RABINDRANATH TAGORE S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INDIAN EDUCATION

Transcription

1 CHAPTER-IV RABINDRANATH TAGORE S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INDIAN EDUCATION 4.1 Introduction From ancient times through medieval ages to modem times, India has been a land of illustrious teachers and men of learning. Indian thinkers have dwelt on the philosophy of education and all related aspects like knowledge, intelligence, mind and the functions of teaching and learning. Ancient and medieval Indian texts are replete with depictions and descriptions of the characteristics of an ideal teacher and an ideal student. The quality of Indian discourse on teaching and learning, of which the Upanishads are the earliest sources, has been widely acknowledged. There have been ample examples of effective teachers both of the religious and vocational kinds, which may be taken as the main foundations of educational thoughts of the present times. The freedom struggle of India produced innumerable brilliant personalities of intellectual excellence and comprehensive perceptions of various issues concerned with quality of human life in

2 the country. Leaders of freedom struggle, social workers on the national plane and poets and men of letters evolved an image of prosperous India that would abound in practice of social justice, equity, equality, respect for others and concern for fellow-beings. The nation would be integrated into a compact whole having a sense of pride in its learning values, endeavours and achievements. Tagore ( ) for example depicted the India of his vision in the following verse in his Gitanjali: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; where knowledge is free; where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; where worlds come out from the depth of truth; However, educational philosophy allows new ideas and knowledge to enter his mind from all directions in order to fit them all into the Indian scheme of things and culture. Therefore, though most of his ideas are not original as such, yet though the process of philosophical synthesis he makes these assume such a form as makes them Indian in origin and Indian in culture. He will be remembered not merely because he rose to the highest office this nation could offer to one of her best sons, nor because he so ably interpreted the theoretical basis of India s educational objectives; he 249

3 will be remembered because he showed courage to tell his country men that the peculiarity and greatness of a nation does not lie in becoming a carbon copy of another country, however alluring and magnificent that may be Vivekanand ( ) had rightly observed : Limitation is not civilization. It is the sign of awful degradation. The greatness of a country lies in her striking a new path which may lead her straightly to her cherished goals. 4.2 Main Principles of Education Philosophy a. Freedom in Education Acceptance of the concept that the ideal education is possible only through a life in harmony with all existence, in a way, implies that freedom must be given to pupils. In other words, freedom is a rerequisite of the ideal education. Tagore advocates three kinds of freedom. Pupils must be given the freedom to act the freedom to think and the freedom to express their emotions. By this the poet did not mean the absolute freedom or the licence to act as the pupil likes. In fact, he did not like such a concept of freedom, the freedom taken in the negative aspect. The poet wrote that freedom in the mere sense of independence is meaningless. Perfect freedom lies in the harmony of relationships. Tagore regarded absolute freedom as maya 250

4 and it is no freedom (satyam) at all. Tagore illustrated this idea by referring to the freedom of will'. He wrote: We have our own freedom of will which can only find its true harmony in the freedom of other wills. Freedom in Activities Tagore believes that activities provide freedom to pupils; and hence, he insisted, pupils must be permitted to create their own world of activities. Activities relieve pupils of the tedium of routine classroom instruction. Therefore, the school must provide various kinds of activities, academic, vocational and social activities. The poet wrote: Our centre of culture...must cultivate land, breed cattle, to feed itself and its students it must produce all necessaries, devising the best means and using the materials, calling science to its aid. Its very existence would depend on the success of its industrial ventures carried out on the cooperative principle, which will unite the teachers and students in a living and active bond of necessity. This will also give us a practical, industrial training, whose motive force is not profit. 251

5 Such an institution must group around it all the neighbouring villages and unite them with itself in all its economic endeavours. The improvement of their housing and sanitation, besides their moral and intellectual life should be the object of the social side of its activity. In a word, it should never be like a meteor a stray fragment of a world but a complete world, self-sustaining, rich with ever-renewing life, radiating light across space and time, attracting and maintaining round it a planetary system of dependent bodies, and imparting lifebreath to the complete man, who is intellectual as well as economic, bound by social bonds and aspiring towards spiritual freedom. Freedom to Think Freedom, according to John Dewey, means essentially the part played by thinking - which is personal in learning: It means intellectual initiative, independence in observation, judicious invention, foresight of consequences, and ingenuity of adaptation to them. It seems that Tagore s concept of freedom is in conformity with that of John Dewey. Rabindranath insists that freedom must be provided far pupils for independent thinking. The object of education, wrote the poet, "is the freedom of mind which can only be achieved through the path of freedom. In this context we are reminded of the words of Aldous Huxley who says that if your goal is 252

