Surprising but true, we have been into experiential learning ever since students had Gurus and they went to Gurukuls in India! In more recent times when I was doing my B.Ed. from C.I.E, Delhi University, Basic Education was the rage! Basic Education was a concept based on the Gandhian Philosophy of Education. According to his Philosophy, the learner had to learn skills that would help him or her take up in life to earn a living! During the early nineties, while doing our B.Ed. we had to make a choice between woodwork, metalwork, and many other socially useful product skills. I ended up taking woodwork and worked on lathes and with saws. I ended up making a candle stand. Those who took up metalwork ended up making many fanciful items some of them as abstract as modernist art can be.
While one might review such memories with a degree of lightness, one cannot, however, ignore the impact of experiential learning. A lot of experience went into the making of candle-stands, or ever a sculpture to for Zeus! Besides being anchored in experiential learning, the concept of Basic Education created a culture of the dignity of labour in all those who were pursuing their B.Ed. Programme from the Central Institute of Education. Every candidate had to take up a socially useful productive skill and achieve some level of mastery in it.
Socially Useful Productive Work refers to Vocational Education Activities including knitting, sewing, woodwork, gardening, painting, and cooking besides a few more other options. The courses mandatory in schools under the CISCE and ISC Board are optional in schools under the CBSE Board. The learning of SUPW subjects is experiential in nature and most of these skills are learnt through modelling, hands-on experience and learning by doing, Experiential Learning or E.L. in short! This brings me to what has been happening in the Gurukuls down the ages. The Guru-Shishya or the Teacher-Student relationship was based on experiential learning. The Guru did not lecture or dictate answers to his students, rather, he made them 'experience' the answer. Students in the Gurukuls of Ancient India learned through experience, expeditions and other hands-on activities. The Wikipedia entry for "Gurukala" reads:
"In a gurukula, the students living together are considered as equals,[5] irrespective of their social standing.[3][5] They learn from the guru and help the guru in his everyday life, including carrying out of mundane daily household chores. However, some scholars suggest that the activities are not mundane and very essential part of the education to inculcate self-discipline among students.[6] Typically, a guru does not receive or accept any fees from the shishya studying with him as the relationship between a guru and the shishya is considered very sacred.[7]"-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurukula
Somehow, one might view the look at a modern-day boarding school as being somewhat like a Gurukul where the student lived away from home and he or she had to do things himself or herself. Japan has a similar system of education based on a live in student apprentice who trains under a master. The system termed as 'Uch-deshi' allows for the grooming of the pupil in martial arts. So then for Asian countries like India and Japan, the concept of Experiential Learning or E.L. is not an alien concept. The people of India and Japan, and perhaps even China have been exposed to the concept of Experiential Learning since ancient times. Further research is required to determine how "Experiential" education was in Ancient India, and further, identify the principles that made education in Ancient India "Experiential".
However to claim that it was only Gurus of ancient time who were aware of the concept of E.L. pedagogy would be wrong, especially, since Mahatma Gandhi in the first quarter of the twentieth century advocated E.L. pedagogy for India. I have listed below some of Gandhi's principles of education that have very strong "Experiential" basis.
Gandhi believed that the notion of education through handicrafts rises from the contemplation of truth and love that permeates through life's activities. It is clear that he wanted the student to learn from his or her experiences and that the learning should be connected with the very act of living. He further believed that persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness, (both very strong elements of E.L. Pedagogy) were the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. A curiosity of a healthy kind is important for learning to take place. Experiential Learning assumes that learning in students takes place when they want to know more! Gandhi further stated that what he wanted from education was an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man, body, mind and spirit. He believed that true education had to correspond to the surrounding circumstances.-1
"The Kothari Commission also followed Gandhi’s ideal of vocational training in education. This commission says, “We recommend that work experience should be introduced as an integral part of all India education–general or vocational. We define work experience as participation in productive work in school, in the home, in a workshop, on a farm, in a factory or in any other productive situation.”5 This commission re-emphasizes the Gandhian principle of learning by doing in the modern education. The main aim of education is the development of human personality. He expanded fourfold personality in the individual that is body, mind, heart and spirit. True education stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and physical strength of the individual. His view on the education of heart which brings the idea of sympathy, fellowship and deep feelings of love. The aim of education is not only to produce good individuals but also one must understand one’s own responsibilities in which one lives. It is closely related to the Hindu concept of varnashram dharma. One who understood his or her responsibilities would [arrive at] the spirit of social consciousness and social mindedness. Then, all the activities of such persons will have social content as well as co-operation to others."-2
The idea of making students learn through their experiences and by doing things has been part of our Indian culture since ancient times. The Upanishads and all our ancient texts have described how curious students were not told the answer, but made to experience it! The anecdotes associated with Budha's teachings are quite similar to the parables of Jesus. It is quite possible also that the reason why the ancient teachers of India favoured the Experiential Form of Pedagogy was that spiritualism formed an essential aspect of education in the gurukuls.
References:
1.http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/on-education/gandhi-views-on-education.php
2. https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/g_edu.htm
However to claim that it was only Gurus of ancient time who were aware of the concept of E.L. pedagogy would be wrong, especially, since Mahatma Gandhi in the first quarter of the twentieth century advocated E.L. pedagogy for India. I have listed below some of Gandhi's principles of education that have very strong "Experiential" basis.
Gandhi believed that the notion of education through handicrafts rises from the contemplation of truth and love that permeates through life's activities. It is clear that he wanted the student to learn from his or her experiences and that the learning should be connected with the very act of living. He further believed that persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness, (both very strong elements of E.L. Pedagogy) were the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind. A curiosity of a healthy kind is important for learning to take place. Experiential Learning assumes that learning in students takes place when they want to know more! Gandhi further stated that what he wanted from education was an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man, body, mind and spirit. He believed that true education had to correspond to the surrounding circumstances.-1
"The Kothari Commission also followed Gandhi’s ideal of vocational training in education. This commission says, “We recommend that work experience should be introduced as an integral part of all India education–general or vocational. We define work experience as participation in productive work in school, in the home, in a workshop, on a farm, in a factory or in any other productive situation.”5 This commission re-emphasizes the Gandhian principle of learning by doing in the modern education. The main aim of education is the development of human personality. He expanded fourfold personality in the individual that is body, mind, heart and spirit. True education stimulates the spiritual, intellectual and physical strength of the individual. His view on the education of heart which brings the idea of sympathy, fellowship and deep feelings of love. The aim of education is not only to produce good individuals but also one must understand one’s own responsibilities in which one lives. It is closely related to the Hindu concept of varnashram dharma. One who understood his or her responsibilities would [arrive at] the spirit of social consciousness and social mindedness. Then, all the activities of such persons will have social content as well as co-operation to others."-2
The idea of making students learn through their experiences and by doing things has been part of our Indian culture since ancient times. The Upanishads and all our ancient texts have described how curious students were not told the answer, but made to experience it! The anecdotes associated with Budha's teachings are quite similar to the parables of Jesus. It is quite possible also that the reason why the ancient teachers of India favoured the Experiential Form of Pedagogy was that spiritualism formed an essential aspect of education in the gurukuls.
References:
1.http://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/on-education/gandhi-views-on-education.php
2. https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/g_edu.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment