What do you think?
Rate this book
Education for Fullness: A Study of the Educational Thought and Experiment of Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore is remembered today chiefly as a poet, and his fame as a poet has often eclipsed his great contributions to other fields of literature and life ― especially education. Tagore pondered deeply on the fundamental problems of education ― aims, curriculum, method, discipline, values and medium ― and wrote and experimented on them freely and extensively. Tagore is perhaps the only literary genius in contemporary history who devoted a major part of his life to thinking about education and creating an educational institution of international significance. Also, the institution he created at Santiniketan proved to be the most global and sustainable among the progressive educational institutions launched by individual thinkers such as Froebel and Russell. This edition revives a classic work, the first comprehensive, full-length account of Tagore’s educational thought and activity, commemorating his 150th birth anniversary. It presents a detailed chronological survey of Tagore’s educational writings and institutional activities in the perspective of his life and thought in general. The book also contains a detailed review and critical discussion on almost all major aspects of his educational work. Through an overall evaluation of Tagore’s unique contribution to education and his message to the world, it seeks to correct some common misconceptions that have existed from time to time about Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati. The book will help form a more complete view of Tagore’s life and work, filling as it does the gaps and voids in the literature that has grown around him, and reinforcing its relevance today. It will be of value to educationists, teachers, policymakers, those interested in modern Indian history and philosophy of education.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published September 11, 2012
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 8, 2022
Book: Education for Fullness: A Study of the Educational Thought and Experiment of Rabindranath Tagore
Author: H.B. Mukherjee
Publisher: Routledge India; 1st edition (21 January 2016)
Language: English
Paperback: 512 pages
Price: 1271/-
Rabindranath played a central part in the National Education Movement. His involvement was two-fold:
**First of all, he took a vigorous part in this movement and through his writings he provided motivation to it.
**Secondly, he put the ideals of National Education into practice in the Brahmacharyasram established by him in Santiniketan, Bolepur, in 1901. He introduced an original system of education based on the ideals and traditions of ancient Indian education.
He regarded education as being identical with life and consequently the aim of education in accordance with him was to bring about the all-round expansion of the pupils.
In "Sikshar Herfer" he showed how English education had created a bayou between life and education in India. Instead of emphasising the nature and meaning of the subject-matter, it emphasised only bookish knowledge. It destroyed the learner’s powers of judgment, thoughts and detection.
This mammoth tome of 530 odd pages, has been divided into four sections.
The chapters look like this:--
PART I – The Pre-Santiniketan Period 1861–1901
1) The Background
2) Early Years and Education 1861–1880
3) Socio-Political Consciousness
4) Educational Writings 1892–1898
PART II - The Santiniketan Period 1901–1918 41
5) Nationalism and Emergent Internationalism
6) Educational Writings 1904–1918
7) Santiniketan 1901–1918
PART III - The Visva-Bharati Period 1918–1941
8) The Religion of Man
9) Educational Writings 1918–1941
10) Educational Writings 1918–1941 (Cont.)
11) Visva-Bharati 1918–1941
12) Sequel 1941–1959
PART IV - Review and Estimate
13) Aims of Education
14) Education and Life
15) Education and Nature
16) Education and Society
17) Education and Internationalism
18) Curriculum and Method
19) Conclusion
Parts one to three comprise an extensive chronological appraisal of Tagore’s educational writings and institutional activities against the milieu of the signifcant facts and events of his life and the times, as also against that of his allied writings throwing light on his educational work.
Tagore’s career as a sensible educator may be said to have started since the establishment of his āśram-school at Santiniketan in 1901, which comprises the primary vital marker in that direction.
The first and the introductory phase, thus, may be said to have ended and the second stage commenced at that point.
The other grand landmark is the foundation of Visva-Bharati in 1918 when the principally nationalistic character of the earlier institution, through a recurrently broadening spirit, in conclusion assumed a primarily internationalistic and humanistic mission.
Tagore’s vocation as an educationist, from the date of his birth to that of his death, then, lends itself to an ordinary and logical division into three broad stages:
a) The Pre-Santiniketan Period (1861–1901),
b) The Santiniketan Period (1901–1918), and
c) The Visva-Bharati Period (1918–1941).
The above separations, however, should never be taken as straightforward and rigid, for the stages overlie into one another in numerous respects, and there are definite strains of thought common to all of them, beginning since pretty early years and lasting till the very end.
The delineations adopted are, nonetheless, suitable and signifcant, because the three different stages do possess some pronounced features, as mentioned earlier, to distinguish them from one another.
It may even be argued that the foundation of Santiniketan and of Visva-Bharati were two great landmarks not only in Tagore’s career as an educator, but in his life as a whole, the two events having marked, according to Tagore’s own admission, the two momentous spiritual revolutions in his life.
Part four contains a rather full decisive conversation on some major aspects of Tagore’s educational philosophy as separate, reliant problems, excluding their chronological context, and a last concluding chapter containing some general discussions on (and an attempt at) an overall estimate of Tagore as an educator.
So Rabindranath recommended that the importance being attached to rote learning and formal examination should be replaced by the development of the powers of free thinking and constructive imagination in the students.
