International Journal of Business Administration and Management.

ISSN 2278-3660 Volume 7, Number 1 (2017),

© Research India Publications http://www.ripublication.com

Role and Impact of Rabindernath Tagore Education

Philosophy in Contemporary Indian Education

Ram Tirath
Ph.D Scholar (Education)
(2014-2017)
Kalinga University, Raipur, C.G.
Enrollment No. 15020107 (KU002MMXIV02010190)

Abstract

Rabindr anat h Tagore (1861 -1941), Not only I ndian but was Asia‘s first
Nobel Laureat e, was born int o a promine nt Calcut t a family known for it s
socio -relig ious and cult ural inno vat ions dur ing t he 19t h Benga l
Renaissance. The object ive of t he paper is t o analyse t he educat iona l
t hought s of Tagore, his basic co ncept ion of educat ion and it s process. The
paper is pr imar ily based on seco ndar y sources like t he Books, Journals
and Art icles et c. The met hod used is hist or ic -analyt ic met hod. Tagore was
a great champ io n o f educat ion for int er nat io nal under st and ing.

He believed t hat educat io n should help an individua l t o att ain co mplet e

manhood, so t hat all his powers ma y be develo ped t o t he fullest ext ent
for his own individual per fect io n as well as t he per fect ion o f t he human
societ y in which he was born. He believed t hat educat ion was not merely
a means for t he growt h and fullness o f t he individual, but it was also
concer ned wit h t he who le physical and social milieu in which his life was
lived. He want ed t he bo ys and gir ls to be fear less, free and open-
minded, self-reliant , full o f t he spir it of inquir y and self - cr it ical, wit h
t heir root s deep in t he so il o f I ndia but reaching out to t he wor ld in
underst anding, neighbor liness, cooperat ion and mat er ial and spir it ua l
progress. Tagore's co ncept o f ideal educat io n covered t he descr ipt io n o f
ideal at mosphere, inst it ut ion, t eacher, and met hod. Act ually T agore's
success lies in t he fact t hat he did not tr y t o cont rol direct ly t he ideas,
feelings, and values o f children but imaginat ively desi gned an
environment and a program o f act ivit ies and exper iences which evoked t he

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desired responses. He also believed t hat t he educat ion o f a count r y

acquires shape and subst ance o nly against t he ent ire background and it is
import ant t hat t here is a st rong relat io nship bet ween educat io n and
societ y. This paper explores t he ro le and impact of his philosophy in
det ail.

1. Introduction

Rabindr anat h Tagore (1861 -1941), Not only I ndian but was Asia‘s first
Nobel Laureat e, was born int o a promine nt Calcut t a fam ily known for it s
socio -relig ious and cult ural inno vat ions dur ing t he 19t h Benga l
Renaissance. T he pro found social and cult ural invo lve ment of his fa mily
would lat er play a st rong ro le in t he for mu lat ion o f Rabindr anat h‘s
educat io nal pr ior it ies. His grandf at her Dwarkanat h was invo lved in
support ing medical facilit ies, educat ional inst it ut ions and t he art s, and he
fought for religio us and social refor m and t he est ablishment of a free
press. His fat her was also a leader in so cial and relig ious refor m, which
encouraged a mult icult ural exchange in t he family mans io n Jorasanko.
Wit hin t he jo int fa mily, Rabindr anat h‘s t hirt een brot hers and sist ers were
mat hemat icians, jour na list s, nove list s, musicians, and art ist s. His cousins,
who shared t he family mans io n, were leaders in t heat re, science and a new
art movement .

