As a teacher, I understand the enormity of my responsibility in presenting precise information objectively to students. Communication in the academic world needs to be sensitive to the crucial role that the teacher plays in shaping the worldview of another, without hampering who they finally become. At the same time, I think a holistic teaching experience is one which is based on a foundation of humility – both of the teacher’s and that of the students, as both complement each other, preferably through a collaborative format with shared academic goals.
In my classroom, students get an insight into contemporary social life within its historical context and in terms of the social structures that operate at the local, national and global levels. In teaching my courses, I have realized that not only dialogue but also active engagement with the issues by going out into the field, are the two main ways in which students can learn.
In all of my teaching experience, I have constantly reminded myself that true pedagogy is not one where the teacher assumes an air of aloofness to compete with students in demonstrating academic or intellectual superiority. Both my pedagogy and the teaching philosophy that shapes it, function on the awareness that the teacher, just as the student, is constantly growing and learning.
Dr. Renu Vinod is Assistant Professor (Adjunct), at the Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA), SIU, Pune since 2020. Before SSLA, she worked as lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Savitribai Phule Pune University. She received her PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. She has undertaken postdoctoral work at the University of Uppsala, Sweden (2015) and the University of Freiburg, Germany (2009). Prior to joining the academia, she worked in the development sector in New Delhi in the fields of right to information (Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative) and informal sector livelihoods (Centre for Civil Society), and in the field of corporate social responsibility (Times Foundation, Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd.).
Most recently, she has authored a book on the sociology of modernity in India titled, Modernity in India: Issues, Perspectives and Challenges (Routledge, 2024) and a peer reviewed paper on the subjective experiences of female leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic titled, ‘We Need to Provide Education’: A Phenomenological Study of Female School Leaders During the COVID-19 Lockdown (Peace Prints, 2023). Her most recent research is on non-formal educational spaces and the pedagogy of care. She is currently researching the intersections between folk art, livelihoods and the state; climate politics and development and slum redevelopment in post-LPG India. More information on her work is available at: Renu Vinod Curriculum Vitae.