6 liberty and democracy then you must teach people the art of being free and of governing themselves. If you teach them instead the arts of bullying and passive obedience, then you will not achieve the liberty and democracy at which you are aiming. Good ends cannot be achieved by inappropriate means. The truth is infinitely obvious. Neither the curriculum nor the authority of the teacher should dominate the thinking of pupils. The poet believes that a foreign language like English obstructs free thinking. Hence, he thought that the mother tongue must be the medium of instruction. Tagore wrote: Needless to say one of the principle means of emancipating the parasite mind from this enduring poverty is the cultivation of the habit of receiving and expressing learning-material through the medium of the mother tongue since childhood. Books must never impose on pupils truths and half-truths which are not true to life. Indoctrination and regimentation of thought must have no place in education. Pupils should always be given freedom to think on academic and social problems and to find their solutions independently. 253

7 Freedom to Express Emotions Tagore believed that man has a surplus fund of emotional energy and it seeks its outlet in the creation of art. Hence, he advocated freedom for pupils to let out their surplus emotional energy in some from of creative expression like fine arts, music and literature. If freedom is not given for such creative activities, or if they are repressed or improperly directed, the poet argues, the surplus energy would flow along undesirable channels. For example, one s live for one s country might be turned into political emotionalism, live for humanity might give place to love for one s own self and love for lofty ideals to love for material objects. Perhaps, Rabindranath had his own experience of standing on the second story of the Normal School absent-minded for want of opportunities for self expression. It seems modern psychologists recognize this when they say that the repressed or misdirected emotions are the root of all rationalization and abnormalities noticed in pupils. They say that various personality types such as the elated, the depressed and the irritable as well as the social misfits like the blaming, the suspicious and the show-off types are the products of an educational system that fails to give freedom to pupils for emotional expression. 254

8 Tagore believes that emotions are liberated from undesirable sentiments when one becomes conscious of the Supreme Soul. This is possible, he thinks, only in the silent hours of self-communion with Brahma; because in that stillness... we strive to free ourselves from the suffocating routine, from the masks and mummeries of existence, cleanse our thoughts and create within ourselves a clean heart and a single mind. Hence, the poet insists that school must provide opportunities for silence and meditation. When the emotions are liberated, Tagore thinks, the nobler sentiments of man (particularly the sentiment of love) find expression to creative arts like music, poetry and drams. In other words, fine arts, music, dance and literature are the potential means for the schooling of the emotions. Hence, Tagore advocates that these should be given the right position in Indian schools. In the developing of your own school. Tagore advised Elmhirst, make the practice of drama and of the histrionic arts compulsory for all children. b. Education and Freedom The British Indian administrators were not, however, alone in trying to suppress Tagore s reflections or Russia. They were joined by Soviet officials. In an interview with Izvestia in the year 1930, Tagore 255

9 sharply criticized the lack of freedom that he observed in Russia. The interview was not published in Izvestia until nearly sixty years later. Tagore s reaction to the Russia of 1930 arose from two of his strongest commitments: his uncompromising belief in the importance of freedom of mind (the source of his criticism of the Soviet Union), and his conviction that the expansion of basic education is central to social progress (the source of his praise, particularly in contrast to British run India). He identified the lack of basic education as the fundamental cause of many of India s social and economic afflictions: It was on education (and on the reflection, dialogue, and communication that are associated with it), rather than on, say, spinning as a sacrifice ( the charka does not require anyone to think ), that the future of India would depend. Tagore was concerned not only that there be wider opportunities for education across the country (especially in rural areas where schools were few), but also that the schools themselves be more lively and enjoyable. He himself had dropped out of school clearly, largely out of boredom, and had never bothered to earn a diploma. He wrote extensively on how schools should be made more attractive to boys and girls and thus more productive. His own co-educational school at Santiniketan had many progressive features. The emphasis here was on self-motivation 256

10 rather than on discipline, and on fostering intellectual curiosity rather than competitive excellence. Much of Rabindranath s life was spent in developing the school at Santiniketan. The school never had much money, since the fees were very low. His lecture honoraria, $700, went to support it, as well as most of his Nobel Prize money. The school received no support from the government, but did get help from private citizens- even Mahatma Gandhi raised money for it. The dispute with Mahatma Gandhi on the Bihar earthquake touched on a subject that was veiy important to Tagore: the need for education in science as well as in literature and the humanities. At Santiniketan, there were strong local elements in its emphasis on Indian traditions, including the classics, and in the use of Bengali rather than English as the language of instruction. At the same time there were courses on a great variety of cultures, and study programmes devoted to China, Japan and the Middle East. Many foreigners came to Santiniketan to study or teach, and the fusion of studies seemed to work. Tagore as an educator, having been educated at Santiniketan. The school was unusual in many different ways, such as the oddity that classes, excepting those requiring a laboratory, were held outdoors (whenever the weather permitted). No matter what we thought of Rabindranath s 257

