Rabindranath Tagore Education Essay

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Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) is considered as one of the prominent modern educators of India. A Nobel Laureate in literature (1913), Tagore was also an artist, dramatist and philosopher. His thoughts on need for an improved and creative educational system India arose as a result of his exposure to various forms of art and literature. Tagore was born in a privileged Pirali Brahmin family who provided much of the cultural core for the Bengal Renaissance. The only degrees he received were honorary ones, given later in life. The culturally rich background of his family led to a lifelong conviction of freedom of education. He chose to undergo formal education for a very short time. The formal education he received gave him a glance of how the education system in India was in a decadent state1. His whole ideals of education were based on his philosophical vision of life. According to his philosophy, the purpose of life is to have harmony and fullness. His main educational visions were, freedom for the learner, developing a relationship with nature, cultivating a learner's creativity or imagination. Tagore felt, education should never be dissociated from life. This essay …show more content…

According to him, art is an important form of understanding the world. It is the only possible way to express one’s experience and recognition of the harmonious connection between universe, the individual reality and immortality, in addition to their being a source of pleasure10. Arts help in personality formation. The prosperity and richness of art and culture can be appreciated through education. There must be a space for different cultures to meet and intersect. This mingling must be arranged in such a way that the innate cultural specificity is not lost. In Santiniketan, Tagore worked on an educational system that will develop the student's capacity to cultivate and develop the arts of life: poetry, song, drama, movement in dance and

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