UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL DIVERSITY

 Unit- II: UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL DIVERSITY
Social diversity: Meaning and definition - Education for understanding the social diversity in India – Levels of social diversity: Individual, regional, linguistic, religious, castes and tribes - Role of education in creating positive attitude towards diversity - inter disciplinary nature of education philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, politics, history;
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DIVERSITY
Ordinarily diversity means differences. For our purposes, however, it means something more than mere differences. It means collective differences, that is, differences which mark off one group of people from another. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe, positive, and nurturing environment.

SOCIAL DIVERSITY 

A successful community in which individuals of different race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, language, geographical origin, gender and/or sexual orientation bring their different knowledge, background, experience and interest for the benefit of their diverse community. MEANING Social diversity is a feature of a society which is determined by caste, class, religion, occupational pattern in a given territory. DEFINITION The Social diversity is a concept that defines and encompasses the great variety of different and similar characteristics that are shared between all human beings, both personally and at a group level.

SOCIAL DIVERSITY IN INDIA
India is known for its vast human diversity, consisting of more than four and a half thousand anthropologically well-defined populations. Each population differs in terms of language, culture, physical features and, most importantly, genetic architecture. The size of populations varies from a few hundred to millions. Based on the social structure, Indians are classified into various caste, tribe and religious groups. These social classifications are very rigid and have remained undisturbed by emerging urbanization and cultural changes. The variable social customs, strict endogamy marriage practices, long-term isolation and evolutionary forces have added immensely to the diversification of the Indian populations. EDUCATION FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL DIVERSITY IN INDIA Education is generally seen as the foundation of society which brings economic wealth, social prosperity and political stability. It is a major aspect of development of any modern society and most significant indicator of overall development of any region. The role of education system in the preservation of society and culture, particularly, it is very important in complex societies where families and other primary groups are not fully equipped to prepare the young for adulthood that is expected by larger society. Education is concerned with all people and considered as basic social need of all societies. Through education one can acquire knowledge and participate in the process of empowerment. Indian traditional education system was neither open to all nor it had any uniformity. It was elitist in character and supported with religious purpose rather based on rationality which has created socioeconomic inequality. Any society education plays a central role in conserving, modifying and transforming identities. Keeping in mind the heterogeneous character of Indian society, the national policy on education envisages harmonious development of all groups i.e. promoting development and maintaining group identities in an integrated manner. The balancing act of education is well reflected in the constitutional provision. The aims and ideals of the education are influenced by the values and patterns of the society.
Curriculum: The curriculum is prepared according to the culture of society. The system of education tries to realize the cultural needs of society through curriculum which conditions all educational activities and programmes. Methods of teaching: Culture and methods of teaching are intimately connected. The changing cultural patterns of a society exert its influence upon the methods of teaching. Previously teaching was teacher centered where teacher used to give knowledge to the child. Now it has become student centered. The teacher considers the needs, interests, aptitude, attitude, inclinations, behavior etc before teaching. In this way education is a method of preparing child for the future for effective living. In short we can say that cultural and social conditions generate the methods and techniques of teaching in a powerful manner. Discipline: Cultural values influence the concept of discipline. The present cultural patterns of thinking and living are directly linked to our concept of discipline where the democratic values are accepted all over the world. Text Books: Curriculum is contained in the textbooks. Textbooks are written according to the formulated or determined curriculum. Only those textbooks are welcomed which foster and promote cultural values and ideals. Teacher: Each individual teacher is imbibed with the cultural values and ideals of the society of which he/she happens to be an integral member. Only such teacher achieves his/her missions successfully. They infuse higher ideals and moral values in children. School: A schools is a miniature of a society. The total activities and programmes of a school are organized according to the cultural ideals and values of the society which establishes and organize the school. Hence, school is the center of promoting, molding, reforming, and developing the cultural pattern of the society.
LEVELS OF SOCIAL DIVERSITY The diversity in India is unique. Being a large country with large population. India presents endless varieties of physical features and cultural patterns. It is the land of many languages it is only in India people professes all the major religions of the world. In short, India is “the
epitome of the world”. The vast population is composed of people having diverse creeds, customs and colours. Some of the important forms of diversity in India are Individual, regional, linguistic, religious, castes and tribal diversities.
