<p>L T Om Prakash analyses what the society’s dismissive attitude towards the social sciences is doing to hamper its growth and progress.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Social sciences are facing many challenges in the present educational system. It is believed that pure and applied sciences are beneficial for the society, whereas social sciences are artistic and ineffective. The roles of social sciences in the creation of good citizens and nation building, which were once considered the prime objectives of social science education, seldom get attention today. <br /><br />In today’s society, academic disciplines undergo scrutiny based on their utility of the socio-economic development of the society. In this context, social sciences are under pressure to justify their utility. The role of social sciences in the understanding of socio-economic processes and thereby public policy is underestimated. Methodological pluralism and lack of accuracy in social sciences have also added fuel to the crisis. <br /><br />Today, education is largely perceived as a pre-requisite for good employment and a prosperous life. Most meritorious students prefer engineering courses as they believe such courses will ensure lucrative jobs. Social sciences are considered ‘soft’ disciplines and believed that it is easy to earn a degree in them. <br /><br />Data show that mostly students from middle and lower economic backgrounds prefer to pursue social sciences as they could not afford other courses. Even among them, girls outnumber boys. Only a limited number of meritorious students pursue social sciences because of their proclivity towards the subject. <br /><br />Contributing factors<br /><br />There are many factors contributing to the present status of social sciences. Some misgivings about the utility of social sciences are just assumptions. When tangible spectacular technology, which attracts the attention of laymen, is seen as the output of research in pure sciences, research outputs in social sciences do not usually get the attention of laymen as they are not tangible.<br /><br />Producing skilled readymade workforce is viewed as a mandate of education today. It is viewed that when many other disciplines cater to this need of the industry, social sciences do not. An attitudinal change must be brought about among the stakeholders of education to look at social sciences more as an intellectual stream creating and sustaining intellectual traditions rather than a tool to support industrial forces. <br /><br />Lacking interdisciplinary research is cited as an obstacle to the growth of social sciences. This led some funding agencies and institutions to promote interdisciplinary research. But this promotion has led to the artificial stress for interdisciplinary pursuit of knowledge. It has proved counterproductive as interdisciplinary research is fruitful only if the research problem warrants it. It has to happen with the researcher’s expansion of thought and knowledge after establishing sufficient footing in his own discipline.<br /><br />Teacher’s role<br /><br />Academic adventure needs perseverance and focus. Pursuit of knowledge is time consuming and laborious. Today, many students and teachers in social sciences lack them. Lacking verifiability of opinions in social sciences encourages shoddy publications with perfunctory knowledge of the subject. <br /><br />But, with the interest to contribute ‘something new’ or for career promotions and other benefits, everyone wants to publish. Such contributions are setting a wrong precedent for the new generation of learners. <br /><br />Some of the concepts in social sciences are originally borrowed from the foreign authors. Those concepts are alien to the Indian context in terms of their applicability. They need to be made indigenous. It is alarming to note that quality of research in social sciences lacks the ability to develop new indigenous concepts. Moreover, a student from a non-English background usually ends up just translating those concepts into his language rather than understanding and acquiring the ability to apply them in a specific context.<br /><br />Unlike a teacher of pure science, in the class rooms, a social science teacher has to discuss things that the students are also familiar with to a certain extent by virtue of their general knowledge and experience. Class rooms will provide boring experiences to the students unless the teacher provides them with different perspectives to enrich their understanding and experience. This can be done only by a teacher who has expertise in the subject. Students have their own high imaginations of disciplines. If the teacher fails to cope with those imaginations of a student by exploring the vast knowledge base in the subject, students end up believing social sciences as soft disciplines having only commonsensical explanations and data. <br />Curricular aspects<br /><br />There is no common curriculum for social science disciplines in the country. Different universities follow different curricula based on their Board of Studies (BoS) decisions. Some of them attempt to follow the UGC-NET syllabus, which is not mandatory. As a result, differences are noted between institutions in terms of what is taught under a course. <br /><br />Pedagogy and quality of delivery were also differing from one institution to another. There is no common mechanism to monitor the quality of delivery in the classes. One can find varying standards of understanding, in terms of content and quality, among the students from different institutions/universities. Unlike pure sciences, coexisting paradigms and perspectives in social sciences have made it difficult for a consensus to emerge on what should be taught under a course. <br /><br />Many universities are offering triple major courses in social sciences at the Bachelor’s level, believing that they enhance the employability of students. But, in fact, it made the students acquire a shallow understanding of the subjects offered. <br /><br />Mostly, curriculum development was done by the individual departments aiming to be the best in the industry covering everything in the subject. But in the process, they do not consider the learning capacities of studies. Sometimes, the workload prevents the students from reflecting upon what they learnt in the classes.<br /><br />Revival of social sciences is necessary to address the emerging socio-cultural vacuum created by the industrial forces. This must begin by catching the attention of students in the class room. It is important to make them appreciate the contributions of scholars.<br /> Students must be trained to apply different perspectives for the understanding and analysis of social issues. Social sciences must provide a knowledge base to cope with the challenges created by the forces of modernity.<br /><br />(The author is assistant professor, Christ University)</p>
