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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
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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.
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te o
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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.
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te o
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nce
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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.
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te o
f Ad
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nce
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ies in
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ge
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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.
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te o
f Ad
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nce
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ge
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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.
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te o
f Ad
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nce
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ies in
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uca
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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
.
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te o
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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’.