Taggorree

Tagore- An Educator with a difference ‘Education’ said Anon, ‘does not commence with the alphabet ; it begins with a mother’s look, with a father’s nod of approbation or a sign of reproof; with a sister’s gentle pressure of the hand, or a brother’s noble act of forbearance.’ Such perhaps was the ideal education that had existed in ancient India which had a unique system of ‘Gurukul’ or ‘the adobe of spiritual teacher’. But with the advent of British, great importance was attached to English literature and English history. Also there was excess theory in the system and too little of practice. But, Rabindranath Tagore gave a serious thought to the enormous damage that was being caused to the soul of India. He was the first to think in terms of the education in terms of masses in India, long before India got independence, and probably was the first who ventured to make bold experiments in education, and also to make world known that India has something to contribute to others. Born on 7th may, 1861 in Kolkata, Tagore was the youngest of the 13 surviving children of Devendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. His childhood was not the bright one. He did not have regular schooling. He was greatly displeased with the atmosphere of school, namely the hard benches, dull prison like walls, dead books and, of course, discipline. He wanted schools to be natural but they were not so. His childhood experiences gave him perfect understanding of child’s mind and he had broken the tradition in striking a new path in his method of teaching. His method of teaching was characterised by freedom. He did not believe in routine method of teaching.Being an educationalist of creative genius, he did not believe in formal or set rules of teaching. His methods were suggestive rather than perspective. In 1900, he decided to found a school and choose Shantiniketan as the right place for it. He also found other institutions like Vishwa Bharti and Shreeniketan. Tagore is also known for the philosophic undercurrents in his educational ideas. His approach to education is humanistic. He wanted to establish harmony of relationship through humanism in education. According to him, ‘the young mind should be saturated with the idea that it had been born in human world which is in harmony with the world around it. And this is what our regular type of school ignores with an air of superior wisdom, severe and disdainful.’ Tagore also had faith in ideals, the faith which was creative. According to him it was some great ideal which creates great societies of men. Tagore is not only mistaken for being simply an idealist in education. He also combined eastern idealism with eastern realism in a remarkable fashion. He not only tried to revive the traditional culture of India but also sought a higher unity between eastern ideals and western science. Another great feature of Tagore’s educational philosophy is naturalism which pervades throughout. He is always against the artificial methods of teaching and learning. He is great naturalist to the core in education. The city-built education arranged in the overcrowded classrooms, with no room for expansion of mind and soul and no freedom of movement for the body, where the natural doors for the information are barred, are great sources of hindrance, for the free growth of mind, according to Tagore. The crux of Tagore's educational philosophy was learning from nature and life. Tagore also attached great importance to Tapasya and Sadhana. The educational system of many educationalists may seem creative but that of Tagore is artistically creative. Rousseau believed that a guiding principle that what is to be learned should be determined by an understanding of the person’s nature at each stage of development. Pestalozzi goes beyond Rousseau in that he sets out some concrete ways forward - based on research. He tried to reconcile the tension, recognized by Rousseau, between the education of the individual for freedom and that of the citizen for responsibility and use. He looks to 'the achievement of freedom in autonomy for one and all'. Montessori Method followed that children have an instinctive tendency to develop through spontaneous experiences on the environment, which Dr. Montessori referred to as 'work'. In this sense, the children's normal activity is attached to reality in the present moment, rather than idle play through such means as toys and fantasy. But Tagore laid equal emphasis on development of body along with that of children to take care of their body should be treated as very important. This is due mainly to the joyless education. Tagore writes in this concern, "Human beings need food and not air to satisfy their hunger but they also need air properly to digest their food.” Gandhi believed that education is very important for development and well of individuals as well as of a society. He also had very specific views about methods of education. At the same time he favoured making education job oriented. He believed that the education system should prepare individuals to take up useful jobs in the society. But Tagore had no faith in mere academic degree as the final test of one’s intellectual attainments. Many ideas of Tagore about education system have been implemented in India or anywhere else directly or indirectly. To conclude, greatness of Rabindranath Tagore lies in the fact, that he could detect with an unerring eye whetever was foreign to, or even out of harmony with the central process in which life constantly reorganises and recreates itself-the process that is called education. This was apparent even when as a boy, he took a definite aversion to the current system of education and boldly refused to have anything to do with it. It is not mainly as a critic of the existing system that he is great in the field of educational thought. He not only knew what was wrong but knew what was right. It was not just a new set of ideas that he offered, but a new awareness. In fact, his ideas were not only the symbol of this awareness but educational renaissance. To put in a nutshell, in view of the educational system in order to meet the needs of free India, it is indeed curious to think that Rabindranath, nearly three quarters of a century back anticipated the most pragrassive educational thoughts and principles yet discovered.