacher selection, student

selection, calendar, and infrastructure. These schools are controlled by a central

governing body and have a nationalized curriculum that is practiced strictly in each.

Thus, the study of beliefs about giftedness with central authorities and only a few

purposefully selected schools can provide understandings of the phenomenon that

could be applied throughout the system with some confidence.

Research Questions

The main objective of this study is to understand and describe the beliefs

and practices related to giftedness in Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools. The research

questions that follow will help in gathering the data to meet the stated objective of

the study.

1. What is the official definition of giftedness adopted by Navodaya

Vidyalayas?

7

2. How is the official definition related to historical and cultural perspective of

giftedness in India?

3.What are the beliefs of concerned Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti authorities and

administrators about giftedness?

4. How are these beliefs related to current theories of giftedness and to historical

and cultural perspectives?

5. How are the officials’ beliefs reflected in the experiences of participants

(principals and teachers) in the Navodaya Vidyalayas?

6. How are participants’ experiences related to historical and cultural

perspectives?

8

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Om Bhur Bhuva Swaha Tat Savitur Varanium Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyonoha Prachodayat

I meditate upon the auspicious godly light of the Lord Sun

May the heavenly light illumine my thought flow and intellect in the right direction

The purpose of this literature review is three fold: (a) to present current

theories of giftedness, (b) to present literature focusing on the concepts of

excellence both in traditional and modern Indian culture, and (c) to present

information about various programs undertaken by the government of India to meet

the needs of gifted students and specifically about Navodaya Vidyalayas.

I conducted a computer-assisted search using the search engines Google,

Yahoo, Askjeeves, and Infoseek to locate relevant articles written on Navodaya

Vidyalaya and gifted education in India. The descriptors that I used to conduct the

search were gifted education in India, gifted and talented, giftedness,

intellectualism, attitudes of people toward giftedness, gifted and talented education,

Navodaya Vidyalayas, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. I found seven websites with

information on the history of Navodaya Vidyalayas and the demographics of these

schools but could not find any research reports on these schools. I also looked for

articles written by columnists, educators, and educationists on the educational

system of India. A search of the ERIC database and Exceptional Children

Educational Reserves using the same descriptors yielded only three articles. Again,

9

none of the articles were research reports. All the three articles were authored or

coauthored by Raina. All these articles are theory based. I visited the academic

libraries in India for a manual search of the documents that were listed in the

references of Dr.Raina and Dr. Srivastava articles. Unfortunately, I could not

retrieve any of the mentioned articles.

Theories of Giftedness

Given the apparent lack of research on gifted education in India, one is left

to consider the concept both theoretically and empirically from a western point-of-

view. Several possible theories for what giftedness is and how it is developed have

been posited in the Western literature.

Looking back at the history of gifted education in United States, there was

not much interest and initiative taken to understand and meet the educational needs

of gifted children until relatively recently. Beginning with the contributions of

Francis Galton, Alfred Binet, Lewis Terman, and Leta Hollingworth at the turn of

the 19th century and continuing through the first three decades of the 20th century,

scholars and practitioners did show interest in gifted education. The launch of the

Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 created a high commitment towards gifted

education by the federal government (Davis and Rimm, 1998).

This support, however, was based primarily on practical needs rather than

any theoretical foundations. Finally, the U.S. Office of Education (USOE) provided

10

the first official definition of gifted and talented in what has become known as the

Marland Report (Marland, 1972):

Gifted and Talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are children who require differentiated educational programs and/or services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society.

Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential in any of the following areas, singly or in combination: 1.general intellectual ability, 2. specific academic aptitude, 3. creative or productive thinking, 4. leadership ability, 5. visual and performing arts, 6. psychomotor ability. (p. 2) In 1978 the U.S. Congress revised the official government definition and

excluded the area of psychomotor ability. The reason for the omission was that

artistic psychomotor ability talents (e.g., dancing, monoacting) could be included

under performing arts and students who were gifted in athletics were already

receiving special services in various instructional programs. Since the services were

being provided elsewhere, the impact of the omission of psychomotor ability on

students is negligible.

The definition provided a basis for grant competitions sponsored by the

USOE for technical assistance in gifted education, but was criticized for lacking

any theoretical foundation. For example, Renzulli (1978) stated that there was a

problem due to the “non-parallel nature of the six categories included in the

definition” (p. 181). Two of the six categories (specific academic aptitude and

visual and performing arts aptitude) were related to the fields of human endeavor or

general performance areas, while the remaining four categories were more nearly

11

processes that relate to performance areas. Moreover, he added that the definition

could be misinterpreted and misused by educators. He said that educators would

develop identification systems based on the six USOE categories treating them as

mutually exclusive. Additionally, the definition failed to give the required guidance

necessary for educators to avoid any misinterpretation and misapplication.

Three-Ring Conception of Giftedness

In response, Renzulli (1978) propounded his theory of the “three-ring

conception” (p. 182) of giftedness. According to his definition:

Giftedness consists of an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits - these clusters being above-average general abilities, high levels of task commitment, and high levels of creativity. Gifted and talented children are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. Children who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs. (p. 261) According to Renzulli (1978), the strength of his theory was that it was

founded on “research on creative/productive people” (p. 182). He distinguished

between two types of giftedness: (a) “schoolhouse” (Renzulli, 1999, p. 8)

giftedness that can be easily measured by standardized ability tests, conveniently

used for selecting students for special programs; and (b) creative/productive

giftedness, which describes those aspect of human activity where emphasis is

12

placed on the development of original ideas, products, artistic expressions, and

other areas of knowledge that are designed to have an impact on target audiences.

The interaction of the three clusters of traits that result in

creative/productive giftedness, which, according to Renzulli, is the type of

giftedness schools should be fostering, is represented in the shaded area at the

intersection of the three circles on the left side of Figure 1. It is important to point

out that, according to Renzulli (1978) no single cluster “makes giftedness” (p. 182).

The graphic representation of giftedness depicts the interaction among the

three clusters that is “brought to bear upon” (Renzulli, 1978, p. 184) general and

specific performance areas, as represented on the right side of Figure 1. For

identification of gifted students, the implication is that teachers should recognize

the qualities of task commitment, creativity, and above-average ability in any of the

performance areas.

Figure 1. Renzulli’s three-ring conception of giftedness−1978 version.

13

From Renzulli’s What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. In Phi Delta Kappan, 60, (1978). by permission of the author.

In a version of the same theory, Reis and Renzulli (1985) retained the three

interacting clusters of traits, but placed them in a houndstooth background as

shown in Figure 2 on the next page. According to Renzulli and Reis (1997), there

are a host of other factors to be taken into account in order to explain what causes

some persons to display gifted behaviors at certain times and circumstances.

Renzulli and Reis grouped these factors into the two traditional dimensions of

personality and environment. They noted, “The research clearly showed that the

factors that influence gifted behavior each play varying roles in the manifestation of

gifted behaviors” (p. 10). The houndstooth pattern (the interlocking graphic

represented on the left side of Figure 2) represented the intricately connected

personality and environmental factors−including intuition, character,

socioeconomic status, and zeitgeist, which influence giftedness and gifted

behaviors (Renzulli & Reis, 1986).

In 1986, Renzulli replaced his definition of giftedness with a definition of

gifted behaviors, stating:

Gifted behavior reflects an interaction among three basic clusters of human traits – above average ability, high levels of task commitment and high levels of creativity. Individuals capable of developing gifted behavior are those possessing or capable of developing this composite set of traits and applying them to any potentially valuable area of human performance. Persons who manifest or are capable of developing an interaction among the three clusters require a wide variety of educational opportunities and services that are not ordinarily provided through regular instructional programs. (Renzulli & Reis, 1986, p. 218).

14

Figure 2. Renzulli’s three-ring conception of giftedness−1986 version.

From Colangelo & Davis Handbook Of Gifted Education, 3/e Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Copyright (c) 2003 by Pearson Education. by permission of the publisher.

The shift from defining giftedness to defining gifted behaviors does not

necessarily suggest a change in the types of assessments or information sought but

on the labeling of the students with the terms gifted or not gifted. Renzulli and Reis

(1986) felt that an effective identification system must take into consideration other

factors in addition to test scores and that these other factors must be given equal

weight in the selection process. They also stated, “We must reexamine

identification procedures that result in the total pre-selection of certain students and

15

the concomitant implication that these youngsters are and always will be ‘gifted’”

(p. 220). This is because the absolute approach (i.e., you are gifted or not gifted)

together with almost total dependence on test scores goes against the research and

is contrary to effective identification process. Renzulli and Reis (1997) urged

educators to identify students who exhibited gifted behaviors and develop these

behaviors in youngsters who have the highest potential for benefiting from special

education services. According to them, the term gifted is counterproductive to

educational efforts aimed at identification and programming for certain students in

the general school population, and therefore he asked the educators not to label the

students but label the behaviors and the services provided for those students

instead.

In 2000, Renzulli coined the term ‘Operation Houndstooth’ for the

background underlying the three-ring conception of giftedness. Operation

Houndstooth signified the interaction among the several categories of personal

characteristics that are represented by the houndstooth background seen in the

three-ring conception since 1986. Renzulli (2003) felt further definition of the

houndstooth was needed because he realized that a host of other factors must be

taken into account in an effort to explain what causes some persons to display

gifted behaviors at certain times and under certain circumstances. Renzulli included

several categories of personal characteristics in the houndstooth background.

“These categories include, but may not be limited to, Optimism, Courage, Romance

with a Topic or Discipline, Sensitivity to Human Concerns, Physical/Mental

16

Energy, and Vision/Sense of Destiny” (Renzulli, 2003, p.78). These are illustrated

in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Operation Houndstooth

From Colangelo & Davis Handbook Of Gifted Education, 3/e Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Copyright (c) 2003 by Pearson Education. by permission of the author.

The goals of Operation Houndstooth were two fold; (a) to examine the

scientific research that has been conducted on the components, as shown in Figure

17

3, and (b) to conduct a series of experimental studies to determine how various

school-related interventions can promote the types of behavior defined within the

respective components. More research is yet to be conducted on how much

influence does each of the components play in promoting gifted behaviors and how

can these components be incorporated in curriculum and instruction in schools.

The three-ring theory has been criticized by some educationists in the field

of gifted and talented. For example, Olszewski-Kubilius (1999) has charged:

A major weakness is the lack of school-based assessment procedures that can guide decisions about a broader range of accelerative, enrichment, and other types of program options for gifted students with different needs. (p. 55)

Gagné’s Differentiated Giftedness-Talent Model

Gagné (1985) criticized Renzulli’s theory for various reasons. First, he

disagreed with Renzulli about the presence of motivation as a necessary component

of giftedness. However, he stated that motivation is necessary for achievement in

any particular field. He cited the example of gifted underachievers to support his

contention. Second, he argued the identification of creativity as an essential

component of giftedness. He stated, “Creativity can be regarded as a major

determinant of exceptional performance in certain fields of endeavor, but not in all.

18

It therefore should be considered as one ability domain, among others, in which

giftedness can express itself” (p. 106).

Finally Gagné (1985) critiques Renzulli’s theory for its lack of

differentiation of above average ability into separate ability domains. He noted that

Renzulli’s description and citations of above average ability leaves the distinct

impression that these abilities refer to intellectual capabilities. He opined that skills

capable of explaining various artistic talents, which are strongly heterogeneous,

must be sought out in other domains and “an adequate model for giftedness should

introduce a parsimonious taxonomy of human abilities” (p. 107).

Being dissatisfied with Renzulli’s theory, Gagné (1985) propounded his

own theory of “a differentiated model of giftedness and talent” (p. 109). According

to Gagné, giftedness and talent are two different concepts. “Giftedness corresponds

to competence which is distinctly above average in one or more domains of ability.

Talent refers to performance which is distinctly above average in one or more fields

of human performance” (p. 108).

Gagné (1985) explained that the terms competence and performance are

important to understand the differences between giftedness and talent. He added,

“This distinction is also intended to reduce the ambiguity between the two concepts

as much as possible by adopting definitions which do not include the same words”

(p. 108). He said that it was these factors that lead him to choose the terms domain

(to refer to abilities) and field (to refer to domains of talent). The model presented

giftedness as exceptional aptitude in one or more domains of ability, and defined

19

talent as exceptional performance in one or more fields of human activity. Gagné

suggested a class of environmental and personal influences that are needed to

change gifts into talents. He called these catalysts. Motivation, a major component

of giftedness in Renzulli’s model, was given a primary place in the catalysts of the

actualization of giftedness into talent. Creativity, another essential component of

giftedness in Renzulli’s model, was given less importance and was transferred to

one of the general ability domains. This rearrangement permitted the

accommodation of many talents such as sports and athletics, musical or theatrical

interpretation, trades, and leadership in which divergent thinking does not appear to

play a key role.

In 1991, Gagné subdivided aptitudes (i.e., gifts) into four categories

(intellectual, creative, socio-affective, and sensorimotor) and talents into five

categories (academic, technical, artistic, interpersonal, and athletic). Both sets of

categories are illustrated in Figure 4 on the next page, with gifts on the left and

talents on the right.

Figure 4. Gagné’s differentiated giftedness-talent model−1991 version.

20

From In Colangelo, N. & Davis, G.A. (Eds.) In Handbook Of Gifted Education, 1/e Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.Copyright (c) 1991 by Pearson Education. by permission of publisher.

Further, Gagné (1991) distinguished catalysts into two different types:

intrapersonal (e.g., curiosity, motivation, perseverance, autonomy) and

environmental (e.g., parents, siblings, peers, school, identification models). Talents

were considered to be the developmental product of an interaction between

aptitudes and interpersonal and environmental catalysts. Thus, Gagné characterized

aptitudes as the building blocks of talents, and catalysts as positive (or negative)

moderators that transform (or do not transform) aptitudes into talents, and talent as

the heart of his model.

21

In 1993, Gagné added another category to the aptitude domain and

classified it as “Others” (p. 72). He elaborated that this “Others” category “acts as

an ‘expansion port’ for less recognized and studied natural abilities (e.g., extra-

sensory perception, gift of healing)” (p. 73).

In the catalysts components Gagné (1993) added detail on intrapersonal

catalysts and environmental catalysts as shown in Figure 5 on the following page.

Intrapersonal catalysts included both motivation factors (e.g., initiative, interests,

persistence) and personality factors (e.g., autonomy, self-confidence, self-esteem).

Environmental catalysts were subdivided into five distinct categories: (a)

significant persons, (b) significant physical environments, (c) significant

interventions, (d) significant events and (e) chance. The center of the catalysts

component was occupied by learning, training, and practice. This component

illustrated the “longitudinal dimension of talent development” (p. 75). He

emphasized that systematic formal training is the usual way to develop talents in

any field, especially when aiming at high levels of proficiency. Finally in the talent

component he excluded the general and specific categories and put them into one

category and expanded the number of fields. He opined that no category system

could do justice in classifying the immense variety of talents manifested by

children and adults in all walks of life.

Figure 5. Gagné’s differentiated model of giftedness and talent−1993 version.

22

From In Heller, K.A., Monks, F.J. & Passow, A.H. (Eds.) In International Handbook of Research and Development of Giftedness and Talent, 1/e Published by Pergamon Press. Copyright (c) 1993 by Pergamon Press Ltd. by permission of the publisher.

One change to Gagné’s (1993) theory was the addition of chance as a

“significant factor” (p. 72) in the category of “environmental catalysts” (p. 72). In

fact in 1983, this chance factor was elaborated in detail by Tannenbaum (1991) in

his earlier theory of giftedness shown in Figure 6 on the next page. It was

Tannenbaum who first elaborated on the role of chance, which he called “the smile

of good fortune at crucial periods of life” (p. 29) in the occurrence of giftedness.

Figure 6. A psychological filigree of factors accounting for gifted achievements

23

From Colangelo & Davis Handbook Of Gifted Education, 3/e Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.Copyright (c) 2003 by Pearson Education. by permission of the publisher.

According to Tannenbaum (1991), for a child to become truly gifted, five

factors have to interweave most skillfully. He emphasized on the equal importance

of chance factor in the occurrence of giftedness by stating “no combination of four

qualifiers can compensate for the absence or insufficiency of the fifth” (p. 29).

Gagné apparently found Tannenbaum’s arguments compelling.

In 2000, Gagné changed the figure of his model drastically, and he referred

to aptitude domains or gifts as natural abilities and talents as systematically

developed skills. From the aptitude domains section he removed the “Others”

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category indicating that he was now pretty much confident and settled on the

specific domains as shown in Figure 7 on the following page. In the intrapersonal

catalysts section he reorganized the components and reduced the special importance

given to motivation and personality in his previous model (1993) and added

physical, volition, and self-management components. He renamed the

learning/training/practice component as developmental process and specified

informal/formal learning and practicing under it, emphasizing the role of informal

training too. Among the environmental catalyst components he identified chance as

an independent factor rather than as part of the environmental factors he had

previously designated as contributing to talent development. His figure also showed

how chance could have its role in influencing natural abilities, intrapersonal

catalysts, and environmental catalysts. In the talents component he reorganized the

skills back into broader categories again proving that he had become confident that

these were the final categories under which all possible talents of human beings

could be categorized. The relationships among the six components (gifts, chance,

intrapersonal catalysts, environmental catalysts, developmental process, and

talents) as shown in Figure 7 are expressed through a complex impact of gifts on

talents, gifts being the constituent elements (or raw materials) of talents, the

presence of talent(s) implying underlying gift(s), but the reverse not being true.

Figure 7. Gagné’s differentiated model of giftedness and talent−2000 version.

25

From Colangelo & Davis Handbook Of Gifted Education, 3/e Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.Copyright (c) 2003 by Pearson Education. by permission of the publisher.

According to Gagné (2000) gifts can remain undeveloped (e.g., academic

underachievement). The catalyst components usually act through the

developmental process, facilitating or hindering the learning activities, and thus the

performance. Any pair of components could interact, in both directions (e.g., gifts

influencing intrapersonal components, and vice-versa). Talents could even have a

feedback effect on the other components. If this is true, then Gagné’s figure is

misleading because all the arrows in the figure are pointed out in one direction.

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This could confuse the practitioners who adopt Gagné’s model for identification

and for other practices.

Concepts of Excellence in India

Theories such as Renzulli’s and Gagné’s can have potential for influencing

gifted education practices in India. This could occur through two different factors:

(1) the vacuum created by the absence of theoretical foundations of giftedness in

the Indian education system, and (2) a potential match between the traditional

beliefs of giftedness and the theories of Renzulli and Gagné. Yet as Raina and

Srivastava (2000) have pointed out, the present day hostility or the love-hate

relationship in India towards excellence is due to the uncritical and unexamined

transplantation of modern psychology from the West almost as a complete

wholesale package. They further added that the native concept of excellence has

been hegemonized so effectively by the concept produced and honed in the West,

that the original concepts vanished from our awareness.

Yet, the approach to excellence in various Indian philosophies, art, and

culture has been diverse and varies in spatial as well as temporal contexts. Indian

tradition has exhibited indigenousness in defining and recognizing excellence.

“India was multi-centered in its cultural expression and, at the same time, a

universally valid sense of excellence was continuously evolved and cherished”

(Murthy, as cited in Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p.102).

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Ancient Conceptions

Ancient India saw the emergence of talent and increased excellence in

humanitarian aspects such as compassion, truthfulness, felicitous speech,

generosity, sacrifice, single mindedness in carrying out a task, respect for elders

and service. In the traditional society, caste system played a vital role in

determining the talents of the people. Excellence in humanitarian aspects was

recognized and valued across the various strata of the caste system. However, the

caste system was a restrictive force in identification of the talents in varied human

endeavors as people could only practice the talents in their respective family

occupations. People were prohibited from exploring their talents in other

occupations.

Intrinsic to excellence and creativity were character, integrity, and

conviction (Menon, 1978). According to Chandogya Upanishad

(Ranganathananda, as stated in Raina & Srivastava, 2000), excellence is the result

of vidya (science of knowledge) coupled with sraddha (totality of positive

attitudes), and upanishad (deep and meditative thinking). A combination of these

three energies results in a type of excellence that has the power to move the world

(Raina & Srivastava, 2000).

Following from Raina and Srivastava (2000), this ancient conception of

excellence has the danger of being hegemonized by a concept from the west, such

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as Renzulli’s (1978), because it is similar in some ways. For example, one could

see vidya as corresponding to above average ability, sraddha as task commitment,

and upanishad as creativity. The transplantation of Renzulli’s notions in place of

the Chandogya Upanishad would be unfortunate from the point-of-view of Indian

culture because the Indian concept of excellence is so rich and profound that it has

a great potential to guide gifted programs efficaciously. The opportunity is in using

the three-ring conception to better understand the ancient ideas, and vice-versa.

However, unlike Renzulli’s (1978) notion that creative/productive

giftedness could be developed in many general and specific fields of endeavor, in

Indian culture, achieving excellence in any field would be considered impossible,

excellence being better recognized than defined. In the traditional Indian context

excellence was viewed as a relative term. Any individual could only claim a degree

of excellence. Excellence was seen more as striving to achieve perfection (Riana &

Srivastava, 2000), an inner zeal to achieve the highest standards without any

external driving force. Excellence was more a path than a destination.

Most of the stories in holy books and epic tales respected in India portray

individuals who posses the humanitarian qualities of excellence listed earlier.

