Educational Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore

 

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence”.

                                                                                                     - (Rabindranath Tagore)

 

 

In the horizon of education in India, Rabindranath Tagore shone like a morning star radiating his versatile genius along with his multi-dimensional personality in all area of his life.

 

The entire humanity in the globe knows him as a vendantist, a prophet of Indian Renaissance, a spiritualist, an artist of world repute, dramatist, a stage-player, a sage, a musical composer, a guru, a prolific writer, a prophet of Indian culture, a distinguished teacher and a lover of nature and mankind. He was born on May 07, 1961 in Calcutta in an educated, rich and respected family. He passed away on August 7 1941.

 

a.       As a humanist, he talks about human brotherhood and spiritual bondage of universe; aim of education to develop the all aspects of human personality i.e. physical, intellectual, and spiritual.

 

b.      As an individualist, Tagore talks about –Every child has his/her inborn abilities which makes him/her unique and through the enhancement of abilities one would be able to achieve the state of perfection. As an idealist, he talks about tapasaya and sadhana.

 

c.       As a naturalist, he talks about that – subjects should be taught through the utilization of the various elements which are present in child’s environment so that he or she would be able to understand the subject in effective manner.

 

For giving practical shape to his educational ideas, he has established two educational institutions named as Shantiniketan and Viswabartati. Shantiniketan has all characteristics like as “Gurukul system of education” i.e. student teacher live together far from crowded city and have natural benefits of field, trees, rivers, etc.

 

Viswabharati, the international university of Shantiniketan, combines Indian as well as western cultural, science, literature art. It emphasizes on human brotherhood and international understandings. Through this Tagore wants to establish a link between East and west that is why he supported mother tongue as medium of instruction; but he talks about importance of English as well.

 

Philosophy of Education:

 

a.      Harmony with all things- One of the basic principles of the philosophy of Tagore is “harmony with all things‟- harmony with nature, harmony with human surroundings and harmony in international relations. His philosophy of education is based on naturalism, humanism, idealism and internationalism.

 

b.      Principles of Freedom- Tagore was the exponent of freedom for children. He believed that children should be brought up and educated in an atmosphere of freedom and liberty. Restrictions should not be imposed on children. Tagore was not in favor of a conventional and sophisticated type of school. Natural surroundings will enable the child to develop in a natural way.

 

c.       Principle of creative Self-expression- Tagore held that education should promote creative self-expression. For achieving this purpose, Tagore assigned an important place to arts, crafts, music, drawing, dancing and drama in his scheme of education.

 

d.      Active communication with Nature and Man- Tagore finds a fundamental unity between man and nature. The child‟s education must be organized in natural surroundings. It will help the child in developing the power of communication with nature. Tagore believed that there is a spiritual relationship between nature and God, nature and man and hence between man and God.

 

Aims of Education

 

a.      Intellectual development: it combines development of thoughts, creativity, curiosity, freedom, mindfulness through which learner can develop his/ her learning style and lead to perfection in life.

 

b.      Physical development: Tagore gave importance on physical development of learners and for physical development Yoga, games, sports are prescribed in Shantiniketan.

 

c.       Love for humanity: it includes a sense of realization of oneness on the globe, international understanding, and brotherhood.

 

d.      Natural growth in nature: nature is the best teacher, according to Tagore. It provide such environment for learners in which they earn knowledge according to their pace.

 

e.       Freedom: it includes three categories: freedom of heart, freedom of will and freedom of intellect so education should be imparted in a way that it would achieve these freedoms.

 

f.       Moral and spiritual development: there should be adequate provision for development and enhancement of moral and spiritual development in education. It includes sharing, caring and cooperation etc.

 

g.      Social development: it includes social characters which enables learners to live life worthy with maintaining social relationships.

 

Curriculum:

 

i.                    Tagore emphasized on practicability of education which enables learners to express their thoughts, ask questions, experiments, believe in their own abilities and understand their uniqueness.

 

ii.                  He was a great supporter of discipline free environment.

 

iii.                The aim of education can be achieved by curriculum that is why Tagore has organized his curriculum in a way that it would be able to achieve the aim of education which he has defined.

 

iv.                It includes subjects: mother tongue, other Indian Languages and also some Foreign Languages, mathematics, natural sciences, health education, social-sciences, agriculture, technical subjects, some skill oriented subjects, art, music, dance, philosophy, psychology, religion, excursions, yoga etc.

 

Methods of Teaching:

 

i.                    Teaching through Tours and Trips: Tagore believed that the subjects like history, geography, economics and other social sciences can be effectively taught through excursions and tours to important spots. By this students will get an opportunity to observe numerous facts and gain first-hand knowledge through direct experience.