The t remendous excit ement and cult ur al r ichness o f his ext ended family
per mit t ed yo ung Rabindranat h t o absorb and lear n subconsciously at his
own pace, giving him a dynamic open mo del of educat ion, which he lat er
t ried t o recreat e in his school at Sant iniket an. Not surprisingly, he found
his out side for mal schooling t o be infer ior and bor ing and, aft er a br ie f
exposure t o several schoo ls, he refused t o att end school. T he only degrees
he ever received were honorar y ones best owed lat e in life. H is
exper iences at Jorasanko provided him w it h a life lo ng convict io n
concer ning t he import ance of fr eedo m in educat io n. He also realized in a
profound manner t he import ance o f t he art s for developing empat hy and
sensit ivit y, and t he necessit y for an int imat e r elat ionship wit h one‘s
cult ural and nat ural environment . In part icipat ing in t he cosmopo lit an
act ivit ies o f t he family, he came t o reject narrowness in general, and in

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part icular, any for m o f narrowness t hat separa t ed human being fro m
human being.

He saw educat io n as a vehic le for appreciat ing t he r ichest aspect s of ot her

cult ures, while maint aining one‘s own cult ural specificit y. As he wrot e: I
was brought up in an at mospher e o f aspir at ion, aspirat io n for t he
expansio n o f t he human spir it . We in our ho me sought freedo m o f power
in our language, fr eedo m o f imaginat io n in our lit erat ure, freedo m o f sou l
in our relig ious creeds and t hat of mind in our social enviro nment . Such
an opport unit y has given me confidence in t he power o f educat io n which
is one wit h life and only which can give us real freedo m, t he highest t hat
is cla imed for man, his freedo m o f moral co mmunio n in t he huma n
world…. I t r y t o assert in my words and works t hat educat ion has it s only
meaning and object in freedo m fro m ignorance about t he laws o f t he
universe, and freedo m fro m pass io n and prejudice in our co mmunicat ion
wit h t he human wor ld. I n my inst it ut ion I have at t empt ed t o creat e an
at mosphere o f nat uralness in our relat ionship w it h st ranger s, an d t he spir it
of hospit alit y which is t he fir st virt ue in men t hat made civilizat io n
possible. I invit ed t hinker s and scho lars from foreign lands t o let our bo ys
know how easy it is t o realise our co mmo n fe llowship, when we deal wit h
t hose who are great , and t hat it is t he puny t hat wit h t heir pet t y vanit ies
set up barr ier s bet ween man and man.

2. Objectives and Research Methodology

Objectives of study are as given below

1. To analyze t he educat io nal t hought s of Tagore. And his basic

concept ion o f educat ion..
2. To evaluat e t he impact of his philosophy on cont emporar y I ndian
Educat ion.

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Research Methodology

This st udy t ypically t akes t he for m descr ipt ive st udy and secondar y dat a
available on educat io n syst em. To under st and and co nclude t he emergence
of inno vat ive t ools and t echniques in I ndian educat ion syst em so as t o
make it wor ld class, we have gone t hr ough a number o f report s and
papers. T his has t he advant ages o f providing ver y r ich infor mat io n and
avo iding t he influence of ot hers on t he opinio n o f any o ne i ndividual.

This st udy was undert aken t o det ermine t he nat ure o f Tagore's educat io na l
t heor y and pract ice and it s impact on Indian educat ion. Mat er ial for t he
resear ch was co llect ed t hrough t he var ious st udies and t he wr it er 's
knowledge o f Tagore‘s philo sophy o f educat ion was useful in obt aining
significant dat a fro m Tagore's vo luminous wr it ings on educat io n. Dur ing
t he course o f st udy a review of Tagore's wr it ings on educat ion and ot her s
on Tagore was found. A discussio n o f t he major educat io nal prob le ms t hat
exist ed in t he Br it ish per iod in I ndia, added t o t he ear ly educat io na l
exper iences of Tagore is present ed to give a co mplet e background for t he
basis o f Tagore's t heor y. T he core of Tagore's educat io nal t heor y put s
great er emphas is on t he co mplet e har mo nio us develop ment of individual
personalit y.

