Unit-1

1 Meaning and Nature of Philosophy

Despite scientific and technological developments, man has to give reasonable answers
about different aspects of his creation in this universe like destination, aim/goals/purpose of life.
Some of the questions like

 the essential nature of man

 from where he has come and will go to
 meaning and purpose of life in this universe
 life after death
 Accountability autonomy of his deed existence of the universe of its own or
created by God.

Goodness and Beauty are yet to be answered by different educators. They have tried their best to
answer these questions. Among these the most important basis of understanding systematically
about man and reality is philosophy. Source of many other such questions of life is possible
through philosophy.

Nature of Philosophy is a systematic approach to think about such question although

philosophy never guides us towards making worthy use of life and satisfies our material needs
yet it makes us clear about meaning of life and reveals the true nature of things and tells us what
things are really of greatest value.[ CITATION Lrw76 \l 1033 ]

1.1 Etymological Derivational Meaning

Western Derivation.

Etymologically, the word philosophy has been derived from two Greek words “philos”
means “love of and “Sofia” means “wisdom”. Philosophy, therefore, means “love of wisdom” or
“love and pursuit of wisdom”. The ancient Greeks believed that a person becomes wise by
knowledge and understanding. So philosophy is more than knowledge, even if it includes
knowledge but it goes beyond it to find relationship and to discover implications. It goes
progressively towards the knowledge of universal truth, beauty and goodness. It means “mature
reflection” and thus answers the “best questions” of life.

In the work of Plato “in Republic” philosophy has been reflected as the love of
knowledge, which makes a man wise and living wisely. Philosophical enquiry results in man’s
attempt to give meaning to his existence and suitable answer to basic problems of life.
Philosophers are, therefore, doing as well as thinking and it is their thinking which guides their
doing. What they do is rooted in the search for the answers to certain types of problems and as a
result, tentative answers they have developed.

“To be lover of wisdom simply does not necessarily make one a philosopher rather
philosophical enquiry gives meaning to the existence through The continued search for a
comprehensive and consistent answer to the basic problems and actively concerned with life.

Philosopher, in another sense, is an active person who seeks answers rather than simply
sitting around and engaging in idle and frivolous speculation.”[ CITATION Ham98 \l 1033 ]

1.2 Eastern Derivation

The Hindustani word ‘Darshan’ has been derived from the Sanskrit verb ‘Drish’ means
“to see”, “to instruct”, “to describe”, which means to see the world as a whole with its entire
aspect. Darsana thus, means to visualize the ultimate reality on truth. In the words of some
Indian philosophers the effort of critical knowledge of reality is called darshan. Others have
recognized perceptual knowledge as ‘Darshan’ but it is not true because the scope of philosophy
is very wide and thus it includes the perceptual, abstract, spiritual vision, divine eyes so on and
so forth.

The western philosophers have used the word philosophy synonymously with that of
Indian philosophers. The words “Darshan” and “DarshanShastra”, have been used where the
word “shstra” is a Sanskrit word which means “to instruct” or “to describe”. The word “shastra”
has been used for both arts and science and it means “instruction” for other subject matter.

Since long the saints have expressed their ‘Darshan’. Darshan here means “perception of
truth”.[ CITATION Nai04 \l 1033 ]

1.3 Definitions Of Philosophy

(1) Aldous Husky- “Men live in accordance with their philosophy of life, their conception of the
world”

(2) Aldous Huxley- “Whatever we think or do is always supported by our views of and
attachment to, certain beliefs, creeds or principles which constitute our philosophy”

(3) Aristippus - “Philosophy is the ability to feel at ease in any society”.

(4) Aristotle - “All men want to know -. The feeling of wonder is the only source ‘of
philosophy” [ CITATION Kne71 \l 1033 ]
2 Branches of Philosophy
2.1 Philosophy and Metaphysics

Metaphysics is that area of speculative philosophy which deals with the nature of
ultimate reality. There are many kinds or degrees of reality such as Mental, ideal, universal, and
particular and so on. Metaphysics is an attempt to describe all types of realityin their systematic
relations and differences. The questions metaphysics wants to deal

Does the universe have a rational design or is it ultimately meaningless?

Is mind a reality of its own /merely a form of matter in motion? Is behavior of all
organisms casually determined do some organism such as men, possess a measure of freedom.

Unlike science the notions of metaphysics are neither verifiable nor practically
applicable. Reason being metaphysics deal with concepts like reality change self and spirit
whose instances cannot be measured. In no way we say that science can resolve all these issues.
On the contrary, science itself often gives rise to problems about the nature of reality that
metaphysics seek to resolve in that sense.science also rests on metaphysical assumptions.
Moreover, theories of logical knowledge inevitably are derived from metaphysical assumptions.
Historically, metaphysics has been divided into ontology (definition of being in general) and
cosmology (definition of nature).[ CITATION Kha06 \l 1033 ]

2.2 Philosophy and Epistemology

The branch of philosophy that inquiries theories into the nature of knowledge taught is
technically called epistemology.The Greek world episteme (knowledge) and logos (theory)
combined by scotch thinker James. F. Fennier in the mid of 19 th century to explain the term
epistemology and make it as a theory of knowledge.This branch tries to raise questions like what
is meant by knowledge in all its forms and applications.What are the sources?Are these sources
reliable?Does man really possess it?What can one know what is the nature of truth?etc. [ CITATION
Aro10 \l 1033 ]

2.2.1 Types/Sources/Methods Of Knowledge

The types/sources/methods of knowledge can be extensive and vast.It has been outlined
into five broad categories as follows (l).Authority (2) commonsense (3) intuition (4) reason (5)
controlled experience.

2.2.1.1 (1) Authority

A great amount of knowledge is evolved/derived from the testing some authority. may it
be religion (faith, God), or a human being ( teacher, researcher or founder) . Any knowledge
found by any authority, by any source must be free from personal bias (problems and difference
of interpretation and accurate communication). The limitation of this source is that an authority
can only provide one with information that must be tested before it can be accepted truth.

2.2.1.2 (2) Common Sense

Common sense knowledge is associated with customs and traditions one has experienced and the
beliefs that one has acquired have not been verified.

2.2.1.3 (3) Intuition

Intuition is a direct apprehension by the conscious state of mind by subject/organism about
external/universal/rational truth/facts/values. As a matter of fact it operates in the higher levels of
soul as a source of absolute truth which untimely affects mainly aims, values of life and
education.

2.2.1.4 (4) Reason

Reason is a capacity of the mind to know the truth and the source knowledge is in the mind not
in the sense. Hence mind is to be developed (Rationalists). But this view is opposed and is stated
that the reasoning process is only the way in, Which a person directs and organizes his sensations
(Empiricist Because for the pupil to know how to think is more important than what to think and
knowledge is a by-product of educational experience.

2.2.1.5 (5) Controlled Experience

Controlled experience has been evolved by science to analyze critical exactly, precisely
to accumulate a body of facts in a variety of fields. Differed schools of thought suggest different
kinds/sources of knowledge to be employ in the field of teaching and learning e.g. Idealists
suggest revealed, intuitive and reasoned knowledge. Naturalists suggest reasoned and empirical
knowled8 Pragmatists on the other hand recommend scientific and experimental knowledge.
[ CITATION Aro10 \l 1033 ]

2.3 Axiology/Values

The branch of Philosophy concerned with the general problem of values (nature, origin,
permanence) is technically called axiology.

Axiology has been divided further into two sub-branches like Ethics and esthetics
concerned with morals and problems of beauty and art respectively.

Theory of value encircles each and every educational activity.Statement of aim underlies
values in life and it would equally be applied in educational process.Value also determines the
curriculum, methods, materials school administration, role of student and teacher and class room
atmosphere etc.

On the basic of moral behaviors and the role of art appreciation in education the conflict
in value theory are arbitrarily divided in to two groups:
Intrinsic value, that is absolute and permanent which are arranged fromhighest to lowest.

Instrumental values, which are useful, constantly changing equal and non-factual. [ CITATION
Nai04 \l 1033 ]

3 Logic
Logical reasoning is the process which uses arguments, statements, premises and axioms to
define weather a statement is true or false, resulting in a logical or illogical reasoning. In today’s
logical reasoning three different types of reasoning can be distinguished, known as deductive
reasoning, inductive reasoning and abductive reasoning based on respectively deduction,
induction and abduction.

3.1 Deductive Reasoning

Deductive reasoning originates from the philosophy and mathematics and is the most obvious
form of reasoning. Deduction is a method for applying a general rule (major premise) in specific
situations (minor premise) of which conclusions can be drawn. Example:

Major premise: All humans are mortal

Minor premise: Socrates is human

Conclusion: Socrates is mortal

Immediately the obviousness and straightforwardness of the conclusion can be drawn from the
premises above of the example of deductive reasoning. Notice that deductive reasoning no new
information provides, it only rearranges information what is already known into a new statement
or conclusion.[ CITATION Kne71 \l 1033 ]

3.2 Inductive Reasoning

The antithesis of deductive reasoning is inductive reasoning. In this form of logical reasoning
specific conclusions are generalized to general conclusions. A famous hypothesis is ‘all swans
are white’. This conclusion was taken from a large amount of observations without observing
any black swan. Inductive reasoning however is a risky form of logical reasoning since the
conclusion can as easily be incorrect when, looking at the swans example, a black swan is
spotted. However, nowadays inductive reasoning is a commonly used type of reasoning in
physics and philology.[ CITATION Cop06 \l 1033 ]

RELATIONSHIP OF PHILOSOPHY TO SCIENCE, HISTORY, SOCIOLOGY,

EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY
PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE:

Philosophy and Science have common goal i.e. understanding and wisdom. Even if both
grow out of the reflective, inquiry and attitudes and are lover of truth. Yet they differ. They differ
in the nature of reflective enquiry in the sense that when science ends, Philosophy starts. When
scientific enquiry/investigation fails to explore, philosophy tries to solve it rationally and
logically.

Science is defined as a systematized body of knowledge which can be experimentally

verified at any given time and space. It is a method of objective investigation with the purpose of
describing and interpreting in exact and quantitative terms. Scientists attempt to understand our
environment but philosopher views the universe as a whole. Science divides and analyses. Each
science concerns itself with one field ‘of human knowledge Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics;
Psychology etc. Each field has a fairly well recognized and delimited area. The Philosopher
learns all that he can from the various sciences and in the light of all the knowledge he is able to
obtain from them. He attempts to see the universe as a whole and to understand man’s place in it.

In the words of Edger Bright man “Wholes have characterestics that their parts do
not have and what these charecterestics are is philosophy’s deepest concern.”

Philosophy has been regarded as the mother of all sciences and a given branch of science
is a part of Philosophy. But in course of time different branches of science have become
independent of modern philosophy. Each independent branch then deeply studies about the
particular field. Then Philosophers put together and study as a whole the knowledge discovered
by specialists working in the different fields and as such, philosophy is sometimes called the
science of sciences.

Due to inherent inter relationship between science and philosophy they do relate and
differ between themselves as follows

3.3 Similarities

1. Most of the scientists like Aristotle, Russia Leibniz, Whitehead are great philosophers
and vice-versa. In this respect both science and philosophy exhibit one open-minded
attitude towards truth.

2. Most of the organized and integrated world views are the result of various contributions
of science that have been synthesized by philosophy.

3. Science supplies large amount of factual and descriptive material essential in building
philosophy. Science helps philosophy to eliminate such ideas which are incompatible
with scientific knowledge.
3.4 Dissimilarities

1. Science is primarily interested in obtaining facts about things as they are and wants to
know the things/objects as it is. Philosophy is concerned with what ought to be?

2. Science deals with restricted/limited field of experience whereas philosophy deals with
whole of experiences.

3. Whether it is employed for good/bad, construction distribution Science/Scientific

knowledge depends upon scientific irrigation personal motive) which it serves, But
philosophy which put forth through reason is capable of discovering irresistible
knowledge, which is aspect of sense experience.

4. Even if both science and philosophy are interested in explanations and meaning, science
emphasizes more upon a description of laws of phenomena and philosophy is intended
why, how of particular facts with larger scheme of things.

5. Science aims at observing the nature and thereby controlling the process, the task of
philosophy is to criticize, evaluate and co-ordinate ends.

6. Science deals with nature of things as they are by ignoring values that is in it derives for
objectivity. Philosophy is interested in personality values and all the realm of
experiences, their real aspects, worth and meaning.

7. Even if both of them are after arriving at truth but philosophically it is very difficult to
arrive at the truth since there is no concrete instrument for judging the validity of human
knowledge. Through experimentation, analysis, interpretation science can arrive at truth
and can revalidate it.[ CITATION Smi59 \l 1033 ]

4 Philosophy And Psychology

Since ancient time, till recently Philosophy and Psychology are placed under one
discipline. Reason being both are equally applicable to human being as an important branch of
education. They combine independently and plan for better education and maximum
development of the potentialities of the child. Although they are very much interrelated and
interdependent yet they differ.

By setting the aims of life and education Philosophy lays down the ideals, values,
standards and purpose of human life and education which is not ordinarily possible by
Psychology.

As a normative science Philosophy foresees the unforeseen future and relates to “ought to
be” of education and life. Psychology is, otherwise, a positive science and deals with facts as
they operate/exist and does not deal with what it ought to be.
 Psychology deals with “now” aspects of education and life and reveals the true nature of
each child as per demands of the situation or as per teaching learning situations, which is neither
dealt with nor discussed or even explained by Philosophy.[ CITATION Lrw76 \l 1033 ]

5 Educational Philosophy
5.1 Definition:

Meaning of Education defined from Philosophical point of view provides altogether a

different meaning. Education as operates and relates to Philosophy differs from general concept
of education. (Education from broader prospective) is a process of realizing the aim, i.e. goal of
life to modifying behavior, developing abilities and potentialities to their maximum, realizing
immediate objectives (satisfying basic requirements/needs of daily life) enabling to be a
responsible citizen through imitating elders personality and receiving varied learning
experiences. (The education is to devote oneself to a careful study of the great Philosopher. They
have said nothing about education arid have insight into the education that seem to be consistent
with the basis of Philosophy.

Philosophy In Education

Education is a Socio-Political institution or. is a process of personal development,

philosophy in education, is an attempt to view education in comprehensive, penetrating and
flexible manner.

Philosophy For Education

Wherever a Philosophic mind Philosophizes his ideology on any problem of education he

is bound to make a number of proposals or suggestions for practice or policy or theory of
Philosophy. If these are comprehensive and numerous they are referred as a Philosophy for
education.

Philosophy And Education - Their Relationship

Philosophy and education are quite inseparable and one cannot exist without the other. In
the words of James S. Ross

“Philosophy and Education are like two sides of a coin, the former is the contempt side
while the latter is the active side. Education is the influence of a person who holds a vital belief
brought to bear on another person with the object of making him also hold that befit supporting
roses view GE putrid says in a very deep sense it is quite as reasonable to say the philosophy is
based upon education as education is based upon philosophy.”

Relationships between these two are more concrete when we cite John Dewey when he says
“Philosophy is the most theory of education in its most general phases”.

Philosophy is the theory of education that guides the goals/aims/ends/objectives of education

towards activities means of education would represent aspects behind the practical aspects of
education. In the words of john Adams education is the dynamic side of philosophy it is the
active aspect of philosophical belief the practical means of relapsing the ideal of life philosophy
determines the supreme aim of flied sets standard and values that should guide and direct man
educational efforts to achieve them the unforeseen aim / goat sets by philosophy in abstract level
are tested experimentally in the laboratory of education and implemented practically.

Philosophy, therefore, determines what constitutes a life worth living where the chief task
of education is to make life worth living. All these discussions reveal that education is
fundamentally dependent on Philosophy. Philosophy points out the way to be followed by
education. And hence education develops, modifies, directs human behavior but towards which
direction is determined by Philosophy.

On the basis of direction the entire theory and practice of education is designed. The
curriculum, methods of teaching, systems of schools, roleof teachers and students and other
related factors of education are determined directly by Philosophy. Aspects of educationIs
proved by the fact that all the great Philosophers of all times naturally becomes an educationists.
The teaching and lives of all the great Philosophers like Socrates, John Dewey , Buddha,
Gandthi, Yajnavalkya of the Rousseau’s anti-social slogan/negative/natural education, Dewey’s
project method establish the application of views/ideas of Philosopher to education/educative
process.

Questions concerning what, why, How of education are suitably answered by philosophy.
Philosophy continues influence and determining both the matter and method of education. It will
also continue in making unique and attribution to the development of the educational theory and
practice. The justification of subject matter under study is bound up with fundamental attitude
and belief arising from Philosophy. The broader aspect of education (aims purpose etc.) has been
laid down by a sound Philosophy enabling each individual to keep themselves pace with the past,
present and future needs of the Society, Education, therefore, re-organizes, reconstructs and re-
adopts whatever are laid down by Philosophy. Hence, there is not a single aspect of education
which is not related/influenced by Philosophy.

Here Philosophy analyses and interprets the complex domain of education for laying
down workable, realistic and operational aims and values so as to cope with the dynamic trends
of the society as a guide to the theory and practice of ever changing education, In this respect
Fiche is right enough when he says “The aim of education will never attain complete clearness
on itself without Philosophy”. Rusk supports Fiche by stating that “Every system of education
must have an aim and the aims federation is relative to the aim of life. Philosophy formulates
what it conceives to be the end of life, education offers’ suggestions how this end is to be
achieved”. Spartans authoritarian aims, Athens individualistic aim to train citizenship, are some
of the examples of aims of education determines by Philosophy of the times,

In every stage and phase of human civilization Philosophy expounds the good of man
which is transmitted by education to the learner of forthcoming generation. A general Philosophy
of a given society at any given period determines the character of its education. On the other
hand, it is right to said that “True education is practicable only to a true Philosopher”. Form the
point of view of education, therefore, no Philosophy would have any meaning if it is not closely
related to the vital currents of life. Gentile supports the above view point by stating that”
education without Philosophy would mean a failure to understand the precise nature of
education”. He further states that “the process of education cannot go along right lines without
the help of Philosophy”

Education is the best means for propagation of Philosophy. In different periods of history
the Philosopher has been reflected their Philosophical view through different schemes of
education.

Philosophical thoughts formulated by great Philosophers of different times of history like

Buddha, Mohamniad, Sankarachaiya, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi etc. on concrete
form made others hold the same belief as they hold through the medium of education. Joan
Dewey holds that Philosophy follows from education, that if Philosophy is practicable and
workable is the theory of education and that truth is that works in practice. He means education
as a process of living rather than some kind of preparation for future living e.g. this is evident
from his philosophy which reflects industrial revolution and development of democracy

The interdependence of Philosophy and education is evident from the fact that
Philosophy is dependent upon education for its formulation, while education is dependent upon
the Philosophy for its guidance. Whenever any human being confronts with conflicting problems
in the fields of education we rely on wisdom of great thinkers of the past for understanding and
guidance. In this sense education may be rightly called as applied Philosophy. Philosophy
provides wisdom, education transmits that wisdom from one generation to another generation.
Philosophy provides ideas, values and principles. Education works out those ideas values and
Principles. A Philosopher is a constant seeker/searcher/speaker of truth. The contemplation and
deliberation to arrive at the truth, aims, ideas, and values be possible through education.
[ CITATION Nai04 \l 1033 ]

Philosophy And Different Aspects Of Education

The previous discussion, however, established the inevitable relationship between

education and Philosophy. Philosophy, since time immemorial, has/had been\trying to resolve
the multifarious problems of education. Philosophy is, therefore, bound to be multifarious to
have a direct bearing on different aspects of education. How it affects the different aspects of
education are discussed as follows
5.2 Philosophy And Aims Of Education

Determination of realistic aim/goal/end/objectives of life and education is inevitable and

most crucial factor in the life of the human being. Because everything of human being/process of
education revolves around aims/ends of life. Aims of life are determined by the prevailing
Philosophy of that time. Physical self-sufficiency to face the war and to save the country from
outside enemies was the aim of Spartan education. Athens’s education was aimed at towards the
welfare of the community. Hence, while formulating the aim/end of life and education
Philosophy deeply considers the conflicting nature of the prevailing.

Philosophy of life. The prevailing philosophy of life is influenced by different aspects of

life like norms, values, knowledge, reality, material/spiritual, intellectual, moral, good of the
individual/society etc. Rousseau’s Philosophy of naturalism is the result of revolt against the
extreme formalism of 18th century.

Due to the prevailing Philosophy i.e. , industrial revolution and formalism, individual’s
freedom was totally lost, by advocating naturalistic trend in education Rousseau claimed to
restore man .in his proper place. The aims of life are determined by the prevailing Philosophy of
the time. In the words of Rusk Every System of education must have an aim and the aim of
education is relative to the aim of life. Philosophy formulates what it conceives to be the end of
life education offers suggestions how this end is to be achieved.

5.3 Philosophy And Curriculum

Curriculum is a broader term that being performs or is expected to perform. On the other
hand curriculum is as is the Philosophy so is the aim of education and similar is the curriculum.
In the words of R. R Rusk “Nowhere is dependence such more marked than in the object of
education better realized by a corn prehensile and all inclusive curriculums. A curriculum, more
incorporates the idea of the choice of study, balanced, integrated, as functional need based and
interesting subject matter as per demands of the individual age stage of life and the prevailing
society moreover curriculum is mostly influenced by the prevailing schools of thought may be
idealism realism naturalism pragmatism etc. in this sense different aspects of education are
influenced by different schools of thoughts and vice versa so also a particular school of thought
may have direct bearing on the different aspects of education e.g. idealism aims higher values of
life and hence advocates study of ethics religion logic fine arts literature etc. pragmatism aim of
education is immediate useful practical functional so it advocates studies of languages social
strides general science etc. natural education revolves around self-expression interests instincts
and activates of the child and hence and advocates individuated instruction which is based on
interest aptitude ability of each concrete sensual realties as the basis and hence recommend study
fop scientific subject.
5.4 Philosophy And Text Book

Text book is the only instrument through which the aim of education is realized 4Appro
is t book is determined by life values fixed by Philosophy. Assist in selecting an opiate good text
book ‘reflects the life values of the reviling. Halos h Text look selected should enrich with
extensive, vast all inclusive and comprehensive knowledge experiences based on prevailing
norms, values to suit the needs and experiences of all. Philosophy, therefore, provides a standard
of judgment to a right type.

5.5 Philosophy And Methods Of Teaching

Methodology is the ultimate means of establishing relationship amongst teachers taught

and the subject matter the role played by the teacher students the subject matter have a
significant impact on the classroom atmosphere democratic authoritative in between the two
which is purely determined by the philosophy e.g. naturalists lay down child centered method
provide complete freedom to the child pragmatists suggest project and activity method and the
idealist advocate formal and persistent training as the method.

5.6 Philosophy And Discipune

Whether the child is to be punished severely for his action/he is allowed complete
freedom to do whatever he likes/is there any measure in between these two extreme measures of
discipline are determined by the prevailing Philosophy. Because discipline, in the words of Rusk,
“reflects the Philosophical pre-possessions of an individual or an age more directly than any
other aspect of school work”. Due to change of outlook about life, measure of discipline is
determined by the prevailing philosophy of life. On the basis of prevailing philosophy of life and
philosophical thinking measure of discipline may be (a) Repression (b)impression (c)
Emancipation. an external pressure/method of Physical force directed by the measure to do/don’t
and is akin strict adherence to law and order as Police force/Police control is a
reflective/Persuasive measure where the personality of the elders say teachers parents have direct
influence/impact on the behavior of the child or learner. Emancipation is a measure of providing
complete freedom to carry out his own activities without any direction/imposition from outside.
Hence in case of committing any mistake?indiscipline the individual himself corrects it rectifies
it without assistance of others. measure is regarded as free discipline and is regulated by love and
standing.