 

ii.                  Learning by activities: Rabindranath Tagore said that for the development of child's body and mind, learning through activity is essential. Therefore he included activities like climbing tree, drama, jumping, plucking fruits, dancing etc. in his educational programs.

 

iii.                Narration-cum-discussion and debate method: Narration-cum-discussion and debating activities were organized Tagore's education center to develop oratory abilities of the students. Students were encouraged to solve problems of various areas through rational debate and thorough discussion.

 

iv.                Heuristic Method: Rabindranath Tagore introduced heuristic method as an important method of teaching in his educational institution. In this method first, the students, are asked questions to clarify their doubts on topics and teachers try to satisfy them by their correct answers. Then the teacher asks the questions to students to evaluate how far the students are able to comprehend the topic discussed in the class.

 

Teacher:

 

a.      Though the education was learner centered yet teachers had its own important place in education.

 

b.      Teacher has capability to enhance the abilities of learners and create a sense among them to realize their (learner) uniqueness, move it towards perfection and live together with harmony.

 

c.       Tagore talks about ideal teachers- students’ relationship as in “Gurukul education system” i.e. student teacher live together far from crowded city and have natural benefits of field, trees, rivers, etc.

 

d.      Tagore rightly says, “He who has lost the child in himself is absolutely unfit for the great work of educating the children.”

 

e.       He further says – “A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame.

 

Discipline:

 

        i.            Like Sri Aurobindo, Gurudev Tagore strongly favoured self-discipline in place of rigid and harsh discipline imposed from outside.

 

      ii.            Discipline should grow from within without any interference in an atmosphere of freedom. In a free, complete and creative atmosphere, the pupil would be automatically disciplined.

 

He rightly mentioned, “I never said to them. Don’t do or don’t do that. I never prevented them from climbing trees or going where they liked. I wanted to make these children happy in an atmosphere of freedom.” Therefore, he was an advocate of child’s freedom and activities.

 Also See Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and his Contribution to Education

Meaning, Nature, Process, Characteristics and Process of Learning

Meaning, Nature, Process, Characteristics and Process of Learning 

Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences. Learning means change in behaviour or behaviour potential that occurs as a result of experience and practice. Learning is a natural phenomenon which is natural to all organisms including both humans and animals. Learning can result from both vicarious and direct experiences.

        i.            Vicarious means observing someone and learning from that observation and not being directly involved in the experience. For example, a child learns how to clap hands by seeing someone else do it.

      ii.            Learning also takes place through direct experiences. For example, a child learns to write by practicing writing. A child normally learns from his parents, teachers and the environment.

Learning is defined as “any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of practice and experience”.

a.	Learning is a change in behaviour—better or worse.
b.	It is a change that takes place through practice or experience, but changes due to growth or maturation are not learning.
c.	This change in behaviour must be relatively permanent, and it must last a fairly long time.

Definitions of Learning:

a.      “The term learning covers every modification in behaviour to meet environmental requirements.”

            -Gardener Murphy

 b.      “Learning is the acquisition of new behaviour or the strengthening or weakening of old behaviour as the result of experience.”

-Henry P. Smith

 c.       “Learning is the process of progressive behaviour adaptation.”

-Skinner

 d.      “Learning may be considered as change in insights, behaviour, perception, motivation or a combination of these.”

-M. L. Bigge 

 The above definitions emphasize four attributes of learning

1. As Process: the first is that learning is permanent change in behaviour. 
2. It does not include change due to illness, fatigue, maturation and use of intoxicant.
3. The learning is not directly observable but manifests in the activities of the individual. 
4. Learning depends on practice and experience.

Process of Learning

It follows the following steps in sequence as shown below:

a. Stimulus: Stimulus refers those factors that motivate or inspire or induce learners to learn the required skills and knowledge. The factors that affect the learning process must be understood by the learner. Then only they can motivate themselves to learn. Stimulus exists in the environment in which the person lives and behaves.

b. Response: It means the amount of interaction by the learners. Response emphasizes that there should be a positive response from the learners with regard to learning process and program. Because the regular and timely response provides an opportunity to determine the level of teaching. This also helps to explore to what extent learners are improving.

c. Motivation: Stimulus and response are not enough for an effective learning process, rather the learners must be motivated to impart required skills and knowledge fro the training. Hence, an effective motivation package consisting of rewards and prizes should be provided to the learners to motivate them.

d. Reward: It is an incentive which satisfies the learner from learning. If a motivated learner is rewarded, he/she will be inspired by the further performance. Reward further stimulates the learners.

Therefore, the effective learning process will be completed only after the integration of different steps of learning stimulus, response, motivation, and reward. Then the only learner can learn effectively. As a result, the desired output can be obtained.

