INTRODUCTION

       Great men leave behind them a scintillating trail of their glorious deeds which inspire the coming generations. India is fortunate to be the birthplace of eminent sons like Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath   Tagore ,Aurobindo Ghose, swami Vivekananda and  a galaxy of others ,each of  whom in his own way, tried to raise the  name of the motherland to such spiritual heights not known  before in the   history  of the  country since the advent of the British.

            No doubt, geniuses are born. But the flowering of the multifaceted personality of Rabindranath Tagore was the result of interaction of a variety of favorable environmental factors in producing the genius. The contribution of Rabindranath Tagore in this respect as well as in other fields, especially in education, has been paramount. In the galaxy of modern educational thinkers the name of Rebindranath Tagore, popularly known as “Gurudev”, is famous not only in our country for his contribution in the field of education, but all over the world. One of the most striking features of his educational thinking is that he considered education as the most effective tool for modernizing Indian agricultural.

Tagore; A Brief Life Sketch

          The myriad minded genius and Asia’s first Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore is the philosopher who imprinted some thought providing ideas on my mind. Tagore was born on 7th may 1861 in Calcutta as the fourteenth son of Maharishi Devendranath. He had early education at home by a tutor. He attended University College in London, but returned before completing his studies. He developed taste for English literature and he was only twenty when his first collection of poems was published. His writings include more than one thousand poems and two thousand songs in addition to a large number of novels, short stories, dramas and philosophical tests. It was at the age of forty that he started a school of his own in Bengal. In this school he gave name and local habitation to his dynamic idealism. The school known as Shantiniketan Ashram, became in 1921 the world famous Vishwaharati a seat of International University seeking to develop a basis on which the culture of the east and west may meet in common fellowship.

          In 1909 his world famous work Gitanjali was published and he went to England in1912 with it. Next year he was   awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Calcutta and the oxford university’s conferring honored him by conferring on him the honorary degree of doctorate.  He made notable contributions to religious and educational thought, politics and social reform, moral regeneration and economic reconstruction. Thus Gurudev, the poet Laureate of India, a great thinker, philosopher and a teacher, staunch patriot, and above all a noble heart who lived the whole humanity- a perfect man the bard of Bengal died on 7th August, 1941                               

TAGORE’S PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy of Humanism: Tagore observed, “The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly, of a particular race or country”.

Synthesis of culture:  Tagore said, before we are in a position to stand in comparison with the other cultures of the world or try to cooperate with them. We must bare our own culture on a synthesis   of all the different cultures we have.

True culture: Culture brings fulfillment from the depths of the self to the faculties and aptitudes of a man as a whole; under its influence man spontaneously attains an all-round fulfillment and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake and the enthusiasm for unselfish action become natural. True culture sets greater store by natural courtesy than mechanical observance of custom and convention. A cultured man will rather injure than humiliate himself. To be envious of others success is to humiliate himself.

Tagore – A Universalist: As a messenger of freedom of mind and peace, Tagore has expressed his feelings in the following verses.

“Where the mind is without fear

And the head is held high,

Where knowledge is free.

Where the world has not been broken in to

Fragments by narrow domestic walls,

…….        ………            …….

Into that heaven of freedom, my father

Let my country awake”

 MAJOR IDEAS OF TAGORE

       I am deeply influenced by the mystical and spiritual overtones underneath Tagore’s writings especially of “Gitanjali” with its lyricism and untranslatable delicacies. It is his own perception of life that is reflected in his creative works and philosophical and educational ideas. As a naturalist he gave importance to nature. In his view, both man and nature are the creations of one and the same God. This will naturally strengthen spiritual relationships between the two. Thus his naturalism was different from the one advocated by Rousseau. The different thought being that Tagore’s naturalism was based on humanism. Love and       harmony among all the things that exist in nature was the basis of his philosophy.      

          Tagore was a realist and an idealist too. According to Dr.Ratha Krishnan, the soul of ancient India is mirrored in Tagore’s writings. It embodies all the ancient ideals of religion, philosophy and art. As a true religious in spirit, his spiritual journey was guided by the Upanishads, the traditional Hindu spiritual scriptures. He speaks of the immanent Brahman, the supreme reality, an all – suffusing force that transcends personality and any sort of description. The idea is that all things in the cosmos are only temporal manifestations of Brahman. Tagore exhorts, let us find god, let us live for the ultimate truth which emancipates us from the bondage of the dust and gives as the wealth, not of things but of inner urge, not of power, but of love”.

