1.

Explain the meaning of tabula rasa

https://www.britannica.com/topic/tabula-rasa

Tabula rasa, (Latin: “scraped tablet”—i.e., “clean slate”) in epistemology (theory of knowledge) and
psychology, a supposed condition that empiricists attribute to the human mind before ideas have
been imprinted on it by the reaction of the senses to the external world of objects.

Comparison of the mind to a blank writing tablet occurs in Aristotle’s De anima (4th century BCE; On
the Soul), and the Stoics as well as the Peripatetics (students at the Lyceum, the school founded by
Aristotle) subsequently argued for an original state of mental blankness. Both the Aristotelians and
the Stoics, however, emphasized those faculties of the mind or soul that, having been only potential
or inactive before receiving ideas from the senses, respond to the ideas by an intellectual process
and convert them into knowledge.

A new and revolutionary emphasis on the tabula rasa occurred late in the 17th century, when the
English empiricist John Locke, in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), argued for the
mind’s initial resemblance to “white paper, void of all characters,” with “all the materials of reason
and knowledge” derived from experience. Locke did not believe, however, that the mind is literally
blank or empty prior to experience, and almost no other empiricist has taken such an extreme
position. Locke himself acknowledged an innate power of “reflection” (awareness of one’s own
ideas, sensations, emotions, and so on) as a means of exploiting the materials given by experience
as well as a limited realm of a priori (nonexperiential) knowledge, which he nevertheless regarded as
“trifling” and essentially empy of content (e.g., “soul is soul” and “every man is an animal”). The
18th-century Scottish empiricist David Hume held similar views. Suitably qualified notions of the
tabula rasa remained influential in British and subsequently Anglo-American (analytic) philosophy
through the mid-20th century.

2. What are the contributions of the following orders to education? Jesuits

http://www.rjisacjournal.com/contributions-of-jesuits-for-the-promotion-of-education-in-tamil-nadu/

Dr. Regi, S.

Assistant Professor of History, Holy Cross College (Autonomous), Nagercoil-4.

Ancient India was not a stranger to the lands of Christian antiquity. Jawaharlal Nehru explains that “few
people realize that Christianity came to India as early as the first century after Christ, long before Europe
turned to it and established a firm hold in South India”.1 They are called as Syrian Catholics because of
the support they received from the Syrian Churches of West Asia. Further, they called themselves as St.
Thomas Christian.2
The Christian faith of these early Christians and other people were confirmed after the arrival of the
Portuguese in India in 1498. The Missionaries who came to India during the sixteenth century were
patronized by the Kings of Portugal. This period was known to historians as the “Padroado”.3

During the time of Padroado, many Portuguese Missionaries, particularly Jesuits came to India to spread
the message of Jesus Christ. When they came to India, the education was given using the Filtration
Theory. As per this theory, the light must touch the mountain tops before it could ignite the bottom.4
So as to ignite the light at the bottom, the Christian Missionaries gave new education to the common
people. They were the pioneers to establish the first modern schools and colleges.5 Among the
Christian Missionaries, the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits had become the most powerful instrument for
the dissemination of modern higher education to the common people.6

The Jesuit contribution to education can be traced back from 1544 onwards. St. Francis Xavier, who was
an accomplished educator, true to his Jesuit heritage wanted to start schools along the coast of
Travancore.7 This could be revealed from his letter to Mansilhas which he had written in December
1544. “ I earnestly ask you for the love and service of God our Lord that as soon as you have read this
letter, you get ready to go to visit the Christians on the coast of Travancore, whom I have already
baptized and in each village set up a school for the children with a teacher to instruct them”.8

In 1567, Fr. Henry Henrique, a companion of St. Francis Xavier, had started a school at Punnakayal to
which boys came even from Goa. There was also a Seminary at Thoothukudi, where the Indians studied
Portuguese, Latin, Moral, Theology and Vocal Music.9 Fr. Fernandez, the founder of the Madurai
Mission, also built a school at Madurai.10 Thus the new learning of the Jesuits began to spread to other
centres like Tiruchirappalli and Palayamkottai.11 Further, the Jesuit Missionaries like Fr. Joseph
Constantine Beschi, popularly known as Veeramamunivar did a tremendous work for the promotion of
Tamil language and literature. Fr. Beschi was the compiler of the first Tamil Dictionary, the first informer
of the written script, the first Grammarian of the spoken word, the first anthologist and the first prose
writer.12

