Connecting formal science classroom learning to community, culture and context in India

The perception of separation between school and home/community is related to diminished achievement in school and lack of motivation to learn STEM subjects. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is among many research organisations that have strongly recommended that schools bridge the disconnect between school-based knowledge and learners' everyday knowledge. We designed the SPIRALS (Supporting and Promoting Indigenous and Rural Adolescents' Learning of Science) curriculum to bridge this gap between formal science and students' everyday lives. SPIRALS helps students explore community-based practices to learn about science, environmental sustainability and systems thinking. We implemented the SPIRALS curriculum in a private, urban, English medium school in Western India with approximately 315 students and their four teachers, 214 (or 68%) of whom also participated in the research from which our conclusions are drawn. Our findings about program impacts rely upon analysis of interviews with teachers and students, as well as student work, and conference participation assessment surveys distributed after a capstone experience at which students present their work. This chapter describes our findings about how students learned science, environmental sustainability, and systems thinking through engagement with community-based practices. We also discuss the process of how the SPIRALS approach worked in India and how it could be expanded into a broader learning model across different socio-cultural contexts within India.