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Teachers’ notes
There are two Teachers’ Guidance Sheets. These provide guidance and background
information for teachers in using the programme to learn about Bangalore, the reasons
for its growth in population, the impacts of that growth, and how these can be managed.
The programme can be used in teaching about inequalities in urban development in
developing countries, and in applying sustainable principles to people’s living spaces
Teachers will find it especially helpful to read the introductory information about
Bangalore (Teacher Guidance Page 2), which provides:
a geographical outline of India’s geography, its development, and its recent
economic growth
background information about the growth of the city, particularly in respect of
SEZs
an introduction to the caste system in India
Each is critical to understanding how and why Bangalore has grown as it has. These will
also assist teachers in handling some of the follow-up activities.
The principles of the programme and these exercises are that students should:
know about the growth of Bangalore – its nature and causes
understand Bangalore’s growth in the context of India’s emergence as an
economic superpower
understand the impacts of Bangalore’s growth upon employment, housing and
services
develop their abilities to analyse
be able to judge whether the growth of Bangalore and its inequalities has brought
more benefits than problems
Resource Sheets are numbered 1-6 according to whether they are intended for teachers
or students.
Contents
Student Resource Page 5 What are the housing issues facing Bangalore?
A student small group enquiry about traffic, water and energy issues in
Bangalore
1 Describing
Select scenes and ask students to describe in detail – e.g. ’20 words to describe
this place’
Ask students to compare scenes in the programme (e.g. comparing the company
headquarters in Bangalore with slum conditions found across the city). This is
especially effective if done without the sound
Reverse the process; ask students to predict what pictures are being shown, and
details about these, by listening to the narration but with the screen picture
turned off
2 Understanding
Before watching a clip, give students specific things to look and listen for. For
instance, students could be guided towards the role of NGOs so that they can
see how such organisations can work in urban communities
Freeze-frame scenes and discuss students' understanding of what is being
shown
Give students comprehension questions, but beware that they may be listening
to the narration, with eyes down, rather than watching the picture
3 Listening
Give students a list of key words to listen out for, and then identify their meaning
Ask students to identify key words or phrases, and define these, based on the
narration
4 Creative follow-up
Role-play Interviews. Here, students work in interview pairs. One student,
acting as a journalist, devises questions for the second student, acting as the
person being interviewed. A 5-minute interview follows which can either be done
privately in pairs or by ‘hot seating’ pairs in front of the class. Students then feed
back to the class about the interviews.
Information Gap. You need two rooms for this to take place. Half the class
watches part of the programme without sound, while the other half hears it
without pictures. Each half then discusses what they think will a) be in the script,
and b) shown as pictures respectively. Students then return to class, pair up,
discuss the situation and characters, and put together sounds and pictures. The
teacher then shows the complete part of the programme.
Fractured scenes. Write parts of the dialogue on separate strips of paper, place
these in random order in envelopes, and ask students to re-sequence them.
Alternatively, distribute the strips randomly, one per pair of students, and ask
students to recreate the scene in which the line of their script occurs.
Further reading
Ferretti, Jane (2009) ‘Effective use of visual resources in the classroom’ in
‘Teaching Geography’, Autumn 2009
Roberts, Margaret (1986) ‘Using video’ in ‘The Geography Teachers’ Handbook’,
Geographical Association
A Population indicators
In 2009, the population of India was nearly 1.2 billion. By 2025, it will probably be
the world’s most populous country. Compared to its population of 400 million at
the time of its independence from British colonial rule in 1947, this growth has
been exceptionally rapid.
With a median age of 25.3, India has a young population. Its population growth
rate is still high, at over 1.5% in 2009. Birth rates are high at 21.76 births per
1000 population, even though the fertility rate had fallen to 2.72 children born per
woman in 2009.
Death rates have fallen dramatically, and are now only 6.23 deaths per 1000
population. Infant mortality rates remain high with 30.15 deaths per 1000 live
births in 2009. This factor alone holds back India’s life expectancy at birth which
in 2009 was estimated at 69.9 years.
India is still a predominantly rural country; only 29% of its population is urban,
even though the population of India’s cities is growing faster than the annual
average, at 2.4%.