5.7 Philosophy And The Teacher

Like educated, since time immemorial, conductor teacher occupies a pivotal role in the
process of education. A real teacher is one who can satisfy and add something substantial in the
learning and acquiring knowledge of each child as per his back ground (Mental, Social, and
Economic etc.); since he satisfied the needs and queries of all he must be a learner or lover of
wisdom. He represents ideals before all the children;since the children differ in their practice
(theoretical conceptual, possessive, ideational etc.) the teacher has to satisfy all the children. The
teacher is required to study all the aspects of the human being anthropological biological psycho
sociological logical etc. to understand and deal accordingly with the complex nature of human
being the teacher is to reflect he ideology the prevailing philosophy of life therefore he needs to
study the philosophy the teacher has to see life steadily and see it as a whole hence he is not
only a friend philosopher and guide but allow an agent of dealing positive attended toward life
habit forming integrated and well balanced personality and enabling all to realize the goal of one
life.[ CITATION Nai04 \l 1033 ]

5.8 Philosophy And Evaluation

Evaluation is a technique of assessing the extent of realization of goals. In school practice it

helps in realizing the objectives, evaluating the performance/duties of the teacher and obtaining
experiences out of teaching and learning. Schools of thought/philosophy emphasis’s on the end
results i.e. Development of the whole child besides this education wants to realize certain
specific objectives these are knowledge understanding skill etc. realization of all these objectives
can be evaluated and analyzed philosophically.[ CITATION Ham98 \l 1033 ]

6 Philosophy And History

The relationship between philosophy and history has long been a matter of contention.
Philosophers have claimed that their pursuit of universal law and eternal verities elevated them
beyond historians, who merely dabbled with the vagaries of the particular and the contingent.
Historians responded with the argument that philosophy was important only in relation to its
contribution to concrete, historical truth.
A greater challenge for both philosophers and historians than the defense of either of these
positions has been to understand the convoluted issues surrounding the intersection of their
respective disciplines. In At the Nexus of Philosophy and History, Bernard P.
Dauenhauerhas collected eleven essays that explore the relationship between the two disciplines
and provide a significant, innovative response to the problems created by such exploration.
[ CITATION Kha98 \l 1033 ]

7 Sociology And Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of existence with the intent of developing epistemological, moral or political
value judgements or imperatives to support decision-making as a matter of principle.
Sadly there is a lot of controversy in philosophy such that political science draws very little from
philosophy.
Sociology, on the other hand, is, to put it generally, is a study of society. But even from there we have to
ask ourselves what society is. In retrospect Sociology is a study of integral aspects that constitutes
society: Politics, Economy, Culture, Religion, Family, Gender, Race, Global Stratification, etc. Unlike
Philosophy, Sociology is more or less a scientific discipline that depends on scientific methods
(Interview, Statistics, Theorizing based upon empirical evidence). While Philosophy traditionally aspire
to pursue truth or means towards truth (Usually among Analytic Philosophers), Social Constructionism,
which is a position or theory that argues that most phenomena such as morality are socially constructed, is
popular mindset and attitude in Sociology. So for example, while Philosophy may ask what is moral,
Sociology would first assume that morality are simply norms that vary in every society.

Unit-2

Idealism

INTRODUCTION
Idealism is the oldest system of philosophy known to man. Its origins go back to ancient India in
the East, and to Plato in the West. Its basic viewpoint stresses the human spirit as the most
important element in life. The universe is viewed as essentially nonmaterial in its ultimate nature.
Although Idealist philosophers vary enormously on many specifics, they agree on the following
two points:

1. The human spirit is the most important element in life; and

2. The universe is essentially nonmaterial in its ultimate nature.

Idealism should not be confused with the notion of high aspirations - that is not what
philosophers mean when they speak of Idealism. In the philosophic sense, Idealism is a system
that emphasizes the pre-eminent importance of mind, soul, or spirit. It is possible to separate
Idealism into different schools, but for our purposes we shall be content to identify only the most
general assumptions of the Idealists in metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory, without
regard to the idiosyncrasies of the various schools.

BASIC METAPHYSICS OF IDEALISM

In Idealism, all of reality is reducible to one fundamental substance: spirit. (You may better
understand the nature of spirit in this context if you think of it as the total absence of materiality.)
Matter is not real; it is rather a notion, an abstraction of the mind. It is only the mind that is real.
Therefore, all material things that seem to be real are reducible to mind or spirit. The chair you
are sitting on is not material; it only seems material. Its essential nature is spirit. On the
universal level, finite minds live in a purposeful world produced by an infinite mind. It is as
though the entire universe is made up of an infinite mind or spirit; which is, in effect,
everything, and we are small bits and pieces of that mind. Because man is a part of this
purposeful universe, he is an intelligent and purposeful being.

EPISTEMOLOGY OF IDEALISM

Idealists believe that all knowledge is independent of sense experience. The act of knowing takes
place within the mind. The mind is active and contains innate capacities for organizing and
synthesizing the data derived through sensations. Man can know intuitively; that is to say, he can
apprehend immediately some truth without utilizing any of his senses. Man can also know truth
through the acts of reason by which an individual examines the logical consistency of his ideas.
Some Idealists believe that all knowledge is a matter of recall. Plato was one who held this
notion. He based this conclusion upon the assumption that the spirit of man is eternal. Whatever
he knows is already contained within his spirit. Objective Idealists, such as Plato, think that ideas
are essences, which have an independent existence. Subjective Idealists, such as George
Berkeley, reason that man is able to know only what he perceives. His only knowledge is of his
mental states. Existence depends upon mind. Every stimulus received by the mind is derived
ultimately from God. God is the Infinite Spirit.

IDEALISTIC VALUE THEORY

Idealists generally root all values either in a personal God or in a personal spiritual force of
nature. They all agree that values are eternal. Theistic Idealists assert that eternal values exist in
God. Good and evil, beauty and ugliness are known to the extent that the idea of good and the
idea of beauty are consistent with the absolute good and the absolute beauty found in God.
Pantheistic Idealists identify God with nature. Values are absolute and unchanging because they
are a part of the determined order of nature.

EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF MODERN IDEALISM

Aims of Education.

The purpose of education is to contribute to the development of the mind and self of the learner.
The education-imparting institute should emphasize intellectual activities, moral judgments,
aesthetic judgments, self-realization, individual freedom, individual responsibility, and self-
control in order to achieve this development.

Curriculum.

The curriculum is based upon the idea or assumption of the spiritual nature of man. This idea in
turn leads to an idea of the nature of the larger units of family, community, state, earth; the
universe, and infinity. In preserving the subject matter content, which is essential for the
development of the individual mind, the curriculum must include those subjects essential for the
realization of mental and moral development. These subjects provide one with culture, and they
should be mandated for all pupils. Moreover, the subject matter should be kept constant for all.

The Teaching-Learning Process.

Idealists have high expectations of the teacher. The teacher must be excellent, in order to serve as
an example for the student, both intellectually and morally. No other single element in the school
system is more important than the teacher. The teacher must excel in knowledge and in human
insight into the needs and capacities of the learners; and must demonstrate moral excellence in
personal conduct and convictions. The teacher must also exercise great creative skill in providing
opportunities for the learners' minds to discover, analyze, unify, synthesize and create
applications of knowledge to life and behavior.

Methods of Teaching.

The classroom structure and atmosphere should provide the learners with opportunities to think,
and to apply the criteria of moral evaluation to concrete within the context of the subjects. The
teaching methods must encourage the acquisition of facts, as well as skill in reflecting on these
facts. It is not sufficient to teach pupils how to think. It is very important that what pupils think
about be factual; otherwise, they will simply compound their ignorance.

Teaching methods should encourage learners to enlarge their horizons; stimulate reflective
thinking; encourage personal moral choices; provide skills in logical thinking; provide
opportunities to apply knowledge to moral and social problems; stimulate interest in the subject
content; and encourage learners to accept the values of human civilization.
Unit-3
REALISM

There are many differences among philosophers classified as Realists, bur with the exclusion of
the Scholastic Realists, they generally agree upon the following philosophical assumptions:

METAPHYSICS OF REALISM

The world is made of real, substantial, material entities. In material nature there are natural laws
which determine and regulate the existence of every entity in the world of nature.

REALISTIC EPISTEMOLOGY

At birth, the mind of man is blank. As soon as he is born, and throughout the rest of his life, a
variety of sensations are impressed in his brain. It is thus that man learns. Knowledge, then, is
derived through sense experience. However, man can capitalize on this knowledge by using
reason to discover objects and relationships, which he does not or cannot perceive. That this is so
is proved by common sense, for commonsense shows that it is reasonable to assume that objects
exist independent of one's mind, and that man can discover these things by using his senses.
Whereas reality is material, the test of truth for Realists is whether or not a proposition within the
mind is in accord with the material object or condition outside the mind. Thus, if through
reasoning one deducts that A must be equal to B, the proposition is true only if A is equal to B in
the material world.

REALISTIC VALUE THEORY

It follows, then, that anything consistent with nature is valuable. Standards of value are found
(determined) by means of the act of reason. However, a value judgment is never considered to be
factual; it is a subjective judgment based on feeling. Acceptable individual values are values that
conform to the values of the prevailing opinion of society. The prevailing opinion of society
reflects the status quo of social reality; and because the social reality represents the truth that is
out there, beyond the mind, it is useful as a standard for testing the validity of individual values.

EDUCATIONAL THEORY OF MODERN REALISM

Aims of Education

The basic purpose of education, in Realist educational theory, is to provide the learner with the
essential knowledge required for survival in the natural world. Such knowledge will provide the
skills necessary to achieve a secure and happy life.

Curriculum

Realists believe that the curriculum is best organized according to subject matter - that is, it
should be subject-centered. These subjects should be organized according to the psychological
principles of learning, which teach that the subjects should proceed from the simple to the more
complex. Subjects must include (i) Science and Mathematics; (ii) Humanities and Social
Sciences; and (iii) Values.

Science and Mathematics should be emphasized, because the Realist considers these to do the
most important area of learning. Knowledge of our natural worlds enables mankind to adjust to
and progress in his natural environment.

The Humanities are not as important as Science and Mathematics. However, they must never be
ignored. Because it is important for each individual to adjust to the social environment, the
curriculum should emphasize the effects of the social environment, on the individual's life. By
knowing the forces that determine our lives, we are in a position to control them.
Values of scientific objectivity and critical examination should be stressed. When teaching
values, one should not use normative methods but critical analysis. To encourage desirable
learning habits, rewards should be given when required.

Teaching-Learning Process

The Realist classroom is teacher-centered; subjects are taught by a teacher who is impersonal and
objective, and who knows the subject fully. The teacher must utilize learner’s interest by relating
the material to the learner's experiences, and by making the subject matter as concrete as
possible. He or she maintains discipline by rewarding efforts and achievements, controlling the
attention of the individual, and keeping the learner active.

Methods of Teaching

The teaching methods recommended by the Realist are authoritative. The teacher must require
that the learner be able to recall, explain, and compare facts; to interpret relationships, and to
infer new meanings. Evaluation is an essential aspect of teaching, according to this view. The
teacher must use objective methods by evaluating and giving the type of test that lends itself to
accurate measurement of the learner's understanding of the essential material. Frequent tests are
highly desirable. For motivational purposes, Realists stress that it is important for the teacher
always to reward the success of each learner. When the teacher reports the accomplishments of
his learners, he/she reinforces what has been learned.
Unit-4

BASIC CONCEPT OF NATURALISM

Naturalism is a term loosely applied in educational theory to systems of training that are not
dependent on schools and books but on manipulation of the actual life of student .Naturalism is
an artistic movement advocating realistic description: in art or literature, a movement or school
advocating factual or realistic description of life, including its less pleasant aspects. In literature,
The doctrine rejecting spiritual explanations of world: a system of thought that rejects all
spiritual and supernatural explanations of the world and holds that science is the sole basis of
what can be known. a belief that all religious truth is derived from nature and natural causes, and
not from revelation

THEORITICAL RATIONALE OF NATURALISM

“Naturalism is the doctrine which separates nature from God, subordinates spirit to matter and
sets up unchangeable laws as supreme”.

METAPHYSICAL POSITION

Concept of God

Naturalist God is within Nature .He is not all nature nor more than nature .He is that particular
structure in nature which is sufficiently limited to be described as making possible the realization
of value and as the foundation of all values

The Concept of Self

The self seems to be an organization of experience in each individual which is constantly

developing and changing.. The human self is seen by naturalism as an offshoot of Nature, and
not as springing from beyond Nature.
Naturalists are not much interested in the concept of soul of man. According to them ,man is the
child of nature; in the evolutionary processes that have been at work in the universe so far, he is
on the very crest of the wave.

EPISTEMOLOGICAL POSITION OF NATURALISM

In terms of theory of knowledge, Naturalism highlight the value of scientific knowledge,

through specific observation, accumulation and generalization . It also lays emphasis on the
empirical and experimental knowledge. Naturalism also lay stress on sensory training as senses
are the gateways to learning

THE LOGIC OF NATURALISM

Simple induction is the logic of naturalism. Simple induction involve careful observation of
Nature, accurate description of what is observed, and caution in formulating generalizations

AXIOLOGICAL POSITION OF NATURALISM

Naturalism believes that. Nature is versatile. Instincts. drives and impulses need to be expressed
rather than repressed. According to them, there is no absolute good or evil in the world. Values
of life are created by the human needs.

Ethical Value-Ethics of naturalism is hedonistic, as long as this characterization is accompanied

by the caution that in the conscious though at least of many naturalists the highest good is the
most highly refined and abiding pleasure.
Aesthetic Value-The principles enunciated above regarding the ethical values of naturalism hold
also for aesthetic values. They, too, are rooted in nature and do not depend on any source outside
nature for their validation. Nature itself provides the criterion for beauty.

Religious value-The prime imperative of a naturalistic religion is that its adherents ally
themselves with the value-realizing force in Nature and help to bring into existence values which
are not actual in the present.

Social Value-Rousseau’s naturalism rooted man in Nature rather than society. So much did he
regard man as a child of Nature, as over against society, that he proposed in his Emile to keep
Emile away from society until adolescences.. Individual man, he contended, is not a man unless
he is free; if he is in bondage, he is less than a man.

NATURALISM IN EDUCATION

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we
lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education.

~Jean Jacques Rousseau

Naturalism as a philosophy of education was developed in the 18th century. It is based on the
assumption that nature represents the wholeness of reality. Nature, itself, is a total system that
contains and explains all existence including human beings and human nature

Education must conform to the natural processes of growth and mental development. This root
principle, already touched upon, stems from a concern to understand the nature of the child and
follows from naturalism’s conception of the pupil. It is the make up of the learner that
determines the character of the learning process, not the designs of teachers of the learner or
there simply will be no learning.
Education should be pleasurable; for children have a good time when they are doing things
which the present development of their physical and mental equipment makes them ready to do.
This readiness for specific kinds of activity is evidenced by their interest. Consequently, interest
in a subject and interest in ways of doing things are guides to parents and teachers, both as to
subjects of study and methods of teaching for which children have a natural readiness at any
given stage of development.

Education should engage the spontaneous self-activity of the child. As already noted, the child
educates himself in great measure, most of his knowledge is base on what he discovers in his
own active relations with things and people. Especially is this the case with our perceptions,
developed almost completely by our own unconscious efforts in early childhood but constituting
the machinery for a high percentage of our adult experiences. Adults are foolish, therefore, if
they do not use this native self-activity as an ally in their teaching. The way to do this, Spencer
advised, is to tell the learner as little as possible and induce him to discover as much as possible.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION

The naturalistic hierarchy of educational objectives represents a complete reversal of traditional

purposes of the school, chiefly, perfecting of man’s highest powers via study of literature,
philosophy, and classics

Education is for the body as well as the mind; and this should not be forgotten. Even if it were
possible, there is no point in making a man mentally fit for life and neglecting his physical
fitness The naturalist, as Herbert Spencer represents them, first regards the pupil from the
physical side. For the child is at bottom a little animal, whatever else he may be. He has a body,
or, to be more accurate, he is a body one of his first requirements therefore is that he be healthy,
a vigorous animal, able to stand the wear and tear of living

Mind and body must both be cared for and the whole being of the student unfolded as a unit. . A
child is bad because he is weak, make him strong and he will be good.”
Rousseau’s aim is to show how a natural education, enables Émile to become social, moral, and
rational while remaining true to his original nature. For it he is educated to be a man, not a
priest, a soldier, or an attorney, he will be able to do what is needed in any situation.

Since the naturalist denies the validity of any aims outside the natural sphere, their concern must
be with immediate or proximate aims. Perhaps these aims might be summed in the dictum that
schools should develop the “whole child,” that is, the entire natural organism. Whereas
traditional education had placed major emphasis upon intellectual function, the naturalist
proposes that the child be given opportunity to grow physically, mentally , socially, emotionally,
aesthetically, vocationally, under the auspices of the school.

According to Spencer this can be achieved by “that education which prepares for direct and
indirect self-preservation; that which prepares for parenthood; that which prepares for
citizenship; that which prepares for the miscellaneous refinements of life.” Thus the school’s
most important job as an educational agency is to see to it that the child learns how to preserve
his own physical health and well-being. Preparation for citizenship and leisure time activities
appear at the end of the list and are of lesser importance.

“Complete living” is the general aim As this is not very explicit term, it may be made more
understandable by a parallel attempt at generalization. This impression is borne out by the
specific objectives which are now to be discussed.

1. Self-preservation is the first of the five objectives. In order to live completely, as man has first
of all to live, he has to continue his own existence. While instinct is the chief guarantee of this
objective, education may also help by acquainting the learner with the laws of health and
enabling him to earn a living.

2. Securing the necessities of life. It is especially in the realm of developing economic efficiency
that education helps in preserving life. Money is not life, but it is a necessity in maintaining life.
Education should train directly for success in this important function.

3. Raising children. Though a bachelor, Spencer held that the most important function that most
men and women have to perform is that of being parents. Therefore education should deal
unashamedly both with the care of children in the nursery and the discipline of them as growing
boys and girls.

4. Maintenance of social and political relations. Beyond the home in the far-reaching social
structure, man must have some understanding and mastery of social and political processes if
living is to be complete. He must be a wise citizen who is equipped for effective social and
political action.

5. Enjoyment of leisure. Life is not all serious struggles, keeping physically strong, earning a
living, being a responsible parent and an earnest citizen. Complete living also includes freedom
from struggle some of the time for “gratification of the tastes and feelings.”

THE CONCEPT OF TEACHER

The teacher’s role is to remain in background. The natural development of child should be
stimulated. Since, Nature is considered to be best educator,

According to naturalists the teacher is the observer and facilitator of the child’s development
rather than a giver of information, ideas, ideals and will power or a molder of character. In the
words of Ross “teacher in a naturalistic set up is only a setter of the stage, a supplier of materials
and opportunities, a provider of an ideal environment, a creator of conditions under which
natural development takes place. Teacher is only a non-interfering observer”.

For Rousseau, the teacher, first of all, is a person who is completely in tune with nature .He has a
profound faith in the original goodness of human nature. He believes that human beings have
their own time-table for learning. “Emile organized education according to Emile’s (a boy)
stages of development. For each stage of development, the child, shows certain signs that he is
ready to learn what is appropriate to that stage. Appreciating the educative role of the natural
environment as an educative force the teacher does not interfere with nature, but rather
cooperates with the ebb and flow of natural. forces. Significantly, the teacher who is aware of
human nature and its stages of growth and development, does not force Emile to learn but rather
encourages learning, by insulating him to explore and to grow by his interactions with the
environment.
Rousseau opines that teacher should not be in a hurry to make the child learn. Instead he should
be patient, permissive and non-intrusive. Demonstrating great patience the teacher can not allow
himself to tell the student what the truth is but rather must stand back and encourage the learner’s
own self discovery. According to him the teacher is an invisible guide to learning. While ever-
present, he is never a taskmaster. Naturalists are of the view that teacher should not be one who
stresses books, recitations and massing information in literary form, “rather he should give
emphasis on activity, exploration ,learning by doing”.

Great emphasis was placed upon the study which teachers should make of the environmental
background of each student, since unacceptable behavior was rooted there rather than in the
pupil’s ill will. Teachers were advised to learn of the racial, national, and religious backgrounds
of their students if a pupil caused trouble or lacked initiative in school, the home conditions
should be studied to see whether a home broken by divorce, death, or marital conflict is
responsible for the child’s difficulties. If a teacher were unable to manage a class , he was held
responsible because he lacked insight into child nature

THE CONCEPT OF STUDENT

Rousseau once commented that “Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the author of
nature. Man meddles with them and they become evil.

True, all God’s creation was good, but man’s own free acts had ushered in sin and evil. No small
wonder, then, the following statement by Rousseau fell upon Christendom like a bombshell.
Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Author of Nature; but everything
degenerates in the hands of man…. He will leave nothing as nature made it, not even man. Like a
saddle-horse that must be trained for man’s service he must be made over according to his fancy,
like tree in his garden.

One of the clichés which has been current in education for some time is to the effect that
“teachers do not teach subjects, they teach pupils.” Whatever this slogan may convey in
meaning, it does direct attention to the importance of the pupil, the person being taught, the
educed. Though philosophies do not teach subjects, they teach pupils.”
The pupil is to the teacher what man is to the philosopher. For man who is interpreted by the
philosopher also has various practical engagements, one of which is being a pupil at school in his
formative years, may be a student in institutions of advanced learning during his more mature
years, and we hope a learner throughout life. If a philosopher is also a teacher and at the some
time is consistent in both though and practice, he will view man as a pupil in the classroom in the
same way he thinks of him when philosophizing. So the doctrine of the pupil is virtually the
doctrine of man in the classroom.

“I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about.”

~Jean Jacques Rousseau

Its curriculum is usually based on the needs, interests and abilities of the child in relation to its
levels of development. So, a child-centered curriculum forms an amicable answer of the
Naturalist. It helps in recognizes individual differences and experiences of the child should form
the core element of the curriculum In like manner the curriculum of the naturalists might be
classified as experience-centered.

Professional courses in child and educational psychology became the center of the educational
program for teachers. “Know the child and you will know what to teaches” became the slogan of
the naturalists

As a doctrine, naturalism does not favor in imposing any boundary on the children. So advocates
of this theory have not framed any curriculum of education. They think that each and every child
has the power to and demand of his own to frame curriculum. A child will gather experience
from nature according to his own demand. He is not to be forced to practice any fixed
curriculum. This concept about curriculum existed till the time of Rousseau but it changed after
wards. Later on naturalism was influenced by scientific development. So the thinkers think that
to give natural pleasure to man, science should be utilized in life. Hence, their concept of
curriculum also changed.. They have advised to include the following in the curriculum -
1. Science dealing with nature will include Physics, Chemistry, Botany etc. These branches
of science will help children to be acquainted with nature.

2. Mathematics and language will be included because these will help to acquire the subjects
of science.

3. History and Social Science – in order to acquire modern knowledge, one should practice
the process of evolution. It will also help to realize the importance of those in their present life.

4. Agriculture and Carpentry will offer opportunity to the children to act them in freedom and
will increase their power of observation.

5. Naturalists felt the importance of Physical Education and Health Training for self
protection. But they did not form any particular curriculum for this. They say that the children
should be given opportunity for their free movement of bodies in natural environments. They
will thus acquire techniques of self-protection from nature and expose themselves in nature.

6. Drawing naturalists have considered drawing as the main technique of self-expression.

They have included drawing as compulsory in the curriculum. Naturalists have also commented
about ethical and spiritual training in the curriculum. They were against spiritual training as
according to them children should pick their own religion from experiences they acquire. They
also said that ethical training should not be imposed on children. They will build their own
ethical sense in natural order by receiving rewards and punishments.

