Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

1

FO

UN

DA

TIO

N O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

N

(CO

DE

: B.E

d 15101)

Com

piled By: M

s Nasiya and M

s Nasreeena

Deptt. O

f Education

Institute of Advanced S

tudies in Education M

A R

oad Srinagar.

CH

AP

TE

R 1

ED

UC

AT

ION

AN

D P

HILO

SO

PH

Y

CO

NC

EP

T O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

N

Ed

ucatio

n has a lo

ng h

istory. It is a never end

ing

process o

f inner gro

wth

and d

evelopm

ent and

its period stretch

es from

cradle to the grave. Ed

uc

ation, in

real sense, is to h

uman

ize hum

anity,

and to

ma

ke life pro

gressive, cu

ltured an

d civilized

. It is very impo

rtant fo

r the p

rogress o

f

ind

ividual an

d society. It is thro

ugh

educatio

n that m

an develo

ps his th

inkin

g and reason

ing,

prob

lem so

lving an

d creativity, intelligen

ce and aptitu

de, po

sitive sentim

ents and

skills, good

values and

attitudes. It is th

rou

gh e

ducatio

n th

at h

e is transform

ed in

to h

um

an, social, m

oral

and sp

iritual bein

g. Man

learns som

ething eve

ry da

y an

d every mo

men

t. His en

tire life is

educatio

n. H

ence edu

cation

is a continu

ous an

d dyna

mic p

rocess. It is co

ncern

ed w

ith ever-

grow

ing m

an in

an ever-grow

ing so

ciety. Hen

ce it is still in

the process o

f evolu

tion

. There are

differen

t views w

ith re

gard to

the m

ean

ing an

d defi

nition

of th

e term “E

ducatio

n.” D

ivergen

t

views h

ave been

expressed b

y diffe

rent thinkers, philoso

phers, p

sycho

logists, ed

ucatio

nists,

teacher, statesm

en, politician

s and p

riests accordin

g to th

eir ow

n o

utlook o

n life. Let us discu

ss

som

e of the app

roaches to un

derstand

the m

ean

ing of

edu

cation.

Etym

ological or derivative approach

Etym

ologically, th

e term “E

du

cation” h

as a nu

mb

er o

f de

rivation

s:

1. A

ccording to

one vie

w E

ducatio

n is derived fro

m

the Latin

wo

rd “ed

ucare

”wh

ich m

eans ‘to

brin

g up’ or ‘to

nou

rish.’ It m

eans th

at the child

is to

be b

rought u

p while

keepin

g in view

certain

aims an

d id

eals.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

2

2. A

ccordin

g to ano

ther view

the term

edu

cation is

derived

from

the Latin w

ord

“educe

re” which

me

ans “to lead

out” o

r to d

raw o

ut. In oth

er wo

rds

it me

ans th

at educatio

n is to

lead ou

t or to

draw

out o

f the b

est in ch

ild an

d m

an.

3. A

ccord

ing to th

ird vie

w th

e term

‘educatio

n’ is d

erived fro

m th

e Latin w

ord ‘ed

ucatu

m’ w

hich

me

ans ‘the a

ct of tea

ching o

r trainin

g.’

(1) DIF

FE

RE

NT

IAL A

PP

RO

AC

H

In o

rder to u

nderstan

d th

e me

anin

g of ed

ucation in

a clearer and

mo

re definite form

edu

cation

shou

ld b

e distin

guish

ed fro

m instruction

, trainin

g, scho

olin

g, literacy, tea

ching an

d info

rmation

.

1. E

du

cation an

d Instruction

: In in

structio

n w

e imp

art the kn

ow

ledge

of a particular sub

ject to

the stu

dent in

system

atic, plann

ed an

d lo

gical wa

y. W

e, of cou

rse, includ

e this kno

wled

ge in

educatio

n, b

ut w

e have to

loo

k to som

ethin

g else. A p

erson m

ay b

e well in

formed

but h

e ma

y no

t

be an ed

ucated pe

rson. E

du

cation is m

ore th

an instr

uctio

ns as it implies acq

uisitio

n of kno

wled

ge

and exp

erience as well as th

e developm

ent o

f skills, h

abits, an

d attitud

es which

help

a person

to

lead a fu

ll and h

appy life. It is the co

mp

lete develo

pm

ent of stu

dent’s p

ersonality.

2. E

du

cation an

d Trainin

g: Trainin

g is given in a fo

rmal w

ay as it im

plies p

reparation

und

er

supervisio

n and

in a certain fram

e-wo

rk of rules an

d re

gulation

s. Edu

cation can

be given in a

form

al as well as in an

form

al wa

y. Train

ing is m

er

ely a part or kind

of ed

ucatio

n.

3. E

du

cation an

d Scho

olin

g: No d

oub

t schoo

ling is w

ider term

than in

structio

n as it in

cludes

academ

ic activities

and

pro

gram

mes,

oth

er th

an clas

sroom

in

structio

n

of com

mu

nicated

info

rmatio

n. Co-cu

rricular activities like ed

ucatio

nal trips, social service ca

mps, co

mm

unity

wo

rk and

hob

bies form an

imp

ortant p

art o

f scho

olin

g but th

ey are n

ot in

cluded

the sco

pe of

instru

ction

. Bu

t educatio

n is still wid

er term than

schoo

ling is co

nfin

ed to th

e period

for which

a

child

remains on

the ro

lls, of an in

structio

n. B

ut

edu

cation is a life-lo

ng p

rocess. It starts w

hen

the ch

ild is bo

rn an

d con

tinu

es up to th

e last mo

me

nt of d

eath.

4. E

ducatio

n and

Tea

chin

g: Ed

ucation

is no

t teachi

ng. E

ducatio

n and

teachin

g is no

t on

e sam

e

thin

g. We m

ay n

ot ed

ucate ch

ildren even

if we

teach

the

m a p

articular su

bject. T

each

ing is on

ly

one facto

r in edu

cation. In teach

ing w

e imp

art kno

wled

ge of a particular subject to

the sub

jects.

We, o

f course, in

clude

this kno

wled

ge in ed

ucatio

n, b

ut educatio

n can

not b

e confin

ed to

teach

ing

only. In

fact, it is the all-rou

nd develo

pmen

t of t

he studen

t’s person

ality and th

e teacher sh

ould

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

3

be prep

ared to con

tribu

ted to this type of d

evelop

men

t of p

erso

nality instead

of o

nly impartin

g

know

ledge of a su

bject to child

ren.

(2) IND

IAN

CO

NC

EP

T (A

PP

RO

AC

H) O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

N

Som

e of the im

portan

t views rega

rdin

g educatio

n given

by In

dians are:-

1. R

ig Ved

a: Acco

rdin

g to Rig V

eda, E

du

cation

is that “w

hich m

akes a m

an self-relian

t and

selfless.”

2. U

pan

ishads: A

ccord

ing to

Up

anish

ads, “Ed

ucation

is th

at wh

ose end

pro

duct is salvatio

n.”

3.

Vivekan

and

a’s V

iew:

Vivekan

and

a re

ma

rks “E

ducatio

n

is th

e m

anifestatio

n of

divine

perfe

ction alre

ady existin

g in m

an.” H

e furth

er sa

ys, “W

e w

ant that ed

ucation

by w

hich ch

aracter

is formed

, strength

of m

ind

is increased, the in

tellect is expan

ded

and

by w

hich

one can

stand on

one’s ow

n feet.”

4. S

hankarch

arya’s V

iew: In

dian p

hilosop

her Sh

ankar

charya

says, “E

du

cation is realizatio

n of

the self.”

5. A

urb

indo

’s Vie

w: In

the w

ord

s of A

urbind

o G

hosh

, ed

ucatio

n is “help

ing th

e grow

ing so

ul to

draw

out th

at is in itself.”

6. T

agore

’s View

: Ta

gore o

pines, “E

ducatio

n m

ean

s en

abling the m

ind

to fin

d ou

t that ultimate

truth

wh

ich e

man

cipate u

s form

the bon

da

ge of the d

ust and gives u

s the w

ealth, no

t of thin

gs bu

t

of in

ner ligh

t, not o

f po

wer b

ut of love, m

aking the tru

th its o

wn an

d givin

g expression to

it.” In

the w

ord

s, of T

ago

re edu

cation

is that “w

hich m

akes o

ne’s life in harm

on

y with

all existence.”

7. G

and

hi’s view: A

ccordin

g to Mah

atma

Gand

hi “B

y ed

ucation

I mean

an all ro

und

draw

ing o

ut

of th

e best in ch

ild and

man-bo

dy, m

ind and

spirit.

”

(3) WE

ST

ER

N C

ON

CE

PT

OF

ED

UC

AT

ION

Som

e of the m

ost po

pular view

s of W

estern edu

cation

thinkers are as follow

s:

1. P

lato’s V

iew: P

lato re

marks, “E

du

cation is the

cap

acity to feel p

leasu

re an

d pain

at the

right

mo

men

t. It develop

s in the b

od

y and in

the sou

l of the pu

pil all th

e beauty and

all the pe

rfection

of w

hich

he is cap

able of.”

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

4

2. A

ristotle’s View

: Aristotle, th

e discipline o

f Plato said, “E

ducatio

n d

evelops m

an’s faculty

especially his min

d so that h

e ma

y be ab

le to en

joy

the con

tem

platio

n o

f suprem

e truth, good

ness

and b

eauty in w

hich p

erfect hap

piness essential con

sists.” He b

riefly explain

ed edu

cation as “th

e

creation of a so

und

min

d in

a sou

nd b

od

y.”

3. C

om

enius’ View

: Co

men

ius chara

cterised ed

ucatio

n as a “true fo

rging p

lace,” i.e., edu

cation

gives a new

shape to

ma

n.

4. P

estalozzi’s View

: Pe

stalozzi spea

ks of edu

catio

n as “N

atural, harm

on

ious an

d pro

gressive

develo

pm

ent of m

an’s in

nate p

ow

ers.”

5. F

roebel’s V

iew

: In th

e wo

rds of F

roeb

el “Ed

ucation

is the enfo

ldm

ent of w

hat is alread

y

enfolded

in the ge

rm. It is th

e process thro

ugh

wh

ich

the ch

ild m

akes extern

al.”

6. N

unn

’s View

: T.P

. Nu

nn, an

other fam

ous E

nglish

ed

ucation

alist says, “E

du

cation

is the

com

plete d

evelopm

ent of ind

ividu

ality so th

at he m

akes an

origin

al contribu

tion

to hu

man

life

accordin

g to th

e best o

f his cap

acity.”

7. D

ewe

y’s View

: John

Dew

ey, a fa

mou

s Am

erican Ed

uc

ation

alist rem

arks, “Ed

ucation

is the

process o

f living th

rou

gh a co

ntinuo

us recon

structi

on o

f experien

ce. It is the develop

ment of all

tho

se capacities in the ind

ividu

al wh

ich will enab

le h

im to

control h

is environ

ment and

fulfil h

is

possibilities.”

Salient F

eatures of Education:

Som

e of the silent featu

res of ed

ucation

can be b

riefly d

escribed as fo

llow

s:

1. E

ducatio

n-a Trip

olar p

rocess: Ed

ucation

is a tri-p

olar process. It involves in

teraction

betw

een

the p

upil (edu

cand), th

e teache

r (edu

cator) and th

e so

cial environ

men

t (social forces). T

he

teacher tries to develo

p the person

ality of the p

up

il I the ligh

t of the n

eeds of the society.

2. E

du

cation-a

Pu

rpo

seful pro

cess: Ed

ucation

is a pu

rpose

ful p

rocess. B

oth th

e pup

il and the

teacher m

ake efforts for ach

ieving pu

rpo

se or desti

nation.

3. E

ducatio

n-a con

tinu

ous 2

nd life lon

g pro

cess: Ed

ucatio

n is a co

ntin

uou

s and life lo

ng process.

It starts wh

en th

e child

is born

and co

ntin

ues up

to th

e last mo

men

t of death

.

4.

Edu

cation

-a pro

cess o

f in

divid

ual develo

pmen

t: E

ducatio

n

is a

pro

cess of

individu

al

develo

pm

ent. B

y ind

ividual d

evelopm

ent we m

ean p

hys

ical. Intelle

ctual, aesthetic, m

oral, so

cial

and sp

iritual d

evelop

men

t of individu

al.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

5

5. E

ducatio

n-a pro

cess of in

divid

ual adju

stmen

t: Ed

ucatio

n is a

process o

f individu

al adju

stment.

Ed

ucatio

n help

s the ind

ividual in m

akin

g adju

stmen

t w

ith h

is ow

n self, w

ith p

arents, relative,

friend

s, teach

ers or m

em

bers of the society at larg

e.

6. E

ducatio

n-a dyn

amic process: E

ducatio

n is a dyn

am

ic and pro

gressive process. It recon

structs

a new an

d better social p

attern acco

rdin

g to th

e chan

ging n

eeds o

f time, p

lace and so

ciety.

Ed

ucatio

n in a sense is related

to tim

e, place an

d so

cial chan

ge.

NA

RR

OW

ER

AN

D B

RO

AD

ER

ME

AN

ING

OF

ED

UC

AT

ION

(a) Narrow

Meaning of E

ducation:

In th

e narro

w sen

se ed

ucatio

n is confin

ed to

scho

olin

g and u

niversity instru

ction

. Ed

ucation

starts when

the

child enters in

educatio

nal institutio

ns (S

cho

ol) and en

ds w

hen h

e com

pletes h

is

stud

ies or leaves th

e educatio

nal in

stitutio

n (Sch

oo

l, colle

ge or un

iversity). Th

e success of

educatio

n o

f the

ind

ividual is evalu

ated in te

rms o

f passin

g the examin

ation. T

here are

delib

erate,

purp

oseful and

plan

ned

effo

rts on the p

art of th

e te

acher to imp

art know

ledge. A

teacher is a

matu

re person

wh

o p

arents an

d im

pa

rts the experiences o

f the wh

ole race. A

ccord

ing to th

is view

educatio

n is m

ostly lim

ited to

class-roo

m teach

ing

of read

ymaterial. T

his typ

e of ed

ucatio

n is

inten

tion

al rath

er than

incid

ental.

It is

organized

throu

gh th

e sch

ool

wh

ich is

con

sciously

design

ed in

stitutio

n. S

.S. M

ackenzi rem

arked

, “In n

arrow sen

se, it ma

y be taken

to m

ean an

y

conscio

us d

irected e

ffort to

develop and

cultivate

pow

ers.” Such

edu

cation is im

parted b

y

defin

ite person

s to definite person

s. It has got a

definite cu

rriculu

m.

(b) Broader M

eaning of Education:

In th

e broad

er sense edu

cation b

egins at birth

and

co

ntinues thro

ugh

out life. In

other w

ords it is

the p

rocess of d

evelopm

ent fro

m in

fancy to

matu

rity, fro

m w

om

b to

grave. A

ccord

ing to D

um

vile “Edu

cation in

its wid

est sense includ

es all the influen

ce wh

ich act upo

n an individ

ual d

uring

his passa

ge from

the crad

le to th

e grave. Everythin

g wh

ich influ

ences h

uman

beh

aviour and

person

ality is edu

cation

. Edu

cation

inclu

des experien

ces gained

thro

ugh

a nu

mber o

f age

ncies

like ho

me, sch

ool, ch

urch, clu

b, cin

ema, p

ress, friend

s, playgrou

nd, w

orksho

p, travel, ph

ysical

environ

ment, so

cial environ

ment th

e form

of governm

ent etc. M

ark Ho

pkins o

pin

es, “Ed

ucation

in its w

idest sense in

clud

e everything th

at exerts a fo

rmative influ

ence.” T

hus, in the

wid

est

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

6

sense educatio

n is life an

d life is educatio

n. It is really life that ed

ucates. Ed

ward

Thrin

g

elaborated

this po

int an

d said

, “Ed

ucatio

n is the t

ransm

ission

of life, by th

e livin

g, to th

e living.”

If we ta

ke the b

oarde

r sense, even

an illiterate pe

rsons receives ed

ucation

thro

ugh

out h

is life.

Th

e sum

total o

f all his experien

ces durin

g life-tim

e in edu

cation. Lo

dge

wh

ile sup

portin

g this

view sa

ys, “In the wid

er sense, all experien

ce is said to ed

ucative. Th

e bites o

f Mosq

uito

, the

taste of w

ater-melo

n, and

the experience of b

eing c

augh

t in a sto

rm in

a small b

oat-all such

experien

ces have a directly ed

ucative o

n us. T

he

child ed

ucates h

id p

aren

ts, the pu

pil ed

ucates

his teach

er. Everyth

ing w

e say, th

ink o

r do ed

ucate

s us n

o less th

an w

hat is said

or d

one to us b

y

oth

er beings, anim

ate or inan

imate. In

this w

ider sen

se, life is edu

cation an

d edu

cation is life.

Wh

ateve

r broaden

s our h

orizon, d

eep

ens o

ur in

sight refines o

ur reactio

ns an

d stim

ulates ou

r

tho

ugh

ts and feelin

gs edu

cates us.”

SC

OP

E O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

N

Sco

pe refers to

the exten

t, rang, b

readth co

mpreh

ensiven

ess and variety o

f subject m

atter to be

provid

ed. T

he followin

g sub

ject matte

r can b

e inclu

ded u

nder the sco

pe o

f educatio

n.

1. Philosophy of E

ducation: Hu

man life is a m

ysterious thin

g. Un

til we kn

ow

th

e mystery o

f

hum

an life w

e canno

t decided

‘wh

at to learn

’ an

d ‘w

hat to teach.’ It is p

hilosop

hy w

hich

has

interp

reted m

an and

his activity in

toto

. On

the b

asis of p

hilo

soph

y of ed

ucation

we stu

dy the

nature of edu

cation, n

eed

of ed

ucatio

n, aims o

f edu

cation an

d curriculu

m.

2. Educational S

ociology: Man is a so

cial anim

al. He lives in

the so

ciety, acqu

ires socialization

thro

ugh

his co

ntact with

his fam

ily, his relatives,

his neighbo

urs an

d friend

s. He learns the w

ays

of

mo

ving

in

the

society.

His

behavio

r an

d

ideas

are

in

fluen

ced

by

society

and

social

organ

ization

s. On

the oth

er hand

education

help

s in co

ntrolling and

develo

pin

g hum

an society. It

is the basis o

f social pro

gress. In edu

cation

al socio

log

y we stu

dy n

ature of society, relation

betw

een society and

educatio

n, d

ifferen

t social org

anizatio

ns, social grou

ps, social institutio

ns,

social pro

cesses, social relation

ships, so

cial fun

ction

s of ed

ucation

and relatio

nship

betw

een

educatio

n an

d social ch

an

ge.

3. Educational P

sychology: Ch

ild is regard

ed as th

e pivotal po

int in the pro

cess of m

ode

rn

educatio

n. E

ducatio

n is o

rganized accord

ing to

his

poten

tialities, develop

ment level, interests and

aptitu

des. E

ducation

psych

olog

y helps u

s in (a) un

derstand

ing the

child

or th

e learn

er i.e., h

is

nature, ab

ilities, interests, aptitudes, p

ow

er of mem

ory, th

inkin

g, ima

ginatio

n, learn

ing, h

abits

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

7

and

person

ality; (b)

learn

ing

pro

cess an

d co

nditio

ns

wh

ich in

fluence

it;

and

(c)

learning

situatio

ns.

4. H

istory of

Education:

Histo

ry of

edu

cation

help

s u

s in

u

nderstan

ding

the

gradu

al

develo

pm

ent o

f edu

cation

durin

g different period

s of histo

ry. Mo

reover, it h

elps in evo

lving a

suitab

le system

of ed

ucation

accordin

g to th

e chan

gin

g need

s of th

e society.

5. Com

parative Education: C

om

parative edu

cation is th

e stud

y of cross cu

ltur

al com

parison

of

the stru

cture, operatio

n, aims, m

ethod

s and ach

ievem

ents o

f various ed

ucatio

nal system

s and

practices o

f diffe

rent co

un

tries so as to ded

uce lesson

s from the variation

s of ed

ucation

al practice

in d

ifferent co

untries. It help

s in impro

ving, refo

rmin

g and

reorientin

g the ed

ucation

al system o

f

one’s ow

n co

untry.

6. Educational P

roblems: E

ducatio

nal p

roble

ms are also in

cluded in

the sco

pe o

f edu

cation. W

e

stud

y present ed

ucation

al pro

blems an

d fin

d o

ut the

meth

ods o

f solvin

g these p

roblem

s. So

me o

f

the im

portan

t educatio

nal prob

lems of o

ur cou

ntry are n

ationalizatio

n of edu

cation, lan

gua

ge

prob

lem, and

student u

nrest, to give vocation

al bia

s to edu

cation, to

pro

vide religiou

s and

moral

educatio

n, to

pro

vide social an

d adu

lt educatio

n to decid

e the m

ediu

m of in

structio

n, to im

pro

ve

the exam

inatio

n system

, to p

rovide eq

ual facilities

of educatio

n in all p

arts of the coun

try.

Ed

ucatio

n cann

ot ma

ke pro

gress until w

e stud

y these

prob

lem

s and fin

d out th

eir solu

tions.

7. Educational A

dministration and O

rganization: Ed

ucation is im

parted or o

rgan

ized in

schoo

ls and colle

ges and

hence w

e stud

y metho

ds o

f edu

cation

al administra

tion

and o

rganization

in ed

ucation

. In ed

ucation

al administratio

n an

d o

rgan

ization

al we stu

dy to

pics like ro

le of state

and

central

govern

men

t sin

educatio

n, h

ow

to

bu

ild

and

equip

sch

oo

l, h

ow

to

organize

cocu

rricular activities, h

ow

to m

aintain

discipline

, how

to select, classify, evaluate an

d p

rom

ote

the pu

pils, ho

w to

provid

e educatio

nal and

vocatio

nal gu

idan

ce, ho

w to ke

ep records, ho

w to

organ

ize lib

rary, h

ow

to

fra

me

time

-table,

ho

w

to

main

tain

effective relatio

nship

betw

een

teachers,

head

master

and

p

arents

ho

w

to

distribu

te w

ork am

on

g teach

ers. E

du

cational

adm

inistration

and o

rgan

ization h

elps in

ma

king th

e process o

f education

effective an

d useful.

8. Techniques of T

eaching: Te

chn

iques o

f teach

ing are also in

cluded in

the sc

ope o

f edu

cation

.

Teach

ing is d

efined as ca

usin

g other to learn. T

hu

s b

oth teachin

g and learn

ing are in

cluded

in the

process o

f teach

ing. W

ha

t is learnin

g, wh

at are th

e effective con

ditio

ns o

f learnin

g, how

to m

ake

learnin

g e

ffective,

wh

ich

meth

ods

shou

ld

be

emplo

yed

fo

r m

akin

g learnin

g an

d

teachin

g

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

8

effective at d

ifferent stages o

f developm

ent, w

hat

are the most u

seful m

ethod

s for teachin

g

differen

t sub

jects at d

ifferent sta

ges, which

precau

tions sh

ould be m

ade fo

r usin

g different

meth

ods o

r techniqu

es of teach

ing-all su

ch issues are stu

died un

der th

e do

main of “T

echn

iques

of T

each

ing.” In ord

er to m

ake ed

ucation

effective w

e are to

study and

use

various tech

niq

ues of

teaching an

d le

arnin

g.

9. Other F

ields of Study: N

ew an

d n

ew sub

jects are developin

g in the field o

f educatio

n and the

stud

y of th

ese subjects is essen

tial. So

me of the s

ub

jects which

have d

evelop

ed in the field of

educatio

n are:

(i) Child

Ed

ucation

, (ii) So

cial and A

dult E

ducatio

n, (iii) W

om

en E

ducatio

n, (iv) P

rofession

al

and T

echn

ical Ed

ucation, (v) T

eacher E

ducation

, (vi) Lib

rary E

ducatio

n, (vii) E

ducatio

nal and

Vo

cational G

uid

ance, (viii) B

asic Ed

ucation

, (ix) Use o

f Au

dio-visual A

ids in

Ed

ucation, (x)

Actio

n R

esearch, (xi) Me

asuremen

t and E

valuatio

n in E

du

cation, (xii) E

ducatio

nal S

tatistics.

It sho

uld be m

entioned

here that in

the p

ast we u

sed to stud

y these su

bjects in the H

istory o

f

Ed

ucatio

nal Adm

inistration, E

du

cational P

sycholo

gy

and

Te

chniqu

es of T

eachin

g, but no

w these

subjects are also

studied as sep

arate sub

jects.

Conclusion:

Th

e scop

e of E

du

cation

is very wid

e and

com

prehen

sive. It is no

t po

ssible for a p

erso

n to

beco

me perfect in all th

e fields of ed

ucation

. Diff

erent person

s gain sp

ecialization in d

ifferent

fields o

f educatio

n. It sh

ould b

e clearly und

erstoo

d th

at field o

f educatio

n are interrelated. W

e

need

specialists in d

ifferent fields o

f edu

cation i

n o

rder to m

ake edu

cation p

rogressive. T

he

slogan

of d

em

ocracy is: “M

aximu

m u

se of abilities of th

e ind

ividual.”

IND

IVID

UA

L VE

RS

US

SO

CIA

L AIM

OF

ED

UC

AT

ION

Th

e question

of Ind

ividual vs. S

ocial A

im o

f edu

catio

n h

as been w

idely con

sidered an

d d

ebated

.

Very o

ften in

dividual an

d social aims o

f educatio

n

have b

een re

garded

as op

posed to

each o

ther.

Bu

t in the field

analysis, it will be seen

that d

evelo

pm

ent of in

dividuality assu

mes m

eanin

g only

in a so

cial setting. It h

as been righ

tly observed

.

“Sch

ool

of

every type

fulfil

their p

urpose

in

so

far

as th

ey

foste

r the

free grow

ing

of

ind

ividuality, h

elping every bo

y and girl to

achie

ve the h

ighest d

egree o

f individ

ual developm

ent

of w

hich

he or sh

e is capab

le in and th

rou

gh th

e life o

f a society.”

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

9

IND

IVID

UA

L AIM

OF

ED

UC

AT

ION

Individuality – the ideal. “Individu

ality is the id

eal of life,” thus o

bserved S

ir Percy N

un

n, and

added

that “a schem

e of ed

ucation is u

ltimately to

be

valued b

y its success in

foste

ring the

highest de

gree of in

dividu

al excellence

”. Exalting

the “ind

ividual d

evelopm

ent - ” as the aim

of

educatio

n, S

ir Pe

rcy Nu

nn o

bserves “that noth

ing good

ente

rs into

the h

um

an w

orld

except in

and thro

ugh

the free activities of in

dividual m

en a

nd w

om

en, and that ed

ucatio

nal practice m

ust

be shap

ed to a

ccord

with

that truth

.” his b

elief in

this aim

is based

up

on th

at fact that in

dividual

is an arch

itect of h

is fate. He is resp

onsible for

his ow

n destiny. E

ducatio

n, th

erefore, m

ust cater

for the co

mplete d

evelop

men

t of an

individ

ual.

