UNIT 3 EDUCATIONAL THINKERS

ON KNOWLEDGE
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Objectives
3.3 Views of Indian Thinkers on Education
3.3.1 Rabindranath Tagore
3.3.2 Mahatma Gandhi

3.4. Views of Western Thinkers on Education

3.4.1 John Dewey
3.4.2 Paulo Freire

3.5 Commonalities and Differences in Aims of Education

3.6 Conceptual Logical Perspective of Education
3.7 Social Perspective on Education
3.8 Let Us Sum Up
3.9 Unit-End Exercises
3.10 Answers to Check Your Progress
3.11 Suggested Readings and References

3.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous units of this block, we have already discussed the concept of
knowledge and its various types. We have also discussed about the process
of knowing, it was also highlighted in the unit that the process of knowing is
a personalized, individual task that is influenced by experience and unintentional
contextual cues. The three aspects of knowledge – the knower (the
consciousness of the participant), the known (the field of study), and the process
of knowing (which connects the knower to the known) were also explained.
In this unit, we will discuss the views of various educational thinkers on
knowledge and education. Education as viewed by Indian educational thinkers
– Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi; and also by western educational
thinkers – John Dewey and Paulo Freire will be discussed. Later, conceptual-
logical and social perspectives of education will be dealt.

3.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through the unit, you should be able to:
 describe the views of Indian educational thinkers – Rabindranath Tagore
and Mahatma Gandhi on education;
 elucidate education as viewed by the westerns educational thinkers – John
Dewey and Paulo Freire;
 discuss the conceptual-logical perspectives of education; and
 explain social perspectives of education. 41
Knowledge and Curriculum
3.3 VIEWS OF INDIAN THINKERS ON
EDUCATION
You may be aware of the fact that the socio-political environment of pre-
independence India contributed a lot in shaping-up various aspects of philosophy
of Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, including their views on education.
In the following sections, we will discuss their thoughts on education, in general,
and on various aspects of education, in particular.
3.3.1 Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore is the world famous poet- Vishwakavi and is popularly
known as “Gurudev”, the respected teacher. He was awarded the Nobel Prize
for his book “Geetanjali”. Shantiniketan and Viswabharti are the renowned
contributions of Tagore to the field of education.
According to Tagore, the supreme truth of life is not merely to live, but also
to know our existence and realize the self through love and sympathy with others.
Hence, it is essential that the growth of a balanced and well-integrated personality
of the child is to be promoted and move should be made towards the
achievement of the ultimate goal of life i.e. achieving ‘Sachidananda’(sat+ chit
+ anand). He believed that freedom should be the guiding principle of education.
By freedom, Tagore meant the liberation of all the aspects and powers of the
personality, namely the senses, the vital energies, the various mental capacities
including intelligence and imagination; also the functions of the heart-feelings,
emotions, sympathy and love. Here, it can be noticed that the idea of Tagore
is similar to the ideas of Rousseau, Froebel and Dewey, who have emphasized
freedom, which lies in the perfect harmony of relationships, which we realize
in the world.
He also emphasized that self-expression is very important and provision should
be made for its development among students. Self-expression is creative in nature
and should be organized through various forms of arts, music, dramatics,
handiwork, etc. He believed in activity in education. Hence, he encouraged play
and work as the instruments of teaching children and adults respectively.
He advocated fullness of experience; and viewed education as a process of
harmonization of various elements – intellectual, physical, social, moral, economic
and spiritual. For facilitating the creative self-expression of the child, he
accentuated the importance of integrating painting, sculpture, music, dance,
poetry, etc. with education. He realized the need of education for universal
brotherhood and internationalism; and advocated the integration of western and
eastern culture so that children learn to appreciate cultures of other countries.
Tagore introduced the elements of sympathy and joy to education. He believed
that joy should be pivotal in all educational activities. He also emphasized the
principle of curiosity and interest and the spirit of play. According to him, child
should be brought in contact with nature to promote self-learning, which will
be having freedom, fullness and vastness of experiences. According to him
education should facilitate rational thinking and imagination in child so that he
is able to assimilate new ideas and knowledge. Tagore wanted education not
just to develop individual personality but also social characteristics. To him,
education should not only prepare a child to earn his livelihood but also it should
sensitize him towards social service; and also make him to contribute for
42 development of the country. Tagore has emphasized mother tongue as the medium
of instruction for the child’s education since child can freely express his thoughts Educational Thinkers on
in his mother-tongue. Knowledge

Tagore’s views on education are a clear reflection of his humanism, naturalism,

individualism, universalism and spirituality, and his contribution made him one
of the brightest stars of galaxy of educational thinkers such as Rousseau, Froebel,
Montessori, Dewey, etc.

