Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore

This article investigates Rabindranath Tagore’s educational vision, which underpinned the three institutions he set up in India – Santiniketan (1901), Visva-Bharati (1921) and Sriniketan (1922). It argues that this vision is still relevant for the world of today and tomorrow, and that it should be t...

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Main Author:	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
Format:	Article
Language:	English English English English
Published:	Routledge 2016
Subjects:	L Education (General) LB Theory and practice of education PE English PN0080 Criticism
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/1/QUAYUM._ASR._TAGORE.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/8/49790-new.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/9/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_SCOPUS.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/10/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_WOS.pdf

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recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-497902016-10-28T03:55:01Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore Quayum, Mohammad Abdul L Education (General) LB Theory and practice of education PE English PN0080 Criticism This article investigates Rabindranath Tagore’s educational vision, which underpinned the three institutions he set up in India – Santiniketan (1901), Visva-Bharati (1921) and Sriniketan (1922). It argues that this vision is still relevant for the world of today and tomorrow, and that it should be taken into account in designing any educational model for the future. Tagore rejected the modern mechanical learning that focuses merely on cultivation of the individual’s mind, in favour of learning that encourages the creativity, imagination and moral awareness of students. He believed that education should be not for mere “success” or “progress” but for “illumination of heart” and for inculcation of a spirit of sympathy, service and self-sacrifice in the individual, so that s/he could rise above egocentrism and ethnocentrism to a state of global consciousness or worldcentrism. In pursuing this argument, I refer to Tagore’s letters, lectures, interviews and essays, both in Bengali and in English, a body of his short stories, his novel The Home and the World and his allegorical poem “Two Birds”. I also explain his awareness of the educational movements of his time in the West, and draw brief parallels with selected Western luminaries in the field, such as Plato, Montaigne, Rousseau and John Dewey. My contention is that although some may dismiss Tagore’s educational principles as “rickety sentimentalism” in a world that is palpable and real, his ideas of human fellowship, unity and creativity, and kinship for nature seem irrefutable with the rise of multiculturalism and the looming ecological crisis threatening world peace. Routledge 2016-03 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/1/QUAYUM._ASR._TAGORE.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/8/49790-new.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/9/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_SCOPUS.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/10/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_WOS.pdf Quayum, Mohammad Abdul (2016) Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore. Asian Studies Review, 40 (1). pp. 1-16. ISSN 1035-7823 E-ISSN 1467-8403 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357823.2015.1125441 10.1080/10357823.2015.1125441
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English English English
topic	L Education (General) LB Theory and practice of education PE English PN0080 Criticism
spellingShingle	L Education (General) LB Theory and practice of education PE English PN0080 Criticism Quayum, Mohammad Abdul Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
description	This article investigates Rabindranath Tagore’s educational vision, which underpinned the three institutions he set up in India – Santiniketan (1901), Visva-Bharati (1921) and Sriniketan (1922). It argues that this vision is still relevant for the world of today and tomorrow, and that it should be taken into account in designing any educational model for the future. Tagore rejected the modern mechanical learning that focuses merely on cultivation of the individual’s mind, in favour of learning that encourages the creativity, imagination and moral awareness of students. He believed that education should be not for mere “success” or “progress” but for “illumination of heart” and for inculcation of a spirit of sympathy, service and self-sacrifice in the individual, so that s/he could rise above egocentrism and ethnocentrism to a state of global consciousness or worldcentrism. In pursuing this argument, I refer to Tagore’s letters, lectures, interviews and essays, both in Bengali and in English, a body of his short stories, his novel The Home and the World and his allegorical poem “Two Birds”. I also explain his awareness of the educational movements of his time in the West, and draw brief parallels with selected Western luminaries in the field, such as Plato, Montaigne, Rousseau and John Dewey. My contention is that although some may dismiss Tagore’s educational principles as “rickety sentimentalism” in a world that is palpable and real, his ideas of human fellowship, unity and creativity, and kinship for nature seem irrefutable with the rise of multiculturalism and the looming ecological crisis threatening world peace.
format	Article
author	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_facet	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
author_sort	Quayum, Mohammad Abdul
title	Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
title_short	Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
title_full	Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
title_fullStr	Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
title_full_unstemmed	Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore
title_sort	education for tomorrow: the vision of rabindranath tagore
publisher	Routledge
publishDate	2016
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/1/QUAYUM._ASR._TAGORE.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/8/49790-new.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/9/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_SCOPUS.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/49790/10/49790-Education_for_tomorrow_The_vision_of_Rabindranath_Tagore_WOS.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:10:21Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:10:21Z
_version_	1777411210433527808

Education for tomorrow: The vision of Rabindranath Tagore

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