Naturalism rejected the rationalistic curriculum of the Renaissance humanists because it lacked
any connection with the natural world. In fact, naturalists In its place approves studies designed
to meet the personal and vocational needs and interests of the students. Modern languages
replace classical ones because they are useful. Health and physical education become an integral
part of the curriculum because they contribute to “self-preservation.” Household and industrial
“arts” take their place in the curriculum because they meet the legitimate demands of the
students.
The role of humanistic studies become minor, for these studies find their reason for existing in
the curriculum only insofar as they contribute to “preparation for the worthy use of leisure time.”
In other words they are recreational rather than essential

METHODOLOGY OF INSTRUCTION

Methods of instruction should be inductive. This follows from Nature’s advice that teaching
make fullest use of the self-activity of the pupil, telling him as little as possible and encouraging
him to discover as much as possible for himself. To tell a child this and to show him that only
make him a recipient of another’s observations. If the learning intellect is to be guided to its
appropriate food, children must master the art of independent observation and direct
acquaintance.

The educational implications of the naturalistic theory holds that good education is pleasurable,
thus, methods of teaching should be based upon the belief that the child is not averse to learning,
but enjoys it. Teaching methods and materials will appeals to student’s natural inclination to
learn. Difficult tasks are not to be excluded, however, for even they can be made pleasant

It is the area of methodology, perhaps, that naturalism has had the greatest effect on education.
Since this philosophy constitutes both a reaction against traditional educational methods and a
proposal for substituting “natural” methods in their place .The natural mode of self expression is
Play and learning should be done through cheerful spontaneous and creativity of play. The
process of discovery is given importance. The activities like excursions, fieldtrips and practical
experiments are recommended to enhance learning

Education’s methodology perhaps exemplifies this shift from traditionalism most clearly. All of
Rousseau’s recommendations on “how to teach” is based on the belief that experience is the only
teacher. Spencer, the scientific naturalist, enthroned experimentation, the usual method of
empirical sciences, as the only valid method of teaching.

In the first place, the naturalist is opposed to the formalized teacher-centered methods of the
medieval and Renaissance scholars, many of which persist to this day. In such methods the
teacher was viewed as the teaching-learning process, whereas the student was presumed to be the
recipient of the Knowledge presented to him. In their worst form such approaches made of the
pupil’s role a very passive one indeed. His only activity was “giving back” to the teacher that
which he had learned from the teacher or from books.

This pupil activity usually took the form of recitation or written and oral examinations. It might
be argued that such passivity on the pupil’s part a characteristic of all traditional teaching
methods. Another characteristic was the repression of the pupil’s natural instincts and desires. In
some instances educators such as Cotton Mather believed that education’s most important task
was to “drive the devil out” of the pupil. Therefore, the naturalist objected to all harsh methods
of discipline; he opposed the view that Children should be seen and not heard Originally applied
specifically to (young) women. Hyt ys an old Englysch sawe [saying]: ‘A mayde schuld be seen,

Naturalism maintains that all teaching methods should be based on experience. Since they relies
on the inductive method, they insists that the first criterion for judging the value of a teaching
method should be based on self-activity of the pupil finding the answers for himself. The pupil
himself must observe nature in order to find facts and discover answer to his problems. To tell
the pupil all the facts, to show him the procedures, to give this the answers, merely makes him a
recipient of reports of others’ experiences. The child has not learned but merely memorized or
“absorbed” what he has been told. Thus all teaching methods should be characterized by pupil
activity involving direct or at least vicarious experience; the pupil must educate himself.

A second characteristic of naturalistic teaching learning methods is found in their conformity to

the natural development of the pupils. It means readiness of the organism for any given learning.
Negatively stated, this principle means that it is not the teacher or society that determines what
the child should learn, but his own developmental level. Positively stated, it means that when the
organism is ready for a certain type of learning activity it will seek in naturally, that is, without
being forced by the teacher or by adult society. Thus the pupil will learn about his physical
environment when his interests and instincts lead him to such learning; boy-girl relationships
will be developed when children reach the age for such relationships; pupils will learn to read
when they are ready.

A third characteristic of naturalistic methodology is that all educational activities should be

enjoyable to the child. The tasks assigned by traditionalist teachers were designed to discipline
the student and therefore were considered unpleasant by the student, but the naturalist felt that
any task that went “against the grain” for the pupil should be avoided. Note how quickly and
easily children (or adults) learn what they enjoy. Number games, word games (Scrabble), reading
interesting stories, studying plants or animals in their natural habitats, the skills of wood
wording, household arts, dramatics, and the like, constitute real enjoyment for the learner.. Thus
any teaching-learning methods which make the material distasteful to the pupils should be
avoided.

Rousseau advocates negative education – which is typical of naturalistic philosophy – the

subordination of the child to natural order and his freedom from the social order. He defines
negative education as one that tends to perfect the organs that are the instruments of knowledge
before giving them this knowledge directly. The child should be left free to develop his body and
senses. He attaches great importance to sense training as he believes senses are the gate ways of
knowledge.

CONCEPT OF DISCIPLINE

Punishment should be constituted by natural consequences of wrong deeds; should be certain,

but tempered with sympathy. As we should teaches in accordance with the rhythms of Nature, so
we should also punish as Nature punishes.

Naturalism emerged at a time when education was confined within the rigid rules of discipline
by the influence of Idealism. Naturalism aims at making education free from the bondage of rigid
discipline under which children were tortured.” A child born lives and dies in a state of slavery.
At the time of his birth he is stitched in swaddling clothes and at the time his death he is nailed in
a coffin. And as long as he preserve the human form he is fettered by our institutions. Man was
born free and everywhere he is in shackles.”- Jean-Jacques Rousseau Naturalism, as a
philosophy of education advocates maximum freedom for the child and further stresses in freeing
the child from the tyranny of rigidity, interference and strict discipline.. The freedom of child
disciplines him and he is naturally controlled by his own learning and experiences. There is
stress given to discipline by natural consequences.

Since classroom discipline usually is associated with methodology the naturalist asserts a fourth
characteristic of sound teaching, namely that all discipline should derive from the natural
elements of the situation. The situation will provide a form of innate discipline that should
replace that of the teacher. To illustrate, a child learns to avoid hot objects because he has
experienced the discomfort and pain which follow his touching them the pupil learn to cooperate
with other pupil when he finds himself ostracized by his class mates. .for example- Every time a
child puts his finger into the candle flames he gets a burn. Always it happens; always it is a burn.
There are no harsh words, no snapping and snarling, just a burn proportionate to the size of the
flame and the extent and duration of the contact. But always there is that much. By this means
Nature quickly teachers the normal child the dangers of fire, and exemplifies for parents and
teachers what is desirable in corrective relations with children.

If a child is slow in dressing, for a walk, leave him at home. If he breaks a window, let him sit in
the cold. If he over -eats, let him be sick. In fact, let him suffer the consequences for which he is
responsible himself for going against nature. When a child begins to expect such consequences
as certain to follow if he does not measure up to what is expected of him, he will act so as to
enjoy the benefits which follow from appropriate conduct. Furthermore, when punishment of this
sort is used, ruffled feelings do not get mixed up with discipline. It is easier for parent or teacher
to hold a firm position with the child and yet not lose rapport with him completely. Even the
disobedient child should feel that he has not lost all the sympathy of his guardians. But in the
common snapping and snarling of parents, the emotional break between parent and child is too
sharp and may do more damage than the punishment does good

WOMEN EDUCATION

Rousseau describes the education of Sophie, the girl who marries Émile. In Rousseau’s view, the
education of girls was to be similar with regard to naturalness, but it differed because of sexual
differences. A girl cannot be educated to be a man. According to Rousseau, a woman should be
the centre of the family, a housewife, and a mother. She should strive to please her husband,
concern herself more than he with having a good reputation, and be satisfied with a simple
religion of the emotions. Because her intellectual education is not of the essence, “her studies
must all be on the practical side.”

AGENCIES OF EDUCATION
If naturalism is true, then it may follow that mothers and /or fathers are the natural teachers, and
there is no firm basis for adding to institutions, Rousseau. , proposes that formal schooling is
both unnecessary and harmful to education “according to nature.” Even the tutor’s role must be
subordinated to that of the home and nature. His function is a negative one: to keep the child and
youth from the evil influence of corrupt institutions and society. Of these three educational
agencies (home, church, and school) Rousseau would recognize only the home. The foundations
of good physical and mental health are laid during infancy It the child is spoiled by faulty home
training during these formative years, this tutor will have great difficulty in correcting the
errors. .

Other naturalists believed that although the parents role is very important in the child’s
education, one should have formalized institutions whose very existence is rooted in nature. they
acknowledge the important function that secondary educational agencies serve. Mass
communication media such as radio, television, movies, newspapers, all play important parts in
the modern child’s education.

EVALUATION OF NATURALISM IN EDUCATION

Perhaps the most controversial from the point of view of many philosophers is the absence of
any permanent goals for education. Without some permanence of aims education can easily
become a haphazard, day to day activity without any central focus.

By designating experience as the sole source of knowledge naturalism limits itself to one
methodology and to a narrow curriculum divested of much of the knowledge acquired by past
generations as well as of the many artistic production of the human race.

The somewhat naïve view that human nature is essentially good resulted in the elevation of pupil
freedom to the detriment of even the mini al order and discipline essential from optimal learning.

On the other hand the most significant educational reform proposed by the naturalists flows from
their belief that the natural growth pattern of children should determine the content and method
of education. The modern concept of “readiness,” accepted by educators of all persuasions, is a
result of this principle.
A corollary of this generalization reminds the educator that content and method should be
adjusted to the individual differences of the pupils. Naturalists recognized the failure of
traditional education in regard to this rather obvious fact and offered both theoretical and
practical means for adapting content and method to individual differences.

Another principal advocated by the naturalists and generally accepted by all modern educators
stresses the pedagogical value of “learning by doing.” Much of traditional teaching was highly
verbal and abstract, even when the occasion did not call for such an approach. The naturalist
reminds all educators to utilize direct experience whenever possible to insure meaningful and
lasting learning.

one final contribution suggested by naturalistic theory which has been a value to all educators
can be traced to the dictum that “learning is naturally pleasurable.” Too often, the traditionalists
preached that learning was pleasant, but their practices belied their principles. In many
traditional schools, especially at the lower levels, it was assumed that “good education” must be
unpleasant because children were unwilling to learn. But the naturalist argued that if education
utilized the natural interests of student as the starting point for learning even the most difficult
tasks could become pleasant. If nature itself contains those ingredients necessary for the
improvement of the species, it behooves the educator to formulate his aims, devise educational
methods and procedures, create a curriculum, and strengthen educational agencies according to
the natural tendencies found within man. Then and only then can one be assured of the continued
progress of the human race. Any appeal to sources outsider nature for improvement of the
educative process is miseducative since it violates the very foundations upon which education
should be built. Nature must be accorded free play if there is to be improvement in the child.
Nature itself seems to guarantee progress .

unit-5
 PRAGMATISM

Pragmatism is a modern school of thought and plays an important role in educational

system. ―Pragmatism is essentially a humanistic philosophy maintaining that human creates his
own values in course of activity, that reality is still in making, and awaits its part of completion
from the future‖ Ross. Pragmatism as such , is an attitude of mind which views that reality is in
flux, in a continuous process of action, making and dissolution, and is in the state of becoming
responding vigorously to the need and demand of human experiences and fluctuating with the
insight and progress that man may acquire during his journey on earth.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF PRAGMATISM :

Philosophy of pragmatism is a movement consisting of varying but associated theories,

and distinguished by the doctrine that the meaning of an idea or a proposition lies in its
observable practical consequences. A

practical, matter-of-fact way of approaching or assessing situations or of solving problems.

The term is derived from the same Greek word pragma, meaning action, from which our
words ‗practice‘ and ‗practical‘ come. It was first introduced into philosophy by Mr. Charles
Peirce in 1878. In an article entitled How to Make Our Ideas Clear, in the Popular Science
Monthly for January of that year Mr. Peirce, after pointing out that our beliefs are really rules for
action, said that, to develop a thought‘s meaning, we need only determine what conduct it is
fitted to produce: that conduct is for us its sole significance. The root of the word Pragmatism is
a Greek word meaning ―work‖. It is primarily a 20th century philosophy developed by

Americans.

Let us discuss the basic principles of Pragmatism :

• Truth is what works in the real world. We must keep the desired end in mind.

• Ideas should be applied to solving problems; including social problems.

• Truth is that which works in Practical situation.

• Action is real, ideas are tools.

• Man is a Active being.

• No absolute values of life.

• Faith is mans ability to solve problems.

• Through logic of scientific methods.

• Rejects authoritarianism – govt religion edu.

• Knowledge is always tentative and functional.

• Child is the center of an activity.

• Stress on social and physical environment.

• Education should be preparation for life

• Solving problems is important; therefore use real-life situations

• Teaching methods should be varied and flexible

• Education should be action oriented

• Needs and interests of students should be considered

• Project approach to teaching is desirable

• Curriculum is varied.

• A broad education is more desirable.

LEADERS IN PRAGMATISM

• Charles Darwin, 1809-1882 According to him,

– Reality is not found in Being, but in Becoming

– Reality is open-ended, in process, with no fixed end.

• American Pragmatists

• Charles Sanders Peirce, 1839-1914

• Widely acknowledged as the father of pragmatism

• Wrote an article on ―How to make our Ideas Clear‖ in Popular

Science Monthly that is regarded as the basis for pragmatism.

• True knowledge of anything depends upon verification of our ideas in actual experience

• John Dewey, 1859-1952

– Need to concentrate on real-life problems

– Sought practical solutions for practical problems

– How We Think

• Felt Difficulty
 • Define the problem

• Formulate possible solutions

• Examine & Evaluate possible solutions

• Accept or reject solutions

FORMS OF PRAGMATISM:

Humanistic Pragmatism :- It considers only those things or principles as true which satisfy the
needs, requirements, aspirations and goals of human beings thus furthering the cause of mankind.
Truth is the index of human satisfaction. Hence truth is relative and contingent subject to
satisfying human needs.

Experimental Pragmatism :- Only those things and principles are true which can be verified
experimentally. Experientially verified things only are true. It is therefore, the outcome is
verification.

Biological Pragmatism :- According to it ,whatever helps oneself to adjust and to adapt with
environment or helps in changing the environment, is valuable and important. Truth, therefore, is
biologically useful. It also may be called Instrumentalism as Idea are tools and instruments. They
are meant to attain practical knowledge. It means a thinker, is a manipulator and not a beholder.
Idea or thoughts enlarge their scope by testing themselves the practical issues.

CHIEF AFFIRMATIONS OF PRAGMATISM:

1. A revolt against Traditionalism & Absolutism:- They believe in change. To them reality
is change which lies in man making- That which works in a practical situation.

2. Thought is Subordinate to action: - Believe in action rather than thought. Though

thoughts create means for action yet it is passive to action. Ideas are the tools.

3. Rejects ultimate values:- Values are manmade, which are created in course of activities
and experiences. They do not believe any ultimate values because these values are
constantly changing with the passage of time, situation and need.

4. Pragmatism is instrumentalism:- Dewey says ―the test is found in the function of

thought, in adapting the human organism to its environment ―It consider thoughts a
mean, instrument, for solving problem-situations to achieve adjustment and harmony.

5. Pragmatism is Experimentalism:- It stands for testing every statement by finding out its
practical implication. So they gave special emphasis on experimentation. Everything
subjected to experiment is good.

6. Pragmatism is Humanism:- Pragmatism has total faith in man‘s power, capacities and
initiative, as man is competent to mould his circumstances to his advantage as well as to
that of society. Man is the creator of his environment and has uncontrolled initiative in
this regard.

7. Faith in Democracy:- It is only through democracy that the individual develops his
personality to a fullest extent. Because democracy gives importance on both individual
and social development resulting in total national development.

BASIC RULES OF PRAGMATISM:

1. Changing nature of truth. Truth lies in successful application and result.

2. Problem act as motivations for truth.

3. Faith in social interaction.

4. Principle of utility.

5. No fixed values and ideas.

6. Human initiative.
 7. Activity as central.

8. Forward looking.

9. Pluralistic and flexibility.

10. Reality in making.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF PRAGMATISM :

Aims of education

The pragmatists do not consider any aims or values fixed in advance. These all emerge
during reconstruction of experience, and as such no way to education is true way. Aims of
education, therefore, are emergent and subject to change from time to time.

1. Social efficiency.

2. More & more education & continued growth.

3. Adaptation to environment.

4. Harmonious development.

Curriculum:

• Experience Curriculum, graded curriculum. ( Activity curriculum)

• Utility as the prime mover in determination of career.(utilitarian curriculum)

 • Assigns due place to the interest of the child.

• Provides problem solving activities.

• Integrated subjects, not static, include purposive, productive & socialized activities.

( Integrated curriculum).

• Dynamic, Stress on Subject & studies like physical training, hygiene, social science,
math, science.

Methods of Teaching

• Creative activities in teaching learning process (spontaneous, purposeful& socialized

activities.)

• Learning by doing.

• Curriculum advocates powerful activities.

• Project method. This method is followed by certain principles and steps which are given
below as principle of project method.

Life oriented.

Problem centred Purposeful in nature.

Activity based Manual or motor in nature.

Types of educational project

1. Producer type.

2. Consumer type.
 3. Problem type.

4. Drill type.

Role of Teacher :

As helper and guide Teacher‘s role to put a child in real life situation, so that he might be
able to understand his life‘s problems and there by solve them. Doing is more important than
knowing, the pragmatic teacher wants his pupil to think and act for themselves to do rather than
to know, to originate rather than to repeat. Teaching should not be based on lecturing and
repeating only. The teacher should create a problem solving attitude in his pupils.

Discipline

Pragmatism believes in Social discipline. Project method deals with all such essentials.
They believe that play and work should be combined and this combination will perform a mental
attitude – discipline, inner discipline cannot be maintained through force and domination.
Discipline comes through purposive & Cooperative activities.

CONCLUSION :

Pragmatism is an attitude of mind and a way of life which opposes tradition in search of
the greener pastures and creates a world of its own. It is an innovative, naturalistic, experimental
and problem solving approach of life and education.
Unit 06: Postmodernism
Unit 7

Islamic philosophy of education

Islamic philosophy of education aspires to Shape the human being based on matching between
the three dimensions of sense, mind and religious faith, In the belief that Harmony between those
dimensions may achieve the human values in reality.
Knowledge and science had a functional role which comes to achieve better life for humankind.
Therefore, Islamic Education aware to the importance of development thinking and personal
autonomy in order to achieve ideal values.

Some of the most common Greek definitions used among Islamic philosophers are as
follows:

• Philosophy (falsafah) is the knowledge of all existing things.

• Philosophy is knowledge of divine and human matters.

• Philosophy is the art (sind'ah) of arts and the science (‘ilm) of sciences.

• Philosophy is hikmah.

The Islamic philosophers meditated upon these definitions of falsafah, which they identified with
the Qur’ānic term hikmah believing the origin of hikmah to be divine.

FEATURES OF ISLAM

• Islam is universal : The Islamic system is such that it makes all men as one community and
does not make any distinction on the basis of language , race, colour , culture or history.
• Islam is comprehensive : It provides a complete code of conduct for living . It is not merely
for individuals but nation as well.
• Islam is eternal : From the beginning of the universe , Islam has been the only true religion .
Islam is not a novel religion that appeared in Arabia four centuries ago, preached by the Prophet
Muhammad. It is the religion God made known on the day when man first appeared on the earth.
• Islam is dynamic : Islam is not a static RELIGION. It’s principles are not confined to any one
particular period of history or particular set of circumstances, Islamic principles cannot be
outdated. They are capable of meeting the demands of the modern age.
• Islam is rational : Several verses quoted from Holy Quran and sayings from Prophet clearly
ask human beings to observe, to think, to analyse and to judge. All these are symptoms of
rationalism and reasoning.
• Islam is realistic : Islam is a religion which does not make discrimination between theory and
practice. It does prohibit from such action which is difficult to do. Islam knows the
characteristics and nature of human beings.
• Islam does not make any distinction on the basis of colour :
Islam considers all human beings on the same footing and does not discriminate on the score of
colour.

• Islam promotes harmony between the individual and the society, faith and science, the material
and the spiritual

ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN RELATION TO

DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF EDUCATION
Education system was essentially religious in character. It was patronised by the Muslim rulers.
The sole aim of Muslim education
became spread of Islam, perpetuation and preservation of Muslim culture. The Muslim rulers and
beneficiaries established “Maktabs’ and ‘Madarsas’ where the study of Holy Quran became a
prominent feature.
The Islamic laws, opinions, customs and doctrines were subjects of study and all students were
required to master them.
The object of Muslim education was attainment of worldly prosperity and social distinction. The
main aim of education is ‘to understand the relation of man with God as revealed in the Holy
Quran’.
Aims and Objectives
• To provide the teachings of Holy Quran as first step of education
• To provide experiences which are based on fundamentals of Islam.
• To provide experiences in the form of knowledge and skills with clear understanding that these
experiences are likely to be changed in the light of changes in society.
• To develop understanding that knowledge without the basis in faith and religion is incomplete
education
• To develop commitment towards the basic values which have been prescribed in religion and
scripture.
• To develop sense of accountability towards Almighty creator so that man passes his life like a
faithful servant
• To encourage international brotherhood irrespective of differences in generations, occupations
and social class.
• To foster great consciousness of the Divine presence in the universe
• To bring man nearer to an understanding of God and of the relation in which man stands to his
Creator
• To produce man who has faith as well as knowledge in spiritual development
• To develop such qualities of a good man which are universally accepted by the societies which
have faith in religion
Nature of Elementary & Higher Education
• Maktaba & Primary education :
Maktaba is a Arabic word which means a place where writing is
taught. Thus Maktaba is a place where pupils learn reading & writing.
Curriculum :
The child was taught the letters of alphabets of Urdu, persian and Arabic languages. Recitation
sutras or chapters of Quran. Stories of muslim scholars and the poems of persian poets were also
taught. For character building, the books Gulistan and Bostan written by sheikh saddi
were taught. Grammar and literature, history of laws of Islam, logic, philosophy, Law,
Astrology, History, Geography, Agriculture, Unani system of medicine,
Teaching Methods
• Recitation ,learning kalama & collective repitition.
• Writing, reading and oral methods and also Monitor methods in Maktabs and madarsas.
Madarsas and Higher Education:
The word “Madarsa” is derived from Arabic word “dars” which means a lecture. Thus
Madarsasas mean a place where lectures are
delivered. Madarsa was an educational institution for imparting Islamic
education and higher learning in which students sought admission after completing Maktab
education.
• Lecture method was supplemented by discussions.
• Duration of education in Madarsas was 10 to 20 years.
• Curriculum was divided into two categories:
(Religious education & Secular education).
• Religious education: The contents of religious curriculum included intensive and critical
analysis of the Quran, intensive study of
Islamic Law, Shariah.