Based on the S

ocio-political Philosophy. Th

e concep

t of in

dividu

al develo

pm

ent aim is b

ased

on th

e socio-p

olitical p

hilosop

hy that social in

stitu

tions, su

ch as th

e fam

ily, the chu

rch th

e schoo

l

and the state exist on

ly for b

elieving an

d impro

ving the

life of th

e individu

al. Th

e individ

ual is

the en

d and

these

social institu

tion

s are the m

eans

. Th

erefo

re, they ju

stify their existence on

ly if

the

y are cond

ucive to th

e prom

otion

of th

e individ

ual’s w

elfare. T

he so

ciety, the state, and

in

fact, all the social an

d po

litical institu

tions exi

st and

work fo

r the w

elfare of th

e individ

ual.

Th

erefore, th

e aim of ed

ucatio

n sho

uld be the fullest p

ossible develop

men

t of the ind

ividual. T

he

schoo

l as on

e of the im

po

rtant so

cial institutio

ns

exists for th

e edu

cand, an

d n

ot the edu

cand fo

r

the

schoo

l. T

he

refore,

the

scho

ol sho

uld

o

ffer an

e

nviron

men

t an

d

atmosp

he

re w

hich

is

cond

ucive to

the develop

ment o

f each an

d eve

ry stud

ent. R

ousseau, th

e fath

er of th

e p

hilosop

hy

of N

aturalism

and

a great ed

ucationist, is th

e great sup

porter o

f ind

ividual aim

of ed

ucatio

n.

Ed

ucatio

n sho

uld aim at the train

ing an

d develo

pin

g of th

e individ

ual. O

nly a w

ell-trained and

prop

erly educated

individ

ual can

un

derstand

his rights in th

e society and

his o

bligations to

his

com

mu

nity. It is, therefo

re, that maxim

um

opp

ortuni

ties shou

ld be m

ade a

vailable fo

r realisin

g

his ph

ysical, mo

ral, intellectual, and

spiritual

po

ssibilities, un

hind

ered by

environ

men

t and

unh

amp

ered b

y society. It is o

nly th

is type o

f ind

ivid

ual that m

akes a go

od

citizen.

G. T

hom

pson’s view based on B

iological belief. T

he bio

logists b

elieve that every ind

ividual is

differen

t from

oth

ers. Every ch

ild is a new

and

a uniqu

e prod

uct an

d a new exp

eriment w

ith life.

Prof. G

. Th

om

pso

n says, “E

ducatio

n is for the

ind

ividu

al, its fun

ction b

eing to

enab

le the

ind

ividual to

survive an

d live out its com

plete lif

e. Edu

cation is im

parted to

preserve the

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

10

ind

ividual life. C

om

mu

nity exists for the in

dividu

al n

ot th

e ind

ividual fo

r the com

mu

nity.

Th

erefore,

individ

ual

an

d no

t so

ciety, sh

ould

be

the

centre o

f all

ed

ucation

al effo

rts and

activities.”

Rousseau’s N

aturalistic View. T

he N

aturalists like R

ousse

au h

old th

at “the

central aim

of

educatio

n is th

e au

tono

mo

us develop

ment o

f the in

dividu

al”. Acco

rding to

Rou

sseau, “Eve

ry

thin

g is good

as it comes fro

m th

e hand

s of th

e Au

th

or of Nature, b

ut everythin

g degen

erates in

the h

and

s of m

an. G

od m

akes all th

ings go

od; m

an m

edd

les with th

em an

d they b

ecom

e evil.”

He b

elieves that m

an and

citizens cann

ot be train

ed

simultaneo

usly, w

e have to

ma

ke ou

r choice

betw

een the two

.

Modern V

iew of P

sychologists. Th

e psycho

logists are o

f the o

pinion that ed

ucation

is an

ind

ividual p

rocess. N

o two ch

ildren

are identica

l in intellectual cap

acity and

other d

ispo

sition

.

Th

erefore, a rigid

and

un

iform

curriculum fo

r all the ch

ildren

is no

t justified. T

he p

rocess o

f

educatio

n sho

uld b

e ind

ividu

alized. Th

ere is a great fo

rce and tru

th in

the ind

ividual aim

of

educatio

n. B

ut, it m

ust b

e noted

that in

dividu

al aim

, in its extreme fo

rm, is no

t desirab

le. The

social aim

has its justification

too. A

fter all, society is an

organisatio

n wh

ich is m

ade by the

ind

ividuals for their o

wn betterm

ent an

d w

ell bein

g. T

o live an

d adjust efficien

tly in the so

ciety,

the in

dividu

al mu

st also b

e properly so

cialised. Th

erefore, th

e claims o

f society also sh

ould n

ot

be ign

ored; an

d th

erefore, th

e extreme

form

of in

divid

ualism

shou

ld be avoided

even fo

r the

well-bein

g of th

e ind

ividual him

self.

Criticism

of the Individual Aim

s. Th

e Individ

ual A

im o

f edu

cation

has b

een criticised

on the

follo

win

g points:

Isolated Individual – a figment of im

agination. “An

isolated

individ

ual, as T. R

aym

ont sa

ys, is

only a figm

ent of im

agin

ation.” In

fact, says he, “

we can

not con

ceive of an ind

ividual livin

g and

develo

pin

g in isolatio

n fro

m so

ciety.”

Every Individual is a social being. “A

s a so

cial being,” o

pines D

r. Dew

ey “h

e is a citizen

,

grow

ing an

d th

inkin

g in a vast com

plex of in

teractio

ns and relation

s.” So

, an ed

ucation

al activity

that d

oes no

t swear b

y the social end

, con

sequ

ently fails even to

serve the in

dividual.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

11

Inherently defective. In th

e extreme fo

rm, the idea o

f absolu

te freedo

m

to the individ

ual may

take the form

of un

checked ‘self-exp

ression’ o

r ‘self-assertion

’. This so

rt of u

nchecked

‘self-

expressio

n’ w

ill ridicule all social co

nven

tion

s or m

oral laws w

hich fo

rm th

e bases of society

have re

gulated life. Even

Sir P

ercy Nun

n, th

e great

est champ

ion of in

dividu

al aim, believes th

at

“Individ

uality d

evelop

s only in a

social atm

osp

here w

here it can

feed o

n com

mo

n inte

rests and

com

mo

n a

ctivities.”

Against spiritual nature of m

an. Th

e critics of individu

al aim believe th

at the in

divid

ual, left to

him

self, is an an

imal, selfish

and u

ndisciplined

.

Individual must be m

ade fit for society. Rusk in

forms u

s that th

e aim o

f educatio

n is no

t

develo

pm

ent of in

dividu

ality bu

t the en

richm

ent o

f perso

nality. Edu

cation

must lift h

im fro

m the

level of reason

ing sava

ge. It m

ust give h

im charact

er, mo

ral and

aesthetic sen

se and th

us m

ake

him

fit to live in society. A

n enrich

ed and

exalted p

ersonality is th

at thin

ks not on

ly for itself b

ut

also th

inkers fo

r oth

ers.

The basis of individual’s greatness is social.

Th

e great contrib

utors to the pro

gress of h

um

an

civilization d

id n

ot w

ork in a vacu

um

. Th

e fact remains th

at their greatness w

as due to

their

assimilation

of the rich

herita

ge of th

ou

ght, w

isdom

and action

evolved an

d p

reserved b

y others

in so

ciety. Th

ey w

orked

against so

me social b

ackgroun

d. H

ence th

e very b

asis of their great

achievem

ents was so

cial.

Adverse

effect on

political and

economy

of a

country. T

he

un

wa

rranted

claim

of

the

ind

ividual m

ay ad

versely affect th

e politics an

d eco

nom

y of a co

untry. T

he 18th and

19th

century em

phasis on

the p

olitical ind

epen

dence

of an

individ

ual led

to th

e education

of the

ind

ividual an

d fo

r the in

dividual. It also

led to

lassesfaire i.e., a fre

e hand

to exp

loit th

e material

wealth

for p

ersonal adva

ntage.

SO

CIA

L AIM

OF

EU

CA

TIO

N

Society or S

tate alone is real. The su

ppo

rters of so

cial aim o

f edu

cation

believe

that society or

state alon

e is real, and th

e individ

ual is o

nly a me

ans, and

therefo

re, mu

st alwa

ys work fo

r the

welfare an

d pro

gress of th

e society o

f the state. T

he

y, therefo

re, hold th

at an in

dividual sh

ould be

educated

for the good

of society. T

he interests o

f so

ciety are supre

me; a

nd th

e positio

n of th

e

ind

ividual is alw

ays su

bordin

ated to

that o

f the state. T

he su

ppo

rters of so

cial aim can

not thin

k

of an in

dividu

al living a

nd d

evelop

ing in isolated

fro

m so

ciety. As R

aym

ont sa

ys, “the isolated

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

12

ind

ividual is a figm

ent of the im

agin

ation.” A

s lon

g as hum

an b

eings a

re living in

society, there

will b

e som

e subo

rdination

of ind

ividu

ality to pub

lic o

r social n

eeds of society.

State – Idealised S

uper-human E

ntity. Th

e social aim, in its extrem

e form

, regards th

e state

as

an “Id

ealised su

per-h

um

an en

tity, over and

above the ind

ividu

al.” Th

e state or so

ciety alone

is

the reality, and

the in

dividu

al is only “a th

rob

in th

e social pulse.” T

hey b

elieve that “in

dividual

is of n

o valu

e, and

perso

nality a m

ean

ingless term

, ap

art from

the so

cial environ

men

t in which

the

y are d

evelop

ed and m

ade m

anifest.” T

herefo

re, the fu

nctio

n of ed

uca

tion

accord

ing to the

social aim

is to wo

rk con

sistently fo

r the w

elfare o

f the state, su

bord

inatin

g the w

elfare of the

ind

ividual to th

at of th

e state. Hen

ce the state is to con

trol an

d d

irect every affair in

life inclu

din

g

educatio

n w

hich is bu

t a m

ean

s of sh

apin

g its citizen

s into

a certain m

ou

ld. T

he state h

as the

right to

mou

ld an

d sh

ape the in

dividu

al, so as to s

uit its ow

n pu

rpo

se and p

rogress. It uses

educatio

n as th

e mo

st convenien

t me

ans for prep

aring in

divid

uals to pla

y differen

t roles in

society. T

he cu

rriculum

as well as th

e meth

ods o

f edu

cation

are also the co

mp

lete mo

nop

oly of

the state an

d the ind

ividual h

as no ch

oice bu

t to d

evelop

his pow

ers and capa

cities in his ow

n

wa

y. He is on

ly to o

be

y wh

at the auth

orities dictate. H

is need

s, urges and n

ature are co

mp

letely

ignored

.

Education

through S

ocial C

ontrol. T

he

expo

nents

of

this

schoo

l of

tho

ugh

t b

elieve i

n

imp

arting edu

cation thro

ugh so

cial control, an

d their e

mp

hasis in

the ed

ucation

al pro

cess is no

strict discipline an

d ob

edien

ce. In th

e end, it is

the state w

hich d

etermin

es the field

wh

ere the

services of th

e ind

ividual are

mo

st need

ed, and n

ot

wh

ere he can

do

his b

est accordin

g to h

is own

ability an

d ap

titud

e. Th

e state is sup

reme to dicta

te wh

at shall b

e taught an

d h

ow

shall it b

e

taugh

t. Discip

line is its watchw

ord

, willin

g accep

tan

ce of auth

ority is th

e m

ethod

, and

obed

ience

is the rule.

Criticism

of the Social aim

of Education. T

his is certainly a on

e-sid

ed view. F

irst, So

cial aim

in its extrem

e from

can never be accep

ted, as it re

duces th

e individ

ual to a mere no

n-entity.

Seco

ndly, the extrem

e no

tion

of the all po

werfu

l state o

r society ign

ores th

e legitimate ne

eds,

desires and

interests of th

e ind

ividual, and

sup

presses h

is creative p

ow

er. T

hirdly, it tries to m

ake

the in

dividu

al on

ly a too

l of th

e governm

ent, and

dem

ands u

nqu

estionin

g, obedien

ce an

d loyalty

from

th

e in

dividu

al. F

ourth

ly, th

is is

again

st all con

cepts of

educatio

n an

d

individu

al

develo

pm

ent. T

here

fore, social aim in

its extreme

from

can n

ever be ju

stified and

therefore, can

never b

e accepted.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

13

Synthesis of Individual and S

ocial Aim

s. Th

e ab

ove discussion

abou

t the individ

ual and

soc

ial

aims o

f edu

cation is likely to

give the im

pression

th

at the individ

ual aim

is opp

osed to

the so

cial

aim. B

ut, in re

ality it is no

t so. T

hese tw

o types o

f aims m

ay b

e opp

osed

to each

oth

er if stressed

in

their

extreme

form

. B

ut, if

their

sharp

edges

ar

e ro

und

ed

off,

they

beco

me

rather

com

ple

men

tary to each

oth

er. The

individ

ual aim, if

stressed greatly, w

ill pro

duce e

goists, w

hile

extreme e

mph

asis on

social aim w

ill create sup

pressed

person

alities. Therefo

re, the extrem

e

form

of either o

f the tw

o sh

ould

be avoided

.

If we exam

ine both th

e aims d

ispassion

ately, we

shall fin

d that neith

er the in

dividu

al nor th

e

society can

exist with

out th

e oth

er. The in

divid

ual

is the pro

duct o

f society, w

hile the society

find

s its advancem

ent in th

e develo

pm

ent of its ind

ividual m

emb

ers. It mu

st be ad

mitted

that the

ind

ividual can

not develo

p in vacuu

m. H

e is a social

anim

al. In all walks o

f life, he is influen

ced

by

all w

ho

surroun

d h

im.

He

canno

t escap

e th

e cu

ltural

influ

ences o

f th

e so

ciety. T

hese

influ

ences shap

e th

e pe

rsonality m

ake u

p o

f man

. Hi

s poten

tialities are stim

ulated

by the

environ

mental

forces.

Th

erefore,

ind

ividuality

cann

ot and

sh

ould

no

t b

e em

phasised

b

y

neglectin

g general h

um

an

ideals. In

the w

ords o

f Si

r John

Ad

am

, “Individ

ual req

uires a so

cial

mediu

m to gro

w, w

ithou

t social co

ntacts we are n

ot

hum

an.” T

hu

s, both the sch

ool o

f tho

ugh

t

have m

ade valuab

le contrib

ution to th

e art and

science o

f edu

cation.

A synthesis o

f the tw

o aim

s will be th

e id

eal cond

itio

n. T

he scho

ol sh

ou

ld try to

develop the

ind

ividuality o

f each ch

ild th

rou

gh social co

nta

cts an

d social co

ntro

l, with

maxim

um

possib

le

freedo

m fo

r each ind

ividual. “Ind

ividual is no

t a private po

ssession, bu

t is the means thro

ugh

wh

ich re

al goo

d can enter th

e wo

rld. Th

e goo

d o

f all is th

e go

od o

f each.” S

o, th

e real aim o

f

educatio

n m

ay be d

efined

as “the h

ighest d

evelopm

ent o

f the ind

ividu

al as mem

be

r of the

society.”

Th

erefore, w

e ma

y add th

at the ind

ividual an

d th

e society m

ay b

oth

be re

gard

ed as equ

ally

imp

ortant, neither o

f the two

bein

g absolu

tely inde

pend

ent o

f the o

ther. “Instead

of bein

g

regard

ed as iso

lated entities, the ind

ividu

al and t

he so

ciety shou

ld be co

nsidered

as function

ally

related to

each

oth

er; th

e in

dividu

al acting o

n the ind

ividual.” T

he

person

ality of th

e in

dividual

has to

be d

eveloped

but, th

is canno

t be do

ne in isolated. T

he in

dividu

al pe

rsonality is essen

tially

a pro

duct o

f the inte

raction b

etween

the in

dividu

al

and

society.

Th

e claims o

f the in

divid

ual as well as th

e society are usu

ally imp

ortant. T

he individ

ual has the

right to

live life of its ow

n, acco

rdin

g to on

e’s need

s and d

esires. He m

ust h

ave the Freedo

m to

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

14

develo

p him

self accordin

g to its p

otentialities a

nd

capacities. B

utt, h

is freedom

must h

ave its

limits. F

reedo

m cann

ot b

e allowed

to d

ege

nerate in

to licence; b

ecau

se, the right to

freed

om o

f

everybod

y has to

be protected

. It is he

re that th

e society o

r the state has to in

tervene. T

he

function

of th

e society and

the state sh

ould be to

see that th

e freedo

m of every in

divid

ual is

self-guard

ed. B

ut, th

e state shou

ld no

t go b

eyo

nd

th

is. Th

e state or the society sh

ould

not curb

this freedo

m of th

e ind

ividual to

such an

extent that h

is every growth and

develo

pm

ent is

thw

arted. O

n th

e other hand

, the state sho

uld do

everyth

ing p

ossib

le to p

rom

ote th

e happin

ess

and w

elfare of ea

ch an

d every m

em

ber o

f the so

ciety. T

he in

divid

ual shou

ld th

ink it as his scared

duty to w

ork fo

r the w

elfare and p

rogress o

f the w

hole o

f the so

ciety. Bo

th in

dividu

al and th

e

society sho

uld

work fo

r a com

mon

objective. B

oth have th

eir ow

n sph

eres of action

and w

ork;

and the

y shou

ld n

ot try to cross the b

oun

daries of

their o

wn jurisdictio

n. In th

is wa

y, their ro

le

will b

e comp

lem

entary to each o

ther and

the in

divid

uals as well as w

ell as the society w

ill grow

and develop

simultan

eou

sly.

Conclusion. In

the end

, we sa

y that in a tru

ly demo

cratic soci

ety, the rule aim

of edu

cation

canno

t be othe

r than th

e h

ighest develop

ment of th

e in

dividu

al as a me

mb

er of the

society. T

he

mo

st pra

ctical appro

ach wo

uld

be to

let educatio

n b

urn the in

divid

ual flam

e, feeding it w

ith the

oil o

f society. Let the ligh

t of th

is flam

e illu

mine the so

cial horizo

n, shed

ding aw

ay all the

prevailin

g darkn

ess.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

15

Meaning and D

efinition of Philosophy

Etym

ological Meaning of P

hilosophy:- Th

e wo

rd philoso

ph

y is derived fro

m tw

o Greek w

ords-

Philos m

eanin

g love and S

oph

ia meanin

g wisdo

m. T

hus p

hilosop

hy m

ean

s love o

f wisdo

m. In

th

is way se

arch of w

isdom

or truth

is called Ph

ilosop

hy and

the m

an w

ho en

gages h

imself in

this

search is called p

hilosop

her. In his fam

ous b

oo

k Re

pub

lic, Plato

says- He w

ho has taste for every sort of know

ledge and who is curious to learn and is never satisfied m

ay be justly termed

a philosopher.

Specific M

eaning of Philosophy:- To

be p

recise

and d

efinite o

ne ma

y call philoso

ph

y as th

at d

eep th

inking an

d m

editatio

n w

hich

con

cerns itself

to G

od, th

e soul an

d th

e natu

re. Th

is co

ncentratio

n an

d de

ep th

inkin

g is for reve

aling the h

idden

and im

mo

rtal realities of existence

only-w

hat

is the

nature

of

life, w

hen

hu

man

b

eing

has

com

e and

w

hat w

ill b

e h

is fin

al d

estinatio

n, how

do

es the heaven

ly bod

ies affect h

um

an life, is there an

y life after this, w

hat is

heaven

and

hell. A

ll these are th

e subje

cts and to

pics of p

hilo

soph

ical thin

king and

ultimate

realization

. As these m

en

tal activities are abstract an

d d

ifficult in n

ature, on

ly capable

and great

person

s can in

dulge in

them. C

om

mo

n peop

le canno

t do

this typ

e of d

eep an

d co

ncen

trated

thin

king. H

enderso

n and

his co

lleagu

es have w

ell said

- Philosophy is a rigorous disciplined and

guarded analysis of some m

ost difficult problems w

hich man has ever faced.

Wider

Meaning

of P

hilosophy:-Philo

sop

hers do

n

ot

form

a

specific and

sp

ecial gro

up

them

selves. All th

ose p

erso

ns are philoso

phers w

ho

in on

e wa

y or othe

r search for tru

th and

realities. A

deep stu

dy reveals th

e fact that a m

an un

dergo

es variou

s kinds o

f experiences

thro

ugh

out his lo

ng life fro

m b

irth to d

eath. Th

ese exp

eriences pro

vide him

with new

know

ledge

. A

s a

result,

he d

evelop

s a cap

acity to discrim

inate

betw

een

right a

nd

wro

ng, p

rop

er and

im

pro

per, relevan

t and

irrelevant thro

ugh

these exp

eriences. In

a sense each of us do

es this w

ork in

som

e wa

y or th

e oth

er to so

me lesser o

r greater extent. T

his search

is essential fo

r life to go on

sm

oothly in th

is wo

rld fu

ll of diversities. In th

is sense, each

of us b

ecom

es a philo

soph

er at some

tim

e or

the

oth

er. A

s th

is search

fo

r tru

th is

phil

oso

phy,

the

great G

erman

ph

iloso

pher

Sch

open

hou

r rightly rem

arks –

Every m

an is born metaphysician.

Definition of P

hilosophy

To

ma

ke the m

eaning o

f Philo

soph

y more clear, th

e fo

llow

ing d

efinitio

ns are b

eing given

:

1.

Philoso

ph

y is a persistent attem

pt to

give insigh

t in

to the n

ature o

f the w

orld and o

f o

urselves by m

eans of system

atic reflectio

n. R

W Sellars

2.

Philoso

ph

y like other stud

ies, aims p

rima

rily at kno

wled

ge. B

ertrand Russell

3.

Philoso

ph

y is the scien

ce o

f kno

wled

ge

Fichte

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

16

4.

Philoso

ph

y is the scien

ce an

d criticism

of co

gnitio

n.

Kant

5.

Philoso

ph

y is unceasin

g effort to

discern

the gen

eral tru

th th

at lies beh

ind the particu

lar facts, to

discern also th

e reality that lies b

ehind ap

pearance.

Raym

ont 6

. P

hilosop

hy is a lo

gical en

quiry into the natu

re of

reality.

S. R

adhakrishnan In

the ligh

t of ab

ove definitio

ns we can

say th

at ph

ilosop

hy u

nderstan

ds man

in relation

to

the u

niverse. It stand

s for an

inqu

iry after tru

th and

search fo

r kno

wled

ge. It is a

meth

od o

f critical and

reflective thin

king. It pro

vid

es me

ans to lead

best kin

d o

f life.

RE

LAT

ION

SH

IP B

ET

WE

EN

PH

ILOS

OP

HY

AN

D E

DU

CA

TIO

N

Much

has be

en said

on ed

ucatio

n, its mean

ing an

d fu

nctio

n in a preced

ing ch

apter. E

tymolo

gical

defin

ition

s will no

t serve o

ur purp

ose. Ed

ucatio

n c

an be d

efined

as the

stron

gest instrumen

t for

the ach

ievem

ent o

f the id

eals of life and civilise

d attem

pt to b

ring ou

t ab

out the b

alanced

and

prop

er develo

pm

ent o

f hum

an pe

rson

ality. Th

e defin

itio

n in

dicates that the p

lant of edu

cation

draw

s its nou

rishm

ent fro

m th

e soil o

f Philo

soph

y. In the w

ord

s of A

da

ms, “E

du

cation is the

dyn

am

ic side o

f Philo

sop

hy. It is th

e a

ctive aspect o

f Ph

ilosop

hical b

elief, the practical m

eans o

f

realizing th

e ide

als of life

.”

Th

ere is wid

e and clo

se relation b

etween ed

ucation

and

Ph

ilosop

hy. T

he fo

llow

ing are a few

quo

tations th

at establish th

e relation

ship b

etwe

en

edu

cation

and P

hilo

soph

y:

(i) View

of Ross: ”P

hilo

soph

y and

edu

cation a

re two sid

es of the sam

e coin

; the fo

rmer is

contem

plative w

hile th

e latter is the active sid

e.”

(ii) View

of John Dew

ey: “John

Dew

ey end

orses th

e view p

oint o

f Ro

ss wh

en h

e says;”

Philoso

ph

y is the th

eory o

f edu

cation in

its most gen

eral ph

ase.”

(iii) F

ichte’s view

: “T

he

art o

f edu

cation

w

ill n

ever attain

co

mp

lete c

learn

ess w

ithou

t

Philoso

ph

y”.

(iv) Spencer’s view: S

pencer h

as gon

e a step ahe

ad w

hen

he

says that “

true

edu

cation is

practicable on

ly to true P

hilo

soph

ers.”

(v) Gentile’s view

: “Ed

ucatio

n with

out P

hilo

soph

y wou

ld m

ean a failu

re to

Und

erstand precise

nature of edu

cation”

After con

side

ring th

ese views w

e can d

escribe th

e relation

ship between

Philoso

ph

y and

educatio

n as und

er:

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

17

1. P

hilosophy determ

ines the

real destination,

towards

which

education has

to go:

Philoso

ph

y has alw

ays in

spired edu

cation

al theory a

s well as p

ractice. It determin

es the real

destin

ation, to

ward

s w

hich

edu

cation

has to

g

o. In

the

wo

rds o

f Dew

ey,

“Ed

ucation is

a

laboratory in w

hich philo

soph

ic distinction

s becom

es co

ncrete as a

re tested

.”

Philoso

ph

y is wisdo

m;

educatio

n tran

smits th

at wisd

om fro

m o

ne gen

eration

to the o

ther.

Philoso

ph

y represen

ts a system

of th

ou

ght; ed

ucation

embraces th

at thou

ght in the conten

t of

instru

ction

. Philo

soph

y em

bod

ies a wa

y of life; e

du

cation

is a p

reparatio

n for life. P

hilo

soph

y is

a know

ledge ob

tained b

y natural reason

s; education

is the d

evelopm

ent of that reason

and o

ther

pow

ers of min

d.

2. Education is the m

eans to achieve the goal: P

hilo

soph

y deals w

ith th

e ends an

d edu

cation

is

the m

eans to achieve th

ose en

ds. P

hilosop

hy give

s id

eals, values an

d principles; ed

ucatio

n works

out th

ose ideals, valu

es or principles, in the

wo

rds o

f He

rbart, “educatio

n has no tim

e to m

ake

holid

ay till all the Ph

ilosop

hical q

uestio

ns are once fo

r all cleared u

p.”

It can, th

erefo

re, be said

that ph

iloso

phy is th

e con

temp

lative side

while edu

cation is its active

side. P

hilosop

hy is th

e theory o

f educatio

n w

hile

ed

ucation is the

pra

ctical thereo

f. Edu

cation

is

the b

est me

ans for the p

ropa

gation of ph

ilosoph

y. It is th

e dyn

am

ic of p

hilosop

hy.

3. Great P

hilosophers have been great educators also: G

reat p

hilo

soph

ers have been

great

educatio

nists in

the East as w

ell as in the W

est. We

can fin

d the clea

rest examp

les of the

depen

dence of ed

ucation

on p

hilo

soph

y in th

e lives an

d teachin

gs of all the great ph

ilosoph

ers

from

Yajn

avalka dow

n to Gan

dhi in

the E

ast and

from

So

crates dow

n to the Jo

hn D

ewe

y in the

West.

