The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) (2008-2010)

The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) (2008-2010)

The Early Literacy Research Project (ELRP) was launched in January 2008, aim to study Hindi teaching in Indian government primary schools. The research project was being carried out under the guidance of Rohit Dhankar, Secretary, Digantar (Project Manager) and Dr. Caroline Dyer, Senior Lecturer, University of Leeds, U.K (Principal Investigator). The aim was to undertake qualitative research using a case study in Rajasthan of how pedagogical practices in literacy are shaped by i) teachers’ underlying theories of early years literacy teaching and learning; ii) their constructs of learners from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds; and iii) the influences of other factors such as school size, head teacher views and so on.

Sanganer Community Development Block of Jaipur district, Rajasthan had  been selected for the detailed ethnographic study. A baseline survey was conducted to ascertain the levels of literacy achievements in select 52 primary schools of Sanganer Block through administration of learner achievement tests and teacher interview schedules. The research team conducted the ethnographic study in ten sample schools during the period July 2008 to April 2009 whereby the researchers conducted participant classroom observations of Hindi teaching and learning processes in standards I, II and V of these schools.