ducational IdeaRabindranath Tagore was primarily an educationist rather than a political thinker.

He
putemphasis on 'naturalism' for framing educational model. In education, freedom is the basic
guiding force for inculcating interest within a student whowill derive inspiration from nature to
pursue any branch of knowledge he likes. The establishment of Shantiniketan fulfilled the desired
goal of Tagore in the educational front.1. Unity of West and East:Tagore's education marked a novel
blending of the ideas of the East and West. The spiritualism of Indian philosophy and progressive
outlook of the western people were blended together to give rise to an educational philosophy
which marked its distinction in comparison to other educationists of India.2. Natural growth in
natural circumstance:Tagore envisaged that nature is the best teacher to the pupil. Nature will
provide the student with necessary situation to earn knowledge. No pressure should be exerted
upon the student to learn anything. It is nature which will be the guiding force to inculcate the spirit
of learning in the mind of a student to pursue the education he likes. It will shape his behavior and
character.3. Goodbye to book-centered education:For the first time in the arena of education,
Tagore established a new mile-stone. With boldness and firmness, he rejected a book-centered
education for students. To him it is not just to confine the mind of boys and girls totext-books only. It
will kill the natural instincts of a student and make him bookish. It will kill his creative skill. So,
students should be freed from the-book-centered education and should be given a broader avenue
for learning4. Freedom to learner:Tagore had championed the cause of freedom. The same he
wanted to implement in the field of education. With that object he had opened Shantiniketan, Sri
Niketan and Brahmachari Ashram. Accordingly, he gave free choice to students to develop their
interest in any field they like. To him, education should be after the heart of a man. He explained
freedom in three-categorized ways i.e. freedom of heart, freedom of intellect and freedom of
will.Education imparted in a natural way will lead to the fulfillment of these three freedoms. One
may pursue the vocational education or education of an intellect, or education in any branch of the
artsor one may become a sansei by observing celibacy.5. Teaching - practical and real:According to
Tagore, teaching should be practicaland real but not artificial and theoretical. As a naturalist out and
out, Tagore laid emphasis on the practicality of education. That will definitely increase the creative
skill within a learner. That creativity will bring perfection in the learning process and the student will
be a master in his own field but not a slave to mere theoretical knowledge which one delves deep.6.
Palace of fine arts (dance, drama, music, poetry etc.:Tagore attached great importance to the fine
artsin his educational curriculum. To him, game, dance, music, drama, painting etc. should form a
part of educational process. Students should takeactive part in these finer aspects of human life for
these are very essential to enrich soul.In his words "Speaking is for mankind and music for nature
speaking is clear and limited by its needs; whereas music is mystic and expressive for a romantic
eagerness. That is why; speaking creates nearness between man and man, while music helps us to
identify ourselves with nature. When the harmonies of sounds are released with our expression then
speaking loses much of its limited significance, but on the contrary getting together of the two muses
had an all pervading character".7. Education for rural reconstruction:Tagore was aware about the
rural poverty of our country. So, he wanted to eradicate it through education. The practical training
imparted in different crafts to the students will make them skilled artisans in their field. They can
remove thepoverty of the rural bulk by applying their education helping thereby in the process of
rural reconstruction.

ssay #2. Gopabandhu’s Educational Thought:Gopabandhu’s educational thought is a replica of his

general philosophical ideas. He termed education as a real panacea for a number of maladies.
According to him,“By education, I do not mean the teaching in school; education is what was
imparted in the ancient Indian institutions and centers of religion throughout the
province.”ADVERTISEMENTS:Therefore, his educational system was based upon the pillar of ancient
Indian system; aimed at developing a host of universal qualities – self-control, non-violence,
dedicated and selfless service, patriotism, fearlessness, humanism, righteousness, character and
belief in religion.To probe into his educational thought, it isindeed essential to know some salient
features of his educational ideas:i. Universal Education:He was a protagonist of universal education.
He considered education as the necessity for dispelling many ills of society.When open-air school was
established, Gopabandhu assertively said, “It is the belief of the organizers of the Universal Education
league that everyone has the equal right of being educated just as the rays of the sun and moon are
shared equally by the people and just as religious instruction is being imparted to the humansociety
in all ages, education or mental illumination should also be given equally to all.”Thus it indicates that
he is the champion of universal education.ii. In-expensive Education:Being realised that India as a
poor country, cannot provide education to the entire population, he thought that education should
be as far as possible inexpensive.Therefore, he said, “There are several ways of reducing educational
expenditure without deteriorating educational standards, and for this attempts are being made to
establish a grove school on the lines of old Gurukul system with no buildings at all.In this institution,
the tuition fees payable by the students shall be minimum and they will be made live a simple and
austere life in the school hostel”.As such, he convinced that education to be universalized should be
inexpensive asfar as possible

