4.
There is a profound Indian view about teaching which declares that the first principle of teaching is that nothing can be taught. This paradoxical statement may seem at first sight incomprehensible. But when we look closely into it, we find that it contains significant guidelines regarding the methodology of teaching. It does not prohibit teaching, since it is stated to be the first principle of teaching. It does, however, suggest that the methods of teaching should be such that the learner is enabled to discover by means of his own growth and development all that is intended to be learnt. It points out, in other words, that the role of the teacher should be more of a helper and a guide rather than that of an instructor. This would also mean that the teacher should not impose his views on the learner, but he should evoke within the learner the aspiration to learn and to find out the truth by his own free exercise of faculties.
The truth behind this role of the teacher is brought out by the contention that nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the in-most being of the learner. One is reminded of the Socratic view that knowledge is innate in our being but it is hidden. Socrates demonstrates in the Platonic dialogue, 'Meno', how a good teacher can, without teaching, but by asking suitable questions, bring out to the surface the true knowledge which is already unconsciously present in the learner. As we know, Socrates and Plato distinguished between opinion, on the one hand, and knowledge, on the other. They point out that whereas opinions can be formed on the basis of questionable sense experiences, knowledge which consists of pure ideas is independent of sense-experience and can be gained by some kind of experience which is akin to remembrance. In other words, according to Socrates and Plato, knowledge is "remembered" by a process of uncovering.
Again, according to Socrates and Plato, virtue is knowledge. Therefore, what is true of knowledge is also true of virtue. Just as knowledge cannot be taught but can only be uncovered even so virtue, too, cannot be taught but can be uncovered. But, here again, it does not mean that there is no such thing as teaching or that the teacher has no role to play. It only means that the teacher has to be cognizant of the fact that the learner has in him a potentiality and that this role consists of a delicate and skilful operation of uncovering what is hidden or latent in the learner.
There is, indeed, an opposite view, which is advocated mainly by behaviorists, who maintain that the learner has no hidden potentialities except some rudimentary capacities of reflex responses and that anything and everything can be taught to the learner by suitable processes of conditioning which can be designed according to the goals in view. Thus Watsom claimed that learners can be trained to become whatever you design them to become. According to this view, everything can be taught, all virtues and values can be taught and cultivated by suitable methods of conditioning.
It is not our purpose to enter into a debate with behaviorism. But it is a fact that even behaviorism acknowledges that conditioning presupposes innate reflexes, and that the process of conditioning is dependent upon a reward-punishment system which, whether acknowledged or not, can be explained only if the learner has within him an innate drive towards some kind of goal seeking and fulfilment. In other words, even if we admit that external stimulation and conditioning are effective instruments of learning, it does not mean that stimulation of conditioning could work upon a subject that would be devoid of an innate capacity or drive to respond.
Moreover, the claims of behaviorism have been questioned by several rival theories of psychology. The school of mathematical logic, for example, rejects behaviorism and prescribes that the aim in teaching should be more limited and that the claims as to what can be taught should be more modest. It maintains that the aim of teaching should be to teach procedures and not solutions and that the methods should be so employed that the mental processes are taken in the direction of mathematical logic. The Gestalt psychology maintains that there are in the learner basic perceptual structures and schemes of behavior which constitute some kind of basic unity. It underlines, therefore, the presence of an innate institution in the learner and it prescribes intuitive methods based on perception, which are found largely in audio-visual pedagogy. Psychoanalysis has discovered an unimaginable large field of innate drives of which our active consciousness is normally unconscious.. But Freudian form of psychoanalysis, which posited eros and thanatos as the two ultimate but conflicting innate drives in man, has been largely over-passed by Adler, Jung and others. Modern psychic research is discovering in the sub-conscious a deeper layer which can properly be termed as subliminal, since it is found to be seat of innate capacities of telepathy, clairvoyance, etc. As psychology is advancing, we seem to be discovering more and more of what is innate in the learner. At the same time, we are becoming more and more conscious of the necessity to be increasingly vigilant about the methods which we should employ in dealing with the learner.
It is, therefore, sometimes argued that there is a valid distinction between knowledge and values and that while knowledge can be taught values cannot be taught. But when we examine this view more closely, we find that what is meant is that the methods which are valid and appropriate in the field of learning in regard to knowledge are not applicable to the field of learning in regard to values. We may readily accept this contention, and we may insist on the necessity of recognising the fact that corresponding to each domain of learning there are valid and appropriate methods and that the effectivity of learning will depend upon an ever-vigilant discovery of more and more appropriate methods in each domain of learning. It is clear, for example, that while philosophy can be learnt by a process of discussion, swimming cannot be learnt by discussion. In order to learn to swim one has to plunge into water and swim. Similarly, the methods of learning music or painting have to be quite different from those by which we learn mathematics or physics. And indeed, when we come to the realm of values, we must recognise the necessity of a greater scruple in prescribing the methods which can be considered to be distinctively appropriate to this field.
One speciality of the domain of values is that it is more centrally related to volition and affection, rather than to assume that value-oriented education should be exclusively for training of volition and affection. This point needs to be underlined because of two reasons. Firstly, it is sometimes assumed that value-oriented education should be exclusively or more or less exclusively limited to certain prescribed acts of volition and that the value-oriented learning should be judged by what a learner 'does' rather than what he knows. In our view, this is too simplistic and exclusive, and we should avoid the rigidity that flows from this kind of gross exclusivism. Secondly, and this is an opposite view - it is sometimes argued that learning is primarily a cognitive process and, therefore, value-orientation learning should largely or preponderantly be limited to those methods which are appropriate to cognition. In our view this, too, is a gross exclusivism which should be avoided. We recommend, therefore, that while methods appropriate to volition and affection should be more preponderant, methods appropriate to cognition also should have a legitimate and even an indispensable place. This is reinforced by the fact that the striving towards values stirs up the totality of the being and cognition to less than volition and affection is or can be stimulated to its highest maximum degree, provided that the value-oriented learning is allowed its natural fullness.
Instruction, example and influence are the three instruments of teaching. However, in our present system of education, instruction plays an overwhelmingly important role, and often when we think of teaching we think only of instruction. It is this illegitimate identification that causes much confusion and avoidable controversies. If we examine the matter carefully, we shall find that in an ideal system of teaching, instruction should play a much less important role than example and influence of the teacher. It is true that in the domain of learning where cognitive activities play a more dominant part, instruction through lectures and discussions may have, under certain circumstances, a larger role. But in those domains of learning where volitional and affective activities play a larger part, instruction through methods other than lectures and discussions should play a larger role.
In a system of education, where teaching and instruction are almost identified there, is very little flexibility where example and influence can play their legitimate role. Moreover, our present system is a continuous series of instruction punctuated by home-work and tests which accentuate the rigidity of procedure and mechanical adherence to schedule of time-table, syllabi and examinations. In this rigid and mechanical structure, the centre of attention is not the child but the book, the teacher and the syllabus. The methods, which are most conducive to the development of the personality of the child such as the methods of self-learning, exercise of free will, individualised pace of progress, etc., do not have even an elbow room. Indeed, if this is the system of education and if we are to remain content with this system of education, most important elements of learning will for ever remain outside this system, and we cannot confidently recommend any effective system of learning, much less any effective programme of value-education.