Ph

ilosop

hers

like

Gand

hi,

Ta

gore, R

adh

akrishn

an, A

urb

indo

G

ho

sh, P

lato,

So

crates,

Locke, C

om

enius, Ro

usseau, F

roeb

el and D

ewe

y have been

great educators. T

hey refle

cted th

eir

philo

sop

hical views in

their edu

cation

al sche

me

s. So

crates has given th

e world h

is “So

cratic

meth

od” (M

ethod

of q

ue

stioning an

d cross-q

uestio

ning o

f teach

ing; P

lato, th

e Rep

ublic th

e first

educatio

nal class. R

ousseau

, the gre

at French

philo

sop

her, held

that edu

cation sh

ould “fo

llow

nature”. Joh

n D

ewe

y of A

me

rica too

k keen in

terest in so

lving th

e edu

cational p

roblem

s of h

is

coun

try. Gan

dhi is th

e father of basic ed

ucation

. In

the w

ord

s of Ross, “if fu

rther a

gree

ment is

need

ed to

establish the fun

dam

ental d

epen

dence o

f ed

ucation

on p

hilo

soph

y, it ma

y be fo

und

in

the fact that on

the who

le great p

hilo

soph

ers have

been gre

at edu

cationists”.

4. Philosophy determ

ines the various aspect of education: E

very aspect o

f edu

cation

has a

philo

sop

hical base. T

here is n

o aspect of ed

ucation-aim

s, curricu

lum

, meth

ods, text b

ooks,

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

18

discip

line, teach

er etc. Wh

ich is not influ

enced

and

determ

ined

by p

hilo

soph

y. Heigh

t and

bread

th o

f edu

cation is p

robed

in b

y philoso

ph

y. It is p

hilosop

hy w

hich p

rovides aim

s educatio

n

and th

ese aims dete

rmin

e the curricu

lum

, the m

ethod

s of teach

ing, th

e text boo

ks, the role o

f

teacher an

d the sch

ool d

isciplin

e. Th

us ed

ucatio

n is the d

yna

mic, a

ctive and p

ractical side o

f

philo

sop

hy.

SIG

NIF

ICA

NC

E O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

NA

L PH

ILOS

OP

HY

Th

e need an

d im

po

rtance o

f edu

cational ph

iloso

phy c

an be explain

ed as in th

e follo

ws:

1. Philosophy and A

ims of E

ducation: Eve

ry system

of edu

cation m

ust have an aim

. Witho

ut

aim ed

ucation

is mean

ingless. T

he aim

of edu

cation

is directly related w

ith th

e aim o

f life, and

the aim

of life is alw

ays dep

endent o

n the

philo

sop

hy th

at prevails. It is philo

soph

y which

determ

ines

wh

ether

the

aim

of

edu

cation

shou

ld

be m

oral

perfection

o

r in

tellectuals

develo

pm

ent, w

hether ed

ucation

sho

uld be vocation

al o

r liberal sh

ould

it be for the develo

pm

ent

and h

appiness o

f the ind

ividual or fo

r the go

od

the

society?

Su

ch con

flicting vie

ws re

gardin

g the

aim o

f edu

cation a

re recon

ciled in th

e light of ph

ilo

soph

y.

2. P

hilosophy and

Curriculum

: In

no

other

sphere

is th

is d

epen

dence

of

edu

cation

on

philo

sop

hy m

ore m

arked th

an in th

at of the cu

rricul

um

. Determ

ination o

f curriculum

needs th

e

services of p

hilosop

hy in

its entirety. S

pecific cu

rriculu

m p

roblem

s de

mand

a ph

ilosop

hy fo

r this

satisfactory so

lutio

n. Wh

ile discussin

g curricu

lum

prob

lems B

riggs remarks, “It is ju

st here (in

curricu

lum

) that education

seriously n

eeds lead

ers. Le

aders w

ho

hold

a soun

d com

prehensive

philo

sop

hy o

f wh

ich th

ey can

convin

ce others, who

can

dire

ct its consisten

t applicatio

n to the

form

ulatio

n of app

rop

riate curricu

la.” It is ph

ilos

oph

y wh

ich w

ill de

cide a

particu

lar sub

ject

shou

ld b

e inclu

ded in

the curricu

lum

and w

hat p

articular d

isciplin

e that su

bject w

ill pro

mote.

Cu

rriculu

m is th

e con

tents of ed

ucation

. It is just

like a gun

pow

de

r for the sold

ier. Thro

ugh

curricu

lum

edu

cation b

ecom

es effe

ctive or in

effecti

ve. Cu

rriculu

m is no

t fixed fo

r all the tim

es.

It chan

ges in

accord

ance w

ith th

e aims o

f edu

cation

, which

are determ

ined

by p

hilo

soph

y. So

curricu

lum

differs with d

ifferent schoo

ls of p

hilo

sop

hy.

3. Philosophy and T

ext-books: E

ven in

choice o

f text-boo

ks we are gu

ided

by p

hil

oso

phical

consid

eration

s. Cu

rriculu

m can

be en

forced

on

ly throu

gh p

rope

r selection o

f text-boo

ks. Text-

boo

ks marked

ly affect metho

ds of raisin

g stand

ards

of scho

larship

. A p

hilo

soph

y is needed

to

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

19

determ

ine the q

uality and

conten

ts of textbo

oks. A

go

od text-b

ook m

ust reflect th

e prevailin

g

values of life fixed b

y ph

iloso

phy. If th

e text bo

oks re

flect the life va

lues of th

e prevailing

philo

sop

hy, th

ey are con

sidered

to be app

ropriate text-b

ooks. O

n th

e contrary, if th

ey op

pose the

prevailin

g ph

iloso

phy of life, the

y are consid

ered

inapprop

riate. In on

e of the m

od

ern trend

s in

educatio

n a

text-bo

oks rega

rded as it m

ust b

e rem

emb

ered th

at a text-boo

k is an in

stitution w

hich

canno

t be de

mo

lished. In ord

er to keep

this in

stitutio

n health

y and serviceab

le there m

ust be a

philo

sop

hy in order to de

termine its n

ature and

con

tents.

4. Philosophy and M

ethods of Teaching: K

ilpatrick’s use o

f the term

philoso

ph

y of m

ethod

’

show

s that th

ere is a close relatio

n b

etwe

en educat

ional m

ethod

and p

hiloso

phy. P

hilosop

hy

influ

ences and d

eterm

ines th

e meth

ods of te

achin

g as w

ell. Meth

od as an im

portan

t place in

educatio

n. It is th

rough m

ethod

that the teach

er e

stablish

es and m

aintain

s the co

ntact betw

een the

child

ren and

the su

bje

ct-matter.

5. Philosophy and D

iscipline: Like curricu

lum

text-boo

ks and m

etho

ds, D

isciplin

e too

, is

determ

ined

by th

e philoso

ph

y of life accep

ter as a

p

articular tim

e. In o

ther w

ord

s the p

hilosop

hy

of an a

ge is reflected

in th

e discipline of its edu

cation

al institu

tion. D

iscipline refle

cts political

philo

sop

hy p

revalent in th

e coun

try. In a d

espotic

system

of go

vern

ment, rep

ression in

com

mon

and b

low

s are given for every b

ranch

of o

rder. T

he

meth

ods o

f repression

ists are the po

lice

meth

ods

of con

trol.

In

a d

emo

cracy, th

e

do

ctrine

of

em

ancipation

is

advocated

.

Em

ancip

ationist’s b

eliefs in givin

g com

plete fre

edo

m to th

e child. T

he

y wish no

interferen

ce on

the p

art of th

e tea

cher. Let the child

do

wh

at this

natu

re prom

pts h

im to

do

, say th

e p

rota

gon

ists

of th

e schoo

l. So

the em

ancipation

ists believe in g

iving o

ppo

rtunity to

the edu

cands to h

ave self-

control. In th

e im

pressio

nistic system

, it is the p

erson

al influen

ce of the teach

er which is

effective

in

ensurin

g d

iscipline.

Repressio

nists

believe

in

the m

etho

d of

physical

force,

emancip

ation

ists advocate the m

etho

d of love an

d u

nd

erstandin

g, and

imp

ressio

nists favour the

meth

od p

ersu

asion.

6. Philosophy and teacher: T

eacher has very im

po

rtant role to

pla

y in ed

ucati

on. A

teacher w

ho

is well-aw

are of the ph

ilosop

hy o

f life and edu

cati

on

is very successfu

l in his job

. Gen

tile has

rightly rem

arked, “T

he b

elief that men

ma

y con

tinu

e to ed

ucate w

itho

ut con

cerning th

em

selves

with p

hilo

soph

y me

ans a failu

re to un

derstand

the p

recise natu

re of ed

ucation

. The

pro

cess of

educatio

n cann

ot go

on right lin

es witho

ut the h

elp o

f ph

ilosop

hy.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

20

Accordin

g to n

aturalist, the teacher sh

ould

not interfere w

ith the edu

cation o

f the ch

ild. H

e

thro

ws th

e teacher to th

e back-groun

d. Th

e idealist ho

lds th

at the teacher is ind

ispensab

le for the

educatio

n o

f the child

. Un

less there

is teacher, the

re can b

e no ed

ucation

. He gives h

ighest place

to the teach

er. T

he prag

matist ad

opts via m

edia so far as the p

lace of tea

cher is co

ncern

ed. He is

simp

ly to gu

ide th

e teacher in variou

s learn

ing activities.

UN

IT II

MA

JOR

PH

ILOS

OP

HIE

S O

F E

DU

CA

TIO

N

NA

TU

RA

LISM

Natu

ralism a typ

e of p

hilo

soph

y accord

ing to w

hich

natu

re is the ultimate reality. It b

elieves that

nature alon

e contains th

e norm

al and

only final an

sw

er to all ph

ilosop

hical p

roblem

s. Eve

rything

is govern

ed b

y natu

re. There

is noth

ing b

eyo

nd n

ature, b

ehind n

ature and

oth

er nature. N

ature

is

a self sufficien

t entity havin

g its natu

ral matter,

natural fo

rces and n

atural law

s. Sin

ce hu

man

existence is mo

ulded

and

contro

lled b

y external nature, it sh

ould

, the

refore, be in

accord

ance

with natu

re laws. T

he n

aturalists apply n

atural law

s to th

e wh

ole of, h

uman

experien

ce-material,

ration

al or spiritu

al. Naturalists b

elieve that natu

ral wo

rld is the real w

orld. Th

ey lay th

at man

,

the cre

ature of th

e mate

rial wo

rld m

ust subm

it to the law

s of th

e real w

orld

. We

mu

st not go

against natu

re. We m

ust fo

llow

the track form

ed b

y the n

ature. T

hus, natu

ralism m

eans b

elief in

nature and

return

to n

ature. S

om

e of th

e definitio

ns of n

aturalism p

ut forw

ard b

y scho

lars are

as und

er:-

(i) Ward’s V

iew: N

aturalism

is the do

ctrine w

hich separates n

ature fro

m G

od, su

bordin

ates

spirit to

matter and

sets up

unch

ange

able laws as su

prem

e.

(ii) Hocking’s V

iew: N

atu

ralism is m

etaphysics w

hich co

nsiders n

ature a

s the w

hole of reality.

It exclud

es wh

at is sup

ernatural or other w

orld.

(iii) Joyce’s View

: “Naturalism

is a system

wh

ose salient ch

aracteristics is th

e exclusio

n of

wh

atever is spiritual or in

deed w

hatever is tran

scend

ental of experien

ce from

ou

r philoso

ph

y of

nature and

man

.”

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

21

(iv) Rusk’s V

iew: “N

aturalism is a p

hilosop

hical po

sition

adop

ted b

y th

ose who

appro

ach

philo

sop

hy fro

m pu

rely scientific po

int of view

.”

Characteristics of N

aturalistic Philosophy

(1) N

ature

alone

is entire reality. “R

eturn to

natu

re” and “B

reak th

e ch

ain

s of society” are its

slogan

s.

(2) Law

s of n

ature are unchan

geable an

d th

e entire

universe is govern

ed b

y them

.

(3) S

cience reveals th

e mysteries o

f natu

re; hen

ce o

nly th

at kno

wled

ge is true th

at is derived

from

science and

thro

ugh

scientific m

ethod

s. Thu

s, science is a so

urce o

f

all kno

wled

ge.

(4) S

enses a

re the gatewa

ys of kn

owled

ge. All m

atter is w

ithin

the ken

of h

uman

senses. T

he

final tru

th can b

e kno

wn

throu

gh sen

ses.

(5) M

aterial world is th

e real wo

rld. A

ll things h

ave originated

from

matter and

all are ultim

ately

to b

e reduced

to that. M

atter is mad

e of ato

ms, em

pty sp

ace and m

otio

n.

(6) M

an himself is m

atter and his m

ind is th

e resul

t of brain functio

nin

g. Brain

is matter.

(7) E

xperience, im

agin

ation

, thinkin

g, reason

ing etc. a

re all pro

cesses of m

ental activity, w

hich

is the functio

n o

f oth

er brain

.

(8) N

aturalism

em

phatically d

enies su

pernatu

ralism.

Naturalists d

o no

t have an

y faith in

divine

spirit, sou

l, God

, or R

eligion

. Divin

e inspiratio

n,

strength

of pra

yer, pra

yer o

f soul a

nd

other

wo

rld are all illu

sion

s and

mislead h

um

an m

ind

. Th

ere a

re no su

ch thin

gs as “transcenden

tal

self.”

(9) T

he fu

nd

amen

tal differen

ce betw

een natu

ralism a

nd

Idealism

is that Naturalism

hold

s that it

is the bo

dy w

hich

posse

sses the sou

l, idealism ad

vocates th

at it is the soul w

hich p

ossesses the

bod

y.

(10) N

aturalism is a re

actio

n against th

e com

plicated n

ature of civilizatio

n. R

ou

sseau believes

that ch

ild is b

orn go

od b

ut is the so

ciety that m

ak

es him

bad

. Man

mu

st remain

awa

y from

the

society if h

e wan

ts to rem

ain pure an

d unso

phisticated

.

Form

s or Schools of N

aturalism

1. Physical N

aturalism: T

his fo

rm o

f Naturalism

interp

rets the m

an and

the u

niverse in

terms o

f

ph

ysical sciences. It explains ind

ividuals d

ifferences, e

mo

tions an

d feelin

gs on

the b

asis of

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

22

ph

ysical sciences. It h

as little or n

o influence in th

e sphere

of edu

cation, becau

se all th

at it has

don

e is to p

lace kno

wled

ge of scien

ce above every k

ind

of kno

wled

ge.

2. Mechanical N

aturalism: A

ccord

ing to th

is schoo

l of N

aturalism, th

e entire u

niverse is a

ma

chine mad

e of m

atter and is p

ossessed

of a self drivin

g energ

y. Th

is is materialism

, for it

suggests that m

atter is the on

ly thin

g, and an

ythin

g that exists is a form

of m

atter. Living bein

gs,

too

, are small m

ach

ines, com

plexes of atom

s and

mol

ecules. M

an is also

a m

echan

ical creature.

He h

as no creative force, no

pu

rpose, and

no

direct

ion. T

he n

aturalists of th

is view aim

at ma

king

man as goo

d a m

achine a

s po

ssible.

3. Biological or E

volutionary Naturalism

: This fo

rm of n

aturalism

is based on

theory o

f

evolution

. It con

tends th

at all the processes of n

atu

re and th

e entire existen

ce of the universe

canno

t be explained

in term

s of me

chanical an

d p

hys

ical processes, b

ecause in th

e biological

wo

rld, ed

ucation

is mo

re imp

ortant phen

om

enon

.

(2) Naturalism

and Aim

s of Education

Som

e of the vario

us aim

s of ed

ucation

as given b

y natu

ralism are listed

belo

w:-

1. Self-expression: If u

nd

er ide

alistic scho

ol philoso

ph

y the

aim o

f ed

ucation

is self-realizatio

n,

und

er the n

aturalists scho

ols of p

hilosop

hy th

e aim o

f edu

cation is self-exp

ression

or self-

preservation

.

2. Perfection of H

uman M

achine: Me

chan

ical Natu

ralism su

ggests that ed

ucation sh

ould

aim

at the efficiency and p

erfection o

f the hu

man

ma

chi

ne.

3. S

ublimation of Instincts: M

cDo

ugall

states that

educatio

n

aims

at th

e transfo

rmatio

n,

synthesis, sublim

ation or m

odificatio

n of instin

cts.

4. To S

truggle Successfully: D

arwin m

aintain

s that educatio

n m

ust train

the in

divid

ual to

struggle su

ccessfully fo

r his o

wn

survival.

5. To S

ecure Adjustm

ent: Landm

ark an

d his follo

wers believe th

at the aim

of

educatio

n is to

enab

le the in

dividual to

adjust him

self ph

ysically an

d m

entally to

his e

nviron

men

t and to the

chan

ging circu

mstan

ces in life.

6. To S

ecure Present and F

uture Happiness:

Sp

encer b

elieved edu

cation

to be a p

reparation

and trainin

g for co

mp

lete life. Acco

rdin

g to h

im edu

cation

aims at ach

ievin

g the presen

t and

futu

re happ

iness o

f the child

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

23

7. To A

chieve Social P

rogress: Bern

ard S

haw

ho

lds that educatio

n sho

uld

accelerate th

e pace o

f

evolution

and th

us achie

ve social, pro

gress mu

ch ea

rlier than

oth

erwise.

8. To D

evelop Individuality: T.P

. Nu

nn

pre

fers to u

se educatio

n as a m

eans of ma

king th

e

ind

ividual cap

able o

f de

velopin

g his ow

n ind

ividuality and

of co

ntributing to so

ciety. Ro

usseau

is of the view

that ed

ucation sh

ould

develop

the child

accordin

g to h

is natural ab

ility.

If we see closely, w

e shall fin

d th

at all the natu

ralists a

gree that the n

aturalistic aim

of ed

ucation

is to develop enjo

yable, ratio

nal, harm

oniou

sly bal

anced an

d useful n

atural self.

(3) Naturalism

and Curriculum

As a syste

m o

f ph

iloso

phy, n

aturalism

has b

een excep

tion

ally suscep

tible to the develo

pmen

ts of

science, and

by virtue o

f this influen

ce it has att

ached m

uch im

portan

ce to evo

lutio

nary theo

ry,

empirical teach

ing an

d scien

tific analysis etc. N

aturalists believe th

at the fo

llowin

g subjects

shou

ld b

e inclu

ded in

the curricu

lum

:

1. Sciences w

hich deal with nature: W

hile idealists emp

hasize the stu

dy o

f hum

anities, the

subjects

which

interest th

e naturalists

are th

e sci

ences

wh

ich

de

al w

ith

natu

re-Ph

ysics,

Ch

emistry, Z

oolo

gy, B

otan

y etc.

2. Mathem

atics and Languages: Math

ematics an

d langu

ages are in

cluded

because the

y are

consid

ered to

ols for u

nd

erstan

din

g science su

bjects.

3. History and S

ocial Studies: N

aturalism

lay e

mp

hasis on

the past experien

ces of th

e race. S

o

histo

ry and so

cial studies sh

ould be includ

ed in th

e curriculum

.

4. A

griculture and

Carpentry

: F

or

the

developm

ent

of

sense

percep

tion

and

pra

ctical

jud

gmen

t, agricultu

re and

carpentry sh

ould

be in

trod

uced

.

5. Physical E

ducation and Health T

raining: Natu

ralism reco

mm

ends p

hysical ed

ucatio

n and

health

trainin

g, bu

t the p

rocess is ne

gative on

e. Ro

usseau sp

eaks o

f ma

ny goo

d h

ealth ru

les,

tho

ugh

the

y are mo

stly ne

gative. Th

e child

mu

st be

allow

ed utm

ost freed

om

of mo

vem

ent. F

or

ma

king h

im he

althy h

e must b

e exposed

to co

ld, eat and

risks as far as p

ossib

le. Ru

nnin

g,

jum

pin

g, climb

ing an

d swim

min

g sho

uld be enco

ura

ged as th

e natural p

hysical activities o

f the

child

.

6. Draw

ing: F

or

stimu

lating

free

expression

o

f id

eas, th

e sp

ee

ch

and

d

rawin

g sh

ould

b

e

consid

ered as th

e chie

f means.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

24

7. Liberal Education: N

aturalism

does n

ot b

elieve in sp

ecialized ed

ucati

on. It stan

ds fo

r liberal

educatio

n

i.e., fre

es cu

ltivation

o

f all

hum

an

po

we

rs in

th

e in

terest o

f perfe

ct in

dividual

develo

pm

ent. I the n

atural o

rder o

f thin

gs all men

are equ

al, their co

mm

on

vocation is m

anh

ood

;

wh

oever is well train

ed for th

at can not fail to pe

rform

any vo

cation

conn

ected w

ith it

8. No P

lace for Traditional S

ubjects: Naturalists are o

f the view

that traditio

nal sub

jects,

conventio

nal hab

its, kno

wled

ge and info

rmation

buil

t by th

e sop

histicated

society sho

uld

not b

e

given an

y place in

the cu

rriculum.

9. Place of R

eligious Education: N

aturalism

do

es no

t a lay an

y place to

religion

or

even to G

od

becau

se these can

not b

e explain

ed throu

gh scientific lines. N

o religio

n sh

ou

ld b

e taugh

t, since no

child

wants to

practice religion w

hen he

is free. To

naturalism

religion

is a matter o

f heart and

not head

. Religion

is to be felt and n

ot to b

e reas

on

ed o

ut. S

o eve

ry child sho

uld

be allowed

to

develo

p h

is ow

n religio

n.

10. Moral E

ducation: Natu

ralism re

gards m

oral ed

ucation

as a matter o

f exp

erience rathe

r than

of in

structio

n. Ro

usseau favo

ured m

oral trainin

g thro

ugh

the th

eory o

f natu

ral experience. “A

s

we sh

ould

teach acco

rdin

g to the rh

ythm

s of n

ature,

so w

e shou

ld p

unish as natu

re pu

nisher.”

(4) Naturalism

and Methods of T

eaching

Natu

ralism as revo

lutio

nized o

ur entire thin

king rega

rding m

ethod

s of instruction. In

stead of

sticking to

old d

ogm

atic meth

ods n

aturalism

em

phasi

zed mo

re dyn

amic an

d m

ore p

rogressive

meth

ods in teach

ing d

ifferent su

bjects. So

me o

f the

metho

ds th

at deserve m

entio

ned

are:

1. Methods of direct experiences: D

irect experien

ces with n

ature, thin

gs and m

en ar

e the

keyn

ote o

f instru

ctions accord

ing to n

aturalists. Som

e of the metho

ds o

f direct exp

eriences

emph

asised b

y naturalists are as u

nd

er:

I. Learnin

g by do

ing an

d self-experience: in

the w

ord

s of Ro

usseau

, “Give yo

ur sch

ola

r no

verbal lessons; h

e shou

ld b

e taugh

t by experien

ce alo

ne. Tea

ch b

y doin

g wh

enever you can; and

only fall b

ack on

wo

rds w

hen

do

ing is o

ut of q

ue

stion

……

…B

ook kn

owled

ge shou

ld b

e as little

as possible.”

II. Ed

ucation th

rou

gh se

nses: Learnin

g can take p

lace m

ost effectively if the m

aximu

m n

um

ber

of sen

ses is bro

ugh

t into

action

for p

urpo

ses of gi

ving direct exp

eriences to th

e child. “Ed

ucation

thro

ugh

senses,” w

as anoth

er slogan of R

ousseau

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

25

III. Ob

servation

and E

xperimentatio

n: Naturalists a

dvo

cate that p

one of th

e impo

rtant m

ethod

s

of im

pa

rting scien

tific kno

wled

ge is thro

ugh

observ

ation and

experimen

tation.

IV. D

irect m

ethod

: In th

e stud

y of lan

gua

ges natu

ralists ad

vocate d

irect m

etho

d of tea

ching to

ensu

re the vocab

ulary o

f a stud

ent.

V. D

irect stud

y of Natu

ral Phen

om

ena: In

the te

achi

ng o

f science th

e “cha

lk and talk” m

ethod

is

not as su

ccessful as the d

irect stud

y of natu

ral ph

eno

men

a outsid

e the sch

oo

l or in th

e laboratory.

VI. H

euristic Meth

od: In

the te

achin

g of scien

ce an

d m

athem

atics, natu

ralists emp

hasis H

euristic

meth

od also

.

VII. E

xcursions: G

eogra

phy sh

ould

be tau

ght throu

gh excu

rsions an

d sch

ool jou

rne

ys rather th

an

from

bo

oks an

d map

s.

2. Play-w

ay Method: N

aturalists advocate p

lay-w

ay m

etho

d as anoth

er im

portant m

etho

d of

imp

arting edu

cation

. Pla

y is the greatest attractio

n of the ch

ild. It is pla

y which h

elps th

e child

to

express h

imself fu

lly, to be creative

and

to acq

uire con

fidence

for m

anip

ulatin

g ob

jects and

for

learnin

g skills. Pla

y-way is, th

erefo

re, rega

rding

as the n

atural an

d o

utstan

ding m

ethod

of

creative educatio

n. It cre

ates the sp

irit of joyful, sp

ontan

eous an

d creative activity.

3. Freedo

m in E

ducation: Natu

ralism w

ere n

ot in favo

ur of keepin

g the child

un

der co

ntrol.

Th

ey w

ant an

ideal en

vironm

ent of fre

edo

m for the d

evelop

men

t of th

e gro

win

g child. T

he

y

opp

ose u

nnatu

ral class-room

meth

ods an

d h

ate any ty

pe o

f rigidity in the d

aily time tab

le.

Ro

usseau

was in favou

r of givin

g full freedom

to th

e child for h

is natural d

evelopm

ent. So

“freedo

m in ed

ucatio

n” was an

oth

er sloga

n o

f Ro

usse

au.

4. Education according to nature of the child: N

aturalists are of th

e view th

at education

shou

ld

be p

lann

ed acco

rdin

g to n

ature o

f child

i.e. accordin

g to his ab

ilities, interests, ap

titudes and

need

s. N

ature

of

the ch

ild sho

uld

b

e given

top

posi

tion

in

the ed

ucative

pro

cess. H

ence

“Individ

ualizatio

n in

edu

cation” is an

oth

er watch

wo

rd o

f Natu

ralism.

5. Co-education: N

aturalists ad

vocate co-ed

ucation

. Th

ey b

elieve that it is u

nnatu

ral to separate

sexes. S

egregatio

n o

f sexes

develo

ps u

nnatu

ral atti

tud

e o

f sexes

tow

ards

each other.

Co

-

educatio

n w

ill develo

p righ

t type o

f fam

ily and

com

mu

nity life.

(5) Naturalism

and discipline

Natu

ralists opp

ose the trad

itional co

ncept o

f disci

pline. T

he

y give u

tmo

st freedo

m to

the

child

.

Th

ey

opp

ose

th

e m

etho

d of

ph

ysical pu

nish

men

t, fo

r th

ey

believe

that th

is gives

rise to

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

26

und

esirable co

nflict in

the ch

ild. In

the w

ord

s of R

ou

sseau, “C

hild

ren sho

uld n

ever receive

pun

ishm

ent. Freedo

m an

d not p

ow

er is the greate

st goo

d.”

