SWAMI VIVEKANAND : PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Presented By: Arvind Kumar Bhardwaj

26 JAN 2013

Life sketch….

• Born: January 12, 1863 in Calcutta on Makara Sankaranti Day. His name at birth was Narendranath.

• Father: Sri Visvanath Datta, a very successful and distinguished lawyer.

• Mother: Bhuvanesvari, a very pious lady. Prayer of the Lord was a way of life.

Childhood and Early Youth…

• He was well read and had a remarkable power of understanding and retention.

• He completed Bachelor Arts degree from Scottish Church College, Calcutta in 1884. He was a great thinker and often challenged existing customs and rituals.

• He extensively studied different religious and philosophical systems of East and West.

• However, no one could satisfy his curiosity and he developed a feeling that the whole talk of God was a myth.

Transformation…

• Narendranath spent about 5 years as a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and learnt everything concerning Spirituality based on Advaita philosophy.

• Sri Ramakrishna passed on all his spiritual power to Narendranath before going into samadhi.

• Narendranath takes charge of Ramakrishna mission at the age of 23, comes to be known as Swami Vivekananda.

Philosophy of Life….

“To become fearless

and through

struggle, serve

humanity”

Meaning of Education…..

“Education is the

manifestation of

perfection already

reached in man.”

Teachings…• Swami Vivekananda firmly

believed in the equality of mankind and preached extensively to remove biases and exploitation based on caste, creed, race and gender.

• Swamiji is widely regarded as the India’s foremost nation builders.

• Many other subsequent national leaders including Aurobindo Gandhiji, and Nehru were influenced by his teachings on spirituality and service to the fellow beings.

Philosophy of education….

“You regard that man to be educated who obtains some degrees, has passed out of some examinations, is able to deliver fluent lectures. But this is not real education. Real education is that which prepares a man for struggle of existence. It prepares a man for social service, develops his character and finally imbues him with the spirit and courage of a lion. Any other education is worse than useless.”

“You have to be practical in all spheres of work. The whole country, has been ruined by mass theories.”Contd….

He emphasizes on spiritual development of child along with material advancement.

Naturalism

The real education is possible only through nature and natural propensities.

Idealism

Spiritual and moral development of child, the essence of which is already present in him.

Pragmatism

Great emphasis on the western education of technology, commerce, industry and science to achieve material prosperity.Harmonious synthesis of the ancient

Indian ideals and Modern Western beliefs.

Swamiji’s philosophy of education

Contd….

Basic principles of Educational Philosophy…..

•Only study of books is not education.

•Knowledge lies hidden in the mind of man. He uncovers and develops it by his own efforts.

•Concentration is the key to all knowledge. For this, practice of Brahamcharya is very essential.

•Purity of thought, speech and deed is self- discipline.

•Education should develop the child physically, mentally and spiritually.

Contd….

•Education should develop character, mental power, intelligence and inculcate self – confidence with self reliance.

•Religious education should be imparted through sweet impressions and fine conduct in preference to books.

•Boys and girls should receive the same education.

•Mass education.

•Technical education (industrial growth and economic prosperity of the nation).

Contd….

Basic principles of Educational Philosophy…..

Aims of education….•Reaching perfection in life. (manifestation of internal to external).

•Physical and mental development.

•Moral and spiritual development.

•Character development.

•Developing faith in one’s Own-self, Shraddha and a spirit of Renunciation.

•Unity in Diversity.

•Religious development

Teacher is a philosopher, friend and guide. He should sympathetically bring out the latent knowledge in a child by inspiration.

All those subjects should be included in the curriculum which promote the material and spiritual advancement of a child.

Child is the store and repository of all learning- material and spiritual. Like a plant a child grow by his own inner power naturally.

He supports Child centered education…

For spiritual perfection: Swamiji prescribed Religion, Philosophy, Puranic lore, Upanishads, company of saints and their preaching.

For material advancement and prosperity: He recommended languages, geography, science, political science, economics, psychology, art, agriculture and technical subjects.

For physical development: He advised games, sports and other physical exercises.

Curriculum: three parts….

Methods of teaching…..Swamiji prescribed the same ancient spiritual

method of teaching wherein the guru and his disciples lived in a close association as in a family. Characteristics of this method are:

a) To control fleeting mental faculties by the practice of yoga.

b) To develop the mind by concentration and deep meditation.

c) To gain knowledge through lectures, discussions, self-experience and creative activities.

d) To imitate the qualities and character of teacher by intelligent and clear understanding.

e) To lead the child on the right path by means of individual guidance by the teacher.

Education of Masses…..

“I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the cause of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses of India are once more well-educated, well-fed and well-cared for.”

---Swami Vivekananda

Man Making Education….

Harmonious synthesis of the ancient Indian ideals and Modern Western beliefs.

Swamiji lays great stress on international brotherhood as well as Nationalism.

Self Education

•Man is caught in the net of his own karmas from which he alone can get out.

•Manifestation of Real nature which is the Effulgent, the Resplendent, the Ever pure.

•This is possible only in the case of a teacher who has risen high.

Essence of Man making education….•The only motive in imparting education should be love for the educand, for the man in him.

•The spiritual force works through love.

•Love makes the educator to take the educand from untruth to truth, darkness to light and death to immorality.

•The teacher should teach the educand to concentrate his attention, only then can the problems be solved. The greater the attention, the more is the effort effective.

Love

Three means of Man making education….

Concentration

It is the key of true knowledge.

It makes a person great scholar.

For some educands it is easy while for some persons it is difficult so teacher must help each educand separately.

Brahmacharya or abstinence is the first means of achieving concentration. It transforms sex derive into a spiritual force.

Discussion

It should be carried out in an informal atmosphere.

Contemplation

It should be practiced in a calm and quiet atmosphere with the mind fully alive.

Science and Vedanta•Acc. to him what is really needed in India is a harmony between Western Science and Indian Vedanta.

•He realized that the curriculum must be able to achieve the development of every aspect of the child’s personality.

•The ideal of utility should be substituted by the ideal of duty through the teaching of art.

Training in art

•Mother tongue•Regional languages•There should be a common language which is necessary to keep country united.•Samskrit: it is the source of all Indian languages and a repository of all inherited knowledge.

•“You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of Gita.”

•Self realization and character building is impossible in the absence of good health.

•That is why he put so much stress on physical education particularly for young men and women.

Medium of Instruction

Physical Education

Moral & Religious Education

•Religion is the inner most core of the education.

•Religion should not be the whole of curriculum but only a part of it.

•It is only by a synthesis of religious and science that man may reap the advantage of both.

“We have to give them secular education. We have to follow the plan laid down by our ancestors, that is, to bring all the ideals slowly down among the masses. Raise them slowly up, raise them to equality. Impart secular knowledge through religion.”

“Self confidence is the real religion”.

“Truth is power and untruth is weakness”.

“We have to speak less and work more, achieve power first than anything else”.

“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within by controlling nature, external and internal”.

..... Swamiji

Purity, Patience and Perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all-

Love.