• Other subjects: The contents of secular education included the

teaching of languages and literatures of Arabic and persian, logic,
History, Geography, Astronomy, Astrology, Arithmetic, Agriculture, Medicine, Economics,
Ethics, Philosophy,
• Teaching Methods : Lecture method, self study, practical method in subjects like music
architecture.
Discipline
Education was not imparted on psychological line. Students were forced to maintain strict
discipline by giving them severe corporal
punishments.
Teacher- Pupil Relationship
The relationship between teachers and studens in Muslim period
was as cordial. Students and teachers showed genuine kind of feeling of love and respect. There
was constant and intimate relationship between teacher & student.
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION
• Practical and useful Education : Education was for preparation for the practical life .
Education achieved more objectivity
• Free- Education: education in Maktabs and Madarsas was free and compulsory upto
elementary level for all muslim children.
Boarding and lodging in Madarsas was also free.
• Individual Contact: Education was considered a personal process, the teacher had to live with
his pupils.
• Status of Teacher : Teacher had high status, they commanded respect in society. Were man of
high moral character.
• Patronage of Education : Enjoyed state patronage. Almost all muslim rulers set up maktabs &
Madarsa and showed their
generosity, favour and love for education. Even learned persons, literary people, poets etc got
patronage and encouragement from states and royal families.
• Development of Literature and History : Great attention was given to the growth of History
and art of writing History, infact tradition of writing history had its root in this period. Various
forms of Literature also underwent significant growth.
Ontology in Islam

Ontology in Islam bears the following distinct characteristics:

1. Ultimate reality is Allah, to comprehend the ultimate reality is not possible. Allah is all
Embracing Power, Unique and one, omnipresent, Indivisible, Omniscient and Just.

2. Ultimate reality “God” is beyond any limitation and is pure and Absolute power,
transcending the limits of time and space, which are but His creations.

3. He is the only Creator and Ultimate cause of the creation, Forgiver of many infirmities
and iniquities. He is one, Eternal and infinite and Absolute.

4. Reality of the Universe and man are purposeful. According to Islamic philosophy this
universe has been created with serious purpose.

5. Absolute Reality is infinite and Immortal, everything else is mortal. Allah is above all
needs. He has no need at all to secure any benefit by deception. When Allah wills, He
creates and when He wills, He destroys, And this is what His being the Omnipotent “ Par
Excellence” means and in the course of all these He Himself never changes.

Main Points:

1. Ontology is a branch of philosophy which deals with the problems of reality.

2. Major area of discussion in ontology is experience, reality, cosmology, nature and

nurture of human beings.

3. Ontology or metaphysics among Muslims in thoroughly Allah Oriented as against

Greek thought.
4. Allah is the efficient and the final cause of all existence, Allah is ultimate cause of all
efficient causes. Allah is essential being and His Essence and existence are one and
the same.

5. The Universe itself is created by a process of emanation.

6. It is the soul, which makes a body worthy and by virtue of the soul man commands
superiority over the other creatures.

7. Allah has given man the light of being conscious of his own being.

8. Ultimate reality is “Allah” is beyond any limitation and is pure and Absolute Power,
transcending the limits of time and space, which are but his creations.

9. Reality of Universe and man are purposeful. According to Islamic philosophy this
universe has been created with a serious purpose. Allah has not created the world for
idle sport. Allah is above all needs. When Allah wills, He creates and when he will,
he destroys.

Distinct Features of Epistemology in Islam:-

The following pursuits of epistemology are emphasized by Islam

1. Knowledge has been highly esteemed. In fact, none can grasp the message of
revelation except men of understanding and those firmly grounded in knowledge.

2. Whosoever has been given knowledge has indeed been given abundant good.
Those, who dispute wrongly about Allah, are the ones who are without
knowledge, guidance and a book of enlightenment.

3. Islam emphasizes the sublimity and necessity of knowledge. “The Prophet (Peace
Be Upon Him) said: Seeking Knowledge is the duty of every Muslim (Man and
woman).

4. Spiritual achievement through knowledge , especially of reality has been

emphasized in the Islamic religious thought.
5. Knowledge has been granted as the necessary precondition for the acquisition of
greatness.

“To seek knowledge for one hour at night is better than keeping it (night) awake.

6. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) also said:

“An hour’s contemplation and study of “God’s” creation is better than one year of
worship said the Prophet Peace Be Upon him.

Main Points

1. The branch of philosophy that deals with knowledge is called “epistemology.”

2. In the Islamic philosophy, the term used for knowledge in Arabic is the term
‘ilm’ which is an all-embracing term covering theory, action and education.

3. Allah is the 1st teacher and the absolute Guide of Humanity. The knowledge
bestowed upon men was not imparted even to the angles.

4. Knowledge based upon passions can not be true knowledge. ‘Wahy’ or

Revelation is the most perfect and truest form of knowledge and no other
knowledge can reach the heights of its veracity, exactness and accuracy.

5. Religious experiences can be divided into two main categories.(a) Ilhaam the
Mystic Experience (b) ‘Wahy’ Prophetic experiences, the Wahy. This ‘Wahy’
(Inspiration) enjoys the highest form of intuitive knowledge, only particular to
the holy prophets.

6. Intuitive Knowledge. That a person finds within himself in a moment of

insight. Intuition means power of knowing things without reason.

7. Logical or Intellectual Knowledge enables a person to control the various

resources for his ends. Institution is the most direct penetrating source of
knowledge. So intuitive knowledge is meant for making our personality and
character believes and ideas.
8. Sensory Organs are also among the main sources of acquiring knowledge. The
Holy Quran, at many places has directed man to observe the Universe and,
through sense perception, account and reckon reality. The Holy Quran points
out the signs, which are embedded in nature.

9. Logical knowledge is obtained through the process of analysis and synthesis.

As the conceptions are always based on perception, the logical knowledge
/reasoning is indirect and symbolic in its character.

Axiology in Islam

Main Points:-

1. Axiology is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of values, the

types of values and the problems of values.

2. To say that there are objectives values is to claim that there are values that
exist in their own right regardless of human preferences. Such values, as
goodness, truth and beauty are cosmic realities. They are part of nature of
things.

3. The Arabic nomenclature of value is qadr. Value consciousness is the

foundation of Islam. The ahkam (commandments) of Islam, therefore are
not mere judgment. They are values in themselves.

4. Consequently, in Islam Allah is not mere power, nor mere knowledge, nor
mere feelings. He is above all. “Sublime” (Subhan), a Being over and
above values, “Al Qadr” His message revealed to his apostle forming the
belief system of Islam, is the exposition of values, which are meant to
shape mankind on the best image.

5. Practically, value in Islam is the standard on which we judge an action to

be right or wrong. Some philosophers consider values as temporary and
 subject to change. But the value system of Islam is immutable and does
not accept any change.

6. The nature of man is unchangeable. Hence values which are mainly for the
guidance/benefit of man and universe, must be permanent whatever
change time may bring, the values of Islam operate within the same
framework. Islamic values are aligned with the nature of man and are
conducive to his moral and spiritual and evolution. Whatever blocks his
path are acts as hurdle is considered an unislamic values.

7. When People accept Allah as their Master, they establish /create a society
where every individual tries to follow the teachings of his master Allah.

8. Moral values are universal. The Islamic moral values are directly related
to man himself and may be called the “Code of Ethics in Islam”.

9. Islamic concept of moral values determines that the only aim of human
efforts should be the seeking of blessing of Allah. Islamic concept of
moral values gives faculty of thought, so that man has to follow the
restrictions in all the situation.

Unit 08:
Imam Al-Ghazali

Abu Hamid Muhammad ibne Muhammad Al-Ghazali known as Al-Ghazali, was born at Tus in
Persia in 450 AH (March 1058–February 1059 CE). He was a great Muslim theologian, jurist,
philosopher, and mystic of Persian descent. Al-Ghazali wrote more than 70 books on the
sciences, Islamic philosophy and Sufism.

His early education took place at Tus, and then he moved to Jordan and finally migrated to
Nishapur to achieve learning from the greatest Theologian of that time, Al- Juwaini Imamul
Harmain. Nizam-ul-Mulk, ruler of Baghdad appointed him as his intellectual advisor and
professor at university of Baghdad. It is said that while at Baghdad he before audiences of three
hundred and even five hundred great learned men and lawyers of his time. In 1095 he left
Baghdad and went to Syria, then to Egypt and then Makka Madina. He spent coiple of years
wandering here and there that brought big changes in him. He was no more a worldly teacher
of religious subjects but a deeply religion man. While contemplating and thinking of the
sufferings of mankind at the time; Fakhrul Mulk, son of Nizamul Mulk, called him back to
Khorassan to make him the president of his academy in Nishapur, but after sometime Ghazali
returned back to his native place Tus and died there in 505 A.H.

Al-Ghazali’s Educational Reforms

Reform

Reform means to improve a system, an organization, a law etc by making changes to it.
(Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary)

When Al-Ghazali started his career as a teacher, education was in a confused state and scholars
and students were confused. There were disputes between Jabarites and Qadirites, philosophers
and Theologians, Orthodox and Sufis and Religious scholars and Scientists. Al-Ghazali made it
his mission to bring order into this chaos. Instead of joining the broken mirror or to patch the
different parts together he systematically studied each group, showed their strengths and
weaknesses and brought reforms in each.

1) Al-Ghazali resolved the disputes between Philosophy and Theology and placed religion
above philosophy. He rejected materialist philosophy, added the concept of heaven, hell,
resurrection and judgment in naturalism and uprooted unbelief and heresy from theism.

2) He showed that there is no contradiction between science and religion, as they are of
different orders of reality. He said, “There is nothing in revealed truth opposed to these
sciences, and nothing in these sciences opposed to revealed truth”.

 The Mathematicians demanded religious proofs like math, to them he answered another
part of religious equation is in the life hereafter.

 In Physics he added the belief that all causal events and interactions are not the product of
material conjunctions but rather the immediate and present Will of God.

 In his book “The Incoherence of Philosophers”, Al-Ghazali pointed out twenty errors of
Metaphysics and provided their corrections.

 When Philosophers contaminated virtues with their own rubbish Al-Ghazali opposed
them and caution the believers not to reject the good with rubbish, we must learn to separate
out the truth since gold is found mixed in gravel with dross. We must not take men as criterion
of truth, but truth as criterion of men.

3) The Revival of Religious Sciences

Another of Al-Ghazali's major works is the Revival of Religious Sciences. It covers almost all
fields of Islamic sciences, Islamic jurisprudence, theology and sufism. It contains four major
sections; Acts of worship, Norms of Daily Life The ways to Perdition and The Ways to
Salvation. The book has attracted much positive criticism: "If all Islamic sciences were made
to disappear, they could be taken back from Ihya'u Ulumiddin.

4) Authoritarians
Al-Ghazali admitted the need for an instructor, and that his instruction be infallible but that
instructor is Prophet.

5) Physical Education

To refresh the memory and renew energy suitable games should be arranged in schools which
help students to recover after their mental exertion in classroom.

6) Music and Dancing

There were conflicts among theologians regarding music and dancing. Al-Ghazali quoted
traditions which recall how Prophet allowed dancing and singing on festival days. Other lawful
uses of music are pilgrim songs and martial music, so joyful music at wedding and fest is
lawful.

7) Aims of Education

According to Al-Ghazali the aims of education should be spiritual, mental and behavioral
development of learner. Education should enable learners to distinguish between true and false,
good and bad, the right conduct and evil doings.

8) Method of Education

Al-Ghazali suggested discovery, philosophical and logical methods of teaching. Lesson should
be conducted in a very interesting way, should proceed from simple to complex, avoid
punishment and treat students with sympathy and kindness.

9) Content of Education

According to Al-Ghazali the content or curriculum of education should based on knowledge of

self, knowledge of God, knowledge of world as it really is and the knowledge of next world as
it really is.

10) Kinds of Content

 Al –Ghazali divided content knowledge into two types

 Compulsory: Those Arts and Sciences which are compulsory for everyone.

 Optional: Those Arts and Sciences which are not supposed to be learned by all but by
those who are interested in them.

11) Student

Al-Ghazali redefined student or learner as one who seek development in behavior, reasoning
ability, spiritual enhancement, social honour and moral values.

12) Teacher

Al-Ghazali redefined teacher as one who make learners able to distinguish right and wrong,
bring spiritual enhancement and able to earn and survive a respectable and contented life.

Unit 09:

Ibn-e-Khaldoon
INTRODUCTION:
Ibn Khaldun is the most important figure in the field of History and Sociology in Muslim History. He is
one of those shining stars that contributed so richly to the understanding of Civilization. In order for one
to understand and appreciate his work, one must understand his life. He lived a life in search of stability
and influence. He came from a family of scholars and politicians and he intended to live up to both
expectations. He would succeed in the field of Scholarship much more so than in any other field.

CHILDHOOD AND EARLY YEARS:

He is Abdurahman bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Al-Hasan bin Jabir bin
Muhammad bin Ibrahim bin Abdurahman bin Ibn Khaldun. His ancestry according to him originated
from Hadramut, Yemen. He also traced his ancestry through another genealogy as supplied by Ibn
Hazem using his grandfather who was the first to enter Andalusia back to Wail ibn Hajar one of the
oldest Yemenite tribe. In either case, the genealogy points to his Arab origin although scholars do
question the authenticity of both reports due to the political climate at the time of these reports.[1]

Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis on Ramadan 1, 732 (May 27, 1332). He received a traditional education
that was typical of his family’s rank and status. He learned first at the hands of his father who was a
scholarly person who was not involved in politics like his ancestors. He memorized the Qur’an by heart,
learned grammar, Jurisprudence, Hadith, rhetoric, philology, and poetry. He had reached certain
proficiency in these subjects and received certification in them. In his autobiography, he does mention
the names these scholars.

He continued studies until the age of 19 when the great plague would sweep over the lands from
Samarkand to Mauritania. It was after this plague that Ibn Khaldun would receive his first public
assignment. This would start his political career that would forever change his life.

IN TUNISIA AND MOROCCO

Ibn Tafrakin, the ruler of Tunis, called Ibn Khaldun to be the seal bearer of his captive Sultan Abu lshaq.
It is here that Ibn Khaldun would get first hand look at the inner workings of court politics and the
weakness of the government. It would not be long before he would get an opportunity to leave Tunis.

In 1352 (713 A. H.) Abu Ziad, the Emir of Constantine, marched his forces on Tunis. Ibn Khaldun
accompanied Ibn Tafrakin with the forces that would ward off Abu Ziad’s attacks. Tunis was defeated
and Ibn Khaldun escaped to Aba, where he lived with al-Mowahideen. He would move back and forth
through Algeria and settled in Biskra.

At that same time in Morocco Sultan Abu Enan, who had recently settled on the throne of his father,
was on his way to conquer Algeria. Ibn Khaldun would travel to Tlemcen to meet the Sultan. Ibn Khaldun
mentions that the Sultan honored him and sent him with his chamberlain Ibn Abi Amr to Bougie to
witness its submission to Sultan Abu Enan.

Ibn Khaldun would stay in the company of the Chamberlain while the Sultan moved back to the capital,
Fez. In 1354 (755 A.H.) Ibn Khaldun would accept the invitation to join the council of Ulama and would
move to Fez. He would eventually be promoted to the post of the seal bearer and would accept it
reluctantly, because it was inferior to the posts once occupied by his ancestors.

Ibn Khaldun would use his stay in Fez to further his studies. Fez at this time was a capital of Morocco and
enjoyed the company of many scholars from all over North Africa and Andalusia. He was also being
promoted from one position to another.

Ibn Khaldun was an ambitious young man and at this point of his life, he would begin to engage in court
politics. Ibn Khaldun would conspire with Abu Abdullah Muhammad, the dethroned ruler of Bougie who
was captive in Fez at that time. Abu Abdullah is from the Banu Hafs which were patrons of Ibn Khaldun’s
Family.

Sultan Abu Enan would find out about the conspiracy and would imprison Ibn Khaldun. Abu Abdullah
would be released from prison and Ibn Khaldun would linger on for two years. Sultan Abu Enan would
fall ill and die before fulfilling his promise to release Ibn Khaldun. The Wazir Al-Hassan ibn Omar ordered
the release of Ibn Khaldun who was restored to his former position.

ESCAPE FROM MOROCCO TO SPAIN

The political climate was tense and Ibn Khaldun would again test his fate and conspire against the Wazir
with al-Mansur. This loyalty would be short lived too. He would conspire with Sultan Abu Salem who
would overthrow Al-Mansur. Ibn Khaldun would get the position of Secretary and the repository of his
confidence (Amin as-Sir).

Here Ibn Khaldun would excel in his position and would compose many poems. He would occupy this
position for two more years and would then be appointed as the Chief Justice. He would show a great
ability in this position. However due to constant rivalry between him and high officials he would lose
favor with the Sultan.

However this would not matter because a revolt would take place and Sultan Abu Salem would be
overthrown by Wazir Omar. Ibn Khaldun would side with the victorious and would get his post with
higher pay. Ibn Khaldun was ambitious as ever and wanted a higher position, namely that of the
Chamberlain. For reasons unknown, perhaps he was not trusted, he was refused. This upset him enough
to resign his position. This in turn upset the Wazir. Ibn Khaldun would ask to leave Fez and go back to
Tunisia and this request would be refused. It was then that he would ask the Wazir’s son-in-law to
intercede on his behalf to be allowed to go to Andalusia.
FROM SPAIN TO TUNISIA
Sultan Muahmmad al-Ahmar, the king of Granada, was deposed by his brother Ismail who was
supported by his brother-in-law. Sultan Muhammad was a friend of Sultan Abu Salem who helped him
when he was deported to Andalusia by Sultan Abu Enan. When Sultan Abu Enan died and Sultan Abu
Salem became the ruler that friendship was rekindled. Further when Ismail al-Ahmar was declared king
of Granada in a place revolt, Sultan Muhammad took refuge in Morocco with Sultan Abu Salem. They
were welcomed with great fanfare, Ibn Khaldun was present at the festivities. Among Sultan
Muhammad’s party was his wise Wazir Ibn al-Khatib who developed a close friendship with Ibn Khaldun.

Sultan Muhammad would attempt to restore his throne in Granada through an agreement with Pedro
the cruel, the King of Castile. Pedro would delay the execution of the agreement upon hearing of Sultan
Abu Salem death. Sultan Muhammad would appeal to Ibn Khaldun to get the assistance from Wazir
Omar. Ibn Khaldun would use his influence to help him. Further Ibn Khaldun was entrusted to care for
Sultan Muhammad’s family in Fez. The Wazir would grant Sultan Muhammad Ronda and the
surrounding country. Sultan Muhammad would continue his efforts and recapture his throne in 1361
(763 A. H.). He would recall his Wazir Ibn al-Khatib.

When the relationship between Ibn Khaldun would turn sour and uncertain he would turn towards
Andalusia. He would be welcomed and honored well by Sultan Muhammad who admitted him to his
private council. In the following year Sultan Muhammad would send Ibn Khaldun on an Ambassadorial
mission to Pedro, the King of Castile. Ibn Khaldun would conclude and peaceful terms between them.
Pedro would offer Ibn Khaldun a position in his service and to return to him his family’s former estate at
Castile. Ibn Khaldun would decline the offer.

Upon his return from Castile, Ibn Khaldun would offer Pedro’s gift to him to the Sultan and in return, the
Sultan would give him the Village of Elvira. Soon Ibn Khaldun would be restless once more and in the
following year, he would receive an invitation from his friend Abu Abdullah, who had recaptured his
throne at Bougie. Ibn Khaldun left Granada in 1364 (766 A.H.) for Bougie after asking permission to leave
from Sultan Muhammad.

ADVENTURES IN NORTH AFRICA

Ibn Khaldun would arrive in Bougie at the Age of 32 years. His plans have finally been realized. The
period of imprisonment in Fez did not go to waste. He would enter the city as favorite guest. He would
accept the position of Hajib for Emir Muhammad. This life of power would not last long as in the
following year Abul Abbas would kill the Emir Muhammad, his cousin. Ibn Khaldun handed the city to
him and retired to the city of Biskra. He would continue his political work in relaying the tribes to the
service of this Emir or that Sultan. He would continue his practice of shifting loyalties as the times and
opportunities afforded him. He would finally retire to a far outpost south of Constantine, fort Salama.
[20]
In Fort Salama he would enjoy this peaceful existence and would begin to write down his famous
Muqqddimah and first version of his universal history at the age of forty-five years.

He would dedicate his work to the current Emir of Constantine, Sultan Abul Abbas. Tranquility did not
last long with Ibn Khaldun, as he needed more reference works which were not available at this far
outpost. He used the occasion of the Abul Abbas’s conquest of Tunisia to go to Tunis. This would be the
first time he would return to the town of his birth since leaving it over 27 years ago.

There would be political forces at work against him once more and this time before he would fall out of
favor he would use a convenient occasion 1382 to leave North Africa behind never to return.

TO EGYPT
Ibn Khaldun was granted permission from Sultan Abul Abbas to go to Hajj. He arrived in Alexandria in
October 1382 ( 15th Shabaan 784 A. H.) at the ripe age of 50. He spent a month preparing to leave for
Hajj but was unable to join the Caravan bound for the Holy Lands. He turned towards Cairo instead.
Here he wold live his final days. He was warmly welcomed by scholars and students. His fame for his
writings had already preceded him. He lectured at Al-Azhar and other fine schools. He would get the
chance to meet with Sultan az-Zahir Barquq who would appoint him to teach at the Kamhiah school.

He would enjoy the favors of the Sultan. He would be appointed as a Maliki Judge on the Sultans whim
and anger. He would fare well and tried to fight corruption and favoritism. Again conspiracies against
him would work its way and he would be relieved of this duty. His relief of duty would coincide with his
family’s disaster. The ship carrying his family and belongings would sink in a storm.

It was then that he would take permission to go to the Pilgrimage to the Holy Lands. He would return
and be well received and appointed to a teaching position in the newly built school (Bein al-Qasrein) He
would lecture in Hadith, particularly Imam Malik’s Muwatta. He would then be appointed to Beibers Sufi
institute with a generous salary. The state of affairs of Egypt would be disturbed as a rival of Sultan
Barquq, Yulbugha would organize a successful revolt. Sultan Barquq would stage another revolt and
would be restored to his former throne. Ibn Khaldun during this period would suffer and would have his
position restored to him with the return of the victorious Sultan Barquq to Power.[26]

Ibn Khaldun during this period would devote his time to lecturing and study as wellas to completing his
Universal History. After Yulbugha’s revolt, he would write about Asabiyah and its role in the rise and fall
of states. He would apply his theory to the Egyptian theater since the time of Salah ad-Din.[27]

After fourteen years since leaving the position of the Chief Maliki judge Ibn Khaldun would reassigned to
the post upon the death of the presiding Judge. The state would again fall into disarray upon the death
of Sultan Barquq’s and his son’s ascension. Ibn Khaldun would not be a party to these revolts and would
ask permission to visit Jerusalem. He would join the Sultan Faraj’s caravan on its way back from
Damascus. Again due to political intrigue he would be relived of his duties as judge for the second time.
This would not matter because he would be called to accompany the Sultan on perilous Journey with
fate to Damascus.
MEETING TAMERLANE
During Ibn Khaldun’s stay in Egypt he would be asked by Sultan Faraj of Egypt to accompany him on his
expedition to Damascus. News reports have confirmed the movement of Tamerlane’s war party towards
Damascus. Sultan Faraj with his army were on their way to Damascus. It seems that Ibn Khaldun was
asked firmly to accompany the Sultan to Damascus.[29]

The Sultan would only stay for two weeks in Damascus, as he had to leave due to rumors that a revolt
back in Cairo was in the works. Ibn Khaldun and some notables were left behind in Damascus. It was
now up to the leaders of Damascus to deal with Tamerlane. Ibn Khaldun had suggested to them to
consider the terms of Tamerlane. It was the task of another Qadi, Ibn Muflih, to discuss the terms with
Tamerlane. When Ibn Muflih returned from Tamerlane’s camp, the terms were not agreeable to the
residents of Damascus.[30]

Since it was the suggestion of Ibn Khaldun to come to terms with Tamerlane, Ibn Khaldun felt obliged to
meet with Tamerlane personally. Ibn Khaldun would leave Damascus and go to the camp of Tamerlane.
It is questionable whether he went on his own or in an official capacity. Ibn Khaldun took some gifts with
him for Tamerlane and they were well received. Ibn Khaldun would stay in Tamerlane’s camp for thirty-
five days.

