Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan once remarked, "The end-product of education should be a free, creative man who can battle against historical circumstances and the adversities of nature." [1] Indeed, with reason, we commemorate the birth of our former President of India as Teachers' Day. I, for one, though silly as it might seem, share the same birth month as Dr Radhakrishnan – I am kinda proud of it, though I do not share the same intellect as that great teacher.
Dr Radhakrishnan's ideas ushered into India the best of all World Philosophies be it Eastern or Western. But his foresight regarding education in our country is sibylline, which presents a remarkable application now more than ever in the post-colonial era. What he said is significant to our generation. Let me explain.
One of the feats of Education, as Dr Radhakrishnan declaims, is to 'battle against historical' circumstances. A flawed education system will always strangle scholars with historical restraints. Even after 70 years of independence, we are spellbound by historical restraints. Abhijith Bannerjee and Esther Duflo cite one such example in their book Poor Economics, where historical bias is translated into the Education system of India.
"Surprisingly, Dalit teachers are also likely to give Dalit children lower marks, suggesting that these biases are deeply ingrained and that identity and solidarity do not automatically translate into empathy. In other words, it is not just the teachers' identity that matters but also their ability to identify with the children in their care." ^[3] As long as these historical restraints are evidenced as scores and qualifications, rescuing our children to a free, creative mind is almost impossible. The traditional model of grades and marks only assists the historical restraints. In truth, the founders of our Education system did a remarkable job when faced with the herculean need for basic literacy. I wonder what else anyone could have done but focus on the essentials. However, that system no longer works because it only measures a child based on his capability of recollecting and skill in scribbling.
What is mind-blowing is Radhakrishnan's views on Education. Dr Radhakrishnan had a goal for the Indian student; to make future citizens free, creative men. I am surprised that such a Visionary's words could fall off the branch and produce meagre fruits in these times. Though his vision was to inculcate the niceties of traditional methods to mould our students into being ready for the future world, we still followed the mass production style of the education system. However, the potential for change was immense. For the ease of pursuing the path of least resistance, congenial to our universal human nature, we just lasted the European classroom system of Education. Now, how can we blame the British for that?
We, as Indians, have made it our second nature to blame our historical circumstances for almost all our comparable defects, so much that it piques our patriotic sentiments. Anyhow, we are no longer in a position to blame the English or the Immediate governments of Independent India for the dire state of Education. We often drool over a glorious history, often to covert some nurtured shame that now runs deep through our veins. Are we not able to see through ourselves?
Rushdie's 1999 novel, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," provides a well-known fact about insight and observation. He places it in the mouth of the novel's narrator, Mr Rai, a photographer whose profession often describes scenarios in a better light than the actors themselves. "The only people who see the whole picture are the ones who step out of the frame." ^[2] I would rather see this assertion as an exaggeration or hyperbole, though there is a cruel truth in it. I believe we, too, though immersed in the chaos of Indian rigours and glorified by the cultural milieu, can scramble out of the frame. I must assume that my disillusionment about democracy could have provided a leeway to see my country more objectively.
Guess what? The Britishers have been repenting… Britain has some great schools. Many schools have adopted a Gurukul kinda system of Education where children can choose their streams of interest. Summerhill High School is a classic example. In his famous Ted Talk, Ken Robinson, a champion of creativity for schools, describes how schools tend to destroy creativity. According to him, "the aims of education are to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens." ^[4] Some of the schools in Britain and, in fact, many countries have taken such definitions seriously. We, on the other hand still drink the dregs of the Victorian School system, as if that's normal to our heritage!
Our craze to admit our children into Medical and Engineering streams reflects how deeply ingrained our problem is. In recent times, STEM learning has gained momentum beyond our appreciation. As Sir Ken remarks, 'Understanding the world around them' definitely precludes incorporating Science and Technology into our schools. However, I find STEM learning stems again from a nuanced form of industrial-era Education, aligned with the modern need to create brilliant minding machines. Baptising our kids into a deeper knowledge of Science, technology, engineering, and Mathematics is not what we mean by 'understanding the world'. We need to inspire a more holistic approach to Education. Looking at the world from an objective point of view, That is simply not just what the world is! We often carry a shallow view of the world.