He also recommended that the subject-matter should be presented in line with the enlargement and mellowness of the students.
Regarding the method of teaching Tagore said that it is the teacher, who imparts knowledge, not the method of teaching.
Tagore strove to fill up the gap left by a shortage of good teachers with the help of the method of teaching.
He envisioned education through productive work in contact with nature. Like John Dewey he believed in learning through doing.
Tagore said that since language helped us to master the subject-matter, the mastery over these two should proceed together. But this had not been possible due to the fact that the medium of instruction was a foreign language.
Too much time was devoted to the learning of the language and not enough is left for the study of the subject-matter.
In 1905, in his address to the students, he stressed the fact that total education could be imparted through a blend of modem western knowledge and the freedom of the students in the national context.
The curriculum should consist of a melodious blend of eastern and western knowledge.
He directed the students to prepare themselves for service to the nation. He stated that patriotism will be achieved through oratory or bookish knowledge, but through contact with and love for the country and the people.
This love for the country will come from being acquainted with it, through the acquaintance with the nation's language, literature, sociology and history.
This rationale, he felt, could best be secured by the Gurukul system of ancient Indian education. To fulfill this objective he established the Brahmacharyasram at Santiniketan in Bolepur in 1901.
He believed in a congenial and close relationship between the teacher and the taught, based on co-operation and understanding.
Rabindranath emphasised the need for practical and vocational education. In the Sriniketan attached to Santiniketan, technical training was imparted especially in rural crafts and vocations. He was a member of the "ways and means" committee which had advocated technical and vocational education along with other types of education. He was also a partner of the National Shipping Company.
He further stated that the system of education introduced by the British was turning the Indians into slaves. Hence he advocated that the Indians should somehow take over the responsibility for education in India.
Through his thoughts and efforts he not only helped the growth of the National Education Movement but also gave a concrete shape to it.
As an artist, Rabindranath produced an extensive body of work in choreography, essays, novels, paintings, pedagogy, plays, poems, songs, and stories unequaled in breadth of content and prescient posthumanism. He appreciated the roles of climate, culture, ecology, and geography in human lives with a sensibility that was both scientific and aesthetic, an approach ahead of its time, though often misrepresented as mystical romanticism.
Early on, he developed an acute political awareness, but in midlife he left overt political action to work through his schools and art. He powerfully called attention to the intersections of dysfunctional education, economic oppression, ideological blindness, sectarian violence, and industrial abuse of the natural world.
Yet the value of his contribution lies not only in his analysis of modern civilization, but equally in his lifelong struggle to forge an education and social structure that is beneficial to living in diplomatic unity and is appreciative for the prosperity of cultural assortment and the reward of nature.
For his schools, Rabindranath created no instructional methods that were to be followed, no materials to be marketed, no institutional structures to be established, nor any grand theory or philosophy to obscure our vision.
Instead, he returned the responsibility to the learners themselves and to those who would assist them.
His educational enterprise was to develop, in whatever way achievable, the definite potential of each person, each group, each encounter with the unknown.
If learning is an art, we should not be surprised that it is an artist who has understood it best.
What Rabindranath bequeathed to us is the inspired liveliness with which he recorded the specifics of his praxis.
A brilliant book!! Possibly the most outstanding that I completed today.
Author: H.B. Mukherjee
Publisher: Routledge India; 1st edition (21 January 2016)
Language: English
Paperback: 512 pages
Price: 1271/-
Rabindranath played a central part in the National Education Movement. His involvement was two-fold:
**First of all, he took a vigorous part in this movement and through his writings he provided motivation to it.
**Secondly, he put the ideals of National Education into practice in the Brahmacharyasram established by him in Santiniketan, Bolepur, in 1901. He introduced an original system of education based on the ideals and traditions of ancient Indian education.
He regarded education as being identical with life and consequently the aim of education in accordance with him was to bring about the all-round expansion of the pupils.
In "Sikshar Herfer" he showed how English education had created a bayou between life and education in India. Instead of emphasising the nature and meaning of the subject-matter, it emphasised only bookish knowledge. It destroyed the learner’s powers of judgment, thoughts and detection.
This mammoth tome of 530 odd pages, has been divided into four sections.
The chapters look like this:--
PART I – The Pre-Santiniketan Period 1861–1901
1) The Background
2) Early Years and Education 1861–1880
3) Socio-Political Consciousness
4) Educational Writings 1892–1898
PART II - The Santiniketan Period 1901–1918 41
5) Nationalism and Emergent Internationalism
6) Educational Writings 1904–1918
7) Santiniketan 1901–1918
PART III - The Visva-Bharati Period 1918–1941
8) The Religion of Man
9) Educational Writings 1918–1941
10) Educational Writings 1918–1941 (Cont.)
11) Visva-Bharati 1918–1941
12) Sequel 1941–1959
PART IV - Review and Estimate
13) Aims of Education
14) Education and Life
15) Education and Nature
16) Education and Society
17) Education and Internationalism
18) Curriculum and Method
19) Conclusion
Parts one to three comprise an extensive chronological appraisal of Tagore’s educational writings and institutional activities against the milieu of the signifcant facts and events of his life and the times, as also against that of his allied writings throwing light on his educational work.