3. Role and Imp act of Rabindernath Tagore Edu cation Phi losophy o n
Indian Education

In Tagore‘s philo sophy o f educat ion, t he aest het ic develo pment of t he

senses was as import ant as t he int ellect ual –if no t more so –and music,
lit erat ure, art , dance and drama were given great prominence in t he daily
life o f t he schoo l. This was part icular ly so aft er t he fir st decade o f t he
schoo l. Drawing on his ho me life at Jorasanko, Rabindr anat h t r ied t o
creat e an at mosphere in which t he art s would beco me inst inct ive. One o f
t he first areas t o be emphasized was music. Rabindr anat h wr it es t hat in
his ado lescence, a ‗cascade o f musical emot ion‘ gushed fort h day aft er
day at Jorasanko. ‗We felt we would t ry t o t est ever yt hing , ‘ he wr it es,
‗and no achieve ment seemed impossible…We wrot e, we sang, we act ed,
we poured ourselves out on ever y side.‘ (Rabindranat h Tagore, M y
Reminiscences 1917: 141) I n keeping wit h his t heor y o f subco nscious
lear ning, Rabindr anat h never t alked or wro t e down t o t he st udent s, but

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rat her invo lved t hem wit h what ever he was wr it ing or co mposing. The
st udent s were a llowed access t o t he room where he read his new wr it ings
to t eacher s and cr it ics, and t hey were encouraged t o read out t heir own
wr it ings in specia l lit erar y evenings. In t eaching also he believed in
present ing difficult levels o f lit erat ure, which t he st udent s might not full y
grasp, but which would st imulat e t hem. The wr it ing and publishing o f
per iodica ls had always been an import ant aspect of Jo rasanko life, and
st udent s at Sant iniket an were encouraged t o creat e t heir own publicat io ns
and put out several illust rat ed magazines.

Rabindr anat h had underst ood t hat t he educat ional syst em t he Br it ish had
enforced o n I ndia was meant only t o t rain people t o work as clerk in t heir
offices, and if possible, t o inculcat e in t he so -called educat ed men a
feeling o f infer ior it y for t heir own cult ure and philo sophy.5 For t his
reason T agore pleaded for an educat io n syst em in I ndia independent of
co lonial Br it ish cont rol. T his idea of Rabindranat h gave birt h t o
―S ant iniket an‖ (abode of peace) an Ashr ama st yle educat io nal inst it ut io n
in which he provided educat ion based on t he pr inciple o f freedo m, nat ura l
t rust, co -operat ion and jo y. I n his opinio n child‘s educat io n would be
more effect ive if t eacher s and pupils live and work far away fro m din and
bust le o f t he cit y, like t he t eacher s and st udent s o f t he past . He sa ys, ―t his
schoo l should be ho me and a t emple in one where t eaching should be a
part of worshipful life‖ . P lacing t eacher s abo ve t he met hod o f t eaching
Tagore said —

―T he fact t hat educat ion is so met hing vit al makes t he t eachers dut ies and
responsibilit ies deser ving o f ser ious at t ent io n. The t eachers should know
t hat it is for him t o inspire life in t he st ude nt s by his own living t o
enkindle t he fla me o f knowledge in t he st udent s by his own knowledge.‖

Rabindr anat h‘s educat ional philosophy was not a syst em in t he prevalent
sense o f t he t er m s yst em. A syst em for mulat ed by moder n day pedagogies
wit h rules and regu lat ions and ready- made met hodo logy in which t eacher s
are t hought how to t each part icular subject s and prepare lesso ns and t ext
books wit hin set paradigms. Rabindranat h discarded t he not ion o f t ext -
books. He put t he responsibilit y o f educat ing t he st uden t s in a jo yfu l
manner upon t he guru. He said t he relat ionship bet ween t he st udent and
t he guru should be o f co mpanio nship. He said, ―T he t eachers heart

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cont inues t o receive ever y mo ment o f his life, and t hat is why he
cont inuously gives himself t ot ally.