Incidents in the life histories of epic Indian and historical legendary heroes, like

Buddha, are provided on the following pages as a sample of the qualities of

excellence valued in India in ancient times. I have chosen four stories of

individuals to illustrate the above-mentioned commendable qualities of excellence

from various epics, religious text, and historical legends.

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These stories can be found in Indian mythology that is as old as 5000 years.

The two epics that Hindus follow mostly are Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama, who is revered, as the epitome of what an

ideal son, king, and husband should be. The example of Shravan Kumar (see

Figure 8) is an extract from this book. Mahabharata is the story of the Pandavas, a

group of royal brothers who were deceived by their cousin Duryodhana in a game

of dice and thus lost their empire. Then they went to live in the forest in exile.

Later, they won their empire back in war and ruled the country in a just and prudent

manner. The examples of Ekalavya (see Figure 9 on page 31) and Arjuna (see

Figure 10 on page 33) are from this book.

Shravana or Shravan Kumar, is idolized in Indian society as an ideal son

(see Figure 8). The main quality Shravan Kumar displays is sraddha (positive

attitude).

Figure 8. Story of Shravana

Shravana was a 16-year-old Brahmin boy with blind, aged parents dependant on him. One day they expressed a desire to go on a pilgrimage in India. Shravana took them on a pilgrimage by putting them in wooden baskets and carrying them on his shoulders. During this journey, Shravan’s parents became thirsty and asked for a drink of water. Shravana placed them under the shade of a tree and went in search of water. As he was fetching the water from a pond, an arrow came and hit him right in the chest and wounded him badly. King Dasharatha, who was an expert archer, mistook Shravana for an animal and hit him with the arrow. The king’s heart broke when he realized that he hit a boy, and he ran to the spot where the boy was lying. Crying with guilt, he took the boy in his lap, poured a few drops of water in his mouth, and asked the boy who he was and expressed his grief for the grave mistake he had committed.

30

The boy narrated his whole story and told the king that his parents were alone and need help and asked him to take care of his parents. Then he died. The king went to Shravan’s parents who immediately recognized that he was not their son. Upon learning of their bereavement, Shravan’s parents were badly upset and cursed the king that one day he would also suffer the pain of separation from his son.

Sraddha is clearly exhibited in his love for his parents and his willingness to

sacrifice his own comforts for taking care of his parents. He had shown

unparalleled devotion, loyalty, respect and obedience to his parents−as

demonstrated by him embarking on a journey desired by his parents by carrying

them on his shoulders.

Shravan Kumar exhibited the quality of vidya by showing kindness, a sense

of justice, sympathy and understanding towards King Dasaratha through forgiving

his inadvertent mistake. He had shown composure and stoical nature by not

displaying anger towards his killer. His balanced approach in arriving at pragmatic

solutions for a difficult problem is perceivable in his request to the king to take care

of his parents and provide them comforts. The quality of upanishad (meditative

thinking) was displayed by his extremely focused manner and clarity of his future

goals, which he decided would be to take care of his parents and fulfilling their

every wish. His stability, will power and firmness, his unwavering belief in the

necessity of his task, the systematic manner in which he set out to carry out the task

and the joyous acceptance and endurance of the hard physical labor are proof of his

concentration, concerted effort, and meditative thinking.

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Ekalavya's personality also displays all three characteristics of vidya,

sraddha and upanishad (see Figure 9 on the following page). Vidya (science of

knowledge) is exhibited in his ambition to learn and hone his skills to become a

good leader and protector of the people dependent on him. His zeal and sincerity in

pursuit of education, his unrelenting effort and hard work, his devotion to the task

of learning, and his ultimate success in achieving the required competence amply

qualify him to be considered an excellent student.

Figure 9. Story of Eklavya

Dronacharya or Drona, was a teacher of archery to the royal children in Mahabharata. One day he was approached by Ekalavya, a boy from the Shudra community (untouchable, low caste) to learn archery. Drona refused to accept him as a student due to his lower social status. Eklavya’s determination was strengthened by this refusal. Ekalvya constructed a clay idol of Dronacharya and installed it under a tree. He worshipped this idol of the teacher every day and took self-lessons in the art of bow and arrow. The talented young Eklavya soon acquired excellent knowledge in archery and attributed his achievement to the inspiration provided by the teacher or his statue.

One day the teacher and his favorite student, Arjuna, were witness to the amazing skills of Ekalavya. They saw Eklavya seal the mouth of a barking dog without hurting it. They wanted to meet that exceptionally skilled artist, traced the spot where he was practicing the skill, and were surprised to find that he considered Drona as his teacher.

Dronacharya loved his favorite student Arjuna very much and wanted to make him best in the world. He knew that it would be impossible because Ekalavya was superior to Arjuna. So Dronacharya asked Ekalavya for ‘guru dakshina’ (a formal tribute paid by students to the teacher). Eklavya was overwhelmed to see Dronacharya accepting him as his disciple and said, “ O Honorable Teacher, whatever you ask, this humble disciple of yours will try his utmost to offer you that as guru dakshina! I am blessed.”

Dronacharya asked for Eklavya’s right thumb as his fee. He wanted to prevent Eklavya from practicing archery as it’s difficult to use a bow without the thumb. Eklavya cheerfully cut off his thumb and offered it as fee to his teacher.

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The quality of sraddha (positive attitude) is clearly perceivable in all his

actions. His refusal to get discouraged by the rejection of his teacher, his strong

belief in his capabilities and conviction about his goals, his honesty in giving credit

to his teacher for providing vicarious inspiration and motivation, his inability to

feel rancor or hatred towards the teacher for asking a gift which would cripple him

and destroy his dreams, his unquestioning loyalty and obedience are enough to

understand the character, integrity and positive outlook of Ekalavya's nature.

The quality of upanishad (deep and meditative thinking) can be seen in his

utmost concentration and clarity of thought, the perfect coordination with which his

mind and body worked, the self confidence and maturity he displayed when

challenged to fight the princes, and his lack of conceit or arrogance about his

achievements. All these characteristics make Ekalavya an excellent example of a

gifted and ideal student in India.

Arjuna personifies all the three qualities of vidya, sraddha and upanishad

(see Figure 10 on the following page). The quality of vidya (science of knowledge)

is shown by his extreme interest and devotion to learning the intricacies of archery,

his ambition to become the best archer in the world, his desire to be loved and liked

by his teacher, his inquisitiveness and aptitude which won him the admiration of

his teachers, his quest for knowledge and his willingness to accept a challenge to

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his skill and his success in proving his capabilities. All these incidents and qualities

make him an ideal and excellent student worth emulating. The quality of upanishad

is displayed by his superior and extraordinary concentration, ability to focus only

on the goal and not to get distracted by anything else, single-minded pursuit of a

target and his zeal to prove his skills.

Figure 10. Story of Arjuna

Arjuna was an excellent archer and was the favorite student of the guru Dronacharya. One day, Arjuna’s cousins criticized their teacher for the undue favor shown towards Arjuna. As a reply to their criticism, Dronacharya arranged a test to decide the best archer amongst all. Accordingly, a wooden bird was put on a branch of a distant tree. It was partly hidden by the foliage. A prominent artificial eye was painted on the wooden bird. The teacher called all his disciples and said, "Look, my children. A bird is sitting on that far off tree. You have to hit the arrow exactly in its eye. Are you ready?” Everyone nodded.

First the eldest, Yudhisthira, was invited to try his skill. He stretched his bow-string and was about to release the arrow when Dronacharya asked him a question, "O eldest son of Kunti, may I know what is visible to you at this point of time?"

Yudhisthira replied innocently, "Why, O Gurudev, I am seeing you, the tree, people around me, and the bird.” Similar questions were put to Duryodhana, Bhima, Nakul, Sahadeva, and the others, and Dronacharya got similar answers as those given by Yudhisthira. Dronacharya told them to step aside as it was obvious that with such poor concentration, they were sure to miss the target! Lastly, it was the turn of Arjuna. He readied himself, his bow and arrow in perfect graceful harmony! Then the Guru asked him, "O Arjuna, will you tell me what is being observed by you?”

Arjuna replied, "Sir, at this point of time only the eye of the bird is visible to me." When asked by the teacher whether he was able to see the bird, the tree, and people around, Arjuna replied no to this question and stressed again that he saw the eye of the bird only.

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Dronacharya was pleased with Arjuna's immense concentration and correct approach towards the art of archery. He then explained to others how due to such peculiar yogic qualities and powers he preferred Arjuna as his best disciple.

The quality of sraddha, or positive attitude, is displayed by his love and

loyalty towards his teacher, not taking offence at the taunts of his cousins and

cheerfully accepting their challenge with a positive spirit, sincerity of purpose,

confidence in his capabilities, and obedience to his teachers and elders. Because of

combination of all these qualities, Arjuna is one of the most prominent examples of

giftedness and excellence in Indian mythology.

Buddha is considered as a good example of excellence and giftedness in

Indian society. He is one of the most highly respected persons in India. He showed

compassion for his fellow human beings by feeling sad about their suffering and

trying to defeat or alleviate suffering as mentioned in Figure 11 on the following

page.

Buddha had shown the quality of sacrifice by renouncing his kingdom and

starting on a search for truth. He had shown the quality of generosity and

truthfulness by sharing his knowledge with others and trying to make them realize

the truth of life. As mentioned in Chandogya Upanishad deep and meditative

thinking, science of knowledge, and positive attitude are the three basic

characteristics of excellence. Buddha had shown all the three qualities by seeking

answers to the eternal questions of nature, pursuing them with meditation and

35

positive approach and spreading the knowledge to others. Hence, Buddha is taken

as a good example of excellence in Indian context.

Figure 11. Story of Buddha

Buddha was born as Siddhartha to King Suddodana and Queen Mahamaya. Priests predicted that he would either be a great king or would renounce the world to become a holy man. Afraid that his son may become a hermit, the king brought up his son within the boundaries of the palace isolated from the outside world. Siddhartha was married to a beautiful princess, Yasodhara, and in a few years they had a son, Rahul.

After Rahul was born, Prince Siddhartha started becoming curious about the outside world. One day he asked his charioteer to take him for a ride far outside the kingdom. In this journey, he saw human sufferings- an old man, a sick man, and a dead man- for the first time in his life. Siddhartha asked the charioteer, “Does everyone become sick, old and die?”

The charioteer replied, “Yes, master. This is the law of nature.” Siddhartha felt very depressed.

On his way back he spotted a monk meditating under a tree. The monk seemed completely at peace. Siddhartha went and asked the monk, “Who are you?”

The monk replied, “I am a seeker of the truth, of life over death. And to find it, I have given up everything on this earth.” At the very moment Siddhartha decided to leave his luxurious life and follow the footsteps of the monk.

That night when everyone was sleeping in the palace, he crept out without the knowledge of anyone. He rode with his charioteer until dawn. Far away from the kingdom, he got down from the chariot and told the charioteer to go to his father, King Suddodana, and tell his father that he would return as the conqueror of sickness, old age, and death, or he will fail and die.

Siddhartha continued his journey, seeking wisdom from the monks he met along the way. But none could teach him how to obtain the ultimate peace. He

36

struggled a lot on his way. One fine day he walked to a large Bodhi (banyan) tree and sat under it, vowing that he would not leave that seat until he attained his goal. Siddhartha was steadfast in attaining his goal, and one day, as he opened his eyes with the rising sun, he saw the whole cycle of life, the whole mystery of life. He saw the whole of existence within himself, and himself within the whole of existence. His search for the truth has ended. At the age of thirty-five, he became Buddha.

Siddhartha, the Buddha, continued to sit in meditation. He left the shelter of the Bodhi tree and went ahead to teach others what he had learned. Buddha then traveled far and wide teaching his four noble truths, as well as the art of meditation to purify body, speech, and mind. The four noble truths he taught were; (a) life ends in death, (b) the cause of the sufferings of life is desire and our bad deeds, the Karma, (c) the end of desire leads to the end of suffering, and (d) the way to end desires, and hence to end suffering, is to follow the righteous path and discovering the divine truth that is inherent in us.

According to Raina and Srivastava (2000), “History is replete with many

examples of excellence available in ancient India.” (p.102). In each of the stories

mentioned above the heroes exhibited some basic humanitarian characteristics like

compassion, sacrifice, generosity, truthfulness, respect for elders, service to others,

forgivingness, sincerity, respect for teachers, loyalty, obedience, meditative

concentration, unrelenting effort, hard work, self-confidence, and thirst for

knowledge. Raina and Srivastava added, “Though useful and discernible, the

excellences valued in ancient India have been neglected for the reason that they are

not marketable and also are not testable by the available psychometric tools. They

win one neither high scores, nor money, nor certificates” (p. 104). The

humanitarian excellence illustrated in the stories shared in this review is not

marketable, as pointed out by Raina and Srivastava. The stories’ usefulness as

examples of excellence is found only in how gifted individuals lead their daily life

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striving for self-satisfaction in doing good to others and making the world a better

place to live.

Modern Historical Perspectives

Not only have ancient conceptions of giftedness been devalued over the

centuries, but, through the years of British rule in India, an educational system

emerged in which the intellectual abilities of the Indian citizens were not

recognized to their full potential and, hence, excellence suffered a major setback.

Talking of the colonial exploitation of the rich Indian civilization, British

Education in India (n. d.) stated, “Britain needed a class of intellectuals meek and

docile in their attitude towards the British, but full of hatred towards their fellow

citizens” (p. 2). Further discussing how British education washed out the native

educational philosophies and educationists, this article stated:

British-educated Indians grew up learning about Pythogoras, Archimedes, Galileo, Newton without ever learning about Panini, Aryabhatta, Bhaskar or Bhaskaracharya. The logic and epistemology of the Nyayasutras, the rationality of the early Buddhists or the intriguing philosophical systems of the Jains were generally unknown to them. (p. 4) Unfortunately, such attitudes have continued to affect education in India

even during post-colonial times. As Raina and Srivastava (2000) put it, “Even after

50 years of independence in India, we have neither been able nor seem to be taking

effective steps towards liberating ourselves from the colonial domination” (p. 104).

This is consistent with Freirian theory suggesting that, even after a colonial power

departs, the citizens of the now independent country remain “colonized” (Freire &

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Faundez, 1989, p. 95). Friere’s contention is that the minds of the people have

been colonized as colonialist attitudes continue to dominate the people’s cultural

and ideological worlds. Specifically, “expressions and creativity [from the

indigenous culture] continue to be despised and down-graded . . . just as they were

in colonial days” (p. 73).

Within this context, a need to identify, recognize, and train the gifted and

talented was felt during the early years of India’s independence. The government of

India took major steps to eliminate financial and motivational barriers that were

prevalent in the education system in order to ensure enriched education. Various

schemes were devised to bring about the educational upliftment of the

disadvantaged section of society. Thus while retaining western concepts of

excellence, some effort was made to include more humanitarian goals drawn from

ancient conceptions. Such programs included the National Talent Search Scheme,

the Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme, and the Navodaya Vidyalaya

Scheme.

National Talent Search Scheme

In 1964, the government of India implemented the National Science Talent

Search Scheme, which was patterned after the popular Westinghouse Talent Search

program (Raina & Srivastava, 2000). Realizing that identifying and nurturing

talents other than in the sciences is also important, this program was extended to

other areas in school education during the1970s. Ever since, this program has been

39

called the National Talent Search Scheme. The objective of this program is to

“identify brilliant 5students at the end of Class X5 and give them financial

assistance towards getting the best possible education so that their talent may

develop further and they may serve the discipline as well as the country” (Raina &

Srivastava, 2000, p. 105). Every year around 750 students from all over the country

receive this scholarship strictly based on merit in a national level test.

Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme

The Cultural Talent Search Scholarship Scheme (CTSSS) was implemented

by the government of India in 1982 with an objective to identify and promote

cultural talent. This talent search program is operated by the government agency

Center for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT).

Under this scheme, facilities are provided to outstanding young children, aged 10-14 years, studying either in recognized schools or belonging to families of practicing traditional performing or other arts for developing their talent in various cultural fields such as traditional forms of music, dance, drama as well as painting, sculpture and crafts, laying special emphasis on rare forms, which are in the process of becoming extinct. (Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p. 107) The CCRT organizes a central selection committee for the scrutiny of

applications of the candidates. A child is awarded a scholarship to get special

training in a particular cultural field in addition to the formal schooling in a

recognized institute. The irony is that the scholarship amount is so small that it

neither contributes much to the financial security or strength of the scholar (Raina

5 In India, the word Class is equivalent to the grade level in United States and a Roman numeral is used to denote the grade level.

40

& Srivastava, 2000). Thus, the objectives for establishing such talent search

schemes have not been achieved, according to Raina (1985). While the CTSSS

shows some attention to more traditional Indian forms of excellence, according to

Raina and Srivastava (2000), this program “remains relatively unknown because of

its emphasis on cultural talent and not academic talent” (p. 107). This illustrates the

continued dominance of a western conception of excellence in post-colonial India.

Commenting on all these talent search programs Raina (1985) said, “It is difficult

to say to what extent these schemes are successful in identifying real talent.

However, it is definite that all these schemes favor academically bright and not the

creatively gifted” (p. 45).

History and Description of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme

The Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme is the largest talent development

program. In 1985, the government of India set up two schools on an experimental

basis in Amaravathi and Jhajjar districts. They were called Model Schools. This

was the beginning of Navadaya Vidyalayas. Today, the Navodaya Vidyalaya

Scheme includes 480 boarding schools, one in nearly every district throughout the

country. According to Raina and Srivastava (2000):

To remove disparities by equalizing educational opportunities, the Government of India, in pursuance of the direction of the National Policy on Education (1986), launched a new program called the “Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.” Its specific objectives are: to promote national integration through specific programs of education, to nurture talent particularly in the rural area and in the weaker sections of society, to make quality education accessible to the talented children for their total development, and to establish institutions of high quality at district levels

41

that would serve as pace-setters and models to stimulate the pursuit of excellence in institutions in the neighborhood. (p. 106) Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is an autonomous organization under the

Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Education, Government

of India. Admission to Navodaya Vidyalayas is based on a selection test conducted

by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). This selection test is called

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Selection Test (JNVST). The major part of the test is

non-verbal in nature and is designed to ensure that talented children from rural

areas are able to compete without facing undue bias. The test contains the

following three parts with the percentages representing the weight given to the

respective sections in the selection process; (1) Test of Mental Ability (60%), (2)

Test of Language Proficiency (20%) and, (3) Test of Arithmetic Ability (20%). At

a maximum, 80 students are admitted at each school annually. It is also ensured

that at least one-third of the class population is comprised of girls (Jawahar

Navodaya Vidyalayas, n.d.). Because of the prevalent societal practice of lesser

importance for girl child education compared to that of the male child, there are

disproportionately fewer girls compared to boys in schools. To encourage rural girl

child education one-third of the seats are reserved, which is a realistic allocation of

the seats, considering all other reservations (for example, those for backward castes

and scheduled castes, which are financially and socially weak and deprived sections

of the society in India). Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools provide a free education,

including boarding and lodging, uniforms, textbooks, and stationery.

42

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

formulates the scheme of studies for these schools. Salient features of this scheme

are (a) medium of instruction, (b) three language formula, (c) continuous

comprehensive evaluation, and (d) student exchange program.

Medium of instruction. Up to Class VIII the medium of instruction is the

mother tongue; at the same time the intensive teaching of Hindi and English both as

language subjects and comedia is undertaken. From Class IX, the common medium

in all Navodaya Vidyalayas is Hindi for social studies and humanities and English

for mathematics and science.

Three language formula. This concept emphasizes an acquisition of three

languages by the student. Besides English and the mother tongue, the third

language taught to the students is either the regional language other than Hindi or

the language of students coming from another region (from another state) through

an annual exchange program.

Continuous comprehensive evaluation. Continuous comprehensive

evaluation takes cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains into consideration

for the integral development of the student’s personality. Teachers and principals

are provided special training on evaluation.

Student exchange program. About 30% of students in Class IX, belonging

to a specific linguistic region, are transferred to another region to ensure better

understanding of the diversity and variety in Indian culture. In this scheme students

are either asked to volunteer or are selected by lottery.

43

An important feature of the school’s program is the cocurricular activities,

such as debating, elocution, scouting, guiding, and National Cadet Corps. High

priority is given to sports and games. In these schools, nationally and

internationally renowned traditional and contemporary artists are resource persons.

These schools encourage cross-cultural exchange and interaction with different

regions of the country.

One of the objectives of Navodaya Vidyalayas is to establish schools of

high quality at district levels that would serve as models to promote excellence in

other schools in the district. However, these schools have been criticized for not

serving as good role models for the general educational system because they

concentrate mostly on a few talented children. The Navodaya Vidyalaya selection

test has also been criticized as “a test that is neither culture neutral nor class

neutral” (Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p.106).

Despite the best efforts of the government of India, the educational system

of India seems to be lagging in many aspects. As Raina & Srivastava (2000)

observed:

The identification and enhancement of the development of excellence in majority [sic] of the children remain a distant dream. Additionally, in our attempt to bring education at the doorstep of every child, which continues to be elusive, we have been grossly neglecting the talented and gifted and have not been able to provide enough opportunities for their talents to blossom. This has resulted into [sic] a large amount of brain drain, emptying the country of its material and human resources. (p. 107) Having expressed similar opinions on the education system of India, others

(Chattopadhyay, as cited in Raina & Srivastava, 2000; Saiyidain, as cited in Raina

44

& Srivastava, 2000) have suggested the development of a system that would

eliminate the restrictive definition of excellence and provide a basis to explore the

inner potential of individuals and set favorable external conditions. These authors

emphasized the excellence that every individual child possesses, which is related to

the range of individuals’ own inner potentialities and external conditions. They also

suggested the need for individual attention and getting to know the child as fully as

possible and meeting the child’s specific needs in order to promote his/her gifts and

talents.