We envisage, however, that sooner rather than later, our system of education will change in the right direction. We believe that an increasing number of educationists and teachers will come forward to break the rigidities of our educational system. We think that it is possible to make our system more and more flexible And we maintain that with the right type of training imparted to teachers, a more healthy system of education will eventually be introduced and will become effective.
While on this subject, we would like to make comment on our present system of examinations. Apart from a number of undersirable aspects of our examination system, the one which is particularly conducive to what may be called "anti-value" is the tendency which promotes the idea that passing of an examination and earning of degree is the aim of education. We recommend that radical measures should be adopted to combat this idea and to introduce such changes in our examination system whereby the educational process can remain unalterably fixed on the right aims of education.
We recommend a radical change in the examination system as a necessary condition of any meaningful value-oriented education.
It is sometimes argued that values can best be taught through the instrumentality of a number of subjects rather than through any specific or special subject, whether we may call it by the name of "moral education" or "ethics", or "value-education". We feel that there is a great force behind this contention and we readily recommend that a well-conceived programmes of studies of various subjects should naturally provide, both in their content and thrust, the requisite materials for value-education.
The question, however, is whether our current programmes of studies have been so carefully devised as to emphasise those aspects which can readily provide to teachers and students the required opportunities, conditions and materials for value-education. We feel that much work remains to be done before we can give a confident answer in the affirmative. But even if our programmes of studies are revised, there will still remain the specific area of value-education which, in our view, should receive a special, although not exclusive, attention and treatment. In other words, we feel that there should be in the totality of educational programmes a core programme of value - education. This core programme should be so carefully devised that various threads of this programme are woven into complex totality of all the other programmes of studies. And yet the central theme of value-education would not form a mere appendage of all other subjects but would stand out at the over-arching and the supervening subject of basic importance.
We further recommend that a suitable study of this core programme should form an important part of teachers' training programmes in our country.
We shall illustrate this recommendation in the next chapter.
5.
AN
OUTLINE PROGRAMME OF VALUE-ORIENTED
EDUCATION AND RELEVANT PEDAGOGICAL SUGGESTIONS
Education is a vast cycle, and what we propose for one sector of education has repercussions on all the other sectors of education. If we wish our teachers to be value-oriented, it is not merely because we want to tone up our teachers' training programmes. We want our teachers to be value-oriented because we want them to be rightly equipped as vehicles of values for the benefit of our children and youth. By this very nature, teacher is a transmitter, a messenger, a carrier. Our determination of what he has to transmit will depend upon what we determine to be valuable for our children and youth. This point has been kept in view while presenting the following outline of a possible programme of value-oriented education which could be treated as a core of totality of the teachers' training programme.
1. Philosophy, Education and Values:
Man in the Universe: Philosophical views: Indian and Western;
Aim of Human Life: Various views:
Supra-cosmic, Supra-terrestrial, Cosmic-terrestrial, integral;
Man's need of progress;
Progress and Education;
Aims of Education: Western and Indian themes, UNESCO's ideals and recommendations;
"Learning to be". The idea of Learning Society;
Education for International Understanding, Peace and Human Rights;
Philosophy of New Methods of Education;
A synoptic view of the recent trends in learning-teaching processes;
Philosophy of Values;
Definition of values, moral and spiritual values, aesthetic and emotional values, values of intellectual and physical culture, Ideals of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Philosophy of Indian Values.
2. Psychology, Education and Values:
A. Man and Personality;
B. Ego memory and Self: Indian and Western Views. Planes and Parts of the Being: Inconscient, Subconscient, Physical, Vital, Rational, Aesthetic, Ethical, Psychic, Spiritual.
Multiple Personalities in Man;
Conflicts within Man;
Harmonisation of Personalities;
Freedom from Ego-consciousness;
Integration of Personality;
- Higher Levels of Personality;
Multi-dimensional Personality;
Balanced Personality;
Personality of Equanimity;
Four-fold Personality of Wisdom, Power, Harmony and Skill.
- Education of the Body and Values of Physical Culture;
- Education of the Vital and Values of Vital Culture;
- Education of the Rational, ethical and aesthetic being and values of mental culture;
- Education of the in - most being and values of psychic and spiritual culture;
- Concept of Psychological Perfection
Science and Values:
Nature of Scientific thinking;
Pursuit of the Value of Truth through Science;
Science and Self-Knowledge;
Striking facts revealed by Science;
Appearance and Reality of Matter;
Life in Plants;
Extraordinary Phenomena of intelligence in Birds and Animals;
The Mysteries of the Human Body;
Interdependence of Body and Mind;
Role of Institution in Discoveries and Inventions;
Idea of the Fourth Dimension;
Man and Evolution;
Possibility of Mutation of Species;
Man and his Mutation;
Science, Man and Values.
4. Philosophy and Values:
The Nature of Philosophical Thinking;
- Its distinction from scientific thinking;
- Philosophy and pursuit of the value of Truth;
Philosophy and the Idea of God;
Proofs of the Existence of God;
Attributes of God: Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence.
Theories of Good and Evil:
(a) Utilitarianism;
(b) Institutionism;
(c) Beyond Good and Evil.
The Problem of Evil, Suffering and Death.
The Problem of Transformation of Human Nature.
5. Religion, Spirituality and Values:
Distinction between Religion and Spirituality;
Salient Features of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism.
Detailed study of the Lives of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Zoroaster, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nanak, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda.
Selected parables, myths and legends
Indian Catholicism, Secularism, Tolerance and
Synthesis.
Psychology of Worship and Prayer
Psychology of Action without Desire
Psychology of Concentration:
Meditation and Contemplation.
Central Spiritual Experience:
Liberation from the Ego;
Cosmic Consciousness;
Transcendental Consciousness;
Spiritual Transformation;
Yoga as practical psychology.
Yoga as Science of Spiritual Experiences;
System of Yoga;
Integral Yoga of Shri Aurobindo
Synthesis of Science and Spirituality
6 Art and Values:
What is Art?
Artistic experience: Some Accounts;
Leonardo Da Vinci, Beethoven,
Rabindra Nath Tagore.
Six Limbs of Indian Art:
| (a) rupabheda | The distinction of forms; |
| (b) pramana | proportion, arrangement of line and mass, design, harmony, perspective; |
| (c) bhava | the emotion or aesthetic feeling expressed by the form; |
| (d) lavanya | the seeking for beauty and charm for the satisfaction of aesthetic spirit; |
| (e) sadrishya | truth of the form and its suggestion; |
| (f) varnikabhanga | the turn, combination, harmony of colors. |
Art and the pursuit of the Value of Beauty:
Beauty in relation to poetry, music, painting, architecture, dance and drama: some illustrations.
7. Psychological Exercises of Aspiration, Will and Introspectioin as aids to the pursuit of values:
Examples
8. Environment and Values:
Harmony with Nature
Love for Vegetable and Animal Kingdom
Ecological Balance and Need to protect Earth to receive protection of Earth
Eco-development programmes.
9. Works of Community Service, Courage and Heroism:
Examples
10. Physical Culture and its Values:
(a) Health; (b) Strength; (c) Agility; (d) Grade; and (e) Beauty.
An Ideal Sportsman
Meaning of Gymnastics, Atheltics, Aquatics, Combatives (Indian Wrestling, Judo, Karate), Games (Indian and Western).
A Daily Programme of Physical Culture
(Theory and Practice).
11. Selected Stories, Plays and Passages of Literature that inspire the pursuit of Truth, Beauty and Goodness:
Some Examples
Creation of Educational Environment through Exhibitions, Interior decoration and stimulating atmosphere
Lessons of History as an aid to the pursuit of Values;
Some Examples
Theme of Unity of Mankind in World History.
12. Practical Suggestions and Hints to Teachers:
(Considering the over-arching importance of the suggestions and hints, we propose to present details in the next Section).
II
(1)
The secret of teaching values is to inspire and kindle the quest among the students by means of one's own example of character and mastery of knowledge. It is by embodying values within ourselves that we can really radiate values to our students.
Value-oriented education should not be conceived as an enunciation of a series of Do's and Don'ts The idea of a series of Do's and Don'ts implies a belief that there are certain actions which are absolutely good, and there are others which are absolutely bad. An inner process, however, shows that outer actions derive their value only in relation to the inner motive and the inner consciousness from which those actions emerge. It is not actions in themselves but the inner qualities behind actions which are important. The given right quality may express itself in different forms of actions.. And each of these actions would be right, since behind each one of them there is the living vibration of the right quality. On the other hand, there are several actions which may apparently seem to be good and right in their outer form, and yet, if they are not spontaneous expressions of the right quality, they cease to have any moral and spiritual value.
A good teacher should, therefore, have a sound psychological knowledge of the different parts of the being, of the different qualities that come into play in various actions, and of the right laws of the development of personality in relation to the development of capacities and values of an integrated personality.
As we have noted elsewhere, values cannot be taught in the same way as lessons of information. Instruction should form a minor role, and a major role should be assigned to intimate contact and individual guidance. The role of the teacher is to put the child on the right road to his perfection and to encourage him in his growth by watching, suggestions and helping, but not imposing or interfering.
All occassions of daily life should be utilised by the teacher to bring his student nearer to the realisation of the ideals. There are occasions when children express wild impulses and passions, and often they are in revolt. Children have their own daily battles of loyalties and friendship, and there are moments of desperate depression and of violent ethusiasm. There are occasions when children get vexed, become sulky and go on strike. All the occasions are occasions for value-oriented education. With patience and perseverance, the teacher can utilise all these occasions to show the truth and light and to awaken among the children the right sense and the right directions of true progress.
(2)
We may now venture to suggest some further guidelines which may be helpful to teachers at different levels of guiding and helping the children:
(a) It may first be noted that a good many children are under the influence of their inner psychic and spiritual being which shows itself very distinctly at times in their spontaneous turning truth, beauty and goodness. To recognise this turning and to encourage it wisely and with a deep sympathy would be the first indispensable step.
(b) The most important quality to develop among the children is sincerity.
(c) This quality and several other qualities are taught infinitely better by example than by beautiful speeches.
(d) The undersirable impulses and habits should not be treated harshly. The child should not be scolded. Particularly, care should be taken not to rebuke a child for a fault which one commits oneself. Children are very keen and clear-sighted observers: they soon find out the educators' weaknesses and note them without pity.
(e) When a child commits a mistake, one must see that he confesses it to the teacher spontaneously and frankly; and when he has confessed it he should be made to understand with kindness and affection what was wrong in movement and that he should not repeat it. A fault confessed must be forgiven
(f) A child should be encouraged to think of wrong impulses not as sins or offences but as symptoms of a curable disease which can be remedied by a steady and sustained effort of the will - falsehood being rejected and replaced by truth, fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice, malice by love
(g) Great care should be taken to see that unformed virtues are not rejected as faults. The wildness and recklessness of many young natures are only over-flowing of an excessive strength, greatness and nobility. They should be purified, not discouraged.
(h) An affection, that is firm yet gentle, sees clearly, and a sufficiently practical knowledge will create bonds of trust that are indispensable for the educator to make the education of a child effective and value-oriented.
(I) When a child asks a question, he should not be answered by saying that it is stupid or foolish, or that the answer will not be understood by him. Curiosity cannot be postponed, and an effort must be made to answer questions truthfully and in such a way as to make the answer comprehensible to the student's mental capacity.
(j) The teacher should ensure that the student gradually begins to become aware of his deeper self and that with this growing awareness the student is able to harmonise and resolve his inner conflicts.
(k) It should be emphasised that if one has a sincere and steady aspiration, a persistent and dynamic will, one is sure to meet, in one way or another, externally by study and instruction, internally by concentration, revelation or experience, the help that one needs. Only one thing is absolutely indispensable, namely, the will to discover and realise. This discovery and this realisation should be the primary occupation of the being, the pearl price which one should acquire at any cost. Whatever one does, whatever one's occupation and activity, the will to find the truth of one's being and to unite with it should always burn like fire behind all that one does, thinks and feels.
(l) At higher levels of development, teacher should use the methods of daily conversation and books read from day to day. Books should contain lofty examples of the past, given not as moral lessons but as things of supreme human interest. These books should also contain (a) great thoughts of great souls, (b) passages of literature which set fire to the highest emotions and promote the highest aspirations, and (c) records of history and biography which exemplify the living of great thoughts, noble emotions and inspiring ideals.
(m) Opportunities should be given or created which would enable students to embody progressively higher and nobler values.
There are important aspects of the mental, vital and physical education which contribute to the value-oriented education. They can be briefly mentioned:
(a) In its natural state the human mind is limited in its vision, and narrow in its understanding. It is often rigid in its conceptions, and a certain effort is needed to enlarge it to make it supple and deep. Hence it is very necessary to develop in the child the inclination and capacity to consider everything from as many points of view as possible. There is an exercise in this connection which gives greater suppleness and an elevation to thought. It is as follows:
A clearly formulated thesis is set; against it is opposed an anti-thesis, formulated with the same precision. Then by careful reflection the problem must be widened or transcended so that a synthesis is found which unites the two contraries in a larger, higher and more comprehensive idea.
Another exercise is to control the mind from judging things and people hastily and without sufficient data. True knowledge is always at a higher level, and one must be able to reach not only the domain of pure ideas but even of deeper experiences. Therefore, the mind should be trained to be silent and to search deeply in order to drive knowledge from higher regions of pure ideas and deeper experiences.
One may suggest a further exercise: Whenever there is a disagreement on any matter, as a decision to take, or an action to accomplish, one must not stick to one's own conception or point of view. On the contrary, one must try to understand the other person's point of view, put oneself in his place and instead of quarrelling, find out a solution which can reasonably satisfy both parties. There is always one for men of goodwill.
