The Pedagogical Disconnect: A Critique of Decontextualized Education and the Alienation from Local Reality
A critique of education's disconnect from local reality, advocating for a place-based model that integrates community challenges into the curriculum.
Introduction This analysis critiques a prevalent educational paradigm that creates a significant dichotomy between standardized academic curricula and the socio-environmental realities of students. Drawing upon observations from a rural village context in Nepal, it argues that by prioritizing abstract, often Western-centric knowledge—such as Newtonian physics or dinosaur extinction—over immediate local challenges like water scarcity or ecological degradation, the current system inadvertently fosters several critical failures. These include the epistemological alienation of students, the internalization of unsustainable development models, the devaluation of local knowledge systems and livelihoods, and the cultivation of graduates who are ill-equipped to solve practical, community-based problems. The paper concludes by advocating for a paradigm shift towards a place-based, integrated pedagogy where educational institutions and their communities engage in a symbiotic relationship to fost…