Individual Diversity Individual diversity is an important concept in organizational behavior. People can be described by a number of categories that are both inherent (e.g., age, race, gender, ethnicity, physical capability) and acquired (e.g., geographic location, income, marital status, education, seniority, work content/field). The condition of having or being composed of differing elements: variety, especially: the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization. In this level, individuals have achieved high levels of sensitivity. They may change their behaviors to communicate more effectively with people of another culture, use empathy by imagining another person's perspective, and go beyond empathy to internalize other cultural frames of reference.
Individual diversity in class room
Impact of Diversity in classroom
• Positive: Heterogeneous grouping, Inclusive classrooms, being more open-minded, Positive outlook towards embracing the differences.
• Negative: Homogenous grouping
Regional Diversity
 Nature: India Political territorial division consists of 29 states and 7 Union territories.
 This division is accompanied by significant regional diversity which is distinct and visible as one moves from state to state .
 Diversity exists in language, food, dress and customs . Every state has its own distinctive cultural identity within the common Indian culture.
 The North Indian states are markedly different from the South Indian states in all these areas.
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Regionalism:
Meaning: -
The word “Regional” means any element belongs to a particular region, and the feeling related to the people belonging to the particular region is known as “Regionalism”
The term regionalism has two connotations:
In the positive sense, it is a political attribute associated with people‘s love for their region, culture, language, etc. with a view to maintain their independent identity.
In the negative sense, it implies excessive attachment to one‘s region in preference to the country ,or the state.
While positive regionalism is a welcome thing in so far maintaining as it encourages the people to develop a sense of brotherhood and commonness on the basis of common language, religion or historical background. The negative sense regionalism is a great threat to the unity and integrity of the country.
Definition: -
Regionalism is the sense of affection and attachment for people belonging to one‘s own region rather than for those who belongs to some other region. “Devotion to the interest of one ‘s own region”.
In the Indian context generally the term regionalism has been used in the negative sense. As a result of this people of one region in India have started looking at the people from some other part of the country in the same light in which they are prone to regard foreigners. They want that only people of their own area should run the government in their region while they do not want to make any place for people who have migrated from some other regions, irrespective of the period for which they have been living there. In this way, some people have demanded the formation of separate state. For e.g. the formation of Uttaranchal & Jharkhand, state which the government has recently fulfilled. Even then, functions of government have been divided between the central government and the respective state government. All these state are free to act in all domestic matter.
Causes of regional diversity
1. Geographical Causes: There is a vast difference between food habits, language, culture, customs, dress, life style of people belonging to different states. This diversity is reflected in the state wise division and within the states. For e.g. If one has to travel from northern to states like Delhi and Punjab to southern states like Kerala and Tamilnadu they are bound to experience huge discrepancies in the language culture, dress and food
2. Historical Causes: The we-feeling was shattered due to some historical causes. Many states in India had serious conflicts in the past with each other. These conflicts had created bitterness among them, therefore they cannot meet with each other with open heart and open mind.
3. Political Causes: In different regions some people have demanded for the formation of regional government and this trend of thinking has been inspired by regional interest and the aim of gaining power
4. Psychological causes: It is wish of the most of the people that the progress and the achievement of their region should be the maximum. The idea in itself is neither bad nor deniable, but when they disregard the nation‘s interest and those of the region for the attainment of this objective then these feelings can be classified under regionalism.
5. Social causes: In a country like India, marriages are preferred with the person of the same regional background. Due to this, people belonging to one region avoid marriages in other regions.
6. Economic causes: Due to Economic problems such as lack of resources, unemployment etc of a particular region people from those regions often migrates to comparatively stable economic region. If this migration continues and increases, then it may result in sudden rise in the burden of that area. The people start hating them and try to turn them out from that region.
Linguistic Diversity
The Constitution of India now recognizes 23 languages, spoken in different parts the country. These consist of English plus 22 Indian languages. Language While Hindi is the official language of the central government in India, with English as a provisional official language, individual state legislatures can adopt any regional language as the official language of that state.
