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Overindulgence in the Facile
In light of the concern of whether pedagogy and quality of education are treated symbiotically or not, the intent behind the article is twofold: fi rst, it will focus on how the term “quality education” and “quality of education” were taken up at the national level and within international domains, and what were their contents and intricacies, keeping in mind the differences between the two concepts; second, it will directly delve into the question of: Have pedagogy-related variables been considered for measurement? This query will be contextualised with reference to a list of fi ve nationwide metrics or surveys in India and their subjective ideas of the principal attributes of quality education.
The Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, which took birth during the United Nations Conference of 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, sought to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” One term that has seen prevalent usage, and is used in this goal also, is “quality.” Multifarious organisations and institutions, both national and international as well as governmental and private or non-governmental, have devoted time, funds, and energy in deciphering the meaning and contents of this terminology. What runs common among the majority of these initiatives is their willingness to gauge and expand the learning outcomes of pupils. While some measure it through literacy rates and achievement tests, others opt for not so common indicators like survival rates, dropout and readmission rates, gender parity indexes, teacher vacancies and attrition rates, availability of basic amenities and facilities in schools, and enrolment and attendance ratios of all groups (sex, caste, and religion).
With the passage of time, the focus shifted from input–output researches to process-based frameworks of analysis. Quantitative tools were seen as inadequate in their endeavours of measuring quality of education, and gradually the focus began tilting towards qualitative techniques and the study of processes (Clark and Peterson 1984). Delamont and Jones (2012) claimed that the ubiquitous application of qualitative research methods to the study of educational phenomenon, especially in areas like teachers’ skills, education, methods and techniques, was a relatively new development and it dated back to the 1980s. The two primary reasons for this expansion were: a shift in the discipline of social sciences from grand narratives and laws of social behaviour to the in-depth study of the processes occurring in their natural settings; and the gradual democratisation of graduate level study in education, because of which the role boundaries and power relations between the researchers and the researched became more flexible and permeable (Delamont and Jones 2012).
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