Education: Its means and ends

Education is not only imparted in schools and colleges. President Abraham Lincoln spent less than a year at a school, and yet he was the author of the great Gettysburg speech. The school of experience is the most effective school – if only we are devoted students of it. Keen observation through travelling and other means rather than books, experience rather than men, are the best educators and teachers.
Hence, the most effective means of teaching is to make students learn to use their senses properly. Education does not commence with the alphabet; it begins with the mother’s encouraging look, the father’s talks of affection etc. The child must be taught to feel, to observe and to receive impression. In this way, the mind blossoms and opens out. It is ready to receive, absorb and remember. These are the first steps. A mind that is both alert and sensitive will learn easily and readily from all kinds of experiences, whether from life or from books. This is the way in which Shakespeare taught himself, to be the greatest dramatist of the world. Prophet Muhammad learned at the school of Nature and Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, knew through observation. Even Rabindranath bunked school classes but taught himself by reading books.
Perhaps the second step is to teach the child its mother tongue. “First we shall want the pupil to understand, speak, read and write his mother-tongue”, said H. G. Wells. By that means, the mind, which has so long been receptive, will be made active. It will learn to think, to make use of that which it has received. For the great object of education is to energize the mind, - to enable the mind to form judgments, and make decision. Swami Vivekananda has spoken of education as ‘the manifestation of perfection already within man’. What is assimilated by observation is expressed in words, and this is done best in the mother tongue.
After this, the problem becomes simpler. Put the child into any school and he will make good progress. The teacher will guide his learning and correct his judgment and then he is to be left to his resources. He will organize his thoughts. In a word, the student’s mind will be set in proper motion.
The end of education is often mistakenly thought to be the furnishing of the mind. A wisely devised educational system aims at something more: harmonious development of all the faculties of the education- moral, mental, Intellectual and physical. One, who has acquired the capacity to apply one’s mind to facts and problems, will carry method and discipline into any occupation.
Equally important is to train the moral sense. Feelings and passions must be regulated and kept under full control, in thought, speech and action. Gandhiji valued spiritual education most. He expected that students would learn spiritual values by observing and emulating the ways of the teacher. So a healthy and intimate teacher student’s contact is our utmost importance in the scheme of higher education. Not only must one think correctly and creatively; one must act rightly, as a matter of habit. This will create the correct temperament when one will act rightly and spontaneously.
Along with moral and intellectual education, one must devote some time to physical education. A sound mind can only exist in a sound body. The Greeks at the centre of their educational system had the gymnasium. Seeing the boys at play on the rounds of Eton College, the great Duke of Wellington said- “there, i.e. on the play ground was won the Battle of Waterloo.”
A well-balanced personality is what education should seek to achieve. Herbert Spender said, “Never educate a child to be a gentlemen or a lady only, but to be a man or a woman. Education should help a man to be true to himself, to be straightforward and sincere in his dealings and opinions. Our entire system of education, which is at present overwhelmingly book based, must be changed and restructured. Rabindranath Tagore showed us the way at Santiniketan. There lies the key to the future of education in our country.

2 comments:

  1. very interesting and informative

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