Browsing by Author "Tondon, Rajesh"

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    Civil Society and Construction of Knowledge Systems
    (1997-06-01) Tondon, Rajesh
    The first premise of this paper is that knowledge is socially constructed. There is no truth which is universally applicable for all times to come in all periods of history, in all communities and societies. Knowledge is an understanding of reality: understanding the way people live, the way groups and organisations function, the way in which the society and economy is organised, etc. At different levels of social reality and at different periods of human history, knowledge has been changing, just as understanding of reality has been changing. Social construction of knowledge is particularly so for knowledge about social reality. While physical sciences have enough evidence to demonstrate the relativity of knowledge in physical sciences, there is hardly any dispute with respect to social knowledge or knowledge about social realities.
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    Participatory Training for Illiterate Women Trainees
    (1986) Mathur, Anita; Tondon, Rajesh
    Seva Mandir is a voluntary organization working among the rural poor in Udaipur district of the State of Rajasthan, India. It has used an educational and organizational strategy to promote in people a sense of collective responsibility for their own development. In its 15 years of work, Seva Mandir has evolved a method-ology that links training of adults with concrete action in the field. A participatory training methodology has been used in a variety of situations, such as agriculture, literacy, health care, and the building of action and leadership groups. This brief case study describes the training of illiterate tribal women to act as village animators and instructors of centres for pre-school children. In terms of Boshier's model (see Convergence, previous issue), their training was to foster 'social change' through the gaining of 'technical competence.' In this sense, adult education is a secondary concern.