iii. Practical Education:ADVERTISEMENTS:The then system of education was theoretical out and out.
Because, it was the inefficiency of the then education system to prepare the young-men of the
country for the struggle of life. They were not capable of doing anything other than that could be
done with chairs and tables.Therefore, he wanted education to be practical which could enable the
pupils to become self-reliant economically. He said that for making them earn their livelihood, the
students should be taught not only physical exercise but also some of the crafts especially industry
and agriculture.iv. Religious and Moral Education:His educational aim was not producing craftsmen
or workmen but men of cultured and civilized. He wanted liberal education to all for a growth of
cultured society. He remarked, “There is a great need for religious and moral instructions, for
morality has value even in material activities like trades and commerce.”v. Social Service and
National Integration:He was a votary of social service and said that education was not a passport for
a lucrative career or an approach to materialfacilities only, but he regarded education as a platform
for preparation of students to dedicate their lives for the sake of the humanity and the nation.He
also emphasised on education for bringing about national feeling among the pupils. He believed that
national integration could be brought about by education in a certain way. His Vana Bidyalaya bore
the stamp of national integration and social service.vi. Women’s Education:He was a votary of
women education because he believed that women are the agents of social change. He asserted,
“Wemust also look to female education. The women are the wealth of the family as well as of the
nation. They are the goddess of family life. We must develop them with characters of Seeta and
Savitri.”Women are the backbone of our society. Without them, development of the society and
nation would be a mirage. Hence, education of women is the real need of the hour.vii. Idealistic
Teachers:He convinced that the foundation of an institution depends on the sacrifice and dedication
of the teachers. There must be well educated and idealistic teachers. He remarks,“A school does not
consist of only buildings, chairs, and tables, there must be well educated, sincere and idealistic
teachers.”The qualities necessary to qualify a teaching profession are honesty, sincerity,moral
character, dedication, commitment, punctuality, love and sympathy to the pupils. He says that the
teachers should love his pupils as his own sons and daughters.He adds, “Bricks and mortars do not
makea school, nor the desks and galleries. To make teaching efficient, there must be efficient teacher
and even efficiency of a teacher does not lie in high educational attainments but in the spirit and
devotion with which he works.

Mother-tongue as the Medium of Instruction:Mother-tongue is essential to develop mental powers,

originality and creative abilities of the pupils. Like Gandhiji, he favoured mother-tongue as the
medium ofinstruction at the school stage. Mother-tongue is essential for the realisation of cultural,
spiritual and mental aims of education. Therefore, education should beimparted through the
mother- tongue.ix. Lofty Aims of Education:He stressed development of character and personality as
the chief aims of education. The stated that education should aim at cultivating moral, spiritual and
social qualities in children and it should aim at inculcating a feeling of nationalism in the minds of
pupils. Furtherit aims at providing necessary skills to children to enable them to earn their
livelihood.x. Emphasis upon Open-air Institution:Education should be imparted in a free and
congenial atmosphere replete with natural surroundings with a view to developing natural faculties
or endowments of the children. Therefore, hestressed on open-air school.

Important Features:i. Open-air School:Satyabadi Bana Vidyalaya is an open-air institution shrouded

with a thick overgrowth of the branches of bakul, banyan, peepal, chhuriana trees. So, it is called a
school in the grove or ‘Grove school’ or ‘Gupta Brindaban’.In his own words, “There are several ways
of reducing educational expenditure without deteriorating educational standards, and for these
attempts are being made to establish ‘Grove School’ on the lines of the old Gurukul system.” It is
popularly known as “Shantiniketan of Orissa province.” Moreover, it is truly a specimen of the
ancient Gurukul tradition.ii. Universal Character:In the Satyabadi School there was no discrimination
among the pupils on the grounds of religion, community, religion, place of birth, caste, sex and any
other forms. It was opened for all categories of pupils. Education, therefore, was universalin nature.
No child was discriminated in getting education.iii. Free Education:Providing free education was
another feature of Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya. When it was started a minimum fee was realised from
the students, but later on, the fee was totally remitted at the instance of our father of
nation.Gupabadhu unequivocally declared,“Thereare several ways of reducing educational
expenditure without deteriorating educational standards, and for the attempts are being made to
establish grove school on the lines of the old guru Kula system. In this institution the tuition fee
payable by the students shall be minimum and they will be made to live a simple and austere life in
the school hostel.”iv. Education through Mother-tongue:In the Satyabadi School, education was
imparted through the .medium of mother-tongue. Gopabandhu said that students could better
understand and express anything through the medium of mother tongue. As such, he, like Gandhiji,
emphasised upon mother tongue as the best medium of instruction.v. Personality Development:His
system of education aimed at the all-round development of personality. Besides emphasizing training
of mind andbody, his education made a thrust upon certain qualities and values like character
building, social service, co-operation, mutual help, friendliness, good citizenship, patriotism,
humanism, brotherhood and spirituality.These values and qualities can be promoted through
organisation of a host of co-curricular activities.vi. New Method of Teaching:Ancient guru Kula
method of teaching wasadopted. In other-words, there was a direct interaction between teacher and
taught. Discussion method, learning by doing, self-study, learning through community living and
participation were favoured by Gapabadhu Das.The Satyabadi School was purely residential in nature
where all students and teachers lived together. The headmaster used to discuss matters pertaining
to teaching, student’s problems,school problems etc. with the teacher.It was the practice that
teacher used to devote ten to fifteen minutes for recapitulation test on previous courses and
collected exercise books of the pupilsfor verification and evaluation with great care at home.At the
last part of teaching students were asked questions to know their levels of assimilation and to know
the effectiveness of his teaching. Besides, theteacher made a round in the hostel to sort out the
difficulties of the pupils in understanding the lessons. In this way a number of pupils were benefitted
by the help and care of the teacher.The headmaster used to ask the teacher to submit their lesson
notes/plans for his verification and supervision in order to bring about uniformity in the methods of
instruction.