A wide, subtle, rich, complex, attentive, quiet and silent mind is a powerful base not only for the discovery of supreme values but also for manifesting them in our outer actions, thoughts and feelings.
(b) The vital being in us is the seat of impulses and desires, of enthusiasm and violence, of dynamic energy and desperate depression, of passions and revolt. The vital being is, however, a good worker, although most often it seeks its own satisfaction. If that is refused totally or even partially, it gets vexed, sulky and goes on strike.
An exercise at these moments is to remain quiet and refuse to act. For it is important to realise that at such times one does stupid things and can, in a few moments, destroy or spoil what one has gained in months of regular effort.
Another exercise is to deal with the vital as one deals with child in revolt, with patience and perseverance, showing it the truth and the light, endeavoring to convince it and awaken in it the goodwill.
A wide, strong, calm but dynamic vital, capable of right emotion, right decision and right execution is an invaluable aid to the realisation of supreme values.
(c) The body of nature is a docile and faithful instrument but it is very often misused by the mind with its dogmas, its rigid and arbitrary principles, and by the vital with its passions, its excess and dissipations. It is these which are the cause of bodily fatigue, exhaustion and disease. The body must, therefore, be freed from the tyranny of the mind and the vital and this can be done by training the body to feel and sense the presence of in - most harmony and peace and to learn to obey its governance.
The emphasis in physical education should be laid on the development of health, strength, agility, grace and beauty through various exercises, whether done by Yogic Asans or by other methods of physical culture such as gymnastics, athletics, aquatics, combatives, games and sports. When the body is rightly trained, it will learn to put forth at every minute the effort that is demanded of it, for it will have learnt to find rest in action, and to replace through contact with universal forces and energies what it spends consciously and usefully. By this sound and balanced practice, a new harmony will manifest in the body, which will give right proportions and the ideal beauty of form.
There are many sports which help to form and necessitate the qualities of courage, hardihood, energetic action, initiative, steadiness of will, rapid decision and action, the perception of what is to be done in an emergency and dexterity in doing it. Another invaluable result of these sports is the growth of the sporting spirit. This includes good humour and tolerance and consideration for all, a right attitude and friendliness to competitors and rivals, self-control and scrupulous observance of the laws of the games, fair play and avoidance of the use of foul means, equal acceptance of victory or defeat without bad humour, and loyal acceptance of the decisions of the appointed judge, umpire or referee. More important still is the custom of discipline, obedience, order and habit of team work which certain games necessitate.
In the words of Sri Aurobindo:
"If they (the above qualities) could be made more common not only in the life of the individual but in the national life and in the international where of the present day the opposite tendencies have become too rampant, existence in this troubled world of ours would be smoother and might open to a greater chance of concord and amity of which it stands very much in need. The nation which possesses them in the highest degree is likely to be the strongest for victory, success and greatness, but also for the contribution it can make towards the bringing about of unity and more harmonious world order towards which we look as our hope for humanity's future".
(4)
Works of community service should be included as a part of the total educational process. But to make community service truly value-oriented, emphasis should be laid on the true spirit with which the proposed work is to be done. Requisite spirit can be developed progressively through certain successive stages. For example, the work inspired by desire or by restlessness should be replaced by the work done with every showing skill and perfection. At the higher stage, work should be done in order to discover its relationship with one's own in-most and highest aspirations. At a still higher level, work should be looked upon as an offering, without any sense of bargain. At still higher stages, work should be done in consonance with the highest ideal that is being progressively worked out in the world, namely, the ideal of solidarity, unity and harmony. The entire discipline of work should be looked upon as tapasya, which should be carried out not only in right spirit but also with efficiency and skill. The true morality and spirituality demand meticulous care in handling material things, and one should not tolerate one's own forgetfulness or idleness. There should be a living worship of things, materials, tools and processes of works. There should be an increasing awareness that matter too is sacred.
(5)
An important element in children's development is the presentation of dreams of a new world, a world of peace and international understanding, a world where truth alone would prevail, a world where beauty and goodness would pervade all that we see and experience.
Stories and plays to illustrate these dreams would be an effective instrument. Artistic imagination that would refine sensitivity and sense of beauty should develop right from the early stages of education Even ordinary habitual things of daily life should be taught as activities of art and beauty. That even activities such as those of bathing, cleaning the teeth, dressing, sitting and standing require art and refined sense of beauty should be brought home to children and young students.
Students should be encouraged to live in harmony with nature and to develop the habit of clam and intimate company of plants, trees and flowers.
At a little higher stage, students may be introduced to the art of listening to music. Acquaintance with some selected ragas (Indian) and harmonies (Western) should be encouraged. Exhibition of books of beauty in its various aspects should also form part of the programmes in schools. A great stress should be laid upon physical fintness as an essential part of the pursuit of beauty.
Those who have special interest in music, dance, art and poetry should be given special facilities so that they can develop their interests and capacities in these fields.
Examples of poetic excellence should also be presented to the students in various ways. An idea should be emphasised that just as there is beauty in the harmony of physical forms, even so there is beauty in the harmony of the forms of thoughts, works, feelings and deeds.
At a still higher level, special emphasis may be laid on the powers of expression, such as faultless recitation, poetry and dramatics. A special emphasis should be laid on the study of the appreciation of art and music.
A. Since stories play a great role in providing inspiration to the children in regard to values, teachers should prepare various compositions of stories and plays from the world literature which would satisfy at the best the following criteria:
(i) They
should have been written in a language that is chaste and beautiful;
(ii) They should be full of human interests,
which, however, do not involve plots of mischief and cunning; and
(iii) They should be able to create an
atmosphere of peace and harmony and a spontaneous inspiration
for Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
(Some illustrative
stories are given in one of the appendices).
B. Teachers should also endeavour to:
(a) Select and compile exercises (i) of remembering and repeating noble aspirations and thoughts, (ii) of observation and accurate descriptions, and (iii) of control of senses and speech and behaviour;
(b) Identify subjects and topics which develop sense of wonder;
(c) identify topics and subjects which would provide an inter-disciplinary study of science and values;
(d) identify activities which may relate to the free choice directed towards control and mastery over lower impulses and towards excellence in studies and in works;
(e) identify topics that would help students to widen and heighten their consciousness;
(f) select topics related to self-knowledge and to the methods of concentration by which human consciousness can be developed not only horizontally but also vertically so as to create states of consciousness in which mutuality, harmony and true brotherhood could flower spontaneously;
(g) identify subjects and topics related to values needed for a new world order of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity; and
(h) finally, identify subjects and topics related to the Values of the Synthesis of the East and the West.
We would like to reiterate, however, that if the teacher is to play his right role in the promotion of value-oriented education, the teacher himself should be value-oriented. It is only when he is himself value-oriented, that he will be able to give the necessary inspiration, help and guidance to his students. As we have noted elsewhere, values cannot be taught merely by discourse, just as swimming cannot be taught merely by lecturers. A good teacher of swimming has to be a swimmer himself, and he should be able to take the learner into the waters to make him swim. Similarly, a teacher of values should himself be a seeker and aspirant of values, and he should be ready to walk with the learner on the long and difficult path of realising and embodying values.