Further, he envisaged that education given to our children should aim at the
following:

 encourage and foster freedom of thought, independent spirit and free will,

 promote moral and spiritual development of an individual, and liberate him

from different kinds of bondages

 develop the ability of assimilation and application of new ideas and

knowledge, and the ability of thinking and imagination

 make the younger generation aware of their national cultural heritage and
grasp its significance for them; enable them to appreciate the cultures of
other countries too and also to learn from them.

 make Indian men and women more rational and less subject to meaningless
social and individual rituals.

 help students to acquire ‘scientific temper’. In other words, to stimulate

constructive doubt, the love of mental adventure, the coverage and longing
to conquer the world by enterprise and boldness in thought and in action.

 develop the individual personality as well as the social characteristics,

 develop fellow feeling among students and enable them to render social
service and service to the country.

3.3.2 Mahatma Gandhi

Very much like Tagore, social-cultural context in which Gandhiji lived, contributed
a lot towards shaping-up his ideas about education. He believed that educational
reconstruction was necessary for social and national reconstruction; and
introduced a national scheme of education which was known as ‘Basic
Education’. Gandhiji’s basic education emphasized craft-centred education, which
was a kind of revolt against the impractical colonial British education system,
which aimed at political enslavement and economic dependency.

Gandhiji believed that education is not a “pouring in process” but a “drawing

out process”. The locus of knowledge does not lie ‘out side’ but ‘within’ the
child. He says, “By education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best
in child and man – body, mind and spirit”. Gandhiji believed in holistic
development of human personality. According to him, education is not merely
literacy, it is a quest for truth and non-violence, training of body and mind,
and awakening of soul. Thus, it should develop high morals, self control and
right thinking in child, leading to self-realization. He believed that learning included
the acquisition of information and training that is useful for the service of mankind,
which will pave way for liberation of the individual and the nation at large from
this ‘dependency syndrome’. He believed that individual cannot realize his full 43
Knowledge and Curriculum potential in absence of society, and society cannot prosper without the well
being of is individuals. Therefore, he emphasized the importance of social
transformation through social service.

Gandhiji propounded basic education, which is a craft-centred education,

provides purposeful, creative and socially useful education, which inculcates a
spirit of cooperation, unity, and group responsibility in children. Basic education
attempts to establish interrelationship between various subjects and subject
knowledge with real life. Since craft is both a means and an end, it is central
to teaching of all the subjects. This interweaving craft with other subjects was
an attempt to provide the child constant interface with the community. He
conceived school as a miniature society where children as social participants
had rights and responsibilities. Thus, he finely blended sociological aspects with
pedagogy of education.
According to Gandhiji education must stimulate spiritual, intellectual and physical
faculties of the child, accordingly, he emphasized coordination of these faculties
for training of three Hs – Head, Heart and Hand. He believed that “Persistent
questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first for acquiring learning of any
kind.” He firmly believed that primary schooling should be compulsory for all
the children between the age of seven and fourteen and it should be imparted
in child’s own language. Gandhiji wanted teachers to be free from interference
from government and state bureaucracy. For his contribution in education,
Gandhiji is known as holistic educational reformer – naturalist in his educational
setting, idealistic in his educational aims, and pragmatic in methods of teaching.
Mahatma Gandhi saw education as a means of awakening the nation’s conscience
to injustice, violence and inequality entrenched in the social order (NCF 2005).
To conclude, Gandhiji’s educational philosophy is sound and scientific,
psychologically as well as sociologically. By introducing craft, he tried to remove
the gap between manual and intellectual labour, the educated and uneducated
mass and promote dignity of labour, social solidarity and national integration.
He also desired that ideals of democratic citizenship be inculcated in the children
and regarded the school as a democratic society where they would learn
citizenship, knowledge, skills and values like co-operation, love, sympathy,
fellow-feeling, equality. Gandhiji’s vision of the democratic society is “Sarvodaya
Samaj” characteristics of which are social justice, peace, non-violence and
modem humanism.