Over this period, Ibn Khaldun would have many meetings with Tamerlane and they would converse
through an interpreter, Abd al-Jabbar al-Khwarizmi (d. 1403). Ibn Khaldun’s account is the only detailed
account available. The subjects that they would discuss were varied and some were unrecorded. W.
Fischel lists 6 specific topics which they talked about:

On Maghrib and Ibn Khaldun’s Land of origin.

On heroes in History.

On predictions of things to come.

On the Abbsid Caliphate

On amnesty and security "For Ibn Khaldun and his Companion."

On Ibn Khaldun’s intention to stay with Tamerlane.

Ibn Khaldun impressed the conqueror enough to ask him to join his court. Some biographers have
suggested that he did and written down his eloquent appeal to return to Egypt to settle his affairs, get
his books and family and join Tamerlane. It however is more likely that Ibn Khaldun left on good terms
with Tamerlane and have accomplished his mission of extracting favorable terms for the people of
Damascus.

Ibn Khaldun’s departing words lend credence to the fact that he would not be returning to his service:
"Is there any generosity left beyond that which you have already shown me? You have heaped favors
upon me, accorded me a place in your council among your intimate followers, and shown me kindness
and generosity- which I hope Allah will repay to you in like measures."[34]

FINAL DAYS IN EGYPT :

Upon Ibn Khaldun’s return to Egypt, he was restored as the Malikite Qadi. Due to the political situation
within the community of Malikite Qadis Ibn Khaldun would be dismissed and reinstated three times
during the five-year period. Finally, he died while he was in office on Wednesday March 17 th 1406 (25th
of Ramadan 808). He was buried in the Sufi Cemetery outside Bab an-Nasr, Cairo at the age of seventy-
four years.

THE MAGNUM OPUS "AL-MUQADDIMAH"

He would his write his Introduction to his book of universal history in a span of five months.[36] This
impressive document is a gist of his wisdom and hard earned experience. He would use his political and
first had knowledge of the people of Maghrib to formulate many of his ideas. This document would
summarize Ibn Khaldun’s ideas about every field of knowledge during his day. He would discuss a variety
of topics. He would discuss History and Historiography. He would rebuke some of the historical claims
with a calculated logic. He would discuss the current sciences of his days. He would talk about
astronomy, astrology, and numerology. He would discuss Chemistry, alchemy and Magic in a scientific
way. He would freely offer his opinions and document well the "facts" of the other point of view. His
discussion of Tribal societies and social forces would be the most interesting part of his thesis. He would
illuminate the world with deep insight into the workings and makings of kingdoms and civilizations. His
thesis that the conquered race will always emulate the conqueror in every way.[37] His theory about
Asbyiah (group feeling) and the role that it plays in Bedouin societies is insightful. His theories of the
science of Umran (sociology) are all pearls of wisdom. His Introduction is his greatest legacy that he left
for all of humanity and the generations to come.
Unit 10: Shah WaliUllah

Introduction:

Qutbaldin Ahmad ibn Abdul Raheem who is renownedas Shah Wali Allah was born in 1114
hijra in 1703A.D .near Delhi .He was apart of a very distinguished intellectual and religious
family of the region .He was one of the greatest Muslim scholars of 18 th century.He made a lot of
effort in raising the intellectual, economic ,political ,social an dreligious life of the Muslims of
sub continent .Shah Wali Allah live din that era when Muslim community was having strong
disagreements with one an other and were divided into different sects and the entire Muslim
empire was losing ground on Indian subcontinent.He tried to resolve an dreconcilevarious
factions of the Indian Muslims by not only trying to give the ological and metaphysical issues an
ewratioal interpretation butal soputting effort to harmoniz ereas on an drevelation.

Shah Wali Allah was of the strong opinion that the main reason of the down fall of the Indian
Muslims was their un awareness of the sacred booki.e.Holy Quran .He was the founder of a
movement with the theme 'Back to the Qur'an', and possessed the crown of translating the
Qur'anin to Persiant of a cilitate its understanding among the Muslims of India aspersion as that
time could easily be read and understood all over the region. This is considered as the first
complete translation of the Qur'an by an Indian Muslim scholar.

In religious matters abdul raheem was a man libral views.generally he follows the hanafi school
but in certain respect he accepted that decisions ofothers school on the bases of tradition or his
own judgment.in his booklet al-latif al-za’if shah waliullah gives and account of his brilliant
educational career.even a cursory reading of his booklet shows that shah wali ullah was
precocious as a child he soon master the different branches of learning,and so great was his
commad over them that even at the tender age of fifteen he could teach all these with confidence
to other.after the death of his father,we find him busy teaching tafseer hadith,fiqh,and logic
subject commonly taugh in the madrasahs of those days.during this period of about 12 year he
penetrated deeply in to the teaching of islam and poundered seriously over a future of muslim in
india shah wali ullah was fully aware of the gap beween the pattern of life in enunciated in the
quran and sunnah and the which the muslim had divicesed for them selves,the gap between the
social nad political institution the frame work of which had been supplied by islam and the
institution which the muslims have developed and set up for themselves in the course of history.

Aims of Education:
Shah Wali Allah received an early structured and spiritual education at the madrasa
(i.e.thereligiousschool)at Delhi which was established by his father ,Shah Abdul –Raheem .He
studied Persian and Arabic grammar in detail ,literature, higher philosophy ,theology
,metaphysics ,mysti can djurisprudence. He graduated from school at the age of fifteen and, his
father in itiated him into the famous Naqshbandi or derin the very same year.

Scholars who have done extensive research on Shah Wali Allaha grees that his Hajjjourney
towards Meccaha sasignificant impact in his academic erudition.In 1143 hijrior 1731A.D.he
went on hajj an dutilized next fourteen months staying and studying hadith in both Mecca and
Medina .He also engaged himself in intellectual discussions ,meditation and spiritual
perfection .After making second Hajj and returning home ,he devoted the rest of his life teaching
hadith literature, metaphysics and writing.

Curriculum Formulation:
Shah Wali Allah takes the credit of bringing reforms in the religious curriculum of
Madrasas(religiousschools).The major amendment that was done on his behalf was
introducing“Mishkat”(the book of Hadith)in the course. The beauty of Mishkat is in its brief
work that deals with the basic teachings of Islam, avoiding unnecessary details that may put
reader in any sort of confusion.

Mishkat alMasabih gets the recognition and still remains part of the syllabus of hundreds of
Islamic institutions in the Indo –Pak sub continent, like Dar-ul-Uloom Deobandia, Nadwatal-
Ulama Luck now, Jamia Mansabiyah Meerut,Madrasa Aminyah ,Delhi ,Jamiah Arabiyaal he
Mishkat was also introduced in even the higher Islamic educational institutions in South
Africa .Dar -ul- Uloom, New castle ,Nata laws established in 1973 and the Mishkat was
introduced in its curriculum in 1981. And since then it continues to enjoy the position of both a
Hadith text book and an introductory source book of Fiqh i.e .The Islamic Jurisprudence.

Teaching Methods:

Shah Wali Allah organized his teachings methodologies and focused towards reorienting the
concepts of basic social justice ,removing social in equalities, and balancing the iniquitous
distribution of wealth among the Muslim societies .For the effective dissemination of his ideas
he established several branches of his school at Delhi.

None of the scholars of Media evalIndia understood the various aspects of civics as profoundly
as had been done by Shah Wali Allah .He was considered as a self-conscious which was
considered aprerequisite forgaining political consciousness .He worked in detail on the factors
that are important in growth of civil consciousness in his work Hujjat -Ullah- il-Baaligah which
is ranke dhighin developmental books.

Shah Wali Allah al sorealized the importance of economics in a socialand political set –up .He
supported the concept of maintaining economic equilibrium in the society and strongly criticized
the accumulation of wealth which ultimately is the root cause of all sorts of evils in the world.
He envisaged a social or der that was based on economice quality ,fraternity and brotherhood
,which are principle spracticed by Islamic socialists during the time of Caliphs .

Although borninanage of depravity chaos and corruption ,Shah Wali Allah strove for world’
speace and prosperity .He visualized a Muslim society in which the individual enjoyed the fullest
free domin addition to bringing harmony to all .the concept ideal Islamic state compelled ruler to
be governed by the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W).
Allama Iqbal while giving tribute to Shah Wali Allah beautifully explained the methodology of
teaching of this great scholar .According to Dr Iqbal ,Shah Wali Allah was of the view tha the
Prophetic method of teachingis the law revealed on the prophet that perceives habits, ways and
peculiarities of the people to whom he is specifically sent .The Prophet aiming at all –embracing
principles ,can neither divulge many, nor all ow them to work out their ownr ules of conduct.

The method of Shah Wali Allah is to train particular people and then to use it as an ucleus for the
building up of a universal “Shariah ”.While doing so, he emphasizes those basic principles upon
which the social life of all mankind is based and then applies those rules to make cases in the
light of the specific habits of people immediately before him.

Teacher:

Shah wali Allah began his teaching career at the same Madrasa that was founded by his father i.
e. Madrasa -e- Rahimiya .After his father death he became the head of the institution ,teaching
the current sciences at the school for more than twelve years .He also continued his own
studies ,growing in statureasa teacher and attracting more and more students to his circle. He
trained students in different divisions and sub divisions of Islamic knowledge and entrusted them
for teaching further students .

He not only corrected many un Islamic ideas and view points ,which had crept in the Muslim
society but also brought different sects of Muslims ,the Shias and Sunnis ,Deobandis and Bra
rewies close to each other and emphasized the importance of undefeatedunity among the
Muslims .

Student:
Shah Wali Allah side by side of teaching also gained the scholastic maturity and soundness
under the umbrella of grea tteachers .Sheikh Abdul Raheem was his educator in India ;under
whom he got both the direction and future strategy of achieving and implementing knowledge .

He was a devoted and a hard working student .His approach was helped and strengthened by the
teachers who were well equipped with there lated knowledge .He had delved deeply into the
Quranic verses under the guidance of his own father .Later a tHijaz, he also got the chance of
delving deep into the knowledge of A- Hadith and theme thodology of teaching it .

His beauty of teaching hadith was that he gave preference to the beauty of the narr a to sand it
smessage to humanity .The literary principles of writing and editing were also learnt while he
was staying at Hijaz .

Intellectual contribution of Shah Walli Allah:

The intellectual work of Shah Wali Allah can be classified into six categories.

The first category deals with the Holy Quran .It includes the translation of the Holy Book into
Persian ,which was one of the literary languages of the sub continent of that era.

Second class in which he has contributed is the domain of “Hadith ”.His contribution in this
regard surpassed several works including an Arabic and Persian explanation in amanuscript
“Muatta" ,which is are no owned collection of the hadiths /traditions of the Holy Prophet
(S.A.W.W) compiled by Imam Malik .Shah Wal iAllah is an out standing Muhaddith (A
Traditionist )and the associations of all contemporary an dinnovative scholars of Hadith in the
subcontinent may have some links to him. Shah Wali Allah wrote an umber of pamphlets and
books regarding Hadith.

The third category deals with the section of “Fiqh ”or also known as Islamic Jurisprudence .His
manu script in this regard is named as" Insaaf- fi- bayaan –I -Sabab- il -Ikhtilaaf" ,which is
although brief but yet a very informative ,interesting and thought provoking history of the
Islamic Jurisprudence of the last five centuries.

The fourth category deals with his works that are based on mysticism, in which he throw slight
of the theology and religious aspects of a Muslim’ s life

The fifth category pertains to his works on Muslim philosophy and the interpretation of Islamic
issues .He also published apamphlet which holds the principles of Ijtihadi .ein dependent
interpretation and Taqlidi .e. conformity in deriving rules .In the "Principles of Ijtihaad "he
clearly writes on ifitis obligatory for a Muslim to stick to the one of the four recognized schools
of thoughts of Islamic Jurisprudence (Shafi ,Hanbli ,Maliky or Hanfi) or whether a person can
exercise his own judgement .He was of the opinion that a lay man who does not know much
about religion should rigidly follow his own Imam but a person who is well versed in Islamic
law can exercise his own judgement which should be inconformity with the practice and
teachings of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W. W).

The sixth category deals with his works on the sects or factions issues i. e. Shia- Sunni problem
which were becoming fairly acute in those days .His writings on this subject played asignificant
role in a bridging this problem. His theories related to concepts of economics and socialism are
of revolutionary nature and he may be regarded as the precurs or ofKarl Marx, who was a well –
known German philosopher and economist .

Political Movement:
Shah Wali Allah played a major role in the politics of his times .He was greatly involved in
bringing out a united Muslim front against the rising Marhatt a power which was a threat to the
last vestige of the Muslim power in the northern India .It was he who wrote toNazimu lMulk and
Najibud daula ,and finally he invited Ahmad Shah Abdal iwho inflicted over whelming defeatin
the third battle of Panipat over the Marhattas .His letter to Ahmad Shah Abdal iwhich encapsul at
esthe invitation to the ruler to take uparms against the alarming Marhatt a powers is one of the
most important historical documents of the eighteenth century .He looked deeply into the
political situation in the subcontinent and was well aware of the dangers of which Muslims of
sub continent were prone fromd if ferent quarters ,so for combating the Marhattas ,He choseone
of the most stunning, capable disciplined and courageous Muslim leader of his time .

Ahallmark of Shah Wali Allahpolitical contribution was his ability to reunite all the opposing
view points to the level of content ment of each side. This was his main struggle towards uniting
the whole Muslim nationas he strongly believe ithaveasynergistic effectin therise of the ummah.
His influential and prevailing abilitiesas are concilerenabled him strongly to provide
acommonground and a strong basis for cooperation and a ccord both between the Sunni and
Shiaand Deoband iand Barelwi.
Shah Wali Allah emphasized on the rational evaluation of Shariah ,due to which he has been
regarded as founder of Islamic modernism' an dare former of faith by most of the Muslim
scholars and Islamic historians .His one more step towar s political contribution was his in
sistence for blending the cultural identity of Arabin sub continent as he affirms that only the path
of Sunnah and Quran pak is the way of success for Muslims .He also possesses political
objective that the followers of Islam should not lose their status of dominant political group in
state .This will ultimate lygive dominance to Muslims in the world. Shah Wali Allah was
however not in the favor of concept of civilized democracy.

Unlike Imam Ghazzali Ibn Khaldun and IbnTaimiyyah Shah Wali Allah believe din there
evolution against the corrupt and unjust rulers for the sake of att aitning peace and justice in the
region. Thus many of his writing sinvoked Jihadin the Muslims community to establish suchani
deal state and to oppose the down fall of Muslims .His philosophy was similar to the other
Islamic scholars who stressed upon the extraction of scientific theories and concepts from the
Holy Quran.

Foundations of belief

1.Ma’rifat ALLAH –conciousnes of God

According to walli ullah,conciousnes about God is in nate in the minds if human being.this
conciouness emerges and developes out of the rudimentary consciousness that things cannot
happen without a cause a simple form of this conciouness of cause of a thing,or of a happning,is
found among animals as well.the stage f the apprehenshion of God as the absolute and ultimate
reality.here it is only to be pointed out that for so for as ordinary human beingn are concern an in
nate tendency prevails in there minds to attributes the universal scheme and the wonderfull
organism that works systematically with in asa well as without them selves,in the universe to
some powerfull agent how is different from or is out side the universe it selves this tendency is
the natural and ever developing source of the knowledge about God and consciousness about
him.those who grew more self conscious had and active intellect and yet could not conceive the
universe,or a being,beyond what is visible, assigned ultimate causation of the physical
phenomena to the matter and the properties ofmatter and ruled out the existence of higher being.
When the ordinary mind which knows God on these lines.advances and developes higher
faculities on when the impediments of its physical lifes are removed ,its previous basic
knowledge and conciousnesss about God will not cause confusion and perplexity in its approach
to and reliazation of God

2.Attributes of God :

The real happiness of God lies in his approach to an consciousness of God a natural
characteristics of this kind of conciousnesss is the development of physics state of humility and
workship full attitude in relation to God the attributes of God is the disregards of the following
facts:

1.the attributes are characteristics of God whose assence is beyond human comprehension

2. As the assnece of God beyond the ken of human mind,in the same way His attribute and there
exact nature of is outside the jurisdiction of the understanding the faculit of human mind

3 .Being of an infinite being,each of them must be of infinite significance and boundless in what
its dente hence human language of which words and expression canonly have a limited
significance ,cannot adequapely connote full significance of the attribute and describe there
nature

4.The purpose of giving an account of the attributes in the teaching of religion is that the
knowledge of them should be an aid to the development of God consciousness,marifit,which is
an essential trait of human progress and ultimate happiness.

3.Determinism:

Walliullah view on determinism, Qudra, as it is the manifestation of God attributes of Qudra

power and irada,will so far as the ordinary minds are concerned theyrealize the truth of the fact
that the scheme of the universe is predetermind through there experarience of frustration of
there efforts and of happeninig of things contrary to there wishes and endeavours

4.Worship:
Before turning to walli ullah thelogical conception of the beliefs of tauhid and of shirk,it is
essencial that his idea of worship shouldbe clearly stated,since this as will be seen forms one of
the man ground of distintion between the conception of tauhid and shirk

Modes or forms of worship:

Like any other physic state,the genuine physic state of workship has also concomigtang modes of
expression in the external behavior of human being

1.the gesture mode.

2.the verbal mode.

3.physical suffering and sacrifice.

4.pilgrimage

List of works

 Izalat ul khafa
 Al qual ul jameel
 Sataat
 Al budur Al bazigah
 Al irshad ila
 Lamhat
 Al khayar Al khatir
 Hujjat Allah al baligha
 Tafheemat e llahiya
 Anfas ul arifeen
 Al juz al latif
 Al aqeeda tul hassna
 Shifa Al qulub
 Fath ur rahman
Seven virtues:
1. Woisdom(hikma):
Wisdom is the nature of intelligence it manfests it self by mental acuteness and brilliancy in
acquiring ,preserving, as well in putting to practical uses the knowledge that is gathered from
sense perception,ragiocination or the knowledge derived from the devined light intuition and
revelation to humanity as the basis of what is called the law of religion .

According to this definition the virtue of visdom as to assential ingredients

1.capacity for the equation of knowledge,at least of pragnaticl,itf not of a higher type of
knowledge.

2.acutness dexterity and brilliancy and he use of knowledge and its applicationany person who
is lacking any of the two ingrediants,wants in the virtue of wisdom to that extend.

Wisdom is not confined to faculity of tacking with dexterity only particular task ,but is the
general state of the mind posses of a sort of wide awareness and capacity to apply what ever
knowledge there may be to ones’enviornment correctly with the self defence born of
conviction

2. Bravary (shaja’ah):
According to walli ullah principle of the development of virtues from the primitive instinct of
animal aspect in human nature, the virtue of bravary has its route in the instinct of anger it is
under the control of intellect and its universal purpose that this instinct is transfer in to right
form of anger and the virtue of bravary comes in to being at certain time the rational or
universal perpose will not be served even and giving one’s on the battle field in such a case
bravary, on the contatary would be in saving one;s life by quitting the field a person
who,because of the fear of death or failaiar of his nerves,cannot get away and gets kill,cannot
be called barave

3. Chastity(iffah):
Another virtue that springs from and instinct in the animal aspect of the human dis position
under the refining influence and control of intellect,is chastity.

It consists in the mind’s of attitude towards the urges of the sex instinction to control and utilize
its to evolve higher values from it.

The biological factors are :-

1. strenth of the sexual instinct and its urges,as they are generally found in the case of sound
disposition which the stronge and healthy physical constitution.

2. masterly and assertive conduct the male,which by virture of his strength dominates over the
female the submissive behavior of the female towards the male and her coyness are due to her
inate mildness and delicassy of disposition.

4. Magnanity(samahah):
In accordance with the principle evolutionand development the virtue of magnanity grows out
up the self regarding sentiment and impulses of assetion and repulution.

This complex sentiment,in time crystallizes in to the sense of owner that sacrifice personal ends
for a larger purposes and its disgusted by every thing dishonoureable ,low and mean.ever thing
that fall short of being conformity with universal ends,belongs to the catogaries of the peti,the
low and the mean hence is is below human dignity and self esteem ,and there for it is contatary
to the virtue of magnimity .at the level of seven virtue magnimity is ordinary virtue and has no
such state of sublimity.the virtue at that stage have no transcendental aspect which is
charactaristics of the superior virtues .

5.Fasahah:
The primitive basis of this virtue exist even in animal when it tries to express feeling with sound
produce by the tongue and throat the assential factors of facality of speech and all more of its
developed forms, equalence, lucidity ,are

1. The soundness and strength of the physical disposition of man

2. The healthy and normal functioning of the phycological organism essential for working of the
tongue ad production of ordinary speech I harmonious voice

3. The strong link between the mind and the action of the tongue.

Walli ullah’s definition of this virtue could be render thus fasahah or the virtue of lusid speech
consist in the mind power of simultaneous controlling the facality of though while it is engaged
in directing the functioning of tongue while it is engaged in acuaring ideas from the faculaty of
thinking .

The mind losses control over the thinking faculity and fails to produce lucid speech on a count
of the following reason:-

1 .Deficiency in the virtue of wisdom

2 .Deficiency in the virtue of courage

3. Lack of self esteem

6. Diyanah:
This virtue has a same source as the virtue of the lucid speech, except that here the minds
control the physiological function that determine the form of expression in facial and other
modes of representation.the people who lack in this virtue fail to show consistency of theur
behavior with their state of mind,e.g.,some person cannot remove the gloomyexpression from
their faces ,even when they are happy in their minds.some people nurse a reverential attitude
for some one but they cannot show it properly.

7.Samt as-salih:
The sourse of the virtue of samt as-salih lie in the existence of a well balance of dis position
developed with innate harmony and right proportion of its various part s and constituent
.person who lack such a harmonies position are unable to display stability and consistency I
behavior for a long time because of the innate discord and wrong proportion of the
constituents of there disposition of the sunstance of there mind ,there behavior will bound to
consist of the series of facts,dicordent and inconsistence with each other for example at times
such persons may display in their behavior marks of analivated character,the qualities of self
determination,superiority and dignified authority where as the same person may at other
time,reviled a character mark by contrary quality of dependence,of smallness ,of in capacity
and of meanness.

Evaluation:
Shah Wali Allah died in 1763 A. D. leaving behind an intellectuall ega cythathas still be
ensurpassed hardly ever .If there existsany critique of his work ,It is that he ignored the British
challenge to the Islamic civilization.

The movement of political and spiritual regeneration of Muslim of subcontinent did not die with
the death of Shah Wali Allah .This whole scholarly be quest was transferred to his talented
son ,Shah Abdul Aziz ,and his worthy disciples and his success or swho strovefornot only
practical implementation of Shah Wali Allah’ smission but also to ac complish his dream. The
light of Islamic revival that was kindled by Shah Wali Allah kept lofting by his worthy and
dedicated successors .The echo of the third battle of Panipat holds some relation with the battle
of Balakot ,both forming the land marks of the very same struggle.

Concisely Shah Wali Allah possessed a versatile personality .His real greatness lies in the
cumulative effect that was produced by his writings ,by his en thusiastic successors and
followers and by the achievements of the school of thought that was founded by him. In
religious matters, he struck amean between extremes i. e. away of enlighten moderation .In
social affairs he worked hard to introduce the simplicity and purity of early Islam in the Muslim
society .In the sphere of economics he supported theconcept of revolutionary Islamic socialism
and in the political field he focused on establishing a united Muslim front against the non –
Muslim forces which were threatening to storm Muslims of subcontinent .