Various research attempts have been made to find out the need for various

talent search schemes and the procedures envisaged by the government in an

attempt to recognize the giftedness in children; however, as stated by Raina (1985),

essentially nothing about these schemes has been subjected to scholarly inquiry.

The following words of Nanda (1995), inspire me in my pursuit to pioneer research

on the Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools, “It is ultimately left to each one of us in the

educational field to move one small step forward towards this transformation of

vision towards reorientation of values and objectives of education” (¶ 23).

Any area of study is open for research in better understanding their

foundations, structure, and effectiveness. Thus, I have taken a first small step in

research of gifted education in India by conducting a phenomenological study of

the beliefs and practices related to giftedness in the Navodaya Vidyalaya Schools.

45

45

CHAPTER III

METHOD

Sri vakratunda mahakaaya Koti-soorya samaprabha Nirvighnam kuru me deva Sarva-karyeshu sarvadaa

O, Lord Ganesha with the curved trunk and massive body, the one whose splendor is equal to millions of Suns, please bless me that I do not face obstacles in all my

endeavors

A qualitative study approach was taken to systematically explore the beliefs

and practices related to giftedness in the Navodaya Vidyalayas specifically

focusing on the beliefs of central authorities and the experiences of principals and

teachers in two Navodaya Vidyalayas. According to Patton (1990), a

phenomenological perspective can be gained through interviews without actually

experiencing the phenomenon oneself, by conducting interviews and focusing on

what people experience and how they interpret the world. This study was designed

and conducted to gain the perspectives of the participants pertaining to their beliefs

and practices related to giftedness.

Locations

I had originally proposed that the study would be conducted in three

locations. But, when I actually visited one of the sites, Jawahar Navodaya

Vidyalaya (JNV), Nizamsagar the officials there wanted me to get a written

46

permission from the regional office to conduct interviews and view the official

documents. They also suggested the name of the official in the regional office who

would be a good resource for the study (refer to Appendix E for the organizational

chart of NVS). Thus, I went to the regional office and conducted two interviews,

one with the assistant director and the other with the deputy director. Following

their suggestions, I was able to gather data at four sites. In the regional office the

Assistant Director suggested to me that Jawahar NavodayaVidyalaya, Gachibowli

would be a better place to visit as there was a principals’ conference going on at

that vidyalaya that week.

JNV, Gachibowli is located in the outskirts of Hyderabad, in a rural area. It

has a vast campus and it is located right beside Hyderabad Central University, a

research oriented, central government university. The university is huge and has a

big library, laboratories and playgrounds, all of which can be used by the Navodaya

Vidyalaya.

After finishing the interviews at these two sites−the regional office, and

JNV, Gachibowli in South India, I went to the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti Head

Office, located in the capital city of India, New Delhi. New Delhi is one of the

biggest and most populous cities in India and it is located on the banks of the River

Yamuna. I conducted interviews with various echelons of officials such as

Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors, Joint Directors, and the Director (now

referred to as the Commissioner).

47

The last and the fourth site I visited was JNV, Mungeshpur. This vidyalaya

is located in the outskirts of Mungeshpur village. Mungeshpur is 65 kilometers

from Delhi. The vidyalaya enjoys a serene location and has a huge campus. At any

point of time there are about 560 students (80 each from classes VI to XII) and

about 20 full-time teachers, who are required to live on campus throughout the

school year. The school’s facilities consist of several classrooms, an auditorium,

library, art room, computer lab, a health clinic staffed by a registered nurse, audio-

visual room, spacious dining hall, playing fields for various games and sports, and

residential buildings for both students and teachers.

The selection of the participants and the locations was based on the purpose

of the study and advice of some of the participants. This purposeful, “snow ball”

(Patton, 1990, p. 176) sample helped me ensure multiple perspectives.

Entrée

My status as an alumnus of the NVS helped in building trust with the

participants. I was welcomed with warmth at every site I visited and was treated as

a family member of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme. I also had an additional

advantage of knowing the organizational hierarchy of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti

and knew whom to talk to and where to identify information rich cases.

The participants were very forthcoming with information. A very good

rapport was built with the participants because not only was I an alumnus but also a

48

student from the first graduating group of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme. The

participants were also in awe due to the fact that their past student was pursuing a

doctoral program in education in the United States. The United States is reputed for

quality education, and they were happy that the Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme was

being studied by their student researcher in the United States.

Researcher as Instrument

Because of my essential role as research instrument in conducting this

study, I must make explicit my qualifications to have done this research. My

training in qualitative methodology began five years ago with research course work

in my Master’s program at the Osmania University, where I passed the required

research methodology examination. In my Ph.D. program at USU I also took two

specialized courses in qualitative research methodology. I have participated in a

number of qualitative research and evaluative projects at Utah State University,

including one in gifted education. I have also consulted with my committee

members on qualitative research design and instrument construction.

Ethical Issues

This research was conducted in a manner consistent with the guidelines of

the Institutional Review Board at Utah State University based on the Department of

49

Health and Human Services regulations. Therefore, it was conducted keeping in

view the protection of the rights and welfare of all human participants. In addition,

other ethical issues were considered during the research study.

Biases

As an alumnus of Navodaya Vidyalaya and because of the positive

influences of this school in my life I hold strong biases in favor of this scheme and

its various programs. I am also a strong supporter of gifted education and always

favor programs initiated and intended to meet the needs of gifted children. All

through the process of my study, I had discussions with my peer debriefer and

advisor, which helped me subsume my bias. Various entries in my reflective

journals also forced me to rethink the study with respect to my biases. By doing

this, I was able to make my data collection and data analyses procedures more

objective.

Permissions

Permission to conduct interviews and to review the records and

documentation of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti was obtained both at the regional

office at Hyderabad and at the head office, New Delhi. Permission from the

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) library to

50

conduct the literature search was also obtained from the librarian. In addition,

before each interview, each informant signed the informed consent form shown in

Appendix A.

Benefits

Because of the cost involved in each participant’s time given to me in

interviews, it was important that they and the organization receive some benefit for

their participation. I have given each participant a card with a thank you note as a

token of appreciation for his or her time and energy. Following completion of the

study all the central authorities and the other participants will receive an executive

summary of the completed dissertation that includes information on beliefs and

practices related to giftedness, the influence of culture, and implications for the

betterment of gifted education. My study could help the participants in the

understanding of their practices and may lead to changes for the betterment of the

program

Confidentiality

The identities of all the participants were protected through the use of

pseudonyms. Furthermore, tape recordings of interviews were erased once

satisfactory transcripts were prepared by me. An executive summary of the

51

dissertation sent to the participants and the organization will conceal the identity of

the sites in order to avoid any kind of risk on the part of participants. The risk could

be the participants being questioned or action taken against the participants by the

higher officials charging them with giving out privileged information.

Data Collection Procedures

The study was conducted over a period of two months. In order to collect

comprehensive data I employed two methods. These were interviews and document

analysis.

Interviews

The interviews at each site took the forms of formal and informal

conversations prompted by questions from the researcher. Informal interviews took

place either before or after the interviews based on the availability of the time of

the participants. These were mainly aimed at developing rapport and letting the

participants speak frankly without any fear or pressure of tape recording. I made

some annotations in my field notes regarding these conversations.

The formal interviews were focused, semi-structured, and non-standardized,

thus facilitating modifications of the interviews based on the participants’ answers.

Three different interview guides were prepared depending on the job types of

52

various participants such as teachers, principals, and central authorities (see

Appendices B, C, and D). Additionally, according to the participants’ responses to

my questions, I probed with follow up questions.

The selection of the participants was based on the purpose of the study and

snowball sampling. Snowball sampling is an approach for locating information-rich

key informants or critical cases (Patton, 1990). By asking the people to recommend

participants, the snowball gets bigger and bigger as the researcher accumulates new

information-rich cases. Based on the sufficiency of the data collected, I extended

the number of interviews at the regional and head offices. Teacher interviews were

included two at each school because it was helpful for me to compare and contrast

their answers to get a better perspective of their beliefs. The interviews focused on

the beliefs of the participants related to gifted education, various practices in the

schools, and their interpretations of those practices. I was the interviewer in all the

interviews.

The interview guides (see appendixes B, C, and D) were developed in

English, but the interview questions were translated by me into Telugu or Hindi

when required. The interviews were conducted according to the semi-structured

interview guides and were tape-recorded. One interview was recorded in Hindi,

which I later transcribed and translated into English. A colleague, who is fluent in

both the languages, checked the transcribed and translated interviews for accuracy

of the transcription. He made some suggestions about the appropriate usage of

words in translation and identified some missing words in the transcriptions, which

53

I immediately considered. I made changes when they more accurately represented

the informant’s point-of-view.

Document Analysis

Documents that describe the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and its various

programs were obtained from the Samiti’s head office. These included magazines

and annual reports that record student work. These were analyzed for the official

versions and beliefs about giftedness.

Data Analysis

Data from interviews and school documents were recorded in transcripts

and field journals. All the data were coded and analyzed according to the

procedures described below.

Coding

Coding is the assigning of letters and numbers to the data collected so as to

protect the anonymity of the participants and also to facilitate the researcher’s

efforts to track the data easily during and after the analyses process. After the

transcriptions of the recorded data were ready, I did the coding and then proceeded

54

with data analysis. The letter S stands for the site, and the four sites are represented

with numerals 1, 2, 3, or 4 beside the letter S. The sites are numbered according to

the order in which I visited them. The participants are coded according to their

echelon starting with A assigned to the highest rank authorities and ending with

letter G assigned to the teachers as shown in Table 1 on the following page.

Table 1. Letters Assigned to Different Levels of Participants

A

Commissioners

Joint Directors

Deputy Directors

Assistant Directors

Exam Developer

Principals

B

C

D

E

F

G Teachers

An organizational chart of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti showing these

echelons is in Appendix E. The numbers beside these alphabet letters represent the

55

number of people interviewed in each rank. The participants are numbered in the

order in which I interviewed them. For example, I interviewed two commissioners.

The first commissioner I interviewed was coded as S3A1, and the second

commissioner I interviewed was coded as S3A2, indicating that both

commissioners were interviewed at site 3. Each participant is referred to in the

presentation of data using this coding system.

Content Analysis

A content analysis was conducted using theme as the category unit.

“Content analysis is the process of identifying, coding and categorizing the primary

patterns in the data” (Patton, 1990, p.381). I read through the transcript of each

interview again and again to find emerging themes and tried to name a category

based on the theme. As soon as I identified three members in a category, I defined

it. When I found the next potential member in that category, I would see whether it

fit into the definition of the category or not. If it did not fit, I either tried to modify

the definition or created a new category. When I found a new emerging theme, I

looked into the existing categories to see whether it fit into any of the existing

categories, and, if it didn’t, I created a new category. I repeated the process until I

found no new categories.

56

Once final categories had been established, I looked at all the existing

categories to see whether any two of them could be associated together. I also

checked for the themes that could be subcategories under any of the existing

categories.

As I went through each document I had obtained from the repositories of

the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, I corroborated the information from the interviews

and the artifacts to verify whether the information from these two sources matched

or not. If there was a match, I retained the original categories, and if there was not a

match, I looked for the discrepancies in the data and made a note in the

methodological journal observing the differences.

Adages from the Native Culture

After completing the process of categorization I looked for famous sayings

(proverbs) from Indian culture that would better describe each category. I

experimented around with the adages and finally came up with one or two that

would better describe the subject of the category. I did this because these adages

would help to better understand the findings of this study against their cultural

background.

Study Rigor

57

A number of methods were employed to establish the trustworthiness of the

data collection and data analysis. These included triangulation, member checking,

peer debriefing, reflexive journals, and an audit.

Triangulation

Triangulation was conducted at two levels: methods and sources. Interviews

and documents were used to ensure the comprehensiveness of the data. In addition,

at each research site, more than two participants served as informants. This ensured

both comprehensiveness and accuracy of the data.

Member Checking

During each interview, I summarized what the participants told me as an in-

process check on the accuracy of my understanding of what the participants were

saying and to ensure that my biases were not interfering with that understanding.

For example, in the interview with S4G3, after the discussion about his beliefs on

giftedness, I made the following statement, “So, you think a student is born with

intelligence, and the teacher sharpens those skills.” In this case, my understanding

of what the participant was saying was affirmed by the participant.

In another example, in the interview with S4G4, the participant corrected

my understanding. When he explained his beliefs about giftedness, I asked, “So, do

you believe that if a boy is good in sculpture, he will also be good in mathematics

58

and perform well in mathematics?” because I thought that was what he was trying

to convey. He made it clear that if a child is gifted in one field, it is adequate even

if that child performs at an average level in other fields. One need not be perfect in

all the fields. He further added, “That’s why I consider these children competent

even if they get satisfactory scores.”

Peer Debriefing

A fellow graduate student, Benicia D’sa, with training in qualitative

methodology and knowledge of culture and education in India, served as an

independent peer debriefer for this study. I provided her with copies of my

transcripts and daily notes in the journals for her review. We met four times during

the data analysis process to discuss the conduct of the research and my analyses of

the data. From time to time her suggestions helped me improve the rigor of my

categories and the process of analysis as a whole. For example, she helped me find

an appropriate adage from Indian culture to describe one of my findings in the

study. I consulted her throughout the process of analysis and also reporting. Her

suggestions were always valuable.

Further, the research was conducted under the direction of a dissertation

committee that includes members with expertise in gifted education, qualitative

research, and a thorough understanding of Indian culture and education. Discussion

with them on an individual basis was especially useful in the emergent nature of the

59

research design. For example, Dr. Martha Whitaker, a member of my committee

helped me in connecting my findings to the Pygmalion effect. Her suggestion

helped me in gaining clarity of thought.

Field Journals

I maintained field journals to record the conduct of the study. These

included a reflexive journal to record day-to-day decisions; activities taken up; and

my feelings, biases, and concerns. Also, a field note journal was kept to record data

from interviews, as well as a methodological journal to record all the proceedings

in the data analysis. I recorded some facts in the methodological journal after the

fact; that is, after returning to United States. For example, I recorded the reasons for

interviewing certain participants in the journal from memory, after the fact. I did

this because when I went through my journals, I found some missing information

that was crucial for the study. The journals were made available to the peer-

debriefer, an auditor, and committee members as needed to verify the rigor of the

study.

Audit

Finally, field notes, journals, transcripts, data analyses, and preliminary

drafts of the chapters were submitted for an audit to Dr. Mike Killeen, Assistant

Professor of Education from a nearby state college, who was also trained in

60

qualitative methodology, and gifted education, and has experience as an auditor.

His research focus was also in gifted education. The audit entailed a judgment that

the research was conducted in an appropriate manner and that the analyses were

justified. He did express some concerns about the special entrée I had and journal

entries I made after the fact. He also suggested some additions in the methods

chapter, such as providing details of the coding and development of the interview

guides. I did consider the suggestions and made changes accordingly. The full

auditor’s attestation is provided in Appendix F.

61

CHAPTER IV

MY PERSONAL JOURNEY

Asato maa sad gamayaa Tamasoma ma jyothir gamaya Mrityor ma amritham gamaya

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti hi

Lead me (by giving knowledge) from the unreal to the real: from darkness (of ignorance) to the light (of knowledge);

from death (sense of limitation) to immortality (limitless liberation) Om peace peace peace

In order for the reader to better understand the findings and discussion of

the study, I am providing a brief background of my experiences. These experiences

will enable the reader to understand the perspective from which I conducted the

study and also illuminate the essence of the study.

I am an Indian, Hindu woman. Indian ethos and culture desire that an ideal

woman should be obedient, calm and submissive. Hindu religious scriptures such

as Manu Smriti say that a woman should not have any dreams or desires of her

own. The noblest dream or desire she can nurture is to be a good daughter, wife and

mother. She is enjoined to lead life according to the wishes of her father in

childhood, fulfill the aspirations of her husband in youth, and lead life according to

the requirement of her sons in old age. I was born in an orthodox, traditional,

middle class, rural family that is deeply rooted in these values. My father, a

businessman, wanted to bring up his three daughters, of whom I am the second,

according to this doctrine. In the small town named Nizamabad, in which I grew

up, any contrasting behavior is considered sacrilegious.

62

In childhood, I was a chirpy, vivacious, and gregarious young girl. I didn’t

like all the strict discipline at home and school. I was academically bright and

performed well in all the exams at school. Most of my friends had special tutoring

classes after school. I never had any tutoring classes after school and used to stay at

home with mother. My mother is illiterate and could not help with my academics.

Nevertheless, she always supported and encouraged me in what I really loved;

dancing, singing and meeting people. I was fascinated by the different festivals and

ceremonies in Hindu religion. I eagerly awaited these occasions as they provided

me with an opportunity to wear colorful clothing and jewelry and to engage in

songs, dance, and general revelry. Entertaining family members, friends, and

relatives used to be a general pastime, especially during school holidays. I was a

good mimic and could reproduce all the antics and movements of actresses in the

movies with ease. My mother and sisters used to admire my skills, encourage my

abilities, and praise my talents.

The fear of disapproval by my father was always lurking in my mind. So all

these activities were done when my father was away for work in his office. My

father was also proud of my talents and felt happy whenever somebody praised me.

But, he didn’t consider these talents worth encouraging. He wanted us to

concentrate on academics and choose a profession that would fetch us a qualified

husband, a good job, social respectability, and financial stability, rather than

pursuing these creative activities that are considered frivolous, uncertain, and not

very respectable by the society.

63

I had my preprimary and primary education at Nirmala Hrudaya Convent

Girls’ High School in Nizamabad and studied there for seven years until I

completed Class V. This is a well-reputed school run by Christian missionaries in

the town. The school was the largest girls’ convent in the town. Each class

consisted of five sections with a minimum size of 60 students per section. Out of

this, four sections were for English language students and one section was for

Telugu language students. The curriculum focused mainly on equipping the

students with basic mathematical and language skills and basic concepts of biology

and natural science.

I found the teaching methods very boring and monotonous, as there was

very little opportunity to ask questions and clarify doubts. Students’ participation in

the class was not encouraged. The teachers could not offer personal attention to the

students and couldn’t even remember the names of all students because of the high

student-teacher ratio. We had a rigid timetable and classroom schedule.

I was always bright in mathematics. I remember correcting my math teacher

a few times when she made some mistakes in solving problems in the class. I

always liked to solve riddles and puzzles. I used to pester my friends and elders in

my family constantly to pose riddles to me and used to take great pleasure in

solving them.

This interest developed good reasoning and logical skills in me, which

fetched me a seat in Navodaya Vidyalaya. When the Navodaya Vidyalaya entrance

exam was announced, none of us among the students had any clue about the pattern

64

of the exam. Our class teacher came with a bundle of application forms, told many

good things about Navodaya Vidyalaya, and explained the difficulty and

importance of the entrance exam to get into this special school. Later she chose

some of the bright students in the class and distributed the application forms. I was

one of those students. I completed the form and appeared for the entrance test in my

town. Around 60 students from various sections of fifth grade from my school

appeared for the test. Two months later, when the results were declared, I was the

only girl selected from my school into the Navodaya Vidyalaya. Everyone praised

me for my achievement.

However, my family was somewhat hesitant to send me out of my

hometown. My parents didn’t like the idea of my living in a dormitory and taking

care of myself at a very young age. My father was especially concerned that it was

a coeducation school, as he didn’t like sending his daughters to school along with

boys. That was the reason we were all (my two sisters and I) sent to girls’ convent

in the first place. Nonetheless, my deep interest and enthusiasm, as well as the

advice of my school’s administrators convinced my father, and I enrolled in the

Navodaya Vidyalaya. Then I was 10 years old and was eager to experience new

things and make new friends.

This school was a turning point in my life. For the first time, I experienced

real, unhindered freedom. I was always a teacher’s pet and could get an opportunity

to experience and experiment with many academic, cultural, literary, and sports

activities. Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nizamsagar started functioning in the year 1986

65

with Class VI, and my classmates and I were the first students of this school. This

caused some problems in coping with academics and dormitory life, as there were

no seniors to guide us or counsel us. However, this also enabled us to make

independent decisions at an early age and become emotionally strong. My class had

72 students, and most of them were from interior villages and were very shy, timid,

and hesitant to communicate and mingle with others. I was from Nizamabad, which

is the district headquarters and is considered an urban area. Out of 5,000 students

who appeared for the exam, 80 students were selected, among which 80% of the

seats were reserved for the rural students, and the remaining seats were open to

both rural and urban students. I was very fortunate to make it to the school in that

20% open category. Because of my personality and urban background I was more

communicative than the rest of the students. I used to mix with everybody freely

and soon became a social leader and friend for all the students without much effort.

I was a very eager and enthusiastic participant in the various literary and cultural

activities in the school. There wasn't a single ceremony in the school in which I was

not a participant in the seven years that I was a student.