11 belief that one gains from being in a natural setting while learning (some of us argued about this theory), we typically found the experience of outdoor schooling extremely attractive and pleasant Academically, our school was not particularly exacting (often we did not have any examinations at all), and it could not, by the usual academic standards, compete with some of the better schools in Calcutta. But there was something remarkable about the ease with which class discussions could move from Indian traditional literature to contemporary as well as classical Western thought, and then to the culture of China or Japan or elsewhere. The school s celebration of variety was also in sharp contrast with the cultural conservatism and separatism that has tended to grip India from time to time. The cultural give and take of Tagore s vision of the contemporary world has close parallels with the vision of Satyajit Ray, also an alumnus of Santiniketan who made several films based on Tagore s stories. Ray s words about Santiniketan in the year 1991 would have greatly pleased Rabindranath. I consider the three years I spent in Santiniketan as the most fruitful of my life... Santiniketan opened my eyes for the first time to the splendours of Indian and Far Eastern art. Until then I was completely under the sway of Western 258

12 art, music and literature. Santiniketan made me the combined product of East and West that I am. c. Creative Self-expression Tagore felt that mere intellectual development was not the only function of education because a large part of man cannot find expression in the mere language of words. For the education of whole man, his emotions and senses must also develop alongwith intellect. Many other languages of fines and colours as well as sounds and movements are essential for the satisfaction of his aesthetic urge and creative self-expression. This is the only reason why Tagore has given arts, craft, music drawing and dramatics etc. a prominent place in his scheme of education. He said, Hand work and arts are the spontaneous overflow of our deeper nature and spiritual significance. In Santiniketan, alongwith academic subjects, he gave an important pace to fine arts, crafts, drawing, painting, music, dancing, leatherwork etc. d. Active Communication with Nature and Man Tagore insisted that education should be imparted in an atmosphere of nature with all its beauty colours, sounds, forms and such other manifestations. In his opinion, education, in natural 259

13 surroundings, develops intimacy with the world and the of communication with nature. Nature according to him was manuscript of God. Therefore, he emphasised that education must enable a person to realize his immediate relationship with nature. It should take the child nearer. Nature and, therefore, in close proximity of God, it should help him to learn freely and spontaneously from the book of Nature. Since Nature never betrays, the heart hat loves her, she will provide the child with spontaneous development and natural growth. Again contact with nature means contact with space outside which leads to being spacious within. Nature leads to expansion of soul. The soul in its limited boundary cannot enter the divine realms. God, too, wants Royal Receptions. He is the Divine Detective. Hence, expansion of the self through communion with nature is essential for spiritual uplift and revelation of divinity. Along with this communion with nature, Tagore advocate the communion of man with man. He believes that man is a social animal and that he has to live in social groups; so he must imbibe social etiquette practice social virtues like sympathy fellow feeling and cooperation. He declares, We should have the gift to be natural with 260

14 Nature and human with human society. But Tagore s humanism goes far beyond the limits of one s nation and one s country. He advocates cordial international relationships through mutual understanding and broad humanism.. He reaches the ideal of universalism which teaches man love and respect of mankind, irrespective of different communities, nationalities and religions. He insists on the unity of mankind and internationalism, with a view to bring about a fustian between the western progressive outlook and our ancient ideals under traditions. e. Internationalism An ardent lover of humanity must realize the spiritual unity of mankind and work for the realization of international collaboration. Bonds of love must result in international unity. Tagore wrote that mankind must realize a unity, wider in a range, deeper in sentiment, stronger in power than ever before. He refuted the idea that East is East, West is West; never the twain shall meet ; and in fact, he changed these words of Kipling into this. wed. Man is man, machine is machine, and never the twain shall 261

15 Tagore declared that the desire among nations for separation is anachronistic and unnatural. He gave two reasons for it. In the first place, the poet held that the advancement of modern science and technology has effected the conquest of space and time to such an extent that the world has shrunk considerably in size and has brought humanity to live in close physical proximity. Secondly, physical proximity vis-a-vis moral alienation would create new problems. In fact, the outer bonds of telegraph wires and railway lines have helped men all the more efficiently to tear one another to pieces and to rob their weaker fellow beings of food, of freedom and of self-respect. All these imply that humanity could progress only in the spiritual realization of the great truth of relationship and hence, international understanding and collaboration must be the supreme task of nations. Tagore made a ceaseless appeal for this. In an address: The Voice of Humanity5, delivered at Milan, the poet said: For men to come near to one another and yet to continue to ignore the claims of humanity is a sure process of suicide. We are waiting for the time when the spirit of the age will be incarnated in a complete human truth and the meeting of men will be translated into the Unity of Man. 262