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Write your answers in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the
unit.
1) “As far as educational philosophy is concerned, Tagore’s was a
naturalist, whereas Gandhiji was a Pragmatic.” Explain with
examples.
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 Educational Thinkers on
2) What are the aims of education according to Tagore? Knowledge

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3.4 VIEWS WESTERN THINKERS ON

EDUCATION
While in India new educational ideas were taking shape, in west the existing
school practices were being challenged. Dissatisfied with the prevailing educational
practices, among other, John Dewey and Paulo Friere are the two main thinkers
who thought ‘out of the box’, and introduced innovative ideas for reforming
the prevailing education system. Their views have lasting impact on contemporary
educational thinking and practice.
3.4.1 John Dewey
John Dewey’s has been one of the most influential educational thinkers of modern
times. His educational philosophy has been referred to as Pragmatism,
Experimentalism, Functionalism, Instrumentalism, Operationalism, Practicalism,
and Progressivism.
To begin with, Dewey was idealistic, but later moved towards the pragmatism
and naturalism of his mature philosophy. The central focus of his philosophy
is epistemology or the theory of knowledge that contested the dualisms of mind
and world, thought and action, which had marked western philosophy since
the 17th century. This theory of knowledge emphasized the “necessity of testing
thought by action if thought was to pass over into knowledge”. His work in
education was intended in part, to explore the implications of his functional
pedagogy and to test it by experiment. Dewey’s educational philosophy helped
forward the progressive education movement and spawned the development of
‘experiential education’ programs and experiments.
He referred to education as a “social need and function”, as a “process of
living and growth” which includes both social and individual aspects that are
mutually dependent on each other. From the social viewpoint, education is
essential to the continuous existence and transformation of the organization of
social life in all its shades and grades. From the individual perspective, it is
a method to enable individuals to play an effective role as members of a human
community or society.
According to him,” Education is the process of reconstruction of experience,
giving it a more socialized value through the medium of increased individual
efficiency”. He wanted each philosopher and personality to be developed not
according to any absolute standard, but according to a pupil’s own capacities
and opportunities and specifically in a social setting as the child is considered
to be a unit of society. Further, he advocated education for democracy and
this he considered one of the goals of education, to help people become more
effective members of a democratic society.
The main aims of education, according to Dewey are natural development, Social
efficiency, cultivation of mind of individual with respect to appreciation of ideas,
45
art and broad human interests. Dewey believed that the purpose of education
Knowledge and Curriculum should not revolve around the acquisition of a pre-determined set of skills, rather
the realization of one’s full potential and the ability to use those skills for the
greater good of society. Thus, education and learning are social and interactive
processes, and the school itself is a social institution through which social reform
can and should take place. For Dewey, education is a social function. Until
we know what sort of society is best, we do not know what sort of education
is best.
According to Dewey’s philosophy, the goal of education is to release the human
potential for growth. Growth through freedom, creativity, and dialogue is, for
him, the all-inclusive ideal, the greatest good. For Dewey, the capacity to cultivate
growth is the criterion for evaluating the quality of all social institutions. Dewey
believes that democracy is the social structure that contributes most to freeing
intelligence to grow, and, therefore, education should be democratic. Dewey
did not subscribe to the notion of freedom as complete absence of any discipline.
Dewey had specific idea regarding how education should take place within the
classroom. He criticized the undue importance given to the curriculum, which
leads to the inactivity of the student in the entire process of learning. He believed
that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience
and interact with the curriculum, and all students should have the opportunity
to take part in their own learning. He emphasized that content must be presented
in a way that allows the student to relate the information to prior experiences,
thus deepening the connection with this new knowledge. He advocated for an
educational structure that strikes a balance between delivering knowledge while
also taking into account the interests and experiences of the student. It is a
continuous process of adjustment, having as its aim at every stage an added
capacity of growth.’ He advocated the importance of education not only as
a place to gain content knowledge, but also as a place to learn how to live.
Experience of the child occupies the central place in method of learning; ‘all
learning must come as a by-product of actions…’ child learns through
participation in various activities. He firmly believed in ‘learning by doing’ and
‘learning by living’, and always criticized rote memorization of facts and formulae.
Dewey argued that thinking does not occur in isolation from social situation,
without ‘experience or action’. Thinking arises when the individual confronts a
‘problem’. According to Dewey, ‘thinking is a method.’ It is the method of
‘intelligent experiencing’. It is connected with increase of efficiency in action,
and with learning more about ourselves and the world in which we live. ‘An
ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory simply because it is only
in experience that any theory has vital and verifiable significance’.
Dewey regarded the child as the core of the whole educational process;
‘education must begin with a psychological insight into the child’s capacities,
interests, and habits…’ But he looks at these capacities and interests in the
social context and not in abstraction, for it is in the social context alone that
they can be developed.
According to Dewey ‘education is life itself and not a preparation for life’. Dewey
regards school as an institution essential to social life. To him school is an absolute
social necessity. The school is not a place where some knowledge is imparted
and an attempt is made to develop certain habits among children; it is a place
where the child learns by its own experiences. It is ‘lengthened arm of the family’.
There should be no sudden break in the activities of the child in the home
46 and in the school. In the beginning, the school should try to preserve, continue
and rebuild those experiences and activities with which the child has been familiar Educational Thinkers on
in the home. Thus the school should provide to the child the atmosphere of Knowledge
the home.
Dewey believed that method is not separable from subject matter. For him,
method, or structure, is structure for a purpose: “Method means that arrangement
of subject matter which makes it most effective in use. Never is method something
outside of the material”. According to him “the teacher should be occupied not
with subject matter in itself but in its interaction with the pupils present needs
and capacities. Just teaching the subject matter does not mean one is teaching
well. To teach well, the teacher must connect the subject matter to the needs,
desires, interests, stage of cognitive development, etc. of the student, within the
physical, social, and political context that the students and teachers find
themselves. Good teaching requires moral as well as cognitive perception of
the needs and abilities of the student. It also requires a complete and confident
command of the subject matter to reconfigure it to meet the needs of every
individual student.

