Papers by rekha sharma Sen
Assessment is an integral part of the education process. For most of us the word ‘assessment’ con... more Assessment is an integral part of the education process. For most of us the word ‘assessment’ conjures images of an examination hall, marks and report card, and the look of dissatisfaction on the face of the elders as our marks often never matched the expectation they had of us. Fear and insecurity would perhaps be the emotions most commonly associated with the word ‘assessment’. This picture of assessment is a consequence of a product oriented approach to education which sees education as the means to slot a large number of individuals into a few neat categories – bright, average, dull or intelligent, average, failure. These labels, awarded early, become self-fulfilling and stick with the individual for the rest of her life, influencing her approach to tasks even when she is out of the education system, so to say. Education, instead of being a process of empowerment, divests the individual of self confidence and self esteem. And this process begins right from the early years educat...
Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 2009
Fathering in India, 2018
The present research study which investigated participation of fathers in child rearing in rural ... more The present research study which investigated participation of fathers in child rearing in rural low-income families in Odisha provides a glimpse of this relatively unexplored context within the larger body of Indian fatherhood research. The objective was to find out whether providing training to mothers in ‘early childhood development’ would have a spin-off in terms of enhanced fathers’ participation in child rearing. Fathers’ involvement as reported by the mothers was significantly more in the experimental group as compared to the control group in routine physical care activities of the child and in providing cognitive stimulation to the child by acts such as talking with the child and responding to the child’s questions, narrating stories, taking the child along on outdoor visits and specifically teaching names of objects and relationship terms. No differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of playing with the child or providing love and nurturance through hugging and cuddling. In terms of actual numbers, however, the percentage of fathers in rural areas who are involved in providing cognitive and affective stimulation was low. Nonetheless, given that positive findings have been obtained even though enhancing fathers’ involvement was not a stated objective in mothers’ training, this study points towards the great potential of involving fathers in child rearing through concerted and planned efforts.
• explain the meaning of the term 'cognition' and understand that learning, memory, reaso... more • explain the meaning of the term 'cognition' and understand that learning, memory, reasoning, symbolizing and concept formation are aspects of cognition • understand that the child's mind is active from birth onwards • explain the meaning of the term 'sensori-motor period' • describe the stages in the development of thought in the first year • state how heredity and environment influence cognit-ive development • understand the importance of the caregiver's role in the infant's mental development.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2011
This constructivist qualitative enquiry reveals a multiplicity of implicit theories of creativity... more This constructivist qualitative enquiry reveals a multiplicity of implicit theories of creativity extant in Indian culture with generic and domain specific usage of indigenous terms. Creativity was dominantly construed as a faculty of the nature of 'pratibha', in keeping with Indian philosophical thought, and with reference to the self, with participants invoking the holistic self, cognitive self, experiential/ emotional self and physical self to describe creativity. The sense of creativity in these seemingly disparate, self-based construals, the uncovering of which is the unique contribution of this study, derived from the person's experience of a sense of agency, rather than merely the production of novelty per se. This emphasis on process; novelty being central for some but epiphenomenal for others; the varied meanings of 'newness'; experiencing creativity as self-expression, self-extension, self-fulfillment and self-actualization; and equating creativity with the act of learning reflect distinctive elements of implicit theories that have emerged in this study.
Uploads
Papers by rekha sharma Sen