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Today , there is no doubt about the fact that the way students are educated , is still from ideal. However, what exactly is the ideal path to educate pupils ? How exactly do we make sure that the maximum number of students give their maximum to the world ?
I'll give my views later,
btw ,
if possible see einstein's views ON EDUCATION , a lecture he gave in albany , new york , on october 15, 1936. Just an awesome read ! I'll post some views from it here later😊
EDIT- here are some of those views, i'll post more later ! -
"However , with the affairs of active human beings it is different. Here knowledge of truth alone does not suffice; on the contrary this knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. It resembles a statue of marble which stands in the desert and is continuously threatened with burial by the shifting sand. The hands of service must ever be at work , in order that the marble continue lastingly to shine in the sun. To these serving hands mine also shall belong."
"Sometimes one sees in the school simply the instrument for transferring a certain maximum quantity of knowledge to the growing generation. But that is not right . Knowledge is dead; the school, however, serves the living. It should develop in the young individuals those qualities and capabilities which are of value for the welfare of the commonwealth . But that does not mean that individuality should be destroyed and the individual becomes a mere tool of the community, like a bee or an ant. For a community of standardized individuals without personal originality and personal aims would be a poor community without possibilities for development. On the contrary, the aim must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals, who , however ,see in the service of the community their highest life problem. So far as I can judge, the English school system comes nearest to the realization of this ideal."
Hmm, what do you have to say about this now ? since so many years have passed !
"The most important method of education accordingly always has consisted of that in which the pupil was urged to actual performance. This applies as well to the first attempts at writing of the primary boy as to the doctor's thesis on graduation from the university "
"But behind every achievement exists the motivation which is at the foundation of it and which in turn is strengthened and nourished by the accomplishment of the undertaking. Here there are the greatest differences and they are of greatest importance to the educational value of the school. The same work may owe its origin to fear and compulsion, ambitious desire for authority and distinction, or loving interest in the object and a desire for truth and understanding, and thus to that divine curiosity which every healthy child possesses, but which so often is weakened early. "
"To me the worst thing seems to be for a school principally to work with methods of fear, force, and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments , the sincerity, and the self - confidence of the pupil. It is comparatively simple to keep the school free from this worst of all evils. Give into the power of the teacher the fewest possible coercive measures, so that the only source of the pupil's respect for the teacher is the human and intellectual qualities of the latter. "
What would be those few coercive measure ? and can pupil's respect for teacher comes due to fear ? I mean fear is something else , respect is something else , isn't it ?
"The second-named motive , ambition or,in milder terms,the aiming at recognition and consideration, lies firmly fixed in human nature. With absence of mental stimulus of this kind,human cooperation would be entirely impossible; the desire for the approval of one's fellow-man certainly is one of the most important binding powers of society. In this complex of feelings, constructive and destructive forces lie closely , together. Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive (and i thought it was kinda immaturity ! einstein ji , tussi great ho ! 😆); but the desire to be acknowledged as better, stronger, or more intelligent than a fellow being or fellow scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological adjustment, which may become injurious for the individual and for the community.(Eye opening views !) Therefore the school and the teacher must guard against employing the easy method of creating individual ambition, inorder to induce the pupils to diligent work."
"One should guard against preaching to the yound man success in the customary sense as the aim of life. For a successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellow-men , usually incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value of a man, however, should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
The most important motive for work in the school and in life is the pleasure in work, pleasure in its result,and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community. In theIn the awakening and strengthening of these psychological forces in the young man, I see the most important task given by the school . "
Again , so how do you think can the school fulfill the above aims ?
I'll give my views later,
btw ,
if possible see einstein's views ON EDUCATION , a lecture he gave in albany , new york , on october 15, 1936. Just an awesome read ! I'll post some views from it here later😊
EDIT- here are some of those views, i'll post more later ! -
"However , with the affairs of active human beings it is different. Here knowledge of truth alone does not suffice; on the contrary this knowledge must continually be renewed by ceaseless effort, if it is not to be lost. It resembles a statue of marble which stands in the desert and is continuously threatened with burial by the shifting sand. The hands of service must ever be at work , in order that the marble continue lastingly to shine in the sun. To these serving hands mine also shall belong."
"Sometimes one sees in the school simply the instrument for transferring a certain maximum quantity of knowledge to the growing generation. But that is not right . Knowledge is dead; the school, however, serves the living. It should develop in the young individuals those qualities and capabilities which are of value for the welfare of the commonwealth . But that does not mean that individuality should be destroyed and the individual becomes a mere tool of the community, like a bee or an ant. For a community of standardized individuals without personal originality and personal aims would be a poor community without possibilities for development. On the contrary, the aim must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals, who , however ,see in the service of the community their highest life problem. So far as I can judge, the English school system comes nearest to the realization of this ideal."
Hmm, what do you have to say about this now ? since so many years have passed !
"The most important method of education accordingly always has consisted of that in which the pupil was urged to actual performance. This applies as well to the first attempts at writing of the primary boy as to the doctor's thesis on graduation from the university "
"But behind every achievement exists the motivation which is at the foundation of it and which in turn is strengthened and nourished by the accomplishment of the undertaking. Here there are the greatest differences and they are of greatest importance to the educational value of the school. The same work may owe its origin to fear and compulsion, ambitious desire for authority and distinction, or loving interest in the object and a desire for truth and understanding, and thus to that divine curiosity which every healthy child possesses, but which so often is weakened early. "
"To me the worst thing seems to be for a school principally to work with methods of fear, force, and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments , the sincerity, and the self - confidence of the pupil. It is comparatively simple to keep the school free from this worst of all evils. Give into the power of the teacher the fewest possible coercive measures, so that the only source of the pupil's respect for the teacher is the human and intellectual qualities of the latter. "
What would be those few coercive measure ? and can pupil's respect for teacher comes due to fear ? I mean fear is something else , respect is something else , isn't it ?
"The second-named motive , ambition or,in milder terms,the aiming at recognition and consideration, lies firmly fixed in human nature. With absence of mental stimulus of this kind,human cooperation would be entirely impossible; the desire for the approval of one's fellow-man certainly is one of the most important binding powers of society. In this complex of feelings, constructive and destructive forces lie closely , together. Desire for approval and recognition is a healthy motive (and i thought it was kinda immaturity ! einstein ji , tussi great ho ! 😆); but the desire to be acknowledged as better, stronger, or more intelligent than a fellow being or fellow scholar easily leads to an excessively egoistic psychological adjustment, which may become injurious for the individual and for the community.(Eye opening views !) Therefore the school and the teacher must guard against employing the easy method of creating individual ambition, inorder to induce the pupils to diligent work."
"One should guard against preaching to the yound man success in the customary sense as the aim of life. For a successful man is he who receives a great deal from his fellow-men , usually incomparably more than corresponds to his service to them. The value of a man, however, should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
The most important motive for work in the school and in life is the pleasure in work, pleasure in its result,and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community. In theIn the awakening and strengthening of these psychological forces in the young man, I see the most important task given by the school . "
Again , so how do you think can the school fulfill the above aims ?
Anupamaa
Kumkum Bhagya