I fondly recall two incidents. I was an active participant in the literacy

campaign and used to take active part in various related activities. One day I gave a

lecture, in the presence of the district education officer, on the need of education for

women. The officer was very impressed with the content and my presentation skills

and rewarded me with a special prize.

66

When I was a student of Class X, I received six prizes for my performance

in various cultural, literary, and sports activities. The district magistrate, who was

the chief guest, praised me and exhorted all the students to emulate my spirit and

enthusiasm. I also gave dance performances in many cluster group meetings of

Navodaya Vidyalayas. I earned many friends from various Navodaya schools, and I

could make everlasting impressions on them with my performances.

I took part in elocution and debate competitions at my school and various

interschool competitions. I could offer my views forcefully and logically. During

my school’s Annual Day ceremony, Teachers’ Day, and on various other

occasions, I was invited to perform the welcome dance and prayer dance. Because

of all these activities and interests, I was highly appreciated, admired, liked, and

loved by my teachers and classmates. Everybody called me a gifted student.

I had grown tremendously as a person during this period and had a complete

personality makeover. I gained self-confidence in my capabilities. I developed an

ambition to pursue my interests and lead life according to my dreams.

However, I couldn’t fight with the restrictions and traditional values of my

father and other family members. My mother and sisters were proud of my talents

and had confidence in me. I wanted to become a trained dancer and actress. I felt

that God has bestowed me with certain special skills and talents and I wanted to

fine tune them and nurture them. My experiences at the Navodaya Vidyalaya had

shown to me that these skills were valued and appreciated because I could bring

happiness, laughter, and peace to the people around me with these talents. But, my

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family disapproved of my ambition, as it wasn’t considered a proper career choice

for a girl like me.

In Indian society, acting and dancing are traditionally considered

professions of low dignity and low morals and are often treated with disrespect.

Because of these family barriers, I had to enroll in a bachelors program in biology

at a women’s college close to my home. During this period, I actively participated

in various literary and performing arts activities and won many prizes. I had a very

inspiring teacher who spotted my talents and advised me to use these talents for

benefiting society, particularly the underprivileged sections of India. I became a

member of National Service Scheme and extensively toured rural areas of my

district. I created, directed, and performed in many educational dance dramas

explaining the need for education, sanitation, AIDS awareness, and pulse polio

awareness, among other issues, in the interior areas of Andhra Pradesh. All these

activities coupled with my studying for a degree involved lots of hard work and

effort. Many of these activities were often complementary to one another. My

strong foundation in Biology Education was very useful in explaining concepts like

health, hygiene, and sanitation to rural illiterate women. The acting and theatrical

experience gained at Navodaya school, coupled with enthusiasm, interest, and

scientific knowledge, helped me to offer significant service in these areas. This

earned me a lot of praise in the media, from important people, and from

government functionaries. My activities were mentioned many times in the local

newspapers like Eenadu and Andhra Bhoomi.

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My father was hesitant to send me to a nearby city for my masters degree.

He wanted to arrange a marriage for me after I completed my bachelors. I was

offered a scholarship for pursuing the masters degree, so financially I wasn’t a

burden to my father. Nonetheless, I was obligated by my culture to fulfill the

wishes of my father, or I would face the disapproval of my friends and relatives. I

spoke to my father about my strong desire to pursue further studies and promised

him that I would make him proud of me with my achievements. Only with great

difficulty could I finally convince my father, and I was granted permission.

While studying for my masters degree, I was selected to work as a program

presenter and anchorwoman for a popular television channel named E-TV in India.

I presented a show reflecting the dreams and aspirations of Indian youth, which

soon became very popular. My father and other family members were very proud

of me and my achievements, but discouraged me from continuing with the show,

because they thought the job was unsuitable for a girl from a traditional,

respectable family, and that this career might hinder me from getting a husband

from a respectable family.

I was very disheartened by these obstacles in pursuing my real

interests. I was always considered very gifted and talented, even though most

of the time, I wasn’t wholeheartedly encouraged or provided with a conducive

atmosphere and facilities to nurture my talents. In most cases, society decided

what was good and bad for a young girl, and so other girls like myself were

forced to choose a career or profession according to the rules dictated by

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society. To fulfill any desire or dream, we had to fight, request, and convince

society or parents of its importance for our careers. This lack of sympathy and

support in India for women in general and gifted and talented women in

particular propelled me to dream about doing something to change this

scenario. I decided to seek higher education in gifted children education and

start a school for gifted children in India. Memories of Navodaya Vidyalaya

and the support I received there were factors that strengthened this ambition. I

envisaged a place where all necessary infrastructure, encouragement,

motivation, and support would be provided to realize the dreams and

aspirations of gifted and talented children

With this ambition, I applied for admission into a Ph.D. program at Utah

State University and was accepted. I chose gifted education as my area of interest.

While undergoing this program of study, I realized that the only place where my

giftedness had been encouraged was at Navodaya Vidyalaya. So I wanted to make a

scientific study of giftedness in the context of Navodaya Vidyalayas. Because my

experiences at Navodaya Vidyalayas had been so positive, my expectation was that,

if I studied Navodaya Vidyalayas, I would discover the basic constructs of

giftedness based on which Navodaya system is built. I hoped to get a clear

understanding of the methodologies engaged to identify and nurture giftedness.

As part of my journey, I visited India from July through September, 2002,

to collect data for my research. I visited various Navodaya schools and interacted

with the faculty members and administrators. I also spoke to the chief

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administrators of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, which is the governing body for

these schools. I interviewed many renowned educationists and other intellectuals

about the impact of Navodaya schools.

As I conducted my interviews and reviewed documents, I experienced many

revelations that criss-crossed with my emotions. All throughout my interviews I

experienced heightened ecstasy because of the cooperation and enthusiasm of the

participants. I was especially delighted to see the officials taking pride in my

achievements and treating me as a family member. However, I was disheartened by

the facts that were revealed in the process of this study. At each step of my research

I was disappointed by the lack of clarity among the participants regarding the

construct of giftedness. The participants were self-righteous about their job and

failed to see the gaps and inconsistencies in their approach to giftedness. They were

smug about the academic achievement of the students and the organization, not

really knowing that giftedness demands a holistic approach to education.

My strong belief that the practices in Navodaya Vidyalayas brought forth

desirable changes in attitudes and behaviors was misplaced. I could find no proof

of the concordance between the practices and changes in the attitudes and behaviors

of the students. This was a depressing revelation to me, as I believed that the

change in my perceptions and attitudes was directly attributed to my experiences in

Navodaya Vidyalaya. Now I realized that this belief may be tenuous or unfounded.

It was very difficult for me to accept the facts that were revealed from my data

analysis that many of the practices in these schools were not research based.

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Despite all the disappointments I had gone through during my study, I am

still proud of my personality and what I am today, and I attribute most of my

success as a person to Navodaya Vidyalaya. I believe it was in this school that I

was transformed into a self-confident and independent thinking person. Whenever

I compare my perspectives with those of my sisters and friends, I gladly think of

Navodaya Vidyalaya and thank God for giving me a chance to be a student of that

school.

Even today, I still think that these are wonderful schools where each

individual is respected for what he or she is and opportunities are provided to

develop potential. My experiences as a student at the Navodaya Vidyalaya had

done something valuable for me in my life, which makes me feel unique in my

family and society. I had a tough time accepting the facts after conducting the

research on Navodayas, but then I returned to a balance where I am thinking that

there may be a few lacunae in the establishment of these schools, which can be

addressed by conducting research. Then, these scholos can successfully claim that

they nurture giftedness.

And now, I look forward to discussing my results with the central officials

with the hope of bringing about some change in direction in their administrative

practices. This study has been a gargantuan task for me in terms of my emotional

turmoil, and I am glad that I have seen it through to its completion. This study will

be a hallmark in Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.

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CHAPTER V

FINDINGS

Yaakundendu tushhaar haara dhavalaayaa shubhra vastraanvitaa Yaa veena varadanda manditaa kaaraa yaa swetha padmaasanaa Yaa brahmaashyutaa shankaraa prabhruti bhirdevai sadavanditaa Saa maampaatu saraswathi bhagavathi nihshesha jaadyaapahaa…

Fair as jasmine flower, the moon or a flake of snow,

Dressed in white, her hands adorned by the graceful veena staff, Adorned by Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and the other deities,

Protect me, Oh goddess Saraswati, remover of ignorance inert.

One reason to undertake research is to remove ignorance, which could

loosely be defined as lack of knowledge or education. The exposure and removal of

ignorance has been a pervasive theme throughout this study. In conducting the

study, I have removed my own ignorance about many aspects of Navodaya

Vidyalaya Scheme. While reporting the results of the study, I identified and

exposed the areas in which ignorance exists and the areas where ignorance does not

exist specifically among those people who are most closely associated with

Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme. In the presentation, I begin by identifying a specific

theme that emerges from the analysis of raw data. Then, I cite an ancient adage

from Indian culture that ties the theme to its cultural context. Finally, I provide

quotive and descriptive material sourced from the raw data that defined the theme.

Themes are presented in an order that begins with the larger theoretical issues

related to the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme and moves on to more particular,

practical issues as experienced by those who work in specific schools. The reader

will encounter the major themes in the following order: (a) beliefs about giftedness,

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(b) rationale for establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas, (c) teacher selection, (d)

student selection, (e) nurturing environment, (f) curriculum, (g) suggestions, and

(h) studies and reports.

Beliefs About Giftedness

Raju leni rajyam lo yevari dikku vaaride

People lose focus when there is nobody to offer direction or guidance, leading to anarchy and chaos.

The mission statement of Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme states the main

objective in the following words. “We envisage identification and development of

talented, bright, and gifted children predominantly from rural areas who are denied

good educational opportunities” (Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, n.d.). The words

bright, talented and gifted were not explicitly further defined anywhere. The

absence of an official definition of these terms made me curious to know about the

beliefs and views of individual participants regarding these terms. The responses I

received are varied and interesting.

The person who has developed JNVST (an exam that is claimed to identify

talented children) believes that high IQ and high scholastic aptitude are the

parameters that define a person’s giftedness. His beliefs are reflected in the design

and structure of the exam, which includes mental ability, arithmetic skills, and

language capabilities as the main test areas in the JNVST. He also opined, “Other

qualities of giftedness include a capability of independent thinking, risk taking

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ability, creative thinking, and inquisitiveness” (S3E1). He believes that this test is

effective and successful in identifying children with these capabilities.

Some officials are of the opinion that giftedness is inborn. “Giftedness is a

boon bestowed upon a person by God. They can achieve things, which others think

are impossible. They can create miracles in the society” (S4F2).

One official stated, “Gifted is one who is born with extraordinary

capabilities” (S3A2). Another participant felt, “Gift is something which is

bestowed upon by God almighty” (S4F2).

Contradicting these views, one official stated that gifted children have the

ability “to learn many things on their own” (S3B1). Another official supported him

and added, “Giftedness can be improved by providing suitable environment and

facilities” (S1C2).

Combining these two different opinions leads to a belief that giftedness is

partly inborn and partly environmental. An official expressed this view by stating,

“Part of it [giftedness] is inborn and part of it comes from the occupational skills

and family tradition” (S3B1). A teacher echoed similar feelings by saying, “I think

a student is born with intelligence and teacher sharpens those skills” (S4G3). This

opinion was echoed by another official who observed that:

A gifted child is gifted at the time of his birth. A part of the giftedness usually comes inborn. But, given the necessary conditions and the proper environment, I am sure a child can be made to blossom into a full-fledged individual. (S1D1)

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His argument was supported by anecdotes of his personal experiences with

some of the students in the Navodaya Vidyalayas. He also added, “Children can be

made gifted by providing the necessary atmosphere and necessary inputs.”

Giving a clearer distinction one official propounded, “Gifted children are

highly focused and gifted in only one area of activity. Talented children have skills

of noticeable nature in every line of activity” (S3A1). He also added, “Talented

have the potential to excel in any given line of activity, whereas gifted children are

those who are good at one or maximum two activities, whatever they are.” One

teacher defined these terms as, “Talented means intelligent, gifted means also

intelligent but to a higher degree” (S4G3). Another principal believes, “Gifted

children are a higher order in their intelligence and potential” (S2F1). One teacher

made this interesting comment, “Talented students can never be gifted students”

(S3G4). He thinks that a gifted student is one who performs extraordinarily in all

the fields. According to him, talented students may be intelligent, but can never be

as good as gifted.

One official tried to clearly distinguish between the terms gifted and

talented by stating, “Gifted is one who grasps things at a faster pace” (S3A2). He

argued that even a child who is not gifted could be transformed into a talented child

by providing him with opportunities and taking care of his physical and mental

needs. One participant opined, “Gifted is something which is bestowed upon by

God almighty, something which is innate and talent is something which you can

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acquire” (S3B2). One more official joined the chorus saying, “Talent may be

acquired through learning. But, gifted, I understand is genetic” (S3C1).

Offering additional insights into gifted and talented, one official said,

“Gifted child need not always be gifted only in academics” (S1D1). He added that

the child might have excellent potential in nonacademic fields like athletics, arts,

and other disciplines of life. A principal supported this opinion and noted that,

“Giftedness is an extraordinary capability in any field. It can be there in any of the

cultural or games and sports events too” (S4F2). One teacher completely affirmed

this view and said, “You cannot call a person who is excellent in academics alone

as gifted child” (S2G1). But he qualified his statement with an observation that “a

gifted child is one who is excellent in all the activities.”

One official stated, “A talented person will excel in every walk of life,

whether it is in academics or in science and technology” (S3C1). That giftedness

can exist in varied fields was supported by a teacher who commented that “if a

student is weak in academics, but he is very good at sports, I still consider him as

gifted child because his performance is extraordinary in sports” (S4G3).

A couple of participants offered an interesting definition of giftedness by

saying that gifted people are those whose actions benefit the society. A teacher

said, “ I consider that person gifted whose actions benefit the society” (S4G4).

Describing the characteristic traits about gifted children, a teacher said:

When I say gifted children, I am referring to those who are good performers in both studies and other co-curricular activities. Gifted child is an extraordinary person who is to be dealt with separately, not along with the

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normal children. . . . Gifted children have an ability to adjust and survive in any condition. They are innovative in their approach. If they are given proper guidance, they can do wonders. (S2G1)

Another official considered enthusiasm, adventure, creativity, curiosity and

courage as the distinct qualities of gifted children. He added that, a gifted child “has

the potentiality or the leadership qualities too” (S3B1).

One interesting insight provided by the examiner about gifted children was

that “generally good IQ and academic performance can be called giftedness. . . .

But in the present context, emotional quotient, divergent thinking, creative thinking

are the parameters which are considered for calling someone gifted” (S3E1).

Although, the perspective of gifted and talented has changed over time, no

apparent effort has been made to alter the entrance exam pattern aimed at selecting

gifted and talented children. Overall, a majority of the participants believe that

giftedness is inborn but that a proper environment is needed to hone the talents for

developing the personality of the child and also for the societal benefit.

Rationale for Establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas

Bharata Desam Yokka Aatma Dhani Gramalalo Undhi (M.K. Gandhi)

The soul of India lies in its villages

In India, 80 % of the population lives in villages. It is important to raise the

literacy level of the rural population. Providing quality education is essential to

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raise the standard of living in villages. This is the raison d’etre of the establishment

of Navodaya Vidyalayas. These schools were visualized as pace-setters bringing

innovation and experimentation into the educational system.

India is a secular country with a multiplicity of religions, languages and

cultural preferences. In order to maintain unity in this diversity of cultures, it is

important that people of this country are made aware of these diversities and learn

to respect and appreciate them. The importance of this need is realized and is

incorporated in the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme.

Quality Education to Rural Students

Realizing the importance of providing quality education especially to poor,

rural children, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India from1984 to 1989,

initiated an education plan for rural students. This led to an educational policy in

1986, which envisaged:

Establishment of pace setting schools in various parts of the country on a given pattern, but with full scope for innovation and experimentation to promote national integration by providing opportunities to the talented children pre-dominantly rural, from different parts of the country to live and learn together to develop their full potential. (Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, n.d.) Commenting on the philosophy behind the establishment of Navodaya

Vidyalayas, an official stated, “The objective of Navodaya Vidyalaya is to provide

accessibility to quality, modern education to the children belonging to the rural

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areas” (S3B1). Another official elaborated by stating, “Lots of children are very

bright, talented but don’t have access to good education. So it was thought that we

should have such schools in every district of the country to maintain uniformity. . . .

So this is meant for rural talented children who just cannot afford this kind of

education” (S3A1).

A teacher described rural students as children who possess knowledge and

competence but “are unable to express or utilize their capabilities due to the severe

lack of facilities” (S2G2). He also added that the objective of Navodaya Vidyalayas

is to “bring such children together, impart quality and value-based education, and

prepare them for facing the ever-changing world.”

Agreeing with the above opinion, a principal noted, “We are providing a

chance or opportunity to these rural children who never had any facilities to explore

and enhance their talents” (S4F2). He believes that the Navodaya Vidyalayas laid

“emphasis on developing them [the students] into socially conscious, disciplined,

hardworking, and sincere citizens of this country.” In addition to these opinions,

one teacher felt that many of the students would not be in a position to pass Class X

if Navodaya Vidyalayas did not provide an opportunity to the rural talented

students. (S3G4)

An official underscored the differences between rural and urban education

facilities by saying, “Even though the [rural] children are highly talented, they

don’t have the required facilities in the nearby vicinity and lack all the modern

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facilities when compared with urban areas” (S1D1). Emphasizing the lack of

opportunities for the rural children, a principal felt that:

There are lots of intelligent children in the rural areas but because of the lack of opportunities they never get a chance to develop their giftedness. If proper environment with all the facilities and opportunities are provided to them, their giftedness can be well developed. (S4F2) A teacher observed that the uniqueness of Navodaya Vidyalaya is that the

government is providing quality education free of cost to the rural students. This

quality education would not have been available to the students as their parents

cannot afford to bear the cost of such education (S4G3).

The objectives of establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas are interpreted in

different ways by different participants. According to one official, “The first

objective is rural upliftment. This means development of rural talent” (S3E1).

One interesting interpretation of the objectives brings into focus equity,

justice, and excellence issues. An official stated:

The objectives were equity, justice and excellence. Equity means equal opportunities for all the children in rural areas. By social justice, we mean providing opportunities and support to every needy, talented person irrespective of caste, community, religion, language or financial status. Anybody with talent should get quality education. They should also be inculcated with a feeling of love and belonging to their country and understand the concept of national integration. (S1C2) This same idea is echoed by another official who explained how these

schools attain social equity. He felt:

Equal chance is given to all the students hailing from far-flung areas or nearby the vicinity of urban areas. So this is how the components related to equity coupled with social justice is taken care of so these institutions provide opportunity for the talented and gifted children irrespective of their

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socio-economic profiles of their family and help the government to identify and groom their talent. (S3B1) Although, all these Vidyalayas in the country were established with the

same objective, infrastructure, curriculum and instruction methods, many

administrative differences are observed in the functioning of various Vidyalayas.

One official felt that differences are a must to maintain each Vidyalaya’s identity

and individuality (S1D1).

Another official reasoned that the differences arise “depending upon the

background, geographical conditions, culture, impact of the society around them”

(S3B1). He added that “their [students’] socio-economic profiles and the

backgrounds of the parents, and the areas in which they [schools] are located” also

effect differences.

Supporting this view, an official added, “Broadly saying, each school

functions according to the leadership of the principal. Some schools are good

because of good principals. The infrastructure in all the schools is the same. But,

the principals make the difference” (S1C2).

Similar views were echoed by another official who observed that the

differences “largely depend upon the leadership provided by the principal, and the

motivation level of the teachers, and the cooperation they are able to get from the

society around them” (S1D1). A similar opinion was expressed by S3B1, who

noted that the variances in the functioning of Navodaya Vidyalayas are “because of

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the individual competencies of the teachers and principals leading the particular

institutions.”

Another interesting spin to this issue is offered by an official who observed

that the differences are not necessarily defects and added that these differences are

due to the diverse nature within the country (S1D1). The location of the Vidyalayas

and the availability of the infrastructure were also mentioned as reasons for the

differences among the Vidyalayas by S3C1 and S3B1.

Competency in Three Languages

One objective of establishing Navodaya Vidyalayas is the attainment of

reasonable level of competence in three languages (S3B1). The main advantage of

this objective, as interpreted by an official, is aimed towards development of a

“feeling of national integration and community spirit” in view of existing diversity

within the country (S2G1). He also added that this competency attainment is

achieved through the policy of migration of students amongst all the schools.

Promotion of National Integration

An important feature of Navodaya Vidyalaya is exchange of students from

one Navodaya Vidyalaya in a particular linguistic region to another Vidyalaya in a

different linguistic region. This is intended to promote understanding of the

diversity and plurality of India’s cultures and people. According to the scheme,

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30% of the children from each Navodaya Vidyalaya are migrated to another

Vidyalaya at Class IX for a period of one academic year. The migration is normally

between Hindi and Non-Hindi speaking states.

According to an official, “Inculcation of cultural values, promotion of

national integration and encouragement of adventure activities” (S3B1) are some of

the aims of Navodaya Vidyalayas. One of the ways to promote national integration

is the practice of migration. (S1D1)

Commenting on this innovative scheme an official noted, “In order to

ensure that the children at their tender age are exposed to different cultures,

customs, and languages, we migrate 30% of the students in the ninth class” (S3B1).

