Principles of Education 4 " education has to follow the lines laid down a en nei gio fre Pe related elders a . oe tendencies and qualitics are the firm foundations for aa Sion, These also delimit ay define the highest achievements to be achieved by the child. A child, not born with the traits and impressions of a cian can never be developed into a noted musician of repute by education ‘or any other process. Thus, to the hereditarians, education is development ging to lines pre-determined and prelaid by the heredity of a child. 8) t—The third factor of education is environment. Every child is born ina family ata particular place ‘and time. His upbringing also takes place in @ specific en ronment. This environment is either—(1) Controlled or (2) Uncontrolled; Both types of environments exert their Ctruence upon the growing child in different way, Controlled leads to controlled growth and ‘uncontrolled promotes uncontrolled growth. According to environmentalists, heredity factor is only a myth. They assert that if the environment is not desirable, no amount of heredity will be able to develop the child according to desirable lines and standards of growth. According to them, environment is such a powerful factor that it influences the developmen: of child consciously or unconsciously both. One cannot escape its influence at any cost. The environmentalists hold that as the child gradually comes into contact with the physical and social environments, his innate tendencies flower out and his behaviour begins to change step by step. In thi: i is the environment which makes a child musici hes sage. Ae ae ea a sen aie or artist and not the heredity , accord vironmentalists education is a oe by the environment in which the child is ae a ray ee ae the process of development, specific activities are ‘ yy at specific times. Hence, to understand well thi: of development, one must have a clear understanding of eae Roars of development. Because different and specific Ds ge ieaocanese varius sags, terfors, education tobe relly Ee eae eopond its plans and programmes according 0 these He eee Tra oly, the development of the child will be normal and ipspecnees hen only imbalance will resultn stunted growth orto natal: “any discord or id correspond and suit the mental level ora gece Beant sct a wr he auvclontiect”, eet ie Ba the hereditarians and the environmentali sath Ts BO i te extnses of ae0-opeat Sama ge re side of the /o factors hand in hand. The t ive process which work: midi cousin’ a Iwo factors are not contradi s with the child on supplementary. Both work ictory. They are fe Se Soom ane. 18 8 balanced way, Hoth Bee 2 Cevelor lopment of a child. Inspite of this all, i are essential for th cannot be changed, then, one c is all, if we accept that or the prope! definitely be fee annot deny the fact that heredity of a chil IPN caesar deve ame hla ort Pemreement C3? lopment. We discuss this in detail ss dane ul —Meaning of Education ‘ Narrower Meaning of Education In its narrow sense, school instruction is called education. In this ess, the elders of society strive to attain predetermined aims during a specified time by providing pre-structured titbits of knowledge to children through set methods of teaching. The purpose is to achieve mental development of children entering school. In this process, the teacher is the most important factor and the child is assigned a subsidiary role. The teacher is expected to instil in the child’s mind ready-made dozes of knowledge. By this, the child can develop into a parrot repeating crammed knowledge mechanically, but he cannot attain the wholesome development of his nality. In short, such knowledge strangles the natural development of the child and hence is of no use to him for his actual future life. In spite of this, school education has merits of its own. In the words of John Stuart Mill— “The culture which each generation purposefully gives to those who are to be its successors, in order to qualify them for at least keeping up, and if possible for raising the level of improvement which has been attained.” To make the narrow meaning of education more clear, the following opinions of some other educationists are being given— (1) “In narrow sense, education may be taken to mean any consciously directed effort to develop and cultivate our powers.” —S. S. Mackanzi (2) “Education is a process in which and by which knowledge, character and behaviour of the young are shaped and moulded.” —Prof. Drever (3) “The influence of the environment on the individual with a view to producing a permanent change in his habits of behaviour, of thought and attitude.” —G. H. Thompson Wider Meaning of Education In its wider sense, education is not the communication of information by the teacher or the acquisition of knowledge by the child. It is the total development of the personality. In this sense, education consists of all those experiences which affect the individual from birth till death. Thus, education fiitat process by which an individual freely develops his self according to his nature in a free and uncontrolled environment. In thi education is (GR recess of growth a deuctcoment. Such education is not confined to ime, place and individual. Any person who gives the child a New experience is a teacher and the place where this giving and receiving takes place may be termed as a school. In short, education is essentially a Process of growth and development which goes on throughout the whole life. Rousseau exhorted his philosophy of Naturalism keeping this wider concept f education in his view-point. Some other eminent scholars interpret the wider concept of educat‘on in the following way—Principles