Conclusion:
In short the sin cereand dedicated efforts of Shah Wali Allah and his family cannot be ignored .It
is due to their efforts that the illustrious banner ofI slam kept flying over the Indian sub –
continent despite the decline and fall of the Mughal Empire .This is in contrast with Spain
where the faith of Islam disappeared with the down fall of the Muslim rule. There many Muslims
were either killed or were converted to Christianity .In Indian sub- continent the British
Government did not succeed in its planas the Muslims of India did not convert to the religion of
rulers despite of the fact that there was no doubt in the Missionary activities of British
Government who spent millions of pounds in there lated task by arranging lectures

Government tdid not succeed in its planas the Muslims of India did not convert to the religion of
rulers despite of the fact that there was no doubt in the Missionary activities of British
Government who spent millions of pounds in the related task by arranging lectures ,debates and
seminars to propagate their religious views .The failure of the British Government plan in
converting the Muslims of subcontinent was due to dedicated efforts of Hazrat Shah Wali Allah
andH is noble family.
Unit 11: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

1-Introduction

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadurwas born in 17 October, 1817. He was a politician and teacher,

and also a social reformer. He set up the school that would soon after become Aligarh Muslim

University. There was a revolt in India in 1857. This is known as the First Indian War of

Independence. Sir Syed kept faithful to the British during this time. He also saved many lives of

European. He wrote a book after the revolt where he said in fact British were the cause of revolt.

Sir Syed believes that because of strong views of Muslims, they were in a bad position in

India. At that time India was dominated by the British. It becomes independent in only 1947. Sir

Syed therefore prepared Muslims Intellectuals and introduces the scientific working of Western-

style.

Sir Syed also thought that the Muslims of India should talk in Urdu to each other. He was sad

about the position of Indian Muslims as their economic and social status was declining.

According to Sir Syed, Muslims had accepted their ways of education and bring a position

approach to the British. He wanted the benefit of the Muslims from the British. To attain this

task Sir Syed had to bring about collaboration between the British and the Muslims. Sir Syed

took the following steps to do this task:

 To prove that Muslims were not unfaithful to British, he wrote loyal Muhammadans of

India and asks the British to end the enmity.

  To point out the reasons of the outbreak of 1857, he wrote a pamphlet “easy on the cause

of Indian Revolt”.

 To point our similarities among Christianity and Islam he wrote Tabyan-ul-Kalam.

 The British Indian Association was established.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan played very important role in the educational strengthen of the Muslims

in India. To develop the educational standards Sir Syed did the following steps:

 Set up a journal, Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq, that contained articles of leading Muslims whom

agreed with the approach of Sir Syed towards education.

 In Ghazipur he founded scientific society in1863.

 In Muradabad he opened school in 1856s.

 In Ghazipur he opened school in 1864.

 To raise funds for new schools he made a committee.

 In Aligarh, he set up Muhammadan Anglo Oriental School on 24 May 1875.

 To raise the standards of education he set up Muhammadan Educational Conference in

1866.

Sir Syed improved the political consciousness of Muslims in Sub-continent. At first Sir Syed

believed in Hindu-Muslim unity. Soon after, he resolved to the two-nation theory.The Indian

National Congress was set up in 1885 and it claimed to be the body of every Indian apart from

the religion. Therefore, it soon after proved to be working only for the Hindus and tried to wipe

out the Muslims.

Sir Syed played an important role in improving the status of Muslim. Sir Syed workeduntiringly

to reinstate relations among the British and the Muslims. He brought the renewal of Muslims

through the Aligarh Movement and showed the importance of Education. He brought about the

Two-nation Theory and is hence known as “The Father of The Pakistan Movement.”

Reference:http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmed_Khan.

“The real greatness of the man (Sir Syed) consists in the fact that he was the first Indian

Muslim who felt the need of a fresh orientation of Islam and worked for it.’’ (Sir Allama

Iqbal)

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmad_Khan.

1. His Services & Role in Muslims Awakening

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the person who first recognized the seriousness of the situation. Sir

Syed saw through the evil designs of the British that strove to break the Muslims spiritually,

physically and mentally, and the devilish attitude of the Hindus. Muslims have only a change of
masters and who had become tools in the hands of the British rulers. The result was that Muslims

civilization and culture became inactive.

The objective of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was the rehabilitation and revival of the Muslim

nation. He was conscious of the weaknesses of the Muslims and the strength and the cunningness

of the opposition forces.

Sir Syed was convinced that the establishment of cordial relations between the Muslims and

British rulers was a pre-requisite to any revival. In 1858 he wrote the RisalahAsbab-i-Baghawat-

i-Hind, explaining the various economic, political and social factors which led to insurgence. In

1860 he published the Loyal Muhammadans of India a commentary on the Bible, the

RisalahAhkan-i-Ta’am-Ahl-i-Kitaband in 1862 Tabyin-ul-Kalam. In 1863, he founded a school at

Ghazipur and following year he founded a translation Society which was later moved to Aligarh

and named the Scientific Society. In 1866, the British India Association, Aligarh, was formed

with Raja Jai Kishan Das as President and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Secretary. In 1866, he

started publication of Aligarh Institute and Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq.

 Reference; Creation of Pakistan, First edition published, 1982

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan also realized that Muslims faced many problems because of lack of

English Education. The Government failed to attract the Muslims towards English Education. It

was clear to Sir Syed that the root causes of Muslim abstention from English Education and

science were bigotry and conservatism. After the adoption as a court language, English had

gradually come to occupy a most conspicuous place and it was realized that it would be better for

Muslims to embrace it. All these circumstances emerged Sir Syed to visit England’s Universities

and to establish a same kind of University for Muhammadans in India.

 Sir Syed noticed that, there are smallschools scattered everywhere for the education of Muslim

boys, in which education and teaching staff was not good. Sir Syed thought that just giving

higher education to the Muslims was not enough. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan wanted to pour the

spirit of brotherhood and nationality among them, and this spirit couldn’t be pouring into them in

these institutions. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had the idea that they had their own college.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan told his friend Mohsin-ul-Mulk, from London, about his plan. He wrote

that he had decided to start a paper especially for the benefit of the Muhammadans and had

named it Tahzeeb-ul-akhlaq in Persian and Muhammadans Social Reformer in English. He

further told that all the arrangements had been made; the RisalahTehzeeb-ul-Akhlaqwould

contain only articles relating to social and religious life of the Muhammadans.

 Reference: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan a Political, biography, Shan Muhammad M.A.D P Phill with a foreword

by Dr. Tara Chand, 1976.

"There are two kind of people came to this world, one who work to live and the other who live

to work". Sir Syed lived to work.

 Reference:http://aligarhmovement.com/book/export/html/2

1.1- Birth of Aligarh Movement:

Aligarh Movement is that Movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan that he starts for the betterment

of educational progress of Muslims in different field of life. It is the movement that emphasizes

social and political stability in Muslims by the process of education. Aligarh Movement is the
Movement of Sir Syed’s hardship for the progress of Muslims education. He used all his abilities

for uprooted the educational illiteracy of the Muslims. He told that fact to the Muslims that

without knowing western education they can not get economic, social and political progress. For

this purpose he starts Educational Movement by the establishment of Educational Institutions

that called Aligarh Movement in history.

Reference: IlmiAsaasiyatIlm-ul-Taaleem,Maqbool Ahmed, 2008.

1.2- What is Aligarh Movement:

After the freedom war of 1857, British Government should himself leave the Muslims

illiterate in educational, economic and political ground. Beside this English leaders should take

steps for educational and economic betterment of Hindus, the result is that they come forward

from Muslims in different fields. Sir Syed Ahmed Khantakes notice of all that circumstances. He

comes to the result thatthe cause of illiteracy of Muslims is unknowing of modern knowledge.

Therefore, he started a Movement for Muslims to knowing about western and scientific

knowledge, which recalls by the name of Aligarh Movement.

Reference: AsaasiyatIlm-ul-Taaleem,Maqbool Ahmed, 2009.

1.3- Causes of Aligarh Movement:

After the study of educational history following causes of Aligarh Movement comes

forward;
 i- Co-operation based strategy.

ii- Economic Development.

iii- Independent Educational System.

iv- Islam-Based Modern Education.

v- Hindu-Muslim Academic Balance.

vi- Safeguard of Rights.

vii- Restoration of Dignity.

viii- Mass Education.

1.4- Objectives of Aligarh Movement:

Following objectives of Aligarh Movement comes forward after the study of Sir Syed’s speeches

and writings:

i- Promotion of Western Sciences.

ii- Reconciliation.

iii- Modern Social Mode.

iv- Government Services.

v- Economic Stability.

vi- Development of national Identity.

vii- Harmony between Traditional & modern Education.

viii- Scientific Approach.

ix- Safeguard of Islamic Civilization.

x- Promotion of Urdu.
1.5- Educational Services of Aligarh Movement:

Following Educational Services are taken by Aligarh Movement:

i- Madrasa Muradabad.

ii- Madrasa Ghazi Pur.

iii- Scientific Society.

iv- Aligarh Institute Gazattee.

v- Vernacular Urdu University.

vi- Committee KhawastgarTaraqqi-e-Taleem.

vii- Aligarh School.

viii- Aligarh College.

ix- All IndiaMohammadan EducationConference.

 The motto of Aligarh University, Taught man that which he knew

not. (Qur'an 96:5)

1.6- Characteristics of Aligarh Movement:

Aligarh Movement contains following characteristics:

i- Collaboration of Eastern & Western Sciences.

ii- Residential Institution.

iii- Religious Education.

iv- English Faculty.

v- Filtration theory.

vi- Facilities.

vii- Social Activities.

viii- Modern Curriculum.

ix- English Medium of Instruction.

1.7- Effects of Aligarh Movement:

Vital effects of Aligarh Movement are:

i- Promotion of Western Sciences.

 ii- Reconciliation.

iii- The Muslim Unity.

iv- Character of formation.

v- Leadership

vi- Promotion of Urdu.

vii- Economic Growth.

viii- The Pakistan Movement.

ix- Extension in Education.

x- Social Reformation.

 Reference: IlmiAsaasiyatIlm-ul-Taaleem, Maqbool Ahmed, 2008.

3- Sir Syed’s Stance for Real Objects of the Congress:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan comes to know about the cause of the establishment of this

organization and he says to the Muslims that not to join it. The majority of Muslims was

followed the advice of Sir Syed. “He never waveredin his opposition to the congress and

declared that even if he was told that the viceroy, the secretary of state and the whole House of
Commons had openly supported the congress, he would still remain firmly opposed to it, and he
earnestly bogged all Muslims to remain away from it.” “It is my deliberate belief,” he said “that

should the resolutions of the native congress be carried into effect, it would be impossible for the

British Government to preserve the peace, or control in any degree the violence and civil wars

which would ensue.”

4- Four concrete Steps Against Congress:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan took four concrete steps to counteract the effects of the congress. He

founded:

xi- The Muhammadan Educational Conference

xii- The Indian Patriotic Association

xiii- The Muhammadan Anglo-oriental Defense Association of Upper India

xiv- The Muhammadan Defense Association of Upper India

In the lightof all these facts it is away from the truth to say that all India was represented by

congress or spoke for the Muslim community. Syed Tufail Ahmed Manglori, a nationalist, has

confessed that Muslims meted out complete non-operation to the congress in the early years.

 Reference; Creation of Pakistan, First edition published, 1982

5- Aims of Education:

According to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan the main aims of education are;
 x- To reduce poverty.

xi- To improve the nature of human to its best.

xii- The Muslims of India shouldemergeof the past and gain new techniques and

knowledge of the West.

xiii- To gain English education without any prejudice of religion.

xiv- To give higher education to the Muslims of India for prosperity of nation.

xv- At higher level literature and European sciences were to be taught.

xvi- To translate the biography of ancient Muslim writer into English.

xvii- To institute religion in English school for Muslims.

xviii- To translate the writings and works of the authors of historical Muslims.

xix- To institute research of the past into historical event.

 Reference:http://academiatutorials.blogspot.com/2010/01/aligarh-movement.html , Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, His

Life and Times, A Historical Survey, Muhammad Abdullah Pasha, 1998.

“Call me by whatever names you like. I will not ask you for my salvation. But please take pity

of your children. Do something for them, lest you should have to repent.” Sir Syed Ahmed

Khan.

Reference:http://www.slideshare.net/sohailahmedsolangi/sir-syed-ahmed-khan-by-sohail-ahmed .

5.1- Sir Syed’s Educational Vision:

i- Moral Education
 ii- Adoption of Moral Education

Sir Syed created a station of Nazim-e-Diniyaat for moral and Islamic education for the student of

M.A.O College. In the collegeDars-e-Quran was element of curriculum, before the start of class

AllamaShibliNomani used to give Dars-e-Quran in the morning for about half an hour from 1887

to1895. Soon after, the duty was handed over to the organizer of Nazim-e-Diniyaat,Maulana

Abdullah Ansari.

 Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmad_Khan.

6- Curriculum at Different Levels of Education:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan suggested following four sections of curriculum for the students of

Muslims at secondary level;

i- Moral Sciences: that includes history, logic, politics, geography, political economy,

philosophy, language and literature.

ii- Natural Sciences: that includes dynamics, astronomy, hydro-statics, statics, optics,

heat electricity, pneumatics, natural philosophy and acoustics, etc.

iii- Religion: that includes Hadith, Fiqah,Siyar, Tafseer and general principals of

religion.

iv- Mathematics: it includesAlgebra,Arithmetic, Euclidian geometry and other branches

of mathematics.
 In addition to these courses, there are some special courses of study. That includes such

subjects as botany, zoology, chemistry, engineering, geology, physiology, mineralogy, etc.

Two departments were set up for college i.e.

i- Oriental Department

ii- English Department

In Oriental department, there were taught Arabic and Persian literature, and modern and

Eastern sciences through Urdu medium, second compulsory language were English. Calcutta

University course was taught in English department. Sir Syed’s opinion had always that a

real diffusion of knowledge was impossible unless the western sciences were taught in Urdu.

 Reference: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the Politics of Educational Reform, Dr. Rehmani Begum, 1985.

“Sir Syed was a prophet of education.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

 Reference:http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmed_Khan.

7- Methods of Teaching:
 In Sir Syed’s opinion, insufficient teachers in just a few and scattered schools will not

provide better results. So they must be supported for better results. At junior level the method

of teaching should be memorization and recitation and at higher level giving lectures along

with research.

 Reference: http://academiatutorials.blogspot.com/2010/01/aligarh-movement.html .

“Man himself is his own greater teacher.” Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

 Reference:http://www.slideshare.net/sohailahmedsolangi/sir-syed-ahmed-khan-by-sohail-ahmed .

8- Death of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan took to his bed on 22nd March 1898. Because of severe anxiety and

illnesses he died after three days, on 25 th March 1898, at the age of eighty one. Sir Syed’s death

creates a great space in the leadership of Muslims. His death was taken as a national calamity.
  Reference: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the Politics of Educational Reform, Dr. Rehmani Begum, 1985.

9- Conclusion:

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was great Muslim leader and when Muslims where in spot of bother after

1957 he stood for them and showed them right path of success. Muslims, in general hated

English language at that time due to MuslimsUllemah. He told them that language itself is not

right or wrong and English language is the only way out for Muslims if they wanted to compete

Hindus. His Aligarh Moment laid foundation for Muslims education revolution and history

showed that Aligarh Moment become base for independence.

Unit 12:
Allama Mohammad Iqbal

1. Introduction
Man is the crown of creation and he has always been in search of the questions that come in his
mind. Sometimes he gets the answer and sometimes he is lost. All this progress, which we see
in our environment or all around the world, is the result of this quest. On the other hand, God
has also sent His prophets to guide human beings and to show them the right path. Besides
prophets, there are people the pangs in their hearts regarding the deteriorating condition of
humanity and give guidance. Allama Iqbal is among them. He is the poet of East and has
contributed a lot in the world of philosophy by giving his philosophy about “Self or Khudi”.

2. What is Self?
Allama Iqbal gave his philosophy of “Self or Khudi” in his Persian poetic work Asrar-i-Khudi. This
work tells us about the development of khudi and the three stages from which one’s “Self” has
to pass in order to become “perfect human being” suitable to be the vicegerent of God and to
establish His kingdom on earth.

Khudi is one’s hidden self which one has to discover in order to be complete. Khudi is not an
illusion, it is reality of every person who comes to this world and only that person can be satisfy
who discovers his hidden self.

3. Iqbal’s concept of “Self”

Iqbal gave his own philosophy regarding “Khudi” which is based on the principles of Islam. He
was acutely observing the declining condition of Muslims all over the world. He wanted Muslim
Ummah to ponder over their past when they used to rule half of the world and contributed in
the fields of knowledge. He wanted Muslim Ummah to be aware of their “hidden inner selves”
in order to establish their selves strong like they used to be in the past.

“Khudi” according to Iqbal is the person’s “concealed other self” which has great potentials
from which the person is unaware. He needs to discover that hidden other Self or Khudi in
order to know about his those great potentials which can be beneficial not only for him but also
for rest of the human beings.
Metaphysically the word “Khudi” means “I” whereas ethically it means self-reliance, self-
respect, self-confidence, self-preservation.

So, according to Iqbal’s concept of “Khudi” human being is the central figure and truth in this
universe after the ultimate truth which is God. God has created human being as the crown of
creation, this universe is for him and he is not for the universe .

4. Why the knowledge of “Self” is important?

Allama Iqbal has stress on the discovery of “Khudi /Self”. He has considered it the vital power in
human being. By presenting the concept, he actually portrayed a complete picture of a true
Muslim who has to focus on his personality development (Khudi) but on the other hand his
actual work is to serve the people and do sacrifices for the betterment of society.

The knowledge of self is important because by discovering it, one can know his abilities which
are hidden and need to be discover and develop like we do with the precious gems that we get
from the depth of the earth.

After discovering the “Self” one can make his/her goals to achieve in order to make
himself/herself strong and then to serve humanity. So one can only progress and touch the
heights of success if he/she is aware of his/her abilities or the true spark of “Self”.

5. Three Stages of “Self” Development

Nothing is complete in this world except ALLAH. Everything is in the process of evolution. Same
is the case with the human beings; they have to discover themselves by their experiences and
by searching for their “Khudi/Self”, as human satisfaction lies on self-affirmation not in self-
negation.

According to Iqbal’s concept of “self” has to pass through three stages after which a person
becomes “A perfect human being” as he becomes complete.

5.1. Obedience to law

Obedience to law is the key to success beside hard work. It is a grass-root level from which one
has to pass to develop his/her “self”. We have the example of the ship of desert which having
burden on its hump travels with the farer despite of harsh climate of desert but reaches the
destination. Iqbal has given us example of a twinkling star which follows the command of God
and moves slowly towards its destination. Only those people achieve their goals that can walk
on the path which is legal. Iqbal advises the Muslim Ummah to follow the laws set by Almighty
Allah and His Prophet (P.B.U.H) and never transgress the limit set by them.
 5.2. Self-Control
The next stage is Self-control which means a person is master of his own “Self” and is not a
slave or tool in the others’ hands. One who has control over his self will never bow his head
before his foes and will never fall victim to the conspiracies against him. A person with this
quality is master of his own fate and is free whereas a person without self-control is used by
people for grinding their own axe.

5.3. Divine Vicegerency: (Final Stage)

Almighty Allah has given the status of vicegerent to human and gifted him the faculty to think,
feel, speak and act and made him superior over the rest of His creation. It is his responsibility to
establish God’s rule on earth by following the commands of God and His Prophet (P.B.U.H). It is
a great responsibility for human beings and it is necessary that they should make themselves
capable of this responsibility. This can be possible when they are able to discover their
“Khudi/Self”. This is the last stage of complete human development on earth which means that
a person now after these three stages is capable of being called a true, perfect vicegerent of
God.

6. Components of “Khudi/Self”
Iqbal has depicted following four components of Khudi:

 Man should release that he is superior to all the creations of this universe and is
gifted with great potentials and spiritual powers.
 Man should understand values of intellect and love.
 He should be able to differentiate between the controversy of Good and Evil.
 He should understand that he is born to seek knowledge as his this struggle has
opened new vistas in the field of art, philosophy and science.

7. Important factors for the development of Khudi from “Asrar-i-

Khudi”
Everything that develops in this universe has factors behind it. Iqbal has pointed out following
factors for the development of Khudi in his poetic work “Asrar-i-Khudi”.

7.1. Love
 Love is important for the development of “self”. Iqbal stresses for the “Divine Love” and
says that in order to discover “self”, a Muslim should love God and His Prophet (P.B.U.H). It
is this love which will complete his quest for his “Hidden self” and will become source of his
success in both worlds. Love will lead one’s self towards Beauty and Beauty is nothing but
God. Iqbal has connected love with God and Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H).

7.2. Faith and self-reliance

Faith in Almighty Allah will make person strong and he will not beg for help in front of anyone
except Allah. Iqbal discourages “Sual or Begging” instead he is in favor of self-reliance and
struggle. He says that Muslims should not bow their heads and become slaves of western rulers
instead Iqbal wants Muslim Ummah to be united and strong so that the world will bow before
them. Self-reliance and struggle are important for the development of “Self”.

7.3. Tension
“Tension” or in others words continuous struggle for discovering something keeps person alive.
It goals and ideals make person to work to face dangers and keep him in motion. According to
Iqbal, state of relaxation or satisfaction is harmful for human beings as this will make them
immobile and their minds will become dull and as a result they will not search or struggle for
their “self”. So “tension” is a state of a “self” which is important to be maintained for the
discovery and development of “self”.

7.4. Principles of Islam

Following the golden principles of Islam as it is the complete code of life. “Self” will nourish
when it is contented and this can be achieved through Islamic way of life.

7.5. Self-affirmation
Self-affirmation is the foundation for the development of “self”. How can a person discover his
“self” if all the time moves on self-negation? Self can only be developed if it is given priority.

7.6. Importance of Pain and Hardships

Followers of the epicurean principles take their lives easy and do nothing just want leisure and
comforts. On the other hand Iqbal is in the favor of hardships and pain because these elements
in life make person to toil and make him brave enough to discover his true abilities and his
“self” which needs to be discovered. Peace and comfort in life will result in relaxation which will
pave way for static life and no discovery and development of self.

8. Role of Khudi
Iqbal is revolutionary like English poet P.B. Shelly. He gave an insight into the role of khudi in his
poetic work “Ramuz-i-Bekhudi”. He gave his philosophy regarding Khudi/Self to guide Muslim
Ummah at collective level so that they can establish a perfect Muslim world with ka’ba at its
centre. He has watered the tree of his philosophy with the spring of Islamic teaching.

In his mind there is a huge Muslim state without the element of borders, caste, color and creed.
He abhors modern nationalism and is in favor of Muslim unity and rule which is possible after
Muslim Ummah develops their “hidden inner Self”.

After those three stages from which person’s soul and hidden self passes and becomes super
human, his final responsibility is to establish God’s kingdom on earth and do justice with people
on earth and to establish this perfect kingdom “sacrifice” at individual and at collective level is
necessary.

Iqbal has discouraged the concept of self-negation which is practiced by the Sufis that is they do
not give importance to their worldly tasks and go on searching for God which is even not liked
by Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H).

The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) said:

“Create in yourselves the attributes of God”.

This means that man becomes unique after the discovery self and creating in him the qualities
of God this means by absorbing God in his “Self” will make him complete.

Whoever comes to this world has a task to perform, no one is futile, no one is useless. All
human beings come in this world to discover themselves and latter to serve God’s kingdom in
order to earn good for both worlds especially for the world hereafter. Man is part of society, he
learns a lot from it so at the end he has to contribute his share for the eradication of evils from
the society.

9. Negation of Unitism and other Doctrines

Iqbal’s philosophy on “self” shocked the pious and pseudo-mystics. These mystics believed in
Self-negation and Unitism or the doctrine of Wahdat-ul-Wujud. These mystics in fact
misunderstood the concept of Iqbal’s “self” because they thought that man will be unable to
gain knowledge and closeness to God if he will not leave the material world and his own “self”.
For them “self” was like God or in other words man was God, means their reality is same but
this is not so. God is the ultimate reality whereas Man is the creation of God.

