Research Associate - The Politics of Implementing Learning-Oriented School Reforms in India

Research Associate:

• Project: "The Politics of Implementing Learning-Oriented School Reforms in India"
• Principal Investigators: Prof. Akshay Mangla (University of Oxford) and Prof. Yamini Aiyar (Brown University)
• Partner Organizations: Pratham, What Works Hub for Global Education, University of Oxford
• Project duration: September 15, 2026 – March 31, 2027 (with possibility of extension)

Are you interested in action research on India's learning crisis and ongoing school education reforms? This is an opportunity to work on an in-depth, field-based study of how education reforms in Uttar Pradesh translate — or fail to translate — into changed teaching practice, in partnership with Pratham and researchers at the University of Oxford.

Come learn about qualitative fieldwork, process tracing, and embedded research with government agencies, teachers, and communities.

Background:

India's primary education system has expanded dramatically over the past three decades, reaching near-universal enrollment. Yet these gains have not translated into learning: large shares of children remain unable to read a simple paragraph or perform basic arithmetic at grade level after several years of schooling. Recent reforms — including India's National Education Policy (NEP 2020) and NIPUN Bharat — seek to reorient the system toward foundational learning through structured pedagogy, regular assessment, and intensified monitoring. What remains poorly understood is how such reforms are translated into practice at scale within a complex, low-capacity system.

This research project examines how learning-oriented reforms are implemented in Uttar Pradesh (UP) — India's largest state and one of the largest public education systems in the world. It asks: when and how do learning-oriented reforms get adopted in classrooms and translate into new teaching practices? What are the mechanisms behind system-wide change, particularly in settings of weak state capacity, rapid privatization, and high social inequality?

The study is based on the recognition that pedagogical change is not produced by any single intervention. It emerges — if at all — through a multi-level process in which local politics, bureaucratic mediation, teacher practice, civil society engagement (including through partners such as Pratham), and community participation interact over time. The research traces this process across levels: state policy design, district administration and monitoring, school leadership and teacher practice, and household and community engagement with learning. The study employs a multi-level qualitative design combining intensive process tracing across multiple districts of Utta Pradesh.

Position details:

The Research Associate (RA) will support an intensive, field-based study of how reforms move — or stall — across levels of the state and society, drawing on semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation in administrative settings and schools, structured classroom observation, and village-level ethnography. This research will be housed at the What Works Hub for Global Education, University of Oxford.

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh is the RA's primary duty station, with extensive travel to study district for fieldwork.

The RA will participate in weekly calls with the PI and research team, and ensure documentation quality throughout.

Duties and responsibilities:

• The primary responsibility of the Research Associate is to carry out qualitative field research and desk-based research on the implementation of learning-oriented education reforms in Uttar Pradesh. 

Specific tasks include:

• Help conduct a thorough review of secondary literature and policy documents on education reform in UP and India
• Collect and organize administrative and education data from state, district, and school sources
• Help develop, translate (into Hindi), and pilot qualitative interview and observation instruments
• Conduct in-person interviews with state, district, and block-level education officials, following semi-structured questionnaires
• Conduct in-person interviews with school teachers
• Take careful notes during interviews
• Transcribe notes, following established project documentation protocols
• Support content analysis and coding of interview data
• Carry out participant observation within district and block education offices, teacher training sessions, and school settings
• Conduct structured classroom observation to assess pedagogy, student engagement, and use of instructional materials
• Perform interviews and focus group discussions with parents (especially mothers), community leaders, and civil society organizations, including Pratham field staff
• Conduct interviews and village-level ethnographic fieldwork to understand household an community engagement with schooling
• Maintain careful documentation and follow-up on schools, teachers, and field cases of particular analytical interest
• Support qualitative data analysis, including coding and synthesis of interview, FGD, and observation data
• Draft research memos summarizing field findings for the PI and research team
• Assist in preparing presentations (PPT) summarizing findings for internal review and partner meetings
• Coordinate field logistics with district officials and Pratham partners as needed

Qualifications:

• Master's degree in political science, public policy, education, sociology, anthropology, or a related social science field (strongly preferred)
• Fluency in Hindi, speaking and reading (required)
• Proficiency in English (required)
• Prior fieldwork experience (required)
• Demonstrated qualitative research skills, including conducting interviews, facilitating focus group discussions, and ethnographic fieldwork in schools, teacher training settings, and village meetings (required)
• Strong analytical and academic writing skills, with demonstrated ability to synthesize qualitative data into clear, well-organized written analysis (required)
• Familiarity with qualitative data analysis software, e.g. NVivo or Dedoose (preferred, not required)
• Willingness to travel extensively within Uttar Pradesh (required)

Payment:

• Competitive monthly salary, commensurate with experience. Candidates with a Master's degree and/or extensive demonstrated fieldwork experience are preferred; exceptional candidates with a Bachelor's degree and significant fieldwork experience will also be considered, with compensation adjusted accordingly.
• Vehicle and hotel costs for fieldwork travel outside Lucknow are covered directly by the project grant; other direct research costs are reimbursed.

Linkedin:

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