B.ED. PROGRAMME

TOPIC: NOTIONS OF AN EDUCATED PERSON

BY:

DR. MUKTA MANI

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,

DDE, LNM UNIVERSITY

DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

LALIT NARAYAN MITHILA UNIVERSITY

KAMESHWARNAGAR, DARBHANGA

INTRODUCTION

Education is a systematic process through which a child or an adult acquires

knowledge, experience, skill and sound attitude. It makes an individual civilized,

refined, cultured and educated. For a civilized and socialized society, education is

the only means, its goal is to make an individual perfect. Every society gives

importance to education because it is a panacea for al! evils. It is the key to solve the

various problems of life. The output is education is what we call as educated person.

Now, the question arises-

What is meant by being educated?

What are the notions of educated person?

Mere possession of degrees qualify us for being called as educated one?

Is being employed equal to being educated?

Who is an Educated Person?

An educated person is one who has undergone a process of learning that results

in enhanced mental capability to function effectively in familiar and novel

situations in personal and intellectual life. In order to function effectively in

such situations, one needs to acquire:

general information (knowledge),

general thinking abilities involved in knowledge building and knowledge

critiquing,

general language abilities needed for clear, precise, and effective

communication for epistemic purposes,

the capability for independent learning and the mind set that facilitates it.

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON NOTIONS OF

EDUCATED PERSON

The salient features of Indian philosophy of education are based on the quest for

spiritual values which stresses upon the unity of existence, the divinity of man

and harmony of creeds and religions.

Indian philosophy of education gives importance to the essence of creating a

sense of universal human hood and spirituality.

On the other hand, western traditions of educational philosophy stresses upon

the pragmatic view of life to measure the value of the man in accordance to

his/her utility in the society (Dupuis & Gordon, 2010).

The notion of educated person has been explained in varied ways according to

both Indian and Western Philosophers.

A) Indian Philosophers-

• According to Gandhiji, educated person must inculcate the dignity of labour in

his behaviour , he/she must develop a sense of spirituality, should contribute

towards the reformation of the economy of the country, ensure national

integrity and help build cohesion and solidarity in the society.

• The educational philosophy of Sri Aurobindo is based on the evolution of the

idea of “total humanity” with the emphasis placed on the principles of growth

in unity that maintains the evolution of diversity. He proposed that educated

person must be a human being who gives importance to moral responsibilities

to transcend narrower interests to wider ones and as a member of a nation.

According to Swami Vivekananda, educated person must act as a powerful

instrument of social change. He/she must strive for the manifestation of

perfection that already exists in him/her. Educated person must reflect a balanced

intellectual, physical, material, emotional, spiritual and moral aspect and should

work to remove the major evils as priest-craft, ignorance, poverty and tyranny of

the wise.

Tagore believed that the manifestation of personality of educated man depends

upon the self-realisation, spiritual knowledge and health. Educated person should

realise the oneness of the globe and establish a universal brotherhood and based

on intercultural understanding. In Tagore’s humanism, the need of co-relation

between man and nature is essential for ensuring peace and justice.

B) Western Philosophers :

John Dewey conceives of education as an enterprise which duly focuses on

cultivating critical and reflective thinking as its most noble function. For him, an

educated person is one who has reached the stage of intellectual autonomy and

can depend on this resource to lead a satisfying life consistent with his or her

criteria of growth, both at the personal and the social level.

Whitehead (Whitehead, 1959, 156-176) sought to make schooling more critical

and reflective. In his Aims of Education, he comments that "a merely well

informed man is the most useless bore of God's earth" (Whitehead, 1967, 4). He

also coined the term "inert ideas" to signify the futility of the passive reception of

disconnected information. Hence educated person must know the art of the

utilization of knowledge. An idea or information is useful or productive to the

extent that it is put to use in the solution of problems.

Russell's conception of education and the educated person is derived from his repeated

expression of dissatisfaction with educational systems that force children to accept

certain conclusions instead of encouraging them to think for themselves. He believed

that the habit of passive acceptance is disastrous in later life(Hare, 1987, 2541).

R. S. Peters' view about the definition of the educated person can be derived from his

fundamental belief in "man" as a "creature who lives under the demand of

reason"(Peters, 1973, 254). Worthwhile education, thus, is an education which satisfies

a reason-based "truth seeking" disposition, or the concern for the truth written into

human life (Peters, 1973, 255). His view of true education and the educated person can

also be inferred from his treatment of the role of the teacher. He asserts that the teacher

has a provisional authority that can be justified only if his or her teaching provides the

"critical equipment which would enable the students to evaluate what they were

learning and to continue on their own"(Peters, 1973, 48).

