India: Teachers, EMI Schools, and Social Justice

This chapter explores linguistic and cultural discrimination experienced by teachers working in English medium schools in rural areas in the Indian education context. Drawing on the data and the personal acquaintance with three schools in Central India offering instruction in English medium, teachers’ lives and work are analysed. The teachers working in these schools are often residents who could not continue their education beyond the undergraduate degree. These teachers enjoy a few privileges in the local community but often find themselves at a loss in professional communities outside their workplaces. They are considered with a deficit view regarding their language proficiency, education, and aspirations. They are not accorded the full membership of the professional community. The teachers are also fully aware of their status and appear to have accepted it. The outcome of such a phenomenon is the deprivation of teachers from professional learning opportunities, which impacts the students’ learning. The chapter begins with a description of the schools and profiles of teachers. It then analyses the teachers’ work and their lives concerning broader educational issues and student learning. The chapter concludes with a few implications of schooling policy.