He finds t he proof o f his t rut h and honest y in t he process of giving and

fro m t he jo y he receives fro m it . Jo y emer ges o n it s own when minds meet
in a healt hy spir it . T hat jo y is t he energy o f cr eat ivit y and it s result is
t ransfer o f knowledge. T hose who ar e conscious o f t heir dut ies, but do not
exper ience jo y, t read o n a differ ent pat h. I consider t he perso n t o person
relat ionship bet ween t he guru and shishya t he pr ime means o f impart ing
knowledge.‖ Being a nat uralist Tagore was aware o f t he sensit ivit y o f
young childr en and he had a fir m fait h in t he educat ive value o f nat ura l
object s and event s. According t o him ―T he highest educat ion is t hat whic h
does not merely give us infor mat io n but makes our life in har mo ny wit h
all exist ence. Children have t heir ac t ive subconscious mind which like t he
t ree has t he power to gat her food fro m t he surrounding at mosphere.

First import ant wr it ing in t his direct ion is " Tapovan"( Jan, 1910) —
Forest . In t his art icle for t he first t ime Tagore int roduced a new idea o f
t he educat ion o f feeling ( Bodhersadhan a) and he dist inguished it fro m
t he educat ion o f t he senses and t he educat ion o f t he int ellect . This
educat io n o f feeling consist s o f t he realizat ion o f man's bond o f unio n
wit h t he universe t hrough t he spir it , t hrough t he sou l, t hrough t he deeper
int uit io n o f feeling. T hrough his nat io nal syst em o f educat io n I ndia
should endeavor t o discover and at t ain t he charact er ist ic t rut h of her
civilizat io n pur sued t hrough t he cent ur ies by her prophet s, t hinkers and
saint s and "t hat t rut h is not mainly co mmercia lism, imper ia lism or
nat ionalis m; t hat t rut h is universalism" ( Tagore, 1351 B.S., p. 100). The
highly significant point here is t hat while Tagore is st ill t alking in t er ms
of nat ionalis m and swear ing by t he ideals o f Ancient I ndia, he is
int erpret ing t he highest of t hese ideals in t erms o f int er nat io nalis m.

A let t er ent it led "Siksavidhi" --The Method of Education -- is devot ed to

t he problem o f t he philo sophy o f educat io nal met hod in so me of t he
fundament al aspect s as well as in t he cont ext of t he exist ing socio -
polit ical and educat ional co ndit io ns in I ndia. The st ereot yped and
mechanical educat io nal at mosphere of I ndia was obst ruct ing t he
origina lit y or init iat ive o f childr en and he said t hat educat io n can be
impart ed only by a t each er and never by a met hod. "Man can lear n only

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fro m a man. Just as a wat er t ank can be filled only wit h wat er and fire ca n
be kindled only wit h fir e, life can be inspired o nly wit h life. .T he mer e
pill o f a met hod inst ead shall br ing us no salvat io n" (Tagor e, 1351 B.S.,
p. 128).

In "St risi ksa "( August , 1915) — The Educat ion o f Wo man, shedding so me
light on t he philosophy o f curr iculum, Tagore wr it es, "What ever is wort h
knowing is knowledge. It should be known equally by men and wo men,
not for t he sake o f prac t ical ut ilit y but fo r t he sake o f knowing" (Tagore,
1351 B.S., p. 138) He makes it clear t hat knowledge is above t he
limit at ion o f mere ut ilit y. He reject s t he co mmo n not ion t hat in lear ning
so me co mmo n subject s wit h men, wo men would lo se t heir femininit y.
Lat er in t he art icle, he makes his po int clear. "Knowledge has t wo
depart ment s: one, pure knowledge; t he other, ut ilit ar ian knowledge. I n t he
field o f pure knowledge, t here is no dist inct ion bet ween men and wo men;
dist inct io n exist s in t he spher e of pract ical ut ilit y; wo men should acquire
pure knowledge for beco ming a mat ur e human being, and ut ilit ar ian
knowledge for beco ming t rue wo men" (Tagore, 1351 B.S., p. 139). There
are many more relevant work available t hat shows his social and value
based educat ion philo sophy.