Nature of Learning

a. Learning is Universal: Every creature that lives learns. Man learns most. The human nervous system is very complex, so are human reactions and so are human acquisition. Positive learning vital for children’s growth and development.

b. Learning is through Experience: Learning always involves some kind of experience, direct or indirect (vicarious).

c. Learning is from all Sides: Today learning is from all sides. Children learn from parents, teachers, environment, nature, media etc

d. Learning is Continuous: It denotes the lifelong nature of learning. Every day new situations are faced and the individual has to bring essential changes in his style of behaviour adopted to tackle them. Learning is birth to death.

e. It results in Change in Behaviour: It is a change of behaviour influenced by previous behaviour. It is any activity that leaves a more or less permanent effect on later activity.

f. Learning is an Adjustment: Learning helps the individual to adjust himself adequately to the new situations. Most learning in children consists in modifying, adapting, and developing their original nature. In later life the individuals acquire new forms of behaviour.

g. It comes about as a result of practice: It is the basis of drill and practice. It has been proven that students learn best and retain information longer when they have meaningful practice and repetition. Every time practice occurs, learning continues.

h. Learning is a relatively Permanent Change: After a rat wake up from his nap he still remembers the path to the food. Even if you have been on a bicycle for years, in just a few minutes practice you can be quite proficient again.

i . Learning as Growth and Development:  It is never ending growth and development. At reach stage the learner acquires new visions of his future growth and news ideals of achievement in the direction of his effort. According to Woodworth, “All activity can be called learning so far as it develops the individual.”

j. Learning is not directly observable:  The only way to study learning is through some observable behaviour. Actually, we cannot observe learning; we see only what precedes performance, the performance itself, and the consequences of performance.

Characteristics of Learning

a. Learning involves change: It is a reconstruction, combined thinking, skill, information and appropriation in a single unity process.

b. All learning involves activities: These activities involve either physical or mental activity. They may be simple mental activities of complex, involving various muscles, bones, etc. So also the mental activities may be very simple involving one or two activities of mind or complex which involve higher mental activities

c. Learning Requires Interaction: At the time of learning, the individual is constantly interacting with and influenced by the environment. This experience makes him change or modify his behavior to deal effectively with it.

d. Constitute Learning: To constitute learning, the change should be permanent. Temporary changes may be only reflective and fail to represent any learning.

e. Learning is a Lifelong Process: Learning is a lifelong process of gaining and using the information presented to a person. It is not static. A person never stops acquiring new information. It keeps a person’s mind active and aware but also conscious of the world around them.

f. Learning Occurs Randomly Throughout Life: Some learning occurs randomly throughout life, from new experiences, gaining information and from our, perceptions, for example: reading a newspaper or watching a news broadcast, talking with a friend or colleague, chance meetings, and unexpected experiences.

g. Learning Involves Problems Solving: Learning involves problem-solving i.e. understanding and discovering relations between different contents in a situation.

h. Learning is the Process of Acquiring Information: Learning is the process of acquiring information, knowledge, wisdom, and skills. It occurs as a result of interaction with the person’s environment.

i. Learning Involves far more than Thinking: Learning involves far more than thinking: it involves the whole personality – senses, feelings, intuition, beliefs, values, and will. If we do not have the will to learn, we cannot learn and if we have learned, we are changed in some way. If the learning makes no difference it can have very little significance.

 Factors influencing Learning

The factors are:

1. Physiological Factors: The physiological factors are sense perception, physical health, fatigue time and day of learning, food and drink, age and atmospheric conditions.

 a. Sense-perception: Sensation and perception are the basis of all cognitive learning. Weaker the power of perception, lesser the amount of learning. A blind man learns far less than a normal person. Impairment of sense organs is a handicap in the process of learning.

 b. Physical Health: Ill health hampers learning. Sound mind is only in a sound body. Sound physical health gives vigor and vitality to pursue learning activities for a longer education. A diseased person is handicapped by the normal physical strength necessary for any mental activity.

c. Fatigue: Muscular or sensory fatigue causes mental boredom and indolence. A number of factors in the home and school environment may cause physical and mental fatigue, such as lack of accommodation, bad seating arrangement, unhealthy clothing, inadequate ventilation, poor light, noise over crowdingness, and pure nutrition. Longer homes of study also cause fatigue which affects the learning capacity.

d. Time of Learning:  Morning and evening hours are the best periods of study. During the day, there is decline in the mental capacity. Experiments on children have shown that there are great variations in learning efficiency during the different hours of the day.

e. Food and Drink: Nutrition is responsible for efficient mental activity. Poor nutrition adversely affects learning. The type of food also has some effect. The alcoholic drinks, caffeine, tobacco and such addictive items have adverse effect on neuron-muscular system, and consequently upon the learning capacity.

f. Atmospheric conditions: High temperature and humidity lower the mental efficiency. Low ventilation, lack of proper illumination, noise and physical discomfort (as we find in factories and overcrowded schools) hamper the learning capacity. Distractions of all sorts affect power of concentration and consequently the efficiency of learning.

g. Age: Learning capacity varies with age. Some subjects can better be learnt at the early age, and some during adulthood. On the evidence of experiments conducted. Thorndike says that mental development does not stop at 16 or 18 but increases upto 23, and halts after 40. Learning proceeds rapidly between 18 and 20, remains stagnant till 25, and declines upto 35. Age accompanies mental maturation. So some complex problems cannot be solved till the person is sufficiently mature.