           An implicit philosophy can be seen in Tagore’s poetry. The main literary device by means of which Tagore communicated his religio – philosophical views was that of bridal mysticism. The entails seeing oneself as the bride of God with a submission to and adoration of the divine bridegroom. A powerful Hindu thinker, his Upanishadic notions permeate his works and he has been elevated in the minds of Indians to a sort of poet – sage.

          According to Tagore, the aim of education is self realization. It means the realization of universal soul in one’s self. It is a process which cannot be realized without education. He synthesizes the ancient Vedantic traditions with the modern western scientific attitude in formulating the goal of education.

TAGORE’S VIEWS ON DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF EDUCATION

          The aim of education according to Tagore is creative self expression through physical, mental, aesthetic and moral development. He stressed the need for developing empathy and sensitivity and the necessity for an intimate relationship with one’s cultural and natural environment. He saw education as a vehicle for appreciating the richest aspects of other cultures, while maintaining one’s own cultural specificity.

1.  Meaning of education: Education is short of the highest purpose of man, the fullest growth and freedom of soul. To the child, the environment will provide an ever-ready back ground for its spontaneous activity. Our true education is possible only in the forest through intimate correct with nature.                       

2.  Freedom of mind: The objective of education is the freedom of mind, which can only be achieved through the path of education.

3.  Children as children: It is a mistake to judge by the standards of grownups. Adults ignore the gifts of children and insist that children must learn through the same process as they do. This man’s most cruel and most wasteful mistake. Children’s subconscious mind is more active than their conscious intelligence.

4.  Discipline and Freedom: Living ideals cannot be set into clockwork arrangement. Tagore wrote, I never said to them; don’t do this, or don’t do that……. I never punish them.            

          An ideal school is an Ashram where men have gathered for the highest end of life. Tagore observed to give spiritual culture to our boys was my principal objective in starting my school at Bolepur.

5.  Living contact between the teacher and the taught:  In teaching, the guiding should be personal love based on human relations. In education, the teacher is more important than the method. The teacher is Guru. He is to guide and stimulate the students. He remarked, a teacher can never truly teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamb can   never light another lamb unless it continues to burn in its own flame. So a teacher must always be teacher.

TAGORE’S CONTRIBUTION TO MODERN EDUCATION                    

         Tagore    was   fully dissatisfied with   the prevalent system of education at that time and called the schools as factories of role learning. Then he advocated         the principle of freedom for an effective education. He said that the children should be given freedom so that they are able to grow and develop as per their own wishes. A man through the process of education should be able to come out as a harmonious individual in time with his social set-up of life. He suggested creative self- expression through craft, music, drawing and drama.

                                              

          Tagore’s major contribution to modern education is the establishment of shantinikethan at Bolepur, in 1901.the school which was modeled on the ancient ashrams grew into a world university called Viswa Bharati. It is an abode of peace where teachers and students live together in a spirit of perfect comradeship. The motto of the institution is’ where the whole world forms its one single nest. It has open spaces and atmosphere of freedom surrounded by natural environment. It is open to, all irrespective of country, race, religion, or politics. It is centered around simple living and high thinking and has spiritual and religious atmosphere.

                   Tagore advocated teaching while talking as the best method and stressed on tours and excursions. He supported teaching and learning through   debates and discussions which develop the power of clear-cut thinking. He adopted activity method which makes the learner physically sound. He also held heuristic method where the student is in the position of a discoverer. He stressed on free environment which makes learner self- disciplined.

                   In Tagore’ philosophy of education, the aesthetic development of the sense was us important as the intellectual; and music; literature; art, and dance were given great prominence in the daily life of the school.                  

                    

SANTHINIKETAN AND VISWA BHARATHI

              As an alternative to the existing forms of education, he started A small School of education in 1901.later this school was developed into a university and rural reconstruction centre, known as Viswa Bharati, where he tried to develop an alternative model of education that stemmed from his own learning experience. Students at Santhiniketan were encouraged to create their own publications and put out several illustrated magazines. The children were encouraged to follow their ideas in painting and drawing and to draw inspirations from the many visiting artists and writers. The main characteristics of the Santhiniketan School are the following.    