Dewey’s qualifications for teaching – a natural love for working with young
children, a natural propensity to inquire about the subjects, methods and other
social issues related to the profession, and a desire to share this acquired
knowledge with others – are not a set of outwardly displayed mechanical skills.
Rather, they may be viewed as internalized principles or habits which “work
automatically, unconsciously”

Teachers are responsible for disciplining the individual to understand and

appreciate the existing norms and practices of a culture. However, they should
to do so in such a way as to realize unique individual potential. This implies
educating the individuals creative and artistic ability as well as their ability to
engage in critical inquiry and, if necessary, carry out the reconstruction of the
existing social order to evolve a better society in the future.
Views of John Dewey are clearly reflected in NCF, 2005, when it talked about
construction of knowledge. “The teachers’ own role in children’s cognition could
be enhanced if they assume a more active role in relation to process of knowledge
construction in which children are engaged. A child constructs her/his knowledge
while engaged in the process of learning. Allowing children to ask questions,
that require them to relate what they are learning in school to things happening
outside, encouraging children to answer in their own words and from their own
experiences, rather than simply memorizing and getting answers right in just one
way – all these are small but important steps in helping children develop their
understanding.”

3.4.2 Paulo Freire

Paulo Freire’s pedagogy developed in the particular historical and political
circumstances of neo-colonialism and imperialism. Freire’s perception of society
and social relations is based on class relations. He sees social dynamics through
the oppressor-oppressed dialectic.

Freire discusses two types of knowledge, unconscious, sometimes practical

knowledge and critical, reflective or theory knowledge. Beliefs are shaped into
knowledge by discussion and critical reflection. Knowledge should not be limited
to logic and content, or emotions and superstitions, but should seek the
connections between understandings and feelings. 47
Knowledge and Curriculum His pedagogical critique of ‘banking education’ and his ‘problem posing’
pedagogical propositions are rooted in his concept of man. Paulo Freire was
highly critical of prevailing educational practices. He called education as it was
practiced as ‘banking’ concept of education. In the banking concept, education
is treated and practiced as a depositing activity. In this depositing act, students
become depositories and teacher the depositor. The scope of action allowed
to the students, ‘extends only as far as receiving, filling, and storing the
deposits.’ By acting as a depositor, the teacher ‘domesticates’ the child into
oppressor consciousness. The banking concept of education, says Freire, has
done immense damage to teacher-taught relationship and process of education.
Freire’s description of banking education and his prescription of problem-posing
education are based on his understanding about man, his consciousness and
relation to the world. According to Freire, banking education begins with a
false understanding of men as objects. ‘Implicit in banking concept is the
assumption of a dichotomy between man and the world; man is merely in
the world, not with the world or with others; man is spectator, not re-creator.
In this view, man is not a conscious being; he is rather a possessor of
consciousness; an empty ‘mind’ passively open to the reception of deposits
of reality from the world outside.’ The programme content of problem posing
education is generated from the investigation into this ‘thematic universe’.
Banking education, through its pedagogy works for the continuation of
‘domination’, whereas problem-posing education through its pedagogy thrives
for liberation. Freire’s proposes a pedagogy to conscientize human beings based
on praxis and dialogue. Conscientization constitutes both growing critical
awareness of the learner by himself and a willingness to act on the reality
to change it. Praxis is interwoven methodological state of human action and
reflection. Dialogue is not only a method of education, but an existential
necessity for humanization.

