ISSN 2277-3819 Indian journal of Educational Research .(Peer Reviewed) Volume IV March 2015 Cm* '■‘f- Department of Education University of Calcutta Indian Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2277-3819 Chief Patron Professor Sugata Marjit, Vice-Chancellor, University of Calcutta Academic Advisor in Chief Dr. Debasri Banerjee, Head, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Editorial Board Professor Nimai Chand Maiti (Editor) Professor Md. Kutubuddin Haider, Professor Malay Kumar Sen, Professor Debasri Banerjee Advisory Board Professor Swagata Sen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic), University of Calcutta Professor Sonali Chakravarti Baneijee, Pro-Vice-Chancellor(B.A. & F), C.U. ProfessorMitaBanerjee, Vice-Chancellor, W.B.U.T.T.E.P.A., Kolkata Dr. Soumitra Sarkar, Librarian, University of Calcutta Professor Mannar Mukhopadhyay, formerly Joint Director, NUEPA, New Delhi Professor Pranab Kumar Chakrabarti, formerly Dean, University of Calcutta Professor Debjani Sengupta, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Professor Madhumala Sengupta, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Professor Rita Sinha, formerly Dean, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Professor Aditi Ghose, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Dr. MadhumitaBandhopadhyay, Associate Professor, NUEPA, New Delhi SwamiTattasarananda, Principal, Ramakrishna Mission Sikshan Mandira, Belur, W.B. Professor Sanat Kumar Ghosh, formerly Dean of Arts, Rabindra Bharati University Professor Subrata Saha, Department of Education, Rabindra Bharati University Professor Jayanti Das, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Dr. Sridipa Sinha, Associate Professor, Dept, of Education, University of Calcutta Dr. Santoshi Haider, Assistant Professor, Dept, of Education, University of Calcutta Dr. SudeshnaLahiri, Assistant Professor, Dept, of Education, University of Calcutta Published 2015 © University of Calcutta All right reserved No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or any means, without prior permission of the Editor. Published by Department of Education, University of Calcutta, 1, Reformatory Street, Kolkata-700027, and Printed by Dr. Aparesh Das, Superintendent, Calcutta University Press. 48, Hazra Road, Kolkata-700019 No. 2767B Price: 150 ISSN 2277-3819 Indian Journal of Educational Research (Peer Reviewed) Volume IV March 2015 Editorial Board Professor Nimai Chand Maiti (Editor) Professor Md. Kutubuddin Haider Professor Malay Kumar Sen Professor Debasri Baneijee Department of Education University of Calcutta Alipore Campus 1 Reformatory Street, KoIkata-700027 G^ Indian Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2277-3819 Volume IV March 2015 CONTENTS Pages Editor’s Note v Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX 1 and X Adolescents Jhumpa Biswas Adolescent Girls in Distress-A Cross-Sectional Study 11 from Muslim Community in West Bengal Sourav Paul, Sunita Mondal and Bishnupada Nanda Assessing the Relationship between Environmental Awareness 17 and Action towards Reduce, Reuse and Recycle of Twelfth Grade Students Pintu Kumar Maji and Madhumala Sengupta Awareness and Attitude of Students and Teachers of the 28 Under Graduate College on the Use of ICT: A Case Study Rekha Nariwal Comparison of Socio-Economic Background of the Students 41 of Distance Education and Regular Course Anwesha Acharya, Md Kutub Uddin Haider and Nimai Chand Maiti Coping strategies and educational aspirations of 52 higher secondary students Sibichen K. K., and Anisha V Gopalakrishnan Construction of a five-point Likert type scale to measure 59 the perception of teacher educators about ICT Arindam Bhattacharyya Nimai Chand Maiti and Md. Kutubuddin Haider Embracing the Socially Isolates in the Classroom 78 Anupriya Basu, Debjani Sengupta and Debasri Banerjee Environmental Ethics among Higher Secondary 93 Students of Bankura District Nandini Banerjee, Amarnath Das and Dibyendu Bhattacharyya Pages Environmental Knowledge of Secondary School 101 Students in West Bengal Bijan Sarkar Factors Affecting the Subject Choice of Muslim 107 Girls in Higher Education Fauzia Khan and Ambreen Yusafl Inculcating a Culture of Reflection in 124 Pre-Service Teacher Education Ravneet Kaur Influence of the Practicum of the B.Ed. Course of 137 West Bengal in Developing a Favourable Attitude of Secondary School Teachers towards Inclusive Education . Piku Choudhuri • Inter Relationship between Self Esteem and Happiness ’ 151 Dipankar Das and Indrani Nath Mapping the Significance of Human Rights Education in 169 Undergraduate Curriculum Debalina Guha and Madhumala Sengupta Nineteenth Century Bengal Renaissance and 184 Raja Rammohan Roy: Present Perspective Aisharya De and Mita Banerjee Parental Education and van Hiele Level of Geometric 193 Thinking among Higher Secondary Students Arup Kundu and Aditi Ghose Relationship between Teaching Behaviour and 203 Personality Trait of Effective Science Teachers Pritam Das, Sohini Ghosh and Sanat K. Ghosh