‘Gentlemen, what are the four pillars?’
‘Tradition, honor, discipline and excellence’.
And thus, begins the movie ‘Dead Poets Society’, which
basically uses these four words to make its viewers understand the difference
between ‘schooling ‘and ‘education’.
Decades of formal training has made it difficult to differentiate
between the two because society teaches its youth to be subservient to
conformity rather than encouraging them to be free thinkers.
Most of the population considers that the two concepts are
inter-related or at least co-related to each other, because whenever we think of
‘education’, then the first images we get in our minds are those of formal
institutions such as schools, colleges or universities. Even a simple Google search
asking for – ‘what is education’, will give the following first result- ‘the
process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school
or university’. But needless to say, these two are drastically different and
this difference is the line between a free thinker and a traditionalist.
So, what actually is the function of education?
The objective of education was defined by Jean Piaget
(1896-1980), a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher as- ‘The
Principle goal of education should be creating men and women who are capable of
doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done’. But
it seems as though its converse is what is being accepted as a norm nowadays.
The best definition of education was probably dictated by Martin Luther King
Jr. who said that- ‘The function of education is to teach one to think
intensively and to think critically, intelligently plus character.’
It can be conclusively
determined that it is the schooling system, which encourages the four above
concepts of tradition, honor, discipline and excellence. All the four
‘pillars’ are actually inter-related and the thread that holds them together is
tradition itself.
Tradition is
something, everyone is familiar with. For being just an abstract concept it is
terrifying how sedately and obediently we follow the rules and regulations
which were setup ages earlier, instead of trying to take initiative and keep
pace with the ever changing societal structure. It is tradition especially,
which breeds inaction or rather more precisely, it is responsible for the lack
of the entrepreneurial spirit which is necessary to facilitate commerce, not
just from a capitalistic or materialistic point of view but from the viewpoint
where commerce is necessary for sustaining life.
If we trace this
‘process’ of tradition to its roots, then it can be aptly determined that this
lack of entrepreneurial spirit stems because; from the primary levels in our lives- both at
home and at school, it is ingrained in our consciousness that the one goal in
our live is to be an academic topper, coupled with some sports trophies and
‘extra-curricular’ certificates (because dance, drama and other forms of artistic
pursuits are still thought as to be ‘extra’) and then simply go through college
and get an high paid job. Any deviation from this set path is highly condemned
by society at large. Herein lies the three other pedestals of honor,
discipline and excellence’; because to disavow or to attempt to take another
path is perceived as akin to destroying the honor of the family; being
disobedient and destroying ones merit.
Obviously these are age old concepts which are reinforced
time and time again to perpetuate distinctions among the various economic and
social stratas of a society.
As Rabindranath
Tagore had pointed out in his speech- ‘Nationalism in India’; that- these
social stratas were created and were allocated different occupations to prevent
jealousy which arises due to competition, but over time these classes have
become a physical symbol of oppression because society simply couldn’t follow
the smooth and natural progression of time but rather locked these classes up
in water tight compartments with no scope for expansion. Natural progression or
‘going with the flow’ is extremely important and thus, in this past paced world
of advancements, education should be imparted, keeping in mind the present
requirements for survival in a cut-throat world.
But it will be absolutely wrong to say that the field of
education has not experienced changes over times because at the end man is a
social animal and education is a social act with a purpose, nothing man does is
without a peremptory notion of what he wants. But the problem has been that
these changes have proven to be infinitesimal, especially in face of the
onslaught of massive changes in societal phenomenon during the last few
decades, owning to the rapid progression in science and technology.
But times are definitely changing, it maybe because of the
dominant role of capitalism and thus, indirectly vanity as well, forces an
individual to keep up with the times (because the only other converse option is
social alienation) and thus, creating a ‘need’ for computers and such. Apart
from just helping in socialization, the vast world of internet also aids in
spreading the need for a more diverse form of education which incorporates the
various elements of technology, coupled with accessibility, social interaction
and the traditional format of syllabus learning. Thus, giving rise to a more
palatable form of learning-which, satisfies both the social as well as
intellectual needs of an individual.
