Reconceptualising Teacher Education through Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS): Epistemic Justice, Decolonial Pedagogy, and Policy Transformation under NEP 2020 and NCF 2023
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The embedding of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) within teacher education is not a matter of curricular addition. What it signals is a reconfiguration of what counts as legitimate knowledge, how pedagogy is conceived, and what institutions are expected to do with inherited intellectual traditions. Situated within the frameworks of NEP 2020 and NCF 2023, this study examines how IKS may be institutionalised so as to advance epistemic pluralism, pedagogical innovation and decolonial transformation. A qualitative comparative design guides the inquiry, drawing on thematic analysis of policy documents, examination of selected international frameworks, and case-based review of Indian institutional initiatives. Grounded in constructivism, epistemic justice and decolonial pedagogy, the study treats IKS not as a cultural supplement but as a structurally integrative knowledge framework. The evidence points to a clear and centralised policy direction in India, and yet significant gaps have remained. Teacher preparedness is uneven. Institutional capacity is frequently overstretched. Questions of epistemic validation persist across disciplines, and governance arrangements do not consistently translate stated intent into classroom practice. The pattern which results is one of selective implementation, token inclusion, and continuing friction with dominant scientific paradigms. The study argues that teacher education functions as the critical pivot for translating policy into practice, and that such translation requires systemic restructuring of curriculum, professional development, assessment and community engagement. It proposes a multi-layered implementation framework grounded in institutionalised epistemic pluralism and supported by governance mechanisms, resource mobilisation and sustained capacity-building. Positioned within global comparative contexts, the study contributes to ongoing debates on decolonising education by demonstrating that effective IKS integration requires the alignment of epistemic recognition with pedagogical practice and institutional transformation, out of which India's emerging model may be read as a potentially scalable framework for reconciling cultural rootedness with contemporary educational demands.
Author: Bhagyashree Panda
Institution: University Grants Commission
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7172136017