James Marshall, a contemporary philosopher of education, outlines the following

characteristics for such a person:

• Has a reasonable degree of knowledge and a commitment to rationality in both beliefs

and actions.

• Is committed to some causes, can he "spirited" in the service of them and is ready to

"stand up and be counted" when human good is at stake.

• Can experience enjoyment alone and with fellow humans; finds nothing human that is

distasteful. (Marshall, 1983, 88-89)

Vanderberg's human rights approach to the definition of an educated person considers "an

adult human being who is a person or moral agent" to be educated. Such an individual, he

argues, treats both others and oneself "as persons and bearers of human right".

Vanderberg elaborates his position by adding that "what an educated person needs is

fellow-creaturely feeling toward each person as a person"(Marshall, 1983, 88-89). For a

person to be educated, he asserts, "caring would need to be concrete and personalized, not

only an abstract love of humanity in general" (Marshall, 1983, 220).

FOUR CATEGORIES OF VIEWS ON

NOTIONS OF EDUCATED PERSON

Four basic categories of views can be extracted from the array of different

conceptions presented by philosophers or thinkers on education. They are as

follows:

1. The Knowledge Transmission View-

• It represents the traditional conception of education, which has gained a new

revival in the past two decades.

• It considers the educated person to be one who has piled up many facts and

information in his or her head. In other words, he or she knows the answers to

more questions than the uneducated person.

2. The Rational View-

• It represents the mainstream modern view of education, considers rational power, intellectual

autonomy, cognitive growth or critical thinking to be the fundamental characteristic of an

educated person.

• Affective growth and development are either not present in these conceptions, or are

subordinated to cognitive growth.

3. The Integrated View-

• It represents a rival modem view of education, considers a person as educated when he or she

is both cognitively and affectively developed.

• Factors collectively representing the affective sphere are emphasized as a fundamental

characteristics of an educated person.

4. The Question Generation View-

• It represents the new conception of education

• This conception suggests the disposition and the ability of individual to generate or formulate

new questions to be the sole factor in appraising one's degree of education.

CHARACTERISTICS OF EDUCTED PERSON

In today’s perspective educated person is a bio-psycho-social entity who is the product

of interaction with his/her socio-cultural context. He/she has to be dynamic, always

ready to explore, construct knowledge as well as apply this knowledge.in other words,

we may say that an educated person must possess the Right Knowledge, Right Skill and

Right Attitude (RKSA). Even in the draft NPE 2019, emphasis has been laid on the

preparation of skilled manpower as the major aim of education. As such , skill can be

manifested only after possession of knowledge and positive attitude.

Thus, the major characteristics of educated person are as follows:

A) Knowledge-

• An educated person knows how to learn.

• An educated person has depth of knowledge—that is, specialized knowledge–in a

particular field.

• An educated person has the ability to think clearly and independently.

An educated person has good judgment.

An educated person has the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas in writing,

clearly and concisely.

An educated person has the ability to speak clearly.

An educated person has the ability to reason analytically and critically.

An educated person has the ability to think inductively and deductively.

An educated person questions assumptions.

An educated person doesn’t blindly accept what they are told; they go see for

themselves. They can discern truth from error, regardless of the source.

An educated person knows how to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant

information (between the important and the trivial).

An educated person has the ability to pursue lifelong learning.

B) Right Skill-

An educated person knows how to acquire desired skills by identifying and

utilizing available resources, deconstructing the process required for learning a

particular skill, and experimenting with potential approaches.

An educated person has the ability to take initiative and work alone.

An educated person knows how to make productive use of knowledge; they know

where to get the knowledge that they need, and they have the ability to organize

that knowledge into a plan of action that is directed to a definite end.

An educated person is capable of doing new things; they have the ability to

generate ideas and turn them into reality. An educated person is innovative.

C) Right Attitude-

An educated person understands human nature and has the ability to establish,

maintain, and improve lasting relationships.

An educated person is self-aware; they know how to perceive and manage their

own internal states and emotions.

An educated person knows how to establish rapport with others; they know how

get others to trust and respect them.

An educated person knows how to cooperate and collaborate effectively with

others.

An educated person knows how to resolve conflict with others.

An educated person has ethical values and has integrity.

An educated person has equal esteem for everyone, without regard to gender,

race, religion, country of origin, and so on.

TO CONCLUDE

Thus, being educated means the complete development of the

individuality of the person so that he/she can make an original contribution

to human life according to the best of his/her capacity. According to Sri

Aurobindo, educated person must grow, “into a fullness of physical and

vital energy and utmost breadth, depth and height of his emotional, his

intellectual and his spiritual being.”