Faculty Profile

• PhD in Education; MEd; BEd; MCom

• Assistant Professor, 2011-present, School of Education Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi.
• Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Scholar, Brigham Young University, USA, 2016-17.
• Consultant, Learning and Teacher Development Unit, Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, 2011.
• University Teaching Assistant, Department of Education, University of Delhi, 2009-2011.
• Research Associate, India one million: Feasibility study on teacher education, UK Open University and Plan International, 2009 – 2010.
• Guest Faculty, Maharshi Valmiki College of Education, University of Delhi, India, 2009.

Professional Focus:

My professional focus is on education policy-politics in India, particularly at school and teacher education levels. I examine education policy and practice from a socio-political perspective. My doctoral research was an ethnographic study of a slum cluster and a state-run primary school in Delhi, India. This research examined how the state policy on education is played out in the margins of the urban metropolitan context. My subsequent professional and research experience is focussed on the linkages between teacher education policy and public school quality in India. My postdoctoral research frames teacher education as a special sub-set of higher education. It examines the rank advancement policies and publication networks among teacher education faculty in the US to draw policy inferences in a (US-India) comparative perspective. My methodological training is in ethnography, document analysis, and social networks analysis.

Selected Research Projects:

• Co-Investigator, Higher education promotion policy, academic productivity, publication strategies ...among teacher education faculty in India and U.S. Funded by the McKay School of Education Research Grants, Brigham Young University, USA.
• Need Assessment on the Demand for Tertiary education in NCT of Delhi, with Centre for Social Science Research Methods, AUD.
• Delhi Government School Project, SES, AUD, in collaboration with DoE Delhi Government and Ahvaan Trust, 2012 – 2014.

Teaching:

• Postgraduate: Education in India: Institutions, Systems and Structures; Curriculum Studies; Teacher Education; Education Research; School Ethnography
• Undergraduate: Child Rights
• Continuing Professional Development Courses for Educators: Teachers as Researchers
• MPhil (Development Practice) dissertation supervision in the area of education and development
• Doctoral (Education) coursework: Education Studies; Perspectives in Education

Administration:

• Officer on Special Duty for teacher education programmes at SES, AUD, 2018-present
• Deputy Dean, Academic Governance, AUD, 2017-18
• Co-Coordinator, Academic Council, AUD, 2017-18
• Faculty Secretary, Decennial Review Committee, AUD, 2017-18

Selected Professional Activities:

• Faculty Exchange for teaching, Ludwigsburg University of Education, Germany, under the Erasmus+ Grant, in January 2018 and June 2019.
• Associate Editor, Indian Journal of Teacher Education [ISSN: 2349-6355], 2015 – 2016.
• Core Committee Member, The Forum for Deliberations on Education: A collaborative initiative hosted by the Centre for Policy Research, Delhi, India, 2015 – 2017.
• Worked with the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) in various capacities (Committee Member/Member Secretary) in the national regulatory reform process following the Supreme Court’s Justice Verma Commission on Teacher Education, 2013 – 2016.
• State-level dissemination of the NCTE’s 2-year MEd Curriculum Framework and Regulations (Norms and Standards), including orientation workshops for the academics [heads and deans, and teacher educators] from university departments and colleges of teacher education in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, February-March 2015.
• Member, course development and revision group, Diploma in Primary Education (DPE) and Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) programmes, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India, 2011 – 2012.
• Member, invited expert group for development of “Improvements in quality through reform in assessments and evaluation of students in elementary school”, as a part of implementation of Children’s Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RtE), Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), India, 2010 – 2011

• Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Visiting Scholar, Brigham Young University, Utah, USA, 2016 – 2017.
• University Medal (MEd), University of Delhi, 2009.
• Basu Memorial All Round Best Student Award (2008), Department of Education, University of Delhi, India.
• First Rank Holder Award, BEd, MVCOE, University of Delhi, India.