In this context, it seems worthwhile to dwell at some length on the concept of the teacher, and this we propose to do in the next chapter.
6
What is required of a teacher? There can be no single or simple answer to the question. The teacher must, of course, teach which according to the Oxford Dictionary, means give instruction and lesson in a subject: but this, surely, is not all that is expected of him.
Consideration of the teacher's role becomes somewhat abstract in the background of the unpleasant reality that although there is in our country a large army of teachers and a sizeable number and variety of institutions for professional training of the teachers, there is no 'profession' of teaching as such indicative of what the teachers stand for and what responsibility the profession professes to own for itself. It spite of more than three decades of independence, the authoritarian control, characteristic of the sad imperial times, still prevails and the teacher is told what he must do and how to do what he must. He is not expected to have a mind of his own and he is only marginally involved, if at all, in decision making relating to goals, means administration and organisation of education all of which is done for him by others and done remotely. The teacher is expected merely to obey; teach what he is asked to teach; teach those pupils in the selection of whom he has had little choice; limit his teaching to the books and courses prescribed; train pupils in his charge to pass examinations which are held and evaluated by others and finally be judged and rewarded by standards which have hardly any concern with his professional conscience. His task is more or less mechanical and he must carry out instructions conveyed to him by the grand machinery of education consisting of boards of education, universities, government departments and others. Professional idealism, professional morality, professional conscience, professional standards of behaviour and, in brief, the professional spirit, does not grow in vacuum of professional responsibility and involvement in relevant decision-making relating to education. It would sound cruel but it is not for wrong to say that the teachers constitute only a large labour force for building education as best technicians and mechanics but not builders, designers and architects. This would be evident from the major concerns expressed by our teachers' organisations and associations, which are not unlike those of other labour organisations in respect of manner of expression which is not invariably elegant and dignified as well as of substance of demands which hardly goes beyond the size of the pay packets and personal benefit. It is sometimes asked, would it matter to education at all, if professional training such as is imparted at present to the various categories of teachers is withdrawn? It would not be pure cynicism to answer that some good money will be saved and education will be spared much unmerited damage that is being done to it by the formality of training required only to meet the regulations governing selection of professional staff. The freedom allowed by the states to the higher echelons of the teaching profession, which are excused formal profession education, has also not been used for cultivation of professional spirit nor the imperative need of the present time in our country is to create conditions necessary for cultivation of refined professional personality and life-style for the teacher worthy of his responsibility and dignity as an inspirer, and, to no small extent, as a fashioner of the human destiny. Teacher is too low nor too high in the hierarchy of the profession to be denied the elevating experience.
The image of the teacher varies from time to time, country and cultural traditions of different races and seems to be influenced to no small extent by the prevailing conditions and problems of life, vital to the individual and the community. Expectations from the teacher differ and even conflict. Sparta, of old, was intolerant of the weaklings who were better left to perish unlamented; only the strong and able were to be made stronger and abler. This attitude contracts with the distrust of talent expressed by the unimaginative devotees of democracy as well as, on the other extreme, with the contemporary human concern for the mentally and physically handicapped. We still entertain administration for some of the stern but genuinely good hearted teachers who believed that education was best imparted through the rod, the neglect of which was equated with unbecoming softness and professional irresponsibility. This picture differs widely from some of the contemporary permissive attitudes which encourage primrose-pathing and even dalliance and suffer anarchical out-bursts and destructive actions of the pupils as legitimate expression of protest against the failings of the ruling generation. Goldsmith gives a romantic picture of his teacher - and father-"who passed rich for forty pounds a year" - and left every one wondering "how such a small head could carry all he knew". The picture of the teacher - poor and not very scholarly but nonetheless noble - would bear mention:
"Like some tall cliff that lifts its aweful form,
Swells from the vale and midway leaves the storm,
Though around his breast the rolling clouds are spread
Eternal sun-shine settles on his head."
In our own country, we cherish nostalgically the idyllic picture of the ashrams of our "rishis" located in secluded forests, "far from the madding crowds ignoble strife," where the teacher and the taught shared, alike, the chores of life as well as lofty philosophy. To live in the ashrams, the wall - less institutions; to live with nature and to sit at the feet of the master and watch him live and work and think was considered to be the best of education.
Behind the seeming differences in the role of the teacher in various societies, some common attitudes are discernible. One such feature relates to the culture of the people which the teacher is expected to communicate to the new generation along with its hopes and fears. In open societies with liberal traditions, culture is not forced down the throats of the pupils. The teacher is free to interpret culture and its significance to the contemporary problems of life and to allow criticism by students of its various aspects and implications. The pupils are not expected to accept cultural attitudes of the past as a creed but they have to be aware of the ripe thinking of the past generations on problems which have mattered to life of the people and to its happiness. In other societies where the needs of education are confined to the ends of the state, the options for the teacher are restricted and he is expected to be a conformist and to indicate in the minds of the pupils dogmatic acceptance of political ideologies for theological doctrines advocated by the leadership in power. There are also societies which have recently recovered freedom after long periods of political and cultural domination where there is a kind ambivalence because of cultural alienation. Unsure of their identify, the people tend to be eclectic and view their problems as outsiders would view them, that is, with little emotion and sense of involvement. It takes time to get over the mental attitudes to which people get accustomed through generations of educational and cultural influences and it requires no small courage to look at things afresh. Even if it means mounting a big effort, it is necessary that the process of self-examination and self-determination which are essential to all cultures, should begin and continue vigorously.
There are teachers and teachers. Socrates crusaded against the sophists of his time who taught the youth to be clever and to learn effective rhetoric to gain popular applause by making the worse appear the better reason.. Fagin, character of Dickens, taught small urchins the fine art of pick pocketing. We have teachers who teach wrestling, cricket judo, karate and other sports. We also have teachers who teach music, painting, manual skills, workshop practice, agricultural operations and other arts and crafts necessary for making money and earning a livelihood. But the working 'teachers' do not refer to those who train pupils merely for making a living - not as it is sometimes said for "preparing slaves to a machine or to an office or to a single money making skill." It is true that a teacher with a vision can give liberal orientation to instruction in any special skill or vocation. The word teacher, however, refers to those who impart education fitted for a free man, free to order his life according to his well-conceived thoughts and philosophy of life, free from whatever social and other pressure which inhibit or compel the mind of man. Epictetus observed, "We must not believe the many who say that free persons only ought to be educated: but we should rather believe the philosophers who say that the educated only are free". The ancient Indian adage says 'that is education which is for liberation of the spirit, liberation from all bondages which come to it by birth and are imposed by custom and by society'. Milton viewed "a complete and generous education that which fits a man to perform justly, skillfully and magnanimously all offices both private and public of peace and war." Descartes was of the view that "the end of study should be to direct the mind towards enunciation of sound and correct judgements on all matters that come before it." Milton emphasised the moral and Descartes the intellectual aspect of freedom. Education for freedom is inspiration for continuous initiative to growth from within to full and prudent utilisation of all abilities of a person, that is, in other words, to self-realisation. Education of a free person lies in his appreciation of his role, relationship and responsibility to the physical and social environment in which he is cast, and at the same time experiencing of the deeper awareness within him that while he is in the world he is not of it. He may find himself caged in a body, impelled by the baffling powers of the mind and circumstanced by time and space; but nevertheless; he is still free, if he chooses to be so to explore his spiritual essence. The teacher is bound by a curriculum and he must teach subjects which he is called upon to teach; but most powerful influence of his personality lies in 'the hidden curriculum' of his personality and silent message which is excluded by his way of thinking, discipline of mind and refinement of tastes. A man is what he loves and cares for. Says the Bhagwat Geeta, "A true teacher helps a pupil to discover, his own personal philosophy or the invisible sun within him." In more poetic language Frost felt that each man should be inspired to find the "little metaphors" or tentatively stated truths by which we live. It is no wonder that he insisted that only a free born can realise and act upon the assumption that all learning is individual.
