JOURNAL OF INDIAN EDUCATION Volume XXXIII Number 2 August 2007 CONTENTS Editor’s Note 3 The Aims of Education 5 The Arts as Education ANJANA P URI 14 Why Arts Education Should be Included in the Curricular Area Constructivism and the Pedagogy of SAROJ PANDEY 21 Education for Peace A Reflection on School Education Curriculum Reform (NCF-2005) Religion, Education and Peace RADHIKA HERZBERGER 30 Reinventing the Paradigm of Teaching ANJALI KHIRWADKAR 50 Implication for Teacher Education A Study of Relationship between PARAMANAND SINGH YADAV 59 Environmental Awareness and and ANITA BHARATI Scientific Attitudes among Higher Secondary Students Teachers’ Expectations from their M. VARMA, M. S. SODHA 70 University and RASHMI S ONI A Study in the Context of University of Lucknow A Study of the Present Scenario of G.N.P. SRIVASTAVA 85 Early Childhood Education (ECE) and RANJEATA SINGH in Bhubaneswar Participation of Scheduled Castes RAJESH TAILOR, SANDEEP KUMAR S HARMA 98 Children at the Primary Stage in India and RITESH T AILOR Strengthening the Role of State PH. NEWTON S INGH 108 in School Education vis-à-vis the Private Initiative The Aims of Education 5 The Aims of Education* Abstract As an apex national agency of educational reform, NCERT is expected to review the school curriculum as a regular activity, ensuring the highest standards of rigour and deliberative openness in the process. Consequently, in 2004, the NCERT initiated the review of National Curriculum Framework for School Education– 2000. In the context of this exercise, a National Steering Committee chaired by Prof. Yash Pal and 21 National Focus groups were set up. These focus groups were created to generate ideas and to reflect upon curricular areas, national concerns and systemic reforms. Each Focus Group through discussions and intensive deliberations produced a research-based Position Paper providing a comprehensive view of existing knowledge in the area and future direction. The position papers prepared by the NFGs provided inputs to the National Curriculum Framework–2005. All these position papers are available in print form and also on NCERT’s website. For the readers of the Journal of Indian Education we present here the text of one such position paper Aims of Education. Introduction and ask ourselves, ‘what are we doing in our engagement with this task? Is there For a fairly long time now, we have been a need to ask ourselves afresh some of engaged in the great task of educating the basic questions such as what ought the children of India, an independent to be the purpose of education?’ The nation with a rich variegated history, constitution of the focus group on the extraordinarily complex cultural aims of education is perhaps meant to diversity, and commitment to democratic provide such an occasion. values and general well-being. Given the If we look at what the school enormity and importance of this task, it education system has done in the last is necessary that we create occasions decades, perhaps we have much to be from time to time to sit back collectively satisfied with. Products of this system * Position Paper, National Focus Group on Aims of Education, National Curriculum Framework–2005, NCERT, New Dellhi. The Aims of Education 7 useful, but, very importantly, have this education must now be seen as fostering other expressive aspect. A community values which constitute the well-being traditionally assumes a degree of of the individual on the one hand and continuity for itself–continuity of its the well-being of humanity on the other. constituent structures of human But the difficulty here of course, is relationships, which give it, to a large to clear about the notion of the extent, its identity and meaning. Given independent of the complex matrix of this assumption, the aims of education relationships in which an individual is within what might, somewhat inevitably located? And what is this all – misleadingly, be called a communitarian inclusive humanity, as distinct from this framework, have primarily to do with the or that specific variety of humanity? community’s idea of well-being and The lack of clarity about the idea of flourishing. The highest value that an individual and humanity as such is education within such a framework was bound to create difficulties for us in expected to promote and foster was, thinking about the aims of education in perhaps, ‘allegiance to the community’. our times. Thus, for instance, we have However, even though community to find a way out of a seeming continues to be a powerful presence in contradiction such as: We must our own times, and despite proliferation encourage children to cultivate the of deliberately constructed communities, ‘scientific temper’ (that is, the tendency the world has for a long time been moving to follow their reason beyond the dictates away from a community-centric view of of