i. Emphasis upon Craft and Activity-centred Curriculum:He lambasted at the prevailing system of
education which made our students droneupon others. It was unable to help the youth to prepare
themselves for the struggle of life. Therefore, he wanted to introduce certain crafts like spinning and
weaving, agriculture, industry, work-based education, wood-works, cane-works etc. Inhis school,
emphasis was laid upon activity-centred curriculum.As such, he heralded vocationalisation of
education in the twentieth century.viii. Co-curricular Activities:For the nurturing of social and moral
values, and development of personality in its multi-dimensional aspects, he strongly favoured a
barrage of activities called co-curricular activities as part of the total curriculum.The following are
some of the activities:a. Literary Activities:Publication of monthly magazine named ‘Bani’,
organisation of Kabi Sammellanies or poet’s gathering for discovering latent talents of the students,
etc. are clubbed under literary activities.b. Debates:There was a debating society in this school which
met every Saturday for the discussion of manifold problems to develop oratorical abilities of the
students.c. Games, Sports and Physical Exercises:Physical exercise, sports and games were
compulsory which were regular in nature in the Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya with a view to developing
physical part of the personality as well as social and moral parts-character, discipline, co-operation,
mutual trust, helping others etc. Moreover,Gopabandhu organized“Akharas”or rural gymnasium to
make the students physically strong and stout.d. Excursion:Satyabadi School arranged excursion to
different places of importance to make the pupils acquaint with the past glories ofOrissa and the vast
stream of knowledge.The students used to walk miles and miles on foot to get the first hand
knowledge, which was popularly known as‘padayatra’. The Satyabadi system of excursion was a
‘living education’ for the pupils which Gopabandhu thought it as the indispensable part of
education.e. Prayer Assembly:It was made compulsory for all the pupils and teachers to attend the
prayer assembly/meeting where moral instructions and religious talks were givento develop morality
and spirituality in the pupils.ix. Community Living:The Satyabadi School was residential in nature
where both teachers and students used to stay together. The teachers were like the friends and elder
brothers to help the students in times of need. By election, students formed a board of management
to look out the matters concerning all the pupils.There was a secretary who was elected bythe
students to take charge of mess, maintenance of accounts, providing good meals and other matters.
As such, Satyabadi school stands for fostering of some social values, discipline and ideal student
life.x. Community Service:He thought that community service was pre- requisite for development of
social-mindedness. He introduced it as the compulsory part of subject in the Satyabadi school.
Students used to visit poor, destitute and ill to render all possible help. They distributed relief to the
people badly affected by natural calamities.They also acted as volunteers during the car festival and
Utkal Sammelan under theguidance of their teachers; In short, students did spectacular benevolent
service to the people in times of crisis andneed.

Discipline:He did not favour rigid discipline. He wanted idealistic discipline. The school provided an
ideal training in self-disciplineto the pupils. Students used to solve their problems in the “Boys own
court”. Seriousproblem of discipline were controlled by the superintendent of the hostel or
headmaster. So, the spate of indiscipline was seriously viewed.xii. Ideal Teacher:He placed a prime
importance to the teacher in his experimental school. He remarked,“A school does not consist of
only buildings, chairs and tables, there must be well educated, sincere and idealistic teachers.”‘As is
the teacher so are the students’ proverb justifies this roleof teacher in satyabadi school.The teachers
were ideals having high idealand moral character. He should be honest,sincere, dedicated to
profession, punctual and sympathetic to students. The teacher had a zeal for rendering service to
their community and he had to give up the pleasures of life voluntarily for the purpose of service to
mankind.Gopabandhu and his colleagues turned the school into a national school like the Gujrat
Vidyapitha, Kashi Vidypitha or Banastali Vidyapitha and they tried to provide ideal education to its
products to become self-less and dedicated leaders, and workers. This was a novel experimenton
indigenous education.It was mostly economical. Its universal features like open-air school, idealistic
teachers, free education, character-building, community life, emphasis on co-curricular activities and
its premium onvocationalisation of education made this system unique and practical.Its main
purposes were to foster nationalism, form good character, cultivate Swadeshi spirit, develop moral
and ideal personality and to make them self-reliant and self-less.