If the child

ma

kes the mistake h

e will get is rew

ard

from

nature itself an

d th

us he w

ill learn to

distin

guish betw

een the righ

t and

the w

rong th

rou

gh the

conseq

uen

ces of his o

wn

actions. F

or

this reason

the ch

ild shou

ld b

e given every liberty

. To

the natu

ralist liberty d

oes not sim

ply

freedo

m to in

terfere with th

e activity of o

thers.

Bo

th S

pencer an

d R

ousseau

had

adop

ted d

isciplin

e throu

gh natural co

nse

qu

ences. A

ccordin

g to

this p

rincip

le nature give

s conseq

uences o

f an acti

vity, in the form

of co

mfort or pain

. Sp

encer

writes, “W

hen

a child falls, or run its head

agains

t the table, it suffers pain

, the rem

emb

rance o

f

wh

ich ten

ds to m

ake it m

ore careful, and b

y repetit

ion

of such experien

ces, it is eventu

ally

discip

lined in

to prop

er guidan

ce of its m

ovem

ent.”

Bu

t S

pence

r sa

ys that

this

principle

shou

ld n

ot b

e app

lied

durin

g in

fancy.

He

gives h

is

observatio

n like th

is, “A three ye

ars old child

pla

ying w

ith an

op

en ra

zor can

not b

e allowed

to

learn b

y this discipline fo

r the co

nseq

uences m

ay be to

o seriou

s.” Mill d

oes n

ot agree w

ith

Spacers th

at warn

ing m

ust b

e given at each

stages.

Bu

t really spe

akin

g natu

re is blin

d. It do

es not distrib

ute h

er penalties in

a fair and

just man

ne

r.

Her w

ays are arb

itrary. It wo

uld

be a sin

to leave

moral edu

cation up

on na

ture. F

or co

mm

itting a

little mistake o

ne

ma

y lose his life as a n

atural p

unishm

ent. It is b

etter to pro

hib

it a ch

ild

standin

g on

the b

ank o

f river and

carry him

awa

y by

threat; o

therw

ise, if he dro

wn

s, it wo

uld be

only th

e witn

ess wh

o wo

uld

get a lesson, an

d n

ot the ch

ild.

It must b

e reme

mb

er that the valu

e of n

aturalistic

con

cept lies th

at it con

dem

ns all rep

ression

istic

me

asures; and

the prese

nt d

ay em

phasis o

n resp

ect for the p

erso

nality of the child

, bu

ildin

g up

good

ho

me-sch

ool relation

ship

, and

freed

om to

the child

are the influ

ences of n

aturalistic

tenden

cies.

(6) Naturalism

and Teacher

Un

der naturalism

the teach

er does n

ot o

ccup

y as high

and resp

ected a position

as he do

es und

er

the id

ealistic tradition. H

e has a place an

d d

uties to

perform

. Role of teach

er und

er naturalistic

system

of ed

ucation

can be sum

ma

rized as und

er:-

1. Teacher as O

bserver: Teach

er must have a ch

ildish

sense of h

um

ou

r and

fun

. His p

lace is

behin

d th

e scene. H

e is an o

bserver of ch

ild’s deve

lopm

ent rather than

a giver o

f inform

ation

,

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

27

ideas, id

eals and w

ill pow

er or m

ou

lders of ch

ara

cter. R

ousseau

and

Fitch

e are in favou

r of n

on-

intervention

of th

e teacher on

accou

nt of the child

’s nature. It is co

ntend

ed b

y them

that the

child

’s nature

is essentially god

, and very in

terve

ntion is, there

fore, h

arm

ful. Bu

t it do

es no

t

me

an that th

ere shou

ld b

e no ed

ucator at all. T

he t

eacher m

ust se

e that the ed

ucation

of the pu

pils

is the free d

evelopm

ent of th

eir inte

rests and m

oti

ves. Th

e teach

er mu

st stud

y the ch

ild’s

psych

olo

gy a

nd in

terfere in

his activities o

nly whe

n so

me o

bstacle bars th

e wa

y to the child’s

pro

gress.

2. Teacher as protector: T

he aim

of edu

cation, a

ccord

ing to

naturalism

, as

we have po

inted

out,

is to pro

vide the child w

ith op

portun

ities for com

plete u

nde

rstandin

g and

self-expression

. The

role o

f educato

r, therefore, is o

nly to

pro

tect th

e ch

ild fro

m rep

ressions an

d m

ental diso

rder of all

kinds.

3. Teacher as stage-setter: Th

e teach

er’s task is simp

ly to p

rovide the stage

for ch

ild’s actin

g to

collect th

e mate

rial requ

ired, to p

rovid

e the ch

ild w

ith an

opp

ortunity to

do

as he likes and

to

create an id

eal enviro

nm

ent. A

ccordin

g to natu

ralistic con

cept the teacher is “a setter o

f the

stage, a su

pplier o

f materials and

op

portu

nities, a

provid

er of an

ideal en

vironm

ent an

d creator

of co

ndition

s, cond

ucive to n

atural d

evelop

ment o

f p

upils.”

Criticism

of Naturalism

1. Lack of Educational Ideals: N

aturalism d

oes no

t give any lo

fty aim o

f education

. It regard

s

hum

an b

eing as m

ore o

f an anim

al. It lays e

mp

hasis on

his m

aterial nature

. It do

es not take in

to

accoun

t the spiritu

al nature o

f man

, but it can

not

pro

duce

a fu

ll man

, becau

se his spiritual and

mo

ral po

wers re

main ne

glected

.

2. Too m

uch Em

phasis on Present: Naturalism

lays m

ore e

mp

hasis u

pon

the p

resent th

an

up

on

the fu

ture. T

he presen

t has its im

portance, bu

t up

to

certain exten

t futu

re is also imp

ortant.

3. Many E

xplanations of Nature: T

he con

cept o

f natu

re differs fro

m o

ne n

aturalist to

anoth

er.

Som

e natu

ralists interp

ret it in

the sense o

f ph

ysical n

ature

wh

ile oth

ers take it to m

ean h

um

an

nature. T

here

is often

disa

greem

ent abou

t wh

at cons

titutes no

rmality an

d a

bno

rmality in h

um

an

nature. S

piritual n

ature o

f man h

as been

ignored

.

4. More Im

portance to Scientific S

ubjects in the Curriculum

: Naturalists attached

mo

re

imp

ortance to

scientific su

bjects in th

e curriculu

m. S

ubje

cts like art and

literature sho

uld also be

given d

ue im

portance in the cu

rriculu

m.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

28

5. Unrestricted F

reedom to the C

hild: Natura

lism gives un

restricted freedo

m to

the child

.

Ab

solute freedo

m is im

practicable. It is n

ot po

ssible to

give any instruction

witho

ut im

posin

g

any ob

ligation

.

IDE

ALIS

M:

Idealism

has b

een the d

om

inate ph

ilosop

hical theo

ry thro

ugh

the ancient th

e ancien

t period

. Even

in m

odern

times, id

ealism

has certain attractio

ns which

appe

als to the h

um

an m

ind

and th

ereb

y

exercises a great in

flue

nce on hu

man th

inkin

g. As a

ph

iloso

phy o

f life, it has derived

the

attentio

n of the great ph

ilosop

hy as represen

ted by

So

crates, Plato, K

ant, B

erkley, C

omen

ius,

Froeb

el, Fich

te, Sch

op

en

haure, Lotze, K

apila, G

uru N

ana

k, Da

yanan

da

, Vivekan

anda, T

agore,

Gan

dhi an

d Rad

hakrish

nan

. Idealism

asserts th

at reality con

sists of id

eas, th

oughts, m

inds o

r

selves rather th

an of material o

bjects an

d forces. R

eality is foun

d in

min

d and

no

t in the physical,

mate

rial and

extern

al w

orld

. It

is sp

iritual in

n

atu

re. Idealism

, th

erefore,

believes

in

the

supern

atural reality. In idealism

, ideas are extern

al and

unchan

ging. M

an has go

t the po

wer to

discover these valu

es.

Meaning of Idealism

1. Popular m

eaning: Po

pularly th

e wo

rd mean

s (i) on

e who

accepts an

d lives b

y lofty m

oral,

aesthetic and

religiou

s standard

s, or (ii) on

e wh

o is able to visu

alize, and w

ho ad

vocates som

e

plan or pro

gramm

e which

is non

existent. Every so

cial refo

rmer is an

idealist in

the secon

d sense

becau

se he su

ppo

rts someth

ing th

at has no

t yet com

e in

existence. In this sense those w

ho w

ork

for p

erman

ent p

eace o

r for the elim

ination o

f po

verty m

ay b

e called id

ealists.

2. Derivative m

eaning: Th

e wo

rd “Id

ealism” m

ay be d

erived fro

m ‘id

eas’ or

‘Ideals’. Id

eas or

higher valu

es are essence. T

he

y are o

f ultimate co

sm

ic significances. Th

ey are m

ore im

po

rtant in

hum

an life than

anyth

ing else. T

he

y are ete

rnal and

un

chan

ging. T

he

y have no

dim

ension like

length or b

readth

and as such

differen

t from

mate

rial fo

rces.

3. Philosophical m

eaning: Idealism

wh

ich is co

mm

on

ly kno

wn

as Sp

iritualism,

seeks to

offer

an exp

lanatio

n of the m

an and

the u

niverse in terms

of spirit of m

ind

. It is, in fact, the n

egation

of m

atter and

a great fo

rce drivin

g man to strive f

or h

is becom

ing on

e with the ultim

ate spirit.

(1) Idealism and A

ims of E

ducation

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

29

Idealism

as we h

ave alread

y no

ted con

tends th

at man

is the gran

dest h

and

iwo

rk of God

. In the

wo

rds of S

ha

kespe

are, man

is the ‘Pa

ragon

of C

reation

’. He h

as in h

im in

divid

uality, a pattern

of

self inb

orn with

him. E

du

cation o

ugh

t to m

ake h

im t

his p

attern p

erfect. Idealism

has given us

very lofty aim

s of ed

ucation

. So

me o

f imp

ortant a

ims o

f edu

cation p

ropo

und

ed b

y idealists are

as

und

er:-

1. Self-R

ealization or Exaltation of P

ersonality: Idealism e

mp

hasizes the w

ork o

f man

’s

person

ality and

spiritu

al natu

re. Man’s sou

l is mo

re im

portant th

an his material structu

re. Man

is

merely sou

l. Th

e entire creation is con

ceptual. N

ature is com

plete in

itself. There is th

e sou

l of

the u

niverse behind

it. Man’s so

ul is a pa

rt of thi

s soul of th

e universe. T

he re

al structure o

f the

soul is m

agnificent. T

he aim of hu

man

life, accord

in

g to id

ealism, is to

acquire th

e kno

wled

ge of

the so

ul.

2. Universal E

ducation: Idealism

believes th

at every man

is equally the

no

blest wo

rk of G

od

.

Th

ere shou

ld, th

erefo

re b

e mad

e no

exception in

the ed

ucation

of ch

ildre

n. E

du

cation sh

ould be

universal w

ithou

t distin

ction

of wealth o

r status, creed

, caste or colo

ur. It sh

ould n

ot be fo

r a

favorite few. T

his is th

e idealistic ch

aracter o

f un

iversal educatio

n.

3. Preservation and enrichm

ent of cultural environment: Th

e child’s en

vironm

ent is no

t

merely p

hysical o

r mate

rial like that of Ram

u, the

Wo

lf Bo

y but hu

man

, spiritual or cultural also

.

To

idealism

, the spiritu

al or cu

ltural en

vironm

ent is an

environ

men

t of m

an

’s ow

n m

aking; it is

the fru

it of m

an’s o

wn

creative activities; it is t

he p

rodu

ctive of a

ges an

d it is alwa

ys in the

process o

f grow

th. It b

elongs to

all it is the co

mm

on h

eritage to

the b

est of h

is capacity; p

reserve

it and im

pro

ve up

on it. R

usk sa

ys, “Ed

ucation

mu

st enab

le man

kind th

rou

gh its cu

lture to en

ter

mo

re an

d m

ore fu

lly into sp

iritual realm, an

d also

to enlarge

the b

oun

daries of th

e spiritual

realm.”

4. Developm

ent of Moral S

ense: Fo

urth, the aim o

f educatio

n acco

rding to

idealism is to

develo

p th

e child’s m

oral sen

se and th

us en

able h

im to

distinguish

right fro

m w

ron

g, to lo

ve well

and desp

ise evil. Th

e goa

l of life as well as o

f edu

cation sh

ould be the

realizatio

n of moral values

by develo

ping th

e spiritual characte

r of the ch

ild.

5. Developm

ent of Com

plete Man: T

he p

hysical asp

ect of edu

cation

has also b

een con

sidered

by th

e idealistic sch

ool o

f ph

iloso

phy. In

the w

ord

s of Ro

ss, “Th

e health

and fitness o

f the bo

dy

mu

st receive d

ue attentio

n, for with

out such

health

and

fitness th

e pursu

it of sp

iritual values is

seriou

sly hand

icapped

. Moral valu

es, wh

ich are spiritu

al, can b

e foun

d in p

hysical activities,

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

30

intellectu

al valu

es are

preserved

in

the

app

lication

o

f skill

to

the

problem

s of

ph

ysical

environ

ment; an

d a man acq

uires o

ver his materia

l in his crafts.”

6. Sim

ple Living and High T

hinking: Ide

alism re

gards th

at simp

le living an

d high

thin

kin

g

shou

ld b

e anoth

er aim of edu

cation

.

7. Proxim

ate and Ultim

ate Aim

of Education: M

odern

ide

alism as in

terpreted

by H

orn

e,

emph

asizes two

types o

f aims:

(i) To

pro

ximate aim

sho

uld

be the develo

pm

ent of h

ealth, intelligen

ce, skill, art, social ju

stice

and ch

aracter.

(ii) Th

e ultim

ate aim sh

ould

be “T

he d

evelopm

ent of h

uma

nity in

the ima

ge of d

ivinity.”

(2) Idealism and C

urriculum

Idealists insist o

n emp

ha

sis bein

g placed on

the stud

y of h

um

anities such

as literate, art, religio

n,

mo

rality etc. Plato

has su

ggested the inclusio

n of

all tho

se subjects o

f discip

lines w

hich help

in

the realizatio

n o

f the truth

, beauty and

good

ness. M

ost significant am

ong m

an’s activities are the

intellectu

al, the aesthetic an

d th

e m

oral. Th

e foll

ow

ing su

bjects shou

ld be tau

ght for d

evelopin

g

various activities.

(1) Intellectual

activity: T

he

teach

ing

of lan

guage,

literature,

histo

ry, ge

ograp

hy

and

math

em

atics and scien

ce will en

cou

rage intelle

ctual

activity.

(2) Moral Im

pulse: can b

e reinfo

rced throu

gh art and po

etry.

(3) Moral activities: can

be tau

ght an

d in

stilled in the edu

cand

thro

ugh

the teachin

g of religio

n,

ethics etc.

(4) Physical activities: B

esides intellectu

al, aesthetics an

d m

oral educati

on sh

ould b

e ph

ysical

also. W

itho

ut health an

d fitn

ess the

pursu

it of sp

iritu

al values is ha

mp

ered. H

ealth and

ph

ysical

educatio

n cultivates b

odily skills. Ide

alists also

advo

cate various kin

ds o

f han

dicra

fts and

manu

al

skills.

Ro

ss is of the view

that ed

ucation

sho

uld com

prise b

oth ph

ysical and spiritu

al activities.

Idealism and M

ethods of Teaching

Idealism

as a ph

ilosop

hy exercised

mo

re influ

ence on

the aim

s of edu

cation

and

on its gen

eral

philo

sop

hy rathe

r than o

n m

etho

ds. It speaks o

f the

general n

ature o

f teachin

g meth

ods; it d

oes

not em

phasis an

y particu

lar meth

od of teach

ing. Id

ealism

has sho

wn

its influ

ence

in th

e field o

f

meth

ods. D

ifferent id

ealists have adop

ted d

ifferent

meth

ods, som

e of w

hich are as un

der:

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

31

1. Question M

ethod: Socrates h

ad ado

pted th

e question

meth

od. H

e used

to

go to

ma

rket and

there h

e asked q

uestions o

n im

po

rtant subjects an

d

dem

and

ed answ

ers from

the aud

ience.

2. Conversational M

ethod: Plato chan

ged

the q

uestio

ns metho

ds in

to co

nversatio

nal metho

d.

3. Inductive

and D

eductive M

ethod: Aristo

tle im

parts

education

thro

ugh

ind

uctive

and

dedu

ctive meth

ods. H

ege

l again ad

opted

the lo

gical m

etho

ds.

4. Sim

ple to Com

plex: Desca

rtes sho

wed his in

terest in p

roceed

ing fro

m

to sim

ple com

plex.

5. Concrete to A

bstract: Co

menius sh

ow

ed his interest in pro

ceedin

g from

con

crete to abstract.

6.Play-w

ay Method: F

roebel em

ph

asized p

lay-w

ay m

ethod

in ed

ucation

.

7. Lecture, Debate and D

iscussion Methods:

Idealists som

ewh

ere take the h

elp o

f lecture and

discussion

meth

ods. T

he

y have also su

ggested d

ebate

as techn

iqu

e of te

achin

g.

8 Story T

elling Method and D

ramatics: T

he Id

ealist suggests sto

ry telling m

ethod

for infan

ts

and co

nversation

al meth

od an

d d

ram

atics for ad

olescen

ts.

. (3) Idealism and T

he Teacher

Th

e place of tea

cher in

idealism

is very high. T

he

child

is not co

mp

lete in him

self; he is

proceed

ing to

ward

s perfection

. The te

acher gu

ides h

im. H

e carries the child fro

m d

arkness to

light. H

e can save th

e children

from

man

y mistakes

and

wasta

ge o

f energ

y. Th

e m

ost precise

explan

ation

of the teacher’s role su

ggested b

y Fro

eb

el. Acco

rdin

g to him, th

e schoo

l is a garden,

the teach

er is a cautio

us gard

ener an

d th

e child

is a tend

er p

lant. Th

e p

lant can

grow

no d

oub

t

witho

ut h

elp bu

t the go

od gard

ener sees that the p

lan

t grows to the finest p

ossible p

erfection

.

Th

rou

gh teach

er’s gu

idance the children

can

make h

is n

atural develo

pm

ent into

a process

leadin

g to pe

rfectio

n and

beauty. R

oss exp

lains, “Th

e natu

ralist ma

y be contend

ed with

briars,

but the id

ealist wan

ts fine roses.” T

he

idealists a

ttach m

ore valu

e to th

e teache

r than the

naturalists. T

he fun

ction

of the teacher is to

lead the ch

ildren

to th

eir perfect develop

men

t-self

realization

or the re

alization o

f truth, b

eauty an

d g

ood

ness.

Idealist are o

f the o

pinion

that th

e teacher sho

uld b

e mo

rally high, intellectu

ally developed

and

cultu

rally advan

ced th

en he sh

ould try to

provid

e alike track fo

r the child

ren to walk up

on. T

his

track will lead

the

m to

their ultim

ate aim.

Conclusion

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

32

To

conclud

e we sa

y that id

ealism is b

asically a ph

ilo

soph

y of life and like other ph

iloso

phies o

f

life it has exercise a ge

neral rather than

specific in

fluence o

n edu

cation. Idealism

advocates th

e

existence of im

med

iate a

nd

rem

ote aim o

f educatio

n. W

hereas th

e imm

ediate aim

s are related to

a man

’s spiritu

al and m

oral needs to

enable him

to realize w

ithin

himself a u

nity with

the

universal self. Id

ealism la

ys emp

hasis o

n the stu

dy o

f all subjects b

ut stresses the im

po

rtance o

f

literature, ethics and

religion

. It recognizes th

e im

po

rtance o

f self-discip

line. T

he teach

er has a

very impo

rtant ro

le to p

lay in

edu

cation fo

r it is h

e, wh

o leads the in

divid

ual from d

arkness to

light an

d who

helps him

in the develop

ment o

f his perso

nality. In

the end

it can b

e m

aintain

ed

that id

ealism po

ses its faith in

the existence of e

xternal valu

es in the w

elter of ch

ange and

diversity. M

uch

of th

e wickedn

ess in h

uman

wo

rld p

ersists b

ecause of th

e fact that p

eop

le have

lost faith in the existen

ce of external values o

f life. P

resent ten

sion an

d con

flicting situation

of

educatio

nal crises can

be m

inim

ized by ad

optin

g the idealistic ap

proach to

life and ed

ucation.

PR

AG

MA

TIS

M

Pragm

atism

emerge

d as

the tw

entieth

centu

ry revolut

ion

again

st th

e n

ineteen

th

century

ration

alism, u

niversalism

and m

onism

etc. Th

e open

in

g de

cades of th

e 20

th cen

tury in

Eu

rope

and A

merica w

ere decad

es of so

cial pro

tests, refo

rms of vast ind

ustrial exp

ansion

and eco

nom

ic

prosp

erity. Pra

gmatism

is a philo

soph

y that stron

gly refle

cts som

e of the cha

racteristics of

Am

erica life. P

ragm

atism has also

been called

instr

um

entalism an

d exp

erimentalism

. Ch

arles

Pierce w

as the first m

an to introd

uce

the concep

t of pra

gmatism

in h

is philo

soph

y. Later John

Dew

ey, Jam

es, Kilp

atrick and S

chiller develop

ed and p

opu

larized P

ragmatism

in educatio

n. John

Dew

ey w

as highly im

pre

ssed by intelle

ctual, ind

ustrial an

d social revo

lutio

ns and

he realize th

at

if educatio

n is to have any m

eanin

g, it shou

ld go t

hrough rad

ical chan

ges.

Meaning of P

ragmatism

(i) Derivative sen

se of P

ragmatism

the w

ord P

ragm

atism

has b

een d

erived from

Gree

k word

‘Pra

gma’ w

hich

me

ans ‘actio

n’ or ‘w

ork do

ne.’ W

hile the id

ealist loo

ks before and

after and

pin

es for wh

at is not, th

e pra

gmatist lo

oks h

ere an

d n

ow

. Un

like idealists the

y live in the wo

rld

of facts an

d n

ot in th

e wo

rld o

f ideals.

(ii) Reid

’s view: P

rag

matism

makes “activity, en

gage

ment, co

mm

itmen

t, and

encou

nter” its

central the

me.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

33

(iii) View

of William

Jam

es: “Pragm

atism is a te

mpe

r of m

ind, an

attitude; it is also

a theory o

f

nature of id

eas and

truth; and

finally it is a theo

ry abo

ut reality.”

(iv) View

of R

usk: P

ragmatism

is merely a sta

ge in

the d

evelopm

ent of a new

idealism-an

idealism

that w

ill do fu

ll justice to

reality; recon

cile the p

ractical and spiritu

al values an

d resu

lts

as a cultu

re wh

ich is th

e flow

er of e

fficiency and

n

ot th

e ne

gation o

f it.

Principles of P

ragmatism

1. Changing nature of external values: P

ragmatism

like realism do

es not b

elieve in extern

al

values of truth, b

eauty a

nd go

odn

ess. Tru

th is exte

rnal a

ccordin

g to id

ealism w

hile acco

rding to

Pragm

atism truth is m

ade b

y man. In th

e wo

rds o

f John

Dew

ey, “T

ruth

is mad

e, just as h

ealth

,

wealth

and stren

gth are mad

e in the co

urse o

f exper

ience.”

2. Reality still is the m

aking: F

or n

aturalism

reality is readym

ade a

nd co

mpletes f

rom

all

eternity, w

hile for Pra

gmatism

it is still in the making an

d n

ot ready-m

ade

. It is to be m

ade and

create and rem

ou

lded

to suit our p

urpo

se or desire

.

3. Experience-the centre of reality: C

ontrary to

natu

ralism w

hich

is natu

recentric (w

he

re mind

is the cen

tre of reality) and

idealism

which is psy

cho

centric (w

here is th

e centre of reality),

Pragm

atism is anthro

pocen

tric (which

ma

kes hu

man exp

erience th

e centre of reality). Reality is

that w

hich

is experien

ced b

y man. S

atisfactory result o

f experien

ce is called truth. It is th

e hu

man

experien

ce wh

ich is the

determ

iner of values in lif

e. So

the

pra

ctical values o

f experien

ce are the

sole

concern

o

f P

ragmatists.

By

em

ph

asizing

h

uman

e

xperien

ce an

d

giving

it a

value.

Pragm

atism has co

me to

be called

hu

man

istic philo

soph

y.

4. Faith in experim

entation: Pra

gmatism

has a d

eep faith

in experim

entation

. No

thing is go

od

or bad

befo

re it is tested b

y experim

ent. On

ly that thin

g is good

and b

eautifu

l it is tested b

y

experim

ent.

On

ly th

at thing

is goo

d

and

b

eautiful

wh

ich e

merg

es o

ut usefu

l after

experim

entatio

n. W

illiam Ja

mes, th

e leadin

g Pra

gmat

ist, insists upo

n “the truth’s cash

value in

experim

ental term

s.”

5. Faith in present and im

mediate future: P

ragm

atists do no

t believe in p

ast. Past fo

r them

is

dead

and

gon

e. Th

e Pra

gmatists re

main

confin

ed to

th

e imm

ediate p

roblem

and

loo

k toward

s the

imm

ediate fu

ture. T

he

y live from

mo

ment to

mo

men

t an

d do n

ot p

lan for life. T

he

y believe th

at

tom

orrow

is anoth

er day w

ith its o

wn

pro

blems and

with

their o

wn

meth

ods o

f solu

tion

.

Evid

ently, toda

y we can

not b

e certain abo

ut th

e met

ho

ds of so

lving p

roble

ms w

hich

ma

y arise in

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

34

futu

re. Th

erefore P

ragm

atists lay m

ore em

ph

asis on

th

e present than

on

anyth

ing else. T

o a

Pragm

atist only th

ese ide

as are me

anin

gful wh

ich can

be realized h

ere and no

w an

d not in som

e

ima

ginary w

orld

in rem

ote fu

ture. O

n th

e con

trary, id

ealism h

as more fa

ith in past an

d remo

te

futu

re.

6. Faith in H

umanism

: Pragm

atists are hum

anists. The

y believe th

at scien

ce sho

uld b

e utilized

for so

cial welfare and

solu

tion

of h

uman

pro

blems.

7. Faith in social and dem

ocratic values: Pragm

atists are fund

amen

tally d

em

ocratic because

dem

ocratic so

ciety is the

best m

eans of a

chieving

hum

anitarian

ide

als. It is thro

ugh

dem

ocratic

ideas th

at ind

ividual can

fulfill his pu

rpo

ses, and

achieve e

fficiency in his e

fforts.

8. Importance of activity: P

ragm

atism em

ph

asis action rath

er th

an thou

ght. A

ctio

n is su

preme

and tho

ugh

t is subo

rdin

ate. The aim

of life is acti

ve and no

t mere co

nte

mplatio

n. Betw

een th

eory

and p

ractice, P

ragm

atism states th

at practice

com

es

first and th

eory a

fterwa

rds. It is a

ction w

hich

gives birth to

thou

ght. In o

rder to

dete

rmin

e the me

anin

g of an

ide

a it mu

st be pu

t into

practice.