He added, “Migration helps the children to acquaint themselves with the local

culture [of the migrated school], and it helps them to assimilate . . . understand the

customs, habits, food habits, and environment.” He also opined that this migration

“develops the bondage of friendship and human relations with different sections of

the society or different people from different parts of the country.”

Pace-Setting Schools

Pace-setting means “to serve, in each district, as focal points for

improvement in the quality of school education in general, through sharing of

experiences and facilities” (Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, n.d.). An official

expanded on this definition by commenting, “We intend to develop these

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institutions as model institutions in the district which will function as a nucleus for

experimentation and innovation in teaching, available technology, personality

growth of the children, optimum utilization of the potentialities of the children”

(S3B1). He also added, “When we say pace-setting, we mean to say that the entire

activity related to the program of the school will have full scope for the growth of

the personality of the child.” He expanded, “They [Navodaya Vidyalayas] become

lead schools and the teachers and students of the neighborhood community as well

as other schools of the district can participate and share and get the benefit of the

experience of these schools.”

A teacher provided a detailed description of these pace-setting activities in

the following words, “These schools share their knowledge and other facilities, like

computers, with other local schools” (S2G2). Among the pace-setting activities

mentioned are “taking an active part in community service, adult literacy, NCC

[National Cadet Corps], NSS [National Service Scheme], et cetera.” An official

added his observation that these schools also share their educational technology

like books, library and computers with their neighboring schools. (S3B1)

Another teacher highlighted the participation of the students in disaster

relief work. He quoted the example of his colleagues and students contributing

monetary help and services to help the victims of a major earthquake that hit

Gujarat (S2G1).

Clarifying the pace-setting activities one official remarked, “The idea is not

to make them [local schools] duplicate what we [Navodaya Vidyalayas] are doing,

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but they should take the spirit of it and learn to achieve to the extent possible under

the conditions given in their respective Vidyalayas” (S1D1). He also added, “We

don’t want our Vidyalayas to be islands of excellence. We want to disseminate our

resources to the neighboring schools so that they learn from us.”

The essence of views of pace-setting activities obtained from various

explanations and examples offered in the artifacts such as school magazines, annual

reports published by the samiti can be summarized as follows; (a) involvement of

students in community service programs; (b) participation of students in district and

state level activities like literacy drives, social upliftment programs, activities that

promote peace and harmony; (c) sharing of the facilities in the school such as lab

equipment, science teaching aids, tape recorders, audio visual cassettes, computer

floppies, microscopes, solar cookers, distillation plants, and charts with

neighboring schools in the locality; and (d) sharing of the knowledge and

experiences of the students with students of local schools.

Incorporating Art in Education

An interesting and innovative aspect of education in Navodaya Vidyalayas

is the concept of Art in Education. The objective of the scheme is to promote

interlinkages between education and culture. Based on the information provided in

the artifacts such as Kala Sarit and other school magazines published by the samiti,

this program can be summarized as follows; (a) inculcating universal values in the

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minds of children, (b) inviting specialists in different fields to teach the children,

(c) involving students in theater and dramatics by conducting Theater in Education

Workshops, (d) ensuring that children do not get alienated from their own

surroundings and cultural heritage, and (e) encouraging students in creative

writing, painting, traditional performing arts, theater, sculpture, and so forth.

Interestingly, such a big, innovative program evidenced from various

artifacts collected was never mentioned by any of the participants except one.

According to this one participant, the objective of this unique experiment is to

“identify their [students’] aptitude and train them in that art [a particular state’s

traditional art]” (S1D1). He added that special funds are provided to train children

by some professional artists in various traditional arts prevailing in different states.

Teacher Selection

Anagananaga Raaga Mathisayilluchu Nundu

Thinaga Thinaga Vemu Thiyyanundu Saadhanamuna Panulu Samakooru Dharalona

One’s voice becomes softer and melodious with regular singing

Food with a bitter taste also seems tasty with habitual and regular consumption People become skillful with continuous practice

Navodaya Vidyalayas are unique in the sense that they have been

established with the aim of nurturing rural gifted and talented students. This

objective can be achieved only with the help of qualified and well-trained teachers

and a well-equipped infrastructure at the school. Hence, it is important to look into

the teacher selection and training processes.

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Teacher Traits

Commenting on the required traits of the teachers to teach in such schools,

an official felt that a teacher should not only be “intelligent and competent” but also

have the qualities of “an excellent human being” (S3B1). He added that while

recruiting teachers, the officials not only look for academic competence of the

teacher but also consider his or her capability in cocurricular activities and

leadership qualities. Besides this, a teacher in the Navodaya Vidyalayas is expected

to “be willing to sacrifice, and they should be sensitive, balanced, and judicious”

(S3B1). As well, they should have high teaching and communicative skills and

should be good at counseling skills (S2G2).

This teacher also explained that the inquisitive and curious nature of the

students in Navodaya Vidyalayas requires a teacher to “have the patience to collect

information, improve their knowledge, and be able to stimulate the interest of the

children” (S2G2). Agreeing with this, another official added that a teacher in

Navodaya Vidyalayas is expected to adapt to the modern “innovative teaching

techniques like computer aided tools, models and animation techniques, et cetera”

(S1C2).

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Selection Procedure

An official describing earlier selection procedures said that, for a decade

after the establishment of Navodaya Vidyalayas, “the selection of teachers was

done at the regional office level” (S1D1) based exclusively on academic

qualifications. Two categories of teachers were recruited; (a) trained graduates, and

(b) postgraduate teachers. He added that the selection process has been centralized

in the past few years.

The standard procedure for recruiting teachers in Navodaya Vidyalayas for

the past few years is through an all India level entrance test followed by a personal

interview. An official observed:

While selecting a teacher we ensure that he has a basic knowledge of the content of the subject for which he is selected. In addition to that, his participation during his student life in a variety of co-curricular activities and his professional skills are also taken into consideration. (S3B1) Another official opined, “We have been appointing very qualified and

knowledgeable teachers in our system by adopting better recruitment procedures”

(S3C1). A principal observed, “Teacher selection is very tough and difficult”

(S2F1). He added that the applicants are tested in general awareness, subject

knowledge and teaching aptitude. Elaborating on the entrance test one official

noted that it has two sections, “aptitude test and content test” (S1C2). He added,

“Depending on their performance in these tests, they are called for an interview and

suitable candidates are selected.”

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Challenges of Teachers

The teachers in the Navodaya Vidyalayas feel that their job is challenging

and exciting. A principal related his experience saying, “It brings the best out of us

and propels and motivates us towards constant self-improvement and up-gradation

of our knowledge and skills” (S4F2). A teacher expressed the same feeling and

added, “It gives me self-satisfaction” (S3G4) for doing something beneficial for

students from financially poor backgrounds.

A few participants expressed some concerns, especially with respect to the

number of hours they put in their profession while working in Navodaya

Vidyalayas. One teacher complained about the excessive workload. As the schools

are residential in nature, they have an additional burden of attending to the

problems that arise during after- school hours (S2G1). Joining in the chorus, a

principal echoed, “But it’s also a very tough job. Being residential in nature, we are

required to be on the job round-the-clock. So we are not able to find much time for

our family and social life” (S4F2). He also added that the remuneration paid to

them is “not commensurate” with the work they do. But, on the whole, he was

positive and added, “The feeling that we are working towards training future

geniuses is motivating us to give it our best.”

Training Programs

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Training programs in India are similar to staff development in the United

States. A lot of importance is given to these training programs in Navodaya

Vidyalayas. The training programs are of three types. In the words of a principal:

The first type is the induction course for the newly appointed TGTs [trained graduate teachers]. This training is provided to the teachers as soon as they are recruited. In other words, this is preservice training. The second type of training is for the teachers who are promoted from TGTs [who teach at sixth to eighth grade level] to PGTs [post graduate teachers, who teach from ninth to twelfth grades]. The third type of training program is for senior teachers who have not attended any training programs for three consecutive years. (S2F1) In other words, the second and third types of training programs constitute

the in-service training programs. Each of these training programs is aimed at

promoting the professional growth of the teachers (S2F1).

Commenting on the need for the training programs, a teacher expressed,

“Training is essential for a teacher to enrich his knowledge” (S2G2) and skills. An

official noted that induction programs “attune them [teachers] to objectives and

philosophy of the program, the responsibilities, . . . given to them, and the

residential culture emphasizing co-scholastic or co-curricular activities” (S3B1). He

added that these training programs help the teachers in the “management of hostel

[dormitory] environment, social and mental hygiene, . . . [and in] helping the

students to be self-confident and self-sufficient.”

Commenting on the usefulness of the training programs, a teacher observed,

“We share our experiences and identify our mistakes and understand the ways to

improve ourselves” (S2G2). Resonating the same idea, another teacher said that

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these programs “train us with some special techniques with regard to how to handle

bright, gifted students and slow learners” (S3G4). Another official joined in the

chorus who believed that these “structured training programs [equip the teachers]

with the techniques of handling gifted and talented children” (S1C2).

The training programs address not only the need for equipping the teachers

with the latest developments in the content (S3B1), but are also credited with

various improvements like attitude transformation (S2F1 & S2G1) and increased

performance levels of the teachers (S3G4). Adding to the above, a teacher noted

that training programs provide an “opportunity to exchange ideas, views, and

innovative methodologies among the teachers” (S2G1). He extended by saying that

these programs “inculcate a lot of enthusiasm in teachers and certainly help[s]”

them make their teaching effective.

Noting the change in the recruitment of resource persons to train the teachers, a

teacher observed:

We now depend on our inner resources for resource persons. Some teachers have been selected and they are imparted with training on how to teach and . . . various methodologies to be followed. Now, we call outside persons very rarely to work as resource persons. (S2G1)

Inspection

Inspection represents the process of supervising day-to-day activities in

Navodaya Vidyalayas. The basic aim is to identify the gaps in the organization and

improve upon them to increase the efficiency of the system. Inspection is

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conducted at two levels, school level (internal inspection) and regional level

(external inspection).

At the school level, the principal, who is the leader of the school, “inspects

the functioning, teaching and learning process” (S3B1). This type of inspection is

aimed at instructing the teaching staff, identifying the areas of weaknesses of the

teachers (S3B1).

The second type of inspection, also called an academic panel inspection, is

conducted at the regional office level (S1D1). In this, a panel of experts inspects

each school at least three times in a year (S1C2). This panel is comprised of one

official from the regional office (assistant director or deputy director), one or two

principals of neighboring schools, and one or two subject experts. This panel goes

through the entire academic and non-academic activities of the school (S1D1).

According to an official, “A variety of things are inspected like

infrastructure, school, teachers, houses, et cetera. Quality of teaching, teaching

methodology, cleanliness and hygienic conditions” (S1C2) are the most important

academic aspects that are inspected. Commenting on the objectives of inspection an

official noted that, “inspection is not a fault finding mission” (S1D1). He added that

it is aimed at providing expert suggestions for the improvement of the institution.

Student Selection

Chippalona Padda Chinuku Mutyambayye

Neeta Badda Chinuku Neeta Kalise

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A drop of water received by an oyster shell changes

to a valuable and beautiful pearl The same drop that falls in the stream becomes just water

The government of India stipulates that at least 75 % of the seats in the

Navodaya Vidyalayas in each district be filled with candidates selected from rural

areas. The remaining seats are filled from the urban areas of the district.

Reservation of seats in favor of children belonging to scheduled castes (SC) and

scheduled tribes (ST) is provided in proportion to their population in the concerned

district. In any district, such reservation cannot be less than the national average

(15.5 % for SC and 7.5 % for ST) and cannot exceed a maximum of 50% for both

the categories taken together. These reservations are inter-changeable and over and

above the candidates selected under open merit. Further, one-third of the total seats

are to be filled by girls.

The application forms for the entrance test are distributed to all the schools

in the district by the district education office. The government directs that the

applications should be distributed without discrimination toward any student.

However, in some cases, classroom teachers tend to select a few above average

students and encourage them to appear for the exam. Thus, at times this selective

process may serve as an unauthorized screening process.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Entrance Test

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The primary tool used in making the student selection decision is the

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Selection Test (JNVST). This test is described in a

detailed manner on page 40.

It is interesting to compare and contrast the more prosaic description of the

test provided on page 40 with the description of the test given by program

authorities and personnel. For example, one teacher stated, “ Most of the questions

in the exam test logic and reasoning. Only a truly talented child can solve these

problems and get selected” (S4G4). One of the officials claimed that other high

functioning abilities were being measured by the test, including “imagination,

adventure, . . . confidence, [and] aesthetics” (S3B1).

The test also includes some information on basic skills such as the “willing

[ness] to undertake hard work” (S3B1), as well as “knowledge of notation and

arithmetics and . . . ability to write or language ability” (S3B1). According to one

teacher, this objective (multiple choice) nature of the test leads to “evaluation of the

answers [being] easy” (S2G1). This teacher admitted, “As a teacher, we don’t have

any say in it. . . . We have to teach whoever is selected” (S2G1). In general, the

teachers seem to believe that “whoever is selected” (S2G1) are the students whom

they should be teaching. One teacher averred, “There is no doubt in saying that the

test is good, and students selected are also good” (S4G3). This teacher is joined by

another official who stated that, based on the selection process, “you can ensure

that good rural children get selected” (S3E1). A principal supported this view by

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stating, “On the basis [of exam results], we can say he is talented” (S2F1). One

more voice, that of a program official, intoned, “ To the larger extent, [we]

definitely succeeded in identifying the talented, rural children” (S3C1).

Not all educators involved in Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme are as positive

about the test. One teacher gave only qualified support to the selection process,

stating, “Sometimes one or two students may not be extraordinarily intelligent, but

they do possess some intelligence” (S4G3).

Another teacher indicated having “some grievances. . . . Some of the

children who are getting selected are not up to the mark” (S2G1). This teacher also

expressed some reservations about the children from rural areas who are in the

program. “These children do not have much exposure like the children of the public

schools or some other well known schools run by private management. These

children are from rural areas and have limited exposure. In spite of that, they are

good” (S2G1).

One official noted that the inception of coaching centers has put some

students in an advantageous position compared to others (S3A2).

Contradicting this opinion another official opined:

Coaching centers for Navodayas are coming up, and it is a tribute to Navodayas. It means people do have some liking for Navodayas. That is why people send their wards [children] into coaching centers for getting admission into Navodayas. We definitely feel encouraged if such coaching centers come in different parts of the country. (S3B2) The program officials assume the test is good, because its construction and

administration were carried out independently. According to one official,

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“Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has nothing to do with the examination” (S1D1). For

the first ten years of the program, NCERT conducted the examination. After these

10 years, the CBSE has been carrying out the selection process. “Whoever they

select, we get” (S1D1).

A principal claimed that the entrance exam is a fairly scientific method for

selecting students. “Eminent experts and scientists, through various studies, have

identified certain competencies which differentiate talented students from others”

(S4F2).

The competencies referred to by the principal aren’t the only basis for the

test. An official stated, “The formation of the test is based on the psychometrics.

. . . The broad base of the test is based on psychometrics, observations, and

studies” (S3B1). However, when asked for any psychometric or scientific studies of

the test, the official responded, “Subsequently, no systematic study has been

conducted” (S3B1). Determining the reliability and validity of the test could be a

difficult enterprise. This is because the test does not remain the same every year.

Consider the following exchange during a follow up interview with a government

official:

Official: Every two, three years we propose to alternate the content part. . . . Interviewer: So, you change the questions every three years? Official: Questions, every year. They are different. Obviously you can’t have the same questions. (S3B1) Even though developing important psychometric foundations for the test

would be difficult on a year-to-year basis, it would seem important to do, for, as

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pointed out by one teacher, “We cannot honestly claim that all students who are

selected by our entrance test are gifted” (S2G2)- an obvious validity issue.

Selection Issues

In most Navodaya Vidyalayas, 80 students are selected every year for each

school. However, in the absence of adequate physical facilities the number of

admissions is restricted to 40 in some Navodaya Vidyalayas. The reasons for

admitting only 80 students per year per district are many and varied. An official

noted, “We, being residential schools, we have to provide the infrastructure in

terms of their accommodation, in terms of food, and other facilities” (S3B1),

adding that the financial burden is a major constraint for expansion in admissions.

However, the same official also averred, “Talent and gift is to be dealt in a

systematic manner on a day-to-day basis. . . . The teacher student ratio has to be

high . . . so that the teacher has time and scope to consistently and constantly

observe the child’s growth” (S3B1).

The issue of lack of financial and infrastructure facilities limiting selection

capacity was corroborated by two other officials (S1D1 & S4F2). Furthermore,

S4F2 added that selection of gifted students from non-academic disciplines or

students with unconventional capabilities, such as students good in music, sports,

rural arts, rural crafts, and other skills, are not selected because of “practical

difficulties in identifying and training these students.”

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Another major factor that affects selection of students is the political

requirements, otherwise known as quotas. An official stated that allocating quotas

for SC and ST students does not affect the average achievement level of the

students. Commenting on the achievement of the quota students he said, “Over a

period of time, in fact, these children are doing very well in these schools in the

later years. My experience is that they are not as bad as most people expect them to

be” (S1D1). Another teacher justified the allocation of quota to SC and ST students

by stating, “When we compare these children [from under-developed communities

and poor family backgrounds] with students hailing from semiurban areas or higher

economic status, they may seem somewhat less intelligent than these urban

children. But, I am sure, with some grooming, they will be on par with urban

students, as they possess innate talents and traits” (S2G2). One teacher, justifying

the quota for rural children, said, “Rural children are unable to compare and

compete with urban children because of reasons like economic factors, lack of

infrastructure, lack of parental guidance and support et cetera” (S2G2).

One teacher voiced his concern about combining rural and urban students

in the same class. He felt that, as urban students have a strong advantage over rural

students in terms of knowledge in English and other subjects, they get bored when

the teachers teach at the level of the rural children (S2G2). He added that teaching

these two disparate groups simultaneously is really a challenging task.

An official stated, “[Some] students are selected on the basis of their caste

and backwardness so their performance is not up to the desired level” (S2G1).

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However, these contradicting opinions of the participants regarding the quota

system will not bring a change in the selection process because the quota system is

stipulated and enforced by the Constitution of India.

Nurturing Environment

Emi leni edaarilo aamudamu chette maha vrukshamu

In a barren land, even a small plant looks like a Banyan tree

The vision of Navodaya Vidyalayas is to provide a new style of growth and

development aimed at identification and development of talented, bright, and gifted

children, who are predominantly from rural areas and otherwise lack the

opportunity of meaningful and quality education for their development. In addition

to the academics, Navodaya Vidyalayas also visualize the significant role of co-

curricular activities as a means to all round development of the students.

A senior official offered an insight into this vision in the following words: The purpose of these schools is to provide an appropriate environment to the children, identify their talent, and groom them properly, and also to ensure that they participate in a variety of programs envisaged in the school system with the support and assistance of teachers. (S3B1)

A principal added to this by saying, “Since these are residential schools, the

students understand the importance of community living, team spirit, group

dynamics and importance of unity and togetherness.” He added, “Each student

learns dignity of labor and self sufficiency. They [students] gain tremendous

amount of self confidence and aggressiveness.” (S4F2)

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One teacher observed that, since students stay in the school full time, there

is a lot of scope for the teachers to identify and develop students to their full

potential (S4G4). An official noted that the residential nature of the schools provide

an opportunity for both the students and teachers to work together and involve

themselves in a great deal of innovations and experiments that lead to the overall

growth of the students (S3B1). He further added that irrespective of the student’s

background, “every child is made to participate in a variety of co-scholastic

activities like sports, seminars, discussions, assignments and projects, et cetera.”

All these activities further consolidate and strengthen the talent of the students

(S3B1). The same official opined that these institutions [Navodaya Vidyalayas]

ensure that all the students develop some “personal values in terms of discipline,

health, hygiene, behavior, punctuality, sincerity, honesty and dignity of labor.” He

also added that the pace setting activities taken up in the schools have full scope for

the growth of the personality of the child.

This official also made an affirmative statement that the kinds of programs

they offer in these schools cater to the needs of the gifted children, as “the entire

daily framework of the programs in the Vidyalayas is intended towards all round

development of the growth and personality of the child.” He added that in addition

to academic excellence, Navodayas aim at developing physical, social, and human

excellence in every child.

Another teacher stated that the emphasis in Navodaya Vidyalayas is on the

overall development of the child’s personality rather than imparting only subject

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knowledge. He added, “We expect a child to keep pace with the changing world,

and change himself accordingly” (S2G1). Another teacher echoed the same opinion

explaining that “our aim is all round development of rural talent, and our purpose is

to provide an educational environment that provides an opportunity for the students

to develop” (S4G3). He further added that the syllabus and training imparted in

Navodaya Vidyalayas is sufficient for the all round development of the child as the

student is not just restricted to the academic activities.

Commenting on the advantage of the residential schools, a teacher said,

“My art room is open 24 hours for children. I spend a lot of time with the children,

sometimes late in the night” (S4G4). A principal felt that the counseling and

professional guidance provided to the students in these institutions helped the

students attain their fullest development (S2F1). Another official noted that the

schools provide lots of opportunities for the students to take part in games and

sports, arts, music, and all other activities. He also added that specialized teachers

are appointed and special facilities are provided for the children to blossom as

multitalented individuals (S1D1).