As the situation changed Europe during the 17th Century, Papacy wanted to have superiority over the
Catholic Churches established in India from Portugal. So there was an unpleasant relationship between
Rome and Portugal. Therefore, the Padroada was taken away by Portugal13 and all the Jesuit
Missionaries were recalled back by the Portuguese Government during the end of the 18th Century.14
Because of this the Madurai Mission suffered a lot. However, the New Madurai Mission which was
manned by French Jesuits started work in 1838.15 The New Missions’ contribution to Education is far
reaching.

3. Should the government support private schools in general and sectarian schools in particular? In
what ways should this support be given?
 https://wenr.wes.org/2018/03/education-in-the-philippines
YES,
The size of the private sector in the Philippine school system is considerable. The government
already decades before the K-12 reforms started to promote public-private partnerships in
education. In these partnerships, the government sponsors study at low-cost private schools
with tuition waivers and subsidies for teacher salaries in an attempt to “decongest” the
overburdened public system. The Philippine “Educational Service Contracting” program (ESC) is,
in fact, one of the largest such systems in the world. It provides the state with a way to provide
education at a lower cost than in public schools, with parents picking up the rest of the tab – a
fact that has caused critics to charge that the government is neglecting its obligation to provide
free universal basic education.

Private high schools in the Philippines teach the national curriculum, must be officially approved
and abide by regulations set forth by the Department of Education. In 2014, 18 percent of
secondary students, or 1.3 million students, were enrolled in private schools. Fully 5,130 out of
12,878 secondary schools in the Philippines in 2012/13 (about 40 percent) were privately
owned. The number of ESC tuition grantees increased by 40 percent between 1996 and 2012
and accounted for almost 60 percent of all private high school students in 2014, reflecting that
publicly subsidized private education is a growing trend with increasing numbers of low-cost
private schools now entering the Philippine market in the wake of the K-12 reforms.

4. What are the advantages (disadvantages) of co-education?

https://content.wisestep.com/advantages-disadvantages-co-education-system/

Co-education is a system where both the genders (male and female) participate in the same learning
centre or an educational institution.

In this process, both the genders would benefit equally in learning or attaining knowledge from the
institution. This method of education even though is becoming common all over the world, as there are
still few parts of the country who sometimes feel, segregation is for the betterment of the learning
process.

However, few feel, segregation of the genders causes trouble in the learning process and makes it more
complicated.

Advantages of Co-Education System:

A good education system is said to be progressive only if it respects both the genders and giving the
same education under a single roof.

Co-education institutions help in laying the foundation for both the genders to learn how to co-exist
with respect and dignity. Here are a few points that explain the advantages of the co-education system.
1. Develops mutual respect:

Co-education allows both the genders to mingle with each other and to know how to co-exist with
respect.

By this process of getting mingle under one learning institution, they develop a mutual understanding.
And there is no place of hesitation or partiality among the genders when it comes to performing
activities like cultural, academics or sports.

People get to know how to respect each other and their emotional level. You get to know each other’s
strengths and weaknesses and develop the ability to accept them as they are.

2. Helps to overcome the fear of the opposite gender:

In general, there are a lot of differences in the behavior of both the genders which brings in fear and
hesitance in striking a conversation, this fear can be for a boy or a girl.

This kind of shyness, hesitation or fear can overcome when they put up in a co-education system where
they will compel to talk and create a friendly environment without any fear.

It is a very natural phenomenon where both the genders have to be together to face the world, your
senior could be a male or a female and you would have to create a friendly environment and must be at
ease with the opposite sex.

Hence, co-education would help them to know the opposite sex better, creating a comfort zone where
communication is easier.

3. Healthy competition:

Competition is always an essential part of any kind of challenge in life be it personal or professional. And
especially in education, it is good to have a healthy competition among peers which lets you learn how
to cope with your failures early in life no matter who the winner is.