So ‘lea

rning b

y activity’ or ‘learnin

g by d

oing’ is th

e watch

word

of P

ragm

atism.

9. Faith in flexibility: P

ragm

atists believe that n

othin

g is fixed and

final in the w

orld

. Life is

ever chan

ging and

self-renew

ing p

rocess. C

han

ge is th

e law o

f nature. T

he wo

rld is alw

ays in

state of ch

ange an

d flu

x. Valu

es also chan

ge w

ith t

ime an

d space. T

hey are m

anm

ade and n

ot

fixed fo

r ever.

10. Developm

ent of personality: P

ragmatism

believes

that

develo

pm

ent

of

pe

rsonalit

y is

possible o

nly becau

se of in

teraction w

ith environ

me

nt. Man

has to m

ould h

is enviro

nmen

t

accordin

g to his need

s, pu

rpose and

desires. A

s the d

evelopm

ent of person

ality is po

ssible on

ly

in so

cial context, so

ciety is essential for d

evelop

ment an

d p

erfection o

f the p

erso

nality of the

ind

ividual.

(1) Characteristics of P

ragmatic E

ducation

1. Education as life: D

ewe

y, chief expo

nent of P

ragm

atism, e

mp

hasized

that ed

ucatio

n is life

itself, and no

t a preparatio

n fo

r life. Life is a b

y-pro

duct o

f activities and ed

ucation

is born

ou

t of

these activities.

2. Education as grow

th: Gro

wth

is the real fun

ction

of education

accord

ing

to Joh

n Dew

ey.

Ed

ucatio

n sho

uld en

able the ind

ividual to gro

wth

to his m

aximu

m. T

he wo

rds of Joh

n D

ewe

y

are, “grow

th, u

nlim

ited an

d illim

itable.”

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

35

3. Education as social E

fficiency: On

the so

ciolo

gical side, D

ewe

y rega

rds ed

ucation

as a

socializin

g agen

t. Ed

ucation is th

e social continu

ity of life.

4. E

ducation as

continuous R

econstruction of

experiences: A

ccord

ing

to Joh

n

Dew

ey,

Ed

ucatio

n is a process of livin

g throu

gh con

tinu

ou

s recon

structio

n of exp

eriences. Ed

ucation

is

by exp

erience, fo

r experience and

for exp

erience.

(2) Pragm

atism and A

ims of E

ducation

Pragm

atists are opp

osed

to an

y kind o

f fixed and

static aim

of ed

ucatio

n. Th

ey believe th

at

values of life are n

ot fixed, so

we cann

ot fix th

e aim

s of ed

ucation

for ever. In th

e wo

rds of

Dew

ey, edu

cational aim

mu

st possess th

e follo

win

g th

ree elemen

ts in ord

er to be a go

od o

r

prop

er aim:

(i) Su

ch aim

s are based o

n th

e educan

d’s actio

ns and

need

s

(ii) Th

ey elicit th

e edu

cand

’s co-o

peration

.

(iii) The

y are specific an

d temp

orary, not p

erman

ent an

d gene

ral.

Keepin

g in mind

the abo

ve directive p

rincip

les and

edu

cational th

eories o

f Pra

gmatism

, it is easy

to arrive at th

e follo

win

g aims o

f education

;

1. Creation of values: T

he aim

of edu

cation acco

rding to

Pra

gmatism

is the cre

ation of valu

es.

Valu

es are created by activity and

experience.

2. Maxim

um grow

th: Ed

ucation sho

uld

enab

le the in

divid

ual to grow

to h

is maxim

um. A

ll

grow

th must b

e cond

ucive to the w

elfare o

f the in

di

vidual an

d th

e society.

3. Harm

onious development: Like id

ealist prag

matists do

not b

elieve in spiri

tual values, b

ut

the

y do n

ot ignore th

e harm

on

ious d

evelop

men

t of m

an

-physical, intellectual, aesthetic, so

cial,

mo

ral and religio

us.

4. Social efficiency: A

noth

er aim o

f edu

cation is to

pro

duce so

cially efficien

t individ

uals.

5. Proper adjustm

ent: The m

ain p

rob

lem

befo

re an

y hum

an b

eing is th

e pro

blem

of ad

justm

ent.

Pragm

atists state that e

ducatio

n sh

ould en

able

the

hu

man

bein

g to b

e fairly adju

sted in h

is

existent environ

ment.

6. Richer present life: T

he aim

of ed

ucation

is to m

ake th

e presen

t life o

f the ch

ild rich

and

abun

dan

t for a successfu

l creation

of valu

es and m

ain

tainin

g progress.

(3) Educational P

rinciples of Pragm

atism:

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

36

1. Education should be child centered: T

he ch

ild is a p

otential creato

r of values in

the

environ

ment. S

o w

e sho

uld

start with

the ch

ild as he

is, and p

rovide

suitable experiences and

activities in w

hich he can

particip

ate and

thereb

y m

odify his o

riginal n

ature.

2. Education should be both for the child and the society: T

he social asp

ect of edu

cation

shou

ld b

e emp

hasized

.

3. Respect for child’s freedom

: Th

e child

’s freed

om m

ust b

e respected

. Th

ere sho

uld b

e no

imp

ositio

n o

f adult stan

dard o

f auth

ority.

4. Education should be based on child psychology:

Edu

cation sh

ould b

e plan

ned o

n the b

asic

of p

sycho

logical fin

ding.

(4) Pragm

atism and C

urriculum:

Pragm

atists favour an

ed

ucational cu

rriculum

wh

ich p

ermits th

e educan

d to develo

p all his

qualities and

obtain all kn

owled

ge w

hich m

ay h

elp h

im in

creatio

n of values, gain

ing so

cial

efficiency,

develo

pin

g harm

on

ious

perso

nality, m

aki

ng

prop

er ad

justm

ent an

d solvin

g the

prob

lem o

f life. Th

ey h

ave su

ggested th

e follo

win

g principles in d

etermin

ing a cu

rriculu

m:

1. Principle of U

tility: Pra

gmatists state th

at curriculu

m sh

ould

be u

tilitarian

. Tho

se subje

cts

shou

ld b

e stressed in

the curriculu

m w

hich is usefu

l in solving h

um

an p

rob

lems an

d m

eetin

g life

situatio

ns.

Fo

r th

is reaso

n,

techn

ical scien

tific e

ducatio

n fo

rms

an

imp

ortant p

art o

f the

Pragm

atic curricu

lum

.

2. Principle of child’s nature interests: C

urriculum sh

ould

be govern

ed b

y child’s n

atural

interests, ap

titudes and

testes at the successive s

tages o

f his d

evelop

ment. In

the w

ord

s of Jon

Dew

ey,“T

hese

natural in

terestsare the natu

ral resou

rces, the u

ninvested ca

pital up

on th

e exercise

of w

hich

dep

en

d on the a

ctual gro

wth

of th

e child

.”

5.Pragm

atism and M

ethods of Teaching:

Sin

ce Pragm

atism e

mp

hasized

the theo

ry und

erlying s

uccessive p

ractice, it m

akes sign

ificant

contribu

tion to

the m

etho

ds of te

aching rath

er th

an its aim

s. Pra

gmatists d

etest all tradition

al

meth

ods, re

ady-m

ade kn

owled

ge, and th

e no

tion o

f auth

ority, b

oo

kish an

d passive learn

ing.

Trad

itional m

etho

ds of teach

ing sh

ould n

ot b

e dogm

atically a

ccepted. T

he fo

llow

ing sho

uld be

the p

rincip

les or essential o

f teachin

g metho

d:

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

37

1. P

rinciple of

Action

or Learning

by D

oing: P

ragmatists

stress on

action

rather

than

reflectio

n. T

hey b

elieve that the child

learns b

est on

ly thro

ugh

his activities o

r his experien

ces,

he d

oes no

t learn so

mu

ch from

boo

ks.

2. Principle of establishing relation w

ith the life of the child: Pra

gmatists b

elieve that m

ethod

s

of tea

ching sh

ould

no

t be do

gmatically a

ccepted

but

they sh

ould

be fo

rged afresh

in th

e light o

f

real life situations.

3. Principle of Integration: T

he p

rincip

le of in

tegratio

n is needed in th

e wh

ol

e of th

e learnin

g

process. T

he h

um

an m

ind itself is a un

ity. Th

ere ar

e not w

ater-tigh

t com

partm

ents in

it.

(5) Pragm

atism and D

iscipline:

Accordin

g to th

e Pragm

atists theory, d

isciplin

e is p

rimarily social, and

it em

erges th

rou

gh fre

e,

happ

y, purpo

sive and co

-operative activities o

f the

schoo

l. In th

e wo

rds of Dew

ey, disciplin

e is a

‘men

tal attitude’ and

in o

rder to

main

tain this att

itude, so

cialized activities are essential.

Freed

om

is an im

portan

t elem

ent in

this p

ragm

atic co

ncep

t of d

isciplin

e, for it is assu

med

that

the aim

of edu

cation is to

generate de

mo

cratic qu

alities in

the ind

ividu

al. Of these d

emo

cratic

qualities th

e first and

most im

portan

t is liberty.

That is w

hy p

ragm

atists believe in

an in

timate

relationsh

ip between

free

dom

and d

isciplin

e. Th

e aim

of d

isciplin

e is to cre

ate in th

e educan

d a

social co

nsciou

sness wh

ich w

ill preven

t him fro

m in

dulgin

g in an

ti-social activity.

(6) pragmatism

and Teacher:

1. Position of T

eacher: Th

e Pra

gmatist ad

opts via-m

edia so far as place o

f teach

er is con

cerned

.

In th

e sche

me

of edu

cation accord

ing to

Pra

gmatism

th

e teacher is neithe

r superfluo

us no

r the

suprem

e auth

ority. He is frien

d, gu

ide and

cou

nsello

r of the child.

2. Qualification of T

eacher: Acco

rdin

g to pra

gm

atism, a teach

er shou

ld be the e

mb

odim

ent o

f

know

ledge. H

e shou

ld be in

telligent, efficien

t and

p

ractical. He sh

ould

have th

e know

ledge o

f

the ch

ild’s in

terests and

chan

ging n

eeds o

f

the so

ciety.

3. Duties of T

eacher: Teach

er shou

ld h

ave sym

path

etic and p

ersonal relat

ions w

ith the child

.

His w

ork is to guid

e the ch

ild an

d pu

t the ch

ild in

the re

al situatio

ns of h

is life, so that h

e migh

t

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

38

be ab

le to un

derstand

life’s pro

blems and

solve th

em

. Stress is placed

on

action rath

er than

reflectio

n.

Criticism

of Pragm

atism

1. O

pposition of

eternal truth:

Pra

gmatism

do

es n

ot

have

any

faith

in eternal

trut

hs.

Pragm

atism believes th

at if the result of an activi

ty is satisfacto

ry then

it is true, o

therw

ise no

t.

2. Opposition of P

re-determined ideals and values:

Pra

gmatism

opp

oses p

redete

rmin

ed ideals

and valu

es. It em

ph

asizes the fact that id

eals and

valu

es are man-m

ade an

d chan

geab

le.

3. Negation of spiritual values: P

ragm

atists neg

lect spiritual valu

es. With

out sp

iritual valu

es,

we can

not attain

hap

pin

ess, conten

tmen

t and pea

ce of m

ind

.

4. Negative of fixed aim

of Education: P

ragm

atism gives n

o fixed ideal to ed

ucatio

n. Su

ch an

educatio

n

is b

oun

d

to

be

aimless.

Som

e p

redeterm

ine

d aim

s an

d

ide

als o

f edu

cation

are,

therefo

re, ne

cessary.

5. Absence of food for soul: P

oetry w

hich acco

rdin

g to W

ords W

orth

is the “spe

ech of th

e soul”

and o

ther h

um

anities d

o no

t find a p

lace in p

ragm

atic schem

e of ed

ucation

. Th

eir absen

ce is sure

to lead

to th starvatio

n of the sou

l.

Existentialism

Existen

tialism is a m

od

ern p

hilosop

hy w

hich

represen

ts a revolt a

gain

st man

y ou

tlooks and

meth

ods o

f tradition

al western p

hilosop

hy. It is a

revolt a

gain

st the im

perso

nal n

ature of the

mo

dern in

dustrial o

r techn

olo

gical age, a

gainst scien

tism an

d po

sitivism, and

against th

e mass

mo

vem

ent of o

ur tim

e. Ind

ustrial society ten

ds to s

ubo

rdin

ate the ind

ividual to th

e mach

ine.

Existen

tialism

also

pro

test a

gainst to

talitarian m

ove

men

t, w

hether

fascist, co

mm

unist,

or

wh

atever, wh

ich tends to

crush o

r sub

merge

the ind

ivid

ual in

the co

llective or the m

ass.

Accordin

g to th

e existentialism

man

has b

ecom

e a to

ol in the h

ands o

f ind

ustrial society. T

his is

not goo

d. M

an sho

uld be

master o

f indu

strial societ

y and m

achin

e shou

ld be his slave. C

ontrary

to this, m

an h

as beco

me its slave.

Existen

tialism op

poses all to

those on

e-sided m

ove

men

ts which

want to explo

it man

in the

interest o

f society o

r group

by co

nsiderin

g his in

dividu

ality seco

ndary, n

o matter w

hethe

r this

natio

n pertain

to fascism

or co

mm

un

ism o

r any o

ther

thou

ght. Alth

ou

gh existentialism

realizes

the need

of the society, bu

t it does no

t mean

that so

ciety shou

ld give secon

dary p

lace to the

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

39

ind

ividual b

y exploitin

g him. E

xistentialism

consider in

divid

uality as supre

me, co

nsid

ers society

as a mean

s of its develo

pm

ent.

ME

AN

ING

OF

EX

IST

EN

TIA

LISM

1. View

of Titus: “E

xistentialism is an

attitude a

nd o

utlo

ok that em

ph

asizes hum

an existence-

that is, th

e distin

ctive quality o

f individ

ual p

erson

s-rather th

an man

is the ab

stract or n

ature and

the w

orld

in gen

eral.”

2. View

of Fernando: “E

xistentialism is a type o

f philo

soph

y which

end

eavou

rs to an

alyse the

basic stru

ctures o

f hum

an

existence and

calls ind

ividu

als to an aw

areness of th

eir existence in its

essential freed

om

.”

Characteristics of existentialism

:

1. V

alue of

human

personality: E

xistentialism

reco

gnizes

para

mo

untcy

of

the h

um

an

person

ality, Man

is the centre of th

e unive

rse and

no

thin

g else is eq

ual to

it. Even

Brah

man

, Go

d,

universe etc. A

re subsid

iary to “m

an”. T

he basic fe

ature of hu

man p

erso

nality is h

is freed

om –

unfettered an

d un

restrained

. Society an

d social in

stitu

tions are fo

r the sake of m

an an

d not vice-

versa. Th

ere is no “gen

eral w

ill” to w

hich

the

“individ

ual w

ill” is subject. If an

y social law

or

prin

ciple is restrictive of hu

man fre

edom

it is inv

alid and

unju

st. An

ythin

g that o

bstructs the

grow

th and d

evelop

ment of th

e ind

ividual m

ust be

di

scarded. W

ith th

is aim in

view, existen

tialist

writers, artists an

d thin

kers h

ave expressed

the

ir view

s un

com

prom

isingly and

wa

ged

great

battles for secu

ring th

ese freedom

s for m

an.

2. Em

phasis on subjectivity: Existen

tialism p

laces a new

emp

hasis on

man’s exp

erience and

thu

s his imm

ediate, su

bjective aw

aren

ess. Th

ere

is no

know

ledge ap

art from

kno

win

g ob

ject.

Man

’s inner life, w

ith its m

ood

s anxieties, and dec

ision

s, becom

es the

centre of atten

tion

.

Existen

tialism o

ppo

ses all form

s of o

bjectivity and

imp

erso

nality in so far as th

ey p

ertain to

the

life of man

. Ob

jectivity, as exp

ressed in

mo

dern

science an

d w

estern in

dustrial so

ciety and

by

their

ph

iloso

phical

and

p

hysio

logical

representatives,

had

ten

ded

to

ma

ke th

e p

erson

of

second

ary imp

ortan

ce to th

ings. E

xistentialism

stresses th

e impo

rtance of m

an’s in

ner life

and

raises the pro

ble

m o

f ma

n‘s individ

uality an

d p

erson

ality.

3. Em

phasis on primacy of existence: Existen

tialism em

ph

asizes the un

iquen

ess and

prima

cy

of h

um

an existence- the

inn

er, imm

ediate

experience

of aw

aren

ess. Man

’s fund

am

ental urge

or

drive sho

uld

be to exist and

to be reco

gnized as an

individ

ual and

this h

elps h

im to

gain a sense

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

40

of m

eanin

g and significance in

life. Th

e most m

ean

in

gful p

oin

t of reference fo

r any p

erson

is

ow

n imm

ediate conscio

usness, w

hich

canno

t be con

tain

ed in system

s or abstraction

s. Th

e centre

of th

ou

ght an

d m

ean

ing is the existing ind

ividu

al th

inker.

4. Em

phasis on freedom and responsibility: F

reedo

m is the w

atchw

ord in

existentialism

,

wh

ich stand

s for co

mp

lete, u

ndiluted

and ab

solute freed

om

. It, pre

cedes hum

an existence and

ma

kes hu

man

existence possib

le. Man

ow

es ‘his b

eing

’ to freed

om

in th

e basis of all h

um

an

activity. To

be free to chan

ge to d

o, to act, to in

flict on

eself on th

e wo

rld, to ch

ange th

e wo

rld.

Accordin

g to the S

ocrates, freed

om

is the valu

e and

fou

ndatio

n o

f all values.

5. Em

phasis on action: Existentialism

holds that actio

n is th

e only th

ing

that en

ables m

an to

live. Th

ere is no

reality excep

t action. It is n

ot eno

ugh

to kn

ow th

at one is free to

act, one sh

ould

act. If on

e does n

ot act he lo

ses his freed

om.

6. Em

phasis on self-realization: Accordin

g to e

xistentialists, the existence o

f ind

ividuality lies

in th

e fact that m

an sh

ould

get an o

ppo

rtunity fo

r self-realization

. Fo

r this it is n

ecessary that he

gets suitable opp

ortunity fo

r self-realizatio

n from h

is inner life. S

o lo

ng m

an d

oes no

t get self-

realization

and

self-kno

wled

ge; he d

oes no

t get real kn

owled

ge. Self-realization

ma

kes the inne

r

life of a man

centre of co

ncentration

, free from

an

xiety. Bu

t it is possib

le on

ly wh

en m

an gets

opp

ortu

nity for self-realization

.

7. Em

phasis on human w

eakness and insecurity: E

xistentialism

have attracted

the attention o

f

wo

rld to

ward

s hum

an w

eakness an

d in

security. T

he

y are o

f the view

wh

at in this scien

tific age

,

man is lead

ing a so

litary life, surro

und

ed by anxie

ties, frustratio

n, fe

ar and feelin

g of guilt. H

is

ind

ividuality is b

eing b

lunted co

ntin

uou

sly. If it co

ntinues as su

ch on

e da

y ind

ividuality w

ill be

lost from

the w

orld

for e

ver. So for p

reservation

an

d existence o

f ind

ividuality o

f man, h

e shou

ld

be kep

t free from

all worries, frustratio

ns, fear an

d feelin

g of gu

ilt.

8. Man is not com

plete: For th

e existentialists m

an is n

ot com

plete. He i

s the p

rocess o

f

“beco

min

g”. Man

has to

me

et the ch

allenge. H

e marches o

n the pro

cess of b

ecom

ing a co

mp

lete

man to

reach his comp

leteness.

9. Man is not alone: M

an is

not

alone

in th

e w

orld

he

is co

nnecte

d

to

other

man.

He

com

mu

nicates w

ith others. H

ence h

e canno

t live in

a state o

f anarch

y. Life is seen as a gift,

wh

ich in

part is a m

ystery. Man is free to ch

oose co

mm

itmen

ts in life.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

41

10. Mind as the source off all know

ledge: Existen

tialism believe

that m

ind is the so

urce of

all

know

ledge

the

y ho

ld

the

critical d

ilemm

as o

f an

ind

ividu

al’s life

are n

eithe

r so

lved

by

intellectu

al explo

ration alon

e no

r by law

s of thin

kin

g.

EX

IST

EN

TIA

LISM

IN E

DU

CA

TIO

N

In th

e preced

ing p

age w

e have tried to

know

the

bas

ic thou

ght of existentialism

. No

w w

e shall

consid

er the co

ntribution

of this th

ought to

educat

ion

. Briefly, th

is ph

ilosoph

y has the follow

ing

imp

act on edu

cation.

(1) Existentialists and A

im of E

ducation:

1. Education of the w

hole man: E

xistentialists wan

t to edu

cate the w

hole m

an. T

he

y want full

develo

pm

ent of pe

rson

ality. Th

ey d

o n

ot like an e

du

cation

al system fo

r on

e sided develop

ment.

2. Becom

ing of a human person: A

ccordin

g to existentialism

, on

e of th

e imp

ortant aim

s of

educatio

n is th

e ma

king (b

ecom

ing) of a h

um

an p

erson

as one w

ho lives an

d m

akes decision

s

abou

t wh

at he w

ill do an

d be. “Kno

win

g” in the sens

e of kn

ow

ing on

eself, social relatio

nship

s,

and b

iolo

gical develo

pm

ent are all o

f this b

ecomin

g. Hu

man

existence and

the valu

e related to it

is the primary factor in

edu

cation

.

3. Developm

ent of com

plete man: E

xistentialists w

ant th

at man

shou

ld b

e edu

cated t

o b

ecom

e

a co

mplete

man

in

h

is natural

environ

ment.

The

y w

ant

to

give fre

edom

to

m

an fo

r the

develo

pm

ent o

f his in

divid

uality and

‘self’. Fre

edo

m sh

ould

be given

to m

an with

the vie

w o

f

self-realization

and u

nd

erstan

din

g his ‘b

eing’. W

ith

this freedo

m ‘self’ sh

ould b

e develo

ped

in

such

a wa

y that h

e ma

y beco

me valu

able for th

e so

ciety.

4. Making a m

an subjective: Existen

tialists give mo

re imp

ortan

ce to subjectivi

ty rather than

to

objectivity. T

he

y hold

that ed

ucation

shou

ld m

ake a m

an subjective a

nd sho

uld

ma

ke him

conscio

us fo

r his individu

ality or ‘self’. B

eing se

lf-con

scious h

e will reco

gnize his ‘self’ an

d he

will get an

und

erstandin

g o

f his ‘bein

g’.

5. Enrichm

ent of mind: E

ducatio

n must en

rich m

an’s m

ind so that it m

ay b

e respe

ctable in

his

ow

n eyes an

d in

the e

yes of o

thers, so that h

is “cho

ices” lead h

im to

satisfaction

and

not to

angu

ish o

r despair, th

ou

gh

even these thin

gs are a n

ecessary p

art of life.

6. Leading a good life: “Man sh

ould

lead a go

od life w

hich th

e Existen

tialists call authen

tic

life”. This is p

ossib

le when

individ

ual h

um

an b

eing

begin

s releasin

g his ‘individ

uality’ and

ma

kes his o

wn

choice in

stead of bein

g led b

y cho

ices of oth

ers. Ed

ucatio

n, th

erefo

re, mu

st aim

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

42

at develo

pin

g this inte

grity in th

e studen

ts wh

ich

is necessary in the task of n

ot o

nly ma

king

ind

ividual ch

oices, b

ut also

feeling resp

onsib

le, fo

r those ch

oices.

7. Making better choices: S

ince p

erfectibility an

d hap

pin

ess up

on th

e ‘choic

es’, edu

cation

shou

ld train m

en to

ma

ke better ch

oices and also gi

ve the man

the id

ea th

at sin

ce his cho

ices are

never p

erfect, th

e conseq

uences can

not b

e predicted

. Man

must rele

ase that there is n

o ecstasy

witho

ut su

ffering, n

o h

app

iness w

itho

ut pain.

8. Preserving freedom

of man: E

du

cation acco

rding to

existentialists shou

ld su

ggest w

ays and

me

ans to preserve the freed

om

of m

an, if that freed

om

leads him

to an

guish

and d

espair. Man

mu

st be

free fro

m

mo

ral relativism

. H

e sh

ould

be

he

lped

to sq

uare his co

ndu

ct with

his

conscien

ce. Ed

ucatio

n sho

uld aim at strikin

g ane

w t

he cho

rd of individu

al liberty.

(2) Existentialism

and Curriculum

:

Accordin

g to E

xistentialists, all scho

ol su

bjects an

d even

co-curricu

lar activities shou

ld presen

t

situatio

n

for

the

developm

ent

of

hum

an b

eings.

Cu

rricu

lum

sho

uld

rep

resent

a w

orld

o

f

know

ledge fo

r the stu

den

t to explo

re it shou

ld h

elp th

e studen

ts in m

aking free an

alysis and

criticism,

and

criticism

, an

d estab

lishing

solid

fo

und

ation

s fo

r in

divid

ual creative

effort.

Existen

tialists recogn

ize the in

dividu

al differen

ces an

d advo

cate d

ivers curricu

la suiting the

need

s, abilities. Interests an

d aptitu

des of th

e ind

ividual. C

urricu

lum sh

ou

ld help

the in

dividual

in th

e satisfaction

of his im

mediate an

d ultim

ate n

eeds. It sh

ould

be so

designed

that a

studen

t

does h

ave every experience th

at con

stitutes his lif

e. It is thro

ugh

curricu

lum

that a studen

t

develo

ps app

rop

riate hab

its of m

ind

and perso

nal fr

eedom

. Existen

tialists advocate th

e

inclu

sion of follo

win

g sub

jects in the curriculu

m:

1. Study of H

umanities: E

xistentialists assign

central p

lace to

hu

manities

especially a

rt and

literature in

cludin

g p

oetry,

dra

ma

and

novels.

Th

ese

subjects

exert the

hum

an im

pa

ct in

revealing m

an’s in

heren

t guilt, sin, su

ffering, tra

gedy, d

eath, hate an

d lo

ve. Existen

tialists hold

that art an

d literature sh

ould

be tau

ght, as th

ey rep

resent a prior (cau

se effect) p

ower o

f hu

man

nature. T

he stu

den

ts gain fro

m th

at idea’s and

judg

ments o

f others th

rough

these sub

jects. In the

wo

rds of H

eideg

ger, “it is the w

ork o

f art w

hich

reviles th

e rule n

ature

of th

e existent”. In

the

stud

y of a

rtistic expression

s, the Existen

tialists fin

d the “an

guish

ed, pain

ed, aspirin

g, striving

voice of m

ain kind, the

visible a

gon

y and

deligh

t, w

hich

cause real creativity an

d ge

nuine

existence”. Existen

tialists are of th

e view that “h

um

anities” have sp

iritual pow

er.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

43

2. Social sciences: A

s com

pared

to h

um

anities, th

e Existen

tialists give secon

d p

lace to the

teaching o

f social scien

ces. Th

ey w

ant to

teach soc

ial sciences fo

r incu

lcating m

oral o

bligation

and fo

r know

ing th

e relatio

nship o

f the in

dividu

al to a gro

up. H

istory sho

uld be tau

ght to help

the stu

dents to

chan

ge the co

urse o

f history and

to m

ould

the future. U

seless and u

ninteresting

facts wh

ich ab

stract the im

agin

ation

of th

e stud

ent

shou

ld n

ot be taugh

t.