Journal Papers:

• Sharma, G. (2019). Learning from teaching. H. O. Vahali (Ed.), A song called teaching: Ebbs and flows of experiential and empathetic pedagogies (pp. 98-104). New Delhi: Aakar Books.
• Sharma, G. (2019). Policy and regulatory changes in teacher education in India: Concerns, debates and contestations. Economic and Political Weekly, 54(2) (Featured Articles: Engage). Retreived from: https://www.epw.in/engage/article/policy-and-regulatory-changes-teacher-education-in-india
• Sharma, G. (forthcoming). Paas-fail par rajneeti: Shiksha ke adhikaar mein dusra sanshodhan (Politics on pass-fail: Second amendment in the Right to Education). Manuscript under review.
• Sharma, G. (2016). Reversing twin ideals of Right to Education: No Detention and Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation. Economic and Political Weekly, 51(9), 85-89.
• Sharma, G. (2015).  From curriculum to textbooks: Post 2005 revised textbooks and social exclusion. The Primary Teacher, 40(1), 50-69.
• Sharma, G. (2014). Politics of institutional knowledge and exclusion: Understanding experiences of Dalit children in urban slums. Indian Journal of Teacher Education: Anweshika, 9(1), pp. 44-57.
• Sharma, G. (2014). Understanding the tea stalls on Delhi University campus: A qualitative study. Occasional Papers, Department of Education, University of Delhi, 1(1-6), 1-17. 
• Sharma, G. (2012). Dominance and resistance amidst state’s efforts in education. Human Rights Initiative Journal, 4(7), 24-40.

Book Chapters:

• Sharma, G. (forthcoming, 2019). Bharat ke adhyapak shikshan mein neetigat sudhar (Policy reforms in teacher education in India). Chapter in forthcoming edited volume on teacher education. New Delhi: Vani.
• Sharma, G. (forthcoming, 2019). Learning from teaching. Chapter in edited volume, A song called teaching: Ebbs and flows of experiential and empathetic pedagogies. New Delhi: Aakar Books.
• Sharma, G. (2016). Shaping everyday educational vocabulary: State policy and a slum school. In A. K. Singh (Ed.), Education and empowerment: Policies and practices (Vol. 1, pp. 275-292). Delhi: Routledge.

Other Publications:

• Sharma, G. (2018, August). Reversal of children’s right to no detention. The New Leam. Retrieved from http://thenewleam.com.
• Sharma, G. (2015, September 28).  Delhi’s schools need a quality upgrade, not a hasty cut in syllabus. The Wire. Retrieved from http://thewire.in.
• Sharma, G. (2015, November). Pathyakram par rajnaitik nirnaya: Sawaal aur sarokaar. Shiksha Vimarsha, 17(6), 21-25. (Political decisions on curriculum: Questions and concerns).
• Bhatty, K., Namala, A., Bhasin, A., Shah, A., Mittra, A., Dwivedi, A., Farooqi, F., Sharma, G., Bandhopadyay, M., Khair, N., Alkazi, R., Hassan, S., Tirkey, S., and Singh, S. (2014). School education and exclusion. India Exclusion Report (pp. 43-76). Delhi: Centre for Equity Studies.
• Varma, V. S., and Sharma, G. (Ed.). (2014). Teachers in conversation: Schoolteachers’ narratives, discussions and dialogues. Delhi: Ambedkar University Delhi and Ahvaan Trust.
• Mohan, A., Singh, A. K., Sharma, G., Dviwedi, A. K., Kumar, V., Khaliq, M. A. and Singh, G. (Trans.). (2007). FOCUS: Chheh varsh se kam ke bachhon par focus. Delhi: Right to Food. (Translation of Focus on Children Under Six Report)
• Singh, A. K., Sharma, G., Mishra, N., K., Guru, N. D., Singh, G. (Authors and Eds.). (2010). Bachon ka adhikar: Muft aur anivarya shiksha ka maulik adhikar. Betiya: Deep, Betiya, and NEG Fire, Delhi. (Handbook on the Right to Education Act, 2009, India)
• Sharma, G. (2016). Book review: Reign of error: The hoax of the privatization movement and the danger to America's public shools by Diane Ravitch. Teacher Support.
• Sharma, G. (2015). Book review: Sociology of childhood and youth by Bhula Bhadra (Ed.). Teacher Support, 1(2), 79-81.
• Sharma, G. (2015). Book review: Education – An anatomy of the discipline: Rescuing the university project? Indian Journal of Teacher Education, 1(1), 117-118.

Selected Paper Presentations/Invited Talks:

• Sharma, G. (2019, July). India’s new draft National Education Policy: School and teacher education. Invited talk organised by United States-India Educational Foundation, Hailey Road, Delhi.
• Sharma, G. (2019, March). Regulation of teachers and teacher education in India. Roundtable on the Regulation of Teachers and Teacher Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India.
• Sharma, G. (2019, March). Public policy in education: Engaging with policy documents on teacher education in India. Seminar on Historical and Documentation Studies, Department of Education, University of Delhi, India.
• Sharma, G. (2018, April). Schoolchildren’s notions of social caste and class. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York City, USA.
• Sharma, G. (2018, March). Teacher education and implementation of the RTE Act. National Discussion Meet on the Implementation of RTE Act – Status, Issues and Challenges, National Law School University of India, Bangalore, India.
• Sharma, G. (2018, January). Education in India: Diversity, challenges and policy context. Geographies of Education Seminar (Coordinator: N. Wolfeil), PH Ludwigsburg University of Education (LUE), Ludwigsburg, Germany. (As a part of BWS+ India Kick-off Event, LUE).
• Sharma, G. (2017). Education in India [Radio interview]. In Rose, J. (Program director & host), Top of mind with Julie Rose. Utah: BYU Radio.
• Sharma, G. (2017, March). Contextualising childhood and educational aspirations in a slum space in Delhi. Public Seminar, David O. McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, United States of America.
• Sharma, G. (2017, April). Gender and educational aspirations in a slum school in Delhi: Implications for education policy. Public Lecture, Women’s Studies, David M. Kennedy Centre & David O. McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, United States of America.
• Sharma, G. (2017, April). India's Right to Education Act and the proposed National Policy on Education: Policy processes and politics. Public Lecture, Social and Collaboration committee, Education Leadership and Foundations Department, Brigham Young University, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, United States of America.
• Sharma, G. (2016, February). Right to Education and the proposed National Policy on Education. Paper presented at the 3rd National Policy Seminar: Rights Based Approach to Education – Policies, Premises and Practices, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, Delhi, India.
• Sharma, G. (2015, November). Childhood and biopolitics. Paper presented at the Contested Sites: The Construction of Childhood International Conference, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla, India. 
• Sharma, G. (2015, March). Childhood in a slum-space in Delhi: Negotiations, aspirations and strategies. Paper presented at the Education in Delhi: Marginalisation, Diversity and Schools’ Conference, Ambedkar University Delhi, India. 
• Sharma, G. (2013, December).  A state school in an urban slum: A post RtE picture. Paper presented at the Anil Bordia Memorial National Policy Seminar on Education and Social Empowerment, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, Delhi, India.
• Sharma, G. (2011, November). Experiencing caste in a metropolis. Paper presented at the South-Asia in transition conference, Department of Sociology and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
• Sharma, G. (2011, March). An NGO's and community's understanding of each other: A case in the educational context. Paper presented at the Civil Society and State Partnership in Education Conference, National University of Educational Planning and Administration, Delhi. 
• Sharma, G. (2011, January). Politics of institutional knowledge and exclusion. Paper presented at the Global Conclave of Young Scholars of Indian Education, National University for Educational Planning at Administration, Delhi.