When it comes to opposite genders it would be more competitive because of your ego, and this is one
good way to improve the personal standards so that you don’t get personal on every failure.
So, co-education systems nurture challenges among the opposite genders in a healthy way, that helps
you to maintain your dignity. It also educates you to face your failures and learn from them rather than
turn them into the revengeful act.

4. Develops self-esteem among the genders:

Self-esteem is very essential and has to be built in a good way and the best place to start with it is the
learning institutions where you can face all types of personality early in your life.

Co-education learning centers help to lay the early foundation for maintaining dignity and self-esteem.

Many institutions give extra attention to students who feel that they are less worthy than others and
offer counseling sessions that help in building up their personality and making them stronger to face the
world.

Co-education helps both the genders to respect each other’s self-esteem and build confidence about
themselves, helping them to step out in the open without feeling intimidated.

5. Encourages the survival in the future:

Survival in the future for any of the gender in today’s world can happen only when we learn to co-exist.

Working together to making a marriage successful all about teamwork and the effort given by both
males and females. Team building activities in early stages help both the genders to learn how to co-
exist and this can only be provided in the co-educational system.

In this way, co-education is an essential part of the education system which pushes the genders to work
together and blend to survive in this brutal world.

6. Character enhancement:

A recent study reveals that children tend to behave very decently in a civilized manner in the presence
of other gender provided they have been in this scenario for long.

This is very essential in an institution set up as well as it will have a huge impact on their front for the
people of the opposite sex to behave well with each other.
Hence, co-education plays an important role in character building. They emphasize the fact that they
have to respect and listen to the opposite sex as they listen and respect one from their own.

7. No space for discrimination:

Quarrel among peers is very common to be it at home, workplace or educational institutions. This may
happen due to no proper understanding, misconceptions, miss-communications, uncomfortable, no
respect for other sex and ignorance.

All this can only be improved when there is a good understanding between the two. This is very much
reduced in a co-education system as they understand better each other and hence, reducing the bad
behavior and harsh reactions from each other.

So, the co-education system reduces any kind of discrimination and increases respect towards the
opposite sex.

8. Resource handling:

Be it any country there will be a shortage of lecturers if there are separate institutions or centers for
genders right from school to college. It might be very difficult to fill in, even if there would be a huge
demand for teachers.

It also breeds monetary loss to the government or a private institution when they invest a huge amount
for separate lecturers teaching the same thing to students across institutions. Hence, the co-education
system has the advantage of proper resource handling.

9. Promotes a controlled environment:

When both genders are put up in the same environment, there are more possibilities of following good
ethics, disciplined use of language, and proper dressing, etc.

You would know what the needs are of the opposite sex and how they behave helping you to avoid
unfavorable situations.
Co-education supports a good decent environment with more value-based education emphasizing
respect and love for each other.

Let us now look at some coeducation disadvantages.

Disadvantages of Co-Education system:

Every establishment has pros as well as cons and hence we need to look at every angle before we decide
in which direction we have to go.

Though there are many advantages of having a co-education system, our society still puts forward a few
inhibitions which do not accept the concept. Mentioned here are few disadvantages or bad effects of
co-education. They are,

1. Chances of distractions could be more:

Teenage is a very dangerous phase in anybody’s life. It is very common among teens to undergo
psychological changes when they are in the company of the other gender and feel attracted to them.

And especially, where they are in a process of defining their career path, it could cause a lot of
distractions and might disturb their knowledge gain period.

Hence, parents often wonder if co-education institutions would be the right choice for their kin to learn
or whether they should avoid the co-education system.

2. Unethical activities:

Crimes have become common when both genders are put up in the same educational environment.

There might be a lot of characteristic changes among boys and girls. When they mismatch, some
ferocious kids tend to commit various harassments, physical toughness, and emotional stress to people
around them.

The weaker lot can suffer at the hands of the opposite sex pushing them into depression and other
psychological problems. Hence, people hesitate to support the co-education system to ensure that their
kids are in a safe environment and this is especially for the girls.
3. More involvement in personal feelings:

As the saying goes, the opposite things attract each other, it applies to the human world also.
Attractions among the opposite genders are the most commonly used excuse to avoid the co-education
system.