Hence, learning is a process where knowledge is presented to us, then shaped

through understanding, discussion and reflection. Education should raise the
awareness of the students so that they become subjects, rather than objects,
of the world. This is done by teaching students to think democratically and
to continually question and make meaning from everything they learn.

Freire firmly believed that knowing is a social process, whose individual

dimension, however, cannot be forgotten or even devalued. The process of
knowing, which involves the whole conscious self, feelings, emotions, memory,
affects, an epistemologically curious mind, focused on the object, equally involves
other thinking subjects, that is, others also capable of knowing and curious.
This simply means that the relationship called “thinking” is not enclosed in a
relationship “thinking subject – knowable object” because it extends to other
thinking subjects.

Freire believed that teaching is a political process. It must be a democratic

process to avoid teaching authority dependence. The teacher must learn about
(and from) the student so that knowledge can be constructed in ways that are
meaningful to the student. The teachers must become learners and the learners
must become teachers. Only insofar as learners become thinking subjects, and
recognize that they are as much thinking subjects as are the teachers, is it possible
for the learners to become productive subjects of the meaning or knowledge
of the object. It is in this dialectic movement that teaching and learning become
knowing and re-knowing. The learners gradually know what they did not yet
48 know, and the educators re-know what they knew before.
Freire’s critical pedagogy talked about making teachers and students aware of Educational Thinkers on
the “politics” that surround education. The way students are taught and what Knowledge
they are taught serves a political agenda. Teachers, themselves, have political
notions they bring into the classroom. Freire believed that “education makes
sense because women and men learn that through learning they can make and
remake themselves, because women and men are able to take responsibility
for themselves as beings capable of knowing – of knowing that they know and
knowing that they don’t”.
The purpose of Freire’s education is liberation; it is achieved through authentic
dialogue in which every one speaks one’s own word with the mediation of the
world to name the world. This, in a nutshell, is the ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’.
By analyzing Freire’s pedagogy, we are able to identify his significant contribution
to education:
 Emphasis on dialogue - he upheld that education is a dialogical
(conversational) rather a curricular form and this dialogue should not involve
one person acting on another, but rather people working with each other.
A dialogue, not only requires critical thinking, but also generates critical
thinking in the participants.
 Concern with praxis - action that is informed and linked to certain values.
He upheld that dialogue should result not only in deepening understanding,
but also in taking informal actions and making a difference in the world.
 Concern with conscientization - developing consciousness that is understood
to have the power to transform reality.
 Insistence on lived experience of participants - provide educational activity
to suit the living situation/experience of the people.
Influence of Freire’s view may be observed on NCF 2005, wherein it is
mentioned that teaching is no more an activity of planning a lesson or presenting
ready-made knowledge for achieving outcomes that can be measured objectively.
Now it has been seen as a process of making children “think and try out what
they are learning”. A teacher has to shift away from his/her traditional stance
of “informing” to that of “eliciting” and “guiding”. A teacher’s role is one of
facilitating construction of knowledge and engaging children by raising the right
kind of questions and organizing well chosen activities and tasks. “Active
engagement involves enquiry, exploration, questioning, debates, application and
reflection leading to theory building and creation of ideas/positions. Schools must
provide opportunities to question, enquire debate, reflect, and arrive at concepts
or create new ideas.” (NCF, 2005).

