Gandhi’s education philosophy: when the classroom was meant to look like life

For Mahatma Gandhi, education was never meant to stop at reading, writing and passing examinations. He imagined something broader: a system in which a child learnt through the hands, developed the mind, built character and understood his or her relationship with society. The ideas crystallized into a philosophy known as Nai Talim, or Basic Education.

Gandhi's thoughts were radical in their time. He laid great emphasis on making education relevant to everyday living and on integrating learning into productive work. In his view,"literacy in itself is no education".

Gandhi was critical of the education system in his time which, in his view, had become detached from useful work. He did not oppose book learning but he wanted a rounded education that would develop a person's body, mind and spirit.

In 1921, Gandhi argued that children should learn to respect manual labour and not consider it beneath them. Gandhi wanted productive work to be used as a learning medium. If a child were learning to spin and weave, for instance, mathematics concepts could also be taught.

He stressed that handicraft should not be taught "merely mechanically" but in a way that helped the child to think through and understand "the why and the wherefore" of every process. That distinction is important because it shows that Gandhi's idea was not to replace intellectual education with handicraft. It was to use handicraft as a means to intellectual education.

Gandhi argued that manual work, when appropriately applied, could contribute to intellectual education because in his view, there was a harmonious interaction between body and mind. Children did not have to learn only in a classroom with a teacher. Education could take place in gardens, workshops, fields or even in working in the community.

The tripartite division of hand, head and heart in relation to education is a convenient way to summarize his ideas. It is, important to note that this was not the technical term he used to describe his educational philosophy.

Gandhi's educational experiments did not start in Wardha. He had been experimenting in South Africa, particularly in the Phoenix Settlement and Tolstoy Farm. He later admitted that the school experiment in Tolstoy Farm was not entirely successful. The admission is important because it illustrates that Gandhi's educational philosophy did not emerge as an abstract idea but was the result of various experiments.

The most concrete manifestation of his philosophy was the National Education Conference at Wardha in Maharashtra in 1937 which Gandhi chaired. The conference laid down the basic education principles, one of which was free and compulsory education for seven years.

The mother tongue was to be the medium of instruction. Productive manual work was to be the basis of education and other learning areas were to be related to manual work and the child's environment.

A committee under Dr. Zakir Husain was asked to formulate an educational proposal which came to be known as the Wardha Scheme of Basic National Education. It suggested that activities such as spinning and weaving, agriculture, gardening and carpentry could be considered as manual work.

It also emphasized that the value of such activities was educational and not to train children in a particular profession. That was the distinguishing factor in Nai Talim. Gandhi wanted children to learn through productive work so that they could think and create.

He wanted to enable the child to be self-reliant and more of a collaborator. Gandhi was also concerned with the use of the child's mother tongue. The use of mother tongue was the hallmark of the Wardha proposals.

Gandhi's main concern was that the child's social and linguistic background should not be a barrier to his or her education. Gandhi was particularly critical of imposing a foreign language as the main medium of instruction for the acquisition of basic education.

In his view, this tended to create an unnatural gulf between the child, the teacher and the world around. Gandhi's education philosophy emphasized learning through experience.

If agriculture was to be the main activity, then education would take off from there and involve measurement, observation, etc. If weaving was to be the main skill, then mathematical concepts could be incorporated into it. Language skills could also be enhanced through writings about the weaving process.

The key was to make sure that academic areas were not altogether discarded. Instead, they had to be integrated into the process of making. This was the main reason why Gandhi wanted handicraft to be taught scientifically and not mechanically.

The economic implication was that productive work could help to make the school largely self-sustaining. Gandhi talked about arranging for the state to buy the products made in the school.

That is arguably one of the most distinctive aspects of the Nai Talim philosophy. It shows that Gandhi's thinking went beyond education and into the realms of work, community development and even economic issues.

Gandhi placed great emphasis on the role of teachers and their character. He always pointed out that the teacher's behaviour played a significant role in educating the child's heart. For Gandhi, teaching was not only about imparting intellectual content.

It was about conduct as well. He wanted teachers to help students to think, to initiate and to act but always within a framework of discipline and humility. Another distinguishing aspect of Gandhi's educational philosophy was its social reform agenda.

Gandhi wanted to change society by changing the child. He wanted children to stop looking down on manual work.

He wanted manual work to be dignified and education to be closely linked to ordinary communities.

In Gandhi's view, making manual work the basis of education could also help to break down the artificial dichotomy between mental and physical work. In 1937, Gandhi spoke about education through village handicrafts as the beginning of a "silent social revolution".

The phrase encapsulates the magnitude of his educational philosophy and vision. Nai Talim was not merely a new school timetable but an attempt to rethinking the educational process, particularly with regard to work.

The question was not only what should the child study but also what kind of person should the education produce. Gandhi's educational philosophy had several distinctive features.

These included learning by experience, learning through handicraft, a holistic approach, mother tongue as the medium of instruction, emphasis on productive work and self-reliance. The teacher's example and conduct were also vital in the education process.

But perhaps the major distinguishing feature of his philosophy was the refusal to make a clear distinction between learning and living.

A child should not only read about agriculture but should be able to observe, understand and measure the soil. Mathematics should not only exist in equations but could be related to measurement, and discipline should not only be imposed through rules but could be developed through responsibility.

Productivity was not intended to be an alternative to intellectual education but to be integrated into it. Gandhi's concern was not only with what should be taught but also with the kind of person education should produce.