Informing Barriers to Classroom Practices with an Assessment Tool: Study on Private Schools Serving Children from Informal Settlements

Abstract

Classroom practices form an array of integrated teaching and learning strategies conducive to the real world. Lesser is known about the classroom practices experiences among the students belonging to the informal settlements in private schools of India. The paper presents a brief insight into barriers to classroom practices with a self-prepared assessment tool, namely Classroom Practice Position (CPP). It can aid teachers in prioritising practices for balancing participation in the classroom. The measure will help to determine the placement of classroom routine activities. The paper highlights the data from the perspectives of 58 students in Rourkela (a city in the State of Odisha, India) through a sequential exploratory method and data analysis with SPSS v.20. The CPP tool indicates that peer support from the well-performing students helps in mitigating stereotypes, in completion of classwork, identity and familiarity with teachers.