3. Science: E

xistentialists b

elieve that science sh

ou

ld be tau

ght but n

ot im

perso

nally. It sh

ould

not b

e taugh

t with

a view to

extrem

e specialization

. It is the man

wh

o coun

ts and n

ot the

profession

. Accordin

g to K

arl Jaspers, “S

cience is

a necessary p

re-cond

ition of p

hilo

soph

y’.

Scien

ce is a sprin

g-bo

ard fo

r jum

ping in

to spiritual p

erfection o

r self-excellence. B

ut som

e

Existen

tialists are of the view

that science m

ake

s u

s so mu

ch ob

jective that our relatio

n w

ith

‘self’ is bro

ken. B

y learn

ing scien

ce the

re is a sort o

f inn

er mislead

ing an

d n

o peace.

4. Moral and religious education: E

xistentialism

wants to inclu

de also the su

bjects o

f mo

ral

and religiou

s in th

e cu

rriculu

m. T

he stu

dy o

f wo

rld’s religion

s has b

een

advo

cated to develop

religiou

s attitud

e am

on

g the stu

dents. It ke

eps him

awa

re of de

ath. Th

e ideal schoo

l imp

arts

mo

ral and religiou

s educatio

n. T

he child

must b

e sa

ved fro

m th

ose w

ho in

terfere with th

e free

exercise of this m

oral d

ecisio

n and ch

oice.

5. No rigid curriculum

: Since the E

xistentialists believe in the in

dividu

al’s freed

om

, the

y do n

ot

advo

cate any rigid

curriculum. T

he cu

rriculu

m sh

oul

d b

e cho

sen, so

rted o

ut and o

wned

by the

learne

r accord

ing to

his n

ature and

interest.

(3) Existentialism

and teacher:

1. Teacher as an im

portant base: Th

e teach

er is an im

portan

t base of ed

ucation process.

Existen

tialists believe

that th

e teache

r is

imp

orta

nt

because he

is the

creator

of su

ch

an

educatio

nal situ

ation in

which

the stu

den

t can establish

contact w

ith h

is self by b

ecom

ing

conscio

us of his ‘self’ a

nd can

achieve self-re

alizatio

n. If teach

er inste

ad o

f bein

g sub

jective is

objective, he w

ill not b

e able to m

ake the ch

ildren

introvert. Th

e teach

er sho

uld

so guid

e the

child

ren that the

y beco

me faith

full to

‘self’ by with

draw

ing th

emselves fro

m exclu

se obje

ctive

wo

rld.

2. Teacher is to foster individual grow

th: Th

e teacher a

ccord

ing to

existentialists is in po

sition

to fo

ster individ

ual gro

wth

. He

shou

ld fa

cilitate develop

ment o

f origin

ality and creativity b

y

provid

ing n

ecessary materials an

d eq

uip

men

t. He m

ust b

uild

positive relatio

nships b

etween

him

self and h

is studen

ts. Hu

man

ness p

rescribes the

relation

ship b

etwee

n teache

rs and tau

ght.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

44

Hu

mann

ess is opp

osed

to p

rogram

that d

epen

ds o

n m

ech

anical te

aching. T

he h

um

an self,

relative to a d

ynam

ic wo

rld, thu

s form

s the ke

y to

educatio

n. T

he teacher sho

uld

be capab

le of

develo

pin

g the real sp

irit of love and com

radesh

ip h

e shou

ld avo

id jab

els to children

(such as

“lazy”, “slow

learn

er”, etc.) Fo

r stud

ent m

ay co

me

to th

ink of th

em

selves this wa

y children

ne

ed

positive evalu

ate on

.

3. Teacher in the foreground: T

he te

ache

r is very active and w

elcom

es challen

ges to

his idea’s

from

the stu

den

t. He

is in the fore

groun

d and

in ce

ntre

of atten

tion

. Wh

ereas in p

ragm

atism, the

teacher rem

ains in

the backgrou

nd, m

ostly as an ob

server or gu

ide, h

ere he in

itiates the act of

educatio

n th

rough h

is person

and influen

ce the lives o

f his studen

ts thro

ugh

his own

life. His

relationsh

ip with h

is studen

ts is not p

ermissive, b

ut displin

ed and

often opp

osin

g. Stu

dents

resistance is o

ften m

anife

sted d

uring the p

rocess of in

structio

n, but su

ch resistance is natural

necessa

ry in o

rder th

at the students m

ay retain

his

ow

n b

eing.

(4) Existentialism

and methods of teaching:

1. Socratic M

ethod: Existen

tialists advocated

So

cratic Meth

od. T

he m

eth

od is b

ased on the

assump

tion th

at know

ledge

is inbo

rn but w

e cann

ot d

raw it o

ut w

ithou

t expert help. T

he

teach

er

educes fro

m th

e pu

pils with th

e help o

f skillfully d

irected q

uestions. F

ree atmo

sphe

re enco

ura

ges

free and

fearless question

ing. Like S

ocrates, Exist

entialists relied u

pon

dialogu

e an

d direct

com

mu

nicatio

n. Efforts sh

ould

be m

ade to

cultivate lo

ve, insigh

t and creative kn

ow

ledge. T

hose

instru

ction

al techniq

ues sh

ould be u

sed w

hich

app

eal to

feeling, em

otio

n, creativity and d

eepe

r

me

aning o

f life.

2. Learning by doing: Existen

tialists have faith

in learnin

g by d

oing. To

quo

te satire, “The

wo

rld an

d man

reveal the

mselves b

y their und

ertakin

g”.

3. Learning

by experience: E

xistentialists

believe

that

all kn

owled

ge

is self

know

ledge.

Ind

ividuals o

wn

experien

ces alone w

ill give him

a surer kno

wled

ge of his p

osition

in th

is

ind

ifferent

wo

rld.

Existen

tialism

stresses th

e ind

ivid

ual’s exp

eriences

as th

e b

ases o

f h

is

know

ledge.

4. Personal reading: “P

ersonal read

ing” h

as bee

n ad

vocated b

y Existenti

alists. Perso

nal re

ading

the stu

den

t freedom

to in

spire has in

genuity.

5. Against group m

ethod: Existen

tialists wan

t that the u

rge to

learn

must develo

p from

with

in’

wh

ich is the essence of life. T

he

y reject th

e group

meth

od, because in

group

dyna

mics, the

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

45

superiority o

f the gro

up

decisio

n over ind

ividua

l decisio

ns is pro

min

ent. T

his m

eans th

at he

opp

ortu

nity uniqu

e ind

ividualism

and free ch

oice is lost.

6. Against m

echanization and impersonality: M

echan

ization an

d imp

ersonality sh

ould

be

coun

teracted

in

scho

ols. The

use

of p

rogram

med

inst

ructio

n,

teachin

g m

ach

ines and

oth

er

equip

men

t tend to d

ecrease th

e person

al contact b

etw

een tea

chers an

d pu

pils. In E

xistentialists

philo

sop

hy, this im

perso

nality is a haza

rd to th

e in

dividu

al developm

ent an

d gro

wth

of the

child

’s person

ality.

Limitations of E

xistentialism:

1. Im

pra

ctical aims, curricu

lum

and

meth

ods: T

he edu

cation

al aims, cu

rriculu

m an

d m

ethod

s in

existentialism ap

pear to

be imp

ractical, anti-in

tellectual an

d in

applicab

le in an

ind

ustrial society.

Ho

w can the aim

s, curricu

la, and m

ethod

s in a scho

ol d

epend

upo

n the individ

ual’s cho

ice and

freedo

m. O

rganizatio

n of a su

ch p

rogra

mm

e wo

uld

be

imp

ossib

le and

brin

g abou

t chao

s and

confu

sion

.

2. M

uch tim

e and effo

rt: It requ

ires a great d

eal of tim

e and

effort on

the p

art of teacher to

develo

p in

dividual relation

ship

and clo

se und

erstand

ing w

ith eve

ry stude

nt. It w

ould leave little

time for acad

em

ic and te

achin

g function

s.

3. A

mb

iguou

s con

cept: T

ermin

olog

y used

in existenti

alism is no

t very clea

r.

4. C

on

cepts like

“Bein

g” , “Mean

ing” , “E

xistence”

, “Perso

n” , are n

ot very clear. It is not easy

to b

uild up

an edu

cation

al progra

mm

e wh

en the term

in

olo

gy for th

e ob

jective of education

al

process is n

ot very clear.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

46

Sw

ami V

ivekananda

Sw

ami V

ivekanan

da w

as bo

rn in

186

3 in a K

shatriya f

am

ily of Calcutta

. Befo

re he becam

e a

mo

nk, his na

me w

as Naren

dra Nath D

atta. While h

e wa

s a studen

t in college at S

eventeen ye

ars

of age, h

e cam

e und

er the influ

ence o

f Sri R

am K

rishn

a Parm

hansa. N

arend

ra Nath

was an

earnest stud

ent o

f ph

ilosop

hy and

poetry. H

e stud

ied all th

e system

of w

estern p

hilosop

hy. O

nce

the princip

le of h

is colle

ge Mr. H

astie rem

arked

. "N

arendra N

ath is re

ally a geniu

s. I have

travelled far an

d w

ide, b

ut I h

ave never yet co

me a

cross a lad o

f his talen

ts and

possibilities, even

in G

erman

Un

iversities am

on

gst philoso

phical stu

dents. H

e is bo

und

to m

ake h

is ma

rk in life.

Sw

ami V

ivekanand`s Philosophy of Life

1. S

wam

i Vivekanand as V

edantist :Swa

mi D

aya

nan

d was a tru

e Vedan

tist. He re

gards

the V

edanta as p

erfectly imperso

nal. T

he

Ved

anta is

eternal. It is no

t origin

ated b

y any

person

or p

rop

het. S

o it is bu

ilt aroun

d an

y particu

lar individu

al as the centre. T

he D

vaita,

the visista- d

vaita and the ad

vaita are th

e differen

t expressio

ns of the V

edanta acco

rding

to S

wam

i Vive

kanan

d. So

to him

, the

y are n

ot op

pose

d to each

other. T

hey a

re no

t

abso

lute

system

. T

he

y are

merely

the stage

for help

ing

the

individ

ual

to

pro

ceed

pro

gressively tow

ards th

e realizatio

n of higher an

d h

igher id

eas till everythin

g is merged

in the w

on

derful unity w

ith th

e Creato

r.

2. C

oncept of God: A

s a staun

ch Ved

antist, Sw

am

i Vive

kanand

gives three attribu

tes to

Go

d:

I. He is infinite E

xistence.

II. He is In

finite K

now

ledge.

III. H

e is Infin

ite Bliss.

Go

d is Om

nip

resent and Im

pe

rson

al. He is m

anifested in all th

e creatures on

earth. M

an is an

incarn

ation

of G

od. T

o qu

ote the c

om

plete w

orks of Sw

ami V

ivekanad

,

Vo

lum

e II "Existence w

ithout knowledge and love cannot be; K

nowledge w

ithout love, and

love without know

ledge cannot be. What w

e want is the harm

ony of existence, Know

ledge and

Bliss infinite. F

or that is our goal. We w

ant harmony, not one sided developm

ent. And it is

possible to have the intellect of a Sankara with the heart of B

uddha. I hope we shall all

struggle to attain the blessed combination." T

hus V

ivekanand

a places very h

igh id

eas before

man.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

47

3. F

aith in Man: S

wam

i Vive

kanand

a h

as intense faith in m

an an

d realizes the d

ignity an

d the

diversity o

f hu

man

bein

gs. In fact, h

e finds th

e ma

nifestation

of G

od

in M

an. A

ccord

ing to

him

,

"The only G

od to worship is the hum

an soul, in the human body. O

f course, all animals are

temples too, but m

an is the highest, the Taj M

ahal of temples. If I cannot w

orship in that, no

other temple w

ill be of any advantage. The m

oment I have realized G

od sitting in the temple of

every human body, the m

oment I stand in reverence before every hum

an being and see God in

him-that m

oment I am

free from bondage everything that binds vanishes, and I am

free."

4. Concept of R

eligion: Acco

rdin

g to V

ivekan

anda, n

o religion is in

ferio

r to

any oth

er. All

religion

s lead to

the sa

me go

al. So

one m

ust rem

ain in o

ne`s o

wn religio

n. H

e had

a very liberal

concep

t of religio

n. H

e ad

vocated a religio

n o

f un

iverse o

neness and

cosm

opo

litanism

. He u

rges

peop

le to b

elieve in universal religio

n. R

eligions

are not co

ntrad

ictory. T

o h

im,

"Religions are

different forces in the economy of G

od, working for the good of m

ankind."

5.

Faith

in U

niversalism

and spiritual

Brotherhood:

Sw

am

i V

ivekan

anda

emp

hasized

universalism

and

Sp

iritualism

Bro

the

rhoo

d. T

he sain

t after h

aving re

alized

the self se

es the

self

in all creatures. T

herefo

re he devotes h

imself en

tirely to th

e service all bein

gs.

6. P

erfection as one`s heritage: accord

ing to

Vivekan

anda, "P

erfection is not to be attained, it

is already within us. Im

mortality and bliss are not to be acquired, w

e possess them already,

and they have been ours all the time." T

hus perfe

ction

is one`s h

eritage.

Educational P

hilosophy of Sw

ami V

ivekananda

Vivekan

and

a education

al philo

soph

y is based

on

Veda

nta an

d Upan

ishad

s. He believes th

at sou

l

exists in every ind

ividu

al. The very reco

gnition

of

this so

ul is religion

. Edu

cation

is the p

rocess

of self- in

spired. Vive

kanand

a was seve

rely critical of existen

ce pattern

of e

ducatio

n an

d asserted

that m

ere bo

okish

know

ledge is u

seless.

Basic P

rinciples of Educational P

hilosophy:

1. K

nowledge resides w

ithin the individual: Mo

st of w

estern edu

cationist b

elieves that

know

ledge is b

orn

in man

out o

f inte

raction w

ith hi

s environ

ment w

hile vivekan

anda

holds that kn

owled

ge is in

heren

t in man

, som

ethin

g in

side him

and n

ot bo

rn ou

t of the

external environ

men

t. Tru

e know

ledge do

es not com

e to th

e individ

ual fro

m o

utsid

e. It is

instead disco

vered w

ithin the individ

ual because m

an

`s soul w

ithin

him

is the so

urce of

all true kno

wled

ge.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

48

2. S

elf-education: Sw

ami

Vive

kanand

a b

elieves that

the ch

ild

learn

s th

rou

gh

self-

educatio

n. T

he ch

ild te

aches h

imself. E

ach on

e m

ust teach

. Th

ings w

ill be m

ade cle

arer

to

the ch

ild

by

his

ow

n

po

wer

of

percep

tion

an

d th

ou

ght. Like

Fro

ebel,

Sw

am

i

Vivekan

and

a thin

ks that th

e child develops h

is ow

n

nature as a plan

t do

es h

is ow

n. T

he

teacher is to

arrange

the necessa

ry enviro

nm

ent fo

r h

im so

that h

e ma

y do his gro

win

g.

Man

has all th

e kno

wled

ge. He

requires on

ly an a

wak

enin

g. No

thing sh

ould b

e forced on

child

ren. Th

ey sho

uld

be left fre

e to crave ou

t the

ir ow

n path.

3. E

ducation according to needs of children: Vivekan

anda ad

vises us to re

gard

every sou

l

as the sou

l of G

od, and

every child as G

od

. So the teach

er has o

nly to serve ch

ildren

.

Hen

ce the

teacher sh

ould b

e adjusted acco

rdin

g to the n

eed

s of child

ren. "These

need

s

shou

ld b

e determ

ined in

terms of th

e tend

encies in

heren

t in ch

ildren an

d n

ot acco

rding to

wh

at the p

arents or teachers think". It is fo

olish fo

r the p

arent or teach

er to think that the

y

can determ

ine the p

ath w

hich

the ch

ild sh

ould

follo

w.

4. C

oncentration of

mind

as the

essence of

education: Vivekana

nda

consid

ers

concen

tration

o

f m

ind

as th

e essence

of

edu

cation.

Everyon

e w

ants

this

po

wer

of

concen

tration

for success in his life. A

man

is called S

upe

rior to

oth

er if he h

as greater

pow

er of conce

ntration. "T

he treasure-house of knowledge can be opened only through

the key of concentration."

5. B

rahmacharya

for C

oncentration: B

rahm

ach

arya o

r co

ntinence

is essential

for

develo

pin

g the pow

er of co

ncen

tration. B

rahm

acharya

gives men

tal and sp

iritual pow

er

of th

e high

est kind. V

ivekanan

da d

em

onstrated

how

Brah

mach

arya h

elps to im

pro

ve

various p

sycho

logical a

ctivities such

as learnin

g, re

mem

berin

g, thin

king, etc. an

d thu

s

facilitated the pro

cess of ed

ucation.

Aim

s of Education

Sw

ami V

ivekan

anda laid em

ph

asis on th

e follo

win

g aim

s of ed

ucation

:

1. P

hysical development A

im: P

hysical d

evelop

men

t of the in

dividu

al is an im

po

rtan

t aim

of edu

cation. V

ivekanan

da felt th

at both

the self-r

ealization an

d ch

aracter bu

ildin

g or

imp

ossible in

the ab

sence of p

hysical d

evelop

men

t and

educatio

n. In

a conversation

Vivekan

and

a said th

at peo

ple must kn

ow

the secrets

of m

akin

g the bo

dy stron

g, and th

ey

shou

ld also

conve

y this kn

owled

ge to o

thers.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

49

2.

Mental developm

ent Aim

: Men

tal develo

pm

ent of the in

dividu

al is ano

ther imp

ortan

t

aim o

f educatio

n acco

rdin

g to V

ivekan

anda. H

e b

elieved

that kn

owled

ge is in

herent in

man. It resid

es with

the ind

ividu

al. Perfection

is in

heren

t in m

an an

d ed

ucatio

n is the

manifestatio

n o

f the sa

me. T

hu

s the

aim o

f edu

cation

is to discover or u

ncover th

e

know

ledge th

at lies hidden in

our m

ind.

3.

Moral, spiritual and character developm

ent: Vive

kanan

da asserted

that ed

ucation

shou

ld aim

a develop

me

nt of chara

cter, mo

rality and

spiritu

ality. He

stated

that w

e m

ust

have life

-buildin

g, man

ma

king an

d chara

cter ma

king

edu

cation. In h

is op

inio

n the chie

f

aim o

f edu

cation is to

create a hu

man

being, an

d the tru

e mark o

f a hu

man

bein

g is

chara

cter.

4.

Vocational A

im: V

ivekanan

da gave

impo

rtant p

lace to th

e vocatio

nal aim

of ed

ucation

for

ha

rmo

nious

develop

ment

of

perso

nality.

Ed

ucati

on

wh

ich

does

not

enable

the

ind

ividual to stan

d on

one`s o

wn

feet is useless. B

ut d

oes n

ot m

ean that o

ne sho

uld be

striving to

am

ass we

alth.

5.

Aim

of reaching perfection: Acco

rdin

g to Vive

kanan

da on

e of th

e imp

ortant aim

s o

f

educatio

n is th

e m

anifestation o

f the perfectio

n. Every ch

ild h

as certain hid

den p

ow

ers.

Ed

ucatio

n helps in the m

anifestation

and

develo

pm

ent o

f these p

ow

ers.

6.

Aim

of prom

oting universal brotherhood: Fo

r Vivekan

anda edu

cation

is a me

ans fo

r

establish

ing b

roth

erhoo

d in all m

ankind

. Ed

ucatio

n m

ust p

rom

ote the spirit o

f universal

brotherh

ood

. Ed

ucation

mu

st teach m

an that A

TM

AN

(so

ul) is the sam

e in all. O

nly th

at

educatio

n is w

orth the na

me w

hich

imp

arts this spir

it to m

an.

Curriculum

1. E

ducation in Arts V

ivekanand

a observes th

at art is an in

dispensab

le part o

f life and

hence ed

ucation

in scien

ce mu

st be su

pple

men

ted b

y th

e teachin

g of arts. A

rt is a part o

f

religion

. Vive

kanand

a was in

favors of repla

cing the ideal of utility b

y an id

eal of b

eauty.

2. C

omm

on language: Vivekan

anda stressed th

e need for a com

mo

n langua

ge. S

uch a

langu

age is n

ecessary for u

nity in the co

untry.

3. R

egional language: In ad

dition

to com

mo

n lan

gua

ge, Vive

kanand

a felt that it w

as

necessa

ry to en

courage

every regio

nal lan

gua

ge. In

fact, all edu

cation m

ust b

e given in

regio

nal lan

gua

ge b

ecause it is th

e mother ton

gue of child.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

50

4. S

anskrit: Vive

kanan

da believed that S

anskrit is the sou

rce of

all Ind

ian langu

ages. H

e

said th

at mere so

und

of this lan

gua

ge granted

pow

er, ab

ility and p

restige to th

e race. He

furth

er added th

at our a

waren

ess of o

ur cultu

ral he

ritage an

d past greatn

ess depen

ded

upo

n o

ur kno

wled

ge of S

anskrit. H

e felt that in th

e absen

ce o

f this langu

age it w

ould

be

imp

ossible to

protect Indian

culture. It is S

anskrit w

hich

gives stability an

d p

erman

ce to

the p

rogress o

f our co

untry.

5. H

istory, geography, Econom

ics, Hom

e-science, psychology E

tc: Vivekan

anda also

recom

men

ded th

e stud

y of sub

jects like histo

ry, geograp

hy, eco

nom

ics, math

ematics,

hom

e science, p

sycho

logy, an

d a

griculture.

6.

Physical

and V

ocational E

ducation: V

ivekanan

da reco

gnized

the

im

po

rtance

of

ph

ysical as well as vo

cational ed

ucation

. He felt t

hat b

oth self-realization

and

chara

cter

build

ing are imp

ossible in th

e absence o

f ph

ysical d

evelop

men

t. He also

believed

that

vocational ed

ucation

shou

ld be im

parted. H

e rem

arked, "M

ake yo

ur n

erve stro

ng. W

hat

we w

ant is mu

scles of iro

n and

nerves o

f steel. W

e h

ave wep

t lon

g eno

ugh. N

o m

ore

weepin

g bu

t stand

on yo

ur feet and

be m

en. It is ma

n m

akin

g religion th

at we w

ant. It is

man m

akin

g educatio

n all ro

und

that w

e wan

t.

Methods of T

eaching

Vivekan

and

a did

not co

nclud

e his ed

ucation

al philo

so

ph

y on

ly by talkin

g aim o

f edu

cation

. He

has also

expressed his view

s on th

e metho

ds o

f educ

ation

.

1.

Methods of C

oncentration: Vive

kanand

a laid e

mph

asis on

concentratio

n as a m

eth

od o

f

attainin

g kno

wled

ge. C

on

centration

is

the

sole

key

to

the

treasu

re o

f kn

owled

ge.

Vivekan

and

a con

siders th

e con

centration

of m

ind as the

essence o

f ed

ucatio

n. The

literally figure and

the scientist h

as to con

centrate his atten

tion on

his subject fo

r a lon

g

time, and

on

ly then h

e can ho

pe to

discover so

meth

in

g new

in the field

. Greater attention

alwa

ys helps in

wo

rking m

ore.

2. D

iscussion and

Contem

plation: In

addition

to

co

ncentratio

n,

Vivekan

and

a laid

emph

asis on

the im

po

rtan

ce of discussio

n and co

ntemp

lation as m

etho

d of educatio

n. T

he

pup

il can re

move

the difficu

lties in h

is path b

y discu

ssing the

m w

ith his teach

er in an

info

rmal atm

osp

here.

3. M

ethod of individual guidance and counseling: Pupils can

be kept on th

e right path

thro

ugh

the m

etho

d of in

dividu

al guidance and

coun

selin

g.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

51

4. F

reedom in E

ducation: Vive

kanand

a w

as a strong sup

po

rter of freedo

m in

edu

cation

becau

se he b

elieved th

at it was th

e first prerequ

isite of d

evelopm

ent. He

nce n

o teach

er

shou

ld exert an

y kind o

f pressu

re on his pu

pils.

Place of T

eacher

Teach

er is the Pro

vider of Su

itable en

vironm

ent

.Acco

rdin

g to Vivekan

and

a educatio

n is

the pro

cess of self-d

evelo

pm

ent be

cause

child ed

ucates him

self. Th

e real task of the

educato

r is to see that there a

re no

obstacles in t

he child

`s path

of self d

evelopm

ent. Just

as the gard

ener p

repa

res the gro

und

for h

is plan

ts, p

rotects th

em

from

destructive h

ands

and an

imals, an

d no

urish

es them

with

manu

re and

wat

er from

time to

time, in th

e same

mann

er the ed

ucato

r takes ca

re of the child

and

pro

vides for him

an e

nviron

men

t in

wh

ich he can

develo

p w

itho

ut any h

ind

rance. Th

e chi

ld himself is a so

urce of kn

ow

ledge

but it is far th

e educato

r to w

ake it from

its dorm

ant co

ndition

. The m

otivation

exists in

the ch

ild, the ed

ucato

r merely activates it. H

ence

the ed

ucator sh

ould

try to enco

urage th

e

child

ren to u

se their b

ody, sen

se organ

s and brains

.

Mahatm

a Gandhi

Brief Life S

ketch: Mah

atma G

and

hi, the fath

er of n

ation, w

as born

on

2n

d Octo

ber, 1

869

at

Porb

and

er in th

e state of K

athiaw

ar (Gujarat). H

is fath

er was th

e Prim

e Min

ister of R

ajkot state.

At

the

age

of th

irteen,

Gand

hi

ji w

as m

arried

to

Ka

sturb

a. H

e p

assed h

is m

atriculation

examination

in1

887

and w

ent to

En

gland on

Septem

ber

4, 1

887

for stu

dyin

g law. H

e passed

his

law exam

inatio

n and w

as called to the B

ar in Ju

ne,

189

1.

