Date of Graduation

2021

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College/School

School of Education

Department

Leadership Studies

Program

Organization & Leadership EdD

First Advisor

Jane Bleasdale

Second Advisor

Danfeng Koon

Third Advisor

Monisha Bajaj

Abstract

Postcolonial India where diversities, tensions, and conflicts caused by social and economic hierarchies, political and religious divisions, cultural variations exist, higher education is expected to play a significant role in building up a harmonious and humane democracy founded on justice to all, especially to the minority communities. Therefore, to examine how the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisioned higher education and how it is felt among the stakeholders of a minority, this study attempted to analyze its higher education discourses and the responses of Indian Jesuit higher education faculty members. For analysis, this study employed the discourse historical analysis (DHA) frame combined with a critique of neoliberalism and a theory of resistance as care for subjectivity.

A select text of the NEP 2020's introduction and the higher education section and the responses of 168 faculties who participated in an online qualitative survey were analyzed in this study. The results revealed that the NEP 2020's higher education vision was founded on a crucial discourse strategy of restoring an ancient institutional model to make India a neoliberal superpower. It concealed a political project of the majoritarian Hindu nationalist regime. In contrast, the survey analysis revealed discourse strategies opposite to and varying from the NEP 2020’s by their references to the organic continuation and growth of higher education on the democratic and secular foundations. The study suggested teachers’ subjectivity as a potential space for reform resistance.

Download

Share

COinS