Bangalore’s population growth has been spurred by technology industries. The city’s
image is one of high-tech buildings, with almost every major technology company
represented there. Rural-urban migration of the rural poor has affected Bangalore, and
there are massive slum areas. But there has been significant urban-to-urban migration of
professionals, and a large middle class lives there.
In theory, SEZs should increase employment, attract economic activity, and create a
critical mass of high-earning, high-spending people. The benefits should therefore
accrue in increased tax income for infrastructural development. However, in reality,
revenue for Bangalore’s authorities has been outpaced by its rapid growth; attracted by
low taxes, company growth exceeds the rate at which new roads, or water and energy
networks can be built. The programmes show how multi-million rupee buildings are
surrounded by poor roads, cracked or dirt pavements, and that companies have their
own electricity generators and water tanks to guarantee supplies.
Climate
Bangalore has a tropical climate with wet and dry seasons. Its elevation makes it cooler
than India’s coast, though westerners can find it uncomfortable in the monsoon. ‘Winter’
is dry; January temperatures may drop to 12°C in early morning, whilst the hottest month
(April) has the highest average daily maximum temperature of 33.6°C. Rainfall is
concentrated in the summer monsoon between August and October, which causes
power cuts and flooding.
The caste system is a religious and social class system in India, where social class is
defined by birth and family. Found mostly among Hindus, it also exists among some
Muslims and Christians. Over 60 years after India’s independence, its constitution
makes caste discrimination illegal, but many barriers and social customs persist.
As well as the advantaged Forward castes – forming 25% of India’s population – the
government now classifies people by
Scheduled Castes, or former ‘untouchables’ (16% of India’s population); the word
‘Dalit’ is now preferred.
Scheduled Tribes, who consist of tribal groups (7%).
Other Backward Classes (52%).
It does this to discriminate positively in education and jobs for the most disadvantaged.
Some people protest about this, because they believe that negative treatment of forward
castes is actually divisive. They believe that school and employment choice should be
based on economic status, as there are now many Dalits who are wealthier and more
educated than forward castes, but who still benefit from positive discrimination.
‘Untouchability’ was outlawed in 1950, and has declined; the process of urbanisation has
also helped to break down barriers between groups. President Narayanan of India
(1997-2002) and the present Chief Justice each belonged to lower castes.
However, the caste system runs deep and is a long way from removal in India’s society.
Though inter-caste marriages are now more common, caste is still a factor in some
marriage choices. Some Indian matrimonial websites, internet dating adverts, and news
columns contain caste-based categories, and adverts for marriage partners are allowed
to state caste as a preference.
Aim
This activity is designed for small groups of students who, together, can produce either a
PowerPoint or a web page presentation. Teachers could then combine several of these
to create a class presentation on Bangalore or a year group website.
Seven enquiry themes are set out below. With a class of 30, this should mean about 4
students per question, and you can always split some of the questions up. For each
search, tell students to search under Google Images as well as web sites for information
and data.
Time allowed
To develop this more fully, you could allow up to four one-hour lessons:
one lesson’s research time;
two lessons for the development of student presentations;
finally, one lesson for group presentations, with self-assessment of each
presentation.
Group Enquiries
1. Where is Bangalore?
e.g. which country? Which latitude? Which other places have a similar latitude? What’s
close by? Are there mountains, rivers?
e.g. what did the historic city look like? What is it like now? What sorts of buildings have
grown up recently? What are newer housing or buildings like compared to old? How is
transport changing?
Guidance
For an Indian view, try the Bangalore Development Authority – written by the
people who are helping to make change happen. Their website is
www.bdabangalore.org/
Carry out a Google Search of the words ‘Bangalore blog’; it will produce several
informal websites where people blog, which help to give a sense of what people there
are thinking and concerned about.
Use the BBC news page, www.bbc.co.uk/news and search ‘Bangalore changes’.
e.g. What is Bangalore’s economy based on? What are the most common types of jobs
done by people who live and work there? Is the economy changing? What are working
conditions like for people at work? Who are the biggest employers in Bangalore?