A teacher described the congenial environment of Navodaya Vidyalayas in

the following words:

There are many good things in Navodayas. I enjoy working here [in Navodaya Vidyalayas]. I love the family atmosphere of these schools. One important thing is that the students here are self-learners. They are self reliant and independent. They understand and value dignity of labor. They develop a capacity for independent decision making. (S2G1)

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He further added, “Learning can be effective only in a good, peaceful

atmosphere. You can find that atmosphere only in the Navodayas.” He also

expressed that:

We maintain very good relationship with the students. We do not treat them as our students. Rather we treat them as our own family members. We give them a lot of love and affection. We work with them. We take up activities where both teachers and students are involved. We take up tree planting, beautification of the campus, et cetera. (S2G1) A principal, who had similar feelings, said, “In the Navodayas, a child lives

in the school for 7 years. The role played by parents elsewhere is to be played by

the teachers here. Because of the residential, regimental life they lead here, students

develop many good qualities” (S2F1). Joining in the chorus, another official

observed that “here it is a residential program where the child is available all the

time. This provides scope for the total personality development of the child”

(S1C2). He further added that “our strategies, our academic training, our interaction

with the student, knowing their strengths and weaknesses and providing remedial

action is very advantageous for the students in these schools.”

He highlighted the advantages of free education in the Navodaya

Vidyalayas. “There is no element of commercial angle. Education, boarding and all

other facilities in the school are provided for free” (S3A2). He also made an

interesting comment that “most importantly, these schools are indocentric schools

in which the cultural heritage, good points in every religion, moral education, and

good habits are given more importance in Navodaya Vidyalayas than in other

schools.”

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A senior official stressed that each student’s interest and background,

specific talents or gifts that she or he possesses are identified and care is taken to

strengthen them (S3B1). He also emphasized the importance of the residential

nature of the schools in doing so. Another official highlighted the importance of the

residential system in these words, “They [students] are together. They become

socially conscious and they develop a feeling of togetherness” (S3A2).

One official made an interesting comment that “we are also happy to

produce students who are socially conscious and responsible” (S1C2). Quoting a

study conducted to assess the impact of the students who graduated from Navodaya

Vidyalayas, he said, “The students became role models for other students in their

villages. They, through their talent and personality transformation, became walking

examples of the importance of education.” Expanding on the social responsibility

of the students, a teacher mentioned that “the students took active part in socially

demanding situations like collecting donations to assist earthquake affected

families and organizing rallies during the Kargil War to strengthen the patriotic

feelings among the people” (S4G4).

Commenting on the unique aspect of education in Navodaya Vidyalayas, a

principal stated, “Here the emphasis is on knowledge, skills, and attitudes. More

stress is on attitude transformation, inculcation of value education and promotion of

national integration” (S2F1). An official elaborated by saying, “In Navodaya

Vidyalaya system of education, a great emphasis is laid on character building,

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patriotic spirit, scientific outlook, participation in co-curricular activities, leadership

qualities, and effectiveness in languages, and a variety of other activities”.

A principal offered an interesting insight that:

we do encourage students to participate in various activities, but at the same time we emphasize more on academics, because we have parents who come to us and express their concern about their child’s academic performance. They [the parents] put pressure on teachers to push their children more in academics. The parents are not concerned about the achievements in non academic fields as much as they are concerned about academic course.” (S4F2) He also added, “Not only the parents, even the society and the central

administrators judge the schools based on our academic performance. So though

we offer all the co-curricular activities and extra curricular activities in the school

we emphasize more on the academic performance.”

Curriculum

Nalugurito Narayana, Gumpulo Govinda

Whatever four people say, I will say With the group, I can shout hurray

The scheme of studies formulated by NCERT and prescribed by CBSE is

followed in all the Navodaya Vidyalayas. The curriculum followed in Navodaya

Vidyalayas is intended not only to take care of the needs of the present day

education but also the future demands. Navodaya Vidyalayas are said to provide an

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effective learning environment by organizing large numbers of curricular and

cocurricular activities (Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, n.d.).

Commenting on the curriculum an official said, “It is framed by CBSE and

is really good. It is covering most topics and applications. So I feel it is

satisfactory” (S1C2). Another official offered his comments on the curriculum that,

it is “not only very good but more or less ideal for these schools, for these children”

(S3A2). He also added, “The government and Navodaya Samiti are providing all

facilities and infra-structure for effective implementation of the curriculum. I don’t

think there is a problem” in implementing the curriculum.

Another teacher agreed by saying that “each child is given an opportunity to

participate in co-curricular activities, sports, games and some other social service

activities like scouts and guides, NCC, and NSS. . . . So, no doubt the Navodaya

Vidyalaya Curriculum is excellent for the development of the child” (S4G3).

Expressing a similar opinion, one teacher observed, “I feel that our curriculum and

training is sufficient to produce good citizens and fulfill our objectives” (S2G1).

An official explained the rationale behind adopting CBSE curriculum. As

these institutions are funded and monitored by the government of India, it is logical

to have a curriculum that meets the needs of children from different languages and

different backgrounds. Since CBSE curriculum addresses the above concerns,

Navodaya Vidyalayas have adopted the CBSE syllabus for their schools (S3B1).

Another official explained the same in different words. “Why we have

chosen NCERT is because we need a centralized curriculum. Navodaya schools

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started in the entire country, and we need a common framework to form the base

from which we can take up” (S1D1).

A principal gave a different perspective to the scope of this curriculum. He

noted, “It is designed by well trained and experienced educationists, but I am not

sure that it is adequate for gifted children. Any curriculum is designed keeping an

average student in mind, but these children are special. They have a higher

capability to understand advanced concepts. I feel these children should be

provided with a specially designed curriculum, which is of a higher standard and

helps in accelerated learning” (S4F2). He, however, expressed concerns:

There are some practical problems with this view. In the present competitive world, students aspire for getting admission into medical, engineering and other professional courses. For getting admission into any of these courses, you should study the recognized, comparable mode of syllabus. Thus, even if we design a separate curriculum, it may not be practical or feasible to bring it into practice. Echoing this opinion a teacher observed:

India is a very big country with geographic and demographic diversity. So, I feel a uniform curriculum is not suitable. There is a difference in the infrastructure available in rural areas and urban areas. So same curriculum cannot be effective. I believe that there should be a different curriculum for rural areas and urban areas. (S2G1)

A principal noted, “In addition to the curriculum followed in these schools,

special modules are developed by the teachers to cater to the different needs of the

gifted children once they are identified” (S2F1).

Another principal threw light on the negative aspects of the curriculum

followed in Navodaya Vidyalayas. He stated, “The curriculum of our schools is not

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matching the capabilities of our children. It is not being updated regularly. I feel

many of the recent advanced developments in technology like computer technology

should be made a compulsory part of our curriculum” (S4F2). He also added,

“Teachers should be provided training in advanced teaching methodologies and

techniques. Skills and giftedness in non-academic disciplines should be given more

weightage in the evaluation process.” The same opinion was echoed by a teacher

who also felt that the “curriculum is somewhat outdated” (S2G2) and needs to be

updated “to meet the specific ambitions of the students.”

Suggestions

No institution can be perfect. Every organization has some shortcomings;

and there is always scope for improvement. This is true in the case of the Navodaya

Vidyalaya scheme, which has 480 schools, spread over a wide range of regional,

linguistic and cultural environments. In view of this scenario, many suggestions

were offered by different participants to improve the functioning of these schools.

The suggestions from the participants came out of an analysis of a wide range of

the problems that they face on a day to day basis.

Initiating the discussion one official noted that, as the Navodayas are

selecting good students, “The curriculum should be able to accelerate and enrich

the interest and knowledge of the students” (S3E1). He further added, “Pace-setting

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schools should have curriculum which is of a higher order. It should make them

thinkers, investigators, and inculcate a spirit of knowledge in them.”

This official also suggested “introducing general awareness in the selection

test.” He added, “Some people feel that rural children would find it difficult

because they don’t have access to newspapers.” Another official suggested that the

JNVST should be devoid of the urban bias, which is existing in the present pattern

as he feels that the rural children do not have the same exposure as the urban

students. (S1D1)

He extended his thoughts, “There should be some seats reserved not only

for academically bright children but also for children who are talented in other

fields” like arts, music, and painting. He expressed his concern that “all said and

done, the main yard stick through which we are assessed, or success of the

Vidyalaya is judged in the society is through academic performance in the board

exams.” He also recommended that more emphasis should be laid on cocurricular

activities rather than concentrating more on academics.

One teacher had a critical perspective of nurturing giftedness in Navodaya

Vidyalayas. He felt that too much emphasis was laid on academics in Navodaya

Vidyalayas at the cost of the talents in non academic subjects. He expressed his

disappointment on how the gifted children are treated in these schools by making

them focus only on academics (S4G4). Expressing similar views, another official

stated, “Some additions are to be made in the evaluation system wherein sufficient

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or adequate credit is to be given to the activities of a student or performance given

by the student in various activities out of the classroom” (S3B1).

A principal mentioned that emotional problems faced by the students

because of separation from the parents are raising concern in the schools. He felt

that “parents of the Navodaya children don’t pay enough attention. Parent

orientation is very important” (S2F1).

According to this principal, one drawback of the system is the relatively less

attention paid to the students of Classes VI, VII, VIII, IX, and XI when compared

to Classes X and XII, and that it is all because of the examination system they

follow in the schools. The CBSE pattern of examination assigns standard scores

only for Classes X and XII exams. The examinations of all the other classes are not

given standard scores at the national level. They are assigned by and recognized

only in the particular school where the student studied.

Another teacher repeated this opinion adding that there should be a common

exam in every class. At present, common exams are conducted only for Classes X

and XII, and the studies in other classes are neglected (S2G2).

Suggesting a change in the evaluation system, one teacher noted:

I want the evaluation system used for [academic] subjects to be implemented for other subjects [non-academic] like sculpture, painting, so that they will show interest. From my personal experience, I found grading with ABC letters is not as motivating as mark system. So, I feel mark system for these subjects should be introduced so as not to deprive these children of future opportunities. (S4G4)

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Further expanding on this he said, “A uniform system should be followed

for all subjects. Either give grades in all subjects or give marks in all subjects. Why

this discrepancy?”

One official suggested, “The focus in the Vidyalayas should be to train the

students how to learn to learn and what to learn” (S3B1). Another teacher felt that

“there should be an emphasis on teaching morals and social responsibility to the

students so that they can become role models in the society” (S2G2).

Another official suggested that “more emphasis should be laid on frontline

curriculum like consumer awareness, environmental awareness, population

education, human rights, pollution control, and a variety of other socially relevant

issues” (S3B1) to make students responsible citizens. He also stated, “Children [in

Navodayas] are not properly provided with adequate career guidance.” He opined,

“There is a great deal of opportunity for developing many vocations and careers.”

However, Navodaya Vidyalayas are restricting the students to a limited number of

subjects. Another teacher felt that “guidance regarding careers and employment

opportunities also will benefit the students” (S2G2). He added, “Proper guidance

and counseling services should be provided to teach morals to students and to

tackle indiscipline.”

One teacher felt proper training is needed for the teachers in these

Vidyalayas as “they are not only involved in teaching, but are also involved in

looking after the children” (S2G1). He also felt that their salaries and payments are

not commensurate with the work they do when compared to their counterparts in

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other government organizations. He suggested, “To solve this pay disparity

problem, some sort of allowance should be given to Navodaya teachers” and added,

“This will certainly encourage the teachers to perform better.”

One teacher suggested, “The present syllabus and curriculum is not meeting

the desires and aspirations of the students”(S2G2). He felt that Navodaya

Vidyalayas should follow the state syllabus as the entrance exams for professional

courses like medical and engineering are based on a state syllabus. He mentioned

that this would greatly reduce the drop out rate of the students after passing the

Class X. The curriculum for math and science is different in the state syllabus as

compared to that of CBSE syllabus. Moreover, the entrance exams to various

professional courses such as medicine and engineering are developed according to

the state syllabus. Most parents aspire to get their children admitted into

professional colleges, and therefore the dropout rate of the students is high after

Class X. However, the officials had mixed opinions on whether to adopt the state

syllabus in Class XI and Class XII to control this dropout rate.

Some teachers considered the location of the schools, which are in the

remote rural areas, as a problem. One teacher noted that the “lack of any

entertainment facilities and distance from cities is causing problems in our family

life” (S2G2). Another teacher suggested that the schools should be located nearer to

the urban areas to avoid environmental and physical problems like availability of

electricity and water (S4G3).

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Studies and Reports

When queried about whether any studies were conducted on the functioning

of Navodaya Vidyalayas, one official noted:

To the larger extent, I think that the talent is being nurtured in these Navodaya Vidyalayas because our results have been commendably well in comparison to other sister organizations affiliated with CBSE, and simultaneously our children are coming up in many platforms [i.e., NVS graduates are succeeding in various professions]. Overall the Navodaya Vidyalayas are doing a wonderful job. (S3C1) One official said, “I am not aware whether any studies were conducted or

not. I know that in the first four or five years of establish[ment], no study was

conducted” (S3E1). Another official felt, “I am interested in a study being

conducted in this regard. But so far no study has been conducted. We have

discussed the need for such a study in various meetings, but it is not done till now”

(S1C2).

One official stated that they had studies conducted on the achievement of

the goals at different levels. One study was at the school level in which each

Vidyalaya was asked to give a record of its activities and achievements. The second

study was at the regional office level, where the authorities prepared a document on

the 10 years of existence and achievement of Vidyalayas. The third study was

commissioned by Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti at the national level, which was

conducted by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in which an in-depth

study was made of the achievement of goals in Navodaya Vidyalayas (S1D1). This

official felt that the evaluation study was a good one.

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Another official noted that the observations of this study “have been quite

encouraging in terms of performance of the schools” (S3B1). In the report, in the

executive summary of the study a host of recommendations were made but these

are yet to be incorporated into the functioning of the Vidyalayas. A senior official

observed, “It is doing very well in-spite of all the odds that were in the succeeding

years, and there is a lot of scope for improvement” (S3A1).

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CHAPTER VI

DISCUSSION

Vidya Dadathi Vinayam Vinayaa Dyathi Patrataam Patratvaa dhanaapnothi Dhanat Dharmam tatah sukham

Education endows us with humility Humility endows us with character Character leads us to prosperity Prosperity shared with others leads us to peace.

Based on the findings and insights gained throughout the study I will

address the research questions I started with. In doing so, I will also highlight the

attributes of the categories that emerged from the study.

Definition of Giftedness in Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Many long discussions with the officials and teachers of Navodaya

Vidyalayas revealed that no theoretical, official, precise, or uniform definition for

giftedness exists within the Navodaya Vidyalaya system. Everyone has his or her

own perspective, view point, and opinion about what constitutes giftedness. The

education policies and curriculum design are viewed according to these varying

opinions.

Lack of definition is a major concern because it is difficult to imagine such

a vast organization running 480 schools countrywide, and not having a focus in its

core objectives. How can anyone claim that the objective of establishing these

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schools is to identify and provide quality education to rural talented children

without having a concept of who these rural talented children are?

A theoretical definition would lead to an official definition, which would

lead to an operational definition. In this organization, there is neither a theoretical

definition nor an official definition guiding the selection of students, curriculum,

and instruction. I sometimes wonder whether the terms bright, talented, and gifted

crept into the objectives for the schools, when in reality the authorities were

primarily seeking to provide quality education to a few selected rural students, as it

was financially impossible to provide such education to every student in the rural

areas.

This argument cannot be completely true, because the organization has

some definition in the form of an entrance exam for selecting the students. This

exam, according to the officials, is believed to select real talented students as it was

developed keeping the purpose in view. Thus I could sense an operational

definition in the beliefs expressed by the officials.

The person who drafted the entrance exam believes that high IQ and high

scholastic aptitude are the parameters that define a person’s giftedness and these

beliefs are clearly reflected in the design and structure of the exam, which includes

mental ability, arithmetic skills, and language capabilities as the main test areas. He

mentioned capability of independent thinking, risk-taking ability, creative thinking,

and inquisitiveness as some of the other qualities that define giftedness. However,

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these abilities seem not to be assessed within the multiple choice format of the

JNVST. Thus, this becomes the operational definition.

The criticism of Raina and Srivastava (2000) on this scheme seems to hold

that it “suffers from an inadequate and narrow concept of excellence and the tools

used for selection are again based on a very narrow conceptualization” (p. 106).

The conception is narrow because it is conceived at the operational level only.

Officials and teachers often seem to be happy with the academic results of the

students in these schools and consider it as the success of this scheme; therefore,

they have little motivation to do the work to develop an official or theoretical

definition for the schools.

Official Definition Related to Historical and Cultural Perspective

Since there was no official definition of giftedness found in the Navodaya

Vidyalaya Samiti, no relationship can be established with historical and cultural

perspective of giftedness. This is very unfortunate in a country like India, which

has rich and varied cultural heritage. India has more than 5,000 years of history

replete with various cultures, art, and philosophies of education. As mentioned

earlier, “India was multi-centered in its cultural expression and, at the same time, a

universally valid sense of excellence was continuously evolved and cherished”

(Murthy, as cited in Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p. 102).

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History plays a vital role in shaping a society, and society defines the

objectives of schooling. It is very important that the students’ experiences in school

are planned in a way that the experiences are embedded within the socio-cultural

milieu of the society. The ancient Indian tradition has demonstrated an

indigenousness in thought and advocacy for excellence related to creativity (Raina

& Srivastava, 2000). Raina and Srivastava noted:

It is this human faculty which is distinct from intellect, in which originates all human excellence and creativity. Thus, the insights into the human condition that we owe to the great poets, novelists, and story-tellers have their origin in that mysterious faculty of Pratibha6. (p. 102) Excellence is recognized and valued in various fields of human endeavor.

Excellence is striving for higher exemplars in every phase of life, driven

exclusively by strong and potent inner urges without any external driving force. In

other words, it is the discovery of the best in oneself; the attainment of one’s fullest

potential in one’s work, family life, and public life.

Having the knowledge of this rich definition or approach of excellence in

ancient Indian culture and how excellence in various fields was recognized and

promoted could have led to the emergence of a thriving definition of giftedness that

guides comprehensive methods and practices to nurture and promote giftedness in

varied fields of human endeavor. However, it seems that no effort has been made to

6 According to Raina and Srivastava (2000), “The word Pratibha means a flash of light, a revelation, and is usually found in the literature in the sense wisdom, characterized by its immediacy and freshness” (p.102).

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consider the cultural context of India in planning or executing this Navodaya

Vidyalaya Scheme to promote excellence in India.

The only comparison I can make between the historical and cultural

perspectives of giftedness in India and a sort of official view of giftedness is with

the operational definition I could sense from the test. To excel in humanitarian

aspects and exhibit deep, meditative thinking in any field requires a person to

posses higher level thinking skills and particular social sensitivities. A person

should be able to analyze the social situation, synthesize new knowledge that

benefits the society, and finally be able to evaluate self and also the knowledge

created so as to enhance progress in the society. Such people only can bring a

social change and such are the people whom the society needs more in numbers.

The operational definition implied in the JNVST fails to provide assessment for

these concepts.

Beliefs of Participants About Giftedness

After analyzing the responses of central authorities, administrators, and

teachers who are involved with the scheme, various characteristics have emerged to

be the criteria by which a person can be defined as gifted. While people differed in

their opinion as to whether giftedness is genetically inherited, inborn, acquired or

shaped by environmental and external factors, it could be concluded that the

participants focused on broad characteristics without trying to organize those

characteristics into any articulate theory. According to the participants, gifted

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children are those who posses one or more of the following characteristics; (a) high

IQ, (b) high scholastic aptitude, (c) independent thinking, (d) risk taking ability, (e)

creative thinking, (f) inquisitiveness, (g) ability to grasp concepts quickly, (h) focus

on a task, (i) ability to contribute to the society and benefit the society in which

they live, and (j) leadership qualities. The participants seem to follow a

particularistic point-of-view; that is, viewing giftedness as parts rather than as a

whole.

Most of the beliefs expressed by these officials reflect an adoption of a

Western perspective of giftedness in toto. Although many profound theories of

what constitutes giftedness have been developed in the west, the testing of IQ has

become an indispensable yardstick in measuring giftedness in spite of the fact that

many intellectuals and theorists in the United States have criticized these IQ tests

(Richert, 1985; Hunsaker, Callahan, & Abeel, 1991).

It is ironic to observe that the IQ forms a major part for identification of

gifted students in Navodaya Vidyalayas, where the traditional culture has a rich and

indigenous concept of excellence that is dynamic and multi-faceted. Giftedness was

never equated in ancient conceptions as merely academic excellence, rather it was

recognized and valued in various human endeavors such as architecture, pottery,

carpet making, engraving of stones, sculpture, sense of humor, poetry, story

writing, story telling, painting, singing, dancing, and stage acting.

Occasionally officials mentioned some of the above disciplines as possible

fields of giftedness attributing some significance to the traditional concept of

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giftedness. But apparently no effort has been made to identify giftedness in any of

these fields except in academics. There is a lot of discussion about these programs

in the samiti magazines and official documents. Many workshops are conducted to

train teachers and students in various traditional art forms and to incorporate that

into the classroom teaching, but very few or no follow-up activities are conducted

to see the progress of the students or to supervise the implementation of this

knowledge in the classroom by various teachers.

