Perspectives of

Check Your Progress 2 Disciplinary Knowledge

Notes: a) Write your answer in the space given below.
b) Compare your answers with the ones that are given at the end of
the unit.
3. Explain the concept of ‘Modern English’.
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4. Example the nature of contents which are included in the discipline of
‘Earth Science’.
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5. Explain Mathematics as a human endeavour with an example.
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6. When did the evolution of the discipline of ‘Political Science’ take place?
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2.5 PERSPECTIVES OF DISCIPLINES

The evolution of a discipline is a continuous process. A discipline is formed with
certain perspectives. We need to understand those perspectives in order to have
a comprehensive understanding of a discipline and its nature. In this section, we
discuss the perspectives of a discipline which contribute to its formation.

2.5.1 Philosophical Perspective

Every discipline has its own philosophy. You might be familiar with the terms:
‘Philosophy of Science’; ‘Philosophy of Social Science’; ‘Philosophy of
Mathematics’; and ‘Philosophy of Language’. What do they mean? Do they mean
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Understanding Knowledge the knowledge base of those disciplines? Do they discuss the details of the
and Disciplines contents in those disciplines? Such questions provide answers which explain the
philosophical perspectives of a discipline. Let us try to get the answer to the
above questions.
When we explain philosophy of Science, we explain the types of knowledge it
deals with and the processes involved in acquiring those knowledge. For example;
Science deals with empiricism, logical positivism, observations, the processes of
inquiry and experimentation to validate the empirical findings. The above knowledge
and processes form the discipline of Science. Such knowledge and processes can
also be used in teaching different contents in Science. For example, to teach
‘Germination’, school children may be taught to observe how germination takes
place? They can learn it by conducting an experiment with a seed.
Like Science, the discipline of Social Science is also based upon certain ideas
and philosophy. Social Science involves processes like social observation,
understanding inter-personal relationships, critically analysing the socio-political
and economic issues, etc. The processes of acquiring scientific knowledge are
different from the processes of acquiring Social Science knowledge. We can
teach socio-political issues by organising debates, discussions, role plays, and
critically analysing the issues. They can also be taught through social inquiry and
critical observations.
Similarly, the processes of acquiring knowledge in Mathematics and Language
are also different. Mathematics solves the problems by using inductive or
deductive methods. It also uses the knowledge and processes of analysis to
solve the problems. Mathematics helps us to deal with the numbers and
calculations which we face in our day to day life. Language helps children acquire
the skills of listening, reading, writing and speaking. They also develop within the
children a sense of understanding literature, appreciating as well as creating new
literature.
To conclude, it can be said that every discipline has its own philosophy and the
process of acquiring knowledge. It is therefore, important to know the disciplinary
knowledge of various disciplines.
2.5.2 Socio-political and Cultural Perspectives
Education is closely related to the society, its norms and principles, traditions and
cultures and ways of living. All these contribute to the formation of academic
discipline. Academic discipline can not be formed without the socio-cultural and
political practices. Many a times, socio cultural practices form the part of our
school curriculum. The goals of education are based upon the goals of the socio-
political system of the country. National Policy on Education (1986) says:
‘every country develops its system of education to express and promote
its unique socio-cultural identity and also to meet the challenges of the
time. There are moments in History when a new direction has to be
given to an age-old process. That moment is today. Education is the
highway to realize the cultural as well as socio-political goals of the
country.’
It is, therefore, you might have observed the following in Indian education system:
 We have a common educational structure starting from school to higher
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 The national system of education is based on a national curriculum framework. Perspectives of
Disciplinary Knowledge
 National integration, international understanding and universal brotherhood
are the basic principles of our education system.
 Issues of diversity, equity and equality form the essence of our education
system.
 Further the socio-political and economic issues have also been included in
various disciplines/school subjects.
The above features though broadly characterize the education system of our
country, they also constitute the socio-cultural perspectives of forming the disciplines.
The political ideologies of various political parties influence the education system
of country and also contribute to formation of academic disciplines. Many a times,
it is observed that certain contents/subjects are included or deleted from the
broad curriculum or discipline because of ideologies and visions of the political
party forming the government. So it can be said that the political perspective is
also important for formation of the disciplines.

2.5.3 Historical Perspective

Like any other social phenomena, academic disciplines do have a history. Every
discipline can be analysed by looking at its historical development (Kenneth,
1974). The journey of the specific academic discipline starting from its inception
to the present form and practices of the discipline is called the history and
development of that discipline. In the previous section (2.4), we got an idea about
the evolution of various academic disciplines. The evolution of a discipline reflects
the historical perspective of that discipline. A historian of Science or Social Science,
or the Humanities narrates the specific historical contexts that have led to formation
of that discipline. You might be knowing that most disciplines, which are taught
in universities as well as colleges had, in fact, evolved from the parent discipline
of ‘Philosophy’. Historically, Philosophy subsumed all bodies of knowledge.
Disciplines of ‘Astronomy’, ‘Medicine’, ‘Physics’, ‘Mathematics’, ‘Psychology’,
‘Sociology’, ‘Education’, ‘Linguistics’, ‘Economics’ etc. evolved from philosophy.
The historical perspective of the discipline not only discusses the history of the
development of the discipline but also describes the contexts in which it has
evolved.
The changing need of the society, development of science and technology,
emergence of new ways and techniques are certain conditions for emergence of
new disciplines. For example, Social Science discipline evolved because of the
political need of getting more information on the population, which could be used
for effective government and stabilizing emerging social and political structure.
Similarly, the discipline, ‘Area Studies’ emerged in USA during the second world
war aiming to train the area specialists. Accordingly, evolution of the discipline of
‘Computer Science’ took place because of its link with the military applications
at that time (Paleeri, 2015). We all know that ‘History’ is a discipline, which has
its own background as an academic discipline. But in due course of time, the new
sub-disciplines like, ‘Ancient History’, ‘Medieval History’ etc. have also emerged.
The above discussion emphasizes that the evolution of any discipline has certain
historical perspective. The historical perspective of any discipline is also based
upon the contexts prevailing at that time when it evolved.
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