A teacher must no doubt teach certain subjects. The purpose is not merely to impart knowledge of the subject and help to train the mind of the pupil in the discipline of thinking characteristic of the subject and to apply what he learns to what he needs. He is expected to relate what he teachers, through processes of formal and non-formal instruction, to the wider objectives of education, viz. cultivation of spirit of independent enquiry and sensitiveness to moral obligations and good tastes. Moral values have bearing on the context of social life and human relationship. Social history is a continuing experiment, often silent and unconscious; but sometime deliberate and violent, for adjustment between individual and social growth. It happens sometimes that a society striving for security and survival in the internationally competitive communities and maximisation of economic efficiency tends to exercise strangle-hold on the individual and dwarf his personality. Strange phenomena sometime overtake the people - senseless struggle for power leading to wars, oppression of the weak, threats unleashed by piling of nuclear and other weapons of destruction; development of industries in some countries with consequent economic enslavement of the less developed countries; defilement of environment and massacre of forests, these and other fears exercise the minds of the thinking people. The teacher must ever be alert and watch out what may affect the future of humanity. The future is before him in the classroom; in the youth under his tutelage. His main concerns would obviously be to strive to cultivate interests and skills necessary for responsible evaluation of the social and human context and abilities to formulate judgements and provide correctives necessary to remove prevailing imbalances with a view to enabling full freedom for growth both for the individual and the society and to preserve the society from the threatening ills. The teacher should therefore learn to appreciate and evaluate the context of the contemporary social life and the factors that condition it. He should also learn to invite and encourage pupils to contemplate in a detached, dispassionate and objective manner on the social trends of his times and to have visions of life as ideally lives as well as of effective and peaceful methods of social change. In order to be able to perform this function satisfactorily, the teacher has to be well-informed of the currents and cross-currents, historical and ideological, which influence life. The teacher should cultivate silent, sober, and serene detachment to sense what ails the individual and the society and to read the writing on the wall and to appreciate where humanity is drifting to. The detachment and self-discipline of old and experienced teachers should give them visions of the future; in Milton's words "Old experience doth attain,
"Something Like a prophetic strain."
A teacher thus has to be very much more than a well - informed being. "A merely well-informed person is most useless bore on earth", said Whitehead. "I would rather fashion my mind than furnish it", said Montaigne. "The mind is fashioned by quiet but vigorous self-examination. Daily discourse about virtue is the greatest good of men and ... the unexamined life is not worth living", said Socrates. According to Aristotle, "thinking is the occupation of gods from which springs their happiness and ours."
It does not seem fair to be teacher, knowing his social and academic back-ground to pitch his ideal uncomfortably high and not to make allowance for his mundane foibles; nor, on the other hand, it is comforting to consider the damage done when the teacher falls short of expectations. Butler Act of 1944 in UK had a nice line written on top: "What our schools are, the race shall be". Even earlier, Martin Luther observed, "We can get along without burgomasters, princes and noblemen, but we can't do without schools for they must rule the world". The determining consideration should not be to suit the ends of education to kind of teachers available for the profession, but how best to inspire and raise the quality of mind and competence of whatsoever is available wants to be a teacher so that he is able, as best as possible, to live up to the ideals expected of the profession. Well-planned effort should be made so that the profession of a teacher becomes for him a calling from within: a source of his unending happiness. If the effort is made, there would atleast be a few teachers who would feel inspired by the ideals and what is more important, that awareness of professional conscience will be aroused. It forebodes ill for the people if their teachers fail.
The main expectation of a teacher is that he helps the pupil to free himself from 'for which the English word sorrow or grief hardly bring out the meaning for' 'is said to be caused by attachment, hatred and other baser emotions of men. It is sad to note that the general trend among the talented teachers is to make extra money through large number of private tuitions and among those not so talented to seek favour of political houses and earn places and positions without meriting them. The rest of them gradually lose enthusiasm and become indifferent.
In most of the schools the teacher is in contact with his pupils during the school or college working hours - five or six hours. After these school hours the educational process does not come to a stop nor does the pupil hybernate. In fact, more-compelling and alluring and indeed more effective processes of education or miseducation keep operating in the world outside the school. The environment, natural and at home and outside, keeps shaping the mind of the young. There was never any time a choice between 'education' and 'no-education', for to live itself is education. It was said at one time that to live in the Athens of Pericles was the best of education. The choice always is between 'bad' education and 'good' education. At no time in the history of mankind, the forces of communication technology - the film, radio, TV, the newspaper - keep influencing the mind all the time. The hypnotic orator of deception has been perfected by politicians. The conduct of many of our leaders and functioning of social and political institutions do not go unnoticed by the youth. Blatant corruption and its callous tolerance; low means and shortcuts to power and wealth; the manner in which civic and political institutions are run; the way the government offices and officers function; the devices by which elections are fought and positions of power gained; these and several other factor exercise influence on the youthful minds and they are some times reflected and rehearsed in the elections to the college/university unions and the perpetual war against the university authorities. Increasing instances of brutal violence, tardy justice, all too concerned for natural justice to the culprit and totally unconcerned for any justice to the wronged, robbed and slaughtered, seem to make the youth feel that laws an made to defeat justice. These and other factors build in the minds of the youth a moral attitude and encourage permissiveness. The youth is intelligent enough to realise what deliberate misuse of some otherwise unexceptional concepts - democracy, socialism, liberty of expression, rights of minorities and weaker sections of society, and other similar concepts is made for the benefit of a few and the worst crimes are committed in the name of social and political catchwords. Dostoevsky repeatedly warned against playing irresponsibly with abstract ideas, e.g. democracy, socialism, liberty, equality and so on - because 'ideas have consequences'. There is enough experience of how these good concepts are used and what strage ends they are made to serve. Whitehead pointed out that great ideas enter reality in strange disguises and disgusting alliances. Roszak draws attention to the vexing paradoxes of modern industrial and technological age, viz. that intensified progress seems to be bound up which intensified unfreedom and thanks to communication technology, irrationality acquires character of rationality. It is in this background that the teacher is expected to keep himself vigilant and provide models of sobriety and cool observation and thinking. Never before the task of the teacher was more challenging nor was he expected to wage of longer struggle with himself to keep his poise, clarity of vision and sobriety of judgement. This self-discipline on the part of the teacher cannot be taken for granted; he had to be given opportunities for learning to exercise self-discipline to keep him cool in the bewildering phenomenon of life. Neitzche compared an educated person to a tight rope walker; all the drum beating and noises, and the jostling of the crowds around him would not disturb his balance. This virtue cannot be imparted through formal classroom instruction. If the teacher has it, the pupil will hopefully have it.