The government could play an important role to promote these arts.

Fostering a socialist economy, the government should encourage the organizations

that hold exhibitions of the arts by providing them the required resources. This

encourages the talented students to work hard in their fields of endeavor.

Recognition to gifted students in various traditional arts in India not only

encourages the students to be creative but also brings back life to the dying

traditional arts, which are priceless.

It was interesting to note one of the official’s mentioning an effort to

identify the talents in these fields in the students after their selection. It is like

putting the cart before the horse. This belief gives credence to the notion that

academic achievement is mandatory for excellence in these various fields, which is

not supported by experience or research (Bloom, 1985).

Creative thinking and risk-taking abilities reflect the importance given to

the creative aspect in various human endeavors in the traditional Indian culture.

The beliefs about being able to contribute for the benefit of the society as

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giftedness also has its roots in the traditional culture where excellence in

humanitarian aspects such as service and sacrifice were highly valued and revered.

Although these qualities were mentioned in the beliefs of the participants, none

have been given any weight in the selection of the students.

Beliefs Related to Current Theories of Giftedness

The characteristics of gifted children mentioned by the participants can be

broadly classified into (a) intellectual−high IQ, high scholastic aptitude, ability to

grasp concepts quickly, and inquisitiveness; (b) creative−independent thinking,

risk-taking ability, and creative thinking; and (c) socio-affective−highly focused on

a task, ability to contribute to the society and benefit the society in which they live,

and leadership qualities. Interestingly, these categories relate to present day theories

of giftedness in the west such as those of Renzulli (1978) and Gagné (1985). While

concepts from Renzulli or Gagné are sometimes reflected in what participants in

this study said, participants did not seem to have in-depth knowledge of what

makes giftedness and never actually referred to these theories.

Nonetheless, the strong belief expressed by many participants that

giftedness can be nurtured by providing the right environment very much matches

with Gagné’s (1991) theory in which he describes natural abilities and catalysts.

The belief that giftedness is inborn or bestowed by God and can be nurtured to its

fullest by providing proper environment also falls in line with Gagné’s theory. A

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participant’s acknowledgement that there could be many more gifted students, but

only a few get an opportunity to get into these schools, confirms the belief that

chance plays a role in the development of gifts, which is also reflective of Gagné’s

theory. Almost all the participants differentiated between the terms gifted and

talented, which is a distinct feature of Gagné’s theory, but were not clear as to what

constitutes talent.

The characteristics of giftedness mentioned by the participants obscurely

reflected the three interlocking clusters of Renzulli’s (1978) three-ring conception

of giftedness. Creativity and motivation were viewed as essentials along with

extraordinary ability in any field to exhibit giftedness, which is a primary concept

from Renzulli’s theory of giftedness. However, participants were not clear about

the intricacies of the theory, that is, how the interaction of these three clusters

promote gifted behaviors.

The participants’ beliefs mostly reflected schoolhouse giftedness−a kind of

giftedness that, according to Renzulli (1999), can be easily measured by

standardized ability tests and therefore is most widely used in the selection of

students for special programs. The competencies required to succeed on such

cognitive-ability tests are the ones most valued in traditional school settings. This is

clearly true for Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Participants also expressed beliefs about the possibility of giftedness

existing in many fields of human endeavors, which is corroborated with Renzulli’s

(1978) definition. The categories of optimism, courage, romance with a topic or

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discipline, sensitivity to human concerns, physical/mental energy, vision/sense of

destiny, elaborated in the Operation Houndstooth (Renzulli, 2003), very much

reflect the traditional beliefs of giftedness in India. Some of the participants’ beliefs

reflected these categories to some extent as essential to exhibit giftedness.

Lack of clarity and coherence about giftedness and talent could clearly be

recognized from the participants’ responses. The participants had vague ideas of

giftedness but they were neither strongly grounded in any of the western theories

nor in the native concept of excellence. This lack of clarity can be traced to absence

of a knowledge base on giftedness in the current education system.

Beliefs Related to Historical and Cultural Perspectives

In Indian culture, various definitions or ideas about giftedness evolved

which are mainly derived from the professions, lifestyles, and environmental

conditions. In ancient India, possession of humanitarian qualities like compassion,

truthfulness, felicitous speech, generosity, sacrifice, single-mindedness in carrying

out a task, respect for elders, and a service motive was considered to be excellence

or giftedness.

An ancient Indian religious text named Chandogya Upanishad delineates

the qualities that epitomize giftedness or excellence. It says that any person having

the qualities of vidya (study of knowledge), sraddha (totality of positive attitudes),

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and upanishad (deep and meditative thinking) can be called an excellent and

forcefully talented person, and many of the major monumental and momentous

changes in the world have occurred because of the people who possess these

qualities.

When we look at the role models or highly admired personalities in Indian

society, the conspicuous qualities in all of them are courage and conviction about

one’s goals; steadfast pursuit of ambitions; honesty and sincerity in thought and

action; respect for the elders; and working towards making the world a better place

to live by propagating values like peace, love and harmony. The reasons for giving

importance to these qualities are steeped in the historical, sociological, and

economic profile of India.

India is a country that has traditionally depended on agriculture and animal

husbandry for livelihood. A major proportion of India’s population lived in villages

and rural areas. Skills like ability to protect oneself from wild animals; ability to

withstand and surmount natural vagaries like droughts, floods and storms; and

ability to utilize available natural resources to the optimum extent were the tasks

necessary to be performed to carry on with survival. These tasks required

possession of qualities like creativity, logical thinking, focused actions and

leadership skills, which were the qualities defined as excellence in those days.

As a society with high population and limited economic or productive

resources, there was a need for balanced use of these resources. Thus, qualities like

sharing and giving, honesty and truthfulness in relationships, compassion for

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others, simplicity and frugality in food, dress and celebrations, spiritual thinking,

and a community spirit became admired and desired qualities in a person.

Possessing these qualities was considered excellence. Although participants did not

mention explicitly all these qualities as part of giftedness, a few expressed

community spirit and one’s actions benefiting the society that reflect the traditional

belief system.

Hindu epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita espouse the

philosophy of “Sarve jana sukhinobhavantu, Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi.” (Let

peace prevail everywhere and let everyone be happy and comfortable.) Any person

who worked for the lofty ideals of benefiting the general well being of the society

was considered gifted in Indian culture.

As mentioned earlier, according to Chandogya Upanishad, qualities of

vidya (science of knowledge), sraddha (positive attitudes) and upanishad (deep and

meditative thinking) are considered to be giftedness. The examples cited in the

previous chapters like Ekalavya, Shravan Kumar, Arjuna, Siddhartha, and other

historical personalities like Vivekananda (a spiritual leader), Mahatma Gandhi

(freedom fighter and Father of the Nation), and Mother Teresa (social worker) are

some of the most admired people in India who had significant impact on the Indian

psyche. The concept of working for the benefit of society was apparently being

promoted actively in these schools from the participants’ views and also in the

official documents where a lot of community service activities were recorded.

These reflect the traditional value system in India.

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However, in the last two to three centuries, the definition of giftedness has

gone through a significant change. India became colonized by England and this led

to important changes in the perspectives of Indian society. “The impact of

colonialism was deep, causing depreciation and trivialization of ancient Indian

knowledge and qualities, and all excellence was abolished as effectively as by

decree (Anand, 1961, p. 69), resulting in the denigration of native excellence”

(Raina & Srivastava, 2000, p. 104). The English rulers wanted to employ educated,

talented Indians in lower level government positions to assist them in running the

country according to their wishes. The positions for which Indians were appointed

were mainly clerical positions and lower level civil service appointments, which

required qualities like unquestioning loyalty and obedience to master, competence

in mathematics and accounting, language proficiency in English, and an ability to

adapt and adjust to new systems and procedures. As securing a job promised a

decent lifestyle and security, many higher class and upper middle class Indians

aspired to these positions and cultivated the requisite qualities. So, displaying these

characteristics came to be accepted as excellence or giftedness. This idea persists

even today and this is very much reflected in the Navodaya Vidyalaya organization

in how success is defined. The competitive scores among schools that are published

in almost all the official documents and the participants taking pride in mentioning

their students securing jobs in various disciplines gives credence to this idea.

In the present society, academic excellence, knowledge of mathematics,

logical and analytical thinking, language proficiency and communication skills, and

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interpersonal skills are generally the traits that are considered as demarcating a

gifted person. Any extraordinary capability that can lead to economic or financial

success in any areas−like sports, painting, dance, music, design, and artistic

vocations such as pottery or puppetry−are also considered as giftedness. Academic

success has become paramount in defining excellence. Talent or excellence for the

sake of excellence is futile if it does not obtain a job, status, or position in society

or financial success. This can be provided as the reason for the emphasis on

academic achievement, although co-curricular activities are encouraged to some

extent in these schools.

Thus, when we look at the Indian definition of giftedness, there is no single

or uniform definition of giftedness. The participants’ beliefs also seem to follow the

suit and they have their own ideas, which are based on the commonly desired

qualities in the society.

Beliefs Reflected in the Experiences of Participants

Most of the participants are happy with the NVS and its organizational

strategies, and they all had praising words for the entrance exam, curriculum, and

the results. Results in the exams are generally used as a yardstick to measure the

success of the organization and also to evaluate the success of a teacher. These

measures are quantifiable, whereas achievements in other activities such as dance,

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music, sports, and arts are not precisely quantifiable, and teacher capability and

organizational performance may not be evaluated with reference to these activities.

For this reason, the teachers and administrators correlate giftedness with

academic intelligence. As long as the percentage of marks is high; the parents,

teachers, and administrators are happy with the organization. They all seem to aim

at and again strive to get better marks and higher percentages every year. This

emphasis is mainly arising out of the NVs comparison and competition with urban

schools. Since urban schools are competitive in academics, the NVs also follow

suit. This extensive emphasis on academics thus leads to the practice that it has of

using academic outcomes as the yardstick for measurement of success of these

schools, not only by school officials, but by parents in the larger society.

Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti started with a focused mission and was later

driven by the tides of social, political, and economic pressures. However, because

NVS is not built on a solid, theoretical foundation, it is an organization whose

objectives are influenced more by social, political, and economic imperatives rather

than purely educational or intellectual factors. Its objectives cover a whole gamut

from providing equity and justice and developing national integration to being

pace-setting. This is quite a tall order, and if the purpose is not well defined, focus

can be lost.

In the present Indian society, education is viewed as a pathway to get a job,

gain financial security and stability, and attain a higher social status and

respectability. Very few people who pursue education, mainly coming from elite

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sections of the society, do so for the purpose of enlightenment and intellectual

stimulation. In any educational institution academic performance is given utmost

importance because it fetches a person an earning job, allowing the person to

survive in a highly competitive world. Thus, the effort to train and groom gifted

children (especially those gifted in nonacademic fields) in the normal education

system is a difficult and impractical task.

Any educational institution should reflect and fulfill the dreams and

aspirations of the larger society. Navodayas are no exception to this. But, this

influence of society and the concurrent expectations, pressures and priorities of the

society are driving the day-to-day functioning of Navodaya schools. Thus, gifted

education remains an uncared for agenda, and the resources like time, money and

effort are not invested in a sufficient quantity to pursue this noble idea.

Whatever the stated aims and objectives of establishing these different

schools, in the final analysis, they are like any other good school, which

emphasizes academic achievement. There are many problems at the

implementation level starting from selection of students, selection of teachers,

training for teachers, curriculum and instruction, and administration. Some of the

observations are elucidated in the following sections.

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Entrance Test

Lack of clarity about the definition of giftedness seriously affects the

selection procedure of students. Participants differ significantly in their opinion

about the efficacy of the test in identifying gifted students. Many of them feel that,

since the test is designed by highly qualified and respected educationists, it is a

good test. They are complacent and smug in their belief that the test is effective in

its task of selecting gifted children. To date, no systematic effort has been made to

study the efficacy of the test. Still, many participants do not see any necessity for

such study. They offer an explanation that since the test changes every year, it

becomes difficult to systematically evaluate the test. However, there are some

indications that the test is selecting some average students.

The appearance of many tutorials for training the children for these tests is a

worrying factor. Successful entry of many students from these tutorials into

Navodayas gives an indication of the predictability of the questions in these tests.

Any serendipitous occurrence of guessing answers correctly, bubbling up of the

student, or the principle of natural selection where the fittest survive may lead to

improper selections in the test.

Teacher Selection

Selection of competent teachers for teaching in these schools, equipping

them with modern teaching tools, providing periodical training and feedback,

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providing them a satisfying emoluments and opportunities for personal life are

necessary prerequisites for maintaining a good academic environment. It is

observed that the teacher selection procedure at the NVs is systematic. Regular up-

gradating of their skills by providing training is also done. Most of the teachers are

satisfied with the nature of their job and the challenges it poses. However, they

complain about the long working hours and excessive workload and the variety of

tasks imposed on them because of the residential system. They are unable to

allocate much time for personal and family affairs. This may affect their treatment

and relationship with reference to their pupils.

Curriculum

Participants differ significantly in their opinions about the efficacy of the

curriculum provided in these schools. Some participants felt that the Navodayas

should have a separate curriculum that meets the needs of gifted students. Some

participants are of an opinion that the curriculum is of high standard, as it is

prepared by CBSE and it meets the needs of gifted students. They are complacent

in their belief that the curriculum is effective in its task of challenging gifted

children. To date, no systematic effort has been made to study the efficacy of this

curriculum. Still, many participants do not see any necessity for such study.

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Urban-Rural Mix

Among the 80 students selected every year per school, 75% of the students

are from rural areas and remaining 25% are from urban areas. The difference in the

knowledge levels and skill sets of these students were reported as difficulties for

the teachers. Within this mix teachers have variable expectations from the students

expecting rural students to perform low. This might lead to poor performance of the

rural students. Care should be taken to train teachers to have high expectations

from all the students and not to judge a students’ capabilities based on the

background of the student. Individual differences of the students such as learning

pace and exposure level to a topic must be considered while framing the curriculum

and designing classroom instruction.

Residential Life

Residential life has both its merits and demerits. Undoubtedly residential

life makes a person self-dependent and confident. A few participants mentioned

this as the positive aspect of the schools. However, gifted children require

emotional and physical space to experiment with their ideas and thought processes.

The pressure of a rigorous day schedule coupled with the emotional pressure of

living away from one’s parents can create emotional disturbances in some students

and stifle their growth. Lack of suitable counseling facilities worsens this

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problem. Care should be taken to attend to the emotional needs of these tender age

children by providing them with good counseling facilities.

Summary

Participants believed that giftedness exists and it exists in various human

endeavors. They also believed that it is important to identify and nurture gifted

students. Some of the beliefs expressed by the participants reflected ancient Indian

beliefs about excellence which can also be compared to some of the present day

theories in the west. Some of the beliefs such as high IQ and high academic

achievement expressed by the participants reflected various socio-political

pressures, which drive the present day education system in India. These are the

qualities that secures a person with a job in the highly competitive world. Whatever

were the beliefs of the participants, they were not in concordance with the school

practices. Practices such as identification procedures and emphasis on high

academic performance clearly put aside the promotion of giftedness in various

human endeavors. A rich concept of excellence is available in the Indian culture,

which can be considered in framing a theory of giftedness that fits the present day

Indian society. A broadened concept of giftedness is possible to develop and this

could strengthen the program by guiding various school practices such as

identification procedures and selection of curriculum and instruction.

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CHAPTER VII

CONCLUSION

Medipandu chuda melimai undunu Pottavippi chuda purugulundunu

Medipandu (Indian wild fig fruit) is attractive with a shiny, golden yellow exterior,

but when it is cut open the inside is filled with worms and disease.

The Navodaya Vidyalaya scheme, like all noble schemes in the world, has

good motives and objectives. While it has many achievements to its credit, it is

crippled by lack of clarity about the basic definition of what giftedness is and how

to nurture it. Before proceeding to an in depth analysis, it is be pertinent to

recapitulate the basic objectives of Navodaya Vidyalayas.

The main objectives of Navodaya Vidyalayas are (a) to provide social

equity and quality education to rural, talented children; (b) to act as pace setting

schools, serving as focal points in each district for improvement in the quality of

school education in general, through sharing of experiences and facilities; and (c) to

ensure that all students of Navodaya Vidyalayas attain a reasonable level of

competency in three languages, promote national integration, and create socially

responsible and patriotic citizens. Though Navodaya Vidyalayas have these noble

objectives, the participants’ experiences reveal that what is emphasized is high

academic performance of the students.

Positive Features

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Nonetheless, there are positive features of the Navodaya system. For

example, Navodayas are providing much needed education facilities like qualified

teachers, infrastructure, and motivation to the rural students. They are also

providing free food and accommodation so that students who cannot afford such

quality education can benefit, and good responsible citizens can be created out of

deprived rural societies. This is a great service to the nation.

Many pace setting activities like organizing interschool competitions,

sharing school facilities with other schools in the neighborhood, taking up literacy

programs, conducting AIDS awareness and sanitation awareness programs, and

collecting funds for earthquake relief are being conducted. The children can benefit

from these activities by gaining general knowledge about the outside world and

what happens beyond the school. These programs also have the potential to develop

empathy and affection in the children towards the problems of ordinary people in

the society. This could create feelings of compassion, caring, and love for others in

the students.

Navodayas have a policy of migration to inculcate national integration. This

helps create awareness about divergent customs and cultures of the country and

develops a feeling of appreciation and attachment to other cultures. This could lead

to a feeling of national integration and patriotism.

Navodayas are residential schools, and students live with other students in

the dormitories for many years. This experience inculcates values like team spirit,

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unity, community spirit, dignity of labor, and tolerance for other cultures and

religions, thus making a person self-sufficient and self-confident.

Shortcomings

However, there are many shortcomings in the Navodaya system with

reference to basic ideology and implementation of the scheme. The first objective is

to provide quality education to the rural talented children. This is an admirable

goal. The major problem is the lack of clarity about what giftedness is. Whatever

may be the theoretical or stated beliefs about giftedness, in practice academic

excellence and IQ are the only criteria used to judge giftedness and to select

students. The entrance test is designed only with the objective of identifying these

capabilities.

Thus, students who are creative and gifted in other fields like music, sports,

painting, fine arts, and traditional arts are not identified and nurtured. Suitable

effort is not employed to identify and nurture these diverse talents. The curriculum

and facilities in the schools are also focused in the direction of achieving better

marks and results in the exams. Due to financial limitations, a fixed number of 80

students are selected, which leaves many other highly gifted children with only the

impoverished educational opportunities in rural areas. Ironically, not all the

students selected into Navodayas can be called gifted according to the narrow

concept of giftedness the participants have. It is believed that because of some gaps

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in the entrance exam and selection procedures, some students who are not so

talented also get selected. Clearly, no effort is being made in these schools to find

out giftedness in various traditional art forms and humanitarian aspects that were

valued in the traditional Indian culture. Also, there is an assumption that the test

identifies academically gifted and correctly eliminates those that aren’t.

Participants do believe that gifted students are present in the rural areas and

it is important to identify and nurture them to bring out the best in them. They also

believe that giftedness exists in varied fields of human endeavors. However, none

of them could provide a concrete definition of giftedness and the ways in which it

can be identified and nurtured to its fullest. This can lead to an unfocused and

unguided approach in identifying and nurturing giftedness as each participant tries

to interpret these practices according to his or her own beliefs of giftedness.

A Culturally Responsive Definition

An articulated belief system is necessary to understand, implement and

evaluate the various features of the Navodaya system. An articulated belief system

about giftedness, which focuses on Indian values, is possible. At present, the main

criticism is that there is no psychological theory or conceptual framework that is

responsive to the Indian sociocultural context. Given the rich cultural perspective

of excellence in India, it is very much possible to develop a theory or belief system

that answers and counters this criticism.

137

Based on the literature available on the native concept of excellence, my

understanding of this concept, and the beliefs expressed by the participants, I

propose the following for consideration as one possible definition of giftedness that

is suitable to the cultural context of India. The major components of the definition

are stated as declarative knowledge. Particular manifestations of the concept within

Indian culture are indicated in parentheses.

Giftedness is a unique, extraordinary aptitude (inherent ability, quickness in

learning and understanding, quality of being suitable, interest) in any valued field

of human endeavor (intellectual, creative, spiritual, emotional, humanistic, and

musical/artistic/aesthetic). The nurturing medium is the environment required for

these gifts to blossom into full-fledged talents. This medium can be divided into (a)

personal factors that include interest (passion; total immersion; confluence of heart,

mind and soul; inner drive; self-motivation) and commitment (devotion, hard work,

and dedication); and (b) environmental factors that include support (family,

siblings, peers, teachers, school, availability of ideal role models) and opportunity

or luck (such as being in the right place at the right time). Creating interest and

developing commitment can be done by providing proper support and

opportunities. The development of a gift may not need all the above mentioned

factors to be positive, but availability of one or more factors will definitely make a

difference in the development of the gift. Talent is a very special way of

expressing one’s aptitudes or abilities, which gives pleasure to oneself or others or

both. Talent is the highest form of self-expression (academic, sensual, aesthetic,

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altruistic [service and leadership orientations], self-satisfaction, and spiritual

realization [metaphysical thinking, self-awareness]).

