My study journal

My International Study Journal

In my study journey I plan to compare two very diverse learning cultures; that of India and England. It would not be a hyperbolic statement if I say that they are as different as east and west!

People from these two nations come from entirely different backgrounds and have very different cultures and traditions. Hence it would be quite intriguing as well as challenging to study these learning cultures.

Although I am not an Indian, I have worked in Indian education system for more than ten years and have first-hand knowledge of it.

While I do have a lot of knowledge about the British educational culture (largely because my children have studied a British curriculum) I would like to gain more knowledge and would like to do an in depth study of it by observing the natives.

To achieve this, I would travel to UK and visit schools and Universities there to observe the teaching and learning process. To make my studies more reliable and valid, I would take a large sample size and consider people of all age groups, i.e. from primary school to higher school to colleges to universities for I believe a learning culture is established from a blend of both the young and the adults.

I would then compare the two learning cultures of India and England and chart out their similarities and differences based on table 4:

	Observations	Similarities	Differences
Student and teacher activities	Ways of teaching (teaching methods & practices)

	Observations	Similarities	Differences
Student and teacher activities	Ways of teaching (teaching methods & practices)
	Teacher’s role
	Student’s role
	Relations between teachers and students
	Relations between peers
	Communication and collaboration in the school community
	General atmosphere / climate
Learning context	Subjects taught
	Timetables
	Class size
	Exams / evaluations / assessment
	Order/discipline
	Attitudes and values of student and teachers
Learning resources	Learning materials The use of ICT
Student consultation	How is it organized? Support given for students with learning difficulties Attention given to talented students

 I intend to explore issues such as the most obvious difference between the two learning systems- while the UK education system is largely ICT based and follows the student centered technique; Indian education still revolves around the teacher. The teacher gives lectures on topics given in the syllabus which is to be covered and then students memorize these lessons and sit for exams

I intend to interview a few teachers and students who are the part of the Indian system (excluding myself to make my work unbiased) and ask them about the strengths and weaknesses of teaching in this fashion.

Also, I would do the same to the UK students. Everything has its benefits as well as weaknesses as nothing on Earth is perfect. No method is flawless.

The table 4 seems to be tailored just for me! It fits in perfectly with what I have in mind from student teacher activities to learning context to learning resources etc.

I will also observe the general class atmosphere and the behavior of students with their peers. From what I have seen in movies and read about in various articles and books, the relationship between peers students in the UK is string in some regards but bullying and hostility is common there mainly because of segregation of students into groups of the ’cool’ and the nerds. This is not as prevalent in Indian culture. I intend to explore more in this regard as well.

I would also observe what each of the systems in question does about the special needs students.
While Indian system relies heavily on memorization, the UK system is more evaluative and analytical.
 
Learning cultures are a direct result of the country’s own culture and in India there isa large consumption of food such as almonds, coconuts, fish etc, as part of their traditional cuisine. Indian moms also send their kids to learn Mental Math’s from a small age. Therefore, due to their life style and culture, Indians have honed their skill of memorization.

Also, a general view of the people of the sub-continent is that the better you are at memorization the “clever” you are. I believe this is why memorization has become a huge part of their learning culture.

All in all, I believe this will be interesting task to work on.