SHAlINI SAKSENA speaks with Prof Harry Brighouse on what is the philosophy of education and why is there need to develop independent thinking among students today
What does philosophy of education meanIJ
Usually we see education as learning, gathering knowledge. We hardly ever pay attention to the overall development of the child when it comes to education. As parents we send out child to a school that matches with our way of thinking that is within reasonable travel distance and the child can learn so that he can get a job that his parents want to to take up. Philosophy of education has a much wider connotation. It means a way of thinking that teaches one values and gives the child the ability to think independently of his surroundings so that he is able to take decisions that are his own and not based on the thought process of the others.
How does one teach a child independence of thought when the environmental influences, in his life, starts even before he goes to schoolIJ
This is where the parents need to be more mature, take the back seat and let the child decide for himself what he wants to do in life. Usually parents will push their child into a particular stream or instill rigid religious views. What they should in fact do is to give the child an environment where he can learn about each and every religion so that he can respect it and become a better person. This is where the schools need to be more than just institutes which impart book knowledge. They are in the best position to teach the student values since a child spends so much time among children of his age from different background and religion. School is the only place where a child will get this kind of environment.
If the parent is mature, what is the need for schools to give that environment to the childrenIJ
Not all parents know when is the right time to back off and let the child decide. Almost every time, it is the parent who decides the child’s schooling and what he should do or not do.What kind of friends he should make, whom he should vote for, what subject he should study and finally what profession he should take up. In such a scenario we need schools which will teach a child to have a thinking of his own. To know what is right and wrong and on the basis of that make a calculated decision.
Do you think that private schools are a better option todayIJ
No, not at all. In fact, privitisation of education is not the solution to the problems that the education system is facing today. What we need a overhauling of the way we teach in schools and colleges. Education of our children is not the same as other market commodities, because it involves learning and the formation of a child into a human being, and cannot be changed like a mobile phone. We need to think very carefully before handing over education to market forces, because taking it back would be difficult, if not impossible.
What do we do to make the education system betterIJ
There is no one solution to this. It has to be changes at various levels. The parents, the schools, Government guidance, how teachers teach and teacher training programmes for them, ensuring that the teachers impart knowledge keeping in mind the skill sets that are required by the industry to make them employable.
Why is it that the industry doesn’t want to impart skill sets todayIJ
Today, time is money. Companies want to hire people who can start working with them from day one. They don’t want to spent the time,money and energy in teaching a person skills knowing that in a few years he will leave for better prospects. However, the way we teach has yet to change at the pace with which the business houses are adapting themselves and the technology. Hence, there is a gap that needs to be filled and that too fast.