16 4.3 Aims of Education In accordance with the general philosophy, Tagore emphasized spiritual, and intellectual aims. a) Moral and Spiritual Aims Saint, philosopher and poet Tagore was a spiritualist through and through. Education in his scheme starts with unwarranted faith in the spiritual life. The principle aim is to produce the moral and spiritual man, the whole man. He stressed inner development. To him, man belongs to two words, one of which lies within and the other outside. The major ideal of education is the harmonious development of personality. Education should lead to satisfaction of mind and the peace of soul. It should guide for communion with God. Tagore emphasized moral training and development of character. This is possible through austere devotion (Sadhana) and development of inner discipline. In tune with austere self discipline, he advocated a simple way of life, achieved through the reduction of all unnecessary material equipment. He also emphasized human fellow feeling and sociability and advocated a sense of kinship with all mankind. 263

17 b) Intellectual Aim While advocating intellectual aim of education, Tagore made a clear distinction between the existing educational practice, emphasizing bookish knowledge, and the real intellectual attainment. Our intellect never received genuine intellectual nourishment. All these years, he said, we adorned the cage but the parrot within lay starving. Education should cultivate the power of acquiring ideas through independent effort, and develop the ability to learn directly from Nature and Life. It must aim at making the pupils familiar with the conditions of real life and habitual environments. What is important is not the store of knowledge gained from books, but the ability to use what we learn, and constant curiosity and alertness of the mind. In this connection, Tagore pointed out the importance of scientific knowledge and scientific outlook, as also the cultivation of the intellect thereby. c) Physical Development Tagore equally emphasized healthy physical development of children, specially in early years. This was possible through free movements and in joyous natural surroundings. Physical 264

18 development includes training of body in different parts as well as the training of the sense. d) International Understanding Tagore laid great stress on international brotherhood and harmony. Through education, he aimed at synthesizing the important features of the cultures of the East and the West. He wanted to promote inter-cultural and inter-social understanding for the unification of mankind. e). Universal Love and Harmonious Life If universal love is the ultimate aim, Tagore thinks that education cannot be merely concerned with imparting book knowledge, whether it be of the sciences or of the humanities. It should enable pupils to practice love in their life, in the school and outside. In other words, the school should provide opportunities for pupils to live in harmony with all existence. The highest education, wrote Tagore, is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence. The young mind should be saturated with the idea that it has been bom in a human worlds which is in harmony with the world around it. 265

19 Provision must be made for pupils to live in intimate touch with nature, daily to grow in an atmosphere of service offered to all creatures, tending trees, feeding birds and animals, learning to feel the immense mystery of the soil and water and air. Therefore, obviously, the ideal institution must be established away from the turmoil of human habitation, in solitude, under the open sky, amidst wild fields, trees and plants. There the tutors will be occupied in quiet studies and teaching, and the pupils will grow up in the sacred and profound atmosphere of learning. Opportunities must be provided for pupils to come into intimate contact with other people. Pupils should be permitted to establish ties of live with other pupils and also with their teachers. Community life must be the salient feature of a school. Students and teachers should live together and in natural surroundings, and they should mix together like the members of a family. A simple and easy life should be led by all, free from an atmosphere of authoritarian domination. Instead of teachers exercising authority over pupils, they must have direct an immediate emotional contact with pupils. Above all these, the school must have its contact with society through some kind of extension work. Tagore wrote: 266

20 Along with this, there should be some common sharing of life with the tillers of the soil and the humble workers in the neighbouring villages; studying their crafts, inviting them to the feasts, joining them in works of cooperation for communal welfare; and in our intercourse we should be guided not by moral maxims or the condescension of social superiority, but by natural sympathy of life for life, and by the sheer necessity of love s sacrifice for its own sake. In such an atmosphere students would learn to understand that humanity is a divine harp of many strings, waiting for its one grand music. Those who realize this unity are made ready for the pilgrimage through the night of suffering, and along the path of sacrifice, to the great meeting of Man in the future, for which the call comes to us across the darkness. f). Harmony between Individual and Social Aims Indeed, one of the perennial problems of educational philosophy has been to reconcile the claims of the individual with those of society. Extreme individualism implies the negation of community and the claims of society. The claims of society, pushed to their limits, imply the total surrender of personality to the state or political party which dictates standards. Real education cannot support one or the other. Tagore s philosophy regards true 267

21 individuality as divine in nature, and divine nature is essentially social. Real education that aims at training pupils to manifest their true nature, namely, love, satisfies the claims of both the individual and society. Tagore s insistence on life in harmony with all existence and freedom in education does not mean that his emphasis is on the social aim of education alone. Rabindranth s aim is to bring about a synthesis of the individual aim and the social aim of education. On several occasions the poet stressed the fact that man has two aspects, the individual and the social and that to ignore any one of these aspects will be unreal. All along he insisted that for fullness of life, man must attain both individual fullness and social fullness. He wrote: This ever-expanding aspiration for fullness in man has two aspects with are inter-related: one, individual fullness; the other, social fullness. There is no gulf between the two. Exclusive individual excellence is impossible. 4.4 Emphasis on Individual Aim Rabindranath says that nature has unfathomable potentialities to develop the body, the mind and the spirit of the pupil. Association 268