After h

is return

from

En

gland

, he set a p

ractice in Rajkot. T

hen

he wen

t

to S

outh

Africa to

loo

k after the le

gal matter of a

rich In

dian firm

. It was h

ere that he evolved

the

ideas o

f "Truth an

d No

n V

iolence". F

rom

Sou

th A

frica h

e cam

e to In

dia, an

d started

talking

leadin

g part in th

e stru

ggle of In

dia`s freedo

m. H

is lau

nch

ing o

f the

No

n C

o o

peration m

ovem

ent

after the Jallianwala M

assacre, his gre

at Dan

di M

arch, his histo

ric fast of 1

932

and Q

uit Ind

ia

Move

me

nt are only a fe

w even

ts relating to

this p

erio

d o

f strife and storm

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

52

Gandhi`s G

eneral Philosophy

Mah

atma G

andh

i, the great p

hilosop

her, edu

cation

ist an

d experimen

ter expressed

his view

s on

everythin

g from

god to

birth

contro

l. He w

as deeply

influ

enced

by th

e hu

man

ist idealism o

f

Ind

ia`s p

ast, He

re is given a brief d

escription o

f so

me o

f his ph

iloso

phy d

octrines;

1. F

irm faith in G

od: Like all id

ealists, Gand

hi Ji had

firm faith

in Go

d. T

o h

im, G

od is all

pervasive

Reality, im

man

ent in

man

and also

in th

e w

orld. He

is Ultim

ate Reality and

Sup

rem

e Ru

ler. H

e is Truth

and

Love, E

thics and

Mor

ality, Sou

rce of Ligh

t and

Life. He

is the Creato

r, dissolver an

d recreator. H

ence he a

dvised

to h

ave a living faith

in living

and ab

solu

te Go

d. Th

e ultim

ate aim o

f life shou

ld b

e the re

alization o

f Go

d.

2. T

ruth: To

Gan

dhi Ji, G

od is T

ruth and

Tru

th is G

od

. Tru

th is the inn

er voice. It is the

call of co

nscience. H

e wan

ted to realize truth him

self. H

e also w

anted e

veryon

e to be a

seeker o

f truth

. Ultim

ate T

ruth o

r Go

d is the end o

f ph

ilosop

hy. T

ruth

is the m

eans to

achieve that u

ltimate tru

th or G

od. G

andh

i ji himse

lf said, "T

ruth which is the end and

which is all pervading can be realized only through T

ruth-through a way of living

characterized by

strict discipline,

poverty, non-possession,

non-violence, sense

of

humility, a discipline of m

ind, body and sprite".

3. A

himsa or non-violence: A

him

sa or n

on-vio

lence is th

e mean to attain

the goal of tru

th.

Ah

imsa im

plies co

mplete fre

edo

m fro

m ah

imsa (F

reedo

m): F

reedom

from

Hate, A

nger,

Fea

r, Vanity, and

ill-will. A

him

sa includ

es Hu

mility, C

harity, Love P

atience, P

urity o

f

the h

eart and

freed

om fro

m p

assion in T

hou

ght, W

ord

and A

ction. It in

spires us to love

all creatures. It p

urifies spirit.

4. S

atyagraha: Satyagrah

a is the p

ractical applicatio

n of ahim

sa. It is a

metho

d o

f securing

a right b

y perso

nal su

ffering an

d n

ot by inflictin

g in

jury on

oth

ers. De

fense of peace can

be con

structed on

ly thro

ugh

Satya

graha. A

Satyagrah

a is on

e who

has faith

in T

ruth, n

on

violence, B

rahmach

arya, fearlessness, and

non

steal

ing o

r no

n possession

. thus the life o

f

a Satya

grahi im

plies strict discipline.

5. S

piritual nature of individual: G

andh

i ji believes that ind

ividu

al has a d

ivine sp

irit. H

e

is a spiritu

al being. T

herefore th

e aim o

f the in

dividu

al mu

st be con

sidere

d as end up

to

him

self. He sh

ould

not to

be u

sed as mean

s.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

53

Gandhi Ji as N

aturalist

Gan

dhi Ji`s ed

ucation

al ph

ilosop

hy is n

aturalistic

in its settin

g becau

se of th

e follo

win

g reasons:

1. C

hild is good by nature: Like natu

ralists Gan

dh

i ji believes th

at child

is goo

d b

y

nature. W

hile plann

ing e

ducatio

n, this fact sh

ould

b

e prop

erly considered

.

2. F

reedom for the C

hild: Like Ro

usseau and

oth

er naturalists G

andh

i ji emp

ha

sizes

freedo

m fo

r the ch

ild. C

hildren

shou

ld b

e educated

in an atm

osp

here o

f freedo

m.

Th

ere shou

ld n

ot be u

nnecessary restrictio

ns of the

time table o

r the syllab

us as are

foun

d in th

e traditional scho

ols. M

oreover th

e atm

osp

here shou

ld b

e as free as

possible.

3. N

atural surroundings: Like R

ou

sseau, G

andh

i ji says that the child sh

ould

be

educated

in

n

atural su

rroun

dings

awa

y fro

m

the

restricted

atmosp

here of

our

conventio

nal society. H

e expects

"The teachers to educate village children in their

villages so as to draw out all their faculties through som

e selected handicrafts".

Gandhi ji as Idealist:

Gan

dhi ji`s ed

ucation

al ph

iloso

phy is idealistic in

aims be

cause o

f the fo

llow

ing reason

s:

1. P

erfection of spirituality: M

ahatm

a Gan

dhi e

mp

hasized

perfection

of spiritualit

y or

Spiritu

al realizatio

n as m

ain aim

of life an

d ed

uca

tion

. Develo

pmen

t of in

ner con

science

of th

e ind

ividual is essen

tial for spiritual realiz

ation. H

ere Gand

hiji is idealistic.

2. D

evelopment of the w

hole child: Idealists b

elieve in developin

g the in

ner en

dow

men

ts

of th

e child (q

ualities given to the child

by G

od).

Gand

hiji believed

in d

evelopin

g best in

the child

and m

an-b

ody, m

ind

and sp

irit. Here h

e is in acco

rd with

idealistic app

roa

ch o

f

Froeb

el.

3. H

armonious developm

ent of personality: Like all o

ther id

ealists Gan

dh

iji believed

in

the

harm

onio

us

develo

pm

ent

of p

erson

ality. T

his

dev

elopm

ent is

possib

le thro

ugh

ph

ysical, social, religiou

s and literary activities

. G

andhi ji as Pragm

atist:

Gan

dhi ji`s edu

cation

al philoso

ph

y is pra

gmatic in

the sam

e de

gree as an id

ealistic. Gan

dhiji

reconciles the p

ractical a

nd sp

iritual valu

es .It is th

rou

gh grapp

ling w

ith real situation

s that the

child

realizes himself.

Like D

ewe

y, he b

elieved that as tru

e wh

ich can b

e experimen

tally

verified. Like D

ewe

y he em

ph

asized a

ctivity curriculum

. Gand

hi ji`s edu

cational ph

iloso

phy is

prim

arily p

ragm

atic in m

etho

ds of teaching b

ecause

of th

e follo

win

g reaso

ns:

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

54

1. Experim

ental approach: Like oth

er pragm

atists Gand

hi ji b

elieved in

exp

erimental app

roach

tow

ards life. H

e calls his biograp

hy as "M

y Experim

ents w

ith T

ruth". H

e advo

cated tw

o types o

f

truth

:

(I). Th

e relative truth and

(II). Th

e abso

lute

truth

. To him

, creation of relative tru

th is alw

ays

subject to

experim

entatio

n and

mo

dification. T

he abso

lute truth o

r God

is final. It is the relative

truth

help

s in realizin

g the abso

lute truth

.

2. Acquisition of K

nowledge: Life p

ragm

atists he advocated

that th

e child

sho

uld

acqu

ire

know

ledge him

self. This w

ill help him

to so

lve his

futu

re situation in later life.

3. Activity and Interest: T

he basic sch

eme o

f Gan

dhi ji an

d the pro

ject meth

od o

f pra

gmatists

are based

on

the p

rincip

le of activity an

d in

terest.

Aim

s of Education

Gan

dhi ji`s co

ncep

t of edu

cation has tw

o fold aims

before it: Im

med

iate and

Ultim

ate.

Imm

ediate Aim

s of Education

Certain im

med

iate aims o

f Gan

dhi ji`s co

ncept o

f edu

cation are co

nce

rne

d with

our da

y to d

ay

life. Imm

ediate aim

s of e

du

cation acco

rding to G

and

hiji are as und

er:

1.

Bread and B

utter Aim

(Vocational A

im): G

andh

i ji believes that in a poo

r coun

try

like Ind

ia w

here

earnin

g of

bread is th

e

main

prob

le

m,

educatio

n m

ust aim

at

enab

ling eve

ry individu

al to ea

rn h

is liveliho

od. I

t mu

st enab

ling h

im to

stand

on

one`s

own

feet.

In

the

wo

rds of

Gan

dhiji, "E

ducation ought

to be

for them

(Children) a kind of insurance against unem

ployment".

2. C

ultural Aim

: G

andh

iji cou

ld n

ever ad

mit vo

cation as th

e end o

f life. Th

erefore, h

e

also p

aid attention to cu

lture. In the w

ords o

f Ga

ndh

iji, "I attach m

ore im

portance to

cultu

re factor of ed

ucatio

n then its literary facto

r. Culture is prim

ary and

basic thin

g

wh

ich th

e girls sho

uld receive from

scho

ol."

3. C

haracter Aim

: Gand

hi re

garded

characte

r form

ation as th

e suitab

le fou

ndation

of

educatio

n. H

ence the en

d o

f all know

ledge m

ust be b

uildin

g up o

f character. H

e

regard

ed ch

aracter as th

e expressio

n of the w

hole p

ersonality in

cludin

g its ethical and

spiritual

aspect. C

haracter

bu

ildin

g im

plies

cultiv

ation

of su

ch

moral

virtues

as

coura

ge, strength o

f convictio

n, righ

teousn

ess, pu

rity in

perso

nal life, se

lf-restraint

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

55

and service o

f hum

anity. A

ccordin

g to Gan

dhiji, edu

cation w

ithou

t character and

chara

cter of devo

id of pu

rity wo

uld be no

good

.

4. P

erfect Developm

ent Aim

: Th

e child

`s all roun

d and

pe

rfect d

evelop

men

t aim

is the

sole aim

. An all ro

und

develo

pm

ent m

eans d

evelopm

ent o

f the he

ad, heart and

hand

-

nothin

g less, noth

ing m

ore. "M

an is n

either mere in

tellect, nor the gro

ss anim

al bod

y,

nor h

eart or sou

l alone. A

pro

per and h

armo

nio

us contrib

ution o

f all the three is

required fo

r the m

akin

g of the w

hole m

an an

d co

nsti

tutes th

e true econo

mics o

f

educatio

n."(In

Ha

rijan S

ep. 1

1, 1

937

) Gan

dhiji stat

es, "True ed

ucation

is that which

draw

s o

ut

and

stim

ulates th

e sp

iritual, intellectua

l an

d ph

ysical facu

lties o

f the

child

ren."

Ultim

ate Aim

of Education

Accordin

g to Gan

dhiji, th

e ultim

ate aim o

f education is to

realize God

. All o

ther aim

s are

subservien

t to th

is sup

reme aim

. It is same aim

of

self-realization w

hich

is com

ing d

ow

n since

the very ea

rly times o

f Indian

wisd

om

and w

hich co

nstitu

tes the essen

ce of Ind

ian p

hilosop

hy

realizing

Go

dlin

ess in

h

is self.

Gand

hiji

him

self w

rites."To

develop the

self is

to build

character and to prepare the self for complete realization of G

odliness." B

asic Principles of E

ducational Philosophy

Th

e follow

ing are th

e basic p

rincip

les of G

andh

iji`s p

hilo

soph

y of edu

cation-

1.

Fro

m seven

to fo

urteen years o

f ages, ed

ucation

of

each child

shou

ld b

e free,

com

pu

lsory and

un

iversal.

2.

Th

e med

ium

of in

structio

n sho

uld

be m

other-ton

gue.

3.

Th

ere shou

ld b

e no

pla

ce for E

nglish

in the ed

ucation

of a ch

ild.

4.

Mere litera

cy canno

t be e

quated

with edu

cation.

5.

Ed

ucatio

n shou

ld develop hu

man valu

es in the child.

6.

Ed

ucatio

n shou

ld develop all the p

ow

ers of ch

ild ac

cordin

g to the co

mm

unity of

wh

ich h

e is an in

tegral p

art.

7.

Ed

ucatio

n shou

ld achieve th

e harm

onio

us develo

pmen

t o

f child

`s bod

y, min

d, heart

and so

ul.

8.

Ed

ucatio

n shou

ld emplo

y som

e craft as a med

ium

of e

ducation

so th

at the child gain

s

econo

mic self-reliance fo

r his life.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

56

9.

All edu

cation

shou

ld b

e imp

arted th

rou

gh so

me pro

du

ctive craft o

r ind

ustry and

useful correlatio

n shou

ld b

e established w

ith that

ind

ustry.

10. E

du

cation of all su

bjects sh

ould

be im

parted

thro

ug

h so

me lo

cal craft or p

rodu

ctive

wo

rk.

Curriculum

Gan

dhiji`s sch

eme

of ed

ucation

is kno

wn

as Basic E

du

cation. Its cu

rriculu

m is activity-cen

tered

.

Its aim is to prep

are the child for p

ractical wo

rk, co

ndu

ct experim

ents an

d d

o resea

rch so that he

is able to

develo

p him

self ph

ysically, men

tally and

spiritually an

d b

ecom

e a u

seful m

emb

er of

society. In

this a

ctivity-centered cu

rriculu

m, G

and

hiji in

cluded

Mothe

r-ton

gue, Basic C

raft, and

Arithm

etic, sociolo

gy, G

eneral S

cience, Mu

sic, Art

and oth

er like subjects. H

e furth

er advocated

that cu

rriculum

for b

oys an

d girls from

1 to

5 sh

ou

ld be th

e same. A

fter th

at boys sho

uld

be

taugh

t som

e craft and girls sh

ould

stud

y Ho

me S

cience. It sho

uld

be no

ted that G

and

hiji`s

scheme o

f basic ed

ucation

is limited

to prim

ary and

junio

r stages on

ly. Hen

ce, the cu

rriculum

prescribed

by h

im is also

mean

t for those stages o

f ed

ucation

on

ly.

Methods of T

eaching

Gan

dhiji

aims

of edu

cation

w

ere d

ifferent

from

tho

se

prevalent

du

ring

his

da

ys. C

urren

t

educatio

n w

as sub

ject-centered

. Gan

dhiji disap

prove

d that ed

ucation

al meth

od con

side

ring as

defective an

d emp

hasized

to m

ake crafts an

d vo

cation

s as me

ans of ed

ucation

. He w

ished th

at

som

e local craft sho

uld

be m

ade as m

edium

of e

ducat

ion fo

r child

ren so that they d

evelop

their

bod

y, mind

and

soul in a h

armon

ious w

ay an

d also

me

et the ends and

needs to th

eir futu

re life. In

this

wa

y, G

andh

iji m

etho

d o

f te

achin

g w

as th

erefore

, d

ifferen

t fro

m

the

current

on

e. H

e

emph

asized the im

portan

ce of the fo

llowin

g prin

cipl

es in h

is metho

d o

f teachin

g:

1. T

o achieve m

ental develop

men

t, training o

f sense

s and parts of the b

ody sho

uld

be

given.

2. R

eadin

g shou

ld p

recede th

e teach

ing o

f writin

g.

3 .B

efore teach

ing of A

lph

abets, are train

ing sho

ul

d b

e given.

4. M

ore o

ppo

rtunities sh

ould

be given to

learn

ing

by experien

ce.

5. C

orrelation sho

uld be estab

lished in

the teachin

g metho

ds an

d learnin

g experien

ces.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

57

FR

OE

BE

L

Friedrich A

ugu

st Fro

ebel the fou

nde

r of th

e Kin

derg

arten S

ystem

was bo

rn o

n April 2

1, 1

783

in S

outh

Germ

any. H

is mo

ther died

wh

en he w

as o

nly

of nine mo

nths. H

is father n

eglected

him

and got re

married this m

ade his ch

ildho

od all the m

ore m

islabels on

e of his m

aternal

uncles ad

opted

him

and

too

k him to

his village

.he

w

as sent to th

e village sch

ool b

ut could

n’t

pull o

n well this resulted

into

his leaving the

scho

ol. At th

e age of 1

5 h

e worked

in th

e fo

rest

he stu

died in

the

Un

iversity of Jean fo

r two

years he p

icked b

y his love fo

r natu

re for m

an

and fo

r the sup

reme sp

irit on

him

. He estab

lished h

is own scho

ol in

Sw

itzerlan

d and

Germ

any w

here h

e con

du

cted man

y usefu

l experimen

ts H

is sole p

urpo

se in life can

be

sum

med

up

in h

is fam

ou

s savings ,”C

om

e, Let u

s live for ou

r child

ren”. S

om

e of his fam

ous

boo

ks on edu

cation are:

The E

ducation of Man

Pedagogies and K

indergarten

Mother P

lays and Nursery S

ongs

Education by D

evelopment

Main P

rinciples of Froebel’s P

hilosophy

Froeb

el’s philo

soph

y is a ph

iloso

phy do

absolute id

ealism. H

e was in

fluen

ced b

y the

idealistic

philo

sop

hy o

f great Ge

rman idealists like kant, H

eg

al and F

ichte. Fro

ebel believes o

n God

the

origin

ator of n

ature an

d a

ll living ob

jects in the

universe. A

ll things h

ave arisen from

God

and all

thin

gs live in G

od

. Go

d is th

e essential natu

re. Th

e mean

ing o

f the w

orld

he is the

essence o

f all

the th

ings .T

he followin

g are the m

ain princip

les of F

roebel ph

ilosoph

y.

1. P

rincip

le of u

nity:-F

roeb

el believes in

princip

le of u

nity h

e said that th

ere is a

unity in

everythin

g, Th

ere is a u

nity of m

an natu

re and G

od

. T

here is a u

nity in d

iversity. Th

is all

pervad

ing law

is based o

n extern

al unity. T

his extern

al unity is G

od. H

ence all th

ings com

e from

divin

e unity. th

is un

ity accordin

g to Fro

ebel is of three typ

es:

(I). Un

ity of substan

ce: Man

and

nature are m

ade

of o

ne sub

stance

i.e. the sp

irit of so

ul wh

ich anim

ates th

e both

.

(II). Unity of o

rigin: T

hin

gs origin

ate from

one s

ou

rce i.e. GO

D.

(III). Unity o

f purp

ose: T

here is co

mm

on pu

rpo

se in

all thin

gs of the w

orld i.e. to

strive

tow

ards p

erfection i.e. G

OD

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

58

2. P

rincip

le of evolu

tion

or develop

ment:-H

e be

lieved

that evolution

or d

evelop

men

t takes

place co

ntin

ually accord

ing to

the law

s on

inne

r gro

wth

and u

nity. It develop

s witho

ut an

y

external force th

ere is com

mo

n goal of h

is develo

pm

ent. E

very individu

al mu

st develop

from

within self active an

d free in

accord

ance with

the

external law.

3. P

rincip

le of self activity: F

roeb

el feel develo

pm

ent of the ch

ild is po

ssible o

nly throu

gh

self activity self activity m

eans activity determ

ine

d b

y one’s o

wn

motives arisin

g out of o

ne’s

ow

n interest and su

stained

by on

e’s ow

n po

wer. A

n a

tmo

sphere o

f freed

om

is essential for

the self activity o

f the in

divid

ual; it gives joy an

d com

man

dm

ents.

4. P

rincip

le of develo

pm

ent o

f ind

ividuality th

rough so

cial settings: S

ociety is essential fo

r

the develo

pm

ent o

f the

child p

ersonality ch

ild is to live in so

ciety every so

cial institu

tion

like fam

ily, chu

rch, scho

ol ,state is a place fo

r activity of the ind

ividual an

d th

rough these

institutio

ns pro

per d

evelopm

ent o

f perso

nality tak

e place.

5. P

rinciple of sym

bo

lism: H

e believes in

the u

se of sign

s and sym

bo

ls help child

ren in

und

erstandin

g the con

nectio

n b

etween

mind

and m

atter

Froebel’s E

ducational Philosophy

1. C

oncept of education: Ed

ucation

is developed

from

with

in in

the wo

rds of F

roeb

el

“Ed

ucation

is a develop

ment fro

m w

hich m

an’s life b

urd

ens u

ntil it has related itself to

nature un

til it enter symp

athetically in

to all a

ctivities o

f society u

ntil it pa

rticipates in

the

achievem

ents of the race an

d aspiratio

ns o

f hum

an

ity. It is th

e process o

f in fo

ldin

g the

child

inm

ate pow

ers and to

awa

ken his spiritu

al nat

ure w

hich

ma

y enab

le him

to realize”

2. A

ims of E

ducation: In F

roebel’s ow

n w

ord

s “the ob

ject of edu

cation is realizatio

n of

faithfu

l, pure and

holy life ed

ucatio

n sho

uld lead

and

guide m

an to clea

rness co

ncern

s

him

self and in

him

to p

eace in natu

re and un

ity wit

h G

od. It sho

uld

help him

to kno

w the

man

kind

to kn

owled

ge o

f Go

d and n

ature th

is implies th

e follo

win

g aims o

f edu

cation.

Froebel’s view

on curriculum

Froeb

el reco

mm

end

ed th

e followin

g main divisio

ns o

f cu

rriculu

m:

1. R

eligion:- Religio

n gives the idea o

f unity and

of G

od

. Ed

uca

tion is in

comp

lete witho

ut

religion

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

59

2. Natural science and M

athematics:-N

atural scien

ce and m

athe

matics enab

les the ch

ild t

o

realize the

infu

sibility and

pro

vide

him

a religio

us

uplift

and

spiritual insight

into

the

evolution

of life.

3. Languages:-

Langu

ages

shou

ld

be

includ

ed in

th

e cu

rriculu

m

as th

ey

give

the

und

erstandin

g of d

ivers of so

cial ph

enom

ena.

4. Manual w

ork and Art:-

Manu

al wo

rk help

s to develo

p the

skill creative pow

er and

exercise of m

uscula

r it is mo

st expansion

mean

of valuab

le of ide

as and fo

rmatio

n o

f

chara

cter.

Froebel’s view

on Discipline

Froeb

el was a

gainst the

represen

tative discip

line.

He h

eld th

at goo

d edu

cation is p

ossib

le only

wh

en the child

ren have com

plete freedo

m fo

r self activity. H

ence freed

om

of ch

ild is essential

for tru

e educatio

n th

ere is no place fo

r rewa

rds o

r pu

nish

men

t. In th

e words o

f Fro

ebel in go

od

educatio

n is genu

ine ed

ucatio

n th

e trainin

g necessity sh

ould

call forth freedo

m all participation

s

shou

ld b

e adop

ted to

the p

upils natu

re and n

eeds an

d secure h

is co op

eration to

unavo

idable

necessity an

d th

at therefore all desp

otism

is pun

ish

ed.

Froebel’s view

on the Role of T

eacher

Th

e teach

er is like a gard

en in the sch

ools. H

is function

is to see the ch

ildren gro

wth

alon

g right

lines. He is to

redirect the ch

ild’s grow

th to

natural direction

wh

en the child

goes astray. T

hus

the teache

r is a friend gu

ide and

bro

ther .In

the w

ord

s of F

roeb

el with

out ratio

nal con

scious ch

ild

activity de

generates in

to aim

less play instead

of p

reparin

g for th

ose tasks of life for w

hich it is

destin

ed. W

ithou

t law ab

iding gu

idance th

ere is no

free d

evelopm

ent.

Froebel’s K

indergarten:

Froeb

el stared

a

scho

ol at

Blan

kenb

erg G

erm

any

for

small

in

fact an

d

called it

is

“KIN

DE

RG

AR

TE

N” w

hich m

eans a “G

arden o

f child

ren” th

is schoo

l as a garden an

d the

teacher as a

garden

er w

ho ca

refully ten

ds the littl

e hu

man p

lants u

nder h

is care and

help

them

grow

to b

eauty an

d p

erfection .children

are given freedo

m in activities .

Basis of kind

ergarten system

:-Kin

dergarten system

is b

ased on th

e follow

ing p

rincip

les;

I. Self activity

II. Learnin

g by p

layin

g

III. Fre

edom

in edu

cation

IV. S

ocial p

articipatio

n for exp

lanatio

n

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

60

Techniques of T

eaching in Kindergarten:

In

the kind

ergarten system

so

ngs,

gestures an

d

cons

tructions

are im

po

rtant venu

e for

self

expan

sion an

d essential develo

pm

ent o

f the perso

nality o

f the child

. Alo

ng w

ith this m

others

pla

y and so

ngs gifts. H

ave also b

een laid d

own

.

1. T

eaching through songs: Son

gs are most im

po

rtant mean

s of teach

ing alm

ost all th

e

son

gs are ab

out co

mm

on

objects o

f life the

y are the b

est mean

to m

ake the ch

ild

familiar w

ith h

is surro

und

ings an

d to

exercise his

senses lim

bs and

mu

scles. Moth

er

pla

y and

Nu

rsery son

gs in h

is fam

ous bo

oks in

wh

ich th

e songs are given th

ere are

abou

t 50

son

gs in his boo

ks each

son

g has three pa

rts:

A m

otto for th

e guida

nce of m

other or teach

er.

A verse w

ith acco

mp

anyin

g mu

sic to sing to

the child

.

A p

icture illu

strating th

e verse .

2. Teaching through gifts and occupations:- G

ifts and o

ccupatio

ns are the o

ther m

eans

wh

ich F

roeb

el used in the kin

dergarten

system

. Gift

s are in 20

num

bers an

d are care

fully

graded. T

he follo

win

g are the im

portan

t gifts of F

ro

ebel:

(I). First gift:

It is box of six b

alls of differen

t colo

urs the

y are to be rolled ab

out in

pla

y and

thu

s develo

p the child

’s idea abo

ut co

lour ,m

aterial ,m

otio

n, d

irection

, mu

scular sensibility.

(II). Second G

ift: It is comp

osed

of sp

here a cu

be and a cylin

der contain

ed in a bo

x these

objects are m

ade of h

ard w

oo

d.

(III). Third gift:

It consists of big w

ood

en cub

e divide into 8 eq

ua

l parts w

hile ch

ild see the

relation o

f parts.

(IV). F

orth gift: It is again

a large cube divided

into 8 ob

lon

g pr

ism it h

elps th

e child

differen

t pattern

of b

uild

ings.

(V). F

ifth gift: It is a

gain a large cu

be divid

ed into 27

parts w

hen

the ch

ild co

mbin

es the 3

rd,

4th

, 5th

it show

s very be

autiful fo

rm o

f pattern

(VI). S

ixth gift: It is a large cu

bical woo

den fro

m w

hich is ma

de of 18

full and

9 sm

all parts.

It is used th

e teachin

g of m

athe

matics.

(VII). S

eventh gift: It is com

posed

of two

woo

den sq

uares an

d trian

gula

r small b

oards o

f

two

colo

urs it is useful in

learnin

g of geo

metry.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

61

Methods of K

indergarten System

In

the kind

ergarten system

so

ngs,

gestures an

d

cons

tructions

are im

po

rtant venu

e for

self

expan

sion an

d essential develo

pm

ent o

f the perso

nality o

f the child

. Alo

ng w

ith this m

others

pla

y and so

ngs gifts h

ave also

be

en laid do

wn

. Th

e b

elow

men

tion

ed are

the m

ethod

s of

Kin

de

rgarten system

.

(I). Use

ful fo

r small ch

ildren

(II) . Ch

ild cen

tered system

(III). Ele

ment o

f freedo

m

(IV) .U

tilization o

f learn

ing b

y doin

g

(V). P

lay w

ay in edu

cation.