The ro le and impact o f Tagore‘s educat ion philo sophy as reflect ed in

cont emporar y educat iona l inst it ut io n of I ndia are as fo llo ws:

i. Intellectual Develop ment: Tagore also great ly emphasized t he

int ellect ual development o f t he child. By int ellect ua l
development he means development o f imaginat io n, creat ive fr ee
t hinking, co nst raint cur iosit y and alert ness o f t he mind, Child
should be free t o adopt his own way learning which will lead t o
all round development .

ii. Natu ral growth in Natu ral Ci rcu mstanc e: Tagore envisaged
t hat nat ure is t he best t eacher to t he pupil. Nat ure will provide
t he st udent wit h necessar y sit uat ion t o ear n knowledge. No
pressure should be exert ed upon t he st udent to lear n anyt hing. It
is nat ure which will be t he guiding force to incu lcat e t he sp ir it
of lear ning in t he mind of a st udent to pursue t he educat io n he
likes. It will shape his behavio ur and char act er.

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iii. Freedom to Learner: Tagore had champio ned t he cause o f

freedo m. T he same he want ed to implement in t he fie ld o f
educat io n. Wit h t hat object he had opened S ant iniket an, Sr i
Niket an and Brahmachar i Ashram. Accordingly, he gave fr ee
cho ice t o st udent s t o develop t heir int erest in any fie ld t hey like.
To him, educat ion should be aft er t he heart of a man. He
explained freedo m in t hree-cat egorized ways i.e. fr eedo m o f
heart , freedo m o f int ellect and freedo m o f will. Educat ion
impart ed in a nat ural way will lead t o the fulfillment o f t hese
t hree freedo ms. One ma y pur sue t he vocat ional educat ion or
educat io n of an int ellect , or educ at ion in any branch of t he art s
or one ma y beco me a sanse i by obser ving celibacy.

iv. Self Reali zation: Spir it ualis m is t he essence of humanism.

Manifest at ion o f perso nalit y depends upon t he self -realizat io n
and spir it ual knowledge o f individual.

v. Love for Humanity: Tagore held t hat educat io n can t each

people t o realize oneness of t he glo be. Educat ion for
int er nat ional under st anding and univer sal brot her hoods anot her
import ant aim o f his educat io nal philo sophy.

vi. Physical Develop ment: Tagore‘s educat ional philo sophy also
aims at t he phys ical develo pment of t he child. He gave much
import ance t o sound and healt hy physique. Yoga, games & sport s
are prescr ibed in S ant iniket an as an int egral part of t he
educat io n syst em.

vii. Teachin g - Practical and Real: According t o Tagore, t eaching

should be pract ical and real but not art ificial and t heoret ical. As
a nat uralist out and out , Tagore la id emphasis on t he pr act icalit y
of educat io n. That will definit ely incr ease t he cr eat ive skil l
wit hin a lear ner. That creat ivit y will br ing per fect ion in t he
lear ning process and t he st udent will be a mast er in his own fie ld
but not a slave t o mer e t heoret ical knowledge which one delves
deep.

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viii. Co- relation of Objects: Co -relat ion exist s wit h God, man and
nat ure. A peaceful wor ld is only pos sible when correlat ion
bet ween man and nat ure will be est ablishe d.

ix. Place of Fine Arts (Dan ce, Drama, Music, Poet ry etc.) :
Tagore att ached great import ance t o t he fine art s in his
educat io nal curr iculum. To him, game, dance, music, drama,
paint ing et c. should for m a part of Indian educat ion.

x. Mother Ton gue as the Mediu m of Inst ru ctions: Language is

t he t rue vehic le o f self-expr essio n. Man can fr eely express his
t hought in his mot her -t ongue. Tagore has emphasized mot her
tongue as t he medium o f inst ruct ion for t he child‘s educat io n.

xi. Moral and Spi ritual Develop ment: Tagore emphasized moral
and spir it ual t raining in his educat ional t hought . Moral and
spir it ual educat ion is mor e import ant t han bookish knowledge
for an int egral development of human per sonalit y. T here must be
an adequat e provis io n for t he deve lopment of self less act ivit ies,
co-operat io n and lo ve fellow feeling and shar ing amo ng t he
st udent s in educat io nal inst it ut ions.