22 with nature, the poet wrote to Ajit Kumar Chakravarthy from Chicago on March 3, 1913, brings about an all round development of individual personality through the harmonious union of the spirit with the environment. Communion with nature and cosmic life refreshes, vitalizes and develops personality, gives the nourishment of the body, happiness of the mind, and satisfaction of the natural impulses of childhood. In The problem of Education, Tagore observes that we can grow into full manhood only if we have been nursed by earth and water, sky and air, and nourished by them as by our mother s breasts. In a public meeting held in Calcutta, on June 6, 1906, he declared that it must be laid down that parents want their boys to become real men should consider it their duty to send them to school where they would live with gurus in close communion with nature and under the discipline of brahmacharya. Tagore maintained that the human body develops through physical contact with nature and gets toughened for the battle of life. According to him the education of the body cannot be complete unless through a complete contact with earth, water, air and light. Experiences of the weather and climatic changes have a general toning up effect on the body. 269

23 The association with nature has great influence on the mental development of pupils. It facilitates the formation of instincts. The mind acquires a fund of knowledge though direct relationship with nature. The sensitive receptivity of the passive mind makes it possible to absorb innumerable facts through a subconscious process. Something like the process of osmosis takes place between nature and the human mind. Above all, one s association with nature enables one s feelings and accentuates emotional development Rabindranath believed that, the radiance of the rising sun, the quietness of the evening and the scientillating beauty of the stars safeguard the mind from disturbing forces, clashes, conflicts and the complexities of the outside world. Tagore believed that man can learn only from man. Just as a water tank can be filled only with water and fire can be kindled only with fire, life can be inspired only with life. He regarded the community life of pupils and teachers as the most important medium of education, the harmonious blending of the life of the teacher and of pupils emancipates the mind of pupils from its imprisonment of ignorance, and enlightens it in various branches of knowledge. Pupils also imbibe many of the qualities of the teacher. 270

24 Activities are vitally important for the development of the human personality. It seems that Rabindranath recognized them as the only agency that can develop both the body and the mind simultaneously. It is my firm conviction, he wrote, that there is a connection between the education of the body and the education of the mind, between the activeness of the body and the activeness of the mind. The rhythm of our life is broken, if a harmony is not produced between the two. 4.5 Emphasis on Social Aim Tagore believes that villages play a vital role in India s progress. Villages like women provide people with their elemental needs, with food and joy, with the simple poetry of life and with those ceremonies of beauty which the village spontaneously produces and in which she finds delight. Hence, the poet held that if they are neglected it will be detrimental to the progress of the whole nation. During the time of Tagore, villages were in a depressed condition, and villages had no confidence in their ability; they despised themselves. An ordinary villager had no desire to undertake village rehabilitation work as a cooperative endeavour. The poet understood this, and advocated regeneration of the human material 271

25 as the only solution for rural reconstruction. He gave prime importance to education in all rural rehabilitation work. The poet declared: In my views, the imposing tower of misery which today rests on the heart of India has its sole foundation on the absence of education. Elsewhere he observed that the widest road leading to the solution of all our problems is education. Tagore always held that the prosperity of the country depends upon the education of the masses and the prosperity will be lasting to the extent to which its education is deep and lasting. Tagore says that our education should have organic connection with our surroundings. It should be in constant touch with our complete life, economic, intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual; and our schools should be at the very heart of our society, connected with it by the living bonds of varied cooperation. The school must prescribe various activities (as mentioned earlier) to realize this objective. The regional study and extension work must form an integral part of the programme. 272

26 Thus, we see that Tagore s philosophy gives equal importance to the demands of personality development and social progress. In other words, the methods that it prescribes for the full development of the human personality are equally meant for social progress. It harmonizes the individual aim and the social aim of education through the same techniques. In this respect many educational reports prepared in democratic countries reflect Tagore s philosophy. To illustrate this, the Board of Education in England reports that the aim of education should be to develop to the full the potentialities of every child at school, in accord always with the general good of the community of which he is a member. The Hadow Report reads: The general aim should therefore be to offer the fullest scope to individuality while keeping steadily in view the claims of society...the purpose of education is the development of the full potentialities of the child in accordance with the good of the community. The same idea is repeated in the Report of Educational Reconstruction, may by The Educational Institute of Scotland, (1944) and also in the Report of the Survey Committee of the Canada and Newfoundland Education Association. (1944). 273