It is natural to get physically attracted to the other gender at a crucial age of life where curiosity takes
over your heart. So, parents feel co-education is a risky task to take forward as they can have easy
access to distractions within the institutions.

An emotional involvement at an early stage can come with a lot of baggage that can force a child to
deviate from their goals.

4. Unwanted arguments and issues can create an unhealthy environment:

Both genders come from different schools of thought and hence contradiction of thoughts is common
among boys and girls. If the arguments are not handled in a proper behavior then it can sometimes lead
to unwanted arguments and might divert from their studies.

It can lead to a lot of complaints and parents making the rounds at the school for improper behavior
from their kin. This will also make the teachers get troubled a lot because of their behavior and an
irritated teacher can never give their 100% towards teaching.

This is what worries any parent when they come to know that the issues in the school are costing his or
her kin’s studies and hence pushing them to select a convent rather than co-educational institutions.

5. Reduces the options for schools or colleges for the genders:

With schools and colleges dedicated towards a single-gender, creates a lot of shortage for the opposite
genders to apply.

If the demand for teachers increases, then the demand for institutions based on gender also increases.
Establishing an institution is an expensive affair which may not be a feasible option to implement all
over the world. There can be a scenario where you have more supply of students but less number of
institutions to work with it.

Dedicated institutions can also lead to a lot of discomfort in handling the other gender when it comes to
working in a professional world creating issues in your career path and growth.

Conclusion of Co-Education System:

There are both advantages as well as disadvantages for any kind of education system including the co-
education system. The real good social environment will nurture the positives of society and help in
dealing with the negatives in a dignified manner.

There is no educational system in the world that has eradicated the negatives of the society but a co-
educational system can work towards mending the gap between the genders and building a bridge of
friendship.

In this promising era of empowerment, though the debate on coeducation is going on, it is very essential
to have a co-education system to fit the survival of an environment where both the genders have their
place.

5. What education practices in our schools today originated from these movements?

https://tifwe.org/how-the-reformation-changed-education-forever/

The idea of the importance of Christian education was firmly established by leaders of the Protestant
Reformation such as Martin Luther and John Calvin. The book John Calvin, Theologian, Preacher,
Educator, Statesman, explains that Luther and Calvin both disagreed with the medieval church’s view
that “ignorance is the mother of piety,” teaching every believer needed to be able to read and study the
scriptures for themselves.

The reformers’ interest in education did not stop at literacy. They were interested very broadly in the
“what” as well as the “how” of education.
I’ve summarized the great research by David Murray and R.B. Peery on this topic in the following list—
here are five educational reforms initiated by the reformers that significantly changed the face of
education and still impact our educational system today:

1. Universal Education

Before the Reformation, education was the privilege of only wealthy aristocrats and priests, but the
reformers argued that it should be made available to all. Their schools were the first to educate girls and
saw the importance of developing the potential of every child for the glory of God. The later reformers
like John Calvin “opened the way for people to raise themselves by education and by the diligent use of
their knowledge and abilities” writes Joel Beeke in his book Calvin for Today. Finding their full potential
through education and applying it to their work enabled the rise of what would be called the Protestant
work ethic, which would positively shape Western Civilization for centuries.

2. The Church and Parents Are Responsible for Education

The reformers believed that the primary responsibility of educating children fell upon the church and
parents (with possible infrastructure support from the state). Luther personally started numerous
schools in existing churches. Congregations were expected to provide the necessary funding and
oversight. Parents were also expected to play an important role, not only making sure their children
attended class but also reinforcing instruction at home. Church leaders would shepherd the instruction
process and assess a student’s progress by meeting with students and parents during the school year.

3. The Goal of a Child’s Education Is Both Theological and Applied and Includes Study of Nature and the
Natural World

The reformers’ doctrine of God’s providence and sovereignty over all creation impacted how they
approached the study of all topics, not just religion. As Jacob Hoogstra writes in his book, John Calvin:
Contemporary Prophet,

…there is not a single fact in the universe that is not a God-centered fact…all facts derive their
significance and meaning from the mind of God.

