Exploring indigenous approaches to education – an interview with Gunjan Wadhwa
We often associate education with teachers and classrooms, with essays and exams designed to prepare us for future careers. Dr Gunjan Wadhwa’s research considers the importance of questioning our assumptions around what education is and aims to achieve, particularly within global contexts and cultures.
Introducing...
Alongside her research, is an Assistant Professor in one of our Centres of Excellence, the Centre for International Education (CIE), where she embeds her teaching with insights from both her doctoral studies at Sussex and her time as a policy consultant for the Government of India.
With a focus on the intersection of education, sociology and international development, Gunjan’s work considers how the wider contexts and conditions of education can influence – and even create – our personal and collective identities.
We caught up with Gunjan to discuss how her professional experiences have helped her to explore what education means in our complex, contemporary world.
How would you define your area of specialism?
My work centres on questions around citizenship, particularly in relation to marginalised groups. An important part of that is exploring how education (or its assumed lack) shapes our identities – not only in terms of the opportunities we can access, but also how we understand the concept of learning beyond conventional approaches.
Education intersects with so many areas of our lives, so my research draws together subjects including anthropology, gender studies, geography and migration. Essentially, I'm an educational sociologist.
What initially attracted you to the field of education?
After studying for a Masters in International Relations, I began working as a policy and research specialist at the ) back home in India. This was when the Right to Education Act was being rolled out across the country, which aimed to provide compulsory education to children between the ages of six to 14. I spent time in areas of conflict and civil unrest, trying to understand what education means to local indigenous Adivasi groups who have historically been excluded from formal schooling, and made radical yet varied demands for social inclusion through education.
My experiences inspired me to apply for a PhD at Sussex because it’s renowned for its radical approaches. I wanted to reach beyond a binary idea of education as purely ‘good’ or ‘bad’, and felt like the Sussex research culture would encourage me to explore the space between.
The Centre for International Education felt especially aligned with my work as it has a history of exploring issues of what we call 'Coloniality' - the long-term impact of Colonialism - and education across the Global South. I’m delighted to have since returned to the Centre as a lecturer.
Questioning what it means to be educated and what it means to be a citizen has helped me rethink how I can help to bring about change.” dr gunjan wadhwa
Assistant Professor in International Education
What are the major guiding questions of your research?
Initially, I wanted to know why children in indigenous Adivasi communities couldn't attend school, and how we might encourage them to engage with formal learning. However, by immersing myself in their everyday communities, my questions have become more focused on understanding their perspectives in the broader context of their lives. Can indigenous groups navigate the gap between national policy and their everyday realities? How do you make sense of formal education when it often feels so disconnected from your daily work and livelihood practices?
Many of the communities I’ve worked with believe that education is crucial, and spend significant amounts of money on sending their children to school. However, there’s a high drop-out rate, and returning to education at a later time becomes especially difficult for girls and young women. Much of my research since then has involved examining this gendered dimension of education, and asking questions around why this disconnect exists.
As a researcher, I want to challenge our assumptions of what education is, make sense of the resistance people might have towards it, and consider the ways they speak back to those dominant assumptions. It can feel hard to ask those questions, but that's what research is: demanding, challenging, but also fascinating.
Much of your research has been conducted by living with communities and discussing issues with them directly. How has this approach shaped your work?
Data and statistics can help us to identify a particular issue, but going into new settings and listening to people’s perspectives enables us to understand its whys and hows in greater detail.
When you work in education, you tend to assume it’s inherently good. Working directly with local communities has helped me to begin unpicking those privileges and questioning those beliefs. India offers a particularly important and interesting research context because there are so many layers of social hierarchy. Developing the skills to explore what a 'right to education’ means for people who are excluded, both geographically and socially, has been a useful learning curve.
What kind of impact do you aim to make through your work?
I started out by wanting to ‘improve’ the lives of those neglected by wider society through education. Many of the groups I’ve worked with are historically marginalised and socially excluded, so my work involves creating space to understand their ways of life. I explore how these ways are assumed to be ‘different’ and often in deficit, and open up conversations around changing established discourse about them – and, by extension, our own social lives.
My work also continues to make a real impact on me. Questioning what it means to be 'educated' and what it means to be a 'citizen' has helped me rethink how I can help to bring about change. It’s also made me a better lecturer - my students value the fact I draw on my research to bring theories and concepts to life.
What have been the major highlights of your research journey so far?
Professionally, I’ve been inspired by the connection between the language we use to depict things, and how this language produces social difference. It's fascinating to learn how language can construct, sustain and normalise certain structures and hierarchies in our everyday social lives.
On a personal level, my research has given me the opportunity to reflect on who I am, where I come from, and my relative privilege. As someone with a background in policy, I always believed that schools were places that shape future citizenship. Having had the opportunity to engage directly with local communities, and by interrogating those ideas further through my work at ÃûæÂÖ±²¥, I’ve been able to unlearn a lot of those assumptions, and think about education in a wider socio-political context.
What have you most enjoyed about your time at ÃûæÂÖ±²¥, and why is it important for you to continue your work here?
Sussex has helped me to develop as a researcher and an academic. Crucially, it’s helped me pay attention to the production of social difference in policy, to realise the importance of advocating for social inclusion and equity in education, and to consider how people who've been historically excluded might rethink education in their own ways.
Of course, the Centre for International Education is an intellectually stimulating environment. As a Centre of Excellence, it certainly keeps you on your toes! Social connections are also important to me, and I’ve been glad to build strong relationships with supportive colleagues.
What advice would you give to those who are interested in pursuing a future in research?
Working as a research and policy practitioner was an important turning point in my journey. I tried different roles, learned more about the policy landscape, and developed skills organically. The groups I worked with also helped me to put my goals into perspective. The more you engage with these kinds of experiences, the more open you are to learning – and unlearning, which has been crucial for me.
Above all, I’d advise you to be interested in what you’re doing, and be open to questions. Don’t be afraid to revisit your previous ideas and shape them in response to what you've experienced in the wider world.