Edu-Vision 2022

The Need for a Philosophy of

Education

For Schools in the 21st Century

 Metaphors
for the Purposes of Education
• Reproduction of traditions of social norms

• Transmission of culture

• Nation building

• Development and progress individuals (and society)

• Cultivation of leadership

• Service providers in a globalized economy

 A Glimpse of Modern Schooling?

Do Flowers Fly?

A short animation film by Prosenjit Ganguly, when he

was a young design student at NID

Based on his own experience of schooling

 The Child and Modern Education?
Child The School

• Observant, curious, active • Strait-jacketed in a closed environment

• Fascinated with natural • Treated like a blank slate

processes of life and growth
• Bombarded with information, to be parroted or
• Fertile imagination written

• Full of questions • Kept apart from others, made to compete

• Enjoying the process of • Focus on rewards and achievements

learning
• Feels trapped, under pressure, fearful,

What happens to such children as they grow up in society?

 School and Society
Society School
organization, values, Structure, practices,
expectations outcomes

Society School
Change in values, philosophy of education
relationships, outlooks
• Appropriate educational
environment,
• teaching-learning practices
• Formation of new values
 Some educators of the 20th Century

• Maria Montessori • The child is a self-learner, an absorbent

mind; focus on supporting the child’s
growth

• Develop the head, heart and hand, prepare

• Gandhi self-reliant individuals in a cooperative
community

• Nature-based, learning in freedom, imbibe

• Tagore
sympathy for all life

• Planes of human nature - physical, the vital,

• Sri Aurobindo and the the mental, the psychic, the spiritual – all to
Mother be cultivated
 John Dewey (1859 – 1952)

He wrote in the 1930s:

“There are two outstanding reasons why in the conditions of the world at
present a philosophy of education must make the social aim of
education the central article in its creed. The world is rapidly
industrialized. Individual groups, tribes and races, once living
completely untouched by the economic regime of modern capitalistic
industry, now find almost every phase of their lives affected for better
or worse—and often for worse—by the expansion of that system….
In a world that has so largely engaged in a mad and often brutally harsh
race for material gain by means of ruthless competition, it behooves the
school to make ceaseless and intelligently organized effort to develop
above all else the will for co-operation…”
 What is a Philosophy of Education?
A considered view on:
• human nature
• Conditions and challenges
in the contemporary world
• responsibility to the self, to
society , to the world
Deriving from this:
• Broad aims of education
• A framework of values
• Views on the nature of
knowledge and learning

In a School
• Appropriate educational
environment
• Relationships in the school, esp.
teacher-student relationship,
discipline etc.
• Curriculum
• Pedagogy or teaching-learning-
assessment practices
A ‘philosophy of education’ is a deeply thought and felt perspective that
coherently connects all the above
 Krishnamurti (1895 – 1986)
• Raised as a youth by Annie Besant to be the World
Teacher; later he broke from the Theosophical Society.
• As an independent spiritual teacher, he travelled
extensively across the world for more than 70 years
• Engaged with thousands of people from different walks of
life in different ways – talks, dialogues, Q and As, writings
• His purpose: to uncover , along with them, the factors
underlying the human condition, and catalyze a renewal
in human consciousness
• Helped start 7 schools, five in different parts of India, one
in the UK, and one in California, USA.
 Challenges in the 20th century

Human problems in the 20th century were closely observed by

Krishnamurti, who also anticipated trends of the 21 st century
• Competitive nationalism, economic domination of corporations,
and religious dogmas and conflicts
• Rapid advances in computer technology as well as military
weaponry
• New forms of division, violence and terror
• Natural habitats destroyed, life forms becoming extinct, to meet
growing human populations, satisfy human greed
• Entertainment industry capturing the minds of the young and
old, creating a virtual bubble in which they live
 Some Trends in the 21st Century?
Trends in a fast-changing world…
• Much greater mobility of people and ideas
• New technologies by the minute
• People and businesses highly interconnected
• Schools - wifi enabled, smart classrooms, i-pads etc.
• Information and knowledge at the click of a mouse
• New opportunities and careers opening up
• Nations, communities and individuals—striving not to be left behind in
this technology-driven age—are part of a competitive structure of
rankings and rewards.

Is a highly interconnected, digital, urban, technologized future for all

a possible fact or a fantasy?
 Real challenges of the 21st century?
Accelerating impacts from the 20th century:
• Climate change causing extreme weather events and rise in sea levels
• Continued destruction of habitats and extinctions of species
• Shrinkage in livable land, shortages of drinking water, clean air and
uncontaminated food
• Displacement of groups of people, terrorism and refugee crises
• Political, economic, social and religious uncertainty
• Growing inequalities in our society
• Random acts of violence - a daily occurrence

Thoughtful people have less sense of hope for the future, are no longer
able to look up to leaders, since leaders prove to be part of the problem.
 Krishnamurti
on Human Nature and Society
“You are the world”
• All human beings share a
common consciousness
• ‘Individual’ – a layer
conditioned by family, society
and education
• Individuals - grow up with
fragmentation and conflict
• Social groups in conflict
• Root cause of violence within
individuals, between people,
and between social groups
and nations, is the
fragmentation in our pysche
• Each person has the capacity
for self-awareness
• Can become conscious of our
conditioning
• Through attention, alertness
and right education,
conditioning may dissolve
• Discover one’s true
individuality
• Transformation in
relationships
• Feel connected to and
responsible for humanity and
nature
 What is right education?

Krishnamurti responds to a question posed to him at a public

gathering in Saanen, Switzerland in 1983

What is right education?

• Metaphor of two horses trotting together

– academic, technological proficiency
– An understanding of the psyche and the process of living
• Adult and child together observe themselves, explore their
behaviour, discover freedom from conditioning
• Education is to bring into being a good human being
– Correct action -- holistic, not fragmented, in conflict
– Affection, compassion -- relationship with nature
 Towards a Philosophy of Education
for the 21st Century
A considered view of
 Human nature, human condition
 Conditions in society, and the 21st century world
 Responsibility to others and to nature

What are the aims of education?

What framework of values derives from these?

What are the implications for educational

environments, for curriculum and pedagogy?
 Krishnamurti - Aims of education

• An abiding concern for human beings and the

natural environment

• Cultivation of a global outlook

• Inquiry into the true meaning of religion

 Abiding concern for human beings
Understanding human nature:
• A holistic view of children and human beings as ‘living persons’ – conditioned but
capable of being free
• Understanding oneself through observation
• Discover one’s own grain, or specific talents

Understanding relationships:
• Awareness of the distorting effects of comparison and the competitive spirit
• Ability to ‘feel for’ others, be sensitive and responsive in relating to others.

Social sensitivity:
• Sensitivity to those who are less fortunate, whose lives are a struggle
• Critical awareness of social and economic structures that sustain inequities
• Ability to take initiative and act when moved by particular human or social
situations.
 An abiding concern for nature
A feeling for nature:
• Close contact with nature
• Awakening the senses, and a feeling for beauty
• A sensitivity to living things and life processes

Understanding of connectedness:
• Developing informed perspectives on local as well as global environmental concerns.
• Gaining an empathetic understanding of environmental issues, along with its social
dimensions, and a sense of responsibility in action.
• Developing a critical awareness of the far-reaching impact of lifestyle choices

Cultivating practical know-how and a sense of agency:

• Cultivating the knowhow and skills to work intelligently with the land, plants, water,
energy sources
• Developing a sense of agency in ameliorating environmental issues in one’s
neighbourhood or community
 Cultivating a global outlook
Learning connected to life as a whole
• Making connections between life at school, at home, and in the world
• Learning as a life-long process.

Freedom from social and cultural biases

• Critical awareness of one’s identity markers, one’s prejudices and biases
• Openness to persons from all backgrounds and nationalities

Appreciation of humankind as a whole

• To study and understand a range of human cultures and historical developments
• Seeing the danger and false sense of security in group identities, religious identities
as well as national identities
• Awareness of the processes of fragmentation in all human societies (identification,
comparison, divisiveness)
• Appreciate the common grounds of human lives throughout the world
Enquiry into the true meaning of religion
Self-knowledge:
• Deepening awareness of one’s own thinking, behaviour, response patterns and impulses
(this being the foundation for any religious enquiry)

Ethical development:
• Growth in emotional maturity
• Sense of responsibility for one’s choices and actions
• Developing an ethic of enquiry as a way of life
• Seeking out one’s own unique meaning of ‘a worthwhile life’

Inward inquiry and freedom

• The quality of attention
• Exploring inward space and silence
• Meditation

Affection and Compassion

• Affection in relationships
• Coming upon a ‘compassionate intimacy’ towards other human beings and nature
Principles for curriculum and pedagogy
Awakening of the senses rather than too early an emphasis on the 3 Rs
• Contact with nature as part of the curriculum
• Developing aesthetic sensibilities through crafts, fine-arts and performing arts

Development of the body

• Enjoyment of bodywork and development of physical agility and skills, rather than specialized
competitive sports
• Learning practical skills of working with the land, water, food and energy

Cultivation of the mind

• Individualised learning of concepts and skills, and also
• Learning to work with others, learning from each other
• Emphasis on dialogue and discussion, rather than ‘knowledge’ transmission
• Judicious use of technology, rather than teaching-learning being driven by technology

Growth of the heart

• Learning to co-operate rather than compete
• Concern with well-being of others and one’s own, rather than tendency towards
individualistic isolation
What each School Management can do?
• Put in place robust means of communication and forums of
discussion among all stake-holders – administrators, teachers,
parents and students.
• Collectively examine relationships and ‘reward’ structures as well
as teaching-learning practices, types of connections between
teachers, students and parents.
• Move towards a more fear-free, supportive environment, provide
richer and more challenging learning opportunities
• Connect with other schools, share and exchange practices
• Discuss broader issues such as the schools’ connections with
society, the local environment, and nature
• Develop a coherent ‘philosophy of education’, aims of education,
from the perspective of the 21st century
• Enable shifts in values and practices that derive from this.
 What Administrators can do?
• Put in place systems that ensure that every student feels
recognized and known by the adults
• Promote higher academic goals than merely exam-driven learning
• Provide as many opportunities as feasible for all students to
participate in co-curricular, socially relevant and nature-based
activities
• Build-in expectations from coordinators and teachers of
responding to student needs (emotional and academic) as a
primary part of their role
• Encourage an ethos of cooperative working and sharing among
teachers at different levels
• Provide fair-minded leadership, without becoming authoritarian
• Be clear and alert in responding to negative pressures from
parents and other stake-holders
 What Individual Teachers can do?
• Develop their own clarity of purpose and hold wider goals in
teaching students
• Nurture their own humanity, and a concern for reaching out to
their students as persons
• Foster supportive and cooperative relationships among
students in their classes
• Remain alert to inhibiting/discouraging influences from
colleagues or administrators, without feeling or getting isolated
• Try generating a positive influence on other colleagues as well
comparison

Students would then experience ‘better relationships’ in school,

where fear is not the primary driver of learning.
 ‘Philosophy in practice’
in the culture of schools
Schools with an underlying philosophy of education:
• Aim to prepare students to face the challenges of the world creatively
and intelligently, and so bring about smaller and bigger shifts in
society
• Work ‘against the grain’ of society and the contemporary world
• Need a re-education, and periodic renewal of purpose, among
administrators, teachers, and the parents
• Sustain themselves when people in the school are inquiring and living
with the ‘philosophy in practice’, rather than attempting to implement
some philosophy as an ‘ideology’
• Can be a source of creativity and joy for children and adults
• Can also be hard to sustain, since frustrations, struggles, conflicts,
feelings of being up against too many odds also arise
• Are an absolute necessity for our very survival in the 21 st century
Thank You