And the following excerpt from Mark Thompson’s book, Engaging with Calvin, shows the importance the
reformers placed on studying the natural world:

According to Calvin, science was a gift of God, created for the benefit of mankind. The real source of
natural knowledge was the Holy Spirit. Whoever dealt with it acknowledged God, obeyed the call of God
and focused on God’s creation. Thus, biology was also theology.
The reformers believed that their movement would grow through a study of the arts and sciences seen
through the lens of scripture.

4. Good Education Requires Gifted Christian Teachers

The Reformers saw the job of the teacher as extremely important. They viewed teachers as “officers and
servants of the church” and required that they not only be trained in the subjects they would teach but
also obtain a degree in theology and “be of mature and good character”. They also argued that teachers’
pay should be generous enough to allow for poor children in their classroom who could not afford to
pay for their schooling.

5. Education Should Prepare Students to be Good Citizens of the Church and of the State

John Calvin started the Genevan Academy, which would become the model for colleges and universities
for hundreds of years. The Academy was a university that offered higher learning in a number of
subjects, including theology, training pastors and those preparing for other vocations. The school also
saw their job as raising up those who would be prepared to serve in the church and in government.

Beeke, among other historians, tells us that wherever the followers of the Reformation went, they
founded churches, schools, and colleges. Many of our early colleges like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton
were originally based on the model of the Genevan Academy.

Clearly, the Reformation sparked needed change in more than the church. Education was just one of its
beneficiaries, but those benefits have spanned eras and continents as a result of the concerns and
guidance voiced by Luther, Calvin, and other reformers.
 1. Different countries have different forms of government, different philosophies. Show how these
differences affect their educational systems.

https://www.theunitutor.com/impact-gender-education-australia/

Education in Australia is one of the fundamental issues, but for education to effective, it has to reach
male and female students. According to Ainley et al, (2008) male and female students are different and
these differences do affect their learning in school. The factors that affect students learning ability can
be categorized into two; socio-culture and intellectual. Socio-cultural factors include, the notion that
subjects like mathematics and science are for male students, the male gender is superior hence looking
down to female teachers, family setting, etc. As stated by Wheaton, (2002) Intellectual factors include
differences in male and female brain, concentration and learning ability, group interactions, etc.

This essay will explore in depth how the Australian education system is designed to address the various
gender issues. Three elements will be discussed in the essay. The first is how gender has affected
teaching and learning. Second is effect of gender on social support. Third is home school, and the
community partnership.

Research shows that there are key differences between boys and girls that affect their learning
(Wheaton, 2002). To address the issues of gender in a better way, education design in Australia has
been customized to the appropriate teaching strategies, content taught, assessment strategies, and
provide the right learning environment. The Australian curriculum has been designed in a way to provide
a broad repertoire of practices, which are appropriate to reach all the boys and girls. An example is the
way in which content is spread throughout the various years (Ainley et al, 2008). The content is taught at
each is appropriate for the age bracket and the right teaching strategies are used to ensure each student
is reached.

According to Clark & Burke, (2012) teaching strategies used in the Australian curriculum are geared
towards promoting collaboration, interaction, and reflections and both male and female students. These
strategies have the advantage of improving on boys and girls ownership of the teaching and learning
process. These teaching strategies have been credited for breaking some of the cultural gender issues
like male superiority while the various teaching strategies help to reach the different intellectual levels
between both genders (Keddie & Churchill, 2003). One of the cultural behaviors overcome through
shared reflections is the reticent nature of boys to seek assistance even when needed.

According to Sanders, (2006) the learning environment in Australian school is one of the major
strategies of addressing the gender issues. It has been used to enable boys and girls to freely explore
their capabilities and achieve their potential. The pedagogy used in Australian education is to break
tasks into manageable small parts spread over the entire school system. In assessment, to
accommodate boys who tend to act then thick later (Sax, 2006), explicit assessment criteria is used
before assessment to help boys understand the requirements.
To ensure that the education system produces well-modeled persons able to associate well across
gender lines, social support is necessary. To provide social support in school, the Australian education
system is designed to promote participation in school social programs (Sax, 2006).participation of both
males and females in social school programs has been shown to motivate positive models of association
in family, work, and civic life.

