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New Delhi, August 1, 2025
The Dr. K. R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia hosted a thought-provoking lecture by Dr. Rupamanjari Hegde, Academic, School of Education, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. The lecture, titled “Schooling, Textbooks and Constructions of Citizenships,” was part of the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture Series.
Hosted by Centre Director Professor Halima Sadia Rizvi, the seminar commenced with opening addresses by Programme Coordinator Professor Padmanabh Samarendra, highlighting Dr. Hegde’s research in the field of curriculum theory and education policy.
Drawing on her rich scholarship, Dr. Hegde aimed to deconstruct the ideological and historical role of school textbooks in the construction of Indian citizenship. She traced this evolution from colonial textbooks, for instance, The Citizen of India by William Lee-Warner—designed to elicit loyalty and obedience in colonial rule—to post-independence textbook reforms under the aegis of institutions like the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Dr. Hegde demonstrated how early NCERT attempts aimed to instill civic values and cohesion, slowly progressing toward inclusivity and diversity of content, specifically with the National Curriculum Framework (2005). She cautioned that content is not enough, though. The teacher’s interpretation and presentation of content are important factors that determine how students come to know civic concepts. The same textbook, therefore, is interpreted through wildly divergent lenses depending on the teacher’s own life, experience, and social location.
Asserting textbooks as political and cultural texts in their very essence, Dr. Hegde underscored their ability to shape the moral, civic, and national imagination of young people. She called on teachers and policymakers to consider the “silent curriculum” embedded in classroom materials—what is included, what is left out, and how knowledge gets presented.
Professor Rizvi, in her concluding remarks, welcomed the lecture for bringing out the richer, often overlooked, ideological aspects of the curricula. She emphasized the importance of continued reflection on how education systems impact marginalized identities and the broader notion of citizenship.
The session was concluded with an interactive Q&A and discussion, reaffirming the Centre’s ongoing commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship critically engaging with the social construction of knowledge.
Courtesy Facebook Page of Jamia Millia Islamia