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Education and the Aim of Human Life

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Education and the Aim of Human Life EDUCATION AND THE AIM OF HUMAN LIFE CONTENTS Education and the Aim of Human Life Introduction I. The Purpose of Education II. The Conception of Progress and the Present World Crisis III.. The Dawning of a New Age IV. Sri Aurobindo's Integral Education What is an Integral Education? The Physical Education The Vital Education The Mental Education The Psychic and the Spiritual Education Sri Aurobindo International Centre of education The Student's Prayer Our New System of Education (The Free Progress System) I. How the Child Educates Himself II. The Needs of the Child III. The Educational Environment IV.. The Class Work A. Collective Teaching B. Individual Work C. Team Work V. A Valuation of the New System VI. The Evolution of a Class VII.. The Task of the Educator VIII. Do We Need a New System of Education? Two Cardinal Points of Education Bibliography Notes and Sources Bibliographical Note by PAVITRA (P. B. Saint-Hilaire) Publisher's Note This book is a study of the educational ideal of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother and of the educational method being developed at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. Its author, Pavitra, was the first director of the Centre of Education. In the first section of the book he affirms the need of an "integral" education - one aimed at developing all the faculties of the human being, including the soul and spirit - and outlines the character of such an education. In the second section he explains the new system being attempted at the Centre of Education. In the third he summarises the educational theory and method of the Centre of Education. Pavitra (so named by Sri Aurobindo) was one of the early disciples of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. Born Philippe Barbier Saint-Hilaire in Paris in 1894, he graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique with a degree in engineering. After serving in the army in the first World War and working briefly as a junior engineer in Paris, he set out on a spiritual quest that led him to Japan, China, Mongolia, and finally India. There in Pondicherry in 1925 he met Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and remained with them for the rest of his life. In 1951 the Mother appointed him director of the newly-founded Sri Aurobindo International University Centre (later renamed Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education). He served in this position for eighteen years, until his passing in 1969 at the age of seventy-five. they should be children of the past, possessors of the present, creators of the future. The past is our foundation, the present our material, the future our aim and summit. SRI AUROBINDO Introduction For the last few decades a growing need of reforming the old system of education has been felt. Insufficiencies in the intellectual alertness and in the character of the students, the spread of dissatisfaction and indiscipline, defects of a method of selection almost exclusively based on examinations, have become apparent and imposed a reappraisal of the whole system. Theoretical criticism and experimental research in new methods of teaching have been carried out in several countries with interesting but hitherto inconclusive results. This partial failure is probably due to the fact that the search has not touched the root of the problem. The object of this essay is 1. to show that the purpose of education at a given time is closely connected with the general conception of the aim of human life prevalent at that time; 2. to analyse the conception of progress as the main drive of the modern world, and to show that, as it is generally understood, it does not satisfy all the aspirations of the human being and that this insufficiency is at the root of the present cultural crisis and the shortcomings of education; 3. to show that it is possible to arrive at an understanding of the present crisis, not primarily as convulsions of a dying age of civilization, but rather as birth pangs of a new age, thus placing before man a fresh source of inspiration and a conception of progress more comprehensive and more satisfying; 4. to outline the views of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on an integral education and to show their relation to this new outlook. I The Purpose of Education The aim of education is always twofold: there is a collective aspect and there is an individual aspect. From the collectivity point of view, education is expected to turn the individual into a good citizen, i.e., into a person who has harmonious relations with the other members of the community, who is useful to the society and who fulfils with zeal his obligations as a citizen. On the other hand, it may be expected that education will give to the individual a strong and healthy body, help him in building up his character and attaining self-mastery, and supply him with good opportunities of discovering and developing harmoniously his natural abilities. It is evident that both expectations are justified and we should take them into account while aiming at their reconciliation. We can achieve this only by a correct understanding of the relation between the individual and the society We shall see later that the individual and the society can grow together and help each other in their growth. Sri Aurobindo has indeed shown how such a harmonization is possible, although it has never yet been really achieved - and it may be very long before the human race can attain to it. In its imperfect vision of things, the human mind tends always to emphasize one aspect to the detriment of the others. Thus, the recent trend in social thought is to give more importance to the society and to regard the individual as a subordinate unit. Some doctrines go so far as to deny to the individual any legitimate right and aspiration except what the collectivity sees and decides. Even when such an extreme position is rejected, it is certain that nowadays the collective aim in education has overshadowed the individual, so that the problem of education becomes almost exclusively: how to fit the individual to the need of society? Page - 4 This is evidenced by the change we witness in the education programmes in answer to the growing demand for scientists, engineers and technicians, and by the numerous new institutions that are created to satisfy this demand. It is also clear from the scanty attention that is paid to the individual development along the lines which are not officially encouraged, with the result that there is an overspecialization, while a balanced all-round development would be more beneficial for the individual. By the need of society is meant what society thinks it requires. Temporary necessities may arise (war, new discoveries, geographical or political changes) which may for some time reflect themselves on education. But it is clear that the formulated requirements of any society, as far as education is concerned, depend on the aim of human life as it is conceived largely by the ruling class at the time. It may be general culture arid adornment of life - artists of all sorts will be encouraged and become the favourites of the princes. It may be military aggrandizement and adventure - then soldiers and sailors will be needed. It may be industrialization as a means towards material well-being - the need will be for engineers and technicians. There are other ways, less direct but equally powerful, in which the social outlook influences education. For instance, our society is still a competitive one and, in so far as the students are concerned, they are simply thrown into life after completion of their studies, and have, with whatever help they can muster from family and friends, to find a job and elbow for their place in society. Many find themselves in great difficulty, like a person who hardly knowing how to swim is thrown abruptly into a river. This state of things is partly an outcome of the disappearance of the old system of hereditary occupation. Children are not expected nowadays to follow the trade of their parents. More freedom and scope are given to the individual than in the past, but with a feeling of insecurity as counterpart, and consequent mental tension. One may say that the future is open, but, when unemployment Page - 5 is rampant, for many the future is ominous and fraught with worry, depression and frustration. It may be maintained that competition has a stimulating and invigorating effect, that it helps the strong and brilliant, and gives them access to key positions where they will be most useful, and that after all, it is an aspect of the struggle for life, whereby the strong survive and the weak are eliminated. The trouble is that the weak are not eliminated from society. They are simply demoralized and sometimes broken down, filled with despair or rancour. The minor but useful contribution that they could have brought to society is certainly not enhanced by sense of frustration that will accompany them all through life. And society will have to accomodate them in spite of their increased deficiency. We must combine this with the part played by money in modern society. Money is not a convenient means of exchange, whose function is to ensure the transfer of goods and services from the producer to the consumer; it is also he means bringing scientific discovery to translate itself into technological progress and increased productivity, by investment. Money is therefore in great demand and, becoming scarce, is in a position to dictate its terms and to exact an interest in return for its loan.
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