·        It is a community school where there is no distinction of caste and creed.

·        Co-educational and residential institution.

·        It is a self governing institution – has a dairy farm ,post office ,hospital and workshop.

·         It is based on the concept of freedom of the mind.

·        Mother tongue is the medium of instruction.

·        It is studied in natural surroundings and it provides for manual labor.

·        There is well- equipped library.                    

          Rabindranath Tagore envisioned as a learning centre where conflicting interests are minimized, where individuals work together in common pursuit of truth and realize that artists in all parts of the world have created forms of beauty, scientists discovered the secrets of the universe, philosophers solved the problems of existence, saints made the truth of the spiritual world organic in their own lives, not merely for some particular race to which they belong, but for all mankind.

Tagore’s concept of a teacher

             In Tagore’s educational philosophy we observe the infusion of traditionalism and modernism, orientalism as well as western thought. His concept of a teacher was not an exception to the very fact. On the one hand he wanted the ‘guru’ to be an ideal and authority for his disciples, on the other hand he wanted a teacher to be a stage - setter or facilitator as the modern educationalist also suggest.

         A teacher according to Tagore’s concept is continuously a learner who is dynamic in his efforts to know the unknown and to let it be known to others.

         Ravindranath condemn any teacher who had lost the desire to know and learn and only mechanically repeated his lessons.  He said, “if the teacher does not himself posses learning how can he impact to be others? The teacher, who merely repeats bookish information mechanically, can never teach anything and can never inspire, and without proper inspiration independent creative faculties can never develop”.

             Thus, Ravindranath offered a highly dignified and responsible role to teachers.

 RELEVANCE OF TAGORE’S EDUCATIONAL THOUGHTS IN   INDIAN EDUCATION

                Tagore is critical of the prevalent   system of education which lays role emphasis upon bookish learning. The intellectual aim of education, according to him, is the development of the intellectual faculties’ which should be developed through education. These are the power of thinking and of imagination.

          Tagore’s educational ideas have been shared by other educationists and many of his innovations have now become part of general educational practices, but his special contribution lay in the emphasis on harmony balance and total development of personality.

           The visionary and the great educationist in Tagore solved the problem of today as far back as fifty years. Economic forces compel the teachers of today to look for pupils, but in the natural order of ting it is the pupil who should look for the teacher.  The teacher student relationship designed by Tagore is a model in this context. It became one of earliest coeducational programs in South Asia. It’s establishment led to pioneering efforts in many directions, including model for Indian higher education and mass education as well as pan Asian and global cultural exchange. As one of the earliest educators to think in terms of the global   village, Tagore’s educational model has a unique sensitivity and aptness for education within multi-racial, multi-lingual and multi-cultural situations amidst conditions of acknowledged economic discrepancy, political imbalance and social evils.

A CRITIQUE OF TAGORE.

          Rabindranath Tagore, in his own person was a living icon of the type of mutuality and creative exchange that he advocated. He deliberated on different problems of Indian society particularly that of the rural people and tried to remove them through education. His educational system was a synthesis of East and West, Ancient and Modern, Science and Vedanta although he protested against the emphasis on foreign language. He was one of the first Indian to argue for a humane educational system that was in touch with the environment and aimed at over-all development of educational system on essential human virtues like freedom, purity, sympathy, perfection and world brotherhood.

CONCLUSION

       Rabindnathra Tagore, by his efforts and achievements, is part of a global network of pioneering educators such as Rousseau, Pestalozzi, Frobel, Montessori, Dewey and in the contemporary context, Malcolm Knowles. Although Tagore is a superb representative of his country –the man who wrote its national anthem, he is truly a man of the whole earth, a product of the best of both traditionals Indian and modern western cultures. The core of Tagore’s educational philosophy was learning from nature, music and life. He created Sanhiniketan to realize his educational ideals. This is the reason why his education is easily acceptable by human mind. Tagore extended the meaning and functional importance of certain aspects of personality as nobody else had done before him. The ideal educator must combine in himself the gifts of a philosopher, a poet, a mystic, a social reformer, a scientist and a veritable man of action  can he has to take into account all types of men  and their aspirations ,all facets of the human personality, all levels man’s experience, all fields of endeavor and achievement.