of Education 12 learning most effective. ‘Thus, ations process of today to develo} (2) The Learner—According a teacher is a very important factor in the p the learner as well as the society. to psychological fasess and i ion starts from the child. In other words, education re eae today. Adams was the first ace et out this truth by his remark—“The teacher teaches Latin to John”. In this sentence, John is more important than Latin. Modern educationists are unanimous about the importance of the child in the educational process, According to them, education should develop the personality of the learner abilities and capacities. Everything according to his interests, inclinations, ¢ a concerning with education js now child-centred. Aims, curriculum and methods all keep the child at the centre of their formulation and planning of educational programmes. No teacher will be successful in his activities if he fails to understand the learner with which he is to deal. For this, the teacher should not be the master of content only but also know fully well the stages of child development and their characteristics to make teaching-learning normal, natural and effective. 3) Curriculum—The essential link between the teacher and the child is the curriculum. It serves as a vehicle for the realization of educational aims. The teacher uses the items of curriculum according to modern methods o' teaching to educate the children to realize the predetermined aims of education. In the wider sense, curriculum means all the experiences and thing or the other. As such, the teacher and the child both co-operate in building and formulating those experiences which are conducive to learning. It may be noted here that curriculum is structured according to the ever-growing needs of children and changing demands of dynamic society. This is the chief reason regarding the difference between the curriculum of despotic as well as democratic countries. In the former type, all activities are rigid, predetermined and fully controlle by the state, while in the latter pattern, there is flexibility, freedom and adjustment. Modern Concept of Education To understand the modern concept of education, one has to make 4 comparative study of the old and modern concepts of education. Thus, in th following lines an attempt is being made to give a clear concept of modern education by a comparative study of the two, the old and the new. (J) Meaning of Education—Education is derived from the Lat word ‘Educatum’ which means to draw out, to foster growth and to develop Hence, the modern concept of education means to develop the inhere capacities of a child in the social environment. In the old concept, education was taken to mean as a process to thrust into the mind of a child ready-ma¢* titbits of knowledge as if the mind was an empty vessel. Some said '* education was something as working on a clean slate. These old concepts hé** exploded now under the weight of psychological researches and democrat© values. The mind is a dynamic self-adjusting and self-learning force whic®Meaning of Education : : 13 needs proper guidance for wholesome growth and development. Thus, modern education seeks to dev ‘, dj velop the mi : » in a social environment. ind according to its own inherent capacities 2) ee coaieae a Pencatlon—-Ancient ‘education emphasized scholarship ee ena 7 on ly. It kept an indifferent attitude towards other pe Ee eons y. In other words, acquiring more and more knowledge Pes, ranader ie oe aim sais to old concept of education. On the 5 € cationists lay equal. stress upon, other ts Berelopaes at physical, mental, emotional and ret Thus, fe ain st ¢ jucation is to develop individuali atta i De ae dynamin. p individuality to the full and attain social (3) Curriculum—tin the old curriculum, only subjects promoting merely mental development were. included and emphasized. Thus, old, curriculum got rigid and stratified confined mostly to class room activities and experiences. Modern curriculum is flexible, vatied and progressive in the sense that it tries to meet the needs of the developing child as well as the demands of ever-changing modern society. (4) Methods of Teaching—Old methods emphasized cramming and stimulated rote memorization. Thus, education was quite lifeless, dull and drab process. Modern methods condemn rote memorization and promote the adoption of lively and effective methods like Play way, Learning by doing, Learning by experience etc. These modern ‘methods stimulate motivation, interest and attention. 6) Discipline—Old concept of discipline emphasized the use of rod and punishment to enforce obedience and discipline in children. This concept of enforced discipline through repression has now been given up by all educationists. The modern concept !S self-discipline leading to natural alee hod of type examination xamil old met! of essay ty! (6) Ean rn techniques evaluate i ization. Mode encouraged cramm! memorizat n tec as Goivas examine. Such techniques and tools are objective tests, progress rts, cumulative records, interviews and practical performances. A i i i hoo! was the f Education—According toold beliefs, scl s I) (1) Agente education ‘of children. But according to modern views all perl va informal agencies are harnessed to the task of education. ‘ chel -—Old education put the teacher at the top of ° educ A se In modern times a teacher Is considered as friend, ation f i and guide. : A eee : g 10 ‘old concept, the child was @ mere pes? (9) Child—According Oe instructed. Now, education has be entire i ‘recipient of whatever the te: child-centred. Thus, i ‘ him according to his nature. ; Reece ‘lass-mates to achieve ‘effective learn