Diversity of language is protected and respected by most nations who value cultural diversity. However, people are sometimes subjected to different treatment because their preferred language is associated with a particular group, class or category. Discrimination exists if there is prejudicial treatment against a person or a group of people who speak a particular language or dialect.
Causes of linguistic diversity
There are many causes at the root of linguism in our country; the major ones are the following.
1. Psychological causes: People of a particular region are attached to the regional language which is their mother tongue. Hence they do not easily accept to learn another Indian language
2. Historical causes: India had been invaded by numerous foreign countries. e.g. French people invaded our country and established their supremacy in Pondicherry, Portuguese in Goa. Mughals came and brought Persian language. British spread English language all over India. As a result Indian languages became subordinated to these languages. This gave birth to linguism as people from different regions promoted their own regional language in their states.
3. Geographical causes: Every language has its own literature. This literature is influenced everywhere by local geographical conditions such as plains, mountains, local vegetation and local culture. It reflects the life of the people who speak the language. Hence an individual does not willingly accept it if the language of another region is forced on him.
4. Economic causes: There are some economic causes that also inspire linguism. Some languages are financially assisted by the government for their progress but people speaking other languages object to this.
5. Political causes: Linguism is also inspired by the political interest and aspiration of different politicians and political groups. During elections in order to win votes many communal political parties raise the language issue to instigate their people and win their votes.
6. Social causes: Linguism is encouraged by some social factors. The language that is adopted by the society is respected. On the contrary the languages that caters to contradictory presumptions are objected, this leads to linguism. e.g. Insistence on continuance of English as Associate official language along with Hindi by South Indian states like Tamil Nadu
Adverse Consequences of Linguistic diversity
 Linguistic divide within the country
 Influence on medium of instruction in different parts of India
 Negative political exploitation on the basis of language
 Threat to National Integration
 Inadequate representation of Linguistic Minorities
Religious Diversity Religion in India is known all over the world for having unique diversity in terms of religious beliefs and practices. India’s major religions include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, and Jainism. In India, religion holds utmost importance and therefore this is the reason that India got the title of “Land of spirituality and philosophy” all over the world. Even though India is not state religion country but there exists a diversity of religions ruling different regions. No matter which religion it is, the message of love and brotherhood comes from all the religions, regions and cultures of India.
The rising level of immigration from other Western countries is causing variation in the religious diversity of India. The historical preserved deep religious diversity of Western countries is also entering India’s religious diversity and also the ratio of people belonging to a particular religion keeps on fluctuating. Different religions in India In India, you’ll find Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and aficionados of other religions as well. Hindus: Hindus make up almost 80% of the country’s population. Hinduism has no founder or central governing body but the Spectrum of Hindu is very vast which includes deeply religious people, vegetarians, atheists, devotees of Vishnu, devotees of Krishna and much more. Hinduism followers comprise of Dravidians, pre-Dravidians, and the Indo Aryans. The followers believe in the principle of Karma, Dharma, rebirth, salvation, and abandonment etc. Muslims: Indonesia, Pakistan, and India are the 3 countries with largest Muslims population. You will find Muslims in various States of India including Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, and Agra etc. 14% of the Muslims population is residing in Jammu and Kashmir. Muslim does not believe in Idol worship. they follow their secret book called Quran. Christians: It is believed that Christianity has been in India from the time of Apostle Thomas. In the present scenario, Christians make up around 3-4% of total population of India. They believe that a person is rewarded on the judgment day as per the type of life he led. Sikhs: Sikhs make up 1-2% of India’s population and you will find them in the majority in regions like Punjab, Delhi, and Haryana etc. Sikhs are in various dignified positions including military, pilots and other officer ranks and top-level positions in MNCs. Other Religions: Other significant religious groups in India include Jains, Buddhist, and Parsis.
Impact of religious diversity.  Diversity in public behaviors: Therefore every religion has its own outward behaviors that help others to identify them.  Diversity in names: Religions can be assumed from one’s name also. One’s name plays a very imperative role in depicting one’s religion or community.  Diversity in worshipping: Every religion has its own style of worshipping their God.  Diversity in religious beliefs: Every religion has its own beliefs. Sikh people believe that God Lives in the “Sangat” and if you will serve the “Sangat” god will be pleased automatically. Christians believe that God can be pleased and preached through music and speech also through readings from scriptures.
