Jiddu Krishnamurthy was born on May 11th, 1894 in Madanapalli, north of Madras. In 1911 he was taken to England by Anne Besant. There he was educated privately and was groomed for the role of “World teacher”. His teachings are based upon “self inquiry” and “illumination”.
The essence of his teaching are change the heart in the individual to change the society and the world. He founded two schools in India; one at Rajghat in Banaras & the other at Rishi Valley in Chittor dist of AP. He used to visit his schools annually and hold discussions with parents and teachers of the children. He expressed his views on education in his famous books ‘Beginnings of Learning”, and “education and the significance of life’.
The basic theme of his educational philosophy is that children are not to be fed on others’ ideas, sayings and beliefs. Self knowledge is the best education’.
His views on education are described below
Current system of education: The existing educational system has some inherent drawbacks.
It doesn’t awaken the integrated intelligence of the child.
It is preventing the child from understanding himself.
It is encouraging him to conform to a rigid system, blocking his thinking.
It prepares the child for different jobs through special training without which they will not feel secure.
Technical knowledge in education emphasizes secondary values. It doesn’t resolve the inner psychological pressures and conflicts of the students. Little emphasis was given to prompting of heart. Hence, the emotional development of the child needs to be strengthened only with the right type of education.
Aims & objectives of education: The purpose of education is not to acquire knowledge and correlate it with other aspects of life. Education should bring about an integrated individual who is capable of dealing with the total life. Education should awaken the capacity to be self aware. It should encourage thoughtfulness and concern for others.
Methods of educating the children: The teachers should not exercise their authority and block the thinking of children. They should not project their prejudices, fears and hopes on children. They should understand a child and then develop him according to his capacities rather than imposing upon him an ideal of what we think he should be.
Concept of discipline: One drawback of external discipline is that the system assumes more importance than the human beings who are included in it. Discipline takes the place of love. Fear cannot be the basis of right action.
Teachers and type of schools: Schools should have limited number of students. Right type of teachers should be engaged. Small schools with limited financial resources are suggested. Cooperation between teacher and students is possible with mutual affection and respect between them. There should be cooperation between the school and home.
Last modified: Wednesday, 9 November 2011, 5:02 AM
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