Krishna Kumar (educationist)

Krishna Kumar is an Indian intellectual and academician, noted for his writings on the sociology and history of education. He is currently an Honorary Professor in Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. His academic work involves a wide range of themes, including the school curriculum as a means of social inquiry, gender, peace education, and the role of language during childhood among others. His work is notable for its critical engagement with modernity in a once colonized society and post welfare discourses in education. As a teacher and bilingual writer, he has developed an aesthetic of pedagogy and knowledge that aspires to mitigate aggression and violence and to encourage introspection. In addition to his academic work, he writes fiction and non-fiction in Hindi. His latest book in English, Thank You, Gandhi, is a blend of fiction and non-fiction. He also writes for children. He taught at the Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi, from 1981 to 2016 where he served as the Dean and Head of the institution. From 2004 to 2010, he was Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an apex organization for curricular decision making and educational research in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India in 2011. The Institute of Education (IoE), University of London, awarded him an Honorary D.Litt. in Education in the same year.