Caste and Class Diversity
India is known as the land of castes and tribes. Caste or Jati refers to a hereditary, endogamous status group practicing a specific traditional occupation. The term caste is used in two senses. Sometimes , it refers to the division of Indian society into four varna , and sometimes to the jati . The varna hierarchy consisting of Brahman, Kshatriya , Vaishya and Shudra is accepted all over India. The Jati on the other hand, has a regional point of reference and signifies a hereditary endogamous status group. There are more than 3,000 jatis in India. Impact of diversity in castes and tribes  Diversity in public behaviors: Every caste has its own outward behaviors that help others to identify them. Untouchability also practiced in many places  Diversity in names: Castes can be assumed from one’s name also. One’s name plays a very imperative role in depicting one’s community.  Diversity in worshipping: Every caste has its own style of worshipping their God.
ROLE OF EDUCATION IN CREATING POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARDS DIVERSITY
Diversity is generally understood to encompass race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, age, and political and religious beliefs. And while in the past it has focused on strengthening inter-cultural tolerance, new ideas about diversity and inclusion have developed, shifting the focus towards enriching human learning and experience, so-called ‘unity in diversity.’ Following are the Role of education in creating positive attitude towards diversity:
 Education provides the understanding of the personal needs and increase positive attitude.
 The teaching style of the teachers influences positive attitude.
 Participation to the extracurricular activities leads to the increases positive attitude
 Education emphasis on quality of information and teaching act according to individual needs.
 The Educational institutions followed fairness and balance in dealing with students.
 The text books and instructional materials show all ethnic groups in equally positive
 Supplement textbooks also support different cultures in the society.
 Educational institution not supported the racial or ethnic bias, including slurs, taunts, and jokes in the classroom or in the school.
 Education supported all students to value their own and others’ cultural heritages and contributions to history and civilization.
 Education provided structure for intergroup interaction.
 Education provided cooperative learning, by which it increases the participation of children from under-represented groups.
Role of education in creating positive attitude towards individual diversity
Education helps
 in providing proper knowledge of the individual’s potentialities, interests, aptitude and other personality traits:
 by adjusting the curriculum
 by adjusting the methods of teaching
 by adopting special programs or methods for individualizing instruction
 remaking the size of the classroom
 special coaching and guidance programs
Role of education in creating positive attitude towards Regional Diversity: -
Education cannot solve the problem but it can create a background in the minds of the children to think beyond regional boundaries and to make approach wide and positive. Regionalism cannot be considered as a big problem unless it hampers the nation‘s unity. It is such a problem that cannot be solved all of sudden. The problem should be handled tactfully and education is the most effective solution to create social harmony. The school may follow the following activities for creating positive attitude towards Regional Diversity:
 Encouragement of travel and communication
 Propagating National History
 Prevention of influence of Regional political parties in education
 Purposive teaching of History
Role of education in creating positive attitude towards linguistic diversity:
Education plays an important role in the elimination of linguistic diversity. Education will
 inculcation of democratic principle for language options in education
 creating interest for language study
 conducting co-curricular activities like Competitions, games, dramas for promoting respect for Indian Languages
 Appreciation of contributions of great poets and authors to the development of Indian languages.
 Promote modern Indian language along with western language
 The curriculum offers appropriate content and activities, but it is the teacher who converts it into productive exercises. Thus creating a suitable climate and motivation to reduce the desired cognitive and affective outcomes.
 The teacher must be above narrow sectarian views, have a broad outlook and world mindedness, enable the children to understand man as a ‘a human’ first, and then will informed about the ancient, medieval and contemporary world and well versed in human relations.
 Teach National Integration: i.e. think one self as an Indian first and be aware of other cultures and appreciate it
 In literature, not only English, Hindi and the regional language must be included but other languages must also be made familiar
Role of education in creating positive attitude towards religious diversity:
Importance of religious teachings is that it helps students understand the place of various religions in our society in the following way:
 By listening and responding to stories from religious traditions, students are assimilating it as part of their personal, social and emotional development.