Representation of Women and Museum Education: 210 A Micro Study in some Selected UK Museums Indrani Bhattacharya Teaching Dynamism and Teacher Education 223 Tinku De (Gope) and Sukanya Bhattacharjee Research Abstract 229 Indian Journal of Educational Research ISSN 2277-3819 Editor’s Note Whole hearted greeting to all our readers, contributors, reviewers and others associated with the Indian Journal of Educational Research. The present issue is comprised of twenty articles and one research abstract related to good quality research covering various aspects of education. The topics include diverse issues like women education, environmental education, teacher education, human rights education and distance education. The articles on school education, higher education, special education, and mathematics education have also been included leading to the holistic approach of the journal. Moreover, as a truly research journal, it has delved into matters related to meta analysis, construction of standardized test, ICT, career choice and other issues. Articles are included in historical, sociological and psychological research. All the papers in the journal are expected to enhance the quality research in education. It is to be noted that our journal can be seen at present in our University website (caluniv.ac.in) through ‘Education’ Department. » Our whole hearted thanks to the authorities of the University, our colleagues in the department, the contributors, the panel of reviewers and the readers. We are fortunate enough to have a highly esteemed peer reviews committee who, in spite of their very busy schedule, provided thorough and critical inputs for each and every paper. I specially thanks to my colleague Dr. Md. Kutubuddin Haider for his silent dedication towards the shaping of the journal. As a big family we all tried our best to enhance and sustain the quality of the journal. In spite of utmost care, some limitations and incompleteness may crop therein. It is all due to our constraints to shoulder the responsibility to the perfection. With warm regards, Dr. Nimai Chand Maiti Professor, Department of Education, University of Calcutta Indian Journal of Educational Research, ISSN 2277-3819 Volume-IV, March 2015, Pp. 1-10 Academic Overload and Mental Health of Class IX and X Adolescents Jhumpa Biswas* Abstract The social structure with its advancing technology and tremendous growth of knowledge is making more and more demands upon the adolescents which appear to be far beyond their capacity to cope. In such society adolescence are more vulnerable to competition. Competition leads to academic overload which is one of the most pervasive psycho-social stressor for the young generation in our country. The present study aimed to find out the impact of Academic Overload on Mental Health of adolescents with respect to their familial and social backdrop. A sample of 240 adolescents both boys and girls (15-16 years) from co-educational Government and Private Secondary schools of Kolkata Metropolitan city was studied. Data were collected by using Personal Information data sheet, RCEB Mental Health Scale developed by S.P. Anand (1980) and a self structured Interview schedule to assess Academic Overload was administered. From the study it was found out that female students of both class IX, and X taken together suffered more in Academic Overload ie. 74.20% than male students’ ie. 68.35%. In case of Mental Health score female students of both class IX and X taken together are 36.65% and male students are 58.30%, which clearly shows that when Academic Overload increases percentage of mentally healthy students decreases and vice versa. Key Words: Adolescents, Academic Overload, Mental Health, Stress. Introduction The present age is a transitional period suffering from economic hardship, unemployment, population explosion, poverty etc. Due to population explosion life space has become narrower. On the other hand the period is known as the competitive age. Everyone is striving for excellence and material gain seems to be the primary purpose of life and in a culture where happiness is often measured in terms of material success, people have become more dependent on material means as a source of security and power. In such society adolescence are more * Assistant Professor in Education, Women’s College Calcutta P-29, Kshirode Vidya Vinode Avenue, Kolkata-700 003, E-mail: [email protected] © University of Calcutta Indian Journal of Educational Research vulnerable to competition. Competition leads to academic overload which is one of the most pervasive psychological stressor for the young generation in our country. It generally refers to the state when certain aspects of our lives place excessive demands on us, and when we fail to satisfy those demands we experience distress. We all are aware of the multiple forms in which they are experienced as the adolescents live in modem, automated, fast paced, time driven, tensed world that leads to mental health problem due to academic overload which cannot bring lasting peace and