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Write your answers in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the
unit.
3) Education is social need and function. Explain
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Knowledge and Curriculum
4) Explain ‘banking concept’.
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5) What are the core components of Dewey’s philosophy?
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3.5 COMMONALITlES AND DIFFERENCES IN

AIMS OF EDUCATION
So far, we have studied the aims of education as enunciated by different modern
thinkers (both Indian and Western). Now, we shall try to look into the
commonalities, and differences in these aims of education.
It is interesting to note that there are more common points among the Indian
thinkers whom we have discussed. All of them thought of education in terms
of the development of the total personality of an individual (child or adult) or
in other words, the all round development of an individual. All of them have
emphasized the spiritual aspect of life highlighting the relation between
matterlmind and spirit, and advocated education for spiritual development.
To put it other way, they believed in a universal community of human beings
though no distinction is made among them on any criteria, but all are loved,
respected and considered equal. They appealed for a sense of unity in this world
to see a society without crisis. Further, they upheld the view that an individual
has no value without society and society cannot think of its development without
an individual’s upliftment. They considered the individual and social aims as
complementary to each other.
One more point of commonality among Indian thinkers is provision for freedom
to learners. They advocated the right kind of freedom for learners as nothing
could be achieved by compulsion.
Tagore and Gandhi stood together regarding the consideration for culhlral aspect
of education. According to them, education should aim at making people aware
and proud of the cultural heritage of our country and appreciate other cultures
too. As regards differences among the Indian thinkers regarding education: Tagore
has emphasized the relationship of man with Nature and advocated education
for harmony and self-expression. He deserves credit for having revived the
ancient Indian ideals in the modem times. On the other hand, Gandhiji emphasized
craft centered education and advocated education for self-sufficiency and self-
reliance leading to Sarvodaya Sumaj.
To conclude, it is quite clear that there are more similarities than differences
in the aims of education enunciated by different Indian thinkers. Each thinker
has explained the same view in a different way using different language1
terminologies. Ultimately, all of them have upheld the point that education should
enable the person to understand himself, to know his potentialities and move
50 towards the achievement of ultimate goal of life.
All the modern thinkers under reference commonly professed that education Educational Thinkers on
should lead to personal and social liberation both in thought and deed. They Knowledge
also considered the total development of personality as the main goal of education
and both individual and social aims of education as being equally important.
Individuals should get equipped well to perform their role in the modem society.
Like Indian thinkers, the Western thinkers also recognised the significance of
individual freedom for learners. But they differed in the way they expressed
their ideas emphasizing the different aspects of education.

John Dewey described school as a unique social institution where the child’s
basic native impulses- to communicate, construct, inquire and express - are to
be activated to promote its active growth. He recommended learning by doing/
experience in place of dogmatic instruction.
Paulo Freire, like Dewey, professed integration of theory and practice. Believing
that education could improve human condition and contribute to humanization,
he developed the ‘pedagogy of oppressed’. This pedagogy insisted on dialogical
and action oriented approach, as well as conscientization. Hence, the ultimate
goal of education, according to Freire, is the development of ‘critical
consciousness’ among people.

The main difference noticed between Indian and Western thinkers is regarding
the spiritual aspect of education. While all the Indian thinkers upheld the
significance of spirituality in education and considered spiritual development as
one of the aims of education, the western thinkers are concerned themselves,
more with man in relation to their social environment.

3.6 CONCEPTUAL LOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

OF EDUCATION
Education as a concept has been compared to ‘reform’ and ‘curing’ by eminent
educationists R. S. Peters in his analysis of education. According to him,
“education refers to no particular process; rather it encapsulates criteria to which
any one of a family of processes must conform.” In this way it is rather like
‘reform’. According to him education as initiation, is to regard processes of
education as task relative to achievement. Initiation is meant as initiating the
child into a kind of life, a culture that is considered worthwhile. Education involves
essentially processes which intentionally transmit what is valuable in an intelligible
and voluntary manner, and which create in the learner a desire to achieve it.
It implies that a man who is educated is a man who has succeeded in relation
to certain tasks on which he and his teacher have been engaged for considerable
period of time. Thus, achievement is relative to a family tasks which we call
processes of education. The set of these processes are termed as ‘Curing’,
which contribute to making the man morally better. On the same lines, educating
people suggests a set of processes whose principle of unity is the teachers who
enter the profession would be striving to initiate others into a form of life, which
they regard as desirable, in which knowledge and understanding play an important
part. The learnt content must be worthwhile and morally unobjectionable. The
aim of education is to reform; and to reform means to make men better by
encouraging the sense of responsibility. According to Peters (1967) the three
main criteria of education are:

i) An educated man is one whose form of life is thought to be desirable;