 It introduces students to different cultures and religions through various leanings about stories, people, places and times of special importance and artifacts and beliefs that are part of modern life and society.
 Students continue to learn about the faiths and cultures included in the syllabus through more systematic and thematic work.
 Students understanding of religions, cultures and beliefs in local, national and global context deepen their understanding of various religion
 Students deepen their analyses on of religions and beliefs and of diversity.
 Most importantly it promotes self-awareness, respect, open-mindedness, appreciation, communication, working with others and problem solving
Role of education in creating positive attitude towards caste/Tribe diversity:
Following are some recommendations for promoting social harmony and equal opportunity among students in racially and ethnically diverse classrooms and schools:
 Use fairness and balance in dealing with students.
 Choose texts and instructional materials that show all ethnic groups in equally positive and non-stereotypical roles
 Make sure underrepresented groups are not misrepresented.
 Supplement textbooks with authentic material from different cultures taken from newspapers, magazines, and other media of the culture.
 Reach out to children’s parents and families with information and activities appropriate to their language and culture.
 Avoid communicating bias, but discuss racial or ethnic relations with empathy and openly, rather than trying to pretend there are no differences.
 Avoid stereotyping and emphasize the diversity of individuals, not groups.
 Let students know that racial or ethnic bias, including slurs, taunts, and jokes, will not be tolerated in the classroom or in the school.
 Help all students to value their own and others’ cultural heritages and contributions to history and civilization.
 Decorate classrooms, hallways, and the library/media center with murals, bulletin boards, posters, artifacts, and other materials that are representative of the students in the class or school or of the other cultures being studied.
 Be sure that assignments are not offensive or frustrating to students of diverse cultural groups. For example, asking students to write about their Christmas experiences is inappropriate for non-Christian students.
 Provide structure for intergroup interaction.
 Use cooperative learning, Cooperative learning contributes to both achievement and social harmony and can increase the participation of children from under-represented groups. INTER DISCIPLINARY NATURE OF EDUCATION: PHILOSOPHY, PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, ANTHROPOLOGY, POLITICS, HISTORY: Interdisciplinary approach involves the combination of two or more academic disciplines into one activity. The term interdisciplinary is applied within education and training pedagogies to describe studies that use methods and insights of several established
disciplines or traditional fields of study. Here we see an Interdisciplinary Approach of Education with other subjects Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with philosophy Philosophy is the study of ideas and beliefs about the meaning of life. It is quite often said that, ‘Philosophy and Education are two sides of the same coin’ since Education is considered as the dynamic side of philosophy. The art of education cannot be completed without philosophy and philosophy cannot convert others to its aims and values without education. Education is practical in nature and philosophy is theory. The basic relationship between philosophy and education can be analyzed as follows:  It is philosophy, that provides the aim and it is education which makes it practical.  The objectives of education at different stages have a psychological base.  Preparation of curriculum for different stages as per the age, ability and capacities of the learner must be based on some of the psychological principles.  The teacher employs some of the suitable methods of teaching, appropriate motivational techniques and teaching devices which are also the contributions of educational psychology.  Solution of different educational problems through research are also the contribution.  Preparation of school time table and timing have also a psychological base.  Effective school administration and organization needs a knowledge of psychology.  Knowledge of psychology is necessary to study the gifted or the retarded child, the problem child and the maladjusted child.  The problem of discipline in the school can be tackled by psychologically.  Educational psychology provides knowledge about mental health of the teacher.  Psychology provides knowledge about evaluation procedure for better learning in the school. Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with psychology
Psychology the scientific study of the mind and the way that people behave. Psychology is concerned with understanding and gaining knowledge(education) of human experience and actions. Educational Psychology is the systematic study of the educational growth and development of a child. The basic relationship between Psychology and education can be analyzed as follows:  The objectives of education at different stages have a psychological base.  Preparation of curriculum for different stages as per the age, ability and capacities of the learner must be based on some of the psychological principles.  The teacher employs some of the suitable methods of teaching, appropriate motivational techniques and teaching devices which are also the contributions of educational psychology.  Solution of different educational problems through research are also the contribution.  Preparation of school time table and timing have also a psychological base.  Effective school administration and organization needs a knowledge of psychology.  Knowledge of psychology is necessary to study the gifted or the retarded child, the problem child and the maladjusted child.  The problem of discipline in the school can be tackled psychologically.  Educational psychology provides knowledge about mental health of the teacher.  Psychology provides knowledge about evaluation procedure for better learning in the school.  Better guidance can be provided for effective learning by studying the psychological traits of the learner. Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with sociology Sociology is the study of human societies and social behavior. Sociology and education are interrelated disciplines. The relation between sociology and education can be enumerated as follows:
 sociology is the science of society and education is an implicit aspects of social system.