 2. Psychological Factors:

 a.Mental Health: Mental tension, complexes, conflicts, mental illnesses and mental diseases hamper learning. A maladjusted child finds it difficult to concentrate. Concentration needs mental poise and absence of mental conflict or complex. Some pupils find it difficult to prepare for the university examination, simply because of fear of the examination and anxiety neurosis. A calm, serene and balanced mind her the power to concentrate and learn better.

b. Motivation and Interest: No learning takes place unless it is motivated. Purposeless learning is no learning at all. Every child is impelled by some motive to learn new things. In the absence of motivation, can he does not feel interested in the act of learning. A child’s behaviour in learning is energised by motives, selected by motives and directed by motives.

                              i.      Motives energise behaviour: Hunger and thirst induce acquisition of food.   Reward                              induces further success. Punishment or failure induces action for achievement.

  ii.      Motives select behaviour: Only those acts of learning are selected which are supported     by some motive. A boy visits a village fair. He sees only those toys, objects or things that     interest him.

 iii.      Motives direct behaviour: These activate the person, enthuse him and impel him to do     the desired action. These direct his energies to reach the desired action. These direct his       energies to reach the desired goal. Sultan of Kohlar was directed by hunger to reach the        bananas, and that way he strived and learnt the way.

c. Success, Praise and Blame: Nothing succeeds like success. Thorndike’s law of effect is applicable most commonly. Experimental evidences show that praise stimulates small children to work and learn, although it does not produce much effect on superior and elder children. Elder children are more sensitive towards reproof and blame, than younger children are.

d. Rewards and Punishment: Rewards of all sorts are powerful incentives to learn. But these days in India school rewards are more abused than used properly. A first division of distinction in the examination is a false reward. Work is its own rewards. Pupils forget this point. They become over-dependent on rewards. They refuse to work without any incentive of reward. All learning should not be and cannot be rewarded immediately.

3. Environmental Factors:

a. Working conditions: Learning is hampered by bad working conditions such as distraction, noise, poor illumination, bad ventilation, overcrowding, bad seating arrangement, and uncomfortable stay both at home and school. The location of the school, the internal set-up, the accommodation, decoration and healthful and sanitary conditions are very important for efficient learning.

b. Organisational set-up: The organisational set-up of the school also influences learning.

                                 i.  The time-table must be drawn, in accordance with the psychological principles. It should                       avoid fatigue and boredom. Difficult subjects should be taught in the morning. There                               should be interval after some periods

                                     ii. The democratic organisation promotes a healthy atmosphere for learning.

                                  iii. The teacher-pupil relations should be healthy, so that there is mental cooperation and the                          pupils are motivated to learn.

                            iv.  There should be some sort of competition. The inter-class or inter- house competitions                             will stimulate the pupils to work more in order to outshine others. Rivalry and jealousy                           should, however, be avoided. Group emulation should be strengthened.

                             v.  The participation on the part of the pupils should be active. The pupil should not act as a passive learner. 

                        vi.   Guidance in the selection of subjects and activities in accordance with age and ability and aptitude of the pupils should be provided. Unguided children may oscillate from one subject to another, and thus gather no mass.

4. Methodology of Instructions:

a. Presentation and Organisation of Material: The learning material should be properly planned and organised. It should be graded to suit the mental level of the pupils. It should be presented in a meaningful and interesting manners.

b. Learning by Doing: Practice makes a man perfect. Repetition and practice is important for learning. The pupils must be encouraged to learn through activity. Theoretical teaching should be replaced by practical application of knowledge, experimentation and personal application. Children learn better through personal experience. Verbalisation should be reduced to minimum.

c. Special Methods of Learning: It has been found that some special methods give better results. In learning a piece of poetry, learning by the whole method, and by the part method have been advocated. Sometimes it is helpful to recall what is learnt and to recite by memory. Gestalt psychologists do not approve of ‘trial and error learning’. They advocate learning by insight. They discourage mechanical repetitions without understanding.

d. Timely Testing: Through tests, the learner knows his exact achievement, and there is no scope for over-estimation or underestimation. Occasional and periodical testing motivates the pupil to be regular in his studies.