51
Knowledge and Curriculum ii) Whatever he is trained to do he must have knowledge, not just knack,
and an understanding of principles.
iii) His knowledge and understanding must not be inert.
We do not call a person ‘educated’ who has simply mastered a skill. For a
person to be educated, he must also have some body of knowledge and some
kind of conceptual scheme to raise this above the level of collection of disjointed
facts. This implies some understanding of principles for the organization of facts.
One must also have an understanding of the ‘reason why’ of things. Education
implies that a person’s outlook is transformed by what he knows. The knowledge
must not be static in the sense that it must involve the kind of commitment
that comes from being on the inside of a form of thought and awareness. A
person cannot really understand what it is to think scientifically unless he not
only knows that evidence must be found for assumptions, but also knows what
counts as evidence and cares that it should be found. All forms of thought and
commitment to understand and care for those things. ‘Education is of the whole
man’ is not simply a protest against too much of specialized training. It is the
conceptual connection between education and seeing what is being done in a
perspective that is not too limited.

Check Your Progress

Notes : a) Write your answers in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the
unit.
6) Explain education as a process of initiation.
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3.7 SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE ON EDUCATION

Education can be studied from different perspectives. These perspectives merge
at some point as they all deal with education as an important activity in any
society. In this section, we will discuss relationship between education and society
with particular reference to school as an agency of socialization, and education
as an agency of social change and social control – how culture of a society
impacts the kind of education children receive; and how the content and
methodology of education is conditioned by social and cultural context.
A significant feature of modern child study is that the object of study is that
the object of study is the individual in relation with others. The individual grows
in the community with others and has obligations to the community as the
community has to the individual. As said, one of the main aims of education
is to create social link between individuals on the basis of shared references,
which leads to fulfillment of individual as a social being. Education facilitates
socialization with the interplay of culture and values. In any society, some states
of mind, modes of conduct structured by the forms of thoughts and awareness
and culture are regarded as intrinsically valuable. Education is a term which
we use for a family of procedures by the means of which individuals are initiated
52 into such forms of thought and awareness and into activities and modes of the
conduct informed by them. The social aims of education are to give all pupils Educational Thinkers on
an insight into their social inheritance, ideals, conditions, customs and institutions Knowledge
of society, which leads to the development of sympathy for all branches of
society. It is done through social communication and social service, which develop
social efficacy of an individual. Education is basically being considered as a
preparing the individual for adaptation and making adjustment to his social
environment. Education must help individual to acquire universally accepted and
attitudes of his social group. And also to keep himself away from the social
ills viz. crime, drug abuse, etc.
All social institutions define the pattern of relationships and behaviour expected
of the persons who belong to them. The principal social institutions are concerned
with regulation of economic, political, familial, educational, and religious aspects
of human life. It helps the child to train for the future roles of adult life. In
other words, the child learns the rules of social behaviour through the process
of education. Therefore, the child prepares himself or herself to take multiple
roles through the process of socialization, in general, and education, in particular.
Social perspective of education contributes essentially to the maintenance of
social order by transmitting the values and norms of the society, which may
also be called social control. It focuses on the social relationships, which prepares
people to fit into the complex social structure through the process of socialization.
In this context, education will also be informal – received from the family and
peer groups; in addition to formal education, which is received in the schools.
Every society believes in education as an important instrument of social change
and for this reason, great importance is attached to schools. Schools play
important role in changing the society by changing the individuals who make
up the society. An individual comes to a full realization of his own social
dimensions through an apprenticeship of active participation in the functioning
of social structure, where necessary, through a personal commitment in the
struggle to reform them.
Education, being an instrument of social control and social change, develops
social feelings, socially efficient individual, improvement of vocational efficiency,
use of leisure time, and development of healthy recreational pursuits, transmission
of social heritage, leading to development of constructive and creative outlook
of the individual. Education, hence, plays an important role in inculcating the
feeling of for social service, social efficiency, emotional integration, national unity
and patriotism in a child.
Check Your Progress
Notes : a) Write your answers in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with those given at the end of the
unit.
7) Education is an instrument of social change. Explain with the help
of examples.
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Knowledge and Curriculum
8) Differentiate between logical and social perspectives of education.
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3.8 LET US SUM UP

