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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Mahatma gandhi


      EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT BY MAHATMA GANDHI

Introduction:
                         Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution to the field of education theory and practice is really outstanding. He has been considered to be a revolutionary educational thinker of modern India. Through his educational scheme he wanted to bring about a social revolution in our country, thereby leading to the creation of a new social order, reflecting his philosophy of education and life .He is regarded as a practical educational philosopher and experimenter on education to the core. His educational philosophy was rightly considered as the dynamic side of his philosophy of life and his educational system is the dynamic side of his educational thought.

His philosophy of Life:

                         The political, economic, education and other ideas of Gandhi are parts of a whole, integrated philosophy of life. Yet Gandhi was not a philosopher in the accepted sense of the word, nor has he left behind him a systematic statement of his thought. He was essentially a man of action and it was through the adventure of living, his experiments with truth, that he came to formulate ideas-that are strewn over thousand of pages of writings, speeches and correspondence. Some of his philosophical doctrines are concept of god, truth, morality, non-violence (ahimsa),  sathyagraha, labour, economic equality, citizenship, brotherhood of man etc.,

His philosophy of Education:

                             The meaning of Education is Education of the whole man.

                           Gandhi has synthesized the three important philosophies, Idealism, Naturalism and Pragmatism. He defined education as an “ all-round drawing out of the best in the child and man-body, mind and spirit”. His education emphasized both the imminent and eminent goals of life.

Aims of Education:

                          Gandhi’s concept of education has two fold aims, ultimate and immediate.

Ultimate aim of Education:
                       
                            Self-realisation is the ultimate aim of life as well as of education. It is spiritual education which provides knowledge of god and self- realization. In the words of Gandhi “True education should result not in material power but in spiritual force”. It must strengthen man’s faith in God and not waken it. He further adds “Development of the whole-all was directed towards the realization of the ultimate reality, the merger of the finite being into the infinite”.

Education for character building:
   
                        Character building was the fundamental enterprise n Gandhi’s ideal school. Development of personality was more significant than accumulation of intellectual tools and academic knowledge. Good education is “that which draws out and stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and physical faculties of children”. His concept of personality was based on the ideal man of the Gita who is an integrated personality a  sthita prajana or sage of settled intelligence.

Self supporting aspect of Education:
                        Gandhi aimed at the self-supporting aspect of education. He advocated knowledge through work. The use of craft at all levels and at all stages of education was his concept of ‘karma-yoga’. He wanted to teach children the dignity of labour and to make them learn to regard. It is an integral part and a means of their intellectual growth and to make them realize that it was patriotic to, pay for their training through their labour, his aim was to bridge the gap between education and life by drawing upon the cultural, social and vocational potentialities of the students and to make education “life-centered”.

Cultural aim of education: 
                       Gandhi does not ignore the cultural aspect of education. In his words “ I attach far more importance to cultural aspect of education than to the literacy”. Culture is the foundation, the primary thing which the girls ought to get from here. Inner culture must reflect in your speech, the way in which you treat your visitors and behave towards one another and your teacher and class. Thus Gandhi laid much emphasis on cultural aim of education and recommended that Gita and Ramayana be taught as a means of introducing students to their rich cultural and spiritual heritage.
 
 Social and Individual aims of Education:
                         The aim of education of Gandhi is both social and individual. He wanted individual perfection and a new social order based on” Truth” and “non-violence”. We cannot think of social service and the individual vice versa. Thys according to Gandhi, the individual and social development are independent.
Fundamental of Basic Education:
                      Gandhi designed pre-basic education for the children under six years of age. At this stage principles of sanitation hygiene, nutrition, work and helping parents in the home were emphasized. Basic education is meant for the children under the age group seven to fourteen and was a seven year plan. Post-basic education was for the students of age group fourteen and eighteen. It was an extension of the basic education with greater emphasis on self sufficiency.   



Features of Basic Education:

Free and compulsory education:

                      Gandhi advocated that within the age group 7 to 14, there should be free, compulsory and universal education. He wanted to combine the primary education with secondary education and called it, matriculation minus English was his aim of education.

1. The craft:
                  The basic education aimed at providing education through the medium of craft or productive work. The basic craft which be agriculture or spinning and weaving or card board, wood and metal work, gardening, leather work.
  1. Mother Tongue:
                   Gandhi emphasized mother tongue to be the medium of instruction and the subject of study. Mother tongue would enable the children to express themselves effectively and clearly. It can acquaint the child with his heritage, ethical and moral values.
  1. Mathematics:
                   Mathematics was introduced in the basis system with a few to enable the students to solve numerical and grammatical problems, connected with craft and community life. In teaching of mathematics emphasis was laid on practical measuring and field work. Teaching of mathematics helped the students to develop their reasoning capacities.
  1. Social studies:
                   Social studies were a combination of some subject like history, geography, civics and economics. It was introduced to enable the students to understand and appreciate their own culture and also to understand nature and function of family, state and the nation and their relationship.
  1. General science:
                   Nature study, botony, zoology, chemistry, astronomy, hygiene, culture and knowledge of stars were included in general science.
  1. Drawing and music:
                   Drawing and music included in the curriculum to develop creativity in boys and girls.
  1. Hindustani:
                 Gandhi believed that Hindustani is the combination of Hindi and Urdu. Therefore, he desired to make it a compulsory subject in basic school and the Lingua Franca of India.






Gandhi’s views on teacher:

                Gandhi advocates devotion to the teacher. He says education of the heart could only be done through the living touch of the teacher. He said It will be very difficult to achieve character building in the absence to the teacher.

Gandhi’s views on adult Education:

                 Gandhi desired that adult education must touch the life of all the villagers at all the economic, the hygienic, the social and political. Villagers should acquire some useful knowledge through the programme of adult education.

Gandhi’s view on university Education:

              Gandhi criticized the prevailing system of university education in which the students have no participation.  Involvement or activity. He felt that students in the prevailing system of university education are dying of boredom and their bottled-up energies are running riot in wrong channels. The aim of university education and emphasized  on originality of full personality and to make it a creative process.

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