Swami vivekananda and his thoughts on education

The educational philosophies according to Swami Vivekananda, reflecting some of his thoughts on today,s education process.

1. Swami Vivekananda and his thoughts on education. Presented By- Gayatri Bihari EME052010, 1 st Semester, M.Ed., Central University of Kerala

2. Swami V ivekanankda Swami Vivekananda(1863-19020) who born as Narendranath Datta is an Indian Philosopher and a monk. He is widely known for spreading vendanta and hinduism in the whole world specially for his speech in World’s Parliament in Religion, Chicago. His search of wisdom took new path after meeting his guru, Ramkrishnan and by travelling all over india to study it. He has produced many valuable thoughts on Education which are still relevant and viable today.

3. Educational thoughts of Vivekananda : The oft-quoted definition of education by Swamiji- ‘Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man’. ‘Manifestation’ implies that something already exists and is waiting to be expressed and ‘already in man’ refers to a human being’s potential, which is the range of the abilities he was born with, 'perfect’ means the completion as a whole. So according to this definition Education is the spontaneous growth by removing all the impediments ,awakening all the possibilities and actualizing the highest human potential .

4. Three aspects of education: T hree concepts – capacity, propensity and capability – emphasize three aspects of education, (a)That which makes learning possible. (b)The development of learning. (c)Self-development or empowerment.

5. Education: what should be its significance? Vivekananda said “ The education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit of philanthropy , and the courage of a lion – is it worth the name ?” Education must provide ‘life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas to produce an integrated person.

6. Education as a process: As education is to serve the human in all dimensions, a person learns till she/he lives. The pursuit of knowledge is a continuous and lifelong process. T he very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts. Training the mind to collect itself and prevent it from distractions.

7. Culture and education: Teacher-pupil T hrough education, a child learns a culture and his behaviour is moulded accordingly, and he is thus guided towards his eventual role in society. In this process, several agents – such as his parents, peers and teachers should assist him to remove the external and internal obstacles. The only true teacher is he who can immediately come down to the level of the student, and transfer his soul to the student’s soul and see through the student’s eyes and hear through his ears and understand through his mind . The teacher/pupil relationship, based on respect and mutual trust, is the cornerstone of the edifice of Vivekananda’s scheme of education.

8. Character education and universal values: ‘The ideal of all education, all training, should be this man-making’. Religion as the innermost core of education education must in the science of spirituality, and evidently not in dogma . The wholesome curriculum materials that impart culturally-approved values to the young, are critical to character education .

9. The Education and the Poor: T here must be equal chance for all – or if greater for some and for some less – the weaker should be given more chance than the strong. T op priority must be given to educating the masses, to women who moulds the future generation, the weak ,the poor and restoring to them their lost individuality.

10. Conclusion : Swami Vivekananda had envisioned a society with a new type of human being in whom knowledge, action, work and concentration were harmoniously blended , and he proposed a new type of education for achieving this . T here are similarities between Vivekananda's thoughts and actions taking place one century ago and the present concerns of UNESCO. Vivekananda’s thoughts on education ought to be seriously re-examined today.