VEDIC EDUCATION

MAJOR FEATURES OF THE VEDIC SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN ANCIENT INDIA

            

CONTENTS

v Introduction

v Salient Features Of Vedic Education In Ancient India

v Forms Of Educational Institutions In Vedic Period

v Role Of Teacher And Students

v Conclusion

 

INTRODUCTION

 The education system which was evolved first in ancient India is known as the Vedic system of education. In other words, the ancient system of education were based on the Vedas and therefore it was given the name of Vedic Educational System. Vedas occupy a very important place in the Indian life. The basis of Indian culture lies in the Vedas which are four in number – Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda, and Atharavaveda.  Some scholars have sub divided Vedic Educational period into Rig

Veda period, Brahmani period, Upanishada period, Sutra (Hymn) period, Smriti period etc but all these period, due to predominance of the Vedas, there was no change in the aims and ideals of educations. That is why, the education of these periods, is studied under Vedic period.

“Swadesh Pujyate Raja, Vidwan Sarvatra Pujyate”
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 This verse widely quoted in India illustrates the significance of education in India. The education system of Vedic period has unique characteristics and qualities which were not found in the ancient education system of any other country of the world.

 According to Dr. F. E. Key, “To achieve their aim not only did Brahmans develop a system of education which, survived even in the events of the crumbling of empires and the changes of society, but they, also through all those thousands of years, kept a glow of torch of higher learning.”

 In the words of Dr. P. N. Prabhu, “Education in ancient India was free from any external control like that of the state and government or any party politics. It was the kings duties to see that learned Pundits, pursued their studies and performed their duty of imparting knowledge without interference from any source what so ever.”

The education system that prevailed during the Vedic times had some unique characteristics. Education was confined to the upper castes, and to those who were BRAHMACHARIS. In Indian tradition, a person’s life cycle is divided into four stages of which BRAHMACHARI is the second phase. This is the time set aside for learning and acquiring skills. During Vedic period, most of the upper castes, which were either Brahmins or Kshatriyas had their education in a unique system called GURUKULAM. Students had their education by living with their preceptors in forests far removed from cities, towns or villages. The life of students who were called SHISYAS was very rigorous and demanding. Those who failed to live up to these high standards would simply fall by the wayside. There were legendary acharyas like Sanandeepani and Dronacharya who taught epic heroes like Krishna and Arjuna martial skills, but what makes the Vedic period unique is the existence of sages like Gautama and Jaimini who were founder of different schools of Indian philosophy like Nyaya and Purva Mimamsa. This was a period of intense intellectual activity and speculation, which we hardly find even now. While Nyaya and Vaisheshika were theistic philosophies, Sankhya was atheistic.

ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

Educational Technology

The significance of Educational Technology (ET) as a

site for curriculum planning has been widely recognised,

but detailed guidelines and strategies for its educationally

optimum use have not yet been worked out. Generally,

technology has been used as a medium to disseminate

information, and as a way of addressing the scarcity

of good teachers—usuallythe consequence of poor

recruitment policies.ET, which is used toredress the problem

of quality of teaching, can only exacerbate the disillusionment

of teachers withteaching. If ET is to become a means of enhancing

curricular reform, it must treat the majority of teachers

and children not merely as consumers but also as active

producers. There must be widespread consultation

regarding use during development and implementation.

ET facilities need to be used at all levels of schools —

cluster and block resource centres, district, state and

national level institutions — in order to provide handson

experience in using ET. Such experiences provided

to children, teachers and teacher educators, could

include something as simple as the audio-recording of

an interview with a village elder, to making a video

film or a video game. Providing children more direct

access to multimedia equipment and Information

ROLE OF TEXTBOOKS IN EDUCATION

Texts and Books

Popular perception treats the textbook as the prime

site for curriculum designing. Though curriculum

planning is a much wider process, curriculum reform

seldom goes beyond changing the textbook. Improved

textbooks that are carefully written and designed,

professionally edited and tested, offering not merely

factual information but also interactive spaces for

children are important. But curricular reform can go

much farther if textbooks are accompanied by several

other kinds of materials. Subject dictionaries, for

instance, can relieve the main textbook from becoming

encyclopaedic, burdened by carrying definitions of

technical terms, and instead allow the teacher to focus

on understanding concepts. The triangular relationship

between high-speed classroom teaching, heavy

homework and private tuition, which is a major source

of stress, can be weakened if textbook writers focus

on elaboration of concepts, activities, spaces for

wondering about problems, exercises encouraging

reflective thinking and small-group work, leaving the

definition of technical terms to a subject dictionary.
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ROLE OF HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION

It is widely acknowledged that health is influenced by

biological, social, economic, cultural and political forces.

Access to basic needs like food, safe drinking water

supply, housing, sanitation and health services influences

the health status of a population, and these are reflected

through mortality and nutritional indicator s. Health is a

critical input for the overall development of the child,

and it influences enrolment, retention and school

completion rates significantly. This curriculum area

adopts a holistic definition of health within which

physical education and yoga contribute to the physical,

social, emotional and mental development of a child.

Undernourishment and communicable diseases are

the major health problems faced by the majority of

children in India, from the pre-primary to the higher

secondary school stages. Therefore, the need to address

this aspect at all levels of schooling, with special attention

to vulnerable social groups and girl children. It is

proposed that the midday meal programme and medical

check-ups be made a part of the curriculum and

education about health be provided that address the agespecific

concerns at different stages of development.

WORK AND EDUCATION (SOCIALLY USEFUL PRODUCTIVE WORK)

WORK AND EDUCATION

Work, understood simply, is an activity directed toward

making or doing something. It also means making

one’s work or capabilities, or both, available for

someone else’s purposes for monetary or other forms

of return. A number of these activities are related to

producing food, articles of daily use, looking after the

physical and mental well-being of people, and other

activities related to the administration and organisation

of society. In any society, in addition to these, two basic

dimensions (producing goods and establishing smooth

functioning), various other activities also contribute to

human well-being, and in that sense are considered

forms of work.

Understood in this sense, work implies a

commitment to other members of the society and/or

community as one is contributing one’s work and

capabilities for fulfilling their needs. Second, it implies

that one’s contribution made through work will be

submitted to public standards of performance and

hence will be valued and judged by others. Third, work

implies contributing to the functioning of social life as

it either produces something that makes life possible

or helps in the functioning of society in general. Finally,

work enriches human life as it opens up new dimensions

of appreciation and enjoyment.

ROLE OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN EDUCATION

Critical Pedagogy

Teacher and student engagement is critical in the

classroom because it has the power to define whose

knowledge will become a part of school-related

knowledge and whose voices will shape it. Students

are not just young people for whom adults should

devise solutions. They are critical observers of their

own conditions and needs, and should be participants

in discussions and problem solving related to their

education and future opportunities. Hence children need

to be aware that their experiences and perceptions are

important and should be encouraged to develop the

mental skills needed to think and reason independently

and have the courage to dissent. What children learn

out of school — their capacities, learning abilities, and

knowledge base — and bring to school is important

to further enhance the learning process. This is all the

more critical for children from underprivileged

backgrounds, especially girls, as the worlds they inhabit

and their realities are under represented in school

knowledge.

ROLE AND NEED OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLANNING IN EDUCATION

Approaches to Planning

Our educational practice is still based on limited ‘lesson

plans’ aimed at achieving measurable ‘behaviours’;

according to this view, the child is akin to a creature

that can be trained, or a computer that can be

programmed. Hence, there is too much focus on

‘outcomes’, and presenting knowledge divided into bits

of information to be memorised directly from the text

or through activities after ‘motivating’ children, and

finally on evaluating to see if children remember what

they have learnt. Instead, we need to view the child as

‘constructing knowledge’ all the time. This is true not

only of ‘cognitive subjects’ such as mathematics and

science, language and social science, but equally of

values, skills and attitudes.

CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL OF EDUCATION

Teaching for Construction of Knowledge

In the constructivist perspective, learning is a process

of the construction of knowledge. Learners actively

construct their own knowledge by connecting new ideas

to existing ideas on the basis of materials/activities

presented to them (experience). For example, using a

text or a set of pictures/visuals on a transport system

coupled with discussions will allow young learners to

be facilitated to construct the idea of a transport system.

Initial construction (mental representation) may be

based on the idea of the road transport system, and a

child from a remote rural setting may form the idea

centred around the bullock cart. Learners construct

mental representations (images) of external reality

(transport system) through a given set of acti vities

(experiences). The structuring and restructuring of

ideas are essential features as the learners progress in

learning. For instance, the initial idea of a transport

system built around road transport will be reconstructed

to accommodate other types of transport

systems—sea and air—using appropriate activities.

AIMS OF EDUCATION

AIMS OF EDUCATION

The aims of education serve as broad guidelines to

align educational processes to chosen ideals and

accepted principles. The aims of education

simultaneously reflect the current needs and aspirations

of a society as well as its lasting values, and the

immediate concerns of a community as well as broadhuman ideals. At any given time and place they can be

called the contemporary and contextual articulations

of broad and lasting human aspirations and values.

Educational aims turn the different activities

undertaken in schools and other educational institutions

into a creative pattern and give them the distinctive

character of being ‘educational’. An educational aim

helps the teacher connect her present classroom activity

to a cherished future outcome without making it

instrumental, and therefore give it direction without

divorcing it from current concerns. Thus, an aim is a

foreseen end: it is not an idle view of a mere spectator;

rather, it influences the steps taken to reach the end. An

aim must provide foresight. It can do this in three ways:

First, it involves careful observation of the given

conditions to see what means are available for reaching

the end, and to discover the hindrances in the way.

FORMAL EDUCATION AND ALTERNATIVES OF FORMAL EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

The word education is derived from the Latin word Educatum which means the act of teaching or training. There is another word in Latin that is Educare which means to bring up or to raise. The word Educare means to lead forth or to come out. All these meanings indicate that education seeks to nourish the good qualities in man and draw out the best in man.Education helps to develop the inner capacities of man.

  By educating an individual we attempt to give him some desirable knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, attitude and critical thinking. That is he acquires knowledge of history, geography, arithmetic, languages and other sciences. By education people develops some understandings about the deeper things in life, complex human relations and cause and effect of relationships etc. The person gets some skillsinwriting, speaking, calculating, drawing, operating some equipments etc.

     Education is necessary for the survival of the society. It is a purposeful activity. The aims of education will vary from time to time and from people to people. Educational aims can be immediate and ultimate. Immediate aims are those which fulfill the immediate needs. The ultimate aim of education is the perfect happiness.

Education has been classified into three types,

1. Formal education

2. Informal education

3. Non-formal education