Tagore’s career as a sensible educator may be said to have started since the establishment of his āśram-school at Santiniketan in 1901, which comprises the primary vital marker in that direction.
The first and the introductory phase, thus, may be said to have ended and the second stage commenced at that point.
The other grand landmark is the foundation of Visva-Bharati in 1918 when the principally nationalistic character of the earlier institution, through a recurrently broadening spirit, in conclusion assumed a primarily internationalistic and humanistic mission.
Tagore’s vocation as an educationist, from the date of his birth to that of his death, then, lends itself to an ordinary and logical division into three broad stages:
a) The Pre-Santiniketan Period (1861–1901),
b) The Santiniketan Period (1901–1918), and
c) The Visva-Bharati Period (1918–1941).
The above separations, however, should never be taken as straightforward and rigid, for the stages overlie into one another in numerous respects, and there are definite strains of thought common to all of them, beginning since pretty early years and lasting till the very end.
The delineations adopted are, nonetheless, suitable and signifcant, because the three different stages do possess some pronounced features, as mentioned earlier, to distinguish them from one another.
It may even be argued that the foundation of Santiniketan and of Visva-Bharati were two great landmarks not only in Tagore’s career as an educator, but in his life as a whole, the two events having marked, according to Tagore’s own admission, the two momentous spiritual revolutions in his life.
Part four contains a rather full decisive conversation on some major aspects of Tagore’s educational philosophy as separate, reliant problems, excluding their chronological context, and a last concluding chapter containing some general discussions on (and an attempt at) an overall estimate of Tagore as an educator.
So Rabindranath recommended that the importance being attached to rote learning and formal examination should be replaced by the development of the powers of free thinking and constructive imagination in the students.
He also recommended that the subject-matter should be presented in line with the enlargement and mellowness of the students.
Regarding the method of teaching Tagore said that it is the teacher, who imparts knowledge, not the method of teaching.
Tagore strove to fill up the gap left by a shortage of good teachers with the help of the method of teaching.
He envisioned education through productive work in contact with nature. Like John Dewey he believed in learning through doing.
Tagore said that since language helped us to master the subject-matter, the mastery over these two should proceed together. But this had not been possible due to the fact that the medium of instruction was a foreign language.
Too much time was devoted to the learning of the language and not enough is left for the study of the subject-matter.
In 1905, in his address to the students, he stressed the fact that total education could be imparted through a blend of modem western knowledge and the freedom of the students in the national context.
The curriculum should consist of a melodious blend of eastern and western knowledge.
He directed the students to prepare themselves for service to the nation. He stated that patriotism will be achieved through oratory or bookish knowledge, but through contact with and love for the country and the people.
This love for the country will come from being acquainted with it, through the acquaintance with the nation's language, literature, sociology and history.
This rationale, he felt, could best be secured by the Gurukul system of ancient Indian education. To fulfill this objective he established the Brahmacharyasram at Santiniketan in Bolepur in 1901.
He believed in a congenial and close relationship between the teacher and the taught, based on co-operation and understanding.
Rabindranath emphasised the need for practical and vocational education. In the Sriniketan attached to Santiniketan, technical training was imparted especially in rural crafts and vocations. He was a member of the "ways and means" committee which had advocated technical and vocational education along with other types of education. He was also a partner of the National Shipping Company.
He further stated that the system of education introduced by the British was turning the Indians into slaves. Hence he advocated that the Indians should somehow take over the responsibility for education in India.
Through his thoughts and efforts he not only helped the growth of the National Education Movement but also gave a concrete shape to it.
As an artist, Rabindranath produced an extensive body of work in choreography, essays, novels, paintings, pedagogy, plays, poems, songs, and stories unequaled in breadth of content and prescient posthumanism. He appreciated the roles of climate, culture, ecology, and geography in human lives with a sensibility that was both scientific and aesthetic, an approach ahead of its time, though often misrepresented as mystical romanticism.
Early on, he developed an acute political awareness, but in midlife he left overt political action to work through his schools and art. He powerfully called attention to the intersections of dysfunctional education, economic oppression, ideological blindness, sectarian violence, and industrial abuse of the natural world.
Yet the value of his contribution lies not only in his analysis of modern civilization, but equally in his lifelong struggle to forge an education and social structure that is beneficial to living in diplomatic unity and is appreciative for the prosperity of cultural assortment and the reward of nature.
For his schools, Rabindranath created no instructional methods that were to be followed, no materials to be marketed, no institutional structures to be established, nor any grand theory or philosophy to obscure our vision.
Instead, he returned the responsibility to the learners themselves and to those who would assist them.
His educational enterprise was to develop, in whatever way achievable, the definite potential of each person, each group, each encounter with the unknown.
If learning is an art, we should not be surprised that it is an artist who has understood it best.
What Rabindranath bequeathed to us is the inspired liveliness with which he recorded the specifics of his praxis.
A brilliant book!! Possibly the most outstanding that I completed today.
Displaying 1 of 1 review