27 Ultimate Aim of Education Education should ultimately aim at training the pupil to love man, nature and all existence. The fundamental purpose of education is, wrote Tagore, not merely to enrich ourselves through the fullness of knowledge, but also to establish the bond of love and friendship between man and man. Education should instill the spirit of comradeship, and develop mutual love and sympathy and international understanding. Ultimately, it must give a vision of the unity of mankind so that pupils would regard humanity as a single family in which the members are engaged in varied tasks in different parts of the world. The whole paraphernalia of education with its curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities must prepare pupils to take an active part in the creation of a world society. Significance of the Ultimate Aim of Education It seems, Tagore had three significant reasons when he declared that universal love should be the ultimate aim of education. Modern civilization, Tagore thinks, is founded on materialism, and is led by the forces of science and technology. The sciences have given us the material wealth (Artha) but not happiness (Aiswaiya). This triumphal march of the God of acquisitive wealth beings no joy 274

28 to human beings, wrote the poet. Society has become the seed bed of all kinds of problems; mutual live among individuals and also among nations has become the crying need of the contemporary world. In the words of Tagore, the problem of humanity is now more important than ever before. Therefore, education must train pupils to love humanity. To solve the evils of Indian society Tagore recommended that the students must be inspired to practice love on a universal scale. The poet contended that many problems exist in the fields of politics and economics, mainly because of want of mutual love among individuals. Indian society has fallen into the rut of social evils, and these are created by caste, creed and nationality, economic depression leading to poverty and unemployment, and political emotionalism and narrow patriotism, and these come into existence owing to lack of sympathy and cooperation among individuals. Hence, Tagore preached that education must ultimately aim at training pupils to love other people both in their own country and in others. India s culture is founded on universal love. From time immemorial, Indians lived for the ultimate truth which emancipates us from the bondage of the dust and gives us the wealth, not of 275

29 things but of inner light, not of power but of love. Our forefathers did spread a single carpet on which all the world was cordially invited to take its seat in amity and good fellowship and the invitation went forth in the name of Santam, Sivam, Advaitam. Kings who ruled over this country were wedded to the ideal of the unity of mankind. Many illustrations may be given of this. Tagore consistently says that education in a countiy must have its permanent vehicle in its minds and its permanent source in its spring of culture. Indian education must have its source in Indian culture which is rooted in universal love. It must enable pupils to love humanity. Tagore explicitfy stated this in a lecture delivered in America under the caption My School. The poet said: In India we have the inheritance of this treasure of a spiritual wisdom (love). Let the object of our education be to open it out before us and to give us the power to make the true use of it in our life, and offer it to the rest of the world when the time comes, as our contribution to its eternal welfare. 4.6 Tagore on Curriculum and Methods of Teaching Tagore s Views on Curriculum-Construction Tagore s views on curriculum-construction give us three important principles. We shall summarize them as follows: 276

30 The curriculum must be composed of activities. Universal love which Tagore regards as the ultimate aim of education is obviously an attitude or sentiment that must be developed in pupils. The poet thinks that the traditional curriculum, comprising textbooks and the teaching of academic subjects, does not serve that purpose. Love is a quality which is to be imbibed by students through a multitude of activities. Therefore, the curriculum must be more than a jumble of academic subjects. It must be broad based and be composed of activities. In the words of the poet, the school should be a field for the pursuit of culture of a wide scale which would comprise not merely the cultivation of knowledge within the narrow limits determined by the textbooks prescribed in our schools but also all kinds of arts and crafts, dance, music and play, as well as knowledge and skill necessary for rendering service to the villages. According to Tagore, activities are not extras in the curriculum. In fact, there was nothing extra-curriculum in Gurudeva s scheme of education. He had no curriculum of studies as much. He had, instead, a curriculum of life. The emphasis all the time was on learning to live rather than of living to learn. Tagore regards activities as the media for pupils to acquire knowledge of 277

31 multifarious nature, and to learn the problems that exist in society. Referring to the curriculum of Santiniketan the poet wrote: A variety of vitamins is introduced into our body through our food, which gives us health and strength; similarly, all the subjects of study that contain mental vitamins should collectively find a place in the activities of the ashram this has been my thought for long. Activities are ultimately meant for enabling pupils to realize the unity of man. Activities are of three kinds: Academic, social and cultural. Curricular activities like laboratory and composition work and the collection for museum and herbarium are significant for they give students new experiences which are instrumental for the all round development of the personality. Social activities like gardening, regional study and social work are meant to maintain the continuity of the life experiences of the pupil with that provided in school. Tagore emphasized that the curriculum must give facilities for extracurricular activities like excursions and student self government. Cultural activities like dance, music, paining and dramatic activities are important for familiarizing students with Indian culture and also for their mental, spiritual and cultural development. 278