 sociology is the study of a social system and education is the function of a social system.
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 sociology provides norms and guide lines for individual behavior and education aims at modifying behaviour.
 sociology develops methods and techniques of social interaction while education utilizes the same to bring about the desired behavioural and attitudinal change.
 sociology contributes much to the planning, organizing, executing and evaluating of the educative process.
 sociology prescribes socially appropriate functions for the educational system and education adopts the principles of sociology to improve its functioning.
 sociology prepares plans and programs for social development while education implements the same to develop well integrated and wholesome individuals.
 sociology develops laws and principle as a social norm while education adopts therefore its improvement.
 sociology endeavors to understand men in action and education attempt to mould human nature in the direction provided by the sociological innovation.
Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humans, past and present. Anthropology examines how people’s patterns of thought and behavior are shaped by culture and how those patterns vary from society to society. Hence Anthropology is the science of people and culture. The relation between anthropology and education can be enumerated as follows:  Education refers to the pursuit of knowledge. Anthropology is the study of culture and its people. Hence educational structures are the part of anthropology.  Education is considered a primary features of people and their culture that is anthropology  Without education there is no possibility to persist in their in cultural development  Anthropological features are nourished by education  One important function of education is the preservation of culture. Education conserved and transmitted culture to the youth.  Anthropological needs fulfilled only by education
 Education has the important aim of inculcating human values in learners so that people learn to tolerate differences, develop compassion and live in peace and harmony, based on understanding and acceptance of mutual differences.
Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with politics Politics is the work and ideas that are connected with governing a country, a town, etc. The relation between politics and education can be enumerated as follows:
 Educational curriculum is geared towards patriotism and nationalism or emphasis on extra-curriculum activities such as being an army cadet. Example: The National Cadet Corps in India,
 If politics and education go side in side, it producing better results in the country and the students enjoy a superior quality of education as compared to other regions.
 Civil services increased due to educational performance.
 Cordial relationship between politics and education leads to a better society
 The financial support of the government enhances the educated society.
 Education is a basic human right and its function is to develop the talents of individuals to the fullest possible extent
• Every education system has political goals
• Politics comes before education
• Politics determines the type of education to be adopted
• The education of the youths is probably the most fundamental takes of society
• The political order of society sets the pace for education
• Politics is an aspect of the political needs of the society
• Education is the servant and product of politics
• Education is regulated by government politics and politics
• The rising cost of education are largely met from the public purse.
Interdisciplinary nature of education: relationship with history
Education incorporates moving forward and transformation. History enables the discovery of the evolutionary meaning of humanity and simultaneously brings the guarantee of future. The relation between politics and education can be enumerated as follows:

 History is the study of man. Education focused on human development  Both History and education are the storehouse of wisdom. They inculcate intellectual discipline  The History teaches interactions of people and institutions. It helps the students to prepare for their careers and development.  History and education motivates strong critical thinking skill of the students.  History is a dialogue between the events of the past and progressively emerging future. Education also concentrated on progressively emerging future  Historical research and modern education analyzed and recognized the trends and patterns of the society.  The historians recorded the information and the education use it as evidence.  History and education helps us to understand people and societies  History contributes to moral understanding. Education conserve and transmitted the moral values to the youth.  Modern youth is to be equipped intellectually to the fullest is the aim of History and education