Guidance
Type ‘Bangalore economy’ into Google. Use www.virtualbangalorepage.com; also
Wikipedia – key in ‘Bangalore’ into Google; for an Indian view of Bangalore try the
‘Times of India’ newspaper – www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
For job adverts, use http://bangalore.timesjobs.com/
5. What is housing in Bangalore like for different people? What housing types
are there?
e.g. What is it like for young people growing up in Bangalore? For families living there?
For the elderly? For wealthy? For the poor?
Guidance
Type ‘Housing in Bangalore’ into Google, and find examples of both modern and
traditional housing, and for wealthy and poorer people. Find out what rents are like
for flats and houses, or what prices are like to buy.
The Hindu newspaper is useful for life in Bangalore – see http://www.thehindu.com/
6. What are the day-to-day worries or concerns of people living in Bangalore?
Why do they have these worries or concerns?
e.g. what is travelling like in Bangalore? Pollution? Are there parks and open
spaces? What about crime? Are newspapers and TV similar to those in the UK or
Europe?
Guidance
You will need to do a general search using Google on phrases such as ‘freedom of
speech in Bangalore’, ‘pollution in Bangalore’.
General social data on life in India can be found on www.indiastat.com
For crime, try http://spotcrime.com/in/bangalore as well as a report on 'Crime in
India, 2005' which you can find.
YouTube is excellent for scenes of people driving or of pollution. Type ‘Bangalore
driving’ or ‘Bangalore pollution’ into YouTube’s search facility. You may get some
surprises!
The Hindu newspaper is useful for life in Bangalore – see http://www.thehindu.com/
e.g. how will the city change in appearance? Will people’s lives be any different? Is the
caste system changing?
Guidance
Type ‘Bangalore in 20 years time’ into Google.
Use www.virtualbangalorepage.com and Wikipedia
Type in ‘future of Bangalore’ into Google; for an Indian view of Bangalore try the
‘Times of India’ newspaper – www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
The Hindu newspaper is useful for life in Bangalore – see http://www.thehindu.com/
General social data on life in India can be found on www.indiastat.com
Pictures Commentary
Part 1: Causes of
urbanisation
Part 2: Impacts –
employment
1. Knowing the key terms. Define these names or terms briefly with examples
from the programme:
Call centres
Caste
Community based organisations
Globalisation
Mythri
NGO
Out-sourcing
Prejudice
Privatisation
Sanitation
House style
Building materials
Other contrasts
Summary: When you have completed this, explain in about 500 words what you
consider to be the causes of these differences.
This is a research exercise, about how Bangalore’s main housing problems could be
managed in future. Four problem areas are suggested as a focus:
to increase greatly the amount of private housing,
to increase the amount of Bangalore City Authority housing ,
to increase housing projects built by NGOs (the voluntary sector) such as Mythri.
to provide housing for street dwellers and street children (there are an estimated
80 000 street children in Bangalore alone.
Divide students into groups of about 2-3. Each group should select one of the issues,
research it, and prepare a 4-6 side PowerPoint or podcast of about 3-4 minutes.
Research Questions
Conclusions
Five A4 cards or sheets of paper; these should read ‘Strongly agree’, ‘Generally
agree’, ‘Not sure or No Opinion’, ‘Generally disagree’ and ‘Strongly Disagree’.
A small amount of blu-tak to enable these to be stuck on to the classroom walls.
The classroom; use all the space for students to move about by moving tables to
the sides.
Blu-tak the five cards to the classroom wall, from ‘Strongly agree’ to ‘Strongly
Disagree’.
Explain to students that you are going to read out statements, one by one, and
that you will allow about five minutes to discuss each one. Each time they hear a
statement, they should go and stand beneath the card that most clearly
describes how they feel about it – e.g. ‘Generally agree’.
Once there, they should justify why they are there, and listen to others doing the
same.
If at any time they change their opinion, they can move to another position, and
justify it.
Read out the statements from the list below. Add your own if you are feeling
inventive or other issues have occurred in class.
Debrief students towards the end of the lesson about the views expressed about
India. How far is the growth of Bangalore something that they like? Do they feel
that the caste system is something about which they are entitled to an opinion,
even though they do not live in India? How fair is India as a country or society?
To conclude, ask each person to write about 500 words outlining why they do or
do not believe that the growth of Bangalore has been to the benefit of the
majority.
Statements