Perspectives in Education
Perspectives in Education tests the philosophical, sociological and historical foundations that shape Indian school practice: aims of education, major thinkers, commissions and policy shifts.
Thinkers and aims
- Tagore: naturalism and freedom; Shantiniketan (1901), Visva-Bharati (1921); learning through nature, arts and self-expression.
- Gandhi: Basic Education (Wardha, 1937), craft-centred, self-supporting, linked to village life.
- Dewey: pragmatism; learning by doing; school as social life.
- Montessori: prepared environment and didactic materials; self-directed activity.
- Aurobindo: integral education; Krishnamurti: freedom from fear and authority.
Policy landmarks
Kothari Commission (1964-66) proposed the 10+2+3 structure and a common school system. NPE 1986 introduced Operation Blackboard and later DPEP. RTE 2009 made free and compulsory education a right for ages 6-14 and reserved 25% seats in private unaided schools. NEP 2020 adopted 5+3+3+4, foundational literacy and numeracy, and multidisciplinary education.
Worked example
A school makes craft production central and uses sale proceeds to support teaching. Which thinker? Match the clues: craft, self-financing, village regeneration. These are Gandhi’s Basic Education, not Tagore’s nature-centred Shantiniketan.
Traps
Swapping Tagore and Gandhi; dating RTE as 2010; confusing Kothari with NEP 2020; treating aims as only individual or only social. Anchor each idea to one thinker or document.