Dalit girl's perception towards discrimination
Date
Authors
Awasthi, Lalita
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Master of Philosophy in Education.
Abstract
The study deals with Dalit women’s perception regarding discrimination,
especially, in Hindu society. The broad objective of the study was to find out the
perception of Dalit girls that affect their participation in education. The overarching
research question of this study was, “How has discriminatory practices influenced
Dalit girls’ access to education?
I, as a researcher, reviewed the literature related to Women under Hinduism,
Cultural perspective and Educational perspective. I used hermeneutics for the
theoretical construct of this research.
I used case study as a research strategy for generating information and
analyzed it using the philosophy of Husserl, Heidegger, and Gadamer. I used
questionnaires, in-depth open- ended interviews and direct observation under this
method. In order to guide myself I also developed schematic chart to dig out
information for this study.
I found the forces that contributed to make up Dalit women’s perception like
culture, religion, social values and gender construct. I also interpreted the forces by
using hermeneutic theory of Husserl, Heidegger and Gadamer.
I also explained about the relationship between perception and education of Dalit
girl’s with hermeneutics interpretation. I found the history and structure of society as
the cause of their hindrance to education.
Dalits Girl’s Perception
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iii
I presented the findings under different categories like findings generated from
the literature, field, personal reflection, and Hermeneutical inquiry. In doing so, I
tried to capture the forces that shaped and reshaped Dalit girls’ perception towards
discrimination in school.
Hermeneutics taught me that all meaning is context- dependent and therefore
unstable. It also stated that culture could be created and recreated; implying that the
culture, which is against Dalit women, could also be changed.
I realized that Dalit girls’ perception towards education could be changed by
introducing inclusive approach to teaching, and reorienting culturally socialized
mindset. Lastly, I have concluded my thesis by saying that the discrimination started
from the mind of people and spread to home school and community so the treatment
should be started from the peoples’ mind.
Description
Keywords
Women, Hinduism, Traditional occupation, Discrimination, Girls, Nepal, Education, Dalit