In the present unit the educational ideas of four influential educational thinkers
of modern times – Tagore, Gandhi, John Dewey and Paulo Freire were
highlighted. If we scan through their ideas on education, it will be found that,
in all four cases, it begun with criticizing the prevailing education system and
practices. As far as aims of education is concerned, all four thinkers go beyond
the material self and uphold the primacy of development of psychological, moral
and spiritual self. They emphasized the freedom of child for self realization. They
also believed that individual transformation is a basis of social transformation,
thus they suggested synthesis of individual and social aims for the holistic
development. Though, the method and practices suggested by them are quite
different from each other. Tagore talks about active communion with nature,
whereas Gandhiji propounded craft-centered education.
Further, Dewey’s educational ideas are based on his pragmatist and experimentalist
philosophy, which promulgates learning by doing. Education, for him, is a process
of experiencing, constructing and reconstructing. It is not a preparation for life
but life itself. While Paulo Freire criticizes banking education, which treats human
mind as an empty vessel. He advocated problem-posing education which treats
man as a conscious being in constant dialogue with the world. We have also
explained conceptual-logical perspective of education, according to which,
education is a process of initiation for ‘curing’ and ‘reform’. Towards end of
the Unit, social perspective of education was discussed, wherein, education is
seen as a process of socialization vis-à-vis an instrument for maintain social
control as well as a key for bringing about social change in the society.

3.9 UNIT-END EXERCISES

1. Explain the implications of John Dewey on the educational system of India.
2. “Education is a process of socialization.” Discuss

3.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. Read section 3.3 to provide the answer
2. Aims of education were:
 encourage and foster freedom of thought, independent spirit and free
will,
 promote moral and spiritual development of an individual, and liberate
him from different kinds of bondages
 develop the ability of assimilation and application of new ideas and
knowledge, and the ability of thinking and imagination
 make the younger generation aware of their national cultural heritage
and grasp its significance for them; enable them to appreciate the
cultures of other countries too and also to learn from them.
54  make Indian men and women more rational and less subject to
meaningless social and individual rituals.
  help students to acquire ‘scientific temper’. In other words, to stimulate Educational Thinkers on
constructive doubt, the love of mental adventure, the coverage and Knowledge
longing to conquer the world by enterprise and boldness in thought
and in action.
3. From the social viewpoint, education is essential to the continuous existence
and transformation of the organization of social life in all its shades and
grades.
4. In the banking concept, education is treated and practiced as a depositing
activity, where students become depositories and teacher the depositor. The
scope of action allowed to the students, ‘extends only as far as receiving,
filling, and storing the deposits.’
5. Integration of theory and practice.
 Theory of knowledge contesting the dualism of mind and world, thought
and action.
 Experiential education/progressive education.
 Emphasis on learning by doing / experience.
 Commitment to democracy.
6. Refer to section 3.7 for understanding and then state examples from your
experience.
7. Logical perspective of education refers to ‘reason why’ of things. Mastering
a skill or gathering knowledge does not make a person education. He must
have some understanding of principles the organization of facts. Social
perspective of education emphasizes that education is a potent instrument
of social change

3.11 SUGGESTED READINGS AND REFERENCES

Chadha, Y. (1997). Rediscovering Gandhi. London: Centuary.
Dewey, John (1916). Democracy and Education. New York: MacMillan.
Durkheim, Emile (1956). Education and Sociology. New York: The Free Press.
Freire, Paulo (1993). Education for Critical Consciousness. New York:
Continuum.
Freire, Paulo (1 994): Pedagogy of the Oppresscd, New York: Trans Myra
Bergman Ravos. Rev. Ed.
IGNOU (2000): Unit 12 Aims of Education: Modern Thinkers, M.A (Education)
Programme
Kriplani, K. (1980). Rabindranath Tagore: A biography. Shantiniketan: Vishwa
Bharathi.
NCERT (2005). National Curriculum Framework for School Education.
New Delhi: NCERT.
Ottaway, A. K. C. (1962). Education and Society. London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
Peters R. S. (etd.) (1967). The Concept of Education. New York: Routledge.
Reid, Ivan. (1978). Sociological Perspectives on School and Education.
London: Open Books.
Websites
http://eepat.net/doku.php?id=dewey_john retrieved on 16-3-2016
http://infed.org/mobi/rabindranath-tagore-on-education/ retrieved on 16-3-2016
http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Gandhi.html retrieved on 16-3-2016
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http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Freire.html retrieved on 16-3-2016