Plato encouraged mysticism which influenced the Muslim world and they became inactive and
went towards asceticism. Iqbal advised Muslims to shun Plato’s philosophy. Holy Quran and
Prophet (P.B.U.H) have condemned asceticism.

So these doctrines, which influenced the Sufis belonging to Persia and India, encouraged them
to run away from the difficulties of life instead of facing them and emphasized the annihilation
of the self as means of attaining union with God. This absorption and negation of the “self”, led
Muslims to adopt an attitude of renunciation towards socio-political life and Iqbal was against
this aspect so he gave his philosophy which is practical and balanced.

10. Best example of “Complete Personality”

A complete personality owned by that person who discovers his “self” and later does justice
with his status of being vicegerent of God by performing his task after facing tough
circumstances.

There is only one example of such a complete personality and that is of our beloved Holy
Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H). Before the status of being the last prophet, he used to
go cave Hira where he used to pray and search for questions regarding God and purpose of life.
His heart was not at rest until one night he got answers of all his questions. When Angel Gabriel
came and made him to repeat first five verses from “Surah-Al-Alaq”. This was the start of a new
journey which was full of hardships. But he never gave up, he never became pessimist and
struggled hard and at last established first complete Islamic Society where the foundation stone
was Islam.

During his quest he never ignored his worldly duties. He was a merchant by profession, he had
family and he was a part of society in which he was famous as “Sadiq” and “Ameen” due to his
complete character. He was the chosen complete human being.

He is praised by non-Muslims even today and especially loved by Muslim Ummah. Iqbal has
stressed upon the love for Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and of course God’s love as well to be the
stimulus to develop the “self”. He is the perfect precious gem to be fit as an example of
complete personality.

We can clearly understand that today’s Muslim Ummah is at loss because it has forgotten the
right path, there is no balance in their lives, same is the case with those who are in favor of self-
negation because they will get nothing, they will become empty minded at the end.
 11. My Point of View
After studying and understanding Iqbal’s concept of “Khudi”, I consider khudi to be the vitality
of person. Khudi is the power gifted to man by Allah which is the source of writing all his
abilities so that he can become complete or perfect. It is that spark which gives light to see
person’s hidden abilities in order to make fit enough to perform a productive role in the society.

12. Conclusion
Iqbal’s novel concept of khudi is a useful addition to the world of thought. As a Muslim
philosopher and poet, for him Islam and it’s principles are the right source for discovering
“khudi”. His concept is matchless because no other philosopher could ever contribute such an
original thought regarding the rise of human dignity.
Unit 13: Major Theories of Education

Educational Philosophies

1. ESSENTIALISM :

Educational Essentialism is a theory that states that, children should learn the traditional basic
subjects and these should be learned thoroughly and rigorously.

An essentialist program normally teaches children progressively, from less complex skills to
more complex.

William Bagley (1874-1946) was The founder of the Essentialist Movement.

The term essentialism as an educational philosophy was originally popularized in the

1930s by the American educator William Bagley.

Bagley completed his Ph.D. in 1900 and spent the following academic year, as an
assistant in Kitchener's laboratory. In 1908 Bagley joined the faculty at the University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign. At Illinois, Bagley helped to develop the Department of Education to the
point that it became one of the most well known in the nation.

The foundation of Essentialism took place in 1938 by William Bagley.

•Early in the twentieth century, essentialism was criticized as being too rigid to prepare students
adequately for adult life.

•But with the launching of Sputnik in 1957, interest in essentialism revived.

Bagley's basic point with his role in the founding of essentialism was that the currently dominant
theories of education were feeble and insufficient.

•He wanted these dominant theories complemented, and perhaps replaced, with a philosophy that
was strong, forceful and positive.

•He did not, however, want to destroy completely the dominant theories that he was critiquing.

•Throughout his life, he supported both the academic disciplines and certain basic tenets of
Progressive education.

Essentialism is a uniquely American philosophy of education which began in the 1930‘s and
1940‘s as a reaction to what was seen as a overemphasis on a child-centered approach to
education and a concern that students were not gaining appropriate knowledge in schools.
 Although essentialism, as a theory and program of education has
developed to maturity before progressivism, it is considered mainly for its
current formulations.

Most of the leading exponents are still strikingly devoted disciples

of the two major systems of philosophical thoughts – idealism and realism

– that emerged in the Renaissance and attained their matured formulations

th
during the early parts of the 19 century. The expression into which each
system matured is extremely diverged and not always internally
consistent, with the consequence that essentialism, which include both
idealism and realism, abounds with eclectic elements.

Despite their differences, idealistic and realistic philosophies are

deeply concerned with the three chief areas of belief: reality, knowledge
and value.

Essentialist believes in a critical core of information and skill that

an educated person must have.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ESSENTIALISM:

In the Essentialist's Platform, which Bagley published in April

1938, the essentialists offered several basic educational principles.

•First, they recognized the right of an immature student to the guidance of

a well-educated, caring, and cultured teacher.

•Second, they proposed that an effective democracy demanded a

democratic culture in which teachers impart the ideals of the community
to each succeeding generation of the children.

•Third, they called for a specific program of studies that required

thoroughness, accuracy, persistence, and good workmanship on the part of
the pupils.
Underlying Philosophical Basis:

• Essentialism is grounded in a conservative philosophy that accepts the

social, political, and economic structure of American society.

• It contends that schools should not try to radically reshape the society.

Rather, essentialists argue, schools should transmit the traditional moral

values and intellectual knowledge that make the students model citizens.

• Essentialists believe that teachers should instill such traditional virtues

such as respect for authority, perseverance, fidelity to duty, consideration
for others, and practicality.

Reflecting its conservative philosophy, essentialism tends to

accept the philosophical views associated with the traditional,
conservative elements of American society.
Metaphysics

It acknowledges the primary of Essence.

It is not dependent on objective facts and measurements and not

limited to empirical understanding.

It transcends self/other dualism to define the undivided source.

Epistemology
1. Truth exists in the classics and modern science.
2. Students must learn process and content.

3. Knowledge is gained through the interaction of experiences and

rational thought.

Axiology
1. Determined by the natural order of things.

2. Values exist in the best of culture.

3. Rationality is best developed through interplay of deductive and

inductive thinking.

GOALS OF EDUCATION :

The main aims of education are:

1. To prepare students to be productive, contributing members of the

society.

2. To teach the young, the essentials they need to live well in the modern
world.

CURRICULUM:

Essentialism is related to the cultural literacy movement, which

advocates the teaching of a core set of knowledge common to (and
assumed to be possessed by) members of a culture or society.
 Strong emphasis is on basic skills in elementary schools. Emphasis
is on knowledge and scholastic achievement in secondary schools.

Reflecting the essentialist emphasis on technological literacy, ‗A

Nation at Risk‘ recommend that all high school students complete at least
one semester of Computer Science.

Essentialism refers to the "traditional" or "Back to the Basics"

approach to education.

Essentialism tries to instill all students with the most essential or

basic academic knowledge, skills and character development.

It is so named because it strives to instill students with the

"essentials" of academic knowledge and character development. The
foundation of essentialist curriculum is based on traditional disciplines
such as math, natural science, history, foreign language, and literature.
 Essentialists frown upon vocational courses. In the essentialist
system, students are required to master a set body of information and
basic techniques for their grade level before they are promoted to the next
higher grade.

The content gradually moves towards more complex skills and

detailed knowledge.

METHOD OF INSTRUCTION:

Essentialist avoids methodological add-ons and soft pedagogy and

concentrates on sound, proven instructional methods.

The students would learn passively by sitting on the desks and

listening to the teacher. An example of essentialism would be lecture
based introduction classes taught at universities. Students sit and take
notes in a classroom which holds over one hundred students. They take
introductory level courses in order to introduce them to the content. After
completing one course, they will take the next level course and apply
what they have learned previously.

• Elementary students receive instruction in skills such as writing,

reading, measurement, and computers.

• Subjects most often associated with the development of creativity such

as Art and Music to be provided.

• The students are required to master a body of information and basic

techniques, gradually moving from less to more complex skills and
detailed knowledge.

• Only by mastering the required material for their grade level, the
students are promoted to the next higher grade.

Essentialism is different from what Dewey would like to see in the

schools. Students in this system would sit in rows and be taught in
masses.

ESSENTIALIST CLASSROOM
 Essentialists urge that the most essential or basic academic skills
and knowledge be taught to all the students.

The essentialist classroom is centered on students being taught

about the people, events, ideas, and institutions that have shaped the
American society. Essentialists hope that when students leave school, they
will not only possess basic knowledge and skills, but they will also have
disciplined, practical minds, capable of applying lessons learned in school
in the real world.

In an essentialist classroom, students are taught to be ―Culturally

Literate,"
 Essentialist programs are academically rigorous, for both slow and
fast learners. Essentialists believe in strict classroom management for two
reasons.

The first being that students will team better and concentrate better
if there are few distractions.

Secondly the teacher can teach better with few distractions.

If a student does something wrong then he or she needs to be

punished.

ROLE OF A TEACHER :

Moreover, essentialists maintain that classrooms should be

oriented around the teacher, who ideally serves as an intellectual and
moral role model for the students.

•The teachers or the administrators decide what is most important for the
students to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly
when they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum.

•Essentialist teachers focus heavily on achievement test scores as a means

of evaluating progress.

Essentialists believe that the teachers should try to embed

traditional moral values and virtues such as respect for authority,
perseverance, fidelity to duty, consideration for others, and practicality
and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizens.

DISCIPLINE :

• The report A Nation at Risk reflects that the essentialist emphasis on

strictness.
• It calls for more core requirements, a longer school day, a longer
academic year, and more challenging textbooks.

CONCLUSION :

Essentialism, a dynamic force in the earlier stage of modern

history, becomes a conserving force as the culture that formerly nourished
it and to which it has since been loyal and grateful strains towards further
sweeping change.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Existentialism
-----------------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION

Existentialism is a way of philosophizing that may lead those who

adopt it to a different conviction about the world and man‘s life in it.

Existentialism is mainly a European philosophy that originated

before the turn of the twentieth century, but became popular after World
War II (1939 – 45).

The seeds of existentialism may be traced back to an earlier period

 th
of the history of philosophy. During the 18 century reason and nature
were given more importance, objectivity was very much emphasized,
leading to industrial and technological developments and science was
given utmost importance. From the scientific viewpoint, man was also
regarded as an object. Man became a slave to machines in developing
industrial society. Against this situation existentialism emerged as a
protest against the society and asserted the supremacy of individuality of
man.

The existentialist philosophy is not a creation of any single

philosopher. The existentialist writings scattered in the works of many
philosophers, the important ones of which are : Friedrich Nietzsche, Soren
Kierkegaard, Gabriel Marcel, Martin Heidegger, Jean Paul Sartre, Karl
Jaspers, Abbagnamo, Bardyaev and Albert Camus etc.

In American education, such people as Maxine Greene, George

Kneeler, and Van Cleve Morris, are well-known existentialists who stress
individualism and personal self-fulfillment.

FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH

1. Existence precedes Essence : This philosophy begins from man, but

from man as existent rather than man as a thinking subject, having a
definite nature or essence. A man first exists, encounters himself, and
defines himself afterwards. Existence comes before man is set with
value or essence. It is because to begin with man is nothing, has no
essence, he will be what he makes of himself. Man defines himself in
his own subjectivity, and wanders between choice, freedom, and
existential angst. Existentialism often is associated with anxiety, dread,
awareness of death, and freedom.

2. Importance of Subjectivity : The Danish philosopher S Kierkegaard

has said that truth is subjective, truth is subjectivity : objectivity and
abstraction are hallucinations. Existentialism is the philosophy of
subject rather than of the object. Each individual by probing into the
depths of one‘s subjectivity can discover the truth of one‘s being and
discover his authentic role in life. This is a creative process which
gives rise to fresh insights.

3. Man‘s Freedom : The basic feature of human person is his freedom –

unfettered and unrestrained. Society and social institutions are for the
sake of man and not vice versa, as believed by idealists and others.
There is no ―general will‖ to which the ―individual will‖ is subject.
4. Criticism of Idealism : Existentialism has emerged and developed as
a reaction against idealism. Existentialist philosophers are highly
critical of idealism and conceptualism. They criticize idealist‘s
contention about universal element and man‘s good being subject to
general good. They regard the search for essence a mistaken pursuit
and according to them it is not the essence but existence which is real.

5. Criticism of Naturalism : The existentialist philosophers are also

critical of the philosophy of Naturalism. According to naturalists, life
is subject to physico – bio – chemical laws, which in turn, are subject
to the universal law of causation. Human acts are mechanical as the
actions of an animal. This, however, is anathema to the existentialists
and they stoutly defend the freedom of man. As a matter of fact, man
is so free, according to J. P. Sartre, that he is fearful of his freedom.

6. Criticism of Scientific Culture : With tremendous progress in science

and technology, rapid industrialization and urbanization have taken
place. This has given rise to crowded towns in which individual is lost.
Everything is done or happens on a large – scale and all personal
values, individual likes and dislikes are altogether lost sight of. Today,
it is not the individual who chooses his end; rather all decisions are
made by computer or statistical laws and data. Thus, science has made
the value of man negligible. This is why the existentialists are opposed
to scientific philosophy and culture.

7. Attention on Human Weakness and Security : In this scientific life

of today, the individual is leading a life of tension, worries,
frustrations, fear and sense of guilt. His individuality is getting
continually blundered, therefore for security of individuality the
individual should be given an environment free of worries, anxieties
and tension.

Thus, existentialism is a philosophical movement that is generally

considered a study that pursues meaning in existence and seeks value for
the existing individual. It, unlike other fields of philosophy, does not treat
the individual as a concept, and values individual subjectivity over
objectivity. As a result, questions regarding the meaning of life and
subjective experience are seen as being of paramount importance, above
all other scientific and philosophical pursuits.

CHIEF EXPONENTS OF EXISTENTIALISM

Soren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855) is regarded as the father of modern

existentialism and is the first European Philosopher who bears the
existentialist label. In his view, subjectivity and intensity should be priced
as the criteria of truth and genuineness. We touch reality in intense
moments of existence especially moments of painful decision. These
moments are characterized by deep anxiety, and life is known in such
moments and cannot be reduced to just system of ideas.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900) is regarded as a key figure in the rise

of existentialism. According to him Christianity is to be overcome by
putting in its place the doctrine of Superman, that is, man surpassing
himself.

Martin Heidegger (1889 – 1976) in his book Being and Time, gave a
very impressive analysis of human existence, the prominence of the
important themes of existentialism like care, anxiety, guilt and above all
death is brought out here.

Jean – Paul Sarte stressed that man‘s existence precedes his essence.
―Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he
realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions,
nothing else but what his life is.‖

SOME RECURRING THEMES IN

EXISTENTIALISM :

Themes such as freedom, decision, and responsibility are

prominent in all existentialist philosophers. These matters constitute the
core of personal being. It is the exercise of freedom and the ability to
shape the future that distinguishes man from all other beings that we know
on earth. It is through free and responsible decisions that man becomes
authentically himself.

Another group of recurring existentialist themes includes such

topics as finitude, guilt, alienation, despair, moods, changing feelings,
emotional life of man and death. Discussions of these have not been
prominent in traditional philosophy, yet they are discussed at length in
existentialism.

For the existentialist man is never just part of the cosmos but
always stands to it in a relationship of tension with possibilities for tragic
conflict.
EDUCATIIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EXISTENTIALISM :

The object of education is to give man the unity of truth…

In the field of education the contribution of existentialism is as

follows :

The aim of Education : Existentialists believe that the most important

kind of knowledge is about the human condition and the choices that each
person has to make, and that education is a process of developing
consciousness about the freedom to choose and the meaning of
responsibility for one‘s choices. Hence, the notion of group norms,
authority, and established order – social, political, philosophical, religious,
and so on – are rejected. The existentialists recognize few standards,
customs to traditions, or eternal truths; in this respect, existentialism is at
odds with the ideas of idealism and realism.

Total Development : The existentialists have aimed at total development

of personality through education. Education should aim at the whole man.
It should aim at character formation and self – realization. In the
existentialist classroom, subject matter takes second place to helping the
students understand and appreciate themselves as unique individuals who
accept complete responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Since feeling is not divorced from reason in decision making, the
existentialist demands the education of the whole person, not just the
mind.

Subjective Knowledge : The present age of science has made too much of
objective knowledge, so much so, that the term has come to mean unreal,
non-sense, ignorant and irrelevant. The existentialists rightly, point out
that subjective knowledge is even more important than objective
knowledge. They rightly hold that truth is subjectivity. It is a human value
and values are not facts. Reduction of values to facts has led to widespread
loss of faith in values. Therefore, along with the teaching of science and
mathematics, the humanities, art, literature should be also be given
suitable place in curriculum at every stage of education. Most of the ills of
the modern man are due to over – objective attitude. This requires a
subjectivist correction in the light of existentialist ideas.
Importance of Environment : The present industrial, economic, political
and social environment is valueless. Therefore, it helps confusion and
corruption, tensions and conflicts. The existentialists seek to provide an
environment proper to self – development and self – consciousness. This
environment in the school requires contribution from humanities, arts and
literature. These will help in the development of individuality in the
educand so that he may cease to become a cog in the social wheel. Rather
he should develop to a self – conscious and sensitive individual.

Child – Centred Education : Existentialist education is child – centred. It

gives full freedom to the child. The teacher should help the child to know
himself and recognize his being. Freedom is required for natural
development. Education should convert imperfection into perfection.

Education should be according to the individual‘s needs and abilities of

the child. The relation of the child to himself should be strengthened by
education.

Curriculum : Existentialists prefer to free learners to choose what to

study and also determine what is true and by what criteria to determine
these truths. The curriculum would avoid systematic knowledge or
structured disciplines, and the students would be free to select from many
available learning situations. The learners would choose the knowledge
they wish to possess. The humanities are commonly given tremendous
emphasis. They are explored as a means of providing students with
vicarious experiences that will help unleash their own creativity and self –
expression. For example, rather than emphasizing historical events,
existentialists focus upon the actions of historical individuals, each of
whom provides possible models for the students‘ own behaviour.

Existentialist‘s approach to education is almost an inversion of the

realist approach. In the field of curriculum while the realists exclusively
emphasize science, the existentialists find out that science and objective
education severs our relation with ourselves. Science cannot help in inner
realization and achievement of peace. This, however, does not mean that
science education should be ignored. It only means besides science the
curriculum must include humanities, ethics and religion. In keeping with
this viewpoint contemporary engineering colleges have included some
philosophy, ethics and social studies, in their curriculum. Without this
synthetic approach to curriculum the aim of character formation and
personality development will be defeated.

Learning Experiences : An existentialist curriculum would consist of

experiences and subjects that lend themselves to philosophical dialogue
and acts of choice making. Because the choice is personal and subjective,
subjects that are emotional, aesthetic and philosophical are appropriate.
Literature, drama, film – making, art, and so on, are important, because,
they portray the human condition and choice – making conditions. The
curriculum would stress self – expressive activities, experimentation, and
media that illustrate emotions, feelings and insights.

The classroom would be rich in materials that lend themselves to

self – expression, and the school would be a place in which the teacher
and students could pursue dialogue and discussion about their lives and
choices.
The Teacher : According to the existentialists the teacher creates an
educational situation in which the student may establish contact with
himself, become conscious of it and achieve self – realization. This
requires existential approach in the teacher himself. He should also have
an experience of self – realization so that he may be capable of guiding the
students in this process. The teacher‘s role is to help students define their
own essence by exposing them to various paths they may take in life and creating an
environment in which they may freely choose their own preferred way.

Existentialist methods focus on the individual. Learning is self-paced, self

directed, and includes a great deal of individual contact with the teacher, who relates to
each student openly and honestly.

The student : The student should feel completely free for realizing his

‗self‘. Under the guidance of the teacher, the student should try to realize his ‗self‘
through introversion. The student accepts the discipline prescribed by the teacher and
does not become irresponsible. The purpose of freedom given to him should be to enable
him to effect the full development of his individuality.

Religious and Moral Education : The existentialists particularly lay emphasis upon
religion and moral education. Religion allows a person to develop himself. Religious
education gives him an understanding of his existence in the cosmos. It shows the
religious path of self – realization. It also makes him capable of utilizing faith in self –
development. Moral education is closely related to religious education. Both develop the
inner self and help in the realization of the infinite within the finite.

CRITICAL EVLAUATION

Some critics (mainly traditionalists or Conservatives) claim that existentialism as

philosophy for the schools has limited application because education in our society, and
in most other modern societies, involves institutionalized learning and socialization,
which require group instruction, restriction on individual behaviour and bureaucratic
organization. Schooling is a process that limits students‘ freedom and that is based on
adult authority and on the norms and beliefs of the mass or common culture. The
individual existentialist, exerting his or her will and choice will encounter difficulty in
school – and in other large, formal organizations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

122
3.Progressivism------------------------------------------------------------
-------

Pragmatic Roots

Progressivism is the educational philosophy of the “liberal” and it is

grounded in the “pure” philosophy of pragmatism. As an outgrowth of pragmatic
thought, progressivism is completely different from all other educational theories. This is
because it wasn’t arrived at through theoretical speculation. On the contrary, man lived
his way into this system of thinking. By this, I mean that man tried out his ideas before
believing in them. Hence, man’s attitude was very practical.

Pragmatic ontology holds that reality is in the realm of everyday, personal

experience. Therefore, since none of us have had an identical set of life experiences,
reality is somewhat different for all of us.

With regard to truth, pragmatism’s view is that ideas should be tested for
their utility. If an idea works out in practice, then we can accept it, use it, and call it
“truth.” If an idea doesn’t work, the pragmatist scraps the idea, learns from his
experience, and tries something new. To a pragmatist then, “truth” is what works! A
corollary of this statement is: “Truth is not absolute, but relative to the perceiver and the
circumstances in a given time and place.” According to this view, what works for me in
a given situation is truth for me. But it may not be truth for you! Why not? Because your
circumstances might be different, and all truth is relative to its surrounding circumstances
of place and time. For example, would it have been a “truth” in 1955 to say, “man can
walk on the Moon”? No! Would this have been “truth” in 1969? Yes! This year, would
it be a “truth” that man can create an exact replica of a living human being through
cloning? No! What will be the answer to this question in the year 2010? Stay tuned and
see. Another example that I have found to be a “truth” for me is that when I’m
memorizing notes that I’ve taken, I can get the job done in one-half the usual amount of
time if I’ve read the notes through, once carefully, on the day that I took them. This is
truth for me, but is it for you? Only practical, individual experience would determine this.
Truth then is never absolute to a pragmatist. It constantly changes with time and
circumstances.

The pragmatist believes that ethically, whether or not something is “good

or “bad,” is determined by the public test. In other words, if we try something out, it will
prove to be either good or bad.

123
 Aesthetically, that which is beautiful is whatever squares with the public taste.
For example, if most people think that a certain actress or model is a beautiful woman,
then she is by definition beautiful.

John Dewey’s Influence

The leading spokesman for progressivism was the academic philosopher

John Dewey. In his writings, Dewey emphasized a generalized problem-solving
procedure, which is quite similar to the scientific method. This problem-solving
procedure is a means by which we find out what works in a given situation. Dewey saw
this problem-solving procedure as one-in-the-same with the process of education. He
believed that the procedure could be effectively applied to problems in the physical or
biological sciences, or to a social problem or even to a personal problem

Most progressives are committed to change and progress in our society.