32 The curriculum must reflect the experiences of pupils. The poet s opinion is that the curriculum should not present altogether a new material and a new work, and thus create a gap between the experiences in life and the experiences presented by the school. It should maintain a continuity with pupil-experiences outside the school. The courses of studies and activities should be organized on the experiences of the race. They must also consummate the life- experiences of pupils. Now it behaves us to consider the various subjects of the curriculum and their importance, and also the methods of instruction emphasized by Tagore to teach such subjects. i) Culture: Tagore regards an educational institution as the centre of culture. He wants us to look at the ancient universities in India like Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramsila, an the Western universities which give their students an opportunity to learn all that the European peoples have contributed to their culture. The poet teaches that the curriculum must give facilities for the coordinated study of all these different cultures the Vedic, the 279

33 Puranic, the Buddhist, the Jain, the Islamic, the Sikh and the Zoroastrain. Indian culture should have a significant place in the curriculum for three reasons. In the first place, Indian culture is unique in many respects. Tagore considers that it is the history of man s journey to the unknown quest of the realization of his immortal self his soul. It embodies spiritual truths and the spirit of toleration, for which reason it has been exalted even by foreigners like Max Muller and Carlyle. Secondly, Indian culture is characterized by a definite synthesis. It is a unity in diversity, a silver thread spun out of the contributions made by the Aryans, the Hindus, the Muslims and even by the British without whose contribution, Tagore considers, India would not have attained perfection. It is important to know that even in the midst of chaos and confusion in the life of the nation, to quote Tagore, India s genius for synthesis did not forsake her. Thirdly, Tagore holds that the understanding and assimilation of a foreign culture are facilitated only if the elements in the indigenous culture are instinct with life. The curriculum must have provision for the teaching of Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan and European cultures because that would enable pupils to understand the contributions made by these 280

34 elements to Indian culture. Besides, the poet holds that the deepest source of all calamities in history is misunderstanding. For where we do not understand, we can never be just. Hence, the teaching of various cultures is sure to result in easing international tension and curing the malady of modern civilization. ii) Sciences: The curriculum must give an important place to the sciences. The poet stresses scientific studies because of their spiritual, academic and utilitarian values. According to the poet, scientific truths are essentially spiritual truths. Scientific studies would lift the mind from the work-a-day world to the infinite world of space and to the cosmic universe. It would facilitate union between man and man on the spiritual plane. At the time of Tagore, education did not take into consideration the needs of the villagers. People were in the grip of superstitions and stupid faith in miracles, which had been the bane of our national character for centuries. Tagore believed that the sciences would emancipate in mind from the slavery of meaningless beliefs and worthless customs. Education in those days, was governed by mercenary aims. Pupils went to school for getting entrance into administrative 281

35 services. They did not have much thirst for knowledge or the desire to acquire the power of independent thinking. The poet held that the sciences in the curriculum would arouse the curiosity of students for knowledge, develop in them skill in observation and experimentation and improve their power for accurate thinking. Tagore contended that the sciences have great utilitarian values. The Eastern nations are able to make advances in industries and technologies, and have effectively tackled the problems of hunger, thirst, disease and poverty only because of the growth of science. Further, in recent years, scientific thinking has developed to such an extent that it seems no country could survive, let alone prosper, without taking a full advantage of the gifts of science. For both the spiritual and the material progress of the nation, Tagore thought, that the sciences must have as significant a place as culture in the curriculum. The emphasis of one over other, or the exclusion of one for the other, he contended, would make the curriculum lopsided and hence unsuitable for realizing the ultimate aim of education. The poet wrote: Let us admit that modern science is Europe s great gift to humanity for all time to come. We, in India, must claim it from her 2 82

36 hands, and gratefully accept it in order to be saved from the curse of futility by lagging behind. We shall fail to reap the harvest of the present age if we delay. iii) Language: Generally, a language is taught for two important reasons: firstly, to enable pupils to imbibe the culture of the people who speak a language; and secondly, to train them to conduct business of every day life. Tagore believes that a language is mainly the repository of culture. In every language he thinks, lies stored the ancestral wealth of wisdom. It contains the prominent tenets of the life of the people who speak it. Hence, the poet thinks that the curriculum must give facilities for the study of oriental languages, (Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, Arabic, Persian and Turkish), occidental languages (Greek, Latin, French and German), ancient Indian language like Prakrit, Pali and Sanskrit and even the folk literature of India. But it seems that Tagore gives great emphasis to Sanskrit and also to the mother tongue. The poet believes that the eternal spirit of India has its abode in the Sanskrit language. A pilgrimage along the path of this language, he contends, would enable pupils to attain the spirit of the country and to treasure it in their hearts. Tagore wrote: 283