<p>L T Om Prakash analyses what the society’s dismissive attitude towards the social sciences is doing to hamper its growth and progress.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Social sciences are facing many challenges in the present educational system. It is believed that pure and applied sciences are beneficial for the society, whereas social sciences are artistic and ineffective. The roles of social sciences in the creation of good citizens and nation building, which were once considered the prime objectives of social science education, seldom get attention today. <br /><br />In today’s society, academic disciplines undergo scrutiny based on their utility of the socio-economic development of the society. In this context, social sciences are under pressure to justify their utility. The role of social sciences in the understanding of socio-economic processes and thereby public policy is underestimated. Methodological pluralism and lack of accuracy in social sciences have also added fuel to the crisis. <br /><br />Today, education is largely perceived as a pre-requisite for good employment and a prosperous life. Most meritorious students prefer engineering courses as they believe such courses will ensure lucrative jobs. Social sciences are considered ‘soft’ disciplines and believed that it is easy to earn a degree in them. <br /><br />Data show that mostly students from middle and lower economic backgrounds prefer to pursue social sciences as they could not afford other courses. Even among them, girls outnumber boys. Only a limited number of meritorious students pursue social sciences because of their proclivity towards the subject. <br /><br />Contributing factors<br /><br />There are many factors contributing to the present status of social sciences. Some misgivings about the utility of social sciences are just assumptions. When tangible spectacular technology, which attracts the attention of laymen, is seen as the output of research in pure sciences, research outputs in social sciences do not usually get the attention of laymen as they are not tangible.<br /><br />Producing skilled readymade workforce is viewed as a mandate of education today. It is viewed that when many other disciplines cater to this need of the industry, social sciences do not. An attitudinal change must be brought about among the stakeholders of education to look at social sciences more as an intellectual stream creating and sustaining intellectual traditions rather than a tool to support industrial forces. <br /><br />Lacking interdisciplinary research is cited as an obstacle to the growth of social sciences. This led some funding agencies and institutions to promote interdisciplinary research. But this promotion has led to the artificial stress for interdisciplinary pursuit of knowledge. It has proved counterproductive as interdisciplinary research is fruitful only if the research problem warrants it. It has to happen with the researcher’s expansion of thought and knowledge after establishing sufficient footing in his own discipline.<br /><br />Teacher’s role<br /><br />Academic adventure needs perseverance and focus. Pursuit of knowledge is time consuming and laborious. Today, many students and teachers in social sciences lack them. Lacking verifiability of opinions in social sciences encourages shoddy publications with perfunctory knowledge of the subject. <br /><br />But, with the interest to contribute ‘something new’ or for career promotions and other benefits, everyone wants to publish. Such contributions are setting a wrong precedent for the new generation of learners. <br /><br />Some of the concepts in social sciences are originally borrowed from the foreign authors. Those concepts are alien to the Indian context in terms of their applicability. They need to be made indigenous. It is alarming to note that quality of research in social sciences lacks the ability to develop new indigenous concepts. Moreover, a student from a non-English background usually ends up just translating those concepts into his language rather than understanding and acquiring the ability to apply them in a specific context.<br /><br />Unlike a teacher of pure science, in the class rooms, a social science teacher has to discuss things that the students are also familiar with to a certain extent by virtue of their general knowledge and experience. Class rooms will provide boring experiences to the students unless the teacher provides them with different perspectives to enrich their understanding and experience. This can be done only by a teacher who has expertise in the subject. Students have their own high imaginations of disciplines. If the teacher fails to cope with those imaginations of a student by exploring the vast knowledge base in the subject, students end up believing social sciences as soft disciplines having only commonsensical explanations and data. <br />Curricular aspects<br /><br />There is no common curriculum for social science disciplines in the country. Different universities follow different curricula based on their Board of Studies (BoS) decisions. Some of them attempt to follow the UGC-NET syllabus, which is not mandatory. As a result, differences are noted between institutions in terms of what is taught under a course. <br /><br />Pedagogy and quality of delivery were also differing from one institution to another. There is no common mechanism to monitor the quality of delivery in the classes. One can find varying standards of understanding, in terms of content and quality, among the students from different institutions/universities. Unlike pure sciences, coexisting paradigms and perspectives in social sciences have made it difficult for a consensus to emerge on what should be taught under a course. <br /><br />Many universities are offering triple major courses in social sciences at the Bachelor’s level, believing that they enhance the employability of students. But, in fact, it made the students acquire a shallow understanding of the subjects offered. <br /><br />Mostly, curriculum development was done by the individual departments aiming to be the best in the industry covering everything in the subject. But in the process, they do not consider the learning capacities of studies. Sometimes, the workload prevents the students from reflecting upon what they learnt in the classes.<br /><br />Revival of social sciences is necessary to address the emerging socio-cultural vacuum created by the industrial forces. This must begin by catching the attention of students in the class room. It is important to make them appreciate the contributions of scholars.<br /> Students must be trained to apply different perspectives for the understanding and analysis of social issues. Social sciences must provide a knowledge base to cope with the challenges created by the forces of modernity.<br /><br />(The author is assistant professor, Christ University)</p>