According to Clark & Burke, (2012) boys are the reserved and not so open to interaction with others
especially the opposite gender. Education has been designed to break this by having male model. A male
social figure, probably a teacher, who interacts positively with other female teachers, will support the
boy’s transition. Social support to overcome gender issues is also achieved through exploration of
gender issues as outlines in the New South Wales (NSW) syllabus. Exploration of what males and
females have achieved in field consider feminine and masculine respectively motivates students to
explore social activities beyond gender limitations.

Australian education design has been done to allow for investigation of any emerging gender issues that
contribute to vulnerability in student. The most common include sexual harassment by senior or fellow
students and bullying (Wheaton, 2002). The education system is designed to allow for effective
monitoring of these issues, at least within the school compound.

However, addressing gender issues cannot be effective by simply targeting the classroom. There is need
to employ the trigonometric of the education system, the home, the school and the community. The
education system is designed such that, the parent – who is the home in the trigonometric wheel – gets
regular information to understand gender as an educational issue. To achieve this, the education system
requires that parent get periodic opportunities on how their child if faring with relation to gender issues.
The most common strategy to involve the parent is through regional school newsletters (Sax, 2006). The
responses gathered from the parent and from diverse backgrounds are used to make any adjustments
on the system.

To challenge any existing work related gender issues, the Australian education system encourages for
the involvement of the community in subject and career selection (Clark & Burke, 2012). The system
advocates for the continued challenging of limiting stereotypes and notions that exist in relation to
gender. In doing so, the Australian education system is designed to address gender issues by
acknowledging cultural differences in understanding gender. For example, the gender issues among the
non-indigenous communities are different from the aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders. To
understand the gender aspects between the two, there are aboriginal studies in the western oriented
education system to help understand the indigenous communities gender issues.
ORDER NOW

In case of any sex-related harassment of students, the school is required to involve the parent of the
children in question. In addition, to ensure that the community has an active role in maintenance and
observation of gender issues, members of the community are made aware of the various gender issues
that children might be subjected to particularly sex-based harassment and discrimination (Sanders,
2006). To ensure smooth addressing of these gender issues, the Australian education system provides
for the enlistment of regional support through community information officers or partnership officers.

2. Do you believe that government should control education?

https://education.findlaw.com/curriculum-standards-school-funding/the-roles-of-federal-and-state-
governments-in-education.html

I believe the government should want to control the education of its citizens. There is no greater
resource you can have than an educated populous. If the Bush administration were smart, they would
be putting more money into strengthening the infrastructure of our country. The educational system
should be the first place to enact change. American citizens should be the smartest people in the world.
There is no excuse for anything less. Our archaic educational system needs a serious overhaul and
needs to be made more realistic. There was a previous comment that mentioned how schools are afraid
to damage any egos, and I think that's a big problem now as well.

Unfortunately, there are very powerful and organized groups of people in our country that wish to
cripple and hinder the educational system. Most of these people are right-wing, conservative Christians
who feel that the educational system is wrong or evil for teaching reality instead of superstition.
Because they have been unable in recent years to enact legislature that creates a Christian norm within
the American educational system (i.e., prayers in school or intelligent design), they have rejected the
system in its entirety. Many of these people home-school their children and raise them sheltered from
reality. They exhibit a pathology of portraying themselves as victims from "Liberals" who are attempting
to destroy the fabric of American society and morality. For them, an educational system that supports
science and healthy skepticism is unacceptable. The main reason for this behavior is a reactionary
response to science, which is a direct odds with bronze-age, superstitious religious beliefs, so to justify
their own selfish suspension of logic they attempt to twart and sabotage the educational system for the
rest of us. Many members of the Bush Administration adhere to this goal, and therefore the present
state of the system is a bad example of government controlling education. When Christian
conservatives are able to take control of a system with unfair bias and ulterior motives, the system
suffers as has been witnessed. No Child Left Behind has been repeatedly demostrated to be a complete
and total failure.

I feel that until the next president takes office, that question will have more negative than positive
connotations. Luckily, the majority of the presidential candidates for 2008, whether Republican or
Democrat, seem to be more concerned about social and local infrastructure issues. Unfortunately, until
then the system will continue to suffer and decline.
 3. Cite as many school practices as you can that reflect the ideas of the developmentalists.

https://www.definitions.net/definition/developmentalism

developmentalism(Noun)

An economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through
fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods.

