“What is good education?” is a question
that has befuddled philosophers, educationalists, parents and students alike
since times immemorial. A few years ago, when I started thinking of higher
education, I knew I needed good education, but I did not know what “good
education” actually meant. Now that I'm a few months into my post-graduation,
it’s time to revisit my understanding and see if I'm any better at defining “good
education”.
Like all good things, good
education is hard to get, and harder to define. Because one cannot get what one cannot
define (at least in the normal course of things), one is caught in a catch-22
situation. The problem is exacerbated in the Indian context since from early
days asking questions is discouraged, challenging one’s teacher is
treated as disobedience and rote learning is promoted in the place of independent
thinking. However, all is not lost, since we as a civilization have a long
history, longer than most civilizations of the present, to look into. An
advantage of the study of history is it throws up surprising answers which are
as relevant today as they were during the period in which they were first
written down. I think this is a result of the cyclic nature of time (not
scientifically proven), much like the cyclic nature of fashion (easily
observed). To put it succinctly, history
repeats.
That the Indians lay a lot of
emphasis on education needn't be reiterated, evidenced by the fact that we have
a Goddess of knowledge who, at least to the philosophers, is more important
than the Goddess of Wealth. Given this emphasis, there must be something in our
culture (my definition - a set of repeated, acceptable behaviour passed down the
generations, as opposed to tradition, which may or may not be passed down) that
points at what constitutes good education. The search doesn't take very long –
we have teachings that are celebrated and worshipped as worthy of studying,
emulating and internalizing by all and sundry. The Bhagavad Gita, which contains the teachings of Lord Krishna to
Arjuna, the lesser known Yoga Vasishta, which
contains the teachings of the sage Vasishta to Lord Rama, and the Tripura Rahasya, which contains the
teachings of Dattateya to Lord Parashurama (a favourite of Ramana Maharshi of
Arunachalam) are all studied with great care (mostly) by philosophers. Although
much of these books deal with the metaphysical, contemporary business/real
world issues such as concentration, hard work, health, family, societal
welfare, duties of citizens and rulers, and ethics are dealt with in great
detail in these books.
Now that we have identified some
of the great instructors and their instructions, the next step is to identify
the outcomes of such instructors and instructions. It is said that “the cause is hidden in the effect”. Like
cotton (cause) in the threads that are weaved together into a fabric (effect),
like clay (cause) that remains in the pot (effect) after the skilful touch of
a potter, a good education (cause) remains and reflects in the person (effect) who has received such education. I now list a few of these effects that I
believe signal the outcome of a good education.
1 Independent thinking – a good education promotes
thinking. Much like the proverb “give a man a fish…”, an education that equips
a man with a lot of facts is a useless education, since in today’s world, facts
are available at everyone’s fingertips. It’s what one does with those facts
that define the effectiveness of one’s learning.
2 Useful skill – a good education equips one with
some useful skill at the end of it. It could be something as concrete as the
ability to fix a broken window, or as abstract as modern art, but it has to be useful
to the society at large. I do not use “useful” as a synonym to employable,
since not all useful skills can find gainful employment easily.
3 Humility – why does a good education instil humility in students? The answer is simple – a good education exposes students
to as many disciplines of study as possible, thereby showing them how little
they know.
4 Ethics – Ethics (or its close cousins – honesty,
integrity) is perhaps the most important quality of a truly educated person. An
uneducated person may behave in an unethical way due to sheer ignorance of the
rules (still unethical, perhaps even illegal), but an educated person behaving
in such a manner is unforgivable. All great teachings (including the ones
mentioned earlier in this post) lay great emphasis on ethics, and frowns upon
unethical/dishonest behaviour. Ethics is increasingly becoming the most
important quality of leadership, and anyone not striving to internalize and
live by qualities such as honesty and integrity is not getting good education,
irrespective of his or her grades, or the prestige associated with the institute of learning.
5 Teachers – as anyone who teaches you anything, a
good teacher will demonstrate all the four qualities I've listed above, since practising is the best way of preaching!
I think these five are the
important causes that presuppose a “good education”, and thereby make
identifying “good education” easier, even without a precise definition. What do
you think?