This conception is very similar to that posited by Gagné (1993), but has

included important elements from Indian culture. As I proceeded in this research,

the literature review and the interviews with the participants took me back again

and again to Gagné’s theory because I strongly felt some similarities between these

two concepts. When I asked the participants about the justification of selecting only

80 students per year most of them said that there could be many more gifted

students but because of the financial issues they had to limit themselves to few.

This gives credence to the similarity with Gagne’s (2000) theory, which

emphasizes the role of the chance factor in identification and nurturing of

giftedness. Similarly, Gagné’s beliefs that giftedness can exist in varied fields of

human endeavors and that gifts need to be identified and nurtured by providing the

right environment also lead me to this conclusion that Gagné’s (2000) theory

closely resembles a concept of giftedness compatible with Indian culture.

This definition closely fits the belief system often given by study

participants. Some of the present activities and schemes introduced by NVS are

innovative and reflect the traditional Indian concepts of excellence. In Indian

society, society’s welfare comes before one’s own welfare. Thus involving students

in national integration activities like the National Service scheme, interschool

sports competitions, community service activities, disaster relief, and fund raising

activities for humanitarian needs is an excellent approach to promote a feeling of

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social responsibility and love for the society in the students. These activities very

much reflect and promote the notions of confluence of heart, mind, and soul and of

an altruistic talent from the conception I just proposed. Pace setting activities taken

up by the school lead towards sharing the facilities of the school with other schools

in the region and emphasize the importance of sharing and working for the

common good which is a deep rooted principle in Indian culture. Cocurricular

activities for the all-around development of the child, the three language formula,

and art in education help in the integrated development of a child and expose him

to enlightening activities. This is concordant with the ideas of gifts in any valued

area of human endeavor, especially the humanistic and musical/artistic/aesthetic.

The concepts of residential life style and social service activities are rooted in

traditional concepts as stated by Ranganathananda. “Human excellences such as

tyaga (sacrifice) and seva (service) for and to the society are also stressed in the

Indian tradition” (as cited in Raina and Srivastava, 2000, p. 103). Again, a

connection to altruistic talent is seen.

Program Components

NVS should retain and improve upon these valued parts of its curriculum

that are very much grounded in the traditional value system of India. However,

many practices in these schools, such as the identification procedures, do not show

any concordance with this existing belief system. An articulated belief system

should influence student selection, teacher selection, and curriculum and

instruction. This would require some changes in the present structure of the NVS

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program. Of course, because of possible political, economic, social, and cultural

barriers, some changes are more easily implemented than others.

At first, the concerned politicians must recognize a need for change in the

concept of giftedness and various practices related to it. This recognition would

initiate a search for the values that are vital to the Indian society, thus, leading to a

theoretical framework of the concept of giftedness treasured by the ancient Indian

society. A theoretical definition could help the authorities in framing an official

definition of giftedness guiding various practices in the field of gifted education

leading to an operational definition.

Addressing the financial barriers involves many resources. This includes

identifying the gifts of students in various fields and appointing experts to train

these students. One way of approaching this problem could be to establish centers

of excellence in specific fields at specific locations. This, of course, adds the

additional potential problem of transporting all students gifted in a particular field

to one school where experts in that field would be available to nurture their gifts.

Nonetheless, this structure could help in the economical management of human

resources (i.e., expertise).

Addressing the social barriers, the caste system plays a pivotal role even in

today’s society. For example, a cobbler earns a menial wage not enough for even

meeting basic family necessities. It is impossible to expect such people to educate

their children. Where the existing mandate for free primary education is being

ignored, the grampanchayat (village administration) should be more active in

141

encouraging families to see that every child should is in school. Adequate help and

support should be provided to every child to be assured of their progress in the

school. It is recognized that these suggestions would be implemented in a complex

sociopolitical context that would make implementation very difficult. This

complexity, however, does not excuse government agencies from making best

effort.

It is also suggested that the quota system be made need-specific rather than

caste-specific. This revised system would increase the chance of getting quality

education for the economically disadvantaged sections of the society as well as the

socially disadvantaged. Also, assessment of gifts in the children should be an on-

going process every year starting from grade I, rather than assessing only in one

particular grade and labeling the students as either gifted or not gifted. The

identification of specific growth needs would better serve the individual and the

community.

Student Selection Process

The JNVS test would require a total revision with respect to the criteria for

identifying giftedness. In place of the present parameters of mathematics and

language skills, a new identification system would need to be developed with

criteria based on the broadened conception of giftedness. Separate and unique

parameters and instruments should be used for different areas of giftedness. For

142

example, a child gifted in dance must be identified by testing her or his aptitude for

dance–movements, expressions, and creativity. A group of experts in each field

could review the applications of students in a particular field and outstanding

students could be interviewed to exhibit their talent. Multiple sources of data

should be considered to get the complete picture of the student being identified.

Giftedness in neglected areas like fine arts, traditional skills, sports and other such

disciplines should be given due recognition and importance because giftedness is

believed to exist in any valued human endeavor. This process may seem arduous

and laborious in the initial stages and might create chaos and confusion, but a

successful implementation of the system would be able to identify many gifted

students in varied fields of human endeavors. This would be a great service to the

society as giftedness in many valued human endeavors is going unnoticed,

undeveloped, and unused. Identifying students possessing a broad range of gifts

could have the potential to change the society greatly.

Teacher Selection

Dedicated teachers who are willing to understand and cater to the needs of

gifted children should be recruited to these schools. Expert teachers in varied fields

should be recruited and the teachers should be provided with the flexibility of work

hours so as to give them time for their personal lives. Other administrative burdens

should not be placed on the teachers to the extent possible. Teachers should be well

143

trained in the identification and nurturing of giftedness in varied fields. They

should also be trained to set examples for the students in various humanitarian

endeavors like service and sacrifice.

Curriculum and Instruction

The NVS should disengage itself from the common curriculum of CBSE

which binds it to other schools and forces it to take part in the rat race of

unnecessary and unhealthy competition for academic scores. There is a need for

NVS to develop its own, customized curriculum, which meets the needs of the

talented children and fulfills the present day requirements of the society. Since

NVS should have a unique, customized curriculum that focuses on individual

student strengths discovered through the selection process, Navodaya Vidyalayas

should not be competing with any outside schools or students. Each individual

should be encouraged to strive for excellence in his or her own field with the help

of the inner drive of the student and a supportive environment such as

encouragement and guidance of the teachers and parents. Living for the greater

cause of the benefit of the society must be part and parcel of the teaching. “Share

your talent for the benefit of the society” could be the motto of these schools and

would encourage students to strive for excellence in various humanitarian aspects

like sacrifice, service, tolerance and respect for others.

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Final Thought

With a well articulated concept of giftedness and finding a foundation for

various practices in these schools within the cultural context of India, the NVS can

be strengthened to a great extent. The NVS is attractive from outside with its

features such as free and quality education to develop rural talent, promotion of

national integration, and pace-setting activities. This can be compared to the

exterior of the fig fruit. In India, though the inside of the fig fruit is filled with

worms, people don’t throw away the fruit but clean out the worms and eat the fruit.

Similarly, NVS can be strengthened by a broadened concept of giftedness that

reflects Indian culture and by planning various practices of the schools based on

this broader concept. This could make the interior of this fruit look as wonderful as

the fruit looks from outside.

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REFERENCES

Bogden, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1998). Qualitative research for education: An

introduction to theory and methods (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bloom, B. S. (1985). Developing talent in young people. Random House, NY:

Ballantine Books.

British Education in India. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2003, from

http://members.tripod/~INDIA_RESOURCE/britishedu.htm

Clark, B. (1997). Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at home

and at school (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Davis, G. A., & Rimm, S. B. (1998). Education of the gifted and talented (4th ed.).

Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Freire, P. & Faundez, A. [T. Coates, Trans.]. (1989). Learning to question: A

pedagogy of liberation. New York: Continuum.

Gagné, F. (1985). Giftedness and talent: Reexaminig a reexamination of the

definitions. Gifted Child Quarterly, 29, 103-112.

Gagné, F. (1991). Toward a differentiated model of giftedness and talent. In N.

Colangelo and G.A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education. (1st ed., pp.

65-80). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Gagné, F. (1993). Constructs and models pertaining to exceptional human abilities.

In K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks, and A. H. Passow (Eds.), International

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handbook of research and development of giftedness and talent. (1st ed., pp.

69-87). NY: Pergamon Press.

Gagné, F. (2000). Understanding the complex choreography of talent development

through DMGT-based analysis. In K. A. Heller, F. J. Monks, R. J.

Sternberg, and R. F. Subotnik (Eds.), International handbook of giftedness

and talent. (2nd ed., pp. 67-79). NY: Pergamon Press.

Hunsaker, S. L., Abeel, L. B., & Callahan, C. M. (1991, June). Instrument Use in

the Identification of Gifted and Talented Children. Paper presented at the

meeting of the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Education Program

Grant Recipients, Washington, DC.

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. (n.d.). Rural residential schools: A profile.

Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, New Delhi.

Marland, S. P. (1972). Education of the gifted and talented: Vol. 1. Report to the

Congress of the United States by the U. S. Commissioner of Education.

Washington, DC: Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Menon. N. (1978). Diplomacy and diplomats. The Illustrated Weekly of India. 37,

44-50.

Nanda, N. (1995). The school system in India: A critique. Retrieved September 21,

2001, from http://ignca.nic.in/cd_06021.htm

Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. (n.d.). Citizen Charter. Ministry of Human Resource

Development, New Delhi.

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Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved September 21, 2001, from

http://www.navodayaschools.com/home/default.html

Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (1999). A critique of Renzulli’s theory into practice models

for gifted learners. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 23, 55-66.

Patton, Q. M. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.).

NewburyPark, CA:Sage.

Press Information Bureau. (1999). Navodaya Vidyalayas show best results among

all categories of schools. Retrieved September 20, 2001 from

http://pib.nic.in/ lreleng /10699/rl70699

Raina, M.K. (1985, July/August). Education of the gifted. G-C-T, 39, pp. 44-46.

Raina, M.K., & Srivastava, A.K. (2000). India’s search for excellence: A clash of

ancient, colonial, and contemporary influences. Roeper Review, 22 , 102-

108.

Reis, S. M., & Renzulli, J. S. (1985). The secondary triad model: A practical plan

for implementing gifted programs at the junior and senior high school

levels. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Renzulli, J. S. (1978). What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi Delta

Kappan, 60, 180-184, 261.

Renzulli, J.S. (1999). What is this called giftedness, and how do we develop it? A

twenty-five year perspective. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 23, 3-

54.

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Renzulli, J.S. (2003). Conception of giftedness and its relationship to the

development of social capital. In N. Colangelo and G.A.Davis (Eds.),

Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed., pp.75-87). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Renzulli, J.S., & Reis, S.M. (1986). The enrichment triad/revolving door model: A

schoolwide plan for the development of creative productivity. In J. S.

Renzulli (Eds.), Systems and models for developing programs for the gifted

and talented. (pp. 216-266). Mansfield center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Renzulli, J.S., & Reis, S.M. (1997). The schoolwide enrichment model: A how-to

guide for educational excellence (2nd ed.). Mansfield Center, CT: Creative

Learning Press.

Richert, E. S. (1985). The state of the art of identification of gifted students in the

united states. Gifted Education International, 3(1), 47-51.

Tannenbaum, A.J. (1991). The social psychology of giftedness. In N. Colangelo

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APPENDICES

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Appendix A

Consent Form

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Page 1 of 2 Date Created: May 24, 2002

INFORMED CONSENT

Concept of Giftedness Underlying the Navodaya Vidyalayas, and its Organizational Strategies.

Dear Participants, I am from India and working on a doctoral degree at Utah State University.

My focus is on the gifted and talented education. I am interested in exploring the concept of giftedness and also various practices related to gifted education in India. Therefore, I have chosen Navodaya Vidyalayas, established for rural, gifted and talented children, to study the concept of giftedness underlying them and their organizational strategies. My plan is to conduct interviews with the central authorities in the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, and with few administrators and teachers at two different schools. I will tape record all the interviews to help me better transcribe the information. The interviews will last anywhere from thirty to forty-five minutes. I also plan to view the records such as documentation of teacher and student selection procedures, selection of curriculum and instruction, the goals and objectives of the schools, with the written permission of the concerned authorities.

Your participation in this research is very important for my study. If you do not understand any part of this consent form, or if you need translation into any other language I will be more than happy to help you. However, participation in this research is entirely voluntary. You may refuse to participate or withdraw from participation at anytime without consequence.

Regarding research records, I am pleased to inform you that all the records will be kept confidential consistent with federal and state regulations. Only the investigator and members of my doctoral committee will have access to the data. I will use pseudonyms of the individuals in recording and reporting the interviews instead of using their original names. The data will not be kept for more than 3 months and then will be destroyed. Any tape recordings will also be destroyed by deleting everything or cutting them into pieces. In addition, if you believe that you have been harmed as a result of your participation in this research program, please contact the Vice-President of research office at 435-797-1821.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the protection of human subjects at Utah State University has reviewed and approved this research project.

The information gained in this research will help the gifted educators in India to better understand the concordance of the concept of giftedness underlying the Navodaya Vidyalaya and its organizational strategies. It also helps all the

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Page 2 of 2 Date Created: May 24, 2002

INFORMED CONSENT

Concept of Giftedness Underlying the Navodaya Vidyalayas, and its Organizational Strategies.

people who are interested in understanding the concept of giftedness and the various practices in gifted education in India.

All the participants in the study will be given a card with a thank you note as a token of appreciation of their time and energy. I will share the findings of my study with the central authorities. If you agree to participate in this research, please sign the form below.

Please feel free to call my committee chair, Dr. Scott Hunsaker or me if you have any concerns or questions.

Vani Gaddam Dr. Scott Hunsaker 620 E, 700 N, #3 UMC 2805 Logan, UT 84321 Dept. of Elem. Education Ph: 435-787-2696 Logan, UT 84322-2805 E-mail: vanig@cc.usu.edu Ph: 435-797-0386 E-mail: scotth@coe.usu.edu ---------------------------------- --------------------- By signing below, I agree to participate in this research project. -------------------------------------------- -------------------- Signature of the participant Date

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Appendix B

Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Teachers

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Interview Guide for Teachers

What is the concept of giftedness underlying the Navodaya Vidyalayas?

How do you feel about the students? Are they all intelligent and gifted? Why do

you think that way?

What is your background? Do you have any experience in teaching the gifted

students?

How were you selected for the school?

What are you beliefs about giftedness?

What do you feel about the curriculum and training being offered at the Navodaya

Vidyalayas? Is it appropriate and challenging? Why or why not?

Are you satisfied with the entrance tests for the students? Why or why not?

How much say do you have in the student selection and curriculum and instruction

selection processes?

What, according to your opinion, are some good things about the Navodaya

Vidyalayas?

What are some drawbacks of the Navodaya Vidyalayas? Why?

How do you feel about the job as a teacher at the Navodaya Vidyalaya when

compared to the job as a teacher at any other school? Is it challenging/exciting?

Why or why not?

What are the major changes you would like to see in the running of the Navodaya

Vidyalayas? Why?

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What do you feel about the standardized curriculum? What kind of pressure does it

have on you to be in compliance with the standardized national curriculum and

instruction?

Do you have any self-development/in-service training programs? If yes, how often?

What do you feel about such programs?

Note. As the study progressed the semi-structured interview questions were

adjusted.

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Appendix C

Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Principals

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Interview Guide for Principals

What is the concept of giftedness underlying the Navodaya Vidyalayas?

How do you feel about the students? Are they all gifted and intelligent? Why do

you think that way?

What is your background? Do you have any experience in gifted education? How

were you appointed to the school?

What are your beliefs about giftedness?

Do you see the curriculum and instruction at the Vidyalayas appropriate for the

gifted students? Why?

What, according to your opinion, are some good things about the Navodaya

Vidyalayas?

What are the drawbacks of Navodaya Vidyalayas that need to change?

How do you feel about the teacher selection? Are they all trained well to teach

gifted students? Why or why not?

How much say do you have in the teacher selection process and curriculum and

instruction selection?

How do you feel about your position? (Authoritative sense)

How often do the officials conduct inspection? Are these inspections useful in

terms of making effective changes in the program based on the results from

evaluation? Why or why not?

156

How do you manage the compliance of the program with the standardized

curriculum and instruction? Do you think that all the Navodaya Vidyalayas are the

same? Why?

What are the major changes you would like to see in the running of the Navodaya

Vidyalayas?

Do you have any leadership/in-service training programs? What do you feel about

such programs?

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Appendix D

Semi-Structured Interview Protocol for Central Authorities

158

Interview Guide for the Central Authorities

What were the motivational factors behind establishing the Navodaya Vidyalayas?

What is the concept of giftedness underlying the Navodaya Vidyalayas?

What were the objectives of the Navodaya Vidyalaya when established?

Is there any follow up study conducted on the achievement of these objectives?

Where may I obtain that?

Is there any documentation on the achievement of the goals? What is that?

What are your personal beliefs about giftedness?

What are your teacher selection criteria?

What are your student selection criteria?

What is the curriculum and instruction you chose for these schools and what are the

criteria?

How often do you inspect the schools? How is such an inspection conducted?

Do you think all the Navodaya Vidyalayas are the same? Why/Why not?

How do you justify choosing only 80 students per year from a district?

In what ways do you see the curriculum and instruction meeting needs of the gifted

and talented students?

What is the official definition of giftedness and how is the concordance between

this definition and the other organizational strategies?

How do you monitor the implementation of curriculum and instruction?

159

What standards do you set for these schools and how do you monitor the

compliance?

How is each of these schools similar/dissimilar? How do these differences occur?

Who else do I need to talk to who knows about Navodaya Vidyalayas?

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Appendix E

Organizational Chart of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti

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Appendix F

Auditor’s Attestation

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164

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166

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Appendix G

Copyright Permission Letters

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169

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172

173

174

175

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CURRICULUM VITAE

Vani Gaddam 1580 Pelham Pkwy S

Apt # 5-0 Bronx, NY 10461 (435)-757-3839 (718)-812-9821

jeevanireddy@yahoo.com

Areas of Interest Gifted and talented education, Service activities. Education

PhD – Aug 2003 -Curriculum and Instruction Area of Emphasis: Gifted and Talented Education College of Education Utah State University, Logan, UT.

Master of Education – July 2000 Institute of Advanced Study in Education Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.

Master of Science – Sept. 1999 University College for Women Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. Bachelor of Education – Sept. 1997 AMS College of Education Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. Bachelor of Science – May 1996 Women’s College, Nizamabad, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. PhD Project Beliefs and Practices related to Giftedness in Navodaya Vidyalayas.

(Schools for rural, gifted, and talented children in India)

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Course Projects Emotional needs of gifted children, Cross cultural study of the

understanding of the concept of marriage, Case study of a gifted child, Evaluation

of the gifted and talented program of Milville elementary school.

Experience:

1. Worked as a career counselor and course coordinator with PROMAC

(Professional Management Academy), a premier institute offering guidance for

personality development and career planning.

2. Worked as a teacher handling classes for primary school students with Vignan

Public School, Nizamabad.

3. Worked as a Television Program host with E-TV, a channel with a viewer-ship

of eight million people.

Achievements: 1. Held the position of President of the student body, AMS College of Education

in the year 1996-97.

2. Received Best Student award for the year 1995-96 at Women’s College,

Nizamabad.

3. Working as a Television presenter for E-TV, a popular television channel

having about 8 million viewers.

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4. Awarded the Best Volunteer award – National Service Scheme twice, for the

years 1995-96 and 1998-99.

5. Received Best Actress award of the year 1999 at O.U. College for women,

Hyderabad.

6. Received many commendations and awards for acting, singing and dancing at

many cultural festivals.

7. Won many prizes for essay writing, debate and creative writing competitions at

school, college and in inter college level.

8. Advisor of ISA (Indian Student Association) for the year 2001-2002 at Utah

State University.

9. Student life Vice President of ISC (International Student Council) for the year

2001- 2002 at Utah State University.

10. Advisor of ISA (Indian Student Association) for the year 2002-2003 at Utah

State University.

Extracurricular Activities: 1. Served as an active National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteer for seven years.

2. Active campaigner for creating AIDS awareness and participant in many rallies

and seminars conducted by the university on AIDS.

3. Attended the ten-day National Integration Camps seven times as part of NSS.

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4. Conducted a door-to-door survey and motivation campaign for creating

awareness about PULSE POLIO program and various governmental

development schemes.

5. Led many women oriented workshops and programs motivating women to

participate in various government schemes.

Presentations:

Gaddam, V. (2001, November). Teaching Creativity Through Dance. National Association of Gifted Children, Creativity Night, Cincinnati, Ohio. Gaddam, V. (2002, January). Teaching Creativity Through Dance. Utah Association for Gifted Children Midwinter Conference, Provo, Utah. Gaddam, V. (2002, January). Womanhood and Giftedness: Reflections of Talented Women from Diverse Cultures. Utah Association for Gifted Children Midwinter Conference, Provo, Utah. Gaddam, V. (2002, November). Womanhood and Giftedness: Reflections of Talented Women from Diverse Cultures. National Association of Gifted Children, Denver, Colorado.

Manuscripts Submitted: Gaddam, V. (2003). Womanhood and Giftedness: Reflections of Talented Women from Diverse Cultures. Manuscript submitted for publication.

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