4. Under present conditions, should the educational system aim to develop individuality or social
consciousness?

Aims give direction to activities. Aims of education are formulated keeping in view the needs of
situation. Human nature is multisided with multiple needs, which are related to life. Educational aims
are correlated to ideals of life.

Ideals of life change from time to time. Ideals have impressed to teacher, philosophers and society to
formulate suitable aims of education. Aims have been desirably modified. Out of several aims of
education, individual and social aims are important.

Individual and Social Aims:

Individual aims and social aims are the most important aims of education. They are opposed to each
other individual aims gives importance for the development of the individuality. Social aim gives
importance to the development of society through individual not fulfilling his desire. But it will be seen
that development of individuality assumes meaning only in a social environment.

Individual Aims

Sir Percy Nunn observes, “Nothing goods enters into the human world except in and through the free
activities of individual men and women and that educational practice must be shaped the individual.
Education should give scope to develop the inborn potentialities through maximum freedom.”

Because:
(1) Biologists believe that every individual is different from others. Every child is a new and unique
product and a new experiment with life. Thompson says, “Education is for the individual”. Individual
should be the center of all educational efforts and activities.

(2) Naturalists believe that central aim of education is the autonomous development of the individual.
Rousseau said, “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature, but everything
degenerates in the hands of man.” God makes all things good, man meddles with them and they
become evil. God creates everything good man makes it evil. So individual should be given maximum
freedom for its own development.

(3) Psychologists believe that education is an individual process because of individual differences. No
two individuals are alike. So education should be according to the interest of the individual.

Criticism of Individual Aim:

Individual aim is not desirable because man is a social animal. Society’s interest should be protected.

(1) Individual aim makes individual selfish.

(2) Maximum freedom may go against the society.

(3) Individuality cannot develop from a vacuum; it develops in a social atmosphere.

(4) Unless society develops, individual cannot develop.

(5) Who will recognize society- where individual is selfish?

Social Aim:

The supporters believe that society or state is supreme or real. The individual is only a means. The
progress of the society is the aim of education. Education is a for the society and of the society. The
function of education is for the welfare of the state. The state will make the individual as it desires. It
prepares the individual to play different roles in society. Individuality has no value, and personality is
meaningless apart from society. If society will develop individual will develop automatically. Here society
plays an important role.
Criticism of Social Aim:

(1) It makes individual only a tool of government.

(2) It reduces individual to a mere non-entity. (3) Society ignores the legitimate needs, desires and
interests of the individual.

(4) It is against the development of individuality of the individual.

Synthesis between individual and social aims of education:

Individual aim and social aim of education go independently. Both are opposing to each other. It is not in
reality. Neither the individual nor the society can exist. The individual is the product of the society while
society finds its advancement in the development of its individual member.

Individual cannot develop in vacuum. According to John Adams, “Individuality requires a social medium
to grow.”

T.P. Nunn says,” Individuality develops in social environment.”

Conclusion:

The true aim of education cannot be other than the highest development of the individual as a member
of society. Let education burn the individual flame, feeding it with the oil of society.

5. Discuss academic freedom. What are some of the common misconceptions of the principle of
academic freedom?
Cary Nelson is president of the American Association of University Professors and professor of
English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author, most recently, of No
University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom (NYU, 2010).
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/12/21/defining-academic-freedom

Defining Academic Freedom

Penn State professors move to give more leeway to faculty members dealing with controversial issues.

By Cary Nelson

December 21, 2010

42 COMMENTS

Over the course of decades, a great many books, essays, and policies have been written and published
about academic freedom. We have learned how to apply it to pedagogical, technological, cultural, and
political realities that did not exist when the concept was first defined. Not only faculty members,
administrators, trustees, and students, but also parents, politicians, and other members of the public,
would now benefit from a concise summary of its major features. Sometimes academic freedom is
invoked in situations where it doesn't actually apply. But many within and without higher education are
not well-versed in all the protections it does provide. This statement is designed to help clarify both
what academic freedom does and doesn't do.

PART 1: What it does do

1. Academic freedom means that both faculty members and students can engage in intellectual debate
without fear of censorship or retaliation.

2. Academic freedom establishes a faculty member’s right to remain true to his or her pedagogical
philosophy and intellectual commitments. It preserves the intellectual integrity of our educational
system and thus serves the public good.

3. Academic freedom in teaching means that both faculty members and students can make comparisons
and contrasts between subjects taught in a course and any field of human knowledge or period of
history.

4. Academic freedom gives both students and faculty the right to express their views — in speech,
writing, and through electronic communication, both on and off campus — without fear of sanction,
unless the manner of expression substantially impairs the rights of others or, in the case of faculty
members, those views demonstrate that they are professionally ignorant, incompetent, or dishonest
with regard to their discipline or fields of expertise.

5. Academic freedom gives both students and faculty the right to study and do research on the topics
they choose and to draw what conclusions they find consistent with their research, though it does not
prevent others from judging whether their work is valuable and their conclusions sound. To protect
academic freedom, universities should oppose efforts by corporate or government sponsors to block
dissemination of any research findings.

6. Academic freedom means that the political, religious, or philosophical beliefs of politicians,
administrators, and members of the public cannot be imposed on students or faculty.

7. Academic freedom gives faculty members and students the right to seek redress or request a hearing
if they believe their rights have been violated.

8. Academic freedom protects faculty members and students from reprisals for disagreeing with
administrative policies or proposals.

9. Academic freedom gives faculty members and students the right to challenge one another’s views,
but not to penalize them for holding them.

10. Academic freedom protects a faculty member’s authority to assign grades to students, so long as the
grades are not capricious or unjustly punitive. More broadly, academic freedom encompasses both the
individual and institutional right to maintain academic standards.

11. Academic freedom gives faculty members substantial latitude in deciding how to teach the courses
for which they are responsible.

12. Academic freedom guarantees that serious charges against a faculty member will be heard before a
committee of his or her peers. It provides faculty members the right to due process, including the
assumption that the burden of proof lies with those who brought the charges, that faculty have the right
to present counter-evidence and confront their accusers, and be assisted by an attorney in serious cases
if they choose.
PART 2: What It Doesn’t Do

1. Academic freedom does not mean a faculty member can harass, threaten, intimidate, ridicule, or
impose his or her views on students.

2. Student academic freedom does not deny faculty members the right to require students to master
course material and the fundamentals of the disciplines that faculty teach.

3. Neither academic freedom nor tenure protects an incompetent teacher from losing his or her job.
Academic freedom thus does not grant an unqualified guarantee of lifetime employment.

4. Academic freedom does not protect faculty members from colleague or student challenges to or
disagreement with their educational philosophy and practices.

5. Academic freedom does not protect faculty members from non-university penalties if they break the
law.

6. Academic freedom does not give students or faculty the right to ignore college or university
regulations, though it does give faculty and students the right to criticize regulations they believe are
unfair.

7. Academic freedom does not protect students or faculty from disciplinary action, but it does require
that they receive fair treatment and due process.

8. Academic freedom does not protect faculty members from sanctions for professional misconduct,
though sanctions require clear proof established through due process.

9. Neither academic freedom nor tenure protects a faculty member from various sanctions — from
denial of merit raises, to denial of sabbatical requests, to the loss of desirable teaching and committee
assignments — for poor performance, though such sanctions are regulated by local agreements and by
faculty handbooks. If minor, sanctions should be grievable; if major, they must be preceded by an
appropriate hearing.

10. Neither academic freedom nor tenure protects a faculty member who repeatedly skips class or
refuses to teach the classes or subject matter assigned.

11. Though briefly interrupting an invited speaker may be compatible with academic freedom, actually
preventing a talk or a performance from continuing is not.

12. Academic freedom does not protect a faculty member from investigations into allegations of
scientific misconduct or violations of sound university policies, nor from appropriate penalties should
such charges be sustained in a hearing of record before an elected faculty body.

These points are mostly adapted from nearly 100 years of American Association of University Professors
policy documents and reports. Since its 1915 founding, the AAUP has been the primary source of the
documents outlining the basic principles of faculty rights and responsibilities. It is also the source of
perhaps the single best statement of student rights. Putting the principles above into practice, of course,
requires a goodly amount of additional detail, information the AAUP continues to provide and update.