xii. Social Develop ment: According t o Tagore, ‗‗Brahma‘‘ t he

supreme soul manife st s himself t hrough men and ot her creat ures.
S ince he is t he source of all human - being and cr eat ures, so all
are equal. Rabindranat h Tagore t herefore said, ‘‘Servi ce to m an
is service to God’ ’. All should develop social relat io nships and
fello w- feeling fro m t he beginnings of one`s life. Educat iona l
aims at t he individual perso nalit y as well as social charact ers
which enables him t o live as a wort hy being.

xiii. Goodbye to Book-Cent ered Educati on: For t he first t ime in t he

arena o f educat ion, Tagore est ablished a new mile- st one. Wit h
bo ldness and fir mness, he r eject ed a book -cent ered educat ion for
st udent s. To him it is not just to confine t he mind o f bo ys and
gir ls t o t ext -books only. It will kill t he nat ural inst inct s o f a
st udent and make him bookish. It will k ill his creat ive skill. So,
st udent s should be fr eed fro m t he - book cent ered educat ion and
should be given a broader avenue for learning.

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xiv. Education for Ru ral Recon st ruction: T agore was aware about
t he rural po vert y o f our count r y. So, he want ed to eradica t e it
t hrough educat ion. T he pract ical t raining impart ed in different
craft s t o t he st udent s will make t hem skilled art isans in t heir
field. They can remo ve t he po vert y of t he rural bu lk by applying
t heir educat ion helping t hereby in t he process of rura l
reconst ruct ion.

4. Conclusion

Tagore may be viewed as a spir it ualist in educat io n. Generally, nat uralis m

discards t ranscendent al exper iences. Tagore was a nat uralist but his
nat uralis m was not a narrow one. It was a sort of means t o spir it ualis m
which he wa nt ed t o develop amo ng t he bo ys. T agore was a great cha mpio n
of educat ion for int er nat ional underst anding. He lo ved his nat ion and
want ed t o improve it s condit io ns but in t his connect io n his nat ionalis m
was not a narrow one His pat r iot ism and nat ionalism le ads t o
int er nat ionalis m. He regarded t he wor ld as one and enables us to feel t hat
we have t o develop respect for world cit iz enship also.

Tagore‘s impact on educat io n in I ndia has not been well recognized and
t hrough discuss io n it was found t hat educat io nal work of Tagore deser ves
more scrut iny. It needs t o be recognized and evaluat ed by educat io nist s
around t he wor ld. His impact on educat ion has been felt mor e but it has
not been art iculat ed' by r esearchers, or educat ionist s .

5. References

1. Dut t a, Hir endranat h., ―Rabindranat h as a Vedanti st” , Visva Bharat i

Quat er ly, May-Oct 1941.

2. Radhakr ishnan, ―The Philosophy of Rabindranath ‖ Macmillan 7 co,

Londo n, 1941 p.vii.

3. Rabindr anat h, Personal ity, Kessinger Publishing, U. K pp.25 -26.

4. V.P. Var ma, Modern Indi an Politica l T hought, Lskshmi Nar aya n
Agarwal, Agra, 1987, p.76.

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5. Prasad, Devi., Rabindranat h Tagore, Phi losophy of education and

Painting, p.1.

6. Ravi Singh* and Sohan Sin gh Rawat (2013), “ Rabindr anat h

Tagore‘s Cont r ibut io n in Educat ion ”, VSRD International Journal
of Technical & Non-Technical Research, Vol. 4 No 8, pp 201-208.

7. Dreamsea Das (20114), ―Educat io nal P hilo sophy o f Rabindr anat h

Tagore‖, Int ernat iona l Journal o f Research in Humanit ies, Vo l. 2,
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8. Tagore, Rabindranat h (1929) ―Ideals of Educat ion‖, T heVisva-

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