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= Rabindranath Tagore's Educational Philosophy =

Overview
The ideas of Tagore regarding Education are largely influenced by post-colonial attitudes towards liberation, witnessing the unprecedented change occurring in his native India, as well as globally.

A firm believer that main means for effective & sustained change is education, therefore made it very important for himself to consider its nature and form; ultimately leading to himself taking on new experimental practices, see Visva-Bharati.

The childhood experience of Tagore should also be considered as a major influence of his teaching philosophy; the atmosphere of liberalism and artistic freedom of his home allowed him to discover how learning should encompass both joy and freedom.

Approach to Childhood Education
A core fundamental idea of Tagore's Approach to Childhood Education is that in which how the child is perceived; Tagore argues the child should not be viewed to be an "an unfinished adult" but rather their owned individual being, disassociated from adults.

Tagore makes a strong point that the teaching of children should play into their natural strengths and behaviour of curioisty & wonder, citing that children lean "unconsciously."

Our purpose wants to occupy all the mind’s attention for itself, obstructing the full view of most of the things around us (…) The child, because it has no conscious object of life beyond living, can see all things around it, can hear every sound with a perfect freedom of attention, not having to exercise choice in the collection of information.”

Tagore referred to this approach of teaching as the "method of nature"; Tagore argued this approach or "method" enables children to learn the most complicated of matters such as languages quicker, faster and more enjoyably than the "focused methods" used by adults. The "method of nature" prioritises experimenting & experiencing as opposed to explaining and traditional studying methods - experiencing the world first hand is superior to books. Tagore also adds that the "method of nature" combines with children's natural wonder & curiosity to super-develop their creativity.

In order to portray his argument to the educators, Tagore used the analogy of "It is like forcing upon the flower the mission of the fruit. The flower has to wait for its chances. It has to keep its heart open to the sunlight and to the breeze, to wait its opportunity for some insect to come seeking honey. The flower lives in a world of surprises, but the fruit must close its heart in order to ripen its seed. It must take a different course altogether. For the flower the chance coming of an insect is a great event, but for the fruit its intrusion means an injury."

In order for the "method of nature" to be successful, children must first be given freedom, this is key as Tagore believes the "method" will be unsuccessful if they are limited by constraints created by adults. In this definition of freedom, the inclusion of "mischief" is key as Tagore believes it is a sign of a child's expression of curiosity and learning from this is key for growth. The opposite of this, a child not having enough freedom and being harshly discipline, can be devastating and in turn have demoralising effects of the child. The only occasions in which Tagore argues punishments is only acceptable if it is imposed by nature; for example, a child falling from a tree, as a subsequent punishment for climbing a tree too high, as this is an opportunity for the child to learn and grow. He referred to this as the "freedom cure"

Criticism of existing Educational Institutions
"Siksar Herpher" ("Our Education and its Incongruities") written by Tagore in 1892, was, according to Prabhat Kumar Mukhopadhyay, was the first thorough criticism of the national education system in India. Throughout the text, Tagore often described the schools of his time as prisons; using the metaphor of "Parrot's Training" Tagore compares the imprisoning nature of schools to that of the training of a Parrot, which like school kills the natural impulses of the parrot through mindless discipline.

This satirical comparison highlights the main focal points of the education system at the time; an emphasis on the school building, the textbooks and the authorities, the child and their needs (and the "method of nature") are neglected. Instead, Tagore believes schools and education is conducted in a way similar to that of "robot-producing factories" with the purpose of destroying individuality and true learning; the vast importance on exams, hampers what Tagore saw as "real maturity" .The production of mass educated robots or marionettes encumbers students’ development of their own goals and self-respect and only aspires for worldly success instead of perfection and self-liberation, which makes it easy for the colonial rulers to employ them for their purposes.

Tagore took particular objection to that of colonial schools for educating children on matters unrelated to that of the students regional, historical and lingual context.

"And for that they must be trained, not to be soldiers, not to be clerks in a bank, not to be merchants, but to be the makers of their won world and their own destiny. And for that they must have all their faculties fully developed in the atmosphere of freedom"

A Boarding School in Nature
Tagore believed that the ideal school must be amidst nature, in like with his "method of nature", in Santiniketan lessons mostly took place outside amongst the shade of the trees. Tagore recognises that this is not possible in all climates, and as such he suggests schools in not particularly warm climates that at least one school day should be spent completely outside - not counting sports, games and field trips. Another ideal factor for Tagore, was boarding as due to their distance from cities, it allows children to move more freely with nature.

Tagore also made a point regarding simplicity and protection of a "Boarding School in Nature", protection from the overburdening stimuli of the emerging world at the time; distraction such as 'false' entertainment, ready-made products and materialism - as well as narrow aspirations outlined by parents. A theme throughout many of Tagore's works, is that of his cherishing of self-chosen simplicity; Tagore believes an excess of material goods can restrict the direct experience with the world, inflate ego and thus harm true maturing.

When Tagore spoke about protection from parents narrow aspirations, Tagore meant parents should be mindful not to confer their own personal desires on to that of the children, as unlike the parents which their desires consist mainly of material and purposeful; children possess a lot more simpler needs for their responsibilities are fewer.

Self Disciplining & Governing
Though Tagore disagreed with punishment, he did place a heavy influence on discipline, mainly that of self discipline. During the early years of his Santiniketan school - Brahmacharyashram, Tagore believed that is crucial to to aide and guide children into being self-disciplined, because “cruel slavery, in which to drill the child mind (…) is demoralizing and because perfect obedience comes at the cost of individual responsibility and initiative of mind.”

A firm believer in that a students respectfulness grows when they are free and treated with patience, sympathy and respect themselves, in line with the value of mutual respect, Tagore encouraged his students to voice their own opinions and think critically.

Gurus or Teachers
Tagore found it difficult to find the right teachers for his schools. He was looking for Gurus instead of conventional teachers. The term guru means teacher, yet in the context of spiritual knowledge and practices and is connected to the ancient tradition of brahmacaryashrams and tapovans.

This was as Tagore found Gurus, to be "active in their efforts to achieve the fullness of humanity" Tagore writes, the difference between a good teacher and bad one, is thay a good teacher activates a child's mind instead of aiding them to assimilate and collect information, as well as inspiring children through their own self development; by encouraging their own original projects - thus the teachers role must be to merely be a passenger on a child's journey of knowledge-as such this made gurus ideal.

"(A) teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to burn its own flame.”

Tagore also adds that the teachers would be held to higher standard in his native, Bengal due to the title of "guru".

Tagore also further adds that the openness of the guru would allow for their own education yo improve as a result of being able to understand child psychology better.

Generally, Tagore argues that education “is not a matter of  ‘teaching’, of methodology or of ‘educational equipment' but depends on the personality of the teacher and the relationship to the student.

He said to one of the "gurus" at his school:

“Do not be preoccupied with method. Leave your instincts to guide you to life. Children differ from one another. One must learn to know them, to navigate among them as one navigates among reefs. To explore the geography of their minds, a mysterious instinct, sympathetic to life, is the best of all guides.”.

At a higher education level, Tagore tried to find lecturers that expressed the same qualities of the "gurus" at the Santiniketan and who “are wholeheartedly and with all their energy engaged in the processes of research, invention and creation.”