CR

ITIC

SIM

OF

FO

RE

BE

L

1. C

omplicated philosophy:- It is d

ifficult to u

nderstand

the co

mplicated

ph

ilo

soph

y of

Froeb

el his p

rincip

le of sym

bolism

and o

rganic unit

canno

t be u

nde

rstood

. A ch

ild cann

ot

expect to un

derstand

an a

bstract id

ea wh

ile pla

ying

with

the gifts.

2. T

oo much em

phasis on inner development:- Fro

ebel laid too m

uch

em

phasis o

n the

fact that kno

wled

ge can b

e attained b

y develop

men

t fro

m w

ithin

by m

aking th

e inne

r

outer. In

fact develo

pm

en

t is stimu

lated b

y the extern

al.

3. O

ut dated songs and plays:- Mo

st of th

e son

gs and pla

ys of F

roeb

el are no

w o

ut dated

the

y need

mo

dification in

the ligh

t of times.

4. N

o correlation of various subjects:- Nature stu

dy is ta

ken up

indep

ende

ntly an

d has

nothin

g to d

o w

ith reading w

riting or o

ther sub

jects .

5. S

cheme is not applicable to grow

up children:- Sch

em

es is mo

re app

licable for the

you

nge

r children

’s then e

lder o

ne’s .

CO

NC

LUS

ION

In sp

ite of certain

limitatio

ns , Fro

ebel’s con

tribu

tion

is very significan

t to mo

dern ed

ucational

theory an

d practice. H

is kindergarten re

main

s a b

oon

to th

e students h

is absolute id

ealism

concep

t of un

ity theory of d

evelop

men

t his em

ph

ases on

self activity learnin

g by p

layin

g

freedo

m o

n edu

cation. S

ocial participation

have

given

a new

face to

the

educatio

n of the child

the

y shall continu

e to influence th

e society fo

r a lo

ng tim

e to com

e.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

62

MA

RIA

MO

NT

ES

SO

RI

Brief Life S

ketch

Dr. M

aria Mo

ntessori, an Italian lad

y docto

r, wh

o

later beca

me an em

inent edu

cationist, w

as

born

in 18

70. S

he

was first w

om

an u

pon

wh

om

the Uni

versity of R

om

e conferred

the d

egre

e of

Do

ctor o

f Med

icine in

18

94.T

here after she w

orked

as a P

rofessor of A

nth

ropo

log

y in th

is

Un

iversity from 1

900

to 190

7.S

he w

as put in

charge o

f the fe

eble-m

inded

children

at the

psych

iatric centre o

f this very un

iversity. Her d

ealin

gs with the fe

eble m

ind

ed children

led h

er to

conclu

de that feeb

le mind

edness of ch

ildren

was ver

y mu

ch due to

dullness o

f their senses.

Hen

ce she stated

that p

roper sen

se trainin

g wo

uld

enab

le the feeb

le mind

ed child

ren to

acqu

ire

som

e know

ledge. T

his study o

f feeble-m

inded

child

ren h

elped h

er to m

ake a stu

dy o

f the

educatio

n of n

ormal ch

ildren

which

ultim

ately gave to

the wo

rld th

e ‘Mo

ntessori S

ystem o

f

Ed

ucatio

n.’ After m

akin

g a thoro

ugh

stud

y of teach

in

g meth

ods prevalen

t in the ch

ildren’s

schoo

l, she advo

cated th

at the ed

ucatio

n of ch

ildre

n sho

uld b

e based on

the princip

le of self-

educatio

n o

r auto

edu

cation.’

In 19

07, D

r. Mon

tessori op

ened

a sch

ool kn

own as ‘C

hild

ren’s Ho

use.’ H

ere she evo

lved a

uniqu

e meth

od fo

r edu

catin

g child

ren th

rou

gh th

e pr

ocess of sen

se trainin

g. Sh

e develo

ped pla

y-

wa

y techn

ique th

rou

gh practical exp

erimentatio

n. Sh

e taugh

t the

m w

ithou

t the h

elp of b

ooks.

Ch

ildren

took keen

interest in edu

cation

throug

h he

r new

meth

od. H

er meth

od attra

cted th

e

attentio

n o

f the w

ho

le wo

rld and

she received

invitation

s from

several coun

tries inclu

ding

Am

erica an

d En

gland

, to dem

onstrate h

er meth

od.

In 1

922

, she w

as appo

inted

as Inspectress of In

fant

Scho

ols b

y Go

vernm

ent o

f Italy. She also

began

to im

part train

ing

to teach

ers n

ot only in

he

r own co

untry b

ut also

in m

any cou

ntries o

f

Eu

rop

e includin

g En

gland

. The D

urban U

niversity con

ferred on h

er hon

orary de

gree of D

octor

of Letters.

In 1

931

, she ca

me to

Ind

ia and co

ndu

cted several tr

ainin

g cou

rses for tea

chers of yo

un

g child

ren.

She sta

yed

in In

dia u

p to 1

951

.Sh

e died

in H

ollan

d

in M

ay 19

52.

Dr. M

on

tessori wro

te m

any b

ooks on

educatio

n. H

er fa

mo

us bo

oks are (1

) The D

iscovery o

f

Ch

ild (2

) Th

e Secret o

f Ch

ildho

od (3

) Wh

at you sh

ould

know

abo

ut Yo

ur C

hild

(4) T

o Ed

ucate

the H

uman

Po

tential (5

)Ch

ild Trainin

g (6) T

he

Child P

lace of E

ducatio

n (7) T

he M

ontesso

ri

Metho

d

(8)

Th

e A

bso

rbent

Min

d

(9)

Ed

ucation

for a

New

W

orld

(10

) R

econstru

ction

in

Ed

ucatio

n.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

63

Underlying P

rinciples of Montessori S

ystem of E

ducation.

1. P

rinciples of development : Like

Fro

ebel Mo

ntessori b

elieved th

at the develo

pm

ent

from

within is an

essential p

rinciple o

f child educ

ation. T

he ch

ild is a po

ten

tial being and

educatio

n sh

ould

aim at h

is full develo

pm

ent. In th

e word

of M

ontesso

ri, ‘Th

e child is a

bod

y which

grow

s and

a sou

l wh

ich d

evelops.’ E

duca

tion

shou

ld try to let the ch

ild

unfo

ld h

is individ

uality a

nd in

ner personality. T

he teach

er is to d

irect the laten

t pow

ers of

the ch

ildren to

unfo

ld the

mselves fo

r mu

tual gro

wt

h.

2. P

rinciple of individuality : E

ducatio

n m

ust be individ

ual busin

ess. Ind

ividuali

ty of the

child

sho

uld

be respe

cted .T

he

child

’s individ

ualit

y sho

uld n

ot b

e cru

shed thro

ugh

collective or class-ro

om

teachin

g. Individ

uality attentio

n shou

ld b

e paid

to each ch

ild

.Op

portun

ities shou

ld b

e pro

vided

to each ch

ild to

develo

p in h

is ow

n w

ay .

3. P

rinciple of freedom: M

ontesso

ri believed tha

t freedo

m is the fu

nda

mental righ

t of

every hu

man

bein

g . He

nce the ch

ild sh

ould

have fu

ll freed

om

. Freed

om

is the b

est and

mo

st suitable med

ium

for develop

ment of p

erson

ality. T

he ch

ild sh

ould

be free to

do

wh

atever he likes. T

he teach

er shou

ld n

ot interfere w

ith his ind

epen

dence. D

isplace is

self con

trol w

hich

com

es throu

gh activity in an

atmo

sphere o

f freedom

.

4. P

rinciple of self-education: Mon

tessori advo

cated th

at self-edu

cation is th

e best

meth

od fo

r the ch

ild’s e

ducatio

n. H

ence

all educati

on sho

uld be selfed

ucation

. Con

stant

interferen

ce of the tea

cher is strictly p

rohib

ited

by M

ontesso

ri. Sh

e tried to

eliminate

the

teacher’s in

terfe

rence as mu

ch as sh

e could

. Th

e teach

er shou

ld o

nly help w

hen his h

elp

is asked for. T

he ch

ild sh

ould

acquire ed

ucation

out o

f his in

terests and efforts. S

po

on

feeding

for th

e ch

ild

is n

ot

favou

red

by

Mo

ntessori

. T

o enco

urage

a

uto

ed

ucation

Mon

tessori introd

uced

‘Didactic A

pp

aratus’. Th

rou

gh h

is apparatu

s the child

’s errors are

controlled an

d h

e is able to co

rrect h

imself.

5. P

rinciple of sense-traning: Mon

tessori attach

ed great im

po

rtance to the train

in

g of the

senses . Sen

ses are the gatew

ays o

f know

ledge

. If sen

ses are prop

erly trained

the p

rocess

of ed

ucation

shall con

tinu

e for th

e wh

ole life. Sen

se training prep

are

s the child for

intellectu

al develo

pmen

t and co

nsequ

ently pla

ys a very im

portan

t role

in educatio

n.

Hen

ce

,accordin

g to

M

on

tessori ,

sense

o

f ch

ildren m

ust

be

exercised

refined

and

sharpen

ed.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

64

6. P

rinciple of muscular training: M

ontesso

ri also em

phasized

the trainin

g of th

e mu

scles.

She b

elieved that childre

n sh

ould

be given

opp

ortu

nity and

know

ledge o

f the pro

per use

of

his

muscles,

so

that

his o

ther

activities

like w

riting,

speakin

g an

d

draw

ing

are

facilitated. Mo

tor efficie

ncy tho

ugh

purely p

hysio

lo

gical in ch

aracter helps in

the to

tal

develo

pm

ent of the

child

. A so

und

min

d hou

ses on

ly in

a so

und

bo

dy. H

ence M

ontesso

ri

aims at m

otor efficien

cy alon

g with

senso

ry trainin

g.

7. E

ducation according to psychology of the child: Mo

ntessori asserted

that ed

ucation

shou

ld be acco

rdin

g to psych

olog

y of th

e child

i.e., acco

rding to

his need

interests,

aptitu

des

and

po

tentialities. C

hild

psycholo

gy

shou

ld

guide ed

ucatio

n. In

stincts

of

child

ren sho

uld

be skilfully

chan

nelized

and

direct

ed

to ed

ucation

ally sign

ificant

purp

oses. It is n

ow an

accepted p

rincip

le of educat

ional ped

ago

gy th

at in th

e early stage

of ed

ucation

, pro

per ap

peal m

ust be mad

e thro

ug

h instin

cts. The teach

er m

ust o

btain co-

operation

of p

upils to

vitalize the tea

ching lea

rni

ng p

rocess.

Montessori’s concept of education

In th

e wo

rds of M

ontesso

ri , “ By edu

cation

mu

st be

un

derstood

activity help

given to the

norm

al expansion

of the life o

f the child

. ” Ed

uca

tion sho

uld prom

ote th

e no

rmal gro

wth

and the

develo

pm

ent o

f the child

. Acco

rdin

g to Mo

ntessori,

educatio

n m

ean

s deve

lop

men

t from w

ithin

.

Vario

us abilities, in

terests and p

otentialities sho

uld

be fully develop

ed”. T

o m

ake inn

er oute

r is

the m

ain fu

nctio

n of educatio

n.

Montessori’s A

im of E

ducation:

Mo

ntessori m

aintains that edu

cation sh

ould aim

at th

e prefect d

evelopm

ent of th

e individ

uality

of th

e child

thro

ugh

self-edua

ction in an

atmosp

her

e of freedo

m and

spon

taneity. In

such an

atmo

sphe

re, pe

rson

ality of

the ch

ild is fo

rme

d an

d develo

ped

. E

ducation

do

es no

t aim

at

imp

osin

g som

ethin

g up

on

the ch

ild. It sho

uld

aim an

d dra

win

g at imp

osin

g som

ethin

g up

on the

child

. It shou

ld aim

at drawin

g ou

t the in

nate po

ten

tialities. It sho

uld p

rom

ote developm

ent fro

m

within.

Practical w

orking of Montessori M

ethod

Wh

ere

as Froeb

el called h

is schoo

l “Kind

ergarten’ ‘

The C

hildren’s G

arden

’ Mo

ntessori called

it

‘ Th

e C

hild

ren’s Ho

use’. T

he C

hildren

’s Ho

use is

a p

lace wh

ere children

are

taugh

t in an

atmo

sphe

re wh

ich is very con

du

cive to th

e develo

pme

nt o

f the child

’s individ

uality. T

here are

man

y roo

ms an

d a gard

en . C

hildren

loo

k after the ga

rden. T

he garden

is so plan

ned that the

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

65

child

ren ma

y pla

y as well as rest o

ver there. T

he

ho

use provid

es them

an o

ppo

rtun

ity to live in

the o

pen sid

e.Th

ere is a m

ain roo

m fo

r stud

y. To

th

is room

are attached

small roo

ms su

ch as

bathroo

m, a

lunch roo

m, a co

mm

on

roo

n, a room

for man

ual w

ork, a g

ymn

asium

room

, a room

for takin

g rest etc.. Children

are taught in

this ho

use to

led a n

atural d

ecent life.

Th

ere is ‘Didactic A

pp

aratus’ which

brin

gs abo

ut the intellectual developm

ent o

f the ch

ildren

.

Ch

ildren

h

ave

to lo

ok

after

arran

gem

ent and

clean

lin

ess o

f th

ings.

The

y th

emselves

do

everythin

g. Th

ey du

st the ro

om

s and

the

furnitu

re, w

ash the clo

thes la

y their tab

les and h

andle

the cro

ckery and glassw

are w

hen servin

g at a table.

Th

ere are three typ

es of exercises fo

r children in

Mo

ntessori S

choo

l. Th

ey are – (1) D

aily life

Exercises, (2) E

xercises for S

enso

ry Train

ing and

(3

) Did

actic Exercises.

• Daily life exercises : T

he first p

hase in the hou

se of children

is to ta

ke care of them

selves.

It is based

up

on freed

om

of d

oin

g once o

wn job

. Th

e ch

ild is taugh

t to take ca

re of h

is bo

dy

;ho

w to

dress and

un

dress him

self ; ho

w to

loo

k to his p

erson

al cleanliness an

d h

ygiene. T

he

child

ren are taught to u

se the w

ashb

asin, to

clean

their n

ails, to bru

sh their teeth

, to com

b

their h

air, to po

lish th

eir shoes, to w

ash th

eir clo

thes, to

dust th

eir roo

ms, to

arrange th

eir

furn

iture,

to

mo

ve furn

iture fro

m

on

e p

lace

to

anot

her and

to

do

gardenin

g and

cla

y

mo

deling. M

uscula

r co-o

rdin

ation is o

btained thro

ug

h gym

nastic exercises. C

hild

ren are

asked to

walk in

lines an

d balan

ce their bo

dies. T

hu

s children are given

trainin

g in mo

tor

adjustm

ent and

coord

inate m

ovem

ents.

• Exercises for S

ensory Training: M

ontesso

ri attached m

uch im

portan

ce to th

e intro

du

ction

of senso

ry trainin

g in education

. Sh

e devised ap

paratu

s to im

pa

rt sensory train

ing. A

few

exercises along w

ith trainin

g the different senses

are given b

elow:

• Sense to touch: Sense o

f touch m

ay b

e develo

ped

by askin

g the ch

ild to

pu

t his h

ands first

in co

ld and

than in

hot w

ater. Th

e child

will o

bserve and

un

derstand th

e difference b

etween

‘hot’ an

d ‘cold

’. Again

cardbo

ards of w

hich o

ne hal

f is smo

oth an

d the oth

er half ro

ugh

are

mad

e use o

f. Th

e children

feel bo

th th

e surface and

und

erstand the

differen

ce b

etwe

en

‘smo

oth’ and ‘h

ard

’.

• Sense of hearing: S

ense of h

earin

g are sou

nd is d

eveloped th

rough m

usic bells and

woo

den

discs. It is also d

evelope

d b

y using th

e closed bo

xes cylin

drical in sh

ape w

hich

ma

y be full o

f

mate

rial prod

ucing so

und

.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

66

• Sense of w

eight: Sense

of w

eight m

ay b

e develo

ped

by u

sing the w

ood

en b

locks and

tables

of d

ifferent w

eights.

• Sense of colour: sen

se o

f colou

r is develo

ped

throu

gh co

loured

cube

s , rod

s and

prism

s.

Ch

ildren

can be asked to so

rt and grad

e 6

4 ca

rds of

various co

lours of w

ool.

• Perception of size: F

or p

erceptio

n of size, se

ries of w

oo

den cylin

ders

are u

sed. T

he

y vary

in h

eight and

in d

iamete

r. Sim

ilarly blo

ck of differen

t sizes and

rods o

f grad

ed len

gths m

ay

be u

sed.

• Sense of form

: It can be d

eveloped

with

the help o

f variou

s kinds

of cu

bes.

Th

is metho

d o

f sense train

ing has the follow

ing th

ree sta

ges:

• Association of sensory experience w

ith a name.

Exam

ple: “ Th

is is red ”.

• Recognition of the object. E

xamp

le: “Pick u

p the red ”.

• Recalling the experience or the subject. Exam

ple: “W

hat co

lour is this ?

”.

3. D

idactic A

pparatus: D

idactic

exercise co

nsists

of

readin

g, w

riting

and

arithm

etic.

Prelim

inary sen

ses trainin

g facilitates self-edu

catio

n. In Mo

ntessori syste

m w

riting com

es

first and

readin

g afterwards. A

ccord

ing to

Mo

ntessori, w

riting req

uires mo

tor adju

stmen

t

wh

ereas re

adin

g involves su

perior in

tellectual acti

vity. As m

uscles’ o

f child

ren a

re develo

ped

in infan

cy, the

y can w

rite w

ith ease befo

re the

y lea

rn reading.

(i) Tea

ching o

f writin

g: Perfe

ction in

writin

g is attain

ed b

y three folds pro

cess :

(a). Reco

gnitio

n of th

e forms o

f letters: Durin

g th

is step, th

e child

ren pass th

eir Fin

gers

roun

d th

e shape o

f the letters of alph

abet cu

t in s

tand p

asted on

cards. Later o

n, the sa

me

exercise is practiced w

ith clo

sed e

yes.

(b). Le

arn

ing of ph

on

etic soun

d: Wh

ile the childre

n trace th

e letters, they go

on

pron

oun

cing

the so

und

s.

(c). Co

ntro

l of p

en : Th

e child

is required

to ta

ke up a m

etal fram

e in

to w

hich

the in

set fits.

He is asked

to p

lace it on a piece o

f pap

er and d

raw

a line rou

nd it w

ith a co

loured

chalk. T

he

same p

rocess is to b

e repeated

. Thu

s two

figures p

ro

duce o

n the pap

er. With

another piece o

f

chalk the

peo

ple fills in th

ese figures. In

ma

king

the u

pward

and do

wn

ward stro

kes the ch

ild

is taught n

ot to m

ove h

is pen

cil or a p

iece of chalk o

utsid

e the lin

e. Thu

s the child

will learn

the n

ecessary contro

l of p

en and

writin

g. Mo

reover,

Mo

ntessori stated

, “ lets us ob

serve an

ind

ividual w

ho is w

riting and

lets us seek to

analy

se the act h

e form

ed ”.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

67

(ii) Tea

chin

g of readin

g: T

eaching o

f read

ing is a

facilitated

by th

e teach

ing o

f writin

g

Mon

tessori en

coura

ged silent readin

g. Sh

e was n

ot i

n favo

ur of loud

readin

g. To

her , readin

g

me

ant “

interpretation

o

f id

eas fro

m

the

written

si

gns

”. U

ntil

the

child

receives

the

transm

ission

s and o

f idea

s from th

e written

wo

rds ,

he d

oes no

t read

.

In th

e didactic, read

ing

lessons con

sists of slip

of p

apers o

r cards in

wh

ich the nam

es of

familiar ob

jects are w

ritten in bo

ld letters. T

he

ch

ild is given a card

or slip

, con

tainin

g the

nam

e of a fam

iliar o

bject. Th

e teacher spe

aks the w

ord

and

the child

repeats this so

und

.

Wh

en

the so

und

is fixed

in the m

ind

of the child

he

is asked to pla

ce the card

below

the

objects w

ho

se na

me it b

ears. Sim

ilarly, child can

be tau

ght to read se

nten

ces describin

g

action

or exp

ressing co

mm

ands .

(iii) Teach

ing o

f arithm

etic: A

rithmetic is tau

ght

to the ch

ild by ta

king a stair w

hich has ten

rods in

it . Th

ese rod

s are

of d

ifferent sizes. T

he

se are divided in

to p

ortions of on

e decim

etre.

Th

e portio

ns are alternatively pain

ted red an

d blue

. The ch

ild is to co

unt th

ese red and

blue

portio

ns and

thu

s learn n

umb

ers. In this w

ay fo

ur fu

ndam

ental rules o

f Arithm

etic are taugh

t.

RO

LE O

F T

EA

CH

ER

IN M

ON

TE

SS

OR

I SY

ST

EM

In th

e Mo

ntessori syste

m, te

ache

r has to

play a special ro

le. He o

bserve, gu

ide, d

irect and help

the stu

dents. S

tud

ents sho

uld given freed

om

of move

men

t and

action. T

eacher m

ust b

e a good

observer. H

e sh

ould

kno

w w

hen to

interven

e and

wh

en to

keep silen

t. He sh

ould

provide

an

environ

ment to

the ch

ild w

hich

facilitates his lea

rnin

g. He sh

ould h

elp w

hen

his h

elp is so

ugh

t

by th

e studen

ts. If he h

elps unn

ecessarily, th

e pu

rp

ose o

f self-education

is marred.

Teach

er sho

uld have

a goo

d know

ledge o

f psycholo

gy.

He

sho

uld und

erstand the

individu

al

differen

ces which

are pre

sent in ch

ildren. H

e shou

ld

be ab

le to u

nderstan

d the suitability o

f child

for a pa

rticular wo

rk. He sh

ould

tactfully h

and

le th

e prob

lem

children

. He sh

ould

respect the

ind

ividualities of ch

ildren

. He sho

uld

have im

plicit faith

in children

and p

ossess sympath

etic

attitude. H

e shou

ld b

e perfect in

his su

bject. Acco

rding to M

on

tessori “Virtu

es and no

t word

s are

the m

ain q

ualificatio

ns o

f the d

irectress (teache

r).”

Montessori’s C

oncept of Discipline:

Mon

tessori system

has n

o p

lace for collective disci

pline. D

iscipline m

ust b

e self discip

line.

Mon

tessori’s co

ncept of discip

line is th

at of self-

contro

l and self-d

irected activity. D

iscipline

canno

t he im

posed fro

m o

utsid

e. It is not o

btained

thro

ugh

repression

s or com

man

ds. It arises

from

the cultivatio

n of sense o

f respon

sibility in

an atm

osph

ere of co

mp

lete fre

edom

. To

secure

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

68

good

discipline, m

ethod

and con

tent o

f instru

ction

s sho

uld b

e geared to

the need

s of ch

ildren

,

their in

terests shou

ld b

e kin

dled

, and

edu

cation sh

ou

ld b

e child-cen

tered. In the w

ord

s of

Mon

tessori, creative discipline is th

e mo

st valuabl

e measu

re for real ed

ucatio

n.

IMP

AC

T O

F M

ON

TE

SS

OR

I ON

MO

DE

RN

ED

UC

AT

ION

1. S

cientific concept of education: To

da

y we treat edu

cation as scien

ce. We

depend

up

on

experimen

tation, o

bserva

tion an

d oth

er scientific meth

ods fo

r imp

rovem

en

t in th

e field

of ed

ucation

. Mo

ntessori gave a scien

tific app

roa

ch to

edu

cation an

d laid emp

hasis on

ob

servation an

d experim

entation.

2. E

mphasis on Individual teaching : In the m

odern

system o

f edu

cation, ind

ividu

al is

given du

e weigh

tage

. Mon

tessori h

eld that individ

ual attentio

n shou

ld be paid to

each

child

. Op

portun

ities should

be pro

vided to

each child to d

evelop in

his ow

n wa

y. The

emp

hasis o

n ind

ividual teach

ing is an im

pro

vem

ent u

po

n the old m

ethod

s of group

teachin

g.

3. P

sychological approach to education: In th

e m

od

ern system

of edu

cation

, we la

y

mu

ch em

ph

asis on p

sycholo

gy o

f the ch

ild. T

oda

y we

attach im

porta

nce to

needs,

interests, mo

tives and po

tentialities of the child.

Pla

y-wa

y spirit is also enco

ura

ged.

Mo

ntessori on

edu

cation h

as recogn

ized the im

portance o

f psych

olo

gical principles

4. F

reedom

for the

child: M

ontesso

ri gave

imp

etus

to

the ‘F

reedo

m

for

the

child

mo

vemen

t’. Freed

om

is the fu

nda

men

tal right of ever

y hu

man

bein

g. Mo

ntessori w

as the

first educato

r wh

o d

emo

nstrated

us the pra

ctical asp

ect of fre

edom

in the class-roo

m. In

the mo

de

rn system o

f edu

cation, th

e child

is given

freed

om

in man

y respects.

5. P

ositive discipline : Mo

ntessori gave u

s a new co

ncep

t of d

isciplin

e. Sh

e was again

st

all types

of

prizes

and

pu

nish

men

ts as

the

y are

incen

tives tow

ards

unn

atural

develop

ment of ch

ild. Her con

cept of d

iscipline is

that of self-co

ntro

l and self-directed

activity. It sho

uld not b

e o

btained th

rou

gh rep

ressive m

easure. It sh

ould n

ot b

e imp

osed

from o

utside, bu

t it shou

ld b

e from w

ithin. Mo

ntesso

ri’s concep

t of discip

line has

significan

tly influenced

the mo

dern con

cept of d

isciplin

e.

6. D

emocracy in education : M

ontesso

ri’s ‘Child

ren H

ou

se’ was p

ractically a de

mo

cratic

institutio

n, where ch

ildren h

ad to p

ay regard

to th

e freedo

m o

f others and w

ork co

-

op

eratively in vario

us activities like clean

ing the

roo

ms an

d servin

g meals in

the lu

nch

roo

m. M

ode

rn institu

tions are also

run on

de

mocratic lin

es.

Institu

te o

f Ad

va

nce

d S

tud

ies in

Ed

uca

tion

M A

Ro

ad

Srin

ag

ar

Pa

ge

69

7. Learning by doing: In

the m

ode

rn syste

m o

f edu

cation im

portan

ce has be

en attached to

learnin

g by do

ing. In

Mo

ntessori’s syste

m of ed

ucat

ion, ch

ildren

learn b

y doin

g and

living.

8. R

ight place for the teacher: In the M

ontesso

ri system

, teacher h

as to pla

y a spe

cial

role. H

e is to pro

vide the righ

t type o

f environ

men

t and p

roper m

aterial at th

e prop

er

mo

ment. H

e is not to

give spo

on-fe

edin

g. He sh

ou

ld

help

wh

en h

is help

is sought b

y the

students. M

ontesso

ri substitutes th

e term ‘d

irectress’ for th

e wo

rd ‘teacher’.