Tradition is said to bring to teachers respect of the pupil and the society alike; but this tradition has received shocks in recent times and the teachers cannot take respect for granted. He has to earn in the hard way and to merit it. His scholarship and sincerity of purpose would no doubt command respect; but the teacher is not invariably expected to be bright. Only a few teachers are bright. His real influence lies in what he is and what he makes of himself. The teacher's influence is not confined to what he does during his teaching hours in the classroom; in reality he teaches all the time. He is constantly watched by hundred of pairs of eyes; the way he walks and talks, studies and prepares his lessons; conducts himself inside and outside the classroom; the company he keeps; his habits of living, thinking and studying the way he treats his family and employees and all that he does is watched. The teacher lives in a glass house; he has hardly any private life. He is the observed of all observers and what he does tends unconsciously to be mimicked by the students. The teachers thus provides models - good or bad - of behaviour for the pupils. Mimickry is the silent tribute the pupil pays to the teacher. This imposes on a teacher responsibility which is in some way unique. Educational literature sometimes refers to 'man-making', as one major concern of teacher education. Whatever may be understood by the term 'man-making', the more important function of teacher education should be to provide environment, inspiration, opportunities and all these are necessary to help the teacher to 'make himself', in other words, to cultivate his personality and to realise the best he is capable of. He has to learn to mould his life-style, his habit of walking, talking, laughing, working, thinking and conducting himself in public or private life. In the Geeta, Arjun enquires of Lord Krishna about this "Wise and Self-controlled person, how he talks, how he conducts his conversation with others, how he sits, how he walks."
The disciplined mind is reflected in the minutest behaviour and habits of life and thinking.
The most valuable and enduring influence of a teacher a lies in the silent power of example. In ancient India the pupil lived with the teacher in sylvan hermitage in an atmosphere of solitude and silence. The pupil watched his teacher and imbibed the inward methods of the functioning of the teacher's mind, the secrets of his efficiency, the sources of his insprings of happiness, and the spirit of his life and world. Shankaracharya gives a delightful picture where the Guru was young and the pupils old and the Guru's eloquence lay in the profound silence which dispelled all doubts of his pupils. The pupil shared experiences of his teacher as well the delight. The Guru adventures in quest of knowledge. The Guru shows the light and the path to understanding of what is within and without us. It is said that the most powerful lessons are never spoken aloud. The skilled carpenter bent over his tools works with exquisite skill without uttering a word; the apprentice learns. A pupil learns from a poet or painter in silence. The surgeon performing a skilled operation has no wish to explain each of his dexterous moves which is learnt in silence by his earnestly watching pupils. A teacher with good habits of thinking and working communicates with them in silence through his example A disciplined teacher, correct and orderly in his habits, sensitive to the needs of those less fortunate in life, gracious and magnanimous; in his dealings with those around him, unruffled by the storms that blow around him, unwilling to stoop to whatever is mean and low however gainful it may be, always cheerful and pleasant without being vulgar and boisterous, will influence much better than through eloquent lectures. Whether in performance in any situation, the power of the teacher's will and his resolute defiance of difficulties constitute education which no formal teaching can provide. Poet Yeats called it, "the fascination of what's difficult". In moments of triumph or defeat, affluence and adversity, public applause or censure, the teacher's self-restraint and courage are tested and learnt by the pupils. The quiet dignity of the teacher, his rejection, his delight in whatever is noble and beautiful, what is unbecoming constitute his personality and best of education for his pupil through the example of his personal life.
The teacher must thus learn to acquire faith in himself. It is not less important that he should have faith in his student and in his capacity to develop all his powers and to build up his individual personality. One malady that characterises the educational system at present is the practice of passing judgements on the students and declaring them good or bad, worthy or unworthy, successful or unsuccessful This is followed up by hero-worship and special rewards for those who are declared successful and even unconscious disincentive for those declared failures. Judgements of this kind must stop. Who has the right to judge? and what is the right criteria for judging? These are questions to which no clear answer can be given. Sir Philip Hartog's famous investigation, "Examinations of Examinations" should arouse serious doubts about the validity of the examination results and the machinery and methods of our examinations. Modern psychologists have presented to us formidable facts. Guilford, Torrence, Taylor and others have pointed out than men have more than 120 abilities and talents of which the best of modern education attends to only 8, which are mostly concerned with abstract reasoning and verbal and numerical skills. It ignores the rest, such as inter-personal communication and creative, organisational, managerial and other skills.. Various combinations of the 120 or more talents constitute patterns which characterise individuals and sub-cultures. Unfortunately, social perstige is given to what is constituted by the eight accepted educational abilities, and the best of the rewards go to them. The individuals and sub-cultures displaying talents and abilities other than those educationally recognised are considered inferior and even damned. The teachers should appreciate that traditionally accepted educational methods inhibit full growth of man and create artificial values for evaluation of human spirit. It may even be said that the present system of evaluation in the system of education defeats full growth of man and develoment of several valuable human qualities. It is no wonder that some men who fortunately missed education achieved great heights in various levels. The world was not lacking in great and good men before the system of schooling came into being. It is no wonder that thinkers like Iwan llich suggest de-schooling of society. The achievements of the school are not only limited but tend to create wrong human values. The teacher, therefore, must learn to adopt a wider view of education and desist from the practice of passing judgement on the student on the basis of schools and examination records. He would err on the right side if he assumes that there can be wrong syllabus, wrong curriculum, wrong textbooks, everything wrong, but not wrong pupil. Teacher's faith in the pupil and his endeavour to help him to discover himself is real education. It is the teacher's responsibility to understand his pupil independently of the customary categorisation fashionable in the system of education. The sculptor, Robin, rightly observed that whenever there is life, there is beauty and if the teacher fails to have faith in the dignity of the individual, who will?
There is at present a growing concern for helping the student to acquire social skills and relevant knowledge which would enable the pupil to live in a society which is getting more and more complex and to participate in the social, economic and political process that affects its destiny. Participation in social and national life and cultivation of human attitudes and sense of social justice and respect for other persons' point of view are no doubt essential parts of proper education. It is equally important for the teacher to appreciate that a man has also to live with himself and he cannot run away from himself. The most important things happen to man in solitude. The most important decision are taken, new discoveries are made, and novelties perceived in the loneliness of the mind. A German Philosopher said, "the strong man is strongest when alone". Frost as a teacher advised the pupil to wander alone in the woods and let "something happen to him". Stevenson felt that the mind should be trained to become sensitive to "chance provocations" which often encounter one in silence.