37 Through English we may come to know many things which are of great practical importance to us. But the joy that resides in Sanskrit colours the firmament of our mind. It has a deep message; like nature it brings to us peace and imparts dignity to our thoughts. Rabindranath was an ardent advocate of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction. Tagore had various reasons to champion its cause. His opinion was that our mother tongue would enable us to understand the distinctive genius of our people; where as the use of English would only turn our mind for its source of inspiration towards the west, with which we can never be in ultimate contact; and therefore our education will remain sterile, or produce incongruities. If a foreign language with its emphasis on ideas and thoughts that are foreign to the people of one country becomes the medium of instruction, it would cripple independent thinking and the imaginative power of pupils. On the other hand, the mother tongue would facilitate the growth of all mental faculties. Above all a mastery of the mother tongue would even assist pupils to learn English or any foreign tongue. With all humility Tagore admitted that his mastery of English was mainly because of the fact that science childhood his mind has developed through unadulterated mother tongue. 284

38 Generally it is conceded that English would pave the way for the intellectual unity of India, Tagore did not accept this view. Such a statement, he said, is unreasonable as to say that man, because he has a diversity of limbs, should find it impossible to realize life s unity in himself, and that only an earthworm composed of a tail and nothing else could truly know that it had a body. The poet consistently showed Europe as an example of common civilization with an intellectual unity, not based upon linguistic uniformity. Tagore believed that diversity of our languages is really an advantage; because, the progress of various languages would enable us to capture the message of mother India expressed in various tongues, and would also foster the flowering of the distinctive qualities of the peoples who speak various languages. Hence, the poet wrote that we must bravely accept the inconvenient fact of the diversity of our languages, and at the same time admit that foreign language, like foreign soil, may be good for hothouse culture, but not for that cultivation which is necessary for the maintenance of life... * Though Tagore was an uncompromising and passionate champion of the mother tongue, he was never against teaching English in Indian schools. In fact, he advocated that a knowledge of English is imperative to imbibe the culture of the English speaking 285

39 peoples and to impart it to the masses by means of the mother tongue. He also recognized the importance of English as the gate and key to western science and technology. Hence, he recommended the teaching of English in Indian schools. The poet wrote: We must admit that the English language cannot lose its seat of honour in our universities. It is not because it is indispensable to the present needs of our daily life, but because the science and learning of Europe have to day won the respect of all mankind. To deny this fact out of sheer national vanity will forebode evil. English education is as necessary for our economic and political security as for its powerful influence towards emancipating our mind and conduct from stupidity. The mind that resists this influence or fails to assimilate it carries a feeble existence within a narrow, unenlightened enclosure. The eternal light of knowledge, from whichever direction it may come, is resisted, simply because of its unfamiliarity, only by a mind that is primitive in its obtuseness. All men irrespective of nationality and creed have a right to eveiy manifestation of truth; this is one of the birth rights of man...in all countries, the treasures are strictly guarded, but the doors to the treasures of learning in all universities are always open for the union of all mankind. 236

40 Aesthetic Education: Kilpatrick considers aesthetic enjoyment in three customary areas. They are: nature, the fine arts and other purposeful activities. In order to extend it in education, he emphasized that the curriculum must provide enough opportunities for pupils to enjoy the beauty of nature and to feel wonder at its marvels, to practise painting, sculpture, drama, music, etc., and to participate in purposeful activities beyond the area of fine arts. Rabindranath gave equal importance to all these subjects in the curriculum. According to the poet aesthetic enjoyment is as important as intellectual or physical pleasure. These words, man does not die only from want of food; absence of joy also kills his manhood express the idea. In another context the poet said that the nation that forgets how to enjoy also forgets how to work. This educational principle, life in harmony with nature, in a way, prepares us for aesthetic enjoyment. Tagore held that fine arts and creative activities manifest aesthetic pleasure and spirituality. They have enough potential to unite men on a higher plane of joy and love, and to keep man s vital forces alive and creative. Hence, they must have a significant place in the curriculum. 287

41 Rabindranath believes that in all creative activities the complete personality of man finds its expression; and particularly, the sub-conscious mind, which is almost fathomless in its depth, is revealed in arts, music and dance. In other words, creative activities are the self-expression of the nation s spirit. Therefore, such subjects as fine arts in the curriculum would enable pupils to imbibe the spirit of Indian culture. Besides, Indian arts and music are found in different parts of the country; they are scattered like pools of water in the dried up river bed of a stream. If the curriculum fails to provide for the teaching of aesthetic subjects there is danger of their soon being completely lost. In ancient India, people patronized music and dancing. In those days, such activities were indispensable not only in social functions but also in religious celebrations. In fact, people considered proficiency in music to be a tangible proof of culture. Now people in many countries in the East and in the West hold music and art in high esteem in their everyday life. To illustrate this, the Russians acknowledge that for real manhood the cultivation of art is far more important than gymnastics. 288 /ii^w