They feel that change is inevitable and that we should therefore learn how to manage it so
that mankind can be “in the saddle” directing change, rather than having “events in the
saddle” leading us to some unknown destination. Most progressives feel that the process
of inquiry or problem-solving is the proper tool for managing change. Thus, such a
process has utility for us. John Dewey, however, was never really interested in the utility
of our education, i.e., whether or not our inquiry would bring us material progress.
Dewey was a "purist.” He felt that “education is growth,” and growing or development is
life, hence education is life. Therefore, unlike classical educators, Dewey did not view
education as preparation for life. He wrote that “….the educational process has no end
beyond itself; it is its own end; the educational process is one of continual reorganizing,
reconstructing, transforming.” Dewey felt then that the only purpose of education is
more education. It must be that way so that we can keep up with our constantly changing
environment. In this way, our society can constantly renew, sustain and propagate itself.
Progress, then, is just a by-product.

Some progressives think that Dewey came on too strong with his growth
metaphor. He defended himself, however, in his book Democracy and Education:

“Since growth is characteristic of life, education is all one with growth; it has no
end beyond itself. The criterion of the value of school education is the extent in which it
creates a desire for continued growth and supplies the means for making the desire
effective in fact.”

124
 Do you agree with this view or is the value of a school education whether or not it
can get you a job?

Education Theory

In essence, progressive education is “learning through living.” In living,

we are constantly confronted with changes in things. As a matter of fact, change seems
to be the only constant. Progressives want to teach youth how to manage change. In the
experience of
day-to-day living, we all confront many problematic situations. Some of these are
societal problems, and some are personal problems. In progressive education, the learner
finds meaningful soultuions to these problems by applying a well-defined process. When
he has found a solution, he might express it in a school setting through a project or
activity.

Progressivism advocates no prescribed curriculum. In other words, there

is no pre-determined body of essential subject mater. This means that the subject matter
actually dealt with in school has no fixed sequence, i.e., it is not studied in any particular
order. In history this does no appear to matter. We know that we can learn colonial
American history just as well before or after a course in the Civil War and
Reconstruction. In mathematics, sequence of material seems logically to be more critical.
For example, how can one learn long division unless he has already learned subtraction
and multiplication? Progressives say that when a student shows that he is “ready” to
learn long division, he will be highly motivated to do so. At this point, if he does not
have the prerequisite knowledge, then this would be the proper time to teach it to him,
instead of force-feeding such knowledge to him at an earlier time when he might not be
receptive to learn the knowledge.

Continuity in the curriculum is also of no great importance to the

progressive. In other words, how one day’s learning relates to the next day’s isn’t so
important, since all knowledge is related in some way and no part of the vast amount of
knowledge can ever be shown to be “essential” to all learners.

What subject matter is dealt with in a progressive’s classroom? It is

subject matter, which is relevant to the solution of a problem an individual learner is
interested in. Does this mean that 35 separate curricula must be taught in a given
classroom? Not usually! Progressives just say that the curriculum ought to be based on

125
the manifest needs and interests of the students. Obviously, all third graders would have
some of the same needs and interests. Progressives think that it is okay to try to interest
students in certain subject matter. For example, third graders often learn their
multiplication facts for the digits 0-9. They also typically learn cursive writing.
Progressives just don’t want to force a child to learn something if it does not presently
cater to his needs and interests. Since there is a vast amount of knowledge, something is
bound to interest every student at a given age. Progressives contend that if a student
learns that which interests him, it will be “real” learning and not forced teach which
merely leads to memorization and regurgitation.

Progressives place a heavy emphasis on students working together in the

context of a group. This is logical, because several students might be interested in
inquiring into the same “problem.” Progressives tend to favor group work as an
educational end in itself, because it enables students to be socialized to one another. In
other words, students learn how to work with persons of a different race, sex, age, ethnic
background, religion, etc. This experience should serve one well as an adult when we
must frequently work with others on the job, at church, on community boards, and
committees, etc.

Progressives are very much aware that circumstances in the world are
constantly changing and that knowledge is constantly expanding. Therefore, they think
that is futile to try to teach a given body of knowledge in the hope that it will serve the
student well in his life for 10 or 20 years. Progressives point out that in certain fields
such as biology or astronomy, knowledge is changing so fast that any textbook is
outdated in some very important ways as soon as it appears on the market. In view of the
dilemmas with knowledge cited above, progressives contend that we should teach
students how to think instead of what to think. In other words, students would acquire a
process of thinking and learning which will enable them to inquire into any problem or
body of knowledge, both now and in the future. To a progressive, the process of learning
is far more important than any content or subject matter learned. The process endures,
but most content is quickly outdated.

In a progressive’s classroom, there is a desire to deal with open,

controversial questions and problems. By contrast, classical educators are more inclined
to deal with closed, pedantic questions with safe, right answers.

Finally, a very important tenet of progressive ideology is that the teacher

is a fellow-learner along with the student. Progressives view the teacher’s proper role as
that of a stimulator of interests, a helper and a resource person. Unlike classical
educators who dispense knowledge they consider crucial, progressives assist students in
inquiring. In a sense, progressives are a kind of research project director. Progressive

126
teachers are less directive in dealing with students than classical educators.

Classroom Seating

Seating of students in a classroom is an important philosophical issue to

many progressive educators. Because of the influence of progressive ideology, we now
have movable furniture in most of our school classrooms instead of desks bolted to the
floor. Individual desks or tables and chairs or temporary seating on carpeted areas enable
the teacher to have infinite seating patterns for different tasks in the classroom. In the
progressive classroom, students generally are assigned no seats, so seating charts are not
used. Movable classroom furniture facilitates interaction between students in a
classroom, and progressives highly value such interaction because they believe that
students can learn much from each other.

Ability Grouping

Probably no single issue philosophically divides progressives and classical

educators so much as the issue of homogeneous ability grouping. Progressives are
opposed to any type of ability grouping or any type of segregation of students of the same
chronological age from one another, whether it is done on the basis of sex, race, social
class, or academic performance. Progressives contend that students need to have as much
exposure as possible to all kinds of people. They feel that ability grouping destroys the
socializing power of the school and yields “undemocratic” byproducts such as snobbery
and condescension. Progressives say, for example, that students in upper level ability
groups always look down upon students in lower level groups. They say that students in
upper level groups benefit from exposure to the best teachers and school resources.
Progressives, therefore, argue for heterogeneous grouping into classes where all ability
levels are represented. They say that this pattern assures each student of an equal chance
to an education. Moreover, they contend that students of all types can learn much from
each other. Progressives, therefore, support the concept of “mainstreaming” all
exceptional children, e.g., gifted and talented, learning disabled, retarded, emotionally or
physically handicapped.

Preferred Teaching Method

The progressive teacher does not think of himself as a math teacher or a music
teacher. He thinks of himself as a teacher of children or young people. This “mind set” is

127
an important one. In other words, the progressive does not view himself as a subject
matter expert whose job it is to pass along what he knows. Consequently, progressives
use little or no lecture, recitation and demonstrations. As fellow inquirers, they favor the
problem-solving method or the project method. They prefer to deal with problems that
arise out of the genuinely felt needs and interests of their students. For example, in an
11th grade English class, after a unit on Shakespeare, some students might be motivated
to write and produce their own Elizabethan play as a project. A progressive teacher
would encourage this interest and work with them on the project as a guide or resource
person. In carrying out such a project, students would have to use or apply much present
knowledge. In addition, they would uncover much new knowledge through their
research. Progressives feel that it is in the use of knowledge that students really learn in a
meaningful way. A “living awareness of subject matter” is superior to memorizing
subject matter prescribed by some authority and giving it back on a test.

The reflective inquiry method favored by Dewey and other progressives is

a generalized problem solving process that can be applied to any problem. It includes
several steps:

1. truly sensing a problem. This means facing an indeterminate situation and

experiencing some kind of doubt, conflict or disturbance. Ideally, it is the pupil’s
problem and not a contrived problem set up by the teacher.

2. articulating the problem. This involves thinking about the problem until
you have it is a form that can be realistically investigated. This means stating the
problem in a testable form.

3. hypothesizing a plausible solution. This involves generating a number of

possible solutions to the problem (hunches) in order to guide your observation or
gathering of data, and then adopting the most likely hypothesis (hunch) or hypotheses to
test against information uncovered.

4. gathering data. This involves getting relevant information that will

elaborate on the hypothesis. Data gathering can be from any relevant academic
discipline. Various methods are used. At times one or more techniques such as the
following are used: formal empirical experimentation, observation, polling, library
research, interviewing, etc.

5. testing the hypothesis. This includes seeing how your hypothesis square

128
with the data you have been able to assemble. One logically would either accept, reject
or modify (i.e., change) the hypothesis after comparing it with the data.

6. drawing appropriate conclusions. These conclusions are stated and

constitute the solution to the problem.

You may recognize the above process as the scientific method.

Preferred Curriculum Materials

The progressive does not show any preference for curriculum materials.
He does not rely solely upon textbooks. When he uses a textbook, it is usually in a
selective way. He does not
feel compelled to cover it all. The progressive selectively uses a variety of
materials. Materials are selected on the basis of their utility in assembling data
concerning a problem under investigation.

Preferred Subject Matter

Progressives do not give a higher priority to one subject over another one
in the curriculum. They believe in an interdisciplinary curriculum. By this, I mean that
in gathering data about a particular problem, it would usually be obvious that several
academic disciplines bear on the problem. For example, in inquiring into a complex
social problem, data from several of the social sciences (such as economics, sociology,
anthropology, political science, history, geography, and social psychology) as well as the
field of religion might be relevant. Hence, one lets his interests guide him to certain
content.

Discipline

Progressives believe that we must have rules but that the best discipline is
student-self discipline. In their view, self-discipline is learned gradually when the child
is given opportunities to control himself, while being prompted by a set of rules that he
has had an opportunity to help formulate. Discipline for the progressive is a learning

129
experience. Progressives believe teachers should impose few if any rules of behavior.
Ideally, a class should discuss and adopt a set of rules by voting. Students should enforce
the rules through peer pressure and by policing each other. Progressives reason that this
involves students in the moral dimension of discipline. They reject the disciplinary
efforts of classical educators by claiming that such efforts just exact a penalty—they do
not cause the offender to consider the consequences of his act on other people.
Progressives were the first to advocate student self-government. They feel that even
young students, with the proper guidance, have the intellectual and emotional maturity to
participate in governing their own behavior.

Testing and Evaluation

Critics of progressivism claim that it has no clear theory regarding testing

and evaluation. It may be true that this is the weakest part of the progressive platform.
Generally, progressives like to ascertain how well students can solve problems—
individually or in a group context. Hence, they often evaluate student reports and
projects. Being pragmatic, however, they may occasionally use both essay and various
types of objective test questions. One way in which progressives differ a great deal from
classical educators is that they often permit some degree of student self-evaluation to
figure into the grading process. Critics charge that students are not equipped to do this
fairly and objectively and that the practice demonstrates that progressives do not enforce
high academic standards.

Finally, many progressives advocate a policy of “social promotions” so

that even students who fail the work of a given grade level are passed on to the next grade
level so that they can avoid being “stigmatized by failure,” and thus remain with
classmates of the same chronological age. Critic’s claim that this practice leads to
graduating functionally illiterate students who are really “victims” of the process because
they incorrectly feel that they have achieved something. In addition, critics claim that
diplomas falsely certify to prospective employers that such students have skills and
knowledge when, in fact, they do not.

4.

Reconstructionism----------------------------------------

130
Social reconstructionism is a philosophy that emphasizes the addressing of social
questions and a quest to create a better society and worldwide democracy.
Reconstructionist educators focus on a curriculum that highlights social reform as the aim
of education. Theodore Brameld (1904-1987) was the founder of social
reconstructionism, in reaction against the realities of World War II. He recognized the
potential for either human annihilation through technology and human cruelty or the
capacity to create a beneficent society using technology and human compassion. George
Counts (1889-1974) recognized that education was the means of preparing people for
creating this new social order.

Critical theorists, like social reconstructionists, believe that systems must be changed to
overcome oppression and improve human conditions. Paulo Freire (1921-1997) was a
Brazilian whose experiences living in poverty led him to champion education and literacy
as the vehicle for social change. In his view, humans must learn to resist oppression and
not become its victims, nor oppress others. To do so requires dialog and critical
consciousness, the development of awareness to overcome domination and oppression.
Rather than "teaching as banking," in which the educator deposits information into
students' heads, Freire saw teaching and learning as a process of inquiry in which the
child must invent and reinvent the world.For social reconstructionists and critical
theorists, curriculum focuses on student experience and taking social action on real
problems, such as violence, hunger, international terrorism, inflation, and inequality.
Strategies for dealing with controversial issues (particularly in social studies and
literature), inquiry, dialogue, and multiple perspectives are the focus. Community-based
learning and bringing the world into the classroom are also strategies.

Comparison of Attributes of Educational Philosophies

Traditional Contemporary

Categories

131
Philosophical Idealism &
Realism Pragmatism Pragmatism
- orientation Realism

Theoretical-
Perennialism Essentialism Progressivism Reconstructionism
orientation
Direction in growth, reconstruct present, change
preserving the past
time society, shape future
Educational
fixed, absolute, objective changeable, subjective, relative
value
Educational
focuses on teaching focuses on active self-learning
process
Intellectual
train, discipline the mind engage in problem-solving, social tasks
focus
Subject-
for its own self-importance all have similar value
matter
Curriculum composed of three Rs three Rs, arts, sciences, vocational
Learning cognitive learning,
exploratory, discovery
disciplines
Grouping homogeneous heterogeneous, culturally diverse
Teacher disseminates, lectures,
facilitates, coaches, change agent
dominates instruction
Student receptacle, receives engages discoverer, constructs

knowledge, passive knowledge

132
 Social direction, control, restraint Individualism
Citizenship cognitive, personal
personal, social development
development
Freedom and conformity, compliance with
creativeness, self-actualization, direct
Democracy authority, knowledge and
experiences
discipline
Excellence excellence in education,
equality of education, equal change to
vs. Equality academic, rewards and jobs
disadvantaged
based on merit
Society group values, acceptance of
individual growth, individual ability,
norms, cooperative and
importance of individual
conforming behavior

Unit 14: Role of Values in Education

VALUES (personal and cultural)

A personal value is personal and absolute or relative or ethical value, the assumption of
which can be the basics of ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and

133
measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of
integrity are based.

Some values are physiologically determined and are normally considered objectives,
such as a desire to avoid physical pain or to seek pleasure.

Other values are considered subjective, very across individuals and cultures, and are in
many ways aligned with belief and belief system.

Types of values include ethical/moral values, doctrinal/ideological values social values

and aesthetic value

Values can be defined as board preference concerning appropriate courses of action or

outcome. As such, values reflect a person sense of right and wrong or what ought to be.
“Equal rights for all” “Excellence deserves administration” and “People should be
treated with respect and dignity” are representative of values.

EDUCATION AND ISLAM

In a society where religion and knowledge in general and science and particular do not
go hand in hand, it seems necessary to briefly describe the position of Islam knowledge.
In theory as well as practice has always promoted knowledge. Distinctive mark of
human beings over the angels is knowledge.

“And Allah thought the Adam all the names”

The first verses of Quran began with the word….

"Read. Read in the name of thy Lord who created; [He] created
the human being from blood clot. Read in the name of thy Lord
who taught by the pen: [He] taught the human being what he
did not know

134
The Quran says

"Are those who have knowledge equal to those who do not have
knowledge?!”(39:9).

The prophet of Islam has emphasized the importance of seeking knowledge

Time “seek knowledge for the cradle to grave”

Place “seek knowledge if it is far as china”

Gender “seeking of knowledge is a duty of every Muslim

Sources “wisdom is the last property of the believer he should take it if even it finds in it
the mouth of the mushrik”

The Quran has specifically talked about science also

"In the creation of the heavens and the earth the alternation of
the night and the day, in the ships that sail in the sea with their
load…. in the rain which Allah sends down from the sky and thus
revives the earth after its death; and then He spread in all kinds
of animals; in the changing of the winds: in the clouds which
have been left suspending between the heaven and the earth -in
all these are clear signs for the people who understand” (2:164)

"We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in

themselves." (41:53)

135
 VALUES OF ISLAM
Most important beliefs and religious practices where identify by Prophet it is difficult to
limit all of Islam into a few core values. Nevertheless the Muhammad himself. Thus
there is general argument on them among all Muslims.

Core Islamic beliefs…..Six articles of faith.

More than a billion Muslims share a common set of fundamental beliefs that are
described as “Articles of Faith.” These articles of faith form the foundation of Islamic
belief system.

1. Belief in One God: The most important teaching of Islam is that only God is to be
served and worshipped. Also, the biggest sin in Islam is to worship other beings with
God. In fact, Muslims believe that it is the only sin that God does not forgive if a
person dies before repenting from it.

2. Belief in Angels: God created unseen beings called angels who work tirelessly to
administer His kingdom in full obedience. The angels surround us at all times, each
has a duty; some record our words and deeds.

3. Belief in Prophets of God: Muslims believe that God communicates His guidance
through human prophets sent to every nation. These prophets start with Adam and
include Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them. The
main message of all the prophets has always been that there is only One true God and
He alone is worthy of being supplicated to and worshipped.

136
4. Belief in Revealed Books of God: Muslims believe that God revealed His wisdom
and instructions through ‘books’ to some of the prophets like the Psalms, Torah, and
the Gospel. Over time, however, the original teachings of these books got distorted or
lost. Muslims believe the Quran is God’s final revelation revealed to Prophet
Muhammad and has been fully preserved.

5. Belief in Day of Judgment: The life of this world and all that is in it will come to an
end on an appointed day. At that time, every person will be raised from the dead.
God will judge each person individually, according to his faith and his good and bad
actions. God will show mercy and fairness in judgment. According to Islamic
teachings, those who believe in God and perform good deeds will be eternally
rewarded in Heaven. Those who reject faith in God will be eternally punished in the
fire of Hell.

6. Belief in Destiny and Divine Decree: Muslims believe that since God is the
Sustainer of all life, nothing happens except by His Will and with His full
knowledge. This belief does not contradict the idea of free will. God does not
force us, our choices are known to God beforehand because His knowledge is
complete. This recognition helps the believer through difficulties and hardships.

CULTURAL VALUES
A culture’s values are its ideas about what is good, right, fair and just.

Conflict theory focuses on how values differ between groups with in a culture, while
functionalism focuses on share values with in a culture.

Real culture refers to the values and norms that a society actually follows, and ideal
culture refers to the values and norms that a society professes to believe.

137
 VALUES BASED EDUCATION
What is Values-based Education?

Dr. Neil Hawkes

A society holds together through the quality of its shared values (virtues),

Which are produced through a shared conversation. (Sachs, 1997)

What appears to be missing from many schools and society at large is a shared

vocabulary, based on shared positive human values, which can provide a sense of

direction and vision about how to create a stable moral society. The purpose of this

article is to argue that teaching about positive human values (e.g. respect, honesty,

compassion, care, humility and responsibility) improves the quality of education in

Schools. Such work creates values-based Education. A values-based school seeks to

promote an educational philosophy based on valuing self and others, through the

consideration of a values vocabulary (principles that guide behaviour) as the basis of

good educational practice. This process is called Values Education which can be

further described as:

a way of conceptualizing education that places the search for meaning and

purpose at the heart of the educational process. It recognises that the

recognition, worth and integrity of all involved in the life and work of the

school, are central to the creation of a values-based learning community that

fosters positive relationships and quality in education. (Alive, 2007)

My experience, as a former Headteacher of West Kidlington School in the UK, is that

when a school seriously develops the moral and spiritual aspects of the curriculum

138
(that is, those that positively contribute to the inner world of thoughts, feelings and

emotions of the teacher and the pupil), the school community become more reflective

and harmonious. The effect on individual pupils, of developing Values Education, is

that pupils take greater personal responsibility for their learning and behaviour.

My research, undertaken at Oxford University (Hawkes, 2005), indicates that the most

effective teachers of values are those who work to be more self-aware and take time to

reflect on the deeper meaning of the values being emphasised in the school.
Selfreflective

work by teachers is seen to have a powerful impact on pupils, who appear to

make a connection between what the teacher says and what she does. Such teachers

are authentic, meaning that they seek to achieve congruence between their thoughts,

feelings and actions. They are aware that they have the potential (as we all do) to be

consumed by negative emotion (e.g. anger) and for this to be inappropriately translated

into action. Developing reflection as a tool to aid self-control enables both pupil and

adult to behave in ways that reflect positive human values, such as compassion and

respect. Teachers describe their own positive behaviour as walking their talk: living

their values. Such reflective work leads to teachers’ developing a deepening

understanding of the values words. They also have a clearer perception of their own

What is Values-based Education?

Dr. Neil Hawkes

Attitudes and behavior, and seem willing and able to model the values. Teachers

Believe that the pupils will learn from their positive example. Therefore an outcome of

My research is the view that the process of Values Education must begin with adults
139
(What could be described as the work before the work), before adopting it in the

curriculum. From the evidence, it would appear that Values Education cannot be

taught in isolation from the teacher’s own thoughts, feelings and behaviour. It is

therefore important for all who work with children to pay attention to looking after

themselves, physically, mentally and spiritually. Such wise selfishness then enables the

adult to be a positive role model.

Teaching about values affects teachers thinking, and consequently the way that they

teach. Teachers are not neutral with regards to values, as values are embedded within

their attitudes and exhibited through their behaviour. This implies that, in order for

there to be consensus and consistency of staff expectations and behaviour throughout

the school, a whole school Values Education policy needs to be introduced, based on my

blueprint for Values Education. This blueprint is explained on professional

development/training days.

The blueprint enables a school to create a structure for Values Education that fosters a

climate for learning that makes the role of teachers easier. Teachers believe that the

reason for this is that Values Education fosters good interpersonal relationships.

They consider that consequently this helps to raise pupil self-esteem and confidence.

The result is that the pupils produce quality work, respect staff and are well behaved.

Teachers in values-based schools report that teaching about values has a positive effect

on what they term, the inner world of pupils. They think that by talking about their

feelings, pupils learn to express themselves more clearly, control their behaviour, and

empathise with others (all aspects concerned with the development of emotional

maturity). The teachers believe that the pupils learn about values by talking about

them in the context of good teacher-child relationships. They believe that repetition
140
and reinforcement of the values words, across the curriculum, is important for

reinforcing their meaning. The evidence to show that the pupils understand the values

is demonstrated by their use of them in everyday conversations. Pupils appear more

aware of their behaviour in the playground and out of school. This contributes to the

establishment of a positive climate for teaching and learning.

An important conclusion of my research concerns the introduction and development of

a values vocabulary. This vocabulary acts as the platform on which pupils and staff

develop, and deepen, their understanding of issues concerned with ethics and morality.

It appears that the systematic introduction of a common vocabulary encourages

reflective thinking, which leads to more positive and ethically-based behaviour. Also,

frequent repetition and regular discussion about values reinforces their meaning, with

the result that they are more likely to be internalised in the sub-conscious. This in turn

reinforces the pupils’ positive dispositions and acts as a check on behaviour. I argue

that it cannot be assumed that such a vocabulary will generally be introduced to

children, unless schools plan to do it through the curriculum.

Values-based schools aim to encourage pupils to be reflective by teaching a technique

called reflection or silent sitting, which gives space and time for pupils to focus their

minds, allowing their intrapersonal intelligence to be enhanced. Pupils are seen to be

able to sit still in personal reflection for extended periods of time, a perceived outcome

being that they became more aware of their capacity to determine their own behavior

In a positive way. The evidence indicates that the success of this is influenced by the

Staffmodeling the behavior. In school assemblies, for instance, staff model the

Behaviorexpected of the pupils. The pupils therefore model their behavior on that of

The teachers. Teachers believe that if they are reflective it has a positive influence on
141
Their own behavior, enabling them to be more effective.

142