culture, tradition, and community) human existence in two widely divergent and also teach them the unassailable directions: the direction of the individual values of humanity. Also, we must find a and the direction of the universal or the stable room for the nation between the global. The well-being of the individual individual and the humanity. is seen to be more important than the well-being of the community. This Aims of Education perhaps is the genesis of the idea of Here are however, issues relating to human rights as of many other central education about which have a fairly clear concepts of the modern world. idea and about which there ought to be Humanity is sometimes conceived as general agreement to a large extent. It the ‘community’ of all individual human would be helpful to seek an answer to beings. But this is a serious the question ‘what ought to be the aims misconstrual of the idea of a community. of education?’ by way of our engagement Our attachment to the notion of with these issues: community is profound and persistent. In equating humanity to a community, (i) School education is a deliberate we not only give expression to this and more-or-less external attachment but also invest it with a intervention in the life of a child. meaning it does not have. Although much learning and Given the radical change of teaching takes place at home, in the perspective that has taken place, neighbourhood community, and in The Aims of Education 9 to do with moral life at all. For example, external to physical fitness. (The position courage by itself can be put to incredibly taken here is distinct from the utilitarian evil use; think of the courage Nathuram position epitomised in the dictum Godse. The same thing can be said of ‘honesty is the best policy’.) In the moral intelligence. As to temperance if it is sphere, the process is integral to the tempered with the vital unity of moral life, product and the product is inalienable it is in perpetual danger of degenerating from the process. Here, there can be no into soulless, ritualistic disciplining of such thing as finding the most efficient oneself. means of achieving a predetermined goal What is it that breathes morality into (as in, say, matters of management), for the virtues? It is – we must have the the means in the pursuit of a moral end courage to acknowledge – truth and love, is not replaceable. or, in terms of our own powerful tradition An important corollary of this is that of moral thought, ahimsa. Truth means if value education must be a part of the freedom from self-deception; here it is education system, values or virtues must never enough to speak the truth be integral to the whole process of occasionally. As Wittgenstein puts it, “The education. Value education cannot be truth can be spoken by someone who is imparted as a separate bit of education; already at home in it; not by someone the whole of education has to be value who still lives in falsehood and reaches education. Here, we need the powerful out from falsehood towards truth on just reminders, in variety of ways, of the 2 one occasion.” Courage, temperance, Gandhian ideas of ahimsa, peace, and intelligence, and so on cannot come harmony. together in the vital unity of virtuous life unless they are profoundly mediated by (iv) Cultural diversity is one of our the love of truth. And the love of truth- greatest gifts. To respect and do when we are talking of a moral life-can justice to others is also to respect flourish in the supreme and active and do justice to their respective presence of ahimsa. cultures or communities. We, Secondly, in the context of moral life, therefore, need to radically change the means and the end must form a the centre versus periphery continuum such that, as it were, the perspective on intercultural means and the ends make a wholesome relationships in our country. unity? The distinction between the Cultures on the so-called periphery means and the end in this context, if must receive as much attention as there is one at all, is not the same as the cultures in the centre. As for distinction where the means is merely education, its implications is that instrumental in producing the end, for ways of life other than one’s own example, playing football as a means of must be imaginatively and keeping physically fit. Morality is external effectively presented as deserving of to a virtuous life in the way football is as much respect as one’s own. 2 Wittgenstein, Ludwig 1973. Culture and Value, Blackwell. The Aims of Education 11 Some Implications for Pedagogy and understanding …. He knew that it was not Evaluation at all necessary for the boys to understand literally and accurately, but It may be useful to consider some of the that their minds should be roused, and implications of what has been said so far in this he was always successful he was for pedagogy and evaluation.