The world is whole of wonders and possibilities, so its very perception should propel a child to cherish our world. The compounding problems with the environment and the world at large, commingled with the hyper-evolutionary outburst of Artificial Intelligence and Bio-synthetics, demands now raw humans with a heart!! Does the existing pedagogy of Science not provide a framework for understanding the world? I doubt it. Do we learn the digestive systems of a Rabit first, or will we know what it is to care for one such? We have discounted the application of philosophy, history, Literature, religion and logic in our education system. Seeing the wonders of life and our world as it is now involves diving into our existing database of historical knowledge, enriched with art, culture and Literature.
Our education has deluded our kids (or rather the parents) into finding popular and happening talents around them and emulating them into themselves to recreate tardy and mediocre success. Our kids rarely see their own talents. Dr Radhakrishnan's idea of a 'free creative mind' is significant. Finding freedom as an adult to use your creative space involves finding talents and inheriting certain qualities from the world's soul that can only be nurtured. 'Adversities of nature', as implied by Dr Radhakrishnana, implies learned ethical skills as well as specific competencies that make a man truly accessible, especially when applying his creativity. Perhaps he did not word them, but entrepreneurial learning, which characterises our future, has distinguished some of these qualities for us: Creativity, Risk-taking, Innovation, Integrity, Service, Courage, Curiosity, Imagination, Collaboration, Pro-activeness, etc. These lessons are taught not in the drudgery of a classroom; instead, they are trained in the activeness of childhood. He will learn if learning is set in the child's friendly ambience.
I am not suggesting an education which is solely materialistic in its desires. Ethical values are cardinal to ensure a safe world with responsible citizenry. I have often wondered what Mahatma Gandhi would have thought about us. Will he be appalled by the degradation of our Indian values? I believe that the future of India is Gandhi's 'simple living, high thinking'. The idea struck no chord with the moderns, but we can hope to set those ideals on an educational platter for our children. If a society has to progress democratically, the sense of a safe community is essential. If we are blinded only by individual gains, our Education becomes an utter failure.
Pablo Casals, the renowned cellist and composer, once said: "The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world, there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. The purpose of a child is to be a child." ^[5] True grit and wisdom are gained in freedom. Instead of straining our children with popular streams of qualifications that will never give them peace of mind, we should allow them to be children. The purpose of children is not to grow up and 'take care of their parents.' As much as we would love them to understand moral responsibilities, arming them with a degree is not how it can be done. A child who is allowed to explore life through the lens of broad knowledge we have gathered in our long history of human existence will gather his folks in their debility. If Amartya Sen can conclude that the economy is 'Freedom as Development, we could bring home the phrase for our children's development. Providing freedom of thought and inculcating values by nudging them through Education is our responsibility for a greater India – no! a greater world!
Dear Doctor Radhakrishnan, we miss you. As we wish you a Happy Birthday, may your spirit lead us to greater India. This is a call from a teacher who feels like he’s in some wilderness. Your ideals were sung by your Friend, Rabindranath Tagore. That's what we remember most, and we find comfort!
"Where the mind is without fear, and the head is held high; Where knowledge is free; … Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action— Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake." ^[6]
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Footnotes:
1. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, "The end-product of education should be a free, creative man who can battle against historical circumstances and the adversities of nature."
Photo Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarvepalli_Radhakrishnan
2. Salman Rushdie, The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999).
3. Abhijith Bannerjee and Esther Duflo, Poor Economics.
4. Ken Robinson, TED Talk.
5. Pablo Casals, remark on childhood.
6. Rabindranath Tagore, "Where the mind is without fear."
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