BED-2001, UNIT-III, PART-3 STUDY MATERIAL FOR BED II SEMESTER (2021) STUDENTS RABINDRANATH ‘AGORE @ LIFESKETCH Bor on 6" May 1861 in Bengal in an educated, rich and respected family had his first lesson from a private tutor at home. He was taught physiology, language, mathematics and Sanskrit. By nature he loved beauty, music and poetry. For higher education he was sent Bengal academy. Soon was fed-up with the rigid and lifeless education imparted there. Later on sent to St. Xavier's school, Calcutta but there too he felt unhappy. At the age of 16 Tagore went to England to study Law. During his brief stay he developed a good taste in English literature by joining the London University. Personal contacts there developed his understanding of human nature. His collection of poems entitled “Songs of the Morning” was published when he was twenty. At the age of 40 he started a schoo! of his own in Bengal with 10 students. This school known as Shantinikatan Ashram became in 1921 the world famous Vishvabharti University. In 1909 his world famous work Gitanjali was published. He died on 7 August, 1941 PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE. Like Rousseau, Tagore was an ‘individual and naturalist. As an individualist he believed in the right and freedom of the individual to shape his life in own way. He said every individual is different from another and everyone is unique. In every one of us the Creator manifests in the unique manner and every individual tries to realise the Creator in his own way. As a naturalist he gave very importance place to the ‘Nature’ which he loved immensely. According to him Brahma reveals Himself more clearly through nature than through man. Tagore was realist who tried to review the traditional culture of India, He combined the Eastern ideals with Western sciences. Reinforcing his realism ha says, our education should be in full touch with our complete life, economic, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual and our educational institutions should be in the very heart of our society. His philosophy was the combination of Idealism with Realism. Tagore never put much emphasis on materialism. His emphasis was on self realisation through fulfilling theDharma or the ideals. He advocated that the aim of life should be to be prepared for the other world * He imbibed the idealistic philosophy of life and adopted the highest ideals of truth, beauty and goodness as the chief aims of education. Believed in one God who created human being. He was a great humanist and regarded man as a reflection of God, PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION: The three cardinal principles of his educational philosophy are (1) Freedom (2) Creative self expression (3) Active communion with nature and the man, An education divorced from the streams of life and confined witht four walls of the classroom becomes artificial and loses its value. The highest mission of education is to help us to realise the inner principle of unity of all knowledge and all the activities of our social and spiritual being, Basic Principles of Tagore’s Educational philosophy may be summarised as follows: ‘© Medium of instruction should be mother tongue * Child should enjoy freedom © Opportunities for self-expression © Educatio the laps of nature ‘* Foreign education cannot be the basis of national education ‘* Education should be connected with national life * Schools should be reformed AIMS OF EDUCATION: The following aims of education are emphasised by the Tagore. © Self-realization © Intellectual development © Physical development © Love for humanity ‘© Moral and spiritual development © Establishment of connection between man & God © Development of international attitude CURRICULUM:of experience was the central theme of Tagore’s philosophy. Therefore he gave to history, geography, agriculture, nature study, practical subjects- horticulture, co-curricular activities- drawing, singing, painting, singing, languages and various forms of handwork. METHODS OF TEACHING Tagore never liked the schoolmaster moulding the child’s mind according to his readymade doctrines. They should be provided constant opportunities to explore their capacities through surprises and achievements. He gave importance to following teaching, methods © Teaching while walking scussion and question answer method * Activity method. ROLE OF THE TEACHER ‘Tagore said that love and affection are the only medium through which perfect knowledge can be obtained. According to him there are three sourees of knowledge- Nature, Life and the Teacher * Believed only man teach another man © Love, affection, sympathy and coordination, ‘© Conducive environment should be created by the teacher for learning process EVALUATION OF HIS PHILOSOPHY: * Tagore preached the cult of freedom, which alone could help the growth of the real feelings, emotions and innate abilities of the child. Only through freedom can man attain his fullne of growth, Human being is of the greatest worth. It is through men that values and virtues of life are realised. # He wished no gulf between East and West and wanted the kinship of man to man to be broadly recognised. «He emphasised on spiritual education. For him there was no real education with out religion. He found truth in all religion. © Shantiniketan is the practical application of Tagore’s philosophy. The aim is bring int ‘imate relationship with each other the diverse culture.