tranquility. Overload reaches the class-room as well. Ghildren are pressured to do well academically, to serve the purpose of grade battle in this competitive age. Academic overload is defined as the excessive internal and external demands regarding academic performance, which creates disequilibrium in the mental life of the child Pfiffer, (2001). There is a relatively constant underlying pressure to compete with upcoming assignment Hudd, S.S. et.al., (2000). The load or demand from various sources does not seem to create a problem as long as the student is able to strike a balance and maintain its equilibrium amongst all. But when these expectations or load cross the level to which the student is unable to strike a balance, one feels overburdened or overloaded. The individual is then at a position to complain that one has to do too many things in too less time. Perhaps the academic load faced by the adolescents of today is higher than ever before. This is because today’s challenging environment is pushing the children beyond the limit without providing opportunity to maximize their potential. Thus, a child’s innate nature and capacities have no opportunity to find expression in a daily routine that permits no time to play, to enjoy simple pleasures and to explore the world. The situation has of course worsened during the years, and the situation now is not confined to metropolitan cities alone, it can be seen in small towns and bigger villages too. (Yash, P. 1993). Pediatricians, psychiatrists and neurologists are of the opinion that the effect of academic overload or pressure is immense on their young patients. Educators, social welfare societies and juvenile protective agencies are tracing out mal-adjustment problems which are resulting due to academic overload or stress. In recent years, clinical psychologists as well as educationalists have started giving proper attention to the study of mental health. Mental health means those behaviours, perceptions and feelings that determine a person’s overall level of personal effectiveness, success, happiness, and excellence of functioning as a person Cutts and Mosley (1994). The World Health Organization (2005) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. ” According to Richards, Campania, & Muse-Burke (2010) "There Biswas is growing evidence that is showing emotional abilities are associated with prosocial behaviors such as stress management and physical health”. Also without emotional support, mental health is at risk. By receiving emotional support your health can increase and prevent mental health disorders. However, for the present work the targeted sample are in the higher secondary stage (class IX and X) of educational ladder of Kolkata Metropolitan city. Academic Overload and Mental Health of adolescents is taken into consideration to carry out the present work. Academic Overload Sarma (2004) in a study conducted that parental educatioh was highly associated with the academic stress of their children. The students with the parents of official and government jobs may have poor level of academic stress and better adjustment compared to the students of business, coolie and agricultural parents. Asha Batnagar (2007) observed 600 tenth class students of Delhi and found a positive and significant correlation between the academic stress factors and the academic achievement He also found a significant negative correlation between study habits and academic stress. Premalata Sharma (2007) in a study on achievement of rural girls found that poor study habits were highly associated with higher stress. The level of stress also leads o the academic success. Chakrabarthy (2007) observed that educational level of the family influenced the academic stress of the female students compared to the male students. Nagaraju (2009) conducted a study on 224 students of class X and reported that (i) the correlation between academic stress and anxiety is positive and significant, (ii) the correlation between intelligence and stress is negative and significant and (iii) the correlation between achievement and stress is positive and significant. Mental Health Bhargava and Qureshi (2006) made a comparative analysis of mental health of drug abuser and non-drug abusers and found that drug abusers were found significantly lower in adjustment, emotional stability, autonomy, intelligence and scored more in insecurity and self-concept. Singh, Chaudhary and Asthana (2007) studied the mental health status of high and low emotionally intelligent adolescent and observed a significant difference in mental health status indicating better -mental health of highly emotionally intelligent adolescent. Singh (2008) studied the effect of socio-economic status and residence on mental health of college students and found that low socio-economic status had a negative impact upon sound development of mental health behavior. However rural urban region was not found to be significant determinants of mental health behavior. Tejpreet Kang, Asha Chawla (2009) studied the mental health: A study