The old system of training in yoga was based on cultivation of quiet of the mind. The mind is trained to withdraw from the noises outside and those within and seek the recesses of solitude inside to discover sources of enduring bliss and enlightenment. Education should bake - bread, refine intellect and tastes; enrich society; but it would remain inadequate, if spiritual dimension of the spirit is ignored. The main concern of education is to break through the confines of immediacy and to seek in silence the insight which .......meditation is known to provide. "Faith and prayer grow in silence and constitute the sublime in education". Dostoevsky in "Brothers Karamazov" makes a priest say, "Young man, be not forgetful of prayer. Every time you pray, if your prayer is sincere, there will be a new feeling and new meaning in it, which will give you fresh courage and you will understand that prayer is an education".
The teacher must have a philosophy of his own which should be reflected in his behaviour; but he would be misunderstood if he confined himself to airy abstractions. he must also be a down-to-earth realist and his sense of realism should be reflected in his relationship with the subjects he teaches. It would be sad if the pupil got the impression that the teacher teaches certain subjects only because he is hired and paid for it and that he is no better than any other mercenary. Such a teacher may enable the student to pass an examination, but he will command little respect. What affects the students' mind and attitude is the devotion of the teacher to his subjects and his genuine involvement in its development. His seriousness in his studies and in struggling with the many problem arising out of it, his joy in discovery of novelty in the course of his studies become infectious for his pupils. Whitehead recalls what the mad priest in John Bull's Other Island said: "Work is play and play is life: three is one and one is three". Play is something to which one devotes his best energies and thereby derives maximum joy for himself. A hard-working teacher, genuinely interested in his subject, struggling with its hard and vexatious problems, exudes happiness which is easily communicated to the pupils. The teacher who merely repeats a laboratory experiment mechanically and purposelessly as a matter of prescribed drill, the teacher who teaches geography and astronomy without looking out or gazing at the skies at night, the teacher who teaches history out of books and is uninterested in local history and ancient monuments, will not kindle fire in the minds of the pupils. He should not be surprised if he gets a cold reception from his class. The enthusiasm and commitment of the teacher to his subject and his ability to inspire and arouse interest in the minds of the students determines the quality of the teacher.
The teacher must also be aware of the best known methods of teaching the subjects he teaches and he should learn those methods by practising them. But he should be a master of methods and not a blind follower of the fashionable ones. Methods of teaching are experiments the results of which need constant watching. Methods need to be refined continually in the light of the results achieved. Methods are personal and depend largely on the teacher's concept of what he aims to do and his imaginative approach to putting his ideas across to the pupil in order to inspire him to learn. The teachers must be constantly aware of the methods used by other teachers and also testing the methods of teaching he adopts.
The teacher is a communicator. He communicates through spoken and written words, his voice, his language and choice of words; his actions while speaking, contribute to his effectiveness. His pen-manship, handwriting, elegant arrangement of written work, reflect his efficiency. The teacher communicates himself through his work and deftness in handling material and performance of skilled work. Slopiness and carelessness on his part does not remain unnoticed. The teacher has also to acquire knowledge of skills in use of teaching aids and gifts of modern educational technology such as audio-visual aids e.g. educational films, filmstrips and closed-circuit TV sets, use of computers, language laboratories and programmed learning techniques and the like. Above all, the teacher must be able to improvise and innovate with the help of whatever opportunities are locally available. He should never be at a loss.
Mahatma Gandhi had a clear vision of the facts which beset the future of education in the country after independence and he repeatedly expressed the view that education in the country should be free of any control of government and should as far as possible be self-sufficient and self-supporting. He explored the possibility of basic schools producing enough craft-work to provide of, even if partly, means to sustain school. The conception of Vidya Mandir, which he blessed was based on allotment of a certain piece of agricultural land to a school in the villages for growing crops by the student and teachers alike, and making adequate income to maintain the school. Mahatma Ji's view was that the teacher should be free from political and economic pressures, free to do productive work in the school with the help of the pupils and depend as little as possible on outside agencies for financing and thereby controlling the teachers and dictating terms in education. Perhaps the schools would remain poor in many ways and the staff inadequately paid. He felt that the teachers and the schools must pay the price for their freedom and that it was better to go poor than be bought up by government of educational entrepreneurs. The path contemplated by the Mahatma was difficult and after independence education at a stage came under the government. The schools and universities were in consequence better equipped and teachers better paid. Education also progressed on customary lines and produced expected results both good and bad. No one now need ask question about the freedom of teachers. They themselves are little concerned about it and their major concern relates to the conditions of their "Service" as teachers. Of course, the teachers are not as well paid as they should be and normally they cannot be rich - like successful lawyers and doctors Good teachers and the more influential teachers have found way out by earning by providing what is now called "private coaching". It is known that some teachers, with the support of the powers that matter, use their position in their schools and colleges for increasing the popularity of their private coaching classes and their income. There is another category of teachers which aligns itself with party politics and gains good position and "transfers" to the places they like by flattery of those who matter in public life and administration. There are also teachers who exercise effective control over government's machinery and party politics. In some places teachers see elections to the Parliament, State Assemblies and other position of importance. However, the role of each teacher is well known to the students and the people who suffer them, of times, with silent disapproval. They also know those teachers who are un-involved in party-political bodies, uninterested in getting into "committees", and disdainful of easy means of making extra-income, and hold them in high esteem. There are, thank god, noble teachers who do not regard their poverty as a barrier to performance of their duties and who have the strength within them to reject temptations for positions of power and monetary gains. These are the teachers most respected and remembered for their self-less character and for giving their best to the pupils.
But must dedicated teacher remain poor? What is the duty of the society to the teacher? Must the teacher be paid only to be robbed of his freedom? Plutarch in his "Education of Children" gives as excellent story which would bear quotation in his context: Socrates, the great sage of antiquity used to say and very aptly, that if such a thing were possible he would ascent to the loftiest heights of the city and cry out: "Where mankind are you heading? Upon acquisition of money you bestow every zeal but of your sons to whom you will leave all these money, you take little thought". For my part I would add that procedure of such fathers is very like that of a man who would take thought for his shoe and neglect his foot. But many fathers reach such a pitch in their love for money and hatred for children that in order to avoid paying a larger stipend, they choose as teacher for their children those worth nothing at all, shopping for ignorance at bargain prices. On this point Aristippus, very neatly and with great clearness, made a gesting remark to a father who had no sense and no brains. When he asked him his price for education of his son, he said, "A thousand drachmas". "By Heracles," the man said, "what an exorbitant figure"? "I can buy a slave for a thousand". Aristippus retorted, "then you have two slaves your son and the fellow you buy".
Passage of time has not altered the moral of the story except that the state has replaced the father. There is still shopping for ignorance at bargain prices. Paradoxically, indeed, the modern quest for freedom of the human spirit though education appears to produce increased slavery of the mind which wears approved masks of freedom. A Copernican change in approach to education appears imperative.
We except the teacher to bring about a revolution, not merely a change in management of socio-economic affairs; but a change in man; a revolution born of joy; not of sacrifice. We expect of a teacher what the poet expected of the stars:
"Teach me you moon, O ! patient stars,
Who climb each night the ancient sky,
Leaving no space, no shadow, no scars,
No trace of age, no fear to die".