The four main principles of Tagore’s educational philosophy are:
(a) Freedom
(b) Creative self-expression
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(c) Active communication with nature and man
(d) Internationalism.
(a) Freedom:
To Tagore, freedom means the child’s own experience and activities. For children, he wanted freedom of the kite as it soars in the vast sky. So he was in favour of giving maximum freedom to children to display their emotional outbursts, feelings impulses and instincts.
He wanted education to be natural in content and quality and the function of education is to bring the child’s mind in contact with nature, so that he may learn freely and spontaneously from the book of nature. He advocated that “Education has its only meaning and object in freedom- freedom from ignorance about the laws of universe and freedom from passion and prejudice in our communication with the human world.”
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Tagore was the ardent exponent of freedom for children. He makes it explicit in the following words:
Children have their active sub-conscious mind which, like the tree, has the power to gather its food from the surrounding atmosphere. For them the atmosphere is a great deal more important than rules, and methods, building, appliances, class-teaching and text-book.
I tried to create an atmosphere in my institution, giving it the principle place in our programme of teaching. For atmosphere there must be, for developing the sensitiveness of soul and for affording mind its true freedom of sympathy. Apathy and ignorance are the worst forms of bondage for man; they are the invisible wall of confinement that we carry around us when we are in their grip.
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In educational organization our reasoning faculties have to be nourished in order to allow our mind its freedom in the worth of truth, our imagination for world which belongs to art, and our sympathy for the world of human relationship. This last is even more important than learning the geography or foreign lands.
As for the role of the teacher, he stressed higher mental equipment for the teachers:
A most important truth, which we apt to forget, is that a teacher can never truely teach unless he is still learning himself. A lamp can never light another lamp unless it continues to hum its own flame. The teacher who has come to the end of his subject, who has no living traffic with its knowledge, but merely repeat his lesson to his students, can only load their minds, he cannot quicken them. Truth not only must inform but inspire.
Most teachers do not know that in order to teach boys they have to be boys. Unfortunately schoolmasters are obsessed with the consciousness of their dignity as grown up persons and as learned men and therefore, they always try to burden the children with their grown up manners and their learned manners, and the hurts the mind of the students unnecessarily.
I have noticed this fact, that those teachers who pride themselves on being disciplinarians are really born tyrants, as so many men are one of these to give outlet to their inherent lust for their tyranny, they make use of these helpless children and impose on them own code of behaviour.
An immense amount of sympathy and understanding and imagination are needed to bring up human children. They are not produced and trained for some purpose clear of display; they are not dancing bears or monkeys.
Tagore gives a clear picture of an educational institution:
The educational institution, therefore, which I have founded, has primarily for its object the constant pursuit of truth, from which the imparting of truth naturally follows. It must not be a dead cage in which living minds are fed with food artificially prepared. It should be open house, in which students and teachers are at one. They must live their complete life together, dominated by a common aspiration for truth and a need of sharing all the delights of culture.
(b) Creative Self-expression:
Tagore felt that mere intellectual development was not the only function of education because a large part of man cannot find expression in the mere language of words. For the education of whole man, his emotions and senses must also develop along with intellect. Many other languages of lines and colours as well as sounds and movements are essential for the satisfaction of his aesthetic urge and creative self-expression.
This is the only reason why Tagore has given arts, craft, music, drawing and dramatics etc. a prominent place in his scheme of education. He said, “Hand work and arts are the spontaneous overflow of our deeper nature and spiritual significance.” In Shantiniketan, along with academic subjects, he gave an important place to fine arts, crafts, drawing, painting, music, dancing, leather-work etc.
Like Gandhiji, Tagore laid stress on manual work:
“In my opinion we should so far as possible make every pupil in the Ashrama proficient some form or other of manual work. The chief object of this would not be manual training itself; its real value is that through the exercise of physical skill, the mind also is filled with life and energy. They are boys whom we think stupid – in many cases, their slumbering minds waiting for the couch of this golden wand of practical bodily skill.”
(c) Active Communication with Nature and Man:
Tagore insisted that education should be imparted in an atmosphere of nature with all its beauty, colours, sounds, forms and such other manifestations. In his opinion, education, in natural surroundings, develops intimacy with the world and the power of communication with nature. Nature, according to him, was manuscript of God.
So he emphasised that education must enable a person to realise his immediate relationship with nature. It should take the child nearer nature and, therefore, in close proximity of God. It should help him to learn freely and spontaneously from the book of Nature. Since Nature never betrays the heart that loves her, she will provide the child with spontaneous development and natural growth.
Again contact with nature means contact with space outside which leads to being spacious within. Nature leads to expansion of soul. The soul in his limited boundary cannot enter the divine realms. God too wants Royal Receptions. He is the Divine Detective. Hence expansion of the self through communion with nature is essential for spiritual uplift and revelation of divinity.
In his own words, “Whenever the landscape is immense, the sky unlimited, clouds intensely dense, feeling unfathomable, that is the day where infinity is manifest, its companion is one solitary person.” In such an atmosphere will the body and mind of the child pulsate with rhythmic beat of the universe? Nature provided him with play of life, satisfaction of mind and the peace of soul. So Tagore categorically said,
“No, I will never shut the doors of my senses. The delight of sight and hearing and touch will bear Thy Tight.”
Along with this communion with Nature, Tagore advocates the communion of man with man. He believes that man is a social animal and that he has to live in social groups. So he must imbibe social etiquette and practice social virtues like sympathy fellow-feeling and cooperation. He declares. “We should have the gift to be natural with Nature and human with human society.” But Tagore’s humanism goes far beyond the limits of one’s nation and one’s country.
He advocates cordial international relationships through mutual understanding and broad humanism. He preaches the ideal of universalism which teaches man love and respect of mankind, irrespective of different communities, nationalities and religions. He insists on the unity of mankind and internationalism, with a view to bring about a fusion between the western progressive outlook and our ancient ideals under traditions.
(d) Internationalism:
Tagore had deep faith in the unity of man. He loved this faith by giving expression to it through Vishwabharti, the international university. Here he expressed his faith in the inter- communication of minds and hearts as the basis for world harmony. According to him, “Vishwabharti acknowledge India’s obligation to offer to others the hospitality of her best culture and India’s right to accept from others their best.” Here East and West could meet in unity, peace and understanding.
Tagore was true cosmopolitan. He believed in unity, in the diversity of races and nations. Each race had something to contribute to the humanity. He found cooperation and cross-fertilisation as necessary for harmonious development of the human race. He dreamt of a world community knit together through diverse educational and cultural forces.
And this was actually in accordance with the Indian ideals. India stands for the brotherhood of mankind. Even the Britishers are our brothers. Had they not come? India would have been deprived of the touch with West. Ours is the goal of building greater India ‘in which